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| photograph by me |
Reading
What three books have been highlights so far? Well, first of all, I finally got around to reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Earnest is a delightfully funny play involving mistaken identities, muffins, and black handbags. My first exposure to Wilde's play was back during the YouTube literary web series craze when I stumbled upon my personal favorite of those series, an adaption of the play called In Earnest. I recommend both the play and the web series. Next, would be All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, a beautifully written WWII novel with engaging characters. I was just kind of let down by the ending. But do not let that deter you from checking the book out if WWII fiction is your cup of tea. Lastly, and probably going to end up my favorite read of the year, is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It is one of those books that sort of wallop you over the head and reminds you why stories are such powerful things and why storytelling is so important to you. I am slowly but surely piecing together my thoughts about that book in a semi-coherent manner for another blog post. East of Eden deserves its own post.
Listening
Sedona — Houndsmith. I could launch into an anecdote about all this song's references to John Ford films, the end of the Golden Era of Hollywood, and the Blacklist but I will refrain.Keeping Your Head Up — Birdy
Saturn — Sleeping At Last
Murder on the Orient Express Soundtrack composed by Patrick Doyle
The Greatest Showman Soundtrack. This music has been playing nearly nonstop since I saw the movie. I love it so much.
Watching
I have been watching more TV shows than films lately it feels like. My siblings and I have all been binge watching Full House for the first time. This show is entertaining. Cute kids, family drama, and 90s nostalgia for the older siblings. But probably one of my new favorite types of television has been K-Dramas. Thanks to Annie Hawthorne on Twitter, I have been working through a list of recommendations. My first show was I Am Not A Robot a rom-com about a millionaire with an allergy to humans and a creative inventor who pretends to be a robot after an accident while the creator repairs the actual robot. I am now five (*cough* make that fourteen) episodes into my second K-Drama, School 2013. Oh my goodness. I am so invested in these characters. AND SOMEBODY PLEASE, PLEASE SEND ME TEACHER JUNG'S WARDROBE! Please.But what about the films I have been watching? Excellent question. I saw Black Panther (2018) in theaters and it was outstanding, even if it did stand on its excellent characters alone and had some of the wackiest story structure I have ever seen in film. I saw the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven and actually enjoyed it. It worked because it wasn't trying to be a remake. It took the premise and became its own take, which works well because the original Magnificent Seven was a remake of a Japanese film Seven Samurai— which I still need to see.
Latest classic cinema watches have been The Snake Pit (1948) starring Olivia de Havilland, groundbreaking sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet (1956), and John Ford's final western film Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
What have you guys been reading? Seen any really good movies or TV shows recently? Anything I should put on my December school break to watch and read list? It's a thing.
Yes, I felt the same about 'All the Light We Cannot See!' The ending was kind of a let down after the beautiful writing preceding it. I started to read 'East of Eden,' but I couldn't get into it. It seemed pretty dark? But maybe I should try again.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's nice to read an update of your life! I hope college is going well for you! xx
Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way about All the Light We Cannot See.
DeleteEast of Eden is dark and gritty. It is a retelling of the story of Cain and Abel and shows just how fallen and depraved fallen humanity is. It can be hard to read. That being said, however, it NEVER glorifies that sin and depravity but rather shows how destructive and damaging it is. I would recommend the book, but I also would suggest it be read by a mature reader. I read it at twenty-two and quickly decided I would not have handed that book to eighteen-year-old Hanna-col. She would not have been prepared for the weight of that book.
College is an adventure but I'm hanging in there. I'm excited because I just scheduled more literature focused classes for my Spring semester.