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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Bernie in the rough
Title: Burglars Can't Be Choosers
Author: Lawrence Block
Bookmark: stub from airport parking lot
I wanted to check out Bernie Rhodenbarr's origins, so I hunted down the first book in the series. Apparently, it took a while for Bernie to fully ripen into my favorite Gentleman Burglar. While the first Bernie book is just as funny and engaging as the rest of the stories of his escapades I've read, he's still a little rough, not yet polished into the suave character I met much later in his life. Plus, he hasn't met Carolyn yet, though he does meet a Trusty Sidekick early in the story.
This time, Bernie has been hired to procure a blue leather-covered box from an old roll top desk. He is not told what is inside the box, nor why it is so important, only that he will be payed handsomely for his efforts. Instead, the cops bust in halfway through the job, a body is found, and Bernie bolts. He knows he didn't kill the guy, but he has to convince the cops of that, and the best way to do it is by figuring out who did, and why. That involves lamming in a poker buddy's apartment, getting friendly with the girl who comes by to water the plants, breaking into a couple other places, tracking down the shady character who hired him, and bribing a cop. All in a day's work, right?
In some of the later Bernie stories, he has this sort of aloof charm with the ladies--he mentions them in passing, but it's never that big a deal. In Bernie's premiere, Block seems more interested in heavily asserting that Bernie is a sexy bastard, while maintaining the pulp mores that keep him from being too explicit. Still, Bernie charms one woman into bed almost immediately, and another seems ready to hump his leg using a variety of costumes and... appliances... as soon as they are properly acquainted. Perhaps this says more about the ladies than it does Bernie, but the scene in which picking a lock serves as foreplay ("I think it would make me hot.") probably says more about Block. Let the burglar burgle, Lawrence. That's sexy enough on its own--there's really no need to keep throwing women at the man to prove it.Labels: burglary, murder, mystery/detective, theater
posted by reyn at
11:03 AM
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Sunday, November 04, 2007
Othello
Title: Othello: The Moor of Venice
Author: Shakespeare
Make the Moor thank me, love me and reward me.
For making him egregiously an ass
And practicing upon his pace and quiet
Even to madness.
Othello, Act 2, Scene 1, ll. 151-54
Jealousy, hatred, race, betrayal – we’re all familiar with the great themes of Shakespeare’s Othello. Othello the Moor, a military mastermind, elopes with the beautiful Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian politician. Vicious tongues wag over the scandal. Iago, one of Othello’s trusted soldiers, secretly hates his master. With motives unknown yet sinister, he manipulates Othello into suspecting Desdemona of base infidelity. Poisoned by Iago’s wicked insinuations, Othello strangles the innocent Desdemona. When Iago’s wife reveals his treachery, Othello takes his own life in remorse. And everyone wonders at the end how the intelligent and noble Othello could be so blind.
This was the first time I’d read Othello. Good stuff. Since I already knew the plot, it was quite entertaining. Iago really is a great villain, blind malevolence personified. His evil mastermind speeches are fantastic. He definitely inspired me to practice my cackling and hand-rubbing.
The character that genuinely surprised me, however, was Desdemona. So much attention generally goes to Othello and Iago, that I expected her to be little more than an innocent damsel in distress, virtuous but brainless. But she’s quite entertaining in her own right, and much a stronger personality than she’s generally given credit for. Guts and an independent determination were required for her elopement, and she performed it with gusto. “O my fair warrior!” Othello calls her. She can be funny, too, and even challenges Iago, the play’s master of words, in a verbal jousting match. Unfortunately, this very potential for wildness and independent action contributes to Othello’s suspicion of Desdemona, and plays right into Iago’s hand. If she could fool her father, Iago asks, why could she not fool you?
I read Othello because I had a Shakespeare craving and it was a gaping hole in my repertoire. While expecting to be entertained, I was not expecting to be surprised. How cool’s that?!Labels: drama, interupted by the phone, Othello, Shakespeare, theater, tragedy
posted by Elizabeth at
9:53 PM
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