Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Joke? Crappy editing?
I’m reading Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, mostly because I want to watch the movie (big Coen Bros. fan here) but I want to read the book first.
It’s a fun book but it’s really not too deep. Based on my N of 1/2 a McCarthy book, James Crumley has a hell of a lot more to say and he says it with a much less affected style. I don’t like the lack of dialog quotes, the almost complete absence of speaker attribution, the dropped punctuation (McCarthy dont need no stinkin apostrophes!), the sentence fragments, the thick vernacular. Nevertheless, all of those pretentious quirks aside, NCfOM is a fun ride.
But I DIDN’T expect to find, in an otherwise humorless book,
Who must think that he thought that they thought that he thought they were very dumb. He thought about that.
Wow. Pulled me right out of the book. I can’t remember who said it, but there’s an old quote about cutting the “good bits.” I’m sure the author of that quote didn’t mean you should edit out ALL the good bits, but rather, you should cut the bits of which you are particularly, smugly proud. IMO, those two sentences qualify.
In other news: I’m a little over 25K words into my WiP. Not bad for, what? a couple of months of weekend writing? (Yeah, Tammy, I underestimated the word count when I talked to you the other night. Could have knocked me over when I checked it the next day.)
I have mixed feelings about this novel. On the one hand, I think this is some of the best stuff I’ve ever written. On the other, I’m terrified because I don’t know where it’s going. Which is kind of fun-scary in a way, too; I’m looking forward to seeing how this all works out, but I’m afraid I’ll write myself into a cul-de-sac. It’s happened before.
D.
This has nothing to do with anything on this page. Just wanted to let you know you’re awesome! I did a google search for “sores in my nose” I had been bothered by the buggers for a couple of years, tried everything but a visit to the Doc which seemed a little overkill for annoying sores. Then I came across you! A hairy, nearly naked (socks on) smart ass. Quickly ordered some Bactroban and Viola!! 3 days later I’m “normal”. Ok, maybe that’s a stretch… but the nose sores are totally gone!! Just wanted to say thanks! So, Thanks D.
Kristy
Fully clothed, not hairy and with no nose sores
The only McCarthy book I’ve read is THE ROAD and while the McCarthy’s punctuation and structure quirks didn’t really bother me all that much – once I got used to them, that is – I didn’t like the story. It was predictable, repetitive, and, well, really dumb/illogical/impossible in places. The few brilliant moments were obscured by my overall frustration and aggravation.
I’d like to see No Country For Old Men, just not sure I want to read it.
Johnson? “Read over your composition, and where ever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.”
Would that be Samuel Johnson?
Yup. Just googled to confirm.
And then I remembered the modern-day equivalent, “Kill your darlings.” Who said that first?
I’m not sure, but here’s a nice post dissecting “kill your darlings” and putting it into a sensible context.
I refuse to read any novel in which the author shuns quotation marks.
The just bugs the hell out of me.
I refuse to read any novel in which the author shuns quotation marks.
The just bugs the hell out of me.
That! That!
Crap, I’m tired.