MY BLOGGER BUDDIES WITH GIVEAWAY - MEET TRAXY AT THE SQUEEE!

Have you ever visited THE SQUEEE? Traxy loves blogging about books, drama and Richard Armitage. So, as you can see, we've got much in common. She has accepted to be my  guest today and answer my nosey questions! Moreover , she has granted you a ...

GIVEAWAY!!!

If you go through her interview and leave a comment,  you'll have the chance to win a book: “Speaking With The Angel”.  Don't forget to add your e-mail address and good luck! Winner will be announced next Monday 17 May.

Before starting with my questions, Traxy, do you mind telling us something about yourself? Whatever comes to your mind. Sure thing, Maria Grazia, and thank you for having me! I'm originally from Sweden, not far from Gothenburg on the west coast. In early 2004, I met, fell in love with and got engaged to an Englishman, and by the end of the year, I had moved to Nottingham to live with him, and we recently celebrated our second wedding anniversary! At the moment, I'm working toward an undergraduate degree in Psychology and work as a web administrator.

Aside from blogging, I love reading, writing, watching films, web designing, animals, photography, swimming, cooking, wandmaking, online role-playing, herbal tea and trying to grow my own vegetables.

Swedish, then. What about starting our chat with your new life in England for love. What is living in Nottingham like?

 As my favourite Disney movie is Robin Hood, I thought it’s funny that I should meet a guy from Nottingham and end up living here. Sadly, Nottingham Castle isn’t a turreted marvel of the middle ages – it’s a late 19th century mansion, looking more like a cake than a castle. Other places we’ve been to have really embraced their heritage, and you can’t move for sightseeing buses in York or Dublin, but Nottingham? There’s (almost) nothing! Central Nottingham is generally disappointing and, in many parts, an ugly place to be brutally honest. As Nottingham is internationally famous for Robin Hood, an outlaw, it’s ironic that the town is infamous for a high crime rate today! Nottingham City Council is trying to cash in on the Robin Hood stuff this month because of the release of Ridley Scott’s new movie Robin Hood but I think a lot more can be done in the tourist department, so that “Make Nottingham Proud” isn’t just a cheesy slogan, but a city we really can be proud of.

What do you especially miss of your native country?

Aside from my family, who I miss a lot, I miss how organised things are in Sweden, and the food (IKEA’s food court has some things, but far from everything). I miss Swedish nature. There’s a thing you can call “national romanticism” and that Swedes are very keen on (according to a book). Our national anthem is about nature and how beautiful and serene and quiet the place is, and it’s more of a love song and a nostalgic look at past glory to than a passionate call to arms. I was never a big fan of Sweden when I lived there, but now ... gosh. I think it’s a generic ex-pat thing, that you all of a sudden become super-patriotic regarding your home country! If I moved back, I bet it wouldn’t be long before I’d be complaining about how much better things were in the UK!

You’ve got a very pretty blog, The Squeee. Your style is amusing and sparkling and I like the background and the colours you’ve chosen. Have you created the template yourself?

Oh, thank you very much! I’m so glad you like it. I was going to create a template myself, as I had done a few simple ones before, but when I saw all the code they had added for the gadgets, I freaked out slightly and went for a free, pre-made one instead, which is similar to what I had in mind anyway, only a lot better. The embroidery looks a bit strange, but at the same time it reminds me of my heritage, as my mother is seriously into handicrafts and so was her mother.

What do you think of the blogosphere?

I love it! It’s a fun way to get new friends and follow your interests at the same time.

 What are the pros and cons of blogging?

Too much to write about and too many interesting blogs to read and too little time to do it in! I was unemployed for over a year before I started distance studying at a Swedish university, and I did that for 1.5 years before finally finding some full-time work about a month back, so while I used to have plenty of time to watch DVDs and such, I don’t anymore.

Are there any sites or blogs you regularly visit which inspire you or which you particularly like?

I have a list of blogs I follow on my Blogger Dashboard which I look at every time I log in to see if there are any new posts that look interesting and I get ideas and inspirations from all over the place. The Richard Armitage Fanstravaganza a while back was a fun event and it was a good way to discover “new” blogs. I won’t pick favourites, because I like each blog for different reasons. For instance, I really like yours because of your keen analysis and insight into classic literature – not to mention your wonderful RA Fridays!

But Traxy, I was not fishing for compliments! I just wanted to know if your starting a blog was inspired by other bloggers or sites. However, it’s too late now so ... THANK YOU! I’m flattered. What do you like to blog about the most?

Richard Armitage and Jane Eyre! Or at least, those are the two strongest obsessions at the moment, so they are the most frequent topics. Participating in The Brontë Challenge, like you, has helped as well. If “helped” is the right word when it’s really adding fuel to the fire!

Yes, you’re right. I’ve read several reviews on your blog regarding books by the Brontes or adaptations of the same. Where does your love for these writers come from?

As I read Jane Eyre and saw the ’06 adaptation (in ’08) I fell in love with Mr. Rochester, and then it just went downhill from there! When Laura’s Brontë Challenge came along, I thought it a good excuse to indulge in JE, and get to know Charlotte’s other works as well as those of her sisters. The three have very different styles of writing, and I probably prefer Anne’s writing most (based on Agnes Grey). It’s straightforward, the characters are crystal clear and I don’t feel like I need a translator to understand her writing, like I do with the Yorkshire accent of Emily or the repeated French of Charlotte. While Charlotte’s writing is wonderful and her dialogue superb, sometimes I just want to shout out things like “less is more!” and “omit needless words!”

 Have you got any other favourite author? What kind of reader are you?

An avid one! I’ve always read a lot, ever since I first learned how. For a while when I was a teenager, the local library had amongst the best lending statistics in Sweden – I take partial responsibility for it! ;) The only downside to studying I’ve found is that it means I’m generally too busy reading course books and trying to keep up with them to have proper time to read other things, which is why I doubt I’ll be able to manage the three thick Brontë books I have left on my list before the Challenge runs out on June 30th, but we’ll see. Childhood memories include Astrid Lindgren, LM Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Katarina Taikon, Carolyn Keene, CS Lewis and a bit of Enid Blyton, to name but a few. Then I moved on to Douglas Adams, Agatha Christie, Dean R Koontz, Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Terry Pratchett – and Jane Austen. The ones I swear by today are Douglas Adams and Robert Jordan, along with Jane Austen and the Brontës (of course), and I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd!

 I’ve got the impression you like period drama. Have you got any favourite ones apart from Jane Eyre 2006, of course? Do you like also modern drama and movies?

Indeed I do. It all began with Pride & Prejudice ’95, as that’s how I discovered Jane Austen. Since then I’ve still only managed to read P&P and Sense & Sensibility, even though I have the others as well and they’re on my to-do-list. Favourites are Jane Eyre and P&P, and I seem to have this huge soft spot for Mrs. Gaskell’s North & South as well for some reason ... ;) Modern drama is also really enjoyable – I’m just a sucker for movies in general and always have been. As a child, I used to bore my family with endless accounts of the latest book I had read or the latest MacGyver episode and things along those lines, to the point where they would say “is this something real or is it something else you’ve read/seen?” and either ask me to be quiet or suggest I make up my own stories instead of re-telling everyone else’s.

 You said you like writing. Are you writing anything special? Have you got any special plan about writing?

All the time, that’s the problem. There are all these fascinating ideas floating around wanting to be written down but there’s the issue of piecing together a plot and sit down and actually do the writing. Ever since I was a child I’ve been telling and writing stories. Far from all of them were ever finished, but there have always been a lot of ideas. Have participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) a few times, which is good practice and a lot of fun. I’ve taken a few Creative Writing courses in uni which have been very useful, because I feel more prepared to write a novel now than I’ve been before. Just need to get around to actually doing it, because if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s procrastination!

One of the most recent ideas was to write a novel about Mr. Rochester, but I’ve not pieced together any sort of plot yet. Then I had a thought about a modern take on Jane Eyre, which I’m more interested in at the moment. Just trying to figure out how the characters fit together, but once the puzzle pieces have fallen into place, I won’t have any other option but to write it, because I’m dying to read it and find out what happens!

 Last but not least, it seems you suffers from a very contagious syndrome many of us are very familiar with the John Thornton Syndrome. When did it start? How do you cope with it?

Ohh, JTS, Lucasitis, Gisborne fever, the lot! Seeing a full-sized picture of Guy at the BBC RH exhibition at Nottingham Castle in 2008 made my heart beat faster, but I didn’t hit fandom properly until last year, with season three of Robin Hood. I had seen most of season one and some of season two before, but not really been that keen. Sure, Gisborne was good-looking but the show kinda ... sucked. I was only going to watch season three because Toby Stephens would be in it, but suddenly I just had to get the DVD of N&S instead of settling for the recording from TV, I was having long Skype conversations with a friend and we were giggling like schoolgirls over pictures and soundbytes and YouTube videos, and then I got some more DVDs and joined a couple of fan forums and eventually I ended up blogging about the guy as well. “Everything in moderation”, they say ... I’m no good with moderation, but blogging is a good coping mechanism. While at the beginning, when giggling in front of my laptop, I could say it was because of my friend’s new-found fondness of RA which amused me (failing somehow to mention who she got it from in the first place) ... with my expressed enthusiasm regarding Strike Back, I think my husband is beginning to realise Sam Neill has been knocked off the top spot of my fixations!

 Since you live in England, could you see the first two-part film of Strike Back new series? Without giving too many spoilers away, did you like it? What do you think of John Porter?Oh yes! Luckily, we have Sky1. I thought it was okay but not terribly interesting. Porter as a character is a fairly sympathetic man, and if I was ever taken hostage, I’d want to share a cell with him, because then I’d know everything would be okay because he’s so calm and reassuring and chivalrous and dreamy. Funnily enough, it was difficult to get into the story because I didn’t see John Porter, I saw Richard Armitage. “Oooh look, RA in uniform! Oooh, RA without a uniform! Oooh – OMG THE ARMPIT HAIR!!”

 LOL!!! You had fun it seems . I can understand what you mean by “I saw Richard Armitage and not John Porter”. First time I listen to something read by his voice I can’t catch the meaning of his words since I’m distracted by the velvety sound. But here we go again! Let’s go back to our interview ... You’ve decided to giveaway “Speaking With The Angel”. Why did you choose this book? And have you got any particular question you want to ask our readers?

I’ve chosen a book called “Speaking With The Angel”, which is a short story collection with a story each by Robert Harris, Melissa Bank, Giles Smith, Patrick Marber, Colin Firth (yes, the actor), Zadie Smith, Nick Hornby, Dave Eggers, Roddy Doyle, Helen Fielding, Irvine Welsh, and John O'Farrell. Some of contemporary Britain’s most successful authors, basically. The book was commissioned by Nick Hornby in support of a charity school called TreeHouse, which cares for severely autistic children, one of which used to be Hornby Jr. We were required to read it for English ages ago, and I really enjoyed reading it. Every author have their own voice, their own style of writing and every story is different. The most common advice professional writers give to wannabe writers is, or so I’m told, to read. Read a lot and read many different things in different genres, and I think this book is a good sample. It’s time to pass it on, because good books should be shared.

I’d like to ask the readers to write a thesis on cognitive dissonance theory and explain the Lewin equation and back it up with a good amount of statistics! No, only kidding!  As a fan, there’s nothing more exciting than encountering the person you’re a fan of. I wrote a couple of short stories about meeting my favourite band when I was 17 or so, and when I was 18, I got to meet one of them in real life. Wow, what a buzz! So I’d love to hear a “Reader, I met him/her!” story. Have you met someone famous, someone you admire? What was he or she like? Did s/he live up to your expectations? How did it feel? What did you do? How did you come to meet them? It doesn’t matter who the famous person is/was or if it only lasted a second and you didn’t even speak to them. Perhaps you only spotted them somewhere. If you’ve not encountered a celebrity, perhaps you’ve seen someone who reminded looked like one instead? That’s fine too. (I seem to recall seeing a man who reminded me a little of RA at a supermarket some months ago and my heart skipped a beat!) Or even make it up! Either way, it would be a very interesting read indeed!

(In the picture above you can see me & my favourite singer Thomas Anders, meeting for the first time in 2001 - I was 18 at the time and absolutely ecstatic)

Thank you Traxy for taking your time and answering my questions. Till your next post and best wishes for your studies and your life in Nottingham! Good luck to all of you in the giveaway!

RA FRIDAY - WHAT AN INTENSE WEEK!

1. STRIKE BACK

Have you seen it? I hope you did. We envy you up there in the UK, so , please , at least tell us that you liked it! After such a massive, impressively hammering advertising campaign, personally  I'd turn my TV off as soon as it started. But as I already told you, since Richard Armitage is in there , I promise I'll see it as a piece of his talented career.  I must see and  study it . Yes, as I usually  study any adaptation of  classics (though this is not the case) enjoying myself while watching, trying to find the good and bad in it. I've read the novel by Chris Ryan ( my review here) , I've read much  about Strike Back the series, I've listened to/watched Richard's interviews but ... I fear it is not exactly my cup of tea. Anyhow,  if a pacifist like Richard could act in it, why can't a pacifist  like me  just see it?

This is an interesting bit about John Porter and glamorizing war from one of Richard's latest interviews:

He says: "Porter has guts and he is prepared to make judgements based on a moral code - and to put his life on the line if he thinks he needs to. I don't want him to be perceived as this one-dimensional killing machine with no humanity.'

So does he think his hunky SAS hero will set hearts fluttering? Looking baffled, Richard says: 'I cannot think how someone willing to die for their country would be a person who you would want to put a picture of on your bedroom wall.

'You admire someone like that for their bravery, but not for their attractiveness. Strike Back is about war, and I don't think war is something to glamorise.'     (Read more HERE)

This is why I've chosen  tender moments, non-violent caps from the first two episodes .

(STRIKE BACK ep. 3/4 will be on Sky 1 next Wednesday 12 May)

2. ON GMTV's SOFA & AT RADIO 5

I like to watch  Richard while speaking, his facial expressions and gestures,  his quiet ways  are rather  familiar. Thanks to ITV1 GMTV for giving us  the possibility of enjoying RA chatting on that sofa again. Last Tuesday, 4th May, he was interviewed about Strike Back but he also talked about Spooks 9.
( You can see the interview HERE)
On that same day he went on a real tour de force and we have another video souvenir of that :  a long webcam video of his interview at Radio 5.

3. ON HIS FAN BASE
Richard  couldn't avoid it. In more than one interview they wanted to know about his fans (in the AArmy or not in the AArmy). These are  the bits about this issue I liked the least. I actually didn't like them at all. Was it Richard or the journalist... I didn't like them.

And...

This is something I've just found in the Net today, instead:
"There's lots of derring-do, and the chance to tear off his shirt at every opportunity. No wonder he's built up a fan base of adoring women.

But he's bewildered at his attraction. 'I'm just a geek,' he protests.
'My idea of a passionate weekend is doing DIY. I'm pretty handy with a screwdriver. But is that sexy? I don't think so!" (Read more HERE )

4. RA IS EVERYWHERE, RA IS WATCHING YOU!

His Orwellian presence, haunting people from huge posters all over the country, has started puzzling the man himself:

 

It’s bad enough when you catch a glimpse of yourself unawares in a shop window. So imagine running smack-bang into a massive poster of yourself. Wearing army fatigues. Doing a bit of a glower. “It sort of makes your stomach churn,” admits Richard Armitage – currently plastered across posters for Sky 1’s Strike Back. “I saw one and I had to look away quite quickly.”

They’ve proved fairly disconcerting for friends, too. His Spooks co-star Nicola Walker called to say one of the posters had appeared outside her home. “She said: ‘I can’t believe it – you’re looking in through my bedroom window’.”

(from http://worldbbnews.com/2010/05/05/richard-armitage-from-spy-to-sas/)

5. NEW LUCAS IN NEW SPOOKS SERIES : A DEAD MAN WALKING (?) & HIS FIRST LOVE ( I'm more and more worried!)

"It's almost like what you've seen so far is only part of the picture…"

And you're filming the next series of Spooks at the moment. It doesn't have a problem with killing off its main characters, does it? Does that worry you?

"No - I think it's why Spooks is coming into its ninth series and probably will be going into a tenth and an eleventh. I think it deals with its exits really interestingly and when it brings new characters in, it furnishes the show with something really exciting. It's good to know that the show will go on despite a single character and I'm sure when it's Lucas's turn, he'll go out in style."
So you're not flicking through all the scripts trying to see if you're still alive?
"You kind of do. There is a code of honour where they'll pull you in and say, 'OK, we've decided to do this with your character', but you're still unsure. There's a few surprises in there."
What's it like working with the new cast members like Laila Rouass?
"She's playing a character called Maya who is an old flame of Lucas's, possibly his first love, so that's been really interesting. She plays a doctor. We were shooting in a hospital on the South Bank the other day and it was like those Carlsberg adverts - if Carlsberg did hospitals, what the hospital would be like. It was super clean, and Laila Rouass walked down the corridor as a doctor and I was like, 'This is definitely a Carlsberg hospital'."

Lucas had a difficult relationship with Sarah Caulfield last series. Will that affect his ability to trust Maya?
"Yeah, I think he's had a string of quite disastrous love affairs. This one is particularly different and it's quite hard to tell you without revealing too much of the story but Lucas isn't quite who you think he is and she's part of that story, so there's a whole other character that's contained within Maya."
How was that for you, having this whole other side to Lucas?
"It's interesting because you have to just rethink the character and retrace your steps and go back and make sure that everything fits and rework things that don't work. It's very exciting. And I think this series is very much about identity. All of the characters from the very beginning are not what they seem. All of the new characters that come in actually turn out to be slightly different from what you think."
And will Nightingale be a part of that or is that over now?
"Nightingale comes through as a thread with the old home secretary that was in the last series. That thread is still alive, but it does come to an end at that point and then we have a new problem. Albany. I actually don't know what it is yet. I'm chasing this file called 'Albany' and I still don't know what's in it yet. I think it's something to do with genetics, but they won't tell me. It's sort of top secret." ( The rest of the interview HERE)

6. GIVE US BACK OUR SIR GUY, PLEASE (RICHARD IS READY FOR THAT)

About BBC ROBIN HOOD being cancelled after series 3 Richard said: 

"I was disappointed. I felt that it probably had life beyond three series. At the back of my mind, I still think that they could resurrect it at some point. And it's a shame that it's not in production at the moment as the Russell Crowe movie comes out, because I'm sure there'll be a bit of Robin Hood fever. Although I probably wouldn't want to be competing against that big-budget movie! I still think that there's a passion for it and a love for it, so it was a shame that it finished. I loved doing it, it was brilliant. I'd definitely do a spinoff, a Guy of Gisborne spinoff!" 

 (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/interviews/a218080/richard-armitage-strike-back.html)

P.S. NOTE TO THE PRESS AND MEDIA

Please, dear  journalists, radio speakers, reporters, TV interviewers next time you meet Mr Armitage in your working activity could you avoid

1.  teasing him about his Army? (I didn't enlist, but please ...)

2.  mentioning him the huge amount of female supporters he ( actually )  has?

3.  asking him about the average age of the above mentioned?

4.  asking him always and repeatedly the same boring questions?

5.  annoying him with questions about his past experience in the circus? (maybe,  this time you already succeeded in  it!)

Could you , please, instead

1. prepare yourself  a bit better about his career and work (not simply reading his official biography) and, especially,  ask him much more interesting , challenging questions?

2. remember he trained a lot  and  worked hard before becoming relatively popular at the age of 34?   

3. respect more his audience since it is not made up of  simpletons, neither of shallow inexperienced people, nor of naive dreamers?

4. listen carefully to what he has to say, since he really cares about his characters and the works he is in?

5. learn from him a little humbleness?

Thank you very much indeed

THE AGE OF ANXIETY - TEACHING 20th CENTURY LITERATURE

This morning I started introducing the cultural background to 20th century literature ( Edmund Freud, Karl Marx, William James, Henry Bergson,  Albert Einstein,  among others) . Getting closer to our contemporary world, to our time,   I should have felt safe, at home. Instead, this morning -  as always when I start talking about WWI and  the 20th century   to my students  - I didn't feel at home at all. I felt  rather displaced, as landed in  a foreign country. I've reluctantly left my beloved Victorian Age to start  telling  them about the so - called Age of Anxiety.

 They didn't notice anything strange: they were silently taking notes, carefully listening, nodding or smiling at the recognition of  bits of their Phylosophy  or History lessons. But I was just longing for what I love most. Why can't I love teaching Joyce, T.S. Eliot, V. Woolf, Ezra Pound or Orwell as much as I love the Brontes, Dickens, Gaskell, George Eliot, Stevenson or Wilde? I find the themes in the first decades of 20th century literature  interesting but so depressing at the same time.

We are going to read Joyce's Dubliners, just two of the short stories, Eveline and The Dead. Their main themes are the stillness, immobility, dullness ( paralysis ) the protagonists  are caught in and their failing attempts to escape . I love both short stories since  they are so beautifully sad. But ... no sense of hope in them. The epiphany contained in the narration of the events never leads to a solution. Then we are going to read and analyze some pages from Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. The protagonist's life, re-lived in one crucial day, will lead the reader  - as the protagonist herself - through a journey of self-awareness , self-acceptance and final resignation to the reality of old age and death. Beautifully sad. Not much hope in it. The moments of being in this narration, again,  do not convey any sense of hope.

Finally we are going to study Orwell as a committed writer in the 30s and we will discuss his criticism to totalitarianism reading pages from Animal Farm and Nineteen-Eighty-Four. A promising revolution turned into a strict dictatorship and a nightmarish dystopian description of  post- third WW world.  Hints to dangerous, haunting current realities. No sense of hope again.

I'm sure and convinced any young person should read or at least  know about Orwell's books and his warnings. But can you understand my uneasiness? Maybe I'm just in the wrong mood these days. This is why I need reading something light, just for my delight (see sidebar on the right - currently reading)

THE CLASSICS CIRCUIT - ALEXANDRE DUMAS ON TOUR - THE BLACK TULIP (1850)

“History is a novel written by the People” (Vigny)

This review is part of The Classics Circuit event for April and May 2010: Alexandre Dumas on Tour.

This is the story of a young man, Cornelius Van de Baerle, who was a wealthy philosopher and a tulip fancier who got imprisoned and wrongly condemned to death . This is also the story of  brave young  Rosa who helps illustrious convicts to escape from the prison her father is a jailer at, who falls in love at first sight with the handsome young man, Cornelius,  and fights to help him demonstrate his innocence, who learns to love “the dark beauty with a slender waist, small feet and a noble head” she is intead jealous of at first. This is also the story of a young enlighted Prince who administers fair justice but lets his rivals be lynched by a furious crowd. It is, last but not least, a timeless political allegory in which Alexandre Dumas, drawing on the violence and crimes of history, makes his clear statement against tyranny creating a symbol of justice and tolerance: the fateful “tulipa negra”, the real protagonist of this novel, the black tulip.

I can honestly say I liked this very simple short novel, though it was hardly what I expected from my first Dumas. Yes, in fact, this is the first novel by Dumas I’ve ever read. Of course I know much about his extremely popular novels, The Three Musketeers, Man in the Iron Mask , The Count of Monte Cristo but only because I grew up watching Tv adptations, films and cartoons based on them. The suspence and excitement, the escapes , the  duels and  the glorious victories in those stories are still alive in my memory.

But this one  is completely different from the previous novels:  a very simple storyline - plus a few other ingredients - results into a sweet romantic tale.

In those years, if the struggle against oppression generated excitement, the practical problems facing a large nation just beginning its industrial revolution, were dull and prosaic. So Romantic writers and artists, Dumas included, never comfortable with ordinariness, looked elsewhere for the excitement they needed. They found it in imagination and emotion but many took also their escape from the present to a symbolical (as in Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed) , idealized or simply more fascinating and exotic past (as in Sir Walter Scott’s novels). In this novel Dumas wrote about the tulipmania of the 17th century which brought wealth to some and ruin to many.

Anyhow, though belonging to the historical novel genre – set in 1672 Holland - The Black Tulip (1850) lacks verosimilitude in his historical figures, especially young Prince William of Orange (one of Britain’s future monarchs) . He  mingles with the crowd in the dramatic opening of the book, disguised as a poor peasant he enjoys his victory over his rivals – John and Cornelius de Witte - while they are brutally murdered and torn to pieces. Then he  becomes merciful “His Highness” , little by little: he saves young Cornelius Van Baerle’s life,  changing his death sentence into a life sentence, and makes justice, in the end , helping Rosa and Cornelius’s dream come true.

In conclusion, I’d like to quote from David Coward’s introduction to my edition of the novel (Oxford University Press 2008):“The black tulip brings out the best and the worst in people, for in Dumas’s hands it acquires a talismanic power. It makes the good happy, halts the wicked and makes kings human”.

AT THE CINEMA - AGORA'

It took Italian distributors some time to find the courage to release AGORA’ in our theatres but at last they made it last week and I was able to see it this weekend. Now I understand what they feared: this movie can be interpreted as an attack to Christianity, and maybe it partly is. But that would be a superficial reading of this beautiful , epic, costume movie. I think this is an attack but to any extremism which has infected human history since ancient times, it is an attack to the stupidity of Man who always repeats the same mistakes and never remembers, it is an attack to the continuous distortion of sacred texts to pursuit earthly greedy purposes, it is an attempt to reflect on contemporary serious dangers through the recount of this tragic, ancient,  true story.

Alexandria , Egypt, 391 A.D. The protagonist is Hypatia  philosopher and matemathician, heiress of the ancient Greek culture and , as a woman, expression of the long evolution and great freedom of thought which  characterized the world that will disappear with her. She and her ideals are overwhelmed and swept away by the crisis of an entire world, the classic pagan world , that of Hypatia’s father, Theon, the head of Alexandria’s fabled library. She has the privilege to be free of teaching a group of brilliant minds in the city. Two men are in love with her : her student Oreste and Davus, her personal slave.

But Hypatia prefers to spend her time in the library, where scrolls of parchment are stuffed onto racks in a magnificent chamber, and pondering such matters as the movement of the Earth and the planets and whether or not the Earth is flat or round. She wants to demonstrate Ptolem was wrong.

Alexandria is a cosmopolitan city hosting Jews, Pagans and Christians, just legalized by the Roman Empire. They are the majority and their number grows more and more. A group of fundamentalist Christians called parabolani become aggressive and lead the sacking of Alexandria’s library. Violence spreads all over the city and among the different religious groups until the very tragic epilogue.

Among interesting male characters such as Davus (Max Minghella), Oreste (Oscar Isaac), Ammonius (Ashraf Barhom), Synesius (Rupert Evans), Theon ( Michael Lonsdale), Aspasius (Homayoun Ershadi), and Cyril ( Sammy Samir) the figure of beautiful, smart and brave Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) is there towering all the time.

If what is told in the movie is true, Christians shouldn’t be ashamed ,and hide their heads in the sand  in order not to see or know. This movie should teach any human being something since it is food for brain. One can learn so much from his/her own mistakes and even from other people’s mistakes.

Alejandro Amenabar shows great courage again, after winning an Academy Award for The Sea Inside ( and after The Others starring Nicole Kidman) he has given us another amazing movie. Hypatia , her life and death deserved not to be ignored. Though not historically accurate I agreed with the choice of the director in the fatal ending scene. Davus desperate  embrace to Hypatia touched my heart and moved me to tears. Gripping. Unforgettable.

 

(caps & pictures from Lights, Camera...History! )

Official HD Trailer

MY BLOGGER BUDDIES WITH GIVEAWAY - MEET MEREDITH AT AUSTENESQUE REVIEWS

Meredith is another of my Janeite mates in the blogosphere. She is American, lives in the US and I would have never met her if I hadn't starte blogging. Apart from some little differences, we discovered we share a lot. So you are invited to meet her. Read this inteview, visit her blog Austenesque Reviews, leave your comment and you'll have a chance to win Meredith's giveaway of one of her favourite Austen - based fiction books: JANE FAIRFAX by Joan Aiken.

  

Welcome on FLY HIGH Meredith and thanks for being my guest today. Could you please start intr,oducing yourself to our readers?

I am originally from Long Island, New York. I moved to Wilmington, NC to go to college and I have been living here ever since. I am a part time music teacher at a private school and I give private piano and flute lessons after school. I am newly married, my husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last September. I love teaching, reading, playing the piano, gardening, crocheting, photography, going to the beach, and blogging!

2. Wow, Meredith, I guess we share lots of things. Let’s see, I also got married in September (but just some years earlier than you) , then I love teaching (English), I’m fond of music (I used to sing in a choir and studied opera singing), I like (listening to people) playing the piano, I’m keen on going to the beach (but live in the mountains) and , I’m definitely addicted to blogging! Jokes apart, tell about your love for music. Favourite genres, composers?

Wow, we do have a lot in common, Maria Grazia! My favorite genre of music to listen to and play is Classical. I sort of take after Marianne Dashwood in a way because I like to play pieces that I can pour my emotions into, and I tend to be drawn to music that are dark, passionate, and moody. My favorite composer is Ludwig van Beethoven, hands down! I love his tempestuous works as well as his soft and pensive ones. After Beethoven, I love to play or listen to music by Frederic Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninov. I'm also a big Beatles fan and I have grown very fond of jazz since that is what my husband likes.

And what about teaching? I think teaching music must be extremely gratifying. At least you can teach to pupils who want to learn privately, that’s my dream. Instead, my daily nightmare is to be in front of class groups of students who dream of being somewhere else and are not so interested in what I say. What are the best and worst aspects of your job?

Teaching music is extremely gratifying, Maria Grazia. I teach kindergarten through eighth grade at my school and it is such a pleasure to see all the students grow, mature,and develop a love of music. Plus it is the cutest thing in the world to have them sing for you! The best aspect of my job is working with children, I simply love children! I love to play and act silly with them and I hope I inspire them to have fun and enjoy music while they are in my class. The worst aspect of my job is all the busy work teachers have to do and all the boring faculty meetings we have to go to.

Don’t mention it. That’s the worst aspect of our job indeed. As to travelling, I dream of going on an Austenesque tour in England, I mean, I’d love to visit all the sites linked to JA’s novels, her life and even to the adaptations. Have you ever been to England? Have you ever visited Austenesque places or would you like to? Which towns/places?

Going on an Austenesque tour sounds fantastic! I have never been to England, nor have I been anywhere outside the United States. My husband and I hope to rectify that real soon! England is definitely one of the first places I want to visit. I would love to see Chawton Cottage and Bronte Parsonage. Have you ever been to England, Maria Grazia?

 I have, several times , but always to London and places nearby (Windsor or Hampton court for instance) . You love blogging , I guess. What are your favourite Austen dedicated sites? The ones you regularly visit to get updated?

My favorite Austen dedicated sites are actually two very special and wonderful blogs. Austenblog and Austenprose. The ladies who run these blogs are extremely talented and dedicated. I visit their blogs practically every day! Other than that, I love to hop around and visit various book blogs that often feature Austenesque novels. I love to read other people's reviews of Austenesque novels whether it be one I have already read or not.

I love reading your AUSTENSQUE REVIEWS. Your in - depth analysis of Austen and Austen based fiction is stimulating for a Janeite like me. When and how did your love for everything Austen start?

Thank you for the compliment, Maria! It pleases me to hear that you find my blog helpful! My love for Austen began when I was sixteen and read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte for the first time. Jane Eyre was required summer reading for the AP English class I was preparing to take in the fall. After reading Jane Eyre I was eager to read more similar-like books. Someone recommend I read Pride and Prejudice and that is how my love for Jane Austen began.

 Have you got any favourite Austen based fiction book/s? One or more that you would recommend here?

I have many favorites and I love to rave about them, but I'll try to keep it short! I'm big fan of hero retellings such as: Pamela Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentlemen Trilogy and Susan Kaye's Frederick Wentworth, Captain Series, and my new favorites are Charity Envieth Not by Barbara Cornthwaite and Captain Wentworth's Persuasion by Regina Jeffers. In addition, I enjoy reading anything that combines Jane Austen and mystery, my favorites being Murder at Longbourn by Tracy Kiely and the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery Series by Carrie Bebris. Last but not least, some of my favorite authors are Abigail Reynolds, Monica Fairview, Jane Odiwe, Syrie James, and Kara Louise.

 What do you think of Austen adaptations? Have you got any favourite ones?

I do have some favorites, but I'm afraid I am partial to them partly because they are the first ones I ever watched. My first Pride and Prejudice adaption was the 1940's one with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. I know it is the least accurate, the costumes are all wrong, and the actors' ages are not suitable, but I can't help but enjoy everyone's performance in it regardless. The second Austen adaption I saw and fell in love with was Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. I love this adaption because of Jeremy Northam's excellent portrayal of Mr. Knightley and because it is such a stunning spectacle; I love all the costumes, scenery, and the music. Now as I watch more and more Austen adaptions I find something to like and appreciate in each one. I also love to watch Austen-Inspired movies like Bride and Prejudice and Lost in Austen too.

Who would you choose among Austen heroines as your best friend? Why?

I would have to choose Elizabeth Bennet. I tend to be a little quiet and shy like Anne Elliot and I feel that if I had someone brave and bold like Elizabeth as a friend she would help draw me out, make me laugh at myself, and stick up for me. Can you imagine how different Anne Elliot's life would have been if she had Elizabeth Bennet as a sister instead of Elizabeth Elliot?

Who would you marry if you were one of Austen heroines among her heroes? 

What a challenging question! I would love to say Darcy or Knightley, but I'm no Elizabeth or Emma so I know they wouldn't be right for me. Also, since I am already happily married I'm having a difficult time thinking about marrying someone else! My husband seems to be a blend of Henry Tilney and Mr. Knightley. He has Mr. Tilney's playfulness and humor and he has Mr. Knightley's good judgment and high moral character. He is the perfect man for me, that's for sure!

Lucky woman! Now, a question I‘ve wanted to ask you for some time. In January you won a brand new copy of BBC North and South (2004) in one of the giveaways on FLY HIGH! (offered by M. GRAY in “My Blogger Buddies”). Have you seen it? And if you have, have you found any similarity between Margaret /Thornton relationship and the love story in P&P? More similarities or more differences? And , finally, did you like it?

Yes! I have watched it and I feel so fortunate to have won it through M. Gray's wonderful giveaway! It is such a beautiful and captivating adaption! Having not read Ms. Gaskell's novel yet, I didn't know what to expect, but I enjoyed it immensely! (Especially with Richard Armitage as the brooding and romantic hero!) I noticed that North and South is similar to Pride and Prejudice in that both couples start out not liking each other. In addition, the themes of pride and prejudice are highlighted in both as well (although the genders seemed a little reversed in N&S). One big difference is in the mood I felt in each adaption P&P is light and bright where N&S seemed a little more dark and somber.

Have you got any question/s you want to ask to commenters for your giveaway?

I would like to giveaway a new copy of Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken. Jane Fairfax was the very first Austen-Inspired novel I ever read about seven years ago and it still remains one of my favorites today! It is a fantastic retelling of Emma through the eyes of Jane Fairfax and it very successfully depicts Jane Fairfax as a second heroine of Emma.

To enter the giveaway maybe readers can share what was the first Austen-Inspired novel they ever read and share if they liked it or not?

Thank you so much, Maria, for asking me to be a part of your Blogger Buddy Interviews! This is my very first interview and I am so very honored to be one of your interviewees. I'm so very happy that we “met” through the Internet and our blogs, I only wished we lived closer together!

It would be lovely, indeed, to meet and chat somewhere over a cup of coffee or tea, Meredith. And I would love to listen to you playing Beethoven at the piano. Keep up the good work with your Austenesque Reviews and best wishes for everything you do. Thank you!

Leave your comments then. Don't forget to say what your  first Austen-Inspired book was , if you liked it  and to add your e-mail address. The giveaway is open worldwide and winner will be announced on May 10th. Good luck! And have a great Sunday!

RA FRIDAY - THE DIRTY TRUTH OF WAR

The RA fandom has been going crazy in the last two weeks over the massive advertising campaign hammering the airing of STRIKE BACK next Wednesday 5 May. We  have been overwhelmed by a huge quantity of new pictures, lots of interviews with the man himself (most of them definitely similar and quite monotonous, few of them fairly interesting) , articles and reviews, clips and trailers....
I've read only part  - and in a great hurry - of  the many interviews to Richard Armitage. I  am very interested in what he has to say about his characters and how he works hard to give them a backstory and credibility. Only this time I couldn't do much , though I tried hard (real life taking the upper hand!). Anyhow, I found some interesting points in the few I read:  Richard discussing the act of killing , Richard analyzing the differences between previous and current warfare, Richard making interesting considerations about Lucas North and John Porter being/or not being  similar characters... Again & again , I found clues of brain between those piercing blue eyes. I was sure of that, aware of the existence of  skills and sensitivity, I have always known that, reading his words or listening to him . It was just a confirmation of my already strong certainties.

Richard on killing ...

Richard on war films and current warfare...

(from Readers Digest May 2010)

Richard on the similarity between Lucas and John Porter

A spy in one, a soldier in another. It's a boy's dream, playing those two roles.

Yes, it is. And they're kind of similar. Lucas North is MI5, and John Porter works for a branch of MI6, but he's the antithesis of Lucas, really. Luckily they are very different, because I was worried how similar they were. If you met them together, you'd realise that they're at opposite ends of the Spectrum.

Was it a concern, that they are, in theory, so similar? Did the script persuade you to do Strike Back?

I love the idea that the script persuaded me! If only. I had three pages of it to go on, and that's when you have to make a decision. I was weary of the war genre, because we've seen it a lot. It's been done well, done badly, done in clichéd ways, and it's also broken new ground. I thought 'Is this going to another of those TV war things that just ends up on the shelf?' but then that became the challenge, to reinvent this idea of a war hero. I had to find something else in an action hero that rings different bells.

(...)

I went for the baggage he has from his past, that was the really interesting thing. I wanted to remove the character from the idea of the military and make him apply to everyone... There's this idea that he made a decision he believed to be the right one, and that had huge, catastrophic effect on his life and career. He had to go in search of atonement for that decision, still believing he made the right call, despite the fact something terrible happened as a result. I think that is a universal situation, not necessarily just war and the military. In a war genre, it becomes acutely focused, though.

(from AOL UK website)

Richard on a military career ...

Is that something you ever thought about, a dream of working in that field?

No never, I couldn't be further away from that! I'm the guy that's off painting and playing the cello. That's probably why it is kind of satisfying to do. It's a life I never would have chosen and will never choose, so that's why it's interesting to play the character, because it's quite far from my own aspirations.

(from screenrush.co.uk)

He's the guy that's off painting and playing the cello. And I definitely like that.

Is he embarassed by his towering sex-symbol status or just bored? "Baffled" , he answers and just smiles and go on enthusiastically talking about his work.

And I deeply appreciate that.

I hope I'll have some spare time to read  the rest of the huge quantity of materials published about Strike Back.

Have you read everything come out so far, instead? Have you got a favourite article/interview?

I'm longing for a TV interview. I'm fond of  watching Richard sitting and chatting on a sofa in a TV studio ... It seems he will be on GMTV (ITV1) early in the morning next Tuesday May 4th.

It was Friday when I started writing this post. It is already Saturday (1 a.m.) now. I apologize for being a bit late.

Enjoy your weekend!