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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Nix in Books

Dec 4, 2017  
The Nix
The Nix
Nathan Hill | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Glorious, extravagant, epic family saga
It's hardly surprising Meryl Streep has bought the rights to this debut novel by Nathan Hill, which explores relations amongst several generations of a family.

It spans nearly fifty years, with flashbacks to student protests during 1968, from the present day, and the travails of an academic, struggling to engage with lazy and disaffected students, and playing ‘Elfscape’, an online role-playing game that works along the lines of World of Warcraft. The narrative perspective moves around quite a bit in the first few chapters, but a strong theme quickly emerges.

Samuel Andresen-Anderson is the principal protagonist, and is a genuinely empathetic character. Far from perfect, he is beset with irritations, ranging from the cheating and ignorance of many of his students to the family upheaval suffered during his childhood, which still troubles him more than twenty years later.

Behind all this is the story of Faye, Samuel’s mother, who walked out on her family more than twenty years earlier, and who is catapulted into the public consciousness following a sudden impulsive act. This offered Hill the opportunity for some acute observations about the motives and actions of the student rebels from the late 1960s, while also exposing the hypocrisies of the establishment and the cruelties of some of the police during those troubles. In between, the author even delves into Norwegian folklore.

The writing is fine – clear and accessible - and Hill manages the complex storylines admirably. Moving backwards and forwards between the late 1960s, late 1980s and 2011, the plot never flags. This was a long novel, but very entertaining throughout.
  
Show all 3 comments.
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) Dec 4, 2017

Thanks @Sarah! I've already been inspired by some of your suggestions such as Libby! Did you like Solaris?

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Sarah (7800 KP) Dec 5, 2017

I did enjoy it, I'll be honest though I didn't even know it was anything other than a film until i saw your review!

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John Hawkes recommended Harold and Maude (1971) in Movies (curated)

 
Harold and Maude (1971)
Harold and Maude (1971)
1971 | Comedy, Drama, Romance
8.6 (5 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This was a life changing experience for me. I went to one year of college at a small college in Minnesota, and during that year I befriended an older student named Tim Streeter who I hung out with a lot. He played Tom Waits for me and handed me On The Road by Jack Kerouac. Since I’m from this small farming community, I wasn’t exposed to a lot of unusual art. I had seen The Seventh Seal when I was a kid on PBS. One night [Tim Streeter] said “There’s a movie playing at the student union and you should go.” It was Harold and Maude, and I was amazed by it. There’s no dialogue for the beginning of the film, and it begins with Harold killing himself. His mother berates him for it. Bud Cort’s performance is so great, that this is when I began to become a Hal Ashby fan. I could name his films as all of my Five Favorites if I wanted. Being There is certainly near the top. I chose this one because it was so formative for me. Ruth Gordon, when she tells Harold to go out and love and have experience and give him something to talk about in the locker room, it’s such a great thing, such a beautiful moment. When Ruth Gordon throws the ring or piece of jewelry that Harold’s given to her, and she said, “Now I’ll always know where it is,” I think it’s in that scene where the camera catches a concentration camp number on her wrist that’s never mentioned or talked about. It gives me chills because it’s so affecting and subtle."

Source
  
Countdown (2019)
Countdown (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
A group of teens are playing a game of cards at a house party when they discover an app which tells you when you will die, they all download it for a bit of fun. Everybody gets dates years or months from now, except one teen who only gets several hours. They all laugh it off and continue with their party. After the party this girl gets into an argument with her boyfriend and ends up walking home alone where she is eventually killed in her bathroom by an unseen force.
Fast forward to a hospital student nurse going about her duty, she speaks to the first girls boyfriend who is due to go into surgery after his car crash. He had downloaded the app and had been given hours to live and was scared he wouldn't wake up from his surgery. The student nurse laughs it off and downloads the app herself which tells her she dies in 2 days. When Evan (the first victims boyfriend) dies right when he was due to, Quinn realises it isn't just an app and sets about how to stop it.
I quite enjoyed the movie even though it was very predictable at times, and sometimes characters were so face-palm stupid! I liked that it has a final destination feel to it, I do think it should have stayed serious though as the scene with the priest was over the top with its silliness, and the way Quinn opens Evans dead body eyes to unlock his phone was laughable. These aside though, it is a fun horror movie which I recommend you watch at least once.
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
1992 | Action, Comedy, Horror
Plot, casting, comedy No Angel. (0 more)
Not dark enough (0 more)
A movie you can really sink your teeth into
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a horror/comedy about a high school cheerleader who learns that it is her destiny to hunt vampires.
juggling being a student/cheerleader & Training to hunt & kill the undead proves to be a little more stressfull as the final hour draws closer.
A fun light hearted yet dark themed Classic.


 The movie was a moderate success at the box office but garnered mixed reviews by critics.

taken in a different direction than writer Joss Whedon intended, five years later, he created the darker, more successful TV series of the same name.


directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui
starring Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, and Hilary Swank.
  
Prom Night (2008)
Prom Night (2008)
2008 | Horror
It's up there in my list of favs
This typical American horror might not be everyones cup of tea but it's definitely one I can watch over and over.

Classic story of an over obsessed teacher that falls for a student so much he will not let anyone get in his way. A few years after turning this young women's life upside down the teacher escapes prison to try and get the girl, only she is at her prom with all her friends. In this intense slasher are some brilliant actors, on a night that should be the best night of their lives it turns to become there last. In a fight to survive the unexpected, the main character must once again relive her nightmares as she tries to escape from her old phyco teacher.
  
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