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Penny Arcade recommended The Little Prince in Books (curated)

 
The Little Prince
The Little Prince
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"The Little Prince will be on many peoples best loved book lists. I first read this at 14 and the anarchic wisdom of this book with it's delicate philosophy of the outsider influenced my own thinking about the pitfalls of trading childhood wonder for adulthood,but most of all it taught me about accepting other's differences and the fragile nature of relationship. "That which is essential is invisible to the eye"

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40x40

Suzanne Vega recommended David Copperfield in Books (curated)

 
David Copperfield
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
6.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"The thinly veiled autobiography of Charles Dickens himself. Having grown up with a stepfather, I liked reading about another child who had one as well. I loved the English nature of the story — the time and place it inhabits. Another story of a child making his way in the world. I sense a theme here. I like this better than “Oliver Twist” because the storytelling is more restrained, and more believable."

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Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
1968 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"It’s a beautiful, beautiful movie. A philosophical introspection on the nature of revolution and change and deciding to be on one side or the other. And it’s about how the outside world makes you decide how to step on one side or the other. It’s possibly one of the most eye-opening films i can ever recommend to anyone because it gives you a glimpse on an internal struggle."

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Generation Wealth (2018)
Generation Wealth (2018)
2018 | Documentary

" I always want to shout out props to hard hitting essay films. This was nuts! I felt sick during and after, but I was full of admiration for the sheer strength and determination it took to make this film and the thinking that forged these themes into a cogent survey of something extreme and disturbing in human nature and the times in which we live. Not for the over-sensitive."

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Zero de conduite (1933)
Zero de conduite (1933)
1933 | Comedy, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"It is easy to see how this previously banned surrealist/Dadaist masterpiece influenced so many filmmakers to come. Jean Vigo’s use of physical comedy and the slightly provocative nature of the film’s subject matter work together to create a generally outré atmosphere that at times borders on the chaotic. It makes for a mesmerizing watch. Without Zéro de conduite, it’s hard to imagine a 400 Blows or If…."

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The January Man: A Year of Walking Britain
The January Man: A Year of Walking Britain
Christopher Somerville | 2017 | Natural World
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A charming and thoughtful book about life, family, nature and the joy of walking (0 more)
Nothing (0 more)
The Long and Winding Road
The relationship between fathers and sons is contested ground. An emotional boxing match with incomprehension at golden opportunities wasted in one corner, and frustration at being held to impossible standards in the other.

The sometimes awkward, but always close, relationship between journalist Christopher Somerville and his war hero father is at the heart of this hugely engaging mix of memoir and nature writing. Their shared love of walking was the bond that united two very different characters in a story that unfolds against a backdrop of profound social change.

The quiet stoicism that saw a generation of men through the war giving way to rebellion born of affluence, then morphing into the busy atomisation of twenty first century life. This could make for a maudlin exercise in chin stroking, but is saved from it by Somerville’s good humour and inherent optimism.

Added to this is a deep love of nature and the English countryside and the people who have painted, written about or made their living from it over the centuries. Somerville is able to translate this into nature writing that carries the message that we should value what we’ve got without being either sentimental or didactic.

As a memoirist, he has an eye for the eccentricities of family life and a welcome sense of empathy with the experience of his parent’s generation and how it shaped their outlook. Being reserved is not the same thing as being distant, love strong enough to last a lifetime doesn’t need to announce itself with flowers and candy hearts; it manifests in the little acts that make up a life.

This is also a resolutely practical book, something Somerville senior would have approved of, with several associated walks that can be downloaded. Even if the journey from the bookcase to your easy chair is the closest you get to hiking, it is still worth reading.