Archive for Daniel Defoe

a journal of the invasion year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 24, 2026 by xi'an

Read The Backcountry Rescue Squad at America’s Busiest National Park, a New Yorker long article about a non-profit called BUSAR, for Backcountry Unit Search and Rescue, handling complex search and rescue operations in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (or Smokies). As usual with the New Yorker  articles, very engaging and well-written! (Which is why I keep reading the journal from the day I discovered it at Ann & George Casella’s home.) Following a visit to the House of Japan in Paris for the Isao Takahata exhibit, where its maps were displayed in the entrance hall, I also read the (French) BD Tokyo Sanpo (sanpo meaning a leisurely stroll or walk) by Florent Chavouet, a travel graphical diary (from a map-addict, like me!) of a yearlong stay in Tokyo that is highly original and beautifully drawn, but practically useless as a travel guide since it was written in 2006. And does not include the most popular districts of Tokyo. (Some of the comments are unpleasant and insensitive to cultural differences, though!)

Cooked buckwheat pancakes in muffin trays, while roasting almonds for butter. Turned out edible esp. with leftover tarama (fish roe) jars bought for the Xmas break, if not particularly nice-looking. And avoided most of the office galette des rois parties plaguing the first weeks of January! (Which would have been detrimental to my current training program, starting with a 95km week over the break.)

Watched with some (moderate) expectations the Apple TV Murderbot, inspired from the fantastic Murderbot diaries by Martha Wells, which did not meet said expectations! The humans in the team sounded and acted too idiotically. And the special effects were quite lame. (But checking the synopsis of the original All Systems Red showed a closed proximity between the book and the show, meaning my own memory units may have been corrupted!)

a journal of the invasion year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2026 by xi'an

Read The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett, which I enjoyed tremendously. Admittedly, and paradoxically, it belongs to a highly specialised niche, namely the one of murder mysteries in fantasy settings. Paradoxically, because in a fantasy universe, anything can prove true (and the opposite), which makes uncovering the murderer(s) an impossible task (for the readers). But the author manages to make the story into a page turner, while unfolding the specifics of the local universe without massive infodump. And creating fully-fleshed characters, esp. the main investigator and her rookie assistant. I am definitely looking forward the continuation of the sleuthing adventures of the pair and comforted that the book won the 2025 Hugo [Best Novel] Award! (And this made me reminiscing of other great fantasy mysteries, like Gideon the Ninth, A Master of Djinn, the Bobby Dollar trilogy, as well as several Kingfisher‘s books.) I also read the BD Petites coupures à Shioguni (Small denominations in Shioguni) by Florent Chavouet, a Japanese gangster story with a truly original style and a relatively convincing scenario.

Prepared several kilos of local (sea) scallops during our Norman vacations, which is easier than preparing oysters but messier since the shells may be full of sand. Also failed my first chocolate mousse of the year, mostly due to eggs being too cold and solidifying the barely melted chocolate as a result.

Watched Beyond the Bar, (yet another) Korean TV series on a major legal company and the rise of a young recruit. Repeating a lot of tropes found in other series on the same topic, with weak resolutions of the legal issues but enjoyable at low doses nonetheless. Also found myself watching The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third instalment of the Harry Potter franchise, Fantastic Beasts, which is frankly appalling, cheesy, and lacking a true background story.

a journal of the [end of the] chaos year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 31, 2025 by xi'an

 Read the delightful Barrowbreck by Andrew M Hurley, a great collection of short stories is made coherent by its unity of place, a lost, dark, valley between Lancashire and Yorkshire. The stories unfold from the Bronze ages till a near and disastrous future. While the book is often presented as horror fiction, I rather see it as an exploration of an alternate reality, a fantasy just outside our own world. Not inducing dread or unease in the reader. The author demonstrates great skill in setting substantial characters and situations within a few pages, in translating the inner feelings of highly diverse people and, above all, in refraining from providing a definite conclusion to his stories. Some of them are striking enough to remain in my memories for a while!

Apart from an Indian-style vegetable six dishes feast, did not experiment much in the kitchen, in part due to my travelling one week out of two between November and December. But harvested and prepared my olives after collecting about 3 litters of them. (I also tasted a Banh Chhev (in Petit Cambodge, Paris but it failed short from my expectation, neither crispy nor sizzling. And cold.)

Watched As You Stood By, a Korean drama about domestic violence. And then Last Samurai Standing. Adapted from the novel of the same name written by Shogo Imamura. And the rather hilarious movie Good News, a South Korean disaster black comedy film playing a similar trick to Good bye Lenin. Gave up watching an unlucky series of terrible films and TV series. From the cheezy A Man on the Inside (which surely makes Agatha Christie cringe in her grave), to Ichikei’s Crow (a highly unrealistic sequence of near-judicial errors in a Tokyo tribunal, with the redeeming feature of a three-leg crow logo, Yatagarasu, also a guardian on the Kumanokodo), to the pretentious Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro (where over-prefect Victorian tableaux and crepuscular lighting games kill the scenario even before it is brought to life by Dr. Frankenstein’s steampunk apparatus, aka, the mélo chokes the drama!), to Troll 2, even worse than Troll, pulling on the very same strings as the first film, with the very same house eviscerated again by another strolling troll!, as well as a complete disregard for archaeological dig rules and with the ultimate lame resort to holy water! Catching a few views of the Jotunheimen peaks, though (which we hiked 35 years ago).

a journal of the extremes year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2025 by xi'an

 Read Carrying on by Stewart Tolnay, for no clear reason a posteriori! The story centres in a successful sociology senior professor in an imaginary university in Seattle (which also appears in the 1996 Sentinel), who finds himself arm-bent into becoming the new HoD and the subsequent difficulties he faces against some contrarian colleague. While this should obviously appeal to me, and despite the novel being written by a former faculty at Udub, the scenario quickly plummets down to unimaginable depths of boredom and suspension of belief. The main character is transparent, with a whining tendency and a personality as solid as a sodden marshmallow, and the other ones are almost uniformly caricatures as perfect representatives of minorities. Without getting into spoiling details, the main antagonist to this unlikely HoD conveniently accumulates all “qualities” a colleague should not possess, with an unrealistic ability to cross most of the department. More glaringly, research seems unimportant, except when applying for an NSF grant or when attending a conference where the future HoD behaves in a most unethical way imho. Add to this an endless accumulation of details about a new dog acquired by the HoD to recover from a divorce (!) and the collection of all the menus enjoyed by the HoD and his friend, and there is no compelling reason to carry on.

Also read Heart Lamp: Selected Stories, the Winner of the International Booker Prize 2025 jointly received by Banu Mushtaq, the author of the short stories in Kannada and Deepa Bhasthi, her translator into English. A beautiful, moving, profound book that builds on the everyday woes of Karnataka Muslim women to expose the wrongs of a deeply patriarchal society that denies freedom and autonomy to women. The writing style is deceptively set at a narrative level that could be found in mundane conversations, with a powerful translation, grounded in collaboration with the author, keeping some words from the original, that is prize-worthy by itself!, but may mean readers from other cultures missing some aspects of the book. In the postface, the translator Deepa Bhasthi exposes her difficulties and choices, pointing out at the differences in the Kannada versions both women speak. The Booker recognition is both definitely richly deserved for a unique piece of literature and for signaling the richness and diversity of Indian literature that Modi’s goons would like to replace by an Hindu monoculture.

a journal of the dynamite year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 19, 2025 by xi'an

 Read another Fred Vargas novel, Sans feu ni lieu (The Accordionist), a 1997 detective story that is recycling the characters of Debout les morts! (The Three Evangelists). It took me a while to engage with the story since the dialogues are terribly artificial and dated. The resolution of the crime series is also terrible, with an absurd link to a poem by Gérard de Nerval posted in the Paris métro… Also read Orogénèse, a novel written by Dominique Picard—a French statistician at Paris Diderot, who worked on differential geometry and wavelets, and was an ICMS speaker in 2006—, about a reluctant (male) lawyer taking the case of a murderess who does not want to be defended. This book is inspired by the true story of Fabienne Kabou, who drowned her 15 month daughter on a North Sea beach in 2013. And presumably by the book written by her (female) lawyer. Immensely troubling story that is reflected by the style of the novel and the half-truths in the lawyer monologue, Orogénèse stays away from judging or explaining, by slowly exploring the surrounding of the infanticide. Impressive (in many senses).

Made an attempt at a “no-bun burger” using panned Portobello mushrooms—making a very rare appearance on my market stalls—that did not prove very practical as they could not hold much of the onion, avocado and salad contents. But tastier than the (button) Paris mushroom type. We also had an unusual series of take-outs from the local Thaï restaurant, out of solidarity with the long-time owners as their place was about to close and be demolished by the owner. Also made rhubarb compote with the last stems of the year, along with the very few apples that grew in our garden this year.

Watched part of the Korean drama A girl who sees smells (냄새를 보는 소녀). Which is unsurprisingly as terrible as the title suggests. Also watched House of Dynamite after listening to Kathryn Bigelow on the French National Public Radio (France Inter). While the message against [unstable and irreversible] nuclear terror “balance” and for immediate disarmament is necessary, esp. in the current atmosphere of unilateral military actions and of unhinged Supreme Leaders!, the film is terrible and unrealistic, even though The Guardian disagrees. Maybe because the decision chain appears to be less (rather than more) than the sum of the individual decisions. Maybe because of the accumulation of irrelevant actions in the face of the incoming missile. The (US) Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (CACNP) has provided a detailed analysis of the right and wrong of the scenario, the most obvious for me being the need to hit back at a potential originator (of the nuclear missile) before the missile strikes. (The US’s Missile Defense Agency (MDA) also criticised the failed interception of the attacking missile as unrealistic but CACNP states that the probability of a hit is around 50% , at a cost of $53 billion for 44 interceptors!) That they fail to explicitly name this originator (as North Korea) may be due to fears of cyber attacks as in the earlier instance of The Interview. (The New York Time also enjoys the pace and tension of the movie, while providing a recollection of the best earlier movies acting on the same cliffhanger.)