Reading List Recommendations

Another post on my "British Reading List" (BRL).  As previously stated, the intent was to better understand Britain- better know their history and literature.  I read 129 books to this end; looking back, which ones were most helpful in accomplishing the objective?  The answer follows.

I looked over the BRL and took off over two-thirds of it, leaving 40 works I recommend people read.  Keep in mind: this doesn't necessarily mean I thought these were the 40 best, or even the 40 I most enjoyed- what follows are the 40 most appropriate for achieving the above objective.  Here they are, with some elaboration following:

Bernard Cornwell	The Winter King	Arthurian
Bernard Cornwell	Enemy of God	Arthurian
Bernard Cornwell	Excalibur	Arthurian
TH White	The Once and Future King	Arthurian
Julia Donaldson	The Gruffalo	Children's
CS Lewis	The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Fantasy
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Fantasy
JRR Tolkien	The Hobbit	Fantasy
JRR Tolkien	The Fellowship of the Ring	Fantasy
JRR Tolkien	The Return of the King	Fantasy
JRR Tolkien	The Two Towers	Fantasy
Roger Lancelyn Green	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Fantasy
Sheridan Le Fanu	In a Glass Darkly	Ghost
Alan Moore	Watchmen	Graphic Novel
Ken Follett	Pillars of the Earth	Historical Fiction
Sir Walter Scott	Ivanhoe	Historical Fiction
Stephen Clarke	A Thousand Years of Annoying the French	History
Usborne	The Usborne History of Britain	History
Douglas Adams	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	Humor
Bram Stoker	Dracula	Literature
Charles Dickens	A Tale of Two Cities	Literature
Charlotte Brontë	Jane Eyre	Literature
Emily Brontë	Wuthering Heights	Literature
Jane Austen	Pride and Prejudice	Literature
Lewis Carroll	Alice in Wonderland	Literature
Mary Shelley	Frankenstein	Literature
Oscar Wilde	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Literature
Robert Louis Stevenson	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Literature
James Herriot	All Creatures Great and Small	Memoir
Agatha Christie	The Murder of Roger Ackroyd	Mystery
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	Mystery
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Mystery
CS Lewis	The Screwtape Letters	Religion
John le Carré	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold	Thriller

Elaborating on the Recommended
Arthurian
If you want to 'get' Britain, you should read at least one book on King Arthur.  Few legends have captivated people more throughout history.  TH White's Once and Future King tells the story well, from a legend point of view; Bernard Cornwell's trilogy is good for those who want a more historical view of Arthur.

Children's
Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo can be read in a few minutes.  Do it.

Fantasy
Nothing shocking here; The Harry Potter series (7 books), The Lord of the Rings (4 books, counting the Hobbit), and the most famous book of The Chronicles of Narnia are must-reads.  A work on Robin Hood is also advised.

Ghost
Something about Britain- probably the rain, darkness, and numerous ruins-brings supernatural stories to the fore.  In A Glass Darkly is quite satisfying.

Graphic Novel
One of Time Magazine's "Top 100 novels of the century," The Watchmen is excellent on many levels.

Historical Fiction
Pillars of the Earth gives great insight into life in Medieval England; Ivanhoe does the same.

History
No reading list is complete without history books, and a general history overview is necessary for those wanting to understand the land in which they live.  Of the three I read, Usborne's History of Britain is a great, graphics-heavy introduction; 1000 Years of Annoying the French is informative and amusing to boot.

Humor
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a must-read classic, equal parts humor, sci-fi, and philosophy.

Literature
Many choices here.  You can tell my preference for Victorian Gothic by perusing the list, but girlie books make the cut, too.

Memoir
For those living up north, at least one Herriot book about the Yorkshire Dales is a must.

Mystery
Who's more famous in mystery writing than Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?  You can't go wrong with any of their works, but the ones I list are perhaps a cut above.

Religion
CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters is an excellent work.  GK Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday was also great, but narrowly missed my cut in an attempt to get to an even, pleasing number.  Both portray Christian truths in an entertaining and thought-provoking manner.

Thriller
John le Carré is a master; Robert Harris (Fatherland) is also excellent.

Final Thoughts
No list is perfect, but if you read the above, I think you'll both grow in knowledge, 'get' Britain, and enjoy the ride along the way.

Green Arrow: Into the Woods (J.T. Krul)

Green Arrow: Into the Woods features the emerald archer coming to grips with himself (and what he perceives as a failure to save his mother's life) and his mission (to protect Star City).  Here, the latter involves him taking on "the Queen," who has taken over his former company and now has what remains of Star City* in subjugation.  The story incorporates several other heroes, to include Martian Manhunter.

The story's so-so, and the art is okay (I love the cover).  This is part 1 of a two-part story; I reviewed part 2 here (yes, I should have read them in order . . . what can I say; I'm a risk-taker).  Part 1 is a bit better, though my comments for part 2 stand- this is part of a much larger story arc, and reading only portions means I'm missing something. 

*A magical forest sprung up in the middle of it.  Look, I didn't make it up.

Rating: B-

At the Crossing Places (Kevin Crossley-Holland)

Book 2 of Kevin Crossly-Holland's award-winning Arthur trilogy, At the Crossing Places continues the story of two Arthurs- Arthur de Caldicot of the 13th century, and legendary King Arthur of the 6th.  Like book 1, the former sees the story of the latter unfold in his seeing stone.

If you liked the first book, you'll like this one.  All the qualities of the first are found in the second- wisdom, adventure, romance, suspense, all of which are done tastefully.  We see de Caldicot coming of age and struggling with who he is as he becomes a squire and prepares for Crusade, and at the same time we witness the golden age of King Arthur's Camelot.  Many of the characters are as "beautiful and horrid as we all are" (I love that description- so apt).  Another winning effort.

Rating: A 

Reading List Reflections

As previously posted, I just finished my "British Reading List" (BRL)- a multi-year effort to read the classics and history of Britain.  The intent was to 'get' Britain- to understand the people, culture, and land in which we found ourselves by reading 129 books.  Did it work?  What did I learn, both universally and personally? Read on if you care.

Did it work?

Did I accomplish the objective- do I now 'get' Britain?  That's hard to answer- there's no standard or objective test by which I can measure progress.  I certainly feel as though I do.  I now understand many more pop culture references to classic literature, and visits to historical sites are more satisfying with my increased background knowledge.  Life is like a puzzle- you have to study and connect a lot of pieces to see the big picture.  I certainly have more of the puzzle completed.  There's always more to read, though- so I can never say "I've arrived; I now know it all." 

The Universal Lessons
The following observations are what I consider universal- things that apply to everyone.

1)  You need to exercise your mind.
Workouts- they're not just for the body.  A consistent reading regimen will help you improve your knowledge, memory, and cognitive abilities.  Your reading speed will increase as well.

2)  You are what you eat- so eat well.
Reading is so much more valuable than alternative hobbies.  Not to discount other pursuits- many things in life are worth doing- but the benefits of reading are many, as covered by this list.  In my life, I've gone through a number of crazes, to include television and video games.  I enjoy these things, but they feel hollow- like I'm wasting my time.  These things can have value- don't get me wrong- but after reading a good (or bad) book, I always felt as though it was time well spent.

3) Regular reading will improve your vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.
It will do it naturally, simply by "being around" words.  I even noticed my speech patterns changing based on what I was reading.  For example, if I picked up typically-eloquent Victorian literature (think Dickens), I found myself speaking more eloquently, without conscious effort.  We're all copycats- so invest in things better than yourself.

4) You shouldn't do it all, but there's always more to do.
There are two lessons here.  As I finished the last book on my list, I thought I'd feel a sense of elation- of real achievement.  Far from it- I felt as though I was just scratching the surface.  You can't read them all, and I have to remember that and be content.  No amount of knowledge can truly satiate, or signify arrival at some enlightened or perfect state.  At the same time, the more you read, the more you realize what you don't know (but perhaps should), and that spurs you on to greater things.  So there's a paradox here- all at once, you realize you have limits, yet realize your potential (and need) to strive for more.

5) Get outside your comfort zone.
You may just be surprised.  I put many classics on the list I greatly feared- "girlie books" among them- and, in general, was pleasantly surprised.  Even if I didn't enjoy something, experiencing new things is important and valuable.  Try different authors- and different genres.  You'll be thankful you did.

6) Fame is fleeting.
Perhaps I should have realized- one generation's obsession can fall into obscurity shortly thereafter.  The example here is the Ingoldsby Legends- extremely popular in Victorian times, but who's heard of it now?  I wonder if people in 100 years will have heard of Harry Potter.



The Personal Lessons
The following observations are personal- things I discovered about my personal preferences while pounding through the BRL.  Just my opinions- so I don't expect them to be universal truths.


1) A reading list must be flexible enough to account for circumstance and whim . . . 
My original BRL was 111 works.  Over the last three years, I dropped 35 of those and added 53 more, giving the final total of 129.  It changed early and often, based on personal interest or circumstance.  I was tied to my goal, but gave flexibility within to "adjust sails" if necessary.

2) . . . but keep the goal in view.
My biggest challenge!  Perusing the final list, I see where my fancy took over and led me down an interesting, but ultimately unrelated, path.  The best example is The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge.  Phenomenal book- outstanding.  But frankly, not related to my goal.  I should have saved it for another time.

3) The old stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be.
When I say old, I mean those written in the 500s-1700s.  I was consistently unimpressed with my ancient selections.  There was value in reading some of them, but they can be largely skipped.  Even the works translated into modern English suffered from requiring a fair amount of period knowledge to fully enjoy them. 

4) Avoid the tourist books.
Most tourist attractions have a book section, and I head straight to it.  I'm a sucker for books related to sites, but I was mostly let down by those "local" selections.  There are diamonds in the rough, but they're few and far between.

5) Go Victorian.
Once we hit the 1800s, life gets grand indeed.  I love the eloquence and stories of the Victorians.  From the Victorian Gothic to authors like Charles Dickens or Sir Walter Scott, it's hard to go wrong in that era.

6) Enjoy the new-found pleasures.
I look forward to reading more Victorian literature, medieval history, historical fiction (Bernard Cornwell and Ken Follett), Arthurian literature, Agatha Christie, and G.K. Chesterton. 




Final Thought

More reading lists are in my future.  Probably not 129 books, and probably not as broad in scope, but there is great value in structured reading plans.

Done, for Now

In 2011, I moved to the UK.  Shortly thereafter, I decided to create a "British Reading List" (BRL).  The goal was to read through a list of classic and historic British works, the enjoyment of which would enhance my experience on the island.  I included a few titles I had read in the recent past, and added others based on recommendations of critics, the populace, friends and family, or just personal whim.

Well, today I finished the list.  129 works in all.  Future posts will comment on general trends or 'lessons learned' from the list, but today I post the list in its entirety, for those who care.  Included is the rating I gave each work.

A final comment before presenting the list: is one every truly done when it comes to reading?  I hope not.  So, while my goal is accomplished, it's not as though I'll never read another British work in my life.  In fact, I'm reading one now, and plan to read a dozen more before I leave this land.  So, I'm done with the list, but I'm not really done- and I hope I never will be, until my time on Earth is finished.  There are few more enjoyable or valuable pursuits.

Author	Title	Category	Rating
Geoffrey Chaucer	The Canterbury Tales	Literature	85
Daniel Defoe	Journal of the Plague Year	Literature	85
Shakespeare	Much Ado about Nothing	Literature	89
Shakespeare	Hamlet, Prince of Denmark	Literature	85
Shakespeare	Sonnets	Literature	95
Jane Austen	Pride and Prejudice	Literature	93
Charlotte Brontë	Jane Eyre	Literature	97
Emily Brontë	Wuthering Heights	Literature	85
GK Chesterton	The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare	Literature	97
Lewis Carroll	Alice in Wonderland	Literature	80
Joseph Conrad	Heart of Darkness	Literature	75
Charles Dickens	A Tale of Two Cities	Literature	95
CS Forester	The Happy Return	Literature	91
Aldous Huxley	A Brave New World	Literature	95
Rudyard Kipling	The Jungle Book	Literature	75
George Orwell	Animal Farm	Literature	97
Mary Shelley	Frankenstein	Literature	100
Robert Louis Stevenson	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Literature	100
Robert Louis Stevenson	Treasure Island	Literature	90
Bram Stoker	Dracula	Literature	100
HG Wells	The Island of Dr Moreau	Literature	90
Oscar Wilde	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Literature	90
Horace Walpole	The Castle of Otranto	Literature	80
(Unknown)	Beowulf	Literature	85
William Golding	Lord of the Flies	Literature	92
Johnathan Swift	Gulliver's Travels	Literature	80
RH Barham	The Ingoldsby Legends	Poetry	95
James Hogg	The Private Memoirs and Confessions of . . .	Religion	92
John R.W. Stott	Your Mind Matters	Religion	98
John R.W. Stott	The Radical Disciple	Religion	90
CS Lewis	A Grief Observed	Religion	93
CS Lewis	Mere Christianity	Religion	95
CS Lewis	The Problem of Pain	Religion	95
CS Lewis	Surprised by Joy	Religion	85
CS Lewis	The Screwtape Letters	Religion	98
CS Lewis	The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe	Fantasy	98
CS Lewis	Prince Caspian	Fantasy	98
CS Lewis	The Voyage of the Dawn Treader	Fantasy	98
CS Lewis	The Silver Chair	Fantasy	98
CS Lewis	The Horse and His Boy	Fantasy	98
CS Lewis	The Magician's Nephew	Fantasy	98
CS Lewis	The Last Battle	Fantasy	98
JRR Tolkien	The Hobbit	Fantasy	98
JRR Tolkien	The Fellowship of the Ring	Fantasy	98
JRR Tolkien	The Two Towers	Fantasy	95
JRR Tolkien	The Return of the King	Fantasy	98
Terry Pratchett	Mort	Fantasy	83
Roger Lancelyn Green	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Fantasy	90
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Fantasy	97
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Fantasy	96
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Fantasy	98
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Fantasy	97
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Fantasy	96
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Fantasy	97
JK Rowling	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	Fantasy	99
(Unknown)	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight	Arthurian	90
Mallory	Le Morte d'Arthur	Arthurian	80
TH White	The Once and Future King	Arthurian	95
Roger Lancelyn Green	King Arthur & his Knights of the Round Table	Arthurian	70
Bernard Cornwell	The Winter King	Arthurian	100
Bernard Cornwell	Enemy of God	Arthurian	100
Bernard Cornwell	Excalibur	Arthurian	100
Bernard Cornwell	Azincourt	Historical Fiction	95
Ken Follett	Pillars of the Earth	Historical Fiction	97
Ken Follett	World Without End	Historical Fiction	93
Sir Walter Scott	Ivanhoe	Historical Fiction	90
Jan-Andrew Henderson	The Town Below the Ground	History/Ghost	80
Alison Weir	The Princes in the Tower	History	80
Bede	Ecclesiastical History of the English People	History	75
Nennius	Historia Brittonum	History	60
Geoffrey of Monmouth	The History of the Kings of Britain	History	79
Thomas Asbridge	The Crusades	History	99
Richard Killeen	A Short History of Ireland	History	85
Walter Lord	A Night to Remember	History	94
Patrick Dillon	The Story of Britain	History	90
Usborne	The Usborne History of Britain	History	93
Simon Jenkins	Short History of England	History	92
Stephen Clarke	A Thousand Years of Annoying the French	History	93
H.E. Marshall	Scotland's Story	History	78
John Paul Davis	Robin Hood: The Unknown Templar	History	65
J.C. Holt	Robin Hood	History	80
Helen Nicholson	A Brief History of the Knights Templar	History	80
Alistair Moffat	The Wall	History	80
Alistair Moffat	Highland Clans	History	70
Marc Morris	Castle	History	90
Nigel Cawthorne	World at War: The Story of WWII	History	85
John Malam	Yorkshire: A Very Peculiar History	History	80
Martin Gilbert	Churchill: The Power of Words	Biography	85
Alan Moore	Watchmen	Graphic Novel	98
Alan Moore	V for Vendetta	Graphic Novel	90
Jack Higgins	The Eagle Has Landed	Thriller	95
Ian Fleming	From Russia with Love	Thriller	82
John le Carré	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Thriller	85
John le Carré	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold	Thriller	95
Robert Harris	Fatherland	Thriller	95
H. Rider Haggard	King Solomon's Mines	Thriller	95
Agatha Christie	Murder on the Orient Express	Mystery	95
Agatha Christie	The ABC Murders	Mystery	99
Agatha Christie	Five Little Pigs (or, Murder in Retrospect)	Mystery	99
Agatha Christie	The Murder of Roger Ackroyd	Mystery	100
Agatha Christie	And Then There Were None	Mystery	95
Arthur Conan Doyle	A Study in Scarlet	Mystery	98
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Sign of the Four	Mystery	92
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	Mystery	100
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Mystery	91
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Mystery	100
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Return of Sherlock Holmes	Mystery	93
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Valley of Fear	Mystery	93
Arthur Conan Doyle	His Last Bow	Mystery	91
Arthur Conan Doyle	The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes	Mystery	91
M.C. Beaton	A Highland Christmas	Mystery	70
A.A. Milne	Winnie the Pooh	Children's	79
Julia Donaldson	The Gruffalo	Children's	100
Roald Dahl	The Enormous Crocodile	Children's	75
J.M. Barrie	Peter Pan (or, Peter & Wendy)	Children's	95
Douglas Adams	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	Humor	90
Various	Magna Carta	Government	95
John C. Lennox	God's Undertaker	Science	95
Stephen Hawking	A Briefer History of Time	Science	85
Henry James	The Turn of the Screw	Ghost	90
M.R. James	A Thin Ghost and other stories	Ghost	85
Sheridan Le Fanu	In a Glass Darkly	Ghost	95
J.H. Riddell	Night Shivers	Ghost	75
Samuel Taylor Coleridge	The Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Poetry	90
James Herriot	All Things Bright and Beautiful	Memoir	94
James Herriot	All Creatures Great and Small	Memoir	95
James Herriot	All Things Wild and Wonderful	Memoir	94
James Herriot	The Lord God Made Them All	Memoir	94
James Herriot	Every Living Thing	Memoir	94

Churchill: The Power of Words (Martin Gilbert, ed)

Winston Churchill: the leader of the British peoples during WWII, and much more besides.  His resolve, warnings, preparation, encouragement, and persuasive powers were key to the British role in the victory of the allies in that dreadful conflict.  Many- many- books have been written about the man, but I wanted to try a different approach: what if you can learn about a man solely through his own words?  Not in an autobiography, but in a collection of his writings taken from various books, speeches, memoirs, and articles written throughout his life?  That's exactly what Martin Gilbert (editor, and official Churchill biographer) has created.

Gilbert, having spent decades studying Churchill and reading through his prolific writings, has chosen many selections (written when Churchill was between age 7 and age 84) that form a portrait of what he believed.
This technique is interesting.  Each selection is prefaced by a Gilbert paragraph explaining necessary context, and most selections are only 1-2 pages.  At the top of each page, you have both year and Churchill age, so you can see how he thinks as he ages.  It's certainly not as continuous as a standard biography- it's a bit choppy, bouncing from topic to topic- but at least you hear from Churchill himself what he did and what he believed.  The man could write and speak, that's for sure.  His "power of words" is notable.  This approach gives you a great sense of what he thought, why, and when (the man was amazingly prescient in predicting the dangers of the Nazis and the Communists), which is great.  It falls short in that it doesn't give you as much information about what his life was like.  You get snapshots, certainly, but not a continuous story you'd expect in a standard biography.  Gilbert's prefaces are generally good, but sometimes even that fails to give necessary background, and one may require prior knowledge of British history or political knowledge to fully grasp what's being said or why.  As a final criticism, certain periods are covered much more than others- things like WWII.  Not entirely surprising, certainly, but his war speeches could tend to get repetitive.

Overall, this was worthwhile for those who enjoy reading Churchill writings, and what he thought.  For those who want to know more about just his life, and what he did, a standard biography would be more appropriate.  Some quotes follow that I particularly enjoyed:

No doubt it is not popular to say these things, but I am accustomed to abuse and I expect to have a great deal more of it before I have finished.  Somebody has to state the truth.

The Government simply cannot make up their minds, or they cannot get the Prime Minister to make up his mind.  So they go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.

What a monstrous absurdity and perversion of the truth it is to represent the communistic theory as a form of progress, when, at every step and at every stage, it is simply marching back into the dark ages.

Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them.

It is better to have a world united than a world divided; but it is also better to have a world divided, than a world destroyed.

Some final comments on Churchill, based on his writings:
- the man seemed to be a pleasant mix of conservative and liberal- fighting for rights and beliefs on both sides of the spectrum
- he excelled at being both realistic and optimistic.  He didn't deny reality- he confronted it, admitted failures, and spoke of enormous tasks ahead, but he also had a boundless optimism that the Allies would prevail, and usher in a brighter future.

Rating: B

The Seeing Stone (Kevin Crossley-Holland)

There may be something to this young adult fiction thing.  The Seeing Stone, by Kevin Crossley-Holland, is intended for (and written from the perspective of) a young teenager, and it's fantastic.  It's the story of Arthur- well, two Arthurs.  The "modern" one lives on the England/Wales border in 1199.  He's gifted a seeing stone, through which he sees scenes from the life of the other Arthur- the famous King from the late 500s. "Modern" Arthur is grappling with who he is, and will be, so in many ways, this is a coming-of-age tale.  There's clearly a link between the Arthurs which isn't defined fully in this volume.  The first of a trilogy, its ending clearly leaves you wanting more- good thing I already bought the other books.

It's 277 pages are divided into 100 chapters which fly by- I haven't read this voraciously since Harry Potter.  Crossley-Holland does a good job moving the story along and making you care about the "modern" Arthur.  He can portray dark topics (sex/violence) in a suitably subtle way (a lesson many authors of adult novels need to learn), and there's the occasional profound wisdom that is quite satisfying.  As a final benefit, it gives a little insight into medieval English life, as the author tries to be true to the time period (and succeeds, as far as I can gather).  A worthy effort, indeed.

Rating: A

True Grit

Based on the book, True Grit is the story of Mattie Ross, a young girl in the 1870's U.S. Midwest seeking to avenge her father's murder.  To do so, she hires Rooster Cogburn (U.S. Marshal) and LaBoeuf (Texas Ranger) to track down the villain, Tom Chaney.

The second time this book as been put to film (this is the 2010 version; the original was the 1969 John Wayne movie), this movie is fabulous.  The acting is superb by all involved- especially the lead actress,  Hailee Steinfeld (and by the way, 15,000 girls auditioned for the role).  The characters and dialogue are fantastic, the settings are beautiful, and the story is good.  It has action, humor, and suspense.  All in all, a tale well told- and this from someone who has no prior love of westerns.  Highly recommended- a great effort from the Coen brothers directing duo.

Rating: A+

Whom do you trust?

People- all people- love giving their input on just about everything, whether or not they have an informed opinion.  So today's (admittedly random) post looks briefly at whom we trust.  In my view, there are four categories- critics/scholars, populace, family/friends, and individuals- and each is described a bit more below.  To give it some context, I'm using books as an example.

Critics/Scholars

Critics (or scholars)- the so-called experts in a given field.  In theory, their supremely-informed input should have the most weight.  How often does it?  I have no idea, and does it matter?  The critics themselves often fail to agree with each other.  So, while it's possible to pick up trends as chosen by a group of scholars, it will never be possible to get unanimous recommendations. 

In 2012, a collection of scholars released a revised list of 1001 books you must read.  Peruse this list; how many works do you know?  At all?  I was surprised- I consider myself reasonably well-read, but there were many selections here that I didn't even recognize.  It reveals something about this group (or just about me, perhaps): critics can easily live apart from a common reality and wall up in an ivory tower, choosing selections that may well have merit in exclusive circles, but are unappreciated by the general populace.  Speaking of the masses . . .

Populace

The populace- a majority of us have to be right, right?  It's easy to poke holes in that theory, but let's face it; it's how the world (and most democracies) work.  "Might makes right."  We go the way the majority of us want to go. 

In 2003, the BBC conducted "the big read"- a survey of what the general populace reads.  A lot of people responded- 750,000- making it the biggest sampling of public reading tastes ever conducted.
The Big Read list of the top 200 books is here.  Notice how different that list is from the critics list above.  Many selections appear on both lists; but the overlap is not what I'd consider substantial.  It shows us that what most people enjoy consuming isn't what experts recommend we consume.  Another example is here- where they compare critics and readers' top 100 book lists side-by-side.  Just food for thought.

Family/Friends

Ahhh, family and friends.  Often neither experts nor a majority, we certainly give them more weight, don't we?  Why?  It comes down to familiarity.  You (probably) don't know any professional critics, and you don't know the majority of people in the world, but you do know your family and friends, and hence you tend to trust them more than other, more experienced perspectives.  Familiarity trumps much- something to think about, as it can lead us in a really good- or really bad- direction.

Individual

Last but not least: individuals.  People you don't know from Adam, but you see their suggestions, too, on the Internet, television, or wherever.  This is, to me, the most intriguing group of people, because we give them so much attention and we don't even know who they are.  How much fear-mongering and ill-advised (or just wrong) information is spread due to individuals spouting nonsense, and others following them blindly?  I don't want to know, because I suspect the answer will startle or sadden me.
At the end of the day, though, we're all individuals, so we're all in this category.  We all have areas of great knowledge- and no knowledge- and we all share information based on (in turn) knowledge or ignorance.  You never know what you're going to get by blindly following an unknown individual.

The Point

Why am I sharing this?   Partly because I find it interesting.  We trust so many people in our lives, and seldom reflect on the source of information we hold as true.  The other reason has to do with my reading list.  As I blogged here, a few years ago I created a British Reading List (hereafter BRL).  I created that from a variety of sources- "best of" lists, personal items of interest, random selections at tourist attraction gift shops- and will soon finish reading everything on it.  My BRL changed many times over the last two years, and as I wind it down, I was curious to see just how many of my selections made the lists of others.  But, as I looked over top selections by critics, the populace, friends/family, and individuals, I soon saw that in the end, we all pretty much do what we want.  I know I did.  I have that human need to feel my choices validated by others- which is why I investigated this- but if I cared that much I would have relied solely on others' lists in the first place, which I didn't, so I must not be overly concerned about it, which just shows that human need to do what we want, regardless of what others think.  I ramble.

In the end, I think the following quote an appropriate summary:
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22)
Be it something trivial like choosing the right book, or something of immense importance like developing a good worldview, it's important to gather information from a variety of sources- and categories of sources- to increase our chance of "getting it right."  In the end, though, our results cannot be blamed on others; what we have is of our own making, based on what we choose to take from the sources we consult.

As a final note on book lists, there are several websites devoted to lists- even sites that are nothing but lists of lists (here or here, where you can peruse hundreds of award lists or "definitive" lists of books).  If nothing else, it's interesting to see what people from all walks of life and expertise consider worthy of your reading time.

Boba Fett is Dead

Boba Fett- the extremely popular Star Wars bounty hunter whom people love (or love to hate).  You may think that Boba died in Return of the Jedi when he fell into the sarlacc pit, but subsequent books revealed that he was later saved from that slow demise, and back to wreaking havoc on the galaxy- for a price.  In Boba Fett is Dead, we again see the bounty hunter seemingly meet his doom . . . or do we?

I don't think it will shock you to tell you that no, he's really not dead.  He stages his death and then seeks revenge on those who ordered his killing (very seldom in the Star Wars universe do main characters kick the bucket- it's one of the deficiencies of the saga, in my opinion).  It's a very cookie-cutter story, but the execution is decent, and the art is quite good.  If you're into Star Wars, you'd probably enjoy this tale.

Rating: B-

At Home (Bill Bryson)

I've heard good things about Bill Bryson books, but had yet to read one.  At Home was my first experience.  Billed as a "short history of private life," the work begins in the old country house where Bryson lived at the time- in the English countryside of Norfolk.  In the beginning, he marvels at some of the peculiarities of the house, and basically decides to write a book on our homes and everything in them, and how they've changed throughout the years.  At least, that's what I thought he was writing about.

Each chapter has the title of a room of the house- 'kitchen,' 'bedroom,' etc.- and so it's reasonable to assume that a given chapter would cover the history of the room in its title.  It seldom does.  Bryson rambles, digresses, and is all over the place.  There's no question that the facts, stories, and anecdotes he shares are fascinating- but they so seldom relate to the topic at hand.  It's as though, as he was researching, he'd stumble upon something interesting, and throw it in.  Some chapters (like the 'attic') don't even mention the attic at all.  So the thing that bugged me- a lot- as I read this was simply the fact that it was false advertising. You learn a lot about certain estate homes, and some pieces of architectural history or room design, but you don't get a systematic overview of the home and things in it.

In the end, I think Bill Bryson would be a wonderful guy to converse with at a party, and he's a fabulous fountain of fascinating facts.  If his other books wander as much as this, though, I'll be skipping them.

Rating: C

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first book in a trilogy of five. Yes, you read that right.  It immediately signals to you what kind of work this is.  Well, sort of.  It's the story of Arthur Dent (human), who finds out that his friend Ford Prefect is an alien the same day that Earth is destroyed to make room for a new hyperspace route.  Ford saves Arthur by getting him onto a spaceship, and this first book is about their journey with two others (they end up on board thanks in part to the workings of an 'improbability drive') to a long-lost planet whose race produces planets.  Arthur finds out, in turn, that the Earth itself was a creation of this race, and that it was really a supercomputer calculating the question of our reality (an older computer had determined the answer to be '42,' but that computer didn't know the question).  Interesting, no?

How do I even describe this?  It's part Dave Barry, part Terry Pratchett, part philosophy, part sci-fi, part just plain ridiculous, and part wonderfully fun.  It's short (180 pages), and you'll probably find it amusing, insightful, and silly.  Worth the time, overall.  The next four parts promise to be good.

I'm told this is based on what was originally a radio broadcast, as an aside.

Rating: A-

Alan Lee

This month's artist spotlight is English illustrator Alan Lee.  If you're a Lord of the Rings movie fan, you love Alan Lee, whether or not you know it.  One of the primary set designers for the trilogy (as well as the Hobbit films currently in production), many of Lee's visualizations were incorporated directly into the movies (see the below for examples).  He's published a Lord of the Rings sketchbook, and illustrated versions of the Lord of the Rings, the Welsh mythology work Mabinogion, several works (here and here) with Rosemary Sutcliff, and a book on Castles in general.

His work is fantastic.  I love his depictions of fantasy worlds and towering castles.  It saddens me to find that some of his illustrated editions are difficult to obtain (as you'll note if you peruse the above links); I've been looking for a Lord of the Rings Alan Lee-illustrated version for a few weeks, to no avail.  If you can find his stuff, snap it up.

Austin Powers

One of those random things I never knew until living overseas is that a given movie may be altered in very slight or insignificant ways for release in different countries.  Dialogue could be changed (to be less offensive), scenes could be added/deleted/altered, etc.  Though it's a common occurrence, I still get caught off-guard whenever I see the UK version of a familiar movie.  This background brings me to today's movie review: Austin Powers.

Austin Powers (starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley) was released in 1997 (it's been 16 years . . . really?) and was an instant classic.  Comically ridiculous, Austin is an oversexed spy for the British government who was cryogenically frozen in the 1960s, as was his nemesis, Dr. Evil.  Now, in the late '90s, both are brought back to battle once more.

The comedy is excellent- and the dialogue features more than a few memorable quotes.  My friend and I watched the UK version of the film in a B&B during a recent trip, and the differences were noticeable.  Christian Slater is in this UK version, and this film adds a few 'background' scenes not featured in the US release (none of which were very amusing, frankly).  We didn't know why the changes were made, but it was entertaining to watch it again, regardless of version.

Being 16 years old, I was surprised how dated parts of the film looked.  Also, this one isn't for those offended by sexual humor, which is pervasive, or toilet humor.  But, overall, this is a good one.

Rating: A

Green Arrow: Salvation (J.T. Krul)

Green Arrow is a DC Comics superhero heavily based on Robin Hood. Salvation features him, and is a graphic novel collecting 8 issues of comics, consisting of two stories:
- the conclusion of the Into the Woods story, started in the previous graphic novel (which I haven't read, unfortunately)
- a random story about Green Arrow taking on a generic fundamentalist cult.

The former is mildly interesting; a magical forest has sprung up in the middle of Star City, and Green Arrow teams with Galahad (some dude that thinks he's the famous one but isn't) and Jason Blood (a knight of Arthur's Round Table who houses an inner demon, Etrigan, from long ago) to fight  . . . well, I'm not totally sure.  One of the foes is Etrigan, but I didn't get the overall point of the story.  There are other foes, but not 'headliners,' and I think the overall point was that . . . well, I have no idea.  It's Green Arrow's forest.  I think that was the gist.  Stay out of that man's forest.

The latter is formulaic and boring.

I really like the idea of a modern Robin Hood, and enjoyed references to Arthurian literature, but overall this didn't do it for me.  I get the impression that with comics like this, you have to be 'all in' (meaning you read everything in a given story arc- not just Green Arrow, but other DC properties as well) to truly enjoy it- there were a lot of references I didn't understand.  Maybe I should have started with volume one.  The art was good, though.

Rating: C-

The Enormous Crocodile (Roald Dahl)

No British reading list would be complete without a work by Roald Dahl, author of many a children's classic (to include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach).  I chose to read The Enormous Crocodile because:
 - it was short (60 pages)
- it was in the local library
- we own a stuffed crocodile

Well, I must admit I was disappointed.  The story is straightforward- a crocodile wants to eat children, and sets up clever tricks to trap them.  He'd succeed, save for the other animals of the jungle, who come and warn the children to run away at every attempt.  In the end (I don't feel bad spoiling it), the elephant picks up croc by the tail, spins him around very fast, and flings him into the sun.  Meh.  Okay, but nothing earth-shattering.  I was expecting more.  I suspect I'd prefer Dahl's other works, but I'll wait until my children are older and read some of them to the kiddos. 

Rating: C

Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie)

Based on Barrie's 1904 play, the book Peter Pan (1911, and originally called Peter and Wendy) tells the story familiar to most due to Disney's 1953 movie by the same name.  Peter Pan is the boy who never grows up, living in Neverland and having constant adventures with fairies (the most notable being Tinkerbell), pirates (Captain Hook, the nemesis), indians, mermaids, an alligator who has it out for Hook, and the lost boys- a small group of children who lost their mothers.  The Darling children (Wendy, John, and Michael) get to live with Peter for a time and experience the magic of his island, but eventually elect to return to their normal lives, in London, and grow up, as (almost) all children must.

I first tried reading this book aloud to my three year old daughter, but soon stopped.  This book is intended for older children, and perhaps will be best appreciated by adults.  Reading it just for myself, I loved it.  Peter is childhood personified- fearless, self-centered, boastful, forgetful- and other characters reflect these and other aspects of youth.  The writing is splendid, and the foibles, inconsistencies, or oddities common in both adults and children is depicted marvelously.  At 220 pages, it won't take you long to get through this, and I highly recommend it.  One quote, from here, says it well:

By turns dryly witty, poignantly tragic, exciting, and lyrical, the writing is as brilliant as the story, a perfect distillation of childhood fantasies and adult nostalgia.

Reading this, all at once you long for the innocence and imagination of childhood, yet are content with it being a fleeting stage of life.  Youth is necessary, and yet necessarily temporary.  We want to be Peter Pan, but we want to be him just for a time.  Yet as we gain the insights and abilities that come with maturity, we lose other things, and this book brings these ideas to the forefront- recalling that which was lost.  I came away feeling there was a lot to unpack here, and I'm sure I didn't hit it all.  What I did understand, I enjoyed.  Some racism elements aside (towards indians- sadly common for the time, I dare say), this is a great read.

I'll wrap up with one quote from the novel, referring to how we treat our mothers:

Off we skip like the most heartless things in the world, which is what children are, but so attractive; and we have an entirely selfish time; and then when we have need of special attention [from our mothers] we nobly return for it, confident we shall be embraced instead of smacked.
So great indeed was their faith in a mother's love that they felt they could afford to be callous for a bit longer.

"Callous for a bit longer . . ."  This insight really struck me, showing both how we (as children) treat our parents, and then how we (as humans) treat God.  Not the overall point of the book, but a thought for further reflection nevertheless.  We do tend to abuse the love shown to us.

Rating: A

Clone Wars: Season 2

In season 2 of the Star Wars animated TV show, Clone Wars, we see much the same pattern as its predecessor, reviewed here.  Same time frame (between Episodes II and III), same backdrop (the Clone Wars, duh), much of the same characters.  Like season 1, the plots from one episode to the next are not necessarily linear, so you can pick and choose if you like (can be nice, but makes me question the relevance of the stories). 

The minor changes in season 2 are as follows:
- fewer episodes feature Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's padawan
- more episodes have Mace Windu
- we see more bounty hunters (Aurra Sing, Bossk, a young Boba Fett, plus newcomers like Embo)

While I gave season 1 a C+, season 2 improved just a bit.  It's hard to quantify the differences (other than the above statements)- it just felt a bit more polished, like the show is starting to hit its stride.  I must admit, though, my feelings could be influenced by personal preference for the subject matter- love those bounty hunters.

Rating: B-

Arsenal

Another post celebrating my favorite athletic teams.  Today: the soccer team Arsenal, of the English Premiere League.

Origin of Fandom

Moving to England in 2011, I wanted to fully experience the Premiere League.  "Fully experience" means picking a team and rooting vehemently for them, giving you the right to gloat when they win and stew when they lose.  But, who to choose?  I've always enjoyed playing soccer, but never really watched it, so I had no history with any of the teams.  After a few weeks, I found myself drifting towards Arsenal, for three reasons:
1) they play a style of soccer I admire
2) they traded for a German national team player (my fondness for the German team has been previously discussed in this forum)
3) they have a cannon on their shirt

Lovers of the German national team in England would do well to root for Arsenal.  They've picked up a German national in each of the last three seasons- Per Mertesacker in 2011, Lukas Podolski in 2012, and Mesut Ozil in 2013. 

Podolski

Ozil

Mertesacker

Recent History

The current Arsenal coach, Arsene Wenger, has been at the helm their for 17 years.  During his tenure, they've won 11 trophies in various tournaments.  The two years I've followed them, Arsenal hasn't fared quite as well, finishing 4th in the Premiere League both seasons.  Hardly stellar, but good enough to get into the Champions League.  This year, since adding Ozil, the Gunners have enjoyed good success, and currently sit atop the Premiere League. 

The often-stern Wenger

Final Thoughts

Picking a team as an adult isn't nearly the same as rooting for one since childhood.  While I like, and root for, Arsenal, I don't have the years of investment to consider myself an ardent fan.  I hope they succeed, but don't lose sleep if they don't.