Christmas Thoughts
Photo: Clay Aiken.We had a nice Christmas at my sister-in-law’s house. Just the five of us listening to some CDs and talking away. Then after our dinner we all went to bed early. On the way to her house, I heard a song on the car radio that captivated me? Mary Did You Know? It was a haunting rendition of a song that has been done many times since it was written in 1984. This voice was dark and mysterious, something like Alison Moyet in her prime. I searched through different versions of the song and discovered it was actually sung by a man called Clay Aiken. What a haunting voice and a delight to listen to! He was a finalist on American Idol in 2003. As I don’t watch these TV shows, I really missed out on something there.
I’ve been reading the Space Trilogy again. My copy of Out of the Silent planet arrived on Saturday and I’ve read parts of it twice already. As an aside, Air Books sent me a nice diary for 2008, a calendar, bookmark and notepaper. Very nice. On Tuesday morning I plunged into That Hideous Strength again. My favourite character is Wither, described in Wikipedia as a “long-winded bureaucrat”. I’ve been thinking about getting some more of Lewis’ books but I’m not sure. I’ve got all the Narnia stories but TBH I can’t stand them. I didn’t grow up in a world where people said “Oh Lu, it’s perfectly beastly!”. I read part of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was nine and was fascinated by it. But I only read the full story when I was in my twenties and by that time I couldn’t really take to it. The rest of the series just falls outside my sympathies and it’s too late to do anything about that now. I read The Hobbit when I was eleven and liked it all right at the time. Today not so much. However, I’m in two minds about Lewis’ other, non-fiction books. For years I’ve been meaning to read Surprised by Joy and The Four Loves. I’m not too sure that I would like his Christian writings. I read some of The Screwtape Letters once and didn’t like it very much. I think the Space Trilogy may be his only stuff that I enjoy, although I did read The Great Divorce in 1990 and thought it was OK. Maybe we change too much over time. I recall that when Tolkien was asked to write an introduction to a George MacDonald reissue he sat down to it with enthusiasm, but when he tried to reread the books he found that he’d lost his passion for them. I tried to read one of those books myself a few years ago. I found it in the library and remembered how Tolkien and Lewis had been nuts about Curdie, so I started to read it. It was extremely well written (I remember being impressed by that) but the story didn’t seem to go anywhere and I abandoned it after a couple of chapters. I can’t even remember what it was about now. It just goes to show the meaning of the word ‘timeless’. A lot of things lose their appeal to future generations and I think this word should be used more selectively.
I finally put the finishing touches to Hyperquake on Saturday. I’d written some good stuff on Friday, but it was lost in cyberspace and I had to reconstruct it from memory. It came out all right in the wash. I don’t know why I niggle over that little story so much, but there you are. I’ve commented on it enough before. I only went so far down that road and maybe that’s why I have to exorcise this feeling through writing about it. I could have ended up like Mark Gainsby Hammond III. What a preposterous name!
Thirty years ago today, Star Wars hit the U.K. A lot of people went ape over it. I liked it the firs time I saw it but then it lost its flavour for me. In 2000, I rented the tape of The Phantom Menace but fast forwarded through most of it. There was blood running out of the telly, to paraphrase Billy Connolly. That and The Sixth Sense were the two worst movies I ever put myself through in my life, with Harry Potter and the Something or Other coming a close third.
Diary Time: The sauna at the club closed on Monday, but opened yesterday, so I had a long steam there! You get addicted to it, I tell you. Went for two walks. Today I’m going to play tennis and go swimming with Bruna. Last night we listened to Clay Aiken, Sade and Dianne Reeves.
I’ve been reading the Space Trilogy again. My copy of Out of the Silent planet arrived on Saturday and I’ve read parts of it twice already. As an aside, Air Books sent me a nice diary for 2008, a calendar, bookmark and notepaper. Very nice. On Tuesday morning I plunged into That Hideous Strength again. My favourite character is Wither, described in Wikipedia as a “long-winded bureaucrat”. I’ve been thinking about getting some more of Lewis’ books but I’m not sure. I’ve got all the Narnia stories but TBH I can’t stand them. I didn’t grow up in a world where people said “Oh Lu, it’s perfectly beastly!”. I read part of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was nine and was fascinated by it. But I only read the full story when I was in my twenties and by that time I couldn’t really take to it. The rest of the series just falls outside my sympathies and it’s too late to do anything about that now. I read The Hobbit when I was eleven and liked it all right at the time. Today not so much. However, I’m in two minds about Lewis’ other, non-fiction books. For years I’ve been meaning to read Surprised by Joy and The Four Loves. I’m not too sure that I would like his Christian writings. I read some of The Screwtape Letters once and didn’t like it very much. I think the Space Trilogy may be his only stuff that I enjoy, although I did read The Great Divorce in 1990 and thought it was OK. Maybe we change too much over time. I recall that when Tolkien was asked to write an introduction to a George MacDonald reissue he sat down to it with enthusiasm, but when he tried to reread the books he found that he’d lost his passion for them. I tried to read one of those books myself a few years ago. I found it in the library and remembered how Tolkien and Lewis had been nuts about Curdie, so I started to read it. It was extremely well written (I remember being impressed by that) but the story didn’t seem to go anywhere and I abandoned it after a couple of chapters. I can’t even remember what it was about now. It just goes to show the meaning of the word ‘timeless’. A lot of things lose their appeal to future generations and I think this word should be used more selectively.
I finally put the finishing touches to Hyperquake on Saturday. I’d written some good stuff on Friday, but it was lost in cyberspace and I had to reconstruct it from memory. It came out all right in the wash. I don’t know why I niggle over that little story so much, but there you are. I’ve commented on it enough before. I only went so far down that road and maybe that’s why I have to exorcise this feeling through writing about it. I could have ended up like Mark Gainsby Hammond III. What a preposterous name!
Thirty years ago today, Star Wars hit the U.K. A lot of people went ape over it. I liked it the firs time I saw it but then it lost its flavour for me. In 2000, I rented the tape of The Phantom Menace but fast forwarded through most of it. There was blood running out of the telly, to paraphrase Billy Connolly. That and The Sixth Sense were the two worst movies I ever put myself through in my life, with Harry Potter and the Something or Other coming a close third.
Diary Time: The sauna at the club closed on Monday, but opened yesterday, so I had a long steam there! You get addicted to it, I tell you. Went for two walks. Today I’m going to play tennis and go swimming with Bruna. Last night we listened to Clay Aiken, Sade and Dianne Reeves.
posted by Robert Stewart @ 7:25 AM
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