"Sherlock" on Netflix

BBC 1 has produced a new series, Sherlock, that swept the British version of the Emmy's the other night. I'm watching it streaming on Netflix. It's an updated and modern reboot of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series.

We watched the first episode the other night. Going into it, the big question was whether they could really reset the story in 2011 London and retain what was unique about the Holmes character and Doyle's storytelling style. My first reaction was that it wouldn't work, but it did. It was well done, and fun. As the first episode, of course they had to introduce the characters, which the did cleverly. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it from lurching into just another detective thriller, and retain the essence of the character and the brand.

"How Wars End" by Gideon Rose

Currently clipping through How Wars End by Gideon Rose. The book is a twist on the old cliché about generals fighting the last war, this points out that diplomats negotiate the end of the last war. Rose reviews all of the wars that the U.S. fought in the 100 years—from WW I through Iraq II—and points out that the received lessons of the previous war affected the "end games" and negotiated settlements of the next one.

I'm up to the chapter on Korea. I'll post a review when I'm done.

Bram Stoker's "Dracula"

I just stared reading this classic novel on my Kindle. One of the great things about the Kindle store is how many classics are free or less than a buck. If they're English classics, the publishing rights eventually expire and they become public domain. A few publishing cooperatives have put out free or virtually free e-book versions of these classics.

Anyway, I downloaded a bunch of classics I had never gotten around to reading, and have been chipping away at the pile for the last year, in between reading other things. So the other day I scrolled through my Kindle and thought, "Dracula? The original Bram Stoker novel? Why not?"

UPDATE: Finished Dracula the other day. Interesting and innovative structure for a novel of that period. I'll post a review in a couple of days.

Ken Follet's "Fall of Giants"

UPDATE: Finished the Audible audio recording of Ken Follet's Fall of Giants.

This long novel (a James Michenar-like panorama) follows the fortunes of a half-dozen characters through World War I in Britain, Germany, Russia, and the United States. I'll post a review soon.