April 19, 2010 by Travis
Hey, look, a blog post.
I’ve been reading Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian lately, and like the previous novels of his that I’ve read – Child of God and The Road – it aggressively underlines the fact that McCarthy is a genius. I’d rank him along with Faulkner as one of the greatest American novelists, and probably the greatest living American novelist. I don’t include Pynchon as competition because, try as I might, I cannot stand Pynchon. Many critics would roll their eyes and stop reading right here.
But yes – McCarthy is a genius. I don’t use Faulkner’s name at random, of course – McCarthy’s hyper-violent, disturbingly grim depiction of a geographical, ethical, and metaphysical wasteland in the American south is too reminiscent of Faulkner to not mention. “Wasteland” is a loaded word when discussing literature, too, ever since Eliot’s poem, and there would be much to examine in the parallel between “The Waste Land” and Blood Meridian. McCarthy’s novel has also been compared to The Iliad, The Inferno, and Moby Dick - a combination which suffice remarkably well, as a whole, to describe the novel’s character. It’s a work of genius because it is beautifully written; the prose is rich and heavy and delicious. But it’s also full of layers to appreciate. The plain narrative itself, the characterization, the standard surface-level readings are perfectly satisfying and fascinating. Thematically, it works on all sorts of levels as well; a high school student could analyze Blood Meridian and come up with something interesting, and so could a seasoned academic critic of literature.
But what I’d like to talk about is the quotation marks, or rather their absence.
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Categories: criticism, literature, philosophy •
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December 16, 2009 by Travis
Demon’s Souls is an excellent game. I will say that right now. It makes you feel lonely, scared, anxious, desperate, and – sometimes – triumphant. Although it is impossible to really die, as you will always return as a soul, it makes you feel fragile and tentative, even when you’ve gained many levels and you’re carrying an arsenal of magical weaponry. The combat is kinetic, fast and brutal, without frills or excess. The character development allows for countless strategies and decisions, most of which are actually viable – depending on how good you are at outfighting enemies by dodging, timing your attacks, blocking, managing your stamina, and perhaps parrying and riposting, if that’s your style. And style is a huge part of it – you can stand back and blast your foes with magic or pepper them with arrows, retreating as they draw near, or you can stand fast with a spear and jab them from the safety of your shield, wearing heavy armour to absorb their blows, or you can be a real man and wield a giant two-handed weapon to knock enemies sprawling and roll around, unhindered by armour or shield, dodging enemy attacks and dancing nimbly on the edge of horrible, horrible death.
And yet, despite all this, despite even the game’s remarkable online component where you can be brought into other players’ worlds to aid them or to invade and attempt to kill them, Demon’s Souls stumbles at times. I’d even say it falls right down, flat on its face.
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Categories: games •
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December 16, 2009 by Travis
Sorry about that; updated Wordpress and had to reboot the blog. We’ll be back to irregularly unscheduled programming soon enough.
Categories: other •
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