Category: Review

The Dig Simon Stone (2020) Facts for You: Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix Length: 1 hour 52 minutes Names You Might Know: Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, Lily James He Said:If you’re a big fan of Beowulf (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) then you’re well aware of the dark, elegiac tone that hangs over that poem, and the… Continue reading The Dig

Hamnet Maggie O’Farrell (2020) There is at the center of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about the death of William Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son Hamnet a chapter that backs away from the story we are in the midst of and examines it from a transcendent perspective. It is unlikely that O’Farrell could have conceived at the time of… Continue reading Hamnet

News of the World Paul Greengrass (2020) Facts for You: Where to Watch: Streaming on Amazon Prime Length: 1 hour 58 minutes Names You Might Know: Tom Hanks She Said: Well, it’s happened: We’ve been home for the Pandemic long enough to get TWO Tom Hanks movies on streaming; the first was Greyhound, last year when streaming major studio… Continue reading News of the World

A Children’s Bible Lydia Millet (2020) It’s not unusual for a literary text on any level to depict parents as complete idiots whom their children are forced to save through their superior savvy and common sense, and replace those in power with a “new society.” This is almost the universal plot of comedy, from Menander… Continue reading A Children’s Bible

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom George C. Wolfe (2020) Facts for You: Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix Length: 1 hour 34 minutes Names You Might Know: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman He Said: August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle,” sometimes called the “American Cycle,” is one of the great achievements of American theater. A series of ten plays, each set in… Continue reading Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Money: A Suicide Note Martin Amis (1985) Martin Amis, son of another acclaimed British novelist, Kingsley Amis (LuckyJim), is, I’m quite certain, better known in England than in the United States, having been ranked as  No. 19 on the London Times’ famous 2008 list of the “50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945” (his dad came in at… Continue reading Money: A Suicide Note

Borgen Adam Price, Jeppe Gjervig Gram and Tobias Lindholm (2010-2013) Facts for You: Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix Length: 3 seasons of 10 episodes each  Names You Might Know: How well do you know Danish actors?  Language: In Danish with subtitles She Said: When Netflix serves me a foreign-language television series, I’m all ears and… Continue reading Borgen

How to Raise an Elephant Alexander McCall Smith (2020) This latest installment in Smith’s enormously popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series—the 21st—is newly released (as of November 24), and if you are a fan of the series, you will find it a very comfortable read. Within a few paragraphs you are back in Botswana with… Continue reading How to Raise an Elephant

Mank David Fincher (2020)   Facts for You: Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix Length:2 hours, 12 minutes Rated: R for language Names You Might Know: Gary Oldman,Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, Lily Collins   He Said: “You cannot capture a man’s entire life in two hours, you can only hope to leave the impression of one,” says Herman J.… Continue reading Mank

The Order Daniel Silva (2020) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Shakespeare-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’76’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Like several of Daniel Silva’s previous espionage thrillers featuring Israeli spy Gabriel Allon, his most recent novel (the 20th in the Allon series) premiered at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list this past August, so I… Continue reading The Order