This is a historical fiction about Elizabeth Park. Elizabeth park was a British secret agent in the prelude to the second world war. She was the agent who stole first the enigma code machine for the British and later the bombe which was a Polish prototype computer for codebreaking. This book was exteemly interesting and more so because it is based on a real person. The picture it presents of the diplomatic community however is not very diplomatic. The amazing thing is not how little they accomplish but that they accomplish anything with their condescending attitude and confidence in the inferiority of all other people. Another interesting thing about the book is how people can be changed. The book shows how Mrs. Park who wanted nothing more than to love her husband and have a family through her husband’s actions is slowly pushed toward the intelligence service. Mrs. Park even though her methods were unethical made the world a better place. People can learn how by refusing to give in they can build something greater than their wildest dreams.
This is a novel about a serial killer who thinks of himself as the specialist. He mostly kills young female cyclists in Tasmania and Victoria Island. The main character is a young woman named Kirsten whose sister Emma was killed by the monster. It gets more confusing when during the course of her spelunking she finds her sisters ring. The suspense in the novel is who the specialist is. Is it Teugue Kendall a writer who seems to good to be true, or is it Dr. Ralph Stafford a psychiatrist who solves peoples problems? The novel got me thinking about societies fascination with serial killers. Even though we hate and abhor them we still treat them like celebrities. Why are we fascinated with these inhuman monsters? Maybe it is our love of evil even as we fear it. Maybe because by removing any morals from their lives these monsters show us the darker parts of ourselves while reminding us why we need morals. Serial killers represent somewhat that is so evil that it seems exotic. But in truth these twisted creatures can not be understood but must be brought to justice.
So here I am late at night looking at a computer screen deciding what to type, or even whether it is worth it to type an introduction. This Posting will be the uncommon one because it will not involve the discussion of a book that I have read recently and wish to analyze and comb through to discover what pearls of wisdom it contains. And all books even the worst written has some pearls of wisdom even if that pearl is that some people should not be allowed near paper to write. So if you are reading this you probably know little about the person writing this. For some it may only be that the persons name is Brian and that he is a male. For others, it may be the fact that I am a christian, a philosopher, a historian, and a student of man. Others may just know me as a nice guy they met on the internet who seems too serious for his own good. I will tell you something all of these are true guesses at my personality except for the fact that I am not as serious as most people seem to think. I hope you will enjoy reading this blog as much as I will enjoy writing it. Your friend Christian T