Luis Vernando Verissimo is the Brazilian author of two books I have read in the last couple months. The first one is Borges and the Eternal Orangutans, a story of a Brazilian who attends a literary gathering in Buenos Aires discussing the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The second is The Club of Angels, taking place in Rio de Janeiro. Both stories are written most excellently, and translated very expertly. They are truly entertaining reads.

The Club of Angels was so entertaining, in fact, that I ended up reading it aloud to my wife for a bedtime story! We were both enthralled by the short little book, eagerly awaiting the next chapter to see how it would develop.

The story involves a club formed around preparing and eating together gourmet meals. After twenty years of this club, a new person shows up who demonstrates himself to be a most excellent chef. Following each meal one person dies. (Verissimo tells us this right at the beginning of the book, so I am not spoiling anything!) The anticipation is to see who the next “victim” will be, how the group and individuals in it handle this dilemma, what meal will be prepared next, and so on. It truly is a delightful read, despite what may seem on the surface to be rather nefarious situations.

I will not go further into story lines or plots, but rather encourage you, my friends, to pursue this book and read it yourself. Both books are short enough to be an evening or two of intense, entertaining reading.

This novel, by Alice Sebold, is a delight to read! It is yet again a fresh look at the relationship between the Spirit dimension and our earth.

The story begins with the horrific rape and murder of a teenage girl by a psychopathic neighbour. So, admittedly, the book has a difficult beginning. But after a chapter or two, the remainder of the book details the recollections of the girl, Susie, as she learns to navigate the afterlife. She keeps track of her family and friends on earth as they seek each in their own way to deal with the grief of her death. She seeks to send them messages. Some on earth sense her; others don’t.

The entire story is told in a rather light-hearted way. It is not a “heavy” story at all, even given the unimaginably horrible beginning. It follows the main characters through the first eight years following Susie’s death.

The truths shared through the incredibly insightful story-telling gifts of the author are timely and truly in keeping with the truths I myself have been learning of the afterlife. One, the Spirit dimension is experienced by each person in their own way. No one experiences death and the life in between lives in the same way. These varying perceptions, rather than undermining the truths about this dimension, in my mind solidify the idea of the care and love experienced in the Spirit world. We are given precisely that which we need to process and heal from whatever experiences we have been through in our life. We are given only that which we are prepared to handle. “Heaven” is not going to overwhelm us. It is a place we go to learn, to grow, to heal, to reach out to others, to seek to help those we love, etc.

Another truth Alice Sebold teaches us through her story is that “heaven” is light-hearted. It is a place filled with fun and laughter. We, as eternal souls, will continue to experience emotions. But we will learn to enjoy and have fun with the experience of being in that other dimension. There is no judgement as the Church tends to teach. There is guidance, suggestions, advice, all in the spirit of learning, assisting us in our personal growth. But no judgement, only pure acceptance, total and unconditional.

Another truth consistent with what I already have learned of the other dimension is that our contact and ability to intervene from that plane to this material plane is limited. We in physical form are continually surrounded by those who love us and who look out for our well-being. But they can only do so much. We can aide them by reaching out to them, giving them permission to enter our consciousness and understanding. But we on earth are here to live our lives and learn the lessons we incarnated for. The souls who surround us can only stand by while we make our mistakes.

Once again, I was blown away by the gifted story-telling of Alice Sebold. The story is so filled with love and laughter and acceptance, people growing through terrible circumstances, people stumbling through life, picking themselves up and carrying on, making mistakes, making things worse before they get better, but each in their own way struggling through the most unimaginable events and getting through it.

This is a highly recommended read: for anyone, whether you are facing heartache, or just want a great story to read and laugh and cry through!!!

I watched a delightful little film this weekend, titled, Upside Down. I don’t know how wide a distribution this movie got in theatres a year or two ago, but I had only very vague memories of the reviews it got around the time of its release. So it is likely if you are reading this review, that you may never have heard of this flick. Go on a search! It is very worth your while!

Another thing which I had not known about this movie is that it is Canadian. It comes from Montreal. The director, in Special Effects commentary speaks in French, explain how this movie came to be made. And it sounds as if it was filmed almost entirely in Montreal.

The story is a very basic love story: boy from the “wrong side of the tracks” meets classy girl; they fall in love but seem destined to never be together. Everything, and everyone, are out to prevent their ever getting together. This part of the story is told gently, with a lovely air about it.

The setting is very unusual: science fiction. Sci-fi was the reason I was interested in the movie; but as it turns out, the sci-fi dimensions become secondary to the story. It is just the world they live in.

This world they live in is explained in voice-over at the beginning. There are two worlds in proximity to each other. Each has its own gravity. Whatever world you originate on, that is the world whose gravity you experience, and the other world appears “upside down”. As you can guess, the two lovers come from opposite worlds, providing numerous obstacles which must be overcome. There is quite a mystical, magical component to this, but the unimaginable improbabilities do not seem to detract from the story. They add to it, if anything. Upside Down is a modern, magical fairy tale, told with a gentle touch.

Another aspect of the movie which is there, if a bit understated, is the class/power divide on this world (or these worlds!). The two worlds evolved separately, one becoming very wealthy and successful, the other not so much. The wealthy world exploits the lower one. There is some working together, but always with the power gap very obviously in place. No one from “below” is allowed to succeed beyond certain limits. This power differential pervades every aspect of the story.

In this way the movie is a very powerful commentary on our world today. There are power-elites who control all the financial and political power structures. And don’t you dare challenge them!! And of course, the love of Adam and Eden (very interesting choices of names!) challenges them in numerous ways. Their simple idealism is a light shining out in dark hopelessness. And (spoiler alert!), as it is a fairy tale after all, love carries the day! I don’t think it will really spoil anyone’s enjoyment of this delightful tale to know that! I really do encourage anyone wanting to see an uplifting story, or anyone interested in seeing how a very fanciful, imaginative world works, check this movie out. You will not regret it!!! It is very well made. The few inconsistencies necessarily arising out of such a uniquely creative world do not detract from the story.

This movie will certainly make you think. I expect this story to be with me for a long time!

With a many-years gap since reading other of this author’s vampire stories, I just finished Anne Rice’s latest Vampire Chronicles novel, Prince Lestat. What a great story; what an entertaining read; what a well-woven chronicle! This novel is great on several levels.

One, it is a very entertaining story. Because of the intervening years, I did not remember much about the previous few Vampire Chronicles I had read. But that did not matter. With Anne Rice’s gifted writing, I was able to pick up many threads from earlier stories. Plus, Prince Lestat stands on its own very well. It would be a good read for anyone, even if you have not read any of her previous vampire books (or seen the movie!). I had picked this book up to read as pure entertainment.

Two, I found this book to be much more than entertainment. It had a lot of deep stuff in it! The primary message of this novel is the encouragement to accept our path in life, and walk it. The vampire Lestat, of the title, was the main one struggling with his destiny. And Anne Rice brings us along gently and slowly as Lestat wrestles with who he is, and what his role is amongst his vampiric family. He does not want to accept his place as a leader among them. Vampires tend to be solitary creatures, and he does not want to give this up. But Anne Rice develops this theme so eloquently, that by the end the reader is cheering Lestat on, as he very gradually owns up to his giftedness. Included along the way are the stories of numerous others who also, in their own way, are wrestling with who they are, and what role they live in their world.

Three, even one destined as clearly as Lestat has deficiencies. He constantly doubts himself, questioning his actions, second-guessing. He does not always handle situations very well, blowing up in anger over others’ behaviour. He comes upon new situations he has never before encountered, new creatures, and is very unsure about these and how to proceed. He comes close to giving up numerous times.

Four, Anne Rice, in placing this novel in the world of fictitious vampires, helps us to see ourselves in the context of beings very completely different than we are. Even though completely strange, these beings still have the same emotions, the same struggles, etc. It is a profound story at this level.

This novel should be read by everyone!! It is so encouraging and positive. The fact that the characters are vampires should not deter anyone from picking this novel up. Give it a try; you won’t regret it!

This book by Thomas Moore is an incredible read, especially for those of us who come from Christian/Church traditions. It focuses on the New Testament gospel accounts of Jesus’ teachings and his actions. I want to expand on this in the future, but for now, just let me say that this is a book well worth much effort to track down and read. It will open your eyes to new understandings of the person of Jesus and his sayings.

More later!!!

This may seem like a post a bit out of sync with many of my musings. But this author, Kate Mosse, has written three novels about the Languedoc region of southern France, titled, Labyrinth, Sepulchre, and Citadel. Each of the three stands alone as a stunning story. But there is a certain thread which somehow weaves its way through all three. 

The first obvious thread is that each novel deals with hidden artifacts. There is a search for these, by both those who seek to know the truth in an enlightened way, and by those who would use ancient esoteric knowledge for evil. This gives each novel a terrific element of suspense. Kate Mosse is a very gifted writer and her stories are difficult to put down. Each one is a page-turner in its own right.

Another commonality is that in each novel Mosse uses the literary device of twin stories, each happening at a different point in history, but which are intertwined. Obviously, in light of the hidden-artifact thread, the early-time story deals with the creation of the hidden artifact, which becomes the object of search later in history.

Another common thread is one mysterious character who appears in every book, and whose presence is key to each story. This I found to be a clever device, adding much intrigue to the books.

Also, the Church and religion play important parts in all these stories. There are ancient mysteries, mysticism, both modern and ancient, organized religion trying to control the dissemination of knowledge, etc. (Maybe this is the hook connecting this review with much of my other writings.)

I cannot write this review without referring to another author who deals with the same landscape, and with some of the same themes. That author is Kathleen McGowan. Especially her first two novels of a trilogy, The Expected One, and The Book of Love, deal with the Languedoc, the Cathars, esoteric ancient knowledge. McGowan also uses the device of old stories being discovered by modern protagonists.

Both Mosse and McGowan are gifted writers. Their stories are difficult to put down, and I as a reader found it hard to wait for the next book to come into my hands. Both authors have obviously done a great deal of historical research, and I found their books to be completely absorbing ways to learn more about historical events I knew little of.

I would say I think Kathleen McGowan’s writings are a bit more historical than Mosse’s. I say this because of hearing an interview with McGowan where she relates that her writing began by researching the lives of women who have not been dealt with accurately by historians. She wanted to put the record straight, and tell more of their story than has been known before. While initially aiming to publish these as historical works, a friend encouraged her to write them into novels, thereby achieving a wider audience. I think this was magnificently accomplished!

Another aspect of McGowan’s books, especially the first novel, The Expected One, is that she revealed in her interview that the images which the modern day protagonist sees from the first century, are pretty much word for word descriptions of images and messages she herself has experienced. This gives her story an immediacy, a sense of really happening, scenes from history actually having occurred.

Kate Mosse’s stories, on the other hand, are purely fictional accounts of events set in historical events. For example, the third book, Citadel, is set in the context of the French resistance movement of World War II. It especially shows the role women played in this resistance against the Nazi occupation of France, specifically the southern area of France. Mosse’s stories are just awesomely good reads: very entertaining, somewhat enlightening, but made-up stories nonetheless. McGowan’s stories are almost real; I as the reader really, really wanted them to be true accounts. And I ended up believing that things happened pretty much as she puts forth (creative licence notwithstanding).

So, my reader, if you want a good, enthralling read, choose any one of these author’s books!! You will not be disappointed, and they will cause you to think.

I watched this movie last weekend. It showed what was in my opinion a very idealized look at the youth culture of the ’60’s. Set in 1962, it was still an age of innocence: before the JFK assassination, before the Viet Nam war, before the British invasion, before all the race riots, before Woodstock, before Easy Rider, etc.

In other words, it is set just before my generation. I would’ve been in Grade Nine when this movie was set.

But it was an enjoyable watch none-the-less. It showed hot cars, had actors in it dressed like we did in the sixties, at least the early sixties. It brought back many memories of an earlier time. Today this seems like another life time ago. Of course, it was set in California, which I imagine was vastly different than Lincoln, Nebraska, where I grew up. Not many kids had hot cars like shown in the movie. There were some, but they were not prolific. Most of us drove rather prosaic, ordinary cars, at least in my circles.

But I enjoyed the movie, despite all my criticisms. Filmed in 1973, it was George Lucas’s look back at his own youth in central California. So for him, I would imagine this is how he remembered his teenage years.

One thing this did for me was to point out the incredible changes my generation has lived through. Following the time period depicted in this movie, there were so many huge events, life-changing, society-changing, earth-changing happenings. Beginning with the JFK assassination, of course, but then the rise of the Viet Nam war (which my generation fought), the race riots, the anti-establishment ethos which very quickly developed during the sixties, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr, and Robert Kennedy. These last two deaths affected me personally more than the death of President Kennedy. I had heard RFK campaigning in person in Lincoln. I was so much more aware of the wider world around me than I had been when JFK was killed.

And of course, the Viet Nam war affected us extremely deeply. I served two years in “civil service” as a conscientious objector to the war. One brother-in-law spent four years in the air force. Many of my classmates went to fight and never came back. Many of my generation came back deeply scarred from their experiences.

What a time it was!!! And American Graffiti helped bring up many of these memories. If you haven’t ever seen it, I would recommend you watch this movie, either to recall this era if you are close to my age, or to help understand this era of an earlier generation.

UFO’s for the 21st Century Mind, by Richard M. Dolan. A very helpful book. Especially for one like me, who has read here and there about UFO’s, but never extensively. Dolan’s book gives a concise overview of UFO’s over the years. He conjectures about the secrecy surrounding UFO’s, and offers suggestions about the possibilities of disclosure on the part of the powers-that-be.

It is exciting to consider what could be, what has been, what is now. I have no trouble at all believing that ET aliens are among us, and influencing human development and society. And I equally have no trouble understanding why governments have wanted to keep this secret. Dolan helped put that into perspective for me. While I certainly do not agree with their decisions, I can understand a bit more why they felt the need to keep all this secret.

I appreciate the work which Richard Dolan and others have gone to to keep us informed. Researchers like him go to great lengths to ferret information from the dark corners of secret government programs and then present it to the public in comprehensible ways. Dolan is an interesting lecturer; I heard him last year here in Calgary. It is well worth your time to check him out, whether in person, or through this, his latest book.