Took last week off, spent it at my in-law's house reading and vegging out. These all get at least one from me, but my favorites were easily Fake Fish (for the pictures and descriptions of plays I wish I could have seen) and The Wendigo (for keeping me up in front of a fire half the night on Christmas Eve, but also because it's a kick-ass story). I also read some comics, which I may add later.
The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 Miles in the City by William B. Helmreich
The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 Miles in the City by William B. Helmreich
Oddly enough, the fact that a neighborhood has a bad reputation reduces the likelihood of certain kinds of violence. Because of that reality, people are far more careful about what they do. They will not jump out of their cars to complain if someone has double-parked and blocked them. They will not easily argue with people. Why? Those people could kill them.Tamburlaine the Great, Part I by Christopher Marlowe
Enter TECHELLES with a naked dagger.Fake Fish: The Theater Of Kobo Abe by Nancy Shields
Techelles.
See you Agydas, how the king salutes you.
He Bids you Prophesy what it imports.
Abe explained why in his opinion Mishima "who adored actors so much" was not able to become "a capable actor": "The reason is simple. He was constitutionally incapable of understanding the neutral physical expression which is an indispensable requirement for the actor. Even if he could have understood it, he may have been like me, unable to put it into practice. However, if Mishima had exercised just a bit of self-control and restricted himself to directing, as I have done, he might have become just the sort of pioneering, revolutionary director I am. (If this were published as dialogue, we'd have Laughter here.)"The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood
"The allegory is significant," he remarked, looking about him into the darkness, "for the Voice, they say resembles all the minor sounds of the brush -- wind, falling water, cries of animals, and so forth. And, once the victim hears that -- he's off for good, of course! His most vulnerable points, moreover, are said to be the feet and the eyes; the feet, you see, for the lust of wandering, and the eyes for the lust of beauty. The poor beggar goes at such a dreadful speed that he bleeds beneath the eyes, and his feet burn."Teaching & Learning Vocabulary by I.S.P. Nation
One of the educational values of learning a foreign language is seeing how the foreign language divides up experience in a different way from the mother tongue. From an Indonesian point of view, fork is defined mainly by its function -- something to push food onto your spoon. From an English point of view, fork is defined by its shape. Treating meaning in English as if it was just a mirror of the mother tongue hides this difference.Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick
If I turn it on, I’ll hear them talking about me.Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary Wolf
He reached out his hand, hesitated, and then turned the radio on. The radio began to hum. Gradually the tubes warmed; sounds, mostly static, faded in. He fiddled with the volume as he drove.
"... afterwards," a voice said squeakily.
"... not," another voice said.
"... my best."
"... okay." A series of pops.
They’re calling back and forth, Ragle said to himself. The air-waves filled with alarm. Ragle Gumm eluded us! Ragle Gumm escaped!
The voice squeaked, "... more experienced."
Ragle thought, Next time send a more experienced team. Bunch of amateurs.
"... might as well ... no further..."
Might as well give up, Ragle filled in. No further use in tracking him. He’s too shrewd. Too wily.
The voice squeaked, "... Schulmann says."
That would be Commander Schulmann, Ragle said to himself. The Supreme Commander with headquarters in Geneva. Mapping the top-level secret strategy to synchronize world-wide military movements so they converge on this pick-up truck. Fleets of warships steaming toward me. Atomic cannon. The usual works.
"Play it your way then, but if it turns out to be Jessica who killed me, I don't want her punished for it. I want you to get her off the hook. Will you at least humor me that far?"The Man Who Turned into a Stick: Three Related Plays by Kobo Abe
"That's about the dopiest thing I've ever heard," I said.
"What did you expect from a rabbit?" said Roger.
[The director is free to choose the part of the man's anatomy which will represent the keyhole.]
Last edited by linespalsy; 12-31-14 at 10:02 AM.
Reason: typos