tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post4302183449157552982..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: All Limbo's Clamorbill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-47357055995580342122008-12-19T08:20:00.000-05:002008-12-19T08:20:00.000-05:00I loved the film No Country for Old Men...LOVED it...I loved the film <B>No Country for Old Men</B>...<I>LOVED</I> it. And I honestly don't understand why fans of the book wouldn't agree. That's as faithful an adaptation as anyone could ask for, while still being its own thing. What didn't they like about it?<BR/><BR/>I'm skeptical of <B>The Road</B> too (the film, I mean), but while I liked the book, I was bowled over by it, so I have a bit less invested in this film. I want it to be good, and I'm definitely looking forward to it, but, for instance, the number of big names in the cast -- in what I guess will be essentially cameo roles -- seems like a bad move to me.<BR/><BR/>PS - I'm going to punch you in the mouth.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-66415810899297090742008-12-19T01:07:00.000-05:002008-12-19T01:07:00.000-05:00I don't know if I ever heard your opinion on if No...I don't know if I ever heard your opinion on if <B>No Country</B> was done well in respect to the book.<BR/><BR/>I'm one who stands in the corner of keeping both separate, but the three people in my family that read the book, and LOVED it, were all disappointed by the film. And I know my dad is skeptical of <B>The Road</B> adaptation, and I think he might have liked that book more than <B>No Country</B>.<BR/><BR/>It's interesting to hear about McCarthy's career that preceded <B>All The Pretty Horses</B>. Honestly, I had no idea he was righting in the 60's<BR/><BR/><I>P.S. I Love You</I>... HA! <BR/><BR/>p.s. I love you.Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067136509248849744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-60347704331045819902008-12-18T08:17:00.000-05:002008-12-18T08:17:00.000-05:00Fox, it's sort of impossible for me to say if McCa...Fox, it's sort of impossible for me to say if McCarthy will ever be regarded in the same league as Faulkner and Hemingway, etc., but I would say that he has as good a chance of that kind of legacy as any other American writer alive today. I think he has a much better claim to it, in fact, than, say, Mailer (who I know isn't alive, but his death was recent, and I have a feeling his reputation will wane in the coming decades). One of the things working in McCarthy's favor is his timelessness -- even though his books are set in recognizable periods of history (more or less), part of his point is that the horrible things he writes about have always happened, and will always happen.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I think McCarthy deserves that legacy. I like him more than Faulkner, myself.<BR/><BR/>As for <B>Blood Meridian</B>, I think that just about any so-called "unfilmable" novel is actually filmable. The question in this case is whether anyone has the balls to film <I>and then release uncut</I> an accurate version of the novel. There are moments -- and you'll know what I'm referring to -- in <B>Blood Meridian</B> that I seriously doubt anyone will want to put on screen, and I can't really blame them. At the same time, however, those moments are essential. So if you're not going to go full out, then why bother? Plus, realizing the character of the Judge as described is nearly impossible. Not literally impossible, but nearly.<BR/><BR/>So I think <B>Blood Meridian</B> is technically filmable, but I have my doubts that any of the filmmakers who have so far had their hands on it have been fully aware of the task ahead of them. I think some of them eventually have realized it, and that's why they're not on deck to make the film anymore.<BR/><BR/>In his review of <B>The Proposition</B>, Roger Ebert said that film made him believe that adapting <B>Blood Meridian</B> was possible. Come on. <B>The Proposition</B> is a violent film, and very McCarthy-esque, but compared to <B>Blood Meridian</B> it's <B>P.S. I Love You</B>.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-29050121625093992812008-12-18T00:10:00.000-05:002008-12-18T00:10:00.000-05:00Bill-Sorry to get rememdial on you (rememdial as i...Bill-<BR/><BR/>Sorry to get rememdial on you (rememdial as in I know almost nothing about fiction) but since you read a lot of fiction I will probably be throwing a lot of "big" questions your way out of curiousity.<BR/><BR/>So...<BR/><BR/>Where do you rank Cormac McCarthy among contemporary AND past American fiction writers? You don't have to give me an actual ranking, but is he, say, considered to be on par with a Hemingway or Faulkner? Maybe not NOW, but do you think he will end up with that type of legacy? And lastly, for today, do you think Blood Meridian (the only book of his I've read) is filmable?<BR/><BR/>p.s. I understand if some of these questions are to broad or unanswerable, but when I am curious about something I know little about I get a little overzealous.Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067136509248849744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-71922728505283928122008-12-17T11:58:00.000-05:002008-12-17T11:58:00.000-05:00Seems to me a sentence like that is written not so...<I>Seems to me a sentence like that is written not so much to be comprehended but felt.</I><BR/><BR/>Yeah, Rick, you're probably right. But McCarthy has a tendency to blindside you with that kind of thing, and it can sometimes feel like he's briefly disappeared up his own ass. Having said that, though, you do make a good point.<BR/><BR/>Any idea which McCarthy you're going to start with?bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-2503628402825764912008-12-17T11:10:00.000-05:002008-12-17T11:10:00.000-05:00It howled execration up the dim camarine world of ...<I>It howled execration up the dim camarine world of its nativity wail on wail while he lay there gibbering with palsied jawhasps, his hands putting back the night like some witless paraclete beleagured with all limbo's clamor. </I><BR/><BR/>Seems to me a sentence like that is written not so much to be comprehended but felt.<BR/><BR/>I'm going to have to finally pick up a McCarthy, and it's your fault.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-4240665933546114382008-12-16T13:21:00.000-05:002008-12-16T13:21:00.000-05:00Most of my "day books" tend to be genre fiction: ...Most of my "day books" tend to be genre fiction: <B>The Gunfight</B> by Richard Matheson, <B>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</B>, <B>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</B> (barely a full book, even), <B>Fata Morgana</B> by William Kotzwinkle, <B>Sinful Woman</B> by James M. Cain...probably some others, but not many.<BR/><BR/>My theory regarding <B>The Road</B> has nothing, surprisingly, to do with waffles of any kind. It's also not very interesting, but you should still read the book (and McCarthy in general).bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-35017338383494334512008-12-16T13:12:00.000-05:002008-12-16T13:12:00.000-05:00I hate to go with length as an enticement but that...I hate to go with length as an enticement but that's why it was easy to give in with Pynchon. You can read <B>The Crying of Lot 49</B> in a couple of hours. With lunch! I have several "day book" memories actually. That's my term for those times you've read a book in an afternoon. I think my first was <B>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest</B> and my second day book was <B>Slaughterhouse Five</B>. Those two and <B>Lot 49</B> were all read on a Saturday with nothing to do and they kept me interested enough to keep going. My most recent one was <B>Franny and Zoey</B> which was late summer.<BR/><BR/>And my next might as well be <B>The Road</B> so I can get your theory as to why it knocked out so many people. Does your theory have anything to do with waffles? Perhaps, Belgian waffles?Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-74901240859000188152008-12-16T12:26:00.000-05:002008-12-16T12:26:00.000-05:00I'm interested in the film version of The Road, to...I'm interested in the film version of <B>The Road</B>, too, but I'll be honest and say that I'm not really sure why that book knocked over so many people, so completely. I thought it was <I>good</I>, but it's far from the best McCarthy I've read.<BR/><BR/>Actually, I do have my suspicions about why <B>The Road</B> took off the way it did, but I'll keep mum about that, since you haven't read it. And by the way, <B>The Road</B> is about 230 pages, and goes by fast. You could easily read it in a weekend.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-46927301904905674692008-12-16T12:18:00.000-05:002008-12-16T12:18:00.000-05:00I've never read this so I can't really comment on ...I've never read this so I can't really comment on it (actually I've never read any McCarthy). He's one of those authors like Pynchon or Roth that you hear so much about you get annoyed and purposely avoid them because <I>everybody</I> is reading them. However, when I finally read Pynchon and Roth I did like their works so perhaps I'll give in to the popularity wave with McCarthy and read him too. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, even though I haven't read his works yet I'm still very excited about the film adaptation of <B>The Road</B>. When I start with McCarthy that's the first one I'm reading.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.com