"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;"
The full poem (by Alexander Pope) is here
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
I Heart Huckabees
(Directed by David O. Russel)
I Heart Huckabees is a light, satirical film about a guy who hires "Existential Detectives" (yes, existentialism!) to sort out the problems in his life. Check out wikipedia or imdb if you want to learn more - i'm not good at summaries.
I thought I Heart Huckabees was incredible (although i did watch it at 1am, feeling pretty spaced out). Take a look on the net and you might not get that impression from critics: most either describe it as far too confusing and ridiculous, or as being existentialism/nihilisim/other philosophies boiled down to a light slapstick froth.
But that misses the point. I Heart Huckabees isn't a philosophical film - its a film about philosophy. That might sound ridiculous, but think about it for a moment. Its point isnt to show or validate any philosophy - it's a satirical film about how we relate to and use philosophy in our lives. Its charachters are far more important to it than any philosophical theme or idea - if it has a central theme, it's about how humans latch onto and make use of philosophies for relief in times of crisis, only to discard them once crisis has passed. But mainly it's about poking fun at pretentious postmodern philosophy, and I found it hilarious after having studied far too much existentialism recently.
If you're into any of those texts (Fight Club, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, The Great Gatsby, Notes From Underground, etc etc.) then go watch it - its good relief from too much seriousness. If you're not, go watch it anyway - it'll probably still be funny.
I Heart Huckabees is a light, satirical film about a guy who hires "Existential Detectives" (yes, existentialism!) to sort out the problems in his life. Check out wikipedia or imdb if you want to learn more - i'm not good at summaries.
I thought I Heart Huckabees was incredible (although i did watch it at 1am, feeling pretty spaced out). Take a look on the net and you might not get that impression from critics: most either describe it as far too confusing and ridiculous, or as being existentialism/nihilisim/other philosophies boiled down to a light slapstick froth.
But that misses the point. I Heart Huckabees isn't a philosophical film - its a film about philosophy. That might sound ridiculous, but think about it for a moment. Its point isnt to show or validate any philosophy - it's a satirical film about how we relate to and use philosophy in our lives. Its charachters are far more important to it than any philosophical theme or idea - if it has a central theme, it's about how humans latch onto and make use of philosophies for relief in times of crisis, only to discard them once crisis has passed. But mainly it's about poking fun at pretentious postmodern philosophy, and I found it hilarious after having studied far too much existentialism recently.
If you're into any of those texts (Fight Club, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, The Great Gatsby, Notes From Underground, etc etc.) then go watch it - its good relief from too much seriousness. If you're not, go watch it anyway - it'll probably still be funny.
Farenheit 451
(Written by Ray Bradbury)
Might as well start by blogging my favourite book, I suppose. If you don't know what it's about, look it up on wikipedia - i can't be bothered with a plot summery.
I read Farenheit 451 for the 4th time last weekend, and it's probably one of the only books that improves with each reading. It's unashamadly flawed in a way that I wish more books would be. At times Ray Bradbury's writing style is a long way from perfect, and Bradbury's personal predudices and beliefs come through very strongly, in a way that can grate at times. Besides that, it's obvious that little effort was made to plan or refine the novel into one cohesive story.
But all this is almost appropriate for a book that argues at the top of its lungs against any sort of PC restraint or attempt at perfection. And it ignores the fact that Bradbury is a genius.
Farenheit 451 may be short, disjointed and difficult to read, but it's incredibly dense. The sheer weight of ideas and metaphors inside means that i've discovered new things and taken a different perspective each time I've read it. Asides from being endlessly quotable, it would be possible to chose literally hundreds of themes to write about from it. Among others, I could talk about how Bradbury argues against censorship, about how he discusses the incresasing tendancy of society towards instant stimulation and the arguments for and against immediacy (as in a light comic or movie) versus quality (a book or more complex film), about how he interprets the "Ignorance is Bliss" debate - should we aim for thought and introspection if it brings sadness or confusion? Or is it best to simply live, just existing and falling into the pattern society creates? I could talk about how he discusses the value of books and literature and what they bring to our lives, about how technology and media can become alienating and how the pace of this 'immediate', unthinking lifestyle can cause people to drift apart, about the need we all have for some sense of connection, and the need we have to reach past our jaded attitudes, experience new things and still feel that sense of wonder. About the need for life rather than just unthinking existence.
But all that would take too long - i've written enough already. Go read it. Just be ready for a novel that dares not to be a story, that dares not to give you what you want or expect. It's all about the ideas.
Might as well start by blogging my favourite book, I suppose. If you don't know what it's about, look it up on wikipedia - i can't be bothered with a plot summery.
I read Farenheit 451 for the 4th time last weekend, and it's probably one of the only books that improves with each reading. It's unashamadly flawed in a way that I wish more books would be. At times Ray Bradbury's writing style is a long way from perfect, and Bradbury's personal predudices and beliefs come through very strongly, in a way that can grate at times. Besides that, it's obvious that little effort was made to plan or refine the novel into one cohesive story.
But all this is almost appropriate for a book that argues at the top of its lungs against any sort of PC restraint or attempt at perfection. And it ignores the fact that Bradbury is a genius.
Farenheit 451 may be short, disjointed and difficult to read, but it's incredibly dense. The sheer weight of ideas and metaphors inside means that i've discovered new things and taken a different perspective each time I've read it. Asides from being endlessly quotable, it would be possible to chose literally hundreds of themes to write about from it. Among others, I could talk about how Bradbury argues against censorship, about how he discusses the incresasing tendancy of society towards instant stimulation and the arguments for and against immediacy (as in a light comic or movie) versus quality (a book or more complex film), about how he interprets the "Ignorance is Bliss" debate - should we aim for thought and introspection if it brings sadness or confusion? Or is it best to simply live, just existing and falling into the pattern society creates? I could talk about how he discusses the value of books and literature and what they bring to our lives, about how technology and media can become alienating and how the pace of this 'immediate', unthinking lifestyle can cause people to drift apart, about the need we all have for some sense of connection, and the need we have to reach past our jaded attitudes, experience new things and still feel that sense of wonder. About the need for life rather than just unthinking existence.
But all that would take too long - i've written enough already. Go read it. Just be ready for a novel that dares not to be a story, that dares not to give you what you want or expect. It's all about the ideas.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
This Blog
This probably should've been the first post, but oh well...
I've created this after it being reccomended by Miss Krohn (as anyone reading this should know), and i'm going to try to update it regularly, both with my thoughts straight after finishing watching or reading a text and later thoughts after thinking/analysing and comparing them to other texts. Its going to be mainly books and films, but there might be some short stories, poetry, comics, video games and songs as well.
So far there's only 5 people from our class on here, and most haven't posted anything, so if you're reading this and don't have a blog then come on guys!
Anyway, the main themes I'm going to be getting into are mostly related to Existentialism: identity, dreams (the American Dream kind) and obsession, motivation and despair, perception and self deception, morality and moral relativism, choice, freedom, responsibility, hope and fear. But there'll be other things as well, and chances are I won't get round to half of the above ideas.
My tastes:
Favourite Authors/Novels: Terry Pratchett, Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Notes from Underground by Fydor Dostoyevsky, Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan, Terry Pratchett, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik, Neuromancer by William Gibson, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, Terry Pratchett
Favourite Directors/Movies: Christopher Nolan (The Prestige/Memento/The Dark Knight), Fight Club, Pi, Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men, The Godfather, Hana Bi, Little Miss Sunshine
Favourite Poet: E.E. Cummings
Favourite Food: Sushi.
Hopefully I'll start updating with text responses soon.
I've created this after it being reccomended by Miss Krohn (as anyone reading this should know), and i'm going to try to update it regularly, both with my thoughts straight after finishing watching or reading a text and later thoughts after thinking/analysing and comparing them to other texts. Its going to be mainly books and films, but there might be some short stories, poetry, comics, video games and songs as well.
So far there's only 5 people from our class on here, and most haven't posted anything, so if you're reading this and don't have a blog then come on guys!
Anyway, the main themes I'm going to be getting into are mostly related to Existentialism: identity, dreams (the American Dream kind) and obsession, motivation and despair, perception and self deception, morality and moral relativism, choice, freedom, responsibility, hope and fear. But there'll be other things as well, and chances are I won't get round to half of the above ideas.
My tastes:
Favourite Authors/Novels: Terry Pratchett, Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Notes from Underground by Fydor Dostoyevsky, Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan, Terry Pratchett, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik, Neuromancer by William Gibson, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, Terry Pratchett
Favourite Directors/Movies: Christopher Nolan (The Prestige/Memento/The Dark Knight), Fight Club, Pi, Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men, The Godfather, Hana Bi, Little Miss Sunshine
Favourite Poet: E.E. Cummings
Favourite Food: Sushi.
Hopefully I'll start updating with text responses soon.
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