While watching an old episode of The Saint (more on that later) the teenage daughter of The Invisible Millionaire caught my eye. From the credits I learnt that she was Jane Asher. I've seen that name before, I said to myself. A search confirmed it: she was once Paul McCartney's girlfriend, and is a well-known actress and writer today. And the years have been kind to her looks. Coincidentally I've just learnt to play And I Love Her and it turns out that this Lennon-McCartney song was inspired by her. I had the sheet music for this before but only recently got a version in F, which is a doddle to play compared to the original key of E. (I'm not good enough and don't have the time to transpose the key.)
So that was my interesting coincidence for that week.
Wednesday 31 March 2010
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Monday 29 March 2010
The Last Station
I went to an advance screening of The Last Station today. The subject matter is the last days of Leo Tolstoy. During this period there was a great struggle between Chertkov, the chief Tolstoyan, who wanted Tolstoy to waive copyright on his novels so that everybody could read and benefit morally from his works, and Sofia, his wife, who wanted to protect the family inheritance. Tolstoy took to being a wandering ascetic to escape the intolerable atmosphere at home. He died in Astapovo railway station after a short illness.
A few things caught my notice. The title, from the 1990 same-titled biographical novel by Jay Parini, is almost certainly a play on the phrase Stations of the Cross, as by then Tolstoy had become almost saintly in the eyes of the peasants he supported. It's a novel, not history, so some events in the story are imagined, such as the romance between secretary Valentin and Masha. And it's coincidental that Helen Mirren is Russian on her father's side.
As for the film, the cinematography is faultless; the German/Russian co-production values are like those of a Merchant-Ivory period drama; even the actors speak like English folk. It's meant to be a tale of emotion versus doctrine, and James (Atonement) McAvoy is amusing as the naïve Valentin Bulgakov caught in the tug-of-war, but somehow the story's ideas are less developed than one would like. Still the scenes around the death of the literary giant are tear-jerkers.
A few things caught my notice. The title, from the 1990 same-titled biographical novel by Jay Parini, is almost certainly a play on the phrase Stations of the Cross, as by then Tolstoy had become almost saintly in the eyes of the peasants he supported. It's a novel, not history, so some events in the story are imagined, such as the romance between secretary Valentin and Masha. And it's coincidental that Helen Mirren is Russian on her father's side.
As for the film, the cinematography is faultless; the German/Russian co-production values are like those of a Merchant-Ivory period drama; even the actors speak like English folk. It's meant to be a tale of emotion versus doctrine, and James (Atonement) McAvoy is amusing as the naïve Valentin Bulgakov caught in the tug-of-war, but somehow the story's ideas are less developed than one would like. Still the scenes around the death of the literary giant are tear-jerkers.
John Buchan's The Power-House
I've been entertaining myself reading a reprint of John Buchan's adventure/mystery novel The Power-House which was originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1913. You can see from the even lengths of the chapters and the titles chosen that it was published as a serial.
Buchan's most famous hero of course is Richard Hannay of The 39 Steps. In The Power-House, the hero, barrister Leithen, is cerebral and not active like Hannay, though there are some fisticuff scenes. All the action takes place in London, except for reports from Bokhara of the man Leithen is trying to save.
The style is interesting: a lot of things are hinted at rather than stated. You never quite fathom the concrete goal the villains are after. It's political domination, but details are not provided. And Leithen apparently is able to avail himself of all sorts of connections from the British Empire. All roads, it seems, lead to London. Remember that this was the eve of WWI, after which many things were broken and never the same again. It is very much a novel of its age. Still, Buchan's prose withstands the passage of time well.
Incidentally Buchan had an extraordinary life to witness his biography.
Wikipedia: The Power-House has a link to an electronic version.
Buchan's most famous hero of course is Richard Hannay of The 39 Steps. In The Power-House, the hero, barrister Leithen, is cerebral and not active like Hannay, though there are some fisticuff scenes. All the action takes place in London, except for reports from Bokhara of the man Leithen is trying to save.
The style is interesting: a lot of things are hinted at rather than stated. You never quite fathom the concrete goal the villains are after. It's political domination, but details are not provided. And Leithen apparently is able to avail himself of all sorts of connections from the British Empire. All roads, it seems, lead to London. Remember that this was the eve of WWI, after which many things were broken and never the same again. It is very much a novel of its age. Still, Buchan's prose withstands the passage of time well.
Incidentally Buchan had an extraordinary life to witness his biography.
Wikipedia: The Power-House has a link to an electronic version.
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