Book Paralysis
I don’t know if anyone has previously coined this term, but I have this condition with a vengeance right now. I currently have a stack of 7 books all waiting to be read, and I want to read them, but I’m utterly stuck as to which to start with, and I mean totally and completely stymied. I just stare at them. I haven’t read anything substantial in a week. I’ve gone through a bunch of magazines, but those I really just read for the pictures anyway. I’m returning 2 of the books to the library today in an attempt to make the pile less overwhelming, but I don’t know that it will help as I’ll most likely just get more books from the library that will just compound the problem.
In the midst of my book haitus, I’ve filled my need for narrative stimulation with a new musical- Tick Tick…Boom from the creator of Rent. The man was a genius, (and I know I use that word all the time, but I sincerely mean it about him) and if he had lived I think he easily could have rivaled Sondheim. I almost started crying on the trolley listening to his music today and realizing that we wouldn’t ever get any more of it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the intersections of music and narrative- especially as I’m using specific songs as inspiration for chapters of my novel, and I’m realizing that the musical is really my preferred narrative form. Not that I think I could ever write a musical, but it’s the form I enjoy the most as a story telling device- if done right. Music invokes such a visceral, physical reaction, it can convey feeling in a way that text can’t. Although this goes back to an on going discussion in my circle about stories being expressed best in certain formats, and the necessity for the creator to find the format that will tell that story in its best way. ( That was a sucky sentence!) For example, its our opinion that the story in KILL BILL could not have been told in any other format than the one it was- if it was a novel or a comic, it wouldn’t have had the effect that the film did. The music, different camera techniques, use of visual tropes… all of those aspects worked together to tell a story that couldn’t have been told in a different format. Along the same lines, Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination has to be a novel, because of the inventive textual things that Bester does with the type face, spacing, etc. A movie or comic wouldn’t have had those elements, and they’re essential to the ultimate narrative.
Thats all for now, hopefully I’ll find something to read
Book Count: 4
Next Up: AAAAAARGGGGG!