Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
Marcus Aurelius
I know it sounds terribly cliche, but this is a brutal tour de force, a story of the rare variety that is so horrible, yet so captivating, it boggles the mind. Loosely based on fact, follow the roller coaster ride of a very few brave men searching for the truth behind the vicious killings of the Yorkshire Ripper and the disappearances of young school girls over a fifteen year period. At the center is a police force beleaguered by ineptitude, beastly violence, greed, and corruption, where truth and justice are secondary to maintaining an unwritten code of honor. It is shocking and abhorrent, and there was much covering of the eyes and ears in disbelief, disgust, and fear. We stayed up late and stole moments where we could to see it end and mercifully so. Well written, beautifully filmed, and vividly portrayed, I don’t think you can ask for more of a thriller. Well worth the five hours!
In yoga, much like an ice cream cone or a stiff drink after a hard day, postures are followed by counter poses to maintain equanimity. A series of back bends without inversions (my favorites!) or forward bends and I am smarting with tight muscles and discomfort the next day. With that in mind, I bring you It’s Kind of a Funny Story, for there has to be something light after the creepy darkness of the Red Riding Trilogy. Seriously. Though this story isn’t without sadness and fear, it is hopeful and left me smiling. To borrow the title, it is kind of a funny story (there were some tears shed) about a high school boy battling depression, a whole lot of stress, and a strong desire to end his life. Rather than do that, he checks himself into a psych ward and learns, through the lens of others’ pain, that his life, however mired it might be, could be a lot worse.
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
Roald Dahl
“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood — it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, ‘Too late.'”
It is Martin Luther King Day, and those are his words. Words of a wise man, who is so often in my heart and mind, inspiring me, guiding me, providing the gentle voice of encouragement and strength. And so it is today, a brand new day. Each one is, yet sometimes I forget how marvelous that simple fact is. Yesterday is exactly that. I am alive today. Right now. Now is the time for abandoning the insane repetition of the old ways, to shed all that doesn’t serve me, to rattle the cages, to sing at the top of my voice, to dance, love, create, and move forward.
See the light, and be it, too. Won’t you?
Tags: Quoting
I stayed up well past bed time finishing this book, it so engrossed me. It’s the kind of story that takes the reader to the precipice and holds them in trepidation, page after page, at what ghastly occurrence is surely just beyond.
The story is set in the Ozarks, a hardscrabble land of immense beauty and sheer violence, the people living very near the precipice themselves, getting by in ways lawful and otherwise, mostly the latter. It’s a place where blood and names matter, determining histories and futures, yet aren’t nearly enough when times get desperate. The main character is Ree, a tough as nails seventeen year old who wears thin cotton skirts with combat boots in the dead of winter. She’s a high school dropout, but not for wanting more for herself. She aspires to a military life far, far from this existence, but, for now, this is where she finds herself, caring for her younger brothers and a mother lost to mental illness. Her father, Jessup Dolly, possibly the best crank cooker in the vicinity has disappeared, left the family without anything, and worse.
Ree gets a visit from the local sheriff warning her that Jessup’s court date is one week hence, and if he doesn’t show, they will lose the house and land that have been in the family for generations. Even more, she will lose any opportunity to flee this life, to make something for herself, for how can her brothers and mother get on without her and a place to stay. Despondent, she sets out to find him, walking through hill and dale to pay visits to some pretty scary characters, anyone who might lead her to him. No one will talk, save to deliver dire warnings of impending doom if she doesn’t quit, though she never does, even when she reaches the end of her rope.
It’s a thrilling, page turning story that took me to the back of beyond and home again, though travel weary. I highly recommend it. It’s also, as they say, a “major motion picture.” Put it in the queue.
Tags: Books
