I've watched the three Zen Detective stories on Masterpiece Mystery these last few weeks. I DVR them and it takes me a bit to catch up. But, last night I saw "Ratking". All three stories have been wonderful - intense, mysterious, and Rufus Sewell, well, he's just gorgeous. His eyes have fire in them - or maybe it's call smolder. Whatever it is, he's a dish! But, Zen is an Italian detective. He's from Venice, working in Rome. And the thing that really bothered me about the shows; distracted me many times, in fact, was that all the actors save one spoke with English accents. Now, I've never been to Italy, but I suspect that Italians speak with Italian accents like Caterina Murino (Zen's love interest) and not English accents.
This series originally aired at the beginning of the year on BBC1 and I found some blog entries from reviewers where the comments were about 50/50 that the accents were confusing/distracting. Anyone else been watching? Have an opinion? At any rate, I enjoyed the series so much I'm going to check out the remainder of the books. Maybe audio?
I have so little time for reading. Although, I did have a medical issue recently which left me on my back a few days. Can't stitch that way, so I read. First, I fiinished The Eagle by Rosemary Sutcliffe (begun many months ago). They had a movie out last year based on the story and now that I've finished the book I'd like to see it. The story, based in Roman Britain, was like a Jr. Reader. It was interesting, had lots of history. I recommended it to my son, but he didn't bite.
I pulled an old favorite off the bookshelf too - The Gamble by Lyvyrle Spencer. Oh, that woman could write! Toward the end of the story, they are in the main character's home "Waverly" a Southern plantation located in or near Columbus, Mississippi. Turns out, there really is a Waverly Plantation Mansion just as it is described in the book. And it's gorgeous! And haunted! ooooooowwwwwweeeeeeeoooooooooooo
Finally, a while back I mentioned an old favorite book by Elswyth Thane. Well, here's another one. I first read it when I was in the 7th grade. It's called Mrs. Mike by Benedict & Nancy Freeman. It's the story of a Boston girl (whose name is Katherine which is probably why I picked the book in the first place) who goes to visit her uncle in Saskatchewan and falls for a RCMP officer named Mike. I vividly remember little Miss Boston's experience with a filthy rotating hand towel. It was really funny! Mike's beat is in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories of Canada - in and around the Great Slave Lake area. Back then when I read about a place I didn't know, I'd pull out the National Geographic Atlas and look up the places they talked about on a map. Make a whole research project out of it. This book is probably how I learned about the Canadian provinces - there are a dozen of them. And yes, because I am no longer smarter than a 5th grader, I had to look them up to refresh my memory!
Me and my stitchy friends were talking yesterday, trying to figure out why kids today have so little ambition. I tend to think it's the Great Depression (and I don't mean financial). When they see the world going to hell in a handbasket, do you think they are thinking, what's the point? Any thoughts?
This series originally aired at the beginning of the year on BBC1 and I found some blog entries from reviewers where the comments were about 50/50 that the accents were confusing/distracting. Anyone else been watching? Have an opinion? At any rate, I enjoyed the series so much I'm going to check out the remainder of the books. Maybe audio?
I have so little time for reading. Although, I did have a medical issue recently which left me on my back a few days. Can't stitch that way, so I read. First, I fiinished The Eagle by Rosemary Sutcliffe (begun many months ago). They had a movie out last year based on the story and now that I've finished the book I'd like to see it. The story, based in Roman Britain, was like a Jr. Reader. It was interesting, had lots of history. I recommended it to my son, but he didn't bite.
I pulled an old favorite off the bookshelf too - The Gamble by Lyvyrle Spencer. Oh, that woman could write! Toward the end of the story, they are in the main character's home "Waverly" a Southern plantation located in or near Columbus, Mississippi. Turns out, there really is a Waverly Plantation Mansion just as it is described in the book. And it's gorgeous! And haunted! ooooooowwwwwweeeeeeeoooooooooooo
Finally, a while back I mentioned an old favorite book by Elswyth Thane. Well, here's another one. I first read it when I was in the 7th grade. It's called Mrs. Mike by Benedict & Nancy Freeman. It's the story of a Boston girl (whose name is Katherine which is probably why I picked the book in the first place) who goes to visit her uncle in Saskatchewan and falls for a RCMP officer named Mike. I vividly remember little Miss Boston's experience with a filthy rotating hand towel. It was really funny! Mike's beat is in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories of Canada - in and around the Great Slave Lake area. Back then when I read about a place I didn't know, I'd pull out the National Geographic Atlas and look up the places they talked about on a map. Make a whole research project out of it. This book is probably how I learned about the Canadian provinces - there are a dozen of them. And yes, because I am no longer smarter than a 5th grader, I had to look them up to refresh my memory!
Me and my stitchy friends were talking yesterday, trying to figure out why kids today have so little ambition. I tend to think it's the Great Depression (and I don't mean financial). When they see the world going to hell in a handbasket, do you think they are thinking, what's the point? Any thoughts?
Yes, I have watched and taped all 3 Zen's. Can't decide if I like them or not and want to watch them again (undisturbed). Rufus Sewell is easy on the eye :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite LaVryle Spencer book is Morning Glory-have read it 2 or 3 times. Bittersweet comes in 2nd.
If you like historical Christian fiction read the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers-the best! All 3 of my daughters (and I) loved them.
Zens... okay, I'm going to check into that! My daughter and I are at a loss as to what to watch on TV so will have to check it out on the laptop. I missed it on the BBC--I need to get more diligent about checking it out.
ReplyDeleteI loved Lavyrle Spencer! And Barbara Michaels... I wonder if she's still writing (or alive). I was the same as a kid--I always was checking locations out on the atlas. I devoured National Geographic magazine. Now I do the same thing, but online. Thank goodness for google maps! I feel like a virtual geographic stalker.