tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post4877850135656861137..comments2023-05-23T07:09:38.544-05:00Comments on Fascist Dyke Motors: Shakespeare Can Haz Cheezburger?Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14044608857535811777noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-74937655950777715092012-02-02T15:17:25.682-06:002012-02-02T15:17:25.682-06:00I liked DeLillo's "Underworld"... It...I liked DeLillo's "Underworld"... It had some fantastic writing and every line seemed to be chock full of loss in a way I can't explain or duplicate.<br><br>But it's an awfully long book to get to the end of just to realize I didn't take anything from it...<br><br>I need to CONNECT with a book.Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-52099906769080326082012-02-02T12:57:13.223-06:002012-02-02T12:57:13.223-06:00Every character Don Delillo writes sounds just lik...Every character Don Delillo writes sounds just like him, a professor who presumes his every utterance is going to win at least three Pulitzers and be retired in a museum. May all them, but Nabokov and Dostoevsky, and Hemingway, rot in hell!Erich Kuerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850572368098319317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-69250396246775046912011-12-22T17:05:12.861-06:002011-12-22T17:05:12.861-06:00@Apuleius Platonicus: There are a lot of good arti...@Apuleius Platonicus: There are a lot of good artists who don't understand their gift, though. And there are a LOT of artists who are awful people in general (just look at the director of your #2 movie of the year!). <br><br>@Anonymous: ("Twilight Zone" music...)<br>My brother is positive that weird coincidences occur when I'm around. <br>Maybe they DO.<br>Or maybe I am just such a bigger-than-life figure that it was inevitable you'd see me somewhere eventually!<br>(This sort of made my day...)Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-14299494309556236192011-12-22T13:35:26.830-06:002011-12-22T13:35:26.830-06:00So, Katy… Here is an illustration of something, a...So, Katy… Here is an illustration of something, although I am not entirely sure what (the small size of the world, the interconnectedness of the internet, the disturbing power of Google?): I was introduced to you through your comments on another blog. I have visited your blog several times over the past several months. Today, I was glancing at Google news. There was a story of a Lauren Elizabeth Weinberg surviving for several days in a snowbound car. I did a search on Google for Lauren Elizabeth Weinberg and ended up at a site called “Lenscratch.” Apparently there is a photographer by the name of Elizabeth Weinberg. And apparently you know this, because it appears she has photographed you!<br><br>So now, here I sit, contemplating the connectedness of these seemingly random dots. I am nearly certain I am missing something here and/or improperly labeling some piece of this as random. How do I go from random small-town blog, to you, to completely random news story, back to you?<br><br>At least one inquiring mind wants to know…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-73585081384463518492011-12-22T12:02:20.117-06:002011-12-22T12:02:20.117-06:00Oh. "Get Shorty" and "Jackie Brown&...Oh. "Get Shorty" and "Jackie Brown" were both good movies. Still, his rules drool.Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-47974925315055394332011-12-21T11:36:15.441-06:002011-12-21T11:36:15.441-06:00@Apuleius Platonicus: Elmore Leonard is pretty bar...@Apuleius Platonicus: Elmore Leonard is pretty bare bones - He's the guy who wrote the books that became "Get Shorty" and "Jackie Brown"...<br>But yeah... I'm not big on books that don't seem to have a context outside of a literature classroom.<br>Vonnegut... I think I've read every one of his novels now.<br><br>@Birds: Absolutely! Rope, school, and the boring parts.Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-23014817281826366842011-12-21T11:23:30.123-06:002011-12-21T11:23:30.123-06:00You can skip?You can skip?Birdsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-16707511445476229022011-12-21T10:47:21.334-06:002011-12-21T10:47:21.334-06:00Wow. This post made me realize that despite the fa...Wow. This post made me realize that despite the fact that I am an avid reader who graduate from college when Jimmy Carter was still president, I have never read a single book by Nabokov, Don DeLillo, or Elmore Leonard. And yet, somehow, I am OK with that. I will probably one day watch the movie version of Lolita, since it is by Stanley Kubrick. Elmore Leonard's rules are stupid and by all by themselves are more than enough to convince to never read anything by him.<br><br>Vonnegut's rules are awesome. Even the ones that are wrong, like #8, are fantastic. He asks the right questions about what to write and how to write it, and as long as these questions are taken seriously, the answer will be something interesting and worth reading.Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-82673781191923678672011-12-21T07:42:37.506-06:002011-12-21T07:42:37.506-06:00@YELLOWDOG GRANNY: I'm not familiar with Burke...@YELLOWDOG GRANNY: I'm not familiar with Burke, but I just looked him up.<br>I don't read a lot of mysteries, but there seems to be something about mystery authors where they have an economy of language that other writers lack.<br><br>Maybe I need to read more mysteries!Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-23037675045427445842011-12-21T05:40:39.876-06:002011-12-21T05:40:39.876-06:00James Lee Burke is very descriptive..but he does i...James Lee Burke is very descriptive..but he does it so well, I will read and re-read 6 pages of descriptive dialogue..like ....poetry...YELLOWDOG GRANNYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14906624317290990109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-3719848222064193102011-12-20T22:32:14.447-06:002011-12-20T22:32:14.447-06:00@Teki: I had never read Twain (except what was ass...@Teki: I had never read Twain (except what was assigned in school) until recently. I have a book of short stories of his. The intro to "The Extraordinary twins (about how he excised that story from the pieces of "Pudd'nhead Wilson") had me rolling.<br>His writing is so simple, but completely effective.Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-17439513889236255232011-12-20T18:10:23.079-06:002011-12-20T18:10:23.079-06:00I have been following your blog for less than a mo...I have been following your blog for less than a month now. Discovered you through a comment in Heresy Corner. Bewildering, the way you write. Despite Nabokov's cleverly written word plays Nabokov can eat your dust. <br><br>Twain, on the other hand, has always been a joy to read. His short stories and essays places one in a state as if talking to one's grandfather. I was quite young when i read his piece "Advice to Little Girls". Reading it now makes it hilarious though. Enjoyable still.Tekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16410087598802225999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-13430025739459724092011-12-19T22:31:37.283-06:002011-12-19T22:31:37.283-06:00@Brent: "The Old Man and the Sea" would ...@Brent: "The Old Man and the Sea" would have been pretty much the same, though.Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-21474790658250588832011-12-19T16:27:14.456-06:002011-12-19T16:27:14.456-06:00Hemmingway tweeting, interesting concept. For Whom...Hemmingway tweeting, interesting concept. For Whom the Bell Tolls would have looked much different.Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874440639492898790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-35112214405844857632011-12-19T10:24:09.620-06:002011-12-19T10:24:09.620-06:00@Bill the Butcher: As long as the imagery is prete...@Bill the Butcher: As long as the imagery is pretentious and hides the fact that there is no story to be told ABOUT the tree, I think the fir tree or the peach tree will be fine. Not the pine, though.<br><br>@Will: Gracias. All because I didn't like Nabokov's "The Gift"...<br><br>@Loafer: Those are some good rules! #8 makes me think of Vonnegut's "Galapagos," where -throughout the book - he puts an asterisk after their name if they die at the end. <br>I'll read Bill's, too.<br><br>@A Beer for the Shower: You'll win awards with that and you will probably end up a college professors. <br>But your books will be ADMIRED and never READ.Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-81328964769327337492011-12-19T09:38:16.587-06:002011-12-19T09:38:16.587-06:00Wow, only on the day of releasing our new book do ...Wow, only on the day of releasing our new book do I realize that I'm truly not a writer. I apologize for the abortion we released, but please stay tuned for our next e-book, a 1700 page manifesto on a drop of semen leaking from the nether regions of a meth-addled Cambodian prostitute with one leg. Pulitzer, here I come!A Beer for the Showerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029139745335325356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-27404871655016805262011-12-19T09:37:08.427-06:002011-12-19T09:37:08.427-06:00Btw, Vonnegut's rules are much different:1.Use...Btw, Vonnegut's rules are much different:<br>1.Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.<br>2.Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.<br>3.Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.<br>4.Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.<br>5.Start as close to the end as possible.<br>6.Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.<br>7.Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.<br>8.Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.<br>And I dont always agree, for ex., Orhan Pamuk the great Turkish writer has phenomenal writing skills, and Biswapriya Purkayastha aka "Bill the Butcher" has put a comparative analysis on his blog here(http://bill-purkayastha.blogspot.com/2011/10/name-of-rose-and-my-name-is-red.html)<br>Worthy of a read. <br>Of course you are only talking about a blog here, But if you ever write a book, I would love to read it too, its a matter of style, nothing else.Loaferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00315800159608321140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-5313061429568161482011-12-19T08:31:30.792-06:002011-12-19T08:31:30.792-06:00I'm late to the dance here - but this is proba...I'm late to the dance here - but this is probably the best thing I've read all week.<br><br>Yeah, I don't get out much....Will (Astra Navigo)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11182458764131811634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-47041587661421970472011-12-19T01:17:49.764-06:002011-12-19T01:17:49.764-06:00Did you mean a Thai prostitute's thigh? I woul...Did you mean a Thai prostitute's <i>thigh</i>? I would have.<br><br>I am strongly tempted to write a thirty page description of the shadow of a birch tree at dusk, but unfortunately I have never seen a birch tree. Will a pine or fir or peach or even magnolia tree do?Bill the Butcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-37714198082387552342011-12-18T23:19:42.754-06:002011-12-18T23:19:42.754-06:00@Anonymous: Thanks for commenting, Anon! I seem to...@Anonymous: Thanks for commenting, Anon! I seem to be getting an enormous number of page views this week from somewhere or other, but no one is commenting so it's hard for me to tell whether anyone likes what they see. <br><br>@Brent: Hemingway once said his best story was 6 words long ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.").<br>He could have been a story-tweeter with that sort of terseness. <br>But Twain and Thurber and Vonnegut and Hemingway are storytellers. They never relied on fluffy distractions...Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-74915883735920495712011-12-18T20:58:59.756-06:002011-12-18T20:58:59.756-06:00Totally with you on Vonnegut, Twain (my favorite o...Totally with you on Vonnegut, Twain (my favorite of short story authors) and I will toss in James Thurber to bootBrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874440639492898790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-39209147616164440262011-12-18T20:57:18.625-06:002011-12-18T20:57:18.625-06:00I cannot ever recall skipping over any part of you...I cannot ever recall skipping over any part of your blogs. I just finished Steven King's 7 volume Gunslinger series and I did skip large sections of the 4th book, wishing he would hurry the hell up to the end we all knew was coming. Based on volume alone, one would argue that Steven King is a real writer, but the world of blogdom you would kick his ass across the road and into a pet semetary. <br><br>Here in the land of short attention span theater, you get maybe 2 pages of writing to tell your story. Real writers cannot manage micro-mini short storiesBrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874440639492898790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-71448001326491073252011-12-18T11:08:48.419-06:002011-12-18T11:08:48.419-06:00Hi Katy. First time here. I'm having a lot of ...Hi Katy. First time here. I'm having a lot of fun reading your blogs. There is something wrong with you but I hope it stays wrong. <br><br>I will come back for the next one!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-39533539242809553142011-12-17T23:35:37.572-06:002011-12-17T23:35:37.572-06:00@Thurman: I get into moods where I am completely w...@Thurman: I get into moods where I am completely won over to different kinds of writing.<br>But for the most part, my favorites lately are the most simple in getting their points across - Vonnegut, Twain, Thompson, Bukowski, Palahniuk. <br>You know, storytellers who don't bury their stories. <br>I don't think Hemingway ever used a word with more than 5 letters in it. But still. Hemingway.Katy Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003982716885685057.post-7019011707781234652011-12-17T20:20:31.424-06:002011-12-17T20:20:31.424-06:00Yeah! What she said! I tend to read and savor ever...Yeah! What she said! I tend to read and savor every syllable of every word on every page, and never skip anything, which may explain why I am not only a slow reader, but also not a writer.Thurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00270247618439240413noreply@blogger.com