September Reading Summary

The first book I ever read by Robert Silverberg was called Lost Cities and Vanished Civilizations, back in the 60s.  60 years later and I am once again entranced by his non-fiction writing, this time The Pueblo Revolt.  From 1994, it is 227 pages long.  It is a thorough and well written book.  The subject is very complex, and Silverberg begins at the beginning.  We get to see virtually every expedition that set out from Mexico and El Paso for the Rio Grande pueblos.  From Socorro in the south to Taos in the north, and from Quivira in the east and Zuni to the west, virtually every one of the pueblos is discussed.  Why the Spanish even bothered trying to gain a foothold here is hard to say, especially once they'd found out there was no gold.  The summers were brutally hot and the winters direly cold.  There was often no rain for years at a time during the crop growing season.  Their main goal became converting the native population to Christianity.  Mostly it is a story of brutal colonialism, of natives put into slavery working for the priests to build churches, and for the settlers, to farm their land for them.  It is a fascinating part of American history, and very little known in any detail by most people, even American historians.  Indispensable for those of us who love New Mexico, and the thriving pueblo culture that managed to live on until today.  Recommended reading.

I read the Kindle edition.

From 1990 comes the next in the Dray Prescott series, A Victory for Kregen, lasting 177 pages.  It includes a vast glossary of Kregen terms.  A remarkable thing about this series (there are many) is that it is one long and continuous novel, perhaps one of the longest stories ever written.  It could probably stand inch for inch with the Mahabharata on a bookshelf!  The story begins with the continuing adventures of the nine survivors of the previous underworld story.  As the group eventually makes its way to safety it breaks up, with some members staying with Dray and travelling on to Vallia.  In Vallia we have the continuing war against invaders, as the country strives to regain its lost kingdoms.  A side adventure sees Dray rescue his old friend Turko the Shield.  The side stories are always fun and interesting, even as the main plot advances more slowly and methodically.  Another pretty high quality addition to the series.

 

From 1956 comes E. C. Tubb's The Dying Tree, a 139 page western novel.  It takes place on the frontier just after the Civil War.  The whites were settling the West, stealing treaty land from the Indians, killing the buffalo, and laying train tracks right through Sioux territory.  It would only be a matter of time before things exploded into violence.  The title is nonsensical and has nothing to do with the story.  Tubb does not write traditional "John Ford" westerns, and is to be commended for showing so much understanding and sympathy for the native people.  We learn much about their customs and habits, especially as it pertains to gaining coup and fighting wars.  The opening chapter is one of the best western opening chapters I have ever read, as an old man, his young grandson, and a drifter from the defeated southern army fend off an Indian attack at the old man's lonely supply post.  A corrupt and greedy former Union officer soon enters the picture, and is the cause for the major eruption of a war pitting many tribes against the pony soldiers at an outlier fort deep in Indian territory.  Quite a good read, with thrilling action scenes alternating with both sides searching for peace.  Highly recommended, especially if you have never read a western novel before.  

 

From 1974 comes Los Angeles Holocaust, Barry Malzberg's 152 page continuation of the story of Burt Wulf, as he attempts to single-handedly wipe out the drug trade in America.  From its gruesome title I was expecting a very high body count this time around.  Alas, there wasn't.  The set up seemed to indicate there would be.  Recently escaped from Peru, Wulf makes his way to LA with two million dollars worth of heroin.  He's hoping it will lead him to some kingpin who he can wipe out.  He gets together with his San Francisco girlfriend, but things don't go well (two dead bodies so far in the count).  He calls up his former police buddy, Williams, who heads west with a virtual arsenal to help out Wulf.  Williams is waylaid on a lonely stretch of highway.  Two more bodies are left behind.  They meet up in LA at a racetrack (a classic Malzberg setting), and hide out in a very constrained trailer park.  They don't get along, and soon Wulf wishes he were alone again.  After three assassins fail in their attempt at killing the pair (total book body count is seven), they split up and Williams heads east again, with the arsenal unused.  So no holocaust.  But when Williams is kidnapped by arch enemy Calabrese, Wulf decides its time to head to Chicago once again and settle the score.  A solid entry in the series, as we watch Wulf continue to spiral down into the deepest layers of madness, exploring unknown circles of Hell and seeming to know no other way forward. 

 

Published in 1987 and updated with a new foreword in 2016, The Tale That Wags The Dog contains more essays by Blish.  Blish died in 1975.  The essays date from the early Sixties to the early Seventies.  His first two collections were specifically aimed, first at pulp magazine SF, and then later at certain novels.  This volume is a little more general in outlook.  Part 1 contains five essays, with titles such as The Function of SF, The Science in SF, and The Arts in SF.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, but especially the one where he talks about music and art in SF, what little there was of it back then.  Part II contains four essays:  Poul Anderson-The Enduring Explosion; The Literary Dreamers; The Long Night of a Virginia Author; and Music of the Absurd.  In the second and third essays Blish writes about a trilogy of novels written by James Branch Cabell, separating them neatly from Finnegan's Wake, with which it has become associated.  The chapter on music brings out Blish's grief at the state of new music in the 60s (especially John Cage).  He needn't have lost sleep over it--it's all gone away now, more or less.  Part III contains two chapters:  A SF Coming of Age, where Blish brings in some theories of Spengler, explaining why the "great" SF novel has never been written, and never shall be written.  The final chapter is an interview with Blish conducted by Brian Aldiss.  This is a don't miss collection for fans of early SF writing, as are the two previous books of his essays.  I only hope that eventually all of his critical essays will be published.  These three volumes contains only a small percentage of his non-fiction work. 

 

With the completion of works by Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery authors, I moved on to novels published in the Delphi Classics Kindle series.  First came H. Rider Haggard's world changing adventure novel King Solomon's Mines.  Published in 1885, it set off a chain reaction that continues to this day.  The lost world adventure novel never seems to grow old with many readers (including this one), and so many major writers have used Haggard as a springboard to fame and fortune.  Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, A. Merritt and dozens of others have virtually copied Haggard's premise, though much of it written today takes place off world or in other dimensions.  Allan Quatermain is the main narrator, and his adventure, though not quite plausible today, was more than plausible in 1885, when much of Africa was still unexplored, and survey flights were decades away.  The book is a classic tale in many ways, though it's colonial outlook and racist beliefs (Quatermain is a lion and elephant hunter and certainly believes that Blacks are not the equal of Whites) seem almost beyond belief to enlightened readers today.  So one must read this as a child or youth from 1885, and I'm certain that a few small heads nearly exploded with excitement back then.  There is a running joke about one of the white explorers' white legs, which are astonishing to the Blacks.  And by the end of the novel, the Blacks have proved to be as brave and fearless in battle as any white man, excepting Quatermain himself, who is an admitted coward.  Despite the human and animal body count, it is a first rate adventure novel.  It is still in print today, which says something about its effect on readers.

Cover of the 1st edition. 

 

Next I jumped all the way over to Dashiel Hammet, and his novel from 1929, The Dain Curse. This story consists of three novellas, linked by characters, though pretty much complete in themselves.  The first part deals with a suicide and murder, in which Hammett's unnamed private detective first arrives on the scene to find missing stolen diamonds.  His case switches in part 2 with more murders, and a strange cult that has more at heart than people's spiritual welfare.  Lastly comes more murders, a kidnapping, and a bomb explosion.  As each part of the case ends, the detective always suspects there is more to it, until, by the end of part 3, we finally get to the rotten bottom of things.  At the heart of story is young Gabrielle, who thinks she is the recipient of a family curse.  Each novella ends with a lengthy explanation of the very complicated plot up to that point, with the final explanation the longest and most complicated of them all.  Though it is a fun read, it is not really one of the great mystery stories, mainly due to the large number of main characters and the complications that ensue.  One of the best parts of the story occurs in Part 3, when the detective talks Gabrielle into believing there is no curse upon her, and that she can kick her heroin habit if she wants to, with his help.  In this part at least, the sun is shining briefly on a very depressed and lost soul.

 

W. H. Hodgson's Carnacki, The Ghost-Finder is a collection of six short tales published in 1913.  They were previously published in magazines between 1910-12.  He reissued the set in 1947, adding two more stories (not reviewed here yet).  Carnacki sometimes finds a supernatural cause for what has occurred, but just as often is able to come to a rational and scientific explanation.  thus the reader never knows at the time if events are supernatural or not.  This is a pretty neat writing trick!  The stories are quite frightening, too.

"The Gateway of the Monster" is the first tale.  The set up is always the same: four guests come to Carnacki's house for dinner, one of whom is the narrator, after which the host tells his most recent tale.  This is the story of a haunted room.  Something about the room is serving as a gateway for an evil presence to make itself known.  Carnacki himself, though a very brave man, is not above being very, very afraid at climactic moments, and sometimes even running away.  And though he often gets to the bottom of a mystery, sometimes he cannot explain it.  This story involves a mislaid ring. 

"The House Among The Laurels" is another very scary tale, and even though there are explanations at the end, they do not really satisfy the reader.  No one knows how the candles were put out, or why someone went to so much trouble to 'haunt' the large house.  Three dogs die violently in this story, and in the previous one a cat.  Animal lovers be warned. 

"The Whistling Room" is a very strange tale about a horrible whistling sound that comes from one room in a castle.  Again the climax is very frightening.  Most of these would make great TV episodes for a horror anthology.  And why has no one made a film about Hodgson's The Night Land? 

"The Horse of the Invisible" has something to do with local old tales, as many of these stories often have.  Not as scary as the first three, and again the explanation hardly explains everything that happened.  And can everyone who fired a gun in this story have missed the culprit?  This is a story that has both a hoax at its heart, and a real ghostly event.

"The Searcher of the End House" is another story that has both a logical explanation for a haunting, and a supernatural one.  Thus there are two mysteries, one quite terrifying and the other more mystifying.  The first mystery is Lovecraftian, while the second one is a classic ghost haunting.

"The Thing Invisible" is the final story in the first collection.  A butler is seriously wounded by a dagger that seemed to fly out of nowhere from inside a small chapel attached to a castle, and Carnacki is called to help solve the mystery.  Once again he spends a very scary night inside a dark and dangerous place, and once again he runs out of it, terrified, in the middle of the night.  The mystery is finally solved, however, and the ghost-finder lives to tell the tale to his friends.

 

Next came Fergus Hume's Madame Midas, from 1888.  A sprawling Victorian novel, it is a thriller that is loosely based on a real woman, one who owned and managed mines in Australia.  Despite the usual warnings concerning the man she is about to marry, she goes ahead with her plans.  Of course he turns out to be a louse, and causes her nothing but grief throughout the novel.  Not only that, but another man, an escapee from a French prison island, worms his way into her confidence and is offered a job managing her books.  What could go wrong?  She is not the only female in the story who is wronged.  It would appear that there are a lot of dangerous predatory males out there.  Can this possibly be true?  It is a pretty decent novel, and its 400+ pages go past quite quickly.  A few years transpire between the opening scene and the finale.  References are made to the author's previous detective novel, The Mystery of the Hansom Cab.  In fact, the lead woman here ends up renting the same house where much of the plot of the previous novel was centered.  A neat writer's trick to get readers to read the other novel, if they haven't already.

 

Finally, I read another American dime novel by The Old Sleuth.  A Successful Shadow is from 1885, and is a direct sequel to the one I read last month, called Two Wonderful Detectives.  These short mystery stories are actually quite fun and worth seeking.  I bought a small collection of this for pennies on Kindle, but they seem to also be available on Project Gutenberg, on-line for free reading.  In this story the detective is finally able to restore a large inheritance to its rightful owner, after a considerable battle of wits against a young criminal.  The detective, like a certain other later detective, is a master of disguises.  I look forward to reading more of these creations.

 

Mapman Mike

Helene

 Hurricane Helene has dispersed.  Its winds reached us this morning and continue tonight as I type.  The devastation it has caused the deep south is virtually unprecedented, and it will take weeks to assess and begin to repair the damage.  40 dead so far, and counting.  We are expecting some rain tomorrow and Sunday from it.  Needless to say that the first week of my newest astronomy session hasn't gone well.

 

The fourth week of our mountain hiking fitness program has begun.  It doesn't feel as if I will be ready to climb mountains in two weeks (three, actually, as it takes us a week to get there; we hike on the way, making it our 6th week of training).  But the program is tried and true, so I must believe.  Three high altitude hikes are planned, including the Texas state highpoint.  That first one, a tough one to be sure, is on the sixth day after our departure from the low flatlands.  It will be a major test for me, and without passing it I cannot think about hiking the big one, NM's Jicarita Peak.  So a Plan B is being formed in case Guadalupe Peak gets the better of me.  Not having hiked in the mountains for six years now, failure is a distinct possibility.

 

Deb is finishing up her Hound of the Baskerville film project, which she is using mostly as a learning experience for her newest animation software purchase. The film stars yours truly as the evil Stapleton, toying with women in the part, much like I do in real life.

 

Last night we had an incredible sunset, moving from yellow through pink, orange, and red.  Here is a photo taken near the final phase.

 

Sunset photo taken from our front yard, with the sky reflecting upon the Detroit River. 

 

In film watching news, I will begin with last weekend's pick, and move towards the most recent pick.  Twentieth Century is from 1934.  Directed by Howard Hawks it stars Carole Lombard and John Barrymore.  He plays a theatre director, and she is his latest acting discovery.  A romance blossoms, then wilts, as she finally deserts him and heads for Hollywood.  While they both just happen to be on the same train from Chicago to New York (the Twentieth Century), he gets a chance to win her back.  Barrymore is in top form, and often quite hilarious as the manipulating man that will do anything to score another Broadway success.  Lombard, not quite so successful in her role (she screams a lot), plays the young put upon actress trying to put up with Barrymore's eccentric and overbearing ways.  Somehow or other we had both missed seeing this film before.  it's worth it to watch Barrymore, almost playing himself at times.

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

Following was next, A Christopher Nolan film from 1998.  From the Mubi description:  Driven by boredom, a writer randomly shadows strangers on London’s bustling streets. What starts as fictional research becomes an unsettling journey when he’s confronted by a burglar named Cobb. Drawn into Cobb’s world of crime, the writer treads a perilous path, entangled in obsession and danger.

Stay away from bad guys.  One would think by now, after all the movies and novels that have contained this message, that people would follow that simple maxim.  But no.  Instead, they are attracted and seduced by bad guys, to their inevitable undoing.  An almost harmless hobby (follow a person once, but never again) soon turns into a crime spree, and then a deadly crime spree.  As the poor victim becomes more deeply involved with this film's version of Faust, his demise becomes more and more certain.  An original film to be sure, and in b & w.  Worth a look at the director's earlier smaller scale work.

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Most recently came Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, a 1970 Spanish thriller.  Though light on murdered bodies, it is heavy on sexual sadism.  Filled with suspense movie tropes, it isn't too hard to guess what is going on, though a few surprises remain at the end.  A woman begins to think she is going crazy, as there is no evidence of the insane man, she says, who is causing her grief.  Of course some of the tricks used by the bad people trying to drive her crazy are never explained (the apartment she takes her husband and the police to is suddenly empty of all its furnishings and looks old and unused--it hadn't been rented in over a year.  No explanation of how that one was done).  The movie features the most futuristic 1970 furnishings and women's outfits for the time--it often reminded me of one of those sexy spy movies that proliferated for a time after the Bond films became successful.  If you enjoy seeing an innocent woman totally gaslighted, then you should like this film.  If not, oh well.  She does live happily ever after, though.  Sort of like a Dickens novel, I guess.  The bad guys get all the breaks, until the final minute.

Leaving Mubi Sept. 30th. 

 

I have resumed working with my Spirograph set.  Perhaps if you get lucky I will post some more images of my work next time.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Finished Up The Peripheral

The 8-episode season of The Peripheral was based on a William Gibson book, which I have not (as yet) read.  There will be no Season 2, which is probably a good thing.  It was quite well done, though as per usual it was filled with violence, mostly guns of some type, but also plenty of so called hand to hand combat.  The series would appeal to those people who play shooter games on their screens, but the plot is actually quite cerebral.  It kind of takes VR to its outer limits.  Recommended, and I may try to squeeze in a read of the novel.  It is the first of a trilogy, of which two have been published.  The series is showing on Prime.

 

We are now about four or five episodes into the newest Rings episodes, and have met Tom Bombadil.  Nothing too exciting there, but the series is creating some tension in Moria.  We know what lives beneath the mines, down very deep, but the Dwarves are about to find out for the first time.  I'm getting a little sick of Elves and Hobbits, so I'm glad that the Dwarves are there to take up slack.  It is so unfortunate that Prime was not given rights to the Silmarillion.  Instead, Peter Jackson will likely rewrite it all to his taste and show us how brilliant he is.

 

In local news, yours truly survived another journey around the Sun.  Celebrations were centered around food, and since it is also Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, it seems a fitting way to get through the day.  The morning began with home made cinnamon buns.  That was followed at lunch time by spaghetti with vegan meatballs and a wonderful minced veggie topping, all made fresh by Deb.  Then we baked a ginger birthday cake (with decadent icing!), finally sitting down to watch Rings and Peripheral.  I had a quart of very fine Saison ale I had been saving, and sipped it away over a two hour period.  I also treated myself to some extra reading time today (a novel by Dashiel Hammet is currently in my hands)

Autumn returned this morning, and this is to be the final hot day!  We have been doing our training in sunny, very warm temps, despite our early start.  And for the first time in weeks, it is actually raining outside.  The land is quite parched here.  Not much rain, but a little bit.  So tomorrow's strenuous walk should be in a much cooler, possibly even cloudy, environment.

 

We also scored two decent movies this weekend, beginning with Lady In The Lake, also called The Possessed.  It is an Italian b & w thriller from 1965, and features some great off season locations in the Italian Alps.  The mood created by the camera, music, and sounds, especially of a hollow wind in the trees, is very good.  A writer travels there to find a girl he once spurned, but now wants to try a relationship.  She is missing, and then he finds out that she is dead.  The mystery begins there, and doesn't follow much of a normal plot path.  The action and plot centres around a family that owns a large hotel in the town, and they have a lot of local pull and connections.  They also own the slaughterhouse next door.  Would you like a hotel room with a view of a slaughterhouse?  Like a said, this film is a bit different, though not predictable at all.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Mubi soon.  In b & w.

 

A twilight scene from The Possessed, one of many liminal spaces and or times from the film. 

 

Next came Source Code from 2011, a SF thriller that opens with terrific aerial scenes of downtown Chicago.  A wounded American Afghanistan pilot is brought home to continue his service in a different way.  In a confusing opening, he is put on a train to discover who the bomber is that will destroy the train in 8 minutes.  When the train explodes we know nothing of his mission, nor does he.  But it soon becomes clear.  He will have time for more attempts, but each one can only last for 8 minutes.  The film becomes a bit like Groundhog Day, as the soldier gets to replay the scene, fix his mistakes, and try to find the bomber.  The only problem is that the people on the train are already dead, so he is not saving anyone here.  But if the bomber can be identified, then a much worse terrorist incident can be truly prevented.  Another quite good film, and if not exactly nail biting, then it is good SF at least.  The two main characters all also quite likable.

 

Leaving Mubi soon.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 
 

A Minor Lunar Eclipse

Tuesday night we sat outside and watched a tiny part of the full moon disappear for a while, before it came back to its full glory.  Our eastern sky is high with trees, so we seldom see a moonrise from home.  But it was up pretty high by 10:10, when the eclipse began.  We sat on chairs in our driveway, enjoying a beautiful late evening.  There is a skunk that wanders past several times a week, but tonight we were spared.  Here are a few hand held camera images from mid-eclipse.

 

This heavily overexposed image actually shows the area of darkness rather well.

Still overexposed, but getting better.

My best shot.  I should have used a tripod.  Next year there will be two total lunar eclipses. 

 

In other exciting news, we have now completed two full weeks of intense training for our upcoming hiking expedition to the American Southwest.  All of the exercise has been combined with some serious house cleaning and clearing of junk.  For the second week in a row we will be putting out a lot of garbage, and tomorrow morning 4 boxes of stuff, plus 4 large garbage bags full, are going to be collected by the Diabetes Association for resale.  The house is still crammed with junk, but we can start to see more floor space now, and even a wall or two.  Things will continue.

In film news, there are four to report, all from Criterion Streaming  Beginning with most recently viewed was Independent's Day, a short documentary about independent filmmakers.  The film takes in the Sundance Film Festival band provides a good look at where things stood in 1998 (!).  I would love to see an updated version of this film, which is filled with interviews, clips, and quips from independent filmmakers, some of whom are quite famous now, and others not so much.  Many people talk about how much Sundance had changed since its origins--if they could only see it now, they would shed crocodile tears.

 

Leaving Criterion soon.

Deb's other choice was Licorice Pizza, from 2021 and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.  Helped by good writing, good characters, and good acting, this film somehow manages to interest viewers and keep them interested.  There is notable chemistry between the two leads, one of the reasons the film is so attractive.  The story follows the adventures of Alana (28 years) and Gary (15 years), as they move through several business deals and businesses together in Encino, CA, during the 70s, along with the ups and downs of a very unbalanced romance.  The title supposedly refers to two items that do not go well together.  I recommend the film, despite a running time of just over two hours, and two very racist scenes with Japanese women.

 

Leaving Criterion soon.

My two choices ended with Tati's Mon oncle, from 1958.  Filled with visual and aural gags, the film does a great job of contrasting old Paris with new Paris.  We know which one Tati prefers.  We had only seen this film once before, many years ago, and obviously in an inferior print.  The colour is beautiful in this one, from the green of the fake grass on the lawn to the browns and greys of the old streets.  The film begins with dogs running loose, closely followed by kids doing the same thing.  It ends in a similar fashion.  In between we have a good contrast between a sterile upbringing and one filled with dirt and noise.  Tati uses limited sets to great advantage.  My only disappointment is that the character of Tati in this film is that of a simpleton.  I find it hard to like him in this role.  Still, a very great film, and one worth seeing a third time.

 

Showing on Criterion.

My earlier pick was Night Moves, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Gene Hackman.  From 1975, Hackman plays a private eye with marital problems, and an urge to solve a big case.  He gets his big case, and for a while the film rips along in a very entertaining way.  But the final quarter of the film is a total disaster.  How many films has this viewer seen that follows such a pattern.  A great concept, a great opening, a great development, and a totally farcical, stupid finale.  In this one, every major character involved in the mystery dies at the end.  Really?  As Deb called it, it turns out to be a snuff film.  Something good was destroyed by someone who should have known better.

 

Leaving Criterion soon.
 

Mapman Mike

 

September Sunshine

It has been sunny and in the 80s for quite some time now, and it will continue for at least another week.  Week Two of our mountain hiking training program has begun.  We have some warm walks ahead of us.  I am preparing for a major climb in the New Mexico Rocky Mountains.  It will be my 2nd attempt at Jicarita Peak, and at just over 12,700 it will be my 2nd highest hike.  Years ago our attempt was foiled by a mismatched water bottle, though it was a splendid hike and overnight stay in the high wilderness.  The roar of the evergreen trees as the wind rushed down off the mountain overnight will never be forgotten!  High altitude hikes are also planned for the Manzano Mountains southeast of Albuquerque, and in Texas.  I am attempting to climb to the highest point in Texas, located in Guadalupe National Park.  Lesser hikes (but still good for training) are planned at Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo, and in the Wichita Mtns in west Oklahoma.  Urban walks are planned along the way in Terre Haute, Indiana, and Springfield Missouri.  Those last four mentioned hikes will constitute Week 6 of our training program.  If the knees hold up, then the three big climbs will go ahead.  If not, we will find some breweries in Albuquerque and cry in our beer.  

 

Deb is not planning any big hikes, as she has had some breathing issues lately.  She went for lung tests Wednesday, and we are awaiting results.  Most places we will visit have a complete range of hiking difficulty, so she can choose less challenging ones for now.  Today she had a routine eye check up, and everything was good.  Wednesday we both went for routine blood work, and again all results were okay.

 

When I was in the throes of passing a kidney stone (or perhaps three of them), I was unable to sleep on my bed or on the couch.  Deb sleeps on a recliner chair, and I found it worked for me.  She took the couch.  So even though now I was back to my bed, I went ahead and purchased a recliner for night use, too.  With the right chair nights are very comfortable.  Mine was on sale and we got a very good deal.  It meant taking out the old queen bed (purchased years ago when we had three cats sleeping with us), which was a major undertaking.  The mattress was foam, but there was a lot of wood on the frame.  We put out a huge load of trash last night, and it was picked up today by the regular guys.  There is suddenly a lot of room in the upstairs bedroom!

 

Also this past week, a Purolater delivery truck pulled down and destroyed our internet wire.  We were without service for 24 hours, but it is now fixed and sitting a lot higher than before.

 

In other news, my uncle's obituary appeared in the Sudbury Star recently....

 

William Robert Whitehead (Bill)

April 14, 1932 - September 4, 2024

William "Bill" Whitehead, age 92. He passed away the same way he lived his life, on his own terms. He is survived by his sons Bill (Debbie), John (Marie), Jim(Taylor), as well as his daughter Lori. He is also survived by his two older sisters, Geraldine Ethier and Pauline Miller. Bill was a proud grandfather to his grandchildren and a great-grandfather to his four great-grandchildren, all of whom brought him immense joy.
Bill was always there for his grandkids, supporting them at the hockey rink, basketball games, or dance recitals. If there was a project to do, Bill was ready with his hammer, always eager to lend a hand. He played a pivotal role in helping his family build and operate the Penage Bay Marina for many years before moving on to construct the family cottage, which remains a cherished gathering place for the entire family.
He loved his many years hunting and fishing at Welcome Lake. Bill enjoyed snowmobiling with his family and even learned to ski at age 50. Known for his toughness, Bill also had a soft side, especially when it came to his grandchildren.
Bill was preceded in death by his brothers, Jack and Jim Whitehead, and his sisters, Jacqueline Munavish and Evelyn Whitehead. He had many friends and Bill will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. His memory will live on in the hearts of those who loved him.
Donations to ABCs & Rice at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/ or the Terryamescarefund.com would be appreciated.

Published online September 9, 2024 in the Sudbury Star 

 

In film news there are two to report.  In addition, we have finished watching Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery.  I had watched the first two episodes on our flights to New Orleans and back to Detroit in March and got interested.  Though we will probably get around to Season Two, we will first go back to watch the final season of Next Generation (unseen by us), and then back to the 2nd season of Picard.  We are also 3 episodes into Season Two of Rings of Power, and are continuing to enjoy Peripheral, a story with 8 episodes.  More of that one tonight.  We are also viewing two Great Courses, one on detective fiction and one on Gravity.

 

Deb's film choices were from Criterion (leaving this month) and Mubi.  The leaving film was called The Taking, a documentary from 2021 about Monument Valley and how it is perceived today, following the influence of western movies, especially those of John Ford.  Though it is now Navajo land, and they have control of it, the movies filmed there were mostly pro white and against the native population.  It is unfortunate when iconic landscapes such as this are usurped by untruthful and less meaningful ideals, which then become fixed in the minds of people.  It's a good film overall, and does give more than one perspective.  However, it's point is that the Valley is so ensconced in the public's mind with the conquering of the untamed west that it may never escape that tedious label.

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

Next came a very poor example of Guy Maddin's unique storytelling methods.  His second feature is from 1990 and is called Archangel.  Taking place in 1919 Russia, a small village does not know that the war against Germany has ended, and so the fighting continues.  A soldier missing a leg is billeted by a small family.  He thinks he sees his deceased girlfriend in a village girl's face, and this sets off a long and tedious account of him trying to woo and win her.  The film goes in circles, and though only 77 minutes long, it seems much longer.  The look of the film is pure Maddin, with silent film techniques mixed in with avant garde use of camera, unique sets, and lighting.  However, the storytelling is pure rubbish.  There are much better Maddin films out there.  This one reminds me of the flip side of a 45 rpm record, with the big hit on side one, and some other musical trash on side two.

Now showing on Mubi.  

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Fellini and Sorrentino: A Top Knotch Double Bill

 I am set to have a 4th night out with the telescope tonight.  As usual I am rather excited about it.  Another late night, though this should be the last, as next month the sun will setting even earlier than now.

 

We managed our first hill climb workout today at Malden Hill Park in Windsor.  5 weeks of local training, then one week of hiking as we drive west, then the big stuff for week 6.  Rather excited about that, too.

 

My last surviving uncle passed away this week.  Uncle Bill gave me my first high-paying job as a teenager, and I learned to drive 3-ton trucks towing trailers, too.  He owned a construction equipment rental company.  He and my dad built camps together on adjoining lots at Lake Penage when I was 9 or 10.  Bill was a big guy, and always moving, never liking to sit still.  He was a pretty amazing man, and I'm proud to have had him as my uncle.  He chose assisted dying, as his Alzheimer's condition was worsening by the day.  He passed away surrounded by his three sons.  Bon Voyage, Uncle Bill!!  His ashes are to be scattered at Lake Penage.

 

A photo of Uncle Bill from long ago, likely snoozing after a Thanksgiving or Christmas family dinner. A rare quiet moment for him.

 

In film news, Fellini's La Dolce Vita has always been on my top ten list since I first saw it many years ago.  The character of Marcello is a fascinating one.  On the surface he is a womanizer of the worst kind, and it's almost painful seeing him lusting after Anita Ekberg as she casually and coolly keeps him at bay.  Sending him out to find milk for a kitten in the late hours of a Roman night is the final straw.  Marcello is a journalist who is always threatening to write a novel, but never manages to get around to it.  He has deep feelings, but has no one to express them to, or talk about with.  He is saddled with a neurotic, shallow, and overly motherly girlfriend, and has no close friends in whom to confide.  The movie charts his rapid decline into mid-life chaos.  By the end of the movie he has reached the bottom, with nowhere else to sink.  He has chances at redeeming himself, but they never pan out.  His best chance is a fellow writer and intellectual.  When they meet up one night Marcello is invited to a get together at the writer's home.  The scene contrasts sharply with the usual parties that Marcello attends.  He is impressed with the man, and wants to talk more with him.  They both agree that this would be a good thing.  But when the writer kills himself and his two angelic children, Marcello is shattered, and there is no turning back from self destruction for him afterwards.  He meets with his father and wants to spend time with him and talk, but his father never had time for him and his Rome visit proves no exception.  Again Marcello is left alone.  He has one casual girlfriend that he thinks he could make a serious relationship with.  She leads him on one night, but quickly abandons him for a quickie with another man at the party.  Poor Marcello.  Then there is the angel from Perugia, a young girl who works at a cafe on the beach somewhere.  He tells her she looks like an angel from a Renaissance painting, and she does.  In the final scene she tries to communicate with him, explaining who she is and miming a typist, to ask him how his book is coming.  But he is far past the point of being able to hear angels, even if they are right in front of him.  And so we have a very depressing ending.  

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Or do we?  Just suppose that he has hit bottom, and that sometime afterwards he manages to climb out of his alcoholic haze long enough to write a very good short novel.  The plausibility of this might not have occurred to Fellini, but it just might have been a subconscious idea with Paolo Sorrentino, the director of The Great Beauty.  The film won the 2013 Oscar for best foreign film, and is also on my top ten list.  This is our third viewing, and it becomes more and more spellbinding the more we watch.  The character of Jep could be Marcello, as he celebrates his 65th birthday in Italian party style.  Jep had one successful novel 30 years ago, but has not written another one.  He is a journalist that covers art openings and events in Rome.  The film is sheer poetry from beginning to end, with possibly the best musical score ever added to film.  Many of the musicians appear in the film performing the music.  Like Dolce Vita, this is a film about vignettes, vignettes of great beauty.  Rome in 1960 and in 2013 are very different places, but Jep had adapted well.  He has the most envious flat in Rome, a host of friends though none terribly close.  There are moments of comedy along with the poetry, and moments filled with deep meaning.  Jep as an older Marcello makes seeing both pictures back to back essential to understand the relationship.  Of course Sorrentino, like most Italian directors, owes a huge debt to Fellini, and must feel him looking over his shoulder all of the time.  Whether the director made Jep into an older Marcello consciously or not, it is hard to deny the connection.  Though both movies stand perfectly alone as major masterpieces of cinema, when combined into one longer epic, the effect on viewers becomes transcendental.  Deliriously so.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Mapman Mike

Out Standing In My Field

Yes, it's astronomy season again.  Reading and sleeping have gone by the wayside.  This past week saw 5 clear nights in a row.  I was able to use three of them, as I need a day in between to recover from late nights.  Also, it is a 50 minute drive each way, which can be tiring.  But I have satellite radio and usually listen to NPR, CBC, or BBC World, so the time passes relatively quickly.  I might snag one more night before the moon is too bright.  Although we have a clubhouse and observatory slightly closer to home, the light pollution is so bad there now that I seldom even consider going there.  Instead, I park my self between two giant windmills on a narrow dirt road amidst soybean fields.  When harvest comes around I have to scoot elsewhere, or be blinded by combine lights.  No one has ever bothered me out there, not even the coyotes that often howl as they pass by.  I recently cleaned the mirror and reset it in its casing.  It made a huge difference this week to my observing program, too.  The mirror eventually gets coated by dust and loses some of its ability to gather light, so periodic cleaning is necessary.

 

As I said above, my reading time goes out the window during a run of clear nights like this.  At night I am under the stars, and my afternoon reading time is usually spent napping.  So I am still reading the first book, a non fiction by Silverberg. 

 

In other news, film festival weekend has arrived, and is now being spread over two weekends.  As things work out I get five choices in a row.  We began with a strange little 1960 Italian film starring Marcello called Il bell'Antonio, about a handsome man who attracts women to him.  He thinks he will never marry until he sees a photo of his supposed intended, played by Claudia Cardinale (21 years old in the picture).  He falls madly in love for the first time in his life and the wedding takes place.  However, because he is really in love with her, he is unable to consummate the marriage.  No problems with flirts and whores and even the maid, but not his wife.  This is really an oddball film, attacking society, the church, and marriage itself.  To Marcello, making love to his young wife would be like making it with a real angel.  He is unable to get past his sexual block when with her.  Of course annulment comes soon afterwards, and he is ridiculed.  There are several lighter moments, too, and the film was shot mostly in Sicily.  Well worth a look, especially the restored version.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

One of the house rules for film selection is that at least one choice must come from the "leaving soon" selection on either Mubi or Criterion.  I chose a 1943 comedy directed by George Stevens called The More The Merrier, starring Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, and Charles Coburn.  Not only is there a shortage of men in wartime Washington, D.C., but a critical shortage of housing, too.  The film has a lot of fun with both shortages when Jean Arthur sublets a bedroom in her apartment.  Watch how Coburn walks past the long line of people waiting outside to interview for the room at 5 pm, and takes the place for himself.  Today, exactly the same gag could be done with people staring at their phones as they wait; in 1943 they are all standing there reading their newspapers.  This is one of many funny gags.  Coburn's missing pants provide another.  Coburn then ends up letting half of his bedroom to McCrea.  Quite a fun picture.

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

Lastly came out first viewing of Blow Up in five or six years.  Criterion just got it, along with La Dolce Vita (see next blog).  Antonioni created a cultural icon with his 1966 film, still one of the best looks at swinging London ever put on film.  Though the main story about a photographer that unwittingly captures a murder on film is still the central element, there are so many distractive scenes and sidelines that one always discovers something new.  Such scenes include, but are not limited to, the visit to the old pawnshop and the purchase of a giant propeller, the sexually playful scenes with the young girls who want to be models (Jane Birkin is the blonde; she was 20 but could easily pass for 16), and the brilliant Yardbirds club scene.  These all contribute hugely to the overall effect of the film, though not directly involved in the plot.  Because of being over budget many scenes relating to the plot and its explanation were left out.  Thank goodness.  The film is a masterpiece as it stands.  One of my favourite films of all time.  Can you hear the tennis ball at the very end of the film?

 

Now showing on Criterion in a beautiful restored print. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

August Reading Summary

 I was slowed down in the middle of the month by some medical issues, taking a very long time to read the Dunsany novel discussed below.  But at least the first five novels, all related to my Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery authors, went by quickly.  Let us begin, as usual, with Robert Silverberg.

His next crime novel to be recently republished is called Blood on the Mink, first published in Trapped Magazine, 1959.  Besides the main short novel, there are also two shorter tales.  The author gives a modern afterword to his stories.  The plot has to do with a federal agent taking the identity of a criminal, and trying to stop the flow of counterfeit cash coming out of Philadelphia.  There is a lot of tension and a lot of plot thickening in this decent story of underworld crime and violence, which includes a few dames and lots of shooting.  It is a short novel, and I easily read it over the course of a day.  There is some humour regarding night life in Philly.  Worth a read for pulp crime fiction fans.  It would make a decent noir film, even today.  Also included were:

Dangerous Doll, a story from 1960, also to do with counterfeit money.  A Chicago hoodlum is to deliver some plates, but things go wrong when he is tested by the syndicate.  He sells them down the river the first chance he gets, but afterwards he realizes that he is out of chances.

One Night of Violence is from 1959.  An innocent Wisconsin furnace salesman involves himself in an altercation in the motel room next to his, and soon regrets his interference.  It leads to a shootout between two Chicago gangs in the motel and parking lot.  A lively story!

 

Cover art by Michael Koelsch.  I read the Kindle edition. 

 

In A Fortune For Kregen, we have arrived at the 21st book of the Dray Prescott series, one in which Bulmer's imagination continues to impress readers.  Things take yet another different turn in this novel from 1979.  At first it seems like the same old thing, as Dray once again is captured and becomes a slave.  But soon things develop, and the adventure we read about could easily be transferred to a Lara Croft Tomb Raider game.  Dray is a slave in a large expedition that heads to a vast underground burial site, protected by traps and wizardry, including monsters, ghouls, walls that close in, and even stinging insects.  Most people are out for loot from the burial tombs.  The underground caverns have grown vast over the centuries, and the traps more diabolical and dangerous.  Dray just wants to get out, alive if possible.  Though never quite up to the sword and sorcery standards of Fritz Leiber, Bulmer has created a world filled with excitement, adventure, and danger.  That includes wizardry, which takes a front seat in this story.  A fun read, and quite different from most of the other entries in this enticing series.

 

The fifth book of E C Tubb's Cap Kennedy series (he is a secret agent for Earth) is called Jewel of Jarhen, dates from 1974, and is a brief 111 pages.  It features a good opening chapter, as the cruel leader of a medieval-type world is killed while on a hunt, and his more rational younger brother has to take over.  The title jewel itself is quite intriguing, and forms the central plot line of the story, nicely mixing science with sorcery.  Cap and his boys are charged with a diplomatic mission, even though they are warriors rather than diplomats.  This puts a different spin on the story as well.  Science and magic and superstition meet on the planet Jarhen, as three civilizations compete for the right to trade with the backward planet and help it along its course of growth.  When the previous Earth diplomat is found drowned in his bed, far from any water, Cap is called in.  Good thing Cap can swim.  How did someone drown when they weren't near water?  Read this fun pulp adventure story to find out.

Barry Malzberg's (writing as Mike Barry) Peruvian Nightmare is from 1974 and is 137 pages long.  The story picks up directly after #6 in this series, about a lone wolf out to exterminate the North American drug trade after his girlfriend was killed by an overdose.  Burt Wulf lands in Peru, where he is trapped in a large hotel.  The bad guy from book 6, Calabrese, just wanted Wulf out of the country and out of his hair, but realizes too late that he should have had him killed instead.  Wulf is helped out by the hotel owner, who has a little job for him, and who promises to get him out of the country at the same time.  Book 7 includes a narrative recap of many of the events that happened in earlier books, but finally gives us some details about his relationship with his deceased girlfriend.  The book spends a lot of time inside Wulf's head, and the on-going killings, still a goodly number of them, seem to take a backseat to the man's introspective life.  In Peru Wulf takes a bus to Cuzco, where his bus is ambushed by Calabrese's men.  He is ambushed again at the climax of the novel, on a narrow ledge along a high mountain trail.  The death of two horses in this scene is very unpleasant, and is treated in a thoughtless and mostly carefree way.  Kill all the bad people that you want, but leave the animals alone, svp.  We are now halfway through the series, and so far Malzberg is able to make each story not only different, but interesting and mostly fun to read.  Let's hope that Wulf succeeds in eliminating the drug trade, and that in 2024 there will not be anymore overdose deaths (add heavy sarcasm to preceding statement).

 

Lastly from SF writers comes James Blish's More Issues At Hand.  Blish's second group of essays dates from the late 1950s to 1970.  There is more focus here on single novels, rather than shorter stories.  I find myself disagreeing with Blish much of the time, though he speaks many truths and bursts many bubbles.  He seems, to put it bluntly, to be an old fogey.  I do not blame him for trying to raise the standard of SF literature, and for blasting poor writing.  He blames writers, editors, and readers for the problems.   Why does some real drivel get published, and why does some of it even win coveted awards?  Well, Mr. Blish, the universe is filled with mysteries, many of which will never get solved.  Why do voters vote for criminal and psychotic politicians?  Why do people eat tons of junk food every day?  Why do hideous billboards appear on highways that have beautiful natural scenery?  Why do so many women marry male crumb bums?  I could go on.  There isn't much that Blish can do about it, except insult writers and make enemies of them, which he seems to have done rather well.  Among his other incisions, he tears apart the British New Wave SF writers, often with very prescient comments.  I agree with much of what he says here, but what's done is done.  He loves SF literature, but never once mentions the many horrible SF movies that helped lower the bar even further for writers.  For most people, SF means monsters, aliens, and flying saucers, all threatening our existence (are you listening, Dr. Who?) instead of well plotted stories about characters dealing with some form of science problem.  He blames SF writers for trying out new forms, ones which have been prevalent in regular literature for decades.  Since many writers never come to terms with Joyce's writing, nor even attempt to, why belittle SF writers when they try something new in the genre that has never before been done here?  Even failures have their value, providing that the writer and others can learn something from them.  Sometimes he swill rip apart a story without even saying why, though most of the time he gives his reasons for disliking a book.  While some may boil and fume at Blish's criticism, at the time he was only one of two writers even doing such a thing.  Overall, like the first book, this one is well worth reading for SF fans, especially if well read in others areas of literature.  Highly recommended. (The second SF writer to turn critic was Damon Knight--I have seen purchased his book of such from Kindle).

Now comes the free reading period of the month, when nearly anything can turn up.  First up was Curse of the Wise Woman by Lord Dunsany, from 1933.  This is a very special book only to those who have known a piece of land well, and been changed and formed by it.  The Sudbury landscape where I grew up is now completely changed, though for the better.  Still, I cannot return here and see what I saw growing up.  The bare rocks have now sprouted forests, and Sudbury is now green instead of black.  Lake Penage, where our summer camp was located, probably shaped me as a person just as much.  Though the landscape remains much the same, since we sold the camp I can never go back.  My third major influence from the land was New Mexico, with deserts and alpine mountains in heaping quantities.  Much of it remains unchanged, and I am free to visit whenever I can.  Those three landscapes--early Sudbury, Penage, and certain parts of New Mexico will always be with me, even if I cannot always be with them (the former, never again).  Anyone with similar experiences will understand Dunsany's book, and his attempt to show one young man's connection to a vast Irish bog that is about to undergo transforming development from an English peat company.  All that stands in their way is an Irish witch.  This is a story with deep, deep roots in the land, and despite the person being a 'sportsman', the message still comes across loud and clear.  Will the witch be able to save the bog from developers, or will it be lost for all time.  It would be a spoiler to tell, but the ending and the story isn't was this book is about--it's about the land.  A masterpiece.

A book with very special powers to enchant the reader. 

 

T. S. Eliot's Poems 1920 contains 12 poems written up to that year.  Like most Eliot poetry, the surface seems easy to read, but understanding the inner meaning of words and phrases is beyond most casual readers, including this one.  To make matters more difficult, 4 of the poems are entirely in French!  What is a reader to do?  In my case, Genius.com came to the rescue.  This site not only will translate back to English, but will carefully annotate and explain the poem, often line by line.  I found it invaluable in understanding the meaning and relevance of the poem.  Two favourite poems for this reader were the incomparable "Hippopotamus", where a hippo's life is compared to that of the Church.  Biting satire at its finest, not to mention quite funny.  The other is "Dans le Restaurant", one of the French poems.  Chilling and somewhat mystifying.  The poem ends with an early version of Death By Water (written for a good friend killed in the Gallipoli fiasco.

Next came three novellas by Gogol, contained in a volume entitle Arabesques, from 1935.  The first is called The Portrait, and is a lesson for writers in how to tell a good story.  It is a supernatural tale, but one that could also be explained in more rational ways.  In two parts, the first part tells how the purchase of a portrait in a junk shop alters the life of a young artist, in mostly negative ways.  In the 2nd part we learn about the artist who painted the portrait, and the man depicted in the picture.  Though not a hair raising tale and not likely to appeal to fans of Stephen King, it is an extremely well crafted story.  All the information required for readers is eventually given out in Part 2, and after experiencing Part 1, we can make our own judgment of whether or not "the devil' was involved.  An excellent read.

Nevsky Prospekt was next.  The exposition is dedicated to detailing the life of the famous street in St. Petersburg from dawn to dawn.  Then the author begins to tell his story, which is actually two stories.  Two young men, one an artist and one a lieutenant each follow a different beautiful woman they encounter on the boulevard.  The two stories and their outcomes are very different, the second perhaps more unexpected than the first.  These are the kinds of stories that could have produced an entire volume unto themselves based around that street, and perhaps Gogol had such an idea in mind.  But the second story ends so abruptly that it seems as if he tired of the idea and wanted to move on.  Not nearly as satisfying as the first story.

Third and finally came Diary of a Madman.  Some people might actually read this thinking that it is a comedy.  Though not exactly a case study for madness, it does get the idea across of how delusions, often of grandeur, accompany some forms of madness, as well as auditory hallucinations.  The wretched clerk in the story is pretty far gone before the story proceeds very far.  The most entertaining part of the story for this reader was the dialogue and letters between two lap dogs.  But the story becomes more and more horrifying as it proceeds.  Definitely a unique story for its time.  In the present, the streets are where many schizophrenic people end up.  Back then it was in an institution, where treatment was so often brutal and inhuman.

 

Anna Katherine Green's The Sword of Damocles is her third novel and is from 1881.  It is an epic tale, well planned, and divided into five books.  The fun of reading books about love, courtship, and honour from the 1800s is to undertake it like an expedition in archaeology.  What was it like back then for middle and upper class people to get married?  What was expected of the man?  Was it all up to the father of the bride?  All these questions and more will be answered when a book such as this is read.  Besides the love interest of two couples, there is a mystery or two to be solved, including the mysterious reason for Mr. Sylvester's clouded brow.  There is also a type of bank robbery, which casts doubt on the character of one of the young suitors.  Though it is a long novel, it is an easy read.  Occasionally the story itself is interrupted while one of the characters relates a background story.  One of the interesting things about the book, which proves its careful planning, is that virtually every character one meets has a crucial role to play, sometimes much alter in the story.  Just what is the sword that figuratively hangs over the head of Mr. Sylvester?  Nothing much, by today's criminal and moral standards.  But back then it was enough to ruin a man's reputation, and cause him to lose the woman he loves.  Overall it is quite a good novel, and well suited for adaptation to a TV series.

We are watching a crime and mystery literature course on The Great Courses.  This is a very thorough investigation of the genre, beginning with its creator Edgar Allen Poe, through much of Conan Doyle's creation, Sherlock Holmes, delving deeply into Agatha Christie's contributions, continuing on through the American hard boiled detective years of the 1930s, right up to contemporary writers.  One of the episodes spent a lot of time discussing dime novel detectives.  These stories sprang up in the 1800s between the time of Poe's three detective stories and those of Conan Doyle.  One of the most prolific writers of that time, and one which had a huge influence on later detective fiction, went under the by-line of The Old Sleuth, AKA Harlan Page Halsey.  He wrote hundreds of dime novel mysteries back in the 1880s.  I read #12, called The Twin Detectives, or The Missing Heiress, from August 1885.  Written well before Conan Doyle's Holmes stories, I was surprised how many little connections there were between the two.  Doyle was obviously a fan of dime novel detective stories before he set out on his own enterprise.  The dime novels originate in the US, and it is interesting to note that the first Holmes and Watson novel takes place there.  In this story, the detective has to find a missing man and the person to whom he left a fortune.  He has very little to go on, and we follow this brilliant man from step to step as he pieces the puzzle together, one step at a time.  There is considerable humour in the story, as well as tragedy and sadness.  His method of extracting information from people is one similar to one that Holmes uses, and at one point in the story, after telling his client how he ingeniously figured out one part of the puzzle, the client replies that he guesses that being a detective isn't so difficult after all.  Doyle used this quite often in the Holmes stories, with Watson claiming that solving the puzzle was rather easy, after the fact.  I have six more of these short novels on hand, and will likely get through them over the next few months.

Finally came the 17th novel in the Doc Savage series, called The Thousand-Headed Man.  From July 1934, it was written by Lester Dent, a prolific author who wrote over 159 novels.  The book cover gives the house name of Kenneth Robeson as the writer.  When I read these books as a young teen, I was completely unaware of any racism in the stories.  Doc went after bad guys (or they went after him), and they battled it out with guns and wits until Doc finally got the upper hand.  This book has an Oriental bad guy, and some of the worst racism I have ever come across fills the pages.  The dialogue consists of the Chinese men speaking in that horrendous English that writers often used back in the day, and it is truly cringe worthy.  One fun part of the book is that the early part takes place in London, with Doc arriving on the scene to awaiting crowds at Croydon Airfield.  Once the story takes off, literally, and Doc and his comrades fly to Indochina, Dent is at his pulp writing best.  Into the jungle we go, finding lost and isolated pagoda temples and, finally, a vast abandoned city.  The city holds a great mystery, and even Doc is captured and taken prisoner.  But not for long.  Escape for him and the people he has come to rescue seems impossible.  Can he do it?  Dent has a good eye for detail, and after allowing the creation of numerous mystical-seeming events, explains everything by the end.  Except for the racist attitudes to Orientals, the adventure itself is quite a good one.  This reader is a sucker for lost jungle cities and the secrets they hold.

Original 1934 publication.  Cover by Walter B. Baumhofer. 

 

Mapman Mike