The title is basically a reference to one of the best movies of all time, Back to the Future. The sequels get a little weird, but whatever, still amazing. In fact, after Star Wars and Indiana Jones, I'd say Back to the Future is probably the next best set of movies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaISqa-6hBk = one of the best songs ever). Ghostbusters after that, maybe?
But I digress. I said to myself that I was going to talk about some books, so I decided to talk about two, in this post: The Matarese Circle, the blog's namesake, and The Shadow of the Wind...a very interesting gothic/mystery/romance novel. I never thought in a million years I'd be into something like THAT, but I guess anything can catch your attention.
Anyway, The Materese Circle. Written by Robert Ludlum in 1979, the novel follows two spies, Brandon Scofield of the CIA and Vasili Talenikov of the KGB. Sworn enemies for life, the two have crossed paths many times with varying degrees of success, and each confrontation has made their relationship (as awful as it is) even more personal, with family and friends frequently getting in front of each other's crosshairs as they try to kill the other. During the course of the novel, Talenikov stumbles across a clandestine circle of international killers, called the Matarese, who have infiltrated corporations and government to nearly the highest level. Scofield and Talenikov, the most talented agents each side has to offer, are forced to put aside their differences and work together to take down the Matarese Circle. It's full of action and craziness, lots of guns and car chases and beautiful women, but also lots of intrigue, plot twists and betrayals...on both sides. The book is a little dated, to be honest, but that is to be expected of a book that was written in 1979. It's incredibly dense, so if spies and detailed thrillers aren't your cup of tea, then you shouldn't be reading this. Having said that, Ludlum also wrote the Bourne Identity (another great novel, which is also wayyyy better than the movie, as a single novel and as a series), so if you're into that sort of thing, then read away!
The Shadow of the Wind, written by Carlos Ruis Zafon (I'm missing the appropriate accents on his name here, apologies), is a fantastic novel. It is completely different from the stuff Ludlum writes, which is why I was shocked to find I absolutely loved this book. The story follows a young boy who reads a book, 'The Shadow of the Wind', authored by one Julian Carax. The boy, Daniel, decides to take it upon himself to find out more about this fantastic author, only to find that someone has been collecting Carax's books and burning them, throughout the years. While embarking on his quest to find out more about Carax and the mysterious figure, Daniel finds out about friendship, love and many other things along the way. It is set in Barcelona, Spain, before/during/after World War II, and so provides for a very interesting set piece. I have to say, I did not do the book (either of them, actually) justice by describing them in the way that I did, as they are much better than my awful ramblings about them, haha.
Regardless, go out and read them! gogogogogo! I also saw the movie Training Day the other night, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. I have to say, that was a great movie. I mean, I already love Denzel, so its not like there was a reason for me to like him even MORE, but he truly is a great actor. I mentioned it in a previous post, but he's set to play Scofield in the upcoming movie adaptation of The Matarese Circle, so you know it'll be a good movie. I mean, heck, The Book of Eli was an awful movie, but the only thing that made it even a LITTLE watchable was the fact that Washington was in it. Speaking of movies, the Oscars are coming out soon...but, no, this post has already gone on far too long. Maybe another time =P
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