In this book, you read short stories from legendary Russian writers, followed by an analysis of the story by George Saunders. What’s cool is that you get great writing from the stories, and then you get great writing about why it’s great, from Saunders.
I only hope that I’m able to apply the lessons learned here to my own writing. I think my biggest takeaway is the idea of ambiguity: inexperienced writers like myself have the tendency to try to make a clear point in their writing, whereas the strength of these stories is their openness to be interpreted in many ways. That’s probably a lesson that I knew before, but it comes through so much brighter here under Saunders’s guidance.
I have a clear memory of watching this movie in theatres in 2002. At the time, I was living in my parents’ house and we had houseguests, which meant that I had to surrender my room and sleep in the then-unfinished basement. That night after watching Signs, I wished I had my own room, and I was glad when our dog joined me in the dark.
Even though I haven’t rewatched it in at least 15 years, the film still felt familiar. It’s not as scary as that first time, because I think the construction and rhythm of the set pieces have left an impression on me like a memorable song. The script may be a bit overcooked, but the humour and familial sweetness work for me because of the performances.
I rewatched these for the first time in a while because Dial of Destiny is in the cultural conversation, and my wife had not seen the originals before. You know what? I know this is a beloved character and series, but I have to say… not really my thing. Of the three1, I like The Last Crusade the most. The Connery-Ford comedic chemistry goes a long way, and the final series of “puzzles” is genuinely cool.
Other than that, there’s a lack of character development—his only trait is that he’s always brave—and I found it annoying that his romantic relationships are all based on bickering and hostility.
Footnotes
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I’m not covering Crystal Skull because I don’t want to subject myself to that again, and I’m honestly not sure if I’ll ever catch up with Dial of Destiny. ↩
I chose to watch this show because of its star, Alicia Vikander. Probably my biggest celebrity crush. She’s alluring as always in Irma Vep as an actress cast in a niche indie miniseries remake of a silent-era French film. There’s lots of behind-the-scenes filmmaking stuff which is both satirical about the excesses of turbulent artists, and sentimental about the purity of said artistry. It’s also cool to geek out with the layers of self-reference: we see scenes from the film-within-a-film, along with real footage from the original silent film, along with re-enactments of the production of the original silent film. Oh, I forgot to mention: Irma Vep itself is a remake of a film, and we see scenes from that film spliced in here as well. Throw in some unexpected supernatural turns and the scenery of Paris, and it adds up to a fun, chill, occasionally mind-bending watch.
This show has a killer premise that doesn’t quite pay off, in my opinion. A mysterious machine appears in the general store of a small town, and whenever someone presses a button, it spits out a card that predicts that person’s “potential.” I’m into cool supernatural concepts, but what I ended up enjoying about the show was more the character relationships and the comedy (especially when delivered by Chris O’Dowd). There’s a tragedy and a secret hanging over the core characters, and I thought there was enough drama there without the extra mystery of the machine. We don’t find out enough about what the cards really mean to make it compelling; perhaps the pressure to set up a second season forced them to drag out the plot.
I was really absorbed in this thriller for the first third or so. It masterfully creates the feeling of what’s going on here? and deploys its characters through excellent performances, especially by Dave Bautista. But, once the premise is fully revealed, I found myself getting impatient. The story doesn’t give any new information, and we’re just waiting for the characters’ final decision. Once they make it, I said to myself, “Yeah, that’s what I would do too, and that’s what they should have done all along.” It feels inevitable and predictable. Director M. Night Shyamalan is criticized for relying on twists too often, but I felt like this movie could have benefitted from one.
It’s been a while since I dove into a big series. I don’t think I’ve ever tackled a series of this length. After the first entry, I would say it’s not a home run, but it’s intriguing enough to continue. The plotting and action kept me hooked (except for a short detour into zombie territory that almost made me quit—I’m just really not into zombie stuff), but the characters were a bit bland. There are two point-of-view characters with alternating chapters, and when their paths inevitably cross, I had a hard time distinguishing the two.
I could only read short sections of this book at a time, because the account of life in a concentration camp is so harrowing. Frankl’s background as a psychiatrist allows him to effectively explain the psychology of incarceration and trauma, but I’m not sure what to make of logotherapy, the system of therapy that he invented. The second part of the book is a somewhat vague and jargon-y explanation of his theory. The core concept, that humans are motivated by finding meaning in their lives, seems almost tautological to me. Meaning is purpose, and purpose is motivation. Do we really need a formal theory to say that we’re motivated by motivation?
Watching this show means almost always being on the verge of happy tears. Every character does exactly what you want them to, but it still feels like a surprise, because people just aren’t that nice in real life. I acknowledge that the third season lost its way, but I still enjoyed it, and I don’t want to let it take away from the perfection of the first two seasons.
