Winger's other films include Urban Cowboy (1980), Legal Eagles (1986), Black Widow (1987), Betrayed (1988), The Sheltering Sky (1990), Forget Paris (1995), and Rachel Getting Married (2008). In 2012, she made her Broadway debut in the original production of David Mamet's play The Anarchist. Winger starred in the Netflix original television series The Ranch from 2016 to 2020. She received a lifetime achievement award at the Transilvania International Film Festival in 2014.
[I LOVED her in Legal Eagles which was one of my fave 80's movies. Such a delight on screen...]
Just Finished Reading: Russia’s Road to War with Ukraine – Invasion Amidst the Ashes of Empires by Samir Puri (FP: 2022) [265pp]
Whenever something significant or important happens in the world my first thought is always to look for books on the subject so I can understand it. The war in Ukraine is certainly no exception to this, and I’ve been accumulating a small(ish) stack of books since the conflict started. I had hoped to be reading them AFTER the fighting had stopped but FOUR YEARS later here we are.
So, finally I’ve bitten the bullet (so to speak) and dived into the Ukraine War pile. This seemed to be a good place to start as it covered the recent history of how we got here – from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the declaration of independence, the various either pro or anti-Russian governments, the revolution, fighting in the Donbass, the Crimean takeover, discussions of Ukraine joining either the EU, NATO or both and, naturally, the subsequent invasion by Russia in February 2022. As this book was published not long after the invasion itself this receives little coverage in the text apart from the brief fighting and failed attempt to decapitate the Zelenskyy government in the ‘special military operation’ scheduled to last a few weeks at worst. If we needed a recent concrete example of a plan failing on contact with the enemy, we need look no further.
Interestingly the author was ‘on the ground’ in the years running up to the 2022 invasion as an election observer. This certainly gave things an added spice to things. Although he wasn’t exactly ‘in the room’ for a lot of things he often found himself ‘on the street’ talking to locals and experiencing the tensions and the triumphs of the political process as Ukraine moved from a pro-Russian to pro-EU/NATO stance over a decade or so. Despite being clearly (and unapologetically) pro-Ukraine, he had some criticism for the EU, NATO, the US and Ukraine itself in how the situation prior to the invasion was handled. Specifically, the way the Russian demands (and fears) were effectively ignored and as NATO continued its expansion Eastwards. However, as this is an important point, he did not agree that Russia should have had any kind of veto in the matter of where Ukraine decides to place its political or economic interests. That is, and always has been, Ukraine’s decision to make as a sovereign nation.
If you haven’t been fully keeping up with world events or wanted to know more about the recent foundations of the Russo-Ukrainian War this is definitely the book for you. It doesn’t go into too much detail, nor does it dwell too much on the actual fighting (for those not interesting in military affairs). It does give a very solid foundation to help understand HOW the war happened. Much more to come on the deeper history of Ukraine and on the last four years of fighting.
[Oh, my 'intention' is to swing between books on Ukraine, Iran, Cuba and Taiwan in the coming months. If any other 'trouble spots' - Greenland? - come up I'll add those too...]
Just Finished Reading: A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees by Yoshida Kenko [51pp]
On plucking this out of the Penguin Classics boxset I thought: Oh... ANOTHER poetry booklet. What FUN! But I was, thankfully, wrong. This wasn’t poetry at all. It was instead the musing of a 14th century Japanese monk on Life, the Universe and Everything. It was, actually, rather interesting if a bit strange from time to time.
One of the things that does surprise me reading this sort of thing was how often very different philosophies from very different cultures tend to come to broadly similar conclusions on the human condition that we all have to deal with. I suppose that it’s the fact that, despite culture or sometimes vast chasms of time we are all still human beings doing what humans do. That side of things changes very little in the grand scheme of things.
Being of the time and place involved, the author does have a very hierarchical view of things. Those in the highest places, especially the Emperor himself, are exalted and deserve to be in those places because they are (obviously) superior beings. At the same time the poor and destitute are in THEIR place because of fundamental failings in character or through their behaviour in previous incarnations.
Probably the strangest thing the author said was that everyone should aim to be dead before reaching 40 years of age. Personally, my post-40's where some of my very best years! There was much about how distracting women are (true) and how men have their heads turned all too easily (also true). Much also about friends and the pleasure of good conversation (couldn’t agree more), and, of course, the delight of sitting alone reading a good book!
As you might expect there are several criticisms throughout the text on the pursuit of wealth, power and fame. What is the use of such things, the author maintains, when they stop you appreciating the beauty of a snowy landscape and forget to remark on it to an acquaintance.
This was a booklet full of interesting cultural insights, gentle wisdom and a few funny stories. As an introduction both to Japanese culture and Buddhist philosophy it's pretty fair. Recommended.
Translated from the Japanese by Meredith McKinney
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