Monday, November 2, 2020
Monday, October 12, 2020
Can You Forgive Her?
tags: historical fiction, politics, romance, Victorian era, 1000 pages
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
from GoodReads
Alice Vavasor cannot decide whether to marry her ambitious but violent cousin George or the upright and gentlemanly John Grey - and finds herself accepting and rejecting each of them in turn.
Increasingly confused about her own feelings and unable to forgive herself for such vacillation, her situation is contrasted with that of her friend Lady Glencora - forced to marry the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser in order to prevent the worthless Burgo Fitzgerald from wasting her vast fortune.
In asking his readers to pardon Alice for her transgression of the Victorian moral code, Trollope created a telling and wide-ranging account of the social world of his day.
Wow. I finished reading this thousand-page book and I loved it! I've been on a Regency and Victorian era reading period because there are no new books worth my time. I reread some of Jane Austen's books then suddenly remembered I wanted to read Anthony Trollope's books written during the Victorian period. Goodreads readers recommend to start with more-than-a-thousand-page Can You Forgive Her? But what's up with the title?
“Poor Alice! I hope that she may be forgiven. It was her special fault, that when at Rome she longed for Tibur, and when at Tibur she regretted Rome.”
My answer is of course, I forgive her, Alice Vavasor that is, regardless of her being hard-headed and wishy-washy. She is a very independent young woman, growing up without a mother who died when she was a baby, and her father who hardly pays attention to her. Alice resents her elderly aunts telling her whom to marry and makes a mistake in taking back her promise to marry the handsome and moderately rich gentleman, John Grey. During this time, it's disgraceful for both parties to cancel the engagement and Alice feels she has sinned by doing so and doesn't deserve to be forgiven.
The other young woman, the wealthy heiress Lady Glencora Palliser, is married to a duke's heir, Plantagenet Palliser. Lady Glencora was in love with a beautiful idler, wastrel, and gambler, Burdo Fitzgerald but was "jumped on" by her titled aunts to marry the better man, Palliser. Both aunts are indeed correct for jumping on Lady Glencora and Alice Vavasor.
The third woman, the rich young widow Mrs. Greenow, the sister of Alice's father spends her time on matchmaking. She and the characters in her universe provide lots of funny moments although there are plenty of LOL scenes all throughout the book.
One of the love-to-hate characters is the heir to Vavasor Hall, George Vavasor, Alice's first cousin whom she was engaged to briefly when she was only 19 and then again after her disengagement from John Grey, but rejected him both times eventually. He is described as short in stature, with very dark hair and eyebrows, has small hands and feet, and has a scar running from under his left eye down to his jaw. He got the scar when he was just a boy for confronting a burglar in their home. In other words, he is as ugly as sin, even his grandfather says so often. He is also a penniless ne'er do well wastrel and even though a pauper wants a seat at the Parliament, carelessly using Alice's money. He is a brute and a violent man, a total villain. Alice who thinks she is still in love with him but realizes she isn't, is lucky to escape his clutches.
Anthony Trollope had managed to make George's character evil, murderous, and pathetic but funny in a way. When George was desperate and mad at everyone and everything whom he deems has wronged him including his grandfather, his sister Kate, Alice, John Grey, his uncle, the city, the country, the sun, the universe, he curses at them mightily and thinks of a thousand ways to murder them. Trollope had a way with words that I really like. I wasn't bored at all reading about the countless number of characters and the political parts of the novel. I'll try to read the rest of the series, 5 more books, that are more about the Pallisers and politics.
Highly recommended for British Victorian historical fiction readers.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Uncle Tom - A Larry Elder Documentary Movie
Friday, October 2, 2020
Come Armageddon
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
from GoodReads
After half a millennium, Tathea prepares for the final battle
For five hundred years, Tathea has lain asleep, imprisoned in the forest. Once the Empress of Shinabar, she was pushed out of power when a coup took her husband’s life—a tragedy that led to a miracle. While roaming the wasteland, she learned of the unending battle between good and evil, and a book that could stop the demon Asmodeus forevermore.
It takes centuries, but at last the world is ready for the final battle—the Armageddon that will purge Tathea’s kingdom of evil. The coming of the war is marked by the birth of a child, Sadokhar, who will lead God’s armies into the fray. A battle is looming, and it’s up to Tathea to prepare Sadokhar for Armageddon.
The sequel to Tathea is much darker with wars going on and lives including the animal and plant kingdoms annihilated. Armageddon needs to happen while the devil is unprepared in order to finally defeat him and his minions. The novel is filled with symbolism and philosophy that seem to warn that removing God from people's lives creates wars, chaos,and desolation on earth and possibly beyond. There are great battles between good and evil in this novel. The conversation between Asmodeus and The Man of Holiness is fascinating.
The book was written in early 2000 and I find it a bit prophetic. Currently, worldwide, there are man-made forest fires, bio weapons created in labs, race related anarchy, looting and riots, pedophilia, satanism, etc. These will be man's undoing due to lack of faith and religion among the young and old alike.
The demon Asmodeus [he resembles a real evil person who finances violent riots around the world] to one of his Lords of the Undead:
"Get out! Go and prove your worth! Spread the corruption of tyranny, violence, greed, and oppression until Camassia also tears itself apart! You wanted Armageddon without waiting for me. So go and forge it then. Create it! Reap souls for me. Bring me the cruel, the cowardly, the betrayers, the deceivers, bring me the corrupt to the core!"
Thursday, October 1, 2020
First Love
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
The Dead Tongues
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Laplace's Witch
Two people are poisoned to death by hydrogen sulfide at hot springs located in different regions. The police ask Aoe Shusuke, a geochemistry professor, to determine whether the deaths were caused by freak accidents or were murders. While investigating the cases, Aoe Shusuke comes across a young woman, Uhara Madoka who guesses correctly that a natural phenomenon will take place. The police begin to suspect Uhara Madoka might be related to the deaths.
Takashi Miike directing a murder mystery movie based on a novel by Keigo Higashino - how can I not love it. It's a 2-hour movie full of twists and turns, and a lot of intelligent dialog. It's hard to guess the who and why and my early assumptions are all proven wrong. As in Higashino's previous novels, the story uses mathematics and science, hence the title Laplace's Witch, from the writing by French scholar and polymath Pierre-Simon Laplace, Laplace's Demon. 2 young people who underwent procedures to have precognitive abilities as described in Laplace's Demon help in solving the murders.
Highly recommended.
Friday, September 25, 2020
The School Nurse Files
Eun-young is an ordinary school nurse with an extraordinary secret: she sees strange and beautiful jelly creatures that no one else can see. She’s not particularly fond of this gift, but when the school comes under attack, it’s up to her and fellow teacher In-pyo to save the day. Question is, does she feel like saving the world today?
After watching this new Netflix 6-part series from South Korea, I felt as though I have just walked into Haruki Murakami/David Mitchell/Takashi Miike universe. It is fantastically weird full of weird people competing for the most weird one. Eun-Young, the school nurse has a gift of seeing jellyfish-like creatures which are visible to her only. She uses her plastic toys, a retractable sword and a gun to kill the jellies. She is a ghostbuster protecting the school kids from evil spirits roaming the school. When a swarm of bugs appeared, again only visible to the nurse, a female high school student appears out of nowhere. She was never born to human parents and has lived many lives as a male and for the first time is living as a female enrolled as a new student in the school. She is a bug eater which is beneficial to humans much like green lacewings and ladybugs eating harmful insects to protect plants. This character dies every 20 years and is reborn as a high school teen so she or he never ages. The series is absolutely entertaining.
I just wished the male lead is older. Nam Joo-Hyuk is 26 years old, 12 years younger than the female lead actress. I like both of them, just don't do a romance story line later if there is a second season. I wish McKenzie has more screen time because he's a very interesting character. Or maybe it's just me because the actor playing him, Yoo Teo, is good in all the shows I've seen him in specially as Ragaseu in Arthdal Chronicle and as Kwon Min-Seong in Chocolate, both streaming on Netflix. All 6 episodes are streaming on Netflix and now I can't wait for the second season. I have to re-watch.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Enola Holmes
England, 1884 - a world on the brink of change. On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) wakes to find that her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared, leaving behind an odd assortment of gifts but no apparent clue as to where she's gone or why. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola suddenly finds herself under the care of her brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), both set on sending her away to a finishing school for "proper" young ladies. Refusing to follow their wishes, Enola escapes to search for her mother in London. But when her journey finds her entangled in a mystery surrounding a young runaway Lord (Louis Partridge), Enola becomes a super-sleuth in her own right, outwitting her famous brother as she unravels a conspiracy that threatens to set back the course of history.
I didn't expect to love this movie but I did. It's full of action, mystery, and maybe a hint of romance at the ending between 16 year old Enola and the very young Viscount Tewskebury, Marquess of Basilwether. Millie Bobby Brown is wonderful as smart-as-Sherlock and feisty Enola. She is all grown up and so pretty in Victorian clothes. Henry Cavill as Sherlock is actually good and Helena Bonham Carter as their mother looks lovely and ageless. I didn't even notice the 2 hours running time. I was totally engaged and entertained the whole time, laughing at the comedic scenes. I hope there's a sequel.
I didn't know the story is based on a novel written by American author Nancy Springer. There are 6 books in all and the movie is based on the first one, The Case of the Missing Marquess, published in 2006. I might check them out to see if they are worth reading.
Highly recommended.
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Piranesi
Piranesi lives in the House.
Perhaps he always has.
In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls.
On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food and waterlilies to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.
Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they and what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims?
Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous.
The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.