Yeah, I think there's been too much good stuff on TV.

Thank you, TWR. And Natty, that's good.

And that's not the only place where Harwinton and God are equated. Plus, with Martin 33 years old at the opening of the Grand Cosmo, it seems he's supposed to be the Jesus figure. Though I think Miller's position is defensible.

Thanks, FiveString. Though I suspect it's still more complex than that. For instance, it's Caroline who collects the dolls. What does that mean? And Martin replaces Caroline (a ghost herself) with other women whom he thinks of as "ghost-Carolines." I'm not sure what to make of that yet.

That Wolverine movie
was dull from start to finish. I assume this will suck as well.

Go back to Duras' DESTROY, SHE SAID (which I've found myself liking more every day since reading it)—there's a swapping scene in that one, too. Two women staring at themselves in a mirror, exchanging ideas as they exchange identities…. This reminded me of that. Perhaps both are an expression of society's desire for…

Beyond this City of the Dolls
I think the motif of dolls may be the key to understanding Martin's women and to understanding Martin's relationship to his reality.

…Wow, congratulations, Rowan! I can't wait until you get to pick a Wrapped Up In Books selection. Your thoughts have so often been so cogent and interesting (particularly in the WUIB discussions) that I'm not surprised this happened for you.

Definitely more than a cautionary tale: it's more descriptive than evaluative in its presentation of the Dream. And maybe what you said about it being only a dream is right as well: there's really nothing, for instance, representing normalcy. Just the biggest of dreams. The 1 Big 1 to the standard American 1 Littl…

Maybe it was from just having seen INCEPTION, but I wondered in the margins if this was all Caroline's dream, the whole story. I think now I like Miller's last observation better though.

Ooh, great observation. I don't think he ever did leave. Was the greater world beyond even ever mentioned?

The Grand Cosmo opens "five days after Martin's thirty-third birthday." This is our Jesus' resurrection, apparently. And if Martin is Jesus, our martyr for the American Dream, ad-man Harwinton is God.

A good analogy. So did it ultimately work for you?

Gently down the stream…
I'm so glad I jotted some notes in the back of my book, because now it's been a month-and-a-half since I read this, and the whole thing feels…like distant but vivid dream now. First up: I loved this book. This was probably my second favorite WUIB selection (this year) after RIDDLEY WALKER,…

I must just have a different sort of attention span, cultivated over many years of walking quietly around in the desert and looking at things. I was never bored by this book—to me, it was always dreamlike and meditative, and even its long descriptions of architecture and mechanical marvels seemed like things from a…

Okay, maybe all art is subjective and our ideas of quality merely the cumulative memories, feelings, and perceptions we bring to our experience of the art itself. Because how could anyone say this book is dull?! Or bland?! The whole thing reads like a smooth dreamscape, with memorable characters, an intriguing…

Nice comment, but I don't think Martin's ultimate failing was extravagance, I think it was ambition—and not just ambition but an ambition whose motives were ultimately a mystery, even to him. There's a conversation with Emmeline about his motivations that shows this clearly, where she asks him "Why."

I rated this a B+
but my kids absolutely loved it. A for them for sure. I really enjoyed it as well, I have to admit, having grown up with the books. It's got probably one or two story lines too many, and its tone IS a little Leave-It-To-Beaver-ish, and it is episodic, but it's exactly a kind of kids movie I both…

This is exactly the sort of book
that I want to hear is just perfectly great. I'm going to read it anyway, even if its shortcomings are numerous.

Hey! It's September 13th! But no discussion! Is this still happening?