I loved this episode on Poirot with David Suchet so I decided it was high time to finally listen to the book on which it was based.
I was initially puI loved this episode on Poirot with David Suchet so I decided it was high time to finally listen to the book on which it was based.
I was initially put off by it NOT being narrated by Hugh Fraser as so many of the Poirot tales are but there's a good reason for this that one soon discovers. The original tale was clearly crafted as a tale told by a woman narrator who was there and was involved in the events described. While the character of nurse Amy Leatheran is in the TV episode, her role was greatly reduced in order to give Hastings a place in the episode. As with the rest of the television series, this tale was lovingly adapted but with far fewer Art Deco references and the subplot about Poirot's larcenous Countess Vera Rossakoff was added.
Though I read this decades ago it had faded enough from my memory that I felt it was time for a serious re-read.
The story is amazingly well written. Though I read this decades ago it had faded enough from my memory that I felt it was time for a serious re-read.
The story is amazingly well written. One immediately identifies with the old man and somehow loves him as much as the young boy does. His stoic way of enduring suffering and his uneducated but noble musings about the world around him endear even the reluctant into identifying with him.
I was a bit put off when I read in the preface that Hemingway had not created this story from whole cloth but was retelling a tale that he'd heard some years earlier. No matter. He told it beautifully and it's a tale worth telling. The tough but beautifully constructed prose just makes it all the more appealing. ...more
I've always been a bigger fan of Poirot than of Miss Marple but I do enjoy most of the Marple books as well. I particularly like the way that they evoI've always been a bigger fan of Poirot than of Miss Marple but I do enjoy most of the Marple books as well. I particularly like the way that they evoke an England after WWII. This one however felt a bit weaker to me. Perhaps its the idiosyncrasy of all the family members.
I was first familiar with this story based on the 1962 movie and also saw the 2000 made for TV version. I even liked Helen Keller: The Miracle ContinuI was first familiar with this story based on the 1962 movie and also saw the 2000 made for TV version. I even liked Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues (1984) as it was a continuation of a story that I felt ended too abruptly in the original play.
I'd never actually read the play. Now that I have I think that the movie versions are superior to READING the play as so much of what happens depends on the actions and the stage directions were never intended to be read as plain text by an audience.
Still, I'm glad that I read it as it did give me a different perspective on Helen's half brother. Both of the actors that played the part brought their own interpretations to the role and I think that the play-write had something slightly different in mind. ...more
Read both books before AND saw the movie and never really made the connection. Of course Trent Ford was NOT the guy I would have pictured in any of thRead both books before AND saw the movie and never really made the connection. Of course Trent Ford was NOT the guy I would have pictured in any of the roles in the books but he is eminently watchable.
It was interesting to see the two plot-lines melded into a single movie but it kinda begs the question as to whether these books are a bit low on content. I mean one slim volume by C.S. Forester has been made into a six hour mini series.
Also, it may just be the masculine perspective but this may have just been too much back to back Sarah Dessen. (And that from a guy who refers to pints of Häagen-Dazs as single serving size) Her work requires just the right mind-set for me to really enjoy it.
Finally re-read this tale of revenge that I first enjoyed while in Junior High-school. While the concept is as strong as ever I was a bit surprised thFinally re-read this tale of revenge that I first enjoyed while in Junior High-school. While the concept is as strong as ever I was a bit surprised that the story was as short as it was and so devoid of additional detail.
This is clearly written and easily read and its Gothic horror nature make it an ideal choice for a bloodthirsty youngster's reading list. ...more
Oscar Wilde was great when it came to writing dialogue and his sense of the ridiculous was finely tuned making his plays gems and works of brilliance.Oscar Wilde was great when it came to writing dialogue and his sense of the ridiculous was finely tuned making his plays gems and works of brilliance. However I was disappointed with the original prose version of The Picture of Dorian Gray when I read it in its original form. I guess I was expecting too much.
Conversely I'd seen a number of movies based on this tale and wasn't expecting much but the short story was a joy to read and exhibited the wit that made his plays so well loved. It was a pleasant surprise.
After having loved the movie growing up I was curious when I found that Mr. Roberts had begun life as a book. I was even more curious when I found thaAfter having loved the movie growing up I was curious when I found that Mr. Roberts had begun life as a book. I was even more curious when I found that it was the author's one published novel and that he died before celebrating his 30th birthday and before the stage adaptation starring Henry Fonda made it big.
In some ways the death of the author could be called (view spoiler)[foreshadowing as his protagonist also dies on the cusp of achieving something big. (hide spoiler)]
The book is perhaps not as great as the movie adaptation but then young, ex-GI Heggen didn't have the talents of Fonda, Lemon and Cagney to bring his characters their additional embellishments. What the book does have is authenticity and I'd recommend it to anyone who's considering spending time in the service. Life aboard ship is not always the harrowing adventure tale that we see in movies and read about in books. This novel gives the reader a sense of the quieter side of military life. And of men in war. By all means, if you liked the play or the movie, then check out the book, but don't expect too much more depth than what made into celluloid. ...more
After finally reading Dracula I had a taste for more tales of the undead, hopefully sans sparkles. And this audiobook has Michael York as the reader. After finally reading Dracula I had a taste for more tales of the undead, hopefully sans sparkles. And this audiobook has Michael York as the reader. He seems perfect for the role.
As the story once again unfolded I was surprised by just how good this was. Dracula plus homosexual desire, plus mother love, plus post-existential questions that deserve answers. Add in a link to the Egyptian mythos and no wonder it was as popular as it was.
Revisiting this after years of tangential familiarity with the author's other works, and the author's life story made me wonder just how much she suspected about her son's sexuality and how much of this story was a means of dealing with her suspicions.
The characters are well crafted and engaging and one genuinely enjoys hearing their story and spending time with them. The slight twists in the accepted dogma add highlights that deepen and make more meaningful the details of the story. By all means read and enjoy, and if like me you read this years ago, give it another look now. ...more
Though I've been familiar with this story since I was child scared witless by the "monster movie" classic, I'd never actually read the classic novel oThough I've been familiar with this story since I was child scared witless by the "monster movie" classic, I'd never actually read the classic novel on which it was based. Now, that I've amended that shortcoming, I can say that I enjoyed the book and can see it's genius as an original Gothic thriller but I think some of the later treatments actually made it a better story.
Victor Frankenstein was a bit of a whiner and from some of his later quotes it appeared that he'd learned nothing from his ordeal. "I felt as if I'd committed some great crime, the consciousness of which haunted me. I was guiltless, (really, Victor?) but I had drawn down a horrible curse upon my head, as mortal as that of crime." How he can feel guiltless after creating a sentient being and then abandoning him to become the monster that he became escapes me.
In some ways, Victor was the original Deadbeat-dad. Still, it IS a great tale and the iconic images that Ms. Shelley crafted are unarguably memorable.
Perhaps I was a bit put-off by the sub-plots that Shelley decided to spend time upon. The story of the De Lacey family was well enough, but I can't see what was added by the tale of the first mate's failed romance.
The fact the book is so popular today says a lot about that greatness. But I'm guessing that Victor's inability to acknowledge his hubris as being the fault of so many of his troubles played a big part in J. Robert Oppenheimer's quoting The Bhagavad Gita rather than Frankenstein after unleashing the first atom bomb.
Finally got around to reading the original and the story is well told in a series of letters and journal entries that allow for several different viewFinally got around to reading the original and the story is well told in a series of letters and journal entries that allow for several different viewpoints and an occasional break from a somewhat annoying "Dutch" accent by the Van Helsing character. I liked the way that the novel reflected the historical stereotype of women as being more easily influenced but yet had Mina as a strong, smart character.
I was a bit disappointed with the denouement taking place outside after all the death in a crypt scenes that I'd grown up with but it was a more fitting end to the story as told. Adding to the chase toward the end of the book I'd just finished a computer game simulation that required me to build a railroad between Vienna and Istanbul and seeing all the names of towns and terrain features that I'd just so recently become familiar with made the chase even more interesting. Immediately after completing the book, I went back to the simulation and found the exact location of the Borgo pass and traced the rivers that the boats had pursued the count along.
With a classic that has been so widely read there's no real need for a plot summary and the fact that the novel is still a good entertaining read this many years after being published, speaks for the storytelling and craftsmanlike writing that Stoker exhibit. No matter how well you think you know the story, this one is worth reading in it's original form....more
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