The Bonfire of the Vanities

New York in the 80's really isn't much different from New York today. Is that a depressing thought? I think so...This novel follows a year in the life of a Wall street bond trader whose life is shattered following a particularly stupid and tragic accident. Sherman McCoy had it all and he knew it. The Park Avenue "palace," the million dollar job, the luscious mistress. After an incident in the Bronx, Sherman's life is unraveled to the world, including a status-hungry DA and the cynical cops who hound the case.

I absolutely loved this book. Wolfe is unstinting in his painfully honest portrayal of New York scoiety. Whether you're a Wall street bond trader or a Bronx beat cop, you have the satisfaction of your own righteousness. I am utterly fascinated by the sheer ARROGANCE of these people. The belief that they cannot be touched simply because they have money or pride. What this book reveals is that no one is infallible. If you believe that you are, you're living a deluded life and I believe that many people in New York do so. This city engenders that "superman complex" of you-can't-touch-me presumption. It's both understandable and sickening at the same time. This novel takes place in the early 80s, yet I felt that any of the events could have happened today. In fact, what happens to Sherman McCoy is eerily similar to the Bernie Madoff story of today. Read this novel if you want a relevant and truthful presentation of New York

Moth's Wings

I really can't get enough of this song

How pricy

HA! That's ironic

(thanks to bkvegan)

NYC pictorial pt. VI

TJ is my soulmate

Lolita

This is the dark story of Humbert Humbert and his obsession with the young "Lolita." Humbert, from an early age, exhibits unusual proclivities, namely the sexual, hungering desire for very young girls -- "nymphets." They're not necessarily very pretty or bright, but to HH, they exude an aura of come-hither disingenuity that he finds impossible to turn away from. Dolores Haze (Lolita) is such a girl and through a series of accidents, finds herself in the inescapable grasp of this desperate older man.

Nabokov, you did it again. I read a series of your delectable short stories a few months ago and thus I turned to Lolita in eager anticipation. I am not disappointed. Despite its extremely disturbing plotline, Nabokov draws you in with the seductiveness of his language. Each sentence is so rich, it's like biting into a particularly succulent apple...you know the kind. I went back and read certain sentences over and over, simply for the sheer visceral pleasure they gave me.

And because his writing was so forceful...it made the outre plotline that much more vivid and disturbing. Reading into HH's almost painful honesty made me squirm but also hunger for more...to delve into the mind of a man who was capable of such atrocities.

NYC pictorial pt. V

LOST

There probably aren't enough words in the English language for me to describe the raptures I have felt with this new season of Lost. After several seasons of jump-the-shark-ness, Lost has returned to its initial mysterious, edge-of-the-seat, heart-in-the-throat allure.

Some great pics, courtesy of The Lost Blog




And I'm not quite sure how I feel about this news