The other title of this book is La Bodega. I enjoyed reading this book. Noah Gordon is one of authors whose works I like, anyway. Set mostly in Spain in the 19th century, it followed the story of Josep Alvarez.
Being a second son of a winemaker, Josep knew that he should be looking for a job soon. His older brother, the eldest, would inherit the land. The opportunity came when a stranger arrived in the village, recruiting new soldiers. Josep enlisted, along with some boys in the village. After the training, they were taken to Madrid, where they became accessories in the assassination of President Prim. Josep was the only one left alive when witnesses had been getting rid of. He fled to Languedoc and worked for a winemaker for four years, until when he heard about the death of his father.
Josep returned to Catalonia and found that his older brother wanted to sell their father's land. He bought the land. Later he bought his neighbour's vineyard and married the widow who lived next to this neighbour. The widow had a son and a vineyard, too. To become a successful winemaker, Josep began to make good wine, adopting the technique he had learned from the winemaker in Languedoc. Before this, they had grown grapes only to be made as vinegar.
Noah Gordon's writing style is easy to follow and the story flows well.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Black Heart White Soul (2014)
At first I didn't expect much from this series. I happened to come across this series when I was searching for Ron Ng's works. I had had watched him in The Four (TV series) and wondered why people liked him because in The Four he had few dialogues, almost had no expression,... anyway I was just curious.
Black Heart White Soul turned out to be a very good series. At least when I watched until episode 20 (out of 30) I liked how the story went. Roger Kwok, Kristal Tin, Ron Ng, and Waise Lee played important parts.
Ron Ng played a policeman who indirectly caused Roger Kwok's paralysis. To atone for this mistake - and to ease his conscience - Funny (Ron Ng) befriended Mark (Roger Kwok) and told him [Mark] that if he ever needed for anything he could come to him [Funny]. Mark was a lawyer, an easy going guy who seemed to not mind of what happened years ago.
Because of his paralysis, it was not easy for Mark to get a client. His first client was May (Kristal Tin). May had been accused of being her boyfriend's accomplice in a robbery case, in which someone died. Mark was so good on defending May's case that Funny Sir who had arrested her in the first place became convinced that May was innocent. However, in the last minute, a new evidence came up and in the end May had to go to jail.
After this incident, Mark was getting well-known and hired to work in a big firm. When May had finished her term, they became close to one another. Mark liked May because she accepted his disability, and May liked Mark because he didn't care that she was an ex-con. However, Mark had a fear: that one day May would find out the real reason why she had to go to jail, because the robbery was not as simple as it had been.
Kristal Tin played May very well, or is it because I like her strong character. Other female characters here were: Denise (she was okay), Miu-miu and Gillian. Miu-miu was overweight yet pretty, but I often couldn't stand her comments. She shouted a lot. Gillian was more irritating: she cried all the time and got hysterical easily. She accused Funny of using her to incriminate her father without remembering that it had been her who had tried to commit suicide in order to force him to marry her.
The last episodes didn't go as well as I had expected. Funny worked under-cover that his character was different. A while ago I had seen him arguing with Mark and in the next scene he was agreeable to him again. The feeling was similar as when I was watching Line Walker (TV series) - one of the best TV series I have seen - where Bao Seed jailed his enemies in sort of dog cages [reminded me of a scene in Gone But Not Forgotten] and Cheuk Sir turned evil. The characters just changed.
I think this series is one of TVB's best.
Black Heart White Soul turned out to be a very good series. At least when I watched until episode 20 (out of 30) I liked how the story went. Roger Kwok, Kristal Tin, Ron Ng, and Waise Lee played important parts.
Ron Ng played a policeman who indirectly caused Roger Kwok's paralysis. To atone for this mistake - and to ease his conscience - Funny (Ron Ng) befriended Mark (Roger Kwok) and told him [Mark] that if he ever needed for anything he could come to him [Funny]. Mark was a lawyer, an easy going guy who seemed to not mind of what happened years ago.
Because of his paralysis, it was not easy for Mark to get a client. His first client was May (Kristal Tin). May had been accused of being her boyfriend's accomplice in a robbery case, in which someone died. Mark was so good on defending May's case that Funny Sir who had arrested her in the first place became convinced that May was innocent. However, in the last minute, a new evidence came up and in the end May had to go to jail.
After this incident, Mark was getting well-known and hired to work in a big firm. When May had finished her term, they became close to one another. Mark liked May because she accepted his disability, and May liked Mark because he didn't care that she was an ex-con. However, Mark had a fear: that one day May would find out the real reason why she had to go to jail, because the robbery was not as simple as it had been.
Kristal Tin played May very well, or is it because I like her strong character. Other female characters here were: Denise (she was okay), Miu-miu and Gillian. Miu-miu was overweight yet pretty, but I often couldn't stand her comments. She shouted a lot. Gillian was more irritating: she cried all the time and got hysterical easily. She accused Funny of using her to incriminate her father without remembering that it had been her who had tried to commit suicide in order to force him to marry her.
The last episodes didn't go as well as I had expected. Funny worked under-cover that his character was different. A while ago I had seen him arguing with Mark and in the next scene he was agreeable to him again. The feeling was similar as when I was watching Line Walker (TV series) - one of the best TV series I have seen - where Bao Seed jailed his enemies in sort of dog cages [reminded me of a scene in Gone But Not Forgotten] and Cheuk Sir turned evil. The characters just changed.
I think this series is one of TVB's best.
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