Pretty Great,huh?

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HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
9,660
74,320
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Heart of the South
This one is new enough that I remember it! Loved it, and I think we got to hear about Sai King's torturous battle through his accident and the fallout - mayhap. I was introduced to an artist I'd never paid any attention to (Dali) and forced to ponder our world of idols and Gods and such. A brilliant novel! I like to drink green tea on the beach too! And as always, vibrant characters and details. I always feel like I'm living right along with everyone in the novel when I read King. It makes me a little hard to be around sometimes.
 

kingzeppelin

Member who probably should be COMMITTED!
Apr 15, 2012
7,441
20,496
Oxfordshire, UK
This one is new enough that I remember it! Loved it, and I think we got to hear about Sai King's torturous battle through his accident and the fallout - mayhap. I was introduced to an artist I'd never paid any attention to (Dali) and forced to ponder our world of idols and Gods and such. A brilliant novel! I like to drink green tea on the beach too! And as always, vibrant characters and details. I always feel like I'm living right along with everyone in the novel when I read King. It makes me a little hard to be around sometimes.


I loved the vivid description of the beach of shells under "Big Pink" moving in the breakers. I could hear them in my head, great stuff and superb writing.
 

Ben.

Well-Known Member
I've always thought that Duma Key is somewhat underrated. I think it's the most visual of all of his works. That could be because art and colour are such important things themselves within the novel. I loved the "How to Draw a Picture" segments and the scene where
Perse kills off most of Elizabeth's family on the beach
is one of his best written.
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
11,749
34,805
I liked the "How to Draw a Picture" sections...they could be collected and added to On Writing. This is the only story I've listened to on audio and I've no clue what possessed me when I picked it off the...shelf?...bin?...I think it was a bin, middle of the aisle, where it did not belong...where someone I thought later, must have left it, second thoughts I guess. I liked the narrator's presentation of this one. I especially liked his presentation of Elizabeth. He didn't try to speak in the voice of a woman...but nevertheless, I heard an old lady speak when he spoke. Those sneakers, too. :)
 

Lisey Landon

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2009
754
3,966
Germany
Wonderful book, and everytime I think about it I can picture that beach in my head. His writing of colour in that story is so evocative!!!
I feel the same about this book. Just thinking about it, it feels like I can almost smell the beach. I am not a visual person when I read, normally I am more emotional. But with this book, I can see it all in front of me.

Come to think of it, after I read Duma Key, I have become more visual when reading other books as well. Didn't realize that until just now. :)
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
...I was introduced to an artist I'd never paid any attention to (Dali)...
70HallucinogenousBullfighter.jpg

As a teen my favorite painter was Salvador Dali. The above is one of my favorites. Duma Key inspired me to pink up my paint brush and paint again - after decades of not exercising my talent. I've found there are times when it seems I grew up with sK, like he's my big brother. His favorite movie as a kid was the same as mine. He talks about Dali and describes painting so expertly. sK las a magical, personal quality for me, and of course, for most of us.
 
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blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
67TunnyCatch.jpg

Another favorite of mine, Tuna Fishing or The Tunny Catch, 1967 (at the approximate center of the canvas is a very small homage to MCEscher. Considering that the canvas's actual height is about 14 feet, the homage to Escher in this image is probably invisible.)
 
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