I'm currently reading a classic called The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov from Russia.
Apparently it's a critique about Stalinism. Well, la-dee-da because with that knowledge I feel like I'm in way over my head and I every time I pick up the book I feel like I need a copy of SparksNotes to my right and never has leisure reading been so nerve-wracking for me. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of symbolism and allegory and whatnot.
Most of the time, though, I try to relax and take it as another entertaining read, taking everything for what it is - the whole magical realism and people turning into witches and the devil coming to town as a fantasy story. And it works, except for the little voice inside my head saying that I should've had so much more background before diving into all this...
On Laughing Cats and Weeping Bats
B&W
I love well-cinematographed black and white films. They harken to theatre style of lighting.
The depth of field that you can see, the play with shadows and light.
Colour doesn't show that as well. For colour films that are filmed with film and not video, even if you see the focus and the blur in the background and you say to yourself, "Ah, so it's film and not video," there seems to be a more paltry sheen of flatness to it.
I especially love looking at still shots of black and white films because of the lighting.
