My Favorite Things... a Blast from the Past

This is a page from my original website (ennyman.com) which I built in 1995 after reading a book titled How to Learn HTML in Two Weeks. Since that time I added a few movies (2, 4, 10 & 12), an author, and my favorite "place" in the world. Everything here is still meaningful to me, but there is probably a lot I'd need to add from the last 25 years to bring it up-to-date.

  My Favorite Things

Quote of the Week
"Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius." ~anon.

---

Favorite Movies
1. Educating Rita (Michael Caine)
2. The Dancer Upstairs (Javier Bardem in a film directed by John Malkovich)
3. The Truman Show (Jim Carey) Original, philosophical fun.
4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly  
5. The Trip to Bountiful (Geraldine Page) One of those "I wish I could write like that" movies.
6. Groundhog Day (Bill Murray)
7. The Mission
8. Zelig
9. Chariots of Fire (Inspirational)
10. Vanilla Sky
11. Runaway Train (Jon Voigt as existential hero) 
12. As Good As It Gets
13. Chinatown
14. The Natural

Strictly for the fun of it.
--BeetleJuice (Michael Keaton)
--Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Michael Caine and Steve Martin)

Seven of my Favorite Writers in the 1990s
1. Jorge Luis Borges
2. Graham Greene
3. Andre Gide
4. Elmore Leonard
5. C. S. Lewis
6. Rainer Maria Rilke
7. Par Lagerkvist

Six of my Favorite Writers in Earlier Years
1. Joseph Conrad
2. Ernest Hemingway
3. Thomas Mann
4. Herman Hesse
5. Anton Chekhov
6. Jack London
7. Kurt Vonnegut

Favorite Quotes for Writers

Favorite Short Stories
If I were to assemble an Anthology...
1. The Bet by Anton Chekhov
2. A Piece of Steak by Jack London
3. The Lagoon by Joseph Conrad
4. The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad
5. The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges
6. The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges
7. There Are More Things, again by Borges
8. The Harness, by John Steinbeck
9. Here We Are, by Dorothy Sayers
10. The Doctor & the Doctor's Wife, by Ernest Hemingway

PLUS (Must be mentioned): The Mirror and the Mask, by Jorge Luis Borges

Favorite Novellas
1. The Tenth Man, by Graham Greene
2. Of Mice and Men, by Steinbeck
3. Barabbas, by Par Lagerkvist
4. Theseus, by Andre Gide
5. A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean
6. Isabelle, by Andre Gide
7. Seize the Day, by Saul Bellow
8. Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann
9. The Sybil, by Par Lagerkvist
10. The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis
11. Mr. Majestyk, by Elmore Leonard
12. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton

Five Novels That Especially Made an Impression On Me When I First Read Them
1. Martin Eden, by Jack London
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
3. The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes
4. Too Late the Phalarope, by Alan Paton
5. The Godfather, by Mario Puzo

Three Novels of Eighty Years Ago That Reveal Remarkable Prescience
1. 1984, by George Orwell
2. Brave New World, by Aldous Huzley
3. That Hideous Strength, by C.S.Lewis

Books on my Shelf That I Started But Haven't Finished Yet
1. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
2. Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust
3. The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone
4. The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner

Three Favorite Cities in Mexico
1. Guanajuato
2. Cuernavaca
3. Tepotzlan

Favorite City in the World (at this moment in time)
1. Florence, Italy

Favorite Pieces of Short Classical Music
1. Prelude in E Minor (Op. 28 No. 4) by. Chopin
2. None But The Lonely Heart, by Tchaikovsky
3. On Earth As It Is In Heaven, by Ennio Morricone
4. Adagio opus 11, by Samuel Barber
5. Concerto for Clarinet in A Major K622, by Mozart
6. Ballade No. 1 in G minor, by Chopin
7. Concerto for Piano & Orchestra, No 1 Op. 11, by Chopin
8. Sonata for Piano No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, Pathetique, Adagio, by Beethoven,
9. Elvira Madigan, by Mozart
10. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, Second Movement

Most Memorable Honeymoon Dinner
J.J. Charlies', Monterrey, Mexico, 1981

Three Favorite Bible Passages
1. Matthew 25:31-45
2. James 1:27
3. Psalm 138:8

Two Turtledoves
And a Partridge in a Pair Tree 

Pocket's Selection of the 43 Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language

A Writer's Life

You've probably noticed that people love making lists. Top ten drummers of all time. Top 100 novels of the 20th century. The fifty most influential books of all time. The seventeen most important inventions of history.

The other day I saw a web page announcing, in their opinion, the 43 Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language. The title caught my eye and, despite the fact that 43 is such an arbitrary number that I can't take it seriously, I had to see what they listed. I followed the link. As it turns out, out of the first dozen I'd read nearly all of them, and overall it really is an impressive list. I decided to share the first dozen or so here.

Disclaimer: I am a big fan of well-crafted short fiction. I used to acquire short story anthologies and collections like The Best Stories of 1981 or 1985 or whatever year I came across. Norton Anthologies helped guide me to new writers as well. 

The "43" list starts with 2 stories by Washington Irving: "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Irving knew how to tell a story and both of these are deservedly classics. (I will call this "One.")

Next we find Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." Poe crafted so many engaging stories, I suspect that these selectors no doubt had a hard time selecting just one.

When I was in junior high I acquired an anthology of Edgar Allen Poe's works, both stories and poetry. "The Tell-Tale Heart" definitely made an impression on me. So many others did as well, including "The Mask of the Red Death," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Gold-Bug."

Four: "Bartelby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville. I read it as I went through my brief Melville phase. His epic novel Moby Dick is deservedly a classic. So I selected a couple follow-ups, including Billy Budd and this one. I read it but remember nothing, so evidently it didn't make the same impression.

Five: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce. First reading was in junior high. When I read it decades later, I tried to imagine writing this myself. It's an impressive and engaging story about a condemned Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Perfect pacing throughout, Bierce's story is a masterful work.

Six: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman. I've never read this one, so no comment, but as time permits I will seek it out.

Seven: "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James. Not sure why I didn't get into Henry James even though I know he is an important writer.

Eight: "The Lady with the Dog" is probably one of Chekhov's most well-known stories, but anyone who stops with this one will be missing a treasure trove of fine stories, some quite serious and others hilarious. One of my favorite all-time stories is "The Bet." A must read. My first Chekhov story was actually a one-act play titled, "On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco." It's hilarious.

Nine: "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. Exemplifies the adage, "Be careful what you wish for." A powerful and chilling story.

Ten: O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." This is another that we were introduced to through public school. To learn more about this prolific short story writer who was master of the twist ending, see A Brief Glance at the Life of William Sydney Porter, a.k.a. O Henry.

If you like short stories...

Eleven: "The Dead" by James Joyce. Read it. Didn't get into Joyce when I was reading his books in college. Was I too young to appreciate what they had to offer.

Twelve: "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka is classic. I first read it in a small volume called Continental Short Stories. One morning Gregor Samsa wakes up to find that he has become a cockroach (or something similar.) The absurd premise is carried out to the full measure. If interested, Haruki Murakami is written a sequel to this very strange tale that you might find interesting.

To find Thirteen through Forty-Three: You'll have to follow this link. I think it somewhat ironic that the title of this list says "in the English language." Chekhov and Kafka no doubt wrote in their native tongues, but since they have been translated I will over look that.

* * *

When I was young, Hemingway's In Our Time inspired in me a desire to be a writer. The power of Heingway's prose prodded me to work hard at it. I was especially attracted to writing short fiction. My first short story collection is titled Unremembered Histories. If you have read it please leave a review at Amazon. If not, read the existing reviews and add it to your cart. 

Long Day's Journey Into Night

"Obsession is nothing more than a trick of the mind, an attempt to reattain something that may never have existed in the first place."

A couple weeks ago I watched an unusual film titled Long Day's Journey Into Night. When I took it out from the library I expected it to be a film based on Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning play by the same name. The only thing the film and the play have in common is that each has an unusual story around it.

The story behind O'Neill's play is that he wrote it in 1941, but locked it in a vault to be read (and performed) posthumously. O'Neill died in 1953, and the play was performed in 1956. Very personal and autobiographical, the story takes place in one single day from 1912.

The film by the same name opened in theaters on December 3, 2018. Somehow the public got the wrong idea about this film. This is not a typical movie. Rather, it is an "art house" film. On its first day it generated 38 million dollars in revenue. Because it's the internet era, the online backlash against the film was so great that it had almost no sales after the opening weekend. That is, post opening weekend it earned 3 only million dollars more.

Frankly, there is much to like about this movie. The director has taken a keen interest in surfaces and textures. The settings are lush, not like polished silver, but more like deteriorating walls, peeling paint in the shadowlands, the kinds of surfaces I used to enjoy taking photos of. 

The story takes place in China, the main character seeming to be on a quest to find a lost love. It's an altogether different storyline from the Bill Murray film Broken Flowers. Perhaps it's a little surreal for some but many reviewers at imdb.com absolutely loved it. The pace is slow, but the unpredictable nature of the story is satisfying for those who are willing to just go with the flow. 

The theme revolves around memories, real and imagined. It's territory many of us have trod as we got older.

The only thing I really didn't like is that the central character had a pistol which he brandished at times. I thought of Chekhov's dictum that “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there.”

If you happen upon it and want to try something different, have at it. I enjoyed it enough to consider watching it again, even if it is not a perfect film to some extent. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8185182/  

Short Story and Movie Remakes with a Pandemic Twist

For whatever reason, Hollywood goes bonkers over producing remakes of old films. Maybe they imagine that, "We did it before, we can do it again" is a good formula? Fan reactions are often mixed with more flops than not, but the producers keep trying.

Well, I've been thinking that in this era of never-ending masks and lockdowns, there are some century-old short stories that might actually be fun to resurrect with a Covid twist. The first is The Bet, Anton Chekhov (1899). It's on my short list of favorite short stories. A second, also related to isolation, is Joseph Conrad's The Lagoon. 

THE BET
Anton Chekhov was a keen observer of human nature. His stories are like swift sketches that reveal much in a compact, concise package. Here are opening paragraphs of the story, a perfect setup for a rewarding read:

It was a dark autumn night. The old banker was walking up and down his study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had given a party one autumn evening. There had been many clever men there, and there had been interesting conversations. Among other things they had talked of capital punishment. The majority of the guests, among whom were many journalists and intellectual men, disapproved of the death penalty. They considered that form of punishment out of date, immoral, and unsuitable for Christian States. In the opinion of some of them the death penalty ought to be replaced everywhere by imprisonment for life. "I don't agree with you," said their host the banker. "I have not tried either the death penalty or imprisonment for life, but if one may judge a priori, the death penalty is more moral and more humane than imprisonment for life. Capital punishment kills a man at once, but lifelong imprisonment kills him slowly. Which executioner is the more humane, he who kills you in a few minutes or he who drags the life out of you in the course of many years?"

"Both are equally immoral," observed one of the guests, "for they both have the same object - to take away life. The State is not God. It has not the right to take away what it cannot restore when it wants to."

Among the guests was a young lawyer, a young man of five-and-twenty. When he was asked his opinion, he said: "The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral, but if I had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life, I would certainly choose the second. To live anyhow is better than not at all."

A lively discussion arose. The banker, who was younger and more nervous in those days, was suddenly carried away by excitement; he struck the table with his fist and shouted at the young man: "It's not true! I'll bet you two million you wouldn't stay in solitary confinement for five years."

"If you mean that in earnest," said the young man, "I'll take the bet, but I would stay not five but fifteen years."

"Fifteen? Done!" cried the banker. "Gentlemen, I stake two million!"

* * * 

Photo by Heather Gill on Unsplash

Well, what do you think? It definitely makes you want to keep turning the pages. Or at least it did for me.

NOW, what if we take this 1890s story and place at the end of 2020. It's a banker's Christmas party in some setting that requires masks. The topic of lockdowns comes up, how in some third world countries people can't leave their homes without a government pass. A young fellow states that confinement in a one room home is no big deal. 

They exchange words. The banker says, "What if this pandemic went on for five years and people were confined like that? I'll bet two million you couldn't be in lockdown for five  years." 

The young man says, "I'll take that bet, not for five, but fifteen years." (He probably had a couple drinks too many at this point.)

To give it a contemporary feel we'd want to maybe throw in electronic devices, perhaps some clues about global events that foreshadow the banker's future misfortunes. The younger fellow would be released in 2035, so some hints of the changes taking place might be in order. What do you think?

You can read the rest of Chekhov's story here.  

* * * 

THE LAGOON
This is another story from the late 19th century. I found Conrad's stories compelling when I was young and hoping to make a name for myself as a short story writer. I was impressed by their authentic detail, and even more impressed that English was his third language.

In the story a doctor named Tuan goes to visit an old friend, Arsat. who lives in a hut on an inland river of isolated island in the South Pacific. His wife, Diamelen, is dying. That night, Arsat tells his story. There's a sense in which this burden must be confessed, though it isn't so explicitly explained as such. Here's what happened. 

Arsat was in love with Diamelen, who was a servant to the Rajah. Arsat and his brother come up with a plan to kidnap Diamelen and start a new life elsewhere. The plot involves fleeing in a boat under cover of darkness. As I recall it they come to a narrow strip of land where they can abandon the escape craft and get away on a boat on the other side of this land barrier. This would keep block the Rajah from following. 

Arsat and Diamelen run across the promontory to the fisherman's boat they plan to escape in. Arsat's brother has a rifle and will slow the approaching craft enough to come rushing across to where Arsat is launching. 

Tragically, Arsat's fears overpower his intentions and he propels the boat away from the shore. Aways from the shore he sees his brother killed by the Rajah's men.

In my modern retelling, the story takes place at a hospital. Arsat and Tuan were friends at an Ivy League school. Their lives went different directions and Tuan became a famous doctor. When the pandemic strikes and he sees all these people dying alone on ventilators, he vows to get in touch with all his old friends.

When he discovers that Arsat is only an hour from Princeton, he goes to see him in the hospital where his Diamelen is on a ventilator. Tuan listens to Arsat's heartbreaking story as Diamelen dies.

[EdNote: OK, not exactly a fun movie, but entertaining to noodle an idea a bit and see what happens.]

* * *

OK, probably too depressing for a Hollywood movie. Then again, you know how they flip the endings sometimes. The Natural didn't have a happy ending in the book. 

Speaking of The Natural, what about a 2020 version of the remake with cardboard fans in the stands to make it look like there's a crowd? 

Or better, Field of Dreams where Shoeless Joe and the Chicago Black Sox come back and everyone in the stands is wearing masks? 

I'll bet the writers of Airplane could have fun with this. 

That's enough. Any other filmland remakes that could fit into the Covid era with masks, Zoom and social distancing? What about a teenaged girl from Kansas who runs away from home with her dog and gets carried off by a tornado to a strange land somewhere over the rainbow?

Three Local Arts Happenings of Note, Plus Big Date and a Couple Quotes

"I like simple, practical, emotional, quiet, vigorous art." 

--Richard Long

* * * *

Can't wait for the weekend? Looking for a temporary diversion to hold you over? Check out McTavish.io, homepage of Kathy McTavish, creator of exhibits running concurrently at the Tweed and the newly opened Joseph Nease Gallery.

* * * *

It's the nature of time to perpetually flow, to unfold into something else.
And what will tomorrow bring? Here are three events to consider for Friday.

* * * *

There's a lot happening at AICHO these days. There's an Artist Group Exhibit & 2018 Calendar Release this coming Friday from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  Visit this page for details of other upcoming events. 

ALSO THIS FRIDAY

Keyport Lounge is hosting...

Friday @ 6:00 p.m.

Oldenburg House will be jammin' again this weekend:

Pippi Ardennia and friends... both Friday & Saturday eve.

Cookin' @ the O

Time to mention Frank Holmes' Big Date again.

* * * *

“The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.” 

 ― Anton Chekhov

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

“And so it is… Art is long and life is short, and success is very far off. And thus, doubtful of strength to travel so far, we talk a little about the aim – the aim of art which, like life itself, is inspiring, difficult – obscured by mists.” ~ Joseph Conrad 

And so it goes.