My film choice for Beltane was "Les Enfants Terribles," a movie we have not seen in perhaps 35 years. The Criterion print was excellent, and many parts of the film were brand new to me. Though Cocteau did not direct the filmization of his 1929 novel, he was on the set a lot of the time. I just love the whole concept of setting up a bedroom in a vast room, with all of the original bedroom furniture and knick-knacks, screened off from the rest of the house. It was also fun to watch the film lying in bed, possibly the best place from which to view it.
Tonight we watched Carol Reed's taut thriller "The Fallen Idol," again in a pristine print. The b & w photography is among the best there ever was, and the deep focus allows us to see everything in the foreground and background. The setting is the French Embassy in London, and wherever it was filmed it was perfect in every way! The young boy Phillipe is extraordinary. He has more lines than Baines! I had forgotten how many very funny moments there are in the film, too. It is so great having in-home access to so many wonderful films, all in pristine condition. We hope to have our first mini film festival this weekend. More on that later.
I read 12 books in April. 11 of them are realted to my Avon/Equinox project, and one was unrelated. There are simply too many books to discuss them all here; that is what my Avon/Equinox blog is for. However, I will mention the highlights. I finally got around to Book 5 of T. H. White's Arthurian epic. Published separately, it is called The Book of Merlyn, and is all about what Arthur learned from the animals about war. It, along with The Once and Future King, is among the finest literature I have ever come across. The books are absolutely haunting and unforgettable, and worth many readings. Highly recommended!
I finished John Christopher's young adult series called The Word of the Spirits. I really enjoyed the first two books, but the third one really went way off the rails. It was a frustrating ending to an otherwise great series. The Daleth Effect, by Harry Harrison, is worth a look. Part cold war spy story and part SF, Harrison nails the impossibility of keeping a wonderful scientific discovery out of the hands of the military, who will turn anything they can into a weapon. It can't be called depressing, because those are the facts. A wonderful invention is brought to Denmark by an Israeli physicist, and with their help its full potential to do good is realized. Enter American and Soviet interests, and Utopia is doomed to failure.
I continue to be delighted and amazed at the intelligent writing of S. B. Hough, alias Rex Gordon, alias Stanley Bennett (as in this case). The Ascott Experiment has all the ingredients of a nearly perfect novel, and the mystery of the young girl being held captive by her father, his doctor, and her nurse, is quite extraordinary. The sea setting is vastly different than any other sea voyage I have read about, and the character of the ship's captain, psychologically scarred by an event during the Korean War, is simply astounding. Highly recommended.
Probably the SF highlight of the month goes to J. G. Ballard for his "The Atrocity Experiment." My version has notes after each chapter by the author, helping to explain what he was writing about, and where many of his ideas came from (Surrealist painters!). This is my 4th Ballard novel to date, and I must say that I am an enthusiastic fan. "Atrocity" was difficult to get through at first, and had to be read slowly. Often, passages had to be reread. But as the book goes on, one's brain slowly adjusts to the avante-garde writing, and I began to really look forward to my next encounter with it. In the end, it is likely one of the more important books I have ever read. I don't necessarily go along with much of Ballard's ideas, but his connections between science and pornography, and between violent events and sexual arousal, are pretty much spot on.
Lastly comes a quirky novel by Barry Malzberg, writing under the name of K. M. O'Donnell. Dwellers of the Deep is a really fun look at fans and collectors of 1940s pulp magazines, with the hero continually being kidnapped by aliens. They are trying to convince him to give them one of his rare issues, as they need the science article it contains. Very funny stuff!
Mapman Mike
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