Lost In Translation

What I'm Reading: 6/5/2008

There is an interesting discussion of conservative politics going on at Slate by Sean Wilentz, author for The Age of Reagan, and Tim Naftali, author of George H. W. Bush.

Matt Gross, The NY Times' Frugal Traveler, continues his Grand Tour of Europe every Thursday, this week in Southern France.

I also always enjoy listening to The Cultural Gabfest at Slate.

On a related note, I've enjoyed Salon's Critics Picks, the May 31st edition inspired me to see the documentary film, Joy Division.

Dangerous Liaisons

I originally picked up Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos De Laclos because I had enjoyed the film version based on the play by Christopher Hampton starring Glenn Close and john Malcovic. Then earlier this year I read Milan Kundera’s book of essays, The Curtain, in which he praised the novel, so I felt it was time to read it.  It was a fascinating novel written as a series of letters, which was an effective way of letting the story unfold. De Laclos was masterly in subtly reveal the characters intentions and motivations through the letters, but at times it was a bit of drudgery to get through all of the subterfuge as well. But also challenging, in that you had to remember who the people were that were being addressed and remember what they had written to other people previously.  I plan to re-watch the film soon and note the differences between the respective works. 

Sydney Pollock R.I.P.

I must admit that I was a fan of the director and his acting.  His performance in Woody Allen's Husband and Wives stays was masterly and I think because of it, it is one of Woody's best post-Annie hall films. His films always struck me as well made and interesting, Absence of Malice was one that I used in class when I taught journalism, Tootsie, a classic comedy deserves another look, Three Days of the Condor is a classic thriller, and so on...Slate's Dana Stevens gives hims  a good send off:

Sydney Pollack's best movies tended to share this polemical element, the crossing of swords between evenly matched equals. Take, for example, an early scene in Tootsie where Pollack, playing Dustin Hoffman's beleaguered agent George Fields, gravely informs his client that "no one will work with you." Hoffman's character, the unemployable Michael Dorsey, truly is (as Fields believes) an insufferable pain in the ass, and also (as Dorsey himself insists) a brilliant actor who deserves the role of a lifetime. (The fact that Hoffman and Pollack famously butted heads during the filming of Tootsie, with Hoffman wanting to play the character for broader farce than Pollack would allow, no doubt adds to the dialogue's satisfying crackle.) "The essence to me of all good drama is argument. I can't say that either side is a thousand percent right," Pollack once said. In another interview, he elaborated: "Even if it's a thriller or a comedy, it's always a love story for me and that's what I concentrate on, because the love stories are my surrogates for the argument; two people in conflict that see life differently."