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Title: The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick by Norman Kagan ISBN: 0-8264-1243-2 Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 1.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Worthless
Comment: I don't know why film critics think they can get away with this kind of thing. Imagine if somebody tried to "critique" a novel, a CD, or any other type of work by retelling the narrative (or lyrics, or whatever) in his own words. Dismissed without a second thought, needless to say. But film critics write 'em and get 'em published. To what end, I don't know.
That said, this book plumbs new depths in that it's ALL the author does. There's no technical background or critical apparatus at all, merely scene by scene retellings of the films along with a bit of blather about "themes". The book's errors have been mentioned, but it should be reiterated that these are of a number and level of ignorance that's truly jaw-dropping. (My favorite is Kagan's identification of the drunken Shriners of "Killer's Kiss" as "some kind of street entertainers".)
One of these days, Kubrick will get the film-by-film analysis he deserves. This one ain't even a beginning.
Rating: 2
Summary: One wonders why Kagan bothered
Comment: Kagan's tome on the works of Stanley Kubrick breaks ranks with the films it seeks to illuminate by accomplishing something those works do not - Kagan's tome is terribly BORING and ultimately says very little about the subjects it hopes to explore.
Yes, the Third Edition covers every Kubrick film right up to Eyes Wide Shut, claiming to be the only book on Kubrick to do so. Even if that boast is true, it does very little to address the glaring flaws that make this book one to be avoided.
While all of Kubrick's films are covered, most of the text on each are rambling, haphazardly written summaries of the films' plots, information we presume a student of Kubrick will find wholly unnecessarily. Worse still, he often spends more time summarizing than examining; 21 pages are devoted to regurgitating the plot of Dr. Strangelove, for instance, with just 11 pages devoted to examining the film. Kagan throws a bit of editorial comment into those summaries, but such content is sparse and rarely enlightening.
The summaries are preceded by a brief - sometimes as brief as a paragraph or two - bit of text introducing the film. Generally speaking, entirely worthless.
Finally, each summary is followed by a half-hearted, and often too brief, attempt to examine the themes of the film and how Kubrick attempted to display those themes. Kagan manages to cut and paste portions of reviews that back his observations, but he rarely presents them in such a way to truly bolster his argument (or make the argument interesting for the reader), and for stretches one wonders just how much actual WRITING Kagan did. These thematic explorations are often so brief as to be frustrating, too. Barry Lyndon fans, for instance, will wonder if Kagan even SAW the film based on the two whole pages it gets.
In the end, however, the book fails because it offers the reader no real insight into the cinema of Stanley Kubrick. Not in the creation of these films; the production; the historical importance; the cinematic importance. Virtually nothing is offered on the history of these productions, how Kubrick went about creating each film, notes of interest, or reasons why the films stand out from the pack - things one would think are essential in a boom called "The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick."
So why two stars for a book so, well, bad? It is a valuable resource in that it summarizes some Kubrick films no longer readily available for viewing. Kubrick students may find some of use for this book in that, at least. Other than that:
SKIP THIS BOOK.
Rating: 1
Summary: An Inept Excuse For A Bad Thesis
Comment: I have a theory: Kagan needed to write a thesis. He decided that Kubrick's work demonstrated the repetition of certain themes, and decided to "argue" accordingly. He wrote synopsis' of all Kubrick's films, then added a few pages to the end of each to justify his [Kagan's] "arguments".
And voila -- a thesis, a C-, and next year it's the PHD...
This is sophomore stuff. If you want critical insight read Nelson; if you want Bio, read Lobrutto; scandal, read Baxter; character, read Herr or Raphael; general information, read Cimet or Walker.
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Title: The Complete Kubrick by David Hughes, Peter Bogdanovich ISBN: 0753504529 Publisher: Virgin Publishing Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Food, Inc. : Mendel to Monsanto--The Promises and Perils of the Biotech Harvest by Peter Pringle ISBN: 0743226119 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 10 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Why Americans Split Their Tickets : Campaigns, Competition, and Divided Government by Barry C. Burden, David C. Kimball ISBN: 0472112864 Publisher: UMP Pub. Date: 20 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
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Title: Two W's of Journalism: The Why and What of Public Affairs Reporting (Lea's Communication Series) by Davis Merritt, Maxwell E. McCombs ISBN: 0805847316 Publisher: Lea Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.50 |
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Title: Violence in the Home: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Psychology) by Karel Kurst-Swanger, Jacqueline L. Petcosky ISBN: 0195151143 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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