No Ribs

 I realize not everyone is a fan of Shakespeare's Hamlet, but everyone is entitled to their opinion--even a wrong one. So, if you don't find that message above highly amusing, you'll need to read the play or the posts I've done about adaptations of the play--and then read the play. If you would rather watch it, I can recommend both Brannagh's and Mel Gibson's. The former if you have 4 hours and the latter if you only have two hours to dedicate to the task. I do have the version with David Tennant, but I haven't been able to get into it yet.

We went out last night. The plan was to get barbequed pork ribs at a local place. When we got there, it was closed for the big party in town celebrating Byzantium Days. So we drove to the party and saw the trailer of savory meats behind the fence, but decided the venue was too crowded to turn around and park and walk a mile to get in and order. There was also the risk that they might be sold out. Unwilling to return to Xanadu without comestibles, we headed south to Delphi for automobile go-juice and a meal from a highly touted new eatery near the freeway. The gas was great - cheaper than in Byzantium and 5% cash back. The praise I had heard from my colleagues about the food turned out to be puffery. The food wasn't terrible. I classed it as average but with the bonus of being overpriced.

Speaking of Xanadu, the movie came up as a recommendation on the not-the-Nile streaming service, so I launched it as the workout movie. I'm not done watching it yet but I have seen it two or three times over the years since it came out in 80 or 81. So far, I have two opinions: 1. Jeff Lynne is a musical genius. 2. I never remember the plot of this movie because it's only marginally coherent and entirely forgettable. Olivia Newton John and ELO are the only reasons to watch this show. The music is fun--most of the time. The story lacks cohesion as well as adhesive tension. One minute the two leads are having a romantic moment and the next they're cartoon characters who turn into fish and then birds and then the next scene jumps abruptly to sometime later in the story without any segue. At least there was chemistry between the leads when they were cartoon characters; there isn't any between the actors. I can see why Gene Kelly indicated some frustration with the project. I won't say any more. Perhaps, I'll return to the subject next week when I will have finished watching it.

 

 

 

Flamethrowers

Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. –Mark Twain

Nothing in particular causes me to combine flamethrowers and a quote about arguing with stupid people. I do, however, note that Twain is right. I once commented in a class reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that you can't win an argument with stupid people because they can't see that they're beat. They can't make the connections rational argument requires. If they can't make the connections, logic has no power over them, and what they believe can never be refuted.

I spend most of this week researching and writing--lots of the former and little of the latter. Nevertheless, I am almost half way through the short story I plan to submit. The problem is that research is addictive. Every new fact discovered leads to more questions and the pursuit of additional details to add verisimilitude to the story, or at least not to demonstrate that one is a total idiot with regard to the relevant subject. I doubt than anyone who reads the story will know any of the details I've researched, but the fact that I've searched the ruins and discovered forgotten secrets to mix with my flights of fantasy as brick and mortar for constructing a story lends an air of confidence and determination to my progress. 

I had planned an ambitious project covering two grand battles. My reach exceeded my grasp and I came to realize that one battle would have to do. The second battle will make a perfect the sequel. 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle of Dresden

  

                                   Battle of Dresden, by Thomas Charles Naudet

Was it the battle of Dresden that set the stage for the apocalyptic clash at Leipzig where the supernatural beast made it's appearance? Did the clash of cannon over the two-day battle raise the monster from the depths? I won't know until I write the story, but I have my suspicions. In the meantime, here's some information about the battle of Dresden:

Fun Fact: The Battle of Dresden

August 1813. The summer armistice has ended. Austrian has joined Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Great Britain against France. The Army of Bohemia, consisting of 230,000 Russians and Austrians under the command of Prince Schwarzenberg, accompanied by the Tsar and the King of Prussia, advanced on the capital of Saxony, whose King was a firm supporter of Napoleon. Gouvion St. Cyr's XIV Corps was the only French force near Dresden. The Emperor rushed away from his pursuit of Blucher toward Dresden, followed by elements of the Imperial Guard, Vandamme's corps, Marmont, and Victor.

Informed that St. Cyr could not hold against the massive force while a flanking attack developed, Napoleon advanced to Dresden with the Guard Cavalry, Marmont, and Victor, leaving Vandamme to conduct the outflanking maneuver.  When the Allies learned of The Emperor's arrival, they had second thoughts about attacking, but their troops marched forward before their orders could be canceled. 

St. Cyr held his defensive line throughout the 26th, and  Napoleon's counterattack with the Guard in the later afternoon regained those positions which had been lost earlier in the day. During the night, Victor and Marmont arrived to increase the French force to 120,000 men. Schwarzenberg's strength increased to 270,000, but he had to siphon of troops to meet Vandamme's approach. 

On the 27th, Schwarzenberg massed his troops to smash the French center, while Napoleon planned to hold the center with only 50,000 while delivering attacks on the flanks.  At 6:a.m. he moved first, crushing the Allied right wing with Mortier's and Nansouty's attack on Wittgenstein. At the same time, Murat drove off the Allied left. Schwarzenberg, having lost 18,000 troops with but limited success against the French center, elected against fighting a third day.

                   By Friedrich Rudolf von Rothenburg - Schlachtenatlas, Public Domain 

 

If you want some more Napoleonic conflict with a touch of Egyptian magic, check out my story, "Seventh Hussar and Aide to the Mage." 

 

 

Djinn and Tonic

  Before I get to my review of Tim Powers' Declare, I must report on the weekend doings.

Comedienne got baptized on Saturday and asked me to do the honors while her other grandpa performed the confirmation. I got to reacquaint myself with some old friends at the baptismal venue and served at the later celebration by daubing burger dough onto the grill so Lawtwister could pressure, interrogate, and flip  them until they were ready to spill their deliciousness to hungry consumers. I found it a complete success.

The lone fly in the ointment of the outstanding weekend was the gray plague that affected Les Freres Corses et Mere. As a result of the quarantine, we didn't get to visit, haul off couch and bed, or assist in the hanging of the wall poster from the cover of Accidental Pirates. 

We did, however, get to attend the dance extravaganza in which Former President participated. Hers was the best group, I must say. For reward we had ice cream.

Now - to the review:

"Ankh if you heart history, horror, and supernatural mystery." I guess that's a little long for bumper sticker, but that would be my blurb for the book. 

Declare combines spy craft from WWII through the Cold War with fantasy. Specifically, it's a case of djinn and tonic--along with vodka and other spirits--wherein espionage and supernatural elements mesh in a tale that keeps the reader wondering. I think my least favorite thing about the story is the fact that it's told in a nonlinear, non-chronological fashion. We're dumped into 1963 and flipped back to 1944, and bounced through years in between in England, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other places. I think I understand why the author chose to tell the story that way: It keeps the reader guessing and the adhesive tension taut as the reader struggles to connect the different elements.

In a nutshell, Andrew Hale gets indentured into the spy game as a very young boy. His mother was a nun in Lebanon or somewhere in the Levant who was saved by British Intelligence--I forget whether that was the SIS or SOE; probably the latter. Eventually, he is sent to Paris as a communist where he meets Elena, who is a communist from Spain. The two of them work as a team, sending information about the Nazis to Moscow. When they get recalled to Moscow, a sure death sentence, Hale retreats to England instead. Elena survives her Moscow ordeal, having her eyes opened to the realities of the communism and Mother Russia's unique gift.

A pivotal event takes place on Mount Ararat in 1948 where Hale loses everyone in the contingent he leads in a special mission. The details of this mission are dribbled out here and there with a full picture of what happened only coming into focus two-thirds of the way or more through the book. Even then, it's not entirely clear. The opening of the book begins the mission for what will be a second attempt at the Ararat mission. Most of the book is from Hale's point of view, but I think we get a chapter or portion of a chapter from Elena, and another from a character named Kim Philby who plays an important roll. In fact, Hale, Elena, and Philby and the key characters in the drama.

I'm not going to give away any details or the ending. It does become apparent early on in the story that there are supernatural elements at play. We learn that the djinn have particular powers and Hale has some connection with them. After the second Ararat mission, the story isn't over. I'll leave it at that.

Can I say that it's a great story but that it didn't thrill me? I enjoyed the bare bones of the story along with much of the descriptions, twists, and intrigue. The spy craft details were of particular interest and Power's ability to weave real live events with the story and supernatural explanations may be unmatched. Nevertheless, I felt like the tale required greater effort than the promise delivered. I loved the core of the story, but the bouncing timeline and drawn out fashion of the telling obfuscated the tale instead of piquing my interest. 

I give it 4 ankhs out of 5. Check it out for yourself.