Just finished the book, and I was not very
by luvthelighthouse (Fri Dec 22 2006 15:33:53)
impressed with it. The mere fact that someone thought this would make a good movie, truly saw something I didn't. I had NO connection to the characters in the book. I found them to be harsh and dirty. I didn't feel for them or their love to each other. I actually felt the Ennis loved Jack, but that Jack was just along for the ride. I felt no tenderness. It was all to rough for me.
It's a true testament to Ang Lee, that he took a sub-par story, and turned it into the most beautiful love story... a work of art. I loved the movie. I felt for Ennis and Jack. I was touched by them. Pieces of my heart are still somewhere wrapped up in my five plus viewings of the movie. I cannot get the film to leave my mind. While it was depressing, it touched the heart. The heart felt love. The book touched nothing in me but coldness. I couldn't wait for it to be over.
I'm so glad I didn't read the book first, or I'd never have wanted to see the movie.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by malina-5 (Fri Dec 22 2006 15:49:04)
Wow. Harsh, dirty, rough... maybe.
Sub-par? Never. Never in this world. She's masterful.
The huge sadness of the northern plains rolled down on him. There's a feeling for the land, the people, the huge emotion, the internal and external, balanced, wrapped up in her simple, sometimes minimal, sentences.
If he does not force his attention on it, it might stoke the day, rewarm that old, cold time on the mountain when they owned the world and nothing seemed wrong. The description of the feeling is exactly right, IMO. Recreating a feeling from a memory or dream does require you to not force your attention on it. Then, 'rewarm', because his coffee is being rewarmed (it's leftover coffee). But at the same time, Ennis is doing what I think he always wanted to do, 'rewarm' the time on Brokeback (sadly, rather than moving forward). It was the one time in his life when "nothing seemed wrong". After Jack is dead, it's the only thing he can do.
On the mountain they "owned the world", but leaving, "Ennis felt he was in a slow-motion, but headlong, irreversible fall." How true is that? He never can, never does recover the feeling of being in something that was made for him.
I could do that almost line by line, the whole story. It seems rough, but it isn't. It's crafted, every word fits. More like a poem than prose, in some ways. It seems simple, but then some of the phrases are like little barbs that explode once they're under your skin.
My opinion. You're entitled to yours. I just couldn't not respond to the 'sub-par'.
Bring light into darknessRe: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by samrim-1 (Fri Dec 22 2006 16:27:47)
Thanks malina, just read yours and agree with it all, word for word and line for line. I most agree that the short story is <<More like a poem than prose>>
I read the story, savouring the words, the way they SING, and I too can feel 'the grieving plain', and the wind, and all the rest of it!
I remember too how the short story brings Jack's bare simple, almost monastic bedroom to view, and how the film, almost silently, no music, nothing, brings Annie's words to perfect reality. A wonderful meld of story and film. And then a little music starts, and Ennis finds the shirts.....
Sam
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by samrim-1 (Fri Dec 22 2006 16:13:38)
Thank you lighthouse for a most interesting post. Like you I thought the film revealed a story of most piercing tenderness, indeed "a love that will never grow old". Almost a year after I first saw the film, I still haunt these boards, seeking, if not completion, then some sort of fulfillment. I love our boys to bits.
With respect, I disagree with you completely about Annie Proulx's short story though, which I find even more miraculous than the film. I honour completely Ang Lee and all the production team for expanding, so perfectly, the story line, and more especially the Spirit of the story; but how, in 30 or so pages can a writer describe so completely, the story of those two heart rending lives. It really beggers belief! The whole point of the story is to show that 'grand passion', 'great love' does not only come to the young and beautiful and perfect. Jack had big teeth (and curly hair), Ennis had bow legs and a physique indifferently shaped, ' scruffy and a little cave-chested', neither of them looking like film stars. But then, film stars probably only look perfect when they are ready for their camera shots!
The story reminds us, and the film reiterates, that 'love is a force of nature', just as likely to hit the unattractive as the beautiful. Indeed, fan magazines are full of failed celebrity marriages, probably because love isn't a game really! Life is raw and even ugly at times, but drawing a veil over human nature does not make it go away, it only hides it. The motel room, smelly and squalid, was just as much a monument to true love, as the most perfectly perfumed boudoir.
I hope my comments are not offensive, my opinions are no more valid than others, but I do feel still deeply protective of both film AND story.
Best wishes, lighthouse, and everyone.
Sam
"Ennis's breath came slow and quiet',.... 'Jack leaned against the steady heartbeat'. OMG!
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by malina-5 (Fri Dec 22 2006 16:32:00)
<<I hope my comments are not offensive, my opinions are no more valid than others, but I do feel still deeply protective of both film AND story.>>
Sam, thank you for putting that in such a kind and loving way, as befits BBM, more so than I did, I'm afraid.
Lighthouse, I hope I didn't come across as snippy and superior, and if I did, I'm sorry. I'm glad you read the story and that the movie moved you.
Bring light into darknessRe: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by Shasta254 (Fri Dec 22 2006 16:41:43)
That was a beautiful and touching post, Samrim-1. The movie and the story complement each other perfectly. I loved the movie from the first time I saw it, but it took me a few readings and a few Brokies' helpful comments for me to appreciate the story the way I should. So I can also understand the OP"s opinion.
The story reminds us, and the film reiterates, that 'love is a force of nature', just as likely to hit the unattractive as the beautiful. Indeed, fan magazines are full of failed celebrity marriages, probably because love isn't a game really! Life is raw and even ugly at times, but drawing a veil over human nature does not make it go away, it only hides it. The motel room, smelly and squalid, was just as much a monument to true love, as the most perfectly perfumed boudoir.
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by androphile (Fri Dec 22 2006 22:59:28)
Sorry,
luv, but I have to disagree as well. I personally find the short story even more emotionally draining than the film, perhaps because the writing is so unsparing and gritty, with an ending that's so unrelievedly bleak. I thoroughly identify with Diana Ossana who described sobbing through the last third of the story, feeling like Ennis when he feels as if someone is pulling his guts out hand over hand a yard at a time. I'm still stunned when I read first the indescribably beautiful passage of the "dozy embrace," then in the very next sentence Ennis receives back his postcard to Jack stamped DECEASED. Annie Proulx is obviously not a writer to coddle her readers. As for Jack not loving Ennis as much as Ennis loves him, can you cite the passage(s) which led you to feel this way? I've always felt, personally, that Jack's love for Ennis gave him the courage to be the only one to declare his love verbally, in so many words. My signature quote below is from Jack and is about as close as anyone could come to a declaration of love without using the "L word" (which would scare Ennis half to death, as Jack well knows). I also agree with everything stated above so thoughtfully and eloquently by
Samrim and
Malina. BTW,
Malina, I didn't find your response snippy or superior at all; on the contrary, I think you gave a fine example of how to disagree passionately without being personally insulting or condescending. If only every poster would follow your example . . .
"
Tell you what . . . the truth is . . . sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it."
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by Shasta254 (Fri Dec 22 2006 23:25:38)
UPDATED Fri Dec 22 2006 23:26:56
Studying multiple intelligences and learning styles has given me insight into the ways people learn and the way their knowledge is utilized. There are several different ways to demonstrate intellectual ability. The reason that some of you can get so much from Annie Proulx's beautiful story is that your learning style is different from the learning style of those of us who get more out of the visual--the movie.
There really isn't a right or wrong. The book hits some harder than the movie; the movie hits others harder. Still others get more from the combination of book and movie. We understand differently. I am just appreciative to all who have helped me see the more literal meaning of Annie's prose.
"
Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by luvthelighthouse (Sat Dec 23 2006 07:26:32)
UPDATED Sat Dec 23 2006 07:28:17
I was asked to cite a passage that made feel Jack didn't have the same feelings, here it is:
"Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own"To me, if I was so in love with one person, I wouldn't be having sex w/multiple people. I understand the rouse of the wives, but just random people, I do not.
I love reading, and I often get tangled up in the lives of the characters as I paint their stories in my head...but for some reason, I just could not with this story.
I see now that I stand in a corner, alone w/my thoughts on this subject... but that's okay. It's still one of my favorite movies... just not one of my favorite stories.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by ncwoman (Sat Dec 23 2006 07:59:17)
Hi lighthouse,
You are more than welcome to your opinion, and to express it, whether people agree with you or not. That's what these boards are for, to express opinions, and occasionally, to invite debate. Obviously not everyone is going to get the same things, both from the movie and the story. If I've learned anything from these boards, I've learned that.
That said, I have to agree with Malina's, Shasta's and Samrim's posts. The story was a perfectly written example of lifetime love between less-than-perfect, not beautiful, and eventually not young people in gritty, difficult, non-picture-perfect settings. Yet it was a love that lasted a lifetime, of that there is no doubt. It did frustrate me a little that Annie Proulx left so much up to the reader's own interpretation/conclusion, but I understand her reasons for doing so. We humans like happy endings, or at least neatly wrapped up, clearly explained reasons for a non-happy ending, but so often life is just not like that. That so many things about the story, and as a consequence the movie, were so ambiguous is another reason we are so haunted by it.
The line you quoted,
"Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own", always puzzled me as well. I interpret it to mean he WAS having sex with other men when he wasn't with Ennis, but "not rolling his own" puzzles me. Would love to hear anyone else's interpretation on this line?
Ole' Brokeback has got me good...Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by Shasta254 (Sat Dec 23 2006 08:05:14)
Ncwoman--Just before that, the story said that Ennis "wrang" it out about a hundred times thinkin' about Jack---he masturbated. The part about Jack not rolling his own means that he wasn't masturbating---he was actually getting it on with other guys. But he lied and said that he hadn't been with any other men. That is how I interpreted that part of the story.
"
Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by don8946 (Thu Apr 5 2007 05:44:29)
ncwoman, I interpret "Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own" to mean Jack had been having sex with other men instead of releaving his sexual tension with his hand. It's been some time since I read the short story, but I think that line came right after Ennis saying "I sure wrung it out thinking about you enough times," or something to that effect.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by Shuggy (Fri Jan 5 2007 00:13:05)
To me, if I was so in love with one person, I wouldn't be having sex w/multiple people.
Are you a man? This is a very common pattern with men, gay and strait. Though their wives can't understand it (and be shattered when they find out), it is quite common for men to have sex with other women (or men) but still be very emotionally attached to their wives (and be shattered if their wives kick them out over it).
This is a fairly fundamental difference between men and women. ("Higamus hogamus, woman's monogamous; hogamus higamus, man is polygamous" - Ogden Nash) It's also explicable in biological terms: male-type genes benefit from being distributed widely; female-type from stable relationships for protection and care.
At the same time, Proulx is distinguishing Ennis' strong emotional attachment for Jack alone from Jack's more worldly gayness. Hence the Mexican and Randall.
They wish
to cure us
but I say
we are the cure
and more at
www.cafepress.com/weroRe: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by sokeyt (Sat Dec 23 2006 07:57:38)
Technically, it is brilliantly written, and is considered the best short story ever written. However if you can't connect to it - you can't connect to it. All readers have different responses and Proulx has acknowledged this.
If you ever want to look at it again, you will find that all the revelations of Jack's love for Ennis are packed in towards the end, and are very brief. Whereas Ang/Diana/Larry gave us the harrowing post-divorce scene, Proulx merely aludes starkly, after Jack's death, to him having driven to see Ennis "for nothing". Ennis doesn't seem to have thought about this for years, but at that point he has to acknowledge it and deal with it.
It's all about Ennis, really.
Of course, if you don't want to go back to the story, that's fine.
ncwoman...
by ScissorhandsRaineyluv (Sat Dec 23 2006 08:16:35)
The line you quoted, "Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own", always puzzled me as well. I interpret it to mean he WAS having sex with other men when he wasn't with Ennis, but "not rolling his own" puzzles me. Would love to hear anyone else's interpretation on this line?
I'm not exactly sure either. My guess would be that Jack was sleeping with other men, versus masturbating like Ennis frequently was. That's what I got out of it at least. As far as the movie goes, I think Ang wanted to show us the first man Jack slept with after Ennis was after the post-divorce rejection scene. We see Jack trying to pick up Jimbo, but he failed. Also the line
"Hey, didn't that pissant use to ride bulls?" "He used to try" makes me think that Jack was the joke of the town, because there were rumors about his sexuality. I've always thought "riding bulls" had gay undertones, and hinted that Jack tried to pick up men frequently, but they all turned him down.So I've always thought that in the movie the mexican hustler was the first man after Ennis that Jack slept with, vs. the multiple men he had while he and Ennis were seperated. I'm not sure, though.
"Should he tell her? Should he not tell her? He's torn, Georgie. This is drama." Ed Wood
Short Story
by daphne7661 (Sat Dec 23 2006 09:54:50)
I have to admit, I saw the movie first, then read the short story. At the time, I was so obsessed with the whole BBM thing, that I breezed through the short story without really appreciating and absorbing it all, which is what I normally do when I read. Then, I picked it up again a couple of days later, and read it slowly, savoring each and every line, which, by the way, are brilliant. Really, they are, comparatively speaking. I've read lots of short stories and novels as well, and, IMO, none can really compare to the power-packed prose of Annie's original.
There is a different tone to the short story than the movie, but I think that is just because, in trying to bring Jack & Ennis to life, in movieland, even indie movieland, you want to appeal as best you can to folks, even with some characters' less than desirable personas. Also, the flow in the movie helps us, or at least me, easily, if not painfully, connect the dots to Ennis & Jack's relationship flow and how they went from J&E, at 19, in love and with everthing in front of them, to J&E, at 39, still in love, but each slowly dying inside, for different reasons.
My favorite line from the short story:
"He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly through his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands."Just by placing that word, 'imagined', into the line, Annie so sums up Ennis' life, from childhood abuse to adult fear and the testing of his heart's desire with the true love he found with Jack. But nothing, not even Jack, could erase his inner turmoil and belief that what they shared was otherworldly to Ennis, could not be part of real life, and that they were only safe and happy, alone, up on Brokeback.
...Nice to know ya, Ennis del Mar...Re: Short Story
by ncwoman (Sat Dec 23 2006 11:08:54)
UPDATED Sat Dec 23 2006 11:10:08
Just before that, the story said that Ennis "wrang" it out about a hundred times thinkin' about Jack---he masturbated. The part about Jack not rolling his own means that he wasn't masturbating---he was actually getting it on with other guys.
Thanks Shasta and Scissorhands! Taken into that context, I think I have to agree with you, and it does make sense. I never associated "rolling his own" with what Ennis had been doing, masturbating while thinking of Jack.
"He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly through his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands."
Ah, Daphne!!!! No matter how many times I read the story, the tears start to flow when I read that line!! And your summation of it is beautiful and poetic!
Ole' Brokeback has got me good...[1 Post deleted by an administrator]
Re: Short Story
by daphne7661 (Sat Dec 23 2006 15:21:33)
Ah, Daphne!!!! No matter how many times I read the story, the tears start to flow when I read that line!! And your summation of it is beautiful and poetic!Oh, thank you, ncwoman. J&E and their story touch my heart. Annie's writing and creation of J&E stir my soul.
Hi daphne7661 –
This post of yours is one of the best I have read in a long time here. (There are a lot of very good posts, to be sure, but this one is one of the best. )
Especially the last paragraph wherein you encapsulate the most important part about Brokeback Mountain.Sir, I am humbled and honored by your praise, because I consider you the most brilliant of our group! I honestly do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a heartwarming compliment.
Daphne
...Nice to know ya, Ennis del Mar...Re: Short Story
by pianocellolove (Sat Dec 23 2006 15:48:42)
Thank you Daphne! I just bought the book a few hours ago and I am looking forward to reading it tonight. Your post made me even more eager to do so!
Re: Short Story
by samrim-1 (Sat Dec 23 2006 15:56:02)
Dear Daphne, as the others say what a wonderful entry, you really catch the bittersweet essence of 'our boys'.
<<hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain >>
As I've admitted before, I fell heavily in love, on my own, with a straight guy who shared my home many years ago as a 'lodger'. It was all entirely pure and chaste (though incredibly bitter for me and embarassing for him probably). He played rugby, and I would raid his sports bag after he returned, and sleep with 'items' under my pillow, and the 'sweet stink' well nigh drove me mad. Thinking about it now,in old age, it wasn't even desire; all I can think to call it is HIM. I loved him then and I love him now! I always thought admitting this would shame me, it doesn't, it's the power of ole Brokeback that motivates us all to be honest with each other. Maybe callow people will sneer, but st**f 'em.
Sam
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by wings_for_wheels (Sat Dec 23 2006 12:42:45)
well, it was not a book, it was a short story. just whole big fuss made it profitable to publish it as a book.
i either didn't find it a masterpiece. it was an interesting story, quite well written, but i can sure say -- i've read better ones.
---
~The Baltic Sharkie~
[1 Post deleted by an administrator]
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by HeathandMichelle (Sat Dec 23 2006 16:02:44)
UPDATED Sat Dec 23 2006 16:03:42
More like a poem than prose, as a poster above has said.
I compare Annie to Jane Austin. Every word of her writing is exquisite.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by ScissorhandsRaineyluv (Sat Dec 23 2006 16:06:51)
Thanks Shasta and Scissorhands! Taken into that context, I think I have to agree with you, and it does make sense. I never associated "rolling his own" with what Ennis had been doing, masturbating while thinking of Jack.
No problem
I love how Annie, instead of flat out saying Jack didn't masturbate like Ennis did, she said "
roll his own".
Daphne very well said! [[clap]] I agree 100%.
"Should he tell her? Should he not tell her? He's torn, Georgie. This is drama." Ed Wood
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by daphne7661 (Sat Dec 23 2006 20:43:17)
samrim wrote: Maybe callow people will sneer, but st**f 'em.st**f 'em is right, sam! st**f 'em all.
Have no fear, sam; I understand. We all should understand. Have we all not loved and lost at some point? Has any one of us not felt the brilliance of love for another only to find that it is not returned, or cannot be returned, to us? Has any one of us not felt so in love, as Ennis was, but been even more fearful of that love?
Loving someone and being in that love, while carrying around years old baggage, is HARD! It is, at the same time, the most wonderful feeling and can carry the worst pain imaginable.
Early this morning, I was watching the "Sweet Life" scene. I found myself, for the very first time during that particular scene, crying. I thought to myself how sad it was where they found themselves at that point. What a juxtaposition of their love for the other.
Jack, so in love, so happy, so hopeful, so ready to chuck everything and just be with Ennis.
Ennis, also so in love, also so happy, but so caught up in the web of his terribly debilitating fear, that his smile and contentment, which we can all so plainly see on his face, is just as quickly wiped away at the mere thought of reality stepping in to take over.
Sorry, folks. I think I've veered off the road of the OP, but Annie "got it", and got it good. And got us good, too!
Read the short story; it really does pack a whallop in a short span of text.
Really!
...Nice to know ya, Ennis del Mar...Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by gduch2001 (Tue Feb 27 2007 06:31:34)
I compare Annie to Jane Austin. Every word of her writing is exquisite.
------
Oh please, you dont know that its "Austen",
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by wings_for_wheels (Sun Dec 24 2006 05:32:44)
sorry, i see we go each other wrong. i'm not American. and here where i live nobody heard about this short story until the movie came. and then local publishers made it "a book". it has the movie poster on its cover.
---
~The Baltic Sharkie~
[1 Post deleted by an administrator]
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by BannerHill (Thu Jan 4 2007 21:54:14)
Interesting point
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by emailraven (Fri Jan 5 2007 00:18:40)
Why do people on this forum keep referring to it as a "book"? It's not a book and never was. It was a short story that first appeared in "The New Yorker."
And though you might find it anthologized in books of contemporary short stories, it's still just that-a short story.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by norway-jm (Fri Jan 5 2007 07:56:54)
And there was a bit of a "fuss." I don't know how it was in the rest of the country, but the whole "will the gay cowboy flick ever actually get made" thing went on for several years here in NYC. It was sort of a media parlor game. By the time it did get confirmed, no one even believed it... it was like the film who cried wolf.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by samrim-1 (Sun Jan 14 2007 01:23:44)
bump
Sam
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by greenbean13 (Tue Jan 16 2007 15:17:11)
I have not seen the movie or read the book, but I just wanted to say something about all the people who wrote here. This is the nicest set of disagreements I have ever seen on IMDb. Most people on here are so insulting when they think someone is wrong. It is so refreshing to be able to read a whole thread and find no personal insults. Thank you all.
[1 Post deleted by the poster & 5 by an administrator]
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by gduch2001 (Tue Feb 27 2007 06:28:42)
had NO connection to the characters in the book. I found them to be harsh and dirty. I didn't feel for them or their love to each other. I actually felt the Ennis loved Jack, but that Jack was just along for the ride. I felt no tenderness. It was all to rough for me.
----------
oh cmon what you mean about Ang Lee is he prettied it up, cast attractive actors nad made it all seem lovey dovey
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by bc_ashley (Tue Feb 27 2007 11:43:52)
Proulx meant it to be "rough, harsh".
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by gduch2001 (Sun Mar 4 2007 05:04:32)
well in the film the only "rough" bit IMO is the orignal sexual scene betwen the guys in the tent... the whole thing is prettied up
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by Sportex_the_Lewd (Mon Mar 19 2007 15:40:35)
It sounds as though the story was far more realistic than the movie. When I watched the movie, I felt no connection between Ennis and Jack. The chemistry wasn't there. The whole movie felt so handled and Hollywoodized. Your description of the book sounds more like what the movie perhaps should have been. I love how a movie can be a work of art, too. But I don't think I can really feel anything for the characters unless they are more real. Harsh and dirty is real. Puppy dog-eyed, shy Ledgery Gydlfsejenahlly cowboys don't create that for me. It was Hollywoodized. It was beautiful art, but it wasn't enough to truly mean anything- the movie was just pretty to look at and pretty to remember.
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by sokeyt (Mon Mar 19 2007 15:51:44)
It was Hollywoodized.This is an incredibly lazy statement. Can you expand on that? I'm up for a good argument.
When I use "Hollywoodized" as an insult, I know, and can explain, exactly what I mean.
Can you?
Re: Just finished the book, and I was not very
by Sportex_the_Lewd (Tue Mar 20 2007 13:33:39)
You're right about the word hollywoodized. And I don't know exactly what that word could mean- I used it because I was having a hard time explaining why I didn't feel the movie. I'm not really looking to argue a point. Actually, I was just stating my thoughts/ impressions. What I meant to say is hard to describe. The characters seemed thin in the beginning- it wasn't until after the relationship had already started that the characters became dimensional and interesting. So the connection between the characters was also weak for me. This is just what I felt. Its a poor argument because I still haven't stated exactly why the characters were thin. But I'm not here to argue. Everything was too clean and pretty and romantic feeling- somehow i suppose-ish. They didn't seem like real people. Romanticizing characters and dialouge in a movie is fine/ useful/ fantastic, in some cases. But for this movie, EYE would have prefered realism- which I didn't feel. It done be personal preference.
Insult is a strong word. You seem offended. You shouldn't be.
I apologize for being lazy and being overzealous with the word Hollywoodized, I suppose.
i can legally get this story anywhere on the net? EOM
by stormz_class_of_98 (Tue Mar 20 2007 17:00:16)
_________
peace and acceptance
this stinks, am i gonna hafta buy it...EOM
by stormz_class_of_98 (Mon Apr 2 2007 00:59:14)
_________
peace and acceptance
Re: this stinks, am i gonna hafta buy it...EOM
by nosnojsirhc (Mon Apr 2 2007 04:14:05)
So in music, it always comes down to Elvis or Beatles (I'm for Elvis).
In literature, Updike or Irving (Updike).
It appears that there is a similar divide between the short story (is it really a book, even when they issue the movie tie-in?) that appeared in The New Yorker and the movie... I have to say, I go for the short story. Proulx writes sentences that hang in my mind like minimalist paintings, and her story was much more to me when I read it than the movie was. The movie seems like a black comedy, with cowboy Gyllenhaal providing a tongue-in-cheek performance and Randy Quaid giving one of the best one-liners in the past decade.
[3 Posts deleted by an administrator]
