Can’t think of a film. But books! Anything by Tolstoy Dostoyevsky. Younger me thought Orwell tested my limits of gloom in 1984. Then I read Crime and Punishment…
In apology to OP for the film>book derailment, I will say film has a hard time disturbing me because it’s so complete and direct. Even the really nasty stuff can’t phase me, because I know its just a film, and the picture it paints always feels like its coming from the outside, trying to get in. It has to get through natural mental barriers that just exists. No conscious effort required.
Books give both far more detail, and room for your mind to contextualize what’s missing. That contextualization is done internally so it doesn’t have to slip past your conscious defenses. The disturbance, if there is one, was born in your deeper psyche. As clear a case of “the call is coming from inside the house” as there is.
Crime and Punishment took a lot longer than it should have. I loved every minute of it, but had to take breaks. It was emotionally taxing and no one writes like him.
I have yet to return to Crime and Punishment. I read the first 2000 pages or so, in a couple of weeks, so only a 1000 to go.
But now it’s been so long, so I probably have to start all over. Is it worth it? I really enjoyed it, but the book is almost 700 pages long, and so much of it is description of war battles, and these battles were not really interesting for me. Did you enjoy the description of these battles? They take up so much of the book, and I felt the didn’t that much to the story line, but the intention and meaning of these battles have probably just went over my head.
Haha! A subtle nod to my boo boo. Touché pussycat.
Crime and Punishment was Dostoyevsky, not Tolstoy. You correctly invoked Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
He too was an amazing writer. I loved War and Peace. The elaborate battle scenes appeal to my inner armchair general and love of military history. I considered it a gift, not a burden or crime worthy of punishment. ;)
Edit: But Dostoyevsky was the master of Russian grief and gloom. Just thinking about him makes me want to go back to Brothers Karamazov and Notes from the Underground.
Oh, haha. The Tolstoy and Crime and Punishment combination tricked my mind. Loved crime and Punishment, probably my favourite book. But yeah, War and Peace was tough for me.
Can’t think of a film. But books! Anything by
TolstoyDostoyevsky. Younger me thought Orwell tested my limits of gloom in 1984. Then I read Crime and Punishment…In apology to OP for the film>book derailment, I will say film has a hard time disturbing me because it’s so complete and direct. Even the really nasty stuff can’t phase me, because I know its just a film, and the picture it paints always feels like its coming from the outside, trying to get in. It has to get through natural mental barriers that just exists. No conscious effort required.
Books give both far more detail, and room for your mind to contextualize what’s missing. That contextualization is done internally so it doesn’t have to slip past your conscious defenses. The disturbance, if there is one, was born in your deeper psyche. As clear a case of “the call is coming from inside the house” as there is.
Crime and Punishment took a lot longer than it should have. I loved every minute of it, but had to take breaks. It was emotionally taxing and no one writes like him.
I just remembered a section in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Leopard_(Nesb%C3%B8_novel) describing Leopold’s apple. Fortunately it’s entirely fictional but, well, ouch.
I’m having trouble getting past a Character names Harry Hole.
Yeah, the author makes some… interesting choices.
Hairy, You’re a holy wizard!
Derail away, it’s all good. Great explanation. I’ll have to visit Tolstoy sometime.
I’ll concede that books can offer a whole lot more to disturb you. There are some stories that would probably be worse off as film adaptations.
Clive Barker’s novels had me taking a lot of breaks. Nothing like a blood orgy of Mortal Kombat fatalities to make you put a book down.
I have yet to return to Crime and Punishment. I read the first 2000 pages or so, in a couple of weeks, so only a 1000 to go.
But now it’s been so long, so I probably have to start all over. Is it worth it? I really enjoyed it, but the book is almost 700 pages long, and so much of it is description of war battles, and these battles were not really interesting for me. Did you enjoy the description of these battles? They take up so much of the book, and I felt the didn’t that much to the story line, but the intention and meaning of these battles have probably just went over my head.
Haha! A subtle nod to my boo boo. Touché pussycat.
Crime and Punishment was Dostoyevsky, not Tolstoy. You correctly invoked Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
He too was an amazing writer. I loved War and Peace. The elaborate battle scenes appeal to my inner armchair general and love of military history. I considered it a gift, not a burden or crime worthy of punishment. ;)
Edit: But Dostoyevsky was the master of Russian grief and gloom. Just thinking about him makes me want to go back to Brothers Karamazov and Notes from the Underground.
The incompetence of military officers explains a lot, even today.
Oh, haha. The Tolstoy and Crime and Punishment combination tricked my mind. Loved crime and Punishment, probably my favourite book. But yeah, War and Peace was tough for me.