Sunday Morning! The Burden (2017)

Rufus F.

Rufus is a likeable curmudgeon. He has a PhD in History, sang for a decade in a punk band, and recently moved to NYC after nearly two decades in Canada. He wrote the book "The Paris Bureau" from Dio Press (2021).

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4 Responses

  1. Jaybird says:

    Remember when Diablo Cody was a thing? I never saw “Jennifer’s Body” but I understand that one character told another to “Move On Dot Org”. That was right at the beginning of my realization that I had no idea how the kidz these days talked to each other.

    When it comes to dialog, part of the problem is the “show, don’t tell” thing.

    “Hey, how you doin?”
    “I’m lonely but I don’t like other people that much. I dislike them more than I dislike myself.”

    versus

    “Hey, how you doin?”
    “Meh. You?”
    “Ha! You always say that! Later!”
    (scene cuts to barren plain. A breeze pushes along a piece of litter. This shot takes 20 seconds to allow the litter to blow from the left side of the screen to the right.)Report

  2. Aaron David says:

    I had/have been reading the latest Ellroy work, This Storm, but find myself having possibly the worst reaction to it. I just don’t care. It doesn’t create the same urgency paired with discomfort that his greatest work revels in. It is closer to his high gothic of The Black Dahlia, but I think he does too much in fan service to pull towards that work. A shame really, but I am guessing he has the Stephen King problem that affects many best-selling novelists.

    So, I am re-reading a classic, The Razors Edge, which, as you are speaking of dialog, has a different rhythm to the speaking parts, which forces me to really slow down and puzzle through what is actually being said and not said. It is nice to be able to go back and read the things that moved you in youth and see where they are taking you in middle age.

    Also, reading a little Marc Behm. Nicely off-kilter. That and I have found a good version of Stalker to watch this week when I can squeeze in the time.Report

    • Rufus F. in reply to Aaron David says:

      Oh I’ve got to read The Razor’s Edge. In the move, I eliminated one bookshelf worth of books that I probably won’t reread. That book made the cut for ones I still need to read. The picture of Bill Murray on the cover is staring at me (or towards the distant horizon).Report