Sunday, August 23, 2009

Movie Marathon

I am currently recovering from another apartment move which was immediately followed by a vacation in Cali, which was then followed by a week of playing hostess while Brian's family was in town. All three experiences were well worth the efforts required (without a doubt)...but nonetheless, my body and mind are both begging for some well-earned rest.

I didn't get as much reading done this summer as I had hoped to but I did manage to get through an interesting and entertaining book titled, "Olive Kittredge" which was named after the main character. It was written as a collection of short stories whereby the reader is afforded the opportunity to get to know the main characters from the variation of many different vantage points. It was not life-altering by any means, but I connected to the story and was drawn into the humanness of this retired Teacher who has a difficult time facing her own loneliness and bitterness.

So...when reading isn't the main item on the agenda, I often find myself in desperate search for engaging (read: dramatic) movies to wrap me up in a blanket and rock me until I am asleep to my own life momentarily and awakened as an observer to some reality completely other than my own. The Time Traveler's Wife, disappointingly and not-surprisingly, did not do the trick. The books was a thousand times better - and sadly, as is often the case, most will no longer feel compelled to read the literary masterpiece when they can gather the "gist" of the story by watching the movie.


Fortunately, my hope in dissociation via movie-watching was not a complete failure. I watched Revolutionary Road yesterday and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly this evening. Both movies have left me quite stirred, though in very different ways. More on both of these movies later. But that's all for now. I am going to attempt to get in the rhythm of writing more habitually. My hope is that it if I simply sit in front of the computer long enough stuff just starts seeping its way out from the inexhaustible space within and onto the screen.

1 comment:

lauren said...

I too was less than thrilled by the film version of Time Traveler's Wife, but I sort of expected to feel that way.

On another note, I finally finished A Shining Affliction a couple weeks ago. Talk about intense. It's definitely one of those books that will linger in my mind for a long time. Yet another good suggestion on your part!