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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1894
Curious, 12th or 13th Century tale of the death of Siegfried and the subsequent revenge by Kriemhild upon the treacherous Hagen. Filled with a sort of cartoonish, Hollywood style of violence wherein the protagonists prevail (for a time) against seemingly insurmountable odds, introducing and slightly fleshing out characters such as Brunhild and Rudiger, it served as my introduction to the medieval German myths and legends. Now, to be truthful, while it's a classic I wasn't overwhelmed by it, the translation I read (A. T. Hatto) sought to preserve the narrative at the expense of the poetry, and not speaking medieval German I'm not in a position to comment on whether he did a good or a bad job, I suspect the former. But it was redeemed in the numerous appendices and footnotes, which clarified and interpreted certain passages and generally raised my estimitation of it.
Now the introduction is often, in my view, something to be avoided, it frequently presumes you are familiar with the plot and outcome of the story and makes free with spilling events and offering criticisms and interpretations before you've had a chance to appraise it yourself. But in this instance the introduction and notes were saved until the end, where they served the proper function of clarifying the text and comparing the outline with the various antecedent poems and stories that preceded it. Which was a good thing.
Or is it? While I don't like "spoilers", it should be noted that it's original audience was very familiar with the plot, and the telling of the story was simply a different "interpretation" or fleshing out/tying together of various of the legends surrounding Siegfried and the Burgundians. So in this sense, to have the same appreciation as it's audience, forewarned might have been forearmed....
Other observations? Curious as to the events that actually led to the creation of the myths of Siegried and Kriemhild, curious as to how the audience reconciles the 2 halves, the first in which Siegfried is the hero treacherously murdered, Kriemhild the cruelly widowed Queen, then the second half where she weds King Etzel and becomes a vengeful sort of demon who sacrifices all in her quest for revenge, Hagen's role switches from that of traitor to that of hero... But then these become questions of our culture and time, and my absence of sympathy is largely due to my lack of understanding and context.
And the treasure of the Nibelung's, Kriemhild's dowry from Siegfried sunken into the Rhine...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1776
An interesting read, in the genre of "Travel Literature", a firsthand account of the prairies and the Oregon Trail as recounted by Francis Parkman, circa 1845.
Colorful locations and characters, and a world that while only a 165-odd years ago might as well have been the ice age...Fierce and savage Indian tribes, Buffalo herds numbering in the tens of thousands, and everywhere they went wildlife...dozens of snakes underfoot, a cup of water taken from a stream is filled with tadpoles and frogs, and where the author notes there is no game to be shot he clarifies "No buffalo, deer or antelope", because always there are the wolves, the coyotes, the prairie dogs and rattlesnakes....
And I think, I've been to these places, some of which are still wild, yet where is the game now? It's rare enough to spot a frog or snake in the wildest of places, and the buffalo have long been gone from the prairie...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1714
It's rare that they make a good film out of a book. Rarer still they make a great film out of a book.
Usually, they take a great book, and make a "Long and boring" film out of it. Or three of them. Think Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings.". Or Harry Potter.
Or, in the case of the "Titanic", they don't even use a book, just a scrap of toilet paper the director made some notes on, maybe an old Reader's Digest to do their fact checking....
"Fight Club" is a great book. And it was a great film. And, oddly enough, (perhaps because I saw the film first), the one didin't ruin the other. Yes, they were close enough, but there were enough differences that you didn't feel you were simply seeing the film again. There were twists, director's interpretations, things in the film that were changed to make it tighter....
But the book is good too. Great even. It's a wonderful rant, a spit and jab at the world of commerce and social expectation, an anarchist's Bible. A well reasoned, well written invective on the futility and emptiness of modern life. A sort of real life self help book.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1673
Now I've read Will before, and to my surprise quite liked him. So when I found this at a garage sale I was pleased, a bit of light reading, something to pass the time away from the computer...
But it was disappointing. Very disappointing. Exactly what I had feared when I read his first book. Jocular, filled with the kind of banter that perpetually falls flat, almost as if it were trying too hard to be funny. Large themes handled with small characters and witless dialogue.
The premise is that an editor (Edwin de Valu) for a publishing house (Panderic) publishes a piece of rubbish called "What I learned on the Mountain", a self help book that will cure everything from obesity, smoking, self image, finances, etc, only this self help book works and the plot centers around the mayhem that ensues. There's potential here.
And I read it and I read it, hoping it would get better, a satire on the Self Help and New Age movement, the satirical observations only slimly veiled, (The "Chicken Broth" series, for example), the occasional stabs at insight all but damned, then, when realizing it wouldn't get better, at best peaking at "Mildly amusing, but I've started it now and had better finish...."
Examining the cover. Published by Penguin, he's come up in the world, a plain red-white striped cover, this from the back jacket:
"Light Blue for big ideas Green for crime Orange for fantastic fiction"
Fantastic in this instance obviously means "In no ways related to reality....' and is in no way is to be interpreted as a reflection on the quality.
The funny thing is, he can write. He can clearly express good ideas, there are good ideas in the book, but their development, the dialogue, the characters, all, well...
Never mind. Ironic in that while satirizing the publishing industry for publishing any drek provided it sells, the prose in this book sets forth to prove the point
Despite it's attractive cover I'd give it a single rotten banana peel. Don't slip up and buy it.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1579
It's been reviewed to death. A fine read, well drawn characters, especially that of Madame Bovary, one still recognizes her today...