Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Tag Archives: Jacqueline Bisset


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22 Books, and then a few other

I just went through a nice piece on the Conde Nast Traveler website, called 22 Ambassadors Recommend the One Book to Read Before Visiting Their Country.
It’s the sort of article that’s been designed specifically to make me weep – foreign countries and excellent literature, and 22 books to read!

Screenshot from 2018-03-23 03-56-16And indeed, thankfully there’s a few titles I know, but still there’s a number of books in there that I have instantly put on my list.
Kurban Said’s Ali and Nino, for instance, a 1937 novel about a cross-cultural love story set in Baku, Azerbaijan, as suggested by Azerbaijani ambassador.
Or Treasures of the Thunder Dragon, a portrait of Buthan written by the queen of that Himalayan country.
And what about the Estonian alternate history of The Man Who Spoke Snakish? Continue reading →


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The Deep (1977)

I don’t remember exactly when I saw Peter Yates’ The Deep, the movie based on Peter Benchley’s novel of the same title, for the first time. I know where I saw it – in an open-air movie place in Diano Marina, while on vacation with my family. A movie about the sea, in a seaside movie theater.
It was 1978 or something.
I am absolutely sure that my devastating crush for Jacqueline Bisset has its deepest roots in this movie.

Jacqueline Bisset + fish - The Deep (1977) 2

Now, I re-watched it yesterday afternoon, in a pause in my writing, while I enjoyed a big serving of chocolate ice cream with whipped cream.
And truth to be told, with the exception of the underwater footage and Jacqueline Bisset (yes, I’ve still got that crush), this is not a particularly good movie.
It was filmed two years after Jaws, but it does not have the stopping power and the persistence of Spielberg’s movie. Continue reading →


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Waiting for The Deep

deepbissetMy friend Lucy just published her first novel, a story called My Little Moray Eel* – a fun and unexpectedly moving romp full of monsters and undersea action.
As part of the launch, she’s doing a series of posts on her blog about her novel’s book and movie influences, and she mentioned The Deep.

And this is good, because I feel like undersea adventures right now.

The Deep is a 1977 movie based on a Peter Benchley novel.
After the success of Jaws, everybody wanted a piece of Benchley’s trademark underwater adventure.
The Deep is not as strong as jaws, but it’s a lot pulpier – it features not one but two underwater treasures, sharks, a giant moray heel, lost tribes, and, yes, Jacqueline Bisset in a wet T-shirt.

I think I’ll do a post on the movie soon, but in the meantime, I’ll leave you with the trailer from 1977.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LQzTL2RZyY

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* Despite the English title, it’s in Italian.