movie love

I am a reader. It happens. I read waaaay too much, whenever I can find the time. But I also like movies.

Some, I love.

Take Last of the Mohicans, for example. The whole damned thing is beautiful. The scenery, the music, the cast, the story and plot arc, the relationships, the selfless death, I love it. I'm a sucker for romantic stuff, remember?

I just finished watching it. They copy, unfortunately, skips and freezes at most of the good parts, so while I'm running the story in my head to match the movie, I end up off (you know, like when you hear your favorite song on the radio and they cut out half of it- you find yourself singing along with the missing bit, but they're playing the last verse). Drives me nuts. I think the only really good, moving scene that didn't get messed up like that is the one at the end, on the cliff. For the two people in the world that haven't seen the movie I'll leave it at that.

But, much tho I love the story, and the sudden true-ish love found on the frontier (10 miles from teh center of albany) and the way Uncas (for no sane reason I can come up with) falls madly for the younger sister...

Ok, see, I wanted to read the book, right? I mean, the book is *always better, right? But I *can't*. I've tried. Over and over again. I don't know if it's the writing style of the time, or that the written story just doesn't speak to me- but I can't read it. I get about 2 pages into it and give up. I don't usually give up. Heck, I read this terrible book about *star dragons*, for bob's sake, with physics equations every 5 pages or so. But I can't read the book for last of the mohicans.

Ok, major geek failure here- I can't force myself to get through Lord of the Rings, either. I got to about Tom Bombadill, and I want to throw the books across the room. I am a geek failure.

Maybe it's just books "everyone" loves. Or serious old fiction. Or anything written by victorians. Tho honestly I can't stand steinbeck either.

Maybe when I'm old and slow, and my mind is willing to hold a single idea and spin it out for days on end, maybe then I'll be able to read books like these. But I don't think so. I have a friend who could read them now- reads big boring philosophy books for fun, writes endless long books with philosophical wonderings. Was basically born about 125 years too late. I just don't have the patience for it. I wish I did. I'd like to see who else Frodo ran into on the way to the big angry mountain. I want to follow nathaniel's travels, see what Uncas was really like, find out, someday, what actually happens in Tortilla Flats.

Maybe some day I'll take another couple really long car rides. And maybe I'll get the uncut versions of these books on tape. And maybe then, driving way too fast through the smokies on the interstate (40, I think) between tennessee and North Carolina, or that big empty badness that is west Tejas, I'll finally find out what *really* happens.

But for now, I'll stick with the movies. And maybe I'll find surround sound, to watch "mohican's" again. Because, Damn, I love that movie. And not just because Daniel Day-Lewis is hot. He's hot in other stuff too, but I don't love it.

j.