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Louise (64 KP) rated The Farm in Books

Jul 2, 2018

The Farm

Tom Rob Smith | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry

7.0

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

I loved the crap out of this book, it was so compelling and had me gripped the whole way through, this was a first for me on this author, I like to read new authors all the time, I like experiencing different writing and imaginations. The premise of this book intrigued me, as to who Daniel would believe when both parents are against one another.

The pace of this book is quite slow but it slowly drips feeds you information as to what has happened to his parents on the Farm in Sweden that you cannot stop reading.

Daniel currently lives in London with his partner Mark, when he gets an unexpected call from his father stating that his mother is not well and has fled from a psychiatric ward. His parents had not long moved to Sweden to retire to his mothers homeland.

Daniel who is an only child decides he needs to go to Sweden after putting it off for several months, however when he gets to the airport, he receives a call from his mother stating that she is flying over to the UK now to meet him so she can tell him her side of the story events that has been happening over the past 6 months.

Two thirds of the book are told by Tilde (Daniel’s mother), she has a satchel with evidence and a diary which she reads from, she is very specific with what happens and adamant that things must be told in chronological order so people do not misinterpret her findings as madness.

Daniel is a very naive character thinking his parents, never argued, had a great life, owning their own garden centre and several flats around London, when actually that was the complete opposite, he didn’t want to tell his parents he was homosexual as he thought they would think they had failed in his upbringing and disappoint them. Daniel seemed to have had a very sheltered life from his parents, he had never experienced them arguing, had a good education but in the end had a job as a gardener/landscape designer thingymajig which wasn’t really going anywhere and a high-profile boyfriend which he relied on for more than just companionship.

The thing that had me thinking was what if this was my parents? who would I believe? When one is saying the other is crazy and the other believes a murder has taken place and that the father is involved. I think this is why it was so gripping, you had to continue to find out the truth and I was not let down by this.

This was just a book that I picked up as the synopsis intrigued me, I didn’t expect to love it so much. The good thing about this book is that it is a thriller without the gore and blood.

I would definitely recommend this book.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Astronaut Farmer (2006) in Movies

Aug 14, 2019

Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) is a man with a dream. Unlike some men, he does not dream of wealth, fame, or material goods, instead he dreams simply of traveling into space. While to most who share Charles’s dream would be resigned to simply leave it at that, Charles is not like most men and is determined to make his dream a reality.

While Charles too many is a simple rancher, his past is anything but simple thanks in part to his past career at N.A.S.A.

While N.A.S.A. has forgotten about Charles, who left to care for his family after the passing of his father, Charles never lost site of his desire to travel into space, and has decided to do something about it.

Towards that end, Charles has decided to use his aerospace training and education to construct his own rocket in his barn.

His family is supportive, especially his loving wife Audrey (Virginia Madsen), who believes that since Jim gave up his dreams for his family when they needed him most, and he should be supported now.

Of course many of the locales in his small Texas town do not share his vision and too many Charles is the locale oddity who is borderline crazy. This fact is also shared by the bank that is close to foreclosing on his ranch.

Despite the skeptics, Charles is close to his dream, but he lacks the needed fuel to power his rocket. While his efforts have largely gone under the radar, the moment Charles attempts to purchase fuel, he lands high on the watch list for the government, who now consider him a threat to national security, as well as N.A.S.A. who are determined to keep him grounded.

In an effort to sound him out, N.A.S.A. sends a Colonel (Bruce Willis), to Charles to inspect his rocket and offer him a chance to ride on a future shuttle mission if he abandons his efforts.

Undaunted, Charles continues to follow his dream and soon finds himself the center of a media circus and under constant surveillance from Government agents.

As the tensions mount so does the pending foreclosure as well as concern in the family that they are possibly going to lose everything they cherish due to Charles determination to see his dream out at all costs.

Billy Bob Thornton and Virginia Madsen are great together and have a real chemistry that not only helps the audience connect to their characters but makes it easy to root for them.

The duo drives this solid and highly entertaining film from the Polish Brothers who are quickly making a name for themselves with their solid body of work. The story could in some hands be dismissed as fluff but under the guidance of the Polish Brothers and the easygoing charm of Thornton and Madsen, the film soars and is a very pleasant and enjoyable surprise.