Back to The Beatles

The Beatles are back with a new remastered edition of their complete opus. For once, this is no mere gimmick of the recording industry. The Beatles were studio wizards. In this new edition, the songs sound as fresh as ever but they are now revealed in their full complexity. Tracks that laid buried in the old recordings are now brought to the fore. Every musical line is sharply delineated, and wonderfully balanced. Some songs sound as good as new. This is pop music made to last, deceptively simple, seemingly effortless but, in fact, incredibly sophisticated.

Lisbeth Salander

I met Lisbeth Salander thanks to one of Vargas Llosa's monthly articles in El País. I had, of course, already seen her face staring at me from numerous book covers in different languages as the "girl this" and "the girl that" but, not being usually attracted to best sellers, had decided to give the Millenium trilogy a wide berth. Vargas Llosa's enthusiasm made me curious and, on a weekend abroad, I ventured to buy one of these airport paperbacks good for reading in the subway, as a cautious investment. Well, I am now midway through the second volume, totally hooked and taking just a brief interval to write about it. Like millions before me, I found that this is one of these books that you want to come home to and that you continue reading in the mechanical escalator after the morning train ride is over. Is it great literature or just another page turner? Probably somewhere in between ("it reads itself", said a friend of mine) but the web of intrigue woven by Stieg Larrson with the girl detective, the investigative journalist, corrupt financiers, sexual abuse, computer wizardry, murder mysteries and swedish contemporary mores is irresistible. Just try it...