Apollo, God of the sun and of the morning and, er, mice, gave humanity one piece of advice at his sacred shrine at Delphi: "Know Yourself". 19 hours on a plane will teach you a lot about yourself, perhaps things that you don't want to know. My love of life is suprisingly tenuous and my fear of hijack and diversion to a random airport is not as high as one would expect. I flew from Melbourne to Dublin to do some book readings and since I have done this journey a couple of times before I at least was prepared. I downloaded two movie rentals onto my iPod nano and I brought along 3 books: Michael Chabon's The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (excellent so far), Tony Judt's Reappraisals (ok so far) and thanks to the largesse of Seana Graham, James Ellroy's Blood's A Rover (which I'm saving for the return flight). The iPod films I watched were ones I had seen before as I didn't think I could take the risk on a new movie: Man on Wire and Waltz With Bashir (two favs from last year). On the plane I watched Mr. Brooks, which looked like a good idea but was clearly committee-ed to death by the producers. In order to appeal to America's alleged puritanical streak (just like in cheesy American horror films of the 70's) every person serial killer Kevin Costner kills sort of deserves it because they are sexually open or have a moral weakness; of course we don't get to see the grisliness of these murders or their consequences - it's a cowardly film and was rightly panned when it came out but the worst aspect is a frankly insane subplot with Demi Moore as a detective who early on survives being thrown from a van at 50MPH into another car's windscreen, without even messing up her hair. It's very nice hair, but still......
My neighbour on the flight was a Melburnian woman fluent in Sicilian going to spend the summer with her sister south of Siracusa. I haven't been to Sicily but anyone who's read Thucydides will never forget the disastrous Athenian invasion of Syracuse which destroyed the Athenian Empire and basically led to Athens becoming an occupied city for the next 2400 years. My neighbour told me that the ruins are spectacular and definitely worth visiting and some day I hope to do just that.
...
A final word about Man on Wire. Highly recommended if life's been getting you down lately. You'll say, as Woody Allen says at the end of Hollywood Ending, "thank God for the French."
32 comments:
loved Man on Wire. Interesting to hear your thoughts on Kavalier and Clay, I thought it started very well but oh boy did it go and on.
Ian
I'm no Michael Chabon expert, but I did like The Yiddish Policemen's Union (though that was written in a self conscious noir style). I'm at the bit in Kavalier when they've just thought up the idea for the Escapist and its quite breezy and fun so far. The only bit I haven't completely enjoyed were the scenes with Joe's younger brother Thomas, they were so touching I think it's going to be hard for Chabon to resist having Thomas killed by the Nazis.
Ian, don't tell him how it turns out, because I haven't read that one yet. And no more spoilers from you either, Adrian--even if they're just guesses. Your guessing is too good.
Those long flights are killers--sometimes literally. Don't forget the advice to take an aspirin before you go and walk around as much as humanly possible. Perfectly healthy people do sometimes die of blood clots after a long flight for anyone who hasn't heard this. Sounds like some sort of scary old wives tale, but it happened to someone here which is why I know about it.
I am feeling a bit haunted by the Greek and Roman classics right now, having in the space of twenty four hours had references to Tacitus in the mystery novel I just finished, Plutarch and Suetonius in the talk on the upcoming Shakespeare festival that I attended this evening and now we have Thucidides. Not to mention the god of mice. And that's not even getting into Marco's defense of Heraclitus and Liam's obsession with Cleopatra. I wouldn't complain so much, except it's all been pretty fascinating, and I don't need any more additions to my reading list right now.
Apollo, God of the morning has been very kind to me today. Yesterday we had organized an evening barbecue for our list and supporters. I don't remember drinking so much since my salad days -in addiction to many different wines and rivers of beer, at the end of the meal several rounds of various homemade liqueurs (I had to sample them all, because, er, someone could have taken offence)
I fully expected Bilious, the "Oh, God!" of hangovers this morning, instead I woke up perfectly fresh and clear-headed.
I was about to post a comment identical to Ian's. Fortunately I read his first. I'm curious to see what you think of KAVALIER AND KLAY. (See, Seana? No spoilers from me.)
Safe travels.
I'll be interested in your impressions of Blood's a Rover. It got an excellent review in Publisher's Weekly.
I might miss your reading in Belfast tomorrow evening, but will hopefully get there in time for the signing - I have a US copy of 50G that I bought at No Alibis a while back.
Marco, as you happened to write 'in addiction to many different wines and rivers of beer', I'm not sure that Apollo has left you as clear-headed as you think. But it's nice that he treated you to a penance free morning.
Thank you, Dana. It's really pretty wrong of me not to have read any Chabon yet. He's a San Francisco writer, even, which makes him practically a next door neighbor.
All the word I've heard on Blood's a Rover is that it is great. Admittedly, that's not very many words, sicne it isn't even out yet. But still.
Demi Moore. Say no more.
The shades of the classics haunted me, too. I was reading the Oxford history of Britain, which meant good quotations from Tacitus about his father-in-law, Agricola.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Seana
I think its a bit of cheap trick to make us care about the younger brother of one of the lead characters and then to kill him, but I fear that is exactly what is going to happen, epsecially because he's Jewish and trapped in 1939 Prague. I may be wronger. This book won the Pulitzer Prize so Chabon may have something else in mind. I hope so.
I read a book last week called Blood of the Isles which had an interesting take on Tacitus. It claimed that Tacitus made up the tales of British human sacrifices to justify Rome's campaign and also to sell more copies of his books.
Dana
Hmmm, an ominous note from two people now. You're making me worried. It's been quite fun and cheery so far. Maybe it's good to lower my expectations.
Marco
The worst piece of wisdom I ever got was NEVER MIX THE GRAPE AND THE GRAIN. I think au contraire that thats the way to avoid hangovers. I have a feeling that they metabolise differently in the body and thats why you're doing ok today. Either that or Lord Apollo has taken to a shine to you.
Stuart
I will post a review somewhere next week as I imagine I'll read it in one long sitting.
It'll be great to see ya at Dave's.
Seana
Didnt you say his wife had been into your store?
BTW
I almost forgot, since we're talking James Ellroy. JE loved Stuart Neville's brilliant novel Ghosts of Belfast - available now from all good bookshops.
Peter
She was bad. I think she's been good in other things but she was bad in this.
I'll never forget Tacitus's gleeful description of the massacre of the last Druid redoubt in Wales which the Romans accomplished by swimming the Menai Strait in armour.
Hmm. Maybe Chabon isn't so interested in the element of surprise.
Tacitus definitely sounds as though he would have no problem with being time-transported into our era.
Brunetti, the hero of Donna Leon's crime novels, frequently resorts to writers like Xenophon and Tacitus to relax by after the pressures of dealing with Venetian crime and corruption all the live long day. For some unknown reason, this appeals to me, and one that started out on that note is what finally drew me into reading this series, which I'd had trouble getting interested in before.
His wife reads Henry James, which I also like. I like bookish families, even if they are wholly imaginary.
This revised theory about grapes and grain, although possibly good for my head may ultimately prove to be very bad for my liver I'm thinking.
Yes, Ayelet Waldman came and did a reading just this spring and you may also recall that I trashed her for her notorious quote about loving her husband better than her children. I actually got in a quarrel with one of my friends about this, but as usual she knew more about it than I did, and apparently Waldman was suffering severe post-partum depression at the time, so mea culpa. By the way, I have no problem with the idea that she does love him more than her children if that's the case,but I do think you have to be careful about what you say in public or in print.
Apparently, she was a very nice person when she came for the reading, and I'm sure she will make up to them whatever trauma she inflicted on their little psyches when she can.
Also, although Stuart's book is out in Europe--and maybe Australia? now, it isn't hitting the U.S. until early fall. I'm looking forward to it.
Seana
Did you ever read Anabasis? Now that's a story. Make a terrific mini series or something on HBO.
She loves him more than her kids? That's a pretty stupid thing to say even under medication or depression. Those poor kids too. Think of the pressure. I hope they've got a happy go lucky uncle who's a complete failure at everything.
Peter
I used to feel about Demi Moore the way I used to feel about Jennifer Connolly - I could watch those eyebrows in anything. But, alas, I have changed and now I demand acting and slightly believable line readings.
No Anabasis. I haven't read any of this stuff, except Homer, a tiny bit of Plato, some Roman plays. Stuff like that. Marcus Aurelius, maybe in full. But none of the historians. I know--it's a gap in my knowledge, though far from the only one. That's why I think it's funny that I'm drawn to the idea of a fictional character reading this sort of thing.
As to Ayelet's comment,I thought so when I heard it, but have since realized that I have no idea of the context. Considering that mothers have been known to drown their children in similar states, I suppose they got off pretty mildly.
Oddly, enough I've just spent the morning reading a novel called A Fraction of the Whole by Steven Toltz, which is all about the influence of having a good/bad uncle and a bad/good father. It's clever and entertaining, though whether it can sustain itself through 500 pages remains to be seen. Blasted book group. But at least they didn't choose Gone With the Wind, as my friend's did. Although apparently that's still a pretty good read.
I love the histories.
You should read Herodotus because he's fun and Thucydides because he writes so well and those Syracuse scenes and the Plague scenes in Athens are amazing. Oh and also for Perciles's funeral oration which I wrote a paper on once.
In uni I had to read Livy who I didnt like at all and Plutarch who I liked a little better.
Xenophon wrote a few histories of Socrates which arent that great but Anabasis is terrific - might be a book for boys though like Arrian who I also liked a lot.
Of the Romans I'd go for Suetonius and Tacitus. very diff of course
Thanks for the recs. If Donna Leon can read Xenophon, which I think she must have, I suppose I will get something out of it. I think where I break down on the reading of war histories and novels is the authors start getting into lists of ships and tactical formations of troops and things. As long as there's some dramatic, human incident it should be interesting enough. The Red Badge of Courage, All Quiet on the Western Front, even War and Peace were all still in my realm of interest, although Tolstoy could go on a bit on the war angle, as I recall.
Marco, as you happened to write 'in addiction to many different wines and rivers of beer',
Ha! Admitting you have a problem, albeit unconsciously, is the first step, right?
My Demi Moore moments came in Flawless, a caper movie about which someone was apparently paid to praise Moore's "excellent understated performance" on imdb.
Moore plays an American executive at a London diamond firm (I'm guessing because she could not master the right British accent). And, in a first for me, a performer's makeup detracted from a movie. Moore's old-woman makeup in the opening and closing framing scenes is incompetent to the point of laughability. She does not look like an old woman. She looks like Demi Moore in makeup.
OK, back to the Romans and Greeks. Thucydides reads like 19th- or 20th-century reportage -- amazing stuff. The scholar M.I. Finley suggested that Thucydides was so good a writer and reporter that no one has recognized that he was no historian at all; he was writing about contemporary events, in some of which he had taken part.
And here's an excerpt from Tacitus' Agricola on the Romanization of Britain:
"In order to encourage a truculent population that dwelled in scattered settlements (and thus was only too ready to fall to fighting) to live in a peaceful and inactive manner by offering it the pleasures that would follow on such a way of living, Agricola urged these people privately, and helped them officially, to build temples, public squares with public buildings and private houses. he praised those who responded quickly, and severly crioticized laggards. ... In their inexperience the Britons called it civilzation when it was really all part of their servitude."
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
You know, I can't help thinking that those rustic Brits may have been playing Agricola for a fool. "Oh, show us how to do this, Agricola...So this is how you build a public square, huh? Well, I never..." Just a little grumbling and a little pitchfork waving and they had a whole new public works project. It's better than lobbyists.
Marco, as you know, I'm only here to help.
Adrian: On the subject of great films, I want to recommend to you the finest documentary I have seen in the last 10 years. It's called "Mail-Order Wife," and you'll know you've got the right film when you note that Jose Canseco is the top-billed person in the movie. DO NOT (take my advice here, or severely cut your pleasure in experiencing this film!) read anything about this film, and don't watch it with anyone who's seen it before. This is just a lovely thing, sublime and fine. Perfect for flying with or watching any time you have a spare 90 minutes.
Seana, you could be right (and, parenthetically, I would love to live in a peaceful and inactive manner), but the Romans never needed much convincing to build public works. They'd put up a forum or a basilica at the drop of a hat.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Yeah, and I'm probably wrong, but it would be nice to think that the locals had hoodwinked the empire for once in a great while.
What I'll have to look into is the extent to which Tacitus' implied criticism of imperial policy would have earned him official displeasure. What occupying force admits that it's enslaving the occupied?
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
And what occupying force would even know that they weren't just God's (or the gods) gift to those they occupied? And it's not all black and white for the occupied either. I thought that the second book of Irene Nimorovsky's Suite Francais was particularly insightful on this.
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