a.k.a. “Cuirt an Mhean Oiche” by Brian Merriman.
A bawdy Irish poem. Lots of fun.
(By the way, Ciaran Carson is an accomplished poet in his own right, as well.)
Sci Fi/Fantasy: “A Feast for Crows” by George R.R. Martin
Book 4 of “A Song for Fire and Ice”.
I had forgotten how great this series is (let’s see, I read Book 3 in…2003, woah). As with other fantasy series of similiar ilk, there are many, many storylines with a whole cacophony of important players. There’s sure to be at least one or two characters you’re interested in following. I am loving Arya’s storyline the most, although I do have a soft spot for the Kingslayer. (Don’t you picture him as a strapping gent, like Mads Mikkelsen or Heath Ledger…)
My other mainstay fantasy series has hit a rough patch given that Robert Jordan died recently without completing it… I’m sure there are bereft readers all over the world on that one! I hope there are no worries on that count here!
Fiction: “Ludmilla’s Broken English” by DBC Pierre
Two divergent storylines that eventually come together: a) conjoined twins (now separated) experiencing freedom from institutions for the first time and b) a Russian peasant girl at sea in a world of poverty and war.
Slapstick and comedic. I continue to be impressed by Pierre’s ability to write for ANY voice: this is a complete departure from his previous (Booker-prize winning), and very dialectic, Vernon God Little. Not a departure, however, in its brusque, harsh humor. I enjoyed it.
Fueling the Celebrity Obsession
- KC re-upped my subscription to US Weekly for the new year. (I have to keep track of my celebrity boyfriends somehow!)
- Whatever you think of her and Tom Cruise’s marriage, the photos of Katie Holmes in the recent InStyle (you know, the one with her on the cover) are gorgeous. Her new hair has been photoed fugly elsewhere but it looks lovely as here, as well as the dresses they put her in.
- And as for Julia Roberts in Vanity Fair, I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the pictures but I did really enjoy some of the things she said. Seems she’s really just hit a sweet spot where she’s happy and things are great and I loved some of the quotes and ideas she’s thinking about. “I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t like.”
- Julia talks for a moment about Natalie Portman, who herself recently did an InStyle cover/article, which gives a link to a great charity organization, Shoe 4 Africa. I’ll be shipping them my old tennies whenever I buy new ones (shipping info at the link) considering when I buy new ones because the old ones are “too worn out to wear to the gym anymore b/c the support is gone” they are still fine to be “worn” just not to the gym!
Duff at the Movies 2007
- The Painted Veil (1/1)
- Deja Vu (1/6)
- Children of Men (1/13)
- Pan’s Labyrinth (1/19) – spanish
- Dreamgirls (1/20)
- Inland Empire (1/27)
- Catch and Release (2/3)
- Music and Lyrics (2/18)
- Blood Diamond (2/27)
- The Lives of Others (3/8) – german
- Zodiac (3/15)
- The Last King of Scotland (3/19)
- A Shot in the Dark (3/22) – portuguese
- The Lookout (4/1)
- Grindhouse (5/2)
- Away from Her (5/17)
- Waitress (5/22)
- Paris Je T’Aime (6/1)
- Hot Fuzz (6/3)
- Knocked Up (6/9)
- Helvetica (6/16)
- Once (6/23)
- A Mighty Heart (6/29)
- 28 Weeks Later (7/1)
- Pirates 3 (7/3)
- Oceans 13 (7/3)
- La Vie en Rose (7/4) – francais
- Evening (7/5)
- Sunshine (7/22)
- Stardust (8/26)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (9/2)
- Transformers (9/2)
- 3:10 to Yuma (9/8)
- In the Valley of Elah (9/16)
- The Kingdom (9/29)
- Eastern Promises (9/29)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (10/5)
- The Walker (10/6 – Chicago Film Festival)
- Blackout (10/7 – Chicago Film Festival)
- Silent Light (10/9 – Chicago Film Festival)
- Surveillance (10/10 – Chicago Film Festival)
- Jump! (10/12 – Chicago Film Festival)
- We Own the Night (10/14)
- Control (10/16 – Chicago Film Festival)
- Michael Clayton (10/19)
- Punishment Park (11/7 – 1970s, dir by Peter Watkins)
- Walkabout (11/8 – 1970s, dir by Nicolas Roeg)
- American Gangster (11/11)
- Gone Baby Gone (11/20)
- No Country for Old Men (11/21)
- I’m Not There (11/23)
- Margot at the Wedding (11/25)
- Dan in Real Life (12/1)
- I Am Legend (12/15)
- Juno (12/18)
- Charlie Wilson’s War (12/27)
- Sweeney Todd (12/30)
Books Read in 2007
- The Zero, by Jess Walter (1/4)
- 12 Edmondstone Street, by David Malouf (memoir)(1/7)
- Blameless in Abaddon, by James Morrow (1/10)
- Great Black Kanba, by Constance & Gwenyth Little (1/11)
- They Call Me Naughty Lolita: The London Review of Books Personal Ads, edited by David Rose (humorous nonfiction) (1/12)
- Beasts of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala (1/17)
- The Eternal Footman, by James Morrow (1/30)
- The Guermantes Way, by Marcel Proust (Bk 3 of the new Penguin translation) (3/8)
- Black Cat, by Martyn Beford (3/10)
- Who Killed the Curate?, a Christmas mystery, by Joan Coggin (3/10)
- The Quarry, by Damon Galgut (3/12)
- Black Juice, by Margo Lanagan (3/15)
- Late Wife, by Claudia Emerson (Poetry) (3/15)
- The Post-Birthday World, by Lionel Shriver (3/27)
- Winter’s Bone, by Daniel Woodrell (3/29)
- She Got Up Off the Couch, and Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana, by Haven Kimmel (memoir) (4/1)
- The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman (4/2)
- Tea on the Blue Sofa, by Natasha IllumBerg (4/3)
- Magic’s Child, (Magic or Madness: Book III) by Justine Larbalestier (4/6)
- Death of a Writer, by Michael Collins (4/22)
- Chainfire (Sword of Truth Bk 10, Chainfire Bk 1), by Terry Goodkind (4/30)
- Wizard’s First Rule (Sword of Truth Bk 1), by Terry Goodkind (5/6)
- The End of Mr. Y, by Scarlett Thomas (5/11)
- The Submerged Cathedral, by Charlotte Wood (5/15)
- When I Was a Loser, True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School, edited by John McNally (5/21)
- Love Is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield (5/23)
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon (5/28)
- Killing Pablo, by Mark Bowden (5/31)
- Pippa Passes, by Rumer Godden (6/2)
- Kaaterskill Falls, by Allegra Goodman (6/5)
- Single Wife, by Nina Solomon (6/12)
- An Invisible Sign of My Own, by Aimee Bender (6/15)
- Ghosts of Albion: Accursed, by Amber Benson & Christopher Golden (6/19)
- Dead Witch Walking, by Kim Harrison (6/27)
- Freddy and Fredericka, by Mark Helprin (7/3)
- Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs (7/4)
- Blood Bound, by Patricia Briggs (7/5)
- The Interloper, by Antoine Wilson (7/7)
- Blood Trail, by Tanya Huff (7/23) (reread)
- Blood Price, by Tanya Huff (7/24) (reread)
- (two-thirds of) Landor’s Tower, by Iain Sinclair (stopped 7/24)
- Remainder, by Tom McCarthy (7/29)
- The Hard Way, by Lee Child (8/4)
- Risk, by Dick Francis (8/5) (reread)
- Inglorious, by Joanna Kavenna (8/6)
- Taft, by Ann Patchett (8/9)
- The Buffalo Soldier, by Chris Bohjalian (8/10)
- Run, by Ann Patchett (8/18)
- Witchery, a Ghosts of Albion novel, by Amber Benson & Christopher Golden (8/19)
- Seven Types of Ambiguity, by Elliot Perlman (8/21)
- Rain Fall, by Barry Eisler (8/29)
- Indemnity, by Sara Paretsky (8/31)
- Stray, by Rachel Vincent (9/2)
- Day, by A.L. Kennedy (9/6)
- Storm Front, by Jim Butcher (9/14)
- A Three Dog Life, by Abigail Thomas (9/14)
- Don’t Make a Scene, by Valerie Block (9/19)
- Under the Banner of Heaven; A Story of Violent Faith, by Jon Krakauer (9/21)
- Love Walked in, by Marisa de los Santos (9/26)
- The Used World, by Haven Kimmel (10/5)
- Tolstoy Lied, a love story, by Rachel Kadish (10/7)
- The Long Firm, by Jake Arnott (10/13) (reread)
- The Rain Before It Falls, by Jonathan Coe (10/20)
- In the Woods, by Tana French (10/23)
- The Myth of You & Me, by Leah Stewart (10/26)
- Beware of God, by Shalom Auslander (short stories) (10/28)
- A Complicated Kindness, by Miriam Toews (11/1)
- Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (11/2)
- New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer (11/3)
- Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer (11/4)
- A Field Guide to Getting Lost, by Rebecca Solnit (11/6)
- He Kills Coppers, by Jake Arnott (11/12)
- Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work, by Jason Brown (11/16)
- Deal Breaker, by Harlan Coben (11/17)
- The Life of Hunger, by Amelie Nothomb (11/23)
- True Evil, by Greg Iles (12/2)
- Simplify, by Tod Goldberg (12/5)
- Red Spikes, by Margo Lanagan (12/7)
- Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon (12/13)
- Incendiary, by Chris Cleave (12/18)
- The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett (12/19)
- Ludmilla’s Broken English, by DBC Pierre (12/24)
- A Feast for Crows (A Song for Fire & Ice, Book 4), by George R.R. Martin (12/26)
- The Midnight Court, translated by Ciaran Carson (“Cuirt an Mhean Oiche” by Brian Merriman) (12/27)
- Exit Ghost, by Philip Roth (12/29)
Last Minute iTunes Purchases
Buying stuff off other people’s year-end lists for the roadtrip home…
- Dyme Def “Space Music (rap/hip hop from Seattle)
- Mavis Staples “We’ll Never Turn Back” (takes you back)
- The Avett Brothers “Enthusiasm” (twangy poppy fun)
- Hard-Fi “Stars of CCTV” (an older album as I love the new one I got earlier this fall)
- Jay Brannan “Unmastered” (the dude from “Shortbus” if that means anything to you. great sassy lyrics)
- UGK “Underground Kingz (rap)
DVD: Flags of Our Fathers
Some of the “storming the beach” filming was really amazing, although I think it would’ve been better on the big screen.
But the story was a bit scattered. And having that many well known actors popping up in bit parts can be kinda distracting, even though they were good performances.
À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…
Making: Mix CDs. I had ideas of quilting I would do this week, but so far I haven’t done any. So there you go.
Reading: I just finished a book today; I think tomorrow I’m going to start reading “Ludmila’s Broken English” by DBC Pierre (who won the Booker for Vernon God Little a few years back, which I did enjoy). Somehow three books in this month, everything I read had a red spine. So I decided to keep the trend going for the rest of the month. Oh the crazy ways the reading list evolves.
Watching: This week’s K-Ville I enjoyed. Also loved Juno on the big screen. Maybe Beowulf tomorrow? We’ll see.
Listening: I’ve listened to many many things today as I’ve been running around in iTunes listening to samples of lots and lots of stuff. Plus the new Lupe Fiasco that came out yesterday (“The Cool”). Yay! Love Lupe: : Love it. Also bought Kid SimpleSimple Kid (sounds like Beck’s little brother with some Elliott Smith thrown in) and Nick Light (another melancholy boy, singer, songwriter type), and old Siobhan Donaghy since I can’t find the new one yet (Reckless ordered it for me), which is very girly girly pop. Girly pop! Yay! I have to fill the iPod up for the long ride…
Fiction: “Incendiary” by Chris Cleave
Very intense! A stream-of-consciousness letter to Osama (yes the Bin-Laden one) from a (lower?) middle class wife who lost her son & police officer (bomb defuser) husband to a terrorist bomb blowing up an Arsenal/Chelsea match…which she feels even the worse about as she was having sex on their couch with someone she met in a bar (on a “my husband is off defusing a bomb and I am insanely nervous and when I am insanely nervous I go have sex with strangers” evening) when the bomb went off. She winds up going a little crazy and getting involved in some messed up situations, some beyond her control, and throughout it she continues her commentary, directed to Osama.
She starts the novel thinking if she tells him about her sweet, sweet boy that he killed, maybe he’ll just stop bombing things…and ends it in a very different place.
The sentences are long and breathless and meandering (they felt like something Elizabeth Crane or Megan Stielstra would write), the emotions are hot and present and flustered, and it all feels very, very real.
Blew me away, in more ways than one. Wow.
I think some of the social class commentary was perhaps lost on a non-Brit reader; there are a few places where I thought “and I bet THAT adjective is explaining to someone EXACTLY what position she’s found herself in but it’s not something we say here so it’s not really doing that for me.” But that did not denigrate my enjoyment or the content at all.