Andrew Sean Greer on 'Benjamin Button'

Just a little note to tack onto Kate's post today -- I stumbled across a post on andrewgreer.com addressing the issue of the similarity between his novel and Benjamin Button. For us Greer fans who were a bit aghast and upset to see a movie possessing content like 'Button' and no mention of Andrew Sean Greer's name anywhere around or about it, here is what the author himself has to say.

For those of you who just want to read a synopsis of Greer's already short response, he basically says that the film version of Benjamin Button developed completely outside the realm of his novel, just as The Confessions of Max Tivoli developed in Greer's mind without him ever having even heard of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story.

Fitzgerald's 'Button' involves a character born aged of mind as well as body, whereas Greer's character Max ages backward while developmentally following the same path as all of his 'peers'. The movie has no, as Greer puts it, "three-act love story, no epic span". The stories are as different as dawn and twilight.

Also -- happy news! Andrew Greer has indeed written a third book called The Story of a Marriage. I'm going to buy it tomorrow.

Hopefully that will satisfy a little curiosity.

We are each the love of someone's life...

The Confessions of Max Tivoli, written by Andrew Sean Greer is truly a modern masterpiece. Centering around the life of the title character, Max as he grows mentally forward from child to adult but physically backwards. In a saddening turn of events, he knows the exact year that he will finally succumb to a death in infant form and wears a pendant that reads "1941" around his neck as a kind of constant reminder.

The main theme of the book would either be love or alienation, depending on whether you see the glass as half full or not. Max falls in love not once, but three times with the same woman, but he tries (and sometimes fails) to keep his true identity a secret. He has been trained from a young age to be what they think he is, having only one true friend who knows him for what he truly is.

Greer writes a beautiful novel. This being his second, I really need to find his first - The Path of Minor Planets - and give it a go. This is one of those books I just happened to pluck off a shelf while I was on break at Barnes and Noble and had to immediately purchase it. Through some terrible happenstance, it got lost, so naturally I went and bought it a second time. 

The writing is absolutely stunning - it has a rather prosey feel when waxing on the destructive force of love ("It is a brave and stupid thing, a beautiful thing to waste ones life for love") and it reads in a rather turn-of-the-century lit kind of way. If this sounds a lot like the whole Benjamin Button thing, that's what I thought, too... Having not seen that particular film, I can't really make any judgments, but when I saw previews for it I was a bit miffed that it seemed to have exactly the same premise. Perhaps someone can enlighten me before I sit down to watch it?

Regardless, this novel is brilliant. Nothing I could say about it will ever do it justice, so you should probably read it.

The Perils of 3.1415926535897...

Let us for a moment dwell upon the genius of Darren Aronofsky.

Pi is a black-and-white (brilliant as hell) American psychological thriller, released in 1998. Aronofsky brings together mathematical theory and Jewish mysticism in a way that's both sobering and really freaking cool. Check out the trailer.

Sean Gullette plays a very Edward Norton-esque Max Cohen, an eccentric and reclusive mathematician suffering from chronic headaches and social anxiety disorder. Oh, also paranoia, possibly schizophrenia, and serious hallucinations. A radical number theorist, Max believes that if data sets are graphed correctly, patterns will eventually emerge in everything. So he pretty much stays in his apartment with his homemade super-computer (creatively named Euclid) - trying to find predictable patterns in the stock market.

Making a long (and extremely complex) story short, he's convinced by a Hasidic Jew he's met in a coffee shop that finding the 216 letter true name of God is way more important than the stock market. Max starts to obsess, which may or may not drive him crazy.

Then, at the end ... well, watch it. But it involves a drill, and then I'd say a fairly peaceful denouement.

The film cost only $60, 000 to make, and that money came from a number of private investors (read as: friends) who each threw in about $100 bucks. Gross revenue, however: $3, 221, 152. Nice, right?

Great movie. Conspiracy theory. The epic game of Go. A sexy Indian next-door neighbor. The golden spiral, nonlinear dynamics, and and a number with the power to bring about the Messianic Age. Watch it with a glass of whiskey, quick access to Wikipedia, and an open mind.

Oh - and the film's duration? 1:23:45.

A "Dark Forest Walk" with Mr. Michael Page

Liz's internet is out for some strange reason, so it's me again. Today I'm bringing you a wickedly cool artist by the name of Michael Page. I don't pretend to know a whole lot about the art world (ask me about shooting film or digital and we'll talk shop) but his stuff really appeals to me so I'ma spotlight him instead of a photographer I like. 

Mr. Page paints some creepy things. Most of his work showcases some kind of neat monster attacking people or spooky forests or pretty things riding weird things through the sky. The painting of his that I've picked out is entitled "Dark Forest Walk" and I rather enjoy the expressions on the faces of the creepers with the guns by the trees. 

His art is all wonderfully insightful about fun things like how the climate is being destroyed but there's generally a theme of love that runs throughout as well. A lot of his paintings have a young couple that is oblivious to the fact that there's something terrible chasing after them or watching from the trees, but some later pieces have the scaries right out in the - albeit dim - light of day while the lovers clutch each other in rather apparent terror. Frightening, yet beautiful while staying true to actual social commentary.

Take a look around his site, you won't be disappointed. 

This may or may not be a metaphor

Hi, team. You'll have to forgive us for the lack of something interesting yesterday. I was in the car on the way to Augusta and Liz was busy being awesome... maybe we'll post a double feature one of these days and make up for it, yeah?

Ok, so the song of the week is the incomparable "How It Ends" by the indie/folk/gypsy punk/burlesque backing crazies of DeVotchKa. (If you recognize the name from literature, you're a cool and/or creepy nerd since they've taken it from the Nadsat word for "young girl" or you may just speak Russian.) This four piece hails from Denver, Colorado and bangs out their brilliance on everything from sousaphone and double bass to theremin and a bouzouki. (A personal note: the theremin is one of the greatest musical inventions ever, it's the only instrument you play with the Force. Watch one here.) 

You might recognize this particular tune from the rather wonderful film Little Miss Sunshine which they collectively scored - if you haven't seen it, prepare yourself. The song fits so perfectly in context that once you've seen it, you really can't separate the two.

Appearing on the scene in the grand year of 2000, DeVotchKa's kept busy by putting out five albums and an EP and at the moment are galavanting around this here world while their A Mad and Faithful Telling album hit #29 on the Indie Album charts. These kids were also named the best new band from Colorado in 2008 - apparently 3oh!3 couldn't hack it. 

The vocals on this track are stunning. They're sweeping and emotional and absolutely riveting. You have to give it a minute for it to really hit, but when it does, it hits hard. Apparently DeVotchKa runs with the idea that less is more, and with this piece they couldn't be more correct.

I think that's about enough for the day, though. I think everybody needs to hear this song a few times, this band has a lot to offer the world. Hope you like them!