Day: June 10, 2007
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Movie: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby finally bubbled up in Netflix. (OK, I pushed it to the top.) I had seen the first 30 minutes already…and that was the best part of the movie, with laugh-out-loud funny scenes. So, I pop in the DVD on a Saturday night expecting to laugh, starting with the…
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Book: The French Lieutenant’s Woman
The French Lieutenant’s Woman, by John Fowles, doesn’t fit my usual genres. Yes, the novel falls in the category of historical fiction, which I do enjoy. But I rarely appreciate author-to-reader discourses. Fowles’ postmodern flourishes distract from a decent tale of love and class in Victorian England, with a dollop of Darwin. I grabbed this…
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Book: The Afghan
Another one from a few weeks ago, Frederick Forsyth’s The Afghan is practically forgotten already. If you’re going to read Forsyth, it’s The Day of the Jackal or nothing. Slight exaggeration, perhaps, as there are other thrillers he’s penned worth your airplane ride… just not this one.
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Book: Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Almost a month has passed, but I don’t want to forget to mention Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Jared Diamond is unafraid to tackle the big topics. His blend of personal experience and lots of secondary research tells a persuasive story of how the environment underpins cultural success…and failure. This is the…