Category: Reviews

Movie Review: Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

I missed last year’s Murder on the Orient Express in theaters, so when I saw it at Redbox while waiting in a long line at the grocery store, the same day I was having a monthly movie night with friends–well, serendipity!  I’m glad to have seen it and I enjoyed watching it, and I’m glad I watched it with my friends.  Because I had some thoughts to discuss.

Based on the classic Agatha Christie novel, the story centers around a murder on a train, the titular Orient Express.  The train is trapped by an avalanche in the middle of nowhere, so when a body is found in a sleeping compartment in the morning, it appears the murderer must be one of the passengers.  Fortunately for the forces of truth, justice and mystery-writing, among the passengers is the famous Hercule Poirot, who sets out to get to the bottom of the mystery.

So much is true in the book, the recent movie, and the 1974 version (also enjoyable).  This one also brings star power equal to the old one, with Kenneth Branagh playing Poirot with truly remarkable mustaches (always plural with Poirot); Johnny Depp doing a rather sinister turn as the murder victim; and Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff (inevitable casting, as it felt strange in the older movie that the old British dame wasn’t Judi Dench).  Penelope Cruz, Michelle Pfeiffer and Daisy Ridley also appear.

Branagh played a more nuanced, less theatrical (barring the mustaches) Poirot, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.  This Poirot was exhausted by the horrors of the crime-solving life, had a secret love in his past, and was probably OCD.  Usually I’m in favor of more nuance and depth to characters…but Poirot’s theatricality and delight in his work is part of his charm!  If I can get over the “but that’s not right…” aspect of things, it was a very good character who was interesting to follow through the movie–though I will maintain that the secret past love seemed wildly unnecessary, and an example of the movie industry trying to horn romance in everywhere.  (I’m pro-romance!  I’m just also pro-the occasional character who doesn’t have that motivation.)

Likewise the movie made some different choices in the nuances.  There was some extra drama thrown-in, with an added stabbing and more dramatic confrontations.  Which were exciting–but I rather liked the cerebral quality of the original.  The motivations behind the murder also felt more intense, more emotion-driven than the considered justice of the original.  None of it was bad as it was in the new movie–or as it was in the original.  They’re just different.

I do prefer the way the modern movie opened compared to the earlier one (both add-ons that weren’t in the book).  The old one gives away much of the mystery in the first five minutes with a kind of prologue, while the new one lets us learn connections as Poirot makes them, which I greatly prefer.  The new movie instead opens with a small-scale mystery which Poirot solves within perhaps ten minutes, which provides a bit of early drama and, more importantly, effectively introduces us to the lead character in a vivid way.

So I guess the conclusion was that it was good–but different–but good.  And if you’ve never read the book or seen the previous movie, then it’s just good.  And contains a very clever twist on the murder that (I hope) hasn’t been spoiled for you yet!

Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

I first heard of this book many, many years ago, and it sounded intriguing.  I had the title wrong, though–until I actually picked it up off a library shelf, I always thought it was Why Bad Things Happen to Good People.  Now that I’ve read it, I think that title would have been too presumptuous for this thoughtful, philosophical book that doesn’t try to give easy answers: When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner.

Written by a rabbi who lost a son to a degenerative disease, the book centers around how to face the terrible, inexplicable things in life, in the light of faith in a loving God.  Kushner goes through the common explanations people often go to (tragedies as a form of justice, tragedies fitting into a larger plan, tragedies designed to teach us something…)  This section includes an extended examination of the Book of Job.  Kushner then, kindly, compassionately and compellingly, breaks down why none of those answers really work and, perhaps more importantly, are not really comforting in the greatest extremity.

Kushner then offers his own conclusion, that God can’t rescue us from the consequences of our own choices, or from the effects of nature/natural law.  He follows this with an exploration of why faith and prayer still matter and still help.  He makes an important distinction between tragedy happening for a reason, and our own choice to create meaning out of a tragedy.  He also suggests that prayer connects us to others who care, and gives us strength–praying for a miracle to change a situation usually doesn’t get us our desired result, but praying for courage to face the situation does. Continue reading “Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People” →

Book Review: Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews2 Comments

I’ve been gradually revisiting L. M. Montgomery’s novels lately, most recently her Pat duology: Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat.  These were two of her later books, published in 1933 and 1935 respectively, and some of the darker strains of her later life are already coming through.  There’s still much that is funny, charming and hopeful, but there are definitely some deeper shadows here than in earlier books.

Pat of Silver Bush follows Pat from childhood to girlhood, up to around age 18.  Mistress Pat ranges over eleven years, bringing Pat to about 30.  Pat is passionately devoted to her home of Silver Bush and her family, vowing that Silver Bush is all she needs and deeply hating any change.  She is joined by two beloved friends, Bets and Jingle.  The most striking character may be Judy, cook, storyteller and mother figure for Pat.  More spoilers to the story below!

All of Montgomery’s heroines have some of her traits, and she mentions in her journals endowing Pat with her deep love of home and hatred of change.  Pat is a bit of an odd heroine, still ecstatic in her joys (as Montgomery’s heroines tend to be) but much more wrung out by life.  Emily has her dark moments, but Pat seems especially tragical.  The books are not so grim that I’d call her tragic, but even with an element of humor in the mix, Pat still seems more pained by life than Montgomery’s usual heroines.  Likely this is because she was written while Montgomery herself was growing more pained by the direction of her own life.

The books are enjoyable on a surface level, with Montgomery’s usual nature rhapsodies, charming depiction of home life and much humor.  Judy is an absolute delight, with her Irish brogue, endless stories and parade of good food.  The last quarter of Mistress Pat veers toward the truly tragic, but most of the two books is still warm and affirming. Continue reading “Book Review: Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat” →

Book Review: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews3 Comments

I mentioned recently that the long (loooong) awaited new Tamora Pierce book was finally out.  I got it from my library, and then (because life is busy) spent a couple weeks reading it.  So how did Tempests and Slaughter, Book One of the Numair Chronicles, turn out after all this time?

Well…I should say that very few things could live up to the amount of build-up that came before this book.  It reminds me of the third season of Sherlock.  The answer to the worst cliffhanger I’ve ever seen had so much pressure behind it, I had little hope that the pay-off would actually work.  The fact that it did was, in a meta kind of way, as satisfying as the actual answer.  But I mention this because of its rarity…and this is all a big, long, almost apologetic and avoidant lead-in to saying that, after all these years of waiting, Tempests and Slaughter was, well…okay.  Not a bad book!  But only okay.

The tale focuses on young Arram Draper, who will someday grow up to be the Numair we know from earlier (but chronologically later) Tortall books.  (Some spoilers to follow, but only if you haven’t read the Daine books.)  Arram is a student mage at the great Carthaki University.  He is troubled by the gladiatorial games held in Carthak, and by the acceptance of slavery within the empire, but he loves his classes and excels at them.  He becomes friends with Ozorne, a minor prince of the realm, and Varice, a lively, beautiful girl Arram harbors a crush on.

I’m not sure where to stop this summary, so I guess I’ll just stop here.  The dilemma points to what is in fact the weak point of the story–there’s not much story.  The premise is lovely, but there’s little plot, no driving direction to the book, no strong climax to pull threads together.  It’s somewhat like a Harry Potter book without Voldemort.  After all these years of waiting, this book felt more like a set-up to (the promised) book two, when presumably some hinted conflicts will finally come to the forefront.

Arram is a likable character, honorable and genuinely excited by his studies.  I did like reading about a magic-learning character who wants to learn.  So often the trope is for the main character to be largely disengaged from learning (creating opportunities for incidents through mishaps and school stress), perhaps with a friend (hi, Hermione!) who is more scholarly.  Arram has his share of mishaps, usually because his magic is too strong, and I liked his earnest desire to learn. Continue reading “Book Review: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce” →

Book Review: The Story of Mankind

On By cherylmahoneyIn Juvenile, ReviewsLeave a comment

I recently confronted the juggernaut of Newbery Medals, the very first winner from 1922 and a seriously massive piece of nonfiction: The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon.  I actually got this out from the library months ago, was decidedly taken aback by how thick it was, and returned it unread for a later day.  This time I bought the audiobook on Audible (14 hours!)–and to my pleasant surprise, found it a quite engaging read.

The Story of Mankind promises to tell the history of the human race, starting from the formation of the Earth (literally), on up through the present day…of 1922, of course, just a few years beyond the Great War.  Along the way we go through the dinosaurs, primeval man, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Reformation.  It’s not so much the story of mankind as it is the story of European male-kind, but I will say that for a 1922 book, it made some efforts to be broad-minded.

As long as this was, I found it engaging and interesting throughout.  Targeting children, the history is not too dense, for good or ill.  It made it easy to follow and simple to read (er, listen to) but don’t expect too much detail or advanced analysis.  I liked that it made an effort to pull the long centuries of history together into a coherent story, tracing the line from different eras and different countries to show how parts of history normally told separately connect to each other. Continue reading “Book Review: The Story of Mankind” →