Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Bertolt Brecht and Steve Giles
Book
Brecht's operatic play produced with Hauptmann, Neher and Weill was first staged in 1930. The story...
Slim Jim: Simply the Best
Book
Jim Baxter was one of Scotland's greatest-ever football players, a left-footed wonder who became a...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated A Poison Tree in Books
Nov 8, 2019
As his life spirals out of any of his control, David struggles to come to terms with the reality of his situation. But what is real and what is just a figment of his imagination, grown from a malicious poisonous seed?
This is a fantastic read, if at times pretty bleak. It shows how what appears on the surface to be a stable lifestyle is only held up by the slimmest of supports and these can easily be removed. Throughout all of the main plot following David's fall, some of it from external factors, some of it very much of his own making, there are several twists which take the story in a new directions, some of which are like emotional hammer blows, others are reveals that are obvious in hindsight.
Despite the dark tone of the story Dolan's light touch keeps things moving along preventing the flow from getting anywhere near being described as 'harrowing'. Characters and dialogue are very well handled and there is a natural pace that draws the reader on, even if they are unsure if they want to find out what happens next.
An interesting read and a recommended one for anyone who appreciates realistic characters and plotting.
Gareth von Kallenbach (965 KP) rated Passengers (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
Unable to wake any of the crew to assist him with the situation or access the bridge of the ship, Jim uses his engineering skills to study the operations of the ship as well as gain access to areas normally reserved for VIP passengers.
As time goes by Jim becomes more and more despondent because he cannot even contact anyone on earth as the computer informs him that it will take 36 years for reply to any of his messages to reach the ship and he grows weary of the thought of spending the rest of his life alone.
During one of his frequent visits to his former stasis chamber, Jim discovers an attractive passenger named Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence), and using the ships database, proceeds to learn all about her and begins to fall in love with her as she sleeps blissfully unaware of his presence.
Fate eventually gets in the way and Aurora awakens and joins Jim is the only people awake on the massive ship. Having come from a privileged background as a successful author, Aurora is really upset over spending the rest of her life on the ship as her plan was to spend a year on the colony world before returning to Earth and resuming her writing career 241 years after she left with the adventure she is undertaken being the basis for some of her new work.
The two eventually have feelings for one another, but Jim is harboring a dark secret that threatens to unravel the happy life they have been able to build for one another. As if that was not enough, the ship is experiencing random and increasing malfunctions which threaten not only their survival, but the long-term survival of the fellow crew and passengers and the long journey that they have ahead of them.
What follows is a time predictable but albeit entertaining mix of romance and action. There are some very good visuals in the film and while the story moves along at a very predictable pace, the two leads make the material work. The film does have numerous plot holes in it which I cannot go into without spoiling it but suffice it to say the premise of q couple stranded is not new.
Yes we have seen this all before but the cast and the interesting locale and visuals make the film add up to more than the sum of its parts. I only wish there’d been a little more time shoring up the plot holes and perhaps adding a little bit of mystery and intrigue to the plot as it truly would’ve made this more compelling.
War and Peace
8.6
Rate It
Book
This is the official tie-in edition to the BBC adaptation of War and Peace with an exclusive...
Sid the Science Kid
6.8
Rate It
TV Show
SID THE SCIENCE KID introduces kids to the basics of science through the eyes of a young boy named...
Family
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time
Book
Now a New York Times Bestseller From the New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind, a...
Psychology
The Blue Riband: The Piccadilly Line
Book
Peter York, co-author of the 80s bestseller, The Sloane Ranger Handbook, charts the progress of the...
Strange Brew
7.6
Rate It
Book
Today's hottest urban fantasy authors come together in this delicious brew that crackles and boils...
The novel is told from the viewpoint from four characters - Tom, a police officer; Celia, a flight attendant and Tom's wife; Jim, a father and former police officer; and Freya, a young student. Their lives entertwine over the course of the book, all centered around a plane that goes down one snowy night. Their stories are superbly told and each character extremely well-drawn-- albeit not always likeable. There are several mysteries that build within the book-- why did the plane go down, of course--along with a murder that's central to the story.
You would think with so few characters that the plot would seem trite and the outcome apparent, but Kavanaugh does a great job of creating suspense and keeping you on your toes. Just when you think you've figured something out, there's another small surprise. I found myself completely immersed in the character's lives (I was immediately drawn to Tom, liked Jim and Freya, and had issues with Celia, but that's all just from my own perspective).
Definitely a worthwhile read.
(Note, I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.)