Got a splitting headache that took a double-dose of Advil to get rid of...but I have the first half of OT where it needs to be. Where it should have been, all along. 23 chapters in 2 parts spread over 221 pages. Consistent with the first book while still giving enough information about why Jake and Tone are stuck in Texas, so they don't have to read RIHC6 to understand everything.
And yet...I'm finding that Jake doesn't part with information easily. He's revealing bits of his past when he faces something similar in the current story, and keeping that up has been a challenge, while using his reticence has helped streamline the story somewhat.
Now I can get back to a slightly more normal life...and I rewarded myself by re-watching Vertigo. Apparently it has taken over in critic's polls as the greatest movie ever made...something I do not agree with. I like it, but I think Notorious is Hitchcock's best film. It's damn near perfect, while Vertigo has too many contrivances for me to accept it as a masterpiece.
Except...when Madeline returns to Scotty in the hotel, drifting out of a green haze and surrounded by Bernard Herman's elegant score...that did get me. And I do think it was a travesty that Jimmy Stewart was not even nominated for an Oscar for his work. As for Kim Novak, I cannot imagine anyone else in the role; she had the beauty and mystery and sophistication of Madeline down pat as well as Judy's backwoods Kansas behavior and attitude.
It wasn't their fault this movie didn't hit with the public; it was how ludicrous the basis for the story was. I really wanted to read the original book, D'entre les Morts, to find out how Boileau and Narcejac handled it, but I could only find it in French. That was half the reason I took the language in college. Only it was written in a vernacular they don't teach in class. Lots of slang.
Then I learned it had been translated but the man who did the original translation was not know for his fidelity to the books he worked on. So...I got through 2 pages of trying to translate it before I gave up and decided to leave it. Maybe some things are better left undone.
Now comes the speedier second half of OT...
And yet...I'm finding that Jake doesn't part with information easily. He's revealing bits of his past when he faces something similar in the current story, and keeping that up has been a challenge, while using his reticence has helped streamline the story somewhat.
Now I can get back to a slightly more normal life...and I rewarded myself by re-watching Vertigo. Apparently it has taken over in critic's polls as the greatest movie ever made...something I do not agree with. I like it, but I think Notorious is Hitchcock's best film. It's damn near perfect, while Vertigo has too many contrivances for me to accept it as a masterpiece.
Except...when Madeline returns to Scotty in the hotel, drifting out of a green haze and surrounded by Bernard Herman's elegant score...that did get me. And I do think it was a travesty that Jimmy Stewart was not even nominated for an Oscar for his work. As for Kim Novak, I cannot imagine anyone else in the role; she had the beauty and mystery and sophistication of Madeline down pat as well as Judy's backwoods Kansas behavior and attitude.
It wasn't their fault this movie didn't hit with the public; it was how ludicrous the basis for the story was. I really wanted to read the original book, D'entre les Morts, to find out how Boileau and Narcejac handled it, but I could only find it in French. That was half the reason I took the language in college. Only it was written in a vernacular they don't teach in class. Lots of slang.
Then I learned it had been translated but the man who did the original translation was not know for his fidelity to the books he worked on. So...I got through 2 pages of trying to translate it before I gave up and decided to leave it. Maybe some things are better left undone.
Now comes the speedier second half of OT...
2 comments:
Hey hey! :) New reader over here.
Welcome aboard...hope you like this blog; it's fairly sedate...
Post a Comment