I see that the Dune, part 2 movie is out. I couldn't get through all of part 1 when it appeared on my streaming service last year. But I am tempted to have another go at the book which I read many decades ago. Like Benjamin Britten, who played through all the piano music of Brahms every year, just to remind himself how bad it was, I am tempted to re-read Dune for the same reason. However could such a loathsomely pretentious compendium of crap have become so popular? The earlier, extremely bad film of Dune was a quite accurate representation of how bad it is. Your milage may vary, of course...
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There is an article in the Wall Street Journal titled: Can’t Get Things Done Without Background Noise? You’re Not Alone.
Music has long helped us focus while doing simple tasks. Now, though, listening to podcasts or watching TikTok, YouTube or other videos while we do other things—from cooking to working—is a reflex. Last year, Americans streamed 21 million years’ worth of video, up 21% from the previous year, according to Nielsen.
These distractions in the form of a podcast or video clip can speed a task and stave off boredom, especially during more monotonous moments.
I guess I have to believe this is true, though it seems absurd on the face of it. Are the tasks most of us are engaged in so mindlessly repetitive that we can do them without actually thinking about them? That sounds like a huge problem in itself. I find I can't do any kind of mental work with background music of any kind, let alone video clips. Am I really in a minority? I find that my mind can wander off even without external distractions. I often have to read a sentence or paragraph over several times if it is conceptually difficult. I have always laughed at "speed-reading" courses. Good lord, the last thing on earth anyone needs is to read faster. But my hidden assumption there is, of course, that anything worth reading is worth reading slowly. Francis Bacon wrote in The Essays:
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
And, sad to say, much of what is written these days really needs to be hurled against the wall with great force! (Yes, someone already said a version of that, but who exactly seems unclear.)
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Economics Explained is a useful series of YouTube clips by an Australian economist. Here is the latest:
This actually leads into something I have noticed recently involving a hobby of mine: fountain pens. Many years ago in Canada I had a fountain pen that I quite enjoyed writing with, but it never made it to Mexico. Here fountain pens are very rare. I rediscovered them a few years ago and bought a few Chinese pens because they were very cheap. Once I grew more aware of quality differences I gravitated towards German and Japanese pens (and one Italian pen). It almost seems as if the path towards becoming a great source of fine fountain pens was to lose World War II! The thing is that these fine pens from Germany and Japan, often cost between $150 and $200. But in the last couple of months I have noticed reviews of some new Chinese pens and after trying them, I am very impressed. They are as good as the good German and Japanese pens but cost between $25 and $30. My favorite is this one from Jinhao with a German steel nib (that is still something they excel at) and a handmade body of sandalwood (also available with tigerwood and ebony). Gorgeous pen.
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Since we were mean to Brahms earlier on, let's listen to his Symphony No. 2:
13 comments:
Re Dune. If you plug the plot elements into the socioculteral milieu and politics starting in the late 60s and 70s into the 80s and 90s it is easy to see that Dune checks many boxes: drugs, oil, MidEast military and religious conflicts, ecology, conservation. Portentous prose that seems au courant can be successful at simulating deep insights. Herbert wrote a far more interesting IMO short book Whipping Star in 1970 with a protagonist from the government's Bureau of (Self) Sabotage. It's the anti-Dune.
It should be noted that what is said about the passing parade on the mobile device was said about TV decades ago. The difference is that the mobile content mirrors the style of the ads more than the TV programs themselves. What is interesting is that people keep buying enormous widescreens and then watch everything on their smartphone.
Re Brahms I don't find any of his music "bad". What bothers me is his rather glutinous orchestration which to my ears is less good than even Schumann's. For some reason Schoenberg copied Brahms' style whenever he wrote tonally based orchestral music early and late in his life. It must have been uncontrollable since even Schoenberg criticized his own orchestration as too Brahmsian!
I'll have a look at Whipping Star. I quite liked Hellstom's Hive.
Yes! And they listen to music on their smartphone or laptop. AGH!
No, I don't find Brahms 'bad' either. I really like the Variations on a theme by Haydn. But I can see why Britten was allergic. It is the glutinous orchestration and over-written chamber music textures that turn me off. Good point about Schoenberg. After some particularly successful and expansive eras you need a mental diet. I think we are still trying to get over the 60s.
To piggy-back on Maury's comment, I'm reminded of Tim Burton commenting about the huge success of his 1989 Batman movie. He was grateful for the success but admitted it was more a pop cultural phenomenon than an actually good movie. And that's the director saying it! :) Similarly, Fark Herbert's Dune could be considered a pop cultural phenomenon like Lord of the Rings but the tentpole sci-fi and fantasy novel franchises may or may not pass for "literature" in academic terms. I did enjoy Tolkien growing up. Whether I'd enjoy him as much NOW that I'm decades older I couldn't say yet. I might have to revisit the books.
Which is set up to say, I enjoyed Dune but my dad liked the book (and OG Trek, which I also like). A high school English teacher told me to ONLY read Dune and skip the sequels.
I think one of the challenges with reception history and Dune is that after George Lucas the hero's journey and the cosmogonic cycle (and the monomyth) became so pervasive it's only possible for people to react to Dune as another "chosen one" epic. That in the book the more powerful Paul becomes in terms of his powers the less control he has over the outcomes he foresees is far easier to pick up in the novel than in films (if anything Herbert bludgeons the reader with this element). As a kind of anti-monomyth riff on Joseph Campbell's ideas Dune may date badly both because sci-fi epics have moved on, so to speak, but also because thanks to Star Wars and pop culture saturation Joseph Campbell's ideas (several of them patently bad, IMO) it's a default in pop culture engagement to take Campbell-via-Lucas as the way to interpret Dune despite the obvious tells against that practice.
Jessica choosing to have a boy in the surmise he would be the chosen one, for instance, is a pretty egotistical and power-hungry gesture given the world-building.
Some things that seemed progressive and forward AT THE TIME can seem wildly regressive. Take Captain Kirk and women in the original Star Trek. The Robot Chicken skit about Captain Kirk getting space herpes comes to mind ... for those who saw that skit.
Bryan, apologies if it’s indecorous to post an off-topic question here, but...
In reading through your archives today (a nice way to spend an afternoon), I came across your refreshing criticism of the psycho-babble in Solomon’s biography of Mozart. Just curious: What’s your opinion of Jan Swafford’s biographies?
Wenatchee, the bloated films of the Lord of the Rings and especially The Hobbit have rather turned me off that sort of thing, but I'm pretty sure I can return to the original novels with enjoyment.
Jim, I confess that I have not read any books by Jan Swafford, but I wrote a very complimentary post on his shorter writings:
https://themusicsalon.blogspot.com/2013/07/good-writing-on-music.html
RE: Brahms. I love him but find his output uneven. Lately I've been comparing his piano quartets to those of Faure, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, and I think you're right about some of the textures. Sometimes his voicings of the instruments are wide and awkward, violin way up high with a dearth of mid-range support, resulting in a strident, unattractive effect. He handles the interaction of piano and strings much less carefully than the other 3 I mentioned. By the Third quartet, things are improving, and the third movement is a heartbreaker, the kind of thing that makes me forgive him the other moments...
Jives,
I've come to the conclusion that orchestration unlike harmony and counterpoint is a talent that cannot be taught except in the most rudimentary way. You either have it or you don't.
“… just to remind himself how bad it was, I am tempted to re-read Dune for the same reason. However could such a loathsomely pretentious compendium of crap have become so popular?…”
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I enjoyed reading Dune. It was highly entertaining. The first time i read it was in 90’s, and after re-reading it last year, i stand by my assessment. Personally I don’t know anybody who dislikes Dune, so not wanting to go into literary criticism, could you enumerate a few points to illustrate it being a ‘compendium of crap’? What is it that you don’t like: language, analogies, the premise itself…?
May 1981 interview with Frank
https://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-living/nature-and-environment/frank-herbert-science-fiction-author-zmaz81mjzraw/
Thanks, Anonymous, for challenging me on Dune. I also dislike jazz and every now and then run into someone who tells me they have never met anyone who dislikes jazz before. I'm not sure I can answer with much detail as the last (and, IIRC, only) time I read Dune was in the early 70s. I may have to re-read it! What I do recall is that it was full of portentous inner dialogues that seemed without any substance or foundation--reflected in the portentous voice-overs in both the movie versions. Plus the costuming and technology reminded me of Fellini's Satyricon--and not in a good way! I can tell you the science fiction that I did love at the time: Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the young adult series like Citizen of the Galaxy, and Starship Troopers. But I found Dune to be both senseless (as in meaningless) and aesthetically cloying.
I see… Dune the book (the score) and the movies (performances) are not necessarily the same.
De gustibus non disputandum est, so i was just interested in a different take on the book.
Well…. we will resume this discussion after you review the source material:)
From what i am reading the recent movie is visually not bad, but as usually it is corrupted by what was changed, omitted , or added.
It seems to me there is a need for ‘historically informed performance’ movement in Hollywood, so the classics are represented faithfully rather then reinterpreted for ‘modern audience’ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fair enough, Anonymous. I need to re-read the book to see if I have a different perspective on it now--which would not be surprising.
Speaking of performance practice, I found the movie The Year of Living Dangerously to be a faithful interpretation of the original novel.
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