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Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Wonder in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-wonder-by-emma-donoghue
<b><i>It came to Lib then that the question to ask was not how a child might commit such a fraud, but why?</b></i>
<i>The Wonder</i> is an absolutely beautiful and thought-provoking novel and by far one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Set in towards the end of the 19th century, we meet one of Ms Nightingale’s own nurses, shipped out to Ireland to investigate a so-called miracle. Young Anna O’Donnell hasn’t eaten since her 11th birthday, which passed four months ago. Lib begins a frustrating journey into learning whether Anna is truly a modern day Saint.
She is determined to prove the miracle a hoax, but being faced with old Irish superstitions she doesn’t understand, sexism and strong Catholic faith, she has a hard time getting to the truth.
It’s a bit of a slow ride, but it’s interesting enough to keep you wanting to know more. Donoghue creates a beautifully vivid story for you to really lose yourself in, you’ll find yourself reading this book within a couple of days (or hours, depending on when you’re reading it). Not what I’d classify at a mystery novel - the story is so much more than just working out the story behind Anna’s apparent loss of appetite. It’s a story of faith, believing in yourself and following your heart.
A really enjoyable book, with a wide array of likable and dislikable characters, beautiful scenery and heart warming lessons to take away, this is a must read for any historical fiction lover.
<b><i>It came to Lib then that the question to ask was not how a child might commit such a fraud, but why?</b></i>
<i>The Wonder</i> is an absolutely beautiful and thought-provoking novel and by far one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Set in towards the end of the 19th century, we meet one of Ms Nightingale’s own nurses, shipped out to Ireland to investigate a so-called miracle. Young Anna O’Donnell hasn’t eaten since her 11th birthday, which passed four months ago. Lib begins a frustrating journey into learning whether Anna is truly a modern day Saint.
She is determined to prove the miracle a hoax, but being faced with old Irish superstitions she doesn’t understand, sexism and strong Catholic faith, she has a hard time getting to the truth.
It’s a bit of a slow ride, but it’s interesting enough to keep you wanting to know more. Donoghue creates a beautifully vivid story for you to really lose yourself in, you’ll find yourself reading this book within a couple of days (or hours, depending on when you’re reading it). Not what I’d classify at a mystery novel - the story is so much more than just working out the story behind Anna’s apparent loss of appetite. It’s a story of faith, believing in yourself and following your heart.
A really enjoyable book, with a wide array of likable and dislikable characters, beautiful scenery and heart warming lessons to take away, this is a must read for any historical fiction lover.
David McK (3238 KP) rated The Lone Warrior (Jack Lark, #4) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Fourth entry in [a: Paul Fraser Collard|7024929|Paul Fraser Collard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1368086413p2/7024929.jpg]'s 'Jack Lark' series (that started with [b: The Scarlet Thief|18752323|The Scarlet Thief (Jack Lark, #1)|Paul Fraser Collard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383577532s/18752323.jpg|24752025]), this sees Jack Lark caught up in the Indian Mutiny (or First War of Independence, depending upon your point of view!) of 1857, and is my pick for the best of the series so far.
The novel starts out pretty much as it means to go on, with Jack rescuing someone from her indentured lifestyle, then agreeing to accompany her home to Delhi, arriving just in time to get caught up in the mutiny.
Despite holding a British passport myself (well, Northern Irish ...) this is actually a subject that I don't think we were ever taught anything about while I was at school. Sure, I'd heard of it, but only through word-of-mouth, and only ever forming a general impression of it rather than having any real knowledge of the cause, or the effects. As such, and (I.M.O.) like all the best kinds of historical fiction, I actually learned something while simultaneously being entertained (by the general story, NOT by the rather graphic depictions of some of the more harrowing events).
Talking of that story, I also feel that the book could (almost) be split into at least three distinct sections: Jacks journey to Delhi, his involvement in the siege of the British magazine while within it, and the final - and longest - part his involvement in the siege and (partial) recapture of the city.
Like the best of the Sharpe books (a hackneyed comparison, I know, but apt), I also read through this one in only a matter of days - always the sign of a good book!
The novel starts out pretty much as it means to go on, with Jack rescuing someone from her indentured lifestyle, then agreeing to accompany her home to Delhi, arriving just in time to get caught up in the mutiny.
Despite holding a British passport myself (well, Northern Irish ...) this is actually a subject that I don't think we were ever taught anything about while I was at school. Sure, I'd heard of it, but only through word-of-mouth, and only ever forming a general impression of it rather than having any real knowledge of the cause, or the effects. As such, and (I.M.O.) like all the best kinds of historical fiction, I actually learned something while simultaneously being entertained (by the general story, NOT by the rather graphic depictions of some of the more harrowing events).
Talking of that story, I also feel that the book could (almost) be split into at least three distinct sections: Jacks journey to Delhi, his involvement in the siege of the British magazine while within it, and the final - and longest - part his involvement in the siege and (partial) recapture of the city.
Like the best of the Sharpe books (a hackneyed comparison, I know, but apt), I also read through this one in only a matter of days - always the sign of a good book!
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Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Sausage Party (2016) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
Utterly Ridiculous
Just when Sharknado: the 4th Awakens made you think film-making couldn’t get any more ridiculous, a movie like Sausage Party comes along to remind you that Hollywood can always go that one step further to mind-boggling peculiarity.
Of course, that’s not always a bad thing, there have been countless weird and wacky films over the years that have gone on to become cult classics – look at Kick-Ass or even Pulp Fiction for examples of that. But for every Pulp Fiction there’s a Sharknado. So is Sausage Party good weird or as stale as a month-old bagel?
From the mind of Seth Rogen, Sausage Party is a strictly adults only animation that combines hugely offensive language and racial stereotypes with surprisingly meaningful religious undertones. And do you know what? It’s a breath of fresh air.
Life is good for all the food items that occupy the shelves at the local supermarket. Frank (Seth Rogen) the sausage, Brenda (Kristen Wiig) the hot dog bun, Teresa Taco and Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton) can’t wait to go home with a happy customer. Soon, their world comes crashing down as poor Frank learns the horrifying truth that he will eventually become a meal. After warning his pals about their similar fate, the panicked perishables devise a plan to escape from their human enemies.
Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan take Rogen’s intriguing premise and inject a warmly familiar animation style, distancing itself just enough to make any comparisons simply inconceivable. Sausage Party is like nothing you will have ever seen.
The voice-acting is great too. Rogen plays his usual film staple – in sausage form – with the spicy Salma Hayek outdoing everyone else as a lustful taco. Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Michael Cera and Jonah Hill also lend their familiar voices to a hot-dog bun, a bottle of spirit and two other frankfurters respectively.
Elsewhere, the comedy, for the most part, hits the spot. As dreadful as it sounds, the racial stereotyping works incredibly well in food form. British tea, Mexican taco shells and German sauerkraut will have you rolling about the aisles with their outrageous vulgarity, but everyone needs to release their inner teenager once in a while.
Unfortunately, the films standout sequence has already been shown in the trailer – a side-splitting food-eye view of a normal kitchen, before every edible item is butchered; that poor Irish potato didn’t stand a chance. This is a real shame as the rest of the film doesn’t quite match up to the standard of that scene.
Nevertheless, there’ll be chuckles throughout as numerous celebrities are parodied in food form. One in particular, immortalised in chewing gum, is incredibly well thought out.
And that’s where Sausage Party succeeds the most. Underneath the polished animation and crude humour, this film is actually kind of clever. It tackles religion, war, race, sexuality and food waste very well indeed and that’s something the genre doesn’t ask for. It’s just unfortunate that it’s not quite as funny as the trailer would have you believe.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/09/03/utterly-ridiculous-sausage-party-review/
Of course, that’s not always a bad thing, there have been countless weird and wacky films over the years that have gone on to become cult classics – look at Kick-Ass or even Pulp Fiction for examples of that. But for every Pulp Fiction there’s a Sharknado. So is Sausage Party good weird or as stale as a month-old bagel?
From the mind of Seth Rogen, Sausage Party is a strictly adults only animation that combines hugely offensive language and racial stereotypes with surprisingly meaningful religious undertones. And do you know what? It’s a breath of fresh air.
Life is good for all the food items that occupy the shelves at the local supermarket. Frank (Seth Rogen) the sausage, Brenda (Kristen Wiig) the hot dog bun, Teresa Taco and Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton) can’t wait to go home with a happy customer. Soon, their world comes crashing down as poor Frank learns the horrifying truth that he will eventually become a meal. After warning his pals about their similar fate, the panicked perishables devise a plan to escape from their human enemies.
Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan take Rogen’s intriguing premise and inject a warmly familiar animation style, distancing itself just enough to make any comparisons simply inconceivable. Sausage Party is like nothing you will have ever seen.
The voice-acting is great too. Rogen plays his usual film staple – in sausage form – with the spicy Salma Hayek outdoing everyone else as a lustful taco. Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Michael Cera and Jonah Hill also lend their familiar voices to a hot-dog bun, a bottle of spirit and two other frankfurters respectively.
Elsewhere, the comedy, for the most part, hits the spot. As dreadful as it sounds, the racial stereotyping works incredibly well in food form. British tea, Mexican taco shells and German sauerkraut will have you rolling about the aisles with their outrageous vulgarity, but everyone needs to release their inner teenager once in a while.
Unfortunately, the films standout sequence has already been shown in the trailer – a side-splitting food-eye view of a normal kitchen, before every edible item is butchered; that poor Irish potato didn’t stand a chance. This is a real shame as the rest of the film doesn’t quite match up to the standard of that scene.
Nevertheless, there’ll be chuckles throughout as numerous celebrities are parodied in food form. One in particular, immortalised in chewing gum, is incredibly well thought out.
And that’s where Sausage Party succeeds the most. Underneath the polished animation and crude humour, this film is actually kind of clever. It tackles religion, war, race, sexuality and food waste very well indeed and that’s something the genre doesn’t ask for. It’s just unfortunate that it’s not quite as funny as the trailer would have you believe.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/09/03/utterly-ridiculous-sausage-party-review/
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