French Resistance and Roman Fiction
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A World War 2 Trilogy
By FRED NATH (Novelist and Neurosurgeon)
Fred's Blog
Fred's Blog
Blog
The Game of Thrones Petition
| Posted on 29 July, 2019 at 4:34 |
comments (0)
|
I watched GOT from Season 1 to
the very end. I loved it. The acting was mostly brilliant, the storyline even better
than the books and the characters were fleshed-out, realistic and engaging. Many fans seem to be displeased
with the ending and for my part there were elements of the ending I didn’t
like. I felt Jon Snow became a whimp towards the end. The great swordsman, the
driving force behind so much in the story just fizzled out as if no one in the
7 Kingdoms felt he deserved better than banishment to the far north. But for
his actions, the Night King would have triumphed, and if he didn't, a cruel, mad queen would
have sought vengeance on everyone, but no one seemed to give him credit. Greyworm
turns out to be a nasty bitter fellow whose devotion to the despotic Mother of
Dragons (who has clearly gone potty, perhaps for genetic reasons) is
unreasonable. But you know, we as fans/observers don’t have control over the
story. We actually don’t really want control either. This was a fiction and we
suspend belief in order to escape our humdrum lives and become part of a new
world. Bottom line, if you’re reading a
work of fiction or watching it, it’s no good whinging about the ending or plot.
It’s fiction, made up, the child of another person’s brain. If it entertains and
grabs you so that you empathise and care about the characters, then it’s
achieved what the author intended, even if your view is negative – at least it
did something to you. Every time you read a book of
fiction, you escape the here and now. Most books are written to try to grab the
imagination of the reader and draw them in. In GOT, people found the ending
unsatisfying but that’s fiction. If you didn’t like it – write your own. Can’t
do it yourself? Then you have no right to criticize the people who can. In the end, there was only one
scene that I found foolish. Misasndei is standing three feet from Cersei and
knows they are about to kill her. She should logically have turned fast and
placing her arms around Cersei’s neck dragged her over the parapet or at least
die trying. Yes, it would have ruined the rest of the story but all the same, I
couldn’t understand why that scene was choregraphed so badly. She had time,
opportunity and surely would have thought about that. The point is, I didn’t
write it. I gained great pleasure from watching the writer’s vision of what
they wanted to happen. DB Weiss and David Benioff in my opinion
did a great job but you know, nerbody’s pofect. |
Harry comes up trumps!
| Posted on 4 June, 2019 at 3:55 |
comments (0)
|
Most people
have a view of Donald Trump. I know I have mine. Meghan Markle has expressed
her views during Trump’s presidential campaign. Can’t say I can identify any
difference of opinion between mine and hers. This is the
first US president that I can recall who is blustering, tactless, full of
himself and well, downright a president of whom the USA should be ashamed. His
failure to act on climate change, his views on women and equality and human
rights have all come under scrutiny in the press and it all fosters a view of a
man who should never had got to power, but money speaks, I guess. It seems
clear that Prince Harry has his own views too and it must have been quite
difficult for him to attend events yesterday feeling as I suppose he must. There
is probably an element of protectiveness too since his wife has just given
birth to a son. I think he
needn’t have worried on that score because Meghan Markle is strong and clearly resilient, functioning so well in a prejudicial society such as we have in the UK. I’m
half-Asian so believe me I know. I think
Harry did his job excellently well. No confrontations or deep conversation with
a man who is quite capable of being a bully in public and expressing it on video and
Twitter. Top trumps
Harry. Always seen him as a great guy. Think his mum would be so proud. |
Shamima Begum
| Posted on 23 February, 2019 at 23:57 |
comments (433)
|
This girl has been castigated and disenfranchised because
she left the UK to go to the IS. At the time she was 15 years of age. When she
entered the refugee camp in Syria, she was heavily pregnant, and she now has a
baby boy. Much controversy surrounds the mother and child. Many seem
to think that she is a Muslim Jihadist and allowing her to return to the UK
poses a threat to our security. My initial reaction was that it serves her right because the
faction she left the UK to join is without doubt, by western standards, evil.
There are not may people who would disagree with this and international efforts
to erase IS seem to be successful. It would be described in Horrible History (a
humorous book looking at British History) as a GOOD THING and I think few could
argue otherwise. The Home Office Minister, Mr Javid, has revoked her British
citizenship and she is now stateless. Serves her right, did I hear you say? The
regime to which she clung since 2015 was evil. How could she have been
convinced otherwise? Well folks, the simple fact is that there are many older and
wiser British people who have been ‘radicalised’ and convinced to fight for
Islamic extremism. I agree they are mostly unemployed morons who have abused our
benefits system and have no gratitude for the country which has raised them in
safety in an unsafe world. Hence my first reaction was to think precisely that
- yes, make her stateless – we don’t need such people in our country. Thinking deeper though, one has to realise that a
15-year-old is a child; on the cusp of adulthood, but a child nonetheless.
Children make mistakes. I’ve had 4 children in my time, and I can recall many
times when they got it wrong and needed help to make good decisions. Ms Begum
may not be a child any longer but her life-changing stupid mistake was made
when she was. It strikes me that leaving her stateless is an injustice because
although her child can enter the country she cannot. She would be separated
from her child for life and end up somewhere like Kazakstan on her own with
inadequate means to support herself. All I’m saying is that I think we have to question what we
have become – are we really ruthless, unforgiving and unkind? That is not the British
way. It never has been. A little more understanding and kindness is needed here
in my opinion although she has to be watched very closely, we should allow her
back here to show that we are better than the radical fanatics and terrorists
and that our country stands for more than plain law-keeping. I think we need to
show the world our quality. Bet loads of people disagree, but a child who makes a stupid
mistake deserves forgiveness, understanding and guidance, not
disenfranchisement. |
Innocent beliefs
| Posted on 22 February, 2019 at 15:25 |
comments (10)
|
When I lived in Glasgow, many years ago, my two elder sons
aged 5 and 7 learned a song at school: Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light, Like a little candle burning in the night, In this world of darkness, Jesus bids us shine, You in your small corner and me in mine. Maybe you’ll think I’m stupid, but it always moved me. Why? Because
it’s about the purity of a child, about kindness and above all the right of a
child to believe. Believe in what? I hear you say. It doesn’t matter whether you substitute Mohammed, Buddha or
Jupiter Optimus Maximus for Jesus, it’s what we should bring our children up to
believe in – about a culture of kindness. The hidden meaning of pure, clear
light is innocence and kindness. This is the same in any religion It’s about
that pure, clear light that emanates from the eyes of a child of any hue or
culture. Children are our hope and investment for the future. We have
a duty to protect them where and whenever we can. Every time a child is abused
sexually, mentally or physically it happens because they trust their abuser. It
is our duty to ourselves and out morality to ensure their safety, and not allow
abuse of the trust any child should be able to bestow upon any adult. And what of the reality? Children the world over are right
now being abused by the people who they should have been able to trust, by
wars, local violence, by systems which deny them a decent life. But I reflect on what I’m doing about it myself. Talk is
cheap but gin costs money. The truth is it isn’t enough to just donate to
UNICEF. Once I finally retire (about 18 months) I think I have to find a way to
do something although I must say I’m still trying to work out just what I
should do. I guess I’ll be judged by whether I actually put my money
where my mouth is over the next few years, or not – you have the right to ask |
Stress Interviews
| Posted on 1 February, 2019 at 4:28 |
comments (3)
|
There is much talk on MSN about
stress interviews in industry. Young people with appropriate skills and CV’s
are bullied and demeaned to see how resilient they are under stressful
conditions. Personal remarks about their appearance, posture, tastes and
previous performance are made to make the candidate as uncomfortable as
possible, hoping to elicit a reaction. The ‘successful’ candidate would be
unruffled throughout. As a Royal College representative
on interview committees for about 20 years and having a lot of practical experience
as an examiner, I think I may be allowed a comment. I don’t think you get the best
out of a candidate or reveal how they react if you over-stress them. As the
examiner/interviewer you know as soon as they walk in whether they are nervous.
They will be anxious if they want the job – it’s common sense. With experience
and concentration, you can tell how nervous they are. You don’t need to stress
them because applying for a job and being interviewed is a stressful process. If one of the criteria for the
job is to see how they handle stress this can be demonstrated from situations
in which they have found themselves previously and how they responded. Ask
them. If the interviewer has a little imagination and is sharp enough, they can
glean the answer from the question/response without increasing the adrenaline levels
and Dopamine release in the interviewee’s head. Let’s face it, the candidate
who vomits on the desk as soon as you ask a question is an extreme example, but
so is the unemotional, unresponsive candidate, whose body language indicates a
complete lack of interest. It’s the one in between these two extremes who are
interesting and require some effort on the part of the interviewer. The correct way to delve deep
into someone’s head in an interview is maybe not something one is born with –
it is a learned skill, it is analogous to writing strong dialogue in a book. If
you have to qualify your speech line with -ly adverbs then you’ve failed to
make the reader understand the content of the speech (like, ‘he said angrily’-
if you don’t know the speaker is angry then the dialogue isn’t strong enough –
you don’t need to tell your reader that it is so). In an interview for a
stressful job you don’t need to make the candidate uncomfortable or stressed –
if you do then you need to go learn how to read people properly. In neurosurgery consultant
interviews, I usually use a question of the type: ‘I’ve been a neurosurgeon for
over 30 years, and I’ve made every mistake possible. What is your worst
clinical mistake and tell us how you dealt with it?’ I stole that question from Professor
John Pickard from Cambridge – a man much brighter than I am. This question starts by saying – ‘You’re
among friends, whatever mistake you tell us about won’t be seen as horrendous.’
This lets the candidate know that
the interviewer understands that mistakes can happen. This of course is a trap.
The quality of the mistake described could indicate a complete idiot depending
on circumstance. The next part of the question
examines honesty. One candidate replied with, ‘I’ve never made a serious
mistake but one of my colleagues…’ Believe me, if he had got to that stage of
his career never making a serious mistake then he must be a God not a neurosurgeon.
He didn’t get the job – either he was dishonest or lacked insight. The best answers are honest and
demonstrate what the candidates did to correct their mistake and how learned
from them. The latter is probably the most important part of the answer – can this
candidate learn from the mistake? My point and bottom line, is that
one does not need to make people feel uncomfortable – it doesn’t tell you
anything. It doesn’t show you their best ability. You need to ask skilful questions
which reveal who the candidate really is. Making them angry or sad isn’t the
answer and it certainly doesn’t show that the interviewer is powerful – quite the
contrary. Weak people lacking confidence thrive on other peoples discomfort and
for them interviews are a way of bolstering their grandiosity and feeling of
power. Be nice to people and they’ll be
nice to you. |
Zero Tolerance
| Posted on 30 January, 2019 at 5:14 |
comments (71)
|
Deeply saddened by the death of a young man in Yarm on
Sunday early morning. My sincere sympathies go out to his grieving family and
friends. Attacked and chased by a gang of 6 or more louts, his body was found
in the river 2 days later. Despicable. I live in an area where Cleveland Police have zero
tolerance for exceeding the speed limit (you can get 3 points on your license
for doing 33 mph), but they seem to have enormous tolerance for violence and
drugs. About time they cleaned up Yarm which used to be a lovely, North
Yorkshire town where one could go out in the evening without a likelihood of
assault, or seeing druggies and fights on the High Street. Personally I would like to see a hard clampdown on
drug use and distribution because the type of people now visiting Yarm at
weekends has deteriorated beyond control. Why do they call it 'Black-eye
Friday' in Yarm? You might well wonder. I do understand that they are poorly resourced and
under-manned but they should get their priorities right IMHO. One should use
sparse resources wisely. Inadvertent traffic violations are not the same as
violent assaults and drug abuse and there should be a lot more convictions for
the latter than the former. I grew up in Bermondsey which was a pretty rough area
of London in the 50s and 60s and often went 'up town' to night clubs like
'Tiles' on Oxford Street. I met a wide variety of thugs, some escaped from
Borstal and some carried knives or guns. Such weapons were seldom used though.
I have seen a lot of violence in my time. As a Neurosurgeon I have worked in
places like Liverpool and Glasgow and treated people after horrendous injuries
but those thing were not all that common 30 years ago. Things have now changed
(especially in London) and sadly violence, knife crime and drug abuse is
spreading. I accept it may be a reflection of Home Office cut-backs and the
abuse of our police by successive governments who have frankly lost the plot. I should say I am not in the least anti-police, quite
the opposite. I think they should have more resources and more personnel so
they can do their job, but for heaven's sake, prioritize, before society really
does take a nose dive. |
Brexit
| Posted on 19 January, 2019 at 23:57 |
comments (80)
|
I think sometimes that our problem in Britain is that
the voting population is not so bright. Any nation who could vote in three successive
Socialist governments in the face of a predictable economic decline cannot be
MENSA material. We now seem to lurch from political crisis to political crisis
and although we have plenty of politicians (who look forward 5 or less years)
we have no statesmen who look ahead generations. There is an Aesop fable which seems
to me to demonstrate where we are with our democratically voted Brexit. There was once
a pond. A family of frogs lived there, happily and with plenty of food. Naturally,
frogs from other ponds migrated to their pond – it was a comfortable, if not
opulent environment. Soon, the pond seemed overcrowded to the original family
of frogs and they began to complain. The frogs split into factions, squabbling
over resources and their conditions. Eventually, they realised they needed a leader who
could represent them but the squabbles continued and no progress ensued. They
prayed every day to Zeus, greatest God of all. They prayed so fervently that
Zeus looked down on the troublesome frogs and said, ‘I’ll give you a king.
Someone who you can follow, but please stop pestering me with your prayers. You
irritate me.’ So saying, Zeus threw down a log into the pond. A big
green log that floated on the verdant algae-infested water. To start with the
frogs loved their new King. They called him Old King Log. They frolicked
jumping from the log into the water and more frogs came from far and wide to
see this Great King. Soon, the frogs began to bicker for nothing had
changed in a material, palpable way. The various factions began squabbling
again. Eventually they began to pray to Zeus saying, ‘We don’t like this Old
King Log any more. He doesn’t do anything, and he just floats on the pond.’ Zeus said, ‘You asked for a king. I gave you one. Now
stop disturbing me with your prayers.’ But the frogs continued. They despised Old King Log.
They shunned him and even when the sun shone they would no longer sit upon his
broad, green reliable back. They kept praying and pestering Zeus for a new king
who would move and do things. They prayed to all the Gods, they argued, pestered
and they complained. Their prayers became a running sore on Mount Olympus until
the Gods begged Zeus to do something with these troublesome frogs. Zeus heard their prayers. He threw them a snake. The
snake, to the dismay of the frogs, gobbled them all up. The moral: Brexit - be careful what you wish for – your
prayers and votes may be answered. |
Pain. Empathy and Doctors
| Posted on 30 December, 2018 at 5:22 |
comments (0)
|
I once recall a conversation (a little heated) with one of
my nieces when I said I understood how bad a labour pain was. She had started
by saying that female obstetricians must be better than male obstetricians. My
claim to understand labour pains provoked a rather more volatile response than
I think it merited along the lines of, ‘You’re a man. You can’t understand.’ I felt at the time that although I don’t have a uterus, I
have delivered 22 babies and witnessed many more deliveries when I trained and
since then seen pain in many forms. I do understand. It’s the empathy all
doctors strive to have. One never becomes inured. So, four days ago, I hurt my back (don’t laugh). Initially (I
was shifting a mattress) the pain was so bad I just collapsed on the bed and
lay there until the worst acute pain died down enough to allow me to get up. It persisted, but I was able to walk and finish what I was
doing. Not surprisingly, the pain gradually escalated throughout that day. By
the evening I was unable to walk because every time I put my foot to the floor excruciating
pain shot down my leg and it just gave way beneath me. Day 2 was no better. Day 3 (yesterday) I could weight bear
for about five minutes before the pain became too bad and I had to sit down.
Today I’m comfortable sitting and can last out upright long enough to make a
cup of coffee. I’ve operated on maybe a thousand lumbar spines in my time
and always tried to expedite treatment in patients who seemed to be in a lot of
pain, even though a lot of surgeons would wait longer and see if it resolved
with pain-killers and rest. Reflecting on my discomfort, I realise now there is a big
gap between empathising and experiencing. My niece may have been right. I don’t
have a uterus but I do have a sore back . Many years ago, some psychologists did an experiment in
which they took a Scottie-dog puppy and brought it up in a padded environment,
designed so that it was isolated from other dogs and any objects that might
stimulate any kind of discomfort. They then prodded the poor creature with
pins. It did not react in a normal fashion and seemed unable to avoid those
things causing pain. The conclusion was that they had raised a creature that
felt pain but did not recognise it was noxious. They thought it meant that most
of pain is subjective and without the psychological expectation, pain is not
necessarily too bad. There is a grain of truth in that – only a grain. I think that once one takes away the fear provoked by pain
and it is replaced by knowledge and experience, acute discomfort can have much
less effect on us than otherwise. Mindfulness training can help patients with chronic pain
because it teaches one to accept the pain, and in their terms (not mine)
befriend it. See it for what it is. Easy to say maybe – it’s just a temporary discomfort and I
know it will get better in time, but for those who do not understand their
anatomy and do not realise that most pain is temporary it is a fearsome and
terrible thing. I guess I’ve metamorphosised (not like the guy in Franz Kafka’s
tale). Experiencing pain does
make you a bit more empathic. For once, I can tell a patient – ‘I understand
the pain you have and its severity.’ It sounds daft, but I would recommend a
severe back pain to any Orthopaedic or Spinal Surgeon because it makes you
appreciate what your patents are feeling. Not just by extrapolating what you
have seen, but by knowing. My patients will tell you if it’s going to make me a better
doctor. One hopes that it will, but you know, memory of pain fades. If it didn’t ,no one would ever have a second labour, would they? So, we come back to the argument where we started. Do female
obstetricians make better labour-carers than men? |
Swedish Christmas Ham
| Posted on 20 December, 2018 at 3:29 |
comments (24)
|
My sons asked me for this recipe so I thought I'd put it here for ease of reference and to share with anyone who wishes to try something new. Swedish Christmas Ham The main problem when you buy a
smoked or ‘green’ ham is that when you roast it, commonly, it is very salty.
This ‘recipe’ if that’s what you’d call it, allows you to get the salt out of
the ham and roast it in what in my family, has always been the traditional
manner. Start by removing the rind or
skin so you have a layer of fat remaining. Put a few string ties around to
keep the shape. Place in a big saucepan in cold
water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Discard the water and start
again. This time once it reaches boiling point, discard the water and replace
with cold water so the ham is covered. Leave in a cool place for 24
hours or overnight at least. Next day, dry it off and coat in
Coleman’s brown French mustard (lots of it). Roll the beast in a mixture of
demerara sugar and breadcrumbs. Roast in a hot oven, basting
often. The outside is often rather carbonised, but it makes no difference to
the taste. At least 2 hrs. If the ham has little or no fat,
basting is a problem. I have on occasion after half-an-hour drizzled olive oil
over the oven and that eventually percolates through and you can baste with it. Leave to stand for min ½ hr
before carving. Swedish Meatballs Definitely not
for Vegetarians. [You have to
have a food processor for this with sharp blades that can grind meat to a fine
texture] Ingredients:
1 onion
1 egg
1 pound
of minced steak
1 pound
of minced lean pork.
1 large
cup of wholemeal dried breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons
of ground ginger
1
chicken stock-cube.
Two
tablespoons of salt
Pepper
to taste. Procedure:
Chop
the onions (easy in the food processor)
Mix the
breadcrumbs, ginger, salt, pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Add the
onion and the meat. Mix with a wooden spoon.
Add the
egg.
The
texture will be rough so you probably need to add a small glass of water or
milk. When it
is all mixed well, grind it thoroughly in the food processor. Thoroughly I
said. Read my lips ‘thoroughly’. You may need to do that in several lots.
The
texture should be roughly like a firm dough and very fine after the thorough
mixing. Get it?
Pick up
maybe a dessertspoon sized bit of mixture and using clean wet hands roll it
into a ball. When you’ve rolled the lot, you need to fry them really hot so the
outside goes a deep brown. If it gets carbonised it’s no big deal, it just
tastes better!
So,
each frying-pan of meatballs is placed into a large pan containing about ¼ of a
pint of water containing the stock cube. Empty the frying pan into the stock
and quench the pan with about half a cup of water and add that water to the
stock.
You
should end up with enough liquid to cover the meatballs. Simmer for twenty
minutes or so. Add cream to taste. If
you’re a purist, you could drain the meatballs before adding cream and make a
roux and use the stock to make a thicker sauce and then add cream and put the
meatballs back into the sauce, but I like a thin sauce with meatballs. Serve
with potatoes and peas. If you
intend to freeze them, don’t add cream, do it when you warm them up.
The
only unusual thing about this recipe is the fine texture, without which, it is
just a round hamburger burger. I suppose adding ginger seems a bit odd but it
really is a fantastic taste!
Merry
Christmas, hope you enjoy them.
If you
have a comment or you get into difficulties, email me on
>[email protected]<
|
Superheroes - Who Needs Them?
| Posted on 17 December, 2018 at 3:08 |
comments (1)
|
I was born in 1950. It was a time when Spencer Tracy, Kirk Douglas, Bert
Lancaster were on the rise in their careers. Human icons most young fellas
looked up to. Cinema was the great cultural phenomenon at that time and the
actors became huge. At that time too, Marvel’s comic book superheroes were very popular in
the pictorial cartoon books and magazines. Like any media one read them and
loved them through the suspension of belief. It was escapism at its best – a kind
of momentary flight, giving a short-term emotional gratification. But it was
more than that. The heroes were super – they had morals, they cared about other people;
they helped others. I think they were good role models for any young person,
because they created a kind of moral instruction shaping my view of good and
bad. Be the magnanimous, kind victor and fight evil wherever you find it. I can recall the first episode of Dr Who, which on the back of Quatermass
and Day of the Triffids (both of which I was banned from watching) became the
captor of my imagination in those days. I had learned from Superman that one
can enjoy stories based on impossibilities as long as one abandoned reality and
one could at times, escape into fantasy to get away from the realities of
humdrum studying. I remember reading Ian Fleming’s Dr No (mainly by torchlight late at
night under the covers) when I was 13. I became James Bond in those days. Maybe
it was the attraction of a secret life and the power that could bring. The next leap forward in my fantasy psyche was Star Trek. As a young
medical student, I never missed an episode on Wednesdays at 6pm. Nor did the
other students in my flat or my girlfriend’s house. Star Trek is interesting
because it depicts a very attractive environment – multi-cultural
egalitarianism not based on money or the American dream, but on fairness and
strict moral codes. None of the characters stabbed people in back streets for
gang-related transgressions or stole money. My Walter Mittie side remained fixed in those days. Little progress came
cinematically but looking back now, Superman had moved from comic book to TV and
then blockbuster movies. the world was gradually changing and advancing
technology meant I could be lazy – relying on a producer or director’s
imagination for the escape gratification I seemed to want so much. The movie Star Wars was pivotal. Looking back now, I realise I was being
suckered in, duped. Those stories – landmark epics – were written in the
typical myth structure. The hero is ordinary with a hidden exceptional skill.
He refuses the quest but is dragged into it by the antagonist. He then travels
the dark forest with rising tension and then triumphs over the evil that almost
engulfed him. Once you realise that, it all becomes a bit predictable, but what
doesn’t go away is the desperate wish for good to triumph over evil and to
witness that, even though you cannot participate. And now? Looking at upcoming films (in an article recently about forthcoming ‘films
you just have to watch in 2019’) about 20% of them are Marvel comic book heroes
brought to life on the big screen. The baddies are really bad, and the goodies
cannot be harmed, except in an emotional way. I think that is the key. Emotional
manipulation to let us feel what the hero might feel – forcing us into a kind
of apathetic empathy and a desire for our hero to win. I don’t believe you can
love a film like Rogue One without feeling that the spirit of good must triumph
over evil in the end even if that triumph means they die but give us hope. I think hope is what we all need in the present world. A desperate desire
for things to get better for everyone – all races and colours – from pygmies in
Africa to Palestinians in the Middle East. We need these super heroes if only to teach us to admire their morals and
magnanimity. Looking at the world we live in and are gradually destroying,
breath by breath, where is Superman? Why can’t he be real? Truth is we don’t need a Superman, just his image and code of life. Be there
for others. Nietzsche felt we all have a superman within us (ok, not the
American one, but a superman nonetheless) and we have a duty to release him -
stand up for those less fortunate than ourselves and above all, be kind. So, have a great Christmas and
enjoy being a superhero, because the world really does need you! |
