Ataraxia

  Chef’s House and Preservation by Raymond Carver Another version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at: -               https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E Chef’s House Edna has been separated from Wes. But when he calls to invite her to join him in a new house, she accepts, even if she is involved with someone else. Her partner is against the idea -            Don’t do this -            He is off the wagon- or was it on (?) Wes has rented a house from another recovering alcoholic, Chef. When I first saw the title of this account I thought it would be about a cook and something happens to his house. Edna and Wes have a good time in Chef’s House. They have a program that includes going to the movies on Tuesdays and staying sober. One fine day, all this is ove...

  Paradise by Donald Barthelme Strange and interesting book. Rather short, otherwise I might have not finished it, for it is entertaining enough for a short format, not sufficient for an epic novel. -            Is this about Paradise? -            You bet it is, for: -            A fifty three years old man lands three stunning young models in his apartment to…live with him -            What else can beat that? -            And yet, this is a strange heaven, described in a modernistic, if fortunately not altogether absurd manner The characters are- Simon, the architect hero who happens to  Stumble Upon Happiness , you might say, when he meets three exhilarating women in need of a place to stay, which…Bismillah –in the words of the...

  Widows, written with Gillian Flynn - based on the book by Lynda La Plante- and directed by Steve McQueen 8 out of 10 Steve McQueen is one of the most remarkable film makers of our time, perhaps of all time. His 12 Years a Slave has not won just the Academy Award for Best Picture and other major prizes, but also the hearts of viewers and the entrance in the cinematic Hall of Fame for this formidable director. Shame is another great achievement of an artist who has so many productive years ahead of him. Widows is therefore expected to be different from the regular heist movie and it is. On many levels. Nevertheless, coming with high expectations, a viewer might be somewhat disappointed. I was. The director is sensational, the cast formidable and the story good. Hence, the film is worth watching. It would not join 12 Years a Slave though in the history of cinema books. Harry Rawlings aka Liam Neson is married to Veronica, the always majestic Viola Davis. He is a criminal and in the ...

  Dangerous Beauty based on The Honest Courtesan - Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice by Margaret Rosenthal 9 out of 10     Anticipating some possible objections, for it has happened in the past, however seldom, let me repeat what is in the ‘headline’ of this note – it is not about the book per se, but about the film based on it, and I would put down a few reasons why this inconceivable tomfoolery is thrown out here…first, I have tried and inserted a new entry on some movies on the goodreads platform in the past, to do the honest deed, when they do not allow you to add to the extant script, like you can review The Banshees of Inisherin  http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-banshees-of-inisherin.html  in my book, by far the best motion picture of 2022, far ahead of the competition, including the favorite to win, Everything, Everywhere All At Once – I could only watch about twenty minutes and then abandoned it  https://notesabo...

  An Actor Prepares, written and directed by Steve Clark Seven out of 10 An Actor Prepares, but the question is if it is worth preparing for a motion picture like this, especially in the case of someone who used to be as close to a “sacred monster” or a God of cinema as the winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Reversal of Fortune, Jeremy Irons Alas, the days of that splendid film or Brideshead Revisited, M. Butterfly, The Mission, Betrayal, Moonlighting and others like them are long gone and the most recent comedy is just well intended, but not too successful. Although the script is not fantastic – far from it – Jeremy Irons is likeable, seems at times to move without effort through the story, perhaps aware that this is not going to be more than just light entertainment and thinking of the old mantra that one never knows what will have success and what would not be a hit with the audiences. Take the latest box office record, Crazy rich Asians, lauded for...

  The Cancer Ward by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn Mother Russia   All things Russian seem a bit hard to take at this point. For this reader and political man- I am interested in what goes on in the world, which in the nutshell would be – politics, even if the original meaning is distorted today and it has come to signify a dirty occupation and an obscene interest. Russia is doing many bad things today, and it is not just Putin- 84 % of the people agree with him and think that what is going on in the Ukraine is only just, they fight a fair war. The Cancer Ward exposes some of what was wrong in the Soviet Union, and alas, much of it is good for Russia in the 21 st  century. Albeit, Solzhenitsyn came back to Russia after his exile, and was way too keen on nationalism, if I remember well. The Cancer Ward is based on the author’s experience and has sent such a powerful message that it was banned. There is political talk, beyond the symbolism and the double- speak, even if a doctor sa...

  Morometii by Marin Preda – I already have three reviews of this work and the adaptations, but it is so monumental – well, sort of – in our parts that this makes sense – also, who reads lines in this obscure part of the internet? I think I have read that there are hundreds of thousands of influencers, content creators out there (maybe millions) and they count their audiences in billions, meanwhile, the blog and YouTube channel where I have more than five thousand reviews of magnum opera from the Greatest Books of All Time and other sites, and films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html count their clicks in hundreds     8 out of 10   In fact, that rating is relative: the first volume is really good, but the rest of the novel is not just forgettable, it is to be avoided https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/morometii-by-marin-preda.html just like...