Fergus Hume
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab
This is one for those of you who enjoy old and forgotten mysteries. Fergus Hume certainly doesn't seem to be a household name, at least in the circle I bumble around in, and as for old? Well, this book was first published 1886--yes, that's not a typo--1--8--8--6. As you can tell from the title, it's a mystery involving a hansom cab, shades of Sherlock Holmes. It's set in Melbourne, Australia.
This is the cabbie's testimony, the driver of the hansom cab of the title. It's late at night, and he pulls up to two men, one of whom is very drunk. The drunken man suddenly lifts his face into the light, and the other recognizes him. Disgusted he leaves. Struggling, the cabbie finally gets the intoxicated man into his cab when the other man returns. He gets into the cab. The cabbie drives off, and when the sober man gets off, he tells the cabbie to take the other man home. When the cabbie gets to the destination, he discovers the man is dead and calls the police.
Detective Gorby of the Melbourne Police is assigned the case which sets up the first part of the novel as a police procedural. We follow Detective Gorby as he follows up the clues and finally makes an arrest.
However, we haven't even come close to the halfway point, so obviously there is more to come. There is and it's Perry Mason, or the Australian equivalent there of, one Duncan Calton. He takes on the defendant's case and begins his own investigation.
He comes up with some interesting bits of information but is stymied because he lacks the resources and the authority to really chase down those clues. But, all is not lost, for Calton is shrewd, and he knows something about the Melbourne PD. There are actually two top detectives on the Force and Gorby is one of them. The other is Detective Kilsip, and they hate each other. This is not the friendly rivalry one might expect from comrades-in-arms but pure hatred.
Calton, the lawyer, takes his information to Detective Kilsip. Kilsip believes that Gorby did arrest the right person, but there's this information given him by Calton. Suppose there was something to this, and he could embarrass Gorby by proving that Gorby had arrested the wrong man, and that someone else had committed the murder. Calton now has the aid of one of the top detectives on the force.
It's a bit creaky here and there, but overall I found it an intriguing and perplexing and enjoyable read. There's also considerable humor here, some sly and some not so.
According to the Intro, this was Hume's first novel and it was an instant success. However, he went on to write another 140 novels, all of which were quickly forgotten. Several of his books are available on-line, but I'm going to try the InterLibraryLoan method first. I'm curious to discover whether this work was an accident or whether he was unjustly ignored.
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Murder on the Orient Express--Hollywood at what it does best
I just finished a film version of Agatha Cristie's Murder on the Orient Express--the 1974 version. I'm not going to do a summary or analysis of the plot or even a comparison of the film to the book. Others have done that, numerous times, so I'm just going to do a very short commentary here on some trifles.
What I enjoyed most about the film was the cast--the cast--the cast. In an interview, somebody--the producer? the director?--said that they weren't going to do a tight little black-and-white British mystery. They were going to do a real glamour job on it--an Hollywood big picture, expensive, marvelous costumes and sets, star-studded cast, and all the trimmings. They did it and then some.
The film score is excellent and provides an excellent example of what they tried to do and succeeded in doing. In an early scene, we see the train pulling out of the station at night. The steam from the engine provides a foggy atmosphere. And the music and sound effects? It isn't the expected sound of the driving wheels, and the music doesn't provide that sense of imminent danger ahead--something bad is going to happen. NO! What we get is a waltz! The train pulls out of the station and chugs through the countryside to a Viennese Waltz, perhaps even a variation on a Strauss waltz. The feeling is that of a vacation, a fairyland trip, almost a musical.
Well, that's all I'm going to say about the film itself--now here's a list of the cast.
Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot
Lauren Bacall
Martin Balsam
Ingrid Bergman
Jacqueline Bisset
Sean Connery
Sir John Gielgud
Wendy Hiller
Anthony Perkins
Vanessa Redgrave
Richard Widmark
Michael York
I couldn't recognize Albert Finney because of his makeup. And Ingrid Bergman? One of the actors in an interview talked about sitting in the makeup room next to Ingrid Bergman who was being "deglamorized." --his term and very appropriate.
Sir John Gielgud--the consummate professional--does more with a look and syllable than most with a long monologue. At one point, Gielgud, who plays a butler in the film, has just been questioned by Poirot, and as he leaves, one of the others present says very seriously, "The butler did it." Gielgud, as he leaves the room, turns his head and with a sneer utters one syllable of a contemptuous sound. Gielgud's butler is superior to everyone there, and he lets everyone know it.
Great film--lots of fun--go see it, perhaps with a glass of champagne. That's what I'm going to do the next time I watch it.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
P. D. James: Death Comes to Pemberley
P. D. James: Death comes to Pemberley, a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (P&P)
Normally I ignore sequels to classics, but P. D. James is one of my favorite mystery writers. Many of her novels feature a large house, either occupied for centuries by the family or possibly long since turned to other uses: a nursing school, a laboratory, or even a publishing house. As the largest estate in the county, Pemberley would be a perfect setting for one of her stories. In addition, in an interview James said that her favorite author was Austen and she thought that, if Austen were alive today, she would be writing mysteries. So, I had to break a long-standing tradition and, at least, start it.
The novel opens with a prologue summarizing the significant events and introducing the major characters in Pride and Prejudice. James then brings us up-to-date, for six years have passed since the end of what is probably Austen's most popular novel. We are told that Elizabeth and Darcy have two children and that Elizabeth's younger sister Mary is also married to the rector of a nearby parish. Kitty is still at home, the only one left and likely to remain unmarried. Mr. Bennet is a frequent visitor at Pemberley, while Mrs. Bennet is less so. Darcy, while having become more patient and tolerant over time, does have his limits.
It is Friday, October 14, 1803, the day before the most important social event of the year in the neighborhood of Pemberley, Lady Anne's ball, the annual ball held in honor of Darcy's mother. Elizabeth has spent the day planning and preparing for the event with the aid of the inestimable Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper whom she had met on her first visit to Pemberley with the Gardiners.
Now late in the evening, Elizabeth, Darcy, the Bingleys (who had arrived a short time ago), Col. Fitzwilliam, and Henry Alveston are gathered together after dinner. Alveston is the only one who needs an introduction to readers of P&P. He is a rising young attorney who has become an increasingly regular visitor to Pemberley, and it is fairly obvious what the source of attraction is. In fact, it is that same attraction that causes Col Fitzwilliam considerable discomfort.
Georgiana, Darcy's sister, is now of a marriageable age: she is attractive and an heiress of a considerable fortune, and she is no longer the shy, quiet young girl we had known. Six years of associating with Elizabeth may have contributed somewhat to that. For some time now, both Fitzwilliam and Alveston have attempted to engage her affections. While Georgiana has not yet made her choice, Elizabeth feels that Col. Fitzwilliam will be disappointed.
It is then that death comes to Pemberley, or at least a madly driven coach carrying an hysterical Lydia arrives at the front door. All she can do is cry out almost incoherently that her beloved Wickham is dead, murdered. After questioning the more rational coach driver, Darcy and the others discover that Wickham and Lydia were going through their usual routine. Darcy has forbidden Wickham's presence at Pemberley; therefore, Lydia is never invited. However, the usual procedure is that Lydia arrives unannounced with luggage while the carriage immediately proceeds onward with Wickham to the nearest inn, where he stays while Lydia enjoys the amenities of Pemberley.
Lydia has come for Lady Anne's ball and will leave after the ball is over. But, this time Lydia and Wickham were accompanied by Wickham's good and possibly only friend, Captain Denny. However, shortly after entering the woods surrounding Pemberley, Denny and Wickham quarrel, with the result that Denny left the coach. Wickham then follows him into the trees. Shortly afterwards, a shot is heard. Lydia becomes hysterical, and the coach driver, unarmed, decides it would be best to go for help and also take Lydia out of any possible danger.
Upon hearing the coachman's story, Darcy, Fitzwilliam, and Alveston decide to go back to the spot where the driver left off the two men. They were reluctant to interfere in a private quarrel, but the report of shots being fired persuaded them to to investigate. After stumbling about in the forest for some time, they are about to leave when they come across a clearing in which a body is stretched out on the ground. Kneeling before the body and covered in blood is Wickham, who cries out upon seeing him that this was his fault. Capt. Denny is dead. The result is that Wickham is arrested, and a coroner's jury decides there is sufficient evidence for a trial.
What follows is NOT a contemporary mystery. James is too wise for that. We do not see Elizabeth and Darcy chasing around the countryside searching for clues, following up leads, and interrogating witnesses and suspects. That is left for the authorities and Wickham's expensive defense attorney (you can guess who pays for him).
In the first place, neither Elizabeth nor Darcy have any experience in detecting nor would they have even considered taking such actions. Secondly, Darcy is prohibited from taking any part in the case for Wickham is his brother-in-law. Darcy is one of three magistrates for the county. If he were to get involved and Wickham released, then there would be a suspicion of favoritism. On the other hand, it was also known that Wickham in some way had earned Darcy's enmity, so if it was decided that Wickham be held over for trial, there might be a suspicion that Darcy had had his revenge. They had to separate themselves from any direct involvement in the case.
Much of the time in the novel is spent with secondary characters--various servants and their familes, Wickham, Col. Fitzwilliam, and even Mrs. Younge, whom readers may recognize as the governess who allowed Wickham to almost carry Georgiana off in P&P, the cause of Darcy's intense dislike of Wickham. It is "downstairs," to borrow the title of a popular TV show, where the facts of Capt. Denny's murder are to be found. And, not surprisingly, it is Wickham who is the cause, directly or indirectly.
This is not a contemporary murder mystery. Instead, it resembles much more closely a mystery novel written during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The solution comes through coincidental meetings, a deathbed confession, various letters, and a last minute frantic journey with important information that, if it arrives in time, could affect the outcome of Wickham's trial. It is not Jane Austen, but it does read like, at least to me anyway, like a mystery that might have been written in Austen's time.
James makes no attempt to imitate Austen's style; instead she gives the reader prose that is a bit more formal. Nor does she attempt to recreate Lizzie as Austen would have done. Elizabeth is no longer Lizzie, the young lady with the sharp tongue. She is now in her late twenties, the mother of two children, a wife, and the mistress of the largest estate in the area. She has a position to fill and has matured in the intervening six years.
James has inserted into the novel, which is mostly serious (murder is a serious business), some subtle bits of humour and an occasional sharp observation of her own. For example, at one point we read the following: And would she herself have married Darcy had he been a penniless curate or a struggling attorney? It was hard to envisage Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley as either, but honesty compelled an answer. Elizabeth knew that she was not formed for the sad contrivances of poverty.
Readers should also be alert to references to people who are mentioned but never make an appearance in the novel. Wickham at one point had been employed as a personal secretary to Sir William Elliot. He was fired six months later, possibly because of Miss Elliot's concern regarding Lydia's open flirting with Sir William, and also perhaps when she grew bored with Wickham's own attempts at flirting with her.
While I won't discuss the ending in any great detail, I should add that the final solution involved (surprise, surprise) considerable expense once again to Darcy, and the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Knightly of Donwell Abbey and her close friend, Mrs. Harriet Martin.
The novel ends, as do all of Austen's novels, with a final summary, some comments about the future, and a conversation between our hero and heroine regarding their own sometimes rocky relationship before it resulted in perfect happiness.
When I first decided to read Death Comes to Pemberley, I went to the library and borrowed a copy. However, about one-third of the way through, I visited Clues Unlimited, Tucson's local mystery bookstore. I figured I'd be reading it again, and I wanted my own copy.
Normally I ignore sequels to classics, but P. D. James is one of my favorite mystery writers. Many of her novels feature a large house, either occupied for centuries by the family or possibly long since turned to other uses: a nursing school, a laboratory, or even a publishing house. As the largest estate in the county, Pemberley would be a perfect setting for one of her stories. In addition, in an interview James said that her favorite author was Austen and she thought that, if Austen were alive today, she would be writing mysteries. So, I had to break a long-standing tradition and, at least, start it.
The novel opens with a prologue summarizing the significant events and introducing the major characters in Pride and Prejudice. James then brings us up-to-date, for six years have passed since the end of what is probably Austen's most popular novel. We are told that Elizabeth and Darcy have two children and that Elizabeth's younger sister Mary is also married to the rector of a nearby parish. Kitty is still at home, the only one left and likely to remain unmarried. Mr. Bennet is a frequent visitor at Pemberley, while Mrs. Bennet is less so. Darcy, while having become more patient and tolerant over time, does have his limits.
It is Friday, October 14, 1803, the day before the most important social event of the year in the neighborhood of Pemberley, Lady Anne's ball, the annual ball held in honor of Darcy's mother. Elizabeth has spent the day planning and preparing for the event with the aid of the inestimable Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper whom she had met on her first visit to Pemberley with the Gardiners.
Now late in the evening, Elizabeth, Darcy, the Bingleys (who had arrived a short time ago), Col. Fitzwilliam, and Henry Alveston are gathered together after dinner. Alveston is the only one who needs an introduction to readers of P&P. He is a rising young attorney who has become an increasingly regular visitor to Pemberley, and it is fairly obvious what the source of attraction is. In fact, it is that same attraction that causes Col Fitzwilliam considerable discomfort.
Georgiana, Darcy's sister, is now of a marriageable age: she is attractive and an heiress of a considerable fortune, and she is no longer the shy, quiet young girl we had known. Six years of associating with Elizabeth may have contributed somewhat to that. For some time now, both Fitzwilliam and Alveston have attempted to engage her affections. While Georgiana has not yet made her choice, Elizabeth feels that Col. Fitzwilliam will be disappointed.
It is then that death comes to Pemberley, or at least a madly driven coach carrying an hysterical Lydia arrives at the front door. All she can do is cry out almost incoherently that her beloved Wickham is dead, murdered. After questioning the more rational coach driver, Darcy and the others discover that Wickham and Lydia were going through their usual routine. Darcy has forbidden Wickham's presence at Pemberley; therefore, Lydia is never invited. However, the usual procedure is that Lydia arrives unannounced with luggage while the carriage immediately proceeds onward with Wickham to the nearest inn, where he stays while Lydia enjoys the amenities of Pemberley.
Lydia has come for Lady Anne's ball and will leave after the ball is over. But, this time Lydia and Wickham were accompanied by Wickham's good and possibly only friend, Captain Denny. However, shortly after entering the woods surrounding Pemberley, Denny and Wickham quarrel, with the result that Denny left the coach. Wickham then follows him into the trees. Shortly afterwards, a shot is heard. Lydia becomes hysterical, and the coach driver, unarmed, decides it would be best to go for help and also take Lydia out of any possible danger.
Upon hearing the coachman's story, Darcy, Fitzwilliam, and Alveston decide to go back to the spot where the driver left off the two men. They were reluctant to interfere in a private quarrel, but the report of shots being fired persuaded them to to investigate. After stumbling about in the forest for some time, they are about to leave when they come across a clearing in which a body is stretched out on the ground. Kneeling before the body and covered in blood is Wickham, who cries out upon seeing him that this was his fault. Capt. Denny is dead. The result is that Wickham is arrested, and a coroner's jury decides there is sufficient evidence for a trial.
What follows is NOT a contemporary mystery. James is too wise for that. We do not see Elizabeth and Darcy chasing around the countryside searching for clues, following up leads, and interrogating witnesses and suspects. That is left for the authorities and Wickham's expensive defense attorney (you can guess who pays for him).
In the first place, neither Elizabeth nor Darcy have any experience in detecting nor would they have even considered taking such actions. Secondly, Darcy is prohibited from taking any part in the case for Wickham is his brother-in-law. Darcy is one of three magistrates for the county. If he were to get involved and Wickham released, then there would be a suspicion of favoritism. On the other hand, it was also known that Wickham in some way had earned Darcy's enmity, so if it was decided that Wickham be held over for trial, there might be a suspicion that Darcy had had his revenge. They had to separate themselves from any direct involvement in the case.
Much of the time in the novel is spent with secondary characters--various servants and their familes, Wickham, Col. Fitzwilliam, and even Mrs. Younge, whom readers may recognize as the governess who allowed Wickham to almost carry Georgiana off in P&P, the cause of Darcy's intense dislike of Wickham. It is "downstairs," to borrow the title of a popular TV show, where the facts of Capt. Denny's murder are to be found. And, not surprisingly, it is Wickham who is the cause, directly or indirectly.
This is not a contemporary murder mystery. Instead, it resembles much more closely a mystery novel written during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The solution comes through coincidental meetings, a deathbed confession, various letters, and a last minute frantic journey with important information that, if it arrives in time, could affect the outcome of Wickham's trial. It is not Jane Austen, but it does read like, at least to me anyway, like a mystery that might have been written in Austen's time.
James makes no attempt to imitate Austen's style; instead she gives the reader prose that is a bit more formal. Nor does she attempt to recreate Lizzie as Austen would have done. Elizabeth is no longer Lizzie, the young lady with the sharp tongue. She is now in her late twenties, the mother of two children, a wife, and the mistress of the largest estate in the area. She has a position to fill and has matured in the intervening six years.
James has inserted into the novel, which is mostly serious (murder is a serious business), some subtle bits of humour and an occasional sharp observation of her own. For example, at one point we read the following: And would she herself have married Darcy had he been a penniless curate or a struggling attorney? It was hard to envisage Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley as either, but honesty compelled an answer. Elizabeth knew that she was not formed for the sad contrivances of poverty.
Readers should also be alert to references to people who are mentioned but never make an appearance in the novel. Wickham at one point had been employed as a personal secretary to Sir William Elliot. He was fired six months later, possibly because of Miss Elliot's concern regarding Lydia's open flirting with Sir William, and also perhaps when she grew bored with Wickham's own attempts at flirting with her.
While I won't discuss the ending in any great detail, I should add that the final solution involved (surprise, surprise) considerable expense once again to Darcy, and the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Knightly of Donwell Abbey and her close friend, Mrs. Harriet Martin.
The novel ends, as do all of Austen's novels, with a final summary, some comments about the future, and a conversation between our hero and heroine regarding their own sometimes rocky relationship before it resulted in perfect happiness.
When I first decided to read Death Comes to Pemberley, I went to the library and borrowed a copy. However, about one-third of the way through, I visited Clues Unlimited, Tucson's local mystery bookstore. I figured I'd be reading it again, and I wanted my own copy.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Ben Sanders: The Fallen, a mystery
Author: Ben Sanders
Title: The Fallen
Mystery Type: Police Procedural
Detective: Sean Devereaux
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Time Period: Contemporary
I have to thank Craig Sisterson of Crime Watch Blog (see blog list at right) for introducing me to Ben Sanders. Crime Watch focuses on crime writers, mostly on NZ writers as to be expected, but he also includes interviews and news about crime writers from around the world. If you're not familiar with NZ crime writers, check out Crime Watch.
The Fallen is Sanders' first novel, and it's a strong one. I'm waiting for the second one now and hoping it will be available for us in the US. Unfortunately the book distribution system in the US is rather provincial and has yet to learn that there are great books out there that haven't been published in the US. Well, maybe some day it will change.
Sanders opens the novel with three chapters that appear to belong in separate books. Of course, we know that somewhere down the road, all three will mesh somehow, leaving Devereaux with really only one case, right?
Chapter One begins:
"Traverne came to slowly. Unconsciousness was a new experience, and the transition to reality was not pleasant.
His vision improved gradually; contrast returning as lines sharpened like stone etched with acid. Certainly that's how he felt, like he'd been bathed in something corrosive. Skin abraded, recollection stripped bare. His left knee ached, and when he tried to raise his hands to his face, he realized his wrists were secured at the small of his back.
He lifted his head off the carpet, and as he did there was a tacky, adhesive sound like masking tape peeling free, and from the rich coppery stench he inhaled he knew he must have been bleeding."
Traverne obviously is a captive of ??? Who is Traverne? Who knocked him out and tied him up? Why?
Chapter Two begins:
"Like any form of employment, detection has its downsides. Not that I'm complaining: criminal investigation is inherently recession-proof, so lack of activity is never an issue. It's the nature of the work that sometimes proves problematical. Homicide, in particular. Murder leaves a mental imprint that tends to linger. It keeps your innocence, ignorance and sense that all is right with the world firmly pinned down, and sends you home at the end of the day with creases in your brow.
Pollard called me at home about the Emma Fontaine case on a Saturday afternoon cast grey by fairly typical July weather. I was alone in the living room, stereo set to a discreet low. The window that gave onto the front lawn was open, and a chill breeze filled the curtains periodically, bringing with it the smell of recent showers.
'You're not allowed to call me on my day off,' I said, when I answered my cell.
'Sorry.' He didn't sound apologetic. 'What's that, The Verve?'
'Echo and the Bunnymen,' I said. 'Fools Like Us.'
Quiet on the line.
'Is this a social call?' I asked him.
'Purely business,' he replied. 'Someone found a body.' "
This is obviously the main plot line for the novel. A body has been found, and Devereaux is going to get the case.
Chapter Three begins:
"My house is a small, two-bedroom unit nestled beyond a rise east of Mission Bay, on the outskirts of the central city. . .
It was dark by the time I [Devereaux] turned into my driveway at a little after six. I parked beneath the branches of the Norfolk pine which serves as the centrepiece of my property, walked back along the driveway to check my mail, then went to unlock my front door, pausing only when I realized the woman next door was sitting in the front porch.
I halted, mid-step, surprised by her presence and the fact that she hadn't said anything. My security light blinked on and I feigned casual, using the search for my key as a distraction to avoid her gaze, speaking only when I was within a metre of her.
'Hi, Grace.'
She let the greeting hang a moment before responding. 'Hello, Sean. How are you?' "
As Grace is not the most forthcoming of people, it takes Devereaux awhile to find out what she wants.
" 'What is it I can help you with, Grace?' I asked
There was a pause. 'There's been a man watching me,' she answered quietly. 'And I'm terrified.' "
The three threads: a sixteen year-old-girl has been murdered; Traverne, whoever he is, is someone's prisoner; and Devereaux's neighbor is being stalked by someone. Are they related?
Devereaux is a police officer who feels that rules are only guidelines and sometimes one has to step outside those lines to a certain extent, but only to a certain extent. Fortunately for Devereaux, he has a good buddy who isn't a cop and who isn't constrained by the rules of correct police procedure.
His buddy is John Hale, an ex-cop, who now runs his own security service. Being a good friend of Sean, Hale is ready to help out, especially when Sean can't go any further beyond those guidelines. And he's a good buddy to have around, for, like Devereaux, Hale also spent time in Vietnam, except that there's no record of Hale's activities while he was there, if he really was there. There are certain situations when military records seem to conceal far more than they reveal, and Hale's record seems to be one of them. And another reason why Devereaux's lucky to have Hale around is that Devereaux's investigation appears to be pointing at some senior members of the police department.
Overall Rating: Very good-- so far it's the best first novel I've read in a long time: excellent plotting; a simple low-key writing style that pulls one along; an interesting and thoughtful main character; and a good buddy relationship that is one of the strengths of the novel. I'm looking forward to the second in the series.
Title: The Fallen
Mystery Type: Police Procedural
Detective: Sean Devereaux
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Time Period: Contemporary
I have to thank Craig Sisterson of Crime Watch Blog (see blog list at right) for introducing me to Ben Sanders. Crime Watch focuses on crime writers, mostly on NZ writers as to be expected, but he also includes interviews and news about crime writers from around the world. If you're not familiar with NZ crime writers, check out Crime Watch.
The Fallen is Sanders' first novel, and it's a strong one. I'm waiting for the second one now and hoping it will be available for us in the US. Unfortunately the book distribution system in the US is rather provincial and has yet to learn that there are great books out there that haven't been published in the US. Well, maybe some day it will change.
Sanders opens the novel with three chapters that appear to belong in separate books. Of course, we know that somewhere down the road, all three will mesh somehow, leaving Devereaux with really only one case, right?
Chapter One begins:
"Traverne came to slowly. Unconsciousness was a new experience, and the transition to reality was not pleasant.
His vision improved gradually; contrast returning as lines sharpened like stone etched with acid. Certainly that's how he felt, like he'd been bathed in something corrosive. Skin abraded, recollection stripped bare. His left knee ached, and when he tried to raise his hands to his face, he realized his wrists were secured at the small of his back.
He lifted his head off the carpet, and as he did there was a tacky, adhesive sound like masking tape peeling free, and from the rich coppery stench he inhaled he knew he must have been bleeding."
Traverne obviously is a captive of ??? Who is Traverne? Who knocked him out and tied him up? Why?
Chapter Two begins:
"Like any form of employment, detection has its downsides. Not that I'm complaining: criminal investigation is inherently recession-proof, so lack of activity is never an issue. It's the nature of the work that sometimes proves problematical. Homicide, in particular. Murder leaves a mental imprint that tends to linger. It keeps your innocence, ignorance and sense that all is right with the world firmly pinned down, and sends you home at the end of the day with creases in your brow.
Pollard called me at home about the Emma Fontaine case on a Saturday afternoon cast grey by fairly typical July weather. I was alone in the living room, stereo set to a discreet low. The window that gave onto the front lawn was open, and a chill breeze filled the curtains periodically, bringing with it the smell of recent showers.
'You're not allowed to call me on my day off,' I said, when I answered my cell.
'Sorry.' He didn't sound apologetic. 'What's that, The Verve?'
'Echo and the Bunnymen,' I said. 'Fools Like Us.'
Quiet on the line.
'Is this a social call?' I asked him.
'Purely business,' he replied. 'Someone found a body.' "
This is obviously the main plot line for the novel. A body has been found, and Devereaux is going to get the case.
Chapter Three begins:
"My house is a small, two-bedroom unit nestled beyond a rise east of Mission Bay, on the outskirts of the central city. . .
It was dark by the time I [Devereaux] turned into my driveway at a little after six. I parked beneath the branches of the Norfolk pine which serves as the centrepiece of my property, walked back along the driveway to check my mail, then went to unlock my front door, pausing only when I realized the woman next door was sitting in the front porch.
I halted, mid-step, surprised by her presence and the fact that she hadn't said anything. My security light blinked on and I feigned casual, using the search for my key as a distraction to avoid her gaze, speaking only when I was within a metre of her.
'Hi, Grace.'
She let the greeting hang a moment before responding. 'Hello, Sean. How are you?' "
As Grace is not the most forthcoming of people, it takes Devereaux awhile to find out what she wants.
" 'What is it I can help you with, Grace?' I asked
There was a pause. 'There's been a man watching me,' she answered quietly. 'And I'm terrified.' "
The three threads: a sixteen year-old-girl has been murdered; Traverne, whoever he is, is someone's prisoner; and Devereaux's neighbor is being stalked by someone. Are they related?
Devereaux is a police officer who feels that rules are only guidelines and sometimes one has to step outside those lines to a certain extent, but only to a certain extent. Fortunately for Devereaux, he has a good buddy who isn't a cop and who isn't constrained by the rules of correct police procedure.
His buddy is John Hale, an ex-cop, who now runs his own security service. Being a good friend of Sean, Hale is ready to help out, especially when Sean can't go any further beyond those guidelines. And he's a good buddy to have around, for, like Devereaux, Hale also spent time in Vietnam, except that there's no record of Hale's activities while he was there, if he really was there. There are certain situations when military records seem to conceal far more than they reveal, and Hale's record seems to be one of them. And another reason why Devereaux's lucky to have Hale around is that Devereaux's investigation appears to be pointing at some senior members of the police department.
Overall Rating: Very good-- so far it's the best first novel I've read in a long time: excellent plotting; a simple low-key writing style that pulls one along; an interesting and thoughtful main character; and a good buddy relationship that is one of the strengths of the novel. I'm looking forward to the second in the series.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Combination Plate 17
Combination Plate 17
Some books and some films and some thoughts about them--
1. The Purple Plain, a film set in Burma during WWII
2. Michael Connelly: The Narrows, a thriller that brings together several of Connelly's characters from previous novels--Harry Bosch, Rachel Walling, The Poet
3. The Book of Eli, an SF film, post-holocaust
4. Anthony Trollope: Doctor Thorne
5. Eric Frank Russell: Wasp, an SF novel
6. Fantasia, the original Disney animated classic film
Warning: I will discuss significant plot elements and endings in some cases.
===================================
The Purple Plain (1954)
This is a WWII film set in Burma. Bill Forrester (Gregory Peck), a Canadian fighter pilot, risks his life and those of his crew when he takes unnecessary risks in combat. What appears to be driving him is the loss of his bride on their wedding night during a bombing raid on London. One of his fellow officers insists on telling Forrester that his problem is that he has nothing to live for back home, as he himself does--his wife and children. That's what keeps him going. It isn't clear if the obnoxious officer is aware of Forrester's personal tragedy. Forrester is forced by the unit's medical officer to socialize and eventually meets an attractive young Burmese woman at a party.
The obnoxious officer is transferred and Forrester is to fly him to his new station. During the flight, Forrester is forced to make a landing in rough terrain. Forrester and the obnoxious officer escape with minor bruises and scrapes, while the co-pilot suffers a broken leg.
The officer wishes to remain with the plane and wait for rescue. Forrester insists there won't be any search for them and their only hope for survival is to walk out, hoping to find a river and the inevitable village.
The rest of the film is predictable. The ironic twist is that the obnoxious officer who kept saying that he had something to live for is the one to give up in the end. The question is whether Forrester was able to go on even though he had nothing to live for, which would prove the other officer wrong, doubly wrong since the officer presumably did have something to live for and still gave up hope, or did the potential relationship with the Burmese woman give him that "something to live for.''
Overall Reaction: definitely not a large scale epic but a rather quiet film with more of an emphasis on a somewhat superficial focus on character rather than on action in combat.
What does the film have going for it? Gregory Peck! As expected, he gives a competent, convincing performance.
==================================
Michael Connelly
The Narrows
Mystery Type: Paid professional
Setting: West Coast, contemporary
This is sort of a sequel to Connelly's Blood Work, in which Terry McCaleb, an FBI profiler, tracks down the killer of the woman whose heart he had received as a transplant. It is set less than a year later. Disgraced FBI agent Rachel Walling, exiled to Rapid City, Iowa, gets an order to come to the Mohave Desert. The Poet, an ex-FBI profiler turned serial killer, is back. He's killed again and left a message: "Hello Rachel."
Harry Bosch, no longer with the LAPD, is contacted by McCaleb's widow. McCaleb died a short time after the events of Blood Work. She's not satisfied that his death was the result of an heart attack and wants Bosch to look into it.
Eventually the two supposedly separate investigations collide and conflict arises. Bosch and Walling find that they are on one side and the FBI on the other. The plot is a bit convoluted, as those who have read any of Connelly's other works can testify. As usual, things aren't what they seem to be, most of the time anyway. The fun is deciding which are what they seem to be and which aren't.
Connelly also has some fun with shifting levels of reality. In the novel, Blood Work, Terry McCaleb has a friend, Buddy Lockridge. During his investigation into McCaleb's death in the second novel, Bosch meets up with Lockridge. Lockridge is very unhappy and spends a considerable amount of time complaining about what happened to him in the film version. In Blood Work the film, Clint Eastwood plays the role of Terry McCaleb, and Buddy Lockridge suddenly becomes a villain who's only pretending to be McCaleb's friend in order to keep an eye on McCaleb's investigation. So, we have a fictional character complaining about his treatment in a real world film.
Overall Reaction: good, fast-paced complex thriller. Recommended.
==================================
The Book of Eli, a film
This is a post-holocaust film set some 30 years after the war. It has the same feel and some of the same elements as A Boy and His Dog (1975) and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, along with numerous other films. A lone traveler encounters a small community set in a wasteland, in which the inhabitants struggle to survive, partially by cannibalizing the ruins of pre-war cities and towns. The Boss of the town maintains control with a group of thugs. If the town survives and prospers, a century or so in the future, the Boss's heirs will be the nobility and the thugs will be either a military or a police force. Bards will sing of the ruling prince's noble ancestors.
This film, though, is a bit different. One can call it a quest film for the Boss has a goal. Carnegie (Gary Oldman) believes it's his destiny to reunite all of the area under him and that he can do it quickly and almost painlessly if he has the Book. For in the Book are the ways to say things that will convince people to follow him.
Eli (Denzel Washington), the lone traveler, also has a quest. A Voice has told him he must take to the West Coast the Book that he will be shown. There he will find people who can make copies of the book and share its wisdom with others. In this way, people can begin to rebuild and avoid the mistakes of the past. The Voice promises him that he will be protected as long as he follows the Path (a touch of Taoism there?).
Carnegie learns of Eli's book and decides that's the one he's looking for. He gives Eli a choice-- give it up voluntarily or involuntarily. This provides the major conflict in the film.
As can be expected, the film is action-oriented as Eli, with sword and pistol, routinely disposes of groups of five or more attackers. While the message of the Book is peace, the film focuses mostly on the other path.
Overall Reaction: action film primarily. Washington makes Eli a different sort of post-holocaust hero. Eli is almost comes across as a simple soul or perhaps Holy Fool in that he says what he means and expects others to accept what he has to say. Washington does a decent job in the part but I kept wishing that Morgan Freeman had been cast for the part.
===================================
Anthony Trollope
Doctor Thorne
Doctor Thorne is the third of the six novels in Trollope's Barsetshire series. I've read a number of his other works, and this one is a bit unusual. In most of Trollope's novels, there is a central problem: who is to get a particular position? who is the owner of the Eustace diamonds? how does one get elected to Parliament? what happens when a highly competent man is made prime minister but is no true politician? The main plots do not always end satisfactorily for those involved.
In addition to the main problem are one or more subplots, one of which invariably involves the young lovers. The course of true love does not run smoothly for Trollope's lovers, or at least not for the first 600 or 700 pages. Trollope manages to throw every obstacle he can think of in the path of the young lovers; feuding families, status or class differences, or as in this novel, financial concerns. Frank Gresham, the young heir, must "marry money," or the family estate will go bankrupt.
Regardless of the way the main plot turns out, Trollope always manages to bring the young lovers together in the last chapter or two. The only real question, therefore, is the way in which he manages to accomplish this.
The Greshams are deeply in debt to the Scatcherds. It's the classic contrast: the Greshams have status but no money, while the Scatcherds have money but no status. If Frank Gresham doesn't marry money soon, the Greshams will lose everything, for the Scatcherds are beginning to lose patience and are preparing to call in the loans.
The predictable happy ending for the young lovers is what makes this novel different, for if the young lovers do marry, then all will be well. Since Trollope's young lovers have always won out in the end, or at least they have in the ten or more novels I've read, then there is no question that Frank will "marry money" and in addition will wed his true love, Mary Thorne, the niece of Doctor Thorne. But, the main obstacle, aside from her somewhat suspect heritage, is that she is penniless. There is no way that marrying Mary will save the Gresham estate. Or, at least no way that anyone knows of, except for Doctor Thorne. Thus, the Gresham's are absolutely opposed to any marriage between Frank and Mary.
What Doctor Thorne knows and what nobody else knows is simply this. He knows the full story of Mary's parentage. Her mother, now living in Canada, is a Scatcherd. Old Scatcherd, about to die of alcoholism, has made his will and named his son, Young Scatcherd, his heir. If the son dies before he marries and has a child, the new heir will be the oldest child of Mary's mother, who is Mary. Young Scatcherd is also an alcoholic, but he lacks the physical stamina of his father. Doctor Thorne has warned him that he must change his ways or he will never reach his twenty-fifth year.
The characters are well-drawn and interesting. Frank's mother is the classic "mother from hell." One knows exactly what her reaction will be once she learns that Mary, whose possible marriage to Frank she was so violently opposed to, will not only inherit a sizable fortune, but also will be the Gresham family chief creditor.
Doctor Thorne is an extremely honest individual. Unfortunately, he also speaks his mind. He considers his fellow physicians to be quacks, and he says so. This makes him an outcast among the local medical fraternity. In fact, one of the main targets of Trollope's satirical pen in this novel is the medical profession.
Overall Reaction: although this lacks the drama of Trollope's other novels--the ending is known a short way into the story-- it still is an enjoyable read.
===================================
Eric Frank Russell
Wasp
Although first published in 1957, Wasp is even more appropriate today than it was then. It is not because of any scientific advances but simply human psychology.
Earth is at war with the Sirian Combine. It's been going on a long time, and the Terrans decide it's time for a different tactic. Agent James Mowry lived at one time, before the war, on a Sirian Combine planet and speaks the language flawlessly. He is surgically altered to resemble the native population on Jaimec, after being trained "in the arts of espionage, subversion, and propaganda." They sent him there alone to work behind the lines and do what he could to disrupt the manufacturing and shipment of war materials, to tie down troops that should be on the front lines, and to increase or create as much disaffection and dissatisfaction among the civilian population as possible.
My copy has an introduction by Jack Chalker, an Sf novelist, that was written in 1986. Chalker writes: "Wasp has a certain timeliness that transcends the ordinary SF adventure. We can not believe that one man could have such an impact; yet watching, step by step, we see not purple aliens but our own culture being rattled in the just the fashion the Sirians are here. We know that it will work. Today, when one terrorist act can panic an entire country and when whole armies are tied up chasing down a few hundred guerrillas, Wasp holds even more urgent message for us, particularly as Russell gives a blueprint for how one man may confound a nation--but so rooted are his successes in human nature and modern culture, he provides no clue as to how to deal with it. And that, perhaps, is this book's disturbing, serious message.
This book is great fun, but its underlying principles are, alas, timeless."
Chalker wrote this in 1986, yet when I read "when one terrorist act can panic an entire country" how can I not think of 9/11 and what that has done to our freedoms?
Overall Reaction: One of Russell's best novels and certainly one that is the most prophetic of his many stories, unfortunately.
===================================
Fantasia, an animated film by Disney
I think Fantasia is the best film Disney has ever made. It is a sheer joy to watch and listen to. The film is a celebration of color and sound and motion. I don't think I've ever seen anything that can match it, even with today's far more sophisticated computer graphics. The program ranges from Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (probably best known for its appearance in The Phantom of the Opera) which uses color and motion to illustrate the music to "Rites of Spring" in which the Disney animators provide the story of the evolution of the Earth and its life forms beginning with a single-celled animal and ending with the passing of the dinosaurs.
Probably the most famous part is the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" featuring Mickey Mouse who casts a spell on a broom and forgets how to stop it. My favorite though is Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (probably because of the music), which is set on Olympus and features flying horses, cupids, fauns, centaurs, various gods, Bacchus, and satyrs and a storm. And, who can forget those silly hippos, and knock-kneed ostriches, and slithery crocs (or gators?) in "The Nutcracker Suite."
Overall Reaction: now that it's been remastered and available, I'll be scheduling it for viewing at least once a year.
Some books and some films and some thoughts about them--
1. The Purple Plain, a film set in Burma during WWII
2. Michael Connelly: The Narrows, a thriller that brings together several of Connelly's characters from previous novels--Harry Bosch, Rachel Walling, The Poet
3. The Book of Eli, an SF film, post-holocaust
4. Anthony Trollope: Doctor Thorne
5. Eric Frank Russell: Wasp, an SF novel
6. Fantasia, the original Disney animated classic film
Warning: I will discuss significant plot elements and endings in some cases.
===================================
The Purple Plain (1954)
This is a WWII film set in Burma. Bill Forrester (Gregory Peck), a Canadian fighter pilot, risks his life and those of his crew when he takes unnecessary risks in combat. What appears to be driving him is the loss of his bride on their wedding night during a bombing raid on London. One of his fellow officers insists on telling Forrester that his problem is that he has nothing to live for back home, as he himself does--his wife and children. That's what keeps him going. It isn't clear if the obnoxious officer is aware of Forrester's personal tragedy. Forrester is forced by the unit's medical officer to socialize and eventually meets an attractive young Burmese woman at a party.
The obnoxious officer is transferred and Forrester is to fly him to his new station. During the flight, Forrester is forced to make a landing in rough terrain. Forrester and the obnoxious officer escape with minor bruises and scrapes, while the co-pilot suffers a broken leg.
The officer wishes to remain with the plane and wait for rescue. Forrester insists there won't be any search for them and their only hope for survival is to walk out, hoping to find a river and the inevitable village.
The rest of the film is predictable. The ironic twist is that the obnoxious officer who kept saying that he had something to live for is the one to give up in the end. The question is whether Forrester was able to go on even though he had nothing to live for, which would prove the other officer wrong, doubly wrong since the officer presumably did have something to live for and still gave up hope, or did the potential relationship with the Burmese woman give him that "something to live for.''
Overall Reaction: definitely not a large scale epic but a rather quiet film with more of an emphasis on a somewhat superficial focus on character rather than on action in combat.
What does the film have going for it? Gregory Peck! As expected, he gives a competent, convincing performance.
==================================
Michael Connelly
The Narrows
Mystery Type: Paid professional
Setting: West Coast, contemporary
This is sort of a sequel to Connelly's Blood Work, in which Terry McCaleb, an FBI profiler, tracks down the killer of the woman whose heart he had received as a transplant. It is set less than a year later. Disgraced FBI agent Rachel Walling, exiled to Rapid City, Iowa, gets an order to come to the Mohave Desert. The Poet, an ex-FBI profiler turned serial killer, is back. He's killed again and left a message: "Hello Rachel."
Harry Bosch, no longer with the LAPD, is contacted by McCaleb's widow. McCaleb died a short time after the events of Blood Work. She's not satisfied that his death was the result of an heart attack and wants Bosch to look into it.
Eventually the two supposedly separate investigations collide and conflict arises. Bosch and Walling find that they are on one side and the FBI on the other. The plot is a bit convoluted, as those who have read any of Connelly's other works can testify. As usual, things aren't what they seem to be, most of the time anyway. The fun is deciding which are what they seem to be and which aren't.
Connelly also has some fun with shifting levels of reality. In the novel, Blood Work, Terry McCaleb has a friend, Buddy Lockridge. During his investigation into McCaleb's death in the second novel, Bosch meets up with Lockridge. Lockridge is very unhappy and spends a considerable amount of time complaining about what happened to him in the film version. In Blood Work the film, Clint Eastwood plays the role of Terry McCaleb, and Buddy Lockridge suddenly becomes a villain who's only pretending to be McCaleb's friend in order to keep an eye on McCaleb's investigation. So, we have a fictional character complaining about his treatment in a real world film.
Overall Reaction: good, fast-paced complex thriller. Recommended.
==================================
The Book of Eli, a film
This is a post-holocaust film set some 30 years after the war. It has the same feel and some of the same elements as A Boy and His Dog (1975) and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, along with numerous other films. A lone traveler encounters a small community set in a wasteland, in which the inhabitants struggle to survive, partially by cannibalizing the ruins of pre-war cities and towns. The Boss of the town maintains control with a group of thugs. If the town survives and prospers, a century or so in the future, the Boss's heirs will be the nobility and the thugs will be either a military or a police force. Bards will sing of the ruling prince's noble ancestors.
This film, though, is a bit different. One can call it a quest film for the Boss has a goal. Carnegie (Gary Oldman) believes it's his destiny to reunite all of the area under him and that he can do it quickly and almost painlessly if he has the Book. For in the Book are the ways to say things that will convince people to follow him.
Eli (Denzel Washington), the lone traveler, also has a quest. A Voice has told him he must take to the West Coast the Book that he will be shown. There he will find people who can make copies of the book and share its wisdom with others. In this way, people can begin to rebuild and avoid the mistakes of the past. The Voice promises him that he will be protected as long as he follows the Path (a touch of Taoism there?).
Carnegie learns of Eli's book and decides that's the one he's looking for. He gives Eli a choice-- give it up voluntarily or involuntarily. This provides the major conflict in the film.
As can be expected, the film is action-oriented as Eli, with sword and pistol, routinely disposes of groups of five or more attackers. While the message of the Book is peace, the film focuses mostly on the other path.
Overall Reaction: action film primarily. Washington makes Eli a different sort of post-holocaust hero. Eli is almost comes across as a simple soul or perhaps Holy Fool in that he says what he means and expects others to accept what he has to say. Washington does a decent job in the part but I kept wishing that Morgan Freeman had been cast for the part.
===================================
Anthony Trollope
Doctor Thorne
Doctor Thorne is the third of the six novels in Trollope's Barsetshire series. I've read a number of his other works, and this one is a bit unusual. In most of Trollope's novels, there is a central problem: who is to get a particular position? who is the owner of the Eustace diamonds? how does one get elected to Parliament? what happens when a highly competent man is made prime minister but is no true politician? The main plots do not always end satisfactorily for those involved.
In addition to the main problem are one or more subplots, one of which invariably involves the young lovers. The course of true love does not run smoothly for Trollope's lovers, or at least not for the first 600 or 700 pages. Trollope manages to throw every obstacle he can think of in the path of the young lovers; feuding families, status or class differences, or as in this novel, financial concerns. Frank Gresham, the young heir, must "marry money," or the family estate will go bankrupt.
Regardless of the way the main plot turns out, Trollope always manages to bring the young lovers together in the last chapter or two. The only real question, therefore, is the way in which he manages to accomplish this.
The Greshams are deeply in debt to the Scatcherds. It's the classic contrast: the Greshams have status but no money, while the Scatcherds have money but no status. If Frank Gresham doesn't marry money soon, the Greshams will lose everything, for the Scatcherds are beginning to lose patience and are preparing to call in the loans.
The predictable happy ending for the young lovers is what makes this novel different, for if the young lovers do marry, then all will be well. Since Trollope's young lovers have always won out in the end, or at least they have in the ten or more novels I've read, then there is no question that Frank will "marry money" and in addition will wed his true love, Mary Thorne, the niece of Doctor Thorne. But, the main obstacle, aside from her somewhat suspect heritage, is that she is penniless. There is no way that marrying Mary will save the Gresham estate. Or, at least no way that anyone knows of, except for Doctor Thorne. Thus, the Gresham's are absolutely opposed to any marriage between Frank and Mary.
What Doctor Thorne knows and what nobody else knows is simply this. He knows the full story of Mary's parentage. Her mother, now living in Canada, is a Scatcherd. Old Scatcherd, about to die of alcoholism, has made his will and named his son, Young Scatcherd, his heir. If the son dies before he marries and has a child, the new heir will be the oldest child of Mary's mother, who is Mary. Young Scatcherd is also an alcoholic, but he lacks the physical stamina of his father. Doctor Thorne has warned him that he must change his ways or he will never reach his twenty-fifth year.
The characters are well-drawn and interesting. Frank's mother is the classic "mother from hell." One knows exactly what her reaction will be once she learns that Mary, whose possible marriage to Frank she was so violently opposed to, will not only inherit a sizable fortune, but also will be the Gresham family chief creditor.
Doctor Thorne is an extremely honest individual. Unfortunately, he also speaks his mind. He considers his fellow physicians to be quacks, and he says so. This makes him an outcast among the local medical fraternity. In fact, one of the main targets of Trollope's satirical pen in this novel is the medical profession.
Overall Reaction: although this lacks the drama of Trollope's other novels--the ending is known a short way into the story-- it still is an enjoyable read.
===================================
Eric Frank Russell
Wasp
Although first published in 1957, Wasp is even more appropriate today than it was then. It is not because of any scientific advances but simply human psychology.
Earth is at war with the Sirian Combine. It's been going on a long time, and the Terrans decide it's time for a different tactic. Agent James Mowry lived at one time, before the war, on a Sirian Combine planet and speaks the language flawlessly. He is surgically altered to resemble the native population on Jaimec, after being trained "in the arts of espionage, subversion, and propaganda." They sent him there alone to work behind the lines and do what he could to disrupt the manufacturing and shipment of war materials, to tie down troops that should be on the front lines, and to increase or create as much disaffection and dissatisfaction among the civilian population as possible.
My copy has an introduction by Jack Chalker, an Sf novelist, that was written in 1986. Chalker writes: "Wasp has a certain timeliness that transcends the ordinary SF adventure. We can not believe that one man could have such an impact; yet watching, step by step, we see not purple aliens but our own culture being rattled in the just the fashion the Sirians are here. We know that it will work. Today, when one terrorist act can panic an entire country and when whole armies are tied up chasing down a few hundred guerrillas, Wasp holds even more urgent message for us, particularly as Russell gives a blueprint for how one man may confound a nation--but so rooted are his successes in human nature and modern culture, he provides no clue as to how to deal with it. And that, perhaps, is this book's disturbing, serious message.
This book is great fun, but its underlying principles are, alas, timeless."
Chalker wrote this in 1986, yet when I read "when one terrorist act can panic an entire country" how can I not think of 9/11 and what that has done to our freedoms?
Overall Reaction: One of Russell's best novels and certainly one that is the most prophetic of his many stories, unfortunately.
===================================
Fantasia, an animated film by Disney
I think Fantasia is the best film Disney has ever made. It is a sheer joy to watch and listen to. The film is a celebration of color and sound and motion. I don't think I've ever seen anything that can match it, even with today's far more sophisticated computer graphics. The program ranges from Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (probably best known for its appearance in The Phantom of the Opera) which uses color and motion to illustrate the music to "Rites of Spring" in which the Disney animators provide the story of the evolution of the Earth and its life forms beginning with a single-celled animal and ending with the passing of the dinosaurs.
Probably the most famous part is the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" featuring Mickey Mouse who casts a spell on a broom and forgets how to stop it. My favorite though is Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (probably because of the music), which is set on Olympus and features flying horses, cupids, fauns, centaurs, various gods, Bacchus, and satyrs and a storm. And, who can forget those silly hippos, and knock-kneed ostriches, and slithery crocs (or gators?) in "The Nutcracker Suite."
Overall Reaction: now that it's been remastered and available, I'll be scheduling it for viewing at least once a year.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Combination Plate 4: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, SF by Edgar Pangborn, Christopher Priest's The Inverted World, and JM Gregson's Remains To Be Seen
Got a real mixed bag this time:
--first is a BBC production of Tolstoy's domestic romance tragedy Anna Karenina
--second work is a collection of short SF stories by an unfortunately neglected Edgar Pangborn,
--the third work is an SF novel by Christopher Priest, The Inverted World,
--and last is a mystery novel by J. M. Gregson, Remains To Be Seen.
Anna Karenina, DVD:
This was the ten part BBC production that was first broadcast in 1977. I had read the novel years ago, so while I felt that BBC took no really outrageous liberties with the text, I couldn't tell what changes had been made. I felt the overall flow of the dramatization was close to the Tolstoy's text.
What surprised me the most was the treatment of Karenin. I had seen several other productions over the years, and one of my major complaints had always been that he was treated as a complete monster. I hadn't gotten that feeling from the novel. One of the strengths of Tolstoy's work was his refusal to make angels and demons out of his characters. Even Levin and Kitty have their faults, even though they are the most sympathetically treated characters in the novel.
Karenin is not the unfeeling insensitive creature that the previous adaptions turned him into. While he's not a sensitive 90s guy, he does have strong feelings and can be a very generous person, as several of the characters point out, especially when Anna is involved. Unfortunately, his feelings push him into unfamiliar territory, and he relies on the help of a rigid pietistic meddler. Unfortunately she gains control over him and turns him into a moralizing Christian who stifles his most generous impulses. One can see at the end that he is torn between his own generous feelings and the rigid Christian attitudes imposed on him.
Nicola Pagett played the role of Anna and did a creditable job of it, except for a few scenes during the last part when she demonstrated Anna's growing unhappiness in some situations with a series of absurd face twitches and grimaces. Aside from those, she was quite convincing.
Alexei Vronsky was played by Stuart Wilson, who also did a credible job of convincing me that he had changed from the heartless, selfish, insensitive heartbreaker who played the game once too often and now was trapped in an impossible situation. However, he did not just bow out, as he probably would have if he hadn't changed considerably.
Eric Porter, in the role of Karenin, Anna's husband, was the star of the show, as far as I was concerned. He did a masterful job of portraying a man who has a generous nature that has been entombed within the myriad rules and roles that constrain a man of importance. Under stress it does emerge though, surprising Anna and Vronsky, and I think, him also.
Overall Rating: Very good. It is long, ten episodes, but worth the time spent watching it.
====================================================================
Edgar Pangborn: Good Neighbors and Other Strangers
This is a collection of SF short stories by the author of Davy, A Mirror for Observers, and West of the Sun. The most significant work, and the longest also, in the collection is "Angel's Egg," probably his finest short work.
The theme throughout is the relationship between humans and alien visitors. The first story, "Good neighbors" seems to exemplify Frost's poem, "Mending Wall" and the necessity of walls when livestock is involved. The appropriate line in the poem reads, "'Good fences make good neighbors'." But, since the livestock belongs to alien visitors, the problem goes beyond that of simply grazing in a neighbor's field or trampling a garden.
"Longtooth" is the story of a lovesick Sasquatch or Bigfoot in Maine, who kidnaps a housewife whose her husband subsequently is suspected of murdering her, not without reason, as most townspeople would admit.
"The Posonby Case" is about a police officer who is trying to write a report that won't get him fired or disciplined for drinking on duty. His task is simply to explain why a naked man ended up in the elephant cage at the local zoo.
Ab Thompson, in "Pickup for Olympus," is so entranced by the pickup model that he fails to notice that the driver, who asked him if this was the way to Olympus, has cloven hooves and horns on his head, while the woman in the back of the pickup is lounging around with a full grown leopard and a half dozen "shy little goats."
"Angel's Egg" is one of those rare stories, at least for the 50s when this was written for it tells of aliens who have come here quietly to help us survive. The 'fifties was the most serious and deadly period of the Cold War. A nuclear war seemed almost inevitable at that time. It was his first published science fiction story, and it appeared in Galaxy Magazine in 1951. It immediately established him as a writer with serious potential and his novels, especially Davy and A Mirror For Observers justified that evaluation.
Overall Rating: some very good stories here, and sufficient variety for almost everyone to find a favorite.
====================================================================
Christopher Priest: The Inverted World, an SF novel
Imagine a city, rather long and narrow, that travels on what are railroad tracks. The city travels very slowly and sometimes it doesn't move at all. This gives the Trackmen time enough to pick up the track that the city has just travelled on and rush it to the front of the city and place it down for the city to pass over it again. And that's the most normal part of Priest's world.
Strange things happen to those who walk back where the city/train has come from or go far in advance of it. One's perspective changes or rather the geography changes. A gorge which took weeks for the Trackmen to build a bridge over it now becomes, just days later, a crack in the earth which a person's foot could easily span. Time passes differently if one goes back or goes forward in front of the city/train. A week's trip turns out to be a day or so long, or perhaps several months in duration when one returns.
Who are these people? Where are they? How did they get in this situation? Did all this really come about as an attempt to solve the energy crisis?
Overall Rating: intriguing concept. While his description of the city/train culture/society is brief, the novel is 240+ pages long, it does give one a good overview, even if the day-to-day working is obscure. The main character is sympathetic, and one can easily identify with him as he is as ignorant of the overall situation as the reader. His bewilderment is ours.
Overall Rating: good. Some problems but the story is a grabber as the reader tries to make sense of the situation.
====================================================================
J. M. Gregson: Remains To Be Seen, a mystery novel
Police Procedural: England
Gregson has approximately 35 novels out at this time, most of which belong to two police procedural series. This novel belongs to the "Detective Inspector Peach and Detective Sergeant Lucy Blake" series. He has a second series which features the crimes solved by Superintendent John Lambert and Detective Sergeant Bert Hook.
This is my first exposure to a work by Gregson, and perhaps it may be my last. The plot is fairly standard and characterization is about what one might expect from a writer who has churned out some 35 novels since his first was published in 1989.
The major problem that I have with him is stylistic, his descriptions of his characters. For example, the narrator tells us that his men said about Peach that "You got a fair deal, if you worked for Percy Peach...You didn't get an easy ride, but you didn't expect one. You'd get the occasional fierce bollocking, but only if you didn't stick to Percy's strict rules. If you did, he'd support you, even when things went wrong. His loyalty and affection for his team were never expressed--DCI Peach would have considered that a weakness--but they were unswerving."
We are told later that the police officer assigned to handle the phones, Brendan Murphy, "was both sensitive and patient, the ideal man to deal sympathetically with calls which had to be listened to, but which you knew within ten seconds were going to be a waste of police time. He was also shrewd and intelligent: if the one call in a hundred came through which was vital, he wouldn't miss out on it."
These descriptions of the perfect members of the police are found throughout the work--a more perfect group of people who couldn't find anywhere else.
One more quibble: the solution of the crime came through the hackneyed element of the murderer saying something and the officer recognizing that only the murderer could have known this.
Overall Rating: I might read one more of his works, but in the other series, about police officers Lambert and Hook. If that one exhibits similar characteristics, I shall spend my time more profitably reading elsewhere.
--first is a BBC production of Tolstoy's domestic romance tragedy Anna Karenina
--second work is a collection of short SF stories by an unfortunately neglected Edgar Pangborn,
--the third work is an SF novel by Christopher Priest, The Inverted World,
--and last is a mystery novel by J. M. Gregson, Remains To Be Seen.
Anna Karenina, DVD:
This was the ten part BBC production that was first broadcast in 1977. I had read the novel years ago, so while I felt that BBC took no really outrageous liberties with the text, I couldn't tell what changes had been made. I felt the overall flow of the dramatization was close to the Tolstoy's text.
What surprised me the most was the treatment of Karenin. I had seen several other productions over the years, and one of my major complaints had always been that he was treated as a complete monster. I hadn't gotten that feeling from the novel. One of the strengths of Tolstoy's work was his refusal to make angels and demons out of his characters. Even Levin and Kitty have their faults, even though they are the most sympathetically treated characters in the novel.
Karenin is not the unfeeling insensitive creature that the previous adaptions turned him into. While he's not a sensitive 90s guy, he does have strong feelings and can be a very generous person, as several of the characters point out, especially when Anna is involved. Unfortunately, his feelings push him into unfamiliar territory, and he relies on the help of a rigid pietistic meddler. Unfortunately she gains control over him and turns him into a moralizing Christian who stifles his most generous impulses. One can see at the end that he is torn between his own generous feelings and the rigid Christian attitudes imposed on him.
Nicola Pagett played the role of Anna and did a creditable job of it, except for a few scenes during the last part when she demonstrated Anna's growing unhappiness in some situations with a series of absurd face twitches and grimaces. Aside from those, she was quite convincing.
Alexei Vronsky was played by Stuart Wilson, who also did a credible job of convincing me that he had changed from the heartless, selfish, insensitive heartbreaker who played the game once too often and now was trapped in an impossible situation. However, he did not just bow out, as he probably would have if he hadn't changed considerably.
Eric Porter, in the role of Karenin, Anna's husband, was the star of the show, as far as I was concerned. He did a masterful job of portraying a man who has a generous nature that has been entombed within the myriad rules and roles that constrain a man of importance. Under stress it does emerge though, surprising Anna and Vronsky, and I think, him also.
Overall Rating: Very good. It is long, ten episodes, but worth the time spent watching it.
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Edgar Pangborn: Good Neighbors and Other Strangers
This is a collection of SF short stories by the author of Davy, A Mirror for Observers, and West of the Sun. The most significant work, and the longest also, in the collection is "Angel's Egg," probably his finest short work.
The theme throughout is the relationship between humans and alien visitors. The first story, "Good neighbors" seems to exemplify Frost's poem, "Mending Wall" and the necessity of walls when livestock is involved. The appropriate line in the poem reads, "'Good fences make good neighbors'." But, since the livestock belongs to alien visitors, the problem goes beyond that of simply grazing in a neighbor's field or trampling a garden.
"Longtooth" is the story of a lovesick Sasquatch or Bigfoot in Maine, who kidnaps a housewife whose her husband subsequently is suspected of murdering her, not without reason, as most townspeople would admit.
"The Posonby Case" is about a police officer who is trying to write a report that won't get him fired or disciplined for drinking on duty. His task is simply to explain why a naked man ended up in the elephant cage at the local zoo.
Ab Thompson, in "Pickup for Olympus," is so entranced by the pickup model that he fails to notice that the driver, who asked him if this was the way to Olympus, has cloven hooves and horns on his head, while the woman in the back of the pickup is lounging around with a full grown leopard and a half dozen "shy little goats."
"Angel's Egg" is one of those rare stories, at least for the 50s when this was written for it tells of aliens who have come here quietly to help us survive. The 'fifties was the most serious and deadly period of the Cold War. A nuclear war seemed almost inevitable at that time. It was his first published science fiction story, and it appeared in Galaxy Magazine in 1951. It immediately established him as a writer with serious potential and his novels, especially Davy and A Mirror For Observers justified that evaluation.
Overall Rating: some very good stories here, and sufficient variety for almost everyone to find a favorite.
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Christopher Priest: The Inverted World, an SF novel
Imagine a city, rather long and narrow, that travels on what are railroad tracks. The city travels very slowly and sometimes it doesn't move at all. This gives the Trackmen time enough to pick up the track that the city has just travelled on and rush it to the front of the city and place it down for the city to pass over it again. And that's the most normal part of Priest's world.
Strange things happen to those who walk back where the city/train has come from or go far in advance of it. One's perspective changes or rather the geography changes. A gorge which took weeks for the Trackmen to build a bridge over it now becomes, just days later, a crack in the earth which a person's foot could easily span. Time passes differently if one goes back or goes forward in front of the city/train. A week's trip turns out to be a day or so long, or perhaps several months in duration when one returns.
Who are these people? Where are they? How did they get in this situation? Did all this really come about as an attempt to solve the energy crisis?
Overall Rating: intriguing concept. While his description of the city/train culture/society is brief, the novel is 240+ pages long, it does give one a good overview, even if the day-to-day working is obscure. The main character is sympathetic, and one can easily identify with him as he is as ignorant of the overall situation as the reader. His bewilderment is ours.
Overall Rating: good. Some problems but the story is a grabber as the reader tries to make sense of the situation.
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J. M. Gregson: Remains To Be Seen, a mystery novel
Police Procedural: England
Gregson has approximately 35 novels out at this time, most of which belong to two police procedural series. This novel belongs to the "Detective Inspector Peach and Detective Sergeant Lucy Blake" series. He has a second series which features the crimes solved by Superintendent John Lambert and Detective Sergeant Bert Hook.
This is my first exposure to a work by Gregson, and perhaps it may be my last. The plot is fairly standard and characterization is about what one might expect from a writer who has churned out some 35 novels since his first was published in 1989.
The major problem that I have with him is stylistic, his descriptions of his characters. For example, the narrator tells us that his men said about Peach that "You got a fair deal, if you worked for Percy Peach...You didn't get an easy ride, but you didn't expect one. You'd get the occasional fierce bollocking, but only if you didn't stick to Percy's strict rules. If you did, he'd support you, even when things went wrong. His loyalty and affection for his team were never expressed--DCI Peach would have considered that a weakness--but they were unswerving."
We are told later that the police officer assigned to handle the phones, Brendan Murphy, "was both sensitive and patient, the ideal man to deal sympathetically with calls which had to be listened to, but which you knew within ten seconds were going to be a waste of police time. He was also shrewd and intelligent: if the one call in a hundred came through which was vital, he wouldn't miss out on it."
These descriptions of the perfect members of the police are found throughout the work--a more perfect group of people who couldn't find anywhere else.
One more quibble: the solution of the crime came through the hackneyed element of the murderer saying something and the officer recognizing that only the murderer could have known this.
Overall Rating: I might read one more of his works, but in the other series, about police officers Lambert and Hook. If that one exhibits similar characteristics, I shall spend my time more profitably reading elsewhere.
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