"From" - TV series (2022)

 

From time to time I wrote here about the TV shows I was enjoying (or not). There were some really good programmes recently that caught my attention, including "Silo", "Foundation" and "Pluribus" to name just a few, however they all have in common a fact that they were not overlong and were cleverly designed to keep the viewer's attention. That is how I got tricked into watching "From" on a friend's suggestion, not really knowing anything about it except that people who created "Lost" are behind it. Now, I am not even sure is that good recommendation or not, since after two seasons "Lost" eventually slid into a nonsense and was way too difficult for me to follow. But, hey, the premise looked good, the trailer was fine, so here I go, like a sucker, thinking oh well it must be good. Just to be reminded by my other half that I usually dislike TV shows that go on forever and should probably sign a contract to oblige me to watch it completely. 

A very exciting trailer and first few episodes of "From" set a tone of a horror/mystery story that was initially thrilling to watch: Matthews family arrives in some strange little town in the middle of nowhere and can't find their way out. There is a tree on the road blocking their way and no matter where they drive, they always end up at the same place, with resigned locals accepting this is their destiny, since everybody here got stuck the same way. Every single person here was driving elsewhere and got a tree blocking the road, just to find themselves back to the little town again and again. On top of all this, everybody must be indoors after sundown, because there are some shape-shifting monsters (pretending to be human) attacking and killing them. 

The cast is excellent - there is Harold Perrineau as sheriff Boyd, Ricky He as his deputy Kenny, Shaun Majumder as a local priest, Chloe Van Landschoot  as the only doctor/nurse, Avery Konrad as a young Sara who hears the voices (telling her to kill people) and Scott McCord as a creepy Victor who is here the longest and seems never grew up from his traumatic childhood. My favourite is Elizabeth Saunders as a straight-talking, no-nonsense leader of Colony House as the town is divided into two groups of survivors. While some people prefer to live in their own, heavily protected houses, others decide to live in a kind of hippie commune called Colony House. What is safer or better, depends on your point of view. My least favourite characters are actually Matthews family themselves, who are I guess meant to be everyday ordinary family but feel extremely annoying to me and I'm glad my family was never like this. We are supposed to sympathise with them but during all this danger and mayhem they mostly whine and behave in this touchy-feely way that I had never encountered in real life. Example: Jim and his wife Tabitha have argument about why he never opens and expresses his emotions instead of pretending that he is strong. Two minutes later he breaks down and cries a river, while his wife (who was crying in a previous scene) is now supporting him. And don't let me even start about spoiled and privileged kids who are constantly pampered to the point of growing into self-centred narcissists (ok, maybe the little kid less than his teenage sister who is insufferable). 

The first season had only 10 episodes, which seems like a reasonable length to me but alas, dear reader, the curse of "Lost" now started to repeat itself: in attempt to keep the audience glued to the screen, script writers keep on piling mystery on top of mystery without really explaining anything or coming to any conclusion. A little bit like Scheherazade who was weaving "One Thousand and One Nights" without end in sight. At the end of the first season, we are left without a single explanation why are these people stuck, who are the night monsters, why is this happening at all, etc, etc. The first season actually ends with the arrival of bus full of new characters who will (I expect) now will be either new victims or new elements of the plot. There might be some people who enjoy this and love guessing what is happening and what will happen - however, I have seen this already in "Lost" and it didn't work out so well, in fact I deserted that show after a while, finding it confusing and manipulative. Like the script writers think of themselves too clever to actually bother with any conclusions, dropping hints and suggestions all the time without any explanations. So here I am, halfway trough the season two and already frustrated because the series just going on and on without any logical explanation. I guess we will eventually find out they are all dead and this is purgatory. That should teach me not to be a sucker and accept every good trailer. 

"Ivanhoe" by Walter Scott (1819)

This has been on my to-read list forever and with some embarrassment I must admit that I don't recall ever actually reading Scott before. What I do remember is borrowing his "The Heart of Mid-Lothian" from my local public library as a teenager and bringing it back unread, so my initial introduction to this writer was not very impressive. Who knows was it a clumsy translation or simply the fact that I might have been too young for flowery and long-winded style of this author, but it left me a bit intimidated all these years until now. And since I decided that 2026 will be year of reading only writers I never read before, it came as completely spontaneous decision. Truth to be told, I always had soft spot for old classics and this year I already pushed myself trough experience of 1902 western "The Virginian" which was wonderful, though initially hard nut to crack - the more I persevered, the more I loved it. So perhaps unconsciously, I hoped for a similar experience. And I was 100% right.

First, a few words about Walter Scott - he was already a famous writer when he published "Ivanhoe" in 1819. He had enormous success with a series of historical novels set in 17th and 18th century Scotland, but with this next novel he decided to move plot in medieval England and there was something about the change of pace or perhaps he was simply inspired, in any case "Ivanhoe" became the biggest success of his professional life and turned thousands of readers to medieval history. This particular novel is the reason why they call Walter Scott "the father of historical fiction". Interestingly enough, everything we later accepted as a part of Robin Hood/Richard the Lionheart lore comes from this novel - all those legendary characters (Prince John, Friar Tuck, etc) they are all here and although they are supportive characters, they left such a strong impression on the readers that subsequent writers all use Scott as a inspiration. Another thing I must mention is Scott's writing style which is very, very old fashioned + he created his own version of old English language which is somewhere between poetic and annoying - first two chapters were incredibly hard to crack but as I continued, the magic happened and I started to actually enjoy the rhythm and the flow of the sentences. It felt as I am reading this forever but actually it was only 3 weeks. With all my proclaimed "suffering", when the end came I was sad to let the book go. Exactly like with above mentioned "The Virginian", it was at first difficult to read but than I got totally into it and at the end I loved it with all my heart. 

The novel itself is a curios combination of medieval knights adventure story and a highly researched historical novel, with some occasional moralising and a tons of sidetracking and detours that stop the plot dead in its tracks but also bring a real sense of author's thinking and his personality. Scott might not be really the first but he was certainly the first really widely read writer of historical fiction and very often this particular novel transport the reader into a completely different, medieval world - I was as enchanted as everybody else. From top of my head, I recall the description of funeral party after the passing of Saxon nobleman Athelstane and how all sorts of medieval folks crowded the Castle of Coningsburgh: 

" Numerous parties, therefore, were seen ascending and descending the hill on which the castle was situated; and when the King and his attendants entered the open and unguarded gates of the external barrier, the space within presented a scene not easily reconciled with the cause of the assemblage. In one place cooks were toiling to roast huge oxen and fat sheep; in another, hogsheads of ale were set abroach, to be drained at the freedom of all comers. Groups of every description were to be seen devouring the food and swallowing the liquor thus abandoned to their discretion. The naked Saxon serf was drowning the sense of his half-year’s hunger and thirst in one day of gluttony and drunkenness; the more pampered burgess and guild-brother was eating his morsel with gust, or curiously criticising the quantity of the malt and the skill of the brewer. Some few of the poorer Norman gentry might also be seen, distinguished by their shaven chins and short cloaks, and not less so by their keeping together, and looking with great scorn on the whole solemnity, even while condescending to avail themselves of the good cheer which was so liberally supplied.

Mendicants were, of course, assembled by the score, together with strolling soldiers returned from Palestine (according to their own account at least); pedlars were displaying their wares; travelling mechanics were inquiring after employment; and wandering palmers, hedge-priests, Saxon minstrels, and Welsh bards, were muttering prayers, and extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes. One sent forth the praises of Athelstane in a doleful panegyric; another, in a Saxon genealogical poem, rehearsed the uncouth and harsh names of his noble ancestry. Jesters and jugglers were not awanting, nor was the occasion of the assembly supposed to render the exercise of their profession indecorous or improper. Indeed, the ideas of the Saxons on these occasions were as natural as they were rude. If sorrow was thirsty, there was drink; if hungry, there was food; if it sunk down upon and saddened the heart, here were the means supplied of mirth, or at least of amusement. Nor did the assistants scorn to avail themselves of those means of consolation, although, every now and then, as if suddenly recollecting the cause which had brought them together, the men groaned in unison, while the females, of whom many were present, raised up their voices and shrieked for very woe." 

There is of course a story itself - about disinherited young knight Wilfred of Ivanhoe who is back from the crusade together with his lord Richard the Lionheart and how they had to fight back trough all the enemies surrounding the evil usurper Prince John, plus numerous complications concerning ladies (pretty but bland Saxon princess Rowena, who epitomises than current ideal of decorative and helpless beauty, the Jewish healer Rebecca who is far more interesting character), Robin Hood and his outlaws, countless servants, knights, abbots, etc. The novel is really a masterpiece and even though it was difficult to get into it, it gave me hours of joy and bliss. 

"A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides" by Gisèle Pelicot (2026)

 

After suffering some doubts about Raymond Chandler who was obviously a brilliant writer but completely sidetracked by his own witticisms to actually focus on a story, I needed a break and something that would make reading a pleasure and not a task. A random visit to a local bookshop unearthed this recently published book and suddenly I knew what my next book will be. I did ask myself am I perhaps just carried away with sensationalism, after all its about very well publicised court case that raised a lot of questions, still I wanted to read it and was pleasantly surprised. 

As everyone by now probably knows, Gisèle Pelicot was an ordinary, elderly French lady quietely minding her own business and slowly approaching retirement, when her husband Dominique was caught by a security guard filming under three women’s skirts, his phone and computer were seized by police and suddenly his whole secret, double life of a rapist came to the surface. It turned out that for ten years, he was secretly drugging his wife and inviting strangers from the internet to rape her. All this time Gisèle was totally unaware of this, believing her husband loves and supports her, while suffering from strange memory loss and blackouts that she worried were potentially Alzheimer (medical tests assured her nothing was wrong with her). What was specifically hard to take and to understand was that she had lived all this time with a monster who was so close to her and whom she completely trusted - he also took pictures of their daughter sleeping and shared it online.

Chapters dealing with the discovery of crimes and subsequent court case are combined with chapters explaining the family background of both Gisèle and her husband. While at first I thought this will be boring, the background chapters proved to be actually very interesting because it is trough them that Gisèle tries to make sense of their behaviour as a individuals and a couple: she lost her mother at a very young age and always found comfort in a relationship, while her husband comes from the family bruised by violence and had with time unwittingly turned into a copy of his own manipulative and aggressive father. 

The writing was surprisingly clear-eyed and not scandalous or salacious at all - whatever was happening while she was drugged, Gisèle herself was not aware of it and had no memory of it. She also refused (until the very last moment during the court case) to watch the taped videos, so her story is more about herself trying to come to terms with decade long abuse than the details of it, it is clear she needed to process this and understand the psychological manipulation that led to this. There were perhaps just one or two things that bothered me along the way: her constant attempts to understand and somehow humanise her monster husband (almost like she cannot give up on memories of previously happy family life) and behaviour of her daughter who comes across as handful and too self-absorbed to actually be of any help during the court case. The whole moment when Gisèle decides not to hide inside the locked court but to open the doors to journalists and TV cameras and expose the rest of sniggering rapists was brilliant and kept me reading deep into the night. Contrary to what I expected, the book actually has an artistic merit. 

"I still need to believe in love. I received it intensely and too briefly from my parents, and for a long time I believed that it protected me from everything. I even believed that I knew how to give it. I now know that it comes from a deep wound within me that makes me vulnerable. But I accept that fragility, that risk, still. To fight the emptiness, I need to love." 

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler (1939)

 

While still on vacation, I randomly selected old fashioned noir detective story "The Big Sleep" because the beginning seemed nice, I loved the idea of reading a classic "hardboiled" novel and I have previously never read Chandler before, so it fits with my decision to devote 2026 to authors I am not really familiar with. To be honest, I am vaguely acquainted with the genre more trough the film noir that explored many of its famous novels - there was a time when I was totally on a roll with film noir and loved everything about it, but as novels go, I read maybe "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "Strangers on a Train" and just a handful more titles, but I know hardboiled detectives from the movies. Fast talking detectives, cops, journalists and sexy dame somewhere in the background - the cliché was well known and extremely entertaining, capable of creating literally countless hours of  pleasure. 

Well, initially I was amused with Chandler's style - he had a wonderfully witty way with words and it was clear from the start that this is someone original, someone with a very specific, naturally hip and sarcastic tone. The main character is a private detective Philip Marlowe, summoned by wealthy, dying general Sternwood who gives him task of dealing with a blackmailing bookseller. General also has two wild daughters, Vivian and Carmen who are both completely spoiled and unmanageable. So far, so good and first few chapters were wonderful, however very soon it became clear that Chandler is actually not interested in a plot itself, but he really loves and enjoys creating the atmosphere and toying with witty sentences. And before you know it, I became totally lost in the labyrinth of double crossings, cheating ladies, more and more characters who would come in shortly, just to never be seen or heard again. There were even murders that never got solved because Chandler forgot all about them. It became so complicated that I had to re-read some chapters just to remember who is who, until eventually it became really incoherent - I had to leave it aside for almost a month, to finally muster up the determination to finish the darn novel. I suspect that film version smoothes over all the rough edges and perhaps makes more sense, however as much as I admire Chandler's style, novel itself is a mess. 

"Hedda Gabler" by Henrik Ibsen (1890)

 

Dolphin show

 

Vacation time: Maspalomas

Before I forgot, I should mention a recent vacation trip to Canary Islands. The plan was a winter escape somewhere sunny and warm - the original destination was Curaçao but that didn't work out, thanks to its dangerous proximity to Venezuela which was all over the news, so we changed our minds about necessity to go there right now this moment. From my previous experience I remember Canary islands always having a wonderful climate, even when the rest of Europe was in a winter's grip, so after some online research it turned out the south of the Gran Canaria might be the best choice for sun soaking and relaxing.

Maspalomas was a curiosity as a town completely built for tourism: at certain point we decided to take a walk and to see is there anything interesting; it was miles and miles of hotel resorts, restaurants and SPAR supermarkets. Our own resort was super cute but we soon got tired of forced activities around the swimming pool, water aerobics, Bingo, foam parties, Karaoke, etc - those were gratefully embraced by families who needed some fun for their children, but we only wanted space to unwind from work and relax in the sun. So we slowly pulled out of crowded breakfast (even though we paid for it), than eventually decided the best would be to combine one day of relaxing next to the pool and next day going elsewhere for a day trip. That worked out perfectly, so we managed to see little bit more of the island and were not bothered by enthusiastic centertainment. 

We took a long walk along the Playa del Inglés, barefoot in the sand towards Faro de Maspalomas which was quite a nice experience. We took a bus to a capitol, Las Palmas which had the most beautiful old town and visited a house where Christopher Columbus stayed during his voyages back and forth to the New World. We hopped on the red tourist sightseeing bus and saw the rest of the city, including brilliant Poema del Mar Aquarium that was educational, exciting and scary all at the same time. We visited Palmitos Park built in a canyon right in the middle of the island and enjoyed seeing all the animals (though I am still not sure about keeping them caged and how happy they are). We took a day trip to a beautiful Puerto de Mogán and its quite spectacular neighbourhood Little Venice that looked heavenly, though we still prefer Maspalomas.

It was perhaps our nicest vacation so far - in other places I was always too busy with museums but here we were forced to relax and do nothing - we are already thinking about the next possible destination and it might be something similar, though far away from the children and busy swimming pools. 

Victorian photo

 

"How to Be a Victorian" by Ruth Goodman (2013)

 

I ADORE Ruth Goodman ever since I first glimpsed her in BBC documentaries about living on various "historic farms" by BBC. In fact, I might even be a bit of Ruth Goodman groupie, I would always watch anything with her, with greatest interest and pleasure. However, it turned out that so far I have actually never read any of the books she wrote and as 2026 is the year where I decided to read only authors I have never read before, this was a perfect choice. It might sound strange that I decided to read this while lying next to a swimming pool in Maspalomas, but hey, nothing better than to read about other people's suffering to enjoy and appreciate one's own life.

Goodman was everything I expected and than some. She did beautiful work on researching how majority of ordinary people lived back in the day - not just aristocrats and kings who are always mentioned and described, but ordinary people from all levels of class. "How to Be a Victorian" follows 24 hours in lives of Victorians - from getting up, getting dressed, breakfast, how did they travel to work, what exactly did they eat trough the day, what did they do in their free time, etc. It was packed with wonderfully crazy details and informations, for example how undertakers often sold hair stolen from corpses, babies were given opium so mothers could leave them at home and go to work, how the original idea behind public swimming pools was actually something else completely, the details about personal hygiene (brushing hair twice a day was perfectly fine and preferred to hair washing) and much, much more. And of course, heartbreaking accounts of small children going to work, something that would absolutely not be tolerated today. 

"My research has given me tremendous sympathy and admiration for those who somehow, despite dire circumstances, battled through. People such as Tony Widger, who quietly worked away in his kitchen in his underwear at dawn, carefully preparing a cup of tea and a biscuit for him and his wife to have in bed before they embarked upon their exhausting day’s industry of fishing and housework respectively. Or Hannah Cullwick, who was required to complete two hours of work before preparing her employer’s breakfast, and then her own. And not to forget six-year-old William Arnold, who stood alone in a field in January from dawn until dusk scaring crows, without even a bite to eat until he walked home after dark. All these people, ordinary in so many ways, seem to me heroic in their endurance, fortitude, love and commitment to their families."

Dancing Queen Cover In Medieval/Byzantine Greek BARDCORE (Original by ABBA)

"The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton (1969)

 

Boldly going where I have not been before and continuing with my decision that 2026 I will read authors that I never read before, after old fashioned 1902. western, I decided to check out something completely different and took The Andromeda Strain". It was not the first novel by Michael Crichton but first he published under his own name (until than he was publishing what he was calling "airport books" - "I write them fast and the reader reads them fast and I get things off my back."). There is also a movie, but I really wanted to read the novel. The change of pace was very welcome and it was so refreshing to switch from old fashioned western to something relatively modern - even though it was published in 1969, it was still super exciting.

In the middle of the night, group of scientists are quickly summoned to a secret place in Nevada desert where they have to research satellite that brought some kind of lethal microbes to earth. The little town where the satellite had landed was completely wiped out, except some crazy old man and a crying baby. It turns out the deaths were caused by an extraterrestrial microbe transported by a meteor that crashed into the satellite, knocking it from orbit. The miracle of all of this is that Crichton packs his novel full of technicality and medical jargon that would usually surely be boring but in his capable hands it somehow turns into extremely exciting thriller and I found myself totally immersed and reading it until 2:30 a.m. last night. Just briliant!

"The Virginian" by Owen Wister (1902)

 

Because I enjoyed "Betty Zane" so much, I got carried away with my enthusiasm for Western genre and decided to continue with more of the same - after some research, i found out that the very first best-seller in that genre and the one that inspired the countless authors who came after, was 1902 "The Virginian" so I gave it a try. To my biggest surprise, it was nothing like Zane Grey - in fact, it was extremely slow-burning, old fashioned and occasionally even flowery prose that had more in common with 19th century literature than action-fuelled Western. I even wondered what did I got myself into, but than something strange happened: once i got used to Wister's old fashioned style, I started to enjoy myself. It simply took some perseverance, discipline and curiosity, until I actually really liked it. Strangely, it is the only novel by this author that is still remembered and apparently, despite its huge success, he never continued in this genre. 

What I found here are many clichés used later in subsequent decades: a greenhorn who is new to all of this and tells the story from his perspective (“the Tenderfoot"), the silent and basically good cowboy ("The Virginian") in love with strong willed schoolteacher (Miss Molly), a bad guy ("Trampas") and the whole supporting cast of citizens, cowboys, etc. Since author had actually spend some time in the Western Frontier, his descriptions of rough lives these people lived sounds very authentic and I even got a kick out of descriptions how they bathed (using same pitcher of water and some rag, just like in documentaries about Tudor lives I have seen on TV). There are many interesting stories that sometimes feels like short story collection and that was not accidental - Wister initially wrote some short stories and than decided to put them together as a novel. There are cattle thieves, lynching, an duel and everything you could expect from a Western novel - once you get over the old fashioned style, it actually worked beautifully and I finished the novel with the greatest pleasure. 

"Rental Family" by Hikari (2025)

I watched really unusual movie last night - in the cinema! - it was international co-production between US and Japan and it introduced me to Japanese actress/director Mitsuyo Miyazaki who goes by the shorter name Hikari. What actually surprised me was my friend's choice, because I wanted to introduce her to a newly opened, De Luxe cinema Vue that offers huge screens, laser projections and extremely comfortable, big chairs - and than she selected this little drama with no explosions, computer animation or anything that we are accustomed nowadays, it was just a simple, warm, human story.

"Rental Family" from the title is a Tokyo-based company owned by ambitious businessman Shinji (excellent Takehiro Hira) who arranges his staff to pose as the rented members of the families for funerals, weddings and whatever the customers need. This is how we meet lonely American actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser) who came to Japan seven years ago to appear in some toothpaste advertisement and is apparently stuck in a small roles - Phillip desperately needs a job and is reluctantly accepting to act as a fiancé on a fake wedding, organised to appease the bride's parents. As the story progresses, Philip feels more and more uneasy about how ethical all of this is, because he must lie and pretend to people who trust him - there is a little schoolgirl Mia who believe he is her father and a retired actor Kikuo who has dementia and thinks Philip is a journalist who wants to talk to him out of genuine curiosity about his life and work. As expected, emotions get  in the way, Phillip gets attached to his clients and the whole "rental family" affects not only him but also his colleagues (there is an excellent Japanese actress Mari Yamamoto in a small but very effective role of another employee). 

The story was well tailored for everybody involved, it was very believable and surprisingly deep (we learn that even businessman Shinji actually lives alone and the family we see is simply rented), there are some beautiful shots of busy Tokyo and this small human drama was so powerful that I am still thinking about it a day after. Excellent. 

“Semele” by George Frideric Handel (2026)

 

A few months ago I decided to book the tickets for Dutch National Opera here in Amsterdam and treat myself and a good friend. Trough the years I had already witnessed a handful of performances here and I remember that the staging was always spectacularly modern and inventive, however it never overshadowed the musicians. Maybe back than I missed to see the full historic costume performances but now I changed my mind - anybody can put on historic costumes but it takes inspiration to present something classic and turn it into a modern day spectacle. 

“Semele” by George Frideric Handel comes from the times when staged opera was frowned upon and composer smuggled mythological text into Oratorio even though story of Jupiter and his amorous conquests has nothing to do with Catholic Church (the subject was considered scandalous and bad taste back than, hence the work being ignored and forgotten for a very long time). Frankly, the story is ridiculous and convoluted but can be explained like this: Jupiter steals a mortal beauty Semele from her wedding and jealous Juno (disguised as Semele’s sister) convinces her to ask Jupiter to show himself in his full glory, which naturally ends with Semele dying. And somehow she is dead but gives birth to a new God, Bacchus. 

We enjoyed the performance a lot - it was a bit overlong (three and half hours!) and I could easily do without the last act that was just going on forever - but the audiences lapped it up and awarded the cast with standing ovation. As I expected, the music was beautiful (I was already familiar with several most famous arias, like “Hymen, Haste, Thy Torch Prepare”,  “Your Tuneful Voice My Tale Would Tell” , “Oh Sleep, Why Dost Thou Leave Me?” and “Where'er You Walk” ) and I enjoyed discovering the artists knew to me. The biggest discovery was a young Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński who not only possesses surprisingly strong and masculine countertenor voice but also a athletic physique and a special surprise - during one scene, he actually did a breakdance (!) and audience went wild. I had also noticed a brilliant lady who played jealous Juno (Jasmin White) who was excellent - now I must find more recordings of them.