Thursday, June 12, 2008

Tom Robbins' "Still Life With Woodpecker" (Entry 5 of 6)

Today, I continue my series with the first and last sentences from some of my favorite movies with the classic 1980 Tom Robbins' novel "Still Life With Woodpecker."

Robbins was born in Blowing Rock, NC, on July 22, 1936 for those of you who live in the Tarheel State.

I am also including a video with the vintage 1951 Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Puny Express."

Most of the Woody  Woodpecker cartoons on Youtube are in Portugese as they appear to be quite popular in Brazil. I am not sure which language this one is in since I am not in a position to actually view the video with sound (I am in a library-type environment).

I used to watch a lot of Woody Woodpecker cartoons myself as a kid during the Jimmy Carter administration from WSLS-10 out of Roanoke, Va. I believe that 4 p.m. time slot is now occupied by Dr. Phil.

And, one has to enjoy Tom Robbins' novels, they are as quirky as William Burroughs is surreal. Alas, one of the few novels of his that was made into a film "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" was a complete dud even though it featured Uma Thurman, whom we sometimes idolize here at "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here is the first and last sentence from 'Woodpecker:'

"In the last quarter of the twentieth century, at a time when Western civilization was declining too rapidly for comfort and yet too slowly to be very exciting, much of the world sat on the edge of an increasingly expensive theatre seat, waiting-with various combinations of dread, hope, and ennui- for something momentous to occur.

(Before the Epilogue)_ "Still, they were convinced that they could hear the chipmunk at the center of the earth. They could tell that the chipmunk was running smoothly now. Its wheels spun easy and free."

http://www.woodywoodpecker.com

 

 

No comments: