The Explanation
(for those who require one)
And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather
4 comments:
I'll miss 'im, one of my favorite Brits. This film was one of the high points of British cinema - the opening with the great Finlay Currie as Magwitch is one of the best scenes in the movies, ever, IMHO, and Mills was perfect as Pip, my favorite Dickens character. My favorite Mills movie, tho, was "Ice Cold In Alex", a real character piece, with the smashing Sylvia Syms, and Anthony Quayle's greatest role. Another great passes, sniff.
BCNU
Wasn't he 97?
BCNU
Sad to see Sir John pass on, though 97 is a ripe old age. My favorite movie of his--and also one of my favorite Charles Laughton flicks--is Hobson's Choice (1954). "By gum!"
Oops...math and me not so good friends. I'll go with Hobson's Choice too...although I'm waiting on that Ryan's Daughter DVD which is supposed to be right around the corner...
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