Molly O'Keefe's Blog, page 50
October 17, 2011
Romance Writer Moments
I've had two in the past couple of weeks. The first happened in the grocery store. It was around 3 o'clock and I hadn't had lunch and I was starving. I figured it would be better to buy a little something healthy to eat and munch while I shopped rather devour a box of cookies in the car on the way home which was where I was headed.
So I'm eating my turkey wrap and steering the cart through the store with my elbows. There's mayonnaise dripping down my wrist that I'm considering licking off (did I mention that I was STARVING?) and this woman comes up to me in the meat department and says, "excuse me, are you Eileen Rendahl?" I said yes. And she starts clapping her hands and sort of squealing because she recognized me from the photo in the back of the book and calls her daughter over to meet me.
And I have mayonnaise dripping down my wrist and lettuce between my teeth. Very unglamorous. Not how I pictured that moment at all. I did, however, want to hug the woman, but refrained because I didn't want to pay her drycleaning bill.
The second one happened at our neighborhood block party. Andy and I were chatting with a new neighbor who lives sort of catty-corner from us when Felix who is our neighborhood Gladys Kravitz among other things came up. Felix has a VERY loud voice and a VERY thick Polish accent and is VERY nosy, but I don't care because he calls me Princess. I may forgive almost anything -- including, I suspect, some casual inspection of my recycling from time to time -- if you will just call me Princess on a regular basis.
Anyway, Felix comes up to us and says (really loudly), "You know, she write book! You can read! They have at bookstore! On shelf!"
New neighbor asks what I write and I tell him and he says, "Ha ha ha, I bet they all have Fabio on the cover."
New neighbor is now dead to me.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I found that so dismissive and denigrating. I wanted to punch him.
How do people react to you when you tell them what you do? Do you ever get recognized?
So I'm eating my turkey wrap and steering the cart through the store with my elbows. There's mayonnaise dripping down my wrist that I'm considering licking off (did I mention that I was STARVING?) and this woman comes up to me in the meat department and says, "excuse me, are you Eileen Rendahl?" I said yes. And she starts clapping her hands and sort of squealing because she recognized me from the photo in the back of the book and calls her daughter over to meet me.
And I have mayonnaise dripping down my wrist and lettuce between my teeth. Very unglamorous. Not how I pictured that moment at all. I did, however, want to hug the woman, but refrained because I didn't want to pay her drycleaning bill.
The second one happened at our neighborhood block party. Andy and I were chatting with a new neighbor who lives sort of catty-corner from us when Felix who is our neighborhood Gladys Kravitz among other things came up. Felix has a VERY loud voice and a VERY thick Polish accent and is VERY nosy, but I don't care because he calls me Princess. I may forgive almost anything -- including, I suspect, some casual inspection of my recycling from time to time -- if you will just call me Princess on a regular basis.
Anyway, Felix comes up to us and says (really loudly), "You know, she write book! You can read! They have at bookstore! On shelf!"
New neighbor asks what I write and I tell him and he says, "Ha ha ha, I bet they all have Fabio on the cover."
New neighbor is now dead to me.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I found that so dismissive and denigrating. I wanted to punch him.
How do people react to you when you tell them what you do? Do you ever get recognized?
Credible Suprise and how much is too much?
So, I'm back at it. Rusty and antsy and unable to apply butt to chair for longer than an hour and half at a time. Maureen had to tie me to my seat to get to 46,000 words on Friday. But the time off has done all it should, the glaring problems are all right there, the big muddy mess I was in the middle of isn't really muddy at all - I was just going the wrong direction. So, fix fix fix.
But I had this thread I was pulling out and playing with in this Superromance I'm in the middle of. In my subplot I have a romance/friendship between an older couple. He has always loved her and is ashamed of it because she was his best friend's wife, he drank too much, he ignored things he should have stopped and basically was not a great man. He's working on that. However, in order for the romance to work and to get one of those gasp moments of credible suprise and to ramp up drama drama drama, I had her keeping a secret about her husband who died five years ago. She has no proof, they certainly didn't talk about it, but she suspects he might have been gay.
So, my question is this. How much is too much? Really. I think it would get a big gasp, and it's an interesting thing for her to have to deal with, having kept this secret and her anger and frustration with a marriage that wasn't at all what she'd wanted.
But is it more interesting to watch a recovering alcoholic and a devout catholic sort through thier stuff and feel honest things for each and just basically talk it out?
I think catagory romance lives for moments of credible suprise - in constant battles to stop predictability editors love these little suprises. I'm torn right down the middle. Securely on the fense, so I'm going to let you guys decide and I'm going to take a nap...
But I had this thread I was pulling out and playing with in this Superromance I'm in the middle of. In my subplot I have a romance/friendship between an older couple. He has always loved her and is ashamed of it because she was his best friend's wife, he drank too much, he ignored things he should have stopped and basically was not a great man. He's working on that. However, in order for the romance to work and to get one of those gasp moments of credible suprise and to ramp up drama drama drama, I had her keeping a secret about her husband who died five years ago. She has no proof, they certainly didn't talk about it, but she suspects he might have been gay.
So, my question is this. How much is too much? Really. I think it would get a big gasp, and it's an interesting thing for her to have to deal with, having kept this secret and her anger and frustration with a marriage that wasn't at all what she'd wanted.
But is it more interesting to watch a recovering alcoholic and a devout catholic sort through thier stuff and feel honest things for each and just basically talk it out?
I think catagory romance lives for moments of credible suprise - in constant battles to stop predictability editors love these little suprises. I'm torn right down the middle. Securely on the fense, so I'm going to let you guys decide and I'm going to take a nap...
October 14, 2011
Everyone's a critic
Me included. When the drunk writers get together, we talk about books we've read, what we liked about them and what we didn't. We are critical, but I like to think we mostly focus on what we loved, rather than what didn't work. I read several review sites on a regular basis and most of the time the reviews are well thought out and lacking in personal bias.
And as writers, I think we all understand, that the decision to publish is partly putting your work into the world and getting that feedback, good and bad, and hopefully finding a way to mine the useful from the bad. I do honestly think it's part of the process of writing to publish.
But then sometimes I want to whine, why does no one understand how hard it is? I read a review today that basically said, book was OK, but not great. And my first thought was how does a writer absorb that? And I know it's not a reviewers job to tell us how to fix our books, but seriously, where do you go with that?
Writing is hard work, coupled with a ridiculous self-awareness of the words we put on the page, and throw in a little magic for good measure. It takes equal measure working everyday and being absorbed into the work, and finding other outlets to inspire creativity. As a critic I can easily see the great when I'm reading, but as a writer what takes the good to great feels magical.
And that's my whine for today. Great is really freakin' difficult and so for today, I'm celebrating the good books, because those authors are one little measure of magic away from great, and who knows, maybe it will happen in the next book.
And as writers, I think we all understand, that the decision to publish is partly putting your work into the world and getting that feedback, good and bad, and hopefully finding a way to mine the useful from the bad. I do honestly think it's part of the process of writing to publish.
But then sometimes I want to whine, why does no one understand how hard it is? I read a review today that basically said, book was OK, but not great. And my first thought was how does a writer absorb that? And I know it's not a reviewers job to tell us how to fix our books, but seriously, where do you go with that?
Writing is hard work, coupled with a ridiculous self-awareness of the words we put on the page, and throw in a little magic for good measure. It takes equal measure working everyday and being absorbed into the work, and finding other outlets to inspire creativity. As a critic I can easily see the great when I'm reading, but as a writer what takes the good to great feels magical.
And that's my whine for today. Great is really freakin' difficult and so for today, I'm celebrating the good books, because those authors are one little measure of magic away from great, and who knows, maybe it will happen in the next book.
October 13, 2011
Would you rather...
I was struggling for a topic today and we played this game at lunch yesterday so I thought I would bring it to the people.
The trick is you have to pick one or the other for the REST OF YOUR LIFE... So choose carefully.
Would you rather...
Be able to eat chocolate or cheese... for the rest of your life!
Ice cream or Cake - (this includes cupcakes as determined by the lunch table ruling)
Hot dogs or Hamburgers
Potatoes (any form) or Pasta
And since this is a writing blog...
Your favorite genre or all other books!
Classic novels or current bestsellers
Would you rather...
Write or read... (I'm still thinking about my answer to this one!)
The trick is you have to pick one or the other for the REST OF YOUR LIFE... So choose carefully.
Would you rather...
Be able to eat chocolate or cheese... for the rest of your life!
Ice cream or Cake - (this includes cupcakes as determined by the lunch table ruling)
Hot dogs or Hamburgers
Potatoes (any form) or Pasta
And since this is a writing blog...
Your favorite genre or all other books!
Classic novels or current bestsellers
Would you rather...
Write or read... (I'm still thinking about my answer to this one!)
October 12, 2011
Page Turner -- Compliment or Insult?
Before I started writing, I was a bit of a literary snob. Well, in truth, I think I was a wanna-be literary snob. (Maybe that's worse: a literary snob poser.)
While I was still in school (high school and university) I read mostly popular fiction for recreation--as opposed to the books I was required to read for class--many of which I enjoyed, too.
I read voraciously in high school but don't remember too many titles/authors, but I do remember Sidney Sheldon and Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins and Jaqueline Susanne... I think I read an article in which someone dubbed that genre/style of book from the 70s/80s as "glitz or glamor fiction". Precursors to romance, perhaps? Maybe. I think if there had been such a thing as single title romance when I was in high school, that's what I would have been reading, or would have been reading, too. I also remember reading multiple books by James Michener and Andrew Greeley...
So, while I was in school, my recreational reading tastes definitely skewed "popular" or "commercial" versus "literary". Then after I graduated, I read mostly what I considered to be more high-brow fiction than I'd read in my teens. This started when, on a beach vacation right after graduating, I was bored. Used to reading all day while I was studying I didn't know what to do with myself on a beach--one can only consume so many pina coladas, even at age 23--and I found Robertson Davies' Fifth Business in a used bookstore at the resort. I recognized the title, having seen it on shelves in my high school, and thought I'd give it a try. I was hooked and read through everything he ever wrote. Then I set out to read "more books like that" -- whatever "that" meant. I read a bunch of classics that I hadn't read (or barely read) at school... And also bought and read a lot of new at the time fiction...
But although I considered my reading tastes at the time to skew in the literary direction, looking back to the decade or so after school, I mostly bought and read books that got table placement in big chain bookstores -- so probably defacto the more commercial books in the literary genre.
As a Canadian living in the US at the time, I also made a point to read a lot of Canlit, and I suppose I also read books that other people were talking about -- award winners, great reviews in big magazines etc. And I have to say that the vast majority of those books were exceedingly readable. Some favorite authors from that period of my life include Anne Tyler, Robertson Davies, John Irving, Jane Urquart, Carol Shields, Tom Robbins, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice... I sure I'm missing a lot; I'm doing this off the top of my head.
But because all these authors' books were incredibly readable and "page turners" for me, I get annoyed at some genre fiction writers/readers when they talk about literary fiction as if it's all boring, impenetrable and lacking in story. That was not my experience. I do agree that some literary writers could benefit from learning to plot... but not all literary books lack story. And some that lack story more than make up for it with voice and with tension/conflict. (Like Michael Chabon's first novel, Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Molly and I were talking about it on Sunday night...)
And so it never occurred to me that "page turner" might be ever levied as an insult. Even most of these so-called literary novels (at least the ones I finished--grin) kept me turning pages. I mean, isn't turning the pages what ANY author wants readers to do? Yes, some books are faster reads than others, but all great books, IMHO, are page turners by default. Even if each page takes slightly longer to read in some books... each page should still make you want to turn immediately to the next one.
Call me a slow learner, but only recently have I started to realize that some people consider the term page turner to be an insult (in the same ilk as "trash" or "bodice ripper" or "pulp".) It implies that if a book reads quickly it must also be bad or poorly written or not worthy of any kind of merit.
I do *not* like it when someone refers to my work as trash or fluff or pulp or formulaic... To me, words like that diminish all the hard work I put into writing a novel. But call it a beach read or a page turner or an airplane read and I'll kiss you. :) To me those terms reflect the hard work I put in, rather than negate it.
So why would anyone consider them insults? Color me confused.
While I was still in school (high school and university) I read mostly popular fiction for recreation--as opposed to the books I was required to read for class--many of which I enjoyed, too.
I read voraciously in high school but don't remember too many titles/authors, but I do remember Sidney Sheldon and Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins and Jaqueline Susanne... I think I read an article in which someone dubbed that genre/style of book from the 70s/80s as "glitz or glamor fiction". Precursors to romance, perhaps? Maybe. I think if there had been such a thing as single title romance when I was in high school, that's what I would have been reading, or would have been reading, too. I also remember reading multiple books by James Michener and Andrew Greeley...
So, while I was in school, my recreational reading tastes definitely skewed "popular" or "commercial" versus "literary". Then after I graduated, I read mostly what I considered to be more high-brow fiction than I'd read in my teens. This started when, on a beach vacation right after graduating, I was bored. Used to reading all day while I was studying I didn't know what to do with myself on a beach--one can only consume so many pina coladas, even at age 23--and I found Robertson Davies' Fifth Business in a used bookstore at the resort. I recognized the title, having seen it on shelves in my high school, and thought I'd give it a try. I was hooked and read through everything he ever wrote. Then I set out to read "more books like that" -- whatever "that" meant. I read a bunch of classics that I hadn't read (or barely read) at school... And also bought and read a lot of new at the time fiction...
But although I considered my reading tastes at the time to skew in the literary direction, looking back to the decade or so after school, I mostly bought and read books that got table placement in big chain bookstores -- so probably defacto the more commercial books in the literary genre.
As a Canadian living in the US at the time, I also made a point to read a lot of Canlit, and I suppose I also read books that other people were talking about -- award winners, great reviews in big magazines etc. And I have to say that the vast majority of those books were exceedingly readable. Some favorite authors from that period of my life include Anne Tyler, Robertson Davies, John Irving, Jane Urquart, Carol Shields, Tom Robbins, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice... I sure I'm missing a lot; I'm doing this off the top of my head.
But because all these authors' books were incredibly readable and "page turners" for me, I get annoyed at some genre fiction writers/readers when they talk about literary fiction as if it's all boring, impenetrable and lacking in story. That was not my experience. I do agree that some literary writers could benefit from learning to plot... but not all literary books lack story. And some that lack story more than make up for it with voice and with tension/conflict. (Like Michael Chabon's first novel, Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Molly and I were talking about it on Sunday night...)
And so it never occurred to me that "page turner" might be ever levied as an insult. Even most of these so-called literary novels (at least the ones I finished--grin) kept me turning pages. I mean, isn't turning the pages what ANY author wants readers to do? Yes, some books are faster reads than others, but all great books, IMHO, are page turners by default. Even if each page takes slightly longer to read in some books... each page should still make you want to turn immediately to the next one.
Call me a slow learner, but only recently have I started to realize that some people consider the term page turner to be an insult (in the same ilk as "trash" or "bodice ripper" or "pulp".) It implies that if a book reads quickly it must also be bad or poorly written or not worthy of any kind of merit.
I do *not* like it when someone refers to my work as trash or fluff or pulp or formulaic... To me, words like that diminish all the hard work I put into writing a novel. But call it a beach read or a page turner or an airplane read and I'll kiss you. :) To me those terms reflect the hard work I put in, rather than negate it.
So why would anyone consider them insults? Color me confused.
October 10, 2011
Jonathan Franzen
I went to hear Jonathan Franzen speak on Saturday night. I went with some buddies from the best ever bookclub (word to the BDBC!!!). Not everyone wanted to go because several people still hate The Corrections with a passion. I hadn't read that one, but had really liked a lot of things about Freedom. Not the super bad sex scene(s). Not the bazillion pages about mountain top removal. I loved the characters, particularly Patti. I wanted to jump into the book and be her friend when she needed one.
Franzen was way more charming than I expected and significantly more handsome, too. He had this fantastic grin. He'd get lost in something or digress down some little rabbit hole, realize it and then look up and flash this fantastic smile and I found myself forgiving that whole ugly Oprah thing.
I so wish I had brought a notebook with me, though. He'd say things and I really felt like I needed to really look at them and decide what I thought about them, but then he was already talking about something else and I didn't have time. Of course, it appears I might have a chance since I saw a deal in Pub Lunch today for a book of essays from him one of which has the same title as the talk he gave.
Anyway he had this list of things he considered his enemies when writing a book and I'm pretty sure he did at least two of the things on the list in Freedom and I thought, well, well, well, people in glass houses shouldn't introduce pots to kettles. Just as I was about to start to feel somewhat smug, though, I started to wonder how many things I hate in other people's books I might do in my own and opted to cancel the self-righteousness for the moment.
One thing I couldn't quite stop myself from laughing out loud about, though, was when he was talking about writing The Corrections. At one point, he said he'd been working on one character for about a year and at the end of the year had 30 pages written. THIRTY PAGES!!!!!!! Jumpin' Jehosophat! That's not even a page a week. Can you imagine an active romance writer producing 30 pages in a year! Thumb your nose at our mechanistic plotting (yes, he said that, but not just about romance writers. He said it about all genre fiction writers.), at least we get the words on the page.
Has there been an author you've heard speak that defied your expectations? Or met them? Who?
Franzen was way more charming than I expected and significantly more handsome, too. He had this fantastic grin. He'd get lost in something or digress down some little rabbit hole, realize it and then look up and flash this fantastic smile and I found myself forgiving that whole ugly Oprah thing.
I so wish I had brought a notebook with me, though. He'd say things and I really felt like I needed to really look at them and decide what I thought about them, but then he was already talking about something else and I didn't have time. Of course, it appears I might have a chance since I saw a deal in Pub Lunch today for a book of essays from him one of which has the same title as the talk he gave.
Anyway he had this list of things he considered his enemies when writing a book and I'm pretty sure he did at least two of the things on the list in Freedom and I thought, well, well, well, people in glass houses shouldn't introduce pots to kettles. Just as I was about to start to feel somewhat smug, though, I started to wonder how many things I hate in other people's books I might do in my own and opted to cancel the self-righteousness for the moment.
One thing I couldn't quite stop myself from laughing out loud about, though, was when he was talking about writing The Corrections. At one point, he said he'd been working on one character for about a year and at the end of the year had 30 pages written. THIRTY PAGES!!!!!!! Jumpin' Jehosophat! That's not even a page a week. Can you imagine an active romance writer producing 30 pages in a year! Thumb your nose at our mechanistic plotting (yes, he said that, but not just about romance writers. He said it about all genre fiction writers.), at least we get the words on the page.
Has there been an author you've heard speak that defied your expectations? Or met them? Who?
I'm HOME!!!!
After six weeks in a camper, six thousand miles up and down and back and forth across New Zealand, five days in Fiji, a lost book, and what had to be one of the worst ten hour flights of all time -- we are home.
It took us about a year to plan this trip, and it seemed to go by so fast every day was quite literally full of adventure and fun and melt downs and pinot noir and rain and gorgeous vistas, hikes and runs and octopus and amazing food and and now, home since tuesday, it feels like it happened a year ago. Maybe to another person. That's the nature of vacations, I guess, they don't linger.
I also love how different this vacation was from what I expected. I actually expected to WORK. Like I was going to sit in a camper and write a few thousand words. Hilarious. I also thought I was going to do a lot of reading. That was pretty much a no, too. Too tired to read, perhaps a bit too drunk. I made up for that in Fiji - The Autumn of Jacob De Zoet - AMAZING BOOK!
So, what I'm saying is that I didn't read and I didn't write for six weeks. This vacation was a like a vacation from who I usually am. I listened to sports radio - with interest. I watched a lot of Rugby. This is not me. After the initial excitement of the New Zealand RWA conference - wonderful conference. Wonderful group of woman, so warm and welcoming - there wasn't even any writing talk. Or movie talk. Or book talk.
But now, I am looking at Thursday (my first day back at the office with Maureen) with serious trepidation. I'm going to be rusty. it's going to be ugly. But I am so glad to be home, so glad to get back to work. I know it's going to be ugly and I can't wait.
It took us about a year to plan this trip, and it seemed to go by so fast every day was quite literally full of adventure and fun and melt downs and pinot noir and rain and gorgeous vistas, hikes and runs and octopus and amazing food and and now, home since tuesday, it feels like it happened a year ago. Maybe to another person. That's the nature of vacations, I guess, they don't linger.
I also love how different this vacation was from what I expected. I actually expected to WORK. Like I was going to sit in a camper and write a few thousand words. Hilarious. I also thought I was going to do a lot of reading. That was pretty much a no, too. Too tired to read, perhaps a bit too drunk. I made up for that in Fiji - The Autumn of Jacob De Zoet - AMAZING BOOK!
So, what I'm saying is that I didn't read and I didn't write for six weeks. This vacation was a like a vacation from who I usually am. I listened to sports radio - with interest. I watched a lot of Rugby. This is not me. After the initial excitement of the New Zealand RWA conference - wonderful conference. Wonderful group of woman, so warm and welcoming - there wasn't even any writing talk. Or movie talk. Or book talk.
But now, I am looking at Thursday (my first day back at the office with Maureen) with serious trepidation. I'm going to be rusty. it's going to be ugly. But I am so glad to be home, so glad to get back to work. I know it's going to be ugly and I can't wait.
October 7, 2011
My ideal vacation
Ever since I've read Stephanie's post, I've been fantasizing about a vacation of my own. And as it's all I've been able to think about, it's what I'm going to blog about.
So here it is, my ideal vacation.
1) Somewhere hot, a gorgeous hotel, a pool and a lounge chair for during the day.
2) the drunk writers, because we have books to plot and by the pool is the ideal location for plotting new books.
3) time to write, quiet computer time to actually put into words what we've been working on during plot group.
4) books. The perfect mix, two great YA reads, a historical romance, a great contemp and perhaps a mainstream fiction.
5) the first season of Friday Night Lights, because I've wanted to re-watch it for a year now.
6) drinks... goes without saying, I guess.
7) A great movie in there. I would love to see Moneyball, or 50/50.
8) Sleep... lots and lots of sleep
9) more drinks.
there you go, my perfect vacation in a nutshell. Anyone else want to escape, maybe to Vegas?
So here it is, my ideal vacation.
1) Somewhere hot, a gorgeous hotel, a pool and a lounge chair for during the day.
2) the drunk writers, because we have books to plot and by the pool is the ideal location for plotting new books.
3) time to write, quiet computer time to actually put into words what we've been working on during plot group.
4) books. The perfect mix, two great YA reads, a historical romance, a great contemp and perhaps a mainstream fiction.
5) the first season of Friday Night Lights, because I've wanted to re-watch it for a year now.
6) drinks... goes without saying, I guess.
7) A great movie in there. I would love to see Moneyball, or 50/50.
8) Sleep... lots and lots of sleep
9) more drinks.
there you go, my perfect vacation in a nutshell. Anyone else want to escape, maybe to Vegas?
October 6, 2011
Best Vacation Ever!
I have been on vacation now for what will be four days today. I didn't go anywhere. I didn't have to catch a flight. I didn't have to pack. I didn't have to set up care for the kitties.
Instead, I planned to have a back room carpeted. I needed to add an electrical socket to a wall. I wanted to organize my shoes. I wanted to get rid of all my old T-shirts which no longer fit and have stains on them. And of course I found time for a pedicure.
I also wanted to write. I had a new book to start and this was the perfect week to just sit down and start cranking out pages. So far forty pages in four days. Right on track.
Every time I think I couldn't do this full time I have one of these amazingly productive and relaxing weeks and wonder. Now my career being what it is, I have no choice but to work and write. But I used to think even if someday I hit it big I would still want to work in my office.
As a single person with no kids I always imagined the solitary lifestyle would get to me. But after four days, six if you count the weekend, with only the workers who've come to the house to chat with and my cats naturally, I am in bliss.
Maybe I'm part hermit. All I know that having the day to write and think about writing and organize things – which I compulsively love to do – it's been heaven.
Now if the Phillies could win the World Series… well that's just icing on the top.
Instead, I planned to have a back room carpeted. I needed to add an electrical socket to a wall. I wanted to organize my shoes. I wanted to get rid of all my old T-shirts which no longer fit and have stains on them. And of course I found time for a pedicure.
I also wanted to write. I had a new book to start and this was the perfect week to just sit down and start cranking out pages. So far forty pages in four days. Right on track.
Every time I think I couldn't do this full time I have one of these amazingly productive and relaxing weeks and wonder. Now my career being what it is, I have no choice but to work and write. But I used to think even if someday I hit it big I would still want to work in my office.
As a single person with no kids I always imagined the solitary lifestyle would get to me. But after four days, six if you count the weekend, with only the workers who've come to the house to chat with and my cats naturally, I am in bliss.
Maybe I'm part hermit. All I know that having the day to write and think about writing and organize things – which I compulsively love to do – it's been heaven.
Now if the Phillies could win the World Series… well that's just icing on the top.
October 4, 2011
Did you like it?
While I was at TIFF this year, I got asked this question a lot by people in lines (one tends to spend as much time in lines for movies as in actual movies at the festival) and I realized it's not an easy question to answer about some books and movies. For me, movies (perhaps more than books) can be really great, and I can even say that I loved them, but not really be able to say that I liked them...
There are certainly lots of movies I've been riveted by and/or felt like I really got something out of, but that I can't say I "liked". Some stories are simply too difficult to like depending on the subject matter or style or whatever.
Here are some examples of movies I've seen in the past year or two that I would recommend to others, or that really affected me in some way, but that I can't possibly apply the "like" word to:
Shame (talked about that one here)
Meek's Crossing (a very bleak and quiet film I saw at the 2010 festival, staring Michelle Williams about a group of pioneers in a wagon train totally lost in the desert on the way to California and running out of food and water fast)
Rabbit Hole (a really great film with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckart playing parents mourning the loss of their four year old son)
Thirteen (not a film I saw at the festival, but one that will scare the crap out of any parent of a young girl, or basically anyone who knows or ever was a young girl.)
Hard Candy (just jumped to mind. First time I ever saw Ellen Page and she is no Juno in this movie...)
Beautiful Boy (a movie Molly and I saw together at the 2010 TIFF -- poor Molly, I picked her some tough films -- that was about an almost divorced couple coping with their son having done something horrific. Similar plot to this year's TIFF film We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I didn't see, but I'm sure I will when it comes out.)
Elles (A French film I saw this year, starring Juliette Binoche, about a journalist interviewing young student prostitutes for Elle magazine and then having a sexual awakening of sorts of her own)
Drive (The Ryan Gosling film about a stunt car driver who drives getaway cars for crimes on the side and gets caught up in some bad (and very violent) business because of a (married) girl. A lot to "like" about this film--Ryan Gosling for one--but ultimately too violent and bleak to apply the term "like" to, I think. But I was enthralled and would acutally see this one again.)
Irreversable (This one's not so recent, from 2002, but it immediately sprang to mind as I was thinking about "difficult" films I'm glad I saw but couldn't say I "liked".)
I'm sure I'll think of more movies from this year's TIFF tomorrow. Or moments after I press Publish on this post.
Interestingly, I can't think of any books to add to the list right now. Perhaps because I typically don't finish books I'm not "liking". Oh, maybe I could put Lolita on the list. Admired certain things about that book, but most definitely did not like it. Oh, and Sons and Lovers (I'm going back to high school English class now. Detested that book -- I'm convinced that D.H. Lawrence hated women), but kind of loved it, too.)
How about you? Any books or movies you kind of loved but really can't like?
There are certainly lots of movies I've been riveted by and/or felt like I really got something out of, but that I can't say I "liked". Some stories are simply too difficult to like depending on the subject matter or style or whatever.
Here are some examples of movies I've seen in the past year or two that I would recommend to others, or that really affected me in some way, but that I can't possibly apply the "like" word to:
Shame (talked about that one here)
Meek's Crossing (a very bleak and quiet film I saw at the 2010 festival, staring Michelle Williams about a group of pioneers in a wagon train totally lost in the desert on the way to California and running out of food and water fast)
Rabbit Hole (a really great film with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckart playing parents mourning the loss of their four year old son)
Thirteen (not a film I saw at the festival, but one that will scare the crap out of any parent of a young girl, or basically anyone who knows or ever was a young girl.)
Hard Candy (just jumped to mind. First time I ever saw Ellen Page and she is no Juno in this movie...)
Beautiful Boy (a movie Molly and I saw together at the 2010 TIFF -- poor Molly, I picked her some tough films -- that was about an almost divorced couple coping with their son having done something horrific. Similar plot to this year's TIFF film We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I didn't see, but I'm sure I will when it comes out.)
Elles (A French film I saw this year, starring Juliette Binoche, about a journalist interviewing young student prostitutes for Elle magazine and then having a sexual awakening of sorts of her own)
Drive (The Ryan Gosling film about a stunt car driver who drives getaway cars for crimes on the side and gets caught up in some bad (and very violent) business because of a (married) girl. A lot to "like" about this film--Ryan Gosling for one--but ultimately too violent and bleak to apply the term "like" to, I think. But I was enthralled and would acutally see this one again.)
Irreversable (This one's not so recent, from 2002, but it immediately sprang to mind as I was thinking about "difficult" films I'm glad I saw but couldn't say I "liked".)
I'm sure I'll think of more movies from this year's TIFF tomorrow. Or moments after I press Publish on this post.
Interestingly, I can't think of any books to add to the list right now. Perhaps because I typically don't finish books I'm not "liking". Oh, maybe I could put Lolita on the list. Admired certain things about that book, but most definitely did not like it. Oh, and Sons and Lovers (I'm going back to high school English class now. Detested that book -- I'm convinced that D.H. Lawrence hated women), but kind of loved it, too.)
How about you? Any books or movies you kind of loved but really can't like?
