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Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Dominion - CJ Sansom
The book follows members of the British Resistance in an alternate reality where Britain has surrendered to Germany, and is now a satellite state. The prime Minister is Beaverbrook. Churchill heads the Resistance.
As usual with Sansom's books we have strong sympathetic characters: David, a civil servant with marital problems, exacerbated by the accidental death of his two-year-old son; his wife Sarah;Günther Hoth, a German SS officer skilled in hunting down and capturing Jews, also with a broken marriage, and a genuine love for his adult son; Syme, a sycophantic pro-German Special Branch Englishman; Natalia, the Slovakian leader of the resistance cell. There is a clear mission - to keep a scientist with a secret out of German hands, and arrange his escape to the USA.
Interestingly, at the end of the book Sansom explains his political views - from a conservative family, he became more left-wing. His particular beef is the growth of nationalism in its many forms, which he considers to be the parent of "monster children: fascism, based on organised worship of the nation and Nazism, which worshipped not just nationality but race." He fears that it is raising its head once more "in its rawest form: all across Europe, in France, Hungary, Greece, Finland, even Holland, and most worryingly perhaps in Russia, fiercely nationalist, anti-immigrant, and sometimes openly Fascist nationalist parties are significant forces in politics again."
He fears UKIP and the SNP are aspects of this, and lays out his evidence.
But aside from the politics, the book is well-written, and a very good story.
As usual with Sansom's books we have strong sympathetic characters: David, a civil servant with marital problems, exacerbated by the accidental death of his two-year-old son; his wife Sarah;Günther Hoth, a German SS officer skilled in hunting down and capturing Jews, also with a broken marriage, and a genuine love for his adult son; Syme, a sycophantic pro-German Special Branch Englishman; Natalia, the Slovakian leader of the resistance cell. There is a clear mission - to keep a scientist with a secret out of German hands, and arrange his escape to the USA.
Interestingly, at the end of the book Sansom explains his political views - from a conservative family, he became more left-wing. His particular beef is the growth of nationalism in its many forms, which he considers to be the parent of "monster children: fascism, based on organised worship of the nation and Nazism, which worshipped not just nationality but race." He fears that it is raising its head once more "in its rawest form: all across Europe, in France, Hungary, Greece, Finland, even Holland, and most worryingly perhaps in Russia, fiercely nationalist, anti-immigrant, and sometimes openly Fascist nationalist parties are significant forces in politics again."
He fears UKIP and the SNP are aspects of this, and lays out his evidence.
But aside from the politics, the book is well-written, and a very good story.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Stamford Shakespeare Company in Twelfth Night
Entertaining, easy to follow, and the twins were alike enough for suspension of disbelief to work. Usual magical setting, and good weather. Excellent Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek, but why would Viola ever fall in love with a drippy duke Orsino - the character, not the actor!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Bridget Jones film 2
Rubbish basically. Bridget came across as a very unlikely journalist, and the two men were cardboard.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
The King and the Playwright - TV
A BBC 4 TV series about how Shakespeare developed after 1603 and the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
His plays reflect the turbulence of the reign of James I, with the Gunpowder Plot, Enclosures of land, and James's need to legitimise his position as rightful king of England, united with Scotland.
Plays such as Measure for Measure (corruption and lawlessness) , Timon of Athens (money and greed), and King Lear (inheritance and divided kingdoms. Then the theme of 'equivocation' with Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus, the commander who couldn't equivocate, and didn't win the love of his people.
Food for thought.
Finally the third episode - Legacy, includes The Winters Tale, The Tempest and Henry VIII, in collaboration with John Fletcher. In parallel with James's concerns about the survival of his dynasty, the death of his very popular son, Prince Henry, after bathing in the Thames, and the marriage of his daughter Elisabeth to the King of Bohemia. She became known as the Winter Queen, after the couple were overthrown and exiled.
I has certainly helped me to see the plays in a wider context.
His plays reflect the turbulence of the reign of James I, with the Gunpowder Plot, Enclosures of land, and James's need to legitimise his position as rightful king of England, united with Scotland.
Plays such as Measure for Measure (corruption and lawlessness) , Timon of Athens (money and greed), and King Lear (inheritance and divided kingdoms. Then the theme of 'equivocation' with Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus, the commander who couldn't equivocate, and didn't win the love of his people.
Food for thought.
Finally the third episode - Legacy, includes The Winters Tale, The Tempest and Henry VIII, in collaboration with John Fletcher. In parallel with James's concerns about the survival of his dynasty, the death of his very popular son, Prince Henry, after bathing in the Thames, and the marriage of his daughter Elisabeth to the King of Bohemia. She became known as the Winter Queen, after the couple were overthrown and exiled.
I has certainly helped me to see the plays in a wider context.
Eve Loiseau as Piaf
with Fiona Barrow on violin and Edward Jay on piano accordion. Arrangements by Edward Jay.
At Uppingham Theatre on Friday May 4th.
Well worth watching - she sang the songs with duende, and had the necessary stage presence. A lovely evening.
At Uppingham Theatre on Friday May 4th.
Well worth watching - she sang the songs with duende, and had the necessary stage presence. A lovely evening.
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