Awix (3310 KP) rated Personal Services (1987) in Movies
Jan 19, 2020
One of those off-beat comedy-drama films, with a strong sense of the seedier side of life, that the UK film industry went in for quite a lot in the 1980s. This one has a strong performance from Julie Walters, but the comedy often feels strained and it can't seem to quite decide how it's going to handle the more graphic material inevitably involved - straightforwardly, or in nudge-nudge style? Tends towards the latter. Passes the time reasonably well as a slightly odd piece of entertainment; may well also be of interest as an insight into the English psyche (God help us).
Doof Doof: My Life in Music
Book
'I have always loved the lines from Rudyard Kipling: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And...
People Power: Fighting for Peace from the First World War to the Present
Book
People Power charts the history of the anti-war movement in the UK from the outbreak of the First...
ClareR (5854 KP) rated The Queen Of Bloody Everything in Books
Sep 9, 2018
I listened to this through Audible, and I think the narrator was exactly the right choice. Dido, the main character, starts off as a six year old in 1976. We follow her through a difficult childhood with her single, bohemian, hard and fast living mother, Edie, in a very conservative small town. There are times where I wondered who the adult actually was. There is no doubt that Dido loves her mother no matter how difficult she is, but it's also evident that she is largely responsible for the direction that Dido's life takes. Dido is mainly cared for by the Trevelyans, who she meets on the day she and her mother move in to the house left to Edie in her aunts will. Mrs Trevelyan is clearly disapproving of Edie (as are a lot of people in their small town). Dido attempts to become part of the Trevelyan family, and she does succeed in time.
I loved all of these characters and the way their lives played out, and I think the use of the first person narrative was really effective. A really lovely book.
Punk in the Gym
Book
Andy Pollitt is as close to a Hollywood A-lister as the climbing world will ever get. He had the...
Mathieu Mategot
Book
Mathieu Mategot was a leading French designer of the 1950s. This artist of Hungarian origin was...
Sarah (7799 KP) rated Corrupt Bodies: Death and Dirty Dealing in a London Morgue in Books
Oct 25, 2020
Everett’s book follows the workings of a mortuary, and focuses a lot more on the criminality involved both at the mortuary itself and of the crime scenes Everett attends. It’s fascinating and I never knew until now what sort of state mortuaries in the UK were in less than a few decades ago. To think black market organ dealing was still happening as late as the 1980s is crazy. What’s also crazy is the similarities between Everett and Shepherd’s personal stories. Whilst Everett doesn’t quite go into as much detail about his private life, it’s concerning to read about how their mental health was affected by working in this sort of profession.
I don’t think I enjoyed this quite as much as Unnatural Causes. I’m not sure why, it may be related to the writing style or the focus on the non-scientific side of post-mortems. But despite this I still really enjoyed reading about such an interesting topic and about all of Everett's cases, and it’s good to hear that his story turned out alright in the end.
Is Alive And Well & Living In Buenos Airies: Heavy Frienz The Solo Anthology 2001-2017 by Luke Haines
Album Watch
Having played with The Servants in the late 1980s, Luke Haines carved a unique niche for himself in...
rock
First in the World Somewhere
Book
Penny Pepper has led an extraordinary life. She is a writer. Poet. Punk. Pioneer. Activist. And she...
Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents
Book
Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents, Ellen Ullman's cult classic memoir of the...