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July 29, 2007
Read Horrifying
Leisure Reading
As I toiled through the Divine Comedy, a lot of thoughts swarmed my head that sparked my interest and my curiosity. After reading past the Inferno and decending via the circles with he and Virgil, I began to realize how Dante himself is very creul to make a lot of people in the world around him subjects to a literary vendetta.
I think every single scholar, historian, reader that has ever experienced The Inferno knows that this was the ultimate revenge story for him against all those who defiled Italy and Christainity. Every crooked politician and clegyman has their fate determined in the hell that is custom made to fit their crime (And that is extra scary to me!!). In this way he lets the reader know that his views on certain issues and problems that we face today and of course being a man living in the Middle Ages.
Like Paradise Lost, there is a religious and popular overtone that really hit home to popular culture. It even made people who were interested in the Divine Comedy famous, like Gustave Dore and his countless drawings and engravings. I think that Dante's Inferno has become synonomus with the word horror. I don't know if a film adaptation is in order, but I bet the CGI in that movie would be wonderful.
Posted by KevinHinton at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2007
Will Paradise Be Lost On Film?
Just Another Thought
There are rumors flying around for the last few months that a film adaptation to Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost" will be out in theaters some time soon. I find that the premise of this movie could be just as good as the play with the great battle between Heaven and Hell, the fall of Man, and all the things we know about the creation in Christianity.
Paradise Lost, according to an article in the New York Times, is currently being created to entice a Christian audience who enjoy films like " The Passion of The Christ". On the other hand, the poem had influenced movies that isn't exactly what I call "Christian Friendly" (I mean by violence, drugs, sex, for little or no reason) like 1998's Devil's Advocate. So how can the film be tailor made to one group of people and with the source of the film playing both sides of the fence?
Staurt Hazeldine, one the writers of the new project said that it would be a problem to some degree stating that “We often find that we are wondering, are we too worldly for the church and too churchy for the world?”
Posted by KevinHinton at 11:16 AM | Comments (1)
July 25, 2007
The Mania Called Graduate School
Just Another Thought
With my junior year soon aproaching my desire for acedemia and literature grows. I began to look at grad schools as the long and uneventful summer drags on and on. All of the schools are in the locales of the great commonweatlhs of Virginia and Pennsylvania. After some researching and thoughtful inquires I have come up with the following list of schools:
James Madison University (VA)
George Mason University (VA)
University Of Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth University
University of Pittsburgh
Of course, by just deciding on the schools that I want to apply to I have only skimmed the surface of a vast ocean. In order for me to dive deeper I have to do tons of research and of course visit the campuses in question. I never been so excited in my life, realizing that my "undergraduate humor" won't help me if I am not serious about literature and creative writing but I can't even make up my mind on which one to pick to study on in grad school. Even though I am not worrying and I know the specific (if not the general) information about the to specifications and the M.A./M.F.A diference. I have about another year to test the waters a little and I'm all the better for it.
If you are wondering, my first choice at the moment is the University of Virginia. I believe that all of my possible M.A. and PHD pursuits could be an easy transition in that program. But being a unlucky person in poker, I've learned that you don't put all of your chips on on school.
I'm about 40% excited, 40% cautious, 20% scared about this whole thing. Neverthless, I have been through more stressful situation... my senior year in high school.
Posted by KevinHinton at 12:02 AM | Comments (1)