Classic Read

A little over a month ago, I made both a terrible and wonderful decision.  I picked up 'War and Peace'.  I got this book when I was in either high school or college.  I tried once to read it.  In fact, there was still a bookmark on where I left off.  I was a little over half way through when I gave up.  The copy that I have is 1444 pages long.  I started reading on 20 December and it is now 29 January.  So far, I am 323 pages in.  

A post shared by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Dec 20, 2017 at 8:15pm PST

I am a notoriously slow reader.  I feel like getting through fifteen to twenty pages a night is a wonderful progress.  There are spans in the book that read quickly others that are slow and extremely detailed in writing.  Tolstoy spends three pages describing a room with two people in it, but will only use up three paragraphs to describe an entire battle sequence.  It's weird.  The goal I have set for myself is to have the book read by 20 December 2018.  I am giving myself an entire calendar year to get through the book.  Should I have it finished by then?  Probably.  But you never know.  

Reboots

I fail to understand where the need to reboot or rehash old television shows.  I also feel this way about movies.  I mean, how many times are we going to see Spider Man redone?  You can only retell a story so many times before it just loses it's appeal.  I like to see expanding or continuing stories, but not for shows that have been off air for fifteen years.

Off the top of my head, here's a list of shows that at one time were off air but now are back on or coming back on:

• Hawaii Five-O
• SWAT
• Will & Grace
• Rosanne
• The X-Files
• Mad About You

Reboots are the new spin offs.  It use to be, and in some cases still is, that if a show is successful you would see a spin off show.  All the (terrible) CSI and NCIS spin off shows.  All the (redundant) Law & Order spin off shows.  It isn't anything new or exciting whether it is a spin off or a reboot show.  It's just a new way for creators to make more money.  Which, good for them, but it isn't exciting for the viewers.  Reboots have a sense of nostalgia for the viewers.  They bring back memories of how great shows were when we first watched them.  However, if you are a new viewer to a show, what do you do?  Do you go back and watch the old show first?  Do you need to know the characters and their intricacies or can you just jump right in? 

That is why seeing original content from streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime) is great right now.  Especially because they can have better content and aren't restricted by the censors of network television channels.  Television executives are handcuffed by censors which might be why they just keep re-upping these shows.  Don't get me wrong, I watch both streaming shows and television shows.  It's just that television shows don't have anything new.  No new subjects to cover.  No new styles of shows.  How many cop/fire/ambulance shows do we actually need?  How many hospital shows do we need?