The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, originally uploaded by KarenSaraGaches.


I read this book over a year ago.  I was quite intrigued, as I had spent time with one of my daughter Susannah's friends and her mother and both had been completely engrossed by this book.  They both told me separately, that they had not been able to put it down.  As I am a bookworm and devour books, I purchased a copy and was hooked and became inseparable from it until I had finished the final page.  This is extremely dangerous when life beckons and there are many things that demand my attention.  I then got hold of the second book, and put my name down to get the third on its release last September.  They have been well read books, as I have passed them to different friends and work colleagues.
The film has just been released, and I went and saw it yesterday with a good friend.  I usually hate seeing the film of a book when I have enjoyed, but this time I was pleasantly surprised.  The film captures the main characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikhail Blomkvist perfectly.  The story is well told - nothing is left to the imagination - it is fairly brutal, so there were times when I was grabbing Amal's arm and closing my eyes, but I enjoyed it immensely.  I am not going into details, as I don't want to spoil either the book or film for anyone.  But if you enjoy a thriller, you will enjoy this.
I have to confess that I love thriller books and thriller movies.  This often comes as a surprise to people who know me, but I am smitten.  I have a secret life of interest in the underworld of crime at work also, as I write regularly about criminal cases that have gone to court and about the law generally on a blog for legal studies students.  I am hoping that Keith will want to see it, despite not having read the book, so I can get to see it again.  Am I mad or ?

Love is in the air

I live with three young adults, so it is not surprising that our conversations regularly return to matters of the heart.  A few weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with my son Johnny who is sixteen.  We had just been to a wedding for a dear family friend.  The couple were clearly in love and happiness poured out of every bit of them.  Johnny asked me about this "flame" and what happened to it.  From his observations it seems to disappear from marriages.

At the time, we were looking after his young cousins who are 18 months and almost four while their mother had been rushed to hospital in an ambulance after a severe epileptic fit.  We were bathing both children, feeding them and putting them to bed.  In my head, my immediate response was "life" - life happens and often it sucks the flame out of couples as they struggle to survive the pressures of surviving the experiences of life that come their way.  I didn't say this, but we talked about love, marriage and romance, but the question remained with me.

In the lead up to Valentine's Day, our family had many discussions about love over dinner.  Johnny told us that he thought that one of Shakespeare's sonnets would be perfect for sharing with someone you loved.  Much to our surprise, he mentioned one in particular.  I was not familiar with this particular sonnet, but it aroused my curiosity.  It must have aroused our house guest James' curiosity also, as he went out and purchased the Penguin complete edition of Shakespeare's sonnets.  We all read the sonnet that Johnny had mentioned - it was indeed beautiful and filled with passion and desire. James returned home for the weekend and spent his seven hour train trip reading this collection of sonnets.  I went out in search for our own copy of this collection.

I have to confess, but I adore romantic comedies - much to the amusement of my family.  "You've Got Mail", "In her Shoes","Sleepless in Seattle" "When Harry met Sally" and "Love Actually" are all favourites - I have them all on DVD and regularly watch them again and again.  I was hoping I would get to see the latest romantic comedy that is out "Valentine's Day" and even suggested it to Keith on Friday morning.  He was most disinterested in the idea, so I thought that I might have to go alone.  However, I had a surprise gift arrive at the door later that day, and it included a double pass to see "Valentine's Day".

I loved it.  Despite its total predictability, it was fun, I laughed and enjoyed seeing it immensely.  It is centred around a florist in Los Angeles.  The shop is amazing - simply beautiful and there were some lovely relationships explored, as well as some not so lovely relationships.  The theme of love being based on a deep friendship came through.  After the movie, Keith and I had dinner and then it was time to go home.  The heavens had opened and we had no umbrella and quite a walk to our car.

I removed my shoes, and together we ran, laughing, down Norton Street towards our car.  We bought a $10 umbrella, but even this failed to keep us dry.  We were completely drenched by the time we reached the car, but neither of us minded one bit - it had been a fun little interlude.  I had been tempted to join a group of teenage girls dancing in the rain in the Forum, but decided that I was perhaps a little old.

I have purchased two books which might keep love in the air  Shakespeare on Love edited by CN Edwards and   Penguin's Poems for Love selected by Laura Barber - this includes one of my very favourite poems by EE Cummings "I carry your heart with me".

Valentine's Day is over for another year, but I suspect that conversations about love will continue in our household.  There is a challenge to have a marriage that doesn't lose the flame.  Song of Songs was not written just for the newly married.  It is a book for all married couples - it is filled with desire, passion, love and there is that flame that Johnny saw.

An Education

An Education, originally uploaded by AsceticMonk.

I saw this film last week and it provides an insightful look into the life of England in 1961. Jenny is working towards her A levels at school. She is sixteen, beautiful and highly intelligent. Her parents have lofty expectations for her, including being offered a place to study at Oxford University. She studies hard, learns the cello and plays in a youth orchestra - all because they will lead "somewhere", not because in and of themselves they are worthwhile activities. However she is bored. All this changes when a chance encounter introduces her to David - an older man who is handsome and very wealthy.

She falls in love and is prepared to abandon "an education" for love and the wild life that includes parties, visits to Paris, sex, lying and deceit but she enjoys it - she is having fun and that she is alive.

Then something happens, which in and of itself is "an education" and Jenny learns about life the hard way.

The film raises a number of questions. One of them includes the pushiness of parents who singlemindedly push their children towards something. One of the more moving moments in the film is when Jenny's father apologises to her and explains that he has been driven by fear and he doesn't want his daughter to be afraid - of what is not clear, but I wonder if it is success, wealth, status and being accepted. Jenny's parents are forced to think about what they really want for their daughter.

The english are so good at indirect communication that is understated and round about. This film is filled with such conversations. I loved it!

There are some delightful moments. Jenny is learning latin, which she loathes and is not particularly good at. One of her new friends, who is a little "dippy" says "in 50 years no one will be speaking latin, not even the latin people". I found this particularly amusing as Keith has been teaching himself latin for the last ten years. I don't know anyone else who takes palm cards to the gym to memorise latin words and phrases.

This is a wonderful movie - enjoyable and thought provoking.

Julie and Julia

poached eggs - 5, originally uploaded by not a hipster.

I confess, I have never poached an egg, until last week when I attempted to poach an egg and it was a complete disaster. I wasted four eggs in the process and was left feeling rather frustrated. After all, I thought I could cook anything. They are my favourite way of eating eggs and this is what I order when eating breakfast out at a cafe. So, it was with much enjoyment that I watched Julie in Julia and Julieattempt to poach an egg with similar results to mine.

It is a delightful film that combines my interests of letter writing, blog writing and cooking together. However, it is more than this, it is also about two relationships between couples who love each other deeply. It is refreshing to see a film that portrays relationships positively. There are two stories that merge. The first is about Julia Child, set in Paris in the early 1950s. Julia is encouraged by her husband to pursue an interest that will occupy her days. She tries hat making, before she settles on learning the art of french cooking - because, as she and her husband both know, she loves food and eating! Julia then begins an eight year journey of writing a cook book in English explaining how to cook french cuisine.

The second story is set in 2002, in Queens New York during the aftermath of 9/11. Julie had been traumatised by this event and is taking time out from writing to answer phone calls for an insurance company. However, her real passions are cooking and writing. She is fascinated by Julia Childs, who wrote the first book for American housewives in english explaining the intricacies of french cookery. With the encouragement of her husband, she creates a blog in which she endeavours to cook every single recipe in Julia's cook book in the next year and document her efforts.

If you love the idea of living in Paris or living in New York, this film will appeal, as there are wonderful glimpses of both cities and their food. I am inspired to get a copy of Julia Child's cookbook - I am not sure that I have ever wanted to bone a duck, but this book will explain how it is done. However, there are all sorts of other tips such as drying pieces of meat with a dry cloth or paper towel to help the meat brown. I might even learn how to make that poached egg, so that I don't have to go out for breakfast to eat one!

Revolutionary Road

rr trailer still 09 revolutionary road kate winslet trailer still, originally uploaded by clemato.

Revolutionary Road

It could be about a war with a title like this and indeed it is about a war that exists behind closed doors – the combatants are a young husband and his wife, who supposedly have it all.
April and Frank live on Revolutionary Road, a quiet beautiful street in an affluent suburb filled with other young couples and they seemingly have it all – a comfortable home, gorgeous small children, money, and work. April is a stay at home Mum who plays house and Frank has a job with prospects of advancement up the ranks. But appearances can be deceptive and all is not what it seems.
The book of Ecclesiastes paints a similar picture of life: “meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecc 1:2) The writer looks at different ways of trying to find meaning in life – seeking after wisdom, or the pleasures of life, or through work, or by gathering wealth, and concludes that none of these things will provide meaningful fulfilment.
It is Frank’s birthday and he tries to drown his unhappiness and emptiness by spending the day with a beautiful girl he has met through work and drinking himself insensible and then seducing her. He returns home to a wife who is making one final effort at restoring the magic that was in their relationship at the beginning.
During the day, April came across a photo of Frank from his youth in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. She remembers a conversation in which his face lit up with excitement as he described the wonder of Paris. She thinks if they return to Paris, he might rediscover this joy and exuberance. April convinces Frank that they can sell their home, he can leave his job and go and live in Paris – she can work, while he “finds himself” whatever that is. There is an element of a “chasing after the wind” in this move but they are determined to give it a go and the question is, will this tactic work? Will they be able to replace the fighting words and vicious attacks and salvage what is lost from their relationship?
April and Frank are a personification of what happens to many couples in our world today. They meet, fall in love and start their married life with a dream of what their life will become.
Before long, the monotony and reality of the patterns of life begin to wear them down. They become disappointed with what their life becomes, and that they have been replaced by shattered dreams. Most of the time, they are tired and worn down and are wondering what happened to their shared dreams. It has become empty and hopeless and they begin to take their unhappiness out on each other and their home is filled with fighting and verbal attacks. The love they had for each other is replaced by contempt and loathing.
Revolutionary Road is set in America in the 1950s and the book of Ecclesiastes was written centuries ago, but both are equally relevant to Sydney in 2009. An acquaintance went to see Revolutionary Road and left in floods of tears and said it described her home. How sad is that?
The film ends without hope and the people’s lives are still empty. Not one of the characters has figured out how to make the monotony and rhythms of life any different. God makes no appearance in this film and it is almost in His absence that He is patently there. It is only with God that hopelessness can be replaced with hope and emptiness replaced by a deep contentment.
If Revolutionary Road is a confronting film for Christian couples, there is a possibility of change and reconciliation. You don’t have to remain in the war zone; you can call a truce and seek peace. You can be the one to begin to treat the other differently. It won’t happen overnight but is possible to retreat, think and pray and ask that God will transform the relationship into one that is spirit-filled and brings delight to His name.