Showing 31 - 40 of 49
An acquired taste
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 30/06/2014
» The vast majority of us are social creatures — family, friends and community. The relationships, companionships, interchanges seem a natural part of life. Yet there are those who reject this. To paraphrase Greta Garbo, they want to be alone. They feel that they don’t need anyone to be content. Religious figures have gone into the wilderness throughout time to commute with God, several returning with “evidence” that they have succeeded. On the whole, though, we don’t respect loners. They don’t want to be with other people? Could they be dangerous? What are they trying to hide? They are not natural. It gives me the creeps. We don’t even like to read about them. They are, however, the subject of books, non-fiction and fiction. Yank Dean Koontz made them his literary niche decades ago. His characters aren’t ghosts, ghouls, zombies, vampires or werewolves, but people encountering them, almost always in the darkness, mistake them for one or another. More often than not, they are harmless, but are soon set upon, nonetheless.
Minority of one
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 28/04/2014
» I don’t know if it is so in real life, but literary sleuths — male and female — abound. Cops and private eyes, doctors and lawyers, government, military, old biddies, archaeologists. Thriller writers base their stories on actual and imaginary crimes. In either case, readers want them to be interesting.
A high flyer
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 21/04/2014
» A US naval air combat veteran, Stephen Coonts turned his training and experience into successful literary thrillers. Unlike Tom Clancy, who never went to war, his detailed descriptions of weapons and armaments are based on first-hand use. His knowledge of planes, from the earliest flying machine, is unsurpassed.
A mixed bag
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/11/2013
» If I didn't love books _ I read more than 100 a year _ I wouldn't be a professional reviewer. Over 40 years, 4,000 plus perused. Compared to the 4 million books in the public library perhaps not a drop in the bucket, but a small puddle.
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.