Margaret Atwood at Cambridge, MA, 1963 ^ via "Margaret Atwood: Interview"
I wonder what she's reading...
I must be in an orange mood, in these January days: I have nothing in particular to say about Atwood, it's just that her dress caught my eye.
I did think her Handmaid's Tale was all too frighteningly believable--if I were, say, to teach a political/philosophy literature class, I'd definitely include it. But I haven't read (or, rather, finished) much else by her.
A couple years ago, I took a photo of a young woman's tattoo of the famous quote from that book:
Nolite te bastardes carbonrundorum, "Don't let the bastards grind you down."
(Googling it, I see it's a popular tattoo.)
Here's a bit of M.A. on Science Fiction.
II. Marz's new Star Trek fanvid:
"A tribute to Kirk's strange life.
Song: 'Sigourney Weaver' by John Grant"
________________________________Song: 'Sigourney Weaver' by John Grant"
Despite Sigourney Weaver starring in the parody of Star Trek fandom, Galaxy Quest, one of my Top 10 favorite movies, I can't find anything that direct links her and Star Trek.
She voices a computer in the movie, which is another one of my favorites, and one of the only movies I own.
So I was happy to read her say, "I have to say Wall-E is damn near close to a perfect movie. It's such a strong powerful context -- scary actually -- and yet within it, there's such a really endearing story and romance."
Don't let January grind you down, I say. Find your orange!
I loved the Handmaid's Tail, and it's also the only thing I've read by her. My only problem with Wall-e (which I also quite like, and have seen like 10 times) is that it loses its courage in the second half and turns into a standard gang-of-plucky robots plot. The nearly dialogue-less first act is perfect. And brave, for a kid's movie.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlogger on my iPad did something very odd just now, putting on some partial mistyped old comment of mine. What I thought I said:
ReplyDeleteAtwood’s a good poet too.
And: I’m sitting down with The Penelopiad soon.
Find for me one person who doesn't look great in some shade of orange and I'll eat my hat. Wall-E remains on my "To Watch" list. I know it's heartwarming and endearing but I'm still avoiding things that will bring tears. Someday I'll throw that caution to the wind.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime: orange!
Marz's video is pretty near seamless! Tell her nice job for me. :-)
ReplyDeleteCLOWNCAR: It would be interesting to see a different Wall-E, one that stays nonverbal throughout...
ReplyDeleteBut I'm a sucker for the gang-of-plucky-robots, never having recovered from Silent Running.
MICHAEL: Hm. I've been meaning to read more poetry--I'll look M.A.'s up.
Meanwhile, since I like post-apocalyptic lit, I've started her Year of the Flood (2009).
Will you give us a report on the Penelopiad when you're done?
POODLE: I bow to your knowledge of color and skin. Is it that all shades of red pick up on our red blood?
Hm... I'm not sure I'd say Wall-E is exactly "heartwarming"---it's a pretty devastating view of the future, but it is ultimately hopeful about the *resilience* of life, human and otherwise.
BINK: The vid is pretty great, I agree. I'll pass along your comment.