What does....
Have to do with...
?
As I wrote in an earlier post, I love it when things I happen to like cross pollinate in unexpected and interesting ways (see post for Sep. 18). Here's another one: I'm a "Battlestar Gallactica" fan (the new series, mind you) and I noticed that the title to this season's first episode was "Sometimes a Great Notion." This, of course, was the title of Ken Kesey's great 1964 novel (a masterpiece, in my opinion), in turn borrowed from a lyric in the folk song "Goodnight, Irene": "Sometimes I live in the country / sometimes I live in the town / sometimes I take a great notion / to jump into the river and drown." The speaker is contemplating suicide due to "complications" in a relationship (different versions of the song outline different sorts of complications), but in any event, the title of the BSG episode was a clear reference to Kesey and the song simultaneously--events in the episode correspond to both. And what's more, the co-writer and co-producer of the show, David Weddle, is a huge fan of Kesey's work.
How do I know?
Well, dear Dabbler readers, it may amuse you to know that I have a slight connection to Weddle. In the late 80's, when I was involved in the writing of "Caverns" (see my "You Should Know About List" to the right) with my classmates and Kesey, Weddle interviewed us and wrote a lengthy article for "Rolling Stone" about the project ("Ken Kesey's Eclectic Writing Acid Test" Oct. 5, 1989). Later, Weddle became an acquaintance and friend of other of my Eugene pals, and thus, though I hadn't met him except to speak with him over the phone, we knew each other and I kept tabs on his publications and TV projects. I did finally meet him at the occasion of Ken Kesey's memorial service in 2001, and had a pleasant chat with him over lunch at a cafe around the corner from the theatre where the service was held. But enough of my name dropping; here's the real deal: follow this link to a Chicago Tribune article where Weddle discusses, at some length, the influence of Kesey on BSG (when you get there, scroll down--there's lots of info and Weddle is featured about a third of the way down):
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/01/final-fifth-cylon-ellen-tigh-battlestar-galactica-dualla-dee-.html
But here's the crucial matter, plum-plucked for your convenience:
"The day the staff finished putting the cards up on the board with Ron, and the day before we began writing, I flashed on my favorite American novel, Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey. It is a much underappreciated and towering work. Anyone interested in fine literature and great story telling should read Kesey’s masterpiece.
"The book opens with a childish rhyme that enunciates the theme of the book and what to me was the theme of our show. “Sometimes I live in the country. Sometimes I live in the town. Sometimes I get a great notion. To jump in the river and drown.”
"In Kesey’s book, the hero --Hank Stamper, an Oregon logger -- does constant battle with the river that runs past his home, a river that has claimed the lives of pets and loved ones and comes to symbolize the vast and indifferent power of the universe that both gives life and cruelly snatches it away again. In his notes to himself as he was writing the book, Kesey scribbled something that has become one of the shorthand phrases Brad and I use while writing scripts. Kesey wrote: “Try to make Hank quit.” By that he meant: take this strong, heroic character and pile one misfortune on his back after another until he finally falls. What happens in that moment? Does he despair? Does he get up and go on? For me, there is no more defining moment for a character."
What's particularly fun for me about this quote is that Weddle describes essentially what Kesey always told us, his students, about character: task them and watch them come alive.
How do I know?
Well, dear Dabbler readers, it may amuse you to know that I have a slight connection to Weddle. In the late 80's, when I was involved in the writing of "Caverns" (see my "You Should Know About List" to the right) with my classmates and Kesey, Weddle interviewed us and wrote a lengthy article for "Rolling Stone" about the project ("Ken Kesey's Eclectic Writing Acid Test" Oct. 5, 1989). Later, Weddle became an acquaintance and friend of other of my Eugene pals, and thus, though I hadn't met him except to speak with him over the phone, we knew each other and I kept tabs on his publications and TV projects. I did finally meet him at the occasion of Ken Kesey's memorial service in 2001, and had a pleasant chat with him over lunch at a cafe around the corner from the theatre where the service was held. But enough of my name dropping; here's the real deal: follow this link to a Chicago Tribune article where Weddle discusses, at some length, the influence of Kesey on BSG (when you get there, scroll down--there's lots of info and Weddle is featured about a third of the way down):
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/01/final-fifth-cylon-ellen-tigh-battlestar-galactica-dualla-dee-.html
But here's the crucial matter, plum-plucked for your convenience:
"The day the staff finished putting the cards up on the board with Ron, and the day before we began writing, I flashed on my favorite American novel, Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey. It is a much underappreciated and towering work. Anyone interested in fine literature and great story telling should read Kesey’s masterpiece.
"The book opens with a childish rhyme that enunciates the theme of the book and what to me was the theme of our show. “Sometimes I live in the country. Sometimes I live in the town. Sometimes I get a great notion. To jump in the river and drown.”
"In Kesey’s book, the hero --Hank Stamper, an Oregon logger -- does constant battle with the river that runs past his home, a river that has claimed the lives of pets and loved ones and comes to symbolize the vast and indifferent power of the universe that both gives life and cruelly snatches it away again. In his notes to himself as he was writing the book, Kesey scribbled something that has become one of the shorthand phrases Brad and I use while writing scripts. Kesey wrote: “Try to make Hank quit.” By that he meant: take this strong, heroic character and pile one misfortune on his back after another until he finally falls. What happens in that moment? Does he despair? Does he get up and go on? For me, there is no more defining moment for a character."
What's particularly fun for me about this quote is that Weddle describes essentially what Kesey always told us, his students, about character: task them and watch them come alive.
Ciao,
C.D.
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