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The action occurs between 2 and 29 December 1170, chronicling the days leading up to the martyrdom of Thomas Becket following his absence of seven years in France. Becket's internal struggle is a central focus of the play. The book is divided into two parts. Part one takes place in the Archbishop Thomas Becket's hall on 2 December 1170. The play begins with a Chorus singing, foreshadowing the coming violence. The Chorus is a key part of the drama, with its voice changing and developing during the play, offering comments about the action and providing a link between the audience and the characters and action, as in Greek drama. Three priests are present, and they reflect on the absence of Becket and the rise of temporal power. A herald announces Becket’s arrival. Becket is immediately reflective about his coming martyrdom, which he embraces, and which is understood to be a sign of his own selfishness—his fatal weakness. The tempters arrive, three of whom parallel the Temptations of Christ. The first tempter offers the prospect of physical safety. : Take a friend's advice. Leave well alone, : Or your goose may be cooked and eaten to the bone. The second offers power, riches, and fame in serving the King. : To set down the great, protect the poor, : Beneath the throne of God can man do more? The third tempter suggests a coalition with the barons and a chance to resist the King. : For us, Church favour would be an advantage, : Blessing of Pope powerful protection : In the fight for liberty. You, my Lord, : In being with us, would fight a good stroke Finally, a fourth tempter urges him to seek the glory of martyrdom. : You hold the keys of heaven and hell. : Power to bind and loose: bind, Thomas, bind, : King and bishop under your heel. : King, emperor, bishop, baron, king: Becket responds to all of the tempters and specifically addresses the immoral suggestions of the fourth tempter at the end of the first act: : Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain: : Temptation shall not come in this kind again. : The last temptation is the greatest treason: : To do the right deed for the wrong reason. The Interlude of the play is a sermon given by Becket on Christmas morning 1170. It is about the strange contradiction that Christmas is a day both of mourning and rejoicing, which Christians also do for martyrs. He announces at the end of his sermon, "it is possible that in a short time you may have yet another martyr". We see in the sermon something of Becket's ultimate peace of mind, as he elects not to seek sainthood, but to accept his death as inevitable and part of a better whole. Part II of the play takes place in the Archbishop's Hall and in the Cathedral, 29 December 1170. Four knights arrive with "Urgent business" from the king. These knights had heard the king speak of his frustration with Becket and had interpreted this as an order to kill Becket. They accuse him of betrayal, and he claims to be loyal. He tells them to accuse him in public, and they make to attack him, but priests intervene. The priests insist that he leave and protect himself, but he refuses. The knights leave and Becket again says he is ready to die. The chorus sings that they knew this conflict was coming, that it had long been in the fabric of their lives, both temporal and spiritual. The chorus again reflects on the coming devastation. Thomas is taken to the Cathedral, where the knights break in and kill him. The chorus laments: “Clean the air! Clean the sky!", and "The land is foul, the water is foul, our beasts and ourselves defiled with blood." At the close of the play, the knights step up, address the audience, and defend their actions. The murder was all right and for the best: it was in the right spirit, sober, and justified so that the church's power would not undermine stability and state power. 

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The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (historical Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded glen known as Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its ghosts and the haunting atmosphere that pervades the imaginations of its inhabitants and visitors. Some residents say this town was bewitched during the early days of the Dutch settlement, while others claim that the mysterious atmosphere was caused by an old Native American chief, the "wizard of his tribe ... before the country was discovered by Master Hendrik Hudson." The most infamous spectre in the Hollow is the Headless Horseman, supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper whose head had been shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the Revolution, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head". The "Legend" relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of wealthy farmer Baltus Van Tassel. Ichabod Crane, a Yankee and an outsider, sees marriage to Katrina as a means of procuring Van Tassel's extravagant wealth. Bones, the local hero, unable to force Ichabod into a physical showdown to settle things, plays a series of pranks on the superstitious schoolmaster. The tension among the three continues for some time, and is soon brought to a head. On a placid autumn night, the ambitious Crane attends a harvest party at the Van Tassels' homestead. He dances, partakes in the feast, and listens to ghostly legends told by Brom and the locals, but his true aim is to propose to Katrina after the guests leave. His intentions, however, are ill-fated. After having failed to secure Katrina's hand, Ichabod rides home on his temperamental horse (named Gunpowder) "heavy-hearted and crestfallen" through the woods between Van Tassel's farmstead and the farmhouse in Sleepy Hollow where he is quartered at the time. As he passes several purportedly haunted spots, his active imagination is engorged by the ghost stories told at Baltus' harvest party. After nervously passing a lightning-stricken tulip tree purportedly haunted by the ghost of British spy Major André, Ichabod encounters a cloaked rider at an intersection in a menacing swamp. Unsettled by his fellow traveler's eerie size and silence, the teacher is horrified to discover that his companion's head is not on his shoulders, but on his saddle. In a frenzied race to the bridge adjacent to the Old Dutch Burying Ground, where the Hessian is said to "vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone" before crossing it, Ichabod rides for his life, desperately goading Gunpowder down the Hollow. However, while Crane and Gunpowder are able to cross the bridge ahead of the ghoul, to Crane's horror it rears its horse and hurls its severed head directly at Ichabod. The schoolmaster attempts to dodge, but is too late; the missile strikes his head and sends him tumbling headlong into the dust. The next morning, Ichabod has mysteriously disappeared from the area, leaving Katrina to later marry Brom Bones, who was said "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related". Indeed, the only relics of the schoolmaster's flight are his discarded hat, Gunpowder's trampled saddle, and a mysterious shattered pumpkin. Although the true nature of both the Headless Horseman and Ichabod's disappearance that night are left open to interpretation, the story implies that the Horseman was really Brom (an extremely agile rider) in disguise, and suggests that Crane survived the fall from Gunpowder and immediately fled Sleepy Hollow in horror, never to return but to prosper elsewhere, or perhaps was killed by Brom himself. Irving's narrator concludes the story, however, by stating that the old Dutch wives continue to promote the belief that Ichabod was "spirited away by supernatural means", and a legend develops around his disappearance and sightings of his melancholy spirit. In a Postscript (sometimes unused in certain editions), the narrator states the circumstances in which he heard the story from an old gentleman "at a Corporation meeting at the ancient city of Manhattoes", who didn't "believe one-half of it [himself]." 

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In 1984, an Amish community outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania attends the funeral of Jacob Lapp, who leaves behind his young wife Rachel and eight-year-old son Samuel. Rachel and Samuel travel by train to visit Rachel's sister, which takes them into Philadelphia. While waiting at 30th Street Station for a connecting train to Baltimore, Samuel goes into the men's room and witnesses the brutal murder of an undercover police officer, but manages to evade detection by hiding in the stalls. Detective John Book (Harrison Ford) is assigned to the case where he and partner Sergeant Elton Carter question Samuel. Although Samuel is unable to identify the perpetrator from mug shots or a lineup, he later sees a newspaper clipping in a trophy case of narcotics officer James McFee receiving an award and points him out to Book. Book investigates and finds out that McFee was previously responsible for a seizure of expensive chemicals used to make black-market amphetamines, but the evidence has now disappeared. Book surmises that McFee himself fenced the chemicals to drug dealers, and that the murdered detective, Ian Zenovich, had been investigating the theft. Book expresses his suspicions to Chief of Police Paul Schaeffer, who advises Book to keep the case secret so they can work out how to move forward. Book is later ambushed and shot in a parking garage by McFee and left badly wounded. Since only Schaeffer knew of Book's suspicions, Book realizes Schaeffer is also corrupt and tipped off McFee. Realizing that Samuel and Rachel are now in grave danger, Book orders his partner to remove all traces of the Lapps from his files and drives the boy and his mother back home to Lancaster County where they could disappear within their community. While attempting to return to the city, Book's loss of blood causes him to pass out in front of their farm. Book insists that going to a hospital would allow the corrupt police officers to find him and put Samuel in danger. Rachel's father-in-law Eli reluctantly agrees to shelter him despite his distrust of the outsider. Book slowly recovers in their care and begins to develop feelings for Rachel, who likewise is drawn to him. The Lapps' neighbor Daniel Hochleitner had hoped to court her and this becomes a cause of friction. During his convalescence, Book dresses in Jacob Lapp's clothing in order to avoid drawing attention to himself. His relationship with the Amish community deepens as they learn he is skilled at carpentry and seems like a decent, hard-working man. Book is invited to participate in a barn raising for a newly married couple, gaining Hochleitner's respect. However, the attraction between Book and Rachel is evident and clearly concerns Eli and others, causing much gossip in the tight-knit community. That night Book inadvertently observes Rachel bathing, but as she stands half-naked before him, he walks away. Book goes into town with Eli to use a payphone, where he learns that Carter has been killed. He deduces that Schaeffer and McFee murdered Carter after discovering his role in the case to get closer to Book, with the aid of a third corrupt officer, Detective Sergeant Leon "Fergie" Ferguson. While in town, Hochleitner is harassed by tourists. Book retaliates, breaking with the Amish tradition of non-violence. The fight between the bullies and the strange "Amish" man is reported to the local police, who then inform Schaeffer, having previously contacted the sheriff in his efforts to locate Book, Rachel and Samuel. The next day, Schaeffer, McFee and Ferguson arrive at the Lapp farm, taking Rachel and Eli hostage as a way of luring Book and Samuel out. In hiding, Book orders Samuel to run to Hochleitner's home for safety, then tricks Ferguson into the corn silo and suffocates him under tons of corn. Upon arming himself with Ferguson's shotgun, Book kills McFee. Samuel, hearing the gunshots, heads back to the farm. Schaeffer then forces Rachel and Eli out of the house at gunpoint; Eli signals to Samuel to ring the farm's bell. Book confronts Schaeffer, who threatens to kill Rachel, but the loud clanging from the bell summons the Amish, who resolutely gather near and silently watch him. With so many witnesses present, Schaeffer realizes he can't kill them all nor escape, and gives up; Book confiscates Schaeffer's weaponry before he is arrested. Book says goodbye to Samuel in the fields as he prepares to leave; he and Rachel share a long loving gaze on the porch. Eli wishes him well "out there among them English" signifying his acceptance of Book as a member of their community. Book smiles and departs, exchanging a wave with Hochleitner on the road out. 

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The novel is set during May and June 1914; war was impending in Europe, Richard Hannay the protagonist and narrator, returns to his new home, a flat in London, after living in Rhodesia, to begin a new life. One night he is buttonholed by a stranger, a well-travelled American, who claims to be in fear for his life. The man appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilise Europe, beginning with a plan to assassinate the Greek Premier, Constantine Karolides, during his forthcoming visit to London. The man reveals his name to be Franklin P. Scudder, a freelance spy, and remarks that he is dead, which holds Hannay's attention. Scudder explains that he has faked his own death to avert suspicion. Scudder claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone who are trying to steal British plans for the outbreak of war. Hannay lets Scudder hide in his flat, and sure enough the next day another man is discovered having apparently committed suicide in the same building. A couple of days later Hannay returns home to find Scudder dead with a knife through his heart. Hannay fears that the murderers will come for him next, but cannot ask the police for help because he is the most likely suspect for the murders as he lived in the same building. He also feels a duty to take up Scudder's cause and save Karolides from the assassination. He decides to go into hiding in Scotland and then to contact the authorities at the last minute. To escape from his flat unseen, he bribes the milkman into lending him his uniform and exits wearing it, escaping from the German spies watching the house. Carrying Scudder's pocket-book, he catches an express train leaving from London's St Pancras Station. Hannay fixes upon Galloway, in south-west Scotland, as a suitably remote place in which to make his escape and remembers somehow the town of Newton Stewart, which he names as his destination when he buys his ticket from the guard. Arriving at a remote station somewhere in Galloway (apparently not Newton Stewart itself), Hannay lodges in a shepherd's cottage. The next morning he reads in a newspaper that the police are looking for him in Scotland. Reasoning that the police would expect him to head for a port on the West Coast, he boards a local train heading east, but jumps off between stations. He is seen but escapes, finding an inn where he stays the night. He tells the innkeeper a modified version of his story, and the man is persuaded to shelter him. While staying at the inn, Hannay cracks the substitution cipher used in Scudder's pocket-sized book. The next day two men arrive at the inn looking for Hannay, but the innkeeper sends them away. When they return later, Hannay steals their car and escapes. On his way, Hannay reflects on what he has learnt from Scudder's notes. They contradict the story that Scudder first told to him, and mention an enemy group called the Black Stone and the mysterious Thirty-nine Steps. The United Kingdom appears to be in danger of an invasion by Germany and its allies. By this time, Hannay is being pursued by an aeroplane, and a policeman in a remote village has tried to stop him. Trying to avoid an oncoming car, Hannay crashes his own, but the other driver offers to take him home. The man is Harry Bullivant, a local landowner and prospective politician, although politically very naive. When he learns of Hannay's experiences in South Africa, he invites him to address an election meeting that afternoon. Hannay's speech impresses Harry, and Hannay feels able to trust him with his story. Harry writes an introductory letter about Hannay to a relation in the Foreign Office. Hannay leaves Harry and tries to hide in the countryside, but is spotted by the aeroplane. Soon he spots a group of men on the ground searching for him. Miraculously, he meets a road mender out on the moor, and swaps places with him, sending the workman home. His disguise fools his pursuers, who pass him by. On the same road he meets, in a passing touring car, a Society sycophant whom he recognises from London and whom he forces to exchange clothes with him and drive him off the moor. The next day, Hannay manages to stay ahead of the pursuers, and hides in a cottage occupied by an elderly man. Unfortunately, the man turns out to be one of the enemy, and with his accomplices he locks Hannay into his storage room. Fortunately, the room in which Hannay is locked is full of bomb-making materials, which he uses to break out of the cottage, injuring himself in the process. A day later, Hannay retrieves his possessions from the helpful road mender and stays for a few days to recover from the explosion. He dines at a public house in Moffat before walking to the junction at Beattock to catch a southbound train to England, changing at Crewe, Birmingham New Street and Reading, to meet Harry's relative at the Foreign Office, Sir Walter Bullivant, at his country home in Berkshire. As they discuss Scudder's notes, Sir Walter receives a phone call to tell him that Karolides has been assassinated. Sir Walter, now at his house in London, lets Hannay in on some military secrets before releasing him to go home. Hannay, unable to shake off his sense of involvement, returns to Sir Walter's house where a high-level meeting is in progress. As one of the men, ostensibly the First Sea Lord, leaves the meeting, Hannay recognises him as one of his former pursuers in Scotland, but is unable to confirm this until he phones the real First Sea Lord's house to find that he had already gone to bed half an hour before Hannay called. Hannay warns Sir Walter and the other officials that the man was an impostor, and they realise the spy is about to return to Europe with the information he has obtained from their meeting. At that point, Hannay realises that the phrase "the thirty-nine steps" could refer to the landing-point in England from which the spy is about to set sail. Throughout the night, Hannay and the British military leaders try to work out the meaning of the mysterious phrase. After some reasoning worthy of Sherlock Holmes, and with the help of a knowledgeable coastguard, the group decide on a coastal town in Kent. They find a path down from the cliff that has thirty-nine steps. Just offshore they see a yacht. Posing as fishermen, some of the party visit the yacht, the Ariadne, and find that at least one of the crew appears to be German. The only people onshore are playing tennis by a villa and appear to be English, but they match Scudder's description of the conspirators, The Black Stone. Hannay, alone, confronts the men at the villa. After a struggle, two of the men are captured while the third flees to the yacht, which meanwhile has been seized by the British authorities. The plot is thwarted, and the United Kingdom enters the First World War, having kept its military secrets from the enemy. On the outbreak of war, Hannay joins the New Army and is immediately commissioned captain which he attributes to the experience that he gained in the Boer War. Despite this, Hannay remarks that he feels like he completed his best service before he wore a khaki uniform. 

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After the death of his wife Pam, sports anchor Danny Tanner recruits his brother-in-law Jesse, a rock musician, and his best friend since childhood, Joey, who works as a stand-up comedian, to help raise his three young daughters—DJ, Stephanie and Michelle. Over time, the three men, as well as the children, bond and become closer to one another. In season two, Danny is reassigned from his duties as sports anchor by his television station to become co-host of a new local breakfast TV show, Wake Up, San Francisco, and is teamed up with Nebraska native Rebecca Donaldson. Jesse and Rebecca ("Becky") eventually fall in love and get married in season four. In season five, Becky gives birth to twin sons, Nicholas ("Nicky") and Alexander ("Alex"). 

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The book revolves around the life of Kenneth Nott, a radio DJ on a London station called Capital Live! 

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An elderly Jesuit priest named Father Lankester Merrin is leading an archaeological dig in northern Iraq and is studying ancient relics. After discovering a small statue of the demon Pazuzu (an actual ancient Assyrian demon), a series of omens alerts him to a pending confrontation with a powerful evil, which, unknown to the reader at this point, he has battled before in an exorcism in Africa. Meanwhile, in Georgetown, a young girl named Regan MacNeil is living with her famous mother, actress Chris MacNeil, who is in Georgetown filming a movie. As Chris finishes her work on the film, Regan begins to become inexplicably ill. After a gradual series of poltergeist-like disturbances in their rented house, for which Chris attempts to find rational explanations, Regan begins to rapidly undergo disturbing psychological and physical changes: she refuses to eat or sleep, becomes withdrawn and frenetic, and increasingly aggressive and violent. Chris initially mistakes Regan's behavior as a result of repressed anger over her parents' divorce and absent father. After several unsuccessful psychiatric and medical treatments, Regan's mother, an atheist, turns to a local Jesuit priest for help as Regan's personality becomes increasingly disturbed. Father Damien Karras, who is currently going through a crisis of faith coupled with the loss of his mother, agrees to see Regan as a psychiatrist, but initially resists the notion that it is an actual demonic possession. After a few meetings with the child, now completely inhabited by a diabolical personality, he turns to the local bishop for permission to perform an exorcism on the child. The bishop with whom he consults does not believe Karras is qualified to perform the rites, and appoints the experienced Merrin—who has recently returned to the United States—to perform the exorcism, although he does allow the doubt-ridden Karras to assist him. The lengthy exorcism tests the priests both physically and spiritually. When Merrin, who had previously suffered cardiac arrhythmia, dies during the process, completion of the exorcism ultimately falls upon Father Karras. When he demands that the demonic spirit inhabit him instead of the innocent Regan, the demon seizes the opportunity to possess the priest. Karras heroically surrenders his own life in exchange for Regan's by jumping out of her bedroom window and falling to his death, regaining his faith in God as his last rites are read. 

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Sarah Bailey, a troubled teenager with unusual abilities, has just moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles with her father and stepmother. At her new school, she forms a friendship with three outcast girls who are rumored to be witches; Bonnie Harper (who bears burn scars from an auto accident), Nancy Downs (whose family lives in a trailer and whose stepfather is abusive) and Rochelle Zimmerman (a black girl who is subjected to racist bullying by a group of white girls on her swimming team). At the same time, Sarah becomes attracted to football team member Chris Hooker. Bonnie, Nancy, and Rochelle worship a deity named "Manon". When Bonnie observes Sarah levitating a pencil in class, she and the group become convinced that Sarah is the right girl to complete their coven as "the fourth", making them all- powerful. When Sarah is harassed by a vagrant with a snake (whom she had encountered before at her new house), he is immediately hit by a car, and the girls believe that together they willed it to happen. It is also revealed that Sarah has attempted suicide in the past. After a date with Chris, Sarah is upset to find that he has spread a false rumor that they had sex and she was terrible in bed. When Sarah confronts him, he treats her disrespectfully in front of his friends. In response, Sarah casts a love spell on him, which apparently proves successful. After then successfully levitating Rochelle, Rochelle then casts a revenge spell on racist bully Laura Lizzie, Bonnie casts a spell for beauty and Nancy one for power. Subsequently, Laura, who had harassed Rochelle over her curly hair, begins to lose her own hair, and scars that Bonnie had on her back are successfully healed in her upcoming surgery. At home, Nancy causes her stepfather to have a heart attack and die. This enables Nancy and her mother to cash in a life insurance policy he had and move out of their trailer and into a luxurious high-rise apartment. Nancy becomes greedy for power and encourages the others to join her in a rite called "Invocation of the Spirit". On completion of the spell, she is struck by lightning. The following morning, Bonnie, Rochelle and Sarah see Nancy walking on water, and several sharks are beached. Afterward, she lacks empathy and begins taking risks with her life and those of others. The spells that the girls cast soon lead to negative consequences: Bonnie becomes aggressively narcissistic, Rochelle finds Laura traumatized by her baldness and sobbing hysterically, and Chris attempts to rape Sarah when she rejects his continued advances. In supposed retaliation, Nancy uses a glamour spell to make herself look like Sarah and tries to fool Chris into having sex with her at a party. She is interrupted by the real Sarah, who tells Nancy to leave with her, but it becomes obvious that Nancy has unrequited feelings for Chris, and the pair are revealed to have previously been romantically involved. The shocked Chris says to Nancy that she must be jealous, angering Nancy, who uses her power to kill Chris by hurling him out of a window. Sarah performs a binding spell to prevent Nancy from doing more harm, but it doesn't work, and the coven turns on Sarah. They invade her dreams, threaten her and use their powers of illusion to make Sarah believe that her father and stepmother have been killed in a plane crash, then torment her with visions of swarms of snakes, insects and rats. They try to induce her to commit suicide, and Nancy cuts Sarah's wrists herself. Although she is initially terrified, Sarah successfully "invokes the spirit" and is able to heal herself and fight back. She scares off Bonnie and Rochelle by showing them glamours of Bonnie with her face scarred and Rochelle losing her hair like Laura, and then defeats Nancy, binding her against causing harm forever. Bonnie and Rochelle, finding their powers gone, visit Sarah to attempt reconciliation with her, only to find that Sarah wants nothing more to do with them and that Manon had taken away their powers after they abused them. Bonnie and Rochelle scornfully mutter that Sarah must have lost her powers too; to scare them off, Sarah invokes lightning which strikes a tree branch that nearly falls on them. Sarah warns them to be careful not to end up like Nancy. Nancy is shown committed to a psychiatric hospital, stripped of her powers and strapped to her bed to prevent her from injuring herself as she desperately insists she can fly. 

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The Sweet Hereafter is a multiple first person narrative depicting life in a small town in Upstate New York in the wake of a terrible school bus accident in which numerous local children are killed. Hardly able to cope with the loss, their grieving parents are approached by a slick city lawyer who wants them to sue for damages. At first the parents are reluctant to do so, but eventually they are persuaded by the lawyer that filing a class action lawsuit would ease their minds and also be the right thing to do. As most of the children are dead, the case now depends on the few surviving witnesses to say the right things in court. In particular, it is 14-year-old Nichole Burnell, who was sitting at the front of the bus and is now paralyzed from the waist down, and whose deposition is all-important. However, she unexpectedly accuses Dolores Driscoll, the driver, of speeding and thus causing the accident. When she does so, all hopes of ever receiving money are thwarted. All the people involved know that Nichole is lying but cannot do anything about it. Only her father knows why, but he is unable to publicly reveal his daughter's motives. The novel captures the atmosphere in a small town suddenly shaken by catastrophe. Fathers take to drinking; secret affairs are abruptly ended; whole families move away. Only the reader/viewer knows that Mitchell Stephens, the lawyer, has himself effectively lost his own child--his estranged, drug-addicted daughter informs him over the phone that she has just tested HIV positive. 

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Martin Lynch-Gibbon is a well-to-do 41-year-old wine merchant whose childless marriage to an older woman called Antonia has been one of convenience rather than love. It never occurs to him that his ongoing secret affair with Georgie, a young academic in her twenties, could be immoral. Martin is shocked when his wife tells him that she has been having an affair with Palmer Anderson, her psychoanalyst and a friend of the couple. Antonia informs Martin that she wants to divorce him and marry Anderson. Martin moves out of their London house in Hereford Square. Before officially moving, Martin visits his brother Alexander's home near Oxford. While there he learns that Antonia has already written to Alexander about the divorce, leaving Alexander quite shaken. Later Martin returns to Hereford Square, where Antonia, now acting as a mother figure for him, tries to set up his new accommodation. After arguing with Antonia, he goes to the station to pick up Palmer's half- sister Honor Klein, a lecturer in anthropology who is visiting from Cambridge. Martin still does not want to publicly acknowledge his affair with Georgie, let alone become engaged to her. A few days later, Martin finally visits Georgie. While Georgie wants to publicize their affair, Martin refuses because he believes it will "hurt" Antonia. However, they decide to go to Hereford Square so that Georgie can see the house. While Martin is showing her around, they hear someone arrive at the house. Assuming it is Antonia, Martin rushes Georgie out the back door, despite her protests that she wishes to meet Antonia. The unexpected visitor turns out to be Honor, who notices Georgie's handbag that was left behind in her rush out the door. After the event, Martin tries to contact Georgie but is unsuccessful and soon returns to the house. There he finds out that Palmer and Antonia know about his relationship with Georgie. Martin finds Georgie and learns that Honor Klein has exposed their secret. Soon after Georgie meets Antonia in an awkward situation. Later, after a breakfast with Antonia, where they decide that Martin should take a short vacation, Martin calls on Georgie, only to discover his brother Alexander there. Martin is made even more furious when he discovers that Honor Klein was the person who introduced them to each other. After drunkenly returning to Hereford Square, Martin gets into a fight with Honor. After writing apology letters and waiting two days, Martin tries to find Antonia and Honor, only to find out that Antonia has gone and Honor is back in Cambridge. Around this time, Martin also realizes that he is now madly in love with Honor. He follows her to Cambridge and, in the middle of the night, breaks into her house, only to find her in bed with her half-brother Palmer. Even though Martin doesn't tell Antonia of this incestuous encounter, Palmer believes he has, and begins to act strangely around Antonia. Antonia decides that she should be with Martin instead, causing Martin to cut off his affair with Georgie. A few days later, Alexander comes by to inform Martin that he has become engaged to Georgie, rekindling Martin's feelings for her and making him very upset. After an angry confrontation with Palmer, who announces that he and Honor will be travelling abroad, Martin receives a package of hair from Georgie. Martin discovers an unconscious Georgie, who has attempted suicide, and is joined by Honor while waiting for the ambulance. After a scene in the hospital where everyone is gathered, Martin confesses his love to Honor. Honor says she knows but it does not matter because she is going away. Shortly afterwards, Antonia confesses to Martin that she has also been sleeping with his older brother Alexander ever since he introduced them, and that they will be getting married. In the end, Palmer and Georgie go away together, Alexander and Antonia are together, and Honor stays in England with Martin. 

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The themes of the book are nostalgia, the folly of trying to go back and recapture past glories and the easy way the dreams and aspirations of one's youth can be smothered by the humdrum routine of work, marriage and getting old. It is written in the first person, with George Bowling, the forty-five-year-old protagonist, who reveals his life and experiences while undertaking a trip back to his boyhood home as an adult. At the opening of the book, Bowling has a day off work to go to London to collect a new set of false teeth. A news-poster about the contemporary King Zog of Albania sets off thoughts of a biblical character Og, King of Bashan that he recalls from Sunday church as a child. Along with 'some sound in the traffic or the smell of horse dung or something' these thoughts trigger Bowling's memory of his childhood as the son of an unambitious seed merchant in "Lower Binfield" near the River Thames. Bowling relates his life history, dwelling on how a lucky break during the First World War landed him in a comfortable job away from any action and provided contacts that helped him become a successful salesman. Bowling is wondering what to do with a modest sum of money that he has won on a horserace and which he has concealed from his wife and family. Much later (part III) he and his wife attend a Left Book Club meeting where he is horrified by the hate shown by the anti-fascist speaker, and bemused by the Marxist ramblings of the communists who have attended the meeting. Fed up with this, he seeks his friend Old Porteous, the retired schoolmaster. He usually enjoys Porteous' company, but on this occasion his dry dead classics makes Bowling even more depressed. Bowling decides to use the money on a 'trip down memory lane', to revisit the places of his childhood. He recalls a particular pond with huge fish in it which he had missed the chance to try and catch thirty years previously. He therefore plans to return to Lower Binfield but when he arrives, he finds the place unrecognisable. Eventually he locates the old pub where he is to stay, finding it much changed. His home has become a tea shop. Only the church and vicar appear the same but he has a shock when he discovers an old girlfriend, for she has been so ravaged by time that she is almost unrecognisable and is utterly devoid of the qualities he once adored. She fails to recognise him at all. Bowling remembers the slow and painful decline of his father's seed business – resulting from the nearby establishment of corporate competition. This painful memory seems to have sensitised him to – and given him a repugnance for – what he sees as the marching ravages of "Progress". The final disappointment is to find that the estate where he used to fish has been built over, and the secluded and once hidden pond that contained the huge carp he always intended to take on with his fishing rod, but never got around to, has become a rubbish dump. The social and material changes experienced by Bowling since childhood make his past seem distant. The concept of "you can't go home again" hangs heavily over Bowling's journey, as he realises that many of his old haunts are gone or considerably changed from his younger years. Throughout the adventure he receives reminders of impending war, and the threat of bombs becomes real when one lands accidentally on the town. 

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P. Oxy. 1369, a fragmentary papyrus copy of Oedipus Rex, 4th century BC. Oedipus, King of Thebes, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to ask advice of the oracle at Delphi, concerning a plague ravaging Thebes. Creon returns to report that the plague is the result of religious pollution, since the murderer of their former king, Laius, has never been caught. Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for causing the plague. Oedipus summons the blind prophet Tiresias for help. When Tiresias arrives he claims to know the answers to Oedipus's questions, but refuses to speak, instead telling him to abandon his search. Oedipus is enraged by Tiresias' refusal, and verbally accuses him of complicity in Laius' murder. Outraged, Tiresias tells the king that Oedipus himself is the murderer ("You yourself are the criminal you seek"). Oedipus cannot see how this could be, and concludes that the prophet must have been paid off by Creon in an attempt to undermine him. The two argue vehemently, as Oedipus mocks Tiresias' lack of sight, and Tiresias retorts that Oedipus himself is blind. Eventually Tiresias leaves, muttering darkly that when the murderer is discovered he shall be a native citizen of Thebes, brother and father to his own children, and son and husband to his own mother. Creon arrives to face Oedipus's accusations. The King demands that Creon be executed; however, the chorus persuades him to let Creon live. Jocasta, wife of first Laius and then Oedipus, enters and attempts to comfort Oedipus, telling him he should take no notice of prophets. As proof, she recounts an incident in which she and Laius received an oracle which never came true. The prophecy stated that Laius would be killed by his own son; however, Jocasta reassures Oedipus by her statement that Laius was killed by bandits at a crossroads on the way to Delphi. The mention of this crossroads causes Oedipus to pause and ask for more details. He asks Jocasta what Laius looked like, and Oedipus suddenly becomes worried that Tiresias's accusations were true. Oedipus then sends for the one surviving witness of the attack to be brought to the palace from the fields where he now works as a shepherd. Jocasta, confused, asks Oedipus what the matter is, and he tells her. Many years ago, at a banquet in Corinth, a man drunkenly accused Oedipus of not being his father's son. Oedipus went to Delphi and asked the oracle about his parentage. Instead of answers he was given a prophecy that he would one day murder his father and sleep with his mother. Upon hearing this he resolved to leave Corinth and never return. While traveling he came to the very crossroads where Laius was killed, and encountered a carriage which attempted to drive him off the road. An argument ensued and Oedipus killed the travelers, including a man who matches Jocasta's description of Laius. Oedipus has hope, however, because the story is that Laius was murdered by several robbers. If the shepherd confirms that Laius was attacked by many men, then Oedipus is in the clear. A man arrives from Corinth with the message that Oedipus's father has died. Oedipus, to the surprise of the messenger, is made ecstatic by this news, for it proves one half of the prophecy false, for now he can never kill his father. However, he still fears that he may somehow commit incest with his mother. The messenger, eager to ease Oedipus's mind, tells him not to worry, because Merope was not in fact his real mother. It emerges that this messenger was formerly a shepherd on Mount Cithaeron, and that he was given a baby, which the childless Polybus then adopted. The baby, he says, was given to him by another shepherd from the Laius household, who had been told to get rid of the child. Oedipus asks the chorus if anyone knows who this man was, or where he might be now. They respond that he is the "same shepherd" who was witness to the murder of Laius, and whom Oedipus had already sent for. Jocasta, who has by now realized the truth, desperately begs Oedipus to stop asking questions, but he refuses and Jocasta runs into the palace. When the shepherd arrives Oedipus questions him, but he begs to be allowed to leave without answering further. However, Oedipus presses him, finally threatening him with torture or execution. It emerges that the child he gave away was Laius's own son, and that Jocasta had given the baby to the shepherd to secretly be exposed upon the mountainside. This was done in fear of the prophecy that Jocasta said had never come true: that the child would kill his father. Everything is at last revealed, and Oedipus curses himself and fate before leaving the stage. The chorus laments how even a great man can be felled by fate, and following this, a servant exits the palace to speak of what has happened inside. When Jocasta enters the house, she runs to the palace bedroom and hangs herself there. Shortly afterward, Oedipus enters in a fury, calling on his servants to bring him a sword so that he might cut out his mother's womb. He then rages through the house, until he comes upon Jocasta's body. Giving a cry, Oedipus takes her down and removes the long gold pins that held her dress together, before plunging them into his own eyes in despair. A blind Oedipus now exits the palace and begs to be exiled as soon as possible. Creon enters, saying that Oedipus shall be taken into the house until oracles can be consulted regarding what is best to be done. Oedipus's two daughters (and half-sisters), Antigone and Ismene, are sent out, and Oedipus laments their having been born to such a cursed family. He asks Creon to watch over them and Creon agrees, before sending Oedipus back into the palace. On an empty stage the chorus repeats the common Greek maxim, that no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead.Herodotus, in his Histories (Book 1.32), attributes this maxim to the 6th-century Athenian statesman Solon. 

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Thundarr the Barbarian is set in a future (c. 3994) post-apocalyptic wasteland divided into kingdoms or territories — the majority of which are ruled by wizards – and whose ruins typically feature recognizable geographical features from the United States, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Denver, Atlanta, Boston, San Antonio and its Alamo, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Cape Canaveral, and the Grand Canyon. Other episodes with recognizable settings are set outside the United States, include Mexico and London, U.K.. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon was broken in two pieces. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were caused by the passage of a runaway planet between the Earth and the Moon in 1994, which, from scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in the Earth's climate and geography. However, by the time period in which the series is set, the Earth and Moon seem to have settled into a new physical balance. Earth is reborn as "New Earth", a world of "savagery, super- science, and sorcery" far more chaotic than "Old Earth" (the show's name for the preapocalyptic world). The hero Thundarr (voiced by Robert Ridgely), a muscular warrior, whose companions include Princess Ariel, a formidable young sorceress, and Ookla the Mok, travel the world on horseback, battling mostly evil wizards who combine magical spells with reanimating technologies from the pre-catastrophe world. Some of these malevolent wizards enlist the service of certain mutant species to do their bidding. Other enemies include The Brotherhood of Night (a group of werewolves who could transform others into werewolves by their touch), the cosmic Stalker from The Stars (a predatory, malevolent cosmic vampire), and various other mutants. Intelligent humanoid- animal races include the rat-like Groundlings, the crocodile-like Carocs, and talking hawk- and pig-like mutants. New animals that existed include fire- shooting whales, a giant green snake with a grizzly bear's head, and mutated dragonflies and rabbits. Thundarr's weapon of choice, the Sunsword, projects a blade-like beam of energy when activated, and can be deactivated so that it is only a hilt. The Sunsword's energy blade can deflect other energy attacks as well as magical ones, can cut through nearly anything, and can disrupt magical spells and effects. The Sunsword is magically linked to Thundarr and as such, only he can use it; however, this link can be disrupted.The episode "Master of the Stolen Sunsword" details events where the Sunsword needs to be recharged, and viewers learn it becomes linked to whoever does the charging. Comic book writer-artist Jack Kirby worked on the production design for the show. The main characters were designed by fellow comic book writer-artist Alex Toth. Toth, however, was unavailable to continue working on the show, so most of the wizards and other villains and secondary characters that appear on the show were designed by Kirby. He was brought onto the show at the recommendation of comic writer Steve Gerber and Mark Evanier. The series was the creation of Steve Gerber. Gerber and friend Martin Pasko were having dinner in the Westwood area one night during the time Gerber was developing the series. Gerber commented to Pasko that he had not yet decided upon a name for the wookiee-like character the network insisted be added to the series, over Gerber's objections. As the two walked past the gate to the UCLA campus, Pasko quipped, "Why not call him Oo-clah?" Pasko later became one of several screenwriters also known for their work in comics, such as Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, to contribute to the show. After writing several scripts, singly and in collaboration with Gerber, Pasko became a story editor on the second season. Other writers included Buzz Dixon and Mark Jones. 

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In 1985, author Gordie Lachance reads in the newspaper that his childhood best friend, Chris Chambers, has died. Gordie narrates an extended flashback, later revealed to be a story he is writing. The flashback tells of a childhood incident when he, Chris, and two buddies journeyed to find the body of a missing boy near the town of Castle Rock, Oregon during the Labor Day holiday weekend in 1959. Twelve-year-old Gordie's parents are too busy grieving the recent death of Gordie's older brother Denny to pay any attention to Gordie. Gordie's friends are Chris, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio. While looking for money that he buried beneath his parents' porch, Vern overhears his older brother Billy talking with a friend. Recently, Billy and his friend saw the body of a missing boy named Ray Brower outside of town near train tracks and a river. Billy does not want to report the body because doing so could draw attention to the fact that he and his friend recently stole a car. When Vern tells Gordie, Chris, and Teddy, the four boys hoping to become local heroes decide to go looking for the body. After Chris steals his father's pistol, he and Gordie run into local hoodlum John "Ace" Merrill and Chris's older brother, Richard "Eyeball" Chambers. Ace threatens Chris with a lit cigarette and steals Gordie's Yankees cap, which had been a gift from Gordie's late brother. The four boys begin their journey. After stopping for a drink of water at a junkyard, they get caught trespassing by junkyard owner Milo Pressman and his dog, Chopper. They escape over a fence, and Pressman calls Teddy's mentally ill father a "loony"; Teddy, enraged, tries to attack him but is restrained by the other boys. The boys continue their hike, and Chris encourages Gordie to fulfill his potential as a writer despite his father's disapproval. Later, Gordie and Vern are nearly run over by a train while walking across a train bridge, but Gordie saves both their lives by throwing himself and Vern off the bridge at the last second. That evening, Gordie tells the fictional story of David "Lard-Ass" Hogan, an obese boy who is constantly bullied. Seeking revenge, Lard-Ass enters a pie-eating contest and deliberately vomits, inducing mass vomiting (a "barf-o-rama") among contestants and the audience. During the night, Chris tells Gordie that he hates being associated with his family's reputation. Chris admits to Gordie that he stole milk money at school. However, he tells Gordie that he later confessed and returned the money to a teacher. Despite this, Chris was suspended; apparently, the teacher spent the money on herself instead of turning it in to her superiors. Still devastated by the teacher's betrayal, Chris breaks down and cries. The next day, the boys swim across a swamp and discover that it is filled with leeches. Gordie briefly faints after finding a leech on his scrotum. After more hiking, the boys locate Ray Brower's body. The discovery is traumatic for Gordie, who asks Chris why his brother Denny had to die and claims that his father hates him. Chris disagrees, asserting that Gordie's father simply does not know him well. Ace and his gang arrive, announce that they are claiming the body, and threaten to beat the four boys if they interfere. When Chris insults Ace and refuses to back down from him, Ace draws a switchblade to kill him. Gordie comes to Chris's aid by firing a shot into the air with Chris's father's gun and then pointing the gun at Ace. Ace demands that Gordie give him the gun, but Gordie refuses, calling Ace a "cheap dime-store hood". Ace taunts Gordie by asking whether he plans to shoot Ace's entire gang, and Gordie responds, "No, Ace. Just you.” Ace and his gang depart, vowing revenge. The four boys, agreeing that it would not be right for anyone to get the credit for finding the body, report it to the authorities via an anonymous phone call. They walk back to Castle Rock and part ways, and the extended flashback ends. The present-day Gordie reveals that Teddy and Vern drifted away from him and Chris shortly after entering high school and explains that Chris later went to college and became a lawyer. When attempting to break up a fight in a restaurant, he was stabbed to death. Despite having not seen Chris for nearly 10 years, Gordie types that he will miss him forever. Gordie ends his story with the following words: "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" He then takes a moment to ponder that, then goes outside to play with his son and his son's friend. 

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The cover of Secret Wars #8, which featured the origin of Spider-Man's black costume, art by Mike Zeck A cosmic entity called the Beyonder observes the mainstream Marvel universe. Fascinated by the presence of superheroes on Earth and their potential, this entity chooses a group of both heroes and supervillains and teleports characters against their will to "Battleworld," a planet created by the Beyonder in a distant galaxy. This world has also been stocked with alien weapons and technology. The Beyonder then declares: "I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all that you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!"Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 (May 1984) The heroes include the Avengers (Captain America, Monica Rambeau, Hawkeye, Iron Man, the She-Hulk, Thor, the Wasp, and the Hulk) three members of the Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Mister Fantastic and the Thing); solo heroes (Spider-Man and Spider-Woman) and the mutant team the X-Men (Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, and Lockheed the Dragon). Magneto is featured as a hero, but immediately becomes non-aligned when the Avengers question his presence. In 2015 Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars revealed that Deadpool was also a chosen hero, but the Wasp accidentally caused the other characters to forget his involvement. The villains include the Absorbing Man, Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, the Enchantress, Kang the Conqueror, Klaw, the Lizard, the Molecule Man, Titania, Ultron, Volcana, and the Wrecking Crew. The cosmic entity Galactus also appears as a villain who immediately becomes a non-aligned entity. The heroes (the X-Men choose to remain a separate unit) and villains have several skirmishes. There are several significant developments in the series: villainesses Titania and Volcana are created;Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3 (July 1984) the second Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter, is introduced;Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6 (Oct. 1984) Spider-Man finds and wears the black costume (in the story inspired by Carpenter's costume) for the first time, initially unaware that it is actually an alien symbiote (the symbiote would subsequently bond with journalist Eddie Brock, giving birth to the villain known as Venom));Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 (Dec. 1984)The Amazing Spider-Man #298–300 (March–May 1988) Doctor Doom temporarily steals the Beyonder's power;Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #10 (Feb. 1985) having fallen in love with the alien healer Zsaji (who sacrifices her life on Battleworld to save the heroes), mutant Colossus ends his romantic relationship with a heartbroken Kitty Pryde;Uncanny X-Men #183 (July 1984) and the Thing gains the ability to revert to his original human form of Ben Grimm at will and chooses to remain behind on Battleworld and explores the galaxy for a year,Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12 (April 1985) with the She-Hulk temporarily joining the Fantastic Four as his replacement.Avengers #243 (May 1984); Fantastic Four #265 (April 1984) The next issues of series tie-ins with Secret Wars open right after the return of the Marvel combatants. Immediate developments include: the Thing replaced by the She-Hulk in the FF, Spider-Man has a new costume, and the Hulk has an injured leg and the savage side is re-emerging (to culminate in a totally animalistic, inarticulate and mindless Hulk in #299–300). Readers would have to read Secret Wars all the way through to find what caused these changes. 

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In 1593 London, William Shakespeare is a sometime player in the Lord Chamberlain's Men and playwright for Philip Henslowe, owner of The Rose Theatre. Suffering from writer's block with a new comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter, Shakespeare attempts to seduce Rosaline, mistress of Richard Burbage, owner of the rival Curtain Theatre, and to convince Burbage to buy the play from Henslowe. Shakespeare receives advice from rival playwright Christopher Marlowe, but is despondent to learn Rosaline is sleeping with Master of the Revels Edmund Tilney. The desperate Henslowe, in debt to ruthless moneylender Fennyman, begins auditions anyway. Viola de Lesseps, daughter of a wealthy merchant, who has seen Shakespeare's plays at court, disguises herself as a man named Thomas Kent to audition. "He" gains Shakespeare's interest with a speech from Two Gentlemen of Verona, but runs away when Shakespeare questions her. He pursues Kent to Viola's house and leaves a note with her nurse, asking Kent to begin rehearsals at the Rose. Shakespeare sneaks into a ball at the house, where Viola's parents arrange her betrothal to impoverished aristocrat Lord Wessex. Dancing with Viola, Shakespeare is struck speechless and ejected by Wessex, who threatens to kill him, leading Shakespeare to say that he is Christopher Marlowe. He finds Viola on her balcony, where they confess their mutual attraction before he is discovered by her nurse and flees. Inspired by Viola, Shakespeare quickly transforms the play into what will become Romeo and Juliet. Rehearsals begin, with "Thomas Kent" as Romeo, the leading tragedian Ned Alleyn as Mercutio, and the stagestruck Fennyman in a small role. Shakespeare discovers Viola's true identity, and they begin a secret affair. Viola is summoned to court to receive approval for her proposed marriage to Wessex. Shakespeare accompanies her, disguised as her female cousin, and persuades Wessex to wager £50 that a play can capture the true nature of love, the amount Shakespeare requires to buy a share in the Chamberlain's Men. Queen Elizabeth I declares that she will judge the matter. Burbage learns Shakespeare has seduced Rosaline and cheated him out of payment for the play, and starts a brawl at the Rose with his company. The Rose players repel Burbage and his men and celebrate at the pub, where a drunken Henslowe lets slip to Viola that Shakespeare is married, albeit separated from his wife. News arrives that Marlowe has been murdered, and a guilt-ridden Shakespeare assumes Wessex had Marlowe killed, believing him to be Viola's lover. Viola believes Shakespeare has been murdered but he appears at her church, terrifying Wessex who believes he is a ghost. Viola confesses her love for Shakespeare, but both recognize she cannot escape her duty to marry Wessex. John Webster, an unpleasant boy who hangs around the theatre, spies on Shakespeare and Viola making love and informs Tilney, who closes the Rose for breaking the ban on women actors. Viola's identity is exposed, leaving them without a stage or lead actor, until Burbage offers his theatre and the heartbroken Shakespeare takes the role of Romeo. Following her wedding, Viola learns the play will be performed that day, and runs away to the Curtain. She overhears that the boy playing Juliet cannot perform, his voice having broken, and Henslowe asks her to replace him. She plays Juliet to Shakespeare's Romeo to an enthralled audience. Tilney arrives to arrest everyone for indecency due to Viola's presence, but the Queen reveals herself in attendance and restrains him, instead asserting that Kent's resemblance to a woman is “remarkable”. Powerless to end a lawful marriage, she orders Kent to "fetch" Viola to sail with Wessex to the Colony of Virginia. The Queen tells Wessex, who followed Viola to the theatre, that Romeo and Juliet has won the bet for Shakespeare, and has Kent deliver his £50 with instructions to write something "a little more cheerful next time, for Twelfth Night". Viola and Shakespeare say their goodbyes, and he vows to immortalise her, as he imagines the beginning of Twelfth Night, in character as a castaway disguised as a man after a voyage to a strange land. 

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In suburban Chicago, near the end of the school year, high school senior Ferris Bueller fakes illness to stay at home. Throughout the film, Ferris breaks the fourth wall to talk about his friends and give the audience advice on various subjects. His parents believe he is ill, though his sister Jeanie does not. Dean of Students Edward R. Rooney suspects Ferris is a repeat truant and commits to catching him. Ferris convinces his best friend Cameron Frye, who is legitimately absent due to illness (though a hypochondriac, which Ferris sees through), to help lure Ferris's girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, from school on the pretext of her grandmother's supposed death. To further the ruse, Ferris borrows Cameron's father's prized 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder. Cameron is dismayed when Ferris takes them into downtown Chicago in the car. Ferris promises they will return it as it was. The trio leave the car with parking attendants, who promptly take the car for a joyride. The trio explore the city, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Sears Tower, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and attend a ball game at Wrigley Field, with their path occasionally intersecting with that of Ferris's father. Cameron remains worried, and Ferris attempts to cheer him up by joining a float during the Von Steuben Day parade and spontaneously lip-syncing Wayne Newton's cover of "Danke Schoen", followed by a rendition of "Twist and Shout", which excites the gathered crowds. Meanwhile, Rooney prowls the Bueller home attempting to prove Ferris's truancy, getting into several pratfalls. At the same time, Jeanie, frustrated that the entire school supports and will rally for Ferris, skips class and returns home to confront him. She is surprised by Rooney's presence at their home and knocks him unconscious. As she phones the police, he recovers and goes back outside, unknowingly leaving his wallet behind. When the police arrive, they disbelieve Jeanie and arrest her for making a false report. Waiting for her mother to collect her from the police station, she meets a juvenile delinquent who advises her not to worry so much. The friends collect the Ferrari from the parking deck and head home. Discovering many more miles on the odometer, Cameron becomes catatonic with shock. Back at Cameron's house, Ferris jacks up the car and runs it in reverse to "rewind" the odometer. This does not work and Cameron finally snaps, letting out his anger against his overbearing father. Repeatedly kicking the car causes the jack to fail and the car races in reverse through the wall and into the ravine below. Ferris offers to take the blame, but Cameron declines the offer and decides he will stand up against his father. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bueller arrives at the station, upset about having to forgo a house sale, only to become infuriated to find Jeanie kissing the delinquent. Ferris walks Sloane home and realizes his parents are due home. As he races on foot through the neighborhood, he is nearly hit by Jeanie, who is driving their mother home. She speeds off trying to get home before him and expose his lie. Ferris arrives home first but is confronted by Rooney, who threatens him with another year of high school for truancy. Jeanie races into the house as their mother complains to their father about her behavior. Having a change of heart, Jeanie interrupts and thanks Rooney for helping return Ferris "from the hospital." She then displays Rooney's wallet as proof of his trespass before tossing it into the yard, rousing Ferris's dog, which chases Rooney from the property. Ferris rushes back to his bedroom to greet his parents when they check in on him. Finding him sweaty and overheated (from his run) they suggest he takes the next day off as well. As the parents leave, Ferris reminds the audience, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." During the end credits, a defeated Rooney heads home and is picked up by a school bus, where he is further humiliated by the students. After the credits, a surprised Ferris tells the audience the film is over and to go home. 

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Peter, Ender's brother, is now Hegemon of Earth. Accepting a tip from inside China, where Achilles is held prisoner, Peter had planned for Bean to operate the mission, but at the last minute (because he doubted Bean would cooperate) assigns Suriyawong, a Battle School student from Thailand, to rescue Achilles in transport, believing that he can spy on Achilles, take over his network, and then turn Achilles over to some country for trial (at the time of this story, Achilles has betrayed Russia, Pakistan, and India). Achilles is known to kill anyone who has seen him vulnerable. Bean and his friend Petra, who also served under Ender and who is travelling with Bean, have both seen Achilles so and immediately go into hiding, preparing for a future confrontation. Bean believes Peter has seriously underestimated Achilles, and that he (Bean) is not safe unless he is hidden. During their travels, Petra convinces Bean to marry her and have children with her by taking him to Anton, the person who Anton's Key (Bean's Condition) was named after. Bean is reluctant to have children, as he does not want his Anton's Key gene to be passed on. He finds Volescu, the original doctor who activated the key in his genes, and has him prepare nine embryos through artificial insemination. Volescu pretends to identify three embryos with Anton's Key and they are discarded. One of the remaining six is implanted into Petra, while the rest of them are placed under guard. At the same time, a message is passed to Bean that Han Tzu, a comrade from Battle School, was not in fact the informant in the message sent to Peter about Achilles. Realizing that it had been a setup, Bean gets a message to Peter's parents, and they flee with Peter from the Hegemon's compound. Bean narrowly escapes an assassination attempt himself, and escapes to Damascus. There they find that another Battle School comrade, Alai, is the unrivaled Caliph of a nearly unified Muslim world. Meanwhile, their embryos are stolen, and Bean expects Achilles to use them to bait a trap for them. Peter and his parents escape to the colonization platform in space that used to be the battle school, relying on the protection of Colonel Graff, the former commander of that school, now Minister of Colonization. Shortly after they arrive, however, a message is sent betraying their presence. Faking their departure from the space station, Peter and his parents discover the traitor, one of the teachers at battle school. The unmanned shuttle sent as a decoy is shot down over Brazil (the location of the former compound of the Hegemon, now occupied by Achilles). In the previous novel, China had conquered India and Indochina. Alai plans to liberate them by invading first China (in a feint), and then India (once China has withdrawn its armies to defend the homeland). His invasion is successful, and in the midst of realizing their danger, the Chinese government disavows Achilles, providing evidence that he stole the missile launcher that destroyed the decoy space shuttle. Left with nowhere to turn, Achilles contacts Bean and offers the embryos in exchange for safe passage. Bean and Peter return to the Hegemon's compound. Achilles expects Bean to be so besotted with the idea of retrieving his children that he can be killed with a bomb in the transport container for them. When Bean sees through that trap, Achilles offers up fake embryos in petri dishes, expecting to lure Bean into a vulnerable position where Bean can be killed. However, Bean has already decided that Achilles was faking and refuses to fall for any of his traps. Finally, Bean pulls out a pistol and shoots him in the eye. Thus, Achilles is killed in a similar fashion to his first victim Poke, whom he killed with a knife to the eye earlier in the series. The novel ends with Peter restored as Hegemon, Petra reunited with Bean, a Caliph in command of the world's Muslims, a China severely reduced in territory and forced to accept humiliating surrender terms, and the embryos still lost. 

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The Key to Time tracer points the Fourth Doctor and Romana to the cold and boring planet of Calufrax, but when they arrive they find an unusual civilisation that lives in perpetual prosperity. A strange band of people with mysterious powers known as the Mentiads are feared by the society, but the Doctor discovers that they are good people but with an unknown purpose. He instead fears the Captain, the planet's leader and benefactor. After meeting the Captain on the bridge he learns that they are actually on a hollowed-out planet named Zanak, which has been materialising around other planets to plunder their resources. After repairing Zanak's engines, which were damaged when the planet materialised in the same place as the TARDIS, the Captain plans to take Zanak to Earth. The Doctor finds the true menace controlling the Captain is the ancient tyrant Queen Xanxia, disguised as the Captain's nurse, who uses the resources mined from planets in an attempt to gain immortality. Her physical body sits between Time Dams, devices that hold back the ravages of time as she is old and near death, and a younger version of her is projected via a sort of solid 3D device. Despite the Captain's apparent insanity, he is a calculating person who plans to destroy Xanxia. The Mentiads learn that their psychic powers are strengthened by the destruction of entire worlds beneath their feet. As the people on the planets die, their combined psychic force gives the Mentiads their power. Throughout Zanak, the Key to Time locator has been giving odd signals that seem to indicate that the segment is everywhere. Once the Doctor and Romana see the Captain's trophy room of planets, they conclude that Calufrax is the segment that they are looking for. The Captain's plan is to use the gravitational power of all the crushed worlds to essentially drill a hole through the time dams, bypass its fail-safe mechanism, and let time move forward so the queen dies. They use the TARDIS to once again disrupt Zanak's materialisation around Earth while the Mentiads sabotage the engines. Xanxia kills the Captain when he finally turns against her. His plan fails due to a miscalculation. As Calufrax is not a real world, its mass is different. The Doctor, Romana, and the Mentiads destroy Zanak's bridge and Queen Xanxia, ending the devastation caused by Zanak's travels. The Doctor rigs the system to drop the crushed worlds into the center of Zanak where they'll expand and fill it, except for Calufrax. He sends it off into the time/space continuum where they pick it up later. 

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While in Paris, the Doctor and Romana sense the effects of time distortion. They observe the Countess Scarlioni using an alien device to scan the security systems housing Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa at the Louvre. The pair meet Inspector Duggan, who suspects the Countess to be involved in an ongoing art theft scheme with her husband, Count Scarlioni. Duggan joins the Doctor and Romana in investigating the Scarlioni mansion. There, they find equipment used by Dr. Kerensky to experiment in time, the source of the time distortions, as well as six exact copies of the Mona Lisa. The Doctor instructs Romana and Duggan to continue investigating here while he returns to the TARDIS to visit Leonardo, a good friend of his. After the Doctor leaves, the Count returns after successfully stealing the Mona Lisa, and captures Romana and Duggan. Learning that Romana is familiar with time, he kills Dr. Kerensky and forces Romana to continue the tests. In the past, the Doctor arrives at Leonardo's home but is captured by Captain Tancredi, who appears identical to Count Scarlioni. Tancredi reveals he is really Scaroth, a member of the Jagaroth race. They had arrived on Earth 400 million years ago, but due to an explosion in their craft, all of the others died and his own body was fragmented across time. Collectively, the fragments of Scaroth have manipulated humanity so that by the 20th century, they will have technology that will enable him to go back in time to stop the explosion. Tancredi is currently employing Leonardo to create copies of the Mona Lisa as to finance Scarlioni's work. After Tancredi leaves, the Doctor knocks out his captor, marks the blank canvases with a felt-tip pen with the phrase, "This is a fake", and leaves a message to Leonardo to paint over his writing before returning to the present. The Doctor learns Scaroth threatens to destroy Paris if Romana does not continue the work. He tries to gain the Countess' help by showing the Count's true form, but he kills her. Romana completes the adjustments, and Scaroth uses it to travel to the past. The Doctor quickly ushers Romana and Duggan to the TARDIS, fearing that the ship's explosion was the spark that started the development of life on Earth, and if Scaroth should prevent it, humanity would not come about. They arrive in time for Duggan to knock Scaroth out before he can reach the ship. Scaroth returns to present Earth, where he is discovered in his alien form by his bodyguard Hermann, and they get into a fight which damages the equipment and sets the mansion on fire. Hermann escapes, but Scaroth burns to death. By the time the Doctor, Romana and Duggan arrive, the original Mona Lisa and 5 of the 6 copies have been burned in the fire, but the last copy remains safe. Duggan argues that they've lost an invaluable piece of art, but the Doctor assures him that the copy, still done by Leonardo's hand, will go unnoticed, and that art is worthless if its monetary value is all that matters. The Doctor and Romana say goodbye to Duggan at the Eiffel Tower . 

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In the Pride Lands of Africa, a pride of lions rule over the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa's and Queen Sarabi's newborn son, Simba, is presented to the gathering animals by Rafiki the mandrill, the kingdom's shaman and advisor. Mufasa's younger brother, Scar, covets the throne and is angered by the birth of the new prince, as it means he is no longer first in line. This is the subject of an argument with first Mufasa's majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, and then Mufasa himself. A few years later, Mufasa shows a young Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of kingship and the "circle of life", which connects all living things. Meanwhile, Scar plots to eliminate Mufasa and Simba, so that he may become king. Scar tricks Simba and his best friend Nala, to whom Simba is betrothed, into exploring a forbidden elephants' graveyard by tricking Zazu. The cubs are soon attacked by three spotted hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, who are in league with Scar, but Mufasa intervenes and rescues the cubs. Though upset with Simba, Mufasa forgives him and explains that the great kings of the past watch over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba. Scar sets a trap for his brother and nephew by luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him into the gorge. Scar himself does not interfere to save Simba, but instead informs Mufasa of Simba's peril, knowing that the king will rush to save his son. Mufasa saves Simba, but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge's edge. Scar refuses to help Mufasa, instead throwing him to his death. Scar then convinces Simba that the tragedy was Simba's own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom and never return. He orders the hyenas to kill the cub, but Simba escapes. Scar tells the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede and steps forward as the new king, allowing his three hyena minions and the rest of their large pack to live in the Pride Lands. Simba collapses in a desert and is attacked by vultures, but Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, who are fellow outcasts, chase away the vultures and bring him to the safety of a jungle. Simba grows up in the jungle with his two new friends, living a carefree life under the motto "hakuna matata" ("no worries" in Swahili). One day, Simba, now a young adult, rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him that Pride Lands have become a drought- stricken wasteland under Scar's reign. Feeling guilty over his father's death, Simba refuses and storms off. He then encounters Rafiki, who tells him that Mufasa's spirit lives on in Simba. Simba is visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him that he must take his rightful place as king. Realizing that he can no longer run from his past, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands. Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who had just struck Sarabi. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa's death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba pins Scar to the ground and forces him to reveal the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fend off the hyenas while Scar, attempting to escape, is cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame the hyenas for his actions; Simba spares his life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever. Scar refuses and attacks his nephew, but Simba manages to toss him from the top of the rock after a brief fight. Scar survives the fall but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them. Afterward, Simba takes over the kingship as rain begins to fall. He also makes Nala his queen. Later, with Pride Rock restored to its usual state, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life. 

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A team of outlaw mercenaries, led by the character Rorian are hired to destroy all of the illegally bio-engineered organisms on the planet Graveyard via means of a fusion induced thermonuclear explosion. Which is to be achieved by collecting four fusion power core rings, and depositing them in the corresponding field coil generator located at Graveyard Central Spaceport. The secondary mission objective is to reconnoitre ground installations.http://hol.abime.net/hol_pic.php?id=YldGdWRXRnNMekEzTURFdE1EZ3dNQzgzTVRWZmJXRnVkV0ZzTVM1d1pHWT02ZVY0U0dseVpXUWdSM1Z1Y3lBdElFZGhiV1VnYldGdWRXRnNJRzZ3TVE9PTZlVjQ2ZVY0NmVWNGJXRnVkV0ZzTHpBM01ERXRNRGd3TUM4M01UVmZiV0Z1ZFdGc01TNW5hV1k9NmVWNE16SXc2ZVY0U1cxaFoyVk5ZV2RwWTJzPQ

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The action of the film starts with Colonel Dodge (Henry O'Neill) arriving on the first train and subsequently opening the new railroad line that links Dodge City with the rest of the world. A few years later, Dodge City has turned into the "longhorn cattle center of the world and wide-open Babylon of the American frontier, packed with settlers, thieves and gunmen—the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing". In particular, it is Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot) and his gang who kill, steal, cheat and, generally, control life in Dodge City without ever being brought to justice. Any new sheriff, sworn into office in Dodge, is quickly driven out of town by Surrett and his cronies. Colonel Dodge's friend Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn), a lone Irish cowboy who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to Dodge City, is now on his way to the town leading a trek of settlers from the East coast. At Hatton's side are his old companions Rusty (Alan Hale) and Tex (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), who are prepared to stay with him through thick and thin. Among the settlers are beautiful Abbie Irving (Olivia de Havilland) and her irresponsible brother Lee (William Lundigan), who, drunk, causes a stampede (which eventually kills him) and is shot by Hatton in self-defense. When the group arrive in Dodge City, Hatton is confronted with the full extent of the anarchy which is dictating everyday life there. Asked by anxious citizens—Abbie's uncle, Dr. Irving (Henry Travers) among them—to be the new sheriff, Hatton politely declines, saying he is not cut out for this kind of job. Hatton changes his mind when, during a school outing, a young boy, Harry Cole is inadvertently killed by Surrett and his men. The new sheriff and his deputies—Rusty and Tex among them of course—have a hard time fighting the criminals. Regardless, all in all, Hatton was quite capable of his new job and was off to a good start cleaning up the town. Meanwhile, Hatton, Abbie and the likable newspaperman Joe Clemens (Frank McHugh) uncover enough evidence of Surrett's shady dealings to stand a chance in court. Before Joe could publish a story, one of Surrett's thugs, Yancey (Victor Jory) shoots the editor in the back. The only witness who can put Surrett behind bars now is Abbie whom Hatton, out of love for her, arranges to leave town for safety until further notice. When Yancey is in jail for Joe's killing, Hatton has to protect him against the furious men outside who, not caring for Yancey's right to a fair trial, want to take the law into their own hands and lynch him right then and there. Intending to ensure that Yancey deserves a fair trial, Hatton and Rusty were able to manage to smuggle him out of town in a hearse to the train station where a train (which Abbie happens to be on) bound for Wichita was just about to leave. However, Surrett and his gang were waiting and sneak on board to try and spring Yancey. A gunfight then ensues and inadvertently causes a fire in the baggage car. Fearing for Hatton's life, Abbie rushes to the baggage car to warn him of the danger. Using her as a shield, Surrett orders Hatton and Rusty to release Yancey immediately. Afterwards, Surrett locks Hatton, Abbie and Rusty in the burning car. After the three manage to escape from the car, Hatton and Rusty kill Surrett and his gang who were trying to make a getaway. In the end, Hatton succeeds in both overwhelming and catching Surrett's gang and winning Abbie's heart. Everything has been prepared for a quiet family life in newly civilized Dodge City, but Hatton is asked by Colonel Dodge to clean up Virginia City, Nevada, another railroad town more dangerous than Dodge City had ever been. Understanding how much Hatton is needed to settle the West, a loving Abbie heartily suggests she and her new husband join the next wagon train for their new life together and Col. Dodge states that Hatton has married the right woman. 

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The series opens in the wake of a general election in which the incumbent government has been defeated by the opposition party, to which Jim Hacker MP belongs. His party affiliation is never stated, and his party emblem is clearly neither Conservative nor Labour. The Prime Minister offers Hacker the position of Minister of Administrative Affairs, which he accepts. Hacker goes to his department and meets his Permanent Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, and his Principal Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley. While Appleby is outwardly deferential towards the new minister, he is prepared to defend the status quo at all costs. Woolley is sympathetic towards Hacker but as Appleby reminds him, Woolley's civil service superiors, including Appleby, will have much to say about the course of his future career (i.e., assessments, promotions, pay increases), while ministers do not usually stay long in one department and have no say in civil service staffing recommendations. Many of the episodes revolve around proposals backed by Hacker but frustrated by Appleby, who uses a range of clever stratagems to defeat ministerial proposals while seeming to support them. Other episodes revolve around proposals promoted by Appleby but rejected by Hacker, which Appleby attempts by all means necessary to persuade Hacker to accept. They do occasionally join forces in order to achieve a common goal, such as preventing the closure of their department or dealing with a diplomatic incident. As the series revolves around the inner workings of central government, most of the scenes take place in private locations, such as offices and exclusive members' clubs. Lynn said that "there was not a single scene set in the House of Commons because government does not take place in the House of Commons. Some politics and much theatre takes place there. Government happens in private. As in all public performances, the real work is done in rehearsal, behind closed doors. Then the public and the House are shown what the government wishes them to see." However, the episode "The Compassionate Society" does feature an audio recording of Yesterday in Parliament in which Hacker speaks in the House of Commons, and other episodes include scenes in the Foreign Secretary's House of Commons office ("The Writing on the Wall") and a Committee room ("A Question of Loyalty"). At the time of the making of the series, television cameras were not allowed in the House of Commons and had only recently been introduced into the House of Lords, so it was not unusual to a British audience to have no scenes from there. 

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Operation Market Garden envisions 35,000 men being flown from air bases in England and dropped behind enemy lines in the Netherlands. Two divisions of US paratroopers, the 82nd and 101st Airborne, are responsible for securing the road and bridges as far as Nijmegen. A British division, the 1st Airborne, under Major-General Roy Urquhart, is to land near Arnhem and hold both sides of the bridge there, backed by a brigade of Polish paratroopers under General Stanisław Sosabowski. XXX Armoured Corps are to push up the road over the bridges captured by the American paratroopers and reach Arnhem two days after the drop. The British are to land using gliders near Arnhem. When General Urquhart briefs his officers, some of them are surprised they are going to attempt a landing so far from the bridge. The consensus among the British top brass is that resistance will consist entirely of "Hitler Youth or old men on bicycles". Although reconnaissance photos show German tanks at Arnhem, General Browning dismisses them and also ignores reports from the Dutch underground. He does not want to be the one to tell Field Marshal Montgomery of any doubts since many previous airborne operations had been cancelled. Although British officers note that the portable radios are not likely to work for the long distance from the drop zone to the Arnhem Bridge, they choose not to convey their concerns up a chain of command intent on silencing all doubt. Speed is the vital factor. Arnhem's is the crucial bridge, the last means of escape for the German forces in the Netherlands and an excellent route to Germany for Allied forces. The road to it, however, is only a single highway linking the various key bridges – trucks and tanks have to squeeze to the shoulder to pass. The road is also elevated, causing anything moving on the road to stand out. The airborne drops catch the Germans by surprise and there is little resistance. Most of the men come down safely and assemble quickly, but the Son bridge is blown up by the Germans just before the 101st Airborne secures it. Then, soon after landing, troubles beset Urquhart's division. Many of the Jeeps either do not arrive by their gliders at all or are shot up in an ambush. Their radio sets are also useless. XXX Corps' progress to relieve them is slowed by German resistance, the narrowness of the highway and the need to construct a Bailey bridge to replace the one destroyed at Son. They are then halted at Nijmegen. There, soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division perform a dangerous daylight river crossing in flimsy canvas-and-wood assault boats and the Nijmegen bridge is captured, but XXX Corps has to wait several hours for infantry to secure the town. The Germans close in on the isolated British paratroops occupying part of Arnhem at the bridge, although armored attacks are repelled. Urquhart had been separated from his men and the supply drop zones overrun by the Germans. Finally, Sosabowski's troops, held up by fog in England, enter the battle too late and are unable to reinforce the British. The Germans allow a brief ceasefire in order for the Allies to evacuate injured from Arnhem. After days of house-to- house fighting, pitted against crack SS infantry and panzers, the outgunned troops are captured or forced to withdraw to Oosterbeek. Urquhart receives orders to retreat, as the other Allied commanders blame the various circumstances on their failure to provide the needed support: the losses in Nijmegen, the narrow road, the fog. Arnhem itself is indiscriminately razed in the fighting. Urquhart escapes the battle zone with fewer than a fifth of his original ten thousand crack troops; those who were too badly injured to flee stay behind and cover the withdrawal. On arriving at British headquarters, Urquhart confronts Browning about his personal sentiments regarding the operation: does he think it went as well as was being claimed by Montgomery? Browning's reply contradicts his earlier optimism: "Well, as you know, I've always thought that we tried to go a bridge too far." In the film's final scene, Kate ter Horst (Liv Ullmann), whose elegant and beautifully furnished home was used as an overflow hospital by the British, abandons the mostly destroyed house. Passing through the front yard, now converted to a graveyard for fallen troops, she and her children trek along the high riverbank, with her father, an elderly doctor, pulling a few salvaged possessions in a cart, while wounded British troops quietly sing Abide with Me as they wait to be taken prisoner. 

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Maria Owens, a young witch, is exiled to Maria's Island in Massachusetts with her unborn child for escaping her execution. When her lover does not come to rescue her, heartbroken, she desperately casts a spell upon herself to stop falling in love, only to die soon after. The spell twists and becomes a curse for several generations: men loved by Owens women are doomed to die an untimely death. In the present day, Gillian and Sally Owens, two descendants of the Owens family, are taken in by their aunts Frances and Jet after the death of their parents (due to the curse coming true: their father dies an untimely death, and their mother dies of heartbreak). Sally is the more gifted of the two, while Gillian's talents are more in charm and persuasion, and have been subject to ridicule during their youth. After witnessing their aunts cast a spell on a man for a woman who seems obsessed with having his love, Gillian decides she wants to fall in love and Sally casts a true love spell to protect herself from ever falling in love. Years later, on the eve of Gillian's departure for Los Angeles, the sisters make a blood pact on Gillian's insistence. They promise to meet again in the future and die together as old ladies. In the intervening years, Sally meets and marries Michael, a local apple salesman. The couple has two daughters, Kylie and Antonia, and make plans to open a botanical shop. One morning, Sally wakes to the sound of the death beetle and knows Michael will die. Desperate, she rips apart the floorboards to find the insect. However, Michael is hit by a truck and dies. Sally and her daughters return to the Owens home to live with the aunts, and Sally learns that the aunts cast a spell so she could fall in love. Sally decides that she and her daughters will not perform magic. As Gillian begins a relationship with Jimmy Angelov in Orlando, Sally is devastated by her husband's death. Gillian feels that Sally needs her and drugs Jimmy using belladonna to return to Massachusetts. She stays for one night, disappearing in the morning. Gillian calls the Owens household after Jimmy becomes abusive and Sally rushes to rescue her, but the sisters are ambushed and kidnapped. Sally puts some of her sister's belladonna into Jimmy's tequila, inadvertently killing him. The sisters resurrect him using the forbidden spell from their aunts' book of spells, but Jimmy attempts to kill Gillian after being revived. Sally kills him again, and the sisters bury his remains in their home's garden. Jimmy starts to haunt the gardens, and the aunts leave, leaving Kylie and Antonia with protection spells and a message to their mother and aunt to "clean up their own mess." State investigator Gary Hallett arrives from Tucson, Arizona in search of Jimmy, who is also a serial killer. Spending time with the sisters around town, he hears gossip about their witchcraft, which they admit to. As Gary begins to suspect Sally, Gillian, Kylie and Antonia create a potion to banish Gary; however, the girls realize he is the one described in Sally's true love spell, and throw the potion in the sea. Later, Sally has Gary record her testimony and sees the letter she had once written Gillian, and realizes he must have read it more times than he had let on. Unable to deny their feelings for each other, they kiss and Sally realizes that he was there because of the spell she cast years earlier. Sally discovers that Jimmy's spirit has possessed Gillian's body and Gary sees Jimmy's spirit emerge. Jimmy attempts to possess Gary, only to be hurt by his silver star-shaped badge and is temporarily exiled. Later, Sally tells Gary that he is there because of her spell and the feelings they have for each other are not real. Gary replies that curses are only true if one believes in them and reveals that he also wished for her, before returning to Tucson. Jimmy possesses Gillian again and attempts to kill Sally, but Frances and Jet return and offer a way to exorcise Jimmy and save Gillian. Sally, realizing she must embrace magic to save her sister, asks the aid of the townswomen and they form a coven to exorcise Jimmy's spirit. Sally makes them stop when she sees that the effort might kill Gillian. Getting inside the circle, Sally and the townswomen reenact her oath with Gillian. They are able to break the Owens curse, exorcising Jimmy's spirit and allowing the coven to exile him permanently. After leaving for Tucson, Gary clears the sisters of any suspicion of wrongdoing in Jimmy's case and decides to return to Massachusetts to be with Sally. The Owens women celebrate All Hallow's Eve dressed up in witch costumes, and are embraced and welcomed by the townsfolk. 

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Sung Tse-Ho (Ti Lung) works for the Triad, whose principal operation is printing and distributing counterfeit US bank notes. Ho is a respected member of the organisation and is entrusted with the most important transactions. Mark Lee (Chow Yun-Fat), another high-ranking member of the group, is his best friend and partner in crime. Ho is close to his younger brother, Kit (Leslie Cheung), who is training to become a police officer. Ho keeps his criminal life secret from his brother and encourages Kit's career choice. Ho's father is aware of Ho's criminal activities and appeals to him to go straight. Ho agrees, deciding that his next deal in Taiwan will be his last one before leaving the Triad. Shing (Waise Lee), a new member, is sent along as an apprentice. The deal turns out to be a trap by the Taiwanese gang. A shootout ensues in which Ho and Shing flee, pursued by local law enforcement. Meanwhile, a gang member attempts to kidnap Ho's father to ensure Ho's silence if he is caught by police; in the ensuing fight also involving Kit and his girlfriend, Ho's father is killed. Just before dying, he pleads with Kit to forgive his brother. Ho eventually surrenders to the police in order to buy time for Shing to escape. After learning of Ho's capture, Mark finds and kills the Taiwanese gang leader and his bodyguards. However, Mark's leg is shot in the gunfight, leaving him crippled. Ho is released from prison three years later. Remorseful and determined to start a new life, he finds work as a driver for a taxi company, run by another ex-con named Ken. Ho spots Mark during one of his shifts; in contrast to the contents of Mark's letters to him in prison, he realises that Mark has been reduced to an errand boy for Shing (who is the new leader of the Triad). During an emotional reunion, Mark asks Ho to confront Shing and reclaim their positions in the organisation, but Ho refuses. Ho seeks Kit, now a police officer, out and attempts to reconcile with him, but is disowned by Kit who sees Ho as a criminal and responsible for their father's death. Additionally, Kit is resentful that his familial tie to Ho is preventing him from professional advancement. In an effort to prove himself to his superiors and further distance himself from his brother's criminal past, Kit becomes obsessed with bringing down Shing's criminal group, despite Ho's warnings to stay away from the dangerous case. Shing finds Ho and presses him to come back to his organisation, offering to reinstate Mark if he returns. Ho flatly refuses. Consequently, Shing begins harassing Ho in order to get him to return, including luring Kit into a trap and injuring Kit, attacking Ho's co-workers, and having Mark beaten severely. Ho is dismayed but is still hesitant to take action, but an impassioned speech by Mark finally convinces Ho to join Mark in attacking Shing. Mark steals a computer tape containing printing plate data from the counterfeiting business and wins a shootout with gang members, with Ho arriving to aid Mark's escape. The film then reveals that it was Shing who betrayed Ho three years ago in Taiwan. Ho and Mark use the tape to blackmail Shing in exchange for money and an escape boat. However, Ho ensures that the tape is passed to Kit to hand to the police. Using Shing as a hostage, Ho and Mark take the money to a pier, where Shing's men await. There, Ho persuades Mark to escape by himself in the boat. After Mark leaves, Kit arrives on the scene intending to make an arrest where he is captured by Shing's men. A deal is made to exchange Shing for Kit, but the trade explodes into a wild shootout. Ho and Kit are wounded, but Mark returns with guns blazing out of loyalty to Ho. After Ho, Kit and Mark kill many of Shing's men, Mark berates Kit, telling him that Ho's actions had atoned for whatever wrongdoings he had done in the past. Mark is then killed by Shing. As the police approach, Shing mocks Ho (who has run out of ammunition), stating that he will surrender, but his money and power will ensure his swift release. Kit, finally seeing eye to eye with his brother, hands Ho a revolver, with which Ho kills Shing. Immediately afterwards, Ho handcuffs himself to Kit, expressing his desire for redemption and his admiration that Kit always walked the right path. The film ends with the reconciled brothers walking together towards the gathered crowd of police. 

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In September 1968, master thief Arsène Lupin III and his colleague, Daisuke Jigen, flee the Monte Carlo Casino with huge quantities of stolen money. They escape in Lupin's Fiat 500 F, but Lupin recognizes the bills as distinctively high-quality counterfeits. Deciding to seek out the source, they head to the Grand Duchy of Cagliostro, the alleged wellspring of the counterfeits. Shortly after arriving, they rescue a young woman being pursued by a gang of thugs, with her and Lupin falling off a cliff while escaping. Lupin is knocked unconscious, and the woman captured, but she leaves him a signet ring. Lupin recognizes the woman as Clarisse, the princess of Cagliostro, who will soon be married to Count Cagliostro, the country's regent. The Count's arranged marriage will cement his power and recover the fabled ancient treasure of Cagliostro, for which he needs both his and Clarisse's ancestral rings. A squad of assassins attack Lupin and Jigen at their inn but fail to kill them or recover the ring. Lupin leaves his calling card on the back of Jodot, the Count's butler and chief assassin, announcing he is going to steal Clarisse. Lupin summons Goemon Ishikawa XIII to aid their quest to rescue the princess and tips off his longtime pursuer, Inspector Koichi Zenigata, to his whereabouts to provide a distraction. Zenigata's presence and a party give Lupin enough time to sneak into the castle. There he finds his on-off lover, Fujiko Mine, posing as Clarisse's lady-in-waiting, who tells him where the princess is being held. Lupin makes his way to Clarisse and returns her ring, vowing to help her to escape. Before he can act, the Count drops Lupin down a trapdoor into the castle's catacombs, as Lupin had planned. Lupin mocks the Count through the ring he gave to Clarisse – a fake containing a transmitter – and the Count sends three assassins to retrieve the real ring. Lupin encounters Zenigata, who was accidentally dropped down earlier, and they form a pact to help each other escape. After overpowering the assassins, they escape into a room full of printing presses — the source of the counterfeits. Zenigata wants to collect evidence, but Lupin points out they must escape the castle first. They start a fire as a distraction and steal the Count's autogyro. However, as they attempt to rescue Clarisse, Lupin is shot. Clarisse offers the ring to the Count in exchange for Lupin's life. After securing the ring, the Count's attempt at betrayal is foiled when Fujiko's actions allow her, Lupin, and Zenigata to flee. As Lupin recovers from his injuries, Zenigata attempts to convince his superiors at Interpol to prosecute the Count for counterfeiting, but fearing political repercussions, they halt the investigation and remove him from the case. Meanwhile, Lupin intends to stop the wedding and rescue the princess. He also reveals his reasons for rescuing Clarisse to Jigen, Goemon and her family's former gardener — as a young girl, she had saved his life during his unsuccessful first attempt to find the treasure of Cagliostro Castle ten years earlier. Fujiko tips off Lupin on a way to sneak into the castle, and forms a plan with Zenigata to publicly reveal the counterfeiting operation under the cover of pursuing Lupin. The wedding with a drugged Clarisse appears to go as planned, until Lupin disrupts the ceremony and, despite the Count's precautions, makes off with both Clarisse and the Count's rings. Meanwhile, Zenigata and his squadron arrive in the chaos, and the inspector leads Fujiko, posing as a television reporter, to the Count's counterfeiting facility to expose the operation to the world. The Count pursues Lupin and Clarisse to the face of the castle's clock tower. Lupin is forced to surrender the rings to save Clarisse, and they are both knocked into the lake surrounding the tower. After using the rings to reveal the secret of Cagliostro, the Count is killed by the mechanism unveiling the treasure. Lupin and Clarisse watch as the lake around the castle drains to reveal exquisite ancient Roman ruins — the true treasure of Cagliostro. Lupin and his friends bid farewell to Clarisse, now the rightful ruler of Cagliostro. With Zenigata pursuing them again (for the crime of "stealing Clarisse's heart") and Fujiko fleeing with the plates from counterfeit printing presses, Lupin and the gang drive out of Cagliostro, with the police close behind them. 

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Karen Blixen recalls her past life in Africa where she moved in 1913 as an unmarried wealthy Danish woman. After having been being spurned by her Swedish nobleman lover, she asks his brother Baron Bror Blixen to get married out of mutual convenience, and they move to the vicinity of Nairobi, British East Africa. Using her funds, he is to set up a cattle ranch, with her joining him a few months later, at which time they will marry. En route to Nairobi, her train is hailed by a big-game hunter by the name of Denys Finch Hatton who knows her fiancé and entrusts his haul of ivory to her. She is greeted at the train station by Farah, the Somali headman hired by Bror, who is nowhere to be found. She is taken to the recently founded Muthaiga Club. She enters the men-only bar to ask for her husband and, because of her gender, is asked to leave. Karen and Bror marry before the day is out, with her becoming Baroness Blixen. She then learns that Bror has changed their agreed- upon plan, and has spent her money on establishing a coffee farm. She quickly learns that the farm is at too high an elevation to offer much of a chance of success. She needs Bror's help in building and managing this farm, but his interest is more in guiding game hunting safaris than in farming and he refuses. Karen comes to love Africa and the African people, and is taken in by the breathtaking view of the nearby Ngong Hills and the Great Rift Valley beyond. Meanwhile, she looks after the Kikuyu people who are squatting on her land. Among other things, she establishes a school, looks after their medical needs, and arbitrates their disputes. She also tries to establish a formal European homelife on par with the other upper class colonists in the area. Meanwhile, she becomes friends with a young woman, Felicity, whose character is based on that of a young Beryl Markham. Eventually, Karen and Bror develops feelings for each other. But Bror continues to pursue other sexual relationships as their marriage was still based on convenience. As the First World War reaches East Africa, the colonists form a militia led by the colonial patriarch Lord Delamere, which includes Denys and Bror among their number. A military expedition sets out in search of the forces from the neighboring German colony of German East Africa. Responding to the militia's need for supplies, Karen leads a difficult expedition to find them and returns safely. Shortly after the end of the war, Denys acquires a Gipsy Moth biplane and often takes Karen flying. In the evenings during his visits she makes up exotic and imaginative stories to entertain him. Karen discovers that Bror has given her syphilis. As she is unable to receive proper treatment in Nairobi, she returns to Denmark for treatment and recuperation and Bror agrees to manage the farm while she is away. When she returns, now unable to bear children, Bror resumes his safari work and they begin to live separately. The relationship between Karen and Denys develops, and he comes to live with her. Karen and Bror get a divorce on the grounds of Bror's infidelity. When Karen learns that Denys has taken one of her female acquaintances on a private safari, Karen comes to realize that Denys does not share her desire for a monogamous, domestic relationship. He assures her that when he is with her he wants to be with her, and states that a marriage is immaterial to their relationship. Eventually, this drives them apart and, refusing to be tied down, he moves out. The farm eventually yields a good harvest, but a fire destroys much of the farm and factory, forcing her to sell out. She prepares for her departure from Kenya to Denmark by appealing to the incoming governor to provide land for her Kĩkũyũ workers to allow them to stay together, and by selling most of her remaining possessions at a rummage sale. Denys visits the now-empty house and Karen comments that the house should have been so all along and, as with her other efforts, the returning of things to their natural state is as it should be. Denys says that he was just getting used to her things. As he is about to depart for a safari scouting trip in his airplane, they agree that the following Friday he will return and fly her to Mombasa; with Karen then continuing on to Denmark. Friday comes and Denys does not appear. Bror then arrives to tell her that Denys' biplane has crashed and burned in Tsavo. During Denys' funeral Karen recites an excerpt of a poem by A. E. Housman about a lauded athlete dying young who, as with Denys, is not fated to decline into old age. Later, as she is about to depart, she goes to the Muthaiga Club to complete arrangements for forwarding any mail. The members, who have come to admire her, invite her into the men-only bar for a toast. At the train station, she says goodbye to Farah, then turns back to ask him to say her name so she can hear his voice one last time. Karen later became a published author under the pen name Isak Dinesen. Among her work is the memoir about her experiences in Africa, Out of Africa, the first line from which is used to introduce this film. She was never to return to Africa. 

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Ahmad ibn Fadlan is a court poet to the Caliph of Baghdad, until his amorous encounter with the wife of an influential noble gets him exiled as an "ambassador" to the Volga Bulgars. Traveling with his father's old friend, Melchisidek, his caravan is saved from Tatar raiders by the appearance of Norsemen. Taking refuge at their settlement on the Volga river, communications are established through Melchisidek and Herger, a Norseman who speaks Latin. From Herger, the two learn that the celebration being held by the Northmen is in fact a funeral for their recently deceased king. Herger also introduces them to one of the king's sons, Buliwyf. Ahmad and Melchisidek then witness a fight in which Buliwyf kills his brother in self defense, which establishes Buliwyf as heir apparent, followed by the Viking funeral of their dead king, cremated together with a young woman who agreed to accompany him to Valhalla. The next day, a young prince named Wulfgar enters the camp requesting Buliwyf's aid: his father's kingdom in the far north is under attack from an ancient evil so frightening that even the bravest warriors dare not name it. The "angel of death", a völva (wisewoman) determines the mission will be successful if thirteen warriors go to face this danger—but the thirteenth must not be a Norseman. Ahmad is recruited against his will. Ahmad learns Norse during their journey by listening intently to his companions' conversations. He is looked down upon by the huge Norsemen, who mock his physical weakness and his small Arabian horse, but he earns a measure of respect by his fast learning of their language, his horsemanship, ingenuity, and ability to write. Reaching King Hrothgar's kingdom, they confirm that their foe is indeed the ancient "Wendol", fiends who come with the mist to kill and take human heads. While the group searches through a raided cabin they find a Venus figurine, said to represent the "Mother of the Wendol". On their first night two of their number—Hyglak and Ragnar—are killed. In a string of clashes, Buliwyf's band establishes that the Wendol are humanoid cannibals who appear as, live like, and identify with bears. Their numbers dwindling, having also lost Skeld, Halga, Roneth and Rethel, and their position all but indefensible, they consult an ancient völva of the village. She tells them to track the Wendol to their lair and destroy their leaders, the "Mother of the Wendol" and their Warlord who wears "the horns of power". Buliwyf and the remaining warriors infiltrate the Wendol cave-complex and kill the Mother, but not before Buliwyf is scratched deeply across the shoulder by her poisoned "fingernail claw". The remaining warriors return to the village (losing Helfdane who opts to stay behind and fight) and prepare for a final battle they do not expect to survive. Buliwyf staggers outside before the fight and inspires the warriors with a Viking prayer for the honored dead who will enter Valhalla. Buliwyf succeeds in killing the Wendol warlord, causing their defeat, before succumbing to the poison. Ahmad witnesses Buliwyf's royal funeral before returning to his homeland, grateful to the Norsemen for helping him to "become a man and a useful servant of God". He is seen at the movie's end writing down the tale of his time with them. 

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Told from the point of view of Professor Bill Reynolds, a scholar in the (formerly) fictitious discipline of 'micropaleontology', this novel is set in the 24th and 25th Centuries, when the solar system has been colonised. Reynolds is writing a thesis on fame and in his research discovers a dissertation on comedy submitted by Carlton, a robotic secretary for two stand-up comedians on an interplanetary comedy circuit. Most of the action in the novel follows this trio's adventures during the time when Reynolds believes Carlton was developing his theories. During this time, Carlton and his owners, Alex Muscroft and Lewis Ashby get caught up in a series of disasters including loss of work, parental responsibility and close scrapes with terrorists, the law, other entertainers, and a refugee crisis. Carlton seeks to understand the nature of comedy and human laughter, and attempts to describe humor as a mathematical formula. 

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Mel Coplin and his wife, Nancy, live in New York, near Mel's neurotic, Jewish, adoptive parents, Ed and Pearl Coplin. Mel and Nancy have just had their first child, and Mel won't decide on a name for their son until he can discover the identity of his biological parents. After an adoption agency employee locates his biological mother's name in a database, Mel decides to meet her personally. Tina, the sexy but highly incompetent adoption agency employee, decides to accompany Mel, Nancy, and the newborn on a trip to San Diego to meet Mel's biological mother. The trip, of course, does not go as planned, and ends up becoming a tour of the United States. First, Mel is introduced to Valerie, a blond Scandinavian woman with Confederate roots whose twin daughters are at least six inches taller than Mel. They quickly realize that Valerie is not Mel's biological mother, and Tina scrambles to get the correct information from the agency database. Meanwhile, Nancy becomes jealous as Tina and Mel begin to flirt. Next, the group heads to Battle Creek, Michigan with the hope of meeting the man whose name appears as the person who delivered infant Mel to the adoption agency. The man, Fritz Boudreau, turns out to be a trucker with a violent streak. However, when he discovers that Mel might be his son, he becomes instantly friendly and lets Mel drive his semi-trailer truck, which Mel immediately crashes into a Post Office building. This leads to a run-in with two ATF agents, Tony and Paul, who are gay and in a relationship with each other. It is discovered that Tony and Nancy went to high school together. Charges are dismissed, and Fritz Boudreau tells Mel that he is not Mel's father, but only handled Mel's adoption because Mel's biological parents were indisposed. Tina locates the current address of Mel's biological parents, which turns out to be in rural New Mexico. Tony and Paul surprise everyone by deciding to tag along on the trip. While Mel and Tina become close, Nancy finds herself flirting with Tony, who returns the compliment, causing friction. The trip through rural New Mexico is fraught with more problems. At last the whole crowd descends on the front porch of Mel's true biological parents, Richard and Mary Schlichting. They are asked to stay the night. While Richard and Mary are more than welcoming, Mel's biological brother Lonnie is overly rude and jealous. It is during dinner that Mel discovers that Richard and Mary had to let Mel be adopted because they were in jail for making and distributing LSD in the late 1960s. Not only that, but Richard and Mary continue to manufacture LSD, as becomes apparent when Lonnie, in an attempt to dose Mel with acid at dinner, accidentally doses Paul, the ATF agent. In his drugged state, Paul tries to arrest Richard and Mary, but Lonnie knocks him out with a frying pan. They attempt to escape and decide to take Mel's car, hiding their supply of acid in the trunk. Mel's adoptive parents arrive but then change their minds and decide to leave, taking the wrong car. When they change their minds again and make a blind U-turn, the two families crash. Mel's adoptive parents are arrested while his biological parents escape to Mexico. Not realizing what has happened, Mel recounts the stories from dinner to Nancy and they agree to name the baby Garcia. The next day Paul explains the situation and is able to get Mel's parents released, and they are happy and reassured to hear Mel call them his parents. A montage of their relationships continues over the credits. They all still have their troubles but Mel and Nancy are happy together. 

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Danielewski in 2006 House of Leaves begins with a first-person narrative by Johnny Truant, a Los Angeles tattoo parlor employee and professed unreliable narrator. Truant is searching for a new apartment when his friend Lude tells him about the apartment of the recently deceased Zampanò, a blind, elderly man who lived in Lude's apartment building. In Zampanò's apartment, Truant discovers a manuscript written by Zampanò that turns out to be an academic study of a documentary film called The Navidson Record, though Truant says he can find no evidence that the film or its subjects ever existed. The rest of the novel incorporates several narratives, including Zampanò's report on the (possibly fictional) film; Truant's autobiographical interjections; a small transcript of part of the film from Navidson's brother, Tom; a small transcript of interviews of many people regarding The Navidson Record by Navidson's partner, Karen; and occasional brief notes by unidentified editors, all woven together by a mass of footnotes. There is also another narrator, Truant's mother, whose voice is presented through a self-contained set of letters titled The Whalestoe Letters. Each narrator's text is printed in a distinct font, making it easier for the reader to follow the occasionally challenging format of the novel (Truant in Courier New in the footnotes, and the main narrative in Times New Roman in the American version, the unnamed editors are in Bookman, and the letters from Johnny's mother are in Dante). 

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Mark DanielewskiPelafina writes these letters to Johnny from The Three Attic Whalestoe Institute, a mental institution where she has been residing for a number of years. While a number of these letters appear in House of Leaves, The Whalestoe Letters introduces a number of new letters which serve to more fully develop Pelafina's character as well as her relationship with Johnny. 

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Lauper plays Sylvia Pickel (pronounced with an emphasis on the "kel", as she points out), a trance-medium who has contact with a wisecracking spirit guide named Louise. She first began communicating with Louise after falling from a ladder at the age of twelve and remaining comatose for two weeks. Subsequently, Louise taught her astral projection while Sylvia was placed in special homes for being "different." At a study of psychics, she meets fellow psychic Nick Deezy (Goldblum), a psychometrist who can determine the history of events surrounding an object by touching it. Sylvia has a history of bad luck with men, and her overly flirtatious behavior turns off Nick right away. Sylvia comes home to her apartment one night to find Harry Buscafusco (Falk) lounging in her kitchen. He claims to want to hire her for $50,000 if she'll accompany him to Ecuador where his son has allegedly gone missing. Sylvia recruits Nick who is reluctant but also eager to leave his job as a museum curator where his special talents are abused like a circus act. Once the two get there, they initially set out to where Harry's son was last seen, only to have Nick's powers tell them that Harry is up to something. Harry confesses that what he is actually looking for is a lost city of gold up in the mountains and that his last partner, who discovered it, went insane. Nick angrily retreats back to the hotel followed by Sylvia who feels embarrassed over being fooled by yet another man. At the hotel Nick is attacked by a woman who tries to drug and then stab him, saying "You think you can just come here and take it away from us?" Convinced that there is something important, if dangerous, at work he agrees to trek back into the mountains to search for this lost city. The group makes a detour to visit Harry's former partner, who is in a vegetative state in the hospital. When Nick lays hands on him he receives a jolt of tremendous psychic energy; the former partner immediately dies. Unexpectedly, the three are set upon by Ingo Swedlin (Googy Gress), another psychic from their test group. He holds them at gunpoint and threatens to kill them, but Sylvia uses Louise to get in touch with his long lost mother and the group escapes. They begin their journey anew only to once again be confronted by Ingo and by Doctor Harrison Steele (Sands). Ingo throws a knife into Harry's back and kills him, and the other two are taken hostage. They are forced to lead the way to this alleged city of gold. Upon arriving, the group discovers an ancient pyramid shaped structure with mystical carvings. Sylvia translates them and they appear to reveal that the location was built by an ancient alien race who has embedded all of the psychic energy of the world into this pyramid. Using the translation Sylvia provided, Ingo attempts to decipher the secret to harnessing the energy, but before he can, Sylvia lays hands on the pyramid and allows the dangerous forces to flow through her. She kills their captors and is nearly killed herself, but survives. However, she permanently loses contact with her spirit guide Louise, who sacrifices her connection to Sylvia in order to save her and Nick in the process. The two return to their hotel, battered and bruised but thankful that they played a part in releasing a dangerous force. Later that night they reconvene in Sylvia's room and bring to fruition a romantic flirtation that has permeated the film. Before they can make love, however, Sylvia hits her head on the headboard and reveals that a spirit guide has re- entered her life. It is not Louise, however, but the ghost of Harry. 

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Struggling former child actor and now-adult screenwriter Monkey Zetterland is working on a historical screenplay based around the defunct Red Car subway of Los Angeles. He lives in a building owned by his neurotic mother Honor Zetterland, who is a famous soap opera star. Secretly hoping there is a future in acting for Monkey, she is trying to turn her other son, Brent Zetterland, a hairdresser, into a film star. Honor shows up at Monkey's house to borrow his epsom salts at the same time that his disagreeable girlfriend, Daphne, arrives. Sister, Grace Zetterland, arrives in tears to reveal that her lesbian girlfriend, Cindy, has gotten pregnant in an attempt to bring the two of them closer. Honor rents the basement apartment to Sascha and Sofie, a gay man and lesbian posing as husband and wife while publishing an underground newsletter that outs closeted homosexuals in the entertainment industry. As if this weren't enough, a creepy woman, Bella, shows up with a fan letter for Honor, and another kooky lady, Imogene, begins heavily, openly pursuing Monkey's attention. After a series of confrontations, Daphne moves out, and around the same time the family's absentee father, Mike, (who has frequently left home for long periods of time throughout their lives) surfaces in time for Thanksgiving. While everyone busies themselves with their personal issues, Grace discovers that Sascha and Sofie are in fact terrorists who intend to bomb a local insurance agency that is denying medical coverage to people with HIV and AIDS. Sofie comes up with a plan to send Grace into the agency with a bomb, which Grace and Sascha believe is set up to give Grace enough time to escape. It is not, and Grace dies in the explosion. This event pulls everyone out of their own selfish interests and forces them to re- examine their lives and the people around them. The patriarch of the family disappears again; Grace's lover and her baby are taken in by the family, and Monkey decides to let Imogene get closer to him. Then, just as things are starting to fall into place, Monkey comes home to find his apartment ransacked and his finally finished script stolen. It was his only copy. Later that evening, Bella, who left a fan letter for Honor arrives with Monkey's stolen script and a gun. She tries to shoot Honor, but hits the family dog instead. She is taken down, but the ensuing drama pulls the remaining emotional conflicts of the family into place. Honor accepts that Monkey is never going to become a famous actor. Instead of pushing him that way, she uses her connections to get his script produced, with his brother Brent as the star. 

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Scrooge, Donald and the nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie are off to find ancient sunken treasure from the time of the Trojan War, unaware that the Beagle Boys are spying on them. The Ducks find the legendary Trojan Horse, but all the while they are followed by an albatross, which serves as a spy for the Beagle Boys. 

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In 1984, Daniel LaRusso and his mother Lucille move from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda, Los Angeles, California. Their apartment's handyman is an eccentric, but kind and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi. Daniel befriends Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader, which draws the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence, a black belt and the top student from the "Cobra Kai" dojo, where he studies a vicious form of karate. Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang continually bully Daniel. On Halloween, after Daniel sprays water on Johnny with a hose, he and his gang pursue Daniel down the street and savagely beat him, until Mr. Miyagi intervenes and single- handedly defeats them with ease. Amazed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate. Miyagi declines but agrees to bring Daniel to the Cobra Kai dojo to resolve the conflict. They meet with the sensei, John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran who callously dismisses the peace offering. Miyagi then proposes that Daniel enter the All-Valley Karate Championships, where he can compete with Johnny and the other Cobra Kai students on equal terms, and requests that the bullying cease while Daniel trains. Kreese agrees to the terms but warns that if Daniel does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will continue for both Daniel and Miyagi. Daniel's training starts with days of menial chores that he believes only serve to make him Miyagi's unpaid employee. When he becomes frustrated, Miyagi demonstrates that repetition of these chores have helped him to learn defensive blocks through muscle memory. Their bond develops, and Miyagi opens up to Daniel about his life that includes the dual loss of his wife and son in childbirth at the Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where he received the Medal of Honor. Through Mr. Miyagi's teaching, Daniel learns not only karate, but also important life lessons such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel applies the life lessons that Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali. On Daniel's 16th birthday, Miyagi presents him with a Karate gi for the tournament and one of his own cars as birthday gifts. At the tournament, Daniel surprises everyone by reaching the semi-finals. Johnny advances to the finals, scoring three unanswered points against Darryl Vidal. Kreese instructs his second-best student, Bobby Brown, who is one of his more compassionate students and the least vicious of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, severely injuring Daniel and getting himself disqualified in the process. Daniel is taken to the locker room, where the physician determines that he cannot continue. However, Daniel believes that if he quits, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him. He convinces Miyagi to use a pain suppression technique to allow him to continue. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel returns to fight. The match is a seesaw battle, with neither able to break through the other's defense. The match is halted when Daniel uses a scissor-leg technique to trip Johnny, delivering a blow to the back of his head and giving Johnny a nosebleed. Kreese directs Johnny to sweep Daniel's injured leg – an unethical move. Johnny looks horrified at the order but reluctantly agrees. As the match resumes and the score is tied 2-2, Johnny seizes Daniel's leg and deals a vicious elbow, doing further damage. Daniel, standing with difficulty, assumes the "Crane" stance, a technique he observed Mr. Miyagi performing on a beach. Johnny lunges toward Daniel, who jumps and executes a front kick to Johnny's face, scoring the tournament-winning point. Johnny, having gained newfound respect for his nemesis, presents the trophy to Daniel himself, as Daniel is carried off by an enthusiastic crowd. 

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