Book is better than both the films, especially Tarkovsky’s god-fearing version. Edit: I was confusing it with Solaris, but the comment stands.
man, i tried to watch the Tarkovsky movie, and while i like to think my attention span isn't too fried, it was so goddamn slow..
the author didn't live up to my expectations TWICE. knowing very little about the book i got to reading.
Edmund Wilson said this book was at the risk of being 'unintentionally funny' (or something like that). I agree, a lot of comedies are premised on ...
millman parry... i wish he stuck more to the phenomenological character of oral cultures, his classical digressions with homer were easily the best...
I'd add that there's a certain vibe to how Europeans, especially eastern and southern Europeans used to depict North America and North Americans in media. That vibe is so unique and cozy, and, in my opinion, adds so much to this book. For most of these authors, the sole basis for understanding American culture was exported American media (mainly Holywood movies, a big part of them westerns). What they then did was develop their own tropes and further caricaturized this caricature they started from. It's really hard to explain, but anyone who read European comic books or watched European cartoons set in north america will understand this vibe.