Ramble About Books and Films

The strange times in which we live continue to unfold. History will make its own judgement but for now we just have the death toll to guide us.

So how have I used these three months of hermit-like existence? I've read a deliciously self-indulgent quantity of books. This morning I finished Julius, one of the few Daphne du Maurier novels that I haven't already read. The main character is probably a psychopath like many highly successful business people, driven to succeed, accumulating almost incalculable wealth while remaining unfulfilled and, essentially, lonely and rather pathetic. He sees other people not as individuals but as toys, as things to be used to make more money or to keep him entertained, even his own daughter who Julius can't tolerate starting a life which doesn't revolve around him.

I'm half-way through the final season of Prison Break, which has been okay. Theodore Bagwell is my favourite character; another psychopath. The actor who played this role, Robert Knepper, did a great job. The series itself has been heavy with plot twists, a "now get out of that" unfolding story which has kept me interested.

Also on my DVD player has been Walking Dead, which took me a while to get interested in as at first I thought it was going to be yet another predictable zombie yarn. The zombie origin has yet to be explained and there are a few major plot holes, such as if the zombies' bodies are decaying how come they all still have good eyesight. However I'm enjoying the survival element, the human interaction/relationship and survival challenges aspects of the series. I forget which number of the series I'm on now - the town of nice-seeming people run by yet another psychopath, while the core group are holed up in the prison, was the theme of the series I've just finished. That town is now ruined and everyone's on the run to find another bolt-hole, with our charming nutter on their heels looking for vengeance.

All this sitting around has done nothing for my already challenged waistline. I stood on the scales this morning and got a fright.