Showing 31 - 40 of 45
Portrait of an artist
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 28/10/2013
» Though "paradise" is a common term, it has different definitions. In James Hilton's Lost Horizon it is a land tucked away in the Himalayas where the inhabitants never grow old. To New Yorkers caught up in two rush-hours a day it is sunny Florida. To wet Londoners, Spain's Costa del Sol. Hawaii and the French Riviera qualify.
WW II Epic
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 23/09/2013
» For those who experience today the past is kept alive by museums, books, films, not least by parents and grandparents who lived through part of it and talk about it. Not ancient or medieval times, of course, but a chunk of the 20th century. World War I is too far back, but not World War II.
Endless struggle
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 19/08/2013
» Of all the conflicts of human history, that between the haves and have-nots is the most enduring. The owners determined to keep the profit, the workers demanding a better wage. Both feel in the right. When negotiations are fruitless, each resort to force. Strikes. Strike-breakers. Broken heads. Broken bodies.
Will it bring a fatwa?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/07/2013
» The major religions of the world base their legitimacy on the approval of God, gods, goddesses and angels. Their holy books, as well. Their founders are venerated by churches, temples and mosques. And public celebrations. Doctrines are laid out, heresies punished. Followers go to heaven, disbelievers to the other place.
Not a farce?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 01/07/2013
» Foaled in the Big Apple during the Great Depression, my earliest memories were of my father's ambition for me to be a doctor. Second best, a lawyer. The thing was that hospital smells turned my stomach. And I know my limitations. No Clarence Darrow, I.
Stalking the stalker
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 29/04/2013
» Everybody has a not-so-secret desire to be a celebrity, but few realise that it's not all wine and roses. It is hard work getting to the top and even harder staying there. The money is good, with lots of people wanting a piece of the action. Rivals mean to elbow them aside. Paparazzi are in their faces, groupies in their beds.
An unlawful outrage
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 11/02/2013
» Of all the literary and cinema genres, the most thrilling is escape. Escape from prison, escape from predators, escape from burning buildings, escape from sinking ships, escape from aliens, escape from prehistoric creatures, escape from eruptions, escape from hurricanes.
Worth your while
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 07/01/2013
» Like every youngster _ well, some at least _ I wanted to know everything there was to know. Not that I liked school that much. With all the inventions up to that time surely, I thought, there ought to be one that could be placed on my head by a scientist and, zap, my brain would be filled.
India in the making
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 03/12/2012
» During my backpacking years back yonder, I found myself in Fatehpur Sikri on the subcontinent. A palatial city, the odd thing about it was that it was deserted save for vendors at the entrances. Answering my question in English, one vendor said that it had been built by the Moghul Emperor Akbar, who then abandoned it because it had no water supply.
Encyclopaedic
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 26/11/2012
» Historical novels and film documentaries about wars are commonplace. But with hundreds of millions of people having died in them through the millennia, it has been necessary for authors and cinemakers to limit the scope. If the list of characters goes on and on, the reader and viewer is overwhelmed.