The 1001 Diaries Resurrected
January 4, 2010 at 5:31 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentWhen I set up The 1001 Diaries in January of 2009, I had really high hopes for the project. I was hoping that, in a years’ time, I would have made some dents in the three lists I’m choosing to use for this project. Instead, I posted one book review and one movie review and abandoned the blog for a year.
I am planning to revive this project in 2010, and I am planning to post reviews each week of books, movies, and music from the chosen lists. I’d thought about doing them in chronological order, but it’s difficult to come across some of the earlier movies, and I will be a big fan of the library and Netflix for this project. So there will be no rhyme or reason to the order, just a growing idea of how it all fits together.
My current plan is to review one book, one movie, and one album per week. In the early stages especially, books will likely be books I’ve previously read. I’m still working some of the strategies out.
I welcome any and all comments and feedback on my reviews. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Review: Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock
January 6, 2009 at 12:36 am | Posted in Movie Review | 1 CommentTags: 1001 Movies, 1958 release, 2009 review
Detective John Ferguson has retired from the San Francisco Police department after a tragic accident in which another officer is killed, and John (who is often referred to as Scotty) discovers he has acrophobia (fear of heights) and vertigo. Shortly after his retirement, an old college friend asks him to look after his wife, who disappears during the day with no memory of what she has done. As she appears to grow more suicidal, John becomes more obsessed with her, and the results have some unexpected and tragic consequences.
Before watching Vertigo, my Hitchcock knowledge was quite lacking. I’ve never seen any Hitchcock movie before, with the notable exception of Psycho, which is one of my all-time favorite movies. So Vertigo was a real treat for me.
The movie had a very unsettled feeling to it throughout, which I suppose is true of all Hitchcock movies. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And the second half of the movie was downright creepy. I kept wondering how far Jimmy Stewart’s character, John, was going to take things with Joan (Kim Novak).
The ending was one that actually didn’t surprise me as much as I expected it would, though I didn’t really expect it to end on such an unhappy note. And I wondered, “Is that what was supposed to happen?” I also wish there had been more of a conclusion with the story line involving Barbara Bel Geddes’ character, Midge. It was like it got to a certain point, then left it all up in the air.
Overall, though, I thought it was a great movie. It was beautifully shot, and it seems strange to me that it was considered a box office failure at the time of its release. If you’re one of the few people who hasn’t yet seen it, I would definitely recommend it!
Review: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
January 5, 2009 at 11:35 am | Posted in Book Review | Leave a commentTags: 1001 Books, 1993 release, 2009 review
In the 1840s, Grace Marks was convicted of murdering her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper/mistress, Nancy Montgomery. Though she escaped capital punishment (unlike her co-defendant, James McDermott, who was hanged for the crime), she faced a rather lengthy prison sentence. A group of well-meaning individuals who believe she is not guilty by reason of insanity, employs an American psychiatrist to try to determine whether or not she is in fact insane. The psychiatrist, Dr. Simon Jordan, begins interviewing Grace to try to determine what she remembers about the murders. As Grace tells Dr. Jordan the story of her life, he begins to get the sense that there is something she is not telling him. And as he becomes more immersed in her world, he finds his own beginning to change.
Finishing Alias Grace was something of a major accomplishment for me. I purchased it and began reading it in 2003, and only got 40 or 50 pages in before shelving it for five years. I picked it up again earlier this fall and kind of meandered my way through it. Overall, it was a very good story. The characters were so good, and I really felt like I was getting to know all of them. But I was a little frustrated with it because I wanted some kind of definitive answer as to what really happened. Obviously, as a novelist, Ms. Atwood doesn’t have to answer that question, and I think it would be difficult to make any kind of real determination as to what happened. But a part of me really wishes we knew definitively exactly what Grace’s role was.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book. Any problems I had with it were more my own issues rather than any faults of the book.
I love “best of…” lists
January 5, 2009 at 10:25 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentI love lists. I love “best of…” lists. So when I came across the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
What I’ve learned so far is this: I have a lot to do before I can die.
I’ve read a few books, listened to a few albums, and watched a few movies since coming across the lists. But for the most part, I am woefully uneducated in the field of entertainment. So I decided to start chronicling my journey through these 1001 lists. For the most part, I will be working out of the editions of the books linked above. However, I know that a second edition of the 1001 Books book has come out, and I do plan to read the books that have been included in the second edition as well (there are approximately 280 changes). I will note those books when I read them.
I hope you’ll join me for the adventure as I go through these lists. At this point, it’s my intention to review everything. Reviews of the books are cross-posted to my book blog, Reading and Ruminations.
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