Book - Our Game by John le Carré

Our Game by John le Carré (1995) - When it comes to spy novels there is John le Carré and Ian Fleming and then everyone else.  The two at the top of my list take a very different approach to the subject.  In fact they take diametrically opposed approaches.  For the serious spy novel no one touchs le Carré.  Especially when it comes to the career Intelligence officers for Her Majesty's government he has set the tone that everyone else must follow.

You may notice in this review that I'm a little bit of a fan.

What makes his books great are his characters.  Characters that live their lives inside their own heads.  Always gathering information, always analyzing, always questioning.  Questioning the data, the analysis and themselves.  They are as far from James Bond as they can be these cerebral, wounded, gray men.  In "Our Game" we live inside the head of Timothy Cranmer (good Anglican name but I digress), recently retired agent runner for "The Office" one of England's secret services.  But a quiet retirement with an inherited vineyard and a beautiful young mistress isn't in the cards for Cranmer.  The double agent that he ran forces his way back into Tim's life by suddenly disappearing.  What begins as a routine police investigation eventually sends Cranmer fleeing the police and his former employers accused of helping to steal millions of dollars from the Russian Government.  His shared history, dating back to their days in school, with his former agent has made him a suspect in the theft along with the mistress.  The story will carry him deep into the bowels of underground resistance to the Russian authorities and the civil unrest in the former Soviet republics in the Caucasus mountains.

This is really classic story telling from le Carré.  Cranmer fights his own memories and demons as he carefully assembles the clues he needs.  Then the action takes off at a gallop as he tries to figure out who is involved and who is likely to kill him as soon as answer questions.  Happy endings are not really the stock in trade for the great spy writer but satisfying endings are.  Cranmer will face the final question and make a profound decision about who he is meant to be.  The reader can only hang on for the ride.  In the end my thought was "What else could he have done?"

If you want a feel for the reality of intelligence work of a certain time and place you won't want to miss this one.
Rating - **** Recommended Read

3 Movies and 7 books

The King's Speech  - (2010) Quite simply this is the best movie I've seen in a very long time.  Fabulous script, incredible acting, wonderful story.  THIS is what movies are supposed to be about.  This is the story of a man who was never supposed to be king and never wanted to be king.  Albert was raised in a fairly nasty family that took great pleasure in mocking his speech impediment, a stutter.  When his older brother David (King Edward VIII) abdicates his throne for the love of an American divorcee who is loathed by his family and advisors Albert becomes the king.  He knows he must conquer the stutter and ends up in the hands of a decidedly unorthodox and irreverent speech therapist.  It's funny and poignant.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this movie.  The swearing scene (you'll know it when you see it) is one of the funniest things I've seen in years.  Yes, it is FILLED with obscenities (to be perfectly honest there's basically not any clean language in the entire section) but it pushes past the whole "dirty words" issue and becomes fall down on the floor laughing funny.  I know a little bit about the history of the story and got a couple new insights into it all.  There haven't been many (any?) sympathetic looks at Wallis Simpson but this may be the most unsympathetic of them all.  Colin Firth is great as Bertie, Geoffrey Rush is amazing as the Logue the therapist, Helena Bonham Carter plays Bertie's wife Elizabeth (one of three Harry Potter alums in the movie along with Michael Gambon as King George V and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill).  A definite front runner for Best Movie I think.  Go see this movie!

DreamGirls (2006)  I expected to like this movie but not as much as I did.  Based loosely on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes it is a story of the Black music industry of the '60s and '70s.  The cast is stellar with Beyonce Knowles (who needs anyone else after that?), Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, and Jennifer Hudson in the role that launched her.  The music is incredible, the story is engaging, the acting is outstanding.  The movie was a Broadway musical hit first and some of the numbers remain very Broadway stagy but that's pretty much the worst thing I can say about it.  The rest of the movie is wonderful.  Enjoyed it a lot!


The Men Who Stare at Goats  (2009)  In looking at some of the reaction to this movie I see a lot of folks trying to draw a connection to "The Big Lebowski" which also starred Jeff Bridges as a counterculture shaman.  There really is NO connection at all.  Based VERY loosely on some real life experiments done by our military back in the '60s and '70s it tells the story of an Army unit that worked on psychic powers as for intelligence purposes.  Now straight up that might be moderately interesting.  You could certainly play it for laughs too and that might be moderately interesting.  Instead it's presented as satire, played without so much as a wink at the audience.  These guys BELIEVE in what they're doing despite the obvious absurdity and repeated failures.  Great cast - George Clooney, Bridges, Ewen McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Root,  and Robert Patrick lead the way through a story that is madness itself to everyone except those in the middle of it.  This is a funny movie in its own slightly warped manner.  It may contain the only funny IED moment in movie history.  In the end I'm not sure the story "goes" anywhere so the ending left me feeling a little unsatisfied.  But at just over 90 minutes long it's a quick, funny journey into the madness of male bonding, war and the institutional military.  Well worth your time.


The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - A Hugo AND Nebula award winner this is just one of many award winners for the author.  And somehow I had never heard of her prior to reading her book "Black Out" (which I reviewed earlier).  The story involves the same general group as that other book, a group of historians in the very near future (2048) who travel back through time to do their research.  In this one a graduate student gets caught in the Middle Ages at the time the Plague arrives in England.  I've enjoyed both books with one small complaint.  Her characters tend to dither a bit when things go wrong.  But then these are historians who clearly start from the position that they've got the process under control.  When confronted with the truth that things go badly rather quickly they react like academics rather than story book heroes.  So they're realistic.  I just want to slap them sometimes.  Willis has won 10 Hugos and 6 Nebulas and has been inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame so she's the real deal.  Enjoyed the book a great deal and I'm looking forward to reading more.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (a Poirot mystery) and  The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie  Haven't read a lot of the Grand Dame of mystery but enjoyed both of these.  Secret Adversary introduces two minor characters for Christie, Tommy and Tuppence, who appear in a couple more books.  The Mysterious Affair at Styles of course is one of her great characters the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.  Both very English in tone and both a lot of fun.

Death at the Excelsior (And Other Stories) by P.G. Wodehouse  Don't think I've ever read any of Wodehouse before although I think I listened to an audiobook of one of the Bertie Wooster and Jeeves books a couple years ago.  This is a collection of short stories by the English humor author that include some mystery stories along with other lighter stuff.  Lots of fun and a quick read.

Soul Identity  and Soul Intent by Dennis Batchelder    One of the very first current books I got for my NookColor was Soul Identity.  It was free and looked interesting.  It was all of that and more.  The story revolves around the idea that "soul identities" pass down through the human race.  Not reincarnation but a shared soul that is separate from our personality.  It is charted by the lines in the iris of the eye.  Soul Identity is also the organization that is the caretaker for items passed along from one bearer of an individual soul identity to the next.  No matter how long it takes for that soul to be identified.  Put this in the same category with Dan Brown's stuff but without the dubious history and bad theology.  Batchelder apparently couldn't find an agent to touch his novel so he self published.  I'm astounded they all passed but it's quite good.  The second novel in the series isn't quite as good because it's much less about the concept of soul identities and more about a hunt for Nazi gold.  Still good though.  I recommend them both.

Septimus Heap, Book One : Magyk by Angie Sage  Also one of the first current books for the NookColor.  This is the first of 5 novels in a series about a young magician.  Very much a Harry Potter kind of read but in a completely different world.  Like Harry Potter they read very well for both young and adult readers I'd think.  The writing is very readable and the story perks right along.  Septimus is the seventh son of a seventh son but gets lost by his family.  His adventures end up with lots of people in places they never expected to be.   I really enjoyed this one too and will be looking for the following novels as well.  Word is that the movie rights have been purchased and I would expect that once the Harry Potter series is done with we will see these hit the screen.  I'd think they'd do well.

 That's enough for now.

View From the Phlipside - Nook Color

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.
Two weeks ago I took the plunge into a new realm of media.  One that I wasn't sure I was ever going to be ready for or want to make a part of my life.  But I pulled together some Christmas money and few extra bucks and decided to jump in.  I bought an e-book reader.

I love books.  I love the feel of them, I love exploring the stacks at the library searching for an author I've never read before.  There's a wonderful tactile experience that goes along with the experience of the reading itself.  When I first saw the e-readers I couldn't imagine that they could ever offer the same experience.

On the other hand like my father before me I love gadgets.  Technology is just fun as far as I'm concerned.  I enjoy the challenge of learning to use new technology and finding ways to use it in my life.

The two loves collided in my new Nook Color.  The first thing you need to deal with when you move into this new world is the borderline fanaticism engendered by the various models.  At the top of the heap is the Kindle from Amazon.  The Nook is from Barnes and Noble.  The Borders chains, including Walden books, have their own the Kobo, then there's the Sony versions as well.  Prices start below $100 and go beyond $300.  Each have their fans and it can be as parochial as the old days of PC vs Mac.

I did a lot of research and decided on the Nook Color because it offered more options as far as magazine and newspaper reading.  The biggest factor was that it works very well with e-books from our local library.  The Kindle falls down in that area quite badly.  And yes our local library, the Prendergast Library, does indeed offer a growing collection of electronic books.  I'm telling you, we have a REALLY GOOD local library.

So how's it going?  I must admit mostly quite well.  The experience of reading hasn't been effected at all.  I added a leather cover to the Nook and now it rather looks and feels like a real book.  The range of books available for free is pretty impressive and I've checked out several books from the library as well.  The process you have to through to get your library book onto your e-reader is a few more steps than I wish but it's not hard.  And that's not the libraries problem but the system required by the publishers.  I'm still just feeling my way along.  I'll check back in a couple months and let you know how it's going.

Still lots of reading to do, both virtually and in real life.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010

View From the Phlipside - Mark Twain

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

My first reaction to the current Mark Twain controversy was as a book lover and writer.  And that was outrage.  Twain is the first great American novelist, one who wrote from a truly American point of view and with an American voice.  You simply don't mess with the works of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, which was Twain's real name.

The controversy is about a new combined publishing of the books "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer".  To avoid controversy the editor has replaced racially sensitive language like the "N" word with the word "slave".

I hate the N word.  I don't use it and I dislike hearing other people use it.  So part of me agrees that the world might be a better place without the 200 some usages in the books.  But then the writer rears his head again.  Twain chose THAT word and any writer can tell the importance of using the right word in the right place.

And so I looped round and round and round.  Here are the conclusions I've come to:

The publisher is doing this NOT out of any great sense of justice.  They're doing it because they'll be able to sell more books this way.  No judgment there I just want to make sure we're clear on motive.

The real problem here is NOT the word.  The word is a problem, don't get me wrong. But the real problem is that taking on this word, or any other like it, in this fashion is a complete failure in education.  What needs to be done is for teachers to take the time to teach this book in context.  The social context of the time, the background on Twain and his beliefs.  Sadly teachers have less and less time to do this kind of quality, in-depth teaching.  Because they have to "teach to the test" in depth teaching is often the first thing that goes over the side.  To place a 21st century voice in a 19th century mouth is wrong.  To try and paper over the the deep psychic wound of the American soul that is racism and slavery should be anathema to any educator or educated person.  As parents we should demand that our children be taught beyond platitudes and rote formulae.  The ability to understand and analyze complex situations that are outside our common experience should be at the center of our teaching of literature.

Our children, our nation and our future deserve and require that Mark Twain be allowed to be Mark Twain.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010

Books - 3 Mysteries

I've been on a bit of a mystery roll right now.  This forms an interesting trio of books.  Three mysteries, two about kidnapping, all about mind games, one a private eye story, one a police procedural, and one something a little different..  Two are very good and one, well...

The Danger - Dick Francis - I read my first Dick Francis this past summer and really enjoyed it.  The joy continued with this one.  Francis tells the story of a man who specializes in dealing with high end kidnapping.  As always with Francis it takes place around the horse racing track.  What really got me was the glimpse inside the process of a kidnapping.  Most of the basics were obvious or already known to me.  But it's the approach to the victim that fascinated me.  The lingering pain and shame that can cling to the kidnapped after they've been returned home.  The story was compelling and sucked me right in.  The writing is excellent with an easy, seemingly casual tempo to the action that in fact belies a tightly written story.

U is for Undertow - Sue Grafton - I didn't realize that I'd read quite this many Kinsey Milhone stories, lol!  The California female private eye lives her life her own way and likes it that way.  An old kidnapping case lands her lap and Kinsey can't quite get herself to let go.  In the meantime the prickly subject of family is forced on her one more time.  This time things have to change.  If you're a Milhone/Grafton fan you won't want to miss this one.  Sue Grafton has a really firm grip on the character and the world she lives in and you'll appreciate that mastery.  It's a good story told well.  But if we're at U does that mean there are only four more stories left for Kinsey?  That would be very sad.

Coyote's Wife - Aimee and David Thurlo - With the death of Tony Hillerman two years ago I thought I'd had my last chance for a mystery novel set in the Navajo reservation.  When I spotted these novels on the shelf I was excited.  The Thurlo's have written a whole series featuring Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah.  It was a  funny feeling like I was re-visiting my old stomping grounds as Clah journeys through the same area as Jim Chee had done before.  The story focuses on the clash between traditional and modern Navajo culture as a new cell phone service is proposed for the Rez.  One man gets the "gaslight" treatment and Clah has to figure out who is behind it all.  The story is quite interesting but the writing kept getting in the way.  At times the Thurlos do a nice job but periodically it descends into the kind of writing that got sent back to me in my high school writing classes with the words "Try again".  The phrasing is awkward and overly formal.  The sentence structure is cumbersome.  To be honest even with a great character and good stories I'm amazed that the writing is till this stilted 13 books into the series.  I will probably try another simply because I like the characters but the writing may be a real stumbling block.  Too bad.

Working on another Dick Francis right now while I await the next BIG THING, my new Nook Color WiFi.

Movies and Books

The list of stuff I've read and seen is getting a little long so I'd better get caught up quickly here:

Books:

The Marching Season, The Mark of the Assassin and Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva  Been a little bit of a binge with this author.  He writes very nice thrillers in the same genre as say Jack Higgins or Tom Clancy.  Silva falls somewhere between those two.  Assassin and Marching Season are part of an ongoing story line with a common hero - Michael Osborne.  They deal with a secret society of intelligence chiefs and international corporate types who have decided that business is better when the world is less peaceful.  They proceed to do everything they can to keep it that way.  I enjoyed them both even while Marching Season has one of the worst sentences I've come across in a major novel.  Osborne is in his bedroom talking with his wife when he "took off his clothes, made a sandwich and got into bed".  I've never actually considered moving the kitchen the bedroom but I suppose it might work.  Somebody should have caught that.

Prince of Fire is from Silva's longer series of books revolving around art restorer and Israeli spy Gabriel Allon.  Allon works undercover but discovers that somehow a dossier revealling everything about him has gotten into the other side's hands.  Along the way he will have to confront a few ghosts from his past.

I enjoy Silva's writing and will work my way through it all.

Lost Horizons - James Hilton  I read this book because of a movie.  Not curiously the movie version of the book but because of "Hearts in Atlantis" which I reviewed earlier.  I'm trying to get some older works in my reading list on a regular basis and this seemed like an interesting one.  Interesting it was!  This is the story of
 a small group of people who find themselves being taken high into the Himalayas against their will.  There they discover Shangri-La, a utopian lamasery where people for very long times.  Other secrets are revealed and choices have to be made.  The book sucked me right in.

The Library - and Illustrated History by Stuart Murray -   I love libraries.  They are one of my favorite places on earth.  So I was all set to love this book.  Beautiful pictures on great heavy paper, just wonderful.  And a disappointment.  The authors take the least interesting approach to the growth of the library (a linear one), spend time talking about some of the folks who created libraries (without every really getting into their stories), ignores several fascinating themes (the idea of a public library, the idea of a lending library, the entire question of organizing a library - Dewey Decimal System gets about two short paragraphs) and then relegates the actual libraries to brief summaries at the very end of the book.  Very disappointing.

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre -  I enjoy Le Carre's stuff, he is the master of the Cold War era spy novel.  So I was interested to see how he was dealing with the post Cold War era.  With this one he moves into the realm of international crime and money laundering.  After a dreadfully slow start (the first 30 pages seemed rather disjointed to me) the book took off.  Enjoyed it.

Into the Darkness by Harry Turtledove - Turtledove is probably THE name in what's "alternative history", effectively taking a "what if" approach to actual history.  I've read several of his and enjoyed them, especially "Ruled Britannia" which looks at England if the Spanish Armada had succeeded in conquering.  So I thought I'd give a shot at this.  The cover doesn't indicate that it's the first of a SIX novel series which irritates me.  But not as much as the poor writing in this book.  In this case he has re-imagined the second World War by moving it to a new planet.  Many things aren't explained along the way, the character list is something like 7 pages long and nothing is resolved at the end of the novel.  I read it, I won't read the rest.  Disappointing.

The Axeman's Jazz by Julie Smith - I've never read anything of Smith's before but I enjoyed this.  It features a recurring character, female police officer Skip Langdon and takes place in New Orleans.  I like jazz, love New Orleans and am a Smith on my mother's side so when I found this while wandering the stacks at the local library I pretty much had to read it.  Smith calls on an old unsolved murder spree from the Big Easy back in 1918-19 then brings it forward to the present.  Nicely written and very enjoyable.

Movies -
Voyage of the Dawn Treader  - (2010) The latest in the Chronicles of Narnia series to come to the screen and once again they've done a nice job with it.  The young actors all do a very nice job and they stay quite close (not close enough for some I know) to the original materials.  Enjoyed it as well.

Bob Roberts (1992) Stars Tim Robbins and dozens of other names you'll recognize.  This is a mockumentary about a folk singing conservative political candidate who runs for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania.  The feel is very good and the politics will look (sadly) very familiar.  As will the cast.  I spent a lot of time going "Who is that?"  and spotting a very young Jack Black(his first movie) among many others (Pamela Reed, Helen Hunt, David Straithan, Susan Sarandon, James Spader, John Cusak, Lynn Thigpen, the list goes on) If you're into politics you'll love this. If our current political model turns your stomach you might want to take a pass.

Unstoppable  - (2010) stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.  Based on a true story of a runaway train this is a great, edge of your seat thriller.  The two stars create believable characters that you'll enjoy as well.  The story is set in south central and south western Pennsylvania (even though most of it was filmed in Ohio!  Heresy) and it made me feel profoundly home sick.  This will certainly not be one of the big money makers of the year it is certainly worth your time.

National Banned Books Week

The last week in September is the usual time to celebrate banned books. Yes, celebrate them. I do not support banning books. Any books. Having said that I suddenly realize the problem I always have with absolute statements. A book lauding raoe or children's pornography may need to be suppressed. But such books are rare and the books most commonly banned have nothing like that involved. That isn't to deny that some books are problematic or may not be appropriate for readers of certain ages. But in a free society banning books is just a bad move.

So my celebration will be to note those books commonly banned which I have read. I am proud to present the list below:

Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter series
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all time favorite books)
The Lord of the Flies
1984
Of Mice and Men
Catch-22
Brave New World
Animal Farm
Slaughterhouse Five
Call of the Wild
Lord of the Rings trilogy
In Cold Blood
Cat's Cradle
A Separate Peace
Rabbit Run (actually disliked this book quite a bit)
His Dark Materials trilogy
Fahrenheit 451
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Wrinkle in Time (loved these books)


It strikes me that this list is way too short. In the next year I will try to read several more commonly banned books.

Peace

What I did On my Summer Vacation - Books

I've got to get this series done before snow falls!

I did a LOT of reading this summer.  It was actually kind of nice even though a lot of what I read didn't overwhelm me.  The majority of my reading was actually books that I picked up at the annual book sale at my local library.  For example:

I read two Andrew Greeley books - Virgin and Martyr, and The Final Planet.  The two books share one thing beyond their author.  They both move into areas that were new for me in reading Greeley.  I am a HUGE fan of his Bishop Blackie books.  Those are fun mystery novels that center on the short unobtrusive assistant bishop from the Archdiocese of Chicago.  The two books this summer were very different.  Virgin and Martyr Iin which John Blackwood Ryan makes his first appearance in a Greeley novel) was much more serious and delved very strongly into politics, especially church politics.  It was pretty well written and I was engrossed the whole way through.  On the other hand The Final Planet is a foray into science fiction for Father Greeley.  I know it sold very well and some folks like it a lot.  As a story it's much closer to the feel of the Bishop Blackie novels.  As a science fiction novel it's incredibly amateurish.  Liked the characters but the story is just rather juvenile and simplistic.  I doubt I'd read any other sci-fi books (like The God Game).

I would lump three other books together even though they're written by different authors.  Midnight Runner by Jack Higgins, The Secret of Excalibur by Andy McDermott, and Total Control by David Balducci.  The best of the lot is probably the Baldacci book.  It's a pretty standard thriller similar to other Baldacci books I've read.  Right behind it is the Higgins book.  Really if you've read one Jack Higgins book you've read them all.  But they're comfortable, the action blasts along and they're fun.  Last and really rather least is the book by Andy McDermott.  He does a pretty good job keeping the story moving but the plot and story have so many holes in it I spent a lot of time just shaking my head.  I'm truly amazed at the kind of critical raves that these books have gotten.  All three kept me involved to the end but I wouldn't ever consider reading them again.  On the other hand I WOULD certainly read all three of the authors again.

Same goes for Harry Harrison's "The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus".  I read a lot of this series back in high school.  They are parodies of the secret agent genre like James Bond.  They were fun and Harrison likes playing with words which I enjoy.  I don't know if this is just the lowest rung of the series or I've just outgrown them but this was pretty lame.


So did I read anything good this summer?  Oh yes.

After watching the movie Casino Royale I went back and read the original.  And was surprised at the quality of the writing.  I've read all the Ian Fleming Bond stories and most of the ones written after Fleming's death.  The stories are told concisely and move quickly along with just the right amount of twists and surprises.  I've gone on to read several more including Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No.  While dated in many ways including Bond's attitude towards the women in his life (which is not as simplistic as some critics would have you think) the stories are still very good reads.

I checked out a V.I. Warshawsky book by Sara Paretsky called "Hard Time".  I've read at least one other of this series and liked it.  But like that previous book I came away from it feeling like it was a good read but not blown away.  If another one wanders across my path I'll read it but I don't think I'll go looking for one.  Can't tell you why.

Read my first ever Dick Francis story, "Reflex".  I've known about Francis (who passed away earlier this year) for years but just never got around to reading him.  Don't know why, I love mysteries and he's been extremely successful for years.  So I jumped right into this one and really enjoyed it.  The book takes place at the horse racing track where Francis has a great feel.  I'm looking forward to trying another.

Now the best book I read this summer.  Curiously the first 100 pages or so (maybe more than that) of the book I didn't much like it at all.  Again Amy Tan is an author that I knew of but had never read.  So "The Kitchen God's Wife" was a totally new adventure for me.  Once the story shifted away from the American story line to China this book just took off for me.  I've spoken to a couple people who had the exact same reaction.  Really enjoyed it and I will certainly take a look at reading more of her stuff.

So it was a fun summer of reading.  I'm looking forward to trying new stuff in the fall.

Movie and a Book

I've been reading at a tremendous rate recently. Not sure what's up with that but I never complain about having time to read. Plus caught a classic film I'd never seen before.

The Dig by Alan Dean Foster(1995) - I've read Foster before (most especially his books involving Flinx and Pip) and always enjoyed him. So I assumed this would be more of the same when I picked it up at my local library's annual book sale. What I didn't know till I'd finished it was that the book is actually based on a video game. Foster does a lot of novelizations of TV shows, movies and the like. This one didn't really do much for me. The video game roots of the book didn't serve it especially well.  My first impression was "These characters sure have dumb names" (Boston Low? Seriously?) I'll give it this, the book starts off pretty well. This is a First Contact story but the most obvious conclusions are ignored over and over by the characters (a meteor suddenly appears in the solar system basically just outside the Moon's orbit. Then it suddenly decelerates and goes into low earth orbit. Somehow it doesn't occur to ANYONE that maybe, just maybe this thing is acting like an artificial artifact NOT a natural one? It stays consistent from there.  Whatever they should do they almost certainly DON'T do) setting up the conflict in the story by simply being stupid. Despite the fact that everyone in the story is supposedly quite bright. The ending is obvious by about half way through the book and the conclusion just seems to arrive very abruptly. Not a waste of time but certainly going right back into the give away pile.

Green for Danger (1946) - Not sure how this ended up in my Netflix queue but I'm glad it did.  Probably because it stars Alastair Sim.  Sim is a wonderful actor (my favorite Scrooge) and lived up to my expectations.  Never sure about movies of this vintage.  Many are brilliant and many are also really cliched and hackneyed.  This one is one of the better class.  A war time murder mystery in a small hospital in the English countryside.  Seems that one member of a 5 person surgical team killed the local postman.  Part of the mystery is why anyone would kill the old geezer.  The movie is pretty straight forward till Sim's Inspector Cockrill arrives.  Cockrill is very much the modern movie police detective - quick with a quip and with his own set of quirks.  The Inspector has a whimsical side and brings a whole new tone to the movie.  I will admit that the murderer was not obvious to me even though the clues were there (no surprise twists just good plotting).  The cast isn't particularly well known to me other than Sim and Trevor Howard.  The "creative team" of  Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder (between them they covered most of the writing, producing and directing duties) have more than 60 movies credits each to their resumes.  They had a long and productive career together.  I would bet that they're virtually unknown in the States but they shouldn't be.  I really enjoyed this movie.  A good story with a solid cast and only 91 minutes long.  What's not to like?

View From the Phlipside - Media Contracts

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, Radio, the Movies and more.  I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View From the Phlipside.

Ah the wonderful world of contracts.  It’s easy to forget sometimes that all this media we enjoy - communications, entertainment, video, audio, cell phone, internet, books and more would not exist as we know them if there weren’t contracts signed somewhere.  Every time you agree to a User’s agreement you are making a contract.  If I’m honest I will admit that I never even bother to read them.  For the average person clicking on an End User Licensing Agreement that usually not a big deal.  But contracts still ARE a big deal and two of them hit the news in the past month.

First we have the case of a local man, western New Yorker Paul Ceglia of Wellsville, claims to have a contract that would give him 84% ownership of Facebook.  That would probably be a pretty cool thing to possess.  There are questions surrounding this story, like why he waited 7 years to try and enforce the contract.  Did he not know that the whole Facebook thing had taken off?  I find a couple things curious.  First Facebook’s reaction is that the claim is ridiculous followed by the statement that the statute of limitations has run out at the six year mark.  If it’s really ridiculous why worry about the statute of limitations?  Makes me wonder, it does.  The other is how Ceglia can claim ownership of Facebook when his contract appears to pre-date the invention of the website by almost a year.

The other contract is one between William Paul Young, the author of the best selling Christian novel “The Shack”, his original partners at Windblown Media and the unfortunate mainstream publisher Hachette Book Group.  The original contract was one of those simple, just between friends in case this thing actually ever sells kind of a deal.  12 million copies later suddenly we’re talking real money and as per usual it’s making people crazy.  The only folks I feel sorry for in this are the publishers at Hachette Books.  All they want to do is pay someone the royalty money in peace.

Every attorney out there is shaking their head sadly at all this.  As much as we like to bash the lawyers they know that these problems could have been solved right from the git go.  Instead people pretend that contracts are no big deal.  84% of Facebook?  12 million copies sold?  I think I’ll start reading those agreements a little more closely from now on.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010

Resource Review - Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions

Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions - Engaging the Mystery of Friendship Between Men and Women by Dan Brennan (Faith Dance Publishing, 2010) I have to admit my first reaction when I saw the subject of this book is "Why is it even necessary?". At the same time I am aware that there is, in some parts of Christianity, immense tension on the subject of sex and the relationship between the genders. It always seems to me that the underlying assumption for this branch of the family is that human beings go through life balanced on a knife's edge of nearly uncontrollable lust. At the slightest provocation there will be ripping of bodices and sweaty entangled bodies scattered all over the floors. You may note that I find that school of thought rather ridiculous.

Dan Brennan does approach just those kinds of concerns (without my rather jaded point of view)with compassion and care. He walks the reader through a clear understanding of various points of view and the origins/basis of them. He also gives us a clear foundation based on Scripture of where he believes we should rest as a people of faith.

This is a book about marriage and friendships, it deals with the issues of sex calmly and reasonably, and he refuses to deal with the idea of a loving, non-sexual relationship as something dangerous or alien to Christian thinking. While it seems clear to me that it is aimed primarily at the concerns of certain parts of the evangelical branch of the faith family I think it provides a wonderful rationale for all Christian understanding of friendship between genders. The argument is that the church is less when we limit the interaction between all of God's children.
Also that the other approach to sex, friendship and gender is essentially one that traps everyone in an immature place of development.

Might make a great book for newlyweds or soon to be weds to consider as well as young people.

Reviews - Lion in Winter and The Sign

Just banging through things these days.

Can't remember if I've reviewed "The Lion in Winter" before.  The 1968 multi Oscar winning film is one of my favorite stage plays.  Great cast (Katherine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Anthony Hopkins {his first role}, Nigel Terry and Timothy Dalton), a fabulously quotable script, and some compelling if not particularly likable characters.  Everything you'd think you'd need for a great movie.  Yet as I watched it with the kid (her first time after years of listening to her parents rave about the show) I realized that the movie version lumbers a bit.  This is a play with very little "action".  It is dialogue driven and character driven.  Which on stage is fabulous.  But the movie drags.  And it's too bad because most of the performances are amazing.  Hepburn shared an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role with Barbara Streisand in "Funny Girl" and O'Toole was nominated but lost to Cliff Robertson in "Charly" for Best Actor.  Weird to see the wispy and weasly John played by Terry who I usually connect with King Arthur in "Excalibur", and Hopkins who plays more cerebral characters as the burly and not particularly bright Richard.

Bear with the slow pacing and savor the dialogue.

Raymond Khoury's "The Sign" is the second book by this author (I read "The Last Templar") and for what it is it's not bad.  It's conspiracy theory with religious overtones.  Characters are OK, plot was pretty good.  It's the second book in a row for me that has used genocide against the Islamic/Arab population of the world as a story device.  Distasteful is the nicest word I can think of  for the concept.  This book also spends a lot of time bashing not just religion (I have a certain sympathy for that) but faith in general.  Its basic assumption is that most people are stupid and would be better off if we just let our betters lead us in the right direction.  Which would include the previously mentioned plot device.  I'll give Khoury this he makes the folks pushing this agenda the bad guys at least.  But it seems pretty clear to me that he doesn't have much use for faith or religion given that he has no character who spends so much as an instant defending either.  His main religious characters are a stereotypical TV preacher (come on people, I'm not the televangelist's biggest fan either but to keep trotting out these cardboard charlatans is really getting old) and a do gooder RC monk who is rather ineffectual on his best days.

Looking for an interesting read that won't tax your intellect too much?  Great book for a long dreary weekend.

Review - Critical Mass by Whitley Strieber

This was another book I just grabbed because the blurb sounded interesting.  I knew the name Whitley Strieber but had never read anything by him.  Now I know I won't be reading anything else by him.

The story line is interesting enough.  What if terrorists could sneak the components for a nuclear weapon, a real one not just a "dirty bomb", into the U.S. and other western nations?  It's a very real concern for the real intelligence and security services of the world.  There is more unaccounted for weapons materials (plutonium and the like) floating around out there than anyone really wants to think about.  And there are people who would be more than willing to use it.

Sounds like a concept.  Sadly the author lets the concept down.

Stephen King introduced me to a concept (may be unique to King, I don't know) called author intrusion.  It's when the author uses language or structures that are designed primarily to show just how smart and talented they are.  In fact they show how insecure the author is more often than not.

Strieber is guilty of it all.  Peculiar sentence structures, grandiose language, bizarre character motivations.  I found virtually none of the characters particularly believable or sympathetic.  Characters do things for no obvious or seemingly rational reason and are generally cardboard cut outs.  It's really pretty bad.  He does keep the story moving along (well with the exception of the extremely long section where he described the deaths due to a nuclear explosion of what seemed like every single person on the Las Vegas Strip.  It was both tedious and a bit disgusting).  Periodically I would have to stop and go back over a sentence just to make sure it was a tortured as I'd thought.  I was usually right.

So interesting idea told in a good tempo but written badly.  It's too bad because the writing is just an anchor that drags the rest of it down.  Too many other authors out there to read.

A few reviews - Books and Movie

Read "The Lost Symbol", "The Art of the Heist" and "The English Assassin" plus watched the movie "Boondock Saints" all in the last couple weeks.  A few quick thoughts:

Since there's only one movie let's do "Boondock Saints" first.  My daughter is a big fan of this movie and has been urging me to watch it.  Turns out Dad's not as big a fan.  Let's see shall we call the movie "stylish"?  No, more like "stylized".  The movie follows two Irish brothers from Boston who decide that they are called by God to rid the city of its worst citizens.  And they're very specific about only offing the baddest of the bad.  There's actually an interesting idea in there about vigilantism and taking a stand against evil in the world.  It's "Death Wish" meets "The Blues Brothers" Sadly this movie is mostly about F bombs (this may be my personal champion for dropping the bomb.  It's certainly right up there) and the stylized violence that the brothers unleash.  At the same time the movie has a wicked sense of humor and two pretty gritty performances by the leads (Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus) plus a bizarre and well, bizarre performance by Willem DeFoe all of which gets wasted.  There's really no story here, you don't get to investigate the characters and the dialog is uneven. The brothers idea of theology is twisted and the call to vigilante justice, while having a long history in our nation, remains an exceptionally bad idea.  Sorry kiddo, not a great movie.

On the book front -

The English Assassin by Daniel Silva - The second in the Gabrial Allon series (I reviewed "The Confessor" previously) I enjoyed this.  It's more of the action adventure stuff following the Israeli assassin/art restorer.  This time he's suspected of murder (several actually, including at least one he did), fighting the Swiss banks and the memory of World War II and the Nazi looting of wealth and art from many people including many wealthy Jews.  Silva's is a good read and a fun story teller.  His books perk right along with the action and just enough interesting art and history to pull it all together.  I know there's about ten more books in this series so I'll probably be working my way through them slowly.

The Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Art Thief, Rock and Roller and Prodigal Son by Miles J Connor Jr and Jenny Siler.  Here's the story of a career art thief from New England who was very, very good at what he did.  From small country art museums up to the biggest (does he actually reveal a clue about the Gardner robbery?  The Gardner is one of the biggest unsolved robberies of all time) Miles Connor has taken a run at them.  By his own account he amassed a very large and valuable personal collection of art and swords.  The one thing you WON'T find in this is any sense of remorse.  This is what he did.  He's sorry he hurt a couple people (emotionally, Connor used as little violence as possible) but that's about it.  It's a very matter of fact, walk on the beach kind of account.  He's obviously very bright and a wonderful story teller.  It was an interesting read.

And last but not least "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown - The latest Robert Langdon novel takes on the arcana of the Masons.  If you're a Mason you should love this book.  It all but falls over itself in its fawning admiration for the group (which has gotten an bad rep that it doesn't deserve).  Brown knows how to tell a story and it rips right along.  It sucked me in and I devoured the book in just a couple days.  Great fun just like the two previous.  On the other hand Brown's writing can leave a lot to be desired.  It can be awkward, his imagery can be awful, he apparently managed to completely reorganize Washington D.C. and his history is, well, creative.  I actually had much bigger problems with some of the characters and plot devices in this one than the previous two.  And his spiritual/theological bits are astoundingly simplistic and stitched together.  As with any of his books you can get caught up in picking on the bits he gets wrong or just accept that as the price of admission and enjoy the ride.  I just wish that after as many novels as he's sold he took a little more care with his craft.

Review -Angel Time by Anne Rice

Angel Time by Anne Rice  - I make a habit of both checking out the new books area and just wandering the stacks when I'm looking for something new to read.  I like finding new authors and stories.  So the last time I was in the library I saw the latest from Rice.  I've never read anything by her but the story line of a hit man who meets an angel sounded like an interesting concept.  This book is apparently the first in a planned series involving the main character.

I doubt I'll read any of the rest.

Rice is best known for the vampire series that stars the vampire LeStat.  In 2004 she announced that with her return to her childhood Roman Catholicism she would only "write for the Lord" from then on.  It appears that the books written in that time have sold well but not as well as her previous output.

Honestly I found the book slow going at first. She seemed to be in no great hurry to get into the flow of her story.  When we finally get down to it the concept still seemed interesting.  Toby O'Dare is a young man with great tragedy in his life.  For reasons that never seemed obvious to me he discovers he's a natural hit man.  To the point that as a young man with no particular violent background he takes out some Russian mobsters with amazing ease.  He's hired by the U.S. government to be a kind of black ops hit man.  The character development struck me as very thin and the plot fairly unbelievable.

Then an angel appears with the goal of saving Toby.  Again rather astoundingly it takes very little to take this stone cold killer and turn him to weeping repentance.  Malchiah (the angel) then gives Toby the chance to time travel to the Middle Ages to help a Jewish community in Norwich England facing persecution.  To be honest this is the best section of the book.  The characters have more depth and the story moves nicely.  I won't spoil the rather thin surprise at the ending.

Unfortunately I just don't buy the transformation shown in Toby.  The story lacks any feeling of reality, the story line is thin as are the characters (sadly we get very little from the character that I found most interesting Malchiah.  She makes some interesting points about the differences between humanity and angels).  The book struck me as  weak.  The middle section about the English Jews is based on history.  In the notes at the end of the book Rice acknowledges that she came across the history and wanted to write a story about it.  That portion works but for me she never made the connection between the two stories and the wrap around story was poor.  The book didn't impress me as a mystery or as Christian fiction.  I've seen a variety of reviews that seemed to be impressed with the book.  I honestly can not imagine why.

Sabbatical reading

Couldn't spend all of my time working on the paper or worshipping so I took advantage of the small but diverse library at Holy Cross.  Between Tuesday and Saturday I bumped off the following books:

The Lighthouse by P.D.James - This is one of her Dalgliesh series of which I may have read one before (maybe an audio book?).  Set on a fictional island of the coast of southern England it's something of a locked room mystery with a bit of SARS thrown in for good measure.  James has a sterling rep and lived up to it as far as I'm concerned.  Even though I had to kind of "fill in the blanks" on some of the ongoing relationships (nothing like starting in the middle of a series.  I believe this is #13 in the Dalgliesh series) it was well written and sucked you right in.  Really enjoyed it.

The second book was also an interesting story but wasn't nearly as well written.  Does that make sense?  The book was "The Templar Legacy" (the title alone should tell you all you need to know) by Steve Berry.  Berry has written two other books that apparently sold pretty well and this one made the NY Times Best Seller list.  It's a very "DaVinci Code" kind of story about the secrets of the ancient monastic warriors known as the Knights Templar.  Their actual story is interesting but not nearly as convoluted as the author would have you believe.  His real short coming is some truly awful, trite pieces of writing scattered through the story.  I'm not sure who should be more ashamed the author or his editor.  In the end the story is interesting enough if fairly standard.  He makes some "statements" about Christianity that I thought were idiotic and shallow but hey it's fiction.  If you need to fill empty hours, want a reasonably well told story and are willing to laugh at the author's shortcomings (if he just worked a little harder at his writing he'd be pretty good.  He knows how to tell a story) you'll like it.  Apparently the main character is now the hero of a series of books.  I might just give another one a chance.

OMG - Bad writing

This may be the worst piece of writing I've come across in a best selling novel in many years.  I'll spare the
author the ignominy of naming the book from which it comes :

"He was probably in his late fifties, gangly as a praying mantis, with a comely face full of tight features.  Dark eyes were sunk deep into his head, no longer bright with the power of intellect, but nonetheless piercing."

The no longer bright comment is especially interesting since the character making the assessment HAS NEVER SEEN THIS PERSON BEFORE!!!!!

Or is it just me?

This ranks right down there with another best selling author I've been reading who kept referring to a file folder (which was doing nothing other than existing) as "burgeoning".

I can write at least as well as these clowns.

First Thoughts from the Monastery

Just some of the things that first came to me:

Dere's Wimmen here!

Don't know why that surprised me but it did.  There are at least as many female guests as male.  There's a Habitat for Humanity meeting of some kind going on.  A bunch of these folks seem to be from near Easton Maryland.  All very nice folks.

I didn't realize which ones were the monks.  Yes, I had them in robes at all times in my head.  So shoot me.  The brothers dress very casually so far except at worship where they wear robes.  Average age is probably in the 60's.  Ate lunch with two of them, talked mostly about iPads and computer technology.

We were read to at lunch.  A tradition for Benedictines I seem to remember (maybe other orders too).  Much to my surprise our reading at the moment is "Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.  Toad has just revealed his plan to go on a trip with Mole and Rat in a caravan.  It was both rather surreal and delightful to sit and eat with a view of the Hudson River and have a monk read "Wind in the Willows" to you.  It's going to be a week of wonders I think, lol.

A moment to discuss food!  Now there's a wonder for you.  Selection is home style, here's what's to eat.  Dinner last night was a vegetable lasagna,  lunch today was salmon with wilted spinach in a miso glaze, rice, seaweed and mushrooms in a soy lacquer and cucumber and long bean salad (which also had spinach in it).  The food has been very nutritious and delicious.  Breakfast is done in total silence (the Great Silence each day ends after breakfast.  8:50PM to 8:30AM).  Not speaking to others is no problem but I tend to talk with myself.  Insert your snide remark here.

Chapel has been very different that anything I'm accustomed to but wonderful.  Lots of chanting of prayers and Psalms.  There are some long silences and I promised myself to simply be in the moment and not look at my watch.  Promptly caught one of the brothers checking his!

My cell (described previously) is simple but not spartan.  Double bed, desk and chair, armchair, dresser, two simple closets, two bed stands, various lamps and an alarm clock.  And a carpeted floor.  Nicer than any of my college dorm rooms by far.  Hall baths, two per floor.  Very nice.

And the writing moves forward.

From my prayer journal

First night at Holy Cross - You've brought me to a holy community Lord.  I find it both peaceful and intimidating.  Hearing Compline sung was beautiful and transporting.  The commitment to follow you in  this way and to this degree is a little scary.  I envy their commitment but not their path.  Help me to find that commitment I need for my own path.  Amen

Peace

Reviews - Bagger Vance and Voodoo History

Slowly working through the very long list of movies I want to see that is otherwise known as my Netflix queue.  I've wanted to see this one for a while.  Perfect to get me into mental position to go out and chase that little white ball this summer.

The Legend of Bagger Vance - (Yes, I've been watching a lot of  Matt Damon movies)  How can you go wrong with Matt Damon, Charlize Theron and Will Smith plus Robert Redford directing?  Ok, you could have stopped just with Ms. Theron who just makes my little heart go pitta-pat.  The story of a local golfing great who has his game taken from him by the mental ordeal of WW I.  He rediscovers it and himself with the help of a very unusual caddy named Bagger Vance.  This movie brings to the game of golf the epic romanticism that "The Natural" brought to baseball.  If that works for you you'll probably love the movie.  If you're into golf it's more about the amazing moment in time that is the setting for the movie than the game itself.  Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. and Walter Hagen, two of the greatest golfers of all time and two men who shared only the game.  Jones was the clean cut paragon who would win the four majors of his time, the first time it had ever been done, and then retire at 28.  Hagen is too often overlooked as one of the all time greats.  He still ranks third behind only Nicklaus and Woods for all time tournament wins.  Jones was the last of the great "amateur" champs, Hagen is the real start of the great "pro" champions.  It's an interesting back drop for the story of the local boy who finds himself caught between the two greats in a challenge match.  There's nothing particularly surprising in the plot or the ending but the performers all do a fine job.  Will Smith is great as Bagger and a nice little wrap around cameo for Jack Lemon too.

Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch  (Check out the NPR story on the book)   JFK and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, WWI and WWII, Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe.  These are just some of the conspiracy theories that the book takes a look at and challenges.  The author also takes a look at the effect that the constant chant of "Conspiracy" has had on how so many of us approach the question of what is and isn't history.  What's really frightening are the folks who admit up front that the "theory" is wrong but then say that it doesn't matter!  While allowing that none of us of ever totally objective that doesn't mean that any interpretation of events is equally "true".  It's an interesting point also that the Internet may be speeding the process by making it easier to only hear the voices of people who agree with you.  Again it becomes clear to me that society NEEDS the dissenting voices (yes, even the conspiracy theorists) in the same room.  We also need to hold each other to account for how we present our points of view.  Politics is about scoring points, political discourse isn't.  The book is well written and an easy and interesting read.  My only problem is that too often Aaronovitch disputes the claims of the theorists by saying that "...such and such a study refutes those points" without going into even a little more detail.  Too often it feels like he might be guilty of the same "glossing over" of the facts that the theorists too often are.  Whatever you may believe about the moon landing the book is worth a read.

Book Review - Lamb by Christopher Moore

I like what the Houston Chronicle said about this author when they reviewed this book: "(He) writes with an irreverent reverence". Oh yes he does. Let me warn you right up front - if bad language and not taking everything and everyone mentioned in the Bible absolutely seriously offends you - Don't Read This Book. You will hate it.

Having said that "Lamb - The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" is an intensely funny and very warm and loving look at the person of Joshua (Jesus) from his birth to his death and a little beyond. The apostles take some heat as do at least one angel and the BVM gets a little bit dinged but I laughed out loud repeatedly while reading the book. At the end I had a wonderful warm human feeling for the "character" of Jesus that doesn't come through very often in the Gospels. This isn't a serious theological study of the life of Christ but in some ways it's a wonderfully funny and theological look at the life of Christ.  In his afterword the author says he didn't write the book to change anyone's mind about their faith but that if you decided to treat everyone else a little nicer that would be fine.

I have no doubt that this book will send plenty of my brothers and sisters in faith right over the edge of frothing at the mouth insanity.  That's too bad.  Moore actually does a wonderful job of REALLY talking about the position and problems of being fully human and fully divine.  How do you think that would work during the Messiah's teen years?  It had some interesting moments Moore suggests.  He takes on what might have happened during the years that are blank prior to Jesus beginning his ministry and the question of what happened to Joseph.

In the end I walked away with a wonderful feeling for the very human Jesus struggling with something I can not even imagine.  Some may claim that this book will destroy people's faith.  I say it will only destroy the faith of people who believe in brittle, fragile images of the Divine.  Or whose faith is pretty brittle and fragile in its own right.  I came away strengthened in my belief and have had a good long laugh along the way.

Works for me.

Peace