Over the school holidays Ennis, my wife, has been working away at a novel based in Australia and New Zealand. It’s a fantasy kind of novel. A bit like Stephen Lawhead’s Song of Albion Series meets Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant Series meets 16-year-old students who disocver connections between their town in Victoria, Australia and Paradise.
Ennis is researching and writing it up on her Novel Blog. So far she’s up to Chapter 16. She’d be interested in any comments.
I’ve just read Mitch Albom’s novel, “The Five People You Meet In Heaven“. It’s the story of an eighty three year old veteran of World War II who dies while trying to save a girl in an amusement park. The story takes us through Eddie’s life through encounters in heaven with five people whose lives intersected with his in significant ways.
I’ve seen the book in Borders and in airport bookshops and almost bought it several times. Finally I succumbed, finishing it on a plane flight from Mackay to Brisbane.
Well I must say I was impressed, moved and intellectually stimulated. This is the guy who wrote “Tuesdays with Morrie”, the non-fiction account of his conversations with his college mentor, sociologist Morrie Schwartz who was dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mitch is in touch with matters of life and death. He touches on the experiences of post traumatic stress disorder, the impact of resentment and forgiveness, and the transformative effects of deep and faithful love.
Mitch is also a nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, nationally-syndicated radio host for his flagship station WJR-AM in Detroit, and television commentator. He has an excellent web site - www.mitchalbom.com - featuring tapes from Tuesdays with Morrie and interviews from his radio shows. He’s clearly at home on the internet - with well designed sites www.albom.com and www.albomfivepeople.com.
“Five People” was made into a television movie, starring Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Daniels and Michael Imperioli. Likewise Tuesdays with Morriewas dramatized for television, starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria. Morrie wrote his own book, “Morrie: In His Own Words” and was interviewed on ABC’s Nightline by Ted Koppel. Those interviews are now available on DVD as “ABC News presents Morrie Schwartz - Lessons on Living“.
I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Thursday night. As I wandered down the hallway towards theatre 9 with two members of the family I commented on how few people were walking in. I would have thought the place would be packed. I soon found out why. Everyone was already there. I ended up with a seat three from the front - not good for the neck I tell you. Apart from the awkward seating angles required to see the screen, it was well worth going.
The movie opens with Harry, Hermoine and the Weasleys heading off to the Quidditch World Cup with two members of the Diggory family.
The first thing I noticed was the long hair. These are teenagers as I remember them in the mid 1970s. The visual effects were sheer magic. The director Mike Newell managed to convey a the sense of panic and destruction that ensues on the night of the match.
Mike Newell was also the director of Mona Lisa Smile, Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil. He’s quoted as saying, “”I was very anxious to break the franchise out of this goody-two-shoes feel. It’s my view that children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists. Just adults-in-waiting basically.”
The movie, and even more so the book, brings out the ambiguity of life. Harry’s discovering that it’s not so easy to distinguish between good and evil. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione goes through the throes of jealousy, mistrust and sheer bad communication - the plight of fourteen year olds. And then there’s the sheer frustration of fourteen year old girls struggle with the inability of their peers to rise to the challenge of romance.
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Roger Lloyd-Pack, best known for his work as Owen Newitt in Vicar of Dibley, does an excellent job as Barty Crouch. Eric Sykes, famous English comedian, plays the part of the murdered caretaker right at the beginning. Reporter Rita Skeeter is played by Miranda Richardson, best known in our house as Queenie (Queen Elizabeth I) in Blackadder. Madame Olympe Maxime is played by Frances de la Tour, known for her role in British sitcom, Rising Damp.
I’ve seen the book in Borders and in airport bookshops and almost bought it several times. Finally I succumbed, finishing it on a plane flight from Mackay to Brisbane.
“Five People” was made into a television movie, starring Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Daniels and Michael Imperioli. Likewise 
was dramatized for television, starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria. Morrie wrote his own book, “
