The Mentalist 4.19: “Pink Champagne on Ice” – we’re getting into the home stretch for season four and I honestly have no idea where they are going with Patrick Jane. From the description, this is a stand-alone so we probably won’t get any forward motion on Red John. But, we might get some Jane backstory.
Mar 16 2013

TV Review: The Mentalist 5.16 – There Will Be Blood

THE-MENTALIST-Season-5-Episode-16-There-Will-Be-Blood-2_595_slogoSecond verse, same as the first.

Though I should probably say twentieth, or thirtieth verse, same as the first. “There Will Be Blood” was just like every other Red John episode: Jane comes so very close to finding out who Red John is, only to be thwarted when the only person that knows RJ’s identity is killed. Lisbon threatens to kick Jane off the team before relenting and lying/bending the rules to protect Jane. A shady law enforcement officer inserts their team into the investigation. The viewer starts to suspect someone that’s been around for a while might be Red John or at least in league with him. It’s all very redundant and tedious and, just like every other RJ episode, it gets us nowhere.

The Mentalist is two shows in one. One is a standard CBS procedural with a unique premise and an engaging main character. That show could run for years and years on a network that has perfected the art of the weekly procedural. It’s fun to watch, everything is wrapped up in one episode, the central “will they/won’t they” is dragged out for years and years and there is just enough character development and dramatic personal story lines to fake the viewer into thinking the show is a lot deeper than it really is.

Then there is the dark mini-series about a man on a mission to avenge the death of his wife and child. This main character is a tortured, psychopathic anti-hero but is just sympathetic enough for the viewer to root for his success. Both anti-hero and serial killer are brilliant and engage in a test of intelligence and will until one or the other finally prevails. The story is compact, focused, intense and is wrapped up within six or eight episodes. Imagine The Killing, but the original Swedish version. Or the British series, Wire in the Blood, based on a series of novels, but which wraps up the mystery within each short series.

The problem with The Mentalist is it is trying to be both and failing. The lighter episodes seem out-of-place with the dark side of Jane – how can he turn off what drives and tortures him so easily? The Red John episodes go no where because Bruno Heller has long said when Jane catches RJ, the series will end. Though not as popular as it once was, The Mentalist is still solid in ratings. I doubt CBS wants it to end anytime soon. Since Heller and company have nowhere to go with the Red John story so they continually spin their wheels. Pretending to get Jane closer to his nemesis before yanking the rug out from under him and the viewer. Maybe some viewers don’t mind. Maybe they are happy to float along with nothing to show for five years of faithful viewing. I mind. I feel like I’m being played. And, yes, I will say it: as a faithful viewer, I think I deserve better.

A few episodes ago, Jane told Lisbon he had narrowed down the list of who Red John could be to a few people. At least I think he did. All the non-answers blend together at this point. So, when Jane has YET ANOTHER Red John minion in his grasp, and Red John’s lover as well, why didn’t he ask them specifically about those people? Because that would be too logical and it might actually move the story forward. I hope against hope Heller plans to reveal RJ’s identity at the end of this season. Why else have Jane spend so much of the season (off-screen, of course) remembering every man he’s ever shaken hands with and narrowing down the list to a few people?

But, you know what? I’ve said all of this before. My reviews of The Mentalist have become as redundant as the RJ story line. I say the same thing but nothing ever changes. I tell myself I won’t review the episodes unless something happens yet here I am, complaining about the same problems. I’ll end it the same way I end every review, skeptical about where The Mentalist is going but returning every Sunday night, hopeful this week will be different.

Other Thoughts:

  • With The Following’s explicit “serial killer training minions” storyline, I wonder if Heller, CBS and company are shooting themselves for not being a bit more direct about who Red John is and what his “powers” over people are, exactly. Unless Jane turns out to be Red John, any reveal in a similar vein of The Following is going to seem like a copy cat, even though The Mentalist has been coyly using the same idea for five seasons.
  • I’ve not always been impressed with Robin Tunney’s portrayal as Teresa Lisbon but this season she has really cranked up the emotion to a 10. It is pretty obvious she is struggling with how she feels about Jane, about how she continually compromises her integrity to protect him, about her jealousy of Jane’s relationship with Lorelei. I’ve always been skeptical of a Jane/Lisbon pairing because I didn’t feel the attraction/chemistry between the two actors. This year, I buy it, in large part because of Tunney’s performance.
  • Walking away from Lorelei’s mutilated body: “She had it coming.” Jane is a real SOB sometimes.
  • OMG, enough with Rigsby pining for Van Pelt.
  • So, why did the woman who Lorelei kill have a nanny cam? She was single and no one mentioned her baby. I must have missed something in the quick explanation of how they got the footage of Lorelei killing the woman. Sloppy story creation and writing.
  • Are we supposed to suspect Lisbon’s boss is in concert with Red John, as well as the Homeland Security guy? At this point, who isn’t a minion of Red John?
  • So, Lorelei’s sister wrote “Roy” on the ground, but from the explanation we got, it didn’t seem like her sister would have known him well enough to know her killer’s name.

 

 

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scrivener
Mar 13 2013

Scrivener Tip: “What’s in a name?”

A pretty flower in Rodin's Garden; Paris, France.

That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.

Coming up with names is almost as difficult as coming up with a book title. Actually, I take that back. It’s more difficult. Chances are, you aren’t going to offend anyone with a book title. If you happen to give a reprehensible character the same name as anyone you’ve known, ever, but especially family members, you’re in for a world of trouble. Or if you name a smoking hot hero after an ex-boyfriend or someone other than your husband, you’re in for a world of hurt. So, you have to use names that have little to no relation to your real life.

Then, you have to think of what’s appropriate for the time if you’re writing historical fiction, what will fit with the character’s personality, etc., etc., etc.

Easy, right?

Ha.

Honestly, character names is a nightmare. Or so I thought.

Then, I found the Scrivener Name Generator. The skies opened up, a shaft of heavenly sunlight pierced my window and angels sang hosannas.

Okay, not really. But it was pretty damn close.

I definitely did a fist pump.

I probably said, “Yes!”

Then, I proceeded to procrastinate for thirty minutes while I played with the Name Generator.

I can set the gender, attempt alliteration, double-barrelled surnames, forenames with initials only, set the number of initials (3 only, alas).  There is sliding scale for obscurity level. That’s my favorite feature. (Common, Scott Pearce; Obscure, Waylon McCooey; might have to use that one.) Just the other day, I found the perfect name for the town drunk through the name generator: Fred Muldoon. I mean, seriously. How perfect is that? I love that name so much, I might just give Fred his own book.

Though, now I’m distracted by the life and times of Waylon McCooey.

So, if you have Scrivener, here’s what you do:

  1. Edit
  2. Writing Tools
  3. Name Generator

That’s it. Easy peasy.

Now, if only Scrivener had a title generator…

Audio Book
Mar 12 2013

Audio Book Review – The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Miranda_-_The_Tempest_JWW

Yes, William Shakespeare was a genius.  Yes, we have him to thank for countless English language idioms. Still, I didn’t like The Tempest. It isn’t a comedy, a tragedy or a romance. No one dies, despite the fact it starts out with a shipwreck! It’s about revenge but, in the end, Prospero forgives everybody. There is a love story, but it’s love at first sight. No drama there. All in all, a disappointment.

The audio, however, was wonderful. I listened as I read along with a hard copy, a practice Audible calls “immersion reading.” I wish I had done it in high school. It helps to understand Shakespeare so much when you hear his verse instead of trying to read it. I’m tempted to keep my Audible subscription just to bank up Shakespeare’s plays for my children as they enter high school.

  • The Tempest (★★★)by William Shakespeare
  • Performed by Ian McKellen, Emilia Fox, Ben Owukwe and Scott Handy (★★★★)
  • Length: 2 hours, 7 minutes
nonfiction adventure
Mar 11 2013

Non-Fiction Adventure Book Review – The Devil’s Own Work by Barnet Sechecter

It may surprise you to know I am giving The Devil’s Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America five stars when I tell you it took me six months to read it. My reading pace has more to do with my frequent inability to focus on non-fiction for the extended period of time usually required to finish a book than it does with the quality of the book. It was the same with Drew Gilpan Faust’s This Republic of Suffering, except in that case I think it took me a year to complete the book, one I highly recommend as well. Maybe it is Civil War texts that give me trouble. Who knows?

Whether it be a result of growing up in the South or a common misconception all descendants, Northern or Southern, have of a complicated and varied conflict and time in our nation’s development, the idea that the Union was united in abolition and racism was the provenance of the South entirely is almost universally held. Most likely, we learned different in our history classes but as we age, we reduce everything to its simplest terms. The politics, emotions, opinions and actions of that time are labyrinthine and Schecter does an excellent job of laying them all out for the reader to easily understand.

In short, the working class of New York City, primarily Irish immigrants, rioted when Lincoln instituted a national draft.  For months, they had been riled up by the Peace Democrats who promoted the Emancipation Proclamation as the first step in Southern blacks migrating North and taking the laborers’ low paying jobs. They were also enraged by the $300 buy out, an amount which would keep the rich out of the war. For four days they rioted,  their targets primarily the free blacks living in New York City.

The book does suffer, a bit, from what I will call battlefield prose: telling in detail what everyone is doing during all points of the battle. This regiment moved up this street to this park to quell this outbreak. This building on this street was overrun, etc., etc. However, Schecter’s detailed research, culled from letters, diaries, official records and newspapers, makes up for that tiny quibble. There were times when I gasped to read what was done to the blacks during these riots. The most difficult part of the book to read, however, was after the riots were over, knowing that the great ideas of black suffrage, equal rights and the Reconstruction of the South were doomed to failure and it would take over a hundred years for true reform to come. I couldn’t help but imagine how different the last 150 years would have been if we had no appeased the baser nature of the large portion of our country, which unfortunately resided in the North and the South.

Other Notes:

  • I read this for research for my historical fiction. My copy is full of dog ears and underlines.
  • Even if I don’t use specifics from this book, it gives me an excellent idea of the differing mindsets of American’s during that time. I can’t wait to use that knowledge in my fiction.
  • It is interesting to not how much sway newspaper editors had on opinion during this time. The age of the Internet, when everyone is a critic and an expert, has drastically reduced the influence of print editors. I suppose the Horace Greely’s of the world have been replaced by the Jon Stewarts, Rush Limbaughs and Rachel Maddows of the world.
  • Schecter is amazingly even-handed. There is no agenda in his non-fiction, which is why I’m giving this five stars.
  • Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Civil War, the history of American immigrants or race relations.

 

nonfiction adventure
Mar 6 2013

Non-Fiction Challenge Book Review – A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, Narrated by Juliet Stevenson

virginia-woolf-a-room-of-one-s-own-teatowel-1355-p-600x600

Look at that beautiful purple! I want this edition!

I have read a lot of books in my life.  A Room of One’s Own (★★★★★) is the first book I’ve ever wished I’d read earlier in life. It is a feminist book without being militant, angry or bitter. In fact, Woolf delivers her feminism with a smile, wink and a great deal of wit. Her defense of women shouldn’t offend men, or anyone for that matter. In fact, I imagine most people would nod along with everything she says. Except fans of Charlotte Bronte. But, because of Woolf’s winking demeanor through the entire paper (it was originally a lecture to women at Girton, I believe?) I wonder if she was indeed skewering Bronte for losing her message due to Bronte’s “anger” or if Woolf was skewering the critics (men) who said the same about Bronte? I’m not familiar enough with Bronte, her critics, fans or otherwise to say. (I don’t remember anger or bitterness in Jane Eyre, but I haven’t read it in a few years.) But, I do think Woolf has an excellent point: write without anger or bitterness and your message will come across better.

Woolf’s central tenet of the paper is this:

money

True enough for the 1920s, when the book was published. When women, despite their advances, were still relegated to the home and when education was only primarily available to the upper class. It is different now. There are plenty of authors who write while working for a living. But, the idea that a woman needs to have time to herself, her own little place to write is absolutely true. So, we can slightly adjust Woolf’s idea of “a room of one’s own” to “the support of her family,” specifically if the woman is a wife and mother, the support, encouragement and understand of her husband and children. I am lucky enough to have both.

At 115 pages (depending on the edition), it is a quick read. Unlike Woolf’s prose, it is straightforward (no stream of conscious) and written in clear, beautiful language. The Juliet Stevenson narration of A Room of One’s Own is, of course, brilliant. Of course, anything Stevenson narrates is brilliant.  She is one of the best audiobook narrators out there, especially classics. However, I wish I had the physical book to read along. This book begs for underlining and multiple reads.

 

nonfiction adventure
Mar 5 2013

Book Review – Galveston: A History by David G. McComb

Galveston-9780292720534Synopsis:

On the Gulf edge of Texas between land and sea stands Galveston Island. Shaped continually by wind and water, it is one of earth’s ongoing creations–time is forever new. Here, on the shoreline, embraced by the waves, a person can still feel the heartbeat of nature. And yet, for all the idyllic possibilities, Galveston’s history has been anything but tranquil. Across Galveston’s sands have walked Indians, pirates, revolutionaries, the richest men of nineteenth-century Texas, soldiers, sailors, bootleggers, gamblers, prostitutes, physicians, entertainers, engineers, and preservationists. Major events in the island’s past include hurricanes, yellow fever, smuggling, vice, the Civil War, the building of a medical school and port, raids by the Texas Rangers, and, always, the struggle to live in a precarious location.

Galveston: A History is at the forefront of a trend in writing urban biographies emphasizing technology as the dynamic force in urban development. David McComb explores this often contradictory relationship between technology and the city, and provides a guide to both Galveston history and the dynamics of urban development.

Galveston: A History is concise yet detailed, objective and critical yet slightly hagiographic. McComb loves Galveston, the history, the geography, the flora and fauna, the natives’ resilience in the face of repeated hardships and its gift for reinvention. Yes, he mentions the less savory aspects of Galveston’s history – racism and segregation, vice and mobsters, political corruption and natural disasters. But, all of these are countered – sometimes effectively, sometimes thinly – by its better nature. As a result, Galveston: A History is a thoroughly enjoyable read. McCombs has no other motive than to present Galveston as it is, good and bad. It is refreshing to read a balanced account when these days, so much non-fiction is skewed one way or the other with the author’s agenda more important than giving a true, objective account of history. The only quibble I have is the history ends in the mid-80s, when published. It would be nice to have an additional chapter to bring the novel up to date. However, considering it was published 25  years ago, it is entirely possible McCombs is not around to update it.

  • Galveston: A History (★★★★) by David McCombs
  • Paperback: 293 pages
  • Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1 edition (1986)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 029272053X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0292720534
Audio Book
Mar 4 2013

Audiobook Review – The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Read by Mike Borris

art of war

Written in China more than 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu’s classic The Art of War is the first known study of the planning and conduct of military operations. These terse, aphoristic essays are unsurpassed in comprehensiveness and depth of understanding, examining not only battlefield maneuvers, but also relevant economic, political, and psychological factors. Indeed, the precepts outlined by Sun Tzu can be applied outside the realm of military theory. It is read avidly by Japanese businessmen and in fact was touted in the movie Wall Street as the corporate raider’s bible.  Remarkable for its clear organization, lucid prose, and the acuity of its intellectual and moral insights, The Art of War is the definitive study of combat.

The Art of War (★★★★) is a fascinating book about military tactics and warfare that is applicable to life, sports, business and even interpersonal relationships. Of course, if you follow The Art of War in these other areas, you will be ruthless and deceptive but you’ll win. Considering the importance 21st century society places winning, making the most money and being the best, The Art of War will continue to be a ‘bible’ for the ambitious and it’s popularity will only increase. I’m surprised I didn’t read this in a management course in college, though it is possible The Art of War was not being used at that time as a business book. And, I just dated myself.

Mike Borris’s deep voice and commanding narration was perfect for the content. At one hour, fifteen minutes, it is a quick listen and one of the most concise books I’ve ever ‘read.’ Or, listened to.  If your attention strays, you will miss something important, mainly because everything in the slim volume is important. Despite the tendency of my mind to wander when I listen to audiobooks, I am glad I listened to The Art of War instead of reading it. I suspect the content would have been dry and dense and easily set aside if I was reading it. However, I will buy a hard copy of the novel. It is a novel to underline and to return to time and again, which is not something easily done on an audiobook.

  • The Art of War (★★★★) by Sun Tzu
  • Narrated by Mike Borris
  • Length: 1 hour, 15 minutes
book_pages_400-300x225
Mar 2 2013

February Reading Roundup – “Read, Read, Read.”

IMG_2359“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
― William Faulkner

I read five books in February (The Lost Weekend, Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, The Passing Bells, The Return of Captain John Emmett), which means I’m two books behind my goal of reading 100 this year. (Full Disclosure: Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View is so slight of a book it barely (hardly) counts. But, it is bound and I bought it on Amazon so I’m counting it!)  Of the four novels I read, all ratings but five-star are represented. So, yeah. February was a frustrating month for reading. I enjoyed The Lost Weekend but it took me a while to read it. I read a bit more on Sophie’s Choice until the narrator got in the way of Sophie’s story, again. I abandoned a book I had high hopes for (Promise Not to Tell) and picked up and put down The Tempest.  Of the five novels in the picture to the right, I’ve read two, abandoned one and have started another. Blood Meridian is the odd man out. It will have to wait.

So, what are my goals for March? Finish The Tempest and focus on non-fiction. That means I will most likely be even further (farther?) behind on my reading goal. Books on my to-read list:

Ambitious list? Absolutely and yes, I’ll read the shortest books first. I’ll probably be lucky to finish half of them, especially with Spring Break in the mix for March as well as a writing challenge I’m giving myself. All this means is even less television, which I’m increasingly fine with.

 

 

 

Feb 28 2013

Book Review – The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson

This isn't the cover of the book I have but I wish it was.

What a perfect cover. I wish it was the cover of the book I have.

The classic tale of one man’s struggle with alcoholism, this revolutionary novel remains Charles Jackson’s best-known book—a daring autobiographical work that paved the way for contemporary addiction literature.

It is 1936, and on the East Side of Manhattan, a would-be writer named Don Birnam decides to have a drink. And then another, and then another, until he’s in the midst of what becomes a five-day binge. The Lost Weekend moves with unstoppable speed, propelled by a heartbreaking but unflinching truth. It catapulted Charles Jackson to fame, and endures as an acute study of the ravages of alcoholism, as well as an unforgettable parable of the condition of the modern man.

Reading The Lost Weekend (★★★★) is a bit like hanging out with a drunk. Sometimes it is incredibly fun. Other times, you just want to get away as quickly as possible.

Until I saw it on the shelves at Half-Priced Books, I had no idea The Lost Weekend was a novel. I thought it was an excellent Ray Milland movie. I shouldn’t have been surprised the source material was a book. Hollywood during the production code wouldn’t have created such an original, unflinching look at alcoholism. Hollywood then, and now, liked to play it safe. I don’t remember specifics of the ending to the 1944 movie that won Ray Milland the Best Actor Oscar but I have no doubt it was uplifting, that Don Birnam was saved by the love of a good woman, the unwavering confidence of his brother and the main character’s deep well of goodness. I suppose this is a spoiler, but the book is nothing like that.

Ray Milland as Don Birnam.

Ray Milland as Don Birnam.

Don Birnam is a narcissistic drunk on a weekend bender while his brother is out of town. He borrows money, steals a purse, hits on a woman who he then stands up, falls down stairs twice, ends up in the hospital alcoholic ward, walks over 100 blocks searching for an open pawn shop to pawn his typewriter, pisses himself and spends an entire day hallucinating about his past and ribbons of fire flowing across the floor. It is an absolute excruciating read. It is also brilliant.

It will come as no surprise to the reader that Charles Jackson was a closeted gay man (Don Birnam is as well) and an alcoholic.  The detail and knowledge of the mind of an alcoholic is too deep to be from research and interviews alone. A biography of Charles Jackson, Farther and Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson, will be published on March 19.