In his last completed novel, John le Carré turns his focus to the world that occupied his writing for the past sixty years—the secret world itself.Silverview is the last novel by John le Carré published in 2021. I can tell that the book was written many years before he died in December 2020. The book is very short, a novelette, but packed with espionage mystery that has a distinct le Carré voice and style. I hated Agent Running In The Field so I was wary that Silverview might be the same. Thankfully, it is not and I loved it!
Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the city for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian’s evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian’s family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise.
When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea . . .
Silverview is the mesmerizing story of an encounter between innocence and experience and between public duty and private morals. In his inimitable voice John le Carré, the greatest chronicler of our age, seeks to answer the question of what we truly owe to the people we love.
Friday, November 26, 2021
Silverview
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Warriors Of God
WARRIORS OF GOD, the second volume of the Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski, author of the bestselling Witcher series, depicts the adventures of Reynevan and his friends in the years 1427 to 1428 as war erupts across Europe.
Reynevan begins by hiding away in Bohemia but soon leaves for Silesia, where he carries out dangerous, secret missions entrusted to him by the leaders of the Hussite religion. At the same time he strives to avenge the death of his brother and discover the whereabouts of his beloved. Once again pursued by multiple enemies, Reynevan is constantly getting into and out of trouble.
Sapkowski's deftly written novel delivers gripping action full of numerous twists and mysteries, seasoned with elements of magic and Sapkowski's ever-present - and occasionally bawdy - sense of humour. Fans of the Witcher will appreciate the rich panorama of this slice of the Middle Ages.There is no shortage of dead bodies in this bloodier second volume of The Hussite Trilogy. The book has more magic, witchcraft, shapeshifting, and dark humor. Most interesting is the almost complete revelation of the true nature of my favorite character, the half-wit looking giant, Samson Honeypot.
Monday, November 22, 2021
Space Trilogy
The Cosmic Trilogy (The Space Trilogy) relates the interplanetary travels of Ransom, C.S. Lewis's ill-informed and terrified victim who leaves Earth much against his will and who, in the first book of the trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, published by the Bodley Head in 1938, encounters the imaginary and delightful world of Macalandra.
In the second book, Perelandra (1943), Ransom is transported to a world of sweet smells and delicious tastes, a new Garden of Eden in which is enacted, with a difference, the story of Temptation.
That Hideous Strength (1945) completes the trilogy and finds Dr Ransom returned from his travels in space and living in an English university town - where the Senior Common Room is given a mysterious depth, a more than earthly dimension which such things, in the author's view, always have in life.
The Trilogy should be required reading for all specially High School students, IMHO, for the message. The books are not really science fiction but more about deep ideas. I like that C. S. Lewis is never preachy and tells a great story that will make the reader think.
Highly recommended.
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Zombie Movies
Monday, November 15, 2021
Aimee Mann and Susanna Hoffs
Steely Dan's music have an enormous amount of feeling. The characters are sad, and pathetic, and despairing, and drug addicts, mostly involved in these terrible dead-end relationships. What's not to like? I feel like people have a serious damage and then I always relate to that.Aimee always has a dark sense of humor IMHO. I own all of her solo and 'Til Tuesday albums, Bachelor No. 2 is still my favorite.
Saturday, October 23, 2021
Jirisan
Jirisan is a Korean action drama series about mountain rangers at Jiri Mountain National Park. Seo Yi-Gang (Gianna Jun) is the best ranger who knows virtually everything about the area at Jiri Mountain National Park including where to climb the mountain. Kang Hyun-Jo (Ju Ji-Hoon) is a rookie ranger who graduated from the military academy and was once an army captain. They become partners in rescuing hikers who get lost around Jiri Mountain National Park.I've seen the first episode and I loved it already including the OST by Jin of BTS. This is high-octane action drama with superb cinematography, even the CGI, and top-notch cast. Clairvoyant newbie Kang Hyun-Jo isn't given time to change clothes nor brief orientation and dives right into action.
Friday, September 24, 2021
The Great British Baking Show
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Jaguar
From IMDB
In the 1960s, Spain became a home to hundreds of survivors of the Mauthausen camp. Isabel, a young Spanish woman, is one of them. She is looking for Skorzeny, Europe's most dangerous man, but she is not alone.
Jaguar is a highly entertaining and binge worthy 6 episodes European Spanish thriller series set in the 1960s about a group of Nazi survivors trying to capture, shame, and punish Nazis sneaking into Spain and other European cities. The lead female actress Blanca Suarez as the title character Jaguar is enough reason for me to watch when the series started streaming yesterday. I first saw Blanca when she was just 18 years old together with Ana de Armas who was 19 in the 2007 Spanish melodrama El Internado.
Highly recommended. Watch in European Spanish with English subtitles.
Monday, September 20, 2021
My Favorite Korean Dramas 2021
Geu-Ru is a 20 year old young man with Asperger's syndrome. He works in his father’s company, Move To Heaven, sorting out items left by the deceased. One day, Geu-Ru's own father dies and he is left alone but his father left a will assigning an unknown "uncle" Sang-Gu to be Geu-Ru's guardian. Sang-Gu is a bitter and cold man, a former martial artist who fought in underground matches. He went to prison because of a tragic incident during one of his fights. They run Move To Heaven together with the help of a teenage female friend and neighbor of Geu-Ru.
"Wise Doctor Life" depicts the stories of doctors, nurses, and patients at a hospital. 5 doctors all entered the same medical university in 1999. They are friends since and now work together in the same hospital.