Last evening we went to see and hear Katherine Boo, author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (mini reviewed at MillersTime here.)

I didn’t find out what I wanted to know, but what I gained was better than what I had come to learn.

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‘ Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
How differently the world would men behold!
How oft would vice and virtue places change!
The new world would be nothing to the old,
If some Columbus of the moral seas
Would show mankind their souls’ antipodes.

-Lord Byron his satirical poem Don Juan, 1823

A book and a film for your consideration.

The book is non-fiction, tho I wished it were fiction.

The movie was fiction, based on a novel, and I kind of wished it were true.

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The good news:

Hollywood East Cafe, now in Wheaton, MD, a few blocks away from their former location on University Blvd., has doubled their dim sum offerings from when they first opened their new restaurant, and the quality of what they offer seems better too. They now have some dumplings that I haven’t seen nor tasted anywhere else in the entire DC/Md/VA area. They’re simply terrific.

If you live in DC/MD area and have stood in line for Oriental East because you think they have the best dim sum this side of Virginia, check out Hollywood East. I suspect you will be pleased.

The bad news:

Ping Pong Dim Sum has opened their second restaurant, this one in Dupont Circle. It is as bad, perhaps even worse, if possible, than the one in Chinatown.

These two ‘faux’ dim sum factories largely serve dumplings made elsewhere, and when they are steamed, these frozen whatever they are, are not even bad versions of true dim sum.

Save your appetite and money for the real things.

At some point, either shortly before or shortly after I retired from The Frost School, I made a list of some things I would like to do with my freed up time.

I was only one degree of separation away from one of Washington’s best French chefs, and I thought how much fun it would be to spend an entire day in the kitchen with him from the time he walked in in the morning until he left at night.

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Over this weekend we saw two performances that we highly recommend if you live in the DC area and like live theatre.

But you’ll have to ‘act’ quickly as one of the performances ends Feb. 18 and the other ends Mar. 11.

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First the films.

Le Havre ****1/2

You’ll have to look around to find this film, but if it’s playing in your area, it’s worth the effort to see it.

In a time when many films are filled with violence and bad guys (just watch the previews of coming movies), Le Havre offers something quite different: a film made up almost entirely of good people, a view of humanity that doesn’t make it to the screen too often.

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A friend recently asked what films I would put in my top ten for 2011.

Generally, I tend to resist doing top tens (tho I’m told it’s good for driving traffic to one’s site), but since I went back and reviewed my mini-reviews for this friend, here is the list and the links to the films I rated four-five stars in 2011. There’s probably not much difference between five and four and a half stars; the four stars are a notch below, however.:

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First, much thanks to all of you who took the time and patience to recall the books you’ve enjoyed this year. There are 59 of us, almost evenly divided (31-28 in favor of the females), who sent in 272 titles and comments.

Second, please forgive my endless reminders, tho the results, I believe, may have been worth the nagging. (Late additions will be posted as they arrive, without any snarky comments from the editor.)

There is a rich diversity of titles, and some of the most intriguing are those that were only mentioned once. How, for instance, can one not pay attention to Dixon Butler’s “The most important book I’ve read in years,” or Bob Thurston’s “one of the most surprising, amazing books I’ve ever read…really worth tracking down and reading”?.

The breakdown in fiction/non-fiction favored fiction 55%-45%.

A few non-fiction titles kept popping up, particularly Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, Eric Larsen’s In the Garden of Beasts, Walter Issacson’s Steve Jobs, and Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

In fiction, Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin, Julie Orringer’s Invisible Bridge, Helen Simonson’s Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, and Kathryn Stockett’s The Help (a repeat from last year) were popular.

Folks are still reading the Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Triology and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.  And Jo Nesbo appears to be the ‘go to’ writer for those looking for a replacement for Stieg Larsson.

I have starred (*) titles that occur more than one time in the list.

The list will take time to peruse, but I think it gives all of us suggestions worth considering for 2012.

Finally, just a reminder that this list is not meant to be ‘the best books of 2011,’ but rather what the title of this posting states – ‘The Books Most Enjoyed by MillersTime Readers in 2011.’

And, of course, I take responsibility for any inaccuracies or mistakes in the posting of the titles, authors, subject matter, etc. as MillersTime readers rarely make grammatical mistakes in their submissions.

Enjoy.

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And goodnight gadgets everywhere.

Mini-reviews of two films, both enjoyable, and one which is at the top of my list of best films for 2011:

A Separation *****

You’re going to have to hunt around to find this film, which has been at various film festivals (and won numerous awards) but has not yet been released widely here.

If you find it, you’re in for a treat.

I hesitate to say too much about the film, both because I don’t want to spoil it, oversell it, and for fear that folks will be turned off by the fact that it’s an Iranian film with subtitles and a bit long.

I’ve always felt that Pirandello’s play Six Characters in Search of an Author is my ideal of good theatre/writing, where each character wants you to see the world/the conflict being portrayed from his/her point of view. And that’s what’s so good about A Separation. Each of the four main characters, five if you include the 11 year old daughter, want you to understand their point of view. And writer/director Ashgar Farhadi is quite successful in not taking sides. At various times, I found myself identifying and/or ‘rooting’ for each of the various characters to emerge ‘the hero.’

The film is set in present day Iran and gives a very different view of that country than the one we get from the current media.  It is basically a drama that unfolds as the individuals portrayed struggle to cope with issues of family relationships, class, gender, age, religion, and the unintended consequences of their own actions.

Tho set in Iran and with aspects that are particular to that setting, the issues the characters struggle with are in many ways universal. It is a contemporary tragedy that has much to teach us.

Maybe the best film I’ve seen all year.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy  ****

Wonderful acting by Gary Oldman who plays the role of George Smiley, the retired (forced) British spy who is called back into service to find the Soviet mole in the British Intelligence Service..

I can’t say as I could always follow the ins and outs of Smiley’s thinking and approach to accomplishing his task. But eventually, I just sort of sat back and let the film do all the ‘work.’

John le Carrie’s 1974 novel was made into a seven-part televison series starring Alec Guinness, and I think I saw it. But I can’t imagine any better portrayal of Smiley than the one done here by Oldman. And there are other good performances too.

The film doesn’t hurry you along, but it keeps you engaged all the way through.

New voices.

These three ‘Escapes and Pleasures,’ mini-reviewed below, are all ‘firsts.’  Helen Simonson, J.C. Chandor, and Alrick Brown, all in their mid to late 30s, have each produced a winner in debut works.  Good new voices, new talent.

First, the book.

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In a recent piece in the The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell called Steve Jobs “the greatest tweaker of his generation.”

Malcolm Gladwell as you may know, is the best selling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, The Outliers. He seems to capture trends, occurrences, and happenings in our society that others may sense but have not fully realized nor described.

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Is it possible that a new, black and white, silent movie can be better than either one of the two recent George Clooney films?

I think that just may be the case.

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