Strictly narrative

[altariel]

Turning away from difficult issues, I'm internally debating the ethics of going to see Sylvia. It's hard not to take into account what Frieda Hughes has written:

"Now they want to make a film
For anyone lacking the ability
To imagine the body, head in oven
Orphaning children."

***

I really enjoy my offline reading group, but we decided at the outset not to read classics, in which I am woefully under-read. There should be a reading group for people hastily trying to fill the gaps in their reading. A sort of mutual support group in response to that game in that David Lodge novel, where all the English Lit academics admit to the most gaping hole in their reading.

***

And, thirdly:

Comments

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that the lousiness of the reviews is going to prove a good way of making a decision about whether or not to see it :-)

Re: reading gaps - I am good at bullshitting ;-D

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I am good at bullshitting

Ah, the benefits of the undergraduate supervision system (for both students and teachers ;-))

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D

Re:

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

...especially the latter...

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Too right! I never really got the hang of bullshitting as a student, but the moment I switched chairs, I suddenly realised that *it was actually my job to bullshit*. The difficulty is in convincing them without committing yourself to something you're going to regret when you look it up in a book after they've gone. ;-)

Re:

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

You have to rely on the fact that students have little memory, rarely take notes and even more rarely read them afterwards. (Which does make one wonder why one bothers, from either side of the desk. I justified it on the pay cheque...)