THE BOOK

“Eastbound”: https://shorturl.at/vBZ03

I loved this book. I’m still thinking about it. I’d like to return to the headspace I was in when I read it. But I’m not sure I can recommend it.

You see it’s a translation from the French, and I’ve got to believe it could have been done better. It reads like a literal translation, with all the adjectives, the descriptions, and this makes it hard to read. Well, not really, if you skip over that which does not resonate.

You see it’s about the story.

Let’s just say it takes place on a Russian train. Well, it does take place on a train in Russia, and there’s a conscript traveling on the Trans-Siberian Express and…if you’re overwhelmed with politics, society, want an escape, this is it.

“Eastbound” is very brief. Only 135 pages. And you know I read for plot. And I found it very difficult to put down, there was so much TENSION! And thoughts. And choices.

Maybe get it from the library. Don’t jump out and buy the paperback or Kindle version. Then again, when Kindle books used to be less than ten bucks, I would have told you to dive in. But a lawsuit ended that, returning power to the publishers, and killing e-books. Yes, the market stalled. Take that! Bezos wanted to grow the market, but the publishers were so afraid of losing control…

Not that I’m the only one on this book. Reviews are stellar, from the likes of the NYT and WSJ, not unknowns. And the Amazon rating is nearly unheard of, 4.3, and on Goodreads it’s got a 4.0. And I think I got it because it was one of the “New Yorker”‘s best books of 2023.

Let’s see… The NYT book podcast said it was “a miniature masterpiece of narrative tension and compression.”

And Amazon calls “Eastbound” “gripping.”

It’s kind of like “Anna Karenina.” You should really read it in Russian. And the translations are so different, if you get a bad one you’ll put the book down soon, if you get a good one you’ll think it’s the best book ever written.

I wish there was another translation. But still, the essence of “Eastbound” shines through.

THE SERIES

Netflix: “Sleeping Dog” trailer: https://twtr.to/Uy9ir

It wasn’t until the credits after the final episode that I learned “Sleeping Dog” was based on the Israeli series “The Exchange Principle.”

Now the Israelis and the Danes make the best streaming TV, and I wish I’d seen the Israeli version first, but it’s not on any of the major services (although research tells me it can be viewed if you’re a member of Cascade PBS KCTS 9). Israeli shows are more about the aforementioned tension and drama than the trappings, the look, the cinematography, and that’s what makes them great.

But “Sleeping Dog” is pretty good.

You won’t know what is happening at first, and you won’t know what is happening at various points in this six episode series, but that does not detract from your enjoyment. And the main plot point is the lead character, Atlas, doesn’t know what is going on, what happened.

So it’s a crime drama. You know, police and attorneys, supposed justice. And there’s personal drama, as in Atlas has a family but he’s living on the streets.

This is a German show.

Now a German show is very different from an American show. People say they love what’s on HBO, but most of those shows are immediate, starring people you know, you can eat popcorn, they’re not gripping, they’re entertainments. German shows are more cerebral, less about action than motivation and emotion.

And during the show you’ll wince once or twice when the plot points are obvious, but then they aren’t.

If you’re the type of person who’s watched no foreign television, don’t start here, I could tell you about many better shows. But if you’ve seen all those, like me, “Sleeping Dog” is a good watch.