Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

thenation.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–19 of 19 posts

Re: Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

#11

Post by rdtsc »

aerhardt wrote: post #2

The article is hard to read, paywall notwithstanding, and tells us very little about Herzog's book other than that the critic didn't like it. I really appreciate Herzog as an artist. I think Grizzly Man is a unique piece of art, and Herzog's commentary is an integral part of it - original, and very worth listening to. Tonight I was planning to watch either Fitzcarraldo or Aguirre after having listened to Herzog on th…

> But after hearing about the book there, I was really put off by some of the things he said and concluded that the book would be a hard pass for me.

What are some of those things? I am not trying to be snarky, I like Herzog and I am curious.

One thing to keep in mind is he views documentaries are fiction almost. They are not supposed to be taken in as pure information or facts. Treat it like you’d treat any movie.

You said you liked Grizzly Man. Well there you can tell the reason he put in the coroner in there and he told him to “act” and the extra long pauses after the scenes are there to add awkwardness. It should be obvious what is going on.

Re: Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

#12

Post by Barrin92 »

copperx wrote: post #5
aerhardt wrote: post #2

The article is hard to read, paywall notwithstanding, and tells us very little about Herzog's book other than that the critic didn't like it. I really appreciate Herzog as an artist. I think Grizzly Man is a unique piece of art, and Herzog's commentary is an integral part of it - original, and very worth listening to. Tonight I was planning to watch either Fitzcarraldo or Aguirre after having listened to Herzog on th…

Which things put you off? He has some extreme takes on things, many of which I don't agree with, but I love that humans like him exist. He's one of the rare humans who has truly "sucked out all the marrow of life".

>He's one of the rare humans who has truly "sucked out all the marrow of life".

I think the biggest problem with him is that he styles himself as exactly that, but as the article points out he's a self-mythologizer who frequently makes stuff up. He's pretentious in the literal sense of that term, he's constantly exaggerated his own life, has even said that's the case and that doesn't seem as profound or counter-cultural to me as he thinks it is, given that we're mostly surrounded by exactly these kind of types now.

Re: Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

#14

Post by kaivi »

iancmceachern wrote: post #6
dewey wrote: post #4

If you are thinking about reading that book, consider the audio book that's read by Werner Herzog himself. I really enjoyed that one, not necessarily because I agree with everything but because I enjoy listening to his voice.

Thank you, it's not on audible, where did you buy it?

I bought mine on audible.co.uk

Re: Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

#16

Post by rdtsc »

Barrin92 wrote: post #12
copperx wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which things put you off? He has some extreme takes on things, many of which I don't agree with, but I love that humans like him exist. He's one of the rare humans who has truly "sucked out all the marrow of life".

>He's one of the rare humans who has truly "sucked out all the marrow of life". I think the biggest problem with him is that he styles himself as exactly that, but as the article points out he's a self-mythologizer who frequently makes stuff up. He's pretentious in the literal sense of that term, he's constantly exaggerated his own life, has even said that's the case and that doesn't seem as profound or counter-cultu…

I take it as part of his act on film and in reality. He does it with a straight face and people are happily buying it and love him for it. Heck, I like him, too!

One can still enjoy the stories and not everything is scripted but that’s the fun puzzle to kind of figure out how much is staged and made up.

Re: Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

#17

Post by rand846633 »

dewey wrote: post #4

If you are thinking about reading that book, consider the audio book that's read by Werner Herzog himself. I really enjoyed that one, not necessarily because I agree with everything but because I enjoy listening to his voice.

The infohash is: 41f99118ec828f6de3d1536515fe01499ac62711

Re: Werner Herzog Between Fact and Fiction

#18

Post by hermitcrab »

dewey wrote: post #4

If you are thinking about reading that book, consider the audio book that's read by Werner Herzog himself. I really enjoyed that one, not necessarily because I agree with everything but because I enjoy listening to his voice.

He does have a great voice.
Post reply on HN