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]

Barb, if I knew it, I had forgotten.  We're almost exactly the same age.  I'm 6 months younger.

[BarbStAubrey]

tra la - great Pat - 1933 was a good year... 

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - isn’t it strange how one thing can lead to another?! How lovely that the film has inspired your daughter so much. It didn’t even get particularly good reviews here.

My mother was always very active and interested in life - she still is, but she is 92 and I notice that now, where she can no longer do one thing, she no longer looks for another, just more TV, though she does read a lot. She is the oldest person in her sheltered house of 5, but also probably the most active - the lady in the next room acts and thinks much older than her, but I discovered the other day is only 69!! I am not sure why she is even in sheltered housing, she does have diabetes but apart from that she is still able to go out, drives, etc - but my mother says she spends most of her days lying on her bed watching TV. She will not have a computer or tablet, used to go to the library (opposite) every day to use their public ones to email her daughter, who lives abroad, but as the library is currently closed and the residents have also only been let out this week, she has not been able to contact her at all apart from by phone. I am not sure why she doesn’t want an i-Pad, as she was a professional person in her working life so she is an intelligent woman. Anyway, each to their own! She is an avid reader of the most horribly reactionary of our newspapers - the wretched thing causes so much damage and stirs up so much prejudice among its mostly elderly readership - everything is the fault of immigrants/poor people/young people - you get the picture.

My aunt, my mother’s sister, was old at the age of 40 - she was scared of life, always had an excuse why she could not do something, and never moved away from home. Towards the end her excuse was that she had to look after my grandmother, but although that is indeed what she did, my mother helped her a lot, but Even when she was there, the sister was too frightened to do anything. When my grandmother was finally allowed to die, sister still did nothing and then died quite young. It was a sad life really. I think there had been a culture of fear in their home when they were growing up - my mother broke away from it to a certain extent, as did their older sister who moved abroad, but it is a hard thing to leave behind.

Are you perhaps thinking of the actor Martin Shaw, who was in Inspector George Gently and also Judge John Deed? He is wonderful.

Rosemary

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - another English woman that you may have heard of is Joan Bakewell, who was a journalist and TV newsreader here for many years - at a time when very few women were allowed to do that. She later had her own interview programme. She is 87 now, still lives in London, writes, is extremely active for various causes, and doesn’t look or behave anything like her years.

This is her Wikipedia information:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Bakewell

Rosemary

[Frybabe]

Dana, I have not seen either of those shows. I'll have to look-see if either of them are on Prime Video (or YouTube) since I don't get Netflix.

Speaking of Prime Video, I discovered that they are offering a free lecture series until 7/31 from Great Courses on England, Scotland and Wales. It is apparently aimed at historical background for those who wish to travel to GB. Lots of maps and photos. I skipped half the first episode since it was primarily an overview of the course and some biographical background of the lecturer.

Oh, and Trapped did in fact have 10 episodes in Season 1, not 8 as it previously stated.

[BarbStAubrey]

I watched a beautiful film tonight - School of Life - a French film with subtitles - beautiful scenery, beautifully acted, a simple story that yes, the basis is corny but the construction and delivery is magnificent - takes place in rural France in the late 1920s on a chateau estate - a WWI orphan taken home by someone who works in the Chateau with a rags to riches ending - the boy attaches himself to the most endearing so called poacher, there are gypsies, a resplendent 18 point monarch buck, a serious, at times malevolent but irascible forest warden, and a Count, who loves the land with a playboy for a son - found it on Amazon Prime 

here is the link - you'll enjoy every minute...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B084PZ65BP/ref=atv_wl_hom_c_unkc_1_34

[ginny]

This has become the best place to come for news of great new programs!

I have learned a lot in the last couple of weeks. First off, I obviously did NOT know who Miranda  Richardson was!!!! I thought she was  playing Lucia for Pete's sake!!! She was playing Mapp in the new series. Anna Chancellor was playing Lucia. I felt so bad about that I watched it again. Then I watched both seasons of the original one, too, for comparison.

I do think people have been much too  harsh about the 2014 Mapp and Lucia remake  with Richardson and Pemberton, and that's a shame. People going on and on about Benson and their including in the "new" version scenes which did not happen, stick to the "old canon," etc.. etc., etc.

I liked both of the series,  (and I used to be VERY serious about Benson, member of societies, trips to Rye,  tour of house,  visit to grave),  and thought both had their own strengths and were very enjoyable.  I think he'd have enjoyed both of them. The second time around I even like Mrs. Wyse, but not Diva, still, I think she was miscast but she's the only one. I saw a documentary with Geraldine McEwan before she died and that IS her actual accent, that is the way she talked.

And there's a new Mapp and Lucia writer, see Library for more.

[ginny]

 But I came IN to thank Rosemary profusely for  her recommendation of the Great British Railways series with Michael Portillo. It's wonderful. I am enjoying it so much, I watch it every morning over breakfast.

If anybody likes train travel and Britain, you can't really get closer vicariously to the experience than this charming show. Each series has 4 DVD's,  and each has four journeys split up, each covering several different cities,  (and you can plan which one you want by using the handy "Journey Planner") and it's almost as good as being there. Lots of history and archival film, too:  WWII blitz, immigration, the beginning of the textile industry, the first factory in the world, I mean it's absolutely wonderful. 10 stars.

Yesterday, in one of several short segments, on that particular journey,  we went to Cambridge where he visited his old dorm rooms at Peterhouse College at Cambridge University which Rosemary was talking about previously where her husband went, very prestigious school. He pointed out his old "bar," and said I think there was a desk here somewhere,  told amusing incidents of undergraduate  hi-jinks and left out he got a first in History. Again a very nice suite of two bedroom accommodations with fireplace in the living room, no less. Like something out of a book. He also got in an argument with a young man selling boat rides on the river, as to whether or not "punting" occurs in Venice, which left both of them laughing.

I did not know who he was, he was in Parliament for 20 years, he's well known. I love the way he talks to everybody on the street and the people he meets,  and allows us to meet, in places we normally would have no access to, scenes and people who exemplify the real  Britain, which we'd not have known about except for him, and it's delightful.

If for some reason one can't travel now, he's the next best thing, much better than Rick Steves....it's a  unique and wonderful experience. It's so real, I  feel I've been there, now. Without the exertion. (And I know more than I would have without him, as we stood in the Big Ben Tower, and in the engine of a steam train, to mention only 2 out of the last 16 segments). He loves steam trains, old Victorian Stations, and old Victorian station  hotels: he's following a 170 year old Bradshaw's Guide Book.

It's magic. Highly recommended if you can find it.

[Frybabe]

Years ago, I watched a series of "Great Railways" programs on PBS. I do remember some Great Railways of the World programs, but I especially remember a different series specifically about the Swiss railways. Spectacular! I do not remember who hosted it. Oh, and I remember a few of Michael Palin's rail trips. I will have to look them up again.

Ginny, I am not particularly fond of Rick Steves either.

[ginny]

Yes, I mentioned him in the Library just now and how I think he differs from Portillo, Bryson, and Theroux. I think that's the main difference:  he's selling.

Last night after the two national news programs I looked at the grid and behold, the old Westworld with Yul Brynner was JUST ending, on Turner Classic Movies:  only a few minutes left. 1973, that was a great movie and it's entirely on youtube.

I saw Yul Brynner in his last tour in the King and I in Atlanta at the historic Fox Theater and it was a performance and day to remember for many reasons:  he was super, wonderful,  the theater marvelous, some other incidents  not so much,  but all ended happily.  All I can say is, get to the theater when they open the doors and watch where you eat lunch.

Here is a short on the making of it with Michael Crichton (I did not know he wrote the screen play for it and directed it, fascinating 8 minutes) on the difference in film making and writing. I found it quite interesting:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfKbqB5a-8E  The small bit about 7:14 with Yul Brynner explaining how the robot turns into a human is wonderful.

Of course this is derivative of R.U.R, but it's  wonderful anyway.

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is quite a channel. Last night they had the original Auntie Mame with Rosalind  Russell, one of my favorite movies of all time. I taped it to watch later on. The book on the real "Auntie Mame,"  by her nephew Patrick Dennis  was wonderful, too.

[Frybabe]

My TV watching featured a program about the geology of Italy on Amazon's Prime Video. It followed a group (several really) of geologists trying to discover if the Apennines were still rising (yes, according to their research). Along the way I learned about the Mediterranean subduction zone and how it is affecting the country. Did you know that Italy was once attached to France? It is still moving slowly eastward. They also visited Sardinia (think Mt. Etna) and a bit of Tunisia where the subduction zone influences them. Also, a reminder of how marble was formed. Wonderful landscapes.

[ginny]

By "attached" you must mean something I don't know about?  There's certainly a border between France and Italy now?  Reading Livy in the original provides the most exciting and graphic tale of Hannibal's Crossing the Alps imaginable, and the comparison with his version and that of Polybius is magic.

They've been squabbling over his route ever since. Patrick Hunt of Stanford  who has devoted his entire life to examining the route, thinks he has found the actual route, but they will probably be arguing 2000 years from now.  He's got a great book on it called Hannibal.

[Dana]

A Suitable Boy is airing on BBC 1 on 26 July!!
Screenplay by Andrew Davies.
Rosemary, you must take a look and see what you think of it.
I do hope we can get it over here sometime soon.
It has the makings of a totally addictive Raj Quartet type series.
The book is fantastic as I have said before, so will not again.......!!

[rosemarykaye]

Dana - thanks for that, anything Andrew Davies does is usually excellent, and - as I am always harping on about - I did love Jewel in the Crown so much.

Ginny - I had no idea there was a film of Auntie Mame!  I only came across the book last year - loved it. I must see if I can find that film anywhere.

I am still enjoying Monarch of the Glen and A Place to Call Home, but last night we reverted to Friday Night Dinner, and it really was hilarious. It's all quite silly, but very true to life in many ways. We have a new series Mrs America - I have recorded it. Has anyone seen it? Cate Blanchett plays Phyllis Schlafly.  I've never seen her turn in a bad performance yet, so i have high hopes. Carol is one of my favourite films.

My daughter told me she was re-watching Frost/Nixon this week. (Michael Sheen so brilliant as David Frost.) Anna said it was very interesting to see how Nixon eventually put his hands up and apologised (whether sincerely or not) to the nation. She commented that the behaviour of so many politicians these days is so appalling all of the time that the next generation, if they watch this film, will wonder what on earth all the fuss was about - it will seem such a small thing compared to what goes on now.

Rosemary

[Frybabe]

Ginny, according to the documentary, eons ago the Italian peninsula was once part of France. It got separated (don't think they said how) and has been swinging down and eastward ever since at about one-sixth of an inch (I think that is what he said) a year. Their example is to image a soccer player pulling his leg back before swinging it forward to kick the ball. So eventually, if it keeps going, it looks like it will close off the Adriatic. The program is called Italy's Magic Mountains, a 2014 PBS program. I just noticed on some maps, that the Adriatic is actually a sliver still attached to the African Plate. I've also seen the Adriatic Sea referred to as the Adriatic Plate. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sQVjnkRNsSE/UMDivsocPtI/AAAAAAAAABs/losZFVdRxww/s1600/italy_earthquake_570.jpg

[ginny]

My goodness, thank  you, Frybabe, who knew? The Campi Flegrei is  also a new point of interest, supposedly if it goes the entire European continent will, too. Do they mention it?  I did not know, for instance, and just learned that the entire Bay of Naples is thought to be an extinct caldera, did they mention that? I must see it, thank you for the link!

Rosemary,  you will love that old 50's Rosalind Russell movie, she's perfect. I often think of her and her encounter with Patrick's fiancee's in-laws...hilarious. Love that movie. It's on Amazon Prime and Youtube for a fee but the youtube quality looks poor. Wonderful movie. Lucille Ball made one too, but for me there's only one Auntie Mame.

Taling about PBS,, there's a really good series on Great British Cathedrals running now. I have been to Wells Cathedral, spent time in the Close,  and never learned what I did on it from this program.

I have A Suitable Boy and really look forward to hearing about the TV Show!!!  Supposed to be one of the best books ever written. I wonder why I haven't read it.

[rosemarykaye]

Thanks for that Ginny - we have at last worked out Amazon Prime so I will definitely look for Auntie Mame.

My elder daughter's boyfriend has been the acting organist at Wells Cathedral for the past year - he is just coming to the end of his contract now. He has been living in one of those lovely old houses in Cathedral Close. (Back to London and the real world next month.)

Rosemary

[ginny]

 Fabulous!

Truly I was so taken with that Close and the entrance of the...is it the choristers as well who live there, and have that back entrance as I remember it?  I was so taken with it I almost didn't want to leave. I am not sure what it reminds me of, what a spectacular life it must be to live there and work there. And the ORGAN!

You know what else is wonderful in Wells? That long jump mark on the street. A local athlete, Mary Rand, got an Olympic medal for the long jump so they marked it out in her honor on the Market Street! And BOY that is one long JUMP! 6.7 meters!!!!

[PatH]

I have A Suitable Boy and really look forward to hearing about the TV Show!!!  Supposed to be one of the best books ever written. I wonder why I haven't read it.

Probably for the same reason I haven't read my copy.  It's going to take a serious effort to keep everything and everyone straight, and that's daunting even though you know it will be worth it.

[ginny]

That will make the movie of it doubly interesting. I was fascinated to hear Michael Crichton in that Making of Westworld, say that the script for Westworld was intended by him as a book but it just didn't lend itself to a book, and needed to be a movie. I wonder if the book will transition over to the movie this time.

 I couldn't help it, I watched Auntie Mame last night. It's dated (50's) and some things now would probably not make the PC Censor,  but I loved Rosalind Russell in that part. What a hoot. Still laughing over her and that switchboard because I don't think anybody could have done it as well as she did.  I had that as one of several jobs I was not good at the summer before college and it WAS just like that, if not, in my case, worse.

But it's one of "those movies," back in the day. Here in the late 60's they had what they called "Ladies' Matinees," where you could take in a matinee in the movie theater here, if female. You'd go  about 10:00 or was it 11:00, must have been 10---it's been more than 50 years ago, there were refreshments provided, everything was  free.  I seem to remember doughnuts.  And you'd see  a certain type of movie which they thought would cater to a delightful morning out for the ladies, and this would be an example of one of them. I remember Esther Williams and her aquacades, and Doris  Day especially. Light, frothy,  and fun.  What an almost unbelievable thing  that seems now.

[ginny]

 I hate to seem to be picking on Rick Steves. I like his enthusiasm for travel and  his naivete and positivity. But PBS had a lecture by him on yesterday on tips and tricks for travel in Europe and although he did it very professionally ....well... he was talking about this little town  in Italy, he likes the Cinque Terre,  possibly Vernazza, where there were “no comfortable hotels.” And he said this is very good news! Because it keeps away  the most Obnoxious of the Traveling Public ( and here we see people in the audience nodding sagely) ….the person who insists on staying  in a comfortable hotel.  Here we see the audience laughing at such a person knowingly.

Er......anybody who has traveled outside of a tour for over 32 years as he has,  knows that there are lots of really good small family run hotels to choose from.  But they are also comfortable.  Who in their right mind would deliberately pick an "uncomfortable" experience, (which to me includes no air conditioning in hot weather, no heat in cold weather,  toilets that don't work, other plumbing which does not work or backs up in the sink or literally runs down the walls from the room above, insect infestations,   carrying  your own bags up 4 or more  flights of stairs,   elevators which don't work, dirty rooms, one light bulb from the ceiling for a reading light, paper thin walls, noise from the street all night long,  I mean I could go on and on just about my own former unexpected "uncomfortable" experiences), why would anybody choose that just so that you can say you are...what? Having the "true" experience and getting to "know the locals?"  That is  ridiculous.

I don't think he means "comfortable," I think maybe he means elegant or pretentious or a Big Chain, but if you have a group in front of you agreeing they want to be uncomfortable so they can be in the "know,"  then hey...what can you say?

 Actually the older I get the more I appreciate the "comforts," (essentially the antithesis of what I wrote above). In fact I like  on each trip to go beyond that and  deliberately stay "nice, " as I call it,  just for  a couple of nights out of the normal three weeks trips. I've stayed in castles, famous hotels,  and historic landmarks,  and  enjoyed every one of them. For a day or two. And in the films of him I've watched, the rooms he's in look pretty comfortable to me.

[BarbStAubrey]

I think too he was trying to get his listeners to choose a local small hotel over the big expensive or the chains - I always chose as inexpensive as I could find but nothing where the plumbing or electricity did not work - however, I remember one time, a hotel in London on the east side somewhere off the Bayswater Road -

Substantial old building and the window looked out on almost a shaft but a bit wider so there was a tiny tiny garden below me - I was probably 3 stories high - anyhow the curtains were filthy and the idea of air coming through that window through those filthy curtains I knew I would have a sinus infection and so, I got on a chair, since the window was tall, took down the curtains and washed them in the tub - oh my the black water - after several sudsings and rinses, wrung them out and hung them back up letting the air dry them - was concerned about the bedspread but it was heavy and so no way but I folded it each night and left it on the chair - I used to travel wearing a shawl that I could cover myself as a blanket in the plane and so I used it as my blanket. Sheets were fresh each day and the room was well vacuumed each day, but I took on the task of dusting - you'd have thought it was early in the century with coal dust floating in that window for the daily accumulation of a dark colored dust.

Full breakfast in the dining room that only served breakfast in a level below the main floor - it worked - I was only sleeping in the room not hanging out and with the time distance I was not eating much breakfast, coffee, fruit and toast was fine - I was usually out taking in London before 8: 

[Frybabe]

Last night I watched a trailer for Foundation. Yep, Apple TV is doing Asimov. They have got guts. I remember reading that long ago. I can honestly say I have no clue what it was about any more. Moreover, I think I read at least one other in the series. Guess it is time to put that one on my reread list. When I first read it, I don't think I really understood what all was going on. Kind of like when I tried to listen to an audio version of Hyperion which I need to read rather than listen to to understand better.

[rosemarykaye]

Barb- London hotels are something else. My husband's company regularly books him into a Travelodge (ie cheap chain) near St Paul's Cathedral (their office is nearby) and last time he went they charged something like £250 a night for a small room, no food, and then had the audacity to charge more on top for wi-fi access. I doubt Edinburgh is much better.

Ginny - I cannot bear it when speakers share some in-joke with the audience so that they can all feel superior. It happens a lot at the Edinburgh Book Festival I'm afraid, which is usually full of retired professionals (as they can afford the tickets) who also really like asking questions just to show how smart they are. Yuk.

If you are ever looking for a lovely place to stay in the Scottish Borders, do take a look at Traquair House - we have stayed there twice, it is a beautiful old house, a lovely estate to walk round, the rooms are wonderful, and ours had a view of the gates that were closed when the Act of Union was passed (1700s) and will not be opened again until a Stuart king is restored to the Scottish throne: https://www.traquair.co.uk/bed-breakfast/, https://www.traquair.co.uk/history-of-traquair/


We have also found some other great places on this site: https://www.scotlandsbestbandbs.co.uk/ although a friend who used to run a wonderful place just outside Banchory (on her husband's family's estate!) told me she did not advertise on it because they charge so much, so it's good to bear that in mind.

Rosemary

[ginny]

Barbara and Rosemary: Ah  Bayswater. The first trip I ever took abroad was to England Scotland and Wales, in...could it have been a week? YES! Globus! Three countries in a week. If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium..  The disaster of the "Look there's Hadrian's Wall, but we shan't get out, that's all there is left, " and it was a pile of rubble about 5 inches high.

A Tour, the first and last tour I ever took,  my MIL and I went,  and  guess where we stayed in London? Bayswater, of course.  The hotel was old and long past any prime,  gorgeous on the outside. It appeared they had cut the former rooms in half. We literally had to walk on one of the beds to get out the door.

I have had some good experiences in Bayswater, though, small hotels, no air conditioning, no elevators, beautiful frontage n the street,  but lovely people running them. Decades ago when I was younger....cheap.  Example of lovely people: one year I had forgotten, believe it or not, my credit cards, having changed purses at the last minute.  So I stayed  at the hotel in Bayswater where I had stayed several times before only to nearly stroke out in hysteria when it was time to check out. No card!!!!!!!!!!! No pay. No problem, assured the cheerful Indian proprietor, I will use the card from your last visit: here you are home.

Of course now with Am Ex, you'd have one upon demand at their offices, but that was then.



Barbara, I cannot believe you washed those curtains! It's a wonder you didn't come down with the plague!!!! There's a book on Hotels, one of those confidential ones written by the people who run them (they've got websites where they talk about the awful things that go on and how they really do clean those rooms.) All I can say is never put anything clean in a drawer, and never drink out of a glass unless you wash it. And I'm not kidding.


 Frybabe, wow, that is going to be something.  I don't have Apple TV, unfortunately. Love Asimov. Haven't read him in years. Such a good writer. Are those Sci Fi Magazines still sold?


I missed my chance to stay in the Fish Court  of Hampton Court Palace. I had always wanted to stay there,  and in the early 1990's an old Grace and Favor apartment, in the  Fish Court became available for overnight stays...never was available when I was going, and now it's gone, apparently, replaced by a large house, the Georgian House, near the tennis courts where the gardener stayed, which I guess is remarkable as well, but it's too big for me. I would have loved the atmosphere of the  Fish Court lodgings. Can you imagine staying there? I wish I had. (Love Hampton Court and go every year).


Rosemary, yes, I also hate those "insider jokes, " particularly when they are trying to sell people on something as nonsensical as "uncomfortable" accommodations, which is ludicrous. You can get that without trying. hahaha Oh, and a lovely link to more, wonderful places in Scotland, thank you so much. Beautiful photos. That Cull Lodge looks fabulous.  One thing Globus DID do on our "tour of Scotland," was to go to  Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott.  That place just blew me away and I always swore I would return, as we, of course, were not allowed IN....what a treasure that is. 


I must say that Michael Portillo has done a huge amount for my dance card, thanks to you: it's filing up with so many fascinating houses and places and  new things to see. Yesterday we were in Durham. I have to say that entire episode was one of total joy. That choir master at Durham Cathedral radiated joy, it was... wonderful. Among many many  other things, Michael Portillo got to shovel coal into a steam engine going full steam ahead.  The entire episode all 5 or so stops was magic,  and the next time I need a pick me up I'm going to watch it again.

I love the way it starts. There he is zipping up his  suitcase and CARRYING it onto the train. No rolling suitcase for him. My husband still carries his.  I thought it was just him. It's not. Kind of endearing.

[Frybabe]

Yes, Ginny, SciFi/Fantasy magazines are very much alive and well. My favorite is LightSpeed. One of the newest, if not the newest, entry into the SciFi magazine world is Galaxy's Edge which I have yet to explore.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny - Durham is a very beautiful little city and the cathedral is wonderful. Our previous assistant organist is now the organist there I think. Scottish Episcopal cathedrals have almost no funds and are run by a very small number of employees, whereas the English Anglican ones usually have huge budgets and numerous employees (Susan Howatch's excellent Starbridge series will show you just how many Vicars Choral, Choral Vicars and goodness knows what else they have on their payrolls.) I think Joseph, who had previously been the organ scholar at St Paul's Cathedral in London, had a horrible shock when he came to work for us.

My daughter was considering doing her teacher training year at Durham University, but I reminded her that, although the city is very lovely and also very smart, you only have to go a couple of miles outside it to be in serious mining country. The pits are of course all closed now, but the accents are still almost impenetrable, and I can imagine what a class of locals would make of her Received Pronunciation BBC accent! She'd be torn to shreds. I mentioned this to a friend whose father comes from there and who has many relations still living in the area, and she agreed. I know this probably sounds snobbish, but it really isn't meant to be - I just think Anna would have had a miserable time there if she had been sent for teaching practice into one of the really 'local' areas.

Those Bayswater hotels sound dire. I don't think I have ever stayed in a hotel in London, thank goodness. The first time we came to Aberdeen, when my husband's firm was opening up a new office in the city, we stayed in a B & B of the 'traditional' kind, in a row of such establishments in a side street off the city centre. Breakfast was served in the dark and dingy basement. I made the mistake of asking for porridge, and of course it came full of salt (which is how Scots eat it).  When I booked I had made sure to ask for a room with a shower. When we got there we found just that - a room with a plastic shower cubicle stuck right in the middle of it. No toilet - that was in the hall. Dire. Nowadays some of the B & Bs in the Scottish countryside are fabulous, they have really had to up the ante - and the holiday houses we have stayed in on Skye and Islay in recent years were absolutely fantastic - but I'm still not too sure about some of those old B & Bs in Aberdeen centre.

I know I've said this before, but I am thrilled that you are enjoying Portillo so much. He is just perfect for these programmes, isn't he? So enthusiastic and so good at talking to people.

I have just started London Calling, part of a series by Sara Sheridan, who lives in Edinburgh and with whom I sometimes chat on twitter. The books are about two female private detectives in the 1950s. They are based in Brighton and London. I made the mistake of committing myself to reading this as part of a summer reading challenge I am doing, in which we are asked to read 20 books from our TBR stacks and review all of them. I only yesterday read some of the reviews of this book on Amazon and saw that, although some people really liked it, a sizable number of others thought it was terrible. I haven't got far enough in to know what I think yet, but I am a bit worried about posting a bad review (if that is how I feel at the end) and upsetting this writer. I think if I don't like it I might just not do that review. Oh the politics and etiquette of reviewing!  I yesterday posted a review of Rebecca Shaw's Whispers in the Village, of which I had quite a few criticisms (though I also liked parts of it). I wasn't worried about saying what I thought about that, as for one thing I didn't know Shaw, for another she has legions of faithful fans, and for a third she sadly died 5 years ago, so I knew I couldn't upset her. It's a bit different, though, when the author is not quite as successful, and is known to you. That's why I never enjoy seeing friends' (or my children's friends') plays and shows in the Fringe - you just never know what they'll be like and what on earth you are going to say if they're awful.

Fine day here so far after deluges of rain yesterday. I think I will take a walk soon.

Rosemary

[ginny]

OH how interesting about  your daughter and Durham. Don't let her see that Durham  Cathedral episode, she'd be on the train.  The Choir master  absolutely  radiated joy and goodness about his choir  and steam trains.

Is there a difference in the Vicars Choral and Choral Vicars?  I haven't read any Howatch, will  you recommend one?

What does Anna think about the Durham University issue?  I had something of the same issue myself once upon a time. It can be difficult when an area is preservative/ protective/ defensive of the old ways and one is not of the area.


When we got there we found just that - a room with a plastic shower cubicle stuck right in the middle of it. No toilet - that was in the hall  Shriek! hahahaa I like the surprise ones with  showers with no doors, myself, or shower curtain, the water literally gets all over the entire bathroom. in some part of NYC you could  until very recently  still get a shower down the hall. I think that is a HIGHLY overrated experience,  I don't care how much money one saves, I mean really. There's nothing "homey" about the experience.

....summer reading challenge I am doing, in which we are asked to read 20 books from our TBR stacks and review all of them. Good  heavens!! Is this in aid of helping out a publisher or?

I haven't got far enough in to know what I think yet, but I am a bit worried about posting a bad review (if that is how I feel at the end) and upsetting this writer. I think if I don't like it I might just not do that review. Oh the politics and etiquette of reviewing!

 I can see that would be a problem. We used to have  here many authors participating in our book club discussions, and it was very difficult to...they are quite unexpectedly (or it was to me, I should have known better).... sensitive.... about any sort of....everybody wants 5 stars. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings either.

It's funny you bring up book reviews. I don't do many on Amazon but I was repulsed by a couple that appeared after one I did not too long ago for the same book. I really despised the condescending tone of two of the "reviewers," who felt the need to lay on their own background with a trowel, which nobody on earth cares about,  to plump up the.....perceptions... of what their reviews said.  They both to me were ridiculous; the first one talked about the  uninitiated trying to understand the subject of the book, and the second one went so far as to give an example of his own prowess at a famous site.The problem with HIS declarations is I had just had correspondence from the people who actually were responsible FOR doing the famous site, and he has made a right ass out of himself. I'd love to tell him so, to comment on his....mistakes, but I won't. Anybody can make mistakes, and they usually happen when one is being over pompous.  Maybe someday somebody will return the favor to me (I expect it's done constantly)...but it left me fuming anyway.

[ginny]

I so enjoyed Auntie Mame that I went looking for more Rosalind Russell movies and lo and behold when the movie I was watching yesterday ended,  here came a movie I never heard of, called...Mrs Polifax and something...but it starred Rosalind Russell and the screen play  apparently was written by her. I haven't thought of the Mrs. Polifax  book  series in years, I  used to really enjoy it, so I'm going to watch her take on it tonight.

(Shakespeare and Hathaway 3 is supposed to be on sale in  2 days here in the US and I'm hoping it will appear somewhere I can see it then online).

Here's Rosalind Russell in the Switchboard operator scene as Auntie Mame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXeZYtYabtI

Anybody who has ever worked one of those old switchboards, knows that's  exactly how it feels. hahaha


Frybabe I miss those old Sci Fi magazines. The next time (if there ever IS a next time) I am in a Barnes and Noble I'll check them out for old time's sake.

[BarbStAubrey]

Rosalind Russell would make a good Mrs. Polifax wouldn't she - let us know if the movie turns out to be worth watching?

We get Grantchester and I am not particularly enjoying the season they are showing - its all built around the sins of the clergy and those who stand for 'right' living - I understand there will be a 6th season released for the fall PBS lineup - if it is more of what I am seeing I think I will skip it - its easy to make the dark side of a character into a poster of judgement by others - I prefer watching something with less dark and more light - there is enough dark going on that can be viewed on TV where as the Brit shows were my safe port.   

Our PBS has 4 channels, one being all children's shows - I think it is that one but starting the fall they are doing classes - early grades for 3 hours in the morning - middle school for 3 hours late morning and early afternoon and high school 3 hours in the evening. I'm thinking of seeing if they will let me sign up - the new math befuddles me and this would be an opportunity to learn it from middle school through to high school. We shall see -

[ginny]

Unfortunately it does not look very good. For some reason the thing first showed me the last 10 minutes, which made absolutely no sense. I then tried to start it over but for some reason was out of the mood , so will try later on.

Yesterday I watched Shakespeare and Hathaway the new series 3, the last episode 10,  on something called DailyMotion or something like that which scares me to death because why is it free there and you have to pay everywhere else? Virus? Malware? At any rate episode 10 is a triumph, absolutely loved it.  In Edit: Norton stopped a malicious attack from this website: do not use!

[BarbStAubrey]

Love Shakespeare and Hathaway - it is back on our local PBS on Monday night - Hathaway had his hair cut for this series - not sure the series though.

[ginny]

If you're seeing the one with the short hair, that's season 3. I note that Connecticut and Arizona PBS have had season 3 on since June 18, but not here. I'm glad to hear it's coming! I hope that one of the PBS stations we get will have it, too.

[BarbStAubrey]

Ginny is there a way you can get it on the national PBS web site - although I think now to get all these shows you need to join something on your local PBS station - forgot what it is called but there is no set amount.

[ginny]

Yes, I did join that, some time ago, but I can't seem to find anything on it now. I will keep looking.

However while looking up one of the references I did see something  which looks really interesting, it's Danish, believe it or not,  and is called Seaside Hotel. It's got BIG English subtitles and is on Amazon Prime, but it's season 5, which seems to indicate it's pretty popular somewhere, (I never heard of it)  and I really love how it starts.   This episode  takes place in 1932 and I love the period cars and dress already:

"The seaside hotel "Badehotellet" in NW Denmark opens for its wealthy guests each summer. We follow the guests and staff at the hotel from 1928 into the 1940's."   

See what you think:

https://www.amazon.com/Episode-5/dp/B089MFFRLJ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=seaside+hotel+season+5&qid=1595639220&s=instant-video&sr=1-1

I've never heard of it but I'm going to watch this first episode and see if I like it.

[BarbStAubrey]

hmm looks good doesn't it - I'll look for it - I think Grantchester is finishing up this season so maybe until the next season starts they will show this - a Broadway show tonight and for the next 4 or 5 Friday nights.

[ginny]

It IS! I've watched 20 minutes of it and I'm totally hooked. What a strange language! I love it, it's kind of an Upstairs Downstairs Hotel ... But the language alone is marvelous,  how on earth does anybody speak it? Totally fascinating.  Het seems to mean do you have and there were a couple of others which came and went before I realized that I knew what they meant.

The guests at a hotel all knowing each other is so real to me because I worked one summer at the Tennannah Lake House Resort  in the Catskills (now long gone) but it was the same type of thing.  It was a Kosher Jewish resort in the  Borscht Belt and everybody there returned every year, and all knew each other, if not from the past, then before the day was out. That was where I operated (for about as long as Auntie Mame did with the same results) the Switchboard.

I'm going to finish this episode (which is the 5th year) and then go back and watch it from year 1.

I don't actually watch that much TV and Michael Portillo is taking up 30 minutes in the morning so this can be my last 40 minutes today.  They just published a study saying if you watch more than 2 hours you die earlier, that does not sound good, and that your brain is mush as well (or words to that effect).

[Dana]

Oh goody, Seaside Hotel...looks good....I only have a few more episodes of A Place to Call Home to go now, so already am feeling withdrawal pangs....hopefully this can take its place!

I like Australian series. I think A place to Call Home must be written by a gay man.  There is such an emphasis on being gay, which must have been hell in 1950s Australia.  in fact I know it was because I had an Aussie patient who fled the country and that was in the 70s.
Other Australia series I have watched include Rake which I found very funny,and the main character rather attractive, in fact I keep meaning to watch them all again.

You have to sign up for for Masterpiece extra or something to get Seaside Hotel.  It's getting to be a real scam.  Everything I want to see I have to sign up for something else....but I just sign up for the time I am watching the series and then cancel it because usually the next thing I want to watch is someplace else.  I've gone from that BBC thing, to Acorn and now soon this masterpiece one....I have cancelled and resubscribed to Netflix and Hulu at various times because I wasn't watching anything on them.  Ah for the good old days before all this diversification!!

Going back to Nordic languages....I used to watch a couple of Swedish series (Wallander was my favourite), and I did enjoy listening to the language a lot.  And i think The Bridge was Danish.  Anyway danish and Swedish are quite alike!

[ginny]

It's on Amazon Prime? Do you have that? I agree about all these signups and I'm about to let loose some of mine.

"Het" means "it" in Danish, not "do you have" as I thought.  This is absolutely fascinating. It kind of sounds Swedish, actually, in the cadences but then sounds German as well.