Rainy day

Persistent rain during the night, and it was still going this morning. I did manage to get out for a short walk after lunch without getting rained on.

Instead of reading I ended up watching Fargo (the film not the series) last night. It's many years since I saw it. I did remember that it was a bit gruesome (who can forget the woodchipper scene), but was a bit startled to tot up the bodycount at the end -- seven murders! It's a brilliant film though -- the cinematography, music, dialogue, and acting are all superb.  William H. Macy is so good as the despicable coward Jerry who unintentionally starts the spiral of violence. But I also really loved Frances McDormand's tranquil, competent Marge and her boring but happy relationship with her husband, in such stark contrast to the dysfunctional, incompetent villains. I need to watch some more Coen brothers films that I haven't seen.

Book group this evening: we talked about Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich. I hadn't read anything by her before: I loved her vivid, evocative writing style, even if the novel got a bit flabby in the middle; the beginning and end were perfect. Unusually, one of us didn't like it at all. As always, we had a lovely evening.