![]() ![]() What I think I loved most, other than the pervasive insistence on the power of stories to people and their lives, was the thoroughly domestic attitude of the novel. I shan’t tell you any more of the plot that that, because you should discover it for yourself. Meanwhile, all of the important people she meets in her life come with extensive back stories, all shared with the reader by Eva herself, whose God-given talent is story telling. So! Eva Luna is born to a maid in an unnamed South American country (I suspect it’s not Allende’s native Chile, though, since it has rain forests) and follows an almost picaresque route to adulthood that happens to reflect her country’s history. ![]() I loved this wholeheartedly, and the fact that the narrator and I happen to share a name is just icing on the cake. This is straight-up magical realism at its best, with crazy characters getting into unlikely scenarios all tied together with a narrative voice whose storytelling ability is simply marvelous. ![]() Eva Luna is one of Isabel Allende’s earlier novels, and its youthful exuberance simply shines through. ![]()
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![]() ![]() That meant on Friday night I watched Bill Maher’s weekly Dante-Virgil tour of the 12 circles of Trump-hell. This weekend, however, I stayed in New York City. On most weekends I usually wake up to chirping finches and screeching crows in the bucolic surround of my northwest Connecticut mountain home where, from the bedroom window in the bottom of a 35-foot high corrugated metal tower, I see cute little chipmunks eating from the bird feeder, green feathered humming birds hovering over the fragrant flowers, and the local black bear, who I call Winnie the Poop, traipsing through the apple orchard on his feeding rounds. First up is designer, author, and critic Steve Heller. “Weekend With” is a new series that explores the world of design through the eyes of a designer on their days off. ![]() ![]() ![]() But Franco meets the standard-usage definition more than adequately. Bush, Goldberg cites as evidence of fascist influence not the de facto suspension of habeas corpus and refusal to follow the Geneva Conventions, which go unmentioned, but rather Bush’s extension of Medicare to cover prescription drugs.Ĥ.) “There’s ample evidence wasn’t even a fascist, but simply a strongman.” Technically, no one discussed in Goldberg’s book except Mussolini is an authentic Fascist. In a token criticism of President George W. Granted, he gives a wide berth to the common defense. Eventually, Goldberg backs himself into asserting, in effect, that any government that does more than prevent abortions and provide for the common defense is inherently fascist. Modern liberalism, he argues, is linked to Nazism because both contain a cult of the organic (Hitler was a vegetarian) and both embrace sexual freedom (Himmler ordered his men “to father as many children as possible without marrying” in order to achieve the Aryan ideal). He was the sort of president liberal fascism could only produce during unexciting times.īy this point, Goldberg’s reasoning has progressed from unconvincing to incoherent. To say that he was a fascist is to credit him with more ideology and principle than justified. ![]() ![]() … But I think if we are going to call him a fascist, it must be in the sense that he was a sponge for the ideas and emotions of liberalism. Was Bill Clinton a fascist president? Well, he certainly believed in the primacy of emotion and the supremacy of his own intellect. ![]() ![]() ![]() Loulie al-Nazari, the Midnight Merchant, began illegally hunting and selling ancient relics after losing her family. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah is an epic start to a trilogy inspired by One Thousand and One Nights. ![]() Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything-her enemy, her magic, even her own past-is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. ![]() With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land-at the cost of sacrificing all jinn. Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() What sets this series opener apart is the author’s exquisite use of real Latin American folktales to broaden her fiction, bolstering the particulars of the world she creates here. Aster’s debut includes the fruitful elements of a riveting tale: lovable characters, thrilling heroics, and villainous fiends. With two companions-Engle, his comically brave best friend, and Melda, an intelligent, cunning girl-Tor embarks on an adventure charted in The Book of Cuentos, a collection of folklore based on the various enchanting, cruel inhabitants-Emblemite and beast alike-of Emblem Island. Now the young boy must travel across Emblem Island to confront the wicked Night Witch and reverse the curse. It’s the Night Witch’s mark, a black eye marked upon his skin. Alas, his wish backfires when he awakens the next day cursed with a shorter lifeline instead. New Year’s Eve has finally arrived on Emblem Island, and for 12-year-old Tor Luna, it means an opportunity to wish away the leadership emblem he so deeply loathes.Īmid the annual festivities, Tor casts his wish to the wish-gods in hopes of a new emblem-a marker on one’s skin-that will grant him the power to become a water-breather, forsaking the leadership path forged by his Chieftess mother. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() They are treated as cruddy and smutty by the centuries-old caste system. ![]() Dalit women are still waiting for their upliftment in all social, economic, political and educational spheres of life. The fact is that even in the so called modern India Dalit women still faces dreadful violence, exploitation and oppression not onlyat thehands of upper caste Hindus but also by their own community male dominants. But in thecase of Dalit women, plightis at zenitheven today their condition is doleful and elusive.The country India which exalts for its modernity, secularism and development is nothing but a feigned explicitly. The condition of Women of India in general is highly pathetic and heart-throbbing as they are subjected to enormous quandaries. The country India where we live has not yet understood the concepts of equality, fraternity and brotherhood. ![]() ![]() ![]() A chance for Einstein to change history may have been lost. ![]() But in late December 1944, Bohr had rushed to Princeton, New Jersey, and assured Einstein that responsible statesmen were aware of the bomb, as well as “the unique opportunity for furthering a harmonious relationship between nations” (page 483), and he had persuaded Einstein to do nothing. Rud Nielson, in Physics Today, October 1963, page 22). Later, in 1957, Bohr stated, “It was terrible that no one over there,” in the UK and the US, “had worked on the solution of the problems that would arise when it became possible to release nuclear energy they were completely unprepared.” (See “Memories of Niels Bohr,” by J. ![]() ![]() Hoping that Niels Bohr would support his appeal, Einstein wrote to him: “The politicians do not appreciate the possibilities and consequently do not know the extent of the menace” (page 483). They felt that the policymakers had to be made aware of the immense consequences of that development. In December 1944 Einstein learned from his friend Otto Stern that a US atomic bomb would probably become a reality in the war. ![]() ![]() Was that what was wrong? Was I crazy? I remembered a psych prof in first year telling the class that if you could ask the question, then you weren’t. No, that wouldn’t make me look like a nutcase. How else was I going to get Hercules out? Then I thought, Oh, sure, call Detective Gordon and tell him my cat just walked through the door into the room. I shouldn’t have touched the door at all. “You’re nuts,” I said aloud, sitting back on my heels. ![]() I caught a bit of my reflection in the brass kick panel and realized what I was doing. Then I dropped to my knees and polished the bottom section of the door where I’d looked for some kind of hidden access panel. I used the hem of my T-shirt to rub the doorknob. Now my fingerprints were all over the door. I yanked my hand away from the door like it was suddenly on fire. ![]() The room was part of a murder investigation. There was silence and then a faint “meow” from the other side of the closed door. ![]() ![]() ![]() This film was loved by many, and it still is. Out of all these adaptations, why don't we focus on A Walk to Remember?Ī Walk to Remember is a 2002 film based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. This bestselling author penned classics such as The Notebook, The Last Song, and Dear John that are translated for the big screen - successfully, at that. ![]() ![]() ![]() If you were already around back then, then you might be familiar with Nicholas Sparks' books. There are films in this era that are adapted from novels, may it be a loose or strict adaptation. The 2000s is perhaps the point in our lives where this particular genre greatly rose in terms of popularity and general interest. It's a whole other world out there, so you will never run out of options. Whatever it may be, this genre has almost everything you can expect. Some might prefer films that are wholesome, and some might prefer those that are a bit mature in nature. There is an abundance of romance films out there that cater to different ages, genders, and even preferences. Essentially, romance films are there to tell stories about, well, love and how it makes the world go round. These beloved films exist to entertain people, to ultimately make them feel giddy or touched - something that might make them want to live vicariously through the main characters. Who doesn't love a good old sappy romance? For the past few decades, there have been many romance movies that captivated the hearts of people, filled with different tropes and subgenres. ![]() ![]() Moving and finely written, Fall On Your Knees is by turns dark and hilariously funny, a story – and a world – that resonate long after the last page is turned. Many times during the reading of Fall on Your Knees, I would say, How can that be happening now And then Id say, Its a book. Together they weave a tale of inescapable family bonds, of terrible secrets, of miracles, racial strife, attempted murder, birth and death, and forbidden love. Fall on Your Knees By Ann-Marie MacDonald 512 pages Scribner/Simon & Schuster. ![]() The mythically charged Piper family – James, a father of intelligence and immense ambition, Materia, his Lebanese child-bride, and their daughters: Kathleen, a budding opera Diva Frances, the incorrigible liar and hell-bent bad girl Mercedes, obsessive Catholic and protector of the flock and Lily, the adored invalid who takes us on a quest for truth and redemption – is supported by a richly textured cast of characters. Following the curves of history in the first half of the twentieth century, Fall On Your Knees takes us from haunted Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, through the battle fields of World War One, to the emerging jazz scene of New York City and into the lives of four unforgettable sisters. ![]() |