Posts made in December, 2008
Happy New Year from Bookbabble!
I don’t know about you, but there is this nagging feeling of OH-MY-GOODNESS-WHERE-THE-HELL-DID-THE-YEAR-GO where I’m concerned. The year has flown past, and we’re staring at yet another new year come too quickly, and a gloomy one at that.
But a new year ahead brings new vistas and new opportunities, not to mention prospects of many more wonderful books to savour.
Bookbabble wishes all a very happy New Year!
Bookbabble Episode 23: Masterpieces and Martinis – The Heady Mix of Literature and Alcohol
Bookbabble Episode 23: Masterpieces and Martinis – The Heady Mix of Literature and Alcohol
Recorded 23 Nov 2008
Babblers: Gem, Donny with Renee Wallace aka Irene Wilde
Synopsis:
A intriguing exploration of authors and their alcohol. Some of the most famous writers in the world produced some of the best literature in the world with a glass in their hand. The babblers talk about some of the more interesting ones, ponder on how much their drinking has shaped their writings, plus talked about some of the most famous literary bars in the world. Plus, Irene shows us what it takes to make the perfect martini (hint: never put watermelons, and no Beefeater!) Also, something on Obama, and this time from an American (as opposed to a trio of non-Americans, as was what happened previously in Episode 21).
Show Length: 81:15 mins
Authors mentioned (some of them, anyway):
- Ernest Hemingway
- F Scott Fitzgerald
- Beryl Bainbridge
- Dashiell Hammett
- Raymond Chandler
- Ring Lardner
- Charles Bukowski
- Dorothy Parker
- Edgar Allan Poe
- William Faulkner – “Civilization begins with distillation”
- Stephen King
- Noel Coward
- Dylan Thomas
Note: Of course, due to the subject matter, this may not be entirely suitable for some of our younger audiences, however inclined they might be at producing inspired literature under the influence.
Download the show here.
Read MoreBookbabble Episode 24: Prose to Pictures – Memorable Film Adaptations
Bookbabble Episode 24: Prose to Pictures – Memorable Film Adaptations
Recorded 4 Dec 2008
Babblers: Bjorn, Gem, Donny
Synopsis:
According to our in-house, part-time and moderately accurate statistician Gem, a third of every movie made in recent times is adapted from a book. But what makes a good movie adaptation? Which ones were favourites and which were duds? (Don’t even mention I Am Legend!) The babblers also talk about possibly unfilmable books and books that we’d like to see as movies. Also, can you think of a non-fiction book that got made into a movie? Whatever it is, it’s probably not the one Gem had in mind. Oh, and pretty soon the ranting starts on things like remakes and whether they should have been done or not in the first place.
Show Length: 53:46 mins
Links:
- 2001: A Space Oddyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
- Solaris – Stanislaw Lem
- War of the World – H. G. Wells
- I Am Legend (Ok, I mentioned it) – Richard Matheson
- That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana – Carlo Emilio Gadda
Notes: Unfortunately, my usually reliable mic seemed to have gone on a vacation and its evil cantankerous twin decided to spit a steady stream of low static on my end of the recording throughout. I’ve tried to dampen it as much as I can, but enough of it remains that may hamper the enjoyment for some of you. Sorry about that. Also, don’t listen to this with small children – language.
Download the show here.
Read MoreBookbabble Episode 25: Unconventional Storytelling
Bookbabble Episode 25: Unconventional Storytelling
Recorded 14 Dec 2008
Babblers: Bjorn, Gem, Donny with guest Renee Wallace aka Irene Wilde
Synopsis:
The babblers list books that tell their story in unconventional ways. Books that either have interesting structures, telling the story out of sequence, using stories within a story, or just simply seem weird, a lot of books got mentioned here. Are they a crutch, a means to an end, or an integral part of the whole experience? Irene Wilde joins us again for this show as we weigh in the piles of books.
Books mentioned (some of them, anyway):
- Ulysses – James Joyce
- La Disparition – Georges Perec
- Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
- Time’s Arrow – Martin Amis
- Locos: A Comedy of Gestures – Felipe Alfau
- Chromos – Felipe Alfau
- The Night Watch – Sarah Waters
- Stone Gods – Jeannette Winterson
- Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
- Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
- No specific book by JG Ballard, I think – uhm, perhaps Empire of the Sun?
- Palefire – Vladimir Nabokov
- If on a Winter’s Night A Traveller – Italo Calvino
- The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur – Victor Pelevin
- A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M Miller Jr
- The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman – Laurence Sterne
- The Ticket That Exploded – William S. Burroughs
Links:
Show Length: 77.51 mins
Download the show here.
Read MoreBookbabble Snippet: Frank Sinatra
Bookbabble Snippet: Frank Sinatra
Recorded 14 Dec 2008
Something off topic that we talked about during a short break in the recording of a recent episode. Irene Wilde talks Frank Sinatra.
Download the show here.
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