Read: Between August and October, in amongst lots of other books. It's a lovely edition, which Claire and Matthew presented to me on the occasion of their getting married (and on account of my being a bridesmaid), and which was very much appreciated.
Review: This is one of those books where the author sets up a fantastically rich background - a wonderful world full of bizarre and interesting characters - but then sadly fails to do anything interesting with the setting. I understand that these were tales told to Martin's own children, and written down later in life. As such they make perfect sense: an ever-ready background for small-scale telling tales about Uncle, the distinguished elephant in the purple dressing gown, and his altercations with the crowd of miscreants living across the way at Badfort. Uncle's own residence, Homeward, is full of towers, oil lakes, underground railways and farms in unexpected places. I enjoyed the world Martin created, but be aware that this really is a selection of made up bedtime stories melded together into a sort of book. Light hearted and enjoyable, but you sort of feel like it's the kind of joke where you had to be there.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Book 79: My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell
Read: Another one that spanned a little while (though not quite as long as 17 years). I began this one shortly before leaving Scarborough, but then put it down for ages and only picked it up again once I'd taken up residence in the fine town of St Albans. Finished it last night!
Review: A pleasant mixture of natural history and family anecdotes, one or two of which had me laughing out loud for quite some time. I enjoyed this book - it felt warm and friendly to read and I was slightly disappointed when I finished it. Because it's a collection of anecdotes, this is the kind of book which you can easily put down for a week (or more) and then return to for another dose of gentle amusement. We hear of the lives of various members of the Durrell family as they depart England for the sunny climes of Corfu, where an exciting range of faunae - and an eclectic array of inhabitants - await their arrival. Most enjoyable. The kind of book one feels ought to be accompanied by a cup of tea and a slice of home-made cake.
Time: Who knows? I seem to have given up on this whole timing-myself-reading thing - probably because I no longer have enough spare minutes to spend reading books in a matter of hours. Alas.
Review: A pleasant mixture of natural history and family anecdotes, one or two of which had me laughing out loud for quite some time. I enjoyed this book - it felt warm and friendly to read and I was slightly disappointed when I finished it. Because it's a collection of anecdotes, this is the kind of book which you can easily put down for a week (or more) and then return to for another dose of gentle amusement. We hear of the lives of various members of the Durrell family as they depart England for the sunny climes of Corfu, where an exciting range of faunae - and an eclectic array of inhabitants - await their arrival. Most enjoyable. The kind of book one feels ought to be accompanied by a cup of tea and a slice of home-made cake.
Time: Who knows? I seem to have given up on this whole timing-myself-reading thing - probably because I no longer have enough spare minutes to spend reading books in a matter of hours. Alas.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Book 78: The Children of Green Knowe, by Lucy M Boston
Read: I'll come to that later. But I did actually finish it a week or so ago - I apologise, Noah, for not posting the review sooner. It won't happen again! (Well, at least, I hope it won't; I blame too many episodes of The Office).
Review: I enjoyed this. I always enjoy books about children, but this one seemed to have a particularly good level of magic, innocence and uncertainty about reality in it. At one level it's a scary book - it is about ghosts - but at another level it's about how we form relationships. (Gosh I feel pretentious - I don't think I'm very good at reviewing books!) Anyway the story is of a seven year old boy named Tolly, left behind in England by father and stepmother, and going to spend Christmas in a huge old empty house with a great grandmother he has never seen before. His arrival - by boat, through a flooded garden - emphasises the strangeness of these new experiences, but Tolly soon becomes more familiar with the house and with its mysterious inhabitants.
Time: I think this has got to be the longest time it's ever taken me to read a book. I started it one evening when I was nine, but the description at the beginning of Feste, the ghost-horse, scared me so much that I hardly slept that night. I remember it quite vividly - everything was strange and black and yellow and I had to go in and wake up my mum and dad. The next morning when I woke up I was really poorly with hepatitis and stayed off school for nearly a month. And... I finished it some time last week. I'm glad to say that this time around I got away with just a cold, and haven't had to miss any days of school so far.
In total, then, I guess this one took me 17 years! (I did re-start it, though, and it only lasted me a few days - it was very good, and quite short).
Review: I enjoyed this. I always enjoy books about children, but this one seemed to have a particularly good level of magic, innocence and uncertainty about reality in it. At one level it's a scary book - it is about ghosts - but at another level it's about how we form relationships. (Gosh I feel pretentious - I don't think I'm very good at reviewing books!) Anyway the story is of a seven year old boy named Tolly, left behind in England by father and stepmother, and going to spend Christmas in a huge old empty house with a great grandmother he has never seen before. His arrival - by boat, through a flooded garden - emphasises the strangeness of these new experiences, but Tolly soon becomes more familiar with the house and with its mysterious inhabitants.
Time: I think this has got to be the longest time it's ever taken me to read a book. I started it one evening when I was nine, but the description at the beginning of Feste, the ghost-horse, scared me so much that I hardly slept that night. I remember it quite vividly - everything was strange and black and yellow and I had to go in and wake up my mum and dad. The next morning when I woke up I was really poorly with hepatitis and stayed off school for nearly a month. And... I finished it some time last week. I'm glad to say that this time around I got away with just a cold, and haven't had to miss any days of school so far.
In total, then, I guess this one took me 17 years! (I did re-start it, though, and it only lasted me a few days - it was very good, and quite short).
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Book 77: Coram Boy, by Jamila Gavin
Read: The first book to be started and finished in St Albans! I began it some time last week and finished the day before yesterday (when I ought to have been asleep for school).
Review: At the beginning, although the story was in some ways interesting, I didn't feel really grabbed by it and would happily have stopped reading had it not been a challenge book. In a way, though, I'm glad it was, because the second half was more engaging. In places very well-written, in other places less so, Coram Boy is kind of like an eighteenth-century August Rush, only more gruesome. The first few chapters deal with Meshak, an introverted lad deemed by those around him to be an "idiot". He tags along after his father, ostensibly a pedlar, but with a hand in a much deeper and darker trade. Suddenly, though, the story switches to tell us about the lives of Thomas and Alexander, two choirboys at Gloucester Cathedral - Thomas from a poor family in the back streets of Gloucester; Alexander from the luxurious country house of Ashbrook. But whilst penniless Thomas is free to follow the life he chooses, Alexander's exacting father demands that his son give up music the very day his voice breaks, in order to return home and learn to run the family estate. The second half of the book draws together all of these threads in the tale of two lads of the next generation, both living at the Coram hospital for the education of orphans, yet also both of very different backgrounds.
Time: Oh, ages. Nearly a week, I reckon. Even though I did read parts of it whilst walking from my house to Noah's! This teaching business is keeping me pretty busy doing other things (not to mention living in the SAME TOWN as my wonderful boyfriend!)
Review: At the beginning, although the story was in some ways interesting, I didn't feel really grabbed by it and would happily have stopped reading had it not been a challenge book. In a way, though, I'm glad it was, because the second half was more engaging. In places very well-written, in other places less so, Coram Boy is kind of like an eighteenth-century August Rush, only more gruesome. The first few chapters deal with Meshak, an introverted lad deemed by those around him to be an "idiot". He tags along after his father, ostensibly a pedlar, but with a hand in a much deeper and darker trade. Suddenly, though, the story switches to tell us about the lives of Thomas and Alexander, two choirboys at Gloucester Cathedral - Thomas from a poor family in the back streets of Gloucester; Alexander from the luxurious country house of Ashbrook. But whilst penniless Thomas is free to follow the life he chooses, Alexander's exacting father demands that his son give up music the very day his voice breaks, in order to return home and learn to run the family estate. The second half of the book draws together all of these threads in the tale of two lads of the next generation, both living at the Coram hospital for the education of orphans, yet also both of very different backgrounds.
Time: Oh, ages. Nearly a week, I reckon. Even though I did read parts of it whilst walking from my house to Noah's! This teaching business is keeping me pretty busy doing other things (not to mention living in the SAME TOWN as my wonderful boyfriend!)
Book 76: Goodnight Mister Tom
Read: In America, over the summer. I don't remember the exact dates. This review is long overdue - sorry Noah!
Review: I think this is one of the best books I've ever read. Bear in mind that I read a lot of children's books, but I loved this one. It's so evocative of character, and the story drew me in just right, so that I wanted to read it all the time and not do anything else.
The story begins as William, evacuee, is deposited without ceremony on the doorstep of Tom, reclusive older gentleman who lives with Sammy the dog, and owns a horse, and generally doesn't get involved in the community. Willie, a filthy and cowering seven-year-old, covered in bruises, appears afraid of almost everything. From a grudging acceptance of his responsibility Tom gradually learns more and more about Willie - later Will - who in turn begins to speak, even to smile, and, shyly, to play with children from the village and other evacuees. As the plot progresses we learn where Will came from, discovering also the origins of Tom's apparent misanthropy. I'd spoil it if I tell you how I ended up feeling, but I heartily recommend this affecting story.
Time: Hmmm... again, I can't remember. Sorry! But I know I read a lot of it lying on my mattress in the blue room in Noah's house in Florida. I think I also read some in the sky.
Review: I think this is one of the best books I've ever read. Bear in mind that I read a lot of children's books, but I loved this one. It's so evocative of character, and the story drew me in just right, so that I wanted to read it all the time and not do anything else.
The story begins as William, evacuee, is deposited without ceremony on the doorstep of Tom, reclusive older gentleman who lives with Sammy the dog, and owns a horse, and generally doesn't get involved in the community. Willie, a filthy and cowering seven-year-old, covered in bruises, appears afraid of almost everything. From a grudging acceptance of his responsibility Tom gradually learns more and more about Willie - later Will - who in turn begins to speak, even to smile, and, shyly, to play with children from the village and other evacuees. As the plot progresses we learn where Will came from, discovering also the origins of Tom's apparent misanthropy. I'd spoil it if I tell you how I ended up feeling, but I heartily recommend this affecting story.
Time: Hmmm... again, I can't remember. Sorry! But I know I read a lot of it lying on my mattress in the blue room in Noah's house in Florida. I think I also read some in the sky.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Film 64: "Sahara"
Lazy day, take two.
This turned out to be one of those big action explodey movies. Quite cool. The story here is that two treasure hunters venture to war-torn Mali in search of an American civil war iron iron ship they believe floated all the way there. They encounter a team of W.H.O. doctors investigating a mysterious plague which is taking the lives of hundreds of villagers all over remote regions of Western Africa. But with a private military seeking to eliminate the adventurers chasing them all over the deserts of the country, this plague seems to be more than meets the eye.
The best bit
The firing of a Civil War-era canon directly into an enemy Hewy gunship mid-air was awesome. The boat chase wasn't too bad either.
Marks out of ten: An unique plot rare in a block-busting ensemble of hollywood A-listers and special effects brought up the score of an otherwise predictable, contrived and unbelievable film... so I'm giving it a 5.5
Film 63: "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"
Woo! I finally got a day off the new job which means a chance to cut into the massive lead Kate's got. So let's review some Gilbert Grapeage.
Synoahpsis
This was a young, small town man's story of adversity, isolation, heartbreak and love starring Jonny Depp and Leonard DeCaprio. Growing up in the rural, middle American farming community of Endora, (I'm assuming Iowa) Gilbert hasn't experienced much of life outside of his home; he spends all of his time between providing for and attending to his morbidly obese home-bound mother, autistic younger brother and two sisters. In the opening lines of the film, Gilbert remarks that "Nothing much has ever happened in Endora, and nothing much ever will."
One pastime Gilbert does take part in is taking his younger brother, Artie, to watch the motorcade of trailers/caravans pass trough Endora on their annual pilgrimage across America. When one of the cars breaks down and is left behind, Gilbert meets a short-haired, free-spirited young woman who seems to take an interest in him. The story of the film is told over the 1-2 week period that the caravaners must wait to receive the order for their new part... and what a 1-2 week period it turns out to be.
The best bit:
Well, I'm never sure where to pick out the best parts of these emotional, touchy-feely moments. Gilbert is so overloaded with the pressures of caring for his brother and mother while yearning for independence and normality that the audience ends up just waiting for him to crack. It takes a very long time... rather than pick out a particular scene, I would say the best bit of the film is Depp's acting: you can see his building frustrations and disappointments building in his body language, expressions and actions throughout the film.
Marks out of 10: The story was very well told and did get to me in places. There's loads of character development happening, and it's highlighted by the progression of certain actions and developments in the film... try observing what's happening in Gilbert's life every time he lights a match. It will rock your world. I generally don't appreciate films set in bleak landscapes like the southwest of the states or the wheat fields of middle America, but it was still good enough to warrant a very solid 7.9
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