Movies & Books Into Movies

[PatH]

How many of you have read a book, then watched a movie that was based on that same book? Were you disappointed? Or elated that they hadn't made any significant changes? Or even surprised to discover the movie was even better than the book? We've expanded this discussion as we're all restricted to our homes with this coronavirus pandemic.  If you've found good movies to watch or shows on TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime or wherever, please come share with us.

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Books Into Movies Now on DVD
Recent Movies Based on Books
Books in a Series by Their Authors
Movies Based on the Book

Join us in an ongoing discussion of this very popular subject right now.
Pull up a chair, take off your shoes, pour yourself a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and join in!

[PatH]

No, no Ginny, you've obviously posted the wrong picture.

Amazing.

[rosemarykaye]

Good morning all,

It's almost 11.30am here and I am only just sitting down at the computer - because I started reading my chosen book for my friend's '1920Club' themed read next week, and got so engrossed in The Princess of the School that I couldn't stop - am already over half way through. It is Angela Brazil at her best, with girls called things like Lilias, Bertha and Prissie. They are three of only 20 pupils at an exclusive (but 'down to earth' ) boarding school, where they sleep in 'The Blue Bedroom' or 'The Gold Bedroom', have endless meals (including tea, scones and home-made cake every afternoon) and use words like 'ripping!' and 'jolly good!' and 'You're an absolute blighter, Laurette!' 

Lilias and Dulcie are sisters who live with their siblings on their Grandfather's estate, their parents having been handily dispatched in a shipwreck (but so long ago that no-one needs to feel upset about it). Grandfather (known as 'Grandfather' to them and 'The Squire' to all the lowly cap-doffing villagers) is of course very wealthy. When the Christmas Hols are coming, the girls discuss how they will all go home - some on the train, some by car (chauffeured, of course, as in 'Daddy's sending the car for me') - cue one-upmanship of a very special kind when Lilias and Dulcie announce that 'We shall be riding home - Grandfather thought Rajah and Peri needed exercise, so he's sending two of his grooms over with them.'

And there is lots more in this vein. I love it.

Ginny, loved the photos of the actress who plays Princess Anne!  I think, like Camilla and Pippa (at least I think it's true of Pippa!) they are meant to be complete caricatures, even more than the others. Anne is well known to prefer horses to people. She used to be the patron of the stonemasons' workshop attached to the Cathedral (the workshop sadly had to be closed as it could not maintain solvency) and visited every so often. There seemed always to be much more kerfuffle about her coming than there was when Camilla came, but that may just be because the person organising it was quite volatile!  It always went well, but I do get the impression she could be quite scary.

nlhome - thanks so much for the advice about TVs. I read it out to my husband, who has in his head the notion that we have to get a Panasonic because he 'knows how those work' - whereas I think some other makes are better, and also that if we got a Panasonic now, it would be quite different from the one we bought maybe 20 years ago (not the 14" one - the Panasonic is in our house in Edinburgh). At the time Panasonic had had a falling out with various app producers so you could not get half of the apps, which was annoying, but I imagine that has now been resolved.

Have a good day everyone.

Rosemary

[Dana]

I'm afraid what with the virus and all (at least, that's my excuse) I have lapsed happily into Mrs Brown's Boys, Father Ted and Curb Your Enthusiasm.  There's nothing like a bit of really bad taste to brighten the spirits....but I can't be alone, I was amazed to see Mrs Brown's Boys has Christmas shows! It doesn't seem like a show for a family Christmas day......I'd only seen the series once or twice so now I'm quickly catching up....Father Ted is a bit of nostalgia,  that show used to be on PBS......but then he died.....I love the thick young priest ......Curb Your Enthusiasm made me put Sinefeld on my list to watch, there's a lot of it I guess.....

[ginny]

Mrs. Brown's Boys! The first one I saw was the last Christmas one.  It's strangely endearing, isn't it? Odd.  Reminds me of Dame Edna whom I loved, I really did. Possums.  I also used to be devoted to Curb Your Enthusiasm but sometimes David takes it too far, I think, it's kind of an ouch situation,  sometimes too much in the later programs but some of the early ones  are classics. And very funny. 

Have never heard of Father Ted, I'll look it up.

Pat, it's hard to believe, isn't it? They've got some kind of prosthetic device in her mouth which makes her look as if she has buck teeth, completely alters her entire face.  It seems that teeth  do make a difference in one's face.

Still working on my "Beatrice" voice hahaha I could not stand in a room where there was a lot of that without laughing, hopefully it's exaggerated somewhat.  Check out her pronunciation of "vlog" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0nXGAvPmWw Eugenie steals the pronunciation  show here though she doesn't in the series. Don't you LOVE their confusion over the word "budget?" hahaha I'm sorry Rosemary can't see that one, but maybe it's somewhere else too.

I am loving the program. Poor Pippa, they really make her something else, and why does Harry refer to her as Puppa and why does  Will crush every i into another vowel? It takes me a long time and several rewinds  to figure out sometimes what  he is saying. What a hoot it is.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny - we can in fact get YouTube, and I loved that Marie Claire spoof, those actresses are so good.

I think you would be surprised at how accurate their accents are for a certain type of entitled, spoilt, rich girl. No kidding, they all talk like that, and as they mostly only converse with each other they think it’s normal.

Wills’ ‘Puppa’ is brilliant, and again really is how those people talk.

Pippa Middleton has done nothing to endear herself to the British public.  She has written some truly pointless party planning books then married a mega-rich man. I suppose the one good thing about that is that she is not funded by the taxpayer.

Something quite different that I found on YouTube recently was a whole lot of interviews, programmes, etc with/about Daphne du Maurier. A blogger I know runs a Du Maurier reading week each May - I have stupidly come up to northern Scotland with no Du Mauriers at all, I’ll have to see what I can get as an ebook from the library. I can’t say she is my favourite author (many people absolutely revere her) but I enjoyed Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel, and du Maurier was certainly an interesting woman. I’m thinking I might try Jamaica Inn if I can access a copy.

Rosemary

[ginny]

 You CAN get Youtube? Ha!  Is this new? I've been told by a lot of students in the UK it's not there.

I actually went so far as to watch the real Beatrice and Eugenie give a talk,  and unfortunately they did not draw out their words like they do in the other films.  I have now watched all three seasons of  The Windsors and am hooked.  Andrew really takes a beating as does  Fergie, too. Had you not mentioned it I doubt I'd have picked it up again and now I think I'll re-watch it.

Is it the old Brideshead you're going to watch?  I've never been to Castle Howard, have you? I thought this past March I might give it a shot, but of  course that was not meant to be.  I think I'll find the old Bleak House and watch it for the umpteenth time just to see Dance.

There's something about this isolation which makes me want Dickens for some reason.

Have you ever seen Game of Thrones? I haven't, and he's in that, too.

I took Jamaica Inn when we once went  on a trip to the moors, in fact to the very place which it supposedly depicts,   (it's been a long time and I've forgotten the location now, other than "the moors"),  because  I thought that would be so apropos, do I recall there is an "inn" there which  may have sparked the story?  That was when we spent such a long time in Cornwall. But unfortunately I lost the book en route, so the entire moment was lost. And kind of anticlimactic.   My suitcase is always full of books, and unfortunately often  they don't all  make it all the way.


This is the most TV and movie watching I've done in ages.

[ginny]

 Do you find yourselves in this isolation, watching things you would never watch otherwise?

I do.

For some unknown reason (I think I may be getting a little stir crazy myself) I have started watching Rick Steves  in his travel shows on PBS. This is his new series, taped recently.

I don't know why I find that soothing. I never have liked Rick Steves, but compared to the rest of them he's suddenly looking awfully good, and his books do have some helpful information about how to get here or there, on  your own,  and where the launderettes are, etc., although in a lot of places like Italy the changes are such that really no book could keep up,  and I have always admired his positive  naivete about travel.  I think some of his history lessons bear review but then again he will point out places I have not known about in a city, too. I also very much like his list of books to read before a trip, they are well chosen.

And he is changing and updating  with the times.  That first "confirm your sightseeing plans" at the Tourist Info spots, which used to always  drive me wild, seems comforting now: the idea being  if you do you'll be in control,  right? Wrong, but I like the regularity of the effort,  and I've learned the hard way that sometimes  if you do,  you won't find your venue  closed for the day, too.

For some reason I find that...optimism...soothing now. I'm an optimistic traveler.  I thought everybody was, apparently not. I don't know why he suddenly seems appealing,  and I especially like the outtakes at the end of the program, the bloopers.

What are you watching that might be a little different for you?

[ginny]

On Books into Movies, I so enjoyed last night taking a break from all the negative tornado weather warnings, and coronavirus issues, as  our local PBS station is running THE 8th season of Father Brown, and I finally got to see the first in the series (which I thought I had seen, but discovered  that was "Season 7"). I wish they would just put the years on the things, 7th, 8th who knows what year it is? This is the 2020 one,  so new it's not available in DVD format that we can see.

It's about a choir competition between parishes  and it was absolutely wonderful, predictable, and sweet. Quintessential  Father Brown Series. It even had the cranky  Canon of the Christmas special a year or so ago..It was just delightful.  I have to say I even felt a tear welling at the end, (but I suppressed it). With difficulty.   Just the antidote for everything in the news.

Books into Movies  II: I am trying but ominously failing to keep on with Little Fires Everywhere. I was really caught up in it in the beginning.  It's very well written and is a new movie. I thought it was another suburban Revolutionary Road...Richard Yates type of thing? About adults. But it appears to be instead a teenage coming  of age story, or something awfully similar,  and I find I am simply not wanting to read about teenagers right now. The reviews are stunning. I have promised myself 50 more pages  but if nothing then, I'm going to donate it to the Library.

Oh and I finally did hear a "Beatrice Voice" on the news the other day, it wasn't quite as exaggerated, but that holding out of the last syllable was definitely noticeable. I laughed out loud. hahaa Oh man, I hope I can contain myself if I ever hear such cadences in person.

[rosemarykaye]

Oh Ginny, do tell me who it was with the Beatrice voice?

I think I've seen that Father Brown episode, but I always enjoy them, new or repeats. I can't watch many at the moment as it's the kind of stuff that would drive my husband mad - but I have lots recorded for future consumption 

Last night we watched the end of the first series and the beginning of the second series of Derry Girls. I really would recommend it, is is hilariously funny but also on point, as they say, as to the lives of ordinary people in Belfast during the Troubles. The ending of the final episode of the first series is both brilliant and shocking, and reminded me what that time was like. Just make sure you find a version with subtitles (we haven't managed to make them work on the Channel 4 catch up app) as Northern Irish accents are impenetrable at times (even my N Irish daughter in law has to slow down for me on occasion, and she's lived in the UK for many years.)

Rosemary

[ginny]

I don't know! I was walking through the room and my husband was watching another documentary, probably about WWII and as I passed I heard her and stopped dead and thought is THAT..and ran over but by the time I got to it they were on to somebody else. I can see if  you grew up hearing that how you'd tend to do it, but it sure is funny if you didn't. I think "Beatrice and Eugenie" need Oscars for their performances, they are such a hoot I may watch it again.

OH and we do get Derry Girls, Netflix has it.    I am not sure if we have both years, but i started it and immediately thought oh...... no....  more teenagers....er....maybe later...... and then  the adults entered and I was totally hooked. Totally.  Thank you so much, I had never heard of it,  and yes you definitely want CC on it!  hahaha  When it started  I had thought  I can understand this  perfectly.. and that lasted about 4 seconds and then.....


Have you seen this, this morning? Priceless.  https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-sussex-52487203/eastbourne-man-builds-railway-in-his-garden 

If interested, if  the full BBC page comes up,   just  scroll down as the movie is  lower in the page, and will start on its own.

Absolutely priceless.

[rosemarykaye]

Oh I LOVE that video Ginny.

I think that is the great thing about gardens - people can do whatever they like in them, and I love that this guy has been able to enjoy his hobby. The inside of the carriage is really cosy, I'd love to sit in it and read (and a lovely little stove for when it's cold too, though I doubt it gets very cold in Eastbourne).   I was just saying to David yesterday 'why don't I build a model village in the garden?' This would truly be his idea of hell on earth - he wants everything minimalist and tidy, I want it all flowery and kitsch...  I knew it would never happen, but it was fun seeing his face.

As a child I was taken on a couple of holidays to the Isle of Wight, where there is (or was) a model village, and going round it was the highlight of my week. In fact there used to be quite a few of these across the south of England, but I don't know if any still exist, must look it up. I also love things like mini 'clock' golf, model railways, and so on. I think it's brilliant that they give people so much satisfaction in such harmless way.

Found the Isle of Wight one! https://www.modelvillagegodshill.co.uk/

We have just started the second series of Derry Girls. I enjoy the teenagers as much as the adults, they are all hilarious to me.  My husband's favourite character, however, is the priest who appears towards the end of the first series and again at the start of the second. He is Mr Smooth but the girls always get one over on him.  The Mum, Dad, Granddad and Aunt Sarah are fantastic though, I agree. Heaven knows where they are all supposed to sleep in that tiny house.   If you have not yet reached the final episode in the first series, do hang on to its very final scenes, they take it to a whole new level.

The Windsors doesn't seem to be taken seriously enough to win awards, which is a shame, as I agree, the actresses playing Beatrice & Eugenie do deserve awards., ditto I think for Harry Enfield and his so accurate portrayal of our future king (whom my mother still refers to as 'Charlie Boy'.....)

Tonight there is a new documentary about Lee Miller (I think it must be something to do with VE Day, which I believe we are to be celebrating all week - Friday is actually a national holiday). I am recording the programme - I heard her son Anthony Penrose give a talk about her, and she was a fascinating woman, I think he said she was one of the first war photographers to enter Belsen when it was liberated. Picasso was a friend of her husband, Roland Penrose, and Anthony recalls sitting on Picasso's knee when the latter came to visit them at their farmhouse.

Rosemary

[ginny]

  I was just saying to David yesterday 'why don't I build a model village in the garden?' This would truly be his idea of hell on earth - he wants everything minimalist and tidy,

 hahahaa Oh man,  I laughed over that. Yes, indeed, I can sing that song. We have that here, actually, as well. To ME a perfect house would have roses over the front door, ivy on the walls, rose covered arches, one big exuberant garden, just a profusion of flowers everywhere running into each other.  My husband, knowing my penchant for starting things enthusiastically but failing to carry through, without the support of an army of garden help,  felt my efforts would be best down by the pump house....hahahaa.....where the greenhouse is....a goodly hike to see anything blooming,  but out of sight. hahahaa

My sons have inherited that gene, so my gorgeous Royal Sunset Rose, which used to climb up the side of and over the back porch, over the swing,  which my mother loved to see when she came, having been reduced to 4 feet of stub, gave up.

So I have ....I don't know what you'd call it....... these  AREAS.... of 40 years of old plants, camellia sasanquas, with hundreds of blooms every late winter, azaleas, giant hydrangeas, sweet shrub,  rhododendron,  peonies that nobody sees, mountain laurel,  rosemary, and huge sage which blooms in the spring with blooms that rival any hyacinth without the smell,  iris, daffodils, narcissus, chrysanthemums ..it's endless....bravely carrying on without any help,  NONE of them visible from the house,  but  now, isolation bound, I am reclaiming them, too,  from the weeds and the  fire ants and  reviving all efforts again. Have transplanted 3 roses there so far, from another reclaimed rose garden because the new one,  slap up against the terrace where I can walk out in the morning and see them, now seems full, and since I used shade cloth ( the miracle to me of gardening) I transplanted some in full bloom, left it on a week and  you'd not know they had not grown there for 10 years,  and so there is already some arching blooming exuberance to go with the new bare root roses  which of course are only bare canes at the moment.

I love that model village idea, and I love that man with the train. Yesterday I had written here and erased it in embarrassment that...truly... I have always wanted a train here.  I don't know why. I think I'm pretty safe in saying that won't happen? But that guy in Sussex I think is just....dear. I saw that and thought "there'll always be an England."

[ginny]

 I think I got us off on a tangent with my gardening blobbs,, sorry.  hahaha I just read that world wide, Gardening is the new passion during the coronavirus. We need a Literary Gardening site here. hahaha Perhaps quoting Shakespeare or something? The Language of Flowers? hahaah

“There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember; and there is pansies, that's for thoughts... There's fennel for you, and columbines; there's rue for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays.:"

 At any rate, I'll stifle on it for now, just including a photo of what's left of my rose arch after  the winds accompanying one of the 19 tornadoes we had on the ground here in the Upstate  in something like 3 months took it down.  My daughter in law had  given it to me for my birthday and planted it.

   It was NOT the tornado itself,  but some sort of accompanying winds, snapping trees, but all is well otherwise and this is what's left, my youngest son managed to get it back up but we had to cut half the top off  and right side off first. The sides and  top originally were equal like a giant horseshoe.

I like to sit  under it in the mornings sometimes.

My husband likes to watch old Westerns in the evening,  and is currently watching   something called The Virginian, a rerun of the old series starting in 1962 which had a  long list of famous movie stars maybe before they became so.  It seems every actor in the world has made a guest appearance on it, it had hundreds of programs aired.  It's become sort of fun to pause by it and watch 5 minutes and say oh I know HIM! or HER!  And try to guess who  it is, and look it up by whatever clues we remember the actor by.

So far we've spotted Robert Redford, (who didn't look like himself, it was so long ago) Lee J Cobb, Delores Hart (isn't she the one who became a nun?), Yvonne De Carlo,  Vera Miles, Joan Blondell and last night I couldn't think of his name but it was Oscar from the Odd Couple, Felix Unger, better known as  Jack Klugman.  And there are about 230 episodes  to go! hahahaa

[BarbStAubrey]

Wow fabulous shot - such a full rose bush - is there a scent that goes into the house or is it too far away?

[rosemarykaye]

Oh my, that is beautiful Ginny, how lovely to have it to sit under.

I remember The Virginian, as my grandmother used to watch that and all the old western TV shows when she came to visit us on Saturdays. I was very young then so don't recall any of the actors, but the programme was a part of my life for many years - she also loved Bonanza and The Big Valley. It's only now I have begun to understand the politics of those shows - for my grandmother they were just good entertainment.

I would like to see some of them again, but I have no idea if we would be able to access them - are they on Netflix or what?

Rosemary

[ginny]

Oh I'm glad you like it. Thank you both.  Barbara, it doesn't have a really strong scent, until you get right up on it, it's more a gentle sweet fragrance. But I've got one in bud, Shelia's Perfume, which  can be  smelled a long way off. I can't wait.

[ginny]

Rosemary, we have all those old Western TV shows here on several local Nostalgia cable channels which show nothing but, including the old movies like High Noon, etc., but I don't see it on Netflix. It does, however, look as if YouTube has "full episodes" of several seasons.  I think there is a nostalgia movement afoot.  We also have Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy, all the old things.  How interesting that your grandmother watched The Virginian!! Love it!

I have noticed, not watching any of them myself, that I can always tell when a woman enters the screen, the masculine music stops and violins play a sweet gentle tune,  it's actually kind of funny, you don't have to look to see a female character has walked on stage.

But I love the scenes involving  stagecoaches. Love stagecoaches, fascinating, romantic things.

[ginny]

 i don't know if any of you happened to see last night on PBS (at the same time as Midsomer Murders which I taped) the new Father Brown, the one with Mrs. McCarthy and the Fortune Teller? But IF you did I discovered something, a little surprise, tucked into the show. IF you didn't see it, it would spoil it, but if you did you might like to know it, and I would be curious if you saw it, too.

I guess what appeals to me about  Father Brown, especially now in this pandemic is the predictability,  and the goodness which will triumph always, and the sense there's right in the world. We are in serious shortage of those things at the moment, and I guess that's what appeals to me at this time.

[rosemarykaye]

No I don't think I've seen that one Ginny, but I entirely agree about wanting to watch predictable things (I am like that anyway, and much more so now.) My 'fix' is Monarch of the Glen, and my daughter has now also sent me my DVD of the first series of Dallas - haven't started it yet but looking forward to it!

Last night my husband made me endure (in that I was too lazy to get up and leave the room, he hadn't actually pinned me to the sofa...) a programme that attempted to recreate the last voyage of the ships that tried to find the NW (Arctic) passage in the 1800s. This involved things like very lifelike models of men who had died from frostbite, and the information that they had been reduced to cannabilism to stay alive - though of course they all eventually died. The programme makers were most interested in finding the boats, both of which had disappeared - they did eventually discover one on the sea bed. I can't say this was my idea of enjoyable Saturday night viewing - hopefully I can get back to Monarch of the Glen or Father Brown tonight!

My go-to comfort listening is The Archers on BBC Radio 4, and can you believe it, they have run out of episodes!!  So just now they are replaying 'selected' old ones of major events in the lives of the characters, but these just do not interest me, I have heard them all before. In 3 weeks time they are going to start broadcasting new ones recorded since the lockdown, but these will apparently take the form of monologues by different characters, which I somehow doubt will be quite the same. The actors are recording them at home. They were previously in the middle of a major storyline about modern slavery, so heaven knows how they will tie that one up.

Husband is still obsessively painting the window frames. It's been snowing outside - such a joy to have all the windows open in this weather!!!

Rosemary

[PatH]

Rosemary, I assume that was Franklin's expedition?  It would be better without the visuals.  I've watched the story unfold since I was a kid, as people found more and more bits of evidence.  Not a cheerful tale.

[Frybabe]

I think my taste in viewing is more in line with your Husband's Rosemary, but the visuals sound horrific. I couldn't get into Grandchester or Father Brown (although I did watch maybe five or six of those). I liked the old Midsommer Murders and may watch some of them in the future. What I have been watching now are some YouTube clips about warlords and battles prior t0 1000AD in Britain.

I am having trouble settling on my next book to read. I did start Cinq-Mars by Alfred de Vigny, but put it aside again. The story is a novelized version of Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis de Cinq-Mars and his attempt to get rid of the Cardinal de Richelieu. His was the last conspiracy against the Cardinal, and he was almost successful.  He was caught, however, and beheaded at the age of 22.  Charles Gounod, with the libretto by by Paul Poirson and Louis Gallet, wrote an opera based loosely on the book. There was also a French movie released in 1981. I don't think the movie was ever released here, but YouTube has it and Amazon has an audio-CD listed. I'm going to check out the YouTube clips this evening.

[ginny]

Oh interesting, Rosemary and Pat on the Arctic Passage.  It's so funny how you'll be idly thinking about something or a subject,  and then come in here and somebody is talking about it or something similar.

 Somebody  has given my husband a book on the Endurance, the story of   Ernest Shackleton and his  crew of 27 men who sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and his diary and those photos of that boat stuck  up on the ice, and I was just thinking about that and then,  as always,  George Mallory whose story is legend I guess.

Years ago I went to  Greenwich and they had an exhibition there of  George Mallory, rival to  Edmund Hillary for  climbing Mt. Everest. Mallory was lost, and  looked for for years, and found in 1999,  and the thing that just horrified me or stunned me in the exhibition full of archival photos and the actual clothing they wore on that expedition was a full size model of Mallory standing there facing you wearing one of his outfits and...he wore a tweed jacket, a silk shirt, and what's called plus fours (sort of like below the knee golfing shorts) with long knee socks, he WORE this to climb Mt. Everest. I didn't believe it.

There are tons of photos of him in camp there with the others all the same outfits and enthusiasts have taken it up talking about how warm that clothing is is and how it's 8 layers, very light weight, just the thing.  And on and on.  I have read so many books about Mount Everest and they dress like some kind of space men now.  And then they found him and that's exactly what he had on. I can't say what that  photo looked like, him  lying there in that jacket. Face down. It was pitiful, just like the Shackleton situation.

And then of course they have been able to reconstruct what happened, too.

Saturday night I was flipping through channels and came across the Roosevelt documentary which I had never seen and was riveted on Eleanor's life, what an awful childhood she had. Her mother must have been demented, she, a "great beauty" (didn't look that beautiful to me)  thought the child was ugly and called her Granny from an early age and to me she was a beautiful child.  It's not a new program but I never saw it so am taping it, odd to see Franklin Roosevelt without polio and as a young man,  and that dragon  of a mother of his. Poor Eleanor.

Frybabe, you DO find the most interesting books.  Cardinal de Richelieu. I am not sure, if pressed, I could say 10 words about him, and there's an opera! Let us know as you progress what you are learning? Then we'll all be richer.

[ginny]

Here are three very different programs, each wonderful  in its own right, none of them new, which may be of idle interest today if you've not seen them.

The first is a debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Beard on which civilization  matters the most today, the Greek or the Roman?  For some reason people who have seen this one still talk about it years later: Greece vs Rome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k448JqQyj8


The second here may be of interest to readers of historical fiction, it's on the nature of Historical Fiction,  by Hilary Mantel speaking at a conference on that subject,  on how and why she ever chose Thomas Cromwell,  the "unbiographical man," for her subject,  and the responsibilities of those who write Historical Fiction:  "I Met a Man Who Wasn't There:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEXatV1hqZo

And the third is a real hoot: Robert Harris, author of many books on many subjects including historical fiction centering on  the Romans, (Pompeii, The Cicero Trilogy), being  interviewed by Dr. Peter Jones, well known Classicist in the UK. Lots of laughter, good stories.   It has  some absolutely marvelous  bits, including why read historical fiction and how important research is to that genre, and some lovely give and take between them, priceless:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mgXDJMRuRw

[Tomereader1]

I found, on Amazon Prime, something I hadn't seen before regarding the Tudors.  "The Private Lives of the Tudors". It is only 3 episodes.  I  love this kind of stuff about Britain, Henry, his wives, the royal castles, etc.  The blonde lady who does the tours and narration sort of gets on my nerves, not unlike the other lady, who's a bit older, and does so many of these British-based shows. This program does not get into all the "wives" drama, but other, more "personal" stuff. I have watched 2 so far, and intend to catch the other tonight.  I was totally unaware that I could watch these, and other, videos on my Kindle Fire.  So I can lie in bed, and catch up on episodes of almost anything streaming now!

[ginny]

Tomereader, what a fun experience that is!  I  had never heard of it.  What beautiful footage of Hampton Court and Hever!  I could watch that again! That first blonde woman is Tracy Borman the author of the book by the same name.   I was surprised to see it IS a book, too. have you read it?  I'd like to look further into that.  She also wrote one on Thomas Cromwell, (talk about  bad timing)...I wonder how it differs from the Mantel. 

Watched the first one last night and  am ready for the second, that hat!

Thank you for recommending it. Streaming is something else, isn't it? I'm new to it myself.

[ginny]

 And this is who she is:  "Tracy Borman is England’s joint chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces and chief executive of the Heritage Education Trust. She has written five previous books, including the highly acclaimed Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen. She has a PhD in history from the University of Hull and lives in Surrey with her family."  She is not  writing fiction and yes, she took a completely different take on Cromwell too, which his newly revealed  papers suggest.

A new author to me, too, super!  Never heard of her. Has anybody read any of hers? I read a few pages of her Thomas Cromwell, super maps. and like her style and have ordered it; I  like different opinions.

Why did she irritate you, Tomereader?  All that stalking about?

[rosemarykaye]

Goodness, I must look this up - I've never even heard of Tracy Borman.  And yes, I'm still very new to streaming, and am just AMAZED at how much there is on the apps on our new TV. We don't subscribe to any paid-for services, but just on BBC i-Player, Amazon, All Four, STV Player and things like that there is so much choice.

Tomereader - the one I find incredibly irritating is Lucy Worsley. I think it's something to do with her little girl hairslides and annoying voice, which I know is unforgivably judgmental of me.

Ginny, I look forward to watching that interview with Robert Harris, though not sure I can cope with any more Mary Beard for a little while, she is everywhere.

Rosemary

[ginny]

 Bettany Hughes is the one who irritates me no end. I can't watch anything she is in.

[rosemarykaye]

I have heard of her but I don't think I've ever actually seen anything she's presented.

Do you ever watch any of Michael Portillo's programmes?  I've found some of his 'hidden history' series very good, but he drives my husband round the bend,  And then David drives me round the bend by insisting on SHOUTING just to show how annoying Portillo is....  Portillo was at Peterhouse, as was David (though not at the same time) and I think that's part of the issue. At the time it was an immensely traditional public school kind of college, the last one to hang on to its male-only status (the opposite of King's, where I went, which was one of the first 5 to admit women in 1972), and David (who was pooled there) loathed it. (We revisited it when our elder daughter was applying to Cambridge and, having now admitted women for several years, it was transformed into a really nice little college with a welcoming atmosphere).

Rosemary

[Dana]

oh, Peter Jones...so enjoyed seeing him...many years ago he had a series in the Telegraph about learning Greek , at the time I got the book that went with the series but then I forgot all about him till now! 
Glad to be reminded of Robert Harris too. I used to read him, I didn't much like him back then, but now I shall give him another try.  I threw out some of his books when I moved, as well as the Peter Jones' book.  Just goes to show you should never throw out a book.

[Tomereader1]

Yes, Rosemary, Lucy Worsley is the one that gets on my every nerve, I think it's the timbre of her voice and the elocution that riles me.  It is also judgmental (unforgivably) of me.  Mea Culpa for that.  Ginny I hope this answers your question.  Tracy Borman's voice seemed to have a tone or timbre similar to Worsley's.  But, I thoroughly enjoyed all three episodes.  I will check to see if our libraries here have any of Borman's books.  Glad my little late-night streaming garnered some interest here. You can be sure if a movie or documentary has anything British involved, I will be watching it.  I know that somewhere here in SL, or over in S&F I commented on how wonderful the British/Scottish actors are.  As are several from Australia, and Canada.

[ginny]

  Yes that was a winning thing, on many counts, Tomereader!


Rosemary, I have never heard of Portillo!! I will try to find something of his, hahahaa despite the shouting.

Dana, isn't he wonderful? I am so glad you enjoyed it. And he also taught Latin in the Telegraph, too, we have a former student of his in our program.  I have one of his books somewhere, something called What Would Caesar Do? I'll see if I can find it.

He also was the featured speaker of that Archaeological Study Tour I did of  Hadrian's Wall for a week,  again sponsored by the Telegraph, and featuring the the then head archaeologist in the Newcastle area. It really was well done. He in person is exactly like he is in that broadcast:  wonderful, charming and funny, and knowledgeable.

I love the expressions on his face. I wish we had more programs like this.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny - this is his secret history series: https://www.channel5.com/show/portillos-hidden-history-of-britain/

He has also done hundreds of 'Great Railway Journeys' programmes, both in the UK and all over the world. I find him quite good fun, he is absolutely irrepressible and seems to have a genuine interest in the numerous people he meets: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xgqxy (not sure if that will work - if you Google Michael Portillo Great Railway Journeys you will get lots of hits>)

Rosemary

[ginny]

Rosemary,  thank you for introducing   another person and program I  have never heard of here, and who looks so intriguing.  I was able to see one minute and 59 seconds of Railway Mysteries  on the BBC2 site of his program with the grandson of Agatha Christie (which appears to  have last aired in March of 2020),  and  really would like to have finished that, but can see no more than 2 minutes of any of the others about the British railways, which would be the ones I really would most  like to see.

It seems that his  programs I would most want to watch are simply not available at all on streaming, or BritBox or Netflix or youtube...just not there!  I wonder why, some of them are quite old.  What little I have been able to see, 2 minutes,  as I said at most,  seemed quite interesting, (once one gets over the pink pants and green blazer),  hahaha But I really liked the 2 minutes I saw, love the idea of the old guide, but it's hard to tell what an hour would do... so frustrating. .I just will keep trying to see the British ones and then maybe the Continental ones, but it's hard to tell from 2 carefully chosen minutes presented as trailers.

I think his India ones are available and possibly his American ones but there are so many of these types of programs  currently in America running every night on PBS, I'd like to see the British ones, which are not running here.

Our problem here is while we can purchase the DVD's they are that PAL or Region 2 and while you can play them once or twice on one of  your DVD  players  (never advisable  in a PC) you get two...I don't know what they call them..... chances at redemption...... to change your player back to US stuff and then POOF your player immolates itself and you're finished watching American stuff. I've got one in that situation now, actually.

There must be some solution, I will keep looking.

Peterhouse? I must ask,  any connection to Porterhouse (aka Porterhouse Blue?) hahaha Ian Richardson!!  I loved David Jason in that, I swear in his Latin he says yum yum.  Definitely an acquired taste, however.

[ginny]

Hark! Amazon  purports to be selling Region Free Play any Region in the World DVD players and not all are  Blue Ray, and they are for the cost of a DVD,   and mine is broken: perhaps there is hope after all. I'll look into it. 

[Frybabe]

Bummer. My local playhouse cancelled all but two plays for this year. One of the ones cancelled was the one I wanted to see most - Thirty-Nine Steps. I've read the book and seen the movie so wanted to see what they did with the play. They are planning to reschedule the some or all of the ones they cancelled for next season, though, so there is hope I will eventually get to see it.

Last night I watched The Hornet's Nest which is a documentary following embedded journalists Mike and Carlos Boettcher and the teams they were embedded with for almost two years. I was in tears at the end.

[PatH]

I would love to know what the play did with The Thirty-Nine Steps too.  The movies certainly didn't stick to the story much, and it doesn't seem well suited to the confines of a stage.

I have a weakness for Buchan's books, have read most of them.  They're corny, but Buchan was good at spinning a yarn, so they're good reads.

[rosemarykaye]

I think a stage version was performed in Edinburgh laat year though I didn't see it.

I did see a stage version of The Lady Vanishes and to be honest I thought it was awful. Hayley Mills starred in it and she didn't even know her lines. Unfortunately there is a kind of tradition that you do not criticise the plays at our theatre (even though it was a touring production, not 'home grown') so i had to cobble together a review that said very little and mainly praised the rather clever stage design.

I have to say I find live theatre increasingly disappointing. I suppose if I lived in London (heaven forbid) I would be able to see top of the range things on the South Bank, but what comes here is rarely very good, though there are a few notable exceptions. There was an amateur production of South Pacific that I enjoyed hugely - in fact the shows by the local Gilbert & Sullivan society are often a good deal better than touring professional ones.

Rosemary

[Dana]

I've been watching two gripping programs and reading one surprisingly gripping book recently.
To start with the book....I was looking for something to replace Emma on my phone, free, and to be read in waiting rooms and planes (not that I have been on any recently and hope not to be for some time....) anyway, I downloaded Middlemarch.  So far it reminds me quite a bit of Emma, the same kind of quiet fun being poked at the heroine's pretensions.  These old books have to be read slowly, the sentences are so much more elaborate than what we are used to today.  Much more Latinate.....perhaps losing touch with Latin has contributed to the change in English style.

Then I recently watched Everything and Nothing....twice actually.....everything you didn't know you wanted to know about the origins of the universe, matter, anti matter, atoms, quantum physics, particle accelerators..... and also the history and amazing people who made the discoveries.  There are a number of documentaries in the same series but I think this one is the best.  You still don't understand anything afterwards...well I didn't anyway, but at least you know what you don't know.  The program is very well done, really gripping. The series is on amazon.


Then I got into Line of Duty again.  Now that is one gripping series.  Sometimes it's so tense that you almost can't stand to watch it.  And it's got Inspector Hastings! Aidan (Adrian?) Dunbar.......I thought I was beyond being attracted to a tv star.....wrong.....!!  Its on amazon too.

Actually I haven't found anything I like on Netflix recently.

Just read this over....gripping, gripping. gripping........  But I shall leave it because you know....they are....!