Entertainments galore

We are nearing the end of Inspector Lewis. Already on to our 9th season. Wonder what we will do after it is over. Mr. M is already having some withdrawal symptoms 😉 And surprises in Death in Paradise. Out goes Humphrey and in comes, Jack Mooney, played by the Irish actor Ardal O’Hanlon (Mr. M tells me he is from Father Ted…I have seen only two episodes of it so far…so couldn’t really place him). I am sure lot of us would be feeling a bit weird about it, but the transition was smooth, unlike the last time when Humphrey was pulled in because Poole (played by Ben Miller) died. That was a huge change. But I am enjoying Mr. Mooney as I did the other two. Common Sense, a BBC series where a select people from the public all over the UK discuss the weekly happenings, is another series that we are watching regularly. This is very different from the others as this involves real people and how they feel about important issues that were in the news every week. They are really very funny and honest. I like the butcher couple a lot. I am still keeping a tab on Taboo, with all its gory and blood and grime.

Watched a couple of very good movies. Old ones but golden ones, I should say. The first one was 12 Angry Men. If you haven’t watched it, and if you like crime drama, you should try it. 12 jury members of a murder trial are the main characters in this movie. They are sent to discuss the fate of a young boy who was accused of killing his father. They reconstruct the whole story piece by piece. It is a very interesting screenplay. You start with a mindset and slowly and steadily each one’s motives for their decision is questioned. I really enjoyed the movie.

And yesterday we managed to catch up on To Kill a Mockingbird. I haven’t read the book, wasn’t really sure if I would like it. But I enjoyed the movie. I don’t have to tell you much about it because I am sure it is one of the must-see movies of all times. And I am sure it makes sense even in this day and age. Gregory Peck is amazing. If you haven’t watched it either, give it a try.

Another 3-hour long movie we watched a while ago was A Passage to India. Again, I haven’t read the book, but the movie was nonetheless different and managed to hold my attention for all of those three hours. I am not sure I would have had the patience to read the book. But the dynamics of the varied characters are quite intriguing in this one. It could have had some editing done to it, but then the character’s depth would have taken a beating.

We also had been to a couple of museums. Will get around to copying those photographs sometime next week. I am being lazy over the weekend and not participating in the weekend prompts as of now. I hope to get back to it soon. Until then, I do hope you enjoy my photographs and random TV and Movie updates. And I could definitely use another extra day for the weekend. Don’t you? 😉

 

A-Z Book List: Y for Yellow

Another of those alphabets where I haven’t read any book starting with that letter. So I am going to go again with the book that I would like to read.

Name: The Yellow Wall Paper by  Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Elaine Hedges

Genre: Horror, Psychology, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

I remembered this because I saw a trailer for a movie with the same name or did I see it while I was browsing through the list of movies to pick and watch? I don’t remember now. But this name stuck with me. Found out that it was a 2012 movie which is based on this short story about a woman’s decline into mental illness. I haven’t read the story, just the synopsis, but that itself is enough to tell you that it can be very dreary and sad. These kind of stories always makes me sad. There are very mixed reviews for the movie. But the Goodreads has a very good rating for the book. I guess I should be in a particular mood to go through these kind of stories and not feel depressed at the end.

Let me see when I get the time to get around to it. If you have read this short story, do drop in your views or links to your views in the comments. Or if you have any other book starting with this alphabet that you have read and have enjoyed, please let me know of that too. Might come in handy next time 😉

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

A-Z Book List: R for Ram

I was tempted to go with ‘Redeeming Love‘ or ‘The Rosie Project‘ but then I remembered that I had already written posts on them. So I went back to my first choice, which is another epic story from the Hindu Mythology.

Name: Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari

Genre: Hinduism, Fantasy, Spirituality, Fiction, Mythology, Classics

Rama (pronounced as Raamaa)or Ram (pronounced as Raam) is the main character of the Hindu Epic novel called Ramayana. He is the epitome of a Virtue, Self Control etc. There is no such thing as going wrong with what he does. There are no shades of gray at all, unlike Krishna even though both are incarnations of Vishnu. This story is about the eldest son of a King, Ram, who is sent on a exile by one of the stepmothers and how he, his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshmana, (who refused to leave his eldest brother’s side) survive the tough life with a lot of help from a lot of people in the forest and how Ravana abducts his wife to exact revenge and how Ram follows Ravana to Srilanka to rescue his wife with the able guidance and help of the Vaanar (Monkey) army which includes Hanuman.

This book is an abridged version of the story by the famous Rajaji (who was also an able politician) and I kind of liked his version which is easy and simple to read giving us the essence of the story along with some explanations on certain aspects. I do not agree with everyone on how Lord Ram is the epitome of everything that is right. My friend Sree and I used to have so many discussions on this. But let me tell you one interesting news that I read recently. In Bihar (one of the Indian States), one guy filed a case against Lord Ram, because he exiled his wife (owing to public pressure) just because she was in the custody of a man (Raavana) for a long time. It was hilarious to read this article 🙂 It might not make much sense if you don’t know the story of Ramayana. So if you fancy a mythological story just read about it in Wikipedia to get the gist of it.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

 

 

A-Z Book List: P for Prophet

Again a non-fiction. Again something related to Philosophy. Again a very small book. But it packs a punch. Without much further ado, let me introduce you to the book for today’s alphabet.

Name: The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

Genre: Poetry, Philosophy, Classics, Spirituality

I guess most you must have heard of this Author and this Book. Because this is used mostly for the beautiful quotes. This is a photograph of the love quotes that I had written down much before I bought the book and read it fully. (There was an entry for Marriage and Children too… Wonder why I just chose those three… well, it must be the hormones. I was in my late teens you see 😉 ) I remember seeing them somewhere (I don’t recollect where) and that was the time when I used to write the lines I liked in my diary, so wrote them down and saved those words.

I was so awed by those quotes and they did have a big impact on me. I am one of those who uses other’s quotes whenever and wherever possible. And this book is full of them. I am glad that I have a copy of this book with me and I will have it wherever I go.

I could have picked up any other book for P, but this is one book I am very fond of and wanted to share it with you. This book even overrode the ‘Pride and Prejudice’ , enough said about this book already or the ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, which is another wonderful book.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

A-Z Book List: F for Four

How many times have we felt that if only we were able to take the matters into our own hands and deal with the justice on our own rather than feeling helpless? How many times have we cheered for those who have delivered that justice, even though they were anonymous? (Let us not get into the discussion about whose point of view is it deemed justice…that is a big debate, which I am not particularly very much inclined to get into now…too lazy, ya know) Today’s book deals with people like them.

Name: The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective, Fiction

A rather small book and very quick read. I bought the paperback because it was at a very cheap price and I liked the blurb. I didn’t know that there was a TV series about them. I didn’t know that in fact there were others after this book even. I might have to start on them sooner and complete the series. I hate it when I leave a series unfinished. I did like the book. I gave three stars on Good reads, which is my average points in general. Unless I find a book mesmerizing or totally awesome, I never go beyond 3 points. Rather cynical of me, but well…that’s me. Its not often that we come across books that deals with the different morality issues that the protagonists face. Most of the current ones are either black or white. There are no grey elements to them. Even for a small book, it did rather pack a punch, this one. The story of the author and this book is also quite interesting.

Some of the old classics have been made free as part of Project Gutenberg. So if in case you fancy going through this book and its successors you can find them here. Scroll down for Wallace in that link. I did enjoy reading this book and am glad that I have at least one of them as paperback.

 

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here