March Reading

You Can't Stop Me is from 1963 and is 158 pages.  It was written by "Don Elliot," one of Silverberg's many false names.  This one takes the prize for the most outrageous novel I have ever read.  It's about a serial killer (58 victims no less) who strangles the women either during sex with them or just before.  This is a story about a real sicko, and I find it hard to believe that Silverberg needs cash so badly that he would allow this one to be republished.  He even writes a short intro to the volume, excusing himself because "times were different then."  Umm.  Not so different, really.  Silverberg wrote more sleaze novels than all his other fiction and non-fiction combined.  And I used to wonder, when reading his SF, why women never played major roles in a majority of his stories.  I truly think the man had a problem with women, and anyone brave enough to read this book would likely agree.  One for the trash heap.  There is nothing I can think of about the story that redeems it.  If I needed an excuse to stop reading Silverberg, this is it.  Avoid this one.

From 1984 comes Kenneth Bulmer's 154 page novel Delia of Vallia, #28 in the Dray Prescott series.  It makes a terrific change to finally find out what Dray Prescott's counterpart gets up to while he is off on his adventures.  The Empress is a Sister of the Rose, a secret organization of females trained as warriors but out to do good.  They work with hospitals, orphans, women in perilous situations that need assistance, as well as helping out in putting down rebellions in Vallia.  When some of the sisters are being recruited by a rival women's group to help bring down Vallia, Delia is sent to the hot spot to find out what is going on.  The plot mostly concerns women, though there are some memorable male characters as well.  Delia goes through nearly as many hardships as her galavanting husband, and by the end of this tale readers have even more respect for this true Empress of a woman.  Bulmer pulls no punches in showing how Delia is humiliated before she strikes back.  Highly enjoyable and a much needed change of pace for the series.  My Kindle edition included a very short story by Bulmer taking place in the same world, but not directly related to this series.  Called "Lallia The Slave Girl" it recounts the revenge one such female gets on her brutal master.  The story has become a legend and oft told on Scorpio.  

 

E. C. Tubb's Hills of Blood, an aptly named western from 1965, is 145 pages long.  The basic story involves a group of Confederate prisoners of war being asked to help man an understaffed western fort, thus aiding the Union troops.  There is considerable resentment, but the captain of the imprisoned men tells them it's better than starving and freezing to death in prison.  There is a secret gold mine involved in the plot, and a few rebel soldiers not too anxious to fight Indians for the Union.  As per usual, Tubb sympathizes with the Indians and their great loss of land and lifestyle.  He has also had a very upstanding Confederate soldier or former soldier in a lead role more than once in his westerns.  Just reading this series of novels one can learn a lot about Plains Indians from that time.  All of his western novels are recommended reading.  I had expected something quite different when I began reading them.  This is the final one.  Recommended.

 

In the final volume of the violent Lone Wolf vigilante series, we finally witness the complete collapse of Wulf's sanity, and his final demise at the hands of his one-time partner and friend Williams.  Philadelphia Blowup is from 1975 and is a brief but intense 120 pages.  Malzberg has created a memorable character in Wulf, one that is beyond human in his actions and abilities.  His one goal is to eliminate the upper echelon of drug dealers, but once he has eliminated them his task has barely begun.  This is what finally drives him to madness; the fact that despite all he has done, he has barely started in making a dent on American drug use.  During the series Malzberg gets to deal alot with bigshot people who are about to die, despite the fact they believe themselves invulnerable.  There is a sameness to the boldest of the kingpin men, which quickly evaporates when they realize that Wulf will now kill them.  Malzberg also gets to use one of his strongest points as a writer, that of a madman justifying his actions any way he can.  Inner voices are a specialty with Malzberg, and he gets plenty of opportunity in these novels.  The story ends with two afterwords from Malzberg, dated 2022, where he continues to sound off about the real reasons for the Vietnam war, as well as what really happens during the "war on drugs."  He is an interesting writer with plenty of ideas and strong opinions, and even in this offbeat series he manages to delve deeper than many hard fiction writers into today's problems and their root causes.  It is a difficult series to recommend because of all the violence, and the fact that it is all aimed at a male audience.  There are too many killings and too much of the same kind of storyline, though the final five books do deviate considerably from the first nine.  At least the author brought things to a definite conclusion, unlike many other long running series.  

 

Moving on to my unrestricted reading choices, I began with the second crime novel by Ghanian author Kwei Quartey.  Children of the Street is a sometimes shocking and heartbreaking story of life in Accra, the capital and largest city in Ghana.  A serial killer is murdering teenage street kids, using ritualistic methods that are cruel and outrageous.  Detective Darko Dawson tackles the crime series, and we get more than a glimpse of life on the streets in a poverty stricken zone of the city.  The problem is almost unbelievable for a western observer, but the long list of acknowledgements at the end of the novel indicates how much research went into the story.  The author is also a practicing M.D.  Like in the novels of Tony Hillerman, set on lands populated by the Navajo Nation, we learn a lot about Ghana and its people in these stories.  The first book was set in the smaller places in the north of the country, but here we are hit full face by modern Accra and the problems it faces.  Quartey writes in a simple fashion, not using large words or complicated sentences or overly constructed plots.  The writing and story is simple and straightforward, suitable no doubt for high school age children, though the material is considerably dark.  Highly recommended.

 

I read the Kindle edition.
 

I keep hoping I will come across a novel by Vita Sackville-West that I actually enjoy reading.  Challenge, written in 1920, is not it.  Sackville's writing seems to me vague, wispy, and without grounding.  The novel was banned in the UK until 1974 or 1976, though I cannot see nor think of a single reason why.  It is a pretty fluffy concoction, set in the Greek Isles at the time they sought independence, but Greece was coming for them.  There is nothing in the story except petty politics and a perverse kind of selfish love.  Julian and Eve are cousins, both very young (22 and 19).  though they fight and argue constantly, they are in love.  She wants love unconditionally, and admits that even if he had a dog she would be too jealous of it to live peaceably with Julian.  His interest in helping some of the islands revolt against their Greek masters is, to her, too much to compete against.  So she aids the Greeks in reconquering the islands, and sees Julian exiled.  She then realizes that she has destroyed him by taking away his fight for freedom, so she goes out and drowns herself.  At the last minute she has second thoughts, but alas, it is too late.  She is likely one of the most unlikable female characters I have ever encountered in a novel, with almost no redeeming qualities.  I say almost, for she does love, but her kind of absolute love is a perversion of the word, in my opinion.  She is not even above luring on a priest who takes to her, driving him mad with desire for her.  When he is rejected, he kills himself (or trips over his garment, we never know for certain which).  Not recommended.  But stay tuned; her next novel is Orlando, so maybe there is some hope yet.  For a much better novel showing a female writer pushing boundaries (sand having them come back to bite her) read Kate Chopin's The Awakening, from 1899.

 

Mrs. Warren's Profession, from 1893, is another early play by G. B Shaw, one that was banned from performance for several years after publication.  The play is prefaced in my Kindle edition (Delphi Classics) by a long tirade against censorship by the author, and indeed is more interesting to read than the play itself.   Not put on the stage until 1902, it tells the story of a woman who runs a house of prostitution, using the earnings to ensure her daughter receives the best education available to her.  The play was savagely attacked as "unnatural."  Shaw's lengthy response is, as one can imagine if one knows of Shaw's critical skills, right on the mark.  The play itself is in 4 acts, each taking about 20' to read.  Apparently even mention of such a woman was enough to cause apoplexy in the theatre critics of the time.  the opening performance audience loved the play, especially the women.  However, the next performance was for the critics,and thus history is made.  If anything, Shaw's a bit overboard on his "modern" woman, casting her a person not seeking love, adventure, beauty, or truth.  Instead, she wants to work in an office and use her skills of higher calculation (she is a university graduate in high standing), and never wants a vacation.  While it is admirable that she wants to leave her background and dubious friendships behind, I'm not too impressed with her life goals.  She sounds remarkably like an AI version of a calculator.  The play has amusing moments, but is mostly a scathing social commentary and assessment of the options for employment open to women of the time.  It is easy reading, and overall brings up many valid points about the English labour market of the time as it pertains to females.  Recommended.

 

Lost Worlds is a vast collection of 24 stories from 1944 by Clark Ashton Smith.  Smith's stories, for me, put most of Lovecraft's work to shame.  Smith is a writer, whereas Lovecraft was not.  Smith can set an eerie atmosphere with very few words, capturing an entire setting easily and craftily.  Smith is best at hinting at horrors, rather than trying to always describe them outright, and telling us how horrifying they are.  He lets readers decide what is horrifying and what isn't.  The first story is classic Smith.  "Empire of the Necromancers" is set in Zothique, the last continent to survive near the end of the Sun's life.  Earth is mostly dust and gloom, but two evil wizards decide to use their evil skills to repopulate a province that was decimated by plague.  They conjure up the dead people that once lived there, and turn them into zombie slaves.  Smith set many of his best stories in Zothique (see the Ballantine Fantasy volume edited by Lin Carter), and this one is characteristic of them.  If you are looking for a unique atmosphere for tales of wizardry, look no further.  

Next comes "The Isle of the Torturer," a much less successful story no doubt written to bring to life some lurid cover for Weird Tales.  A King sees his kingdom vanquished by a plague called the Silver Death.  His chief wizard gives him a ring that saves the king alone.  So far so good.  He sets sail for a friendly island and is shipwrecked instead on the title isle.  From here on the story degenerates quickly into nothing but horrible tortures.  One neat twist is the cruel girl who pretends to be trying to help him, but is only keeping him and his hopes alive so that he might live to be tortured for one more day.  His original wizard told him to never take off his ring, for the Silver Death will emerge.  At last it is time to take off the ring, but how?  He is tied up and on a torture wheel.  Read and find out how the king gets his revenge.

"Necromancy in Nat" sees Prince Yadar's intended bride kidnapped while he is on a hunting trip.  He goes on a worldwide search for her.  He ends up shipwrecked on Nat, an island of wizards and their zombie slaves.  This story is a bit more coherent than the one above, and begins as as normal kind of adventure, but quickly jumps into Sinbad the Sailor territory.  The ending is very unexpected yet perfect.  One of the author's better tales.

"Xeethra" is one of the best.  A shepherd boy wanders into a strange and lush valley with his drought starved and thirsty sheep, one that he has never before seen.  He discovers a cave entrance and following the dark passage emerges in a strange land filled with springs, healthy trees, and promising lands.  He plucks a fruit from a tree and eats it and his life is transformed.  The fruit brings back ancestral memories of when he was King of a great city on the seashore, and he sets out to find his city.  People he meets think he is quite mad, but after a long and harrowing search he comes to the ruins of a once-great city.  This adventure story is very well written and full of surprises, and as atmospheric as any by the author.  It is like reading the very best Dunsany adventure.

"The Holiness of Azerdarac" is a tale from medieval Averoigne, oen of several such tales written by Smith.  A young priest is sent to investigate a bishop suspected of foul magical deeds.  Brother Ambrosa discovers more than he wishes to, and sets out on his return journey to his own city to report on his findings.  But he never makes it home.  Instead, he has adventures where he journeys back 700 years, encounters a seductive sorceress, than is sent back into a future time, and then back again to the sorceress who tried to send him back to his own time.  It's not as confusing as it sounds, and is actually well written.  Many of these tales would make an excellent series of short films!

"The Beast of Averoigne" takes place in the year 1369, describing events near an abbey as a bright comet slowly passes through the heavens.  This is another very effective tale, and again would make for a great short film, or even a feature if handled well.

"The Letter From Mohau Los", or "Flight Into Super-Time" is a very poor time travel tale, characteristic of many badly written SF stories from the late 30s and 40s.  Stick to H. G. Wells on this theme.  Most of the story is description, with very little in the way of plot.  So many loopholes....

"The Light From Beyond" is a novelette about an artist (he likes to illustrate stories by Poe), who, while in seclusion in an isolated mountain cabin, has an other-worldly experience that changes him forever.  Inter-dimensional travel to an alien world will do that to a person.  He eats a somewhat forbidden fruit there and undergoes what might be regarded as an LSD trip.  Interesting story, especially the lead up to solving the mystery before he travels.

"The Hunters From Beyond" is about a writer of macabre tales and his cousin, a sculptor of devilish creatures.  Very few, if any, of Smith's stories have a happy ending.  The burden this time falls on the innocent artist's model, who is kidnapped by demons.  She isn't at all the same when she returns.  As usual, the story has an interesting exposition.

"The Treader of the Dust" is a short tale about a man deeply into studying the dark arts.  He ends up conjuring an entity that rapidly ages everything around it, including his butler and himself.

"The Last Incantation" is another brief story, this one about a sorcerer in Poseidonis, the last standing isle of Atlantis.  Smith wrote a number of tales about the lost continent.

"A Voyage To Stanomoe" describes how two powerful wizards of Poseidonas, after failing to find a solution to the island's destruction, flee in their spacecraft to Venus.  A very weird tale with a remarkable ending.  Smith's imagination is beyond categorizing. 

"The Death of Malygris" is classic Smith, a tale of an evil and all-powerful wizard in Poseidonis who takes taxes from traders.  the king has finally had enough, and summons 12 wizards to aid his main wizard in doing away with Malygris.  It turns out that Malygris has been dead a long time already, and is just sitting in his chair atop his tower.  Or is he dead?  Two expeditions set out to find the truth.  A wonderful tale of black sorcery!

"The Tale of Zatampa Zeiros" is one of the best short stories of wizardry ever written, and it is likely that it greatly influenced a young Fritz Leiber.  Two fearless thieves set out to loot a cursed and forbidden ruined city.  Unfortunately, their luck has run out on this mission.  Great writing, showing a humourous side to Smith.!

"The Doors To Saturn" is a bizarre tale of a wizard who becomes interested in dark magic and a god that might be worth visiting.  He is being pursued by an inquisition priest.  After creating a method of visiting the god, who happens to dwell on Saturn, he disappears in a most unusual way.  But he is followed by the priest, who wants him arrested for worshipping a dark god.  The two eventually become entangled with a low grade civilization on Saturn, before escaping certain death and moving on to a somewhat higher life form.  More humour can be found here than chills, but again proving Smith's nearly limitless imagination.

"The Seven Geases" is yet another humourous look at human interactions with gods.  A royal hunter disturbs a wizard, ruining it with his intrusion.  As a punishment the hunter is sent into the netherworld to serve an evil god.  When that god has no need of him, he is sent on to a 2nd god, and so on until the 7th god is reached, releasing him from his fate.  along the way the hunter, weaponless, encounters all manner of nasty beasts that wish to devour him, but his protected by a primitive bird from the original wizard, to ensure he makes it safely to the intended god.  The sudden ending of the story satirizes the writer's problem of having to stop writing when a certain amount of words have been reached, as laid out by pulp editors.

"The Coming of The White Worm" tells of a giant iceberg and its evil being that flow south, freezing everything and everyone in its path.  One wizard will someday possess the key to destroying the awful beast.  Will he be able to do it?  With Smith, one never knows.  Again, this is one of the most bizarre stories I have ever read.  It would make a good folk tale explaining the ice age.

"The Maze of Maal Dweb" is one of Smith's best tales, as a barbarian matches wits with a wizard who has kidnapped his intended bride.  In Smith's writing, barbarians do not have much of a chance.  Atmospheric but also humourous.

"The Flower Woman" is a sequel to the above story, where the wizard Maal Dweb heads off seeking new adventures.  The story has a very abrupt ending, but is a pretty good one up to that point.  Dweb pits his resources against seven other wizards who are trying to elevate themselves to a dangerous lever of wizardry, and must be stopped before that happens.

"The Demon of the Flowers" tells of an evil power that inhabits a flower, and gives them dominance over humans.  When a female human is to be sacrificed to feed the evil power, the king tries to finally put a stop to things.  This is as Smith story, so his success is somewhat tempered by failure.

"The Plutonian Drug" is a silly story with an ending that is far too predictable, and makes the main protagonist look like a complete idiot.  A man takes a drug that allows him to see so far into his past and into his future.  But his future goes dark as he enters a lane way shortcut at night.  Hmm.  Wonder what might happen.  When the drug wears off he wonders that exact thing, as he takes the shortcut through the lane way.

"The Planet of the Dead" is a trans-dimensional love story, cloaked in sadness and lost memories.  A good tale as an antique collector and amateur astronomer leaves Earth for another existence in another place and another time.  He spends a brief month there before returning.

"The Gorgon" is the real thing.  The head of the Gorgon is well and living in London, and still turning direct onlookers into stone.  A man grieving his dead wife travels the world, stopping in London where he is accosted on the street and promised a mirrored look at the real thing.  He accepts, and his adventure begins.  Unusual, even for Smith.

 

Original hardcover publication.  I read the Kindle edition. 

Mapman Mike
 

Everybody's Gone To The Rapture

This is another brilliant PC game from the people who brought us Dear Esther.  Less a game than an interactive story, Rapture relies largely on mood and atmosphere to beguile the player.  The village of Yaughton is home to an observatory with several telescopes, and it is invaded by a mysterious other-worldly light source, a type of energy that seems to absorb the people of the village.  The player arrives after the town is empty of people, and we get glimpses into their lives and personal troubles as we visit sites that still have particles of energy in them, and pieces of a story to tell.  The player wanders for an entire day, from morning till nightfall, and can go just about anywhere, except when blocked by fences, hedge rows, blockades, etc.  There is even a thunderstorm at one point, humourously added as one arrives at the lake and holiday camp. We are led through the game by a powerful ball of pure energy.  If one gets stumped on where to go next, merely stand still for a few minutes and the energy will reappear and lead the way again.  For PC gamers it's best to turn off the tuning system, otherwise too much time is wasted trying to retrieve messages at certain points.  Once this feature is turned off, simply approach the light source and left click until things begin to happen.  Then step back and watch the show.  Rapture, like Esther, is a sad game with a sad story to tell, and there are some very moving moments.  The game saves itself at certain points, and one has to watch carefully for them, as the game will not allow players to save.  The scenery is quite vivid and spectacular, and the light changes as the day progresses.  The music is good enough to just listen to on its own.  This is a highly recommended game, and worth playing more than once.  I have already played Esther 3x, so I will likely replay this one, too.  A classic!

 

There are "You Are Here" maps scattered throughout the village, so the player can usually find where they are easily.  The entire village gets explored.

 

  

As one wanders in and out of houses and businesses in Rapture, framed art is encountered on the walls.  All of the art is taken from screenshots within the game. 

In Homestead news, another health problem has cropped up for Deb.  She had a bladder and kidney ultrasound lab test last week, and it showed a blockage of some type in one of her kidneys.  She is now awaiting a CTI to further pinpoint the cause and size of this blockage.  This could be the cause of much of her illness over the winter.  She was able to finally go for her routine teeth cleaning last week as well, and we both had some blood work done.  More health news as it happens.

 

I had two excellent starry nights this past session, and managed to stay out four hours each night in sub-freezing temperatures.  I was able to finally observe winter constellations, which are by now nearly gone from view.  Those were my first doable observations since November 7th.  It's been a terrible year for observing, and now that we have daylight savings time I don't get to be till after 2 am.  And that will get later and later as summer approaches.

 

Great Lakes shipping has fully resumed, with the opening of the upper locks sat the Soo.  It's been busy already, with ships gliding by regularly now.  This time of year we have nearly unobstructed views of the river, and the colourful parade of ships, both lakers and salties, are a welcome addition to the neighbourhood activity.  We also have four kinds of flowers booming in our front garden at the moment, too. and today is very warm.  Meanwhile in Sudbury they just had another snowstorm, and Toronto and area is currently amidst an ice storm, with lots of power out in that area.

 

The CSL Laurentien, one of five ships I watch over the shipping season, makes its first voyage of the new season.  It will travel between Quebec City/Montreal and Thunder Bay from late March to late December.

 

The first salty of the year that I managed to see pass by.  This is the Patagonman, flagged out of Singapore.

Our front garden with snowdrops, a dwarf iris, a few well hidden crocuses, and just blooming today, our daffs! 

 

In piano news, it is time!  I begin my performances next Saturday for a few piano friends, then again on April 11th for non-piano friends, and once again sometime after the 20th.  The program is made out, and I will post it here soon.

 

In film news there is one to report.  The Saragossa Manuscript is a three hour Polish film from 1965, in b & w.  Deb found out about it on one of her film blogs, and found it playing on Youtube in a very decent print.  Modeled somewhat on Canterbury Tales and Arabian Knights adventures, the story within a story format can grow a bit confusing at times.  The first part of the film, and the ending, are quite good, but it really sags in the middle a lot.  A strange illustrated book is found and two soldiers, in the midst of a battle for a city, discover it and begin to read it, ignoring what is going on around them.  Then the story telling begins, with supernatural elements mixed in with mundane period soap opera elements.  Recommended as a rare oddity, the film could use some trimming, and perhaps male leads who are a bit more attractive and lively to watch.

 

The film is playing on Youtube.  It is as good print, and the yellow subtitles help a lot. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Vernal Equinox

We celebrated last Thursday's Vernal Equinox with an afternoon/evening party, and except for two medical appointments for Deb it was a very fun day.  One of those was simply an ultrasound scan of bladder and kidneys, with results expected tomorrow.  It is a very uncomfortable test; I had one the week before.  You have to drink a lot water beforehand, and then hold everything in until the scan is finished.  Not much fun.  Then Deb had a physio appointment, and she made a great connection with her therapist, who gave her exercises to do at home.  All in all Deb has been progressing well of late.

 

One of the things we do at Equinox is draw new Tarot cards for the following six weeks.  Deb was able to get rid of her burning house card, which she has had since Dec. 21st.  Was it a coincidence that she was so sick all that time?  And my card, which was a cloudy, snowy, gloomy landscape, is now one that shows clear skies and a giant comet passing overhead.  It is called The Star, and is one of the major arcana.  Deb's new card is also a major arcana, called Sovereignty.  We both scored well!

 

Deb's new Tarot card for the cycle up to April 30th. 

 

As to my card, it has already brought me a usable and quite fabulous clear night for astronomy.   Saturday night for the first usable night I have had since November 7th.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, ye unbelievers.  I put in 4 hours at the eyepiece, and it was like a dream come true.  Winter constellations are passing quickly from view, but I managed to catch a few major objects before spring ones take over.  I observed from 9 pm till 1 am.  It was very chilly and damp by then (24 F), so I packed it in.  I've been working on my notes all day Sunday and I am not quite finished yet.

 

Another tradition on Equinox is to take down our winter art from the walls and replace with appropriate Spring art.  We now have Deb's large painting of Knight Peak on the wall, and a beautiful framed print of a rabbit that I bought in NM many moons ago.  I chose Parsifal, Wagner's final completed opera, for our day of listening.  The opera is about 4 hrs. and 20' of music, taking up 4 CDs.  We started to listen a week before, during our March full moon party, and managed to finish it on Equinox.  Themes from the opera continue to run through our heads.  Over the past year we have been listening to the complete Wagner opera canon, and we only have Twilight of The Gods left.  Once we hear it, it will be my 4th (?) time through the entire Ring cycle.

 

In TV news, we completed the final season of Star Trek: Next Generation, and have moved on to Picard, Season 2.   Both Wesley Crusher and Q figure big in the final season, so be warned.  And Q has now returned in Season 2 of Picard.  There's just no getting rid of the guy, and this theme continues to show the paucity of creative SF writing on TV.

 

We watched a rather uninteresting 4-part series on Britbox of Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocence.  Virtually every character is unlikable, including the woman murdered.  She is especially unlikable.  So if the murdered person is a piece of rot, and the other characters are totally unlikable, what is there to make one enjoy watching?  From 2018 it stars Bill Nighy and a bunch of other people.  Not recommended, though the TV series likely has very little to do with Christie's novel.

 

Now we come to one of the best films either of us has ever seen.  Read that last sentence again before continuing.  The film is called Grand Theft Hamlet.  Conceived and filmed during Covid lockdowns, the filmmakers attempt to perform the full play Hamlet inside the crazy and violent world of Grand Theft Auto.  The film is so brilliant that it is difficult to find accolades that do it justice.  From 2024 (UK) it was directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, a husband and wife team who go through a marriage crisis at times at how much time he is spending inside the game world.  So many hilarious things happen during the attempt to gather actors and audience that the film can justifiably be called a comedy.  At the same time there are moments of great poignancy, and greater truths emerge from the most unlikely scenes.  One of the most remarkable and offbeat ideas to ever get put on film, the handling is just as good.  Highly highly highly recommended!!

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Lastly comes a very strange Russian horror film from 1967, directed by brothers from Kazakhstan.  It is called Viy.  A young seminary student is on his way home for holiday when he is accosted and captured by a very hideous witch.  She jumps on his back and makes him bear her through the sky.  When they land he beats her to death with his staff in a panic of horror.  The rest of the film reveals how the witch, now as young and very beautiful woman, gets her revenge on her killer.  It is a short film (78') but very effective.  The excellent score is by Karen Khatachurian, nephew to the great Aram.  It is based on a story by Gogol.  Natalya Varley plays the witch very effectively. The effects are mostly very good, especially on the 1st and 2nd night that the young monk must keep vigil over the witch's body.  The film would likely terrify a class of 5th Graders.   Makes me wish I was still a teacher.  Highly recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion March 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Springtime Sunshine

Spring arrived late but in full force.  We suddenly have our snowdrops blooming.  Of course they were late this year, but they are abundant.  Daffs are on the way, too.  I have two more ice skating times ahead, but they are beginning to seem out of fashion suddenly.  I almost took out the bicycle today, but decided to wait a bit longer.  It's still cold and snowing north of us but the week ahead promises above average temps for us.  

It's been clear for several nights in a row now, and we have watched the lunar phase approach full.  It will be full overnight tonight at 2:25 am, when there will be a total lunar eclipse.  There is as good chance for clear skies, too, something highly unusual.  Will we watch the eclipse?  We shall see.  We survived the change to Daylight Savings Time easily enough, so a middle of the night eclipse might just be possible.  Stay tuned for further updates.

We watched a four part series of Agatha Christie's ABC Murders, a 2018 BBC update starring John Malkovich as an aging Poirot and Rupert Grint as the young and upcoming Scotland Yard detective who has a strong dislike for Poirot.  Though essentially the same plot as the novel, the differences add up to several significant departures.  For one thing Poirot's ally at the Yard dies in the first main scene.  For another, the story is set in an England that is strongly against immigrants and going through a political phase similar to that of Germany in the 1930s (and today, everywhere).  Poirot, practically a native of London (though Belgian), is made to feel unwelcome.  Poirot and young Inspector Crome do not get along well at first, but Crone gradually comes around to Poirot as his own mistakes multiply.  There is also considerable imagined backstory to Poirot's early years in Belgium, which really don't add much to the story, but help paint Poirot in greater detail.  And of course being a modern adaptation, there is blood galore, with lots of emphasis on the violence.  Malkovich plays a restrained and wise detective, and is quite good in the role.  Grint's grouchy character is quite one-dimensional, though hardly his fault.  Not a bad series at all, and now I will likely have to read the novel.  I have never read any Christie yet, so this might be a good place to begin.

Now showing on Prime Video. 

 

Phantom Thread is a film from 2017 and directed by Paul T. Anderson.  Here is the blurb from Criterion, where the film is showing until March 31st.  

"Amid the the glamour of 1950s London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutantes, and dames with the distinctive style of the House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a strong-willed young woman who soon becomes a fixture in his life as a muse and lover. Once rigid and controlled, Reynolds finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by a love that borders on perverse obsession. In his second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis, director Paul Thomas Anderson paints a sumptuous, wickedly comic portrait of both an artist on a creative journey and the women who keep his world running." 

This is often a difficult film to watch, as Reynolds Woodcock is hardly a normal human being.  In fact, so far no one has been able to really get through to him on a personal layer.  Previous girlfriends eventually give up on him.  But not this time.  Alma, his latest discovery, actually wants to be a big part of his life until death does part them.  Though she is often verbally abused by him, she sticks it out and discovers a very dark method of controlling him, or at least keeping her in his sights.  Woodcock has a mother complex, idolizing his deceased mother and constantly in search of a woman like her.  He is also somewhat autistic, and very difficult to change or control.  But the answer for Alma is a simple mushroom, which allows him to became dependent on her for a time, like he was with his mother.  He quickly catches on to what she is doing, and heartily approves.  A bit of a weird film, but overall quite fascinating to watch. 

Leaving Criterion March 31st. 

 

Lastly comes another one of those very strange Argentinian Noir films, in b & w.  The Beast Must Die is from 1952.  When a young boy is killed in a hit and run car accident his father swears revenge on the mystery driver.  It takes him a long time to find out who the culprit is.  This is a very long-winded tale of murder, and the story actually begins with the murder.  A man is poisoned in front of his dinner guests, and the search is on to find the murderer.  The story then backtracks to the tragic death of the young boy and follows it through to the final scene.  The actual murderer and accomplice are protected in the end by the father, who takes the blame on himself.  With his wife already dead before his son was killed, he feels that he has nothing left to live for anyway, leaving a confession behind and sailing out to his self-inflicted doom.  However, as he has made friends along the way, including a young boy very much like his own deceased son, one wonders if there might have been another way out besides his suicide.  The beast is quite a beast, a very rich man who cares for no one but himself and his attraction to other young women.  He beats his wife and young son.  Good riddance to the beast.  But the tragedy is that a good man had to die as well.

 

Now showing on Criterion as part of a series of Argentinian Noir movies.
 

 Mapman Mike

 

Movie Catch-Up

I have not observed with my telescope since early November.  Yes, it's been cloudy a lot.  Any clear nights were always either too cold, or too windy, or too cold and windy.  Usually I get a break in February, but not so this year.  With mild temperatures finally arriving and staying, it has rained and rained and rained.  Even if a clear night appeared, my viewing location would be underwater, and the evening humidity would make observing impossible.  High humidity, which our area is noted for, fogs up the secondary mirror, which transmits light to the eyepiece.  Even eyepieces can fog over.  With the moon on the ascent, there is no chance of deep sky work anyway until at least March 17th.  It's been frustrating to say the least, but I seldom miss a reading session, and my sleep pattern has been solid.  That will all get tossed once Daylight Savings Time hits, along with clear skies.

 

When one lives beside a nasty neighbour, one's  choice is to put up with it or to retaliate in some meaningful way.  Canada and Canadians have chosen the latter method, for better or for worse.  Grocery stores are now labelling items that are Canadian, and people are now ignoring American products on the shelves.  American booze is off the shelves.  And people are cancelling vacations.  I'm still not certain about any of this.  Not visiting Detroit, for example, negates any reason I might have for living where I do.  And Detroit always votes Democrat.  Should we punish Democrats?  Removing California wines from shelves means removing products from a Democratic, anti-Trump state.  Why do that?   Anyway, the battle is on, and it will be interesting to see how far this goes.  Though Canada will indeed suffer as a result of Trump's tariffs, America will be giving itself a very black eye in the process.  Stay tuned to this topic.

 

In film news there are three to report. Most recently we watched a Gene Hackman film.  The Conversation is from 1974 and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  Gene plays a private investigator who gets sound and photos for his clients.  His character is a loner who does not work well with others, and his job obsesses him.  His acting is very good, since the character played really has so little to work with--he's bland, boring, and one-dimensional, but somehow the actor makes him come to life.  It's quite a good film, though obviously the technology is somewhat outdated.  The pacing is also good, as very little happens in the film other than one event being replayed and replayed.  The more it's replayed the more we learn about the heart of the case itself, as does Gene's character.  In the end the character is beaten by his rival with a device that he had called "garbage" earlier in the film.  Not far from films like Blow Out and Blow Up.  Recommended.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Before that came Shockproof, a film by Douglas Sirk from 1949 and scripted by Sam Fuller.  A parole board employee (Cornel Wilde) gets involved with one of his female clients, just released from prison from her murder charge punishment.  She is still mixed up with the guy who got her to prison, and she thinks she loves him.  Cornel tries to discourage her and things heat up quickly.  She ends up shooting her boyfriend and wounding him when he tries to blackmail Cornel.  The plot is thick and the pressure heats up when Cornel and the woman run for it.  They are cornered at nearly every attempt to escape, managing to live by taking short term jobs.  The ending is a bit sugar coated for this type of film, but it's actually good to see such endings once in a while in a Noir film.

 

Leaving Criterion March 31st. 

 

Before that came another Argentinian Noir film, one of a series recently acquired by Criterion.  We will likely get through all of them.  The Black Vampire is a 1953 Argentinian remake of M, Fritz Lang's take on homicidal pedophilia.  The main bad guy even looks like Peter Lorre, and whistles the same tune while stalking.  Though a bit too much time is spent in the storm sewers of Buenos Aires, the film has its moments as the police try to find the murderer.  Despite several highly publicized killings of little girls, there are still quite a number of them running around with no supervision.  Despite the guy being completely insane, the ending is a bit of a surprise as the jury elects to hang him.  No doubt the same verdict would be reached today, at least in countries with the death penalty.  Some pretty intense scenes.  I can't think of too many reasons for recommending a film about someone who kills children, but it's definitely worth a look, even if only to compare it to the original.  In b & w.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

February Books Read

 Mazes of Scorpio is from 1982 and is #27 in the Dray Prescott series by Kenneth Bulmer, writing as Alan Burt Akers.  It was too good to be true when, in the last volume, the evil wizard was finally killed off.  And for a painful few moments it looked as if Bulmer was going to cheat readers and revive him.  Well, thank goodness he didn't.  However, we have now met his wife, a dark witch, and their offspring, a little something or other; we're not yet exactly sure what he is, other than a hermaphrodite.  And also very evil.  Mazes is an adventure novel much in the tradition of Fritz Leiber, still the reigning King of sword and sorcery writers.  Though Bulmer doesn't do too badly, as readers of this series (and this blog) will have found out long before now.  Dray and best friend Seg go chasing after an escaped female prisoner in a flier, and they end up in Pandahem, where it appears they and their readers will spend a lot of time in the upcoming books.  The adventure really begins when they crash (a common occurrence in these novels) and find themselves in a very nasty jungle.  They make their way to a small riverside town, and join up for an expedition to find treasure.  Their adventures are non-stop, as the small group are attacked by nearly everything under the sun and from under a rock.  A lot of time is spent in an underground maze that would challenge Lara Croft to her utter limits of resources and luck.  At last, separated from Seg and the rest of the party, Dray finds himself alone, underground against all comers.  Lots of action, and a finally a bit of help from the gods that have being using Dray for their own purposes throughout the series.  And so on it goes....

 

Original printing of the novel (I read the Kindle omnibus version).

Cover art by Richard Hescox. 

 

From 1975 comes Eloise, a 150 page novel by E. C. Tubb detailing the adventures of Earl Dumarest in his fruitless and endless search for Earth.  He was born there, left as a young boy, and can't seem to find his way back.  Not only that, but no one has ever heard of Earth.  How frustrating for him.  Once in a while he picks up a clue, but not in this story, which is #12 in the series.  He and a musician friend (note the instrument depicted on the DAW cover) crash land on a barren and very snowy and cold planet.  They make their way to a city, and are rescued as they are on their last approach.  We actually have a truly SF story presented to us.   The city is some kind of forgotten experiment, a planned Utopia that has continued to exist longer than its mysterious and long-forgotten creators.  Run by a central computer with a sort of semi-humanized army of robots to control the human population, this reminds me of several stories from the Magnus Robot Fighter comic books.  No, that is not Marilyn Monroe of the cover of the DAW edition; that's Eloise, a dancer who was trapped in the city after coming to entertain the people there.  No one is allowed to leave once they arrive.  Of course, Dumarest will be the exception to that rule.

So many male heroes seem to turn out to be the same guy.  Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Dray Prescott, Earl Dumarest, Doc Savage, Hercules, Odysseus, Elric; no wonder Michael Moorcock was able to come up with the idea of the Eternal Hero for his many novels featuring supercharged (but human) action heroes.  Interchange any he-man hero for Dumarest, or put him in any of another hero's predicaments, and Voila, the problem gets (eventually, with much strain and muscle and clever and fast thinking) solved.  It's almost miraculous.  

Anyway, Eloise falls for Dumarest and tries her darndest to hang on to him.  But alas, he is caught up in his struggle to find Earth, though we are never told why.  He has a billion other planets to explore.  A good entry in the series.  However, as Dumarest muses at the end, he regrets not getting a chance to ask the city's central computer about Earth.  It was so old that it might have known something.  But he gained nothing towards his goal in this story.  And neither do we.

 

Original printing of the novel (I read the Kindle omnibus version).

Cover art by George Barr.

 

William Morris has written some of the best fantasy novels ever created.  Many of them have already been read, and I've reviewed them on my Ballantine Fantasy blog (see left column for link).  One of his earliest novels predates his true fantasy writing, but with The Roots of the Mountains from 1889 we get as close to fantasy as regular fiction can ever get without crossing the border into it.  This is an epic tale (534 pages), and Morris's influence on Tolkien can be seen everywhere.  While this novel does not approach the author's masterpiece The Well At The World's End, it lays all the necessary groundwork.  The hero of the tale, one Face of God, declines the adventure of a journey to foreign places to gain his manhood, choosing instead to remain at home.  This in itself is anathema to a good fantasy yarn, but don't go away just yet.  As things turn out, staying home was the correct choice in this case.  The lead character can be compared to Aragorn.  The Bride, a female lead, can be compared with Eowyn, and her eventual mate can be compared with Faramir.  The evil Dusky Men are similar to orcs.  The prose is filled with poetry and song, something Tolkien also included in his epic writing.  The Dale sounds a lot like Hobbiton.  And instead of having different groups of men such as shepherds, woodsmen, hunters, etc. as Morris does, Tolkien bright in different races from mythology such as Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits.  The climax of the book is the great battle to recover the Silver Dale from the evil dusky men, and free the slaves they have captured and abused.  But the real core of the book is in the details which the author takes painstaking care to bring to the reader.  The strength of the family, the community, and the wider world of the allies; the rituals that musts be enacted at certain times of year; the continuity of life and love; and the importance of friendship and helping those less fortunate are all important qualities stressed by Morris.  He creates a small Utopia, then presents it to us as gravely threatened, and continues on to demonstrate how the threat can be banished with good leadership and a bond between strong allies. This is a long read, and not all of it marches along smartly.  Readers need to slow down and breathe deeply of the fine, clear air within these pages.  Their reward will be a very unique book, well written, and the harbinger of even greater things to come.

 

The Adventures of Martin Hewitt is from 1896, and contains six more stories of the great detective.  Fans of Sherlock Holmes should love these stories.  This is the third volume, all written for monthly publications by Arthur Morrison before being collected into volumes and republished.  "The Affair of Mrs. Seaton's Child" is one of those cases that Hewitt was not able to solve before it was resolved, and the missing child was safely returned home.  However, he followed up afterwards and was able to solve the mystery of who took the child, how, and why.  An engaging story, though with a somewhat far-fetched premise underlying it.  "The Case of Mr. Gerald's Elopement" sees Hewitt involved with a missing husband, whom the wife accuses of having eloped with a former maid.  Hewitt solves a very peculiar case that eventually sees the husband not only located and without having eloped, but put into custody for making and selling alcohol illegally.  A tale with twists that keep up the reader's interest.  "The Case of the Dead Skipper" is a story that fits more neatly into the Homes canon, as Hewitt and a police inspector solve the mystery of the captain's death and apparent robbery.  Nothing too unusual in this one, though well told.  "The Case of the Flitterbat Lancers" is a creatively titled story about a piece of badly written music that doubles as a cipher.  And "The Case of the Late Mr. Rewse" takes Hewitt to Ireland to solve a well planned murder--or was it?  Finally comes "The Case of the Ward Lane Tabernacle," and though humourous overall, it does have a tragic ending.  The case concerns a sacred relic left to a widow by her uncle, and she believes that a certain green grocer is after it.  As usual, Hewitt confounds his client when he comes up with the solution, and this leads to a continued friendship between them.  The character of the widow is a very colourful one.  All of Morrison's Martin Hewitt tales are highly recommended.

 

Turning now to E. Nesbit, it's time for The Wouldbegoods, the 1901 sequel to 1899's The Story of the Treasure Seekers.  The book is quite long, though each of the chapters are just about the perfect length for a bedtime story if read to children by an adult.  Each chapter is more or less a separate story or adventure, though the book is continuous and events do tie in from story to story.  In my opinion there are just a few too many stories, with the children acting pretty much the same in each story.  Once again the tales are told by Oswald, the elder Bastable child.  Though cleverly written as if by a maturing child, even this gets somewhat tedious after a time, with the "author" praising himself at every turn.  And though the criticism of girls is humourous (by a young boy), it could definitely be taken wrong, even by modern readers.  In other words, by 2025 standards the sexism is quite outrageous.  However, if reading the story to modern children, it would make a good opening for discussions on the topic of what girls can and cannot do.  Overall I did enjoy the book; however, I just found it a bit too much of a good thing.

 

Another classic children's book came next, Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome.  From a much later date of 1930, we once again see a group of siblings heading off into adventure.  There are two boys and two girls, with the the eldest being a boy again.  They are spending the summer in the Lake District and they have a sailboat.  They end up spending several nights camping on an island in the lake.  They meet the rival Amazons, but soon become friends.  So there are actually four girls in the story, and two boys.  The best characters are Titty (Titania?) (such an unfortunate shortened name for present day readers--I never could have read this aloud to my fourth and fifth grade class back in the day), who is perhaps the second youngest, and Roger, the youngest.  Though there is considerable humour throughout the novel, there are also some wonderful insights into a child's thought process.  When Titty is left alone on the island overnight and has her big adventure, followed up later with a treasure hunt, we feel we have met a character with some depth.  The others, especially John, Susan and Peggy, are cardboard characters with little depth and not much to say.  I have never read the book before, but have seen several very good TV adaptations from England, so the story was familiar to me.  I think I enjoyed it a bit more than the E. Nesbit novel, above, though both show incredible imagination and insights into the golden days of childhood.  Highly recommended, and I look forward to the sequels.

 

Lastly came some short work by Edgar Allan Poe.  An unfinished plat from 1835 is called "Politian."  Essentially one act was written, from a story based on a real murder case in Kentucky.  Poe transposed the setting and time to 16th C Rome, and is written in pseudo Shakespearean prose.  Just as the story begins to get interesting, it ends suddenly.  He gave up on novels and plays based on advice from friends, and continued to write short fiction for the remainder of his life.

"Metzengerstein" is a fantasy horror tale that involves two feuding families.  It was Poe's first published fiction and is from 1832.  It involves a tapestry with a horse in it, and the decadent lifestyle of a very young man.  The story makes little sense, but it does show that early on Poe was obsessed with certain themes, such as violent death and ironic justice being meted out to those in need of it.

"The Duc de L'Omelette" is the first of Poe's somewhat silly series of tales, and not a very good one.

"A Tale of Jersusalem" Tells of an incident at the walls of that city in the times of Roman invasion.

"Loss of Breath" tells of a man who, while raging at his wife, has his breath stolen.  Though he continues to live, he becomes more or less a silent zombie, unable to communicate with other living people.  By chance he meets the man who stole his breath in an undertaker's place, and manages to get it returned.  Another so called humourous tale that does have its moments.

"Bon-Bon" is from 1932, and is just what it claims.  Bon-Bon is the finest chef in Rouen, and also a self-taught philosopher.  His encounter with the devil goes quite well, he thinks.  Or did it?  More dark humour from Poe.

"MS. Found In A Bottle" is from 1933, and is one of Poe's more famous tales.  A sailor and his ship are carried to the far south after being caught in a fierce gale.  Only he and one another man survive the ordeal.  However, there is worse to come.  A ghost ship crewed by elderly sailors smashes the original ship to pieces, and the lone survivor, the writer of the manuscript, ends up on board.  A decent story with a most unhappy ending.

"The Assignation" is an extremely well-written tale that reminded me sometimes of the writing of E.R. Eddison,and even Michael Moorcock, in his European fiction.  The story is set in Venice and concerns two lovers who will never be together in this world, so they plan to meet in the next one.  A very memorable tale.

"Berenice" tells of a man driven mad who extracts the teeth from his dying wife.  Don't ask.  The story, even in its revised edition, takes too long to get going and the reader must wade through a lot of prose before getting to its core.

"Morella" is classic Poe.  A woman dies, leaving a daughter behind with the man who is her father.  An eerie tale, though somewhat confusing.  The daughter ends up actually being the mother, reincarnated, though by the time it happens it is hardly a surprise to the reader.

 

See you next month.  And keep reading!

 

Mapman Mike

It's (Mostly) Over

Winter, that is.  Early Spring was a week late, but it arrived after a very cold and snowy February  There were 19 days where the temperature did not rise above 32 F.  That is a very unusual statistic for the Homestead and vicinity for such a short month.  But our snow vanished almost overnight as very mild temps and a lot of rain arrived suddenly.

 

Board gaming continues, mostly Sunday afternoons.  We bought a new expansion (#8) for Carcassonne and just learned how to use it this week.  It's called "Bridges, Castles, and Bazaars."  It was worth getting, and adds some new and fun elements to the game without over-complicating it. 

 

I've also added a new dimension to my weekly skating time.  Another old timer who skates there usually brings his hockey stick and a puck, and last week he brought me a hockey stick, too.  So for the first time in many decades, yours truly was passing the puck and shooting on goal.  As a result I skated faster and burned a few more calories, and have a sore shoulder from using the stick.  Deb walks at the indoor track at the same time, while the central area of her track is being used by model airplane pilots.  This past week she helped untangle a few crashes on her journey.

 

In piano news, the recital program is shaping up.  It should be ready in about three weeks to begin playing for friends.  Some more work on the Haydn sonata and on the Glass Etude is still needed, but it's nearly there.  I go tomorrow morning for my 2nd lesson with Philip A.

 

Today was election day in Ontario, a province of Canada with 16 million people.  The ruling Conservative party is supposed to win a majority.  We voted this morning.  With 8 names on the ballot splitting the vote, there doesn't seem to be any way of defeating the ruling party.  Last time only 22% of voters turned out, but I think that should be significantly higher this time.  Polls are open till 9 pm, so results won't likely be final until tomorrow.

 

In film news there are three to report.  Most recently we watched Kenneth Branagh's production of Much Ado About Nothing, from 1993.  The film mostly works, though it's very unconvincing at the end when the young woman who was wrongly accused of sleeping around forgives her intended and all is well.  More likely there would be a lawsuit and the two would never have married.  The acting and locations are great, and there are some very funny moments dealing with Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) becoming a couple.  There is palpable energy from the cast, and the movie can easily be recommended.

 

Leaving Prime tomorrow.
  

Before that came Topaz, a Hitchcock spy thriller from 1969.  A cold war story set in the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a French diplomat is entrusted with the job of going to Cuba and finding evidence of what the Russians were up to.  With the usual plot twists and turns, this turned into a pretty good film.  With real Cuban locations and a cast of minor but very good actors.  Watch for the director playing a man in a wheelchair, then getting up and walking out of the frame.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion tomorrow. 

 

Before that came The Consequences of Love, a 2004 film directed by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Toni Servillo.  He plays a very unlikable character, a man who has been forced into a position of helping the Mafia launder money into Swiss bank accounts.  He is very private and unpersonable, seldom taking note of others around him.  He uses heroin one time each week, on Wednesdays at 10 am.  He used to be an investor, and was trusted with Mafia millions.  When his advice lost them most of their money, he then appeared on their payroll.  He lives in a hotel near the Alps, in Lugano.  He manages to fall for a young barmaid at the hotel (played by the very fetching Olivia Magnani, granddaughter of the great Anna), but doesn't really know how to woo.  When she fails to show up for a promised rendezvous on his birthday, he decides to pack it in.  He refuses to deliver the money that week (millions in cash in a suitcase), and does not tell where the money is.  He is given several chances to tell, but instead ends it all.  The final scene might answer a lot of Jimmy Hoffa questions, as he is put to death by the Mafia in a traditional manner.  It is a somewhat troubling film, though bold enough in tackling the issues it deals with.  However, I did enjoy it, especially as his story comes out piece by piece, and we realize the position he is in.  Stuck, in other words.  Recommended, though far beneath the director's masterpiece film, The Great Beauty.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Coming very soon:  the February reading summary!

 

Mapman Mike