Some Reading, Some Film

One can reject the moral indifference and occasional callousness of the protagonist, when taken with a grain of salt and tempered by their melancholy regret that one didn’t become more pious, reverent and intimate with their faith, despite the inevitabl

Finished reading A Farewell to Arms, by Hemingway. At first, I found the prose to be seemingly stilted and utilitarian, until I adjusted to the pace and meter and revelled in the unrepentant economy of the storytelling, and the charm of the characterisation. Despite the burdensome sense of futility and loss that pervades it, there is a charming (if self indulgent) vitality and liberty to it all. One can reject the moral indifference and occasional callousness of the protagonist, and still sympathise with their melancholy regret that one didn’t become more pious, reverent and intimate with their faith, despite the inevitable passage of time. Tenente’s inevitable prayer, when he’s finally faced with the prospect of a loss that matters to him, cutting through his seeming apathy and indifference, reminds us that perhaps there are no atheists in foxholes. I am following it though, with some Marquez (Autumn of the Patriarch), to revel in some colour, light and song after Hemingway’s clipped functionalism and form. 

Working through Anthony Esolen’s list of recommended films, I’ve enjoyed both It Happened One Night and High Noon this week. Two very different films that charm in their own particular ways. It’s hard to understand why Kane’s isolation in High Noon is so thrilling, and seemingly inevitable, as this resolute lawman races towards his lonely death, without a single good man to stand by his side as he faces the consequence of making the streets safe again. Claudette Colbert and Gene Kelly (was it?) are both outstanding in It Happened One Night, when fate, pride, ennui and arrogance serve to bring two beautiful people together, then seemingly set them apart for no good reason. Plenty to learn about human nature, for better or worse, in both films.