Word: floras
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...dynamic of spontaneous, irreversible escalation would quickly destroy all the well-laid plans of the war games and the "doctrines" of the political leaders, just as it would destroy almost everything else-not just civilization, but much of the ecosystem as well, sparing only certain lower orders of flora and fauna that seem peculiarly able to survive in a radio active environment. Hence the title of the first of three sections in the book: "A Republic of Insects and Grass...
Botany, Britain's public and private passion, is rooted in the late 18th century. In that formal, opulent era, imperial collectors sent a steady stream of exotic flora from the newly acquired lands of Africa and America, and the first plantings were made in what was to become the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In those heady years, Robert Thornton, a physician and amateur botanist, spent his passion and his fortune commissioning paintings and engravings that he hoped would become a national treasure. The Temple of Flora (New York Graphic Society; Ill pages; $35) is an exquisite review...
...novel form, and on a hundred other subjects that occupy the teeming mind of the book's 20th century narrator. He sprinkles references throughout, not just to Marx and Darwin but to latter-day prophets like Roland Barthes and "the egregious McLuhan." His scenic route through the Dorset flora and fauna includes side trips into the thickets of political and social theory. He announces his presence at every plot turn-probing his characters' thoughts on one page, shrugging genially that he's no mind reader on the next. And finally, this most dextrous of card sharks trumps...
...with much less. Because of budget restrictions, the monster octopus in his 1955 horror film It Came from Beneath the Sea had only five arms. It may be that in Clash of the Titans Harryhausen was inhibited by the upscale cost and cast (Maggie Smith, Claire Bloom, Burgess Meredith, Flora Robson). Too much time is spent plodding through the plots with actors who seem ill at ease playing in a film whose glory is its special effects. They are glorious indeed. And that is reason enough to see Clash of the Titans. The onscreen manipulator of men's fates...
...strain yourself," were Christopher's parting words. "Just leave the dishes in the sink." But I washed every one as reverently as if it were a part of him, and then I snooped all through the tiny house, hoping to get a clearer fix on him by absorbing the flora and fauna of his life into my skin...