"Lost In Austen"

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My spouse picked up "Lost in Austen" on DVD at our library and we watched it not once but twice this week and we've decided it is a must addition to our DVD library. We've been fans of Jane Austen for several years now and have several of her books as well as most of her stories in DVD version -- sometimes more than one version of each. We weren't sure how we'd feel about a spinoff of a Jane Austen story but, as you might have guessed from the fact that we want to add this one to our collection, we found it delightful.

Amanda Price loves reading Jane Austen more than spending time with her boyfriend -- much to the dismay of her mother! When she is reading "Pride and Prejudice," she becomes so enmeshed in the story that she thinks she's dreaming when Elizabeth Bennett steps through a door in the wall and into Amanda's bathtub. Before she knows it they have traded places, lives, and centuries. As Amanda tries to keep the "story" going just the way Jane wrote it, everyone's relationships change. Can Amanda put everything back the way it was and right "history" before returning to her century or has she forever changed the story line of "Pride and Prejudice?"

Although I love Jane Austen, updating and changing some of her characters really did make this altered version a great story -- check it out for yourself. Be warned, though, that it is a three hour version so be sure to start your DVD viewing early in the evening.

pazt

Sacred

"Sacred" is Dennis Lehane's third Patrick Kenzie-Angela Gennaro mystery. At the end of the second book, "Darkness, Take My Hand," Kenzie and Gennaro - both wounded physically and emotionally - decide to take time off from detective work to heal. As "Sacred" begins, Angela is sleeping on the couch in Patrick's apartment/combination office and they're not responding to phone calls or any other form of communication nor will they answer their door. When Trevor Stone, a very wealthy man, needs their help to find his missing daughter, he gets their attention by kidnapping them then convincing them to take on the case. He's done his homework and knows minute details about their lives plus he's very persuasive - oh, and did I mention very rich?

Stone is in a wheelchair after an attempted carjacking ended with his wife's murder. He's recently discovered he's dying of cancer and wants to reconcile with his only daughter, Desiree, who in a grief-stricken state appears to have joined a cult. Jay, the private detective who trained Patrick, works for a prestigious detective agency and was on the tail of Desiree when he disappeared in Florida. His firm has taken him off the case and refuse to discuss anything about it so Patrick and Angela take up where Jay left off heading to Florida to pick up his trail accompanied by two of Stone's men.

Desiree is a beautiful head-turning, heart-stopping young woman and disappearing herself would be quite a trick. Patrick and Angela find Jay and Desiree along with murder and betrayal. This book will keep you guessing as the plot twists and turns leading to a surprising conclusion.

Enjoy the trip!

pazt

"The Bride Collector"

"The Bride Collector" by Ted Dekker is a New York Times bestseller that also won the Readers Choice NPR Top 50 Killer Thriller awards. I can certainly see why as this was a book that I didn't want to put down until I'd finished it and, if the reviews at the front of the book are any indication, I wasn't the only one!

FBI Special Agent Brad Raines and Nikki Holden, a leading forensic psychologist, are on the trail of a serial killer who chooses only beautiful women as his victims. As he leaves clues to his identity, Raines and Holden are led to the Center for Wellness and Intelligence, a private residence for gifted, mentally ill residents where they find some surprising help in solving their case.

This book is full of surprises -- about the victims and the murderer as well as thought provoking questions about mental illness and our understanding of it. What does it really mean to be mentally ill, how do we individually and as a society view mental illness and much more.

This is the first I've read by Ted Dekker but I'm already looking for another Dekker novel to read!

pazt

"My Sister's Keeper"

"My Sister's Keeper" is a movie based on New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's novel of the same name. It is directed by Nick Cassavetes who also directed "The Notebook" and "John Q."

The story centers around Anna portrayed by Abigail Breslin -- a remarkable and brilliant young actress who always gives her best to her roles. Anna is a young girl born into a family with an older brother and an ailing older sister, Kate, who has leukemia. Although Anna herself is not ill, she might as well be since she was conceived as a "donor" for Kate. Anna has been probed and prodded from birth and undergone medical procedures designed to save Kate's life. Anna's activities are also restricted by this and she longs to be a normal young woman participating in normal pursuits. When Kate needs one of Anna's kidneys, Anna balks and hires an attorney (a great role for Alec Baldwin) to seek medical emancipation allowing her the right to make all medical decisions regarding her own body.

Anna's decision rips her family apart. Her mother (played to perfection by Cameron Diaz) gave up her law practice to care for Kate but returns to the courtroom to fight Anna's right to medical emancipation. Anna's brother already appears to be on her side -- helping her hock a piece of jewelry to pay her attorney. Anna's father, who I believe already saw her as an individual apart from her sister's medical needs, begins to view her in a new light as he recalls the physical and emotional pain Anna has endured in order to help Kate -- who Anna does dearly love.

Joan Cusack portrays the judge assigned to hear this unique case and brings great depth to her role as a judge who is also a mother who has suffered the loss of her own child.

This movie would be a good starting place for a discussion about family relationships, love, loss, and much more.

Cassavetes has brought together a spectacular cast to tell this story that is not only emotionally gripping but full of love and moments of light heartedness plus a totally surprise ending. Please don't let the subject matter deter you from watching this one -- It's well worth seeing in my opinion.

pazt

Salt

When the movie, Salt, came to the theaters last year, I heard mixed reviews about it but I was determined it was a movie I wanted to see and rate myself. I put myself on the waiting list at our library and finally was able to pick it up, bring it home, and view it. I was not disappointed.

Angelina Jolie plays a CIA operative who is accused of being a sleeper agent (or double agent for Russia) after years of proving her loyalty to the U.S. and the CIA. Early on in the movie she is on the run and we're left to wonder - "Is she or isn't she?" You'll have to find out for yourself.

Don't miss the special features at the end of the DVD -- particularly, director Phillip Noyes radio interview. He's almost as interesting as the movie and I definitely want to make sure I see his movies -- past and future.

An interesting side note is the fact that about the time the movie was released was when 11 individuals were accused of being "sleepers" in the U.S. and were sent back to Russia. My husband and I were left to ponder what happens to someone so acclimatized to the States and who has spent so little time in their home country when they're forced to leave their life here?

"Salt" is an action packed movie and Jolie makes a believable heroine - enjoy!

pazt

"The Man Who Loved China"

Simon Winchester's "The Man Who Loved China" was our book club's pick several months ago. I didn't finish reading it before our group met but have continued to renew it from the library in an attempt to finish it. Although I enjoy the material, I find myself falling asleep every time I read it so it's been very slow going! Now the library wants the book back or wants me to buy it from them so I guess it's time to give it up!

"The Man Who Loved China" is the fascinating story of Joseph Needham who I'd never heard of before. He was an eccentric, married Cambridge University biochemist who fell in love with a visiting Chinese student, Lu Gwei-djen, and had a long-term affair with her with the full knowledge of his wife, Dorothy Needham. (In fact, even after his wife joined him in China, he managed to later also send for Lu and have her appointed to his staff which didn't sit well with some of his colleagues. Later Lu moved to England and lived on the same street as the Needham's and she and Dorothy seemed to develop a friendship also.)

Needham's love for Lu led him to China in September 1943 as a diplomat. It was during war time and he traveled extensively while there gathering a wealth of information about China that resulted in his writing volumes when he eventually returned to England. "By the time he left China he had visited 296 Chinese institutes, university, and research establishments; he had arranged for the delivery of thousands of tons of equipment and chemical and scientific journals; he would read, endlessly and voraciously, the various thousands of documents which he had collected and which he felt certain would enhance his knowledge of China; and he spent much of his final months laying the foundations for a diplomatically privileged organization to support Chinese science--an organization that would continue to function without him long after he had left." (From page 157 of the hardback edition)

Needham had a keen interest in all things and seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting new people and learning more about them. He also had a special interest in women! Needhams' ability to speak many languages also made it easy for him to converse with those he met -- including those in the scientific community -- in their own language.

Needham's adventures in China are many and it is necessary to read the book to discover how many times he was possibly in danger yet there appears to me to have been a naivete about him so that he rarely realized himself that he was taking any risks. That same naivete and his belief and trust in his friends around the world also was his downfall because he never considered that scientists (especially those he considered his friends) might not tell the truth.

Needham developed many friendships throughout his life but some of them made him suspect in the eyes of the United States as well as others. The fact that he truly believed that the U.S. had used germ warfare during the Korean War, that he strongly supported the new Communist government (believing it really was best for the Chinese people because it meant they had food to eat) and that he'd been a long term member of the Communist Party in England didn't endear him to the Americans either. One of his close friends was Rewi Alley, a New Zealander who lived in China for 60 years and became an intimate of Chinese Communist leaders. Although Needham's friendships -- especially those with Communists -- were often suspect, he was a loyal friend and stood up for what and who he believed in despite any opposition. In later years he began to question some of China's policies as he traveled there again and discovered many of his old friends were no longer available to meet with him -- some having disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

After Needham returned to England, he was invited to become part of UNESCO and was part of that organization in its early days for two years until the Americans became concerned about his left-wing leanings. In the McCarthy era, he was banned from traveling to the United States and the State Department put him on a blacklist. He eventually was allowed to travel and lecture in the States again and he may have unwittingly educated Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, through a lecture he gave at Northwest University about early Chinese techniques for manufacturing explosives.

Despite periods of times when Needham was persona non grata at home and abroad -- particularly at his own college, he did go on to earn many honors as well as being elected a Master at Cambridge and President of Caius College.
Needham obtained permanent rights to a college room at Cambridge (for his lifetime)and it was here that he began his work on what would turn into 24 volumes about China called "Science and Civilisation in China" published by the Cambridge University Press from 1954-2004. He had a wealth of information that he had collected to sift through and he chose Wang Ling, a Chinese historian he'd met in China, as his assistant. Eventually, Needham's mistress, Lu, also helped with the project. It was his love of Lu that led him to China and to "single-handedly change the way the people of the West looked on the people of the East." (page 252 of the hardback edition) Needham eventually had to delegate whole volumes to other experts
rather than being the sole author because he just didn't have to time to complete the work otherwise. Eventually, through the generosity of David Robinson, a permanent home was built - Needham Research Institute -- to house Needham's China collection and as a place where work on the volumes about China could continue. However, even in old age, Needham and Lu had to continue to travel to raise money to support the institute while donating out of their own financial resources.

Dorothy Needham died at home on December 22, 1987, at the age of 92 after suffering for ten years from Alzheimer's. One of her last books written in 1972, "Machina Carnis" describes how muscles work and is still sold in antique book stores as a classic and has been priced for as high as $250. By this time Lu was not well either -- suffering from bronchial complaints brought on most likely by her youthful chain smoking. On September 15, 1989, Joseph married Lu Gwei-djen. They had first met in 1937 and became lovers a year later when he was 37 and she was 33. Lu died on November 28, 1991, at age 98. Needham went on to ask three other women to marry him but all turned him down. Needham died at home at the age of 94 but his legacy lives on.

Volume I of Needham's work (a printing of 5,000 copies) sold out and Cambridge had to reprint it at regular intervals. It is still considered a classic and has never yet been out of print.

The Appendix at the end of this book that lists the Chinese inventions and discoveries along with the date they are first mentioned is a fascinating read. It's quite remarkable how far advanced China was compared to other nations.

The Epilogue, though, describing Chongqing today was depressing -- much wealth and commerce among poverty and pollution. Needham returned to Chongquing in 1982 with Lu and couldn't find the little house he'd lived in while he was there but he was not surprised by the changes as he thought China would "turn out like this, sooner or later." Some things have not changed -- the written language, the cuisine, the use of chopsticks, the rivers and landscape.

One aspect that puzzled Needham and came to be known as the "Needham question" was why the Chinese who had been so creative, so inventive suddenly seemed to lose all this around AD 1500 when "nearly all modern scientific advance transferred itself to where it remains today, becoming the nearly exclusive preserve of the West." (page 259 of the hardback copy)
Others wonder if the questions shouldn't by "why it did develop in Europe" rather than why it didn't develop in China. However, today's China may be proof that creativity and inventiveness are again live and well in China.

pazt