Mercier, Pascal: Night Train to Lisbon

A middle-aged teacher of Latin and Greek suddenly leaves Bern and travels to Lisbon as a result of picking up an old book inPortuguese, a language he does not know. In Lisbon, he investigates the life   the dead author and meets with members of his family and friends before finally returning to Bern (though there is one brief return soon after his initial arrival, This is a beautifully written book (again, praise to the translater) in which not a lot happens either in the present day or in the relating
of the life of the dead author some decades earlier. The writings and the teacher's reactions to them in which he questions his own life provide the novel's impetus providing a slow, thoughtful, read.

Vargas, Fred: This Night's Foul Work

The ghost of a nun, butchered stags, disturbed graves, a brilliant pathologist and a new member of Adamsberg's squad who
is looking for revenge are only some of the elements of this brilliant thriller. How they come together with the rest of the
story is gradually and suspensefully laid out by a writer who must surely now rank among the very best crime writers of the
present day. Not only is there are tortuous plot which is resolved only at the end but also a depth of characterisation that is so often taken for granted in crime novels. The various elements reveal a considerable depth of, presumably, researched
knowledge of a great variety of subjects: while some of this could be omitted it does enhance rather than embellish.

Wilson, Robert: A Small Death in Lisbon

What starts as an investigation into the brutal killing of a teenage girl in Lisbon develops into a patchy history lesson which
starts in Nazi Germany in 1941 and continues to the 1990s. A factory owner is forcibly enlisted into the SS and given the task of securing an increasing amount of wolfram from Portugal for the German war machine. To do this, he uses a local
peasant leader and the two of them become rich and powerful, more so when his task is changed to receiving and hiding
bullion. The two of them set up a bank and get rid of the SS men involved in the scheme (though one escapes). By the 1950s, the peasant has become a respectable banker with the German being involved in dealing with overseas branches.
On a return to Lisbon he has sex with the peasant's wife and later boasts of this though this leads to his being convicted of
murder (of the escaped SS man) and imprisoned. Jumping forward, one of the peasant's sons is a society charmer and well-
placed to run his father's business while the younger one joins the Portuguese secret police. Later, when the Salazar regime is overthrown, the latter leaves Portugal for some years but returns under an assumed name when his father dies. He becomes involved in the bank again, eventually taking over when his brother is killed in a car crash. Almost in passing, he
is shown to have regular sexual liaisons on a Friday including, unexpectedly, the rape of a legal secretary delivering papers to
the office he uses solely for that purpose. In the course of investigating the murder, the detective in charge is transferred when he seems to be treading on important toes. The murdered girl is the daughter of the lawyer who had handled work for the bank set up with the SS gold and the detective eventually finds that she had been buggered by the younger son who is
then convicted of murder and, simultaneously, the German, now released from prison, provides evidence of the bank's origins. The twists in the tail are that the younger son had raped the fiancee of the lawyer a week before their marriage and
the murdered girl was his daughter; he was not the murderer but had been set up for this by the lawyer who had discovered the relationship but there was no way of proving this in addition to which the lawyer was well protected by the powers that be.
The above misses out a lot of sub-plots and is released not straightforwardly but in smaller sections jumping back from the
present investigation to the past with the links only becoming obvious near the end. Reasonably wel written and certainly
holding the interest despite the necessary coincidences along the way. It would possibly have been less successful without the detailed inserts from the past though reading just the parts dealing with the murder and investigation provide a satisfactory enough story on their own.

Hammesfahr, Petra: The Sinner

A young woman kills a man one sunny afternoon in full view of her family and others and is arrested and, quite naturally,
confesses. The Police Commissioner in charge refuses to close the file and starts his own investigation to find out why she
did it. The book gradually exposes her past piecing together often confusing recollections from the woman herself. Her
descent into madness is excellently teased out in this excellent novel which has reminders in its tone and content of the
work of the great Patricia Highsmith though this book is definitely more intense and disturbing.

Glauser, Friedrich: In Matto's Realm

Another Sergeant Studer story which finds him investigating in a mental hospital (Matto's Realm quoting the Italian for mad).
As with the other books of Glauser that I have read, there is not a lot of action for much of the time but a gradual unfolding of the psychological states of mind amongst the various characters. Something I had not noticed in other books, possibly as it
was not present, was the not infrequent comment on the various accents - "Jutzeler spoke with the lilting accent of the Bernese Oberland", 'thick Swiss dialect" and so on - as well as occasional deliberate misspellings to indicate, presumably, the
way of speaking. As with the earlier books, it is easy to understand why Glauser was hed in high esteem and Bitter Lemon Press are to be congratulated for reintroducing him to the English reader.

Zafon, Carlos Ruiz: The Shadow of the Wind

A complex book which partly parallels the history of Barcelona in the first sixty years of the 20th century with the city itself as
very much a character. The son of a bookseller is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books where he finds, or is found by, the eponymous title by a writer called Julian Carax. He then tries to find out what he can about the author and
his efforts to do so are, to some extent, a parallel with the writer's life though less tragically. The story unfolds episodically,
moving between the present of the young man and the present of the writer though it is quite late in the novel before there is
a relatively full version of the writer's life. The late chapters develop the Gothic nature of the novel which has earlier been noted only in smaller scenes. The writing is very clear and uncomplicated without being as terse as, for example, Hemingway. While certain aspects of the unfolding story both current and past may seem far-fetched, they fit and the possible strangeness is due to the different customs and moralities of the periods in question. A really excellent novel.

Nine: Rob Marshall

This did not have what a musical should have - memorable music or,since this is now over two decades old as a show, familiar tunes. The staging was good and much of the acting more than adequate, especially from Marion Cotillard who was more deserving of a Best Supporting Actress nomination than the sexy Miss Cruz who all but fell out of her costume in her
main number. Day Lewis, despite the accent, Loren and Dench were OK as was Fergie, the Black-Eyed Pea but Hudson and Kidman could have e-mailed their parts in.

Stross,Charles: The Jennifer Morgue

This is a continuation of the adventures of Bob Howard in a world where zombies, withcraft, aliens and the like are everyday occurences to the Laundry, the paranormal British Government service for which he works. From a seemingly bureaucratic
meeting in Darmstadt, he is linked with a part human, part fish being who is controlled by the US equivalent body using a soul-feeding entity inside her to do so. With a lot of computer experise which is probably correct and a lot of other scientific jargon (which may not be as solidly grounded) our hero has a James Bond-like adventure in the Caribbean where he becomes the central character in a geas created by the multi-billionaire baddie. However, after numerous trials and tribulations, he survives even through the coda (the bit in the films when everyone thinks all is well but there is still one baddies seeking revenge). A very well written book with a lot of humour in it as well as some chillingly scary moments.

Avatar: James Cameron

The biggest film ever in terms of box office receipts and a great visual treat in 3D - I think the 2D version would be more than a little tedious. I did find the elongated blue-skinned Navi somewhat off-putting but the special effects and the remarkable visual imagination thata went into the film made it a fine experience - though not one I went to repeat.

Alice in Wonderland: Three versions

1903 directed by Cecil Hepworth.
A hardly viewable print that had been considerably restored with the usual Hepworth family casr including a rather old Alice and an unco-operative family cat. The BFI archivist introducing the film was enthusiastic about the film but took as long to
show this, which he did admirably, as the film itself.
1933 directed by Norman Z. McLeod.
A showcase for the Paramount Studios contract players which conflates the two Alice books with a rather colourless Alice going through the looking glass first and only later down the rabbit hole. The interest is in spotting the different players who are, fortunately for present-day audiences, listed at the start. The more recognizable ones are Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle, W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty and Gary Cooper as the White Knight though the latter does seem to get rather more than his fair share of screen time. A decided curiosity.
2010 directed by Tim Burton.
A 3D version which is really a return to Wonderland by an Alice on the day of her engagement party. Returning to Wonderland which she does not recognise at first it has all the expected characters with a glorious performance from Helens
Bonham Carter as the Red Queen an inspid one from Anne Hathaway as her sister, the White Queen, and a rollicking turn from Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. A lot of fun though I thought Alice was all but a cipher and Anne Hathaway's make-up made
her look rather odd (her mouth matches that of Julia Roberts for size and is even larger here).

Deep End: Jerzy Skolimowski

Re-seen recently on a Royal Navy (!) print which left something to be desired. John Moulder Brown plays a school leaver in his first job at a public baths (the old type where cubicles for regular baths as well as a swimming bath are) and becomes infatuated with Jane Asher who already works there. She is older and has a boy friend but flirts with him which leads after a number of episodic events to tragedy. While Moulder Brown conveys the inanity of his infatuation, though he is not as naive as he appears, it is hard to believe in his character as his accent is too well-bred both for this environment and for his parents who appear in one of the episodes. Diana Dors appears as an overweight sex-starved woman, a far cry from her heyday as the leading British sexbomb (not in my eyes though). Jane Asher was probably at her most gorgeous in this film and both her looks and her performance carry the film. An oddity in many ways which I was gald to see again

The Patsy: King Vidor

This comedy with Marion Davies in the lead is a film I have seen before but, until it had been running for several minutes I did not remember it. It was shown as part of the Birds Eye View Film Festival celebrating the work of women in the cinema and
boasting a new score by Gwynneth Herbert. The film itself held up well with fine performances from all concerned and witty
inter-titles which was fortunate as the score and it performance were bad. The trio led by Ms Herbert were to the side of the stage in front of the screen but, even from my seat right in the centre, their presence impinged on the projected film. I
shudder to think what the view from the right of the auditorium was like. Ms Herbert's song ahead of the screening was
pleasant enough though my recollection of the lyrics is that they were rather simplistic but the accompaniment to the film was anything but acceptable to me. The trio were using a variety of unconventional instruments so the noises were possibly less familiar to the ear than usual though this did not disturb me. What did was the clumsy way the noises used supposedly stressed the activity on screen - a strange moaning hoot when Marie Dressler was expressing annoyance, for instance. Where this did not work was the failure of the music to match the rhythm of the dance at the country club: surely for trained musicians it is not that difficult to play compatibly with on-screen silent music when appropriate (I have noticed, however, a similar failing when the accompaniment has been piano only). Film music is surely not mean to try and replicate noises on screen but rather to convey and enhance mood and atmosphere - solemn, slow chords for death, mourning and funerals,
sweeping violins for romance, descending brass a la Tchaikovsky for fights and the Post Horn Gallop or similar for chases.
What I find far from acceptable is attempts at onomatapoeia.

Cox, Michael: The Meaning of Night

This novel has taken me several months to finish, partly because of its dense weave and partly because its size limited the
times when I was able to read it. A very atmospheric Victorian Gothic style work, it starts with the protagonist carrying out a murder simply to establish that he is able to do so. From here it returns to his childhood, his schooling where his arch-enemy is introduced, into his adult life where he gradually becomes aware of his real identity - the reason for his wanting to commit murder. Although I read it in small doses, the slow development of the plot and the detail of the writing made this
acceptable as the actual story could be told in one or two sentences if all the embellishments were removed. A rather unusual feature of the book is the use of footnotes to explain or augment the text in various ways - details of the London of the time, e.g. the Clarendon Hotel is mentioned with the footnote stating it was on Bond Street, the slang and criminal jargon
of the period, a lot of bibliographical detail and references to literary and biblical quotations. Once the basic premise that is the start of the plot is accepted, the rest of the story follows more or less logically though not straightforwardly as there are
several detours on the way. Move the whole story forward a century, changing the detail and removing the more arcane
passages, and the book could almost be transformed into one of the classic thrillers by Woolrich or Hammett. A very good
book indeed.

Turner and the Masters

In complete contrast to the National Gallery's exhibition, this one at the Tate Britain was a delight. The paintings were displayed in spacious airy surroundings which enhanced the viewing pleasure. 'Masters' was taken somewhat loosely since, as well as the comparisons with earlier artists such as Rembrandt, Van Ruisdael and Claude, there were examples of some of
his English contemporaries such as Girtin. The versatility that Turner showed and the development from the early works
which were at times almost copies of earlier works to the much freer expression in later years was well illustrated.

'The Sacred Made Real

Where does the time go? I had not realised how long it has been since I last wrote.
I went to the National Gallery Exhibition of Spanish painting and sculpture of the 17th century and was a little
disappointed. The sculpture was probably good but this art form is not one that inspires or moves me with
a few exceptions. The paintings were disappointing but I put this down to the sepulchral lighting used
throughout the various rooms. Possibly this was meant to engender feelings of respect and solemnity but
I just found it created a negative atmosphere. The works by Cana and Zurburan were fine but the overall
gloom left me unsatisfied