@Scrawler - After reading that island comment yesterday, I was flipping back through the book, and noticed, in the latter half of Letters to Zedelghem, this sentence: "Take this island, midstream between timbre and rhythm, not down in any book of theory, but it's here!"

I tend to think of it as a novel in the spaces between stories, which as an analysis probably rates as arty bullshit, but hear me out.

@Natty

There's the betrayal of the protagonist by a mentor or friend: Ewing is deceived and nearly murdered by Goose, Frobisher is strung along by Ayrs and Jocasta, Cavendish is tricked into an old folks' home by his brother, Sonmi is misled by Union and Hae-Joo Im. Betrayal and deception run throughout Half-Lives, (Fay Li…

The Definition of a Novel
Something that I was thinking about throughout Cloud Atlas: what makes a novel a novel? I wouldn't hesitate to call Cloud Atlas a novel (as opposed to a collection of short stories or novellas) but I wonder if I'd have felt the same way if the stories had simply been printed in full, in…

I might have found the idea of reincarnation irritating or redundant if I thought it was being used explicitly to comment on the novel's structure, but that's giving Mitchell and that particular theme short shrift. For me, the idea of reincarnation was also a commentary on the nature of storytelling, the way we…

Has anyone…
… actually watched Spartacus: Blood and Sand?

Maybe he's suggesting the PS3 controller would be a little intimidating to the casual audience the game seems to be courting? Even if it only uses three buttons and an analog stick? Or, no, wait, he's talking about the depth of customization and the frisson of spinning out Bowser…

The money choice was Ke$ha.

JVS, I think you have to blame Matthew Vaughn, whose screenplay (with Jane Goldman) excises the subtle storytelling and interesting world-building from the book, and replaces them with broad gags (like the gay pirate thing, which is an invention of the film) and shoddy characterizations. Couple that with direction…

@Homicide: Can David Simon really owe a debt to himself? If the dark, realistic deaths in both shows are owed to anything, it's to Simon's career working the crime beat at the Baltimore Sun.

According to Wikipedia, they're just starting production on it. Which means, I'm guessing, a winter premiere?

You people? Whattaya mean, you people?!?

No "Infanta", Lone? I don't listen to The Decemberists all that often, but every once in a while I start up Picaresque just to hear those drums kick in. Also, whale song!

If you're ever not sure again, just remember that in the second one they invade Cuba, which would be difficult to do from LA.

He's apparently making a "good recovery." At least according to this article: http://www.skiddle.com/news…

Can we dial this back a bit to Something To Think About talking out of his ass? Yauch had the surgery and is recovering, and as far as I can find he's undergoing the recommended radiation treatments. This is the Buddhist equivalent of starting a prayer chain or whatever, it's not him substituting imaginary lightning…

Unpossible, I'm a fan of solid, old school stealth as well, (although I never spent much time with the Splinter Cell franchise, which is a grievous oversight on my part) but it's telling that, when reduced to the elements you list there, old school stealth sounds like terrible game design. Long periods of inactivity,…

Quick: How many times has "One Way Out" been a line in a Bay movie?
If they were actually "stripping people to their bare necessities" and forcing them to "do whatever it takes to survive" by, like, locking them in an abandoned prison and dropping enough food and water for one person into a random corner once a week…

Damn, Sean
I've been laughing at your headlines (and the accompanying articles) all week. It almost makes up for the loss of Buzzkills.