Unreleased.

*** The Adjustment Bureau. Entertaining, fun to think about, nice hats.
*** Cranford. Disappointing, actually. We watch a lot of period miniseries around here, and this has a terrific cast etc etc, but it ended up being only pretty good. A lot of it was episodic, without getting us that interested in the characters.
*** Modern Family. Funny, well-written. Completely throwaway but enjoyable.
** Glee. There are some great moments, but overall it’s kind of dumb.
*** Rashomon. Classic, but far from my favorite Kurosawa.

*** P.G. Wodehouse – The Works of P.G. Wodehouse

Seriously, all I did from late April until early June, books-wise, was plow through this gigantic Wodehouse tome (thank god I didn’t have to carry it around on actual paper). I spent a solid 5-6 weeks on it and am still only 30% finished, and I read fairly quickly. I gave it up not because I didn’t like it but because dear lord that’s a lot of Wodehouse. So, recommended. Now, everyone knows that the jewel in Wodehouse’s crown is Jeeves and Wooster, and this is mostly stuff that isn’t quite that good. On the other hand there are some real gems hidden in this collection. For all their good qualities, the Jeeves books are fundamentally static comedies. Like a sitcom, whatever situation is set up at the beginning in order for hilarity to ensue must be resolved by the end with everything basically back to how it was when it all started. In other words, neither Jeeves nor Bertie ever grows or changes as a character. There is essentially no character development, no growth or change; and so there’s a limit to how compelling these people can be in the long run. Now, I think every piece of Wodehouse I’ve ever read has been of the light comedy type, but there were several in here that involved actual character complexity and development that I really enjoyed. I’ll be returning to this later.

** The Fifth Element
*** The Bourne Identity

People love this movie but I still have no real idea why. Gary Oldman being crazy and trying to make some kind of deal with a giant expanding ball of evil is amusing, but the whole movie is so sort of formulaic and cheezy and Chris Tucker is actively annoying (and let’s not even get into the skin-crawling horror that is that blue cheezy eurotrance/opera singer). I think some people believe the movie is intended to be cheezy and campy and that’s why it’s so good, but eff those people. It still alternates between formulaically entertaining and annoying, which isn’t good enough for me

The Bourne Identity was a nice thriller-type thing, held up okay on second viewing.

In the last 24 hours: pickled cabbage, pickled green beans, vietnamese grilled pork, homemade banh mi, grilled chicken wings, chicken stock. Was going to make rice paper too, but maybe tomorrow.

*** Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Flanders Panel
** Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Sun over Breda
*** Philip K. Dick – 11 Science Fiction Stories by Philip K. Dick
*** David Foster Wallace – Oblivion

I actually saw the horrible movie version of The Flanders Panel. It was horrible, though you do get to see Kate Beckinsale’s boobs. The book was significantly better, in that it was entertaining though immediately forgettable. Breda is another of Perez-Reverte’s “Captain Alatriste” books. I liked the first one a lot; this one less so. There’s a lot of “war is miserable” stuff in it, which I usually don’t particularly mind, but this book just didn’t connect for me. I’ll probably keep reading Perez-Reverte and Alatriste if I’m in the mood for entertaining adventure books; he’s generally pretty good.

Hey, old short stories by Philip K. Dick. They were entertaining at the time, though mostly not particularly memorable. I often find “golden age” science fiction a little strange to read because it’s so distinctly of its time in some ways; for example, no one writes about Martians or Moon men any more.

Oblivion alternated between fantastically annoying and thought-provoking. This was my second read; the first time I found it fantastically annoying, evidence I thought that DFW was out of ideas and had crawled up his own meta asshole. I started a review that I never finished. Same thing this time, except a couple of the later stories were good enough to deflate my need to rant about how annoying it was, and I didn’t finish the review. Some day, I will manage to properly review this book. Oh DFW, you wily bastard.

*** Little Dorrit
*** Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
*** Nicholas Nickleby

LIttle Dorrit was good, yet another Matthew-Macfadyen-in-period-dress miniseries. Matthew Macfadyen: your sign of quality! There were some really irritating characters that made it annoying to watch, but I’m not sure if that’s Dickens’s fault or the producers’. NIcholas Nickleby did not have Matthew Macfadyen, but it did have Romola Garai, your other sign of quality period entertainment. It was also good. Scott Pilgrim was entertaining too.

*** Herman Melville – Bartleby the Scrivener, a Story of Wall-Street
** David Sedaris – When You are Engulfed in Flames

Bartleby was my first Melville; I somehow managed to get through high school without reading Moby Dick. It was pretty good; I’m planning on reading more Melville.

I used to think David Sedaris was hilarious and occasionally moving, and I didn’t get a whole lot of either from this book. I don’t know if he’s changed or I have, though I did think he came across more like an entitled schmuck whining about first-world problems than I ever did before. Maybe it’s that now instead of just being a regular entitled American schmuck like the rest of us, he’s now a famous and wealthy schmuck living what sounds like a marvellous life.

Elizabeth Bennet: I am very sensible of the honour of your proposals, but it is impossible for me to do otherwise than decline them.

Mr. Collins: I am not now to learn, that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.

Elizabeth: Upon my word, Sir, your hope is rather an extraordinary one after my declaration.

Chris Tucker: YOU GOT TURNED THE FUCK DOWN!
[Elizabeth climbs into waiting barouche-landau and drives off. Mr. Collins leaps onto his plunging black charger and gives chase]

Mr. Collins: I say, I shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long!

Elizabeth [urging the horses on]: I am perfectly serious in my refusal! — You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so!

Mr. Collins [leaping over ravine]: I cannot imagine that her ladyship would at all disapprove of you. And you may be certain that when I have the honour of seeing her again I shall speak in the highest terms of your modesty, economy, and other amiable qualifications!

Elizabeth [just making it onto a ferry, as Mr. Collins reins in at the shore]: I wish you very happy and very rich, and by refusing your hand, do all in my power to prevent your being otherwise.

Mr. Collins: When I do myself the honour of speaking to you next on this subject I shall hope to receive a more favourable answer than you have now given me.

[Mr. Collins expression of steely resolve; dramatic chipmunk music]

[Later…]

Mr. Darcy: You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.

Elizabeth: Yes yes oh yes!

[They kiss]

Mr. Collins [appearing from behind a shrubbery]: I understand that it is common with elegant females to become engaged to another gentleman in order to stir the passions of the man they truly intend to accept, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.

[dramatic chipmunk music]

Elizabeth: Oh for fuck’s sake!

Brutus and the conspirators cluster around Caesar, stabbing him repeatedly with their knives until he lies dead on the ground. Camera pans up to show the large and expanding pool of blood around him. Closeup on Brutus as he turns away, a look of grim achievement on his face. There’s a rustle behind him. Brutus slowly turns to look, and sees Caesar stumbling toward him, holding someone’s blood-soaked knife.

“ET THIS, BRUTE!” snarls Caesar, and plunges the knife into Brutus’s eye. Blood sprays out in slow motion. Caesar throws himself over a nearby parapet into a convenient chariot and gallops off, the surviving conspirators in hot pursuit.

(for this contest)

Found this comment on a Boing Boing thread interesting. The original post itself (well, the poster it references) is stupid, but it inspired some interesting comments.

Studies have shown that students who used ebooks and ereaders retained a lot less information than those who used print books (I work in an academic library at a university that took part in the study). Ebooks eliminate the tactile part of sense memory. That is, where you saw the text on a page, and how far into the book it was, and if there were diagrams or illustrations or figures on the page or opposite page all plays a huge part in how you recall information. That all becomes fluid and relative in ebooks. While ebooks might be convenient for carrying around large books, you lose all relationship to them. It all becomes just a stream of words on a screen.

I’ve definitely noticed this as a general feeling. I enjoy my Kindle, but I do feel a bit adrift on the sea of “words on a screen”. I do miss the direct spatial sense of where I am on the page and the tactile sense of where I am in the book.