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.

Go tell it on the mountain, by James Baldwin

 

I really enjoyed this powerful, semi-autobiographical, first novel by James Baldwin. It tells the story of John Grimes on his 14th birthday. The book is divided into sections; in the first we learn about his family and his relationships with his parents and siblings, as well as his relationship with the Pentecostal church in which his father preaches. The middle section provides the back stories of John's stepfather, mother, biological father, and Aunt Florence. The final section describes John's experience of being born again in an emotion-filled, lengthy night of prayer at church. Although many of the reviews describe this as the best part of the book, I liked it the least, finding the first and section sections more interesting. John's aunt and parents were part of the migration of Black Americans from the south to northern cities. This book shows the racism and other challenges they faced both prior to and after their respective moves. I love Baldwin's writing, and look forward to catching up on more of his novels and essays.

What you should know about politics, but don't, by Jessamyn Conrad

 

This is an informative and interesting exploration of the political issues that divide and unite the country, with chapters devoted to elections, the economy, foreign policy, the military, health care, energy, the environment, civil liberties, culture wars, socioeconomic policy, homeland security, education, and trade. Even if you're a news junkie, you may still learn things from this book. This is the 4th edition, which was updated to bring it up to 2020, but it doesn't go deeply into personalities of current politicians, or even into recent changes in political directions, so it would be best used as an introduction to the issues in a historical sense.

Death Valley and the Creek called Furnace, by Edwin Corle with photographs by Ansel Adams

 

This book contains chapters reprinted from Edwin Corle's book Desert Country, 1941, a book in the American Folkways series, and is accompanied by 32 plates of photographs by Ansel Adams.

The glass hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel

 

This was my book club's pick for our February meeting, and it was a hit with everyone. The writing is very good, and the plot is compelling. It pulls together the stories of many people, including Paul, a college dropout; his half-sister Vincent, a bartender; Vincent's much older boyfriend Jonathan, an investment fund manager who's running a Ponzi scheme; and all the people whose paths they cross over a period of several decades. The story unfolds in rough chronological order, but with many flashbacks that clarify details and explain things left unclear in other segments. But the book holds together and leads the reader on through an unforgettable plot and conclusion.

January 2021 Films

 

While the acting in this film is very good, I was not impressed with the film as a whole. It dragged, and I became very impatient with the main character and her inability to get on with her life. She's a lonely woman, separated or divorced from her husband, who throws herself into one doomed relationship after another hoping to find love. She puts up with the men who treat her badly, and pushes away those who are kind. Very frustrating to watch. (1/1/21)

I really enjoyed this Japanese film about a family of grifters who are on the outskirts of Tokyo society. The film focuses on a young boy, his dad, grandma, and aunts. While out walking, they come across a very young girl who appears to have been neglected and abused, and they take her home and begin to incorporate her into their family. The film explores their relationships and affection for each other until the young boy is arrested and everything falls apart. It's a very touching film as we learn that everything is not as it seems. (1/3/21)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved this film set in Germany from the late 30's to the 60's. It follows the life of a boy whose aunt is taken away from the family due to mental illness when he is very young. As he grows up to become an artist, he never forgets what she taught him about truth and art. As a young student he falls in love with Ellie, a woman whose father committed horrific crimes as a member of the Nazi party and the SS, but who has (so far) escaped discovery. As Kurt and Ellie marry and embark on a life together, Kurt continues to explore art, while adjusting to life in West Germany after the Berlin Wall goes up. While Kurt and Ellie are unaware of her father's crimes, the viewer waits impatiently to see if and when he is found out. One of the most interesting parts of the film is the portrayal of both the Nazi and Socialist ideology as applied to art, and how suffocating that is to the artist. The film is three hours long, which we broke up over two days, but it is very engrossing. Great acting as well.

This was an excellent film about a director who's in a bit of a slump, feeling his age and experiencing some health challenges. As he goes about his days, he reminisces about his past, stimulated by some of his friends and acquaintances popping back into his life. Antonio Banderas delivers a wonderful performance.

This is a poetic, modern, French interpretation of Billy Budd, Sailor. I enjoyed the acting in this visually stunning film. The pace is slow and methodical, but it's completely engaging as the film explores the jealousy of a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion for a young recruit. Set in Djibouti, it's directed by Claire Denis, who also directed Let the Sunshine in, which I didn't care for as much (see above).

I loved this film about a young man whose life goes off the rails when he suffers a debilitating injury that leaves him unable to pursue wrestling. The consequences of this affects his entire family. The second half of the film explores the impact on his younger sister, as she tries to make sense of her life in spite of her parents' neglect.

Based on a true story, this film tells the story of a young man who is put into a "conversion therapy" program. The horrors of such programs are revealed, including the deadly consequences for those who cannot conform.

This was the first time I've watched this 1971 film about a private detective who teams up with an aspiring actress to find out what happened to a man who's been missing for months. A melancholy, but atmospheric film.

This is a slow-paced South Korean film about an aging poet who asks his two adult sons to meet him at a hotel where he's been staying. As they reconnect, their paths cross with two women staying in the same hotel. There is an overarching feeling of sadness in this film, but it also includes subtle humor. 

This is a fascinating film about Arendt's reporting on the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, along with its aftermath, which including significant criticism about her characterization of Eichmann and his crimes. Excellent acting!

Dominique is a young girl who doesn't want to go to school, work, or take any responsibility for herself. She treats everyone badly, including a series of boyfriends, her sister, her parents, and others. Out of jealousy, she kills her former boyfriend, and eventually herself. Some see this film as an indictment against the hypocrisy of French society, but Dominique has absolutely no redeeming qualities. I'm not sure why it was so popular when it came out, unless it was just the sensational (at the time) themes.

Algorithms of oppression, by Safiya Umoja Noble

 

Safiya Noble was a speaker at the 2020 Association of Research Libraries fall forum, and attendees received a copy of her book prior to the forum. This is a heavily-researched in-depth look at how search engines (primarily Google) treats non-whites and women. Dr. Noble has conducted research into the algorithms that return racist or sexist results for seemingly innocent searches that begin with phrases such as "Black girls are..." or "Asian girls are..." At the time that she conducted her original research, such searches would bring up highly sexualized or pornographic results on the first page. Noble's research has resulted in Google's changing its algorithms to prevent this, as shown by more recent searches. Noble's research goes much further than these examples, and should be read by anyone who is a regular user of search engines; it's truly eye-opening!