duminică, 11 iunie 2023

East of Eden by John Steinbeck, winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature, author of The Grapes of Wrath http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck.html, according to The Modern Library, one of the Top Ten Best Novels in English, not all that exhilarating for this reader nonetheless - 9 out of 10

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck, winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature, author of The Grapes of Wrath http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck.html, according to The Modern Library, one of the Top Ten Best Novels in English, not all that exhilarating for this reader nonetheless

9 out of 10

 

 

This reader has been enchanted by The Grapes of Wrath – read twice, the above is a link to one note, but here is another send off, to another impression, on the same book http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck.html - and the performance of Henry Fonda in the leading role has remained somehow inscribed on the cortex (or wherever such memories can find a place) but that was on the first encounter, a second reading was not similarly overwhelming

 

Indeed, John Steinbeck has lost a lot of his clout, if not all, ever since I had learned that he was a communist, or at the very least he had entertained such affiliations as a young man – yes, there was a joke that went ‘who is not a communist when young has no heart, who is still a commie when old has no brains’ – and seeing that I have lived through communism (furthermore, I even took part in the 1989 Revolution http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html that has taken Ceausescu down) I reject all such ideology and refuse to come close to those who embrace the dogma.

Paul Johnson has a marvelous book http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html called Intellectuals, in which he looks at the crème de la crème, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Jacques- Rousseau…the latter has left the children at the door of the orphanage, at a time when nine out of ten died in situations like that – the conclusion is that great minds have a side that is very dark, vicious, it could even be said that in order to shine in one way, one needs to have a stigma in another…

 

John Steinbeck should be absolved of the sin of sympathizing with the communists, for he has given us some unequal masterpieces – another is Of Mice and Men http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/of-mice-and-men-by-john-steinbeck-meet.html a compelling, emotional, brilliant account of what happens with a man with challenges, who is placed in a circumstance where he is tempted by the wife of the employer (hey, I better be careful ere, for I could get some Cancel Culture activists on my back, if only I have some traction, which I do not, so I am free, Alhamdulillah)

The gentle giant (he is generally as sweet and nice as it is possible, it is demanding situations that make him unable to see what to do, and with his super power and pressure, tragedy ensues) is not ‘tempted’ as in this is the poor victim’s fault, and those lines yet another stupid, malign, vile take of the male chauvinist pig against females, stating that they are responsible when they are attacked, and it is not the male criminal.

 

I just read yesterday that Johnny Depp is back on the horse, he will have the release of the film where he plays Louis XVI (or is it another one, quatorze maybe, it can be checked easily, but why bother, who cares, who gives a damn) directed by the ex-wife of Luc Besson (the latter had been investigated for severe accusations) a woman who has just told the press that she had spit on a journalist…apparently, she had also pulled his hair, in a restaurant, and she is somehow an opponent of MeToo…

Johnny Depp has signed the biggest advertising contract, worth some twenty million dollars or euros, to promote Sauvage, the Dior Fragrance, perfume, just as we had had the Horror show of the trial, where he won compensation, but my personal take is that they both came out with a lousy image…I mean, alright, it is Sauvage he is promoting and savages do wild things, but still, it is very strange for me…

 

Furthermore, I am not happy with the way he has acted in the last few years – yes, we have had Donnie Brasco http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/donnie-brasco-written-by-paul-attanasio.html Edward Scissorhands, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/note-on-whats-eating-gilbert-grape.html, Blow and a good number of other excellent motion pictures, but like with Pacino and others, a stage is reached when routine can destroy the performances, there is grandiosity and emphatic exaggeration, pompous grandstanding, instead of minimalism…Less is more in the words of Mies van der Rohe, one of the greatest architects of humanity, and a wondrous thinker

These days, the saga of the resurrection of Johnny Depp continues, for there is backlash, especially given that Jeanne du Barry will open the most important film festival in the world, Cannes, where we have this story of a courtesan trying to get power, enticing Louis XV aka Johnny Depp, in what will be a very closely watched feature, seeing the controversy and buzz surrounding the actor, but also the outré director

 

Maiwenn, as she calls herself now, has been the wife of another figure that had been involved in accusations of abuse, and seeing that she had been very violent recently, this has attracted attention, albeit it is not for artistic reasons that cinephiles talk about this, the innuendo and gossip will do a lot to make the public curious…who said ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’, we have had Benetton and the search for outrage

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

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