I started reading IQ84 by Haruki Murakami recently, and one of the characters is a struggling writer. I am enjoying it quite a lot more than the previous Murakami novel I read, though it has a lot of similarities also. I wonder, though, how many writers write about writers? How many characters in novels are …
How would you describe it?
As a writing exercise, I often try to describe random objects or scenes that I see in my daily life. I don't type them out--just in my mind. But I try to come up with the words to put exactly what I'm looking at right then into someone else's head. How do I get across …
Predator in pathetic guise
I'm a bit more than halfway through Lolita, and am beginning to feel disturbed and disgusted. A slow, sickening feeling has been building for a while, and finally made me realize that Humbert is not a pathetic loser, but a cold predator. He is telling his story with the object of gaining sympathy. To do this …
The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber
What can I say about this book? It was a journey, an adventure, an endeavor. I loved every page of it and was left aching, (I swear I felt a physical ache) for more at the end. Every time I read one of Faber's novels, I say his characters are what make it. And this is …
Continue reading "The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber"
Reading vs performing
Jeremy Irons' reading of Lolita is really good. I wish more audiobooks would have actors as the narrator, because he is doing way more than just reading the text. It's a performance. Tone is so important, timing, enunciation--all these things can change the meaning of something so drastically. Â I would be very picky about how …
