AXLER@Upenn-1100@sri-unix.UUCP (10/11/83)
From: AXLER@Upenn-1100 (David M. Axler - MSCF Applications Mgr.)
1) "...six impossible things before breakfast." If memory serves me well,
this comes from one of the "Alice" books by Lewis Carroll. I think, in fact,
it's part of the conversation that Alice has near the end of 'Through the
Looking Glass' with one of the Queens.
2) "Death Watch": This recent film, starring Romy Schneider and Harvey
Keitel, should be of interest to SFL readers. Though I haven't seen it
mentioned anywhere in the trade press, it's actually a movie adaptation of
D. G. Compton's novel "The Unsleeping Eye" (also released as "The Continuous
Katherine Mortonhoe" in England). Compton is a British author who is fairly
unknown in the States; back in the early 70's, a number of his books came
out in Ace editions, and then they disappeared. His work is pretty good, and
well worth reading if you can find it. He tends to set the novels in the
near future in order to look at possible effects of contemporary trends, with
a focus on personal relationships.
The film deals with the relationship that grows between two individuals.
One is a woman in her 40s who is stricken with terminal cancer in a world
where almost all disease and illness have been eliminated; the other is a news
reporter who has had one eye replaced with a miniaturized TV camera. His
assignment: report on her behavior as death approaches, without her even
knowing of the camera. An interesting premise that has several potential
endings. Go see the film if you want to know more.