There's a meme going on, spread by the Struggling Author among others, and I thought I'd join in, since Christmas is a time of sharing. The meme's challenge is to list the five most embarrassing gaps in your cultural knowledge.
Here are mine. Go ahead and snigger.
1 I don't read fiction any more
Okay, with the slight exception of Patrick O'Brian's historical novels (which are more or less non-fiction at times), I don't read fiction any more, just non-fiction. I just can't get into it. Maybe it does “illustrate the human condition” or something, but then so does an Oxfam Christmas newsletter or a good psychology text book, usually more succinctly.
2 I haven't watched Spaced
I really just can't begin to formulate a reason for this. I just haven't, even though I know I should. Can you get a cure for this problem on the NHS? Prescription HMV vouchers or something?
3 I've not watched The Sopranos
It's five seasons long. I'm not starting now, no matter how hard my sister begs me to. And you Martin. Yes, you.
4 My indie credentials are gone
The edgiest piece of music I've listened to recently was Snow Patrol's latest album. Every time I switch on XFM in an attempt to fix this problem, they're playing Razorlight, so that's no help. The problem's so bad, I'm like a tone deaf Donald Rumsfeld: I don't even know how much I don't know about indie music any more.
5 I've only watched three Martin Scorsese films and I didn't like them
Casino, Goodfellas and Taxi Driver. Hated them all. Absolute pants. Everything else of his I've steered clear of. Is this wrong?
Updates and related entries
June 5, 2008: More decent naval fiction: William Golding's "To the Ends of the Earth"
December 19, 2006 | Reply
I'm gonna put my fingers in my ears for number 5 since clearly you're missing something there, though they're probably not to everyone's taste.
Number 4: there was an advert in the recent Observer Music Monthly (bizarrely for Nokia which I didn't get the connection with at all) which showed a bloke - why a bloke? - shuffling record shelves with a remark like "he knows Indie music that makes indie music look like it isn't indie music" (or something like that). Sorry, it just came to mind. Basically, indie music can be all sorts of things from jangling white guitar boys to rowdy girl rock and everything between. Enjoy what you like and be open to new things (XFM probably won't help there...)
December 19, 2006 | Reply
I suppose numbers 1, 4 and 5 are personal taste: you've done them but didn't like them/stopped doing them. And if you don't like Goodfellas I suppose that explains why you've maybe not watched the Sopranos as they're a bit similar in tone. But for number 2 my eyes widened and I screamed "What?!!?!?" If you've not watched Spaced that IS something to be embarassed about. Hell, you can even HAVE my Spaced DVDs if it'll get you to watch it(I have 2 sets cos I shelled out for the SE set with 3rd disk). It IS essential viewing! Great blog though....
December 19, 2006 | Reply
Armando Iannucci wrote a piece for the Telegraph about cultural backlog and, interestingly enough, it focused partly on The Sopranos:
December 19, 2006 | Reply
I remember reading it the first time round, but decided not to mention is so that I wouldn't appear too derivative. I have my own reasons for not watching The Sopranos!
December 19, 2006 | Reply
Ooh, goodies! I might take you up on that.
December 19, 2006 | Reply
I hate mob stuff. I hate The Godfather. I really just don't care about the Mafia. I almost didn't watch Brotherhood as a result.
As for new things, I have to find them somewhere, but I'm too lazy to go hunting further than XFM at the moment.
December 19, 2006 | Reply
I say all the time that had 'The Sopranos' been a finite series of just that first season, with an alternate choice made in the scene with Tony and his mother, then it would have stood up as one of the greatest productions ever made for Television.
But instead, it's been dragged out for far too long as more and more money has been dangled in front of David Chase. The last season the show was just spinning its wheels. And Chase has even gone so far as to rip off one of his own plots from an episode of 'The Rockford Files' just to keep the series going.
And yet so many others over here keep referring to it as one of the pinnacles of Television, and I just don't get it. I really don't think they're looking at the overall series, but are still focused on either the first season or perhaps individual moments since then.
I think it's going to take the distance of History for TV critics and others to finally see the show for what it was - good, but not great.
December 19, 2006 | Reply
Just email me an address and they're your's mate...
December 20, 2006 | Reply
You've not watched Spaced, but you have watched almost all of Torchwood. You need to prioritise! (We just watched Spaced over the past couple of weeks, and it's still fab. I'm still dithering over buying the SE box for that third DVD though.)
December 20, 2006 | Reply
Spot on: I watched the first couple of series of the Sopranos and thought it pretty fine, but shunting it around the schedules and increasingly the channels just did my head in and I lost interest. Diminishing returns if ever there was one.
December 20, 2006 | Reply
We have the 2 disc box set, but bought the 3 disc one for our friend George. Whatever: as long as you have the episodes its all good.
December 20, 2006 | Reply
"You need to prioritise!"
Agreed. I suffer for someone else's art. Those early episodes of Torchwood were way too much suffering. Even Caruso himself would have turned his nose up at some of them.
December 21, 2006 | Reply
Craig, if you're a fan of Spaced, the SE is worth every penny. There's a fabulously in-depth documentary which ends with something that you NEED TO SEE for Spaced-closure :)
And Rob, go brave the Christmas crowds and get Spaced now!!