Book 59j: Bagthorpes Battered, by Helen Cresswell

The final book in the Bagthorpe Saga! It's taken a long time to get to the end (the first, Ordinary Jack, was among the earliest of my challenge books; I remember reading it on the train back to Scarborough in July). This volume begins with things as chaotic as they were at the close of the previous volume (i.e. quite chaotic). Rather than neatly drawing the threads of this series together, Cresswell opts to introduce yet more unlikely elements in the form of new pets for Daisy - not, as she had hoped, a giraffe, but a rather moth-eaten and decidedly foul-mouthed parrot, and a garden snake in a cardboard box. Mrs Fosdyke's misadventures in the clutches of journalist Patsy Page are indeed rounded off, but at the close of the volume it seems that life in the Bagthorpe family will, alas, continue much as usual.

Book 59i: The Bagthorpe Triangle, by Helen Cresswell

Another tale of the Bagthorpes! This one was very difficult to acquire - I had to get Ed to borrow it from Bristol library for me. I started it during the wedding-dress-hunt-week that was half term, and finished it yesterday just before Youth Alpha. This one I read out of order because it was hard to find, so it effectively filled in the gaps between my last two Bagthorpe books. It was in keeping with the rest of the series: one feels sympathy with Jack and his mother, and sometimes with Uncle Parker; the other characters leave much to be desired in terms of pleasantness. On the whole I rather enjoyed it as a little light reading in between the stresses of wedding planning and being a Reception teacher.

Oh yeah, you want an actual synopsis... Mr Bagthorpe, having sucked a sock up with the hoover, departs into town with said hoover in the boot of his car, ostensibly to get it fixed but in reality to have scampi and chips at the local pub. Meanwhile his wife, finally overcome by the stresses and strains of living in her less-than-sympathetic family, utters an astonishing scream and shortly afterwards disappears. Nobody, apart from Jack, seems remotely concerned for her welfare. There is, however, a concerted search on for the also disappeared tramp, Mr O'Toole, whom Aunt Celia believes to be a guru of great spiritual importance to the life of her unborn twins, and whom Mrs Fosdyke believes to be an eccentric millionaire in disguise. The widespread rumours of a murderer on the loose, coupled with the unexpected (and untidy) reappearance of a member of Mrs Fosdyke's own family, lead to a series of events extreme even by the exacting standards of the Bagthorpe family.

Book 92: Hoping It Might Be So, by Kit Wright

OK, I've made a mistake in the numbering somewhere... I listed the Herriot as Book 92, but I've definitely got 8 more books to read after this one. So we'll have two 92s. Wonder where I went wrong.

Anyway, the book. Strange to say, I hated it. Didn't enjoy it at all. Yes, Kit Wright's poetry is brilliant. His sense of rhythm, rhyme and phrasing is almost impeccable. But his chosen subjects and the attitudes he expresses are sarcastic, rude or plain depressing. I remember greatly enjoying Cat Among the Pigeons (his book of verse for children) when I was younger, but this volume was quite a disappointment. In fact I'm surprised it came up on this list of books for children to read - some of the content was quite shocking. Cat Among the Pigeons would have been a much better choice!

Film 75: "Empire of the Sun"

Synoapsis: "Empire of the Sun"

A very young Christian Bale plays Jamie is spoiled. He's also living in a wealthy British imperialist sort of community of Shanghai in WWII China, just as the unofficial war between China and Japan rages on. His parents are reluctant to move back to Britain, even though most of the residents have been evacuating the country for weeks. With tensions between the nations mounting, Jamie's dad moves the family to a hotel in Shanghai for a while, just as Japan attacks the city.

In a mad panic of British citizens and Chinese peasants alike, Jamie becomes separated from his family and forced to live on the streets of the war torn city. The film follows his journey from scraping the bottom of tins in his empty mansion under Japanese occupation to street life in Shanghai to removal to an internment camp, where his story is far from over.

The best bit:

There's so much to this film that it's difficult to pick one moment as the most significant or defining moment for Jamie because it's a slow progression for him from spoiled childhood to becoming a human being with real character. I'll have to settle with a moment that Jamie was particularly proud of- when he crossed the perimeter fence to catch a pheasant for a big American thanksgiving.

Marks out of 10:

Visually, this was not quite stunning but still captivating. It's an amazing story turned into a heart-breaking yet wonderful film. It shows fantastic character development all around and speaks to the audience about the nature of war in terms of how one chooses a side. I'd recommend it. 9.5

Film 74: "It's a Wonderful Life"

Good stuff here. I think I'm a Jimmy Stewart fan now-- after these last two films, but maybe I should get some more and some different styles to find out. Was he in the original "Rear Window"? Anyway, to blogging!

Synoahpsis:

This had one of the more interesting starts to a film. A bunch of folks seem to be praying for George on Christmas eve, and because so many people are calling out on his behalf, a comical conversation among some celestial bodies take place. The bodies decide to send Clarence or something like that down to Earth to help George out- if he does a good job, he gets his wings. Before he's sent out, the being fills him in on the life of George.

Jimmy Stewart gets to play awesome people, it seems. In this time, he plays George Bailey, son of Mr. Bailey, who runs the Building and Loan society in the small town of Bedford Falls. Mr. Bailey is a big-hearted sort of fellow, and not a strong businessman, so the building and loan doesn't make a lot of money. It does, however, assure the community has quality homes at reasonable prices... for good working families. He manages to keep it open despite the efforts of a ruthless businessman called Mr. Potter to take over the small company and shut it down.

When his father dies, George, desperate to leave Bedford Falls, see the world and become an engineer/architect, is forced to choose between sacrificing his dreams to take over the family business or the community fall into the hands of the notorious Mr. Potter.

The film covers many areas of George's life and culminates in his wish of desperation that he'd never even been born. That's when Clarence steps in to show him what Bedford Falls would have been like had George not touched so many lives there.

The best bit:

I thought the scene right after the wedding was an amazing insight into the depth of George Bailey's character. Despite being desperate to leave Bedford Falls his whole life to see the world, and now having the excuse, a honeymoon with $2,000 cash in hand (in the 40s no less), he still sacrifices his own happiness to serve the people of his community. His new wife's response makes the whole film even better.

Marks out of 10:

This film is always playing around Christmas time, but I think it's very enjoyable at any point in the year. Bailey's a remarkable character, and even though the theological sense of a guardian angel getting wings and all that is a bit hollywood, the story along with the humor and richness of characters makes this film easily worth a 9.0

Book 59h: Bagthorpes Besieged, by Helen Cresswell

It's never quite as much fun with the Bagthorpes when you miss a volume out. The stories are so deeply intertwined with one another that it's necessary to recap almost the entire plot of the previous volume. This is done in an unobtrusive manner, but I'm fairly sure I know pretty much everything that's going to happen in The Bagthorpe Triangle when I finally track it down.

This volume begins with (or rather, just after) Uncle Parker's dramatic rescue of Mr Bagthorpe from the cells of the local police station. Apparently he has been arrested because he doesn't know his car's registration number, although there are suggestions that Mrs Bagthorpe having suddenly gone missing might somehow be connected with his detainment. Jack, the only Bagthorpe who appears to be human, is genuinely concerned for the safety of his missing mother - who is herself, in fact, only just down the road, holed up with Mrs Fosdyke who is unwillingly harbouring her long-haired, runaway son Max who is on the run after acquiring £50 with a stolen credit card. Mrs Bagthorpe, ever a Positive Thinker and solver of Problems, determines to take Max under her wing; however the reader is forewarned: "When Mrs Fosdyke described her son as a long-haired layabout, she had been right on both counts. Once Mrs Bagthorpe had tidied him up he would become a short-haired layabout." The occasional appearance of lines such as these (in combination with the fast-paced action of the books) is what allows the Bagthorpe Saga to retain its charm despite the large number of really quite similar volumes.

Book 59g: Bagthorpes Liberated, by Helen Cresswell

A more enjoyable offering in the ongoing saga of the lives of the Bagthorpe family. This time, after the family's disastrous and abortive attempt at a holiday in Wales, Mrs Fosdyke, the family's adept but awkward cook and cleaner, shows signs of not returning immediately to work. Mrs Bagthorpe, frustrated by her husband's selfish tendency to disappear into the study at the merest suggestion of housework, decides that the females of her family require Liberating. Accordingly, she sets up rules and rotas and details Jack and William to do large portions of the cooking and cleaning.
Matters are complicated by the introduction of Mr O'Toole, an old tramp who has found his way into the (unlocked) house whilst the Bagthorpes are away. Instead of turning him out, Mrs Bagthorpe somehow accidentally finds herself serving him breakfast. Mr O'Toole makes friends with Grandpa and then, through excessive charm, ingratiates himself with Grandma. When Mrs Fosdyke returns (having visited her doctor, who recommends that she desist from cleaning, but permits cooking as a form of occupational therapy), she is led to believe that Mr O'Toole, far from being a vagrant, is in fact an eccentric millionaire. His charming behaviour (and the ease with which he is persuaded to bathe) add to this impression; thoroughly taken in, Mrs Fosdyke becomes a great admirer.
Daisy Parker, of course, is not left out of the action, and thinks of some quite original ways to use up the long line of milk bottles, left by the milkman out of malice because nobody thought to cancel them. The tale, as usual, ends with visits from the police, amidst much family rowing, mistake, confusion - and, in this case, missing persons. Quite an enjoyable Bagthorpe story. One thing I'm enjoying about the last few of these is the way that Cresswell crams a lot of action into a very short space of time; the last couple of books only take about two days to play out. Quite fun.