Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Movie report: Sherlock Holmes (2009) I’ve read every Sherlock Holmes novel and story, many of them several times over. I consider The Naval Treaty one of the best stories ever written. I’ve seen most of the movie and TV productions of the Holmes and Watson stories. I’ve even been to Baker Street (there really is no 221B, although the address still receives a large amount of mail each year) and Gillette Castle (home to William Gillette, an actor best known for his stage portrayals of Sherlock Holmes). So, yes, I’m a bit of a Sherlock Holmes fan. And, frankly, when I heard that a new Holmes movie was in the works, and starring Robert Downey Jr. no less, I was apprehensive. My apprehensions are at an end. The new Sherlock Holmes movie is delightful. They have done an amazing job of creating a new Holmes adventure that is true to the Victorian period and to Conan Doyle’s writing. Too often, movie and TV productions are on the order of “Let’s see, Sherlock Holmes, smart guy, okay, film!” Th

Book report: Gilgamesh This is a very short, but amazing, book. If I understood the numbers correctly, it was written around 1700 BC, in cuneiform writing on clay tablets in Mesopotamia. It was lost for centuries, then rediscovered in the 1800s when the area was excavated. It appears to be the first recorded story, predating the Iliad and the Bible. The language is simple but powerful. In fact, the language reminds me of the giant statues of the ancient world: immense, serene, strong. The story is about Gilgamesh, the larger-than-life king of the city of Uruk. His immense personality is a problem for the people of the city, because he does what he wants and takes what he wants, without regard to consequences. The people pray for help to their gods, who create Enkidu, a wild man who lives with the animals of the forest. Enkidu is like Gilgamesh in terms of physical strength, but his opposite in other ways. Enkidu and Gilgamesh battle, but then become best friends and go off to have adve

Movie(s) Review: "The Illusionist" and "The Prestige" Do you ever wish you could rewrite movies? I really felt that way after recently watching The Illusionist and The Prestige back to back. I love watching magic tricks. Even when I know how they're done, I love seeing how the illusion happens. Both of these movies are about magicians who lose the woman they love, both have startling twist endings, and both made me roll my eyes. One problem with The Illusionist is that the illusions are not possible, at least, not without a massive computer graphics effort. That a turn-of-the-century magician could produce these effects is ridiculous. My main problem with this movie, however, is its tone. After SOMETHING BAD happens, it is very depressed for most of the rest. There is no reason for this. Instead of feeling depressed because SOMETHING BAD happened, the magician could have been angry and vengeful instead. The actual plot result would have been identical, but the a

Book Report: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens This is part of an informal project to read all the "required reading" books I never read in high school. I had a two-novel-a-week habit back then, mainly science fiction and mysteries, and I couldn't bear reading the books they assigned us. Thus, I only made it less than a quarter of the way through David Copperfield. Judicious skimming before the test allowed me to maintain my grades. It worked out. Anyway, I wanted to see what the book was like. Even now, I took the easy way out, in two ways. First: books on tape. I have a lot more time driving to and from work than I do to sit down with a book at home. Second: the nine hour abridged version, rather than the thirty hour unabridged version. Thirty hours! Yikes. The version I chose was more like a radio play, concentrating on the scenes between people, the dialog, and so forth. I enjoyed this book, and I can almost see why they chose it for us to read in high school. The

Book report: The Universe Is a Green Dragon, by Brian Swimme This is not the kind of book I would ordinarily choose to read. True, it's a non-fiction book about science, but it has a fanciful title, and I usually steer clear of things like that. I have a low tolerance for pop versions of science. When I hear phrases like "quantum healing" or "personal energy" or "laws of attraction", my eyes start rolling automatically. But, my pastor's wife lent me this book, knowing I'm a science person, so I felt obliged to at least look at it. I'm glad I did. The author knows a lot of science, which was a pleasant surprise from the beginning. And he makes it clear from the start that the title is a metaphor. Whew. When authors don't know that their theme is a metaphor, and think it's real, that's when they lose me. But, far more important than those considerations, this guy has some amazing perspectives on science. His theme seems to be that

Book Report: Sourcery, by Terry Pratchett I love Terry Pratchett's books. He's probably the funniest writer going right now, in the tradition of Douglas Adams and P.G. Wodehouse. Not only does he create funny situations and characters and dialogue, but just the way he uses language is wonderful. Every page has some tired cliché turned inside out and hysterically apt. Besides the humor, he often waylays you with something so moving and true that it can bring tears to your eyes. Add to this an amazing inventiveness of plot and situation and you have a complete package. This story takes place on DiscWorld, which is like our world, except that it's flat and circular, like a phonograph record, and rests on the back of four immense elephants, who stand on the back of a very large turtle. Once again, the main characters are Rincewind, surely the most inept and cowardly wizard ever, and The Luggage, a kind of footlocker with legs that behaves like a vicious guard dog around whoever

Book report: Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien I finally finished reading Tolkien's Return of the King. As you may recall, I started with Fellowship of the Ring (whose book report has slid off the forums) and moved on to [url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=comics&Number=10176610&Searchpage=4&Main=10176610&Words=%2Btwo+%2Btowers&topic=&Search=true#Post10176610]The Two Towers[/url]. I'm "reading" them as books on tape, and I really recommend this. !!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! First off, RotK has much better writing than FotR or TTT. For example, he really makes you feel the desperation of the city of Minas Tirith, waiting for the siege by hordes of orcs, and the determination of the horse riders of Rohan to ride into battle, even if it means they all die. Their charge is inspiring and ranks right up there with other great moments in literature. Comparisons to the movie: In the book, there's a lot more detail about th

Book Report: Nothing To Lose, by Lee Child This is an action-adventure-mystery novel, one of a series with the same main character, Jack Reacher. In this one, Jack walks into a small town, kicks ass and takes names, unravels a few mysteries, and then walks off into the sunset, shortly after the gigantic explosion. (Into the sunset metaphorically, anyways: he actually heads south.) The book has fun, action, mysteries, surprises, and many interesting observations about life and the modern world. It was obvious to me after the first few pages that the author is really smart and clever, and Jack Reacher is also. He's an engaging character with a Sherlock-Holmes-like ability to notice details and figure out what they mean. He's also not afraid to get his hands dirty with breaking and entering or other necessary rough stuff. For instance, I picked up many useful tips about fistfights that I plan to use as soon as I grow six inches and gain 100 pounds of pure muscle. Jack has a minima