Excellent.
Merry Clayton was the female singer on the Stones original 1969. Fergie is a great stand-in.
I like the Edge updating the guitar, as well.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Nine Lives of Pakistan by Declan Walsh
I’ve never been to Pakistan. But am keen to go as there is terrific hiking in the Himalaya.
I read this excellent book as research.
Sadly, in terms of progress, India has done far better since Partition .
The invasion in 1979 by the Soviet Union was a huge setback, of course.
Declan Walsh is an Irish author and journalist who is the Chief Africa Correspondent for The New York Times.
Walsh was expelled from Pakistan in May 2013—an experience he wrote about in his 2020 book The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State—but continued covering the country from London.
In fact, Walsh was ejected just prior to the 2013 Pakistani general election when Nawaz Sharif was just barely elected.
The subtitle of the book is Dispatches from a Divided Nation and the author criss-crosses those political, religious, ethnic and generational fault lines, assembling a portrait of the vast country of 220 million people through his travels and the lives of the nine compelling protagonists.
Walsh is a wonderful writer, with a gift for sketching an impression of a place, time and ambience with a few brief lines. …
What also shines through is the relish with which Walsh throws himself into the far corners of Pakistan, into crowds, celebrations and rites, with a drive born of fascination with the land and its people. …
Guardian Review
“Above all, Pakistanis are survivors. Yet a country, like a person, may only have nine lives. Rather than fate to overtake them, some of the people I met in the Insha’Allah nation took matters into their own hands…”
Book Review: The Nine Lives of Pakistan by Declan Walsh
Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon
Very good.
Death in a Strange Country (1993) is the second novel in Donna Leon‘s Commissario Brunetti mysteries set in Venice and the sequel to Death at La Fenice (1992).
In fact, a good series to dig into.
Hijack miniseries
One of the best TV shows of 2023.
If you came to me with a proposed plot about a hijacking, I’d explain that storyline died with 9/11.
Surprisingly, this show is excellent.
Apple TV+’s latest offering is Idris Elba on a Plane.
He plays ordinary guy Sam Nelson – known for his business negotiating skills back on Earth – who finds himself trapped on a hijacked flight and forced into the role of reluctant hero. …
Only Elba could carry this perfect piece of summer insanity off. Even then, it requires every ounce of his physically and metaphorically massive presence to do so. …
Hijack unfolds perfectly. Suspense builds, is released, builds again, a little more tension, a little longer wait until the elastic snaps back each time. …
Guardian review
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Leopard by Jo Nesbø
This Nesbø novel (2009) is a good example of why I don’t like the Harry Hole books.
Too complicated. Too dark. No characters to cheer for ➙ certainly not Harry.
There are better Jo Nesbø books, of course. Skip this one.
Following the traumatic Snowman case, former police inspector Harry Hole has exiled himself in Hong Kong.
Kaja Solness, a new Norwegian Crime Squad officer, tracks down Hole and asks for his help investigating possible serial killings in Oslo.
Hole is convinced to return when told that his father, Olav, is seriously ill and will not live much longer.
He returns to Norway to find that the Crime Squad is in the middle of a power struggle with Kripos and its power-hungry head, Mikael Bellman, who seeks to put his agency in sole charge of the country’s murder cases.
Hole finds himself the target of Bellman’s hostility, though Bellman is keen to take credit for the results of Hole’s work. …
A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin
In the 24th instalment in the Inspector Rebus series written by Ian Rankin, both Rebus and his frenemy ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty, the gangster, are old.
Rebus had retired in 2007.
Both are a little bored. COVID-19 is a threat but lockdown has ended, probably in 2022.
Cafferty wants Rebus to find a man. Surprisingly, Rebus agrees.
Rebus ends up on trial for a crime. Did he do it?
Rebus both fears exposure of past misdeeds and examines his own motives at the time, trying to ascertain whether, in breaking the rules, he also crossed the moral lines he had drawn for himself. …
All the Rebus books are great. This one certainly as good as any.
I recommend you start at the beginning:
Knots and Crosses (1987).
A Deep Dive into … Bread
Norway has cheaper and far better bread than Canada.
Kneippbrød, for example, is the most popular. 100% whole wheat flour. The whole grain (shell, kernel, and germ) is used.
In Canada, bagels are the most popular bread. I love bagels. No complaint there. 🙂
#2 is packaged sliced white bread. Not good.
I believe the main reason bread is better in Europe than North America is competition. There are far more bakeries and producers — still — in Europe.
Since fewer Canadians buy good break, it’s comparatively expensive compared with the Superstore white bread sold as a loss leader at CAD $.97.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Collector by Daniel Silva
Book #23 is excellent. As usual.
I bought it from Audible, not wanting to wait months to get it from the library.
This one is set autumn 2022. It’s topical.
Will Putin try tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine?
Legendary Israeli spy chief Gabriel Allon has only managed to stay retired for 10 months before being called back to save the world.
Most of our favourite characters get called up, as well. And there’s a brilliant and beautiful female master-thief, as well.
If you’ve not read the Gabriel Allon books, I recommend starting at book #1 in the series.
Visiting Oslo, Norway
In 2018, Lonely Planet named Oslo one of the ten best cities in the world to visit, citing the Norwegian capital’s “innovative architecture and unmissable museums alongside cool bars, bistros and cafés“.
I was there in 2018, appreciating most the many weird and wonderful public sculptures.
I stayed close to the Opera House. Walking tours.
Returning in 2023, I explored other tourist highlights.
BEST was the Bygdøy district, home of 5 national museums as well as famous estates. Quisling’s home is here, for example.
The Kon-Tiki museum is excellent. I was reminded of Thor Heyerdahl‘s many adventures.
I learned about Gerd Vold Hurum, the secret 7th member of the Kon-Tiki expedition. She was key in organizing the expedition on shore. But never got famous. After all, Gerd was only a woman. 😕
The Fram Museum is perhaps even better.
It honours Norwegian polar exploration in general and three great Norwegian polar explorers in particular – Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen.
The museum shares entertaining stories of each.
Norwegians were the most successful of the Arctic and Antarctic explorers, I’d say, because they were smart enough to learn from native peoples. And understood the importance of dogs in crossing snow and ice.
Roald Amundsen’s team was the first to reach the South Pole on December 14th, 1911; five weeks later the polar party led by Robert Falcon Scott was second.
Amundson was a dedicated explorer. Life long. Arrogant and competitive.
Despite his hard man exterior, those who knew him well found a humorous, self-deprecating storyteller.
Fridtjof Nansen was oft quoted. He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888.
Scurvy was a huge problem for the Norwegians. All they carried with vitamin C was pemican. It wasn’t enough.
I could travel the city more widely as I had my bike this time.
This was one of the warmest days of the year.
Farewell Oslo.
Quisling – Collaborating with the Enemy
The word quisling has come to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for traitor.
The word originates from the surname of the Norwegian war-time leader Vidkun Quisling, who headed a domestic Nazi collaborationist regime during World War II.
In Oslo, I visited Quisling’s residence, Villa Grande, which he called “Gimlé“, a name taken from Norse mythology.
He last met with Hitler January 1945.
Quisling was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress 24 October 1945.
I was surprised to learn his wife Maria lived in Oslo until her death in 1980. Never charged with any crime, despite the fact that she spent a lot of money supporting their opulent life style.
Rick McCharles 