Monday, April 09, 2007
/ 10:44 PM
Hello again! I have a number of extracts in my notebook, which I noted down to gradually share them here.. I actually have a Death Note as my notebook.. Hehe.. It's anime merchandise, and I've used it for some time now.. Makes me feel mischievious.. In a delightful sense.. Lolx *rolls eyes*
I have extracts from books I've read earlier, but I think I shall share more recent ones I've read from an Edgar Allan Poe's book.. Coz Poe's stories go well with this Phantom of the Opera music.. XD The director, Tim Burton, likes Poe's works if I'm not mistaken.. He likes the horror genre anyway.. And after I had read "Interviews with Tim Burton", I happened to come across Poe's books, so I grabbed one to borrow..=)
I remember reading Poe's stories when I was a kid! Of course, the words were simplified in that book I had read then.. But the impression the stories left on me still stays.. That's why I can recall and bring this up now.. Probably, the story which left the strongest impression on me was "The Masque of the Red Death".. The children version of the book with Poe's stories had pictures of coz, and if you have a vague idea how the 'Masque' story goes, you would know that the pictures of this story would have lots of colours.. And they're not the bright, cheery type.. Instead, they're more of lurid.. I remember exactly how the book cover looks like.. It has the picture of the diseased Red Death figure.. More like, the mask/face of the Red Death was magnified to take up half the front of the book, and the mask/face was of a dull grey colour with red veins running down over the mask/face.. Now I fully realize just how strong an impression the book has left on me.. I can picture the bk cover after so many friggin years! But this is not a negative impact in any way..=] I felt a bit more scared reading Poe's stories then.. But the attraction was definitely there, though as a kid I didn't really take note of that.. And now, I'm simply.. Fascinated! Chilling stories, but so darkly imaginative! Reading the stories in Poe's own words definitely makes me all the more impressed with this writer.. I think I'm going to be reading Hans Christian Anderson again too.. And the last few pages of this book of Poe's stories reccommends more gothic lit such as the classic Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde, and etc.. I will go about reading those too.. I'm interested to read those works written back in time.. I had said in the previous blog post that doesn't mean that old classic productions should be viewed as the best always.. But such literature are THE classics.. I'll see what can be learnt when I go about reading them.. :) My bro had also said to me sometime ago that I should watch the old film classics such as The Godfather etc since I was interested in the film industry.. But I dunno leh.. I might find certain old film classics boring.. I'm guessing so.. Then I don't think I will care to put too much effort to learn to appreciate them.. Learn whatever filming styles which suit my mood is better what..
Now I'll give you a beginning part of Poe's story, "The Pit and the Pendulum".. His writing is great.. Fine descriptions of the horror, and in not too many words.. The few words he uses in each description still form so good and so apt images..
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I was sick - sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence - the dread sentence of death - was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears. After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum. It conveyed to my soul the idea of revolution - perhaps from its association in fancy with the burr of a mill-wheel. This only for a brief period; for presently I heard no more. Yet, for a while, I saw; but with how terrible an exaggeration! I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. They appeared to me white - whiter than the sheet upon which I trace these words - and thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of the expression of their firmness - of immoveable resolution - of stern contempt of human torture. I saw that the decrees of what to me was Fate, were still issuing from those lips. I saw them writhe with a deadly locution. I saw them fashion the syllables of my name; and I shuddered because no sound succeeded. I saw, too, for a few moments of delirious horror, the soft and nearly imperceptible waving of the sable draperies which enwrapped the walls of the apartment. And then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table. At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white slender angels who would save me; but then, all at once, there came a most deadly nausea over my spirit, and I felt every fibre in my frame thrill as if I had touched the wire of a galvanic battery, while the angel forms become meaningless spectres, with heads of flame, and I saw that from them there would be no help. And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave. The thought came gently and stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained full appreciation; but just as my spirit came at length properly to feel and entertain it, the figures of the judges vanished, as if magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul in Hades. Then silence, and stillness, and night were the universe.
-----
Great extract, is it not? Every description is so interesting that I dun mind reading every word.. Though I usually have the habit of skipping whole paragraphs of mere description in novels.. And then only read the characters' dialogues so as to find out the story development more quickly.. Haha.. I'll worship any author's writing which can entice me to read every word.. Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River" was one other book which got me to read word after word in many parts.. I haven't read many of his other works.. Just one other.. And it wasn't as good.. I'll keep it in mind to check out the other works of his, and keep my fingers crossed that I'll get to read something just as good or even better than "Mystic River"
You know what, the above extract looks like an even longer paragraph in the book.. And I was thinking then.. Another author who has no paragraph-rule to follow.. Jane Austen has no punctuation-rule to follow.. Isn't that so much better? Why we write essays in school must paragraph and punctuate properly leh? Tell me why? Lol..
Tomorrow, I'll post a poem by Poe.. Nope, it's NOT "The Raven".. It's another which I like quite a lot..
By the way, just now I said I'll read more of those classic gothic lit some time.. I think I'll want to read Henry James' "Turn of the Screw" first.. The sypnosis goes like this: A young governess is sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Unsettled by a sense of intense evil within the house, she soon becomes obsessed with the belief that malevolent forces are stalking the children in her care. Hmm.. Why is the word 'obsessed' being used? So does the governess just imagine the evil things, making HER the true evil, OR, are the evil things really present? It's not meant to be just a ghost story yeah? (or is it) So I'm guessing the story doesn't really have the presence of those evil things.. But it may be that the governess is obsessed in thinking those things are present when they're not.. Then she'll be the scary one, coz it shows that she's insane.. Great literary writers won't be so concerned with just ghosts one.. They're more concerned with Man.. Therefore my guess is that the story centres around the governess and not the malevolent forces.. Great literary writers are also especially concerned with bringing out Man's folly, stupidity and all.. Is there any great literary classic that tells of a happy man? Ahaha I don't think so.. Got the clown in the plays lor.. But he is afterall, a clown.. Not meant to be taken seriously.. Lolx
The reason why I think I'll read Henry James first, is coz I got a book which is somewhat about him.. Bought at the book sale at Expo at $8 only.. Hard cover wor.. The sypnosis is also very interesting! It says,
"...tells the story of Henry James... captures the exquisite anguish of a man whose artistic gifts made his career a triumph but whose private life was haunted by loneliness and longing, and whose sexual identity remained unresolved. Henry James circulated in the grand parlours and palazzos of Europe, he was lauded and admired, yet his attempts at intimacy inevitably failed him and those he tried to love. ... It is a portrait of a man who is elusive to both friends and family even as he remained astonishingly vibrant and alive in his art - a searching exploration of the hazards of putting the life of the mind before affairs of the heart."
Sigh, how sad! Give this man love! ...But he's dead already, I think? Haha. Anyway the sypnosis sounded like just the thing I want to read.. But it often happens that the sypnosis of some book sounds just great, yet the writing bores me.. So I then don't try reading.. I seldom or maybe never show enough patience to read a whole book just to get some great, wholesome message only upon finishing the book.. But I've flipped through the above book, and the writing seems interesting enough.. I hope I'm not wrong.. Anyway, I had spotted this book in Borders, and made a mental note to try to borrow it from a library or sth.. Then I set my eyes upon numerous copies of it at the book sale.. Quite sad though, coz it's the only bk I recognized in the book sale.. The rest of the authors I don't read.. Many mystery books.. Mystery and thriller is just such a hot genre.. Great for a sense of escapism, entering a world of mystery/thriller writing where the thief/cop on the run makes you forget all the boring stuff one has done at the office in the day.. But I've wondered before: What's the point of it? One starts on a mystery novel, goes on the ride, finishes the book - end of story. Erm.. Know what I mean? Hehe.. End of story as in, it doesn't seem to make any difference whether one reads it or not. Then should ppl really just go on to start on -another- mystery novel, go on the ride again, finish the book again. Vary the selection of reading at least not so bad.. But sticking to mystery all the time? Granted, one can be interested in the mystery genre coz while they read some of those bks, they may go, "Wow, that's a clever detective plot".. And it will have some sort of intelligence in it.. But what's the use when you're not in the line of private investigators and all.. Hmm =S A bit sad to be always going for the temporary kind of escapism.. I wish for permanent escapism.. Lolz..
Wah.. This blog post I talk sooo much.. I'll end off now.. Btw the above book is Colm Toibin's "The Master".. And the Edgar Allen Poe book is called "The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings", which can be borrowed from Tampines Lib..
-----
Finally, here's a quote to round off..
"If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise"
- Quoted from William Blake
(Oh and yeah, my computer is back in action.. haha)
I have extracts from books I've read earlier, but I think I shall share more recent ones I've read from an Edgar Allan Poe's book.. Coz Poe's stories go well with this Phantom of the Opera music.. XD The director, Tim Burton, likes Poe's works if I'm not mistaken.. He likes the horror genre anyway.. And after I had read "Interviews with Tim Burton", I happened to come across Poe's books, so I grabbed one to borrow..=)
I remember reading Poe's stories when I was a kid! Of course, the words were simplified in that book I had read then.. But the impression the stories left on me still stays.. That's why I can recall and bring this up now.. Probably, the story which left the strongest impression on me was "The Masque of the Red Death".. The children version of the book with Poe's stories had pictures of coz, and if you have a vague idea how the 'Masque' story goes, you would know that the pictures of this story would have lots of colours.. And they're not the bright, cheery type.. Instead, they're more of lurid.. I remember exactly how the book cover looks like.. It has the picture of the diseased Red Death figure.. More like, the mask/face of the Red Death was magnified to take up half the front of the book, and the mask/face was of a dull grey colour with red veins running down over the mask/face.. Now I fully realize just how strong an impression the book has left on me.. I can picture the bk cover after so many friggin years! But this is not a negative impact in any way..=] I felt a bit more scared reading Poe's stories then.. But the attraction was definitely there, though as a kid I didn't really take note of that.. And now, I'm simply.. Fascinated! Chilling stories, but so darkly imaginative! Reading the stories in Poe's own words definitely makes me all the more impressed with this writer.. I think I'm going to be reading Hans Christian Anderson again too.. And the last few pages of this book of Poe's stories reccommends more gothic lit such as the classic Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde, and etc.. I will go about reading those too.. I'm interested to read those works written back in time.. I had said in the previous blog post that doesn't mean that old classic productions should be viewed as the best always.. But such literature are THE classics.. I'll see what can be learnt when I go about reading them.. :) My bro had also said to me sometime ago that I should watch the old film classics such as The Godfather etc since I was interested in the film industry.. But I dunno leh.. I might find certain old film classics boring.. I'm guessing so.. Then I don't think I will care to put too much effort to learn to appreciate them.. Learn whatever filming styles which suit my mood is better what..
Now I'll give you a beginning part of Poe's story, "The Pit and the Pendulum".. His writing is great.. Fine descriptions of the horror, and in not too many words.. The few words he uses in each description still form so good and so apt images..
-----
I was sick - sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence - the dread sentence of death - was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears. After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum. It conveyed to my soul the idea of revolution - perhaps from its association in fancy with the burr of a mill-wheel. This only for a brief period; for presently I heard no more. Yet, for a while, I saw; but with how terrible an exaggeration! I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. They appeared to me white - whiter than the sheet upon which I trace these words - and thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of the expression of their firmness - of immoveable resolution - of stern contempt of human torture. I saw that the decrees of what to me was Fate, were still issuing from those lips. I saw them writhe with a deadly locution. I saw them fashion the syllables of my name; and I shuddered because no sound succeeded. I saw, too, for a few moments of delirious horror, the soft and nearly imperceptible waving of the sable draperies which enwrapped the walls of the apartment. And then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table. At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white slender angels who would save me; but then, all at once, there came a most deadly nausea over my spirit, and I felt every fibre in my frame thrill as if I had touched the wire of a galvanic battery, while the angel forms become meaningless spectres, with heads of flame, and I saw that from them there would be no help. And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave. The thought came gently and stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained full appreciation; but just as my spirit came at length properly to feel and entertain it, the figures of the judges vanished, as if magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul in Hades. Then silence, and stillness, and night were the universe.
-----
Great extract, is it not? Every description is so interesting that I dun mind reading every word.. Though I usually have the habit of skipping whole paragraphs of mere description in novels.. And then only read the characters' dialogues so as to find out the story development more quickly.. Haha.. I'll worship any author's writing which can entice me to read every word.. Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River" was one other book which got me to read word after word in many parts.. I haven't read many of his other works.. Just one other.. And it wasn't as good.. I'll keep it in mind to check out the other works of his, and keep my fingers crossed that I'll get to read something just as good or even better than "Mystic River"
You know what, the above extract looks like an even longer paragraph in the book.. And I was thinking then.. Another author who has no paragraph-rule to follow.. Jane Austen has no punctuation-rule to follow.. Isn't that so much better? Why we write essays in school must paragraph and punctuate properly leh? Tell me why? Lol..
Tomorrow, I'll post a poem by Poe.. Nope, it's NOT "The Raven".. It's another which I like quite a lot..
By the way, just now I said I'll read more of those classic gothic lit some time.. I think I'll want to read Henry James' "Turn of the Screw" first.. The sypnosis goes like this: A young governess is sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Unsettled by a sense of intense evil within the house, she soon becomes obsessed with the belief that malevolent forces are stalking the children in her care. Hmm.. Why is the word 'obsessed' being used? So does the governess just imagine the evil things, making HER the true evil, OR, are the evil things really present? It's not meant to be just a ghost story yeah? (or is it) So I'm guessing the story doesn't really have the presence of those evil things.. But it may be that the governess is obsessed in thinking those things are present when they're not.. Then she'll be the scary one, coz it shows that she's insane.. Great literary writers won't be so concerned with just ghosts one.. They're more concerned with Man.. Therefore my guess is that the story centres around the governess and not the malevolent forces.. Great literary writers are also especially concerned with bringing out Man's folly, stupidity and all.. Is there any great literary classic that tells of a happy man? Ahaha I don't think so.. Got the clown in the plays lor.. But he is afterall, a clown.. Not meant to be taken seriously.. Lolx
The reason why I think I'll read Henry James first, is coz I got a book which is somewhat about him.. Bought at the book sale at Expo at $8 only.. Hard cover wor.. The sypnosis is also very interesting! It says,
"...tells the story of Henry James... captures the exquisite anguish of a man whose artistic gifts made his career a triumph but whose private life was haunted by loneliness and longing, and whose sexual identity remained unresolved. Henry James circulated in the grand parlours and palazzos of Europe, he was lauded and admired, yet his attempts at intimacy inevitably failed him and those he tried to love. ... It is a portrait of a man who is elusive to both friends and family even as he remained astonishingly vibrant and alive in his art - a searching exploration of the hazards of putting the life of the mind before affairs of the heart."
Sigh, how sad! Give this man love! ...But he's dead already, I think? Haha. Anyway the sypnosis sounded like just the thing I want to read.. But it often happens that the sypnosis of some book sounds just great, yet the writing bores me.. So I then don't try reading.. I seldom or maybe never show enough patience to read a whole book just to get some great, wholesome message only upon finishing the book.. But I've flipped through the above book, and the writing seems interesting enough.. I hope I'm not wrong.. Anyway, I had spotted this book in Borders, and made a mental note to try to borrow it from a library or sth.. Then I set my eyes upon numerous copies of it at the book sale.. Quite sad though, coz it's the only bk I recognized in the book sale.. The rest of the authors I don't read.. Many mystery books.. Mystery and thriller is just such a hot genre.. Great for a sense of escapism, entering a world of mystery/thriller writing where the thief/cop on the run makes you forget all the boring stuff one has done at the office in the day.. But I've wondered before: What's the point of it? One starts on a mystery novel, goes on the ride, finishes the book - end of story. Erm.. Know what I mean? Hehe.. End of story as in, it doesn't seem to make any difference whether one reads it or not. Then should ppl really just go on to start on -another- mystery novel, go on the ride again, finish the book again. Vary the selection of reading at least not so bad.. But sticking to mystery all the time? Granted, one can be interested in the mystery genre coz while they read some of those bks, they may go, "Wow, that's a clever detective plot".. And it will have some sort of intelligence in it.. But what's the use when you're not in the line of private investigators and all.. Hmm =S A bit sad to be always going for the temporary kind of escapism.. I wish for permanent escapism.. Lolz..
Wah.. This blog post I talk sooo much.. I'll end off now.. Btw the above book is Colm Toibin's "The Master".. And the Edgar Allen Poe book is called "The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings", which can be borrowed from Tampines Lib..
-----
Finally, here's a quote to round off..
"If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise"
- Quoted from William Blake
(Oh and yeah, my computer is back in action.. haha)
We know life's hard, truth is hard, lies are hard, they are all hard to accept when they have been
found out, and i'm rushing history homework on the Abyissian Crisis about Italy and Abyssia going into war and that the League Of Nations cannot stop this from happening, and beacuse they are formed by means to stop war and
peace-keep the countries together, they have thus failed to achieve that. I think i tend to hold a class for history instead of telling you about me, i'm basically a what subject-realted lover (humanities) and thus
I am more analytical and critical about things, and likes to study about dead people, haha. lol. it's history what can you expect and also geography, it amazes me. I really like it alot, so what have you? Again to find this answer
you need to enter into your own reality and reflect
it's amazing. amzing how people change the way of things, like how I used to hate outdoors in Band
felt it was a complete waste of time, i've acquired to like it more, i guess people change, their thereotical means and applications in life just goes on into a new direction, and see things in another perspective, i guess- it's
all in the mind. It really amazes me how these comes into action, from someone so pessimistic has changed his own view of things, and thus my friend is scoring much better, being more optimisitc and not think of his old way of suicidal
thoughts, which are pretty daunting. and thus we need to see things, in another light, another perspective and another new way, to enable us to open up our minds, and make more new things, the new way it is. 