SPOOKS: WHEN HEROES TREAD THE PATHS OF MORTALS - FAREWELL TO MY FAVOURITE SERIES

I'm sure having a look all over this blog you'll think I'm one of the latest acolytes who joined Spooks fans just because Richard Armitage had been recruited by MI5 Section D. But, no, I'm not. And  unfortunately so, because that would have made it easier for me to face the very end of the show. I would have suffered at RA's leaving the show (which I did, not because he left but because of what they made of his character  before his departure), not so much now. I could have even avoided watching this last ever series. 

I saw it instead, I couldn't have missed it,  and liked it as much as any other series of Spooks. This last series was not the best, maybe, but it was special because it was a bitter/sweet experience: I went on enjoying each minute of  it,  knowing that it would be one of the last.
It ended staying true to Spooks style, to its being an intelligent, low-cost, more introspective  than action-based  series.They closed with 6 great episodes.

I've started this post soon after watching the amazing but devastating final episode last week . I didn't want to write something too sad, mournful, plaintive. That's why I stopped and only last night, on the first Sunday night without new episodes of Spooks to watch,  I remembered I hadn't posted my weekly journal. 

Anyway, I won't do it, neither now. I'm not writing specifically about the last episode (Someone died... so sad, but brilliantly acted) and its final moments (welcome back, Tom Quinn! Are they bringing back old glories to prepare the path to a movie? That would be great!)

I'd like to say goodbye to my favourite series talking about my favourite moments, characters, episodes. Get ready to a good deal of Lucas North, of course. You know, Richard Armitage may not be the reason why I started watching it , but his presence increased my already existing enthusiasm for the series pretty much. 

CRANFORD: I ONLY HOPE IT IS NOT IMPROPER ... SO MANY PLEASANT THINGS ARE!

THIS POST DEDICATED TO  MRS GASKELL 'S CRANFORD IS PART OF  "THE PICNIC AT CRANFORD", EVENT HOSTED AT GASKELL'S BLOG.


(N.B. At the bottom you'll find the details of a great double giveaway provided by yours truly, MG, here at FLY HIGH!) 

"Miss Jenkyns wore a cravat, and a little bonnet like a jockey-cap, and altogether had the appearence of a strong-minded woman; although she would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal indeed!  She knew they were superior" (p. 18)

You must be a great writer to build a masterpiece on tiny, trivial, ordinary events. This is what you discover reading this novel by Elizabeth Gaskell and what Jane Austen's lovers already know very well. Cranford  is the most Austensian of Mrs Gaskell's novels, mainly for its witty tone,  and  I was really glad  to read it  for this event Katherine Cox is hosting at her Gaskell-dedicated blog and to which I was invited: The Picninc at Cranford.

AT THE CINEMA - THE THREE MUSKETEERS

"There are things in this world worth fighting and dying for. We're warriors ..." 

The Three Musketeers and their motto are part of our childhood memories : "All for one and one for all!"  Like many other kids of my generation I read, saw and enjoyed Dumas's adventure tales of bravery, loyalty, idealism and vengeance. Athos, Portos, Aramis and D'Artagnan were exotic names but they have become unforgettable. Now they 've been turned into warriors.

This new movie version is meant to introduce the old legendary characters to the new, third millenium techno-spoilt audiences. Hence, how could four  skilled musketeers just armed with their swords appeal to the young watchers? The answer is  3D, CGI,  loads of special effects, swordfights and duels with a 21st century flavour recalling their favourite videogames or Japanese cartoons.

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY - GOTHIC READS: MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN (1818)

I'm not an expert of contemporary  Gothic fiction nor I can say I'm fond of this genre. I've already confessed I never could get to the end of Bram Stoker's Dracula  and I've only recently read a couple of romances with vampires or werewolves as their protagonists. It was fun: light readings to spend a few carefree hours on. (HERE and HERE)
However, this week's topic is also one of the topics I'm working on with my students at school, and I'm glad of that. At least, they - my teenage students -  are really fond of gothic stories! My last year pupils, and I are studying the spread of the Gothic vogue at the end of 18th century,  when the interest in in that new genre was common to all strata of society after the success of the first "gothic tale", The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764)

The concept of the "Sublime" , or "horrible beauty" , also influenced the rise of the  Gothic novel in those years through the work of the philosopher Edmund Burke,  where the sublime was linked to both the idea of self-divinity and a celebration of terror. The gothic symbols of the wanderer, the vampire and the overreacher who seek forbidden knowledge reflect the wish to go beyond God, nature and human limits: these figures all are individualists who are not satisfied with their own society.

ROME - LEARNING NOT TEACHING TODAY

“Live as if your were to die tomorrow. 

Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~ Gandhi

Tired. More than tired. Exhausted. It's nearly 11 p.m., I got up at 5 this morning and I've been away from home all day long. I went to Rome for an updating course about methodology in preparing students for written and oral exams in English as a foreign language. Interesting and stimulating. I like to be "the student" and not the teacher for once. I need to recharge in order to be ready to go on giving. It was a nice rewarding experience: meeting other teachers and comparing our experiences, listening to our trainers from Britain and learn from their privileged perspective how to improve our teaching strategies of their native tongue is always a good chance to improve ourselves.

TEACHING ENGLISH OR ... WHEN BLOGGING BECOMES DIFFICULT

It is one of those periods in which life becomes so demanding that blogging becomes... difficult if not impossible.  I haven't had time to post anything on FLY HIGH since last Wednesday and only posted giveaway winners' names and a guespost on My Jane Austen Book Club. I can't complain, that's quite enough if I think of the many other things I've been doing. I just wanted to reassure you that I'm working and really active,  only not on the blogging front. I can't be online that much and I have got very little spare time left for my reading and reviewing activity. That's a pity but ... this is my job!

Teaching literature, as you know - teaching in general - can be rather engaging and time-consuming.  Lesson-plans to prepare,  tests and papers to correct and assess are the most time-consuming activities and not the only ones! This year I've got 6 different classes, with 3 different syllabuses: language and grammar (intermediate and upper - intermediate levels) as well as literature from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY - FAVOURITE AUTHORS

Wonderful Wednesdays is a meme about spotlighting and recommending some of our most loved books, even if we haven't read them recently. Each week will have a different genre or theme. It is hosted on Tiny Library by lovely Sam.

This week's theme is Favourite Authors.

It's not a secret: English literature is my job and my passion. I also read different stuff, don't doubt, especially since I've started blogging and reviewing. However, if you ask me to choose my favourite authors, the first ones that come to my mind are those I've read and studied more. 

Have a look at this picture and let's see if you recognize them.

MY SPOOKS 10 JOURNAL - DAY FIVE: ONE STEP FROM THE EDGE OF DOOM

No spoilers, believe me. Just ...

What I liked:

1. Peter Firth playing Harry's final hours. He's incredibly brilliant. What must have been like to shoot these scenes, these final episodes before the end, knowing it would be for good?  Blissed moments for an unforgettable character. Great melancholy for the man working on the set.

NORTHERN LIGHT BY CATHERINE WINCHESTER - GIVEAWAY WINNER

Thanks to Cat Winchester for her successful, brilliant interview with John Thornton, the protagonist of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South as well,  as of her own sequel to that novel, Northern Light. Thanks a lot also to all those of you who contributed to the interesting discussion which followed. Great questions!

Now, one of the commenters is the winner  - chosen with random.org - of an e-book copy of Cat Winchester's sequel.

Margay!

Congratulations and enjoy your new read!

VICARIOUSLY JANE INTERVIEWS YOURS TRULY

My friends and regular readers know almost everything about me and my virtual life, my interests and passions, my "one weakness" and great enthusiasm for him (yes, my one weakness is a HE!) ,  so why should they read my interview on Vicariously Jane or on Carolyn Crist's Daily Pages ?

Well, because ... I'd love to meet them there? Because they are supposed to be kindly interested and supportive  as they are my friends? Because I'll be extremely disappointed if they didn't? Because I'd be terribly sorry for my lady host? All the above.
Joking invitations (or threats???) apart, I'll wait for you there, all of you, both those who know me well and those who want to discover more. Well, there's very little to discover,actually. I'm "plain, obscure, poor and little" as one of my favourite heroines! ;-) But maybe tough and strong-willed as she is.  Just click the links above and join Carolyn Crist and me on her blogs. Thank you! 

MY SPOOKS 10 JOURNAL - DAY FOUR: FROM THE ROOF TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE AND BACK TO THE ROOF AGAIN...

All for one and one for all

"Please, don't kill them all"  is my first thought, watching this great still above.

However,  my first words must be, "I apologize". Why? Because tomorrow  is Day Five for Spooks 10 and I'm still here commenting episode 4. A bit late. So late that it's better to consider it  an occasion to revise before going on more than a review of a watching. 

OK. Take it as it is. I watched it, after the majority of you had already done it, and I wanted to share my impressions all the same. If you mind spoilers, though mild, please don't ...

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY - HISTORICAL FICTION

Wonderful Wednesdays is a meme about spotlighting and recommending some of our most loved books, even if we haven't read them recently.  Each week will have a different genre or theme. It is hosted on Tiny Library by lovely Sam. This week's theme is historical fiction.

I love classic literature so I love reading stories set in the past. I'm really fascinated by the past and would love to time travel not only in my fantasy. I long for a day - yes just one day - in Victorian England or one hour at one of Jane Austen's balls. If only I could ...

However, my fascination for the past is not only an appeal to 19th century England . It is a fondness for every past era and for many different geographical settings. 

The books I want to recommend today are  historical novels I've read in the last year and that I particularly liked.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MR THORNTON BY CATHERINE WINCHESTER + GIVEAWAY OF NORTHERN LIGHT

Catherine Winchester met Mr John Thornton for this interview soon after his marriage to Miss Margaret Hale.

Catherine Winchester: Mr Thornton, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I know you're a busy man.

John Thornton: It's my pleasure, Miss Winchester. What can I do for you?

CW: Straight down to business I see.

JT: [Abashed smile] Generally speaking, I don't have much time for small talk.

CW: No, of course not. So, [Looks at notebook] you and Margaret Hale are married. I have to say you surprised a few people with that one.

AT THE CINEMA - JANE EYRE

If there is a heroine I deeply sympathized with in my teenage, she was Jane Eyre. She substituted Jo March, who had been my model heroine when I was a child. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is the book I have most frequently re-read in my life. Strangely enough, I haven't written much about the book or the several adaptations I saw on FLY HIGH. This is the first real occasion I find to discuss my admiration for Jane. Yes, for Jane more than for Rochester.

RA-NDOM THOUGHTS - RICHARD'S FIRST ITALIAN MAGAZINE COVER

Yesterday, my day off. In and out from home, franticly coping with the housework to catch up with and  several errands to do. As usual,  I'm terribly busy on my day off. However, I found the time to check my e-mail box and ... SURPRISE: my friend K/V had written something like: "Guess what? Richard is on an Italian magazine cover!" I thought it had to be a picture in Thorin's costume on a movie magazine for a niche. I couldn't guess that it was instead one of the most popular and best-selling magazines of puzzles and rebus, LA SETTIMANA ENIGMISTICA! The magazine which can boast innumerable cases of attempted counterfeit, one of the oldest and widely popular in Italy. We were astonished! I tried to get a copy as soon as I could and I'm now the proud owner of my "first RA Italian magcover"!!!

MY SPOOKS 10 JOURNAL - DAY THREE: TENDER IS ... DIMITRI.

Max Brown as Dimitri

My task is not an easy one indeed! Saying and not saying to avoid spoiling the pleasure of discovering the details by yourself. Hence, again, go on reading only if you have already seen this episode of Spooks or if you don't mind spoilers.

WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING - SINGLE FATHER (2010)

Single Father is an emotionally powerful yet funny four-part drama, about a man struggling to raise his four children after the death of his wife. Many viewers missed this drama last year when it was on BBC because,  like Spooks 10 this year,  it was on simultaneously to the unmissable Downton Abbey.  I missed it too but  I  was reminded of its existence by a kind commenter (on facebook) when I posted about "He Knew He was Right" and also discussed David Tennant's role in that period drama based on Trollope's novel. She warmly invited me to watch talented Tennant in this modern drama too.

Written by Mick Ford, and set in Glasgow, Single Father tells the story of Dave, a photographer facing the seemingly impossible job of bringing up his four kids alone.