Ataraxia

  The Swiss Family Robinson by Johan David Wyss 7 out of 10 This book is included on The Guardian 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list. From the start I must say that it could, should may be a better word, be one of those that will be eliminated in the future, given that perspectives change and attitudes towards other people, animals are very different from 1812, when this story was published. If one is sarcastic, one could say that this novel is a long list of animals killed by the Family Robinson, many of them not out of necessity to get food, but just because one or the other protagonists needs something to keep knives in and more generally, because the attitude was completely different two centuries ago. Evidently, in the present, many vicious individuals still see wild life as potential trophy, soulless machines, just waiting for them to aim, shoot and kill - some from the infamous Trump family come to mind, with about the same advanced perspective as the Robinsons. And mind y...

  Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala From a Positive Psychology perspective Heat and Dust is an extraordinary book. This masterpiece has two heroines in my view: -            India and Olivia The country is fascinating in this story that presents the reader with many of the aspects of this phenomenal land. Even if or because it is so different, a reader is much more interested in visiting after finishing this work, albeit things must have changed from the time the narrative takes place. -            Olivia is an English woman married to Douglas and an enchanting character. -            She finds herself in some extreme situations, but there are so many strengths, facets that we admire. instead of keeping a "colonial" distance, this protagonist immerses herself into this different culture Another personage has the opinion that one c...

  On The Town by Betty Comden and Adolph Green was the Winner of The Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, and it is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, nevertheless, it does not make it on my Top 500, or even Top 5,000 for that matter…you have thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   7 out of 10   I do not see why this motion picture made it on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, but then I am not a fan of musicals – one aspect intrigues me, the name of one of the writers, and this reminds me of https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/08/how-about-adolf-based-on-play-by.html How About Adolf?   This is a film I enjoyed, and there are perhaps more than two more versions, an Italian and a Romanian one, I think, the subject is both comical and rather gruesome: a baby has to have a name and the question ...

  Public Enemy by Kubec Glasmon and John Bright is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and it was the 1931 Nominee Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story, and it was voted by the American Film Institute as the 8th greatest crime film in American film history, that notwithstanding, it is not one of my favorites: quite good, but not shattering – you have thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   7 out of 10   If we compare The Public Enemy with The Godfather https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-godfather-ii-by-mario-puzo-this.html then the former seems like a mediocre feature, except we should lower our expectations, a good rule, which worked recently with Jurassic Park, I started it without an ecstatic feeling, and it is so good   James Cagney has the leading role of Tom Powers, The Public Enemy, and he was a great ...

  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, yet it is ranked only 1529 th on The Greatest Books of All Time site, the reading public was thrilled, it has nearly 1.1 million ratings on Goodreads – I had not been expecting it, but this rather long read has captured almost all my attention…there are thousands of reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, where my small dinosaurs are present   9 out of 10   I have seen the motion picture based on this book and liked it, except that made me except a different scenario, and I had taken the novel with somewhat low expectations, probably in large part due to The Lost World https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/06/note-on-lost-world.html an annoying feature, if you ask me   As far as I can remember – perhaps not much – Jurassic Park the movie has a gradua...

  The Inheritor by Eduardo De Filippo is an amusing, if not overwhelming play, notwithstanding that, George Constantin has the leading role in it, and ergo we have here a spectacular performance – he was the greatest thespian, at least in my book…you find thousands of reviews of magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html and YouTube channel, where my macaws ‘walk in beauty’   9 out of 10   George Constantin https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/peer-gynt-by-henrik-ibsen-calling.html makes all the difference here, and in any play, motion picture we could see him, he is The Inheritor, otherwise a quite amusing, but not outstanding work, with some messages, in the age of the charlatans, The Orange Caligula   Ludovico Ribera is also called Prospero at some point, and he is the protagonist, who comes to claim his ‘Inheritance’, in a rather pec...