Second Foundation

Ahhhhh, it feels like it's been a year since I've read Foundation and Empire, and since the day I've finished the second volume of the Foundation saga, I've been wondering about the second Foundation and now, at least, I KNOW!!
I've found the first two volumes of the saga absolute "must-read"s and this third one is no exception!
This one comes in two parts, each part being neatly parted in chapters but, as usual, it all comes down to the last chapter. Let get into it thoroughly (so, as usual, ***SPOILER AHEAD***):

Part I: Search by the Mule
The Mule is now the emperor of the universe or rather, the "First Citizen of the Union" as he wants to be called. After having rapidly expanded, he has stopped for consolidation for 5 years, and his union is politically quiet and economically prosperous. But this apparent consolidation hides a ineffectual search for the second foundation: after his first failed effort by psycho-actively using Ebling Mis (see Foundation and Empire), he has been unsuccessfully raking the universe, looking for it: the first Foundation as been created in the broad daylight but the Second Foundation is an absolute mystery; the only information that is sure is that it is located "at the other end of the universe". As a new kind of effort, from his palace on the ex-pleasure world of Kalgan, he teams the former Foundation lieutenant -now Converted- Han Pritcher and the young, gifted, handsome -and Unconverted- Bail Channis together and asks Pritcher to let the other take the all initiative that his unconverted and therefore more creative mind offers.
All along the chapters, we are being offered, trough interludes, glimpses of the Second Foundation, through discussions between its highest members. They are all psychologists and are not hampered by physical speech anymore, so they do not strictly talk but rather understand each others. The Seldon plan is at a fracture point and to recover, they say that they need the Mule to find them...
Bail Channis quickly deduces that the Second Foundation could be on Tazenda, a quite forgotten world, and he and Pritcher embark for Rossem, one of its dominions, a chilly agricultural planet, in order to gather information on Tazenda. There they meet peasants, and the Elders of Rossem who make them wait... I won't delve into details, but the Mule has followed his lieutenants on Rossem: he confronts Bail Channis as a member of the Second Foundation while his fleet destroys Tazenda. Feeling that Channis is not desperate enough at the news of the possible destruction of the Second Foundation, the Mule mentally tortures him and learns his truth: Tazenda is not the second Foundation, Rossem is! The Mule orders his fleet to Rossem but there comes the First Speaker, leader of the Second Foundation. He explains the Mule that the plan created by Seldon is not a finished product, and that the second-foundationers are the guardian of this plan and finally, that Bail Channis' truth is not really the truth, but he was a volunteer for this mission and has been made to think that Rossem is the Second Foundation. While the Mule has a fraction of a second of inattention at this news, the First Speaker enters his mind and alters it. That is how the Second Foundation vanquishes the Mule.

Part II: Search by the Foundation
A quick history lesson informs us that after a change took place in the Mule's plan (which some says has been inspired by the Second Foundation), he has ruled as an enlightened despot for 5 year before dying. Then, his empire had slowly crumbled and the Foundation had risen again.
A generation has passed since the Mule died. Arcadia Darell, daughter of Dr Toran Darell, is the granddaughter of Bayta Darell, who defeated the Mule (see Foundation and Empire); she is a quick-witted teenager. About the Second Foundation, some believe it doesn't exist, some believe they guide the first Foundation, and among believers, most think that the Foundation need no blind guidance and want to control their own fates. Arcadia's father is specialized in encephalography and brain patterns and is leading a team of "secret conspirators" who are looking to find and defeat the Second Foundation; Arcadia likes to spy on them.
At an unknown place, the First Speaker introduces the Prime Radiant to a promising student. The Prime Radiant is a black cube containing the whole Seldon Plan; when he died, Seldon had 40% of the plan completed and since then, the plan has been completed, amended, corrected and reality-checked by second-foundationers. The whole plan could cover the wall of a large room with equations of a microscopic size. To enter Speakerhood, the student will have to make a contribution to the Plan. But right now, he learns that, after the Mule mess, the probability of success of the Plan is down to 20% or so and that the Second Foundation is currently working on a plan in the Plan -against the basic laws of psychohistory- with very low probabilities, involving the actions of individuals: another Seldon Crisis is looming.
The conspirators are a small group: Dr Darell, Homir Munn -a librarian who collects artifacts from the Mule- and some others, and Pelleas Anthor, a newcomer, student of an ex-colleague of Dr Darell. The science of encephalography is spurred by the interest in the Second Foundation, and the group has discovered the "Tamper Plateau", a plateau that shows on the graphs of persons who could have been tampered with, by the Mule or... the Second Foundation! Needing more information, they send Homir to Kalgan to investigate the inviolate Mule's palace, feeling that it could be under the influence of the Second Foundation. Homir goes, but Arcadia slips in his ship and goes with him.
Kalgan, after the death of the Mule, never reverted to a leisure world, and has stayed under the domination of self appointed "First Citizens". The current ruler of Kalgan, the killer of his predecessor, Lord Stettin hungers for the days where the Union was the ruler of the universe. Homir Munn asks lord Stettin to be granted access to the Mule palace but is rejected, that is until his favorite -more than friend but less than wife-, the Lady Callia makes him believe that Homir thinks that in the Seldon Plan, it is not said that the Second Empire must be that of the Foundation: it could be his.
Lord Stettin grants the access and after Homir's unsuccessful search, decides to start his conquest of the universe, and keeps him as a warranty that he is following the Seldon plan. Arcadia tries to flee from Kalgan, buys a ticket to Trantor and closely escapes a police search, helped by Preem Palver, a trading representative of a farm co-operative on Trantor, and his wife, two seemingly charming rednecks dubbed Pappa and Mamma. From Trantor where she is now stuck with Mamma and Pappa, Arcadia now knows -she doesn't know how, but she knows- where the second Foundation is and sends a 5 words message to his father.
Then, war is declared by Lord Stettin on the Foundation, and the First Citizen of the Union is rapidly expanding, with the strong fleet he has been massing for years. After several months of victories, he is trying for a big jab closer to the Foundation but they have prepared a bold trap and destroy his whole fleet: a Foundation victory it is! First witness of the kalganian defeat, Homir Munn thinks he knows the truth.

• Chapter 21: The answer that satisfied: The conspirators are reunited, and Homir Munn exposes his theory: there is no Second Foundation. Anthor confounds him and an encephalography reveals that Munn has been tampered with, certainly by the Second Foundation! Anthor then explain that he thinks the Second Foundation is on Kalgan, which has been the center of events recently. But Dr Darell thinks otherwise: the message he has received from his daughter is "a circle has no end" and indicates that the other end of the universe, to the Foundation, is... Terminus itself, and he believes that the Second Foundation is on Terminus. Then, he shows a little device he has been working on: a Mind Static, which creates randomly shifting wave patterns, to prevent a Second Foundation mind to read or control other minds. Pushed to the maximum, it acts to a powerful mind like a blinding light to an eye, it is a torture. And as it is turned on, Pelleas Anthor screams! He is a Second Foundationer, and confesses that the Second Foundation is on Terminus, that they are no more than 50 and that the Lady Callia is one of them. The last task is to make sure that Arcadia had not been manipulated: her encephalography shows no Tamper Plateau. Thus, it's over, Foundation is now free from the Second Foundation.
• Chapter 22: The answer that was true: Back to the First Speaker and his student for the real truth: to be able to get back on the track of the Plan, the first Foundation had to regain its confidence and forget about the Second Foundation so that they do not feel guided and act naturally according to the laws of the psychohistory. They (the Second Foundation) have arranged that the Foundation really beat a physical enemy in the ruler of Kalgan to regain its confidence; and they have seen to it that they believe that they've killed the Second Foundation. Thus, the Mind Static and science of encephalography, without any spurring, will decay. To attain this goal, they've been working for more than a decade, and they have manipulated Arcadia since she was a infant (and her mind a blank slate) so that the Tamper Plateau does not show! The First Speaker, Preem Palver (!) has brought the Seldon Plan back on track.

So great a story, I had to get into details and yet, I feel I did not do justice to the book: you just have to read it for yourself. To the next volumes now...

La Rose de Versailles

Portant le titre original de "Versailles No Bara", le manga "Les Roses de Versailles" de Ryoko Ikeda est plus connu chez nous sous le nom de "Lady Oscar", popularisé par le fameux dessin animé diffusé dans les années 80. Un collègue m'a amené l'autre jour le premier tome, un pavé de 500 pages, avec un look de shojo plus que prononcé: des personnages ultra-androgynes, des femmes aux longs cheveux blonds flottant dans le vent, des hommes à la crinière brune au moins aussi flottante, de grands yeux humides remplis d'étoiles pétillantes... bref, tout ce qui ravit les jeunes lectrices mais qui fait que je ne lis pas de shojo habituellement.
Mais bon, afin de m'ouvrir un peu plus, j'ai lu le tome 1... et j'ai demandé le tome 2. Ce qui m'a attiré dans ce livre, ce n'est certes pas le style graphique dont j'ai parlé; ce n'est pas non plus les dialogues dont on ne sait s'ils sont pensés ou parlés (d'ailleurs, c'est assez pénible à la longue cette manière de faire); ce ne sont pas non plus les amours impossibles qui font souffrir les cœurs de tous les personnages (on erre d'ailleurs ici dans du pur shojo, il ne semble jamais y avoir de satiété pour les bon sentiments...); et enfin, ce ne sont pas non plus les petites blagues des personnages caricaturés... C'est tout simplement la même chose qui a fait l'énorme succès de ce manga: le contexte historique.
A travers les vicissitudes de ses 3 personnages principaux (Marie-Antoinette, Oscar François de Jarjayes et Hans Axel de Fersen), l'auteure mêle habilement les personnages fictifs et les aventures romancées avec les personnages et les événements historiques. Ce manga a fait découvrir l'histoire de la révolution Française à des millions de Japonaises et, dans cette optique de narration et d'histoire, c'est une vraie réussite. De toute façon, une bonne histoire restera toujours pour moi, au delà du style graphique, ce qui fait une bonne bande dessinée. Et même si on connait la fin à l'avance, ce manga tient une bonne histoire!

Ivanhoe

I've just finished Ivanhoe, and I've gone "WOW". That is a great and epic story. It features noble knights, bad villains, damsels in distress, tournaments, sword fights and a happy ending; everything one could wish for in such a story. It really makes want to learn more about the history of our English friends.

For such a story, let's get into a lengthy summary...
So beware *** SPOILER AHEAD ***

All along the book, you are given details about the historical background of the story. Cedric of Rotherwood is one of the last fighters for the rights of the Saxons to the throne of England, which has been usurped by the Normans. The King Richard Plantagenet, the lion-hearted is in prison somewhere between Palestine and England and the Prince John has taken the regency, but obviously wants the throne of his elder brother. The Normans are strong, proud, cruel to the people and despise the Saxons. The Saxons are divided amongst those who gave allegiance to the Norman king and those who refuse to even utter a word of French; and among the last, Cedric of Rotherwood is the most vehement.
His only shame is that his own son, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, has pledged allegiance to the Norman King Richard and has gone crusading with him to Palestine. Cedric of Rotherwood is also the guardian of the Lady Rowena, the most beautiful of princesses, and direct heiress to the last Saxon King, whom he plans to marry to Athelstane a very strong but light-headed Saxon knight also of noble untainted royal Saxon blood. But the heart of the Lady Rowena is inclined toward the companion of her childhood, Ivanhoe.
In the first chapters, you make the acquaintance of Wamba the fool and Gurth the swineherd, both serving under the noble Saxon Cedric of Rotherwood. A strange and poor Pilgrim, and a wretched Jew both ask for a night's rest at Cedric of Rotherxwood's. It must be noted that although the Normans and Saxons hate each other, they share the belief that Jews are just greedy underlings that must be abused; touching a Jew is even seen as dishonour. Before the morning comes, the Pilgrim wishes to leave and when he reveals his identity to Gurth, the poor swineherd is shocked into obedience and shows him the way out. Thus leaving, he helps the Jew escape certain costly adventure.
When the tournament starts at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, in the country of Leicester, everything is in place:

• The Jew, Isaac of York appear in all his riches, with his stunningly beautiful daughter Rebecca


• The champions are strong Norman nobles: the proud Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert, Barons Reginald Front-de-Boeuf and Philip Malvoisin


• Yeoman and Knights will prove their valor in the lists again the champions


• Prince John presides the feast, flanked by his councelors, de Bracy and Fitzurse, both hoping a share of the treasure in helping the Prince John to the crown

The champions defeat all the challenging knights but then, a mysterious Knight, who call himself the Disinherited Knight, beats them one by one, with armor, lance and steed. We then learn that, attended by Gurth, he is the Pilgrim and has been armed by Isaac the Jew. With the help of another anonymous Black Knight, he defeats the champions again the following day, but this time with his sword. Champion of the day, he chooses the Lady Rowena as his Queen of Love and Beauty before fainting, having been hurt. He is then unmasked on the order of the Prince John, vexed by the defeat of his Norman champions, and is recognized as Ivanhoe. After the tumult of these events, both the Black Knight and the body of Ivanhoe disappear. On the third day at Ashby, it must be related that a yeoman named Locksley easily crushes his opponents in the archery competition.

After the tournament, the crowd is scattered, and Cedric and Rowena head back home and meet distressed Isaac and Rebecca on their way: they've been robbed and left in the woods with a sick friend; Rebecca has indeed taken Ivanhoe into her care, to cure him with her oriental knowledge of medicine. The woods are considered dangerous because the Norman barons drive the people to such poverty that the number of them turning to robbery is growing at a fast pace. Cedric, by his Saxon heredity, sees himself immune to that danger, but it's another danger that falls on the whole party. They are attacked and captured by a group disguised as Saxon bandits and taken to the castle of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, all of them except Wamba and Gurth, who managed to escape.
In the castle of Front-de-Boeuf, the prisoners face different fates:

• The Lady Rowena's heart is assailed by De Bracy (who really is the mastermind behind the abduction, in order to present himself as a savior to her...), who certainly thinks about her royal blood


• Rebecca's heart is assailed by the Templar Bois-Guilbert, who is ready to renounce everything his order stands for her


• The Jew is about to be slowly tortured to death if he does not pay as high a ransom as Bois-Guilbert gives him


• Cedric and Athelstane are detained, and will be freed for a ransom

But outside the castle, another party has gathered: Wamba and Gurth have gained the help of the Black Knight and of Locksley, the stout Yeoman, who is to be the main chief of a very large and very organized band of forest thieves. Wamba proves that what he lacks in wits, he makes up for in courage and devotion, by exchanging his place as a prisoner with his master's, disguised as a priest and distributing "Pax vobsicum" all around. Then ensues the epic assault of the castle, won by the assailants, the deaths of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf and Athelstane; The Templar escapes, abducting Rebecca with him; De Bracy surrenders; Ivanhoe is saved. After the battle comes the division of the spoil, directed by Locksley. Wamba and Gurth gain freedom from Cedric of Rotherwood, and the Black Knight gains the choice to dispose of De Bracy, whom he chooses to free.

As De Bracy comes back to the Prince John, he informs him that Richard is in England, that he is the Black Knight; knowing that, Fitzurse leaves to take the lead of a small group of strong men to find and assault the King. This assault would fail, because the Black Knight will be saved by Wamba and Locksley. The Black Knight then reveals to everyone he is Richard of England, and Locksley that he is the famous Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest.
Meanwhile, Isaac the Jew sets out to the prefectory of Templestowe where Bois-Guilbert is supposed to have taken his daughter. The Grand Master of the Temple, Lucas Beaumanoir, is a templar proud of his order and rigidly follows its principles. And, thus, he prepares a full trial for Rebecca under the accusation of sorcery, for which she is to be burnt alive: if Bois-Guilbert has taken her, it can only be that he has been bewitched. Isaac asks for mercy but the voice of a Jew accounts for nothing. Madly in love, but always rejected by Rebecca, Bois-Guilbert nonetheless gives her a way out: Rebecca is trialed and found guilty but she asks for a champion: by a law of the order of the Templars, if a champion appears for her in the lists and beats the representative of the order, she will be free. Bois-Guilbert wanted to come as her champion, but is designed to be the representative of the order!

Later, everyone in the Saxon party gathers at the castle of Torquilstone for the ceremony of the defunct Athelstane during which the defunct appears very much alive! He had been left for dead and then detained by abbots! He avows he does not want to marry Rowena since she doesn't love him but Wilfred of Ivanhoe. But where is Ivanhoe? He disappears from the scene to rush at the lists to be the champion of Rebecca, who has healed and saved him. Brian de Bois-Guilbert is beaten and dead. All is well that ends well!

Defender of the Crown

In English
I've just started reading Ivanhoe from Sir Walter Scott, and in the first chapter, I've encountered the following names

• Cedric of Rotherwood


• Philip de Malvoisin


• Reginald Front-de-Boeuf

Rings a bell? I used to have an Amstrad CPC 6128, back in the late 80s, and I've spent countless hours on this beautiful game : Defender of the crown : you could conquer England, participate in a joust, raid a castle to save a damsel or take down castle walls with your catapults. And these guys were the ones you could play! Such nostalgia! This also goes to show me that I'm rather ignorant of the British history, I should correct that sometimes...

En français
Je viens de commencer la lecture d'Ivanhoe de Sir Walter Scott et, dans le premier chapitre, j'ai trouvé les noms de

• Cedric of Rotherwood


• Philip de Malvoisin


• Reginald Front-de-Boeuf

Et là, une lumière s'est allumée dans ma tête. A la fin des années 80, j'ai passé des heures à jouer à Defender of the Crown sur Amstrad CPC 6128, à faire des joutes ou casser les murs des chateaux pour conquérir l'Angleterre. Et les personnages / seigneurs jouables étaient justement ceux-ci. Ah, la nostalgie! Par contre, cela m'a aussi montré que je suis assez inculte en ce qui concerne l'histoire de l'Angleterre, il faudra que je fasse quelque chose pour ça un jour...

Foundation and Empire

So far, so good. As much as I've loved Foundation, the first volume, "Foundation and Empire" lacks the novelty of discovery. But it is nonetheless griping and, as seems usual with Asimov's books, is very very well written indeed. It really shows that Asimov really cares about the story because I've been stuck in the book from cover to cover for the last 4-5 days.

Let me sum the story up now. The book as two parts:

• Part I : The General : The first part of the book covers the war between the falling Empire and the Foundation. The Foundation has lifted from nothing to the most powerful state in the galaxy in just about 2 centuries. Bel Riose, a young and brilliant general dedicated to the Empire, with the help of Brodrig, the "corrupted faithful" servant of the Emperor, will try to defeat the Foundation and the "dead hand" of Hari Seldon and its history path; and to achieve this goal, he's deploying and inclosure of ships to overtake planets and surround Terminus. Lathan Devers, an independent trader, and Ducem Barr of Siwenna, a long-time Empire rebel, will do all they can, and will even kill Bel Riose on their way, to stop the Empire; but their acts amount to nothing. Contrarily to the previous 4 Seldon Crises, no man will single-handedly save the Foundation, but the Foundation victory, in the form of a recall of all ships to the Empire, is largely due to sociological and historical factors. In the end, it's the emperor Cleon II himself, who remains strong because he allows no strong subject, who allows the Empire defeat. The Seldon plan has foreseen right, and can go on.
• Part II : The Mule : The Mule conquers worlds effortlessly : in just a couple of years, he has conquered his first base on an asteroid, then a planet, then the world of Kargan, a rich leisure-world, and its navy, and then... the Foundation. But the Mule - the man - no one has seen. The Mule is said to be a mutant, of great - but unknown - power. Just married Bayta (a young Foundation girl) and Toran (a trader from the Periphery) will try to save the Seldon plan. With the help of Captain Han Pritcher, they save Magnifico, the Mule's terrified clown and their only eye-witness, but all they get is that the Mule uses this as a pretext to trigger the war on Foundation. Down in the Vault, with psychologist Ebling Mis, they witness the 5th apparition of Hari Seldon, awaiting his help as to how to counter the Mule: but Hari Seldon quietly explains that the power of the Mayor is too strong and that of the trader is too independent: a common agreement must take place between them. That is true (all the more so since the Mayor is no longer elected, but is the heir of his father; and since the traders are largely rich and independent, but politically rebellious), but that also means that Hari Seldon had not foreseen the Mule: the Seldon Plan is in shatters! Tora, Baytan, Magnifico and Mis flee to Trantor, the metal-covered planet, the ex-capital of the mighty Empire, in order to find traces of the second Foundation, to warn them of the Mule. Since the great Sack of the civil war, Trantor is left in ruins; the remaining inhabitants tear the metal open to reveal the grounds and revert to agriculture. There, Ebling Mis works feverishly, rebuilds part of Seldon's psycho-history in the library, to find the location of the second Foundation and, just as he is about to reveal it, Bayta kills him. The truth had fallen on her : Magnifico is the Mule, and he must not found the second Foundation; The Mule, ruler of the new Empire, who can point any human's emotion to his will, has been fooled by Bayta, he'll have to find another way to the Foundation.

I can't wait to read the third volume!

Emma

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived bearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

This is Emma. Emma is a free-thinking, as witty and independent as Elizabeth could be in "Pride and Prejudice". Emma's world is similar to that of Elizabeth in that she lives in a rural world, not too far from London, she has a somewhat secluded life and all her attentions (and that of most of the people surrounding her) seem geared toward husbandry. So this is my second novel from Jane Austen, and the second filled with young women hunting good husbands; and, as in the first one, although the subject may seem naïve, is is very well written and does not allow the reader to let the book down.

Miss Taylor, Emma's governess and friend leaves the house to marry Mr Weston: Emma, 21, stays alone at Hartfield with her hypocondriac, but widely estimated, father. In want of company, she resolves to bring a young, good natured and pretty girl named Harriet to higher spheres and to a better education; Thus, when Harriet Smith receives a proposition from an honest but lowly Robert Martin, Emma makes her refuse him. A good friend of the family, Mr Knightley sees this as a bad omen but Emma chooses to continue the acquaintance, and when Mr Elton comes around Hartfield too often to be honest, Emma hatches a plan : Harriet will marry him. Things gradually grow from a possibility to a certainty in the girls' heads and, after a series of blunders and missunderstandings, the judgment falls: Mr Elton was courting the rich Emmma and not the poor Harriet. Emma says she will not be taken matchmaking again... Never says never... Then comes Franck Chuchill, Mr Weston's son, brought up by his wealthy uncle and aunt. He's rich and when he comes around, he appears to be courting Emma. Then follows a long series of dinners, balls, walks, encounters, unspoken truths, downright false ideas... Finally, everybody thinks that Franck is courting Emma, but he is secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax, who is being sent as a governess by a fiendish Mrs Elton; Harriet is deceived again when she's getting in love with Mr Knightley who loves Emma from the very start... As in Pride and Prejudice, all is well that ends well: Harriet marries Robert Martin, Franck Churchill marries Jane Fairfax and Emma marries Mr Knightley.

I'm aware that this account of the story sounds like "The Young and the Restless". But reducing this novel to a husband hunt is not to do it justice. I've thouroughly enjoyed it, it is well written and makes the little things in life interesting. Jane Austen knows how to delve into the minds of her characters and reveal them.

Watchmen

Who watches the watchmen?

For the record:

• Writer : Alan Moore


• Illustrator : Dave Gibbons

A colleague has lent me that "graphical novel", supposedly one of the best, at least a cornerstone, graphical novel of the american comics history. So I've put my current book aside (Emma), and read this one.
The very first thing that comes through my mind is this : "Who watches the watchmen?": I've seen this sentence several times in my life (The first time, that was in the game "Gryzor", on my CPC 6128: does anyone remember that or am I the only old geek around?), and never connected it with anything. Now, that sentence will be connected with this comic.

My impressions about this book are ambiguous:

• On one end, I can see that this book tries to achieve some grand scheme, introducing many characters, placing them in a history too big for them, with a global situation on the brink of bursting; it tries to tackle the subject of human super-heroes from more than one viewpoint; graphically, it is littered with recurrent schemes, gimmicks, there is a comic inside the comic, and additionnal material (book extract, police files...) is added between the chapters
• and, on the other end, it is somewhat difficult to read (alternating on several pages a panel of the main story and a panel of the pirate story, with text intertwined... come on...), over-abundance of symbols kills the effect, you do not really get to relate to the characters (the big one, Adrian Veidt, is never really focused on before the end), and the end comes so unexpectedly it's puzzling... I'm coming out of this reading with the sensation that the plot has not been controlled from the beginning; and the first thing I read is a story!

On the minus side, I didn't like the style but then, I am more a manga person than a comic one, so I won't count this one.

Overall, I expected more from such a prized book, and I think too much expectations kinda killed it for me. Reading it is sometimes painful, and it shouldn't. I feel like if I read it another time, I would enjoy it much, understanding the cross-references hidden everywhere but, as I wrote, too much is too much, and I do not have the courage. Pity. Back to Jane Austen's "Emma" now.

Ma liste de livres

!!! LISTE EN COURS DE CONSTRUCTION!!!

Edmond de Rostand : Cyrano de Bergerac

Amélie Nothomb

• Robert des Noms Propres
• Le Fait du Prince

Emile Zola

• La Fortune des Rougon
• La Curée
• Le Ventre de Paris
• La Conquête de Plassans
• La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret
• Son Excellence Eugène Rougon
• L'assomoir
• Nana
• Pot-Bouille
• Au Bonheur des Dames
• La Joie de Vivre
• Germinal
• L'oeuvre

My list of books

!!! List under construction !!!

Douglas Adams : The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Jane Austen

• Pride and Prejudice
• Emma

Isaac Asimov

• Foundation series
• Prelude to Foundation
• Foundation
• Foundation and Empire
• Second Foundation
• Foundation's Edge
• Foundation and Earth
• I, Robot
• Robots series
• The Caves of Steel
• The Naked Sun
• The Robots of Dawn
• Robots and Empire

Emily Brontë : Wuthering Heights

Sir Richard F. Burton : Arabian Nights

Stephen Clarke

• A Year in the Merde
• Merde, Actually

Charles Dickens

• A Tale of Two Cities
• Hard Times
• Oliver Twist

Kennet Grahame : The Wind in the Willows

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

• Dune: House Atreides
• Dune: House Harkonnen
• Dune: House Corrino

Franck Herbert

• Dune
• Dune Messiah
• Children of Dune
• God Emperor of Dune
• Heretics of Dune
• Chapterhouse Dune

Aldous Huxley : Brave New World

James Joyce

• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
• Dubliners

Rudyard Kipling : The Jungle Book

George R. R. Martin

• A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones
• A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings
• A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords
• A Song of Ice and Fire: A Feast for Crows
• A Song of Ice and Fire: A Dance with Dragons

George Orwell : Nineteen eighty-four

Edgar Allan Poe : Selected Tales

Neil Postman : Amusing Ourselves to Death

J. K. Rowling

• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Sir Walter Scott : Ivanhoe

William Shakespeare

• Romeo and Juliet
• Othello

Lemony Snicket

• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 1 - The Bad Beginning
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 2 - The Reptile Room
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 3 - The Wide Window
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 4 - The Miserable Mill
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 5 - The Austere Academy
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 6 - The Ersatz Elevator
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 7 - The Vile Village
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 8 - The Hostile Hospital
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 9 - The Carnivorous Carnival
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 10 - The Slippery Slope
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 11 - The Grim Grotto
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 12 - The Penultimate Peril
• A Series of Unfortunate Events - vol 13 - The End
• The Beatrice Letters

William Makepeace Thackeray : Vanity Fair

Mark Twain

• Huckleberry Finn
• Tom Sawyer

Gore Vidal : Live from Golgotha

H. G. Wells

• The Invisible Man
• The Time Machine
• The War of the Worlds
• The Island of Doctor Moreau

Foundation

Frustrated with the lack of English books, even in large book shops, I've been to the English book shop "WH Smith", located rue de Rivoli in Paris. There, I've bought "Foundation" and "Second Foundation" as well as several classics (Ivanhoe, Emma...); then, back to my desk, I've looked up Asimov's page on Wikipedia and stumbled on the first difficulty : in what order do I have to read the books of the "Foundation series" : in the chronological order of their writing or the one in which the author has ordered them afterwards? The last option seeming the most logical, I now miss the "Foundation and Empire" volume that sits between the two volumes I bought. Now, since I may not have the leisure to go to WH Smith again in the near future, I have to turn to www.amazon.co.uk to find the missing ones. Frustration again...

To the point, now. The front cover of the book says that Foundation is 'one of the most staggering achievements in modern SF'... But nowadays, every marketed book bears such petty, self-awarded, and usually undeserved presentation. But since reading "I, Robot", I have experienced that Issac Asimov is an extraordinary author. So, I had to read his so-called masterpiece and here I am.

**** BEWARE **** Spoiler ahead... I'm going to try to sum up the book, it's going to help me whenever I'll try to remember this or that character in the next books.

Foundation is divided in 5 parts:

• Part I : The psychohistorians : This part introduces Hari Seldon and the science of psychohistory which he created. Psychohistory allows him to predict quite accurately the future by applying some large numbers'mathematics and statistics to mankind history and mob behaviours (it's a big shortcut here but that will do). He predicts that the current Galactic Empire, that controls a conglomerate of 25 millions inhabited planets, will soon fall into decadence and decay, and that centuries of utter chaos and wars will follow. Advertising this forecast makes him a dangerous man for the Empire. But, entirely taken up in his duty to mankind, he works to create Foundation. Foundation is the placing of thousand of scientist on the Terminus planet, located at the very far end of the universe, to the purpose of building the Encyclopedia Foundation of all of the knowledge of mankind. But no psychohistorian is to make the trip to Terminus, and they shall not know the real purpose of the Foundation. Moreover, there is to be a second foundation somewhere else; but the book only hints on that, and Asimov is teasing us for the next volumes of the series.


• Part II : The encyclopedists : Foundation is run by encyclopedists. Terminus City is governed by Salvor Hardin, the Mayor. Fifty years have passed since the landing on Terminus, and work on the encyclopedia is progressing quickly. However, Terminus has rebellious neighbours: 4 planets among which Smyrno and Anacreon. These are now kingdom, emancipated from the Empire and Anacreon menaces to invade undefended, metal-less, Terminus. The encyclopedists refuse to move, always relying on a dying and indifferent Empire, prioritizing science above all and only Hardin see things practically and seems to want to make things move. He manages to discover that the neighbouring planets of the periphery no longer have an atomic-power economy. Anacreon's ultimatum comes to an end, just as the internal political crisis reaches its climax; and that is precisely the moment when "the Vault" opens and Hari Seldon reveals its 50 years old message, making them understand that the Encyclopedia Foundation is a fraud and that, to survive, they will have to follow the path that has been forged for them. Each time they will face a crisis, they will have but one option : today, they are "an island of atomic power in a growing ocean of more primitive energy"...


• Part III : The mayors : Salvor Hardin has been the omnipotent Mayor of Terminus for thirty years. He has successfully guided the Foundation through the first Seldon crisis, by playing Anacreon against its enemies, the other kingdoms, and by selling Foundation's knowledge of atomics to all the kingdoms of the Periphery; but this, he did with a twist : he did not sell it as a science but as "magic", surrounded by a lot of religious mumbo-jumbo, empirically operated only by priests "educated in the Holy Spirit" on Terminus. Now, the atomic-powered Anacreon wants Foundation for itself and sends its atomic ships towards Terminus. At the same time, Hardin faces political activists, who promote the use of force against the kingdoms, and are ready to demote him. But, again, he'll guide the Foundation through this crisis, using his "religious" power and sticking to his motto: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".


• Part IV : The traders : That is a story that doesn't feature an historical character : a Foundation trader has to save another, who is prisoner on a planet of the Periphery. Aside from the story itself, it details how distant planets grow suspicious about Foundation and prefer to refuse their atomics than to be transformed into submissive zealots, and how trade seems to be the next expansion relay for Foundation.


• Part V : The merchant princes : after Hari Seldon and Salvor Hardin, the next Man, in the history of Foundation is Hober Mallow. Foundation is facin atomic weapons, from an unknown source; a Smyrnian master Trader, Hober Mallow is sent to Korell to try to trade and spy for the account of the Mayor. However, since Mallow is fighting to get traders'representation in the council, it looks like a trap. And a trap it is indeed. But, by selling atomic-powered material goods to the Korellian warmongers, without the surrounding religion, Mallow understands he can make the planet as dependant of Foundation as with religion. Then the Seldon crisis appears, and takes the form of a Korellian threat and a Hober Mallow's public trial for treason. Mallow's strength of character gets him through and has Korell totally surrender, without a fight, after cutting their supply of atomic-powered good for several years. Relaying the religious control, he develops the economic control.

That's way too big for my usual production, but, for my defense, the book is really a phenomenon. My only gripes : it is too short and you don't get enough time to settle with the characters! You are almost forced to read the following volumes. That is precisely what I intend to do.

Dubliners

From James Joyce, I had already read "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", of which I have not kept an imperishable memory. I've decided nonetheless upon reading Dubliners, a collection of short stories set in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century.
Each story traces the steps of a child, a mother, a student or a man in some part of is life. It's often about a turning point in their lives, or about their awareness of their condition. The tone is always neutral, only stating facts, never taking sides, never caring to bring an explanation. Joyce also doesn't bother to answer all the questions he raises during the stories.
For all these reasons, I've not been able to be interested in more than three pages in a row, no more than in the Irish identity he keeps droning about. Well, I guess I'm not litterary enough to understand his works, and I'm now done with Joyce...

Léolo

Quelques citations marquantes issues de ce film:

Devant l'affolement de ma mère, le docteur n'a pas eu le courage de lui dire qu'elle était enceinte d'une tomate contaminée.

Ma grand-mère avait convaincu mon père que la santé venait en chiant. Alors, tous les vendredis, nous devions subir un traitement choc au laxatif, pour nous purifier de toutes les maladies du monde.

Elle était chaude et amoureuse. J'aimais quand elle m'enlaçait dans sa graisse. L'odeur de sa sueur me calmait.

J'ai adoré ce film. Certaines scènes sont crues et difficiles, noires (la pendaison, le viol de la chatte, la scène du steack de foie), d'autres sont lyriques (la pêche au trésor, l'italie), d'autres sont touchantes (le frère battu, la caresse à la soeur débile), mais ce film est attachant, tant il est troublant et différent. J'ai découvert a posteriori que le magazine Time avait classé ce film canadien de Jean-Claude Lauzon, dont je n'avais jamais entendu parler, dans son top 100 (cf All-TIME 100 best films): je trouve cela mérité, ce film m'a touché.

Les paragraphes ci-dessous reprennent l'histoire donc attention, ***SPOILER***

Léo est un jeune garçon qui vit au Québec. il écrit, il écrit sans cesse, et jette ses pages ainsi noircies. Un vieil homme qui fait les poubelles, à la recherche d'histoires, récupère ces pages et nous les lit.

Léo Lauzon veut qu'on l'appelle Léolo Lauzone. Léolo rêve; il rêve qu'il est italien (sa mère aurait été engrossée par une tomate dans laquelle se serait "soulagé" un sicilien...), il rêve de Bianca, la jeune et inaccessible voisine sicilienne ("Bianca, mon amour, mon seul amour") et il échappe par ce biais à son quotidien. Hormis la solide et saine figure maternelle, la famille de Léo est terriblement tarée : son grand-père fou essaie de le noyer dans la piscine et est directement responsable de l'hérédité, son père donne des laxatifs comme des hosties, son frère perd en cervelle ce qu'il gagne en biceps, et ses deux soeurs sont débiles ; tous passent une bonne partie de leur temps dans un asile.

On passe dans ce film par toutes les étapes de la vie de ce jeune garçon : de sa petite enfance, à sa découverte de la sexualité (la découverte d'un magazine bien caché dans la maison, les escalopes dans le slip en guise de fille...), de l'amour (pour Bianca bien sur), à sa peur (la montagne de muscle qu'est devenu son frère ne peut rien face à la faiblesse de son coeur). Mais ce qui est raconté est parfois à la frontière entre ce qui est vécu par Léo et ce qui est rêvé par Léolo; les rêves de Léolo nourrissent les passions de Léo et les actions de Léo influencent les rêves de Léolo.

Quand Léo s'engage plus avant dans la sexualité (scène bizarre et assez crue avec une prostituée), Bianca n'apparaît plus dans les rêves de Léolo, ce qui fait que Léo s'enfonce doucement dans le même détachement envers la réalité que le reste de sa famille. Léo tente alors de pendre son grand-père (qui monnaie les "services" de Bianca), source de tous ses maux. Léo est en crise, il est interné, il ne rêve plus, il n'y a plus vraiment de Léolo... Il rejoint le reste de sa fratrie à l'asile...

Les acteurs sont tous magnifiques, filmés sans artifice, et la bande son moderne sert véritablement bien les scènes les plus marquantes du film. Je vous le recommande, c'est vraiment un OVNI!

Kandahar

Difficile de rester de marbre devant Kandahar.

Je vais d'abord passer rapidement sur ce qui peut décevoir : les acteurs ne sont pas toujours parfaits, le film manque de rythme, le magnétophone qui enregistre la voix de Nafas est artificiel et la fin est ... déconcertante, tant l'histoire (Nafas cherche à rejoindre sa soeur) est coupée sans véritable explication.

Une fois ceci dit, il reste de Kandahar une impression déroutante : situé dans l'Afghanistan des talibans, l'histoire est à mi-chemin entre film et documentaire. Un certain nombre de scènes m'a frappé, et elles sont, je pense, faites également pour frapper:
Dans une école coranique, de jeunes afghans sont assis au sol, le long des murs, et se balancent rapidement d'avant en arrière tout en annonnant le Coran à haute voix, ce qui fait un vacarme épouvantable. Le maître interromp les élèves de temps en temps pour interroger l'un d'entre eux : "Qu'est-ce qu'une Kalashnikov?" ou "Qu'est-ce qu'un sabre?" et l'élève de produire l'arme et de réciter sa leçon "L'arme avec laquelle on obéit aux ordres de Dieu; elle coupe la main du voleur et le cou de l'assassin". Peut-on vraiment construire une civilisation durable sur de tels enseignements?
Dans un camp de la Croix Rouge, deux femmes tentent de venir en aide à quelques dizaines d'hommes, tous amputés d'une jambe : ils ont tous sauté sur une mine, véritable fléau du pays. Un hélicoptère passe au dessus du camp pour larguer des prothèses de jambes. Et là, au ralenti, au son d'une musique hypnothique, les unijambistes se mettent à courrir sur leurs béquilles en direction des jambes tombant du ciel en parachute... Comment comprendre une telle détresse?
Vers la fin du film, pour se rendre à Kandahar, Nafas se mèle à un convoi de femmes en route pour un mariage : cela donne un groupe de personnes totalement voilées (dont une partie sont des hommes déguisés) et donc totalement dépersonnalisés. On peine à reconnaître Nafas dans le groupe, on cherche une burga verte, son seul signe distinctif.

Les valeurs, les situations affichées sont tellement, tellement lointaines de ce que l'on vit ici... Cela fait oublier le quotidien et les petits tracas, mais jusqu'à quand? Demain, le mois prochain, j'aurai oublié ce film, oublié ces situations. En ai-je honte? Oui. Puis-je changer quoi que ce soit? Probablement pas, mais est-ce une raison pour ne rien faire... Ces questions que l'on finit par se poser sont, selon moi, l'objectif du réalisateur (Mohsen Makhmalbaf) : il ne prend pas parti entre documentaire et histoire et nous place ainsi, nous spectateurs, dans la difficile position de devoir prendre un parti moral... Déroutant...

That time of the year

It's that time of the year. Again. Unfortunately. This morning, for the first time in months, the moment I've set a foot outside, the automatic light in my driveway has turned on. It's now officialy dark in the morning, and time to go into hibernation.

Le Fait du Prince

Généralement, je ne lis pas un livre d'Amélie Nothomb avant sa sortie en poche, parce que 20+ euros pour moins de 2 heures de lecture, je trouve cela peu rentable... Mais bon, on m'a prêté le dernier, Le Fait du Prince, hier et je l'ai donc lu (en 1h30 environ...).
On arguera ce que l'on veut de ses romans, mais je les ai presque tous lu, et ils m'ont tous intéressés; si ce n'est par le sujet, au moins par la façon particulière qu'a l'auteure de voir et d'exprimer les choses les plus simples avec des phrases fortes.

[NB : pas de spoiler, seul le début est expliqué] Le point de départ de l'histoire est comme d'habitude relativement simple, mais étonnant à souhait: Baptiste Mordave ouvre la porte à un inconnu qui est en panne et qui souhaite téléphoner à un garagiste. Oui mais voila, l'inconnu décède subitement. A cause d'une conversation mondaine qu'il a eue la veille, le discret, banal, ennuyeux Baptiste va réfléchir et décider de ne pas appeler les secours, mais d'échanger sa place avec celle de son visiteur, Olaf Sildur; car après tout, qui s'enquerra de sa mort à lui?

Au delà du changement de vie fabriqué, ce roman aborde la réflexion sur soi et la découverte de l'autre, à travers le masque des apparences. Le faux Olaf baptise l'inconnue Sigrid: au delà des apparences, ces deux là se trouvent et échappent à une vie triste et préprogrammée.
Un bon roman (trop court, mais c'est une marque de fabrique...) avec une fin un peu prématurée et rapide. Parmi tous ses livres, je reste néanmoins sur les Catilinaires comme son meilleur roman, de par l'abord plus fin et plus cynique de l'humanité de ses personnages.

Pride and Prejudice

I'm always fond of reading old classics of the British litterature because you can't really be disappointed by an old classics : bad litterature never stays in history.
Anyway, here in France, in mainstream libraries, the choice of books in English is rather limited, but Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is often available. I had never bought it since I thought it was primarily targeting young women (yeah I know...). Since I was at a loss as to my readings lately, I've decided to swallow my pride and to just buy the book; and I must admit I was prejudiced (that was an easy one...).

The book is very pleasant to read, and the author has the ability to keep the attention of the reader (regardless of the interest of the subject, which is mainly about hurt feelings and the pursuit of marriage by the 5 Bennett daughters); it certainly kept mine! Elizabeth has to overcome her prejudice against Mr Darcy, who has to dominate his pride to reach Elizabeth's heart.

The last time I went to the library, I also saw Jane Eyre and I've had the same kind of prejudices. Maybe it's time for me to move on this one, too!

Elite Beat Agents : the playlist

When someone has spent as much time as I did on "Elite Beat Agents", hearing a title from the game's playlist immediately reminds one of the game. So, to the gamers out there, I give the "Elite Beat Agents" playlist!

L'assomoir

J'avance au rythme épique d'un post tous les 6 mois, il faut que je me calme, je risque la saturation :) Comme d'habitude, beaucoup de travail, une vie de famille occupée ont eu raison de mes lectures! Je me suis néanmoins remis aux Rougon-Macquart et ai donc lu "L'assomoir", d'Emile Zola.

Un très bon roman, très stylé (mais beaucoup moins pompeux que "La Faute"), qui est écrit avec le langage du peuple (ce livre a fait scandale à sa sortie, notamment en raison de son style très imagé) et qui livre une vision sans concession, mais sans diabolisation, du peuple ouvrier de Paris sous le second Empire. A cette époque, le principal compagnon de l'ouvrier est l'alcool, fléau qui va détruire, directement comme indirectement la vie de Gervaise Macquart; l'assomoir, c'est le débit d'alcool, l'endroit où les vies ouvrières sont vidées et détruites.
Le roman, qui a souvent été sous-titré "La passion de Gervaise" décrit l'ascension et la chute de Gervaise Macquart, comment elle a su se battre mais n'a pu que sombrer, entraînée dans les bas fonds de Paris par ses hommes et par l'alcool. Montée de Plassans à Paris avec un espoir sans orgueil (vivre simplement, faire son petit trou), elle sera ruinée et abandonnée par son amant Auguste Lantier, puis refera confiance à un homme et triomphera avec son mari Coupeau. Celui-ci s'abimera dans la boisson, Lantier reviendra la hanter et la vider de tout honneur et à eux deux, ils l'entraîneront dans une spirale de déchéance que viendra couronner une mort solitaire et misérable. Lantier de son côté, tel un vautour, continuera à se nourrir sur le dos de ses victimes bien choisies (Gervaise puis Virginie) et s'engraisse de manière immorale.
Gervaise est une bonne bête, travailleuse, un peu indolente et il ne fait aucun doute dans l'esprit de Zola qu'un autre environnement, un bon mari, auraient apporté à Gervaise le peu qu'elle attendait (selon sa vision de l'inné et du vécu....); la vie en a décidé autrement, et son indolence l'amène à supporter les états de plus en plus bas dans lesquels elle descend, sans avoir la force de s'en sortir.

Next step, "Une page d'amour", mais pas tout de suite car il n'est plus édité dans la collection que j'ai achetée jusqu'ici : GRRrrrrrr...

Son Excellence Eugène Rougon

Oh, une entrée, la première depuis plus de 6 mois... Je pense qu'on peut en conclure que je ne suis pas un blogueur fou. Comme d'habitude, la vraie vie a encore frappé. Enfin, pour changer un peu, on va faire un petit Zola : Son Excellence Eugène Rougon.

Contrairement aux deux tomes précédents ("Le Ventre" et "La Faute"), Zola n'abuse pas trop de ses habituelles interminables description paraboliques usant tout ce que le dictionnaire connait de synonymes d'un registre :) Par contre, sa critique du pouvoir en place sous le second empire n'en est pas moins acerbe.
"Son Excellence" place Eugène Rougon au centre d'un roman politique, et l'action se situe dans les hautes sphères du pouvoir : pour résumer rapidement la trame, il s'agit d'une étude du pouvoir d'Eugène Rougon, alors premier ministre de Napoléon III, de sa chute et de son retour en grâce; y son étudiés ses passion et emportement pour le pouvoir pur (mais pas pour l'argent, qui n'est finalement pour lui qu'un instrument du pouvoir), les moyens dont il use pour assoir son pouvoir et écraser ses adversaires, sa "cour". On observe donc comment "le Grand Homme", comme ses amis l'appellent, nourrit ses amis qui, en échange, assoient son pouvoir : tout n'est que corruption, menaces, entremettement (néologisme?). Nous assistons à son retrait forcé de ses fonctions, aussi injuste que son retour en grâce peut l'être.
Ce roman du pouvoir est celui de toutes les manigances et les intrigues, et c'est surement cela qui me l'a rendu aussi intéressant : Zola détaille les personnages, leurs vices et leurs appétits, et tisse ainsi la toile d'un groupe de pseudo-amis, liés uniquement par le pouvoir qu'ils s'apportent les uns les autres et que seule fait trembler la possibilité que leur pouvoir puisse cesser. Ultimement, le seul pouvoir que Rougon recherche vraiment est celui qu'il a sur son cercle rapproché : il aime les voir dépendre de lui et le supplier et plus il supplie, plus il jouit de leur donner plus que ce qu'ils attendent : dans la lignée des Rougon-Macquart, Eugène Rougon n'est pas une exception, il a d'énormes appétits et des jouissances à leur hauteur.

Pour moi, ce roman est un peu comme un rappel : nous n'avons rien inventé, la corruption a toujours existé et existera toujours, et le pouvoir appelle les "Rougons". Un très bon Rougon-Macquart!