I respond to Gifford because he seems to believe in the beauty of coincidences and human strangeness.  I think he (and Lynch) share in the Vladimir Nabokov school of thought:

     "...fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall  bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is, a sense of being somehow, 

      somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiousity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy)  is the norm."

I've been arguing about this with my writing instructor, who is a student of Ayn Rand and thinks every concrete should relate to some profound, philosophical universal truth or else the story and its details are meaningless.  

 

Some literature is based on symbolism and great philosophical significance. I'm sick to death of literary criticism. Some things just defy that tradition. On purpose. Pure expression is sometimes enough, and that's the kind of reading that turns my brain on.

 I think you misunderstood. I was defending Gifford's style.  Lots of critics think that if a story doesn't have a moral to it, then it's not worth reading.  Others disagree.  I was just saying that I hope you're not bothered if you're not finding a "deeper meaning."  

Sorry, I think you misunderstood me  I was agreeing with you.

I was saying if you (as in one), if one believes in Ayn Rand's school of thinking then you are deprived of a lot.

I was afraid of that.  Well, so much for literal meanings.

You've inspired me to get out my copy of My Last Martini and the Hotel Room Trilogy.      

Helluva guy.  Helluva writer.  Cute too. 

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!

Bleep you, & bleep the establishment, and bleep all of you who are trying to make me part of the unestablished establishment.

After reading Do the Blind Dream? and The Sinoloa Story I have started to get a little annoyed with BG's style. I had hoped that there was a little more variety and depth in his writing but he seems to be unable to include some strange form of sex in everything he writes. I still like him but I think I loved the Sailor & Lula books more because of the amazing characters that he created and those were the first Gifford characters I met.

pre-order on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Imagination-Heart-Seven-Story-Sailor/dp/158322873X/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242750549&sr=8-14

I am violating the old saw about saying nothing if you have nothing good to say. I liked Sandy in Blue Velvet- she was part of a cast and not the star. ( That face she makes is really something else : ). My problem with Wild at Heart is related to the casting of Nick Cage and Laura Dern in the main roles. Not my cup of tea. Right or wrong that was a deal breaker for me. No problem with Mr. Gifford's contributions. Also, hours of Dern is a reason i haven't seen I E.

Important to note that casting in other Lynch films was always top notch IMO. Ah, who can account for taste? Are there folks who view Cage and Dern as a needed plus in Wild at Heart ?... Yes, i answer my own question.

in response to your comments 12rainbow...i'm in overall agreement; but the problem with that attitude to 'art' is the tendency to become self indulgent, or worse, becoming pretent-intellectual, ot as nabokov might say 'vulgar and philistinic'.

the purpose and philosophy of art has always fascinated me---that fine line between whether art affords an ascendence in the human senses, or if it is just self important, impractical nonsense (wilde: 'all art is quite useless'..though wilde was always ironic!!) (ps: oh no, i'm quoting writers, arghh thats a sure way to seem like an ass!!! ah well...)

What puts me off even thinking in artistic terms are the art students that i have met....an example of what art students can be like can be seen in Six Feet Under; clare and her classmates, hehe. Unfortunately (and i say this with no reference to barry gifford, or anyone, and i know i'm waay off topic) everyone who discovers they can draw, paint, hold a camera, write a few lines, can suddenly become infatuated with the idea that they are an 'artist'. even though they have nothing to express,and not much talent.

Wilde is too easy to quote. The Decay of Lying should have ended the video game violence debate before it started.

*looks back at orginal post to figure out where I'm going*

Oh, yeah. It's the meandering, life-like worlds of Gifford that have no meaning other than being that I like. His greatest creative assets are his prose and situations. Tarantino has that way, too.

Gifford is no Nabokov, though.

Sailor is such a tool in the movie! I would love to see Nic do drunk Elvis karaoke.

As shrill and obnoxious as Rosie Perez is, she made a decent Perdita in Dance With the Devil, unlike the horribly miscast Isabella Rossellini.

So odd that Johnny and Marcellos become best buds into old age in the novels.

Has anyone read the new Sailor and Lula novel?

It's called Imagination of the Heart and is apparently the final instalment.

http://www.amazon.com/Imagination-Heart-Seven-Story-Sailor/dp/158322873X

I think I'll wait until the paperback is out to read it.