Adventures in Literature

listening to K-os: I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman

   I finished up volume nine of the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman, one of the few comic book writers (along with Alan Moore) that elevate the art form to literature. If you have a chance Sandman (again along with Alan Moore's Swamp Thing) is one of those few series, rather than stand-alone graphic novels, that consistently provide quality writing throughout. While the last volume was about a Canterbury Tales style meeting where inn patrons tell stories and stories within stories, this volume "The Kindly Ones" is a classic tragedy, right from the beginning Gaiman brings in an overbearing sense of foreboding. You know how the story will end right from the start, but it's a testament to his skill that he maintains a sense of mystery and wonder all the way through the tale.

   Tomorrow I'm heading off to the Timothy Encounter and I'm looking forward to being challenged on a lot of levels. There's one thing that really stuck with me from last year's Timothy Encounter and that is to come into these things with a sense of expectation. Expectation that God is going to meet you and that God is going to impact you, break you, and speak to you. And He will. 

   Another adventure in literature that I had recently was finishing a short story by Isaac Asimov, The Dead Past, which I heard presented as a radio play years ago. And then, as I was thinking about it today, I realized that there are almost never any original sci-fi or fantasy movies, almost all are adapted from some other medium. The only one I can think of right now that hasn't been adapted is Pan's Labyrinth (which happens to be somewhere on my top five movies of all time). Anyways it seems like that's something that should be broken out of (who am I kidding, people don't have original ideas anymore anyways (either that or original ideas just aren't commercially viable (and these days art seems to bow before the almighty dollar (this multi-bracket is full of cynicism)))). 

   As a closing statement it would be worthwhile to note that the song I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman has being playing for the better part of half an hour on repeat and it's still good. It's one of those few songs that actually sounds good on repeat. It's also a pretty good song in general. Keep it... Wait, who am I kidding, that saying is getting pretty stale.

Soundmime