Ataraxia

  Hurrah for St Trinian’s by Ronald Searle is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, but it is only 4310 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site – you find thousands of reviews on magnum opera from these and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   7 out of 10   Molesworth https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/08/down-with-skool-by-geoffrey-willans.html is another book by Ronald Searle, written with Geoffrey Willans, which is included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, I have read two parts, and I still have the third and last, except the enthusiasm has diminished   The jokes, drawings are not bad, but they appear somewhat lame, take this one in which a man cancels his trip to Venice, on the phone and we see his bathroom in the background, and the fact that he has plumbing issues, ergo a little lagoon is about to be created at home, why bother to go all the way to Italy fo...

  The Lighthouse written by Robert and Max Eggers, directed by the former was nominated for an Oscar in 2020 – you find notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel   8 out of 10   To the Lighthouse https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/03/to-lighthouse-by-virginia-woolf-is_6.html shows up when you google for ‘lighthouse’, and I remember this: ‘with Virginia Woolf I want to keep saying 'No, he didn't', No it didn't happen as you describe it', No, that isn't what he thought, No, that's just what she didn't say’   Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis was not very critical only with Virginia Woolf – ‘My own experience in reading Dickens, and I doubt whether it us an uncommon one, is to be bounced between violent admiration and violent distaste almost every couple of paragraphs’ there is also this: ‘I had...

  Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, although it is ranked only 2496 th on The Greatest Books of All Time…you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera from the aforementioned and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   10 out of 10 in some way, but also 8 out of 10 somehow   Project Hail Mary https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/04/project-hail-mary-by-andy-weir-is-one_22.html came to mind, since they sent the hero (Ryan Gosling in the movie) there to explore, and something similar happens in Rogue Moon, notwithstanding the quite clear differences, one is a volunteer, the other is forced to go   The science from this Science Fiction oeuvre is not attractive for this reader, it surely has to do with incomprehension, lack of interest, besides, this was published in 1960, and in the meantime, even the Chinse have travelled there, though I am not sure ...

  Dirty Tricks by Michael Dibdin is one of the five oeuvres by the same author which are included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, although it is ranked only 6846 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site – you find reviews of magnum opera and lesser works from the aforementioned and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel   8 out of 10   Michael Dibdin https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/a-rich-full-death-by-michael-dibdin.html is the author of five detective books that are on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, he has written much more, but these are among the best, at least according to The Guardian, others disagree, and Dirty Tricks is just 6846 th on The GOAT site   With this mystery, I have read all five: Ratking, Dead Lagoon, Dirty Tricks, A Rich Full Death, Vendetta…the feeling I have now is that I liked Ratking best, and then Dead Lagoon...

  Trying to find What is the essence of The Lighthouse by Alison Moore 10 out of 10     If we start with the end of The Lighthouse – which might mean that there is a spoiler alert right here…but wait, maybe I am not about to reveal any secrets just yet, so why don’t you just stay tuned, for now, unless of course, you consider the merits of what I am about to put down here and then be warned, there is not much to keep you here – then I am reminded on the exquisite, magnetic, bravo bravissimo The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-dressmaker-by-beryl-bainbridge-10.html , where something dramatic, final, coming after an incredible crescendo happens on the last page and though details are scarce, readers cannot be sure as to what happens to Futh – or are you…if you have not read it, maybe you let me know when you will have finished it – but it is ominous and if we have paid attention – concentration is a condition sine qua non for happines...

  Syriana written by Stephen Gaghan and Robert Baer, and directed by the former is the 2006 Winner of The Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, George Clooney was excellent as Bob Barnes, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay – you find thousands of noted on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel   9 out of 10   I had already written https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/02/syriana-based-on-book-by-robert-baer-94.html about Syriana, but it was included in the program of one of the twenty or more film channels last night, and I took a few looks, in between advertising, saw George Clooney while his tormentor, was extracting his nails   Syriana has themes that are vital right now: Middle Wast conflict, oil, America, the CIA, nevertheless, what was h...