the cryptic and the obvious.
Size matters not.
5.3 today.
5.3 yesterday.
Yesterday's was better.
From this morning:
DARIN and DIANE sit in bed, reading. DARIN finishes
reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.
DARIN
You know, I can relate to the main
character in this book. He's really
worried because his girlfriend reads
romance novels.
Extraordinarily long pause.
DIANE
(meek voice)
You have a girlfriend?
Darin really loved Cryptonomicon, by the way. He thought it was better than Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, both of which are favorites of his. I liked both of them a lot too--at least the first two-thirds of each book. I've noticed Stephenson has a propensity to spiral out of control toward the end, something that Darin says does not happen in Cryptonomicon--possibly because it's the first half of a two-book series. Stephenson turned in the book and the publisher said it's too long, so Stephenson rewrote it, turning it into two books.
Last night I watched Star Wars, and tonight I watched The Empire Strikes Back. (Not at all surprisingly, Darin never bought Return of the Jedi on laserdisc: I mean, why.) While the hokiness shows through in a way that was not at all evident when I was a tiny Di, they're still fun. And they have so many good one-liners--"I don't know! Fly casual"--something sadly lacking from The Phantom Menace.
Ted Elliott has a really good analysis of how The Phantom Menace could have been improved. Read it, and learn.
I have no excuse: I've been a total wastrel this weekend. I've read a couple of books and watched the Star Wars movies and watched True Believer (James Woods, Robert Downey Jr.)--what a fine movie that is: a great example of how to make things incredibly hard on your heroes. Almost every single scene makes things much, much worse, until you're sitting there screaming, "Noooo!"
Should I ever write something that tight, I will be exceedingly pleased with myself.
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Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com