#tobyreads: Prophets and Radicals, Uneasily Rendered

So I went to see Noah last weekend, and left with deeply mixed feelings. On the up side, some of the images and scenes in it are among the most jarring and searing in director Darren Aronofsky’s filmography. (Yes, this includes the demonic refrigerator in Requiem for a Dream.) More problematic was the gulf between the film’s aspirations towards psychological realism in the midst of an ages-old story that, in its broad outlines, isn’t intended as a vessel for nuanced character studies. And […]

Continue Reading

Morning Bites: Heart of Darkness opera, Novel Writing Month, River Phoenix, Groucho & T.S., and much more

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness to debut as an opera. Happy National Novel Writing Month.  Here are six works that were written in under 31 days to serve as inspiration for you. Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot were were penpals. Emma Straub writes about the death of River Phoenix and the effect it had on her for Rookie. Vol. 1’s Jason Diamond hangs out with Gigantic Mag’s James Yeh to listen to the new Real Estate album over at Impose. Stream the Beach Boys SMiLE […]

Continue Reading

Bites: Tea Party Textbooks, Lethem on Wikipedia, Gaiman on The Simpsons, Žižek on WikiLeaks and More

Tennessee Tea Party members want any reference of the founding fathers “intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.” Jonathan Lethem celebrates Wikipedia’s 10th birthday. Neil Gaiman to appear on The Simpsons. Slavoj Žižek talks Wikileaks. Taking a look at one of Joseph Conrad’s least-read books, The Inheritors

Continue Reading