Category Archives: Book and film reviews

Saw La Larga Noche de Francisco Sanctis by Argentinean directors Andrea Testa and Francisco Marquez, on the flight back form Mexico.  Very little dialogue.  Long stretches of Francisco walking through the streets, but it is short.  You need to know … Continue reading →

Saw this movie on flight back from Mexico.  Tremendous. Very quiet.  Let’s say it is the opposite of triumphalism, fascism, inyourfaceism, and instead embodies every virtue related to empathy, caring, and grace.  Of course watching a movie like this on … Continue reading →

The comments from The Mookse and the Gripes are spot on. I read the story last night, and at the end just put the magazine down, muttering, “Treisman….really?” I’m a fan of Lanchester, both his novels and his essays (I … Continue reading →

Read this a couple of months ago.  Do not have much to say. It won the Hugo. Characters were well-drawn.  In general, I do not like fantasy-sci fi “mixes” where magic and science co-exist.  The underlying premise, that the scientists … Continue reading →

The Greatship by Robert Reed is a collection of twelve stories or novellas set in or on the Greatship, a Uranus-sized ship making its way through the Milky Way.  Humans were first to find the ship, and so by the … Continue reading →

Well, it is too long. But Andreas Eschbach’s science fiction novel, Lord of All Things, is nevertheless a good read.  The basic premise is pretty standard: What if someone could discover a technology that would end the need for technology.  … Continue reading →

I enjoyed it. A time-loop movie that is fairly clever about the loop and how to end the film.

Went with S. to see this Israeli movie.  Quite a good drama (OK verging on melodrama).  But since it is about holocaust survivors and their secrets, the melodramatic is actually real.  Some really awful things happened.  The film is self-conscious … Continue reading →

I was reading The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, and realized is is a good example of the concept of persistence in economic development.  In this case, the emperor sets thousands of worlds on a persistent path of economic activity … Continue reading →

I checked out Gardner Dozois “The Year’s Best Science Fiction” (16th annual, including stories published in 1998).  A smattering of really good reads, but this was one of the first volumes in this series where I was disappointed.  Among the … Continue reading →

Deborah Treisman (the fiction editor at The New Yorker) basically only seems to want to publish stories about the small, emotion-laden, identity crises of people whose choices involve their feelings.  Should I feel good about that person, or bad about … Continue reading →

Windup Girl Tana French

“Deaf and Blind” by Lara Vapnyar, short story in April 24, 2017 The New Yorker.  As usual, the blog Mookse and the Gripes has great comments with reader reactions to the story.  I found it very readable though a little … Continue reading →

Sukie, Leslie and I all liked it.  There is nothing to say about it because you just have to go and enjoy it.  Then afterwards you will have plenty to talk about!

I could not agree more with Tinkoo Valia’s very positive appreciation.  Great speculative fiction (in the form of a non-fiction reportage). Ted Chiang’s “Liking What You See: A Documentary” (novella, thought experiment): What if we could switch off perception of … Continue reading →

I went with my daughter to see Your Name a couple weeks ago, and we both liked it.  Somewhat flawed, and not close to Miyazaki-quality, but still plenty good.

Golden Sun and Gold Rising by Pierce Brown.  Leslie picked these up at the library.  Brown has mastered the genre.  Excellent writing and especially dialogue.  Lots of intriguing ideas.  The whole thing has been carefully “lifted” from the best of … Continue reading →

Over the last few weeks I’ve been reading short stories and novellas collected in the annual anthology by Gardner Dozois (for 2013 and 1995).  Here’s a few recommendations: 2013 Indraparamit Das, “Weep for a Day” A really nice “classical” tale … Continue reading →

I enjoyed The OA immensely, even if at times the show is unsatisfying.  It is like Netflix had carefully analyzed my viewing profile and said, “Let’s make a series that mixes Lost, Arrival, Lars von Trier, I see dead people, … Continue reading →