tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post397918633840991848..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: Seen That, Read ThatKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-46165255769646833032016-04-06T16:26:38.690+01:002016-04-06T16:26:38.690+01:00I just got an e-mail about an hour ago. Apparently...I just got an e-mail about an hour ago. Apparently I’m in the top 1% of reviewers on Goodreads. Not sure what exactly that means but I get a cool badge to stick on my blog if the mood suits me. Basically what I take from it is I’ve not read a book without writing about it in about eight years. I do it as a matter of routine now. For me it’s important because I forget so damn quickly what I’ve read and it’s a way to try to reinforce what I’ve read otherwise it’s all a bit pointless. There are few books that I don’t learn something about in my researches and I almost always come away thinking, <i>How did I miss that?</i> but that’s fine. I never read prose just for fun. I don’t even think I read comics just for fun. Reading is work but that’s not a bad thing; work is satisfying. I’ve just finished <i>Ape and Essence</i> by Aldous Huxley. Another dystopia only in this future they’ve all become devil worshippers because they think it’s him that brought about World War III. Learned a new word: pizzle— the penis of an animal, especially a bull, formerly used for flogging people. Who would even THINK to do something like that? Devil worshippers I guess. <br /><br />I haven’t read <i>Revolutionary Road</i> but I do intend to get round to something by Richard Yates; it may end up being that. I think I saw the film. (See what I mean about my memory.) Haven’t seen <i>Inside Llewyn Davis</i> but Carrie is a big Coen Brothers fan so I expect we’ll get round to it. Haven’t seen <i>Caché</i> but I did enjoy <i>Amour</i> very much. Not sure if I’d go out of my way to watch <i>Caché</i> though. I’m not the biggest fan of thrillers. It’s an odd term if you think about it. I’ve never, as far as I can remember (always that proviso), read a thriller but as soon as I see the word in a review you’ve lost my interest. I can’t imagine me ever reading a novel by James Patterson or, say, Lee Child, names I found on a list online because (honestly) I couldn’t think of a single writer of thrillers off the top of my head. <i>The Hateful Eight</i> I’ll probably watch but only because Tarantino directed it. I’ve mixed feelings about him as a director but he’s never less than interesting. <i>10 Cloverfield Lane</i> I’m looking forward to but then <i>anything</i> vaguely sci-fi interests me. Puzzles the hell out me why I’ve never written any. Probably because everything’s been done. Or at least that’s how it seems and then someone comes up with something new and you end up kicking yourself for not thinking about something so damn obvious first. I’m pretty sure Carrie’s read <i>Fingersmith</i>—she’s read most of Sarah Waters’ books—and we both watched the BBC adaptation but I can remember nothing about it, not even the dirty bits. I’d like to read <i>The Buried Giant</i>. I’ve not read <i>any</i> Ishiguro but I loved the films of <i>The Remains of the Day</i> and <i>Never Let Me Go </i>. He’s written some original screenplays too. Do you remember seeing a BBC drama called <i>The Gourmet</i> about a… well, a gourmet who, having eaten everything (including human flesh), sets out to find and cook a ghost? That was weird but an image of Charles Gray scoffing down some lightly-fried ectoplasm has stayed with me for some thirty years.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com