Search
Search results
Blazing Minds (92 KP) rated The Greatest Showman (2017) in Movies
Nov 1, 2021 (Updated Nov 3, 2021)
So first of all, I have to say I never used to a big fan of musicals, although in recent years I’ve been moving towards these genres of movies, with the brilliant La La Land pulling me in deeper to this magical movie genre, so when I saw the trailer for The Greatest Showman I was rather intrigued to see this one, a movie that with its look, kind of reminded me of Moulin Rouge.
The Greatest Showman starts as it means to go on with a fantastic musical opener that pulls you into the world of Barnum and the delights of the big top, then it takes you back to a young Barnum and the poverty that his father and he had to endure.
The Greatest Showman starts as it means to go on with a fantastic musical opener that pulls you into the world of Barnum and the delights of the big top, then it takes you back to a young Barnum and the poverty that his father and he had to endure.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death in Books
Aug 28, 2017
Incredibly dense, but well written and witty
First of all, hats off to the author Brenna Hassett for creating such an accessible book for such a complex subject. Secondly, I applaud her writing, the tone is sarcastic and witty, unlike a dry scientific journal. It is an absolutely fascinating look into the affects of urbanisation over the past 15,000 years, ingrained into the bones discovered from various archaeological sites.
From the spread of disease and conflict, to social practices and customs, there's more to skeletal remains than meets the eye. She also reveals the depth of inequality, through the health of slaves, women and children, as well as those poverty stricken, who carry ill health for generations. It is detailed and extensive, so you'll need to concentrate. A great read.
From the spread of disease and conflict, to social practices and customs, there's more to skeletal remains than meets the eye. She also reveals the depth of inequality, through the health of slaves, women and children, as well as those poverty stricken, who carry ill health for generations. It is detailed and extensive, so you'll need to concentrate. A great read.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Les Misérables (2019) in Movies
Sep 10, 2020
Gritty French social thriller (if that's a thing) hits its targets. A policeman newly assigned to a special unit in Paris finds his first day at work turning into a nightmare as tensions rise between different groups and his superior turns out to be an undisciplined loose cannon.
Bleak but compelling: this film was made in 2018 and 2019, but its concern with race, poverty, police brutality and the abuse of power means it feels very timely. Gripping plot and strong performances result in a film which is frequently tense even if it's seldom reassuring. The climax is as strong a condemnation of the failure of the young by wider social structures as I can remember seeing. A powerful and serious film, but also a very satisfying piece of entertainment.
Bleak but compelling: this film was made in 2018 and 2019, but its concern with race, poverty, police brutality and the abuse of power means it feels very timely. Gripping plot and strong performances result in a film which is frequently tense even if it's seldom reassuring. The climax is as strong a condemnation of the failure of the young by wider social structures as I can remember seeing. A powerful and serious film, but also a very satisfying piece of entertainment.
ClareR (5561 KP) rated A Spell of Good Things in Books
Mar 31, 2023
A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò is a book that looks unflinchingly at the have’s and have not’s in Nigeria. The two main characters come from two very different backgrounds.
Eniola is a boy who looks like a man. His schoolteacher father loses his job due to a shakeup in the education system, and falls into a deep depression. This leaves Eniola working as an errand boy for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging (much against his will). He wants so much more for his life, though…
Wuraola is from a wealthy family. Her parents are proud of her succeeding in her aim to be a doctor - and now they expect her to marry. And Kunle is the son of friends that they favour. But he’s volatile in private (to say the least).
We follow the stories of Eniola and Wuraola and the differences in their lives are stark. Eniola goes to school hungry, he’s beaten by the teachers because his parents pay their school fees late (if at all). And finally, he thinks he has found a way out of his poverty - when in fact it’s something far worse.
Wuraola’s life is difficult in a different way: she has a well-paid, well-respected job, but the Nigerian health system is overstretched, underfunded and doesn’t have enough doctors. But she believes in doing her duty, so she works hard, and says yes when Kunle proposes.
Wuraola’s and Eniola’s lives are on a collision course though.
I inhaled this book. It’s gritty and doesn’t hold back in any way. It’s an insight into lives I’ve never experienced and so powerfully told. The themes of domestic abuse, poverty, access to education and political corruption make for a heartbreaking read.
Recommended.
Eniola is a boy who looks like a man. His schoolteacher father loses his job due to a shakeup in the education system, and falls into a deep depression. This leaves Eniola working as an errand boy for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging (much against his will). He wants so much more for his life, though…
Wuraola is from a wealthy family. Her parents are proud of her succeeding in her aim to be a doctor - and now they expect her to marry. And Kunle is the son of friends that they favour. But he’s volatile in private (to say the least).
We follow the stories of Eniola and Wuraola and the differences in their lives are stark. Eniola goes to school hungry, he’s beaten by the teachers because his parents pay their school fees late (if at all). And finally, he thinks he has found a way out of his poverty - when in fact it’s something far worse.
Wuraola’s life is difficult in a different way: she has a well-paid, well-respected job, but the Nigerian health system is overstretched, underfunded and doesn’t have enough doctors. But she believes in doing her duty, so she works hard, and says yes when Kunle proposes.
Wuraola’s and Eniola’s lives are on a collision course though.
I inhaled this book. It’s gritty and doesn’t hold back in any way. It’s an insight into lives I’ve never experienced and so powerfully told. The themes of domestic abuse, poverty, access to education and political corruption make for a heartbreaking read.
Recommended.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir in Books
Feb 5, 2018
A human experience in the BLM movement
There has recently been an upswing of works relating to racism in the US, so it was only a matter of time that one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement spoke about this issue.
Patrisse Khan-Cullors is eloquent, and her experiences are truly harrowing. From watching her 12 year old brother being assaulted and harrassed by police officers, growing up in poverty, to being an adult and watching another brother being locked up for being mentally disabled. It is really quite horrifying to see the spectrum of violence that black bodies still endure even post-Jim Crow laws. Cullors will argue that this is but an extension of those days.
It is a timely piece, and one of the better writings on the topic, mixing activism and academia with her own memoir.
Patrisse Khan-Cullors is eloquent, and her experiences are truly harrowing. From watching her 12 year old brother being assaulted and harrassed by police officers, growing up in poverty, to being an adult and watching another brother being locked up for being mentally disabled. It is really quite horrifying to see the spectrum of violence that black bodies still endure even post-Jim Crow laws. Cullors will argue that this is but an extension of those days.
It is a timely piece, and one of the better writings on the topic, mixing activism and academia with her own memoir.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Fight to Learn: The Struggle to Go to School in Books
Jun 18, 2018
Fight to Learn by Laura Scandiffio brings interest and excitement to going to school. While most people have heard of Malala, they may not have heard of all of the great people in Scandiffio's book: people helping to change education for poverty-stricken Indians and Roma, Pakistanis denied an education because of their gender, children ripped away from schools becoming soldiers, and separate, but not equal, schools on First Nation land.
Liked that the book was divided into different challenges children face rather than by geography. It even included an example in the U.S. I also liked that the book highlighted the people, many of whom are children, who are finding solutions to this issue.
A fantastic resource for older students.
I received an ARC copy from Annick Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Liked that the book was divided into different challenges children face rather than by geography. It even included an example in the U.S. I also liked that the book highlighted the people, many of whom are children, who are finding solutions to this issue.
A fantastic resource for older students.
I received an ARC copy from Annick Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) rated Snowpiercer (2013) in Movies
Oct 30, 2018
So I watched this movie based on the positive reviews....
I get the basic premise.... humanity is down to one single running train, and on that train there is a caste system, the poor ride in the back in poverty and the rich ride in front, living it up. Chris Evans must fight his way to the front in a bloody revolt. But I mean this is the very last of humanity, and yet still people are not valued.... I also get that the train is only so big, and must be kept at a perpetually maintained eco-system that is balanced. But yet, how it ended, was so abrupt and painful. They elude to the future, but really seems wasteful on so many levels.
ClareR (5561 KP) rated There There in Books
Mar 2, 2019
A fascinating insight
This novel is written to show us the reader that Native Americans don't all follow the stereotype that we have grown up with. Certainly, there are Native Americans on reservations, but they also live in cities and have lives that are more familiar to non-Native Americans.
This book is set in Oakland in the lead up to a pow wow. It's told from multiple points of view, tells of different lives, and the modern struggles of Indians living in cities (poverty, drug and alcohol addiction and finding their identity).
This book was so well written - it was very in depth, but was easy to read, meaning that I read it far too quickly. I really enjoyed the windows in to these peoples lives. The dramatic finale of the book had my heart in my mouth throughout.
Well worthy of all the praise it's had, in my opinion.
This book is set in Oakland in the lead up to a pow wow. It's told from multiple points of view, tells of different lives, and the modern struggles of Indians living in cities (poverty, drug and alcohol addiction and finding their identity).
This book was so well written - it was very in depth, but was easy to read, meaning that I read it far too quickly. I really enjoyed the windows in to these peoples lives. The dramatic finale of the book had my heart in my mouth throughout.
Well worthy of all the praise it's had, in my opinion.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Montpelier Parade in Books
May 24, 2017
Sylvia Plath-esque
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
Montpelier Parade is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanour results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
Montpelier Parade is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, Montpelier Parade will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
Montpelier Parade is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanour results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
Montpelier Parade is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, Montpelier Parade will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Montpelier Parade in Books
Dec 7, 2018
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanor results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, <i>Montpelier Parade</i> will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanor results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, <i>Montpelier Parade</i> will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.