Leah Scheier's Blog, page 3
November 29, 2009
Review: Revolutionary Road (the novel)
Last summer I watched the preview for the movie and declared that I had no wish to see the film. The two minute clip featured Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio alternately locked in passion or shrieking like lunatics and throwing furniture. It was like a flash forward for the doomed Titanic couple-- if they had actually made it to marriage and stability. This, then, might have been a snapshot of their lives together: broken whiskey glasses, bewildered children, red, sweating faces and thudding, discordant background music-- their fairy-tale ending---if young Leo hadn't drowned in the Atlantic.
Thanks, but no thanks.
So when I saw the novel at a used book sale a few days ago (it was buy five, get the sixth free) I thought, oh, what the heck. Why not?
I read it yesterday in one sitting. There was no putting this one down. It literally had everything that I look for in a novel: Brilliant prose, vivid characters, and a plot line that flowed effortlessly and smoothly towards the climax. One of the reviewers on the intro page had written "a perfect novel" and the description made me cringe a little. It just begs to be contradicted; how can anyone describe a work of art as "perfect?" But really, I must admit that after reading Revolutionary Road, I have to humbly agree with his ambitious praise. It really was a perfect novel.
I suppose now I have to watch the movie.
Thanks, but no thanks.
So when I saw the novel at a used book sale a few days ago (it was buy five, get the sixth free) I thought, oh, what the heck. Why not?
I read it yesterday in one sitting. There was no putting this one down. It literally had everything that I look for in a novel: Brilliant prose, vivid characters, and a plot line that flowed effortlessly and smoothly towards the climax. One of the reviewers on the intro page had written "a perfect novel" and the description made me cringe a little. It just begs to be contradicted; how can anyone describe a work of art as "perfect?" But really, I must admit that after reading Revolutionary Road, I have to humbly agree with his ambitious praise. It really was a perfect novel.
I suppose now I have to watch the movie.
November 15, 2009
Ode to Scrubs
The TV show, not the clothing- although I may write a separate blog post about how much I love that too.
That show was supposed to have ended last year with their seventh season. Actually they've been threatening finales for a while now. But I just discovered that there is an eighth season and that there will eventually be a ninth and then a spin-off. So I borrowed Season 8 and watched about ten episodes-- in a row, yesterday. And they still make me laugh. What I really appreaciate is that Scrubs is a very realistic portrayal of hospital life and the interactions between doctors and patients. (Aside from the random interludes where the entire cast breaks into song---) It's much more realistic than any of the medical drama shows like E.R., Grey's Anatomy, or *shudder* House.
House makes me want to break my TV, actually. Is there a single patient that leaves that horror hospital without getting a brain biopsy? Or about half-a-dozen other reasons to sue the ass off Dr. House (and revoke his license?)
I get artistic license and all that but really it's like watching medicine being practiced on some other planet-- on a weird sadistic planet where a drug-addict is God.
If it wasn't for the great writing and (I admit) great central character (House rocks, even while pissing everyone off) I would never have stuck with that series as long as I did. Also House's character was based on Sherlock Holmes... so, you know... couldn't help myself.
But I'll take Scrubs any day.
Looking forward to their next season.
On my reading list: Just finished Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked. Which, despite the interesting title, is about an album and a washed-up musician, not a nude woman. (Both my daughters have been trying to figure out if Mommy's reading a smutty novel--- and more importantly, what's exactly in such a novel) So---nope, sorry to disappoint.
It's also about musical obsession-- and the shallow people who put artists on a pedestal. I really like Nick Hornby's writing. He has this dark, introspective comic style which I absolutely love. His characters are always vivid, the dialogue natural and easy. I don't think Juliet is his best work-- he'll have to work very hard to top A Long Way Down but I still highly recommend it.
That show was supposed to have ended last year with their seventh season. Actually they've been threatening finales for a while now. But I just discovered that there is an eighth season and that there will eventually be a ninth and then a spin-off. So I borrowed Season 8 and watched about ten episodes-- in a row, yesterday. And they still make me laugh. What I really appreaciate is that Scrubs is a very realistic portrayal of hospital life and the interactions between doctors and patients. (Aside from the random interludes where the entire cast breaks into song---) It's much more realistic than any of the medical drama shows like E.R., Grey's Anatomy, or *shudder* House.
House makes me want to break my TV, actually. Is there a single patient that leaves that horror hospital without getting a brain biopsy? Or about half-a-dozen other reasons to sue the ass off Dr. House (and revoke his license?)
I get artistic license and all that but really it's like watching medicine being practiced on some other planet-- on a weird sadistic planet where a drug-addict is God.
If it wasn't for the great writing and (I admit) great central character (House rocks, even while pissing everyone off) I would never have stuck with that series as long as I did. Also House's character was based on Sherlock Holmes... so, you know... couldn't help myself.
But I'll take Scrubs any day.
Looking forward to their next season.
On my reading list: Just finished Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked. Which, despite the interesting title, is about an album and a washed-up musician, not a nude woman. (Both my daughters have been trying to figure out if Mommy's reading a smutty novel--- and more importantly, what's exactly in such a novel) So---nope, sorry to disappoint.
It's also about musical obsession-- and the shallow people who put artists on a pedestal. I really like Nick Hornby's writing. He has this dark, introspective comic style which I absolutely love. His characters are always vivid, the dialogue natural and easy. I don't think Juliet is his best work-- he'll have to work very hard to top A Long Way Down but I still highly recommend it.
