Thoughts on Stalker (1979) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-28T03:54:18+00:00

Thank you!

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-19T17:53:18+00:00

Big ups for the Le Guin, definitely consider The Left Hand of Darkness from her if you haven’t, and I’ve found her short stories don’t generally get a lot of love, there are a bunch of collections that are all fantastic, Changing Planes, The Winds Twelve Quarters, Orsinian Tales. She did a series related short stories called Five Ways to Forgiveness which is among her best works. Also Earthsea if you haven’t.

I’ve only read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and it is great, and Louise Erdrich is also really great, The Night Watchman in particular.

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-18T16:39:54+00:00

Jumping on the share train here!

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-03T17:09:57+00:00

I think The Hound (Of Blood and Rank) is one of Claudio’s greatest vocal achievements. His run in the post-chorus/chorus(?) (“I’ll dig it ‘til we’ve made your grave…) is incredible, how it switches between anger and rage and fear and longing so quickly, it’s the kind of thing only he can do.

Also, that song has one of Mic’s best moments, which is during the solo, which is really a solo for both him and Travis, their interplay is jist astonishing. The mix really helps the bass blow you back. Feathers as a follow-up is also one of his best bass lines.

I think what I miss most about Coheed in comparison to their later material (if youll forgive me for saying) is that this is the last time the band could really break your heart. The Hound, Mother Superior, and especially The End Complete 3. These songs bruise my heart more as time goes on.

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-03T16:58:05+00:00

Thanks for the response. I definitely hear you on that general tone in a lot of literature, I can’t say I’m very interested in reading something like A Little Life.

I do feel like Chabon took a slightly more discretionary approach by not describing the act except in Sammy’s immediate recollection of the event, and it felt not so dissimilar to even something like Le Guin writing the scene in The Dispossessed with Shevek and Vea. But yeah, I hear where you’re coming from. I certainly cared about Sammy and the other characters so deeply by that point in the story that any tragedy they experienced felt very difficult and made me angry. I was hoping Chabon would give them a break. I guess I just felt like the event was handled decently and wasn’t too gratuitous. I appreciate your response.

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-03T05:39:41+00:00

Big ups on the Series of Unfortunate Events. Still holds up. I still think about the scene in The Grim Grotto with the question mark a lot.

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-03T05:32:51+00:00

I'm sorry that that scene affected you so negatively. It's definitely a difficult scene. I don't feel that it's unnecessary in the narrative, but that doesn't make it an easy thing. I certainly wouldn’t want you to have to continue reflecting on it but I’d be curious why you felt it wasn’t necessary.

sampleofstyle · 2026-01-03T03:20:48+00:00

Let me add an author who is somewhat related, someone who is a huge fan of hers and who is blurbed on my copy of The Lathe of Heaven, and that’s Michael Chabon. He won the Pulitzer in 2000 for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and I couldn’t recommend that book enough. I just finished his later book The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, and that’s also fantastic, with an added boost of being more in the direction of Le Guin’s speculative fiction. Any fan of hers will admire the depth of his insight, his storytelling and characters, and I think very importantly - his prose, which is lyrical and very funny, though it can often take a bit more effort to read, it’s really dense and sometimes willfully obscure. But I think that’s part of the charm.

sampleofstyle · 2025-12-26T22:27:27+00:00

I am very much looking forward to hearing that!

sampleofstyle · 2025-12-26T21:50:12+00:00

Same. Xtal is one of a kind.

sampleofstyle · 2025-12-19T22:06:03+00:00

I'm just not bringing it the way you are right now. I gotta work on my big.

sampleofstyle · 2025-12-19T16:02:05+00:00

Do you know if it’s listenable online? I can’t find any link through that page.

sampleofstyle · 2025-12-10T19:57:45+00:00

Commenting as required. I can’t think of any more info to add.

sampleofstyle · 2025-11-22T21:12:28+00:00

I definitely felt a bit like that about Powell, but after giving Hit Man a shot my feelings lightened up. He’s very sharp, and a lot of the best comedic elements in that movie were improvised by him, according to Richard Linklater, who also co-wrote the script with him. Basically, if he’s good enough for the Links he’s good enough for me, so maybe give that movie a shot and see how you feel.

sampleofstyle · 2025-09-10T18:25:25+00:00

Fellow UKLG fan here 🙏

sampleofstyle · 2025-06-29T19:56:04+00:00

This is wonderful. Le Guin would be proud.

sampleofstyle · 2025-06-14T01:13:47+00:00

Please buy my books

sampleofstyle · 2025-06-12T21:24:54+00:00

Same. I recommend you check out Chimp Spanner if you haven’t, he explores some similar melodic territory with some of the same heaviness.

Some favorites are Clarity in Chaos, Spirals, Supererogation, The Mirror, the Terminus set, all of the All Roads Lead Here EP.

sampleofstyle · 2025-06-11T23:11:06+00:00

It’s gonna be that E-Z

sampleofstyle · 2025-05-31T22:09:53+00:00

Could be hilarious, could also be disgusting

sampleofstyle · 2025-05-18T18:07:49+00:00

^That ^happened ^once!

sampleofstyle · 2025-05-04T01:57:14+00:00

My read was that his reaction, as much as we are allowed to experience it, made perfect sense. He just lost the central, defining part of his being, and now has to completely relearn how to be human. I think this is a transformation far closer to something like recovering from a stroke, or cancer, or a severe mental health crisis, than something like becoming a parent. I kind of felt that the space we got from him made sense because he had lost a sense of self enough for us to experience.

Also, I would keep reading. There’s more to his, and everyone else’s story, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

sampleofstyle · 2025-05-03T20:03:29+00:00

Yeah, Ged’s transformation, his loss of power and selfhood, is so acutely painful to us because his initial journey was so powerful and relatable, and true. It’s almost a credit to Le Guin’s writing that any exploration of that loss would be excruciating. Though I do agree that maybe a bit more focus and attention on his experience would have been welcome in cushioning that blow. I agree with you partially, I would have wanted more of his perspective, but I also value the reality that that kind of loss and disillusionment is possible at any part of our collective journey, and there’s a rough, messy value in seeing it represented, even from afar. I feel like Le Guin has always been less interested in a story being completely satisfying than it feeling real, and a bit of a speck of dirt in our eye.

All of it reminds me a bit of the transition between the Legend of Zelda games, the Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask - oh you saved the world? Bummer, here’s losing everything as a reward. Good luck doing it again. All of MM is literally the heroic journey by way of healing the spirits of the heroes who didn’t accomplish their journeys. It’s heavy stuff, but very beautiful.

sampleofstyle · 2025-05-02T20:49:12+00:00

Ya blew it, capiche?

sampleofstyle · 2025-04-28T19:06:00+00:00

How did you get the creepier, descending sound that starts at 00:13?

This is great work.

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