Very nice indeed.

Craig Oxbrow | August 19, 15:57 CET

Just listened to the interview on The Signal podcast and when reading this one I could just hear his big laugh. Nice find, Simon.

Lioness | August 19, 16:08 CET

Oh, nice warm fuzzies. And I spent enough time in Evansville and at U of E to feel comfy there.

I've become more and more intrigued by Book with each Firefly viewing. You can pick up on so many subtle hints to his unclear past if you look closely at him in each ep. There are many more than the obvious hints on the surface.

WhoIsOmega? | August 19, 16:09 CET

Any examples come to mind, April? I've seen Firefly 5-6 times now, and I'm eager to hear any stuff I may have missed :)

[wcip]Angel | August 19, 16:20 CET

Well, it might just be me because I'm not always especially observant. There are obvious hints such as the scene with his ident card and later jubal early. And we pick up on his ability to fight and shoot. But at the end of "Serenity" when Kaylee is shot, he insists on helping Kaylee in the engine room. It seems like just a helping hand, but he did know exactly where the part was Kaylee referred to. So given he already knew about Firefly models, he probably knows more about them than just what it's like to ride on one.

He has a close relationship with Jayne which I've been observing for awhile. They seem like an odd pair, and it could just be male bonding. But you could say he seems much more interested in hanging out with Jayne as opposed to Simon or Wash. He just seems very comfy with the thug and that might make other shepherds skittish.

A few other times I've just noticed expressions and quick reflexes I've missed before, but couldn't tell you where. They are just subtle things however. I didn't pay close attention to him at first, so some of this is new to me.

WhoIsOmega? | August 19, 16:31 CET

April, Angel, a good friend who finally consented to watch Firefly is very perceptive...one of the things he picked up on was when River was "repairing" his bible, pulling out passages, etc. My friend: "When he said, 'River, you don't change faith; faith changes you', I was amazed. His past has to include some very dark things, I have to think. At some point the proverbial scales fell from his eyes and he saw things from a very different, and much more moral, perspective."

Chris inVirginia | August 19, 17:04 CET

And he did say that although he was averse to killing, he was a bit more flexible in the matter of kneecaps!

sandyg | August 19, 17:42 CET

Oh my! A story in my local paper worth reading! And how odd he must have felt being a black Buddhist in Indiana...

Ruby2 | August 19, 18:04 CET

I think the kneecaps bit was a bit of a Terminator joke (in Terminator 2, the Terminator is order not to kill anyone - so he just injures them in every other conceivable fashion).

Psuedopod | August 19, 18:21 CET

I am from Indiana and I love Ron Glass and the character of Book. I don't think he was a Buddhist in Indiana though Ruby2, he was already in Hollywood.

wrecks | August 19, 20:10 CET

And he did say that although he was averse to killing, he was a bit more flexible in the matter of kneecaps!

Or, more precisely, that the Bible was more flexible in the matter of kneecaps. The assumption being that the Bible is Book's guide in all things--and the unspoken part, suggested by his facility with a gun, being that it wasn't always that way.

tehipite_tom | August 19, 20:43 CET

And how odd he must have felt being a black Buddhist in Indiana...

It not all backwoodsy here you know! Places like Evansville, Bloomington, West Lafayette have an amazing array of culture.

Mr. Glass was very cool at the screening. An amazingly nice gentleman. :)

[ edited by angellove on 2005-08-19 18:56 ]

Miko | August 19, 20:55 CET

I lived in South Bend for a year when I was nine, Indiana has some very great memories for me.

Simon | August 19, 20:57 CET

It's highly likely that Shepherd Book is more than passingly familiar with the Augustinian notion of Just War and its allowances for the use of force in particular circumstances.

Chris inVirginia | August 19, 20:58 CET