A Casual Vacancy, The Cocaine Salesman and Hugh Jackman
I just finished reading two great books: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (yes, she really can write) and The Cocaine Salesman by Conny Braam.
I also sat through the movie "Wolverine" starring Hugh Jackman, whose muscles now sport their own muscles. Wardrobe costs must have been minimal as Jackman mostly wore either a dingy white "wife-beater" tank or was shirtless. I suppose no woman or gay man with a pulse would ever complain about that shirtless look.
But as the blood gushed and the body count grew higher, I kept hoping he'd break into song a la the Oscars. Something like "Oh, the body count here is frightening, and the swords they slice like lightning but no matter how gory it gets---I get paid, I get paid, I get paidddd!" (Sing to the tune of "Let it Snow, Let it Snow".) Instead of singing or dancing, Wolverine performs open heart surgery on himself without washing his hands first.
Back in the bloodless world of the printed page, Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy" is about a small English town loosely governed by what we'd probably call a city council. Barry, the guy who keeps the group balanced drops dead at the beginning of the story. This leaves what is know as a "casual vacancy". Various people--friends and enemies vie for the empty seat and the various plots and machinations are mostly amusing. Despite the laughs though, I found myself rooting hard for the good guys and pulling just as hard for the characters who are trying to become good. The vacuum that Barry's death leaves affects all of the characters profoundly and I found it impressive that Rowling could always make those connections meaningful without being heavy-handed.
The Cocaine Salesman is set in Amsterdam near the end of WW I. The salesman-Lucien-works for a big pharma firm that has cornered the market on the purest cocaine, which is used as an anesthetic by all of the warring factions. He goes about his business concentrating entirely on the money he's making and what toy it might be fun to procure next...a new roadster, a new motorcycle. At one point he announces a plan to take his sister and some friends to London to celebrate the Christmas holidays. His sister has to remind him that his plan while well-intentioned, is perhaps ill-timed. He's so callous that she has to explain to him why celebrating in a bombed-out city surrounded by suffering citizens is a bad idea. He's an unfeeling dope. With the arrival of a horribly maimed, cocaine-addicted soldier to whom his sister grows close, he starts to see the reality of the war and the reality of scores of demobbed addicts now struggling for the next fix. I didn't know that cocaine was used as an anesthetic in WW I. Very interesting. Eventually, the hero does get a clue but his evolution is slow---he's still a dope but we see that there's a human being in there somewhere.
I also sat through the movie "Wolverine" starring Hugh Jackman, whose muscles now sport their own muscles. Wardrobe costs must have been minimal as Jackman mostly wore either a dingy white "wife-beater" tank or was shirtless. I suppose no woman or gay man with a pulse would ever complain about that shirtless look.
But as the blood gushed and the body count grew higher, I kept hoping he'd break into song a la the Oscars. Something like "Oh, the body count here is frightening, and the swords they slice like lightning but no matter how gory it gets---I get paid, I get paid, I get paidddd!" (Sing to the tune of "Let it Snow, Let it Snow".) Instead of singing or dancing, Wolverine performs open heart surgery on himself without washing his hands first.
Back in the bloodless world of the printed page, Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy" is about a small English town loosely governed by what we'd probably call a city council. Barry, the guy who keeps the group balanced drops dead at the beginning of the story. This leaves what is know as a "casual vacancy". Various people--friends and enemies vie for the empty seat and the various plots and machinations are mostly amusing. Despite the laughs though, I found myself rooting hard for the good guys and pulling just as hard for the characters who are trying to become good. The vacuum that Barry's death leaves affects all of the characters profoundly and I found it impressive that Rowling could always make those connections meaningful without being heavy-handed.
The Cocaine Salesman is set in Amsterdam near the end of WW I. The salesman-Lucien-works for a big pharma firm that has cornered the market on the purest cocaine, which is used as an anesthetic by all of the warring factions. He goes about his business concentrating entirely on the money he's making and what toy it might be fun to procure next...a new roadster, a new motorcycle. At one point he announces a plan to take his sister and some friends to London to celebrate the Christmas holidays. His sister has to remind him that his plan while well-intentioned, is perhaps ill-timed. He's so callous that she has to explain to him why celebrating in a bombed-out city surrounded by suffering citizens is a bad idea. He's an unfeeling dope. With the arrival of a horribly maimed, cocaine-addicted soldier to whom his sister grows close, he starts to see the reality of the war and the reality of scores of demobbed addicts now struggling for the next fix. I didn't know that cocaine was used as an anesthetic in WW I. Very interesting. Eventually, the hero does get a clue but his evolution is slow---he's still a dope but we see that there's a human being in there somewhere.
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