2017 In Review Part 2

Last week, I listed all the novels I read in 2017 on the right. Here's the final post on those I felt compelled to tell you about.

Jeffrey Archer's house:
 the Old Vicarage, Grantchester 2017

Shall We Tell The President by Jeffrey Archer
A taut political thriller set in Washington DC, written by a former politician who worked at the highest levels of British government. I found it interesting how he knows so much about the workings of the American government and its law enforcement agencies. I visited the author's house in Cambridge last year. 

St. Edmundsbury Cathedral 2017

In Mary's Reign by Emma Orczy
A romance involving renowned Protestant-hater Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII, a young man at court, and two women who look startlingly similar. I visited Bury St. Edmunds this year. It was a rainy day, so we had little time to explore the town. So we spent it largely inside the cathedral. Had I read the novel before I visited the town, I might have ventured out to nearby St. Mary's Church, where she was buried.

Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond
The answer, in case you are wondering, is No. One can never get enough of Paddington Bear.

Five Hundred Years After by Steven Brust
I'm most familiar with Brust's stories about Vlad, the former assassin and underworld figure, who is on the run from his fantasy-world equivalent of organized crime. He drops lots of hints about how his world came to be, with it's mix of witchcraft and sorcery. This one leads up to a pivotal event in the world's history, and involves the ancestors of Vlad and his friends (and perhaps a few of his longer lived friends). 

The War in the Air by H.G. Wells
A bicycle repairman helps extricate a man and a woman from a downed air balloon on a windswept beach. Then the air balloon takes off again, and whisks him off to Germany. The army finds him, along with plans for a proposed airplane. He is brought on board a zeppelin, and transported across the ocean to the United States, where the fleet of German zeppelins devastate New York. A strangely prophetic novel, written three decades before World War II.

Big Ben 2011

The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
While I'm a Doctor Who fan, I've never really liked the TV versions of the Ninth Doctor and his companion Rose. But I liked their characterization in this book, as they investigate attacks on people in early twentieth century London. The story featured displaced European aristocrats, who had to flee to England for their lives, much like Baroness Emma Orczy. And the climax occurs inside Big Ben, an English landmark I'd very much like to tour, but probably would never be allowed inside. 

The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
Unlike his Sherlock Holmes adventures, this is a 14th Century historical novel based partly in Minstead, England. It's really a series of misadventures featuring a young man who grows up believing he will become a monk, but falls in love with a noblewoman, becomes a squire, and eventually a knight and a landowner. As it happens, Minstead sits roughly halfway between Brighton (which I visited in 2013), and Lyme Regis (which I visited in 2015). Arthur Conan Doyle must have liked the town, as he was buried there.

E. F. Benson's House in London 2013

The English Way of Death by Gareth Roberts
An adventure in 1930s England, featuring the 4th Doctor and favorite companions Romana and K-9. There's some interesting nods to the Mapp and Lucia series by E. F. Benson. It takes place near the Victoria and Albert museum, where E. F. Benson lived, and also out on an English beach, where a strange brick bathing hut serves as an entry portal to another dimension. 

Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne
A fond look back at childhood stories, and a reminder that an important and beloved novel can be whimsical and lighthearted.

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Global warming has left many of the world's coastal cities underwater. Large swathes of New York City now stand in the intertidal zone. Skyscrapers have been fortified to withstand the conditions, and life goes on as usual, with intrigues, big business, and disasters. Homeless people live in boats on the water, scavenging to get by. Others who can't afford housing stay in tents atop the skyscrapers. The novel features a woman who travels around the world in a blimp, transplanting endangered animals to  regions where climate shift will allow them to survive. Another thread involves a search for buried treasure from a ship that sank off the coast during America's Revolutionary War. There are references aplenty to Herman Melville, including a lost story or novel which might also be recovered. But mostly it's a story about the centuries-old history of the city, and a thoughtful vision of its potential future.

A Mississippi River Boat in England?
Horning 2017

The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
The Canterbury Tales on a Mississippi River Boat. The theme is how much are you willing to trust, and believe in, your neighbor. Will you choose to believe in a good cause, based only upon a stranger's word? This is a tiresome read, and most of the time I was plodding through it. I don't recommend it. Nonetheless, it is one that challenged my outlook regarding the "good causes" people ask me to help, whether they be legally organized charities, or the scruffy, unwashed person on the street.

A Son of the People by Emma Orczy
A Hungarian Lord of the Manor tries to build a modern mill, using principles he's read about in England. But the local serfs are fearful that his advancements will leave them out of work, and they rebel by setting fire to the fields. While the rich lord is foreword-thinking, he's stupid about money, and ends up owing everything to a greedy Jewish moneylender. A peasant, who has worked hard and invested wisely, comes to his aid, and asks for his daughter's hand in return. This semi-autobiographical novel makes for an interesting study of life at the time in Europe, the interaction of the classes, racism, and the inevitable march of technological progress.

I'd be honored if any of my (eventual) published novels were to prove as noteworthy as the above listed titles.

Dragon Dave

2017 In Review Part 1

Last year I read some wonderful stories by some amazing authors. You can peruse the entire list off to the right. I'll touch on a few of the more meaningful journeys in this post.

The Highlanders by Gerry Davis
The novelization of a 1960s Doctor Who TV serial. It takes place in an era when the English fought the Scottish for who would be king of the United Kingdom. It's where the 2nd Doctor meets Jamie, a Scottish Highlander who is fighting the English Redcoats. As an American, it's a reminder of the time when the British and the colonies didn't agree who should rule part of Britain. The story aired on TV during the 1960s, when the British were in the process of disbanding their empire. It seems equally relevant today, given Britain's desire to abandon the European Union via Brexit, and with Scotland recently voting over whether or not to leave the U.K.

King Soloman's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
The Bible records the lavish extent to which Soloman built the Jewish temple. Other verses say that he built equally lavish temples for the gods of other lands, such as those his foreign wives worshipped. While Soloman is revered for building the first Jewish temple, the money he spent on it, and the labor he demanded of his people, led to the breakup of the Jewish kingdom. The novel's hero Allan Quartermain has become a cult hero, the subject of books, movies, and comics. Haggard wrote more novels about him, but this was his first: the search for the fabled diamond mines in Africa that Soloman used to fund his lavish building program. What I found most interesting are 1) how he kills so many animals for sport (or, in the case of elephants, for their ivory), and 2) how he convinces thousands of people to go to war in order to save the life of himself and his friends.

Cambridge 2017

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
I discovered detective Jackson Brody via the TV adaptations. Atkinson's novel is very different from the TV versions. For one thing it's set in Cambridge, as opposed to the TV version, which is set in Scotland. Another interesting features involves the highly sexualized nature of Atkinson's story. There's nudists bathing in the River Cam, a woman who sells her soul (and body) to find her place in society, and another woman who decides to become a lesbian. The main plot involves the identity of a dead girl, with the culprit being a child molester. Even more startling is Jackson's fear that his young daughter will be corrupted by an increasingly sexualized society. This was a polished, literary work, as much a novel of character as a mystery. Agatha Christie it is not.

Lovejoy & Lady Jane Felsham punting on the River Cam

The Judas Pair by Jonathan Gash
The first Lovejoy novel set in the English county of East Anglia, which itself is made up of the smaller counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. (This makes East Anglia a super county to live in, I guess. Ask Jonathan Gash--he lives there). The Lovejoy of the novels is very different from the TV version. He isn't afraid to use violence to get what he wants. He's also less averse to stealing, if he deems the situation warrants it. Yet the book focuses even more on antiques, and the peculiarities there of, than the TV show. The Judas Pair is a set of flintlock dueling pistols, and the novel covers the complexities of the guns in far greater detail. The story, likewise, is far more complex and layered. I'm not sure Lovejoy of the books could ever be called the James Bond of antiques, but it would be interesting to compare Gash's novels with Fleming's. Intriguingly, the TV version also has Lovejoy visiting Cambridge, and punting on the River Cam, which doesn't take place in the novel.

The beach in Aldeburgh, a popular seaside destination.
Suffolk 2017

In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells
Europe is poised on the brink of war. The coast of the English county of Suffolk is being bought up by property developers. English industry is run entirely by corporations and property developers. Then a comet passes through Earth's atmosphere without destroying the planet. The exchange of gases change how people regard their place in the world, and sets them on a path to treat others in a more equitable fashion. While the story is clearly idealistic and utopian, it does suggest that Wells foresaw the labor union movement. 

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century by Addison E. Steele
Did I really read this novel last year? Hm. Can't remember anything about it. Sorry.

Hospital Station by James White
An entertaining novel about a Human medical doctor on a space station. He treats more aliens than humans, and each has biological, gravity, and atmospheric requirements that make coexistence difficult. A very entertaining precursor to S.L. Viehl's recent Stardoc series.

The Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold
The author tells how he sold his first story to television, from his original story proposal, to his pitch session, to story development, and finally to the filmed version of the beloved Star Trek episode. It covers his interaction with the Star Trek cast and production staff, from Leonard Nimoy to Gene Roddenberry. It's an inspiring book, when you consider that Gerrold sent the production team his story idea as an unpublished author. Through Star Trek, he went on to have a successful career in TV and as a literary author.  

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen
A murder takes place during World War II in an English Manor. Something fans of "Downton Abbey" might enjoy.

Annie of Albert Mews by Dee Williams
This novel also takes place in WW2, in an area of London called Rotherhithe. Annie grows up in a conservative, nonreligious household. Her friend is less moral, becomes a nightclub singer, and inevitably pays the consequences for her actions. Annie's first love dies in the war. She joins the Salvation Army, much to her parents' chagrin. She is almost raped, she nearly dies amid the bombing, and eventually is evacuated to the countryside. An involving historical novel of how life changed in Britain during WW2. (Some Sherlock Holmes adventures take place in Rotherhithe. I'd be interested in visited the area some day).

The god Amun protects the Egyptian King Tarharqa.
The British Museum 2013.

The Gates of Kamt by Emma Orczy
Explorers discover a lost civilization of ancient Egyptians, untouched by the modern world. A fun romp by the author of the Scarlet Pimpernel series, written in the style of H. Rider Haggard.

More About Paddington by Michael Bond
One can't get enough of Paddington Bear, right?

Given an abundance of time, I'd write more about all the books I read last year, not just the ones I noted. I'll finish this list of last year's most notable books in my next post.

Dragon Dave

Night at the British Museum

An Egyptian bust in the British Museum

Last year, I saw "Night at the Museum 3" in the cinema. I had looked forward to seeing the movie, as the story was set in the British Museum, which I had visited a few months previous. While the production featured a scene in the iconic atrium of the British Museum, most of the museum interiors looked completely different, as did the nature of the exhibits on display. I can only conclude the producers set the film in the British Museum for two reasons: 1) because the British Museum equates with England in viewers' minds, and 2) so they could make a statue of King Arthur come alive. 

Had I not visited the museum previously, I suspect I would have dismissed the movie as harmless fun, fueled by a passable reason for a plot, and lots of gags. Instead, it seemed odd to me that the filmmakers didn't make a movie about what's actually in the British Museum. The museum features a wealth of history which they could have built on to make a gripping, and funny movie. Instead, "Night at the Museum 3" seemed fake, unreal. It's not as if I wished to find fault with the movie. I love Ben Stiller movies. I've enjoyed most of the Ben Stiller movies I've seen. But as I watched that day in the cinema, I simply could not suspend my disbelief. 

Thus, the movie was something occasionally laughed at (or with). But it was never something I was into. But then, I suppose I should have been prepared for that, for while I had thoroughly enjoyed the original movie, the second left me dissatisfied.

Like "Night at the Museum 3," the movie "Paddington," based on the character and book series written and created by Michael Bond, was set in London. As with "Night at the Museum 3," part of the action takes place in a famous London museum. In the case of "Paddington, key scenes take place in the Natural History Museum. I've never visited the Natural History Museum, so I cannot say how much of the movie was filmed there. What I can tell you is that, unlike "Night at the Museum 3," I found "Paddington" completely gripping. It picked me up and took me along for the ride. I wasn't just watching it, I was into it. It remains one of my three favorite films released in the past two years.

What are your favorite films of the past two years? Do any of them feature destinations you would like to visit? Or are they special because you've already traveled there, and the places hold special memories for you?

Dragon Dave

Cozy & Secure with Paddington Bear: Part 2

As it turned out, my copy of Michael Bond's first novel, A Bear Called Paddington, arrived at a very appropriate time. For last weekend I fell ill with a sick tummy, even though I hadn't eaten a single marmalade sandwich that day. (In retrospect, perhaps that was the problem! For, given Paddington's admiration for marmalade, I imagine it must offer potent medicinal benefits).

That night we reversed our usual practice, and my wife read to me in bed before we turned off the lights. I following her delivery of Bond's prose, and studied the sketches by illustrator Peggy Fortnum. After a few minutes, my eyes sought out each page, and threatened to consume the text before my wife could deliver it. I had to look away, so I could relax, and let Bond's writing (and my wife's reading) ease my pain.

Paddington slips and tumbles onto his tea saucer.

Aside from the initial portion of the film, in which Paddington grows up with his aunt and uncle in Darkest Peru, the plot mirrored the basic structure of the novel. The book starts with Mr. and Mrs. Brown finding a lonely bear in Paddington station, Mr. Brown giving him a cup of tea and a bun while they wait for their daughter Judy's train to arrive, and then the family deciding to take them home with them. When the bear explains his name is unpronounceable by humans, the Browns name him after the train station in which they found him. As everything in England is new to him, Paddington has problems with his food and drink, and ends up wet and sticky. The cab driver doesn't like the idea of transporting the bear home, as he's just cleaned his upholstery, but accedes to the Browns' pleas and the bear's innate charm. Then he is welcomed into the bosom of the Browns' home, where he discovers that taking a bath is a more tricky business than he had envisioned.

Paddington leaps into his bath.

The filmmakers fine-tuned the qualities of their human characters, so Mr. Brown becomes a worrywart who initially refuses to house the bear for more than a night, and Judy seems particularly at odds with her parents. They also inflate Paddington's antics in the bathtub in spectacular fashion: instead of the floor getting covered in water, soap, and shaving foam, a tidal wave roars out when Mr. Brown opens the bathroom door. But while they played fast and loose with the particulars, apart from the origin segment in Peru, they seem to have remained true to the basic plot structure of Bond's novel. Or at least, that's what I can tell you so far, based on the first two chapters of A Bear Called Paddington. 

Even though Bond's novel exhibits none of the overall tension the filmmakers infused their story with, I can't wait for my wife to read chapters to me. Like Paddington, I look forward to bundling up into our cozy bed, and listening to more of his adventures. Far from being scared, Bond's story, Fortnum's illustrations, and my wife's readings make me feel just like Paddington after being welcomed into the Brown household: cozy, loved, and secure. 

Now, if I can just be patient, and enjoy the story in small, medicinal nightly doses, instead of giving into my desire to grab the book and consume it in one sitting. While doing so might not give me a tummy ache, I want to savor Bond's first novel for as long as possible, and as much as Paddington enjoys his marmalade sandwiches.

Dragon Dave

Cozy & Secure with Paddington Bear: Part 1

I discovered Paddington Bear twenty years ago, as a series of short animated stories broadcast on the Disney Channel. I recorded them on VHS, then later onto DVD, and have enjoyed following his comic adventures numerous times in subsequent years. Imagine my surprise when I saw a trailer for his debut on the Big Screen. I faced his entry into the cinema with a mixture of hope and dread, hopeful that the film would do well, and dreading how the filmmakers might attempt to revamp Michael Bond's classic character.

The film was cast with big name British actors, and I was impressed by the authenticity of their performances. Hugh Bonneville (of Downton Abbey fame) plays an insecure but devoted husband and father in Mr. Brown. Peter Capaldi (the current Doctor Who!) portrays the small-minded penny-pinching neighbor Mr. Curry. And Nicole Kidman, who has starred in nearly every important movie of the last two decades plays the villain Millicent Clyde who plots and schemes to capture Paddington's hide. (In case you're wondering, I particularly enjoyed her 2007 performance as the elegant Marisa Coulter in the film version of Philip Pullman's fantasy novel The Golden Compass). But enough of the human actors: let's get onto the star of the show, the magnificent bear from Darkest Peru! The computer-animated Paddington won me over with his boundless courage and determination, his depiction and capabilities a far cry from how I discovered him, as a simple stop-motion character imposed on a traditionally animated background. Even if his antics and adventures adventures seemed a little silly and over-the-top in places, I left the cinema feeling like the filmmakers had honored Paddington, and done so with considerable artistry.

The film also roused my interested in Michael Bond's original stories. I purchased a picture book from Amazon.com, and while the illustrations were well-drawn and colorful, they reminded me of the animated shorts I had fallen in love with, which I knew were based on chapters of Michael Bond's novels. So I headed to the library, where I searched the computer system for his books. Like Paddington, I nearly fell over backwards when I learned that the entire San Diego Library system held but a single copy of his introductory novel, A Bear Called Paddington.

Needless to say, I gave the computer monitor a very hard stare.

Thankfully, Amazon.com offered copies of the book for sale. I ordered A Bear Called Paddington, and waited impatiently for it to arrive. Unfortunately, then I got a sick tummy, perhaps because of all the anticipation coursing through me. But not only is that a story to finish tomorrow, it demonstrates how much like the film version of Mr. Brown I am, with all my anxieties and insecurities, and how much more brave and adventurous like Paddington I need to become. 

Dragon Dave