Author: Jay Ruud

An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro (1986) Ishiguro’s second novel is not as well known as his Booker-prize winning Remains of the Day, or his popular and acclaimed Never Let Me Go, but it is in An Artist of the Floating World that Ishiguro hits the stride that will eventually lead him to his 2017 Nobel Prize… Continue reading An Artist of the Floating World

A Quiet Place II John Krasinski2020/2021 Facts for You: Where to Watch: Exclusive to theaters Length: 97 minutes  Names You Might Know: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski Language: English She Said: I’ve been waiting for this film since it almost came out in 2020. When the pandemic shut down theaters, I was waiting… Continue reading A Quiet Place II

Damages (season one) Todd and Glenn Kessler with Daniel Zellman (2007) Facts for You: Where to Watch: Originally on FX, now streaming on Hulu Length: Thirteen 1-hour episodes in the first season Names You Might Know: Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Ted Danson, Željko Ivanek Language: English He Said: If you were disappointed last month to see Glenn Close fail once… Continue reading Damages (season one)

Under the Net Iris Murdoch (1954) I’m definitely late to the party as an admirer of Iris Murdoch. I’d heard the name but her novels were always a bit off the radar for me and for what I was reading and studying at the time. But in my late-life mania to read important things that… Continue reading Under the Net

Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro (2021) One of my wife’s signature maxims is the uncomfortable truth that “You can never know if somebody loves you. You can only know if you feel loved.” This encapsulates succinctly the exasperating gulf between the unique and independent consciousness trapped within one physical body and that other “ghost… Continue reading Klara and the Sun