A young man wearing an interesting T-shirt approached the floating book shop today on Bay Parkway. It had a famous TV catchphrase emblazoned on it: "I am not a prisoner -- I am a free man!" There was an additional pro-Ronald Reagan phrase on it, at least it seemed so. I didn't understand the tie in, which makes sense because the former phrase originates from what is probably the most debated series of all time, The Prisoner, which first ran on British TV in 1967. The plot is simple: an ex-secret agent finds himself on an island, where his attempts to escape are thwarted through 17 episodes. Its meaning and themes continue to be argued about to this day. The show's creator and star, Patrick McGoohan, passed away in 2009. He produced 14 of the episodes, directed five and wrote three. He first came to recognition in America during the spy craze of the early '60's, as star of Secret Agent, as it was titled stateside, which was much more successful than The Prisoner, shooting 47 episodes beginning in 1964. But it has not endured, nor has it spawned a sequel, as The Prisoner did, one starring heavyweights Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen, whose only buzz is how it pales compared to its predecessor. Anyone who tackles the original should prepare to be bedeviled. It is hard to follow. Any lapse in concentration leads to the land of the lost, which I visited frequently while viewing. Perhaps that is why it appeals to intellectuals. At IMDb, 6452 contributors have rated it 8.8 of ten, which is about as high an any work there gets. The sequel is rated 6.3. McGoohan was born in Astoria, Queens and died in California. His parents moved to Ireland when he was very young. Here is a quote attributed to him: "Mel [Gibson] will always be Mad Max, and me, I will always be a Number." And that number was six. "Ha, ha, ha, ha."
As for the young man in the T-shirt, when he squatted to take a close look at the books, I anticipated he would be attracted to three on philosophy and political thought. He bought two of them. My thanks, and also to the woman with the heavy islands accent who purchased three young adult books, and the young man who also bought three.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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