Reading matter

Yes, I know it's a pretty desperate photo, but I haven't taken any others today. And the content is captivating anyway. Clue:

"An inexplicable message flashed onto the screen of his Apple II computer at 3am heralds the beginning of a startling quest for frustrated author Herman Orff. Taking up the offer of a cure for writer's block plunges him into a semi-dreamland inhabited by a bizarre combination of characters from myth and reality; the talking head of Orpheus, the young girl of Vermeer's famous portrait, and a frequency of Medusas."

Yes, it's The Medusa Frequency by one of my all-time favourite authors, Russell Hoban. I've been meaning to read it for ages and finally bought an elderly second-hand paperback online about a month ago. We'll pass over the 7 euros customs duty I had to pay to receive it -- won't be ordering by that method again.

We did get out of the house today though -- in the early afternoon we went to the Colisée in Carcassonne to see Living, starring Bill Nighy. I haven't seen the Kurosawa film on which it's based, so I judged it on its merits. I absolutely loved the colours, the 50s ambiance and above all the lighting, all contrasty light and shade, Sara Evans style -- someone needs an Oscar for that. Great acting too. Mostly it was really well-judged, not quite tipping into sentimentality, but I thought the scene with the policeman at the end was a bit very cheesy. Should have been cut.

We'll probably be back at the cinema soon -- they're also showing The Banshees of Inisherin, and they always show foreign films undubbed with subtitles. And it's also the prettiest cinema!