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Sailor & Lula
Lula Pace Fortune e Sailor Ripley hanno vent'anni e stanno per riabbracciarsi. Sailor ha scontato due anni in un carcere di detenzione del North Carolina con l'accusa di omicidio preterintenzionale. Ha ucciso Bob Ray Lemon, un imbecille che dava del filo da torcere a Lula, ma senza volerlo. Ha agito d'istinto, per senso di protezione, è stato un incidente. Avrebbe fatto qualsiasi cosa per lei, e così è andata. Ora Lula è a bordo di una Bonneville decappottabile bianca del '75, e attende Sailor per portarlo via. Al diavolo la libertà vigilata, sfileranno alla volta della California per ingannare la legge e una madre nevrotica che non approva, con la voglia di passare insieme il resto della vita. Si fermeranno presto, troppo presto, appena in Texas, per un guasto alla macchina, e da quel momento non ci sarà tregua perché "è un vero melodramma, Sailor. Come Romeo e Giulietta, solo che non muore nessuno". La saga completa di Sailor&Lula si apre così, come un romanzo d'avventura che carambola nel noir più torbido e di malaffare non appena la rete di eventi si scioglie in un susseguirsi di colpi terribili, spari, imboscate, ritorsioni. È una corsa senza fine che assomiglia a una vera persecuzione, è un viaggio on the road prima di scoprire che in fondo il sogno americano è diventato il peggiore degli incubi.
778 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2015
32 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Barry Gifford
145 books205 followersBarry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
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March 27, 2017So, since this is an omnibus I’ll write a few words about each book as I go along. More as a note to self, cause my brain is like a collander and I want to remember what my thoughts were on each book individually.
Wild at Heart: 4.2 stars
Now it’s been ages since I saw the David Lynch movie, but I remember it as a fun romp filled with cartoonish violence, weird humour and a fairytale-like (Wizard of Oz, was it?) plot. The book is none of that, except for the weird humour, I guess.
I’d call it a romantic roadtrip story. But is it romantic, really? Maybe more like a parody on romance, since none of the characters really believe in romance, not in the conventional sense anyway. Other than that, its a complete talkfest all the way trough. Cause Sailor and Lula they sure do like to talk. It amazes me that Barry Gifford can make simple dialog sound so weird, funny and interesting. Topics such as: wich brand of cigarettes is the best?,competing in a singing contest or the meaning of dreams are all treated as equally important. That's probably because in the eyes of Sailor and Lula they are. There’s a lot of pop culture references and a real sense of place too. I never been to the South, never been to the U.S. even. But when it’s written with such passion, I like to live in it for a while. And here the writing makes me imagine it all so vividly: sleazy juke joints that play John Lee Hooker (the whole book should come with a soundtrack cd full of Southern Soul and Blues all mentioned here) and serve cheap cokes or beer, sun-blackened roads with no chance at a spot of shade, gas stations out in the middle of nowhere and towns so small life almost stops to exist (now that last one I DO know alot about. I live in such a shithole myself, kinda). Only thing I didn’t like was So yeah, thats it. Cool stuff. My next rant should be shorter....
Perdita Durango: 4 stars
Seems like Gifford was influenced by Lynch his Wild At Heart movie a lot on this one. The story still feels talky and random – especially in the beginning, where it can feel a bit slow – but it's also way more violent, darker with a lot of humour. There are some inside jokes for those who read Wild At Heart, but I'm sure it could work as a standalone story for those who didn't. Kinda noirish roadtrip: there's alot of murder, over-the-top violence, rape and weird voodoo stuff going on. You are not supposed to root for those horrible people, but in some instances I can't help but cheering them on. Other moments you will be disgusted with them. There's a thin border. While I'm sure this isn't supposed to be campy, it feels like it. Just a fun read, with some sly social critique and morals thrown in. When it gets going it's nearly unstoppable, it just takes a while to get there. Don't give up...
I see there's a movie too. I like the newer stuff from Álex de la Iglesia (Balada Triste de Trompeta is awesome). So I'm excited to see how this turns out.
Sailor’s Holiday: 2.8 stars
This one's a hard one to rate. Started out very chaotic and uninteresting. Storylines all over the place and none of them particulary good. There's some okay Marietta-Dal interaction (Dal's awesome), some Lula and Pace, some Mr. Santos, some Perdita. The fun picks up when Too late? I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, for this time only. If the next stories are equally uneven or worse.......well, let's see.
Sultans of Africa 3.5 stars
Come a couple of years later and Pace is 15, this time it's his story. A good story at that, A similiar crime and humour themed one like Perdita Durango was, with a little slice of life thrown in. Moves really fast, cool and pulpy. Pace trying to commit a crime and getting in trouble for it. He's one of those awful boys that likes to spoil movies though, so if you haven't seen Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (you really should, it's awesome) watch out for slight spoilers.
The side stories are less interesting, with a weak "Lula visits mama plot" and Sailor and Bobby Lee having Gator trouble, I guess. I'm sure Perdita is going to show up in full in a later story. I hope Sailor and her will meet again. Or Lula, so we can have a proper catfight.
Gifford goes to town with his character names here, wich is awesome. So, we have: Smokey Joe, Reverend Plenty, Mary Full-of-Grace and Jaloux Marron. Ok, keep on drinking that stuff making you so weird, Gifford. Please do!
Consuelo’s Kiss 1.5 stars(slight spoilers)
Marietta now lives with both Santos en Johnnie. Lula and Sailor take a trip to Memphis to see Graceland, while their story intertwines with hitchhiker Consuelo. All too scathered, too boring, too NOTHING. Meh...
Bad Day for the Leopard Man 2 stars
This was a little better. Atleast it had a clear narrative. Still, there's nothing to really tell anymore. At this point you keep hoping it will be as good as it was before. It really isn't.
The Imagination of the Heart 1.5 stars
back to being more boring again. Call it a nostalgia trip between Beany and Lulu, mostly. There's ofcourse some funny (tv news) stories, as always. Gifford seems too shocked by the NOLA hurricane an there's way more bible quotes thrown in there than normal.
Conclusion:
The Wild at Heart and Perdita Durango stories were awesome. So distinctively weird, talkative, and with a real sense of place. Sorta middle ground between crime pulp, talkfest humour, over-the-top violence and roadtrips. Gifford should've known when to quit: all the stories after that were unnecessary and boring, except for Sultans of Africa, in wich he shortly peaked again.
Maybe I will update this review again for the movie comparisons. Won't rate it, since I rated it seperately as 3 novels. Wich is not entirely correct, but it comes close enough.
Wild at Heart: 4.2 stars
Now it’s been ages since I saw the David Lynch movie, but I remember it as a fun romp filled with cartoonish violence, weird humour and a fairytale-like (Wizard of Oz, was it?) plot. The book is none of that, except for the weird humour, I guess.
I’d call it a romantic roadtrip story. But is it romantic, really? Maybe more like a parody on romance, since none of the characters really believe in romance, not in the conventional sense anyway. Other than that, its a complete talkfest all the way trough. Cause Sailor and Lula they sure do like to talk. It amazes me that Barry Gifford can make simple dialog sound so weird, funny and interesting. Topics such as: wich brand of cigarettes is the best?,competing in a singing contest or the meaning of dreams are all treated as equally important. That's probably because in the eyes of Sailor and Lula they are. There’s a lot of pop culture references and a real sense of place too. I never been to the South, never been to the U.S. even. But when it’s written with such passion, I like to live in it for a while. And here the writing makes me imagine it all so vividly: sleazy juke joints that play John Lee Hooker (the whole book should come with a soundtrack cd full of Southern Soul and Blues all mentioned here) and serve cheap cokes or beer, sun-blackened roads with no chance at a spot of shade, gas stations out in the middle of nowhere and towns so small life almost stops to exist (now that last one I DO know alot about. I live in such a shithole myself, kinda). Only thing I didn’t like was So yeah, thats it. Cool stuff. My next rant should be shorter....
Perdita Durango: 4 stars
Seems like Gifford was influenced by Lynch his Wild At Heart movie a lot on this one. The story still feels talky and random – especially in the beginning, where it can feel a bit slow – but it's also way more violent, darker with a lot of humour. There are some inside jokes for those who read Wild At Heart, but I'm sure it could work as a standalone story for those who didn't. Kinda noirish roadtrip: there's alot of murder, over-the-top violence, rape and weird voodoo stuff going on. You are not supposed to root for those horrible people, but in some instances I can't help but cheering them on. Other moments you will be disgusted with them. There's a thin border. While I'm sure this isn't supposed to be campy, it feels like it. Just a fun read, with some sly social critique and morals thrown in. When it gets going it's nearly unstoppable, it just takes a while to get there. Don't give up...
I see there's a movie too. I like the newer stuff from Álex de la Iglesia (Balada Triste de Trompeta is awesome). So I'm excited to see how this turns out.
Sailor’s Holiday: 2.8 stars
This one's a hard one to rate. Started out very chaotic and uninteresting. Storylines all over the place and none of them particulary good. There's some okay Marietta-Dal interaction (Dal's awesome), some Lula and Pace, some Mr. Santos, some Perdita. The fun picks up when Too late? I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, for this time only. If the next stories are equally uneven or worse.......well, let's see.
Sultans of Africa 3.5 stars
Come a couple of years later and Pace is 15, this time it's his story. A good story at that, A similiar crime and humour themed one like Perdita Durango was, with a little slice of life thrown in. Moves really fast, cool and pulpy. Pace trying to commit a crime and getting in trouble for it. He's one of those awful boys that likes to spoil movies though, so if you haven't seen Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (you really should, it's awesome) watch out for slight spoilers.
The side stories are less interesting, with a weak "Lula visits mama plot" and Sailor and Bobby Lee having Gator trouble, I guess. I'm sure Perdita is going to show up in full in a later story. I hope Sailor and her will meet again. Or Lula, so we can have a proper catfight.
Gifford goes to town with his character names here, wich is awesome. So, we have: Smokey Joe, Reverend Plenty, Mary Full-of-Grace and Jaloux Marron. Ok, keep on drinking that stuff making you so weird, Gifford. Please do!
Consuelo’s Kiss 1.5 stars(slight spoilers)
Marietta now lives with both Santos en Johnnie. Lula and Sailor take a trip to Memphis to see Graceland, while their story intertwines with hitchhiker Consuelo. All too scathered, too boring, too NOTHING. Meh...
Bad Day for the Leopard Man 2 stars
This was a little better. Atleast it had a clear narrative. Still, there's nothing to really tell anymore. At this point you keep hoping it will be as good as it was before. It really isn't.
The Imagination of the Heart 1.5 stars
back to being more boring again. Call it a nostalgia trip between Beany and Lulu, mostly. There's ofcourse some funny (tv news) stories, as always. Gifford seems too shocked by the NOLA hurricane an there's way more bible quotes thrown in there than normal.
Conclusion:
The Wild at Heart and Perdita Durango stories were awesome. So distinctively weird, talkative, and with a real sense of place. Sorta middle ground between crime pulp, talkfest humour, over-the-top violence and roadtrips. Gifford should've known when to quit: all the stories after that were unnecessary and boring, except for Sultans of Africa, in wich he shortly peaked again.
Maybe I will update this review again for the movie comparisons. Won't rate it, since I rated it seperately as 3 novels. Wich is not entirely correct, but it comes close enough.
May 24, 2015
La saga di Sailor e Lula è composta da sette romanzi brevi. Nel primo, dal titolo Cuori selvaggi, si iniziano a conoscere i due protagonisti, appena maggiorenni, di cui si seguono le vicende fino alla vecchiaia, narrata nell’ultimo episodio della saga dal titolo L’ostinazione del cuore.
Il primo episodio potremmo assimilarlo ad una storia “on the road” con un finale noir. Sailor e Lula iniziano un viaggio in auto senza una meta precisa e con pochi soldi in tasca. La loro intenzione sarebbe quella di fermarsi di tanto in tanto lungo la strada, svolgere qualche lavoro che possa loro consentire di riprendere il viaggio e continuare fino a quando non saranno stanchi o troveranno un luogo particolarmente piacevole dove stabilirsi.
Continua su
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
Il primo episodio potremmo assimilarlo ad una storia “on the road” con un finale noir. Sailor e Lula iniziano un viaggio in auto senza una meta precisa e con pochi soldi in tasca. La loro intenzione sarebbe quella di fermarsi di tanto in tanto lungo la strada, svolgere qualche lavoro che possa loro consentire di riprendere il viaggio e continuare fino a quando non saranno stanchi o troveranno un luogo particolarmente piacevole dove stabilirsi.
Continua su
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
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