NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Thursday, July 17, 2008

WHEN WILL JESUS BRING THE PORK CHOPS

by George Carlin



I was sad when I heard about the passing of George Carlin on June 22, 2008. He was one of the first comedians I remember listening to. My dad had a few of his albums when I was a kid (Yes. Albums. Not CDs.), and I would sneak and listen to Class Clown repeatedly, gleefully trying to memorize the "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television". I'm happy to say I can still recite all seven of them on demand. I'm not sure what that says about me. :-)

Anyway, I saw George Carlin live at a dinner theater probably close to 20 years ago, and already the comedy was changing. He was always offensive, but hysterically funny. At least to my twisted point of view he was. But when I saw him then, he was still funny, but the "offensive" was starting to be mixed with a whole lot of anger. When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? was published in 2004 and is loaded with anger and offense. That's not to say it's not funny. But the truly funny moments are fewer than the ones that make you look around to see if anyone knows what you're reading. And that's not to say that I don't agree with some of what he was angry about. He has some good reasons. You can't live in this world today and not have a few things to be angry about. But I miss the hysterically funny. And I'll miss George Carlin. RIP.



4 comments:

Andi said...

I've always been curious about this one. Honest review! I'll probably give it a go.

Lezlie said...

Andi ~ George was what he was. You understand where he's coming from, but it gets a bit uncomfortable at times. I'll be curious to see what you think of it. I still have a place in my heart for him no matter how many times he made me cringe. :-)

L.

Teddy Rose said...

I also grew up with George Carlin. I had all older brothers and sisters who loved him and introduced me to his "stuff." I loved his older stuff, but he became even more cinical over time, which I didn't care for. None-the-less, he will be missed!

Lezlie said...

Teddy Rose ~ *That's* the word I was looking for! Cynical! The only word I could think of at the time was "angry". I agree with you completely.