A Single Man and The Valley of The Dolls

A Single Man, an Interview with Colin Firth

Within a day of each other, I finished reading Jacqueline Susann's The Valley of the Dolls and saw Tom Ford's film rendition of Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man with a friend. I'm fascinated by 1960's America and by the way these two character stories were told. There is a strange parallel between that time and our current. The way people acted and lived was very different back then and yet somehow strangely similar to today...and the distant thoughts, the inner conflict of the characters in these two stories resonated with me, felt somewhat familiar. The juiciness of the tales, the subtlety of the characters' pain, the longing, all these felt familiar. But I guess that parallel can be made with many other time periods and today. And I guess these attributes are those to be coveted for good story telling. Susann's novel was maybe not as cohesive or full as one may hope for, but it sure was a page turner. I read someone called it their guilty pleasure. I found it to be just that for me with it being my many a late night companion. And Tom Ford's film had very distinctly beautiful moments, and visual gems so epitomizing of the impeccable taste of the talented, classic fashion designer. Parts quietly screamed fashion. I loved that about it. The subtlety conveyed in Colin Firth's performance was very real and heartbreaking and quite relative. The subtlety in general in certain parts was very beautiful.

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