In the attempt to make myself more cultured, I took up reading "classics". I don't mean things like War and Peace or Crime and Punishment or anything so... difficult, but rather the stuff that was written a long time ago and has lately become the basis of Hollywood Box Office exploitation. It started after I watched League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If you haven't seen or heard of it, its an action/adventure movie with Sean Connery about a group of classic literary characters brought together to fight the bad guy. Tom Sawyer, Allan Quartermain, The Invisible Man, Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Captain Nemo, and the wife of the guy from Dracula. Anyway, I realized that there are a lot of times in movies and on TV when a reference is made to some old book or story. Even Stewie on The Family Guy makes reference to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I decided that if I read these old books, I would have a deeper understanding of the reference and either get a better understanding of the character and plot or a better understanding of the joke (depending on what I'm watching). I've read a few of the books with the above characters and here's what I thought: they're actually pretty good. Also, hollywood changes the stories a lot to make them a little flashier and exciting.
Ultimate goal: Read Dante's Inferno. I started, but stopped. I honestly tried. Its harder to read than Hemingway.
1 comment:
I read "Tuesdays with Morrie" I think it was published before ".. people in heaven" or it was the more popular one of the two. Good read, makes me think about my life, all the good things I should appreciate and give out. It didn't last long though. Once I step out of the room, I'm immediately tainted with the disatisfactions of life. Its' as if I threw the book in the air and it landed back on my shoulders placing a chip on it.
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