Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Not as tough as I look

Yeah, so, I don’t cry very often. Blame it on my Irish heritage, but I tend to keep any negative emotions under wraps until I have a few Guinnesses, at which point I’ll tell you more than you want to hear. Like I said, Irish.

But a few times in the last month, I’ve been moved to tears. I know, it’s hard to believe. Watching “White Light, Black Rain,” about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki really hit hard. And in the same vein, HBO’s “Alive Day Memories” laid bare the physical and emotional damage that war inflicts on those who participate in it. The last chapter of “The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell” made me want to launch myself over a cliff. (Fortunately for everyone involved, I live in Illinois, not known for its towering rock faces) And even more recently, as I began reading “Canticle for Leibowitz again, I skipped ahead to a few of my favorite parts… and, well, you know what happened.

And, of course, when I’m just sad I cry by myself and don’t blog about it. Unless those Guinnesses get involved again.

Anyway, are there any works—songs, paintings, books, whatever—that affect you like that? And please, people, I’m going to reject anyone who tries to post about “The Fox and the Hound.” That one’s just a given.

3 comments:

M. Gants v4.0 said...

Aw man - cheer up!

Anonymous said...

Ran across your blog this morning. An odd compliment - that you wanted to throw yourself off a cliff at the end of the last chapter - but a compliment nonetheless. Glad you enjoyed the book.

Anonymous said...

bob dylan. sometimes he brings me to tears, other times to anger. occasionally he makes me want to throw myself and perhaps others off that same cliff.