Today's quotation comes from one of my best-loved books: Ann Brashares' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The other night, during a much needed break from studying, my mom decided that she wanted us to rewatch the second Pants movie (2008). I am personally not a fan of these two films. The acting is great, but the storyline decidedly falls pretty flat when held up in comparison to Brashares' original work. Plus, they called the second film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Really? 2? I guess that was the best possible title for this shambled together film, which is, in fact, comprised of mixed up bits and pieces from each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Pants novels; this bothers me to no end.
And now for my actual point, although, if you've read this blog before, you may be used to the occasional literature/film-based ramble. The books are still amazing. I thought I'd reread the first one just to prove to myself that there was actually a strong foundation, despite how the movies turned out (in my opinion). So I did. I read the first one in a day and a half in between studying for two exams. Then I read the second. Then the third. This was all in all very irresponsible of me, but luckily I think I still managed to ace those two exams. Today is the day after my final fiiiinal exam (it was three hours, three essays, three texts per essay, MODERNISM dun dun duuun) and I'm well into the 4th and final novel. My pace has slowed, and I'm not entirely sure if it's the knowledge that I actually have more time to enjoy the book now, or I've horribly made myself completely sick of the series. I'm hoping it's not the latter.
Like the characters in the novel, my blog-life seems set to be marked by summers. This was never particularly planned, as I did try to carry on with it for a little while into the beginning of the school term, waaaay back in September. Well, I've got plenty of time now, so hopefully you're ready to read! This reminds me that I also have quite the line-up for reading myself this summer, so I'm sure you'll be encountering more book reviews on here, as well as the oft seen OOTDs and FOTDs. There isn't a picture to go with this post, not because I no longer like clothes/shopping/etc. but simply because I'm getting my hair cut on Sunday and I'd prefer to wait until I look a little more like myself (or what I feel myself looks like) again before posting.
I've honestly been going back and forth about cutting my hair since November. Yikes! It's just around shoulder-length now--long enough that I've started to appreciate its presence--but the thing is, I only really enjoy it because I can put it back in a ponytail. After all, wouldn't having it short effectively do the same thing? I mainly just like having my hair away from my face, so I feel like in the end it will be getting cut quite short once more.
I'm glancing back up at what I've written thus far and am impressed by how much I've put down (negative? positive?). It's surprising, but comfortable to see that I'm still able to do this after so many months. Anyway, as always, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see from me this time around. Any books I should read? Let me know your own opinions on the Pants series! I'm genuinely curious! Films I should see? One last note relating to this: I am so crazy excited for "The Great Gatsby" to come out next month! I'm also wearing my Great Gatsby shirt which feels way too cool to be dorky.
Talk to you again soon!
-C
Showing posts with label Fitzgerald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fitzgerald. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
The delusion that it was bright hot morning
The quotation I've used today comes from a novel I read a little while ago now; Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. Now, it being bright hot morning (well, afternoon actually, but near enough!) when I took these OOTD pictures was not in fact a delusion, but rather a harsh, humid reality. Looking at these images, you're likely going to think the only delusion going on is whichever one I had in my head that convinced me to wear a scarf wrapped nearly thrice around my neck in the middle of summer. I don't really have a great answer for that, except that it is quite a light-weight scarf, so I wasn't completely boiling.
It was actually quite a lovely day today, so I ventured out to the library (yay!) to return my Faulkner novel and James short stories. In their place I am now in possession of the novel The Shadow of the Sun by A.S. Byatt. I've never read anything by Byatt before, and actually never intended to read this particular novel. I became aware of this author through my favourite novel, The Time Traveler's Wife. Texts that make reference to other works are really great sources when you're trying to find new material; I already knew how much I loved Niffenegger's novel so I figured the outside quotations she worked in were worth checking out. By the way, The Shadow of the Sun isn't the book I was aiming for. I'm hoping to get my hands on Possession (also by Byatt), but all of the copies are out. . . and have holds on them for when they're returned. I decided getting something else out by the same author would at least give me a chance to test-drive her work while I wait.
In the interest of continuing to forge ahead con il mio italiano, I picked up three Italian films as well. They are: "Il Generale della Rovere" directed by Roberto Rossellini, "Don Giovanni" directed by Carlos Saura, and "Il Deserto Rosso" directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. If you're interested in foreign films (which I think everyone really ought to be), keep checking back to my blog. I'll be putting up reviews as I watch these films, so hopefully I can give you a couple of new recommendations!
Do you look internationally when selecting movies or literature? If you live outside of North America, are there any great films from your country that you would like to tell me about? Provided I can find them online or in a library, I will happily check them out!
-C
P.S. I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with this OOTD and include a couple of coral pieces. The mustardy-yellow of my top is another of my favourite colours, and putting these two together was, I think, a happy accident!
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| Scarf: Calvin Klein via TJMaxx; Watch: Fossil |
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| Top: Forever 21; Skirt: Tommy Hilfiger; Shoes: Enzo Angiolini via TJMaxx |
In the interest of continuing to forge ahead con il mio italiano, I picked up three Italian films as well. They are: "Il Generale della Rovere" directed by Roberto Rossellini, "Don Giovanni" directed by Carlos Saura, and "Il Deserto Rosso" directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. If you're interested in foreign films (which I think everyone really ought to be), keep checking back to my blog. I'll be putting up reviews as I watch these films, so hopefully I can give you a couple of new recommendations!
Do you look internationally when selecting movies or literature? If you live outside of North America, are there any great films from your country that you would like to tell me about? Provided I can find them online or in a library, I will happily check them out!
-C
P.S. I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with this OOTD and include a couple of coral pieces. The mustardy-yellow of my top is another of my favourite colours, and putting these two together was, I think, a happy accident!
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Shaking hands with an empty glove
Today's paraphrased titular quotation comes from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel Tender is the Night. When I was beginning to compile a summer reading list for myself, I immediately jotted down many of those novels considered to be literary classics (which is how I saddled myself with the immensely long Vanity Fair. . . see previous post). These will not only be useful for me in my English lit courses, but are really important reads, I think, for anyone with a desire to comprehend a language, history, culture, and general style.
Tender is the Night made it onto my list straight away. You may wonder, why pick this over, say, The Great Gatsby? Well, I have to tell you, I have nothing against ol' Gatsby. In fact, I love that book very much, although this feeling of acceptance didn't come until my second time through it. I'm all for a good zeitgeisty tale of romance, parties, and a few too many silk shirts, but I was deceived by the story's shortness. It's easy, especially with a whirlwind of a story like The Great Gatsby, to be sucked in, tossed around by the wealth and the parties, and emerge at the end of the book slightly worse for wear and not knowing quite how you got there. Psychological depth is what makes Fitzgerald books tick, and moving on from my first experience with him, I was once again ready for the feelings of tension and desperation that his stories inspire.
Enter Tender is the Night. This is definitely one you'll keep puzzling your way through once you've put it down. Before starting this novel, I watched the 2011 film "A Dangerous Method" which depicts an early case study of Freudian psychoanalysis. Watching and reading these works at a close interval was not something I planned ahead of time, but it did provide some interesting context for Tender is the Night. I would say the central element of the story is the sanity of, not just the clinically unstable Nicole, but also of her husband Dick Diver. This is the kind of novel that helps you to see people as they present themselves in public and private and insists on keeping you wondering who they really are and how they'll get along once you leave them behind on the final page. Both Tender is the Night and "A Dangerous Method" examine doctor-patient relationships in the field of mental illness and demonstrate over and over that these are distinctions not set in stone.
To return to the title of this post, I felt that this particular quotation (and this is a pro-tip people: "quote" is only a verb, "quotation" is the term you apply to the line you're citing) was another good example of what it feels like to be a novice blogger. The character in Tender is the Night who feels that he is "shaking hands with a glove from which the hand had been withdrawn," is a man who initially refuses to conform, but seems to do so solely to annoy others and because someone ought to. He experiences this empty-gloved sensation during a party at which he attempts to foist his impertinences on others but must eventually concede that he's fighting an uphill battle. Annoying random strangers is not the point of this post, so let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I more identify with this quotation because, to me, it speaks to the difficulty one experiences when trying to get into anything new. It's a bit sloppy and awkward at first, but I keep trying to edge my hand a bit further into the glove.
-C
Tender is the Night made it onto my list straight away. You may wonder, why pick this over, say, The Great Gatsby? Well, I have to tell you, I have nothing against ol' Gatsby. In fact, I love that book very much, although this feeling of acceptance didn't come until my second time through it. I'm all for a good zeitgeisty tale of romance, parties, and a few too many silk shirts, but I was deceived by the story's shortness. It's easy, especially with a whirlwind of a story like The Great Gatsby, to be sucked in, tossed around by the wealth and the parties, and emerge at the end of the book slightly worse for wear and not knowing quite how you got there. Psychological depth is what makes Fitzgerald books tick, and moving on from my first experience with him, I was once again ready for the feelings of tension and desperation that his stories inspire.
Enter Tender is the Night. This is definitely one you'll keep puzzling your way through once you've put it down. Before starting this novel, I watched the 2011 film "A Dangerous Method" which depicts an early case study of Freudian psychoanalysis. Watching and reading these works at a close interval was not something I planned ahead of time, but it did provide some interesting context for Tender is the Night. I would say the central element of the story is the sanity of, not just the clinically unstable Nicole, but also of her husband Dick Diver. This is the kind of novel that helps you to see people as they present themselves in public and private and insists on keeping you wondering who they really are and how they'll get along once you leave them behind on the final page. Both Tender is the Night and "A Dangerous Method" examine doctor-patient relationships in the field of mental illness and demonstrate over and over that these are distinctions not set in stone.
To return to the title of this post, I felt that this particular quotation (and this is a pro-tip people: "quote" is only a verb, "quotation" is the term you apply to the line you're citing) was another good example of what it feels like to be a novice blogger. The character in Tender is the Night who feels that he is "shaking hands with a glove from which the hand had been withdrawn," is a man who initially refuses to conform, but seems to do so solely to annoy others and because someone ought to. He experiences this empty-gloved sensation during a party at which he attempts to foist his impertinences on others but must eventually concede that he's fighting an uphill battle. Annoying random strangers is not the point of this post, so let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I more identify with this quotation because, to me, it speaks to the difficulty one experiences when trying to get into anything new. It's a bit sloppy and awkward at first, but I keep trying to edge my hand a bit further into the glove.
-C
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