The Disappointed Idealist

Because someone pointed out to me that I haven't posted in a while and because almost every movie has a message beneath the surface - and this one is not even that deeply buried. Cleanskin is a movie about an agent sent to clean up on the hush hush, basically an assassination job meant to eliminate the people behind a bombing attack. And when I read it like that it was not something I felt too inclined to watch - but I did anyway because it was brought to my attention that there might be more to the movie than that synopsis. What this movie does, however, unlike most action movies in a similar situation, is present both sides. The suicide bomber's evolution from an agnostic studying law to, well, suicide bomber, is presented in more detail than you would expect. And the sad part is, it makes sense. I will not sit here and reveal to you the movie and how it manages to make sense of something most Western people do not understand. It's hard to understand - when all y

Tudor Queens of England by David Loades My rating: 1 of 5 stars From what I see, the book is targeted at people with a beginner-to-intermediate level of history. From time to time it skips over important events that didn't directly involve the book's characters (if I can call them such) but influenced their lives one way or the other by saying "it's well known how [a particular event] played out"... That's all good and well but then the author does some errors that jump out of the page in a book that should require at least minimal knowledge to read. Example number one appears in Elizabeth Woodville's chapter. The John Woodville that was executed by the Earl of Warwick was Elizabeth's brother, not her uncle (as the author calls him not once, but twice), the same brother that had married, in his 20s, a 65 year-old widow - fact that had actually been mentioned a few pages before that. It is relevant that it was that particular brother that was killed,

Blood & Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant My rating: 4 of 5 stars Incredibly accurate for a historical fiction book. The historical notes at the beginning and end of the book will clear up any question you might have on what did or didn't happen. As with anything that happened 500 years ago, there are things we know, there are things we assume are most likely to have happened and there are theories that are meant to fill in the blanks but will probably never be proved 100%. The author successfully juggled through all of these, making up a version of events that matches all the facts we know about the Borgias and the, let's say, most agreed on theories on what happened. The only reproach I have is that she stops with Lucrezia's marriage to Alfonso d'Este. Yes, that was the pinnacle of success for the family and it is one way to end it, but I think many people, including myself, would be interested in a sequel that will cover their downfall - including Lucrezia&#

The Woodvilles: The Wars of the Roses and England's Most Infamous Family by Susan Higginbotham My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Woodvilles are not such a famous family, so I am assuming that whoever wants to read a book about them has at least basic knowledge of England in the Wars of the Roses. For this reason, it is quite OK that it is obvious that some prior knowledge is very helpful in reading this book. The book in itself is brilliantly written - it could be read as a novel and yet manages to offer a lot of information. I like the fact that it takes an unbiased approach and manages to steer clear of the temptation to accept myths as fact. I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about the Wars of the Roses. View all my reviews