Richard Hannay Spy Stories by John Buchan

Recently I went on a binge rereading the first three spy novels about "everyman" spy Richard Hannay. Then I plunged ahead into the remaining two, which were just as good as the first three.

These are real page turners. It never takes long after beginning one of them before I am finding every spare moment to read the next part of the story. Author John Buchan also has a wonderful way of describing surroundings so that you might feel yourself there. It all adds to the atmosphere and sense of journeying along with our hero.

If you've never read them, or never pursued Hannay's adventures past the first novel, you are missing some great reading.

THE 39 STEPS

He has been feeling bored with London life - until he discovers a dead man in his flat, skewered to the floor with a knife through his heart. Only a few days before, the victim had warned him of an assassination plot that could bring the country to the brink of war.

An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the murderer, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland. There, on the wild moors, he must use all his wits to stay one step ahead of the game - and warn the government of the impending danger before it is too late...

You may know this from the early Alfred Hitchcock film but the film was a loose adaptation. This was a quick read (made more so by the fact that I was pulled through at breakneck speed by the plot), especially in terms of today's gigantic best sellers, but extremely satisfying and riveting.

GREENMANTLE

Having been fighting in WWI, Richard Hannay is called back to London to hear the proposition of the official who helped him in the affair of The 39 Steps. It is a spy mission during which, he is told, he will almost certainly die, will probably have to journey to Turkey, and to which there are only three words as a clue. Of course, he steps up and accepts the mission.

I wound up liking this book much more than I thought I would. It was interesting watching Hannay gather a team together and then seeing their undercover investigations move them far apart and bring them together with surprising results.

MR. STANDFAST

Richard Hannay is again recalled from active service in WWI to undertake a secret mission. Disguised as a pacifist, roaming England incognito to investigate a German spy and his agents, Hannay must uncover a fiendish plot which would decisively turn the tide of the war in favor of the Germans.

The title refers to a character in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, to which there are many other references in the novel; Hannay uses a copy of Pilgrim's Progress to decipher coded messages and letters from his contacts.

This book managed to have all the elements I enjoyed in the first two — the solo agent on the run, the puzzling out of spy plans and mysteries, and the relationships between team members in service of the country and cause they love so much.

I loved this, except for the final two chapters which had much more detail about WWI battles than I cared for. Even those were worth reading, though, to discover the fate of the ultimate villain (and he is one bad guy) and for the fate of Mr. Standfast.

THE THREE HOSTAGES

After WWI Richard Hannay has retired to the countryside with his wife and young son. News comes to him of three kidnappings and a plot of political and financial magnitude that would shake the world. Hannay abandons his idyll to counter the threat, and the adventure takes him from the high society of 1920's London to a gripping climax in the wild Scottish Highlands where he meets his most formidable enemy yet.

Unlike previous books, Hannay finds out the villain early on (and we realize it even earlier, leading to a good amount of tension as we worry about his growing friendship with the man). Hannay must play a cat and mouse game as he looks for three kidnapped people, staying close to someone he despises, pretending to be a doglike admirer. That goes very much against Hannay's character.

I was delighted to see his wife playing an intelligent, active role as she did in the previous book, and other good friends from the past are in the story too.

THE ISLAND OF SHEEP

Twelve years after The Three Hostages Richard Hannay is in his fifties and feeling like a has-been. He is recalled to action by an old oath to protect the son of a man he once knew. A gang of vicious blackmailers have targeted the son and Hannay and his old comrades take on the challenge of shaking off the rust to come to his aid.

I especially like the fact that Hannay's son, 14-year-old Peter John, seems to be a chip off the old block, taking on danger to protect others, teaming up with the 13-year-old daughter of the blackmailer's target to provide unexpected resources.

Old French and New

There is an old French and a new. In Paris the new is spoken — the very newest. Were it anything but French it would be intolerably vulgar; as it is it is merely neat and intensely expressive.

Henry Seton Merriman, The Slave of the Lamp

Emma Zorn

Emma Zorn by Anders Zorn
via My Daily Art

Good at This

Good at This, Belinda Del Pesco

Shepherd's Pie

Rose is a Gordon Ramsay fan and this Shepherd's Pie is a great example of why. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Roe Deer in the Bushes

Roe Deer in the Bushes, Remo Savisaar

I had a vision of what we all were fighting for ...

Set during WWI.

I climbed through great beechwoods, which seemed in the twilight like some green place far below the sea, and then over a short stretch of hill pasture to the rim of the vole. All about me were the little fields enclosed with walls of grey stone and full of dim sheep. Below were dusky woods around what I took to be Fosse Manor, for the great Roman Fosse Way, straight as an arrow, passed over the hills to the south and skirted its grounds. I could see the stream slipping among its water-meadows and could hear the plash of the weir. A tiny village nestled in the crook of the hill, and its church tower sounded seven with a curiously sweet chime. Otherwise there was no noise but the twitter of small birds and the night wind in the tops of the beeches.

In that moment I had a kind of revelation. I had a vision of what I had been fighting for, what we all were fighting for. It was peace, deep and holy and ancient, peace older than the oldest wars, peace which would endure when all our swords were hammered into ploughshares.

John Buchan, Mr. Standfast

Hawaiian Moon

Hawaiian Moon, taken by my brother

Events may be horrible ...

Events may be horrible or inescapable. Men have always a choice—if not whether, then how, they may endure.

Lois McMaster Bujold, Curse of Chalion

Sholay — A Curry Western

A retired policeman in a small village summons a pair of small-time thieves that he had once arrested. He feels that the duo — Veeru and Jai — would be ideal to help him capture Gabbar Singh, a bandit wanted by the authorities dead or alive for a big reward. The policeman will pay an additional award if they surrender Gabbar to him alive.

Veeru and Jai grow fond of the villagers. Veeru is attracted to Basanti, a feisty, talkative young woman. Jai is drawn to Radha, the policeman's reclusive, widowed daughter-in-law.

Eventually, several skirmishes leads to big show-down comes with the bandits and the chance for Veeru and Jai to show what they're really made of.

Based on Wikipedia description

I've known about spaghetti Westerns for a long time, of course, but had never heard of a curry Western until I watched the most famous one ever made — Sholay (Embers).

This was set in the time in which it was made, 1975, but it still feels authentically Western. Rural India was fairly undeveloped technologically so there's the juxtaposition of a modern policeman, motorcycles, and denim caps with horse-mounted bandits, steam locomotives, and the simple village life. That setting totally works. You can identify elements of the source materials but the plot is still distinctively Indian and goes its own way, as is so often the case in these adaptations.

As an interpretation of The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven, and Once Upon a Time in the West, this was perfect in so many ways. Yet being a meandering 3-1/2 hour film simultaneously makes it imperfect, at least by Western standards. It surely would have benefited from a tighter screenplay, but then it wouldn't have been a 1975 Indian film. So it is what it is.

I am now on the Amitabh Bachchan train and understand why so many people liked his acting. I'd only seen him in Amar Akbar Anthony which is a screwball comedy with a crazy plot that I wasn't a fan of, although I could see why it was an iconic film. In this, however, there was none of the over-the-top acting which is the Bollywood standard. He was very natural and totally cool. I could watch Jai all day.

I am sure that some of the other elements I loved are equally iconic:

• the coin flips
• the opening with a bandit gang mounted on horses trying to rob a Western-style steam train
• Basanti's dance to save Veeru
• the Holi celebration of colors
• the vicious villain Gabbar
• the first song with Jai and Veeru celebrating their bromance on a motorcycle with sidecar while one plays a harmonica. Good times.

I can see why this film has had such staying power.

Rating — for advanced viewers. (You've got to be willing to let this one wash over you, enjoying the ride for what it is ... and that means you've got to have seen enough other Indian movies to not worry about some dead space or romantic side trips. After all, how else are you going to see a musical Western with a Hindi celebration of colors?)

Pecos Rodeo, 1936

Pecos Rodeo in Pecos, Texas, 1936
Fort Worth Star Telegram photo from UT-Arlington Special Collections
via Traces of Texas

From my quote journal: The Hardest Fight

Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself?

Thomas a Kempis

Snow Fields

Rockwell Kent, Snow Fields (In the Berkshires), 1909
via Arts Everyday Living

Dead women can act very much alive.

"Dead women can act very much alive sometimes," Mom said. "My nephew Jonathan is still a bachelor, because his mother doesn't approve of modern girls — and his mother's been dead for eighteen years."

James Yaffe; My Mother, the Detective

That is really typical of the down-to-earth wisdom this Jewish mother shows in these stories when she's listening to her police detective son when he comes over on Friday nights for dinner. I loved this set of stories. This tidbit really grabbed me because it is so very true. My grandparents are still very much alive in that way. I weigh a lot of my behavior and manners against the way they lived their lives.

Mistinguett

Mistinguett (c.1913). G. K. (Georges Kugelmann) Benda
via Books and Art

Raid — Sometimes the Hero is a Taxman

The taxman cometh. And he is a righteous man. Which we already knew because he's Ajay Devgn. Hide all your undeclared gold. Because his supreme honesty will not stop until he uncovers all the taxes due to Mother India.

An honest IRS officer and his team raid a powerful politician suspected of evading taxation on an epic scale. This gripping story is based on actual events during 1981.

It's hard to image a tax raid being riveting but this had plenty of tension and one mystery which had us wondering right up to the end. Devgn is intense yet charming as the tax inspector who has been transferred 49 times in his career because he won't bow down to pressure. I also really liked Saurabh Shukla playing the politician on the take. His charisma made him the villain you loved even while despising his actions.

One thing about this sort of movie is that, even if not strictly adhering to facts, it gives me insight into India's history and culture which I'd not normally have.

Only four songs and no dances. Hey, this is a serious and modern movie!

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

 Hannah and Rose discuss it at An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

People call me a feminist whenever ...

People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or prostitute.

Rebecca West

We've all had this experience, right? It can be a chance to explain where you diverge from a handy label, especially if you are Catholic.

Racinet Polychromev

Via BiblyOdyssey

BibliOdyssey tells us:

"Adapted from historical items dating back to antiquity, such as jewelry, tiles, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, textiles, and ceramics, these ornamental designs [from 'Racinet's 'L'Ornement Polychrome'] encompass a wide range of cultural aesthetics including classic Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan motifs, Asian and middle-Eastern patterns, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century."

There are more of them at the link for you to enjoy.

Evangelization and Culture

From my quote journal.

You can't evangelize a culture you hate.

Cardinal George

Ain't that the truth? Bishop Robert Barron quoted this and we know that is also his philosophy, even moreso since Cardinal George was a big influence on putting Barron on the path that got him to where he is now.

Our Bollywood Year by Tom Davis

Tom posted this on Facebook as a 2018 year-end summary of our unexpected interest in Bollywood  movies (and all other Indian movies). If you don't belong to Facebook (and there are people who don't) then you can't read it. As he was putting together the piece, we really enjoyed reminiscing about the path that got us to this point. So I'm sharing it here as part of our family chronicles for 2018.

We watch a lot of movies. I post each movie to Facebook after we watch. (That is pretty much all I post on Facebook) Some are old, some new, most at home and occasionally at the theater.

But this year took a strange turn. Of the 94 movies we watched in 2018, 43 were from India.

At the end of 2017 I was on a Skype call with a client (I will call him Srinath because that is his name) in India (Hyderabad) and while waiting for a third person to arrive we began talking about movies. Srinath asked if I had seen any Indian movies, I answered yes. Julie and I had seen Lagaan which is often recommended as a very accessible Indian movie.

Srinath was impressed and asked if I had seen Slumdog Millionaire. Of course, although I did not consider it Indian Cinema - being directed by Danny Boyle and having no song sequences. It was about India, but even then I knew what made a movie Indian. Srinath asked about a few similar movies - he finally said I needed to watch Baahubali. A two-part epic fantasy about a long ago kingdom and two princes vying to be king - one evil, one good. That was December 30, 2017. We loved it.

We did not watch any Indian movies until Sridevi’s untimely death was in the news in June. So we watched her comeback film English Vinglish. We loved it.

India produces almost 2,000 movies a year so it is difficult to choose one. Rose found a list of the Top 100 Bollywood films by Timeout London. (So their viewpoint included western sensibilities) She chose movies from after 2000 which gave us a long list of movies to watch.

So every week we were watching one or two Indian movies a week. We started learning who the big stars were and what directors to rely on. We learned what a masala movie is and began to expect at least 6 songs with dancing per movie and nothing shorter that 2 and half hours run time. (3 hours is typical)

A few months in I kept thinking I would “snap out of it”, but as we grew more comfortable these movies were getting better.

Most of the movies have been fairly light, but we have seen great action movies, intense dramas and even science fiction (of a sort). Some movies can have a lower production quality than we expect from Hollywood, but the stories and action usually compensate.

In November we went to see a first run movie in the theater - Thugs of Hindostan - which was released worldwide on the same day. We loved it. (Indians apparently did not love it.)

We also learned a lot about India. In order to understand context we had Wikipedia on the iPad ready to explain locations, situations and religions that are part of Indian culture. Just ask me about the war of Bangladesh independence - that was the movie Raazi.

Finally, we learned that Bollywood is just one part of the Indian movie industry - about 43% by box office. Bollywood is the Hindi language movie center. Tollywood is the Telugu language center (Hyderabad) and Kollywood is the Tamil language center (Chennai). These two represent 36% of the industry, and there are movie production centers all over India for other languages.

Whatever it is called it is now big part of our regular movie watching.