You remember when I wrote about Slaughterhouse-Five and said that I needed something light to read afterwards? I chose Stephen Fry, because he’s intelligent (while still being light), funny and both The Liar and The Hippopotamus blew me away.
And The Stars’ Tennis Balls is all that. It’s funny (at least the first half) and witty, incredibly well written and you just love the characters.
What I didn’t know was that it’s Fry’s version of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Goddammit! Does nobody write a happy ending any more?
kalafudra's Stuff 
Happy ending?
Er… Rosamunde Pilcher? Nicholas Sparks?
I agree that there seems to be a law that states that nobody who aspires to writing ‘literature’ is allowed to write a happy ending. (That kind of thing gets you banned. Or your fingers broken, or something.)
So everybody is trying to be Ian McEwan – starting their book with a crappy situation and going downhill from there until everybody is irredeemably destroyed.
I started with “The liar” yesterday – it’s hilarious! When he tells about how his drunken mother dies in a car crash (so vividly, you would just buy it) and everyone is totally shaken – then his friend says “Well, I met your mother last term. Tall woman with a broad smile”. Jeez.
Oh, and the Austrian scenes! Great book.
I also saw “Another Country”. Strange, strange, how different I see the characters now. When I was 14, I was a huge fan of Thommy Judd, the communist. (ooh, he was so clever! So intellectual) Now I think Guy far more witty. He develops, grows more mature which Thommy never does.
PS: The ending was different in the version I first saw it, so you didn’t miss the part of Harcourt becoming family-father. It just wasn’t there.
@deadra:
So true. Maybe I need to read something non-intellectual. That probably helps. If the book I’m reading now also has an unhappy ending, I’ll read The Notebook or something next.
@L:
I’m glad you like it. I think Stephen Fry in general would be to your liking. I can lend you the other books if you want.
When you read a book or see a movie again you haven’t read/seen for a long time, it always becomes painfully obvious how you change.
I’m kind of happy that they changed the ending of Another Country (although I do find it weird): at least that means that I’m not going crazy…
quote: “When you read a book or see a movie again you haven’t read/seen for a long time, it always becomes painfully obvious how you change”
this is so true that it makes me sad. You’ve had this thing with Coelho, didn’t you? It is really bad, this knowledge of unalterably having lost a certain feeling and identification.
You know, like not thinking “Marvin’s so sweet” anymore but “Kill this damn robot, its getting on my nerves”.
And it is far more hard to feel that you are no more sympathising with the revolutionaires but with the reformers (“hey, maybe I also have my doubts, but, well… let’s talk things over.” Jeez.).
*No, must not think of that right now. Must drink coffee*
It was exactly the thing with Coelho, though it’s even more obvious when it’s the same book and not only the same author.
It somehow taints the good feeling you got from it before. It’s not only “I’ll never get comfort from this again”, it’s also “I was so stupid to ever get comfort”.
I still like Marvin. :)
You know, I always understood the reasons of revolutionaires, but very rarely the means. I guess, I always was a “Let’s talk about it” reformer. And how sad is that? You had at least a time where you were sympathising.
I never thought Marvin was sweet. But he grew on me, and I’m still fond of him.
I don’t think I changed that much. At least my perceptions haven’t. Or maybe my self-reflection-skillz just suck…I don’t know.
I know I changed a lot. I’m always changing, although my core stays the same. (That sounds corny, doesn’t it? I’m sorry.)
You did, too. I swear. :)
@ deadra: you changed, too, you just had no time to realize it. ;)
maybe we should all meet, drink lots of Scotch, sing “auld lang syne” and reflect upon our cruel changements.
soooorry, that was me posting with A still signed in.
I figured.
We should definitely meet. I don’t know about the Scotch, though.
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