Friday, March 21, 2008
Movies: Only two movies this week. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Michael Clayton. I was actually quite surprised by Clooney's acting in 'Michael Clayton', it is acutally very subtle, but effective. I'm sure you could miss some of the things he was doing if you were watching in on your computer. It was a great film, no real moral resolution, but a nice piece of art.
Books Mao: The Untold Story. Generally, I am at a loss here to find good books in English, I remember last year, when we were in Ireland, I spent a few hours in one bookstore, drooling. Generally, if given a choice, I prefer to read biographies, because, well, I'm curious about the human mind. Now, admittedly, I don't know much about Mao, and I'm only a little way into the book, but it is obvious that the author's hate him. It's as if you got someone who had been to Auswitz to write a biography of Hitler. It seems to present Mao as nothing more than a gangster, but if he was such a gangster, why was he so successful for so long? He definitely ranks up there with the tyrants of the twentieth century, Stalin and Hitler, but I would prefer some more explanations of his appeal, to common chinese people.
Books Mao: The Untold Story. Generally, I am at a loss here to find good books in English, I remember last year, when we were in Ireland, I spent a few hours in one bookstore, drooling. Generally, if given a choice, I prefer to read biographies, because, well, I'm curious about the human mind. Now, admittedly, I don't know much about Mao, and I'm only a little way into the book, but it is obvious that the author's hate him. It's as if you got someone who had been to Auswitz to write a biography of Hitler. It seems to present Mao as nothing more than a gangster, but if he was such a gangster, why was he so successful for so long? He definitely ranks up there with the tyrants of the twentieth century, Stalin and Hitler, but I would prefer some more explanations of his appeal, to common chinese people.
Labels: books and movies...
# posted by Adam Tod Leverton @ 8:58 PM 
