I finished I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman while traveling last week. She did a very good job of implying that there was something undisclosed about the protagonist’s story that would come out during her meetings with her victimizer, which greatly increased the book’s tension. Fine writing, excellent story. Looking forward to her next one.
After that I read Norman Prentiss’s novella Invisible Fences. The title refers to those things that parents tell kids to dissuade them from doing stupid things, the analogy being to electric dog fences. I’m sure we can all come up with examples. My parents used to tell me about someone slightly older than me who had his drink doctored at a party without his knowledge. Some unspecified drug slipped in when he wasn’t looking. AND HE WAS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN. That mantra echoes in my mind to this day. For a long time I wondered why this novella was to be considered horror, as it’s mostly a reminiscence of childhood and certain events that shaped the protagonist’s future—until near the end when things are re-evaluated and the horror element creeps in. It’s the kind of nostalgic story that would lead a reader to think it was autobiography and the kind of story that I don’t think I’m capable of writing because my memories of childhood are vague and unfocused.
I’m now about 2/3 of the way through Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carré. It’s about a young couple, Perry and Gail, who, while on vacation in Antigua, are approached by Dimi, a Russian who wants to use them as a conduit to British Intelligence as brokers of a deal. I love the storytelling style Le Carré adopts here. The opening passage takes place around a tennis match between Dimi and Perry, who is a fairly accomplished player. The match is more like a game of chess as they negotiate around each other, trying to determine if there can be any trust between them. Also interesting is the way Perry attempts to shield Gail from the danger they may attract as they move forward. It’s cavalier and gentlemanly but also chauvinistic. They aren’t married and he’s presuming to speak on her behalf without consulting her. She has her own interests in Dimi and his family, some of which Perry doesn’t know about. From Antigua, the story moves back to the UK, where Perry figures out how to get his information into the right hands and the way he and Gail are debriefed. Political squabbling within the intelligence services. Planning for the next meeting with Dimi. Lots of tennis. The cold war is over but the Russian mobs are involved in international money laundering that extends tentacles into the House of Lords and British Parliament. Fascinating characters, including Perry and Gail’s “handlers.”
Finally got around to watching the Doctor Who Christmas special on New Year’s Eve. Michael Gambon is excellent as Kazran Sardick. the Scrooge stand-in, the man cowed by his father who became exactly the same man except without a child of his own to brutalize. Amy and Rory in peril during their honeymoon aboard a ship that will eventually crash (has there ever been a longer potential crash?) on the planet unless Sardick can be convinced to intervene. Doctor Who plays Jacob Marley and the ghost of Christmas past and, in the process, discovers what it was that made Sardick who he is. There is a neat twist with the way the story handles the ghost of Christmas future. So many stories inspired by A Christmas Carol are slavish to Dickens, but Moffat reinvents the story with some nice touches of his own. There are details that don’t really stand up to close scrutiny, but the episode’s emotional power sweeps you past them. The first appearance of the shark came as a huge surprise! And while Doctor Who saves the day, he doesn’t save everything, which makes for a poignant resolution. Lots of fun with the Christmas Eve travels, including a duet with Frank and a marriage with someone else! Not quite enough Amy, but the companions usually get short shrift at Christmas. One of the better holiday episodes.
Saw Michael Gambon again yesterday afternoon in The King’s Speech. Thought I recognized him at first and then forgot all about it because he was essentially unrecognizable as King George V (Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather). He even looked smaller than normal. This is one fine movie that deserves all the advanced praise it has received. While Colin Firth is the centerpiece, it’s as much Geoffrey Rush’s film. He plays Lionel Logue, the speech therapist who attempts to help the future king past his stammer. He’s seen specialists before, including one who almost changed the entire line of the monarchy by getting “Bertie” to attempt speech with a mouthful of marbles. Bertie’s wife, Elizabeth, the woman we know as the Queen Mother, makes this last-ditch effort after Bertie’s difficult and embarrassing speech at Wemblay Stadium in 1924.
Lionel Logue is an uncouth Australian who shows Bertie none of the deference to which he is accustomed and has grown to expect. He’s flip, brash and irreverent. They clash, naturally, but become friends. My favorite scene is the one where Logue’s wife arrives home early (she has no idea that Bertie is his patient) to discover Elizabeth sitting at her kitchen table and the new king in the drawing room. She’s trying to maintain her decorum while giving her husband some of the strangest looks ever. He’s going to have some ‘splainin’ to do later. Lots about the British social system and the inner workings of the monarchy. Wallis Simpson comes off as a gold-digging social climber (which may or may not be accurate—she did stay with Edward until he died many years later) and some of the other siblings aren’t even mentioned. The extent of George’s affliction seems exaggerated based on the record (he made other speeches before the one referenced in the film’s title where he was fairly fluent), but it makes for a great story. I think it’s the best work Helena Bonham Carter has ever done. She seemed so mature and loving and regal, whereas her characters are often edgy and unpredictable. And while there’s little doubt that Firth will get all sorts of richly deserved accolades, I think it will be a crime if Geoffrey Rush does not as well.
