Re-reading "The Mayor of Casterbridge".

The Mayor of C is surely Thomas Hardy's best novel.  Its the only one I re-read at any rate.  I am more a fan of his poetry.   He can be quite funny when he wants to - which is not very often. At least in The Mayor he can.

We - Jackie, Linda, the Captain and his missus - went to see Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game" on Saturday night.  Supper at ours first (pie and mash, with cauliflower cheese and carrots courtesy of me, and sherry trifle, courtesy of Linda) - then  a walk to our little cinema.

What to say about it?  It was well-written and well-made.  There was no graphic violence and no sex scenes (the reviews had indicated as much or I would have dropped out).  It was all in the writing and acting.  So it passed a couple of hours pleasantly enough.   But, two problems...

Firstly, it distorted and twisted the story.  Of course you have to make changes to tell the story within the confines of a movie, but to do so that extent seems plain wrong.  I was reading about Alan Turing and, as far as I can see there was no question of his ever having been blackmailed into keeping quiet about a Russian spy, or ever having been suspected of it.   So why put that in the movie?

Secondly, we had to sit through the previews of the coming movies. At least it confirmed me in the wisdom of leaving the product of Hollywood well alone!   Thanks for the warning, I thought, as we sat there glumly watching horrid preview after horrid preview.

Oh, and another point is that the movie also reinforced the wisdom of the teaching in the Inspired Scriptures. They teach us to be "no part" of the world - to take no part in its divisive politics and cruel wars.  The world of espionage is a cruel and devious world to be a part of.

The only thing that tempted us to come back to the cinema was that they are putting on a re-jigged version of  "A Hard Day's Night".  That would be a trip in a time machine, back to our courting days.  But, if the preview is anything to go by, its going to be so loud that I won't be able to sit through it.

How long ago it all seems now... tempting to go though, and see a lost and vanished world up there on the screen.