My Nasturtiums are popping up
3 Good Things-
first few episodes of season 3 of Mad Men
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Dark, thrilling, gory, I thought this film was one of the better adaptations of a beloved novel that I have seen. I must say, there is nothing so refreshing as a good foreign film. I love the subtle differences in aesthetics represented. And this bears repeating, I love Swedish style. There is some especially exquisite wallpaper in the movie.
and
A Mother's Courage- Talking Back to Autism, a wonderful documentary about a family's search for answers for their son's Autism. A key element for me, was the introduction of the Rapid Prompts Method (RPM), devised (I believe) by Soma M., mother of an Autistic son and Educational director of HALO . I was so excited to see this after talking about all of these things in class and reading research by so many of the specialists highlighted in this film.
A bit of trivia- Today is Patriots Day. And it has nothing to do with the New England football team, well almost nothing. It's a civic holiday in Massachusetts and Maine commemorating the turning point in the struggle for independence for the colonists from England.
Mostly, it means a three day weekend.
3 comments:
Kelly! I just read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo after having seen the movie. I knew nothing about the movie going in and enjoyed but was very disturbed by certain scenes and left me feeling anxious. I have to admit I was not too thrilled about the book. I read it aloud to Mark who drove us around England and Scotland recently and we both agreed that we could leave it and not finish it each time it was put down, yet we kept reading for it was one of those books. Not sure I would have picked it up had my flatmate not had it lying around. You must tell me what about the writing you enjoyed. The story is one of those stories that keeps you wanting to know what will happen next but the writing wasn't what kept me going... Tell me more of your thoughts. xo,sus
Susan,
I love the story, the fast pace and energy. There are so many details like the food they are eating, ie. liver pate, egg and pickle sandwiches and descriptions of what characters threw on in the morning, descriptions of drinking coffee and whiskey, very multi-sensory. It is not a book I would describe as having beautiful language like say Eliot or Zola, but the plot is so thick and twisty, the characters so alive and complex and their relationships with each other very interesting and sometimes unexpected, in a good way. I think Lisbeth is a fabulous character.
I think lots of books can be read aloud successfully but I can't imagine this one working that way, for myself.
I am not surprised that you weren't into the movie, it was sometimes hard for me to watch. Still it was one of the better adaptations I have seen. The biggest problem was the loss of so much detail and the fact that all of the scenes of violence had less of a buffer between them, as was the case of the book. Because I had read the book first, I had that background knowledge while watching the movie.
Is that enough of an explanation? Ha ha. I am reading the third book and still love the series. I tend to get maniacal about some books. Maybe I blog about them too enthusiastically and raise others expectations too much....
xo
That's a fabulous explanation. It is true that the food was made very real, the scents, all that you said. Mark and I joked though that we should start eating more sandwiches!
What kept me reading was having seen the movie first and realizing very quickly what had been left out or changed - I had to finish it to see how it ended.
And I liked the movie, just had a hard time with the rape scene for reasons of knowing these kind of acts happen in real life. Not that I don't want to know, I just get angry. I am interested in watching the next one.
So glad you blog about your reading - it gets me moving...
xo,s
Post a Comment