Another Oscar for Jackson?

flipp525
Laureate
Posts: 6163
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 7:44 am

Post by flipp525 »

"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
atomicage
Graduate
Posts: 183
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:01 am

Post by atomicage »

flipp525 wrote:I think kaytodd's review of The Lovely Bones is completely on point.
Absolutely. Everything he mentioned, I felt the same way. Unlike Akash, I would not degrade the novel to "high school diary" quality; at the same time, though, I wouldn't necessary call it "art" either. That word means so many different things to so many different people, and I don't want to go into that. :D
Akash
Professor
Posts: 2037
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:34 am

Post by Akash »

Well...at least we're disagreeing again Flipp. It was getting weird there for a while :p
flipp525
Laureate
Posts: 6163
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 7:44 am

Post by flipp525 »

I think kaytodd's review of The Lovely Bones is completely on point.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Akash
Professor
Posts: 2037
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:34 am

Post by Akash »

atomicage wrote:I immediately got the idea of Oscar in my mind...it will definitely be a huge contender next year. Just you wait.

Akash, hate to disagree, but every single person (including myself) who has read the book has loved it.


Neither of these sentiments makes the book any more worthy.

It's typical American excess masquerading as art. Tell your life story without any nuances or interesting turns of phrases etc! It's like the Jewel and Alanis approach to songwriting -- high school diary entries that pass as poetry.

Steph mentioned The End of the Affair -- now THERE'S something artful. I couldn't agree more! I came to Graham Greene late and am still making my way through his novels, but the doomed love traingle of Maurice/Sarah/God is among the most indelible things you will ever experience in a novel.

Steph and Damien -- get a room! :p




Edited By Akash on 1196369382
Steph2
Assistant
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:11 am

Post by Steph2 »

Damien my dear, this is so cool. I completely agree with you about Graham Greene. The End of the Affair is the loveliest novel I've ever read. Right down to its spiritual angst, the futility of inveighing against a Creator (is He an active Narrator or a passive Reader?) whose very existence is legitimized in the process. There's so much truth in Green's work, I'm humbled every time I read him.

Ah, another Columbia grad huh? School rivalries say we're supposed to hate you but don't worry I don't. Since I didn't get into Yale, I hate them more. lol.

I grew up in West Hartford and I was there for Thanksgiving with my family. I still have a fondness for my blue state, even if sensibilities are largely provincial. This weekend I'm taking the Metro North to New Haven to meet an old friend at Yale, and I get to meet Aakash too!

Haven't been to San Francisco or Seattle yet but I have been to Paris and I love it! It's my favorite city in the world. Well, thus far anyway.

LOL at the Hardy reference. God is there any author more depressing? By the end of that novel I wanted to trade places with Tess. The Polanksi film version is pretty good though.
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Steph2 wrote:Damien, I began my undergrad at Tisch but grew to hate it, so I transfered this year (my junior year) to the college. The books I referred to are stuffy 19th century British novels, which okay, I know it was the height of the novel, but I'd much rather be reading a new Sontag essay, or a Graham Geene novel, or finishing my Dorothy Parker short story collection.

Did you go to NYU by any chance? I know you mentioned in another post (I think) that you live in New York. I'm originally from Connecticut and I love New York. I want to stay here after I graduate.

Wow Steph, so many cool connections.

Graham Greene is my favorite author; no one else comes even close to speaking to me the way he does.

I grew up in Connecticut (New Milford in Litchfield County).

I went to Columbia for undergrad, but went to NYU for Law School. (I practiced law for two years but got to the point where I'd go to bed and dreaded waking up, so I knew it wasn't for me lol).

I came to Columbia in 1973, and have lived in New York -- which I adore, and am proud to have come to at the time which according to popular lore, she was at her lowest point -- and have been here ever since, except for one year in which I lived in L.A. (which I like, and could live in if I had to but would prefer not to have to -- the only cities I could really see living in besides New York are San Francisco, Seattle and Paris).

By the way, those stuffy 19th century novels will serve you well for making pity cultural references in the future, LOL. (eg "Oh God, my day was so D'Urbevilles-esque!").




Edited By Damien on 1196321563
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Steph2
Assistant
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:11 am

Post by Steph2 »

Damien, I began my undergrad at Tisch but grew to hate it, so I transfered this year (my junior year) to the college. The books I referred to are stuffy 19th century British novels, which okay, I know it was the height of the novel, but I'd much rather be reading a new Sontag essay, or a Graham Geene novel, or finishing my Dorothy Parker short story collection.

Did you go to NYU by any chance? I know you mentioned in another post (I think) that you live in New York. I'm originally from Connecticut and I love New York. I want to stay here after I graduate.
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Steph2 wrote:I haven't read it yet but I will as soon as finals are over. Oh god, I can't wait to have the time to read books I actually want to read!
What books have you been reading for school? I forget, Steph, are you in Film School at NYU or in the college and taking film classes?

Johnny Guitar, who hasn't been around here lately, matriculated from NYU in 2005 and is now taking graduate courses.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
kaytodd
Assistant
Posts: 847
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2003 10:16 pm
Location: New Orleans

Post by kaytodd »

I also thought The Lovely Bones was a wonderful book. I marveled at how Sebold was unflinching at presenting the horror of Susie's fate without being sensational or gratuitous. It seemed just right to me. Similarly, Susie's family and the people at her school and her neighborhood are good decent people and her childhood seemed so happy that it hurt me that she was taken from that world. I could understand Susie's not wanting to let that world go. But Sebold was, IMO (I know a lot readers disagree with me), able to just avoid mawkishness in presenting Susie's world. Susie's family, friends and neighbors seem very realistic to me. There is a precision to the details Sebold provides about these people and their world that made this story work. Considering the subject matter, it was an amazing achievement for a first time novelist.

I think we will be happy with what Jackson does with this book. The man who made Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners should make an interesting film from this story. I am looking forward to see how he creates Susie's Heaven and the spirits that live there as well as the scene when Susie escapes from the scene of her murder to her Heaven.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Steph2
Assistant
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:11 am

Post by Steph2 »

I haven't read it yet but I will as soon as finals are over. Oh god, I can't wait to have the time to read books I actually want to read!
atomicage
Graduate
Posts: 183
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:01 am

Post by atomicage »

I have actually been following this book's adaptation for a while, and when I heard that Peter Jackson was buying it up, I immediately got the idea of Oscar in my mind. If he does this half as well as he has the ability to, it will definitely be a huge contender next year. Just you wait.

Akash, hate to disagree, but every single person (including myself) who has read the book has loved it. And yes, that review was (censored for children) harsh.
Akash
Professor
Posts: 2037
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:34 am

Post by Akash »

flipp525 wrote:but I'm glad that Mark Wahlberg has stepped in. He's really grown as an actor and I think he has the maturity now to pull this role off.
Here we agree. It's been fun and rewarding watching Marky Mark mature from sex symbol to sex symbol with charisma and limited acting ability. I don't mean limited here as a negative at all -- in a certain kind of role, he can steal the show. I still think he should have won the Oscar for The Departed.
flipp525
Laureate
Posts: 6163
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 7:44 am

Post by flipp525 »

Akash wrote:I hated the book and I think Sebold is a pretentious self-involved author.

Wow. I think Sebold was working out a lot of personal demons from her own rape through the writing The Lovely Bones which makes reading the book, on the whole, a richer, more authentic experience. And I have yet to meet a writer who wasn't self-involved. Your mileage may vary, of course.

While Ryan Gosling would've been great, I'm glad that Mark Wahlberg has stepped in. He's really grown as an actor and I think he has the maturity now to pull this role off. Judging from the Atonement scenes I've seen, Saoirse Ronan clearly has the acting chops to play the role of Susie Salmon.




Edited By flipp525 on 1202698909
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Akash
Professor
Posts: 2037
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:34 am

Post by Akash »

I hated the book and I think Sebold is a pretentious self-involved author.

Although the NY Times review of her new book was just BRUTAL. Even for me.
Post Reply

Return to “2008”