Living is a gamble, baby, loving's much the same

[sovay]

My poems "The Warm Past" and "bn ʾdnbʿl bn ʾdrbʿl" have been accepted by Mythic Delirium. The first takes its name from elisem's fossil coral earrings and is dedicated to the memory of Ely Kish, who painted the Smithsonian's "Life in the Ancient Seas." The second was a direct result of this Carthaginian stele; the title is a patronymic, naming the father and grandfather of the man who dedicated the stone. The mixed Punic-Roman name intrigued me.

Apparently I watched a lot of movies between my last re-read of Daniel Pinkwater's The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (1982) and this latest one, because I recognized instantly the Laurel and Hardy short the protagonists come in at the end of—"in which Laurel and Hardy are destroying the guy's house, and the guy is destroying their car"—as Big Business (1929), which derspatchel and I caught earlier this year on TCM. It starts with Christmas tree sales and escalates from there. I can also now appreciate that this superlatively goofy novel contains some quite decent film criticism: "The thing about Laurel and Hardy movies that you can't get from the chopped-up versions on television is how beautiful they are. Things happen at exactly the moment they have to happen. They don't happen a second too soon or too late. You can even predict what's going to happen—and it does happen—and it surprises you anyway. It doesn't surprise you because it happened, but because it happened so perfectly." Lastly, now that I've verified the existence of Attack of the Mayan Mummy (1964) and Das Dreimäderlhaus (1958), I really think only about five of the films name-checked in the novel are fake and it's possible I think that only because I don't know as much about Mexican B-movies as I should. It's also possible there's some recombinant camouflage going on. To the best of my knowledge there is no Yugoslavian film called Vampires in a Deserted Seaside Hotel at the End of August, but the Belgian Daughters of Darkness (1971) is totally a thing. I have loved this book since seventh grade and I love that it only rewards re-reading, especially if you have been essentially living at an arthouse theater for a year. Highly recommended, especially if you like avocados.

Everything else about today has been really terrible.

Comments

[kore]

That is a gorgeous poem.

[sovay]

That is a gorgeous poem.

Thank you! (Did you mean to leave the comment on this post? Now updated to include an extra poem, because it just went live.)

[kore]

...YEAH, BECAUSE I HAVE NO BRAIN. WTF.

[sovay]

...YEAH, BECAUSE I HAVE NO BRAIN. WTF.

MULTIPLE TABS ARE LIKE THIS. NO WORRIES.

[kore]

THIS MORNING I TOOK MY CUP OF COFFEE FROM THE MICROWAVE, PUT IT DOWN ON THE COUNTER, AND THEN PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE. THEN IN THE LIVING ROOM I WONDERED WHERE MY CUP OF COFFEE WAS.

BRAINS.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

...dedicated to the memory of Ely Kish

His memory made blessing. And lapidary art made poetry. Lovely.

*hugs*

Nine

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Vampires in a Deserted Seaside Hotel at the End of August

The title suggests it's spoofing Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August(1974), and probably some European vampire film that handful_ofdust can spot more easily than I.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I think the vampire part of the spoof is actually of Daughters of Darkness, which is very much about vampires in a deserted seaside etc. etc., and I agree entirely about Marienbad and am delighted even to hear the title of the other thing you mention.

[sovay]

The title suggests it's spoofing Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (1974), and probably some European vampire film that handful_ofdust can spot more easily than I.

Given that Daughters of Darkness contains vampires and was filmed in an off-season seaside hotel, it's the one I thought of. It makes me wonder how many of the other obvious spoof titles—barring Invasion of the Bageloids, which is obviously a Pinkwater story—are this kind of sideways reference. For years I thought Attack of the Mayan Mummy was a fake, but no. Now I find myself reconsidering things like Attack of the Pit People and Guacamole Monster.

I'd never heard of Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August. That's a magnificent title.

[edit] I realized what was unclear about my original post and have edited accordingly. The vampire films were not a paired example of actual and fictional movies name-checked in The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death—Daughters of Darkness nowhere rates a mention. I introduced it as the presumed source for Vampires in a Deserted Seaside etc. I hope that is more obvious now. Apologies for the confusion.

[sovay]

His memory made blessing. And lapidary art made poetry. Lovely.

Thank you.

(Her memory. Born Eleanor. Survived by her partner of thirty-five years, Huguette Vrancken. Terrific face.)

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. My memory is not what it was: Eleanor, of course.

Nine

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

Pinkwater is brilliant, and Lizard Music is still my most fave of his works... because, singing the Purples..

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

In Googleing to see what Pinkwater is up to these days, I found this article, which I think will amuse you.

[sovay]

Pinkwater is brilliant, and Lizard Music is still my most fave of his works... because, singing the Purples..

Lizard Music is the first Pinkwater I can remember reading and still one of my favorites. The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death and Borgel are the other ones I really return to.

[sovay]

In Googleing to see what Pinkwater is up to these days, I found this article, which I think will amuse you.

Thank you! That's more information than I've ever had about Pinkwater in one place. Also, it explains the different names he published under, which I always thought was maybe done just to troll libraries.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I need to read some Pinkwater...

[gwynnega]

Congratulations on the poetry sales!

Clearly I need to read that Pinkwater book.

[sovay]

Congratulations!

Thank you!

I need to read some Pinkwater...

As previously mentioned, I think you cannot go wrong with The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (1982) and its sequel The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror (1984), especially if you like in-jokes about classic and cult movies; Lizard Music (1976), his first novel, which inspired rushthatspeaks to write a terrific essay about Pinkwater's Surrealism; or Borgel (1990), because it's the one where the universe is maintained by the beautiful dance of a popsicle and time looks like a map of New Jersey. There are several omnibuses of his work that will get you at least one of the above and libraries are a great resource. You could also just try randomly picking up one of his books and seeing what happens; it's worked for unsuspecting readers since the '70's. He's one of the best and weirdest children's authors I know and I do not believe it's possible to grow out of him. All of the books I've mentioned above only get funnier with adulthood.

[sovay]

Congratulations on the poetry sales!

Thank you!

Clearly I need to read that Pinkwater book.

You really do! Also the sequel, The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror (1984), because one of the protagonists has a crush on Laird Cregar.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

oh thankyou, that was a wonderful article, and it just flowed. I would love a sequel to Lizard Music, even if I had to get a Twitter account to get it line by line.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

my brain always transposes Borgel into Bagel, and I get hungry....

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

*and* on James Dean, which suggests she goes for actors who died tragically early, rather than for a specific physical type.

[sovay]

my brain always transposes Borgel into Bagel, and I get hungry....

The way Pinkwater writes about the world's greatest diner food, I'm not surprised. I'd eat a bagel right now if my braces allowed it.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I forgot to ask, I also love the John Bellairs books, and the ones completed by Brad Strickland. Have you read them? if so, what did you think of them?

[sovay]

the John Bellairs books, and the ones completed by Brad Strickland. Have you read them? if so, what did you think of them?

I've read almost all of Bellairs; I don't think I've read any of the Strickland completions. They are among the few books that really disturbed me as a child and as an adult I have really enjoyed revisiting them. I have a couple of comments on the experience. I go in and out of thinking about his children's books, but I will always love The Face in the Frost (1969).

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I came across them in the Base Library in Naples in 87/88, there wasnt much of a selection in the adult section, so I went back to cruising the kid section for anything to read. I started with his Mummy book and then went on to get them all. I like the Strickland ones, because he does better with the female characters, and I felt he truly grasped what made Bellairs brilliant. I also didnt want to leave those characters any sooner than I had to.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Everything else about today has been really terrible.

< hugs >
I am so sorry.
I mean, you told me about some of it, but...yeah, renewed sympathy.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Highly recommended, especially if you like avocados.

This should be the title of something delicate.

[spatch]

I had a dream last night where we were walking with some friends down a street completely lined with movie palaces, and we were deciding which one to visit next based on the double features being offered. I have every reason to believe it was inspired in part by reading this post and the Pinkwater callout. Thank you so very much.

[sovay]

I mean, you told me about some of it, but...yeah, renewed sympathy.

Thank you. It's appreciated.

*hugs*

[sovay]

This should be the title of something delicate.

A story or a recipe?

[sovay]

Thank you so very much.

You're very welcome. I would enjoy such a street to choose from. If you dream it again, let me know what we decided.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Up to you.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Pinkwater! I first read the two Snarkout Boys novels in the late 1980s, and have re-read them many times. The older I get, the more these books hit the urban-fantasy button for me. So much of the adventure in these books is tied to the characters' relationship to their city and (especially in the second book) their methods of transport and where they go and why they're going there. I've dreamed, many times, of a place that I'm pretty sure is Lower North Aufzoo Street.

Young Adult Novel has also rewarded occasional re-reads, once I got past high school and could appreciate it as satire instead of meanness. I read its sequels all the way through, once, and...I have no idea whether re-reading them might allow me to appreciate them as satire. I don't intend to try the experiment. They were, and this isn't a term I often use, depressing.

[sovay]

I've dreamed, many times, of a place that I'm pretty sure is Lower North Aufzoo Street.

Nice. I like your definition of the books as urban fantasy; Pinkwater often has a strong sense of place, but the city is especially a character in those two. I am entertained that I have grown up into a person with opinions about most of the movies name-checked at the Snark.

I read its sequels all the way through, once, and...I have no idea whether re-reading them might allow me to appreciate them as satire. I don't intend to try the experiment. They were, and this isn't a term I often use, depressing.

I didn't realize Young Adult Novel had sequels. I read it as an adult and liked it very much, if it's the one I'm thinking of, with the Wild Dada Ducks and the dangers of trying to write someone else's life. "It has no moral. It is a Dada story."

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's Young Adult Novel. There's a sequel about the Ducks' further high school adventures, and another sequel about a few of the Ducks attending college and the rest of them tagging along.

I remember both sequels as being unrelentingly grim. If I want to read about terrible things happening to characters who are obsessed with curating their own self-image, I'm not short on options.