Sugar Creek Amish Mysteries

 Much as I dislike modern American movies and TV series, I enjoyed this one. 

It's family friendly, has absolutely no funny stuff and and still is interesting even though the ''crimes" the heroine investigates are more along the lines of petty thefts than blood-curdling murders. There is little feminism or political correctness, and the main character is quite nosy in the typical female fashion, but not an obnoxious feminist. She is also often shown wearing beautiful dresses. On Sundays everyone goes to church and the Amish are portrayed positively. The scenery is also beautiful. I'd recommend this show to everyone looking for light, feel-good entertainment with Christian themes.

The Magnificent Century Season 2

A review. 

Well, it did take me a long time to finally finish watching it, but keep in mind it is 39 double episodes. It starts with Leo's murder/suicide and ends with the iconic scene of the triumph of Hurrem. Because it's so long it's difficult to write a short review. I guess it could be summed up in a couple of sentences like this: A group of evil murderous psychopaths is trying to get rid of another group of evil murderous psychopaths by all means possible, with some characters changing their allegiance in the process. The stage is being set for the final power struggle which will take place in the last season.

All the characters who were more or less sympathetic in Season 1 change for the worse. By the end of the season there are few of them who never shed innocent blood. Basically, it's Prince Mustafa, his aunt Hatice-sultan and strangely enough, his mother Mahidevran (but not for the lack of trying). Mustafa is basically too good for this world (as someone pointed out in comments, he even sleeps with women out of pity) which will ultimately bring his downfall in Season 4. As for Hatice, I guess she just really didn't have it in her. She is literally the epitome of a pampered, sheltered, spoiled royalty (I am the DYNASTY! You serve ME;)

The story goes as follows. After her ex-boyfriend Leo's death, Hurrem is obsessed with taking revenge on Ibrahim, who is by now the 1st minister. For this purpose, she starts visiting an astrologist and black magician who gives her deadly poison. In the meanwhile, Sultan Suleiman is falling for Princess Isabella of Castile who is kidnapped by a pirate while sailing to meet her fiance and consequently sold to him. Her disappearance is one of the riddles of the series. What did really happen to her? Did Hurrem have her killed or just exiled? My bet is she was murdered, btw.

Ibrahim survives the attempt on his life but there is a conspiracy brewing against him led by the mysterious figure called "His Holiness" (or Master Lord in another translation). At the same time Hurrem realises that her position as the chief consort is really shaky and does her best to trick Suleiman into marrying her, with success. This and Isabella's disappearance finally turn Suleiman's mother (also known as Valide or Royal Mother) firmly against her. The power struggle between them will continue for years.

After the wedding takes place, Mahi goes into exile together with her son. When she returns, Mustafa is basically an adult and she decides to choose a concubine for him. Little does she know, that the girl she chooses is Hurrem's spy and a would-be assassin. Ibrahim, in the meanwhile, is banging his best friend's wife Nigar while telling his own wife Hatice that his frequent absence at night is due to the "state business"...

There are several other subplots but that's about it. From what I read, when the show just came out, it was widely criticised by conservative elements in Turkey for its licentiousness. A big part of action takes place in a br8thel. This br8thel is basically visited by everyone (Bali bey practically lives there:), including eunuchs (except Suleiman, that is). Eunuchs and Nigar's husband Nasuh efendi basically just go there to get drunk (that's where Nasuh spends his wedding night, btw). It's mostly called "a tavern" but some translations just called it what it is which makes for some funny dialogue between Hatice and Nasuh:

"Why did my husband and you keep visiting the br8thel?"

"To discuss state business." 

"So you only went to the br8thel because of state affairs?"

"Yes, m'lady, why else?"

Nasuh efendi in real life was a poet, a scientist and a very important historical figure but the show depicts him as an unlucky alcoholic who will try to pass Ibrahim's child as his own in the end. I heard that his family who are still around tried to sue the producers and I sympathise;)

Anyway, while Hurrem wins in the end, for me this victory was bittersweet because honestly, I don't see her as a positive character. But then, it's difficult to say who is...

The acting is superb, btw, which makes it a really great show. But the characters aren't really black and white but rather all shades of grey. Watch it at your own discretion.

Book Review: The Long Way Home

  This is probably the 1st review of my book written 10 years ago. I can distinctly remember that I had it published but somehow discovered it in "drafts" so I'm posting it again. Please keep in mind that internet trends have changed considerably since those times. I don't even remember any more what "neoreaction" is. The quote was inspired by the bailout in a certain European country which had happened a couple of years earlier, btw.

 

07/14/2015Donovan Greene
 

Today’s book review comes from (where else?) the request of a reader. Sanne Wijker is a reader of mine who herself blogs over at athriftyhomemaker.blogspot.nl. She is the author of the book “The Long Way Home”. She dropped me a friendly e-mail asking if I’d give it a look. Me being me, I did.

Before I even made it to the table of contents, I found myself gazing at the lyrics of a Manowar song.

It actually did a pretty good job of setting the tone for what turned out to be a thrilling adventure novel.

The story begins with a brief introduction to the two central characters and allows for a steady glimpse of the fantasy world that Wijker has created. I quickly found myself taking a liking to the character of Lennart, though I had a sinking feeling that he was being set up to be an eventual antagonist, given that he was being presented as a cold and pragmatic figure. Needless to say, I felt great relief when it turned out that he was to be the main character of this tale after all.

“Oh, you are hopeless,” sighed Brian. “You never can be serious, never.
Think about your honor. That swine called you —.”

“An idiot, I know, but I think I can live with it, while in your opinion my honor demands me to challenge him to a fight, kill him and get executed. No, thanks. I don’t like the idea. I have only one year left to go and then I will be free as a bird and with money in the bank, too. I’d rather stay alive.”

It is hard not to like a man with perspective and restraint (and lest certain of my readers find that this description of Lennart paints him as an unsympathetic a hero, I would let them know that he very quickly comes to learn which moral lines he will and will not cross, and his pragmatism is often tempered by his unyielding adherence to his moral code).


Neoreactionary themes are not hard to find, if you’re into that sort of thing. Some of them were painted into the work with a hammer, not a brush.

“The locals made a pretty mess out of things, what with uncontrolled immigration leading to an ethnic conflict which they did nothing to prevent, irresponsible spending and all other ill-conceived policies; at least now they’ll get some semblance of order. I’m not going to lose my sleep at night because of it,” replied Lennart calmly. He ordered another drink.

Ever present in the background is the fantasy of well-run societies, which is a soothing indulgence that should resonate quite strongly with many of you.

This in mind, Wijker could learn to do with a bit of subtlety. Everyone is almost always unbelievably honest, and I do mean unbelievably. It frequently jumps out at you how pretty much no one in the book ever fails to be completely straightforward and direct when conversing with others. Still, if you take it as being a part of the world that has been built, it is not too jarring, though it never stops being a bit odd. Additionally, people sometimes behave in ways that don’t quite make sense, though it always moves the story along and so such oddities are quickly forgotten.

As for the actual plot itself, it winds and weaves and it only rarely fails to be absolutely thrilling. Though the record seems to skip on the phonograph every once in a while, the sound is crisp and smooth. This is an exciting story that was great fun to read. Bumps and twists and turns and oddities aside, the simple fact of the matter is that this is a rewarding book that when you finish it makes you feel glad to have read it.

Buy it here if you’re interested.

Books I'd Recommend

Some of the books I read recently. In no particular order:) 

Duncan Falconer Mercenary

A British secret agent murders a CIA colonel in Washington. The investigation brings two FBI men to a small Latin American country where they learn a tragic story of corruption and betrayal. A great book written by a British man (under pseudonym) who used to be a secret agent himself. It warms one's heart to know that at least one bastard in this world got his just deserts (in fiction, of course). This is a recent book from 2009 (translated into Dutch in 2012).

Dick Frances Rat Race

My mother and her friends used to be great fans of Dick Frances but this is a first book of his that I read. This is a story of a commercial pilot Matt Shore who finds himself in reduced circumstances after his divorce and has to accept a job as a flying taxi pilot which brings him in contact with the world of horse racing with its dark secrets. Will he find his true love there? The story was very interesting and even touching but the end is somewhat open and unclear. Written in 1970 just before the "s8xual revolution" it presents a refreshing contrast to modern morals (or lack of them).

Alex Rowson The Young Alexander

I'm actually quite proud of myself of reading this quite intellectual book in its original language;) It's been a long time since I had read something similar. Despite its title, the book is more a story of King Philip than his son. You could probably summarise it with one phrase: the wages of sin is death. King Philip had 7 official wives and who knows how many unofficial affairs with as the palace gossip went, the persons of both s8xes which finally led to his dramatic demise. If you are academically minded, this book is for you. It is also quite recent, as it was first published in 2022. 

Terry Deary The Prince of Rags and Patches

A part of a mystery series written for younger teenagers about the times of Elisabeth the 1st, it also deals with the story of King Richard and two Princes in the Tower. It is a great story and funny, too. I'll just leave you with this quote to give you a general idea of the style:

"...he...sent me to gather a group of the best six armed men in our garrison. Naturally I chose the men of Marsden Manor. They would murder their own mothers if I told them to - and they would murder me if someone paid them enough money. Loyal men. Honest Men. Vicious men".

(p.46 of 2005 Dolphin paperback edition. Originally published in GB in 1997)

Alistair MacLean San Andreas.

Probably one of the last books written by him it nevertheless tells another great WWII story with a nuance I have not expected from this author actually hinting at noble allies' war crimes in that conflict. One of the most sympathetic characters is a wounded German pilot whose love interest, a nurse taking care of him, is half German herself. San Andreas is a hospital ship relentlessly pursued by the Germans apparently for no reason and it's only in the end that we find out what the story was all about. Highly recommend as most anything written by this author (one of my favourite). 

Well, that's about it for today:)

 

Dunkirk 1958

 Few people actually know that Dunkirk 2017 is a sort of remake of a British movie Dunkirk which came out in 1958. The story is somewhat similar. Instead of 1 soldier there is a group of five British soldiers stuck on the beach. There are also civilian boat owners who volunteer to sail to France to help with the evacuation. There is a young guy among them. One of them will die tragically. So far the similarities. 

Now for the differences. The 2017 production is, of course, much more spectacular. The one from 1958 is black-and-white but it does somehow look more authentic. After all, only 18 years had passed since the events it depicted so it wasn't some ancient history. 

Another difference and a very important one, imho, is that the 1958 version actually tells us the whole story and not a fragment of it. It shows how in the beginning nobody in Britain takes this war seriously. The soldiers deployed to France are shown cartoons with Hitler running away and everybody is laughing. Back in England people call it a lovely war. And then, within several weeks Belgium and France fall to the enemy who is much stronger than anybody has thought and thousands of soldiers are stuck on the beaches of Dunkirk in a hellish nightmare.

The 1958 movie is also unashamedly Christian and shows a prayer meeting on the beach. Religion, quite predictably, is totally left out in the modern version, despite an old saying about the absence of atheists in foxholes. 

I will admit I liked it much more than the remake (if it could be called one). I'd recommend this movie to anyone interested in those events. 

Dunkirk 2017

 

 A movie review.

The year is 1940 and the British are trying to evacuate their army from Dunkirk but the enemy keeps sinking their boats. Then the Royal Navy requisitions civilian vessels.

The main character is a young British soldier called Tommy who is unsuccessfully trying to escape  and is assisted in his attempts by a man called Gibson. On the other hand, we are following the progress of a civilian boat whose owner Dawson together with his son Peter and their hand George is sailing to France to help with the evacuation. We are also shown two RAF pilots fighting the Luftwaffe. 

Well, that's about it. The film has very little dialogue and practically no background story. If you don't know much about WWII history or what actually happened in France before Dunkirk you won't learn it, either. Tommy appears out of nowhere in the beginning (he is walking down the street with a group of soldiers and the enemy starts shooting. He is the only one who manages to survive) and his last action in the movie is to read a newspaper. We know nothing about his origin, his family , his friends or anything of the kind. We can presume he will go on fighting and that's about it.

Dawson is an older man and we do learn that his eldest son was a RAF pilot killed in action. We know nothing about any other character shown except that George didn't do well in school and wanted to be a hero. This is really a very modern film and it did remind me of Civil War, though despite it vulgar moments, it was much better made, imo. 

The movie's strength is that it does quite a good job recreating an atmosphere of fear and suspense, without politically correct tropes and with great attention to details. You certainly won't be bored watching it. Though it shows war quite realistically you won't see much in the way of blood and gore which is so popular nowadays. It is war drama, not war p0rn.

In general, I'd recommend it to everyone who is into period/WWII/war movies.

Civil War

 

 A movie review. Civil War is a 2024 American film by Alex Garland. I have wanted to watch it for quite some time, and we finally did last weekend. The story goes like this: the main character is a middle aged woman called Lee who is a photographer for the New York Times (I think). She and her two male colleagues Joel and Sammy who are both journalists decide to travel from New York to Washington D.C. through war-torn country to interview the president. A young girl called Jessie worms her way into the group because Joel likely fancies her. Jessie is very ambitious and sees Lee as her role model while Lee initially is pretty much irritated by the fact that she joins them.

The movie is called Civil War but there is little explanation about what's happening. The characters don't talk much between themselves and the half of their dialogues consists of f-words, literally. Still, we learn that the president decided to stay for the third term which evidently caused a rebellion, that he used airstrikes against American citizens and that his dwindling army is currently engaged in a 2 front fighting against the joint Texas-California forces and Florida alliance. 

Though the president is presumably a bastard, the rebels aren't shown in a very positive light, either. In fact, Sammy who is older and wiser, predicts that once they take D.C. they'll turn upon each other. He and his colleagues have to travel a long distance to the front lines and the biggest part of their journey presumably goes through the territories controlled by the rebels and yet everywhere they go they encounter totally anarchy, chaos, wanton destruction and bloodshed, with a couple of exceptions.

After we finished watching it, we wondered what was the meaning of this movie and even went to read the Wiki article. I guess, it's the type of movie where different people will have different ideas what it was all about. The way I see it, the main theme is that the types who work for the press are all cynical and jaded, largely devoid of morals and resemble vultures in the way they operate as they are only interested in sensationalism and will literally step on corpses to achieve their goals.

The film shows the transformation of Jessie into exactly such a person. In the beginning she is just stupid and manipulative, but by the last frames the transformation is complete. Of course, that's just my opinion and some (wanna-be) career gal may very well feel inspired by her character which I frankly found quite irritating, especially when you consider that she was directly and indirectly responsible for several deaths. 

The movie is an action thriller, quite fast-paced and short enough so that you won't get bored. It has graphic violence and profanity, but no s8xual content of any kind. Strangely enough, there are virtually no female warriors until the very last minutes when the group of rebel soldiers who storm the White House features a black female sergeant (so I guess a double quota was filled). For a modern film, it is quite decent. 

I would recommend it if you are into dystopian genre and don't mind gratuitous violence. My husband thought that the film had strong Mad Max vibes. 

Is it America's near future? I'd like to think, no, it isn't, but we do live in uncertain times. It may be the future of us all, who knows?

 

Christmas In The Highlands

 A review of sorts. It will be short though. Yesterday we watched a very nice Hallmark Christmas movie called Christmas In The Highlands. We all enjoyed it very much. It's kind of modern interpretation of a Cinderella story, with a simple working gal from New York meeting her Prince Charming in the Scottish Highlands. It's pretty traditional, too, and family friendly. 

There is no nudity, no profanity, no s8xual content of any kind, no violence and little multiculturalism. There is beautiful Scottish scenery, Christmas markets, a traditional ball, rather decent acting and a fairy tale atmosphere. 

You can watch the whole of it over here. Suitable for all ages.

Van Helsing 2004

 Since October is a Halloween month, we decided to watch a horror film to celebrate it and chose this one.

The plot is rather simple. Van Helsing who lost his memory many years ago, but knows that he is very old, hunts monsters in the service of a secret order within the Catholic Church. He is sent to Transylvania to kill Dracula, together with friar Carl. There he meets Anna Velkan, the last descendant of a noble family who is on the same mission and whose brother was turned into a werewolf by Dracula. Her ancestor made an oath that unless he or someone of his family destroys Dracula, they won't be able to enter Paradise and will spend the eternity in Purgatory.

Van Helsing kills one of Dracula's brides and forms an alliance with Anna, while Dracula is plotting to conquer the world and is looking for a new bride...

I should say that the movie is not really very horrific but very entertaining. Strange enough, it wasn't a success when it came out, the fact that many commenters on YouTube trailers found surprising. My theory is that it's due to the fact that it shows the Catholic Church in positive light, something which those who run the MSM in the USA don't really appreciate.

It's also quite traditional because it shows that Evil, though seductive, is still Evil. There are no redeeming qualities in Dracula, which is quite unlike the later abominations of shining s8xy vampires courting high school girls. Europeans are played by European looking actors. Girrl power isn't very annoying. Etc etc. Both adversaries are played by the very handsome actors, btw, and Anna is beautiful, too.

On the negative side, the hint that Van Helsing is the incarnation of Gabriel (yes, that one) is bordering on blasphemous, imo. 

If you are into this kind of movies and haven't seen this particular one, I'd recommend it.

The Problem Of Weak Men, Part2

 Recently I watched a movie called Speak No Evil. (You can watch the trailer over here). It's a Danish horror film from 2022, though I'd rather describe it as a psychological thriller. (Hollywood made a remake this year, which is now apparently in the theaters. I'm not planning to watch this one. I think the Danish director did a great job, and wouldn't like to see it butchered (though I could be mistaken). 

The plot is simple. A Danish middle class couple with a young daughter goes on vacation to Italy where they meet a Dutch couple with the boy of about the same age who doesn't talk. They become friendly with each other. A couple of months later, the Dutch couple invite the Danish to come and visit them in the Netherlands. They live in a remote place, their house is in the forest and there are no neighbours nearby. Well, you can guess how it goes further. Suffice it to say, someone is not making it out of there alive...

It looks to me like the director spent some time in the Netherlands himself and didn't particularly like it over here, because the Dutch husband and wife repeatedly demonstrate the worst kind of behaviour typical for a certain class of my countrymen (unfortunately). Each of them is like a walking stereotype of a Dutch assh8le, very realistically portrayed at that, so much that you recognise the situations.

This movie is deeply disturbing at many levels, and the guy who recommended it admitted that he couldn't sleep well after watching it. However, I don't believe that the intention of its makers was just to shock the audience. It's not just your average run-of-the-mill horror film. Wikipedia calls it "social satire" and that's exactly what it is. The main character, Bjorn, is a stereotypical modern liberal man. He is in touch with his feelings. He is a sensitive husband. He is what they call nowadays "a good father", i.e. he basically spends more time with their daughter than his wife does.

And yet, when it comes to that, he can't fulfill the fundamental masculine role of protecting his family. He can't stand up to bullying and abuse. He won't fight even to save his life. He ignores his deepest survival instincts to follow social conventions of always being pleasant and polite. In fact, he is so weak he can't even say, "no", to his daughter, which leads to the disaster for all of them. He is a perfect victim, and so is his wife. The evil triumphs in the end because a weak man surrenders to it, instead of fighting. The whole movie is the scathing criticism of what a modern middle class man has turned into. And not only in Denmark.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested.

The Problem Of Weak Men

 Recently I finished the book by Ellery Queen (those were actually two male co-authors, not one person) called Losers, Weepers. It came out in 1966 and it's a story about a guy called Jim Morgan who works for an engineering company and has severe financial issues. Then one day he goes to a bar, and while he is using the restroom someone exchanges his bag for the one with 100 000$ in it. Cash. And that's how all his problems begin...

You see, Jim Morgan is married to a very beautiful woman called Anita who is a shopaholic, to use a modern term. She keeps buying things on credit, and as a result, they are deeply in debt. When she learns about the money, she sees is as their only chance to get out of poverty. And Jim is too weak-willed to say, "no'' to her.

The book was written before the American (and Western society in general) radically changed. The woman's place is still in the home. People marry young. Anita is 25 and has been married for several years. She and Jim have no children, but the idea of sending her to work never crosses his mind. He is the breadwinner and has to solve this problem himself. He tries to make her stick to the budget, but unlike modern ''loud and proud'' females, instead of starting to scream about oppression, she uses her feminine charms on him and he falls for it every time.

The story unravels in a rather unpredictable way, but several people will lose their lives and Jim knows that he is partly responsible for it. After I finished reading it, I thought it over. In 1966 America, a breadwinner husband had quite a number of ways to lay down his will on his household, yet he failed multiple times, choosing the way of the least resistance. Apart from this, he also knew what his duty was very well, but failed to act because of the fear of his wife's emotions. The story could have ended quite differently, had he behaved like the man in his position was supposed to, namely told his wife to shut up, stop wasting money like an idiot and start listening to him.

That is something which Western men have failed to do ever since, with predictable results. To sum it up, it was an entertaining book, and if you ever stumble upon it, I highly recommend it. 

Surrounded By Energy Vampires

 A book review. So today I finished a book by Thomas Erikson, a Swedish author, called Surrounded by Energy Vampires, which is a part of a series. I read it in Dutch so there won't be any direct quotes, you'll have to believe me:)

Normally I don't buy and/or read modern secular popular psychology/self-help books, but I made an exception for this one; first, because of the name (some people do drain your energy) and, second, because one of the chapters deals with narcissists (if you ever have been a victim of them, you'll understand). 

So what can I say? My general impression of the book is positive. There were things which I liked/found helpful, but also some things I didn't particularly care for.

The book is well-written and quite engaging and I managed to finish it in 4 days (!). It discusses different types of so-called "energy vampires", i.e. people who emotionally drain and manipulate you and gives you some advice on how to deal with them. In doing so, the author uses DISC model, an international model which divides people into 4 basic types represented by 4 colours (red, yellow, green and blue) or some combination of the above, dependent on whether they are intro- or extrovert and relationships or  objects-oriented.

 The main problem for me was that this book's target audience are office workers. It goes into detail about modern office politics and all the drama it creates, which made me very happy that, thank Heaven, I don't have to deal with any of it. To be fair, Erikson also gives examples from normal daily/family life and mentions other occupations besides "middle manager", albeit briefly. But never a housewife:) In fact, they don't at all exist in his universe and he several times goes out of the way to make his book as unis8x as possible, including such  examples as a genius IT lady and men making breakfasts for their families before going out to work (must be normal in Sweden). It's also secular and the existence of higher powers is only mentioned once and rather skeptically at that.

 That said, he isn't entirely politically correct, or in any case, less than I expected which is quite refreshing. He does mention that men and women can differ in displaying certain character qualities and does hint that certain "energy vampire" types are more common for males or vice versa. 

Some of the author's observations are very interesting, e.g. when he claims that our society sees being extrovert as a virtue in itself and encourages everyone to behave accordingly and be constantly "on the move"/ run around instead of sitting quietly at home, or that it rewards "victim mentality" and thus creates more people who are proud to have victim status. 

I also liked his suggestion to punish a teenager who passively-aggressively shirks doing domestic chores by doubling the amount of work and supervising him doing it. I mean, I know enough mothers whose teenagers have no domestic duties at all and the thought of punishing them by making them actually do something at home would horrify them, even "the good Christian conservative types", so I was amused when a liberal Swedish feminist guy suggested it. 

When dealing with bullies Erikson mentions how the society nowadays likes to present them as the victims (they were abused by parents, had a difficult youth etc) but the reality is quite different: they are toxic sociopaths who get a kick out of abusing those below them on the social ladder and should be avoided at all costs. He gives the same advice about narcissists and adds that they can't be changed (though I'm not sure I agree they were born that way) so the best thing to do is to avoid them. He also points out that modern "cancel culture" is wholly driven by narcissists who pretend to be holier-than-thou but in reality, are nasty, evil individuals.

On the other hand, when one has a difficult (marriage) partner, his advice is not to right away run to a nearby divorce court but rather to try and fight for your relationship, which, again, is quite refreshing in the times of easy divorce.

The chapter which I found particularly helpful was the one about the news and social media. Erikson gives some interesting info: 90% of all news is negative and is designed to be so to trigger you and keep you in the constant state of stress. He recommends news/media fast of 30 days to try and find out if you are feeling any better and claims that his quality of life has improved considerably after quitting following news cold turkey several years ago. He also warns about the dangers of (excessive) social media use and the general unpleasantness of having to deal with "smartphone zombies" at the dinner table etc. 

Go out and help your neighbour instead, he recommends and I agree wholeheartedly.

He also gives some tips on how to avoid procrastination which are quite helpful. And then, his last advice: remember that you can't really change other people or to avoid all irritating types altogether. The only person you can really change is yourself. Change your attitude to life and others and you'll feel better.

I'd say "amen" to that.

The Dogs Of War

 It took me quite some time but finally I'm so far as to write a book review, well, actually two of them, something which I have been planning to do for the last couple of months, lol! So here comes.

The 1st book is called The dogs of war by Frederick Forsyth, the author probably most known for The day of the jackal, a fictional story about an assassination attempt on President De Gaulle. I watched the movie version of it and reviewed it on this blog several years ago. Both books were written in the early 1970s which means that they are quite politically incorrect and would probably offend tender modern sensibilities.

The dogs of war is a story about a group of mercenaries which is hired by a wealthy and unscrupulous British businessman to organise a coup in a fictional African country with large resources of platinum. The main character is their leader Cat Shannon, a man of mixed Anglo-Irish heritage (who is blond, blue-eyed and very handsome and successful with women, btw). The novel is quite long (nearly 400 pages) and goes into great detail describing the preparations for the military operation and all the shadowy financial transactions taking place. 

Despite its length, it's not actually boring and I read it quite quickly. Speaking about "politically incorrect", it describes Cat's s8xual life perfectly. I won't go into it further due to the reasons of decency, but suffice to say, that while he is 33 or thereabout his girlfriend is 19, the fact which would make any feminist have a fit.

As the story keeps developing, the reader gets a strong feeling of the impending doom, which is already hinted at on the very first page by the epigraph chosen by the author, a somewhat altered quote from The Mayor of Casterbridge by T. Hardy:

That... be not told of my death, 

Or made to grieve on account of me,

And that I be not buried in consecrated ground,

 And that no sexton be asked to toll the bell,

And that nobody is wished to see my dead body,

And that no mourners walk behind me at my funeral,

 And that no flowers be planted on my grave,

 And that no man remember me,

To this I put my name.

And yet, the end was totally unexpected to me, and a somewhat of a shock. I won't add any spoilers because I hope that you read this book for yourself.

Book n2 is what one could call vintage as it was written nearly 100 years ago, in 1928 by Nevil Chute, an author totally unknown to me before, but when I did some research I found out that he was actually quite famous in his time and even wrote Hollywood scenarios.

 It's called in English So Disdained and it's a fictional espionage story presented in a way to make you think it really happened. It has not one main character, but two. The narrator Peter Moran, who currently works as the steward of Lord Arner and Maurice Lenden, a pilot. Lenden and Moran served together in WWI and meet again 10 years later under strange circumstances. 

Moran learns that Lenden had great difficulty adjusting to peaceful life after the war was over, due to the fact that flying is his passion but there are not enough job opportunities. After his marriage falls apart due to his inability to earn a stable income, Lenden travels to the USSR and starts working as a flight instructor but later gets involved in an espionage affair. After he tells his life story to Peter Moran he gets a malaria attack (he caught malaria while working in South America) and is very sick and in need of help.

Though the story is called So Disdained I haven't noticed anything like this in the novel at all. In fact, it's totally vice versa. Peter Moran and everyone around him take a sudden and unexplained liking to Maurice and try their best to help him, save him from the counterespionage service and the communists even to the point of risking their own career and life. 

The novel is short and fast-paced and leaves you in suspense till the very end. And yet, the end, again, is quite predictable when you contemplate the fact that it was written back in the day when honour was not an empty word and any stain on it could only be erased by blood. 

I'm not sure whether you can easily find this book (I happened upon it in a second hand store) but I highly recommend it to anyone.

Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Woke Review

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power (Amazon Prime) is so staggeringly bad, it's hilarious. Everything about it is ill-judged to a spectacular extreme.

The cliche-laden script, the dire acting, the leaden pace, the sheer inconsistency and confusion as it lurches between styles – where do we start?

He forgot to mention "diversity and girl power" out of political correctness, so I'm doing it for you:)

Read the whole review over here. Personally I think this commenter expressed it best:

Fans are exactly the people who won't watch it. How arrogant are you to think that tens of millions of people who devoured the books and love the Peter Jackson films (well, maybe not the Hobbit) would want to watch Tolkien be destroyed by a pair of woke 25 year old muppets, a cast of self centred communists and a studio who spent 250m on an appendix and made it into a reflection of 2022 United States dystopia. You are deluded

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

 A review of sorts. This is actually the 1st of Potter books which I found really interesting. Probably because HP and his friends are getting older so there is some teenage/family drama added and also, because the story is more fast-paced and has more action and intrigue than the previous three. 

It starts with someone plotting an attempt on Harry's life and ends with the Dark Lord's return to power which sets up the stage for the upcoming war in the wizard world. Severus Snape is a somewhat more ambiguous character in this book as Harry learns that Professor Dumbledore has his own reasons for trusting him. 

Harry comes across as a real hero, he is noble, generous and courageous and he wins the magic championship even though he is the youngest contender. He fights a duel with Voldemort and not only escapes but also recovers the body of his friend with a great risk for his own life. The only girl contender comes up last, btw. 

 Of course, there is some liberalism in it, too, like discussing discrimination and, believe it or not, slavery. Because some of us still don't know it's wrong, I guess. Half of the book is devoted to Hermione's social justice crusade of freeing the house-elves yet there is some ambivalence about it, too, as others don't share her enthusiasm. 

Plus, she is kinda prejudiced herself, in the case of Mr. Crouch. Anyway, I kept thinking that were the book written today, the main character would be probably a girl, and half of the schoolchildren wouldn't even be ethnically British. J.K. Rowling has fallen from grace with the modern progressives lately, Twitter wouldn't even take action when she received death threats. 

The main drawback of the book? It's still a story about witchcraft. Read it at your own discretion.

Truth Stranger Than Fiction

You've probably heard by now about 2 Britons sentenced to death which, interestingly enough is very much like the situation in one of my books featured on this blog, which describes a proxy war by a fictional country in a "galaxy far far away" that bears a resemblance to what UK once used to be long ago (the country, not the galaxy:).

Strange how these things turn out in the real world sometimes, isn't it? in any case, it proves that my book is still relevant and up-to-date and I highly recommend it!

For the new readers, here is a review:

The Long Way Home

 Also available on Amazon:

The Long Way Home

An Anti-Woke Movies Review Site

Someone linked to a new movies and TV shows review site called Right Wing Tomatoes - Filter the woke. 

I haven't figured out exactly how it works yet, but in case anyone is interested, here is the link.

Is LOTR A Christian Story?

 So many things to write about, so little time:) So I'll try to keep this short. Most Christians except the fundies will argue that LOTR is a Christian novel, based on the fact that its author was a Catholic, even those who generally dislike the Catholic Church. They will point out the fact that the series is clean, the characters have good morals, women are all chaste and there is no moral relativism of any kind. It also deals with resisting  temptation which could be interpreted as resisting the power of sin. 

On the other side of the controversy, those of the more fundamentalist bent will say that LOTR promotes so-called white magic as something positive and that various New Age groups love the story even though they are often virulently anti-Christian. 

Considering  magic, one could say that the positive characters which use it, like Gandalf or Galadriel aren't really mortal (Gandalf for instance, is some sort of an incarnated angelic being) so it's not the same as witchcraft or sorcery but more their innate powers which mere mortals don't possess; though the example of Aragorn calling up the army of the dead is borderline. Yet their second argument deserves more consideration. 

While it's quite possible for pagans and Christians to like the same books, isn't it strange that someone like Varg V. (whose Twitter name is Gandalf) who hates and despises Christianity and everything connected with it, is at the same time such a fan of a supposedly Christian story?

In fact, what makes a book explicitly Christian? Characters performing good works or being moral and chaste? You could find these things in other religious traditions, too. What makes Christianity different, is the person of Jesus. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

This verse, in its turn, points us to the Genesis and the Fall of Man. Sin brought death into the world and the only way to get saved and have an eternal life is to accept that Jesus died for you personally, for your sins. That is the main tenet of Christianity. With this in mind, let's look at the LOTR universe.

While the narrative of Frodo and the Ring starts somewhere at the end of the Third Age, the Middle Earth and the world around it are much older, and the story of their creation is a subject of another book, Silmarillion, which few have read. Silmarillion describes a distant Creator God Illuvatar who leaves his Creation unfinished and sends his representatives Valar who could be described both as the incarnate angels (but more powerful than Gandalf or Sauron or Saruman who were Maiar) or lesser gods to finish it. Their efforts are undermined by Melkor, the fallen angel whose servant Sauron takes over when Melkor is banished into the utter darkness at the end of the First Age. 

Then we learn about the story of the elves who are called the first-born, because  Illuvatar created them first. They are immortal and the chief of them have powers close to those of Maiar, like Galadriel. Elves don't die from old age, they can be killed but theoretically could reincarnate as after their death their souls are gathered in a certain place by one of the Valar. 

Then the first men wake up. Elves are shocked to learn that they are mortals and that Illuvatar gave them natural death as a gift (it's called the Gift of Men throughout the books) and Valar cannot change this decree. Which fact leads to the fall of Numenor where the ancestors of Aragorn lived, in the Second Age. 

The Numenoreans wanted to have an eternal life like elves who were their blood relatives to a degree (long story but Elrond was born of a mortal man and an Elf woman and he was allowed to choose which way to go and chose the immortality of elves while his brother Elros chose the life of men and he was the first Numenorean king) so that they attacked Valinor (the island of Valar) and got destroyed as a result.

While Tolkien himself apparently stated that LOTR is supposed to portray the world many thousand years before Christ, the world he created leaves really no place for Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. Because, the elves are already basically immortal and have an eternal life, while the death of men is not the last enemy to be defeated as the Scriptures tell us, but rather a Gift of God to them (sounds kinda blasphemous when you write it down like that). 

So while I'm not saying that Christians should avoid LOTR (it's still a great book), personally I don't believe that it's a Christian story. In fact, though C. Lewis had suspect theology in many ways, his Narnia books are much more explicitly Christian. Well, that's my opinion and I think I made a good case for it. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

The Horrors Of Modern Literature

 Sometimes one gets tired of reading Agatha Christie all the time, so I decided to give modern thrillers a try. Luckily, most of these books came out of thrift stores, so they didn't cost me a fortune.

I won't name any authors except one, it's just a general review, so to say (also some had difficult Swedish names and since the novels ended up in a trashcan anyway, I can't go and check them). 

So book number 1 by a popular Swedish author was really quite interesting and pretty conventional, too. It was a story of a modern family with the husband working in advertising business and travelling a lot, while his wife stayed home with 2 kids and had a cooking blog. Some woman started stalking his family, tried to kidnap his daughter and later killed his wife and son with an axe. There were several suspects. First of all, his half sisters.

His mother was a single mom who later got married but her new husband didn't want to raise someone else's kid and so she dumped him by grandma. Later his mother, stepfather and grandma died, but his two half-sisters cheated him out of an inheritance and there was lots of bad blood between them. Then there was his ex girl-friend who couldn't forget him after like 12+ years and stayed unmarried. 

But the reality was much simpler. The guy constantly cheated on his wife with any moderately attractive female, including her own sister. One woman he met abroad was a psychopath who got a crush on him (he was apparently so good in bed that no woman could ever forget him, lol)

S8x didn't start until the 2nd half of the book, and it was between him and his wife, but then it became worse since we had to read the extracts of the stalker's dairy and her s*xual fantasies in great detail. The book ended with a church service but the preacher was female and instead of telling the husband to repent and convert she told him to concentrate on raising his daughter. It was in any case, an entertaining read, but I didn't appreciate the vulgarity. 

Swedish book n2 was loosely based on the story of Julian Assange with him portrayed as a scoundrel in the pay of CIA. In fact, everybody in this book was pretty much a scoundrel and the tone was dark. The main character was an ex Stasi alcoholic agent, with great detail given to the description of his hangovers including the colour of his vomit. Didn't finish this one (but read the last pages) as it was too depressive.

These two books simply pale in comparison to the masterpieces produced by the modern British authors. Book n1 was ostensibly about the Ottoman Empire. It dealt chiefly with s*xual life or lack of it of eunuchs, transg*nder pr*stitutes and the functioning of br*thels. Plus, the grisly details of various murders, of course.

Book n2 started innocently enough. A child looks back at her Edwardian childhood. It quickly developed into the child relating the details of her father's adulteries, her brother's adventures with his male servants and later, as the said child grows up into one of the most disgusting rape scenes. So much for a "family saga". Am I glad my family aren't like that, it probably goes along with being the British aristocracy, I guess.

Book n3 was by the popular author known for her Harry Potter stories. She also wrote fiction for grown ups. Somewhere in the 1st Chapter she went into detail of m*sturbation habits of 15 year old boys. It was after this I closed the book and threw it away. Pity I couldn't burn it as I have no open fireplace. In some countries, she'd be probably investigated by child protective services. 

And finally, the American literature. I bought a couple of books of a certain author. One was more or less OK though quite politically correct, but I kept it since I enjoyed the story. It was written quite some time ago. It was a breath of fresh air because it had NO s8xual descriptions of any kind and was pretty conventional boy saves girl story though the girl in question was a spirited independent woman, but still. 

His 2nd book though. It's only several years old and it's a story of a suffragette. She flies around on balloons and promotes women's rights. All men love her and despair. They all support women's rights, too, except a couple of creepy idiots. But there is more to the story. The lady leads a double life.

 In her youth, she ran away, dressed like a man and joined the army where she won prizes as a sniper. In the whole of US Army there was not one man as good as her. Girl power extraordinaire. However, she's also a psychopathic murderess who killed her own brother for being a wimp, and among other things, burned one woman alive. In the end, she gets her just desserts at the hands of a man who loved her. 

I don't know if the author was trolling his readers with this story or meant it quite seriously but it was too much for me to bear. So I went and bought a couple of Agatha Christies again and have been happy ever since:)

Kidnapped 1978

 Kidnapped 1978 is a mini-series of 13 short episodes based on the novel by R.L. Stevenson (actually on the novel and its sequel, Catriona as most of the adaptations). The story proved so popular that it was adapted many times. I do remember watching a 2005 movie which was also quite good.

The plot goes as follows. David Balfour, a young lad of about 17 after the loss of both of his parents goes to stay with his uncle who is a lord of an estate but lives in pretty destitute conditions due to his extreme greediness and paranoia. In his house, David discovers that his father was actually the eldest son which makes him a wealthy heir, but his uncle uses his naivety to sell him into slavery. The ship which is  supposed to bring him to America takes a passenger, Alan Breck Stewart, one of the leaders of the Highland rebellion which had happened several years before.

When the ship captain discovers  that Alan has a belt full of gold, his decision is taken, Alan must die, but David has other plans. Here is his chance to do an honourable deed and to escape slavery and so he warns Alan and the two manage to escape, after killing half of the crew which leads to a shipwreck. Yet the way back goes through Highlands which are crawling with British soldiers and Alan has a price on his head. To make the matters more complicated, the two become chief suspects in a political murder case...

The 2nd novel is much less exciting and mostly deals with the relationship between David and Catriona, the daughter of James McGregor, the eldest son of Rob Roy. 

The story is ostensibly about David yet Alan somehow always manages to become at least just as important. It's no wonder since he is such an alpha male. Handsome despite his smallpox scars which gave him his nickname Breck, good with the sword, loyal and brave even when death seems imminent, never loses his head (unless alcohol and gambling are involved), popular with women, altogether a dashing hero, especially compared to David with his bourgeois prejudices. 

Stevenson was aware of the danger of him getting all the attention so he gave him some unpleasant character traits like arrogance, pride and certain pettiness, but in the1978 production they actually made him a better person than in the novel, which I was quite happy about. Alan is played by David McCallum, who was a very popular actor  and a quite handsome man himself, though he was probably a bit too old for Alan who should be in his late thirties, in my estimation. (McCallum was 45 at that time but still particularly good-looking). They also gave a bigger role to Catriona, which made the story more romantic.

Now in case you wondered, the novel is based on the historical events (the Appin murder) and Alan Breck Stewart really existed. Even though the original story doesn't tell us what happened to him in the end, (apparently he served in the French army and fought against the British in North America) according to his family he later moved to Ireland, married, set up a farm and lived happily ever after (to the good old age of 80, which was not bad at all for those times and considering the sort of life he led) and left many descendants who still live there.

I would recommend  this miniseries to anyone, young and old. I really enjoyed it. The only drawback was the dialect which they spoke that was difficult for us to follow. Here is the link to Ep.1 on YouTube:

Kidnapped Part 1