Tamsin, your comment about Em is exactly right - I woudl also apply it to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers - that mirror is held up to show what we do not see, perhaps by choice -
I will email you offlist a link to a Bret Easton Ellis list whoich is not very active but perhaps we can make it so - having screwed up on NJC twice in a few hours I am feeling very hesitant to post for a while - and I am thinking I have used up my time for now anyway - Tamsin, it has been so cool, with Bob, to have this discussion - as Emily said, discussing books is so worth while and I am hoping Joseph in Manilla will see the Fassbinder reference because he is our foremost cinema-ista and may have some good things to add! I hope this thread will continue but for a while it will have be, as Eminem said, "without me." Keep posting on Bret Easton Ellis because I have been dyting for this conversation for a long time and I am so very informed by what you are saying - Vince the negligent NJC poster Hi Vince, your last paragraph made me think "Exactly"!!! I too would be concerned that if I recommended AP to someone they would think i was disturbed at best :) but I guess it depends on who you recommend these things too. I think much of AP makes for VERY uncomfortable reading and that can often put people off - it's sometimes difficult when we're confronted with main characters who are difficult/impossible to sympathise with, it's all to easy to dismiss the book (or film, whatever) itself rather than looking beyond the surface. AP is probably fairly extreme in this (at least in my experience) and I think it must have taken a considerable amount of bravery to write something like this but I do find it interesting to read novels etc with what might at first seem to be very unattractive characters - RoA is a good example of this I think though the book is far less shocking on the surface. I'm also thinking of many of Fassbinder's films - some of his characters are grotesque but he takes you into their emotional life and I find that deeply affecting. As you say this can hold a mirror up to ourselves - it might not be comfortable but it surely is interesting and it might even be rewarding. I think maybe you could put Eminem in that bracket too - ? Some of his stuff makes me uncomfortable but it cerainly makes me think. And yes! I remember now that in RoA Sean refers to his older brother Patrick. I haven't read Glamorama either but I really think I must now. tamsin _________________________________________________________________ Use MSN Messenger to send music and pics to your friends http://messenger.msn.co.uk
