tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post8049056830516897139..comments2024-03-27T09:50:53.662-05:00Comments on Happy Catholic*: What Tom Learned on Our Summer VacationJulie D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-62118517465797275552013-08-06T08:08:54.437-05:002013-08-06T08:08:54.437-05:00Thank goodness! And I always heard Bradbury was gr...Thank goodness! And I always heard Bradbury was great about responding to fan mail. <br /><br />Now, if he also read "I, Robot" then I'll consider that his most basic SF grounding is covered. :-DJulie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-38604986283796391202013-08-05T21:10:28.018-05:002013-08-05T21:10:28.018-05:00Oh I know what that means exactly. It makes perfe...Oh I know what that means exactly. It makes perfect sense. I should pick up The Big Sleep. I've never read it.Mannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15396201693030286919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-7859953888570749302013-08-05T21:08:57.589-05:002013-08-05T21:08:57.589-05:00That is a wonderful novel. I keep meaning to read...That is a wonderful novel. I keep meaning to read more of Dashiel Hammett. I think I have that audio version too. But it's been so long since I heard it.Mannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15396201693030286919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-50182019347774052812013-08-02T10:06:48.349-05:002013-08-02T10:06:48.349-05:00Oh, he read Bradbury. I don't remember whether...Oh, he read Bradbury. I don't remember whether it was in the curriculum that year. But Michael's mother makes sure that all her kids read Papa Ray. She wrote him a fan letter, around 1984, and he wrote back, thus winning her undying loyalty.mikehttp://www.fathersofthechurch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-53012525730583102502013-08-02T07:20:21.666-05:002013-08-02T07:20:21.666-05:00Oh definitively! Although I'd have included so...Oh definitively! Although I'd have included some Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein without which no American education is complete! :-D<br /><br />I think you'd especially appreciate the Bradbury since it is so lyrical and almost poetic sometimes.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11368767968953817531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-55478459448594107952013-08-01T20:00:35.959-05:002013-08-01T20:00:35.959-05:00I think you would have enjoyed the reading he had ...I think you would have enjoyed the reading he had that year. I tried to make it fun. Lots of standards, like Poe and Twain and Fitzgerald and Hemingway, but also offbeat and genre stuff -- even Tinpan Alley lyrics.Mikehttp://www.fathersofthechurch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-74401453206175709082013-07-31T17:53:15.412-05:002013-07-31T17:53:15.412-05:00Red Harvest has been copied but never really dupli...Red Harvest has been copied but never really duplicated, in my experience. The unnamed Continental OP that was sent by the 'Old Man' strikes an interesting balance between doing the right thing and becoming like those he despises. Most 'adaptions' ratchet up the violence and depravity but in doing so misses a lot of the character nuance that Hammett created which are all just one push from going over the edge themselves (including the good guys).<br /><br />I can see why it has never been made into a movie, because everything on the surface (the slang, the violence, the politics) is not as interesting as the world Hammett explores between their actions.<br /><br />I dunno, I could be overthinking it. ;P<br /><br />But it was the first noir novel that really got to me.JD Cowannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-41126532801310129812013-07-31T10:16:22.963-05:002013-07-31T10:16:22.963-05:00That cracks me up! I guess it can be used as a les...That cracks me up! I guess it can be used as a lesson in how quickly something is adapted and becomes part of the culture.<br /><br />Try him on The Big Sleep. I prefer Raymond Chandler's writing to Hammett's, although I prefer Hammett's plotting. (Which made Tom clutch his head and say, "What? I don't know what that means!")Julie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-24400914601121418872013-07-31T10:15:02.263-05:002013-07-31T10:15:02.263-05:00Red Harvest is the novel that is always chosen for...Red Harvest is the novel that is always chosen for noir collections, such as the one the Library of America did recently. After reading Falcon, I was thinking I probably need to read Red Harvest and see how it differs.Julie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-86905591667076331902013-07-31T10:14:12.971-05:002013-07-31T10:14:12.971-05:00Lucky duck!Lucky duck!Julie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-87501742540662458682013-07-31T10:12:21.072-05:002013-07-31T10:12:21.072-05:00My son complained that TMF was full of noir cliche...My son complained that TMF was full of noir cliches! It's so hard for us to appreciate the pioneers in any genre. Their originality is obscured by their success -- the legion of imitators.mikehttp://www.fathersofthechurch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-89042439823937830702013-07-30T22:17:48.851-05:002013-07-30T22:17:48.851-05:00I read Red Harvest and it was easily the best noir...I read Red Harvest and it was easily the best noir novel I've ever read, but I have yet to read The Maltese Falcon. But seeing as it's Hammett, it's probably just as good.JD Cowannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881054.post-25317078392535016602013-07-30T15:16:10.759-05:002013-07-30T15:16:10.759-05:00Maltese Falcon is one of my favorite books and mov...Maltese Falcon is one of my favorite books and movies. I assigned it to my son in American Literature.mikehttp://www.fathersofthechurch.comnoreply@blogger.com