Heart of Darkness

Howdy,

the latest read was the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This is a stunning book. Popularised now by the adaption by FFCoppolla in Apocalypse Now. Its a really short book ~ 110pages but very dense and a slow read. It is, according to the cover notes, considered the first modern novel of the 20th century, published in 1902.

Its basically a narrative told by a charismatic sailor, hes telling the story to other sailors as they wait to set off on a long journey from London. He tells of a trip up the Congo to find an ivory merchant who has run off the rails. The merchant, Kurtz, is analogous to Brandos character in the the movie and the book does a great job of evoking a kind of mysticism around the character.

I'd love to read it again because the prose is so good but at times I found myself a little lost and having to skip back to check what happened.

This would be a perfect book for a day of solitude, you could actually finish it in one day.

Fiesta: The Sun Also Shines

The latest read is as the titles says "Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises" by Hemmingway. This is a really great book. Basically follows a group of writers and artists in Paris in around the 1920s. They decide to go down to Spain, to Pampalona, for the Bullfighting and week long festival called the fiesta. The book is very evocative of the times and the locations. You really just want to get on a plane and hang out in rural Spain. Away from the resorts. Even though during the course of the festival the town is over run by tourists the narrator is an aficionadoo, there is a great explanation in the book of this term. The general sentiment of the book is that although we may think our generation parties the hardest and makes new breakthroughs in debauchery, basically its all been done before, and when drink too much they become drunks which is a particularly sobering thing in any age.

Of course Pamplona is famous for the tradition of allowing the bulls run through the streets to teh bullring, as seen in the pictures.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Well, I've just finished Verne' Journey to the centre of the Earth. What a great, pleasant, enthralling and exhilarating read. I find the recommendation from Authur C. Clark on the sleeve particularly apt. Clark was the master of science-fiction and in a strange way this book is also science fiction. We have come used to the idea that sci-fi is related to something up there in the stars. But really its someone wondering what if... its the little piece of knowledge that opens up possibilities to the imaginative mind. That precisely what Verne do here, except he does it primarily with geology. The book was written in 1864 an interesting time when people were on the verge of understanding yet still steep in religion. It was a time when naturalists were finding strange bones in quarries and developing the extent of geological time.













Verne takes pieces of information that geologists then accepted as fact, large prehistoric animals, the alteration of rock type with depth and age. But perhaps before the full impact of darwins evolution (published 1854) were appreciate, before continental drift, while there was still discussion on whether the centre of the was hot molten mass or a deep cavernous sea.













Its seems from the text that Verne doesn't really agree with the then aging concept of the hallow earth but it makes for a much better story, as opposed to the other option....

In this way the book is similar to Gulliver's Travels which, as you might recall from a previous post, Swift uses a little bit of knowledge to imagine what if. And despite the fact this information in now proved incorrect, it still makes for a good read.

So yeah its a good book, I flew through it, I could well recommend it. The two main characters are very endearing.

Other things this weekend included a trip to the BT young scientist exhibition.http://www.btyoungscientist.ie/f_version/mediacentre_winner2008.html Which was interesting, saw duncan cleary giving a not so interesting talk about cfl bulbs. Sick of hearing about it now.

Also went to see the exhibition of Polish Art in the National Gallery - Very Good.

Kite Flyer

Howdy,

Well I finished the Kite Runner, and I can say its a very good book. The over arching theme to me seems not to judge a book by its cover, or the danger of assumptions. The first short chapter sets your mind ticking about what is going to happen at the end. Basically the main character, Amir, an Afghan living in America in June 2001, is contacted by someone from home and told there is a way to be good again, to atone for his sins. And its left at that and the story jumps back in time to his childhood in Kabul. Reading the book I was thinking ok this is how this guy turns out to be a suicide bomber, one of the 911 guys. But its only my own prejudices that are shown up as the source of his redemption is entirely good.

The book is the story of a family and a country. The depiction of Afghanistan is beautiful during the start of the novel but once the Taliban move in the imagery is shocking and devastating.

So yeah go out and get this one. Also I really like the "Points for Discussion" at the end and the authors top ten novels.

Now back to Kafka 8(

Also I have started on the crusade to work my way through the American Film Institutes (AFI) top 100 moves. I bought Citizen Kane for €9 during the weekend. I'm keeping to the rule that I'm only going to buy a dvd if it costs less than €10. I don't think there is much to say about Citizen Kane, its a brilliant movie, Welles is brilliant in it, the story line is gripping and the photography is still evocative.

Next on the list is the Godfather. Think I'll buy the box set as part two is also on the list.

Here is the list for your perusal

1 CITIZEN KANE

2 GODFATHER, THE

3 CASABLANCA

4 RAGING BULL

5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

6 GONE WITH THE WIND

7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

8 SCHINDLER'S LIST

9 VERTIGO

10 WIZARD OF OZ, THE

11 CITY LIGHTS12 SEARCHERS, THE13 STAR WARS14 PSYCHO15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY16 SUNSET BLVD.17 GRADUATE, THE18 GENERAL, THE19 ON THE WATERFRONT20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE21 CHINATOWN22 SOME LIKE IT HOT23 GRAPES OF WRATH, THE24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON27 HIGH NOON28 ALL ABOUT EVE29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY30 APOCALYPSE NOW31 MALTESE FALCON, THE32 GODFATHER PART II, THE33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS35 ANNIE HALL36 BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE37 BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE38 TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, THE39 DR. STRANGELOVE40 SOUND OF MUSIC, THE41 KING KONG42 BONNIE AND CLYDE43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY44 PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE45 SHANE46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT47 STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A48 REAR WINDOW 49 INTOLERANCE 50 LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE51 WEST SIDE STORY52 TAXI DRIVER 53 DEER HUNTER, THE54 M*A*S*H55 NORTH BY NORTHWEST 56 JAWS 57 ROCKY58 GOLD RUSH, THE 59 NASHVILLE60 DUCK SOUP61 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS62 AMERICAN GRAFFITI 63 CABARET 64 NETWORK 65 AFRICAN QUEEN, THE 66 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK67 WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?68 UNFORGIVEN69 TOOTSIE70 CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A71 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN72 SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE73 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID74 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE75 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT76 FORREST GUMP77 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN78 MODERN TIMES79 WILD BUNCH, THE80 APARTMENT, THE81 SPARTACUS82 SUNRISE83 TITANIC84 EASY RIDER85 NIGHT AT THE OPERA, A86 PLATOON87 12 ANGRY MEN88 BRINGING UP BABY89 SIXTH SENSE, THE90 SWING TIME91 SOPHIE'S CHOICE92 GOODFELLAS93 FRENCH CONNECTION, THE94 PULP FICTION95 LAST PICTURE SHOW, THE96 DO THE RIGHT THING97 BLADE RUNNER98 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY99 TOY STORY100 BEN-HUR

start fresh

Well here I am still alive after Christmas. New years eve in Manchester. Lovely city lots to see and do. Annoying flight - the pain of ryanair.

Finished Brave New World. Turned out to be very good and I particularly liked the discussion near the end between the savage and the world controller. I can recommend it.

Have now moved on to the Kite Runner which I bought in Waterstones in Manchester. I got about 60 pages through it on the way back. Looks to be a really interesting look at Islam and a strange culture from the inside.

Very happy that I went for a run today and cycled and practiced trumpet and piano and was terrible at everything but it feels good to be back on track.