Los Angeles Stories: John Fante's Downtown Los Angeles
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- čas přidán 6. 11. 2019
- “I took the steps down Angel’s Flight to Hill Street: a hundred and forty steps, with tight fists, frightened of no man, but scared of the Third Street Tunnel, scared to walk through it-claustrophobia. Scared of high places too, and of blood, and of earthquakes; otherwise, quite fearless, excepting death, except the fear I’ll scream in a crowd, except the fear of appendicitis, except the fear of heart trouble, even that, sitting in his room holding the clock and pressing his jugular vein, counting out his heartbeats, listening to the weird purr and whirr of his stomach. Otherwise, quite fearless.” ― Ask the Dust
- Krátké a kreslené filmy
Thank you and well done! This lecture will help me craft a discussion/questions for my book club at Los Angeles County’s Stoneview Nature Center later in April. Such a rich novel with so many meaty talking points! Brava!
Thank you SO MUCH for honoring John Fante and posting this! As an Italian-American and an English teacher/aspiring novelist, Fante is who I go to when I need inspiration and the reassurance that writing can change the world. He is overlooked and deserves the salvation through literary respect he sought for when alive. Bukowski may have never written without Fante's old dusty novels from the L.A. Public Library.
P.S. -- I just stared reading "Full of Life" today : )
We just got asked to read this novel in our English 100 writing class in Cerritos college which happens to be in LA also :D i would have never had known about this book if it werent for this class
Not to discourage you Tommy but Fante himself considered Full of Life an inferior work. The reason he gave? It was a story he wrote on assignment from the publisher to get a paycheck. He considered it pulp, nothing of consequence that represented his writing ambition.
But, it was a commercial success because it was mainstream in nature.
What am I suggesting? I read Full of Life & enjoyed it. But don't read or discuss it like it represents something John Fante was proud of. He wasn't. It was money to pay bills. It's no Ask the Dust. The "voice" between the two books is almost like it couldn't possibly be written by the same author.
I too am happy Charles Bukowski endorsed him the way he did. I was surprised to discover Fante wrote a screenplay with Orson Welles. You're not a bad writer if Orson Welles hires you.
@@lastrada52 Oh, no, I'm not comparing Ask the Dust to Full of Life. I just happened to be reading Full of Life when I came across this video. I've tried to read everything Fante has written. My favorite novel of his is still Wait Until Spring, Bandini, probably because I relate to the Italian and Catholic themes, as well as the parents who too eerily resemble my own.
I suppose I just admire Fante so damn much for giving me (and all of us) an early Italian-American voice in literature, and I wish he was more appreciated today compared to his contemporaries.
@@tommygallucci - Well written Tommy. And I'm Italian-Catholic too & understand everything you mean.
I agree, he should have been better appreciated even today.
I was impressed by Charles Bukowski's endorsement. He spoke so highly of John Fante & Charles didn't give out endorsements easily. After looking into Fante, ugly Hank was absolutely right.
Enjoyed reading your post, Tommy.
"...and the white line in the pavement leaped ahead of us like a burning fuse." -Fante
I marveled about this very line yesterday, reading "Ask the Dust". This is probably how people in the regency era felt when they read Jane Austen.
Fante so bloody, painful, exultant. Literally consigned to the dustbins of history prior to being resurrected by a that drunk. Fascinating stuff. Insight into the early Italian experience amazing
Thanks for the lecture!
The laughter is obnoxious.
I agree, but keep in mind it’s a live lecture and I’m sure quite a varied crowd, mostly writers and editors or teachers, go figure. I worked for a few years on a great drama comedy called “Northern exposure”. When they get their first test readings they had a laugh track and it failed. They dropped out of a laugh track and added better music and it was an instant hit.
I find laugh cracks insulting to the intelligence of the viewer, especially since the laughter is way over the top for only slightly funny or ironic moments.