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Jade Clarke-Mackintosh (7 KP) rated The Silmarillion in Books
Jan 23, 2018
He is a master!
It has been a while since I have read anything by Tolkien, but as usual he never disappoints.
From the first page of the book he weaved his magic and I was once again transported to Middle Earth. He has such a gift for writing and storytelling you feel like you are there living and breathing the story. No wonder the man is a legend, his imagination knows no bounds from the poetic location names to the wealth and personalities of the characters, especially in this version as I listened to the audiobook my mind was conjuring up all sorts of colourful images. I guess it help having read previous books in the Middle Earth Universe collection, lots of the place names and characters were familiar to me.
No-one writes elves, goblins or dwarfs quite as well this man.
From the first page of the book he weaved his magic and I was once again transported to Middle Earth. He has such a gift for writing and storytelling you feel like you are there living and breathing the story. No wonder the man is a legend, his imagination knows no bounds from the poetic location names to the wealth and personalities of the characters, especially in this version as I listened to the audiobook my mind was conjuring up all sorts of colourful images. I guess it help having read previous books in the Middle Earth Universe collection, lots of the place names and characters were familiar to me.
No-one writes elves, goblins or dwarfs quite as well this man.
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Paying Guests in Books
Mar 15, 2018
I had high hopes for this book, hearing that Sarah Waters was an excellent storyteller, however for me this book didn't go very far in expanding my imagination. I found the plot slow and uninteresting, by the middle of the book I was ready to put this down but I powered on through in hopes of it going somewhere exciting, only to be utterly disappointed to find that it didn't.
Finishing this book I exhaled 'Thank God for that!' and threw it into the back seat of the car (I was a passenger at the time, don't worry!) and it remains there today.
Even a close friend of mine, who absolutely loves Sarah Waters was bored by this book, I don't even think she finished it.
If you're interested in a long winded story about unconventional love and murder then by all means have a go, but I wouldn't suggest this for any thrill seekers like me.
Finishing this book I exhaled 'Thank God for that!' and threw it into the back seat of the car (I was a passenger at the time, don't worry!) and it remains there today.
Even a close friend of mine, who absolutely loves Sarah Waters was bored by this book, I don't even think she finished it.
If you're interested in a long winded story about unconventional love and murder then by all means have a go, but I wouldn't suggest this for any thrill seekers like me.
Anna Steele (111 KP) rated Noteworthy in Books
Jun 28, 2018
Singing Sharp and Mending Broken Hearts
Riley Redgate is an up-and-coming author and recent graduate of Kenyon College. In her second novel, her main character goes to an arts school and has never been cast in a show. To keep herself on her toes with competition, she goes undercover and auditions for an all-male a capella group. She never expected it to go so far. It reminds me of the anime Oran High School Host Club, with Jordan being a scholarship kid masquerading in an all-male group. I wasn’t sure if a capella would stand as well on the page as it did on the silver screen, but Redgate’s prose throughout the novel sparked my imagination so much that I wasn’t worried about missing the actual notes. Striving for a sense of belonging in an artistic and scholastic setting really hits home with me, as an acting major in college.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated The Wolf Gift (The Wolf Gift Chronicles, #1) in Books
Jul 12, 2018
This book was beautifully written. Anne Rice really does have a way of describing scenes and characters. I think that this was beautiful.
I enjoyed the different take on Werewolves and I loved the descriptions. I do wish that the book had more of a climatic story line. I felt as if this novel was not an emotional novel. I felt no pull towards the characters. I loved the struggle that the characters had with God and I enjoyed being able to relate to the characters. I loved the characters but I was not in love with them.
All in all I enjoyed this book. I will say that it was anti-climatic and left me wanting a more intense read.
Anne Rice is a spectacular writer who has a great imagination and an ability to make you feel like you are watching a movie while reading.
I would recommend this book to family and friends.
I enjoyed the different take on Werewolves and I loved the descriptions. I do wish that the book had more of a climatic story line. I felt as if this novel was not an emotional novel. I felt no pull towards the characters. I loved the struggle that the characters had with God and I enjoyed being able to relate to the characters. I loved the characters but I was not in love with them.
All in all I enjoyed this book. I will say that it was anti-climatic and left me wanting a more intense read.
Anne Rice is a spectacular writer who has a great imagination and an ability to make you feel like you are watching a movie while reading.
I would recommend this book to family and friends.
Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated The Diving-bell and the Butterfly in Books
Jul 2, 2019
Emotional
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is a short memoir with snip-bits of chapters. The late Bauby had locked in syndrome, this is one of the reasons that makes this book remarkable. Being unable to speak or move, his story is captured by a friend through the authors blinking with his left eye. He finds a way to rearrange the alphabet in order of letter usage in French. This is not a heart rendering account of a man trapped in (as he calls it) a cocoon, but rather a snap shot of the way he copes, the way his memory allows him to heighten his imagination, the way he separates his existence from the outside world and the way his mind saves him from boredom.
Beautifully written with a conversational tone, this is a wonderful glimpse into the mind of a person whose body no longer works.
Beautifully written with a conversational tone, this is a wonderful glimpse into the mind of a person whose body no longer works.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Cat People (1942) in Movies
Jan 6, 2020 (Updated Jan 6, 2020)
Moody and suggestive noir-ish horror melodrama perhaps shows that you can leave too much to the imagination. Serbian immigrant falls for preppy boat designer and marries him; the trouble is that she believes she will turn into a panther and rip him apart if he even kisses her. (No marriage will prosper in these circumstances.)
Very much of its period, especially in its gender politics - both of the main male characters are eminently punchable, to say the least - with a slightly awkward subtext about feminine emotions and desire. The plot is perhaps a bit too linear as well. However, it is very well directed, with a couple of sequences that invariably turn up in 'history of horror' documentaries as establishing genre tropes. It's still a slightly eggy melodrama where you don't really see the monster, so unlikely to be satisfying for many modern fans of the genre. It has still worn better than many other horror films from the 30s and 40s.
Very much of its period, especially in its gender politics - both of the main male characters are eminently punchable, to say the least - with a slightly awkward subtext about feminine emotions and desire. The plot is perhaps a bit too linear as well. However, it is very well directed, with a couple of sequences that invariably turn up in 'history of horror' documentaries as establishing genre tropes. It's still a slightly eggy melodrama where you don't really see the monster, so unlikely to be satisfying for many modern fans of the genre. It has still worn better than many other horror films from the 30s and 40s.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976) in Movies
Mar 28, 2020
Almost wholly nuts Taiwanese kung fu movie. A blind assassin wielding the dreaded flying guillotine (basically a sort of buzz saw on the end of a length of chain) sets out for revenge against legendary heroic martial arts teacher the One-Armed Boxer. Whose kung fu will prove stronger?
Very little about this film isn't completely ridiculous (the main character visibly has his 'missing' arm stuffed down the front of his shirt, while it almost entirely eschews a second act in favour of about eight random kung fu fights in a row) but it still manages to be almost completely awesome, full of energy and imagination (the fight between our unidextrous hero and a Yoga expert with telescopic arms is a particular highlight). The plot is fairly routine honour-and-revenge-based stuff, but the action sequences are inventively choreographed and lots of fun. Hugely entertaining and very funny, sometimes even on purpose.
Very little about this film isn't completely ridiculous (the main character visibly has his 'missing' arm stuffed down the front of his shirt, while it almost entirely eschews a second act in favour of about eight random kung fu fights in a row) but it still manages to be almost completely awesome, full of energy and imagination (the fight between our unidextrous hero and a Yoga expert with telescopic arms is a particular highlight). The plot is fairly routine honour-and-revenge-based stuff, but the action sequences are inventively choreographed and lots of fun. Hugely entertaining and very funny, sometimes even on purpose.
Awix (3310 KP) rated A Man Apart (2003) in Movies
Apr 14, 2020
The world is in lockdown, so I could be learning another language, or reading Ulysses, or writing a book, or practising the ukulele. Yet somehow I find myself spending my time watching obscure Vin Diesel movies. So it goes. This is one he made before he was properly famous, and which only got a proper release off the back of The Fast and the Furious and xXx. Vin's DEA agent gets very cross indeed when drug dealers shoot his wife after he arrests El Big Chief, and threatens to go off the rails entirely while seeking revenge.
Diesel has something of his usual presence and charisma, which means the film scrapes another point (just) - this is a very ordinary, very violent revenge thriller, with no interesting ideas, wit, or imagination about it. It's neither good, nor bad enough to be unintentionally funny - I nearly gave up halfway through, which hardly ever happens. Tedious macho nonsense; steer clear.
Diesel has something of his usual presence and charisma, which means the film scrapes another point (just) - this is a very ordinary, very violent revenge thriller, with no interesting ideas, wit, or imagination about it. It's neither good, nor bad enough to be unintentionally funny - I nearly gave up halfway through, which hardly ever happens. Tedious macho nonsense; steer clear.
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