Saturday, January 30, 2016

Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)


Pip, an orphan living with his sister and her simple husband, Joe, has great expectations.  Apprenticed to his brother-in-law as a blacksmith, he's unhappy with his station when made aware of his humble status by the odd Miss Havisham (who's frozen her life and home since being left at the aisle decades ago) and her adopted daughter, the haughty Estella.  One day, out of the blue, he receives a benefactor, who insists on both providing for him and remaining anonymous.  Overjoyed, Pip abandons his simple life for London, where he learns to be a gentlemen- and overspend like one.  He immediately notes the change in how people act towards one with money.  But does this new life truly satisfy- and is it permanent?

I enjoy Dickens for many reasons.  Here as elsewhere, his eloquence is unmatched, characters excellent, story captivating, and themes profound (not to mention humbling).  He can be verbose- at times unnecessarily- but in general, this is another excellent Dickens story.  Like A Tale of Two Cities (reviewed here) and A Christmas Story (here), put Great Expectations on your reading list.

Rating: A

POSTSCRIPT: Here ends my typical review- what follows is deeper analysis of themes presented in the book, and contains mild spoilers.

I need to heed the main theme of Great Expectations: contentment with one's lot.  Pip doesn't have a great life before he receives a benefactor- his sister is abusive, and others around town are condescending and insulting towards him.  Still, when he comes into money, he states that
this first night of my bright fortunes should be the loneliest I had ever known.
Once in London and 'a gentlemen,' things don't improve for him:
We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one.
Pip notes that, in general, we find ourselves doing things we don't want to impress those we don't like:
throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.
Eventually, when Pip's benefactor is revealed to him, Pip concludes:
O that [he/she] had never come! That [he/she] had left me at the forge,—far from contented, yet, by comparison happy!
Very similar to the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, Pip eventually outspends his resources and falls back into the life of a commoner.  Years later, he encounters someone who knew him before, during, and after he had 'expectations.'  She asks him how he's doing, and he responds:
“I work pretty hard for a sufficient living, and therefore—yes, I do well.”
Pip learns the truth of Ecclesiastes 4:6:
Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
In other words, be content with your station in life, love those around you, and don't strive for riches.  Pip abandons his family for wealth, and pays the price- in many senses of the word.  He and others in the novel learn through their self-imposed suffering:
suffering has been stronger than all other teaching,
It's a tough pill to swallow.  But, there is hope:
I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into a better shape.
A second Great Expectations theme is love and forgiveness.  Like in A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens looks at those wronged and how they react to it.  We see several bad examples in this story, the most obvious of which is Miss Havisham.  As previously stated, since being jilted on her wedding day, she has stopped her life.  Stopped the clocks, kept the wedding dress on, kept the wedding feast (now long rotted) on the table; stopped living.  But she goes one step further: through her adopted daughter, she attempts to wreak vengeance on all by raising Estella to be cruel towards others.  Pip rightly notes that
in shutting out the light of day, she had shut out infinitely more; that, in seclusion, she had secluded herself from a thousand natural and healing influences; that, her mind, brooding solitary, had grown diseased, as all minds do and must and will that reverse the appointed order of their Maker . . .
We cannot allow the wrongs of others to so dominate- and destroy- our own lives.  We ourselves wrong others, and Pip says to Miss Havisham, when she realizes her error near the end of her days,
I want forgiveness and direction far too much, to be bitter with you.
None of us is righteous- so we can't judge others of that which we are guilty without terrible consequence.

By contrast, the model of love in the novel is the simple Joe.  He's not educated or intelligent- but his contentment with his low station and dedication to his family despite their wrongs toward him is humbling to see.  He loves Pip's sister, despite her abusive nature, and demonstrates unending kindness towards her; he loves Pip, caring for him and paying his debts despite his abandonment.  Pip, who spends much of the novel being ashamed of Joe, concludes:
I often wondered how I had conceived that old idea of his inaptitude, until I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me.
The simple, loving folk are the ones who have it right.  They should be honored rather than pitied or abused.

Though simple, Joe has wisdom.  I'll end with one of his lines I especially enjoyed:
If you can’t get to be uncommon through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Throne of Atlantis


Throne of Atlantis, a DC animated picture, gives the backstory of Arthur Curry, better known to comics fans as Aquaman.  Mourning his recently-deceased father, Arthur is low.  His world is changed, though, when he learns that his mother is Queen of Atlantis, the legendary undersea kingdom.  All is not well under the waves, however; his half-brother yearns for the throne, and will stop at nothing- even starting a war with the 'surface-dwellers'- to obtain it.  Can Aquaman and the rest of the Justice League make things right?

This movie was okay, not great.  Some dialogue was lame, and scenes silly- I think unintentionally so, but it's hard to know (example: at one point, Aquaman puts a lobster in his pants (seriously)).  The animation was so-so, the story average.  Not one of the better DC offerings.

Rating: C+

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Edward I: A Great and Terrible King (Marc Morris)


In Edward I: A Great and Terrible King, noted historian Marc Morris produces a biography of Edward "Long Shanks" (he was tall), also known as "Hammer of the Scots."  Edward did a lot of notable things with government, and his policies and exploits in many ways forged Britain.  Just some of his achievements:

- he fought in the Crusades,
- killed Simon de Montfort in battle,
- reburied the (alleged) remains of King Arthur and Guinevere at Glastonbury Abbey,
- defeated the Welsh,
- constructed a chain of impressive, extant castles in North Wales (Conwy, Harlech, Beaumaris, Caernarfon)
- created a Round Table* (now hanging in Winchester Great Hall- reviewed here), and
- erected the "Eleanor Crosses" to memorialize his first wife

It's not often that I put down a good book, but such was the case here.  Morris writes well: he's succinct, does his homework, and the prose is good.  I just realized that I don't care much for biographies- I don't need that much detail on any one person.  I prefer broader historical works on vast time periods or major events.  So, though I read only 20% of this, I would recommend it for those interested in the man.

Rating: A-

*like many in his time, Edward was a fan of all things Arthurian, and created the table to mimic the mythical monarch.  As an aside, Morris does a great job succinctly explaining his take on the Arthur legend in this book (pp 162-6).

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Excalibur


Based on Sir Thomas Mallory's classic work, Le Morte d'Arthur (reviewed here), the 1981 movie Excalibur attempts to capture of the magic and majesty of the legend of King Arthur on the big screen.  It fails.  Though reasonably true to Mallory, the production is fraught with over-acting, cheesy effects, and the occasional descent to the bizarre (generally involving Merlin and his magical powers).  It does, however, feature a few big names (Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, Ciaran Hinds, Clive Swift) and have decent sets (it was filmed in Ireland).  If you're a huge Arthur fan and don't mind dated movies, you might want to give this a try.  Otherwise, don't bother.

Rating: C

Friday, January 22, 2016

Die Hard


When a group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber, take over his wife's company Christmas party, off-duty cop John McClane takes matters into his own hands.  Hopelessly outnumbered and trapped in a skyscraper, he does what he can on the inside while the LAPD and FBI plan their strategy outside.  But their methods may not work against this seasoned criminal crew . . . can McClane save the day?

A 1988 action classic, Die Hard is a movie I'd never seen but should have, so my colleagues decided to remedy the situation and lend it to me.  I was worried that, being released almost 30 years ago, it would be cheesy and hopelessly dated; I was pleasantly surprised.  Yes, the effects don't compare to those of today, and there was some cheese.  But on the whole, it has aged well, and I was entertained.  A few memorable lines pepper the dialogue, the action was surprisingly good for the time, and the primary protagonist (John McClane/Bruce Willis) and antagonist (Hans Gruber/Alan Rickman) were good.  Overall, a solid flick.

Rating: B+

Monday, January 18, 2016

Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide (Various)


Collectible Card Games (CCGs) hold a special place in my heart (see here).  I've enjoyed them since their inception in 1993, when Magic: The Gathering was released; it created (and heavily influenced) the CCG genre.  When Magic's popularity soared, companies were quick to follow suit and design/release their own CCGs; over the years, hundreds of games have been released (though the CCG flood of 1995 soon crashed).  In 2003, Scrye (who issued regular CCG-themed magazines) released its second edition of Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, which covered every CCG released to that time.

The book covers a lot of territory.  Its initial contents:
- A brief history of CCGs
- An introduction to the genre (by defining it)
- A guide to estimate your collection's value
- Full-color examples of each CCG covered in the book
- Tips for organizing your collection

A lot of good stuff, but the meat of the book is the checklist and price guide it includes for CCGs.  Listed alphabetically, each game gets an introduction/description, rating in four categories (concept, gameplay, card art, player pool), and checklist (with associated price) for all cards produced for that game until 2003.  Cards are listed by expansion.  Over 150 CCGs and 550 expansions are covered here, as shown in the picture below.

This book is fun for reference and reflection.  I owned it before, and decided to pick up a used copy for fun.  The prices- now 13 years old- are obviously worthless, the information can be dated (obviously, nothing after 2003 is covered, and the 'player pool' rating is no longer accurate), the game descriptions vary wildly (some go over actual game play, others just cover themes and critical reception), and most checklists can be had online in a more usable, accessible format.  Despite these shortcomings, it's a nice trip down memory lane . . . the historical aspect is interesting, and it is shocking to see the number of games that game out in the mid-90s during the CCG heyday:


Most of these games are now 'dead,' meaning they're no longer produced or supported.  But some mainstays remain, including the three most popular from the era: Magic, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Paging through this book, I had forgotten just how many things received "CCG treatment."  Every theme under the sun is explored, and generally a game could be categorized based on fantasy, sport, religion, sci-fi, history, and pop culture (movie/TV/book) themes.  Some games are expected- franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and so on.  But some are not- Pez (yes, the candy company) made a CCG, as did Survivor (the TV show), Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Looney Tunes, and all major sports (to include Professional Wrestling).  There were even three Christian games and one adult-oriented (yes, sexually-focused) offering!  Crazy times.

I've played 15 CCGs over the years (I still maintain collections for 3).  While I enjoyed this work, I probably won't keep it on my shelf.  Seeing these old games triggers nostalgia and tempts me to pursue them.  Games I've already played, I'm tempted to buy again.  Games I've never played, I'm tempted to pursue- games like Wheel of Time, Warlords, Quest for the Grail, Middle-Earth, Lord of the Rings, Wyvern, and Vampire.  These games are dead for a reason- they were either no good, had run their course, or had no player pool to support them.  Collecting can be fun, but is ultimately futile- a lesson I learned last year, and I don't want to fall back into it.  And so, I'll enjoy these dead CCGs from afar.  They're expensive to obtain, anyway- due to scarcity, and not (necessarily) quality.

Rating: B+

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Bavaria Pt. 5 (west of Garmisch)


Our fifth and final look at Bavaria focuses just west of Garmisch.

Linderhof Palace

One of King Ludwig II's creations, this is a beautiful palace in a beautiful location.  Definitely worth an afternoon.








Hohenschwangau Castle

A nineteenth century creation, Hohenschwangau was summer home for Ludwig's parents; as such, he spent a lot of time there as a boy, and as an adult, he'd stay here to oversee construction of Neu Schwanstein (just a half mile away).











Marienbrucke

A neat little bridge straddling the hills opposite Neu Schwanstein, offering phenomenal views of the area.





Neu Schwanstein Castle

Perhaps the most-photographed castle in Germany (or anywhere), Neu Schwanstein was another King Ludwig II special.  Certainly imposing and romantic, I was nonetheless disappointed to realize it was entirely for show (it was constructed well after the age of fortification) and it's unfinished on the inside (Ludwig ran out of money).  Still, it's worth a stop.











Wieskirche

The exterior betrays nothing of the visual grandeur inside the Wieskirche, just up the road from Neu Schwanstein.









Conclusion

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