Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The classics - Redux?

Reading the classics is not my thing. I am loath to even try then anymore. My 'abandonment rate' with them is too high for it to be worth the effort.

So it was with considerable scepticism that I started hearing this piece. Here author Jack Mornigan talks about finding humor in three heavy-weights (all three of which I have been unsuccessful in completing in the past) - Moby Dick; Ulysses and The Sound and the Fury. He makes a great case, and has gotten me to rethink these books. Maybe I will give them another shot after all.

[Mining the classics for laughs]

There is an audio link here as well. I highly recommend that you listen, rather than read. Listening to the guy is what made it click for me. The clip is just under 4 minutes long, and is well worth the time. Who knows, maybe you will be tempted to try Melville, Joyce and Faulkner too!

3 comments:

  1. hey ..when did you guys come out of the almirah? from banker by day to A & J. I notice you've identified yourselves. I'd be curious to know which pieces were written by A, and which one were written by J? Or all pieces some form of collaboration?

    Dtop denizen from a college town still deciding to stay in his almirah

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  2. Lemme guess...this one is by A

    Dtop

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  3. Momentary lapse of judgment! Actually, more like not so momentary lack of IT skills. A+J are starting another blog primarily directed at our family members. We plan on this to be a food blog, with all our traditional family recipes, that family members can go in and add to etc. In creating that blog, I ended up writing a new profile, which for some reason turned up on B&R also! Thanks for calling it out! Back to the almirah it is.

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