"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
Unsolicited opinions on books, movies, TV shows, consumer products
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – George Orwell, 1984 (1949) A Most Wanted Man, by John le Carré You know what you’re going to get with a John le Carré novel, much as you know what you’re going to get with an Elmore Leonard novel . […]
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” — Roy Scheider, Jaws (1975) Quantum of Solace (2008) I think Daniel Craig is a great Bond, potentially better even than Sean Connery, but as other reviewers have complained, this movie is too similar to the Bourne trilogy (Bourne Identity/Bourne Supremacy/Bourne Ultimatum) to really have the feel of a […]
“A screaming comes across the sky.” – Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) Ritual, by Mo Hayder Okay detective thriller with a written-for-TV feel, entertaining but ultimately forgettable. I was far more impressed with Mo Hayder’s The Devil of Nanking. Pig Island, by Mo Hayder Still under the influence of The Devil of Nanking, I went […]
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.” – Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers Someone on Facebook tagged me with a literary poll. One question I couldn’t answer was: David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I read and enjoy David Sedaris but had not read Dave Eggers, […]
“I’ll be back.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Terminator (1984) Elegy (2008) There’s absolutely no doubt this movie is based on a Philip Roth novel (the novel in question being The Dying Animal): it’s a melancholy, self-absorbed examination of an aging man’s character, all flaws prominently on display. Ben Kingsley and Dennis Hopper are perfect in […]
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” — Gone With the Wind (1939) The Fall (2006) That movies like this can even be made is a hopeful sign that not every single miserable thing in this cynical world is about money. The film is visually spectacular, and there’s no CGI . . . it’s […]
“Outside of a dog a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx Neuromancer, by William Gibson I’ve been working my way through William Gibson’s novels. This is my least favorite to date, but only because it’s so dated. Reading it, I kept flashing on Tron […]
“Never judge a book by its movie.” —J.W. Eagan Body of Lies (2008) Did you enjoy watching Bruce Willis bleed in the Die Hard movies? Then you’ll love Leonardo DiCaprio in Body of Lies: he suffers enough to satisfy the most hardened CIA enhanced interrogator. The real hoot is Russell Crowe as a slobby middle-aged […]