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Men in trees, a TV series made in 2006, has only been made into 2 episodes. Though, the series seemingly ends at the last episode of season 2; however, there’s a lot left to be completed. The plot ends unexpectedly and with almost all the incidents left unfinished. Although, the couples within the story seem to be living happily together, by whom I mean, Jack and Marin, Jane and Sam, Sarah and Eric, Ben and Theresa, Celia and Richard; but still, their stories doesn’t culminate in what they were really pursuing. Marin and Jack don’t marry, Ben and Theresa don’t get a baby and even Patrick who all of sudden gains back his memory in the last two episodes, has no plan for living without Annie as if the whole characters are going to remain in the holidays they are in the last episode, forever.
Men in Trees is about a New Yorker coach leader named Marin Frist who seems to be happily engaged and has recently finished her book, when in a trip to a small city to present her book, she learns about her fiancé’s love affair. Depressed and helpless she is at first stuck in the small town of Elmo in Alaska due to bad weather, but intends to remain there for the rest of her life after she feels the coziness and friendliness among its people. She makes lots of friends and meets Jack, on whom she writes her second book, which in itself is a bigger success. Finding whatever she has dreamt of she stays there. Meanwhile, her friend and editor Jane, also a New Yorker, in a visit to persuade her return to New York meets her charming prince, Sam, there and she also gets married, but this time taking Sam to live in New York instead.
I really was inspired by the whole series. There are lots of interweaving plots including, comparison between rural and urban life and the joys, sorrows and benefits of each, necessity of friends and family, differences between male and female and most important of all life style of a writer and an editor (the two jobs corresponding my dream career), which teach a lot to anyone like me inferior with the New-Yorker lifestyle.
The best part and essence of each episode, in my opinion, are the questions Marin proposes in her radio show in Elmo, on which the whole episode is based upon.
I really do hope that the director would continue the 3rd season, since there’s a lot left to be accomplished and which would make a greater success if done so.
Almost everyone has heard about the 7 wonders of the world; however, very few know the eighth wonder, as I call it, since it is not registered as one in any record or history books. It is in fact unknown even to the nation wherein it is located. The 8th non-man-made wonder in my opinion, is located in my native land, Iran, and is called the nearest place to sun, or the ancient Pardis Mount (located in Boushehr State, South or Iran, in Jam county in Asalouyeh).
This post is not at all about literature but I liked to share it, in case anyone interested in archeology would be reading my blog.
The focal and amazing points about this mountain are as follows:
1. The peak is the closest place on earth to sun, since it is the highest one from equator.
2. A fire-temple is located on the peak, where Iranian emperor, Jamshid (the fourth emperor) was born and baptized.
3. A magnificent magnifying zone covers about 50 – 100 meters around the mountain, which pulls even autos parked within the zone.
4. The herbs growing there are used for making Advil and have many other medical benefits.
5. Dates of the place are unique and used for making diabetes pills and sugars.
Once in a Lifetime, by Daniel Steele, has a nice but monotonous and cliché plot. The novel, being so lengthy (about 500 pages) could have been made shorter if the long descriptions and sometimes tedious dialogues between characters were omitted. The length is increased only because it is narrating a whole lifetime of routine activities, while only 3 major things happen in the whole story. There’s not much challenge involved, everyone and everything seems perfect and even the disasters are described as if happening merrily to such levels that the reader cannot commemorate with the characters. There’s not much passion put into the novel.
Danielle Steele’s way of writing is immensely plain and the sentences are usually short. There’s hardly any need for anyone to look up the words in the dictionary and lacks the skillfully inscribed sentences or phrases in such works as those of Jane Austen.
On the whole, everything is so plain, simple, suggestive and non-challenging, that the reader cannot even identify a perfect and striking climax.
The novel has so many spare and unnecessary parts which could be easily omitted and reduced to only 200 pages.
However, I liked the novel because it is a THOROUGH description of an author’s lifestyle and her maturing in the art of writing. For anyone like me who’s interested in screenplay writing, I really enjoyed the sense and the real motif of the novel, which in my opinion is that it’s never too late for starting a bright career. Quite contrary to the regret I feel when reading English literature’s history and learning how the masters of literature seemed to be geniuses who started their career as a writer early in life; while reading Once in a Lifetime, I felt the gusto and zest to learn and write more, since it is never late.
The story starts with Daphne having an accident and being run by a truck on one Christmas night while being severely injured. She has been kept in intensive care for a couple of days while the story is being narrated from about 13 years earlier.
Daphne was a journalist when she was given the task of interviewing Jeffrey, which ultimately led to their falling in love and getting married. Nevertheless, their only daughter, Aimee and Jeffrey die in a fire accident on Christmas night, which also causes massive injuries to Daphne, who was held in intensive care while being pregnant.
After recovery feeling so miserable and devastated, she keeps on surviving only with the hope of her son-in-born. Her son, Andrew is born and she devotes all her life and energy to him, while all of a sudden she gets to know that her son is deaf. Unable to deal with this failure, she sends Andrew to a School for the deaf.
The loneliness and the void she feels and the enthusiasm she feels for writing journals of her life shifts her career towards being a writer. She keeps writing journals, then short stories and later on novels. She gradually becomes a great novelist and her novels keep selling.
Later on she gets to know a truck driver much older than her, but again loses him in an accident. Deciding to devote herself and her life to her son and work only, she moves to LA as a playwright for Hollywood. Again she meets tremendous amounts of success, while falling in love with an actor, Justin. Their one-year relationship ends so abruptly since Justin isn’t a committed type of person.
Later, on her return to New York to spend time with her son, she falls in love with Mathew Danes, the new director of Andrew’s School, but never permits anyone to learn about her love, since she assumes Mathew is getting married. A month later she gets crashed by a car and that’s when her secretary informs Mathew of the news and her love for him. Mathew rushes to her and informs her of his love, and they decide to marry as soon as she gets better.
The Revolutionary Road, is a movie about a couple, who seem to be happily married, already living in US but planning to move out to Paris to explore the world and their ambitions and leave out the hopelessness and emptiness of the mundane everyday life they were experiencing
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I recently watched The Bad Lieutenant starred by Nicholas Cage. Although, I believe he is best in every genre and that it is a great merit for any actor to be proficient in every plot and brilliant in any given role (some only play comedies, and some only romantic roles, but Nicholas Cage does them all in its best form); however, I strongly believe that he is best in his romantic films.
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Although I am aware that Thomas Rhymer was labeled as lacking critical judgment in his days and even now for condemning Shakespeare’s superiority and though I am quite aware of John Dennis’s agreement with him that Shakespeare may have not been that much a big deal, I unfortunately agree with them in some aspects. However, I too am aware that I might be opposed to by so many other critics and admirers of Shakespeare, BUT, with all due respect, I believe Shakespeare hadn’t been that much a genius as Homer, or Chaucer or even Marlowe, his contemporary.
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When I started studying literature, I had no idea where it was going to lead me. Unfortunately, in Iran due to its educational system, even in higher education, one does not have that much option in choosing his/her major of interest for studies. We have an entrance exam that requires a year or two of full-time study to get passed. Even after passing the exam with a good grade, there are lots of other criteria that affect your admission in the major you like, such as the different merits given to those applicants whose parents are professors, or had been participants or even martyrdoms in war, etc
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