Book 91: A Children's Treasury of Milligan

I sometimes find Spike Milligan's poetry mildly amusing and enjoy the wordplay. I quite liked some of the poems at the start of this book. For example

Rain
There are holes in the sky
Where the rain gets in,
But they're ever so small
That's why rain is thin.

However, I didn't enjoy the latter parts of the book so much. I guess it's Milligan's style, but really it just seems like a lot of made up nonsense words. I can understand why they'd be fun, but I'd rather make up my own and share them with my family than read someone else's published in a book. Maybe I'm just in a grumpy mood today!

Book 90: I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

I was not expecting to enjoy this book but - once again - it turned out to be brilliant. I had been put off by watching a film version a few years ago; I didn't like some aspects of the plot and felt no particular reason to be drawn to the characters. This changes entirely when the story is viewed through the journal of the protagonist, seventeen-year-old Cassandra. The cover quote from J K Rowling reads "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met", and I am certainly obliged to agree. Viewed through her eyes, the telling of the family's extreme (yet very cheerful) poverty and the near-despair of her Father ever writing again is transformed. When Scoatney, the home of the Mortmain family's landlords, is inherited by a young American, he and his brother come to England to live at the place. The intriguing story of the brothers' growing friendship with Cassandra and her sister Rose is interwoven with Cassandra's own relationships with Rose, her brother Thomas, stepmother Topaz and the enigmatic Stephen. A very compelling story, emotionally evocative, enjoyable, at times amusing and somehow true to life.

Film 69: "Strictly Ballroom"

I can't say I wanted to watch this one, but I'm glad I did. I waited till I could get Kate in the room to watch it as well... you know, so I could still claim to be manly and whatnot and not forgo man points for popping in a DVD called "Strictly Ballroom"

Synoahpsis:

Scott Hastings, a rogue, aussie ballroom dancer has a passion for dancing and a desire to perform his very unorthodox steps in a ballroom environment. Putting his own career at risk, infuriating the judges, alienating his former ballroom champion mother, and losing his long-time dancing partner, he abandons the traditional steps in favour of something new.

He teams up with Fran, a beginner who may not have the moves but has all the heart to dance the very unconventional steps with Scott, but with no support from their parents and a fierce opposition from the dancing community, do they have what it takes to become the new ballroom champions?

The best bit:

Kate and I wholeheartedly agree the best bit was clearly when Scott tries to convince Fran's dad that he is a proper ballroom dancer, and not a hinderance to her career, by dancing the Paso Doble... Scott and Fran both get a lesson on dancing from the heart.

Marks out of 10:

I did not dislike it, I'm compelled to say. It was fairly funny, and even with a predictable plot, the jokes and dancing make the film very watchable indeed. 6.2

Film 68: "Superman"

Due to Kate's persistence in making me review my recently watched films, I thought I'd better get on reviewing Superman.

Synoahpsis:

I don't know how I've managed to gain such familiarity with the entire plot of the film and whole world of Superman through secondhand allusions to the film (as well as watching one or two episodes of "Smallville"), but I felt like I was watching Superman for the hundredth time.

Basically, Superman (Kal-El) is sent to Earth by his parents when their home planet, Krypton, is on the brink of implosion. His Dad, Jor-El, an elder of Krypton, knows the planet is in peril, but is shunned by the council and placed under supervision. He still manages to launch the rocket just in time, so cool beans.

Superman arrives on earth in Nebraska or somewhere corn-filled like that and has to grow up among the humans hiding his supernatural powers fueled by Earth's sun and such like. He's taught never to interfere with humankind's history...

When a mysterious real estate investor begins buying up worthless southwestern desert land at exorbitant prices, reporter Lois Lane investigates, only to uncover the twisted plot of Lex Luthor. Can Superman save her, and the Western seaboard in time???

The best bit:

I hate to give spoilers, but the part where Superman turns time backwards by spinning around the earth in the opposite direction really really fast and changing it's rotation is just ridiculous and awesome.

Marks out of 10:

Great special effects for the time, fun plot, and good inclusion of many aspects of the Superman comicbook world in a short space of time. Fun to watch as well. 8.0

Book 59e: Bagthorpes vs The World, by Helen Cresswell

And again...

This time the hapless family is beset by financial woes - chiefly imagined, but woes nonetheless. Mr Bagthorpe decides to embark upon a scheme of self-sufficiency in order to cut expenditure. He also invites elderly, eccentric Aunt Lucy to visit, in the hope of wooing her to write the family into her will. Naturally the conjunction of these two objectives is not a happy one, especially when overshadowed by irritating cousin Luke's progress to the final of Young Brain of Britain.

I admire the way Helen Cresswell weaves her plot together through the series of books. I understand now, for example, the origin of Daisy's pet goat. (Her current Phase, for those interested, is to do with mortality and involves conducting funerals as frequently as possible, and predicting the demise of elderly ladies based upon the intensity of their wrinkles and the length of their legs).

Another moderately enjoyable read - and the fifth of ten. Trouble is, I've now run out of readily available library copies - I have no idea where 59f to 59j are to be procured!

Book 59d: Bagthorpes Unlimited, by Helen Cresswell

The most disjointed volume so far detailing the unusual history of the Bagthorpe family... unwanted visitors, lots of maggots and the world's longest daisy chain feature in this tale of the Bagthorpes' efforts to be immortalised somehow or other. They don't really seem to care how. It begins with their wishy washy cousins, Esther and Luke, one of whom is to have poetry published whilst the other competes for the title of Young Brain of Britain. The ensuing efforts of William, Tess and Rosie to become famous (whilst ordinary Jack looks on) are eclipsed and frustrated by four-year-old Daisy, in league, of course, with Grandma. Mr Bagthorpe, meanwhile, has been offered the chance of a lifetime to be interviewed by the Sunday Times. He is delighted - until he realises what the photographer is likely to find when he arrives at the house. As with the other Bagthorpe books, I quite enjoyed this story, with its familiar and (in most cases!) likeable characters.

Book 59c: Bagthorpes Abroad, by Helen Cresswell

There is not much to be added in reviewing my third Bagthorpe Saga book. (It's not actually third in the series, but I don't think that matters much). Things remain much the same in the egotistical, strong-willed family which is, as ever, afflicted by the unintentional misdemeanours of niece/cousin Daisy (who appears to have acquired a pet goat). This time, Mr Bagthorpe announces his intention to take the family on holiday. Their great astonishment transforms to disgust when they arrive at the destination: a bleak, dingy, ill-equipped and (most importantly) allegedly haunted house somewhere in the depths of Wales. As usual, chaos (and much rowing) ensues. A speedy read.

On to the next one!

Book 89: Watership Down, by Richard Adams

Wow.

Watership Down, as I'm sure you're aware, is a book about rabbits. But here's the thing: it's still good. Really good. Very good indeed. As Noah says, it begins with the exodus from the main burrow of a small group of rabbits who fear something vague and unspecific. The mystical Fiver, his wise, quiet brother Hazel, storyteller Dandelion, genius inventor Blackberry, fighting rabbit Bigwig, small, nervous Pipkin (and a couple of other minor rabbits!) set out on a long and arduous journey. The obstacles they meet along the way are many and various, and give rise to reflection on the state of human society and relationships. I agree with Noah that the mythology Adams has created (augmented in the book by fragments of rabbit-language) gives an authentic feel. Tales of El-ahrairah are interwoven very meaningfully with the main story of Hazel and his group of followers. Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the short quotations at the beginning of every chapter. Normally I find these an irritation, but Adams has chosen them so very well that they truly enhanced my reading of the story.

Normally I dislike stories about anthropomorphised animals, but this is different. The rabbits retain rabbit-like characteristics, and yet make us think about our own human characteristics. It's a truly implausible tale, but its telling makes it feel plausible.

By the way Noah, it's 'elil', and specifically 'homba' if you mean a fox. But I'm sure you knew that.

Definitely among my favourite of the books I've read for this challenge. What more can I say? Read it!

Book 59b: Absolute Zero, by Helen Cresswell

That's (b) out of (j), by the way... still a long way to go with this particular series! But I'm glad to say that I enjoyed Absolute Zero, the second book in the Bagthorpe Saga, rather more than I did the first. It's hard to say exactly why, but I almost feel that, over the five months since I read Ordinary Jack, the characters (well, mainly Jack, to be honest) have remained in my head and I almost feel that I've got to know them. This tale of extraordinary woes* begins when Uncle Parker wins a competition with the prize of a luxury cruise in the Caribbean. The two natural effects of this are firstly that everybody in the Bagthorpe house starts entering competitions left right and centre, and secondly that Daisy, Uncle Parker's pyromaniac-turned-hydromaniac four-year-old daughter, comes to stay at the Bagthorpes' house. She forms an unlikely alliance with Grandma and they get into all kinds of trouble; meanwhile the other Bagthorpes are in fact winning some of their competitions, catapulting the family to instant TV fame. Needless to say things do not go absolutely swimmingly (if you'll pardon the pun). Whilst not the most hilarious book I've ever read - in fact, not exactly funny, not in a making-you-laugh kind of way - I still enjoyed the story.

* Not in a Lemony Snicket kind of way, but still, quite extraordinary

Film 67: "Watership Down"

Got to watch films two days in a row! Epic.

Synoahpsis:

As wikipedia has graciously informed me, the name for this film, based on the classic children's novel, is taken from the real life destination of a group of rabbits fleeing their warren because of the warnings of a clairvoyant bunny named Fiver. Sensing an impending danger for all of his warren, Fiver and his brother Hazel go before the chief (yes, there are chief rabbits) to warn him. Promptly ignored, the two brothers round up a contingent of rabbits from the warren and flee from the Owsla, a sort of military caste, in search of a new home.

Encountering many dangers from Elihi, Howden (or something like that) and Dogs (no mythical name for dogs provided), the rabbits face a plethora of peril as the journey on. What's wonderful about the story is the rich use of mythology and intricate anthropomorphism throughout the film. It's no wonder that the book it's based on, something Kate's looking forward to reading, I'm sure, remains Penguin's best selling book to date.

The best bit:

The opening. From the beginning, you are entranced by the legend of creation of the world by Lord Frith and El-arairah, the prince of rabbits. The animation changes form a sort of cave drawing look when the modern day story of Hazel and Fiver's journey to realistic rabbits in beautiful english countryside starts– it makes for good retroactive appreciation.

Marks out of 10:

The plot is relatively uneventful, but the story is told quite well. I haven't read the book, but I expect that it would be amazing to read aloud. The pace at which it needs to be told for the sake of filmafying it detracts from what I suspect is a thumping good read. Also, I found myself thinking at several points "why am I watching a film about rabbits?" This might have been a good story for me when I was 7, but I found the film to be a bit dull, so 5.4.

Film 66: "Stand By Me"

Watching films is difficult. I just got back from America, where I failed to see any of the films I was gonna catch up on, but hey, there was a DVD from lovefilm in the post, and I had two hours in between meetings and prep, so I gave it a whirl.

Synoahpsis:

Basically, 4 kids hear about a dead body lying near the railway tracks some 30 miles away, and resolve to lie to their parents, take some camping stuff and walk there to see it. For some reason, I thought this was the source of the parody/film archetype of someone getting their foot stuck in some train tracks as a freight train comes raging forth, so I spent the whole movie waiting for someone to get hit. That didn't happen.

Instead, I got to see some really interesting character development happen as these 4 twelve-year-old boys embark on a grim yet joyus adventure. It was awesome to see them connecting in new ways, struggling together and coping with difficulties from their personal which parallel what happens to them in the adventure. Still waiting for that train though.

The best bit:

Probably the ending... starting from when they make it back home till when the credits roll. It wasn't mega happy, but it was good and it was exactly the way the film should have ended.

Marks out of ten:

For a fairly but not greatly interesting story interspersed with great dialogue, a fine ending and some harrowing moments throughout, I'd put the film at 7.5