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Star Trek: The Human Frontier
Duncan Barrett and Michele Barrett
Book
In a world shrunk by modern transport and communication, Star Trek has maintained the values of...
ClareR (5726 KP) rated The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 in Books
Apr 18, 2021
The Hard Crowd is a collection of essays about culture and politics. I had read Rachel Kushner's novel The Mars Room and loved it (even went on to buy it for a friend), so I was intrigued to read this collection. There really is a mix here - something for everyone.
The opening essay about Kushner’s participation in an illegal motorbike race on the Baja Peninsula was probably my favourite - it sounded terrifying and exciting all at once. She does seem to like anything to do with motors, as a later essay showed. This one wasn’t really for me, but this is a collection where there is something for everyone. The chapter on wild cat strikes was interesting, as were the ones where she describes her formative years in her hometown and the music concerts she went to (loved these too). The last essay in the book played out as though it was on a film in my head.
The essay about prison reform was really thought provoking, as was that of when Kushner visited a Palestinian refugee camp. I could easily have read more of this one - no matter how saddening it ultimately was.
Rachel Kushner really can write. As she did in The Mars Room, each of these essays really evoked a time and place and made this book pretty hard to put down.
Many thanks to Jonathan Cape for inviting me to read this via NetGalley.
The opening essay about Kushner’s participation in an illegal motorbike race on the Baja Peninsula was probably my favourite - it sounded terrifying and exciting all at once. She does seem to like anything to do with motors, as a later essay showed. This one wasn’t really for me, but this is a collection where there is something for everyone. The chapter on wild cat strikes was interesting, as were the ones where she describes her formative years in her hometown and the music concerts she went to (loved these too). The last essay in the book played out as though it was on a film in my head.
The essay about prison reform was really thought provoking, as was that of when Kushner visited a Palestinian refugee camp. I could easily have read more of this one - no matter how saddening it ultimately was.
Rachel Kushner really can write. As she did in The Mars Room, each of these essays really evoked a time and place and made this book pretty hard to put down.
Many thanks to Jonathan Cape for inviting me to read this via NetGalley.
David McK (3425 KP) rated The Day of the Jackal (40th anniversary edition) in Books
Apr 23, 2019
I think I first read this book in the mid 90s when I was in my mid teens, pre-GCSEs.
Flash forward about 20 years, and I think I picked it up again when it was on offer on Kindle. As I didn't really remember all that much about it - save that it detailed a plot to kill Charles de Gaulle, and that there's a film starring Bruce Willis based on it - I thought I would give it a re-read.
While there's no doubting the technical proficiency in it, and the (almost) insane amount of detail, if I'm honest I actually found this to be rather plodding; rather pedestrian. I get it: most police work is such, but (IMO) that doesn't really make an engaging read.
Flash forward about 20 years, and I think I picked it up again when it was on offer on Kindle. As I didn't really remember all that much about it - save that it detailed a plot to kill Charles de Gaulle, and that there's a film starring Bruce Willis based on it - I thought I would give it a re-read.
While there's no doubting the technical proficiency in it, and the (almost) insane amount of detail, if I'm honest I actually found this to be rather plodding; rather pedestrian. I get it: most police work is such, but (IMO) that doesn't really make an engaging read.
Jcadden76 (64 KP) rated Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) in Movies
Jun 19, 2018
We lose a good character but the plot rockets forward.
Order of the Phoenix is almost the Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter series. You don't end with a whole lot of good feels at the end of this movie. The lot does really take off and you stay on the edge of your seat for the better part of the film.
This might have the best pacing of the entire series. The ups and downs the good vibes and the bad fall at just the right time. To me this is the movie that had to be made because it is the "book" but there is not a whole lot of upside in this one - except for some tremendous acting all the way around.
This might have the best pacing of the entire series. The ups and downs the good vibes and the bad fall at just the right time. To me this is the movie that had to be made because it is the "book" but there is not a whole lot of upside in this one - except for some tremendous acting all the way around.
New Paris Style
Richard Powers and Danielle Miller
Book
This publication presents a fresh look into the private dwellings of the most exciting creative...
Nextinction: Birds in Trouble
Book
The Boids are back in town ...The follow-up to the award-winning EXTINCT BOIDS, this book features...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Intercepts in Books
Jun 20, 2024
120 of 220
Kindle
The Intercepts
By T.J. Payne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Joe works at a facility that performs human experimentation.
His work just followed him home.
The government wanted to unlock hidden abilities in the human mind.
They put subjects in extreme sensory deprivation.
All the test subjects went violently insane.
But the research continued.
Today it has been perfected.
Almost perfected.
Honestly I don’t get freaked or scared easily especially when reading but holy cow did this have me wanting to crawl up my own backside in places. Loved the whole idea of this book and it would make a really good film done properly, the idea of your mind being so unreliable is scary. So good!
Kindle
The Intercepts
By T.J. Payne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Joe works at a facility that performs human experimentation.
His work just followed him home.
The government wanted to unlock hidden abilities in the human mind.
They put subjects in extreme sensory deprivation.
All the test subjects went violently insane.
But the research continued.
Today it has been perfected.
Almost perfected.
Honestly I don’t get freaked or scared easily especially when reading but holy cow did this have me wanting to crawl up my own backside in places. Loved the whole idea of this book and it would make a really good film done properly, the idea of your mind being so unreliable is scary. So good!
JT (287 KP) rated American Hustle (2013) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
There’s a lot of love for American Hustle and with a cast such as this it is easy to see why. It’s a film that oozes glitz and glamour and has a slick sense of stability with shades Scorsese as an attempt at a crime caper.
Bale is top draw, an opening shot that requires no dialogue sees Bale’s stomach bloating Irving Rosenfeld carefully craft a balding comb over. Then in walks his partner throughout this initial sting, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) with a beautiful perm – and this is just the male cast.
The film is loosely based on a true story. Bale’s con man falls for Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and the pair look to collude together before being nabbed by the FBI and forced to help bring down a circle of corrupt politicians as a way to avoid prosecution. This is no heist from the Soderbergh play book, but a slow churning plan that involves fake sheikhs and mafia bosses and is the brainchild of agent DiMaso who targets Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) as one of the many poor unfortunates looking to make change in a growing 70s society.
Supporting cast are exceptional, none more so than Jennifer Lawrence, as Rosenfeld’s long suffering wife who during proceedings threatens to blow the whole plan wide open. That’s not to say that Amy Adams isn’t well worth her role, but the wardrobe department must have been short on ideas for her if all that was around were dresses with plunging necklines.
Overall it plays out well but does suffer confusion as you wonder who is playing who during the whole affair. All the way through I felt that something wasn’t quite right with it. For me it didn’t have the lasting impact that The Fighter had or even Silver Linings Playbook, but as a film that wants to capture everything the 70s were about it does a stupendous job.
Bale is top draw, an opening shot that requires no dialogue sees Bale’s stomach bloating Irving Rosenfeld carefully craft a balding comb over. Then in walks his partner throughout this initial sting, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) with a beautiful perm – and this is just the male cast.
The film is loosely based on a true story. Bale’s con man falls for Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and the pair look to collude together before being nabbed by the FBI and forced to help bring down a circle of corrupt politicians as a way to avoid prosecution. This is no heist from the Soderbergh play book, but a slow churning plan that involves fake sheikhs and mafia bosses and is the brainchild of agent DiMaso who targets Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) as one of the many poor unfortunates looking to make change in a growing 70s society.
Supporting cast are exceptional, none more so than Jennifer Lawrence, as Rosenfeld’s long suffering wife who during proceedings threatens to blow the whole plan wide open. That’s not to say that Amy Adams isn’t well worth her role, but the wardrobe department must have been short on ideas for her if all that was around were dresses with plunging necklines.
Overall it plays out well but does suffer confusion as you wonder who is playing who during the whole affair. All the way through I felt that something wasn’t quite right with it. For me it didn’t have the lasting impact that The Fighter had or even Silver Linings Playbook, but as a film that wants to capture everything the 70s were about it does a stupendous job.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated Young Women in Books
Apr 12, 2023
Young Women is set against the #MeToo era. It’s a fascinating read, and it was interesting to take a look into the lives of Emily and her friend Tamsin.
Emily meets Tamsin at a protest march and they become friends very quickly. Tamsin is an actress who seems to be living a very expensive life. She owns a flat in Soho, eats in expensive restaurants and drinks in even more expensive bars. In contrast, Emily shares a small flat, and works for a charity that deals with women’s advocacy. Her life is very different, and she’s excited by what Tamsin has to offer.
When an actress comes forward to accuse a film director of sexual assault, Emily realises that Tamsin is involved in some way.
This novel looks at how women can be coerced into keeping quiet about assault and in this case, with large sums of money. We see how men have all the power, how acts of sexual assault by males are all too frequent and commonplace, and how women can make themselves complicit whilst experiencing trauma.
There’s a lot to talk about in this novel, and I think it would make an outstanding book club book. It would certainly create a great deal of discussion around both sides of the equation. All of the men are written as complication inappropriate behaviours around women, and the women initially take the money in exchange for their silence, only to disclose what happened to them later.
This is a brilliant book, I hope people will read it and discuss the questions it raises about our society as a whole.
Emily meets Tamsin at a protest march and they become friends very quickly. Tamsin is an actress who seems to be living a very expensive life. She owns a flat in Soho, eats in expensive restaurants and drinks in even more expensive bars. In contrast, Emily shares a small flat, and works for a charity that deals with women’s advocacy. Her life is very different, and she’s excited by what Tamsin has to offer.
When an actress comes forward to accuse a film director of sexual assault, Emily realises that Tamsin is involved in some way.
This novel looks at how women can be coerced into keeping quiet about assault and in this case, with large sums of money. We see how men have all the power, how acts of sexual assault by males are all too frequent and commonplace, and how women can make themselves complicit whilst experiencing trauma.
There’s a lot to talk about in this novel, and I think it would make an outstanding book club book. It would certainly create a great deal of discussion around both sides of the equation. All of the men are written as complication inappropriate behaviours around women, and the women initially take the money in exchange for their silence, only to disclose what happened to them later.
This is a brilliant book, I hope people will read it and discuss the questions it raises about our society as a whole.