@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
04/22/05 -- Vol. 23, No. 43 (Whole Number 1279)
Table of Contents
Pulgasari Is the Talk of New York (comments by Mark R. Leeper):
In our May 7 issue last year I told the strange story of the North Korean monster movie PULGASARI. My account was nicely reprinted by Stephen Hunt's SF CROWSNEST. CROWSNEST does what I could not do and includes two pictures, one of me and one of Pulgasari. I am the ugly, mean-looking one at the site below:
http://www.computercrowsnest.com/features/arc/2004/nz5518.php
My account tells of a director who was kidnapped was forced to make this giant monster movie with a Marxist political message. If you were at all skeptical, now the story is being told by the New Yorker magazine:
What was the talk of the MT VOID is being repeated almost a year later in the New Yorker's "Talk of the Town". All I can say is that the town could have been talking about it sooner had they been readers of the MT VOID. [-mrl]
This Year's Nebula Award Nominees (comments by Mark R. Leeper):
Some of this may be old new to most of our readers, but we have a
lot of new readers who are not aware of the basic lore of science
fiction. The Science Fiction Writers Of America will award the
Nebula Awards the last weekend of this month. Like the Hugos
the Nebulas are awarded annually but unlike the Hugos, an item is
eligible for two years, not one. The Awards will be announced at
the 2005 Nebula Awards Weekend this year in Chicago, Illinois
from Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 1. For those unfamiliar
with the awards see
Novels
Novellas
Novelettes
Short Stories
Scripts
You have to hurry if you want to get even second class Nebula
fandom. Long-timers will know that I have defined classes of
fandom, though I usually refer to Hugos. As a refresher:
First class fandom goes to people who read the Hugo-winning novel
before it was even nominated.
Second class fandom goes to people who have read the Hugo-winning
novel after it was nominated but before it won.
Third class fandom goes to people who have read the Hugo-winning
novel after it won but before the end of the year.
Fourth class fandom, awarded retroactively, goes to people who
have read the Hugo-winning novel after the year it won.
Fifth class fandom goes to someone who can give the name of
someone, real or fictional, associated with the Star Wars films
or books.
Sixth class goes to people like your great-aunt Tilly and anyone
else who is not in a higher class. (I suppose there are
distinctions like greater and lesser Aunt Tillies.)
I usually define it in terms of the Hugo novel, but I guess we
can split it up as having a Hugo Class of Fandom and a Nebula
Class of Fandom. [-mrl]
Geeks and Brevity (letter of comment by John Hertz):
John Hertz responds to Mark's comments on geeks (in his comments
on the new show "Numb3rs") in the 01/21/05 issue:
"About geeks: If you let people accuse you of your virtues
you can't be surprised by the result. I suggest this
handy little acronym:
About FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON: The bloated novel is a sad
example of not leaving good alone. Shorter, it was
great." [-jh]
Movies about Books and Bookstores (letters of comment by
Barbara Cormack and by Jerry Ryan):
Regarding movies about books and bookstores (in the 04/01/05
issue), Barbara Cormack writes:
"About movies about books and bookstores, how about 84 CHARING
CROSS ROAD? (I loved it, and the short book is delightful too.)
And of course THE NINTH GATE which you mention below. I did not
know it was based on a book itself, thanks for that.
Does THE PRINCESS BRIDE count? It has the framework of the
grandfather reading the storybook to the young boy. A book
figures fairly importantly in the 1999 remake of THE MUMMY, to
say nothing of the shy librarian who becomes the archaeologist-
adventurer.
If we branch out into librarian books and movies (I collect
both), there are of course the movies DESK SET, PARTY GIRL, and
THE GUN IN BETTY-LOU'S HANDBAG. I am also fond of the light-but-
fun mystery novels by Charles Goodrum, who worked at the Library
of Congress, which are set in a mythical special library in D.C.
(DEWEY DECIMATED, BEST CELLAR, CARNAGE OF THE REALM, A SLIP OF
THE TONG - BEST CELLAR contains the story of how the L.C.
originated) For similarly lightweight mysteries featuring a
public librarian in the Pacific Northwest, we have Jo Dereske's
Miss Zukas mysteries. None of these have been made into movies,
though.
I have a special fondness for THE NAME OF THE ROSE. In my first
class in library school, we were given an assignment, to choose a
reading from a list of selections and prepare and deliver to the
class a report on that reading. When I saw THE NAME OF THE ROSE
was on the list, I snapped it up immediately, and if I do say so
myself, I delivered a rousing presentation. People were coming
up to me for days afterward telling me how much fun it was.
I'm sure there are tons of others; I'll have to think about it
some more." [-bc]
Jerry Ryan also writes, "Isn't THE PRINCESS BRIDE a movie tied
into a book (well, reading a book aloud)?" [-gwr]
Star Trekkin' (letters of comment by Dan Kimmel and by Charles Harris):
Regarding Mark's comments on trekking to the stars, Dan Kimmel
writes, "I'm sure I won't be the only one pointing out to you
that Roddenberry pitched his show to network executives as being
'Wagon Train to the Stars.'" [-dk]
Mark responds, "I not only know that, I remember reading that in
TV Guide before the show was ever on. (They used to have a page
in yellow with TV news.) It made sense in that 'Wagon Train'
usually dealt with timeless human problems as opposed to Western
specific problems. They were implying that 'Star Trek' was to be
about everyday human issues like father-son relationships, salt
vampires, and dealing with co-workers with difficult
personalities." [-mrl]
Charles Harris finished Mark's comment "When I hear the name
'Star Trek' I think of someone taking an interstellar ox-cart
across the galaxy" with "... as in this month's Old Bridge
Library SF Group book, TUNNEL IN THE SKY." Mark responded by
noting that the plaque at NASA commemorating the death of the
Apollo I astronauts bears the phrase "It's a hard road to the
stars."
Mark then added, "But no, TUNNEL IN THE SKY is more reminiscent
of the film SUBWAY TO THE STARS," so Charles elaborated "No, I
was alluding to a specific scene in TUNNEL IN THE SKY that
closely matches your description, s/ox/horses/:
This was no poverty-stricken band of refugees chivvied along
By police; here each family had its own wagon ... long,
sweeping, boat-tight Conestogas drawn by three-pair teams and
housed in sturdy glass canvas ... square and businesslike
Studebakers with steel bodies, high mudcutter wheels, and
pulled by one or two-pair teams. The draft animals were
Morgans and lordly Clydesdales and jug-headed Missouri mules
with strong shoulders and shrewd, suspicious eyes. Dogs
trotted between wheels, wagons were piled high with household
goods and implements and children, poultry protested the
indignities of fate in cages tied on behind....
(Gate four is, of course, an interstellar gate.)" [-ch]
MELINDA AND MELINDA (film review by Mark R. Leeper):
CAPSULE: Woody Allen shows us how the same inspiration can
inspire either a comedy or a tragic love story. We see the
creative process at work as a comedy director creates a comic
story and a more serious director takes the original story in the
direction of tragedy. The only trouble is that occasionally we
cannot tell which is the comic and which is the tragic story and
neither story is particularly engaging. This is more an
interesting idea for a film than an interesting film. Rating:
low +1 (-4 to +4) or 5/10
More so than with any other director, when Woody Allen makes a
new film I feel compelled to put the new film on the curve of
Allen's career and see how this film stacks up against his recent
films. That is because after CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS Allen seems
to have stopped making films for his audiences. Certainly his
films have been much less audience pleasers. Most people I know
have at least one film they like from this last period, but there
is no consensus that any of his films have been good. I
moderately enjoyed BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and ANYTHING ELSE. But
Allen's films are no longer reliably good and some have been
quite bad. MELINDA AND MELINDA is being acclaimed as Allen's
return to greatness, but I just do not see greatness in this
film.
The concept is the best thing about MELINDA AND MELINDA. Two
successful film directors are having dinner at a fancy restaurant
with some of their friends. Sy (played by Wallace Shawn) is
known for his bright comedies. Max (Larry Pine) makes films that
are tragic looks at life. A friend tells a story that we do not
hear. Each of the directors tells what he would do if he were
adapting this story as a film. We see the two stories play out
using elements from the unheard story in different ways. Each
story tells of how Melinda (Radha Mitchell) arrives unexpectedly
from out of town to visit her friend. The two sub-films have
different characters and tell nearly different stories, though
each has Melinda as a character, and in each Mitchell plays her.
Each tells how she is the catalyst to ruin the relationship of
her friend, her friend's husband, and two of their friends. The
relationships do go wrong, but so does the film because each of
the stories is not engaging and fails to make us care for the
characters.
We are distanced from the characters because the two filmmakers,
who obviously represent two sides of Allen's personality, use
much the same style for their films. Speaking for myself it is
not a style that works well. Part of the problem is that most of
the action of the film is not shown to us but we are told. The
sex scenes we do get to see, but most of the rest of the scenes
consist of characters getting together and discussing what is
happening in their lives. The film tells us far too much and
shows us far too little. And because we do not see much of the
characters in action, we do not know who they are. And not
knowing who they are we do not care much about what happens to
them. And when Allen fails to involve us in the characters we do
not really who ends up bedding whom. It all seems like gossip
about people we do not know. Ironically, the film shows us a
small piece of Edgar Ulmer's THE BLACK CAT. This is a film in
which the major action took place years before and there are
plenty of scenes of talking about the past. But the interest
never flags because there is plenty of action in the present,
unlike in MELINDA AND MELINDA. As an aside, I think THE BLACK
CAT is an under-appreciated gem of delightfully morbid black
comedy. It may be the best film of Universal's creative period
from 1930 to 1935.
Woody Allen's screen personality always seems to be present in
his films even if he himself is only behind the camera. Here the
Woody Allen figure is Hobie (Will Ferrell) who in spite of very
different physical stature has the Allen patented personality and
mannerisms. Some of the other characters do not seem human at
all. Who do you know who would say "Life has a funny way of
dealing with great potential" or "My sad tale should come from my
lips"? That is another reason it is hard to get into these
characters' lives and care who is getting into each other's beds.
For my money this is another Allen misfire. I rate it a low +1
on the -4 to +4 scale or 5/10. [-mrl]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
If you liked Arturo Perez-Reverte's THE CLUB DUMAS, you will
definitely want to read Carlos Ruiz Zafon's THE SHADOW OF THE
WIND (ISBN 1-59420-010-6). This is another story about the
mysteries surrounding a book, set in Barcelona before, during,
and after the Spanish Civil War. When Daniel was a child, his
father took his to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a
labyrinthine repository for books that have been abandoned.
"When a library closes down, when a book is consigned to
oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make
sure that it gets here," Daniel's father tells him. The Cemetery
itself sounds like a cross between Borges's Library of Babel and
the Cairo Genizah. And everyone who knows about the Cemetery
chooses one book to "adopt", so there's a possible reference to
Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451 as well.
Daniel chooses THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Julian Carax, but he
soon discovers that someone else remembers this book, and all of
Carax's other books--and seeking them out to destroy all of them.
There are hidden family secrets, and vicious policemen (one of
whom reminded me of Victor Hugo's Inspector Javert--yet another
reference), and uncanny parallels between Carax's plot and
Daniel's life, and even similarities to Franz Kafka. I haven't
read the original, but as far as I can tell, translator Lucia
Graves (daughter of poet Robert Graves) does a very good job of
keeping a mysterious atmosphere throughout. Highly recommended.
(Ruiz Zafon now lives in Los Angeles, so maybe his future books
will be published here faster. THE SHADOW OF THE WIND took a
while, but being on the bestseller list in Spain for over a year
probably helped.)
Charles Dickens's AMERICAN NOTES FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION (ISBN
0-14-043077-6) is about Dickens's 1842 trip to the United States,
during which he visited prisons, workhouses, orphanages, and
asylums, and wrote about them. Sometimes he found them models
that England should emulate; other times he found them horrific.
He says very little about society or social events. I'm sure she
attended some, but his goal in describing his trip was more
social reform than to write a 19th century "People" magazine. He
spends far more time describing the clothing of the working class
than of the cream of society, and points out the flaws he sees.
For example, he notes "Some Southern republican that, who puts
his blacks in uniform, and swells with Sultan pomp and power."
And as the book goes on, he finds more to complain about, from
the practice of chewing (and spitting) tobacco to the practice of
slavery, which he finds abhorrent. (Yet he too has his blind
spots. He describes traveling through some areas where he was
served by slaves, and also through women's prisons, yet later
says, "Nor did I ever once, on any occasion, anywhere, during my
rambles in America, see a woman exposed to the slightest act of
rudeness, incivility, or even inattention" (page 192). What he
seems to mean is no white woman, and for that matter, probably
only those of the higher classes.
But I do love his description of the sleeping arrangements on one
of the canal boats he took: "I found suspended on either side of
the cabin three long tiers of hanging book-shelves, designed
apparently for volumes of the small octavo size. Looking with
greater attention at these contrivances (wondering to find such
literary preparations in such a place), I descried on each shelf
a sort of microscopic sheet and blanket; then I began dimly to
comprehend that the passengers were the library, and that they
were to be arranged, edge-wise, on these shelves, till morning"
(page 193).
And Dickens, or rather his guide book, certainly disagrees with
Attorneys General Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft when it says of
the statue The Spirit of Justice in the Capitol, "the artist at
first contemplated giving more of nudity, but he was warned that
the public sentiment in this country would not admit of it, and
in his caution he has gone, perhaps, into the opposite extreme"
(page 165).
This book serves as a good way of seeing the social philosophy
and attitudes informing Dickens's novels as well as an outsider's
portrait of life in mid-19th century America. (Alexis de
Tocqueville traveled a bit earlier, about 1831. He also came to
inspect the prisons and workhouses, but wrote about considerably
more.)
Jonathan Stroud's THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND (ISBN 0-786-81859-X) is
the first of the young-adult "Bartimaeus Trilogy". In case,
you're wondering, I'm reading this for the golem content (the
second book, in fact, is called THE GOLEM'S EYE). Magic is real,
and one of our main characters is a young magician in training.
Sound familiar? Well, in Stroud's world, everyone knows magic is
real. Governments employ magicians in large numbers. Prague, by
virtue of its pre-eminence in magic, is a major world capital.
And one of the first-person narrators of this book is Bartimaeus,
a djinni. who delivers his asides as footnotes. (Example: As
Bartimaeus is in the form of a mole, tunneling, he says, "No
magical alarm sounded, though I did hit my head five times on a
pebble," and then footnotes this with, "Once each on five
different pebbles. Not the same pebble five times. Just want to
make that clear. Sometimes you humans are so *dense*.") I like
Bartimaeus as a character (he reminds me of C. S. Lewis's
Screwtape), though I suspect some people with be less than
thrilled with a demon as the sympathetic protagonist of a
young-adult novel. This trilogy seems more in the tradition of Philip
Pullman's "His Dark Materials" than in that of J. K. Rowling's
"Harry Potter"--there is a darker side to magic (and life) that is
more fully explored here. [-ecl]
Go to my home page
Grapes are sour.
Emperor has no clothes.
Each put-down of you means I win.
Kornbluth didn't tell the half of it.
Gate four had been occupied by a moving cargo belt when he
had come in; now the belt had crawled away and lost itself in
the bowels of the terminal and an emigration party was lining
up to go through.
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Quote of the Week:
People have no particular age in Aslan's
country. Even in this world, of course,
it is the stupidest children who are the
most childish and the stupidest grown-ups
who are the most grown up.
--C.S. Lewis The Silver Chair, Chap 16 p 212