Watching time, the only true currency // A journal from John B. Roberts
I’m a bit early for everyone here in America, but Happy New Year!
I’m more familiar with UTC (aka GMT) thanks to OpenDNS; that threshold was crossed hours ago.
Besides, I won’t make it to midnight tonight, especially with a hill to climb in the morning. As long as my back doesn’t flare up, I’m looking forward to my first bicycle race.
Peter noted my introduction to John Le Carré last month, and Santa’s wheels turned. Thank you!
I now have a box of Le Carré awaiting time to turn the pages. One is already completed: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Cold indeed. The spy in question, Leamas, is a hard man, an operator. But it’s only as the story unfolds that you realize the truly callous ones are the ones pulling the strings, like Control, who does indeed control events. Where the old school tie and club exterior might lead you to dismiss the bureaucrats, their actions undercut any softness or uncertainty. Who’s the traitor? Who’s the bait?
After all the back and forth whipsaws you around, the conclusion made sense. Coming full circle, you recognize what’s coming a few pages from the end, at the approach to the Berlin Wall, from the East.
When we reach the place you must get out and run to the wall. The searchlight will be shining at the point where you must climb. Stand in the beam of the searchlight. When the beam moves away begin to climb. You will have 90 seconds to get over.
You have to believe that Leamas recognized the cold justice about to be delivered, too, but he had to try all the same.
I haven’t read Ian McEwan’s novel yet, but the wife has, so Atonement was always going to be on the must-see list. Very compelling. The trailers had given away a bit much, but the main twist jarred me still. I wonder how the book will read knowing the basic story. There’s no doubt I will have that typewriter score jumping through my head when I do. And Keira Knightley wasn’t a drawback.
Metacritic score of 85 may seem a bit high after the not-so-subtle push for an Oscar wears out, but it’s hard to judge only a few days later.
Dunkirk means little more to me than the British retreat from the fury of the German blitzkreig. From the re-creation here, I know it’s time to learn more. Any specific suggestions out there for well-told histories of that “strategic retreat”?