The Making of Stanley Kubrick's the Shining; Helen of Pasadena

 

Unlike Stephen King, I *love* Stanley Kubrick's version of "The Shining" (I rewatched it while I was reading the book and it's still just as great as I remembered. I'm really in the mood to reread the book, but seriously, who has time?!). I personally thought the changes he made from the book, making the movie more about Jack losing his mind than about the supernatural elements was a great idea for the movie. The book is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but a lot of King's books are tough to get right on film because of the depth of detail and interior thoughts. It's really hard to translate to visual, so I think Kubrick made a good decision to change those elements. 

It was a really interesting and in depth look at just how much time and effort went into the film. Good stuff.

A few weeks ago I heard Lian Dolan speak at an event and she was so terrific, I wanted to read one of her books. I chose her first one, "Helen of Pasadena", which is about Helen, who is married to Merritt Fairchild, one of Pasadena's elite families. On New Year's Eve, Merritt tells her he's leaving her for a TV weathergirl and then Merritt is killed in a Rose Parade accident the next day (side note: I hate the Rose Parade. Seriously, so boring. As a kid I had to watch it every year because my mom is super in to it. I haven't watched it since I moved out on my own). Along with his death comes the awful news that he left their finances in shambles. Helen has been a stay at home wife and mother for the last 15 years and now she needs to find a job--fast. 

She ends up with a wonderful job as a research assistant for a visiting archeology professor at the Huntington Library (I love the Huntington, so I was jealous). Of course sparks fly between the gorgeous, single Dr. O'Neill and Helen (of course). It was the typical happy ending that everyone in books and movies seems to get that never happens in real life. I think I was just not in the right frame of mind to like this book. Not right now. I'm sure, for those folks out there who are happy in their personal lives, they'd get a kick out of it. I was just bitter at the end.  

Edgar A. Poe: a Life; L.A. Coroner

 

The picture of the cover of this book does not do it justice. The cover in real life is shimmery and a bit purply and is just gorgeous. 

At any rate. Mr. Poe! What a treasure he was. It's amazing to think of all that he wrote in such a short life. So much tragedy. His father abandoned the family and his mother died when he was a little guy, leaving behind Edgar, his older brother Henry, and his younger sister, Rosalie. Henry went to live with his grandparents and Edgar and his sister were farmed out to two different families, Edgar of course going to the Allan family. He was a smart kid who got along well with his adopted mother but he and his adopted father clashed and had a huge falling out over money when Edgar was at West Point. Gambling debts caught up to him and Allan was reluctant to keep bailing him out. 

Money problem plagued Poe his entire life. He was always in debt. He was also a romantic who fell in love quickly and often. He married Virginia Clemm, his cousin, who died of tuberculosis, leaving Edgar devastated. His own death, most likely from alcohol abuse, remains shrouded in mystery. While we often think of Poe as a melancholy, solitary man sitting alone in a garret with a raven cawing from the doorframe, he was actually a well liked and athletic man. Rereading some of his poetry, I'm just in awe of how brilliantly he was able to convey thoughts and feelings in so few words. I love his Dupin mysteries, they're so well written. It was a beautiful, well done tribute to not just an author but a man.

Thomas Noguchi was well known as the "coroner to the stars". Working for L.A. County, he was on the scene when many well known public figures died, from Marilyn Monroe to Natalie Wood. His autopsy of Robert F. Kennedy was lauded by his professional colleagues as "perfect". 

The County Board of Supervisors still wanted him out in 1969 because of his public image. Noguchi was a publicity hound who loved being interviewed and having his name in the paper. They forced his resignation but then Noguchi decided to fight for his job and after a lengthy process was reinstated with backpay. He felt he was untouchable politically after that and started concentrating on his own consulting business, using the County's funds, facilities, and work time to earn money on the side. Noguchi was demoted from Chief Coroner in the early '80s but didn't retire until 1999. 

Beware the pitfalls of hubris. 

With a Vengeance

 

I enjoyed Riley Sager's latest, "With a Vengeance". It had a bit of a "Murder on the Orient Express" feel to it, but honestly any mystery or thriller involving a train is going to get that comparison. Christie set the bar high with that one. 

Six people receive an invitation to take a train from Philadelphia to Chicago from a mysterious, unknown person. Once they board the train, which is empty except for them, they learn why: Anna Matheson. Anna is the daughter of the man who used to own the railroad and helped design the Philadelphia Phoenix. He was destroyed in WWII when one of his trains which was carrying a cargo of soldiers and weapons blew up, killing dozens of young men, including his own son, Tommy. Art Matheson went to prison, where he was stabbed to death. His wife was so distraught she killed herself, leaving Anna with the wreckage of her once happy family. 

Anna's aunt left her proof that the six people on the train conspired with her father's chief competitor, Kenneth Wentworth, to destroy him and now Anna wants her vengeance. 

I can't say too much more without ruining it but the ending was so logical that of course I didn't figure it out. Once it was revealed I had an "oh, yes, of course!" moment. It was a great book, very hard to put down. 

Marble Hall Murders; Stone of Farewell

 

"Marble Hall Murders" is the third Horowitz book featuring editor Susan, after "Magpie Murders" and "Moonflower Murders". After I reread what I posted about those two books, I was ready to go.

Susan moves back to London after breaking up with her boyfriend in Crete. She's freelancing at a new publishing house (since Charles Cloverleaf is in prison for killing Alan Conway and trying to kill her). They've decided to continue the Atticus Pund series and have hired Eliot Crace to write them. Eliot is the grandson of Miriam Crace, who was famous for writing a series of children's books about a family named the Littles. 

Much like Conway, Eliot puts little puzzles and clues into the story. "Pund's Last Case" takes place at the summer home of wealthy Lady Chalfont in the south of France. The characters are all based on Eliot's own family and Susan is leery of publishing a "revenge" novel since Eliot is hellbent on tearing down his famous grandmother's sainthood. According to Eliot (and many of the family members Susan is able to talk to) Miriam Crace was a horrible human being and everyone was glad she died. Horowitz did a masterful job of incorporating the story within the story this time around as well as planting clues for the reader along the way (I won't pretend I caught them all, I'm sure I didn't, but I did get a few and I'm pretty darn proud of myself). It was really well done, I enjoyed it. 

I read the first book in the series, "The Dragonbone Chair", two years ago and meant to finish up the rest of it but unfortunately life got in the way (not to mention these books are like 1,000 pages long. Jeez). 

I think I actually enjoyed this book more than the first one. It seemed to have more action and I'm more familiar with the characters now. I'm not even going to attempt to sum up the story (see above re: 1,000 pages) but it was fun. And someday I'll get to book three!

Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

 

A body is discovered in the garden of Finlay's neighbor from across the street, Mrs. Haggerty. A garden that was planted by Finlay's philandering ex-husband, Steven. Oh, and the dead guy's widow claims she and Steven had an affair. Combined with all those bodies they found on his sod farm a few months back, the police are pretty convinced Steven is their killer and arrest him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Haggerty decides to move into Finlay's house since the police investigation resulted in a lot of damage to hers. 

Finlay is on a mission to clear her ex-husband of the charges as well as get Mrs. Haggerty's house repaired so she can go home. Oh, and her agent, Sylvia, is coming into town to negotiate a TV deal for Finlay's books and wants "hot cop" Nick to sign on as a consultant. Finlay is, naturally, a little concerned about having Nick consult on a show that is loosely based on her own crimes and secrets. 

It was a lot of fun and had some laugh out loud moments. The mystery of who killed the guy who was buried in Mrs. Haggerty's backyard wasn't really much of a mystery, but it was entertaining.