The reviews are in

The name of this book is The Death of Napoleon.
I bought this slim little novel at my local library's used book sale a few weeks ago and as I read it it seemed very familiar to me. Well it turns out there was a good reason for that, it's because I had seen the film adaption of it years before I had read the novel and I loved it. Now I can say I love the novel that they based the film on as well.

As I said it's a slim short work of fiction but it's 128 pages are more evocative and well written than most anything I have ever read. The prose in this book is almost poetic and that's saying something since it was written in French first and then translated into English later. The book tells the story of how Napoleon got off St. Helena, made his way across the ocean and back to Paris, only to arrive unrecognized (with one notable exception) though not unloved. I'm not going to deeper into the plot because if I do then I'll be giving something away and I'd hate to do that in case one of you decided to read this book one day.

I highly recommend this book. You will enjoy it even if you aren't a history buff or scholar. It's at times melancholy, wistful, and sweet. The film and the book differ a bit, especially the endings, but both are worth checking out.

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We saw this film the other night:

On the whole I rather liked it. It's a dark comedy about cheating spouses, gym employees, and people on the fringe of the Washington DC intelligence apparatus. A computer disc with some quasi important information on it gets left behind in a locker room in a gym and the worlds of those involved come crashing down as a result.

George Clooney is good in this movie, as is Brad Pitt, and Frances McDormand. John Malkovich is really good in this movie and if you ask me he's at his best in roles like this one and the one he did in Art School Confidential. I guess Tilda Swinton was all right in this film but I'm not the best judge of her cinematic work because I think she's scary. That's right, she scares me. And I think she's unattractive too. The thought of cozying up to next to her at night in bed sends shivers down my spine. I never said I wasn't shallow, now did I?

I recommend the movie in spite of Ms. Swinton, although don't expect it to be a laugh riot. It's more a black comedy than anything.