tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post3608478969747216897..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Extraordinary womenDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-39906241701044056802014-10-15T03:29:09.543+01:002014-10-15T03:29:09.543+01:00Yes, we loved that film (called "Behind the L...Yes, we loved that film (called "Behind the Lines" here for no earthly reason I can name). Must report that we're quite addicted to Orange now, though we both thought the denoument of the screwdriver episode didn't quite work . . . but it's a great series, and thank you for noting it. (Meanwhile, we seem to have gone utterly cuckoo over my way, and the Edu-Mate may have capped it off with her alerting me to the cuckoo letters in the Wipers Times . . .).Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-7183237716200007192014-10-14T09:56:14.647+01:002014-10-14T09:56:14.647+01:00Yes, I'd forgotten momentarily about Pat Barke...Yes, I'd forgotten momentarily about Pat Barker - her trilogy is superlative. Time to return to it, I think. Did you see the film of Regeneration with Jonathan Pryce? A very fine and moving piece of work.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-10613901939904668252014-10-13T23:35:08.296+01:002014-10-13T23:35:08.296+01:00I am surprised others haven't commented on Man...I am surprised others haven't commented on Mantel. It's a rare author who can handle historical material so well in a work of fiction. So many get fascinated by their research and never come out the other side to imagine fully the characters and story line. With the Cromwell books (my insufficient shorthand), not only is Mantel a master of the history about which she writes, but she's breathed life into the era and told of it from a unique and unexpected point of view. I can't wait for the third volume of the trilogy. The only other author I can think of who managed this is Pat Barker, with her WWI trilogy--though it certainly wasn't on the scale of Mantel's.<br /><br />As for Lyon, ah, too bad about the weather, and so weird about the orange cube! But the restaurant sounds just the type of haven one would want and hope to find in Lyon. Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-11291711219025230552014-10-13T10:05:36.784+01:002014-10-13T10:05:36.784+01:00Thanks for keeping the comments here alive - no-on...Thanks for keeping the comments here alive - no-one else seems interested, though obviously if you haven't seen a series, you refrain from remarking on it. Odd, though, that no-one wants to chip in on our greatest living British novelist...<br /><br />Yesterday in Lyon was wet, so our happy trabouling trip experience was not replicated. But I did walk down to a weird new zone south of the station, deserted like Canary Wharf in its infancy, to look at a giant orange cube with an equally gargantuan fruit inside it. And best, finally had a first-rate bouchon type Lyonnais two-courser in a neat, unpretentious restaurant called Le Traboulerie.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-24459179202778524782014-10-12T21:45:31.268+01:002014-10-12T21:45:31.268+01:00Actually, not a spoiler at all, and I like that ap...Actually, not a spoiler at all, and I like that approach--we're not being manipulated to like her. I hadn't cottoned on yet to the flashbacks as our window in to the back stories that won't be available to the characters themselves. Interesting approach, and it's working for us so far. (I'm not enough aware of what a Russian accent sounds like to be disturbed, but it may amuse you to know that, while we thought she was Russian, J also thought she might be Italian!) So, yes, off soon to the front porch (it's really a front deck, so not old-style Americana). Wish we could send you some of our glorious weather (though we are in for it this coming week, it appears). Would love to see Stockholm in autumn. And now you're in Lyon--too bad about The Flying Dutchman, for sure, though, as I recall, there are many compensations to be had in Lyon. Hope you have time for some.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-64162067720769595202014-10-12T07:40:29.686+01:002014-10-12T07:40:29.686+01:00I hope it isn't a spoiler to say that one isn&...I hope it isn't a spoiler to say that one isn't supposed to entirely like the protagonist - her faults will be hauled over the coals often enough, and how prison toughens her up is, I think, interestingly done. One of the things it took some getting used to was the fact that the other characters, though they all interact with her to some degree, aren't seen through her eyes because a cardinal rule is that no-one is asked about their crime or divulges their past; WE get the clever flashbacks. I like the actress who plays Red, but the Russian accent is the one phoney element for me.<br /><br />Turned cold, squally and autumnal last week after a glorious September in the UK. Advanced autumn in Stockholm, complete with colours; still late summer here in Lyon, where I've been for a Flying Dutchman that for the most part disappointed. Not least the incoherent 'story-line' from the visually stunning Catalan company La Fura dels Baus.<br /><br />Ah, the great American porch, I'd love to experience such an evening.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-29571375668940421822014-10-12T02:35:25.137+01:002014-10-12T02:35:25.137+01:00So now I'll go back the right post and report ...So now I'll go back the right post and report in. As it happens, it was rainy today, so no sit-out on the porch tonight (I can't begin to describe how glorious this fall has been--hopefully you'll be able to join us here one day). We started in on Orange and are so far finding the characters very well-drawn. We're not terribly keen on the protagonist, but I suspect that will come in time. After all, I'm assuming that our nuanced understanding of other characters actually comes through her eyes. The Russian (is she that?) cook captivates me, with her back story. I'm eager to know more.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-26583647973508929212014-10-04T10:20:23.623+01:002014-10-04T10:20:23.623+01:00So you know exactly what I mean, Sue. As Hilary he...So you know exactly what I mean, Sue. As Hilary herself said, it's about the energy, because the voice itself is not so lovely compared to Harriet's and Timberlake's. The Giant, O'Brien is the only one of hers I've not finished, so probably with you on that one. You prompted me to add a bit about A Change of Climate, which is the one closest to her, I get the impression.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-92021114315885970322014-10-04T02:52:16.796+01:002014-10-04T02:52:16.796+01:00There was a time many years ago when I went to rea...There was a time many years ago when I went to readings, and one of them featured Hilary Mantel. I didn't know much about her back then, hardly anything in fact. She came out on the stage in a plain frock and wore sensible shoes, wholly unassuming in her demeanor. We didn't know what to expect. The minute she began reading, it was electrifying. The book she read from was The Giant, O'Brien, which I ended up not being able to get through. But Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, well, those I lapped up. Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com