It all began with the TV series, based on a true story I had never heard about: that of the mysterious disappearance of British ships Erebus and Terror in the mid eighteenth century in the frozen waters of the Arctic, along with 129 men who were never seen again. Facts The series and the book – both under the same title “The Terror” – are based on true events – the expedition (known as the Franklin expedition due to its …
Category: Impressions
From childhood I’ve always felt a special bond with Poland, as Granny used to tell me about our Polish ancestors. In fact, her mother’s family name was Polish: Wojciehowski. Granny told me they had come from Poland to South Africa, where her mother has already been born. She also told me about her Polish grandmother, a statuesque lady or 1, 80, and I – also very tall for a Portuguese woman – consoled myself thinking I had taken after her. …
As a faithful reader of Hola magazine for more than thirty years I have been following the ups and downs of the Spanish Royal family, and these last years they have certainly faced more “downs” than “ups”, but even so I was not prepared for the scene in Mallorca Cathedral on Easter Sunday. A bizarre episode As the Royal family – King Felipe, his wife Queen Letizia, their two daughters and emeritus King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia – …
I have read much about Scotland and have travelled there twice, so I feel I am well acquainted with its folklore, but I have recently learned about a new legend of the Highlands, that of the “water demon”, or, in Gaelic, each- uisge. This creature is described as a water horse that appears on the shores of lochs (Scottish lakes) and whispers in order to attract its victims. When mounted by humans, it takes them into the water and devours …
When I saw Blade Runner (by Ridley Scott) back in 1982, 2019 was almost forty years away, and at 19 no one seriously thinks of how it will be in our fifties – what a nightmare it would be! In fact, it has often been said that man’s worst nightmare would be to know his future, the date of his death; still, we keep “peeping” into the future and trying to guess, if not that fateful day, at least a …
I look at the window. Outside it’s raining, it’s pouring. I remember these were the first words in a long forgotten song by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer “No more tears (enough is enough)”. They go on singing about their boring love life and how they had dreamed to find the perfect lover, who in the end turned out to be like any other man. Doesn’t that happen to all of us at a certain time of our lives, I …
My friend had told me that the TV series was great and I would love it, as she had told me before about Game of Thrones (of which I am an unconditional fan), and I followed her advice and sat down to watch one or two episodes of the first season. Somehow, I didn’t find them as compelling as she had described, and soon lost interest. As for her, she loved the series and has ben watching every season since, …
After “The Pillars of the Earth” and “World without End”, again I read the almost eight hundred pages of Ken Follett’s latest book, “A Column of Fire” in an incredibly short period of time, considering I’m not on holidays and only read at night and on lazy weekend mornings – whenever I can.skill trilogy begins with the construction of Kingsbridge cathedral in the UK. The first book’s story takes place in the 12th Century; it begins during the reign of …
I find the Tudor period truly fascinating. I believe the first time I read about it was in Jean Plaidy’s novel “Murder most royal“, that told the story of some of the wives of Henry VIII, from Anne Boleyn to Katherine Howard, both of them accused of adultery and consequently beheaded by order of the king their husband. If in Anne Boleyn it all seems to have been a fabrication, it was most probably true in Katherine Howard’s case. As …
Last summer it was the fashionable book (rather, books, as there are four of them) to read and every VIP (beginning with the President of the Republic, who is highly popular so his advice taken into consideration) said they were fantastic; every newspaper column about books recommended it. In addition, the author was a mysterious lady hiding behind a pseudonym and no one knew exactly who she was, apart from being Italian. By now you have probably guessed that I’m …