A murder of quality, by John Le Carre

John Le Carré's second book is a murder mystery that features George Smiley. Ailsa Brimley is the editor of a magazine and friend of Smiley; she's received a letter from a subscriber who wrote that she's afraid that her husband is trying to kill her. Brimley asks Smiley to investigate, but before he begins, the woman is found dead. Apparently, this is the only Smiley book that is not a spy story, but it's every bit as intriguing, with lots of twists and turns.

Dear Martin, by Nic Stone

 

This YA novel tells the story of Justyce McAllister, a young black man in his senior year at a prep school, but bound for Yale. When he experiences racial profiling first hand, he begins a project to explore racial injustice by writing about his experiences and feelings in a journal addressed to Martin Luther King, Jr. Justyce experiences casual racism among his classmates, but also has good relationships with his debate team partner, S.J., his best friend, and a teacher in whom he confides. A scuffle at a party leads to a series of events that quickly turn tragic for Justyce's best friend, and Justyce struggles to deal with his emotions. With this book, Nic Stone addresses the very real issues facing so many of our young people today.

Amnesty, by Aravind Adiga

Amnesty is about a Sri Lankan man named Danny who has overstayed his student visa in Australia. He has a Vietnamese girlfriend, and works for a shop owner who allows him to live in a storeroom and takes half of his pay as a house cleaner. Danny worked for a time for two Indian immigrants, a woman and her boyfriend. They treated him like their pet or a mascot, but he left their employ more than six months ago. When he learns that the woman was murdered, he quickly began to suspect her boyfriend. This begins a day-long odyssey during which Danny tries to decide whether to report this to the police, in the process risking his own illegal status, or letting someone get away with a brutal murder. This book takes place during a single day, with flashbacks that reveal their tangled relationships. This is a riveting story, with the reader guessing how it will turn out until the end.
 

February 2021 Films

 

This is an interesting alien invasion story in which something strikes a lighthouse in the first moments of the film, then continuously expands to encompass the nearby environs, continually growing. Lena's husband returns from a year-long quest inside the perimeter, but he's changed, and she's recruited to go in as well to try to determine the source of the phenomenon. This movie kept you thinking the whole time, guessing what's going on. Nice ending, too.

Based on a story by Georges Simenon, this tells the story of Monsieur Hire, sort of a misfit whom everyone misunderstands, but whom no one likes. When a woman's body turns up in the park, those guilty conspire to frame him for the murder, and the townspeople go along because of their dislike for him.

I only watched the first half of this animated film because I disliked it so much. It tells the story of Luis Buñuel's filming of a documentary in a poor section of Spain. Apparently, he didn't hesitate to recreate scenes to make them more dramatic, and these included ripping the head off a rooster, shooting goats to show them falling from a great height, and causing a donkey to be stung to death by bees. We quit watching in the middle of the goat scene. I don't know what would make someone want to make an animated film of such an unappealing set of events. This was based on a graphic novel (the appeal of which also escapes me). The animated film was interrupted by film from the original documentary, showing the rooster and goat scenes as well; it was very jarring, and quite unpleasant.

Call for the dead, by John Le Carre

 

While I've read a number of John Le Carré books over the years, I had never read his first. When I read Le Carré's obituary recently, it mentioned this first book, so I decided to give it a shot. While it's a short book, it introduces many of the characters that we know from later books, including George Smiley. When a Foreign Office employee commits suicide after an interview regarding his Communist sympathies of his youth, Smiley is asked to look into the suicide. He quickly determines that it was not a suicide, but his superiors want him to stop investigating, resulting in Smiley submitting his resignation. he continues to follow the clues to determining who might be responsible, pairing up with a recently retired police detective. This book has good writing, interesting characters, subtle humor, and suspense, making for a great read.