Light On Dark Water

Three Items of Interest

From Janet: David Bentley Hart's comment on the new Atlas Shrugged movie. I've seen several other reviews, and they were all pretty negative. Even the one by someone who's not hostile to Rand was at best lukewarm.

From Rob G: Bill Kaufman on the return of black novelist Ernest K. Gaines to his Louisiana roots. I'd like to say more about this, but time doesn't permit; suffice for the moment to say that I've never read anything by Gaines, but I certainly intend to.

From Godescalc, one of the contributors to a group blog called There Are Real Things ("the home of theIncarnationist International"): a sketch accompanied by (or accompanying?) a quote from one of my poems, "Jonah." The blog looks great–I love the banner drawing–though I haven't had time this weekend to spend much time reading it, I plan to. And of course I'm extremely pleased that someone thought one of my poems worth quoting. The name of the blog, by the way, is a quote from Chesterton.

Maclin Horton

42 responses to “Three Items of Interest”

  1. Janet

    Well, that was very perspicacious of them to select that great and scary poem.
    AMDG

    Reply
  2. Craig

    I’ve been reading “There Are Real Things” since it started a month or two ago. I found out about it from Nick Milne — one of the contributors — whose previous blog I used to read. He is good enough to read mine too, I believe, from time to time. It’s a small world.
    I’m embarrassed to say that I skipped over the post to which you link, and didn’t notice that the poem was by you!
    I am salivating at that DBH essay.

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  3. Craig

    What a terrific essay by DBH. I nearly choked on my drink at least three times.

    Reply
  4. Craig

    At the end of his little column on the Rand film, Hart praises Terrence Malick as “the world’s greatest living filmmaker”. I noticed that he also praised Malick in his recent superb essay on Heidegger. Is this an idiosyncratic opinion of his, or is Malick worth looking in to?
    The only one of Malick’s films that I have seen is The Thin Red Line. It’s a haunting movie, and quite possibly the best war film that I have seen. I have never forgotten Jim Caviezel’s eyes either.
    If I was to try another Malick film, can anyone recommend one?

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  5. Mac

    Janet: Yes, wasn’t it? 🙂 And thank you. I’m not all that crazy about the poem myself, except for the last few lines–musically it’s not right–but I don’t think I can fix it now.
    Craig: I thought I recognized Nick Milne’s name, but I couldn’t remember where I’d come across it.
    I need to change that post–DBH’s piece is not exactly a review of the film, which he hasn’t seen.
    I can’t say about Malick. I looked at his filmography on Wikipedia and of those he directed The Thin Red Line was the only name I recognized, and I haven’t seen it, though I do recall hearing good things about it. I notice that he was the (a) writer of Dirty Harry(!)

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  6. Janet

    Well, I like it,but I meant to say that the scary part is not on the blog and people will have to look at your homepage to find it.
    AMDG

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  7. Janet

    Craig,I had that same choking experience.
    Well, farewell until next week when I won’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight.
    AMDG

    Reply
  8. Rob G

    Malick has made only four feature films, five if you count the finished, but not-yet-released “Tree of Life.” Although I wouldn’t agree with DBH that Malick is the greatest living filmmaker, his films are very good. I’ve not seen his first one, Badlands, but I’d definitely recommend Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, and The New World, the latter of which is a beautifully shot retelling of the Pocahontas/John Smith story.
    His films tend to take their time — Malick uses a lot of impressionistic sequences of landscapes and things, as well as scenes that set a mood rather than furthering the story. He is sometimes described as a “contemplative” director.
    Although not a Malick film, the recent movie by Andrew Dominik, ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ is much in the spirit of Malick.

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  9. Craig

    Thanks, Rob. From that description, I think that I may like Malick. I will try The New World first and see how it goes.
    The Assassination of Jesse James… took me by surprise. I’ll confess to this prejudice: I do not usually expect films starring Brad Pitt to be that good.
    I notice Pitt plays one of the characters in Malick’s upcoming The Tree of Life, so my prejudice is due for another challenge.

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  10. Rob G

    Like Tom Cruise, Pitt is at his best when you forget he’s Pitt.

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  11. Mac

    “…when you forget he’s Pitt.” Yeah, I’ve had similar experiences of being surprised by his acting ability. What’s that gangster/crime movie where he plays a lunatic Irishman? I guess that was over the top but it was impressive.

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  12. Rob G

    “What’s that gangster/crime movie where he plays a lunatic Irishman?”
    ‘Snatch’? Yes, he was good in that. And in ‘Se7en” also. And his comic turn in the Coens’ ‘Burn After Reading’ was a lot of fun.
    On the other hand, he pretty much ruined ‘Troy’ for me, which would not have been too bad had someone else played Achilles.

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  13. godescalc

    Thanks for the link! Regarding the poem, I selected the verse I did as it seemed most relevant to the drawing (and has described my own life at times), but I hope people do click through to read the whole thing.
    (I’ve actually had that poem in my copybook for years, with a little pencil sketch of Jonah descending towards the mouth of the shark at the bottom of the page.)

    Reply
  14. Mac

    You’re welcome. I’m most gratified by your appreciation of the poem. Perhaps I’ll write another…

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  15. Mac

    Yeah, Rob, it’s Snatch. A well-made and enjoyable movie, but it left me feeling a bit dirty somehow, I think because of the light-hearted portrayal of evil. I’m asking myself now why that’s different from, say Kind Hearts and Coronets. Too busy to try to sort that out right now…

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  16. Janet

    And thank you. I’m not all that crazy about the poem myself, except for the last few lines–musically it’s not right–but I don’t think I can fix it now.
    Well, I wasn’t thinking so much about the music, but that it was true. I’ve read so much poetry lately that wasn’t.
    AMDG

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  17. Janet

    Oh dear, is this going to make everything italic?
    AMDG

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  18. Mac

    I fixed it.
    “…so much poetry lately that wasn’t [true].”
    Yeah, that’s part of why my appetite for contemporary poetry is not much greater than my appetite for contemporary fiction. (and thanks, btw)

    Reply
  19. Rob G

    FYI, look who has a book of short stories(!) coming out in a couple weeks:
    http://www.eerdmans.com/Products/1768/the-devil-and-pierre-gernet.aspx

    Reply
  20. Mac

    I looked at this post (couldn’t remember what it was about) and tried to guess who you might be talking about before I clicked on the link. I thought Kaufmann was more likely. In my experience low expectations are in order for fiction from a religious publisher, but Hart is an awfully good writer. Should be at a minimum pretty interesting.

    Reply
  21. Janet

    Oh yeah, that’s what I thought about Death at Pemberley–big mistake.
    However, I’ll be hoping that this is better. Ideally, he could be like Wendell Berry, fleshing out the ideas in his essays in his fiction.
    AMDG

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  22. Mac

    You mean it was a mistake to think it would be at a minimum pretty interesting?
    Ideally…but Berry was a novelist and poet first. Still, I think it’s unlikely to be out-and-out bad.

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  23. Janet

    I am finding it very heavy going. I’m going to finish, but only because I feel I must. I think that even a mystery can have light moments and humor; this most certainly does not. I realize now that this is probably true of all of James’s work and, of course, Austen just the opposite, so it is just a terrible fit.
    AMDG

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  24. Mac

    I always hate to say this, but I’ve never been wildly enthusiastic about her mysteries. They’re very well done and all, but…I don’t know, somehow I never get really involved in them. That’s true about the absence of anything at all light, as far as I can remember.

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  25. Janet

    Well, and when you think about the BBC productions–no lightness there either.
    AMDG

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  26. Mac

    Yes, and I really like those. Better than the books, to tell the truth.

    Reply
  27. ex pat

    I found Innocent Blood very engaging. I must admit I have read five or six of PD James’ novels, and could not remember that title. So I looked on Wiki. Beyond Innocent Blood and Death in Holy Orders, to be honest, it was difficult for me to tell even from the plot descriptions whether or not I’d read them. I remember enjoying Original Sin, but when confronted with the plot on Wiki, I actually don’t recall any of it. So if my failing memory is anything to go by, the books are somewhat forgetable 🙂
    I have never seen any of the TV series.
    The absence of humour is, I agree, a major problem with the ‘Pemblerly’ Bk specifically as a continuation of Jane Austin. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

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  28. Mac

    I haven’t read Innocent Blood. Death in Holy Orders is probably my favorite of the ones I’ve read, partly because of the milieu in which it’s set, I think.
    Inspector Dalgliesh is much more real to me via the TV versions than the books. I don’t think that’s completely the difference in medium.

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  29. Janet

    I don’t remember the names of the few that I’ve read, but that’s not unusual for a mystery. I keep meaning to get back to them, but I never do. I liked them alright, but I didn’t consume them at the same rate I have some others. I probably read Ngaio Marsh at the rate of 6-8 books a week.
    AMDG

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  30. Mac

    !!! (that’s a comment on the quantity, not on Ngaio Marsh)

    Reply
  31. Janet

    That was before I had a job.
    AMDG

    Reply
  32. Mac

    I started to say I hope that someday I won’t have a job, but that really isn’t quite the right idea. Maybe I should say I hope that someday I won’t need to have a job.

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  33. ex pat

    I think that many days. I imagine winning the Indiana State Lottery and buying a house in Walsingham and never working again, just putting out a CTS pamphlet once a year. But after being off sick for Tuesday and Wednesday this week, ie, two days (half days, really, because I came in on both days then felt too unwell to continue), I was bored to tears.

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  34. Mac

    There’s a poster that says “Dear God, please give me a chance to prove that wealth won’t spoil me.” I want a chance to prove that retirement won’t spoil me–that I won’t be miserably bored, etc.
    Do you actually buy lottery tickets? My dreams of winning a lottery are always thwarted by the fact that I don’t buy tickets.

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  35. ex pat

    I do occasionally buy them, yes, I admit it.

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  36. Mac

    I probably would, too, if it were convenient. Since we don’t have a lottery in Alabama I would have to drive 40 miles or so to Florida.

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  37. ex pat

    After this morning’s cancellation of the driving test debacle, the third time in 18 months, my stepmother (amongst others) wondered if it was a sign from God? Meaning what, I said standing at a four lane junction in the driving snow? If God wants me to leave the MidWest I am fully willing to be obedient!

    Reply
  38. Mac

    That’s one possibility…detecting and interpreting signs from God is a pretty dicey business, I find.
    I always forget how very cold it can be in the Midwest.

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  39. Paul

    This is the most consistently entertaining blog I’ve read.

    Reply
  40. ex pat

    I think so too, Paul. I look at other blogs from time to time, and some eg All Manner of Thing are good, but most make me think ‘bleah’. This was the phrase used by Linus (or perhaps Charlie) in response to coconut cookies.

    Reply
  41. ex pat

    One could list the rather unctious CTS pamphlets to be written while living in Walsingham on a lottery win, beginning with, of course,
    ‘The Holiness of Work: God’s Plan for the Postlapsarian world.’
    ‘Sister Poverty: Giving All to the Other’

    Reply
  42. Mac

    Well, of course–you would need to be comfortably situated in order to give the proper attention and care to those topics.
    It pleases me greatly that y’all like the blog so well. Since its audience is pretty small, I guess that means you are of the discriminating few.
    I like coconut cookies myself.

    Reply

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