Monday, May 27, 2019

Reader's Diary #2036- Chris Miller: The Night of the Seven Fires

I've never seen Animal House, though I know it has a reputation as a comedy classic. So when I came across Chris Miller's short story "The Night of the Seven Fires" that supposedly inspired the movie, I figured I'd at least give that a shot.

Yeah, makes me glad I never went to a fraternity. I'd like to think shit like this doesn't go on anymore, but that's probably misguided optimism. It involves a hazing and I'm led to believe it's all meant to be funny.

The unfortunate thing is, the story's actually well written. It's descriptive, has a strong voice, well paced, but the plot itself is rather pathetic.

I'm now more than a little skeptical that I'd enjoy the movie.


Sam Sattler said...

I saw the movie as a theatrical release, and although it wasn't my style of comedy I enjoyed John Belushi's performance enough have pleasant memories of the movie. Then a couple of years ago I tried to watch it again and couldn't stomach it at all, even Belushi's performance. It's really just low-brow comedy disguised as cutting edge in its day. I do hate when something like that happens, though, and I manage to ruin my good memories about a movie or a book.

John Mutford said...

Absolutely. Some things just don't age well. Comedy in particular has a particularly hard time doing so.