cxxxv. ethan frome, edith wharton
so bleak, god.
cxxxvi. the remains of the day, kazuo ishiguro
well i mean it was ok; it was well-written and subtle. but ultimately was it gripping and newly insightful? not so much.
viii? this is our youth, sydney opera house drama theatre march 22
this was quite enjoyable now that i think back about it, but at the time i just felt like it was new york/internet snark in person. this was most likely an effect of some people in the audience who found some average lines funny and the good lines hilarious beyond belief. this kind of weird exaggerated response relative to my own was a bit disconcerting! anyway this is quickly becoming a judgy judgement of the audience rather than the play itself, which i enjoyed. michael cera was pretty great in a michael cera way, and while kieran culkin was operating at a higher level they both had stilted monologue patches but were otherwise consistently good.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
i have been neglectful, i do not apologise
lxxvi. the artist
it had a lull in the middle that might have coincided unfortunately with my post-prandial somnolence that day. but overall the way it was made makes it fresh and different.
lxxvii. the descendants
oh george clooney, do you really act the same way in every movie to the extent that this slightly more emotional character brought you an oscar nomination? sadly it appears so, not to say that it doesn't work. i want to go to hawaii.
lxxviii. tinker tailor soldier spy
i loved the costumes and many shades of grey as well as the internal workings of large paperwork-based organisations.
cxxviii. the heart is a lonely hunter, carson mccullers
sob
and i haven't even seen the movie yet
cxxix. wild girls aka natalie barney and romaine brooks, diana souhami
i came to this book via a very circuitous route which is gluck's portrait by romaine brooks. overall it was interesting and i wonder whether we are any freer or more liberal today than paris in the 1920s. however on realising that i had previously (~ a decade ago) read souhami's trials of radclyffe hall i couldn't help but feel that the level of narration was at a much more superficial and less intimate level. much larger print and you know what that means. also, what the fuck was up with the footnotes, surely we don't need to be dictated to like small children, with one-sentence wikipedia-level introductions of john singer sargent or f scott fitzgerald like no one has ever heard of them.
cxxx. gertrude and alice, diana souhami
now this one delved much deeper and more personally. i haven't yet decided whether gertrude stein is readable in her own artistic style but i am thinking probably not.
cxxxi. the prime of miss jean brodie, muriel sparks
this was misleadingly sweet and innocent in the beginning
cxxxii. revolutionary road, richard yates
oh my god. i can't believe this could ever be made into a movie for the simple reason that there was so much internal life that couldn't possibly be portrayed. but sigh, pretty great. suitably depressing.
cxxxiii. swamplandia, karen russell
this kinda devolved into a bit of a supernatural mess but overall, good writing
cxxxiv. blood bones and butter, gabrielle hamilton
i would have liked slightly more detail on the actual cooking apart from a description of doing eggs at brunch, but overall the writing puts this into the very top tier of cooking memoir.
xvi. 24th Feb 2012 sydney symphony and lisa batiashvili - thus spake zarathustra and brahms violin concerto
i was worried for the first 2 mins that the orchestra was drowning out the violin solo but then she got into it and it was pretty great.
xviii. 9th March 2012 the marriage of figaro, opera australia, sydney opera house opera theatre
i had theoretical qualms about the marriage of figaro being sung in english, and while it was a little awkward in places overall it did not detract from the music, the uniformly good singing, the impressive stage and set design, and the acoustics. the size and shape of the opera theatre is pleasantly conducive to sound carriage and it was nicely loud, there is nothing worse than straining to hear good singing. overall i was quite impressed! my first proper live opera!
it had a lull in the middle that might have coincided unfortunately with my post-prandial somnolence that day. but overall the way it was made makes it fresh and different.
lxxvii. the descendants
oh george clooney, do you really act the same way in every movie to the extent that this slightly more emotional character brought you an oscar nomination? sadly it appears so, not to say that it doesn't work. i want to go to hawaii.
lxxviii. tinker tailor soldier spy
i loved the costumes and many shades of grey as well as the internal workings of large paperwork-based organisations.
cxxviii. the heart is a lonely hunter, carson mccullers
sob
and i haven't even seen the movie yet
cxxix. wild girls aka natalie barney and romaine brooks, diana souhami
i came to this book via a very circuitous route which is gluck's portrait by romaine brooks. overall it was interesting and i wonder whether we are any freer or more liberal today than paris in the 1920s. however on realising that i had previously (~ a decade ago) read souhami's trials of radclyffe hall i couldn't help but feel that the level of narration was at a much more superficial and less intimate level. much larger print and you know what that means. also, what the fuck was up with the footnotes, surely we don't need to be dictated to like small children, with one-sentence wikipedia-level introductions of john singer sargent or f scott fitzgerald like no one has ever heard of them.
cxxx. gertrude and alice, diana souhami
now this one delved much deeper and more personally. i haven't yet decided whether gertrude stein is readable in her own artistic style but i am thinking probably not.
cxxxi. the prime of miss jean brodie, muriel sparks
this was misleadingly sweet and innocent in the beginning
cxxxii. revolutionary road, richard yates
oh my god. i can't believe this could ever be made into a movie for the simple reason that there was so much internal life that couldn't possibly be portrayed. but sigh, pretty great. suitably depressing.
cxxxiii. swamplandia, karen russell
this kinda devolved into a bit of a supernatural mess but overall, good writing
cxxxiv. blood bones and butter, gabrielle hamilton
i would have liked slightly more detail on the actual cooking apart from a description of doing eggs at brunch, but overall the writing puts this into the very top tier of cooking memoir.
xvi. 24th Feb 2012 sydney symphony and lisa batiashvili - thus spake zarathustra and brahms violin concerto
i was worried for the first 2 mins that the orchestra was drowning out the violin solo but then she got into it and it was pretty great.
xviii. 9th March 2012 the marriage of figaro, opera australia, sydney opera house opera theatre
i had theoretical qualms about the marriage of figaro being sung in english, and while it was a little awkward in places overall it did not detract from the music, the uniformly good singing, the impressive stage and set design, and the acoustics. the size and shape of the opera theatre is pleasantly conducive to sound carriage and it was nicely loud, there is nothing worse than straining to hear good singing. overall i was quite impressed! my first proper live opera!
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