Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

  Treasure Island    By Robert Louis Stevenson My eldest granddaughter is practicing for her part in a musical version of Treasure Island so, I downloaded a copy, which I had not read since childhood. It's been called a boy's adventure story but nowadays, that stereotype no longer applies. Following is a summary and a description of the key characters. Treasure Island is a children's novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1883. Set in the 1780s, it tells the story of Jim Hawkins, a young boy who finds a treasure map while working at his parents' inn. With the help of his friends, he sets out to find the treasure, which is hidden on a remote island. Along the way, they encounter a variety of obstacles, including pirates, mutiny, and the natural dangers of the island. In the end, Jim and his friends are successful in finding the treasure, but they must also learn to deal with the consequences of their actions.   The main characters in Tre...

  The World at War The Ultimate Restored Edition The World at War is a popular documentary of World War II produced by Thames Television in 1973. The war is presented as a series of stories in 26 episodes with narration by Laurence Olivier. The World at War is more than a collection of combat scenes. Interviews with soldiers and civilians offer a glimpse of the effects of war on the people who lived through it in the cities and villages of Europe and Asia. Of course there are interviews with high level American, British, German and Japanese leaders. Some of the featured interviewees include: Mark Clark Jock Colville Karl Donitz Karl Wolff James “Jimmy” Doolittle Lord Eden of Avon Averell Harriman Toshikazu Kase Vera Lynn Lord Mountbatten Albert Speer James Stewart Paul Tibbets Takeo Yoshikawa Stephen Ambrose Of particular note are the insights of Gertraud “Traudl” Junge who served as a personal secretary to Adolf Hitler. She remained in his bu...

  The Jurassic Park film series began in 1993 and ended in 2022. There are six major films in the series. 1. Jurassic Park 1993 2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 3. Jurassic Park III 2001 4. Jurassic World 2015 5. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2018 6. Jurassic World: Dominion 2022 About the Series Box Sets Available Six Movie Collection 4K Blu-Ray ON AMAZON Six Movie Collection Blu-Ray DVD and Digital    on AMAZON Genre : Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Origins : Jurassic Park is a novel created by Michael Crichton. John Hammon is a wealthy investor whose company, InGen, owns Jurassic Park, which is a theme park on a beautiful island with dinosaurs created by geneticist, Dr. Henry Wu. Crichton's second book is Jurassic World. The film series is based on the characters created by Michael Crichton. Jurassic Park Trilogy   1. Jurassic Park 1993 Novelist: Michael Crichton (1990) wrote the first of two books available - on AMAZON Film Director: Steven Spielberg Some lead...

  Code Name: Lise:  The True Story of the Spy Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Woman By Larry Loftis Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton Lise was the code name for Odette Samson. She's living in Somerset England with her children at the outset of World War II. Her husband is off at war. Because she was raised in France, her language and experience make her a potential candidate to help the resistance organised by Britain's War Office referred to as SOE (Special Operations Executive). The story moves quickly from training to deployment. Relying on a trove of records that include interviews and official communications, Loftis creates a vivid thriller of a determined young woman focused on carrying out her risky responsibilities as a courier under threat of the Nazi boot. As the story progresses, she falls in love with her commanding officer, Peter Churchill. Despite many thrilling escapes, she and Peter are eventually captured by Hugo, Germany's master spy catcher. Disg...

  THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD Science as a Candle in the Dark By   Carl Sagan   Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton Carl Sagan injects readers with two treatments followed by booster shots throughout the 25 chapters of The Demon-Haunted World . In the end, enlightened readers will see science, not as a mere candle, but as a brilliant search light in the murky world of opinions, conspiracies, and myths. The first repeated treatment is a healthy dose of skepticism aimed at beliefs that led so many of our ancestors astray or worse, led to horrendous unnecessary deaths. The second treatment is the inspiring and hope-filled vial of scientific discovery catalyzed by curiosity and wonderment and guided by the light of the scientific method. For the most part, Sagan moves us quickly from one topic to another but there were times when I wished he’d cut some of the UFO stories. I get it. People are gullible and believe all sorts of things about aliens. Of course there’s...

  Citizens of London The Americans Who Stood With Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour   By Lynne Olson   Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton   Lynne Olson tells the exciting story of three Americans in Britain's wore torn capitol whose passionate embrace of the British solitary stand against the Nazis served as a catalyst that would eventually link America and Britain in an incredibly close fighting force against the enemy. Olson’s masterful presentation reveals how three different men— George Winant, Edward Murrow, and Averell Harriman—interacted with Churchill, Roosevelt, and a cast of other Anglo-American leaders on the world stage between 1939 and 1945. As she describes these relationships following the course of the war, we learn the crucial role of close connections and trust in the arduous melding of an international allied force to defeat the axis powers. The three men are different. Winant is a respected diplomat with an amazing ability to emp...

                                                               Do I Stay Christian?    By Brian D. McLaren   Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton   “He’s an atheist now.” “She came home from that church in tears.” “We’re agnostic. We just don’t know.”   In the past decade, it seems like young adults have been fleeing church as if there was an active shooter in the sanctuary. I am privileged to remain friends with former university students on social media. I see some have left evangelical churches and some declare themselves atheists. I interact with older friends across the USA whose adult children have given up their evangelical beliefs. Some felt welcomed in mainline congregations but others appear to be in some vague spiritual place that I couldn’t quite locate.   Brian D...