I am still working my way through Don Quixote, in between reading other stuff. I’ve found it hard to concentrate on recently. My enthusiasm for this classic ebbs and flows. I put this partly down to Twitter (it’s called X now — ed) and YouTube shorts. And as I’m looking for excuses, I may as well throw Basil — the rogue cat, deceiver of men, bird killer, sofa scratcher, human bed seeker — in there. That creature has a lot to answer for.
To motivate myself to crack on and finish the tome, I have read/heard a few reviews/commentaries on Miguel de Cervantes’ masterpiece, which bang on about how vital it is that everyone reads Don Quixote. Thankfully, I’ve not stumbled across a smart aleck telling me that to fully appreciate Don Quixote I should read it in the original Spanish, but there’s still time. One piece of analysis I listened to suggested that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were the original dynamic duo. And there was me thinking it was Batman and Robin.
The greatest of all fictional pairings of course is Asterix and Obelix. This is not even up for debate. Certainly not in France, anyway. Or in the old French colonies, for that matter.
Others that stand out include:
Laurel and Hardy
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
Danger Mouse and Penfold
Bill S. Preston and Ted “Theodore” Logan in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its sequel, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
Doc Brown and Marty McFly in Back to the Future
Han Solo and Chewbacca in Star Wars
Rocky Balboa and Mickey Goldmill in Rocky I, II, and III.
Starsky and Hutch
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon
Sipowicz and Simone in NYPD Blue
Mulder and Scully in The X Files
Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in The Flintstones
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings
Beavis and Butthead (are you sure about this? — Ed)
Anyway, the reason that I am going on about fictional pairings is because my next vigilante “Kwan” novel will combine Piotr from The Dojang and Prez from Redemptio.
As a reminder the “Kwan” in these novels is the name given to a loosely-affiliated Polish vigilante movement. In Korean, Kwan literally means building or hall, but when used in martial arts it can also refer to a school or clan of martial artists who follow the same style and/or leader.
Each group within the “Kwan” movement has its own chapter, or “Dojang”. A dojang is a formal training hall used by practitioners of traditional Korean martial arts. In the Polish criminal underworld, it refers to a local branch of the “Kwan”.
Now, I can hear you screaming it. I know it. “WHY YOU DO THIS, HANDZEL? WHY YOU MAKE COMPLICATED? MAKE EASY!” (Sorry I’ve been watching too many Gary Lam Wing Chun clips online)
And the reason I used these names for the vigilante organisation (which is spread among the Polish diaspora by the way), is because I thought it was cool. And because the vigilantes use a fighting method based on a precursor version of Taekwon-do. Before Taekwon-do was formalised, there were different Kwans, training in slightly different stand-up martial arts styles that were heavily influenced by Karate and ancient Korean fighting systems. Somehow, the original founder vigilantes learnt the art and decided that everyone in the “Kwan” should train in it. It’s called artistic licence, OK? (Whatever you say chief — Ed).
Anyway, Piotr comes from a group or “dojang” that was based in West London, Prez, a former criminal, was involved with a group in Leeds for a while, but did not train with them for long.
In this new “Kwan” story, Piotr and Prez have crossed paths, having never met before. They have struck up a good friendship. Piotr continues to train Prez in the ways of the “Kwan”, although there is a twist to the training (you will have to read Redemptio to guess what this may be). At the same time, Piotr and Prez start a self-protection and security business. Both have knowledge in the field. Piotr from his expertise as a seasoned vigilante and Prez from his past as a car thief and general low-level gang member.
Through this legitimate business they will get into a sticky situation of some sort.
I will start on this novel soon.
My next novella will tap into some conspiracy theories and chronicle a day in the life of a top secret government agent. Over a 24-hour period (or something similar) he is juggling the execution of a high-level false flag event, while dealing with a major problem in his personal life.
For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, a false flag event is essentially a covert operation carried out by a government to either instigate action from another state, or form the basis for an excuse to attack a country. This is done by claiming that the operation was conducted by your enemy.
History is littered with false flag events. And those are just the ones we know about.
To find out more about my views on conspiracy theories check out this post.
And if you have any favourite dynamic duos then post them below in the comments section… or don’t post anything. No pressure. You know.
Progress report:
The first draft of my latest novella, The Anchorite, is complete and is going through its first edit.
I am editing my next novel The Fragment from The Shroud for what feels like the 500th time, but is probably only the 4th or 5th time, I have lost track.
Take it easy. And thanks for reading.
Hi Marek
I can't think of any dynamic duos at the moment. However I wanted to mention to you an amazing man, Jonathan Ruffer, who lives quite close to you in Bishop Auckland. He's a multi-millionaire who has spent £50,000 a day for the last decade!! on improving Bishop Auckland!! How lucky is that town! Have you heard of him? He's recently opened The Faith Museum (opens Oct 7). He's a committed Christian. He's called his philanthropic work The Auckland Project. Sounds great! Let me know what you think of you visit it. Love Ciocia