I don’t want to read good books, or watch good movies, or listen to good music. I want to share it.
I appreciate talent and craftsmanship and I don’t think there’s anything better than a well-told story. For some people that’s enough. They can take their radiohead cd and escape to a deserted island forever, content to immerse themselves in the music forever.
That’s not enough for me. I want to find it, music, art, cinema, drama, comedy, and I want to bring it to other people.
Sure I want some of the credit. I’d rather hear “This book is great, Tom told me to read it” than “This book is great.” But even without the credit, I’d know I passed it on, and that’s important.
There is too much quality work out there to listen, or watch, or read some of the drivel that seems to make it to the best sellers list (ahem da vinci code ahem cough cough). And there’s too much absolutely magical stuff out there that no one knows about.
I’d take The Dark Is Rising over any Narnia book. Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, James Thurber’s The Thirteen Clocks – which is so good they took it out of print!
I’ve got a soft spot for the books I read as a kid, and the shows that I remember from childhood, but not to the exclusion of watching new shows and reading anything I can get my hands on. I know what I like and what I don’t like, but more important, I can recognize good from bad – and even if I didn’t particularly enjoy the good I’ll still recommend it, if it was well-crafted.
-t
recommended download:
The Coral, Pass It On
3 comments:
DUDE, I will read "Where the Red Fern Grows" soon! :-p
Oh, I'm SUCH a reader. Try "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchet. Or "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. And "Crimson Petal and the White" by Michael Faber. Those are a few of this year's personal favorites. Everyone else - recommendations?
So, once, a friend of mine was gushing about how she was singing a solo in some talent competition. I asked her what song she was going to sing and she said "I feel like a woman" to which I immediately responded "I hate that song" unintentionally crushing my friend's spirit. Later she told me how hurtful my comment had been and I apologized, my intent was never to be hurtful, only informative, because I do, in fact, hate that song.
That said, I hated "Life of Pi" absolutely hated it. But, you should read, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Updike, probably the greatest novel I've ever read, and, if you can get your hands on it, "The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The 'Good Parts' Version)" by William Goldman, which might be the most entertaining.
I never cared for Pi's character, not once. The story seemed fantastic, but predictable, and the interpretation, the "twist," did not move me as it did the characters. But, you didn't tune in for a bashing of a good book, instead, let me recommend a book with an excellent twist: "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.
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