BOOK REVIEW: Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving

 

This is written as kind of a travel guide and history of the Alhambra, the Moorish palace fortress in Spain. Washington Irving was what was known as an itinerant traveler in his youth, wandering through Europe in the cheapest way possible and staying anywhere he could for free. The Alhambra was one of his stops, and this book chronicles his stay there, the people he met, and the legends that he heard during his visit. Irving’s gift with the pen gives life to the keepers of the old fortress and its stories in a way that is both enchanting and entrancing. This is another effort of Irving’s that the reader really doesn’t want to end, and it is a place that one can tell lived in the author’s memory as one of the highlights of his romps around Europe. The beauty of the place and its surroundings, the magical tales that were created around it, and the honest dignity of the poor people living there all combine to win the heart of both Irving and his reader. This is definitely a book for those interested in both history and romance, and who enjoy travelogues as well as ghost stories.

Just a note: The actual Alhambra has been restored to its former glory by the government of Spain, and has been designated a UNESCO Heritage site.

MOVIE REVIEW: Nope

 

A brother and sister team are left with a failing ranch that raises trained horses for film productions when their father dies suddenly, apparently the victim of a freak accident. Together with a friend from a local video store, they set out to discover what has been causing power outages on their property, only to find out that the reason for these disturbances may be stranger than either of them could have guessed.

Starring Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) as the brother O.J. and Keke Palmer (Scream the series) as the sister Emerald, this is a story of a family desperately trying to keep its dignity and reputation during a time of financial and emotional stress. The script is excellent and fun, as well as thrilling and adventurous. It has a timid start, which gives it a chance to build into a tremendous climax, and the interaction between characters is wonderful to behold. There are no erotic scenes, some strong language, and very little gore. Older children may appreciate the action at the end, though they may have trouble sitting through the slower scenes at the beginning.

BOOK REVIEW: Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs

 

This is the fifth book in the Tarzan series, and it comes back to the original Tarzan of the Apes and his wife Jane. Now living in Africa, they receive word that the company that has sustained them in England has gone bankrupt. Since their wealth was originally established on the gold that Tarzan had pilfered from the unknowing (and uncaring) city of Opar, he decides to go back to get more gold to reestablish his monetary stability. However, they also have at this time a duplicitous visitor at their estate who wishes to steal their riches for himself and his Arabian master, a marauder and thief. All this sets the stage for a series of events, complicated by Tarzen himself suffering from amnesia due to a blow on the head, that leads to many and exciting adventures for all concerned.

This is the most involved novel by far in this series. Not only does it show the growth of Burroughs as a writer, but also the scope of imagination that he allowed himself to exercise when it came to his Lord of the Apes. Written in the 19th century, it is extremely misogynistic toward white, and in particular, English culture. But, to its credit, it also has a European villain and a native hero, (besides its main characters), which gives it somewhat more of an inclusive air. The action is such that it can still hold the interest with the best of thrillers today. This is the best of the series to date.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Visitor

 

This 2022 film follows a man and his wife who move into her childhood home upon the death of her father and the miscarriage of their first baby. The husband, Robert, who is from England, is having trouble adapting to the American lifestyle, and his culture shock is made worse by the fact that the town into which they have moved seems to have no end of citizens who act and speak to him strangely. Compounding this is the fact that, in the attic of their new home, he finds a painting of a man who looks exactly like him, and this is only the first of many portraits of the same man that he finds located throughout the town. As time passes, he comes to suspect that there are secrets that the town is hiding that are not only terrifying, but will effect the future of himself, his wife, and the child that they are now expecting.

This stars Finn Jones, a relative newcomer whose past roles include 2021’s Awake and 2017’s miniseries The Defenders. Jessica McNamee (Mortal Combat) plays his wife, and Donna Biscoe (best known for her role in the soap opera Saints & Sinners) appears as an antique shop owner who tries to warn Robert that something bad is happening. Originally produced for digital release on the Epix platform, this is a neat little story about a man becoming increasingly convinced that he has landed in the middle of a nightmare, and is continually frustrated by his seeming inability to do anything about it. There is very little strong language, no erotica, and basically no violence. It is purely a psychological buildup to a tantalizing ending. Older teens may appreciate this, but young children may not have the patience to allow the suspense to carry them to the end. However, this is a really good little movie and well worth the time.

BOOK REVIEW: The Lost World by Michael Crichton

 

This is a follow-up story to Crichton’s Jurassic Park, which was the basis of the movie franchise that has been so popular over the past few years. This one is about Site B, a laboratory island where the dinosaurs were bred for transfer to the infamous park, and the small team that goes in to rescue an erstwhile scientist who has gotten himself trapped while trying to study the animals there. The team includes Ian Malcolm (which is a little confusing considering that this character was supposed to have died in the first book, though he didn’t in the subsequent movie), the mathematician who was involved in the adventure on the first island, Sarah Harding, a naturalist who studies predators, an equipment specialist named Thorne, Thorne’s assistant Eddie, and the lost scientist, an arrogant, selfish prig named Levine. There are also two kids that stowaway on the expedition (Crichton always seems to have kids in dangerous places in his books). Add to the mix an unscrupulous exploitative businessman named Dodson trying to steal dinosaur eggs, and you have the makings for an unending series of thrilling episodes of people trying to survive in a world that they were never meant to. In spite of the confusion about whether this is supposed to be a sequel to the book or the movie, the author’s writing and characterization makes the story move along at a pace that precludes any consternation of storyline flaws. Entertaining to read, and even more to listen to in its audio form, this is a good one for that long flight or bus ride when one needs to be whisked away to another world, this time it being a prehistoric one.