Ataraxia

  On The Road by Jack Kerouac is one of Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels, it is also on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list and it is ranked forty second on The Greatest Books of All Time site, it was called ‘A quintessential novel of America & the Beat Generation’, I have read it for the first time about twelve years ago, I think, and taken it for a second time over the past few days, and I have a mixed verdict, influenced by what (the MAGA side of) America has become, other reviews and notes on films are available at   https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html   8 out of 10   I could see that On The Road is a good book, if not the ‘inspirational work of lasting importance, a classic novel of freedom & longing’ for me, it does not mean a thing that I am not exhilarated, it just proves to me again the futility of reading these notes, writing them may make some sense, I was explain to a mate from the sauna   ...

  Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell has been a tremendous success; therefore, I took it up to enjoy this acclaimed novel…alas, it did not work for him, and this about ends my review. Except there is some more, even if it is irrelevant – I am amused somewhat by the thought that I can still see this text wiped out from Goodreads, together with its author, it happened before, because I voice my various concerns, often unrelated to the topic…I even advertise my blog, in fear that I could be banned from Goodreads, ergo there would still be this space https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html     8 out of 10   I have tried to read Hamnet, that is have someone read it to me, in audiobook format, but somehow, I was not paying attention, evidently, I blamed the ‘other side’, the book was not for me, although I admit it must be impressive, with all that applause, we have the "De gustibus non disputandum est" argument to use   Flow h...

  The Thin Blue Line written and directed by Errol Morris is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – it is on their list, you can take the challenge at their site and see how many of those films you have seen, my number is at 778, but I am going through almost one every day, unless I take up some of the most recent – Blue Moon https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/12/blue-moon-written-by-lorenz-hart-robert.html is number one in my book, for 2025, just as Ethan Hawke would get the Oscar, if my vote would be decisive, and evidently, if I were a voting member of the Academy, here I give the trophies, so there it is     9 out of 10   I have been rather put off by some of the films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made that I have seen lately, for instance Women in Love https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/02/women-in-love-written-by-larry-kramer.html which is not bad, but coming with (too) high expectations it does not o...

  Jake’s Thing by Kingsley Amis – the author is my favorite, along with Marcel Proust https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/12/albertine-disparue-by-marcel-proust.html ergo I loved this chef d’oeuvre, magnum opus for me that is   10 out of 10   I am in the process of reading the Kingsley Amis magnum opera for the second time, I just realized that Jake’s Thing will come on ‘my desk again, because there should be a third time…here is my previous review https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/08/jakes-thing-by-kingsley-amis-10-out-of.html of the novel   It is said to be ‘a fictionalized account of Amis’s affair with the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard’, but I must say that I identify with the main character, just like I do in the other novels by this Magister Ludi, Master of The Game, even if there are differences, in some ways I may be better, while Jacques 'Jake' Richardson is clearly ahead in some areas He is a 59-year-old Oxford don who is going t...

  Note on Stalag 17, writer, director Billy Wilder, with William Holden, D... | realini

  Syriana, based on the book by Robert Baer 9.4 out of 10 Syriana is an outstanding political drama, winner of the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and a Golden Globe for the same category, for the brilliant George Clooney…the film was also nominated for the Oscar and other trophies, for Best Writing. This is an intricate, complex thriller, that exposes corruption in high stake games, unfair treatment of various international players, the abuses of some of the Arab regimes, the dirty manner in which the oil industry used to operate – perhaps they do not do this anymore – how CIA tries to work with multiple sides in middle Eastern conflicts, the way in which they abandon their own agents when they feel exposed and much more. It is a fascinating, mesmerizing narrative that errs by being somewhat to the left and giving perhaps too much credit to conspiracy theories that would have all the tyrants of the Middle East in bed with the American administra...