by Richard Subber | Oct 7, 2023 | Theater and play reviews
ya gotta have heart!
Emperor of the North
(1973, rated PG, 118 minutes)
Emperor of the North is a heroic film.
They don’t make too many like this one.
If you plan to watch it, do yourself a favor: plan to watch it twice.
Watch it once so you get the picture: a tramp named A No. 1 (Lee Marvin) is a devil-may-care legendary figure in the hobo camps. He teaches a thing or three to the inexperienced Cigaret (Keith Carradine). He challenges the thuggish railroad policeman, Shack (Ernest Borgnine), there’s a supremely brutal fight on a rolling flatcar, the best ‘bo wins, he finally rides Shack’s “No. 19” to Portland, and, you guessed it, A No. 1 is the king of the road.
Sounds like a few of the “B” movies you’ve seen over the years?
All routinely imaginable stuff, but Marvin’s imperial performance stirs the imagination.
Watch it again. Watch Mr. Marvin show you everything you ever wanted to know about classic heroism of the spirit. See him surpassing his impoverished circumstances to enjoy a rich life, embracing independence, rugged optimism, casually competent leadership, generous mentoring, and the dauntless strength of a Viking in mortal combat.
Finally, A No. 1 abandons the feckless Cigaret. “You had the juice, kid, but you didn’t have the heart!”
A No. 1 rides off, northward, soaring, in high majesty, singing his victory.
American hobo.
American hero.
Emperor of the North.
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Movie review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Financier
Theodore Dreiser’s villain…
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Oct 5, 2023 | Language, My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
this end, the one…
Amaze
Countless possible beginnings,
uncounted possible turns of each one,
the one end seems finally certain…
This creature on the sand,
forlorn, lifeless,
this end the one, it seems…
Still.
It will change.
Decay?
A careless word,
a haughty view,
a narrow disdain,
ignoble, incurious.
If life is the course of change
in consequence of itself,
with no limit,
then this creature,
mutely changing now,
may yet have futures…
We do no harm to give it leave to linger,
and respect its changing prospect
for moments more,
and leave it
to walk around the new curve of the dune…
Chatham, Cape Cod, MA
June 15, 2000
My poem “Amaze” was published in my sixth collection of 73 poems, Above all: Poems of dawn and more.
You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle),
or get it free in Kindle Unlimited (search for “Richard Carl Subber”).
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.
Book review: Tales from Shakespeare
summaries by Charles and Mary Lamb…
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Oct 3, 2023 | American history, Book reviews, Books, History, World history
a nightmare in slow motion
Book review:
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War
by William Manchester (1922-2004)
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980
401 pages
Manchester’s quietly passionate memories of being a young Marine fighting in the Pacific theater in World War II are terrible to behold.
He tells all of his story, the good, the bad, and the really hard to read parts.
Reading Goodbye, Darkness means watching another man’s nightmare in slow motion.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.
Book review: An Empire on the Edge
by Nick Bunker
The British wanted to win
the Revolutionary War,
but they had good reasons
for not trying too hard…
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Sep 28, 2023 | Book reviews, Books, Global climate change, History, Politics, Power and inequality, World history
the unknowable future begins tomorrow…
Book review:
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
by Yuval Noah Harari, PhD (b1976)
New York: Spiegel & Grau, imprint of Random House, 2018
372 pages
Harari considers many of the questions that are plaguing 21st century liberal democracies, and the other folks, too.
Perhaps the predominant takeaway of 21 Lessons is that things are changing rapidly, and the unknowable future will be on us during our lifetimes.
If we do not try to deal more effectively and more urgently with the frightful challenges of burgeoning infotech and biotech, and the inescapable constraint of manmade climate change, and our own social, economic, and political shortcomings, we’ll unavoidably learn that we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Harari is a deep thinker, a provocative intellect, and a blunt writer who calls you to risk learning more truth.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.
Book review: American Colonies
So many and so much
came before the Pilgrims
by Alan Taylor
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Sep 26, 2023 | Politics, Power and inequality, Tidbits
seldom…never…you pick it
“Power, once acquired,
is seldom voluntarily parted with.”
Thomas Hutchinson (1711-1780)
Loyalist Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (1769-1774)
Make no mistake: Hutchinson was talking about the growing political power of the Sons of Liberty, not his own stake in the royal chain of command.
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.
How the Irish Became White (book review)
just another slice of American history by Noel Ignatiev
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Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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