Sometimes (usually) art is the answer.
I cued this curated list up like two weeks ago to try to get ahead of some posts so I could focus more on my book, and because spring break threw me off my schedule. That said, I have so damn many things I want to write related to what’s happening in the world right now. Because they’re timely(ish), I’m going to pause my last couple garden posts for a couple weeks so I can focus on other things. For example, I - lefty, nonviolent, snowflake - went to a shooting range for the first time yesterday. I have SO MANY THOUGHTS. Stay tuned.
I’ve been turning to art this year, even more than usual, to keep me grounded and inspired while the world falls apart. So what follows is a brief round up of books, shows, movies, music, etc. that have made me happy, made me think, or both.
It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken
This was the first book I read this year, and boy has this slim little novella stuck with me. It’s gorgeously-written, funny, bizarre, and surreal. And my god, the last chapter! Somehow mind-bending and captivatingly beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. I think my mouth just hung open for the entire last eight pages of this book. Also, how perfect of a literary form is the novella? I feel like I’ve seen more and more of them published these days, and I’m here for it. It’s like the literary world’s opposition to the regrettable trend of all movies being three hours these days. It’s called “editing,” directors. Look it up!
Andor on Disney+
This is neither a new show, nor a show that is new to me. Husband and I are rewatching this Disney+ show, which is part of the Star Wars franchise. The second season comes out in April. If you know the Lukehart family, you know we’re Star Wars fans. But, truth be told, I haven’t much liked any of the other spin-off shows (yes, I’m even including The Mandalorian). But Andor is different. It’s a prequel to the movie Rogue One, which told the story of the rebels who got the blueprints for the Death Star, in which Cassian Andor played a major role. This show tells the story of how he joined the rebellion, and leads up to Rogue One. You guys, if you want a just a really great, surprisingly politically intelligent depiction of a growing resistance movement against imperialist forces, this is it! Seriously, such perfect watching for our authoritarian times! Need some inspo, either to watch the show or stay in the fight here, on our planet? Listen to the rebel, Karis Nemik’s manifesto:
Common Side Effects on Adult Swim (or Max)
Do you like mushrooms, hate the for-profit healthcare industry, or both? Then you’ll love Common Side Effects! The main character, Marshall Cuso, discovers a mushroom that seemingly can cure all illnesses. He then reconnects with his old high school buddy, Frances, who happens to work for a large pharmaceutical company. Conspiracies, and also hilarity, ensue. It’s a really smart and funny show. And as an aside, one of the guys who created it also created a show called Scavengers Reign (only available on Max), which was one of the coolest animated shows I’ve seen… well, ever (so it was, of course, not renewed for a second season, because we can’t ever have nice things). Anyway, if you want to watch the first episode of Common Side Effects, here it is:
Flow
Lots of folks have been talking about this movie recently, and for good reason. We watched it as a family a couple months ago, and my goodness was it beautiful. It follows the journey of a cat and its unlikely animal friends as they try to survive an apocalyptic flood. It’s certainly a climate change story, at least in part, but it also seems to take place in a somewhat fantastical world that isn’t quite the world as we know it. There are no humans, though there are flooded ruins of past civilizations. There is also no dialogue at all. The animals all make… animal sounds. The animation is extraordinary, the world it creates is dreamy and rich, and the story is profoundly emotional. The soundtrack is also beautiful. We loved it. The kids loved it. Here’s the trailer:
Ursula Le Guin on long sentences
Okay, I understand this is niche content here. But I’ve long been irked by the conventional wisdom that short sentences are the best sentences. I first encountered this idea in a journalism class I took in college, which truth be told, I hated. My professor was a newspaper writer (we had those back then), so that’s what we learned, and the class was so full of rules. Everything was so formulaic and boring. As a creative writer by both nature and training (that’s what my undergrad degree is in), I found it stifling. Much later, I wound up with a master’s in journalism (go figure) and pursued the long form narrative specialization to stay as far away from the inverted pyramid as possible. Also, I needed my sentences to be able to breathe. I love a long, complex sentence. I mean, I’m not necessarily talking a multi-page, Absalom, Absalom style sentence (I love Faulkner, but I never could get through that book). But something with a little personality. Anyway, I’m reading Le Guin’s book on writing, Steering the Craft, right now, and she has a chapter on sentence length and syntax, and I feel seen. She writes:
“Teachers trying to get kids to write understandably, textbooks of style with their notion of ‘transparent’ style, journalists with their weird rules and superstitions, and bang-pow thriller writers - they’ve all helped fill a lot of heads with the notion that the only good sentence is a short sentence.
A convicted criminal might agree. I don’t.
And the pity of it is that people not only can’t write complex sentences, they can’t read them.”
Long live the long sentence!
Little Simz and Abel Selaocoe
Guys, Little Simz is awesome. She’s brought me so much joy, sonically speaking, over the past few years, and she has a new album coming out in June. Here’s my five year old son’s favorite song by her (which, at the end, goes into my favorite song by her, Fear No Man):
Lastly, South African cellist, Abel Selaocoe, just came out with a new album, Hymns of Bantu. It’s beautiful; his music is extraordinary; his voice is a force. It’s not like any cello music you’ve ever heard. Let’s just say you don’t often encounter throat singing paired with the cello. Here’s his incredible, recent Tiny Desk concert:
That’s what I’ve got this week!
Your description of “It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over” is exactly how I feel about “In Universes” by Emet North. Oh my sweet tender brain. Bless art. It’s brilliant and bizarre and tender and queer and gorgeous and eminently readable.