Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog
Jerome Jerome and Jeremy Lewis
Book
A comic masterpiece that has never been out of print since it was first published in 1889, Jerome K....
With the Night Mail: Two Yarns About the Aerial Board of Control
Bruce Sterling, Rudyard Kipling and Matthew De Abaitua
Book
"SHE: Do you like Kipling? HE: I don't know, I've never Kippled!" If you've never read Rudyard...
Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don't Know What You're Eating and What You Can Do about It
Book
"Olmsted makes you insanely hungry and steaming mad--a must-read for anyone who cares deeply about...
ClareR (5859 KP) rated Summerwater in Books
Oct 4, 2020
I do enjoy this kind of book that looks at the ordinary, everyday lives - nothing wildly exciting happening. I know this may appear odd, but there you are š¤·š¼āāļø Maybe it could be construed as voyeuristic, but ānormalā fascinates me, because one persons normal isnāt remotely like mine (or anyone elseās). There are people from all walks of life: the retired doctor and his wife who appears to have dementia; young parents with small children; older parents with teenaged children; a boyfriend and his girlfriend. I could go on, but I wonāt. Needless to say, theyāre all very different people. They do have some things in common: their distrust of outsiders. There is an ex-soldier camping and living rough in the woods, and a Ukrainian family who certainly seem to know how to have a party. No-one seems to particularly trust them or like their presence at the holiday park.
I liked the smaller sections from the point of view of nature - whether it was from one of the animals in the woods, or the bedrock beneath the lodges. It made me think that all of the petty human concerns were nothing in comparison to the ground beneath their feet and that feeling of endurance.
Iāve had more than a few holidays where Iāve been shut up in a tent, camper van or a holiday cottage because of bad weather, and this reminded me in some part of those holidays (minus the rather dramatic ending!). I think I liked this so much because basically, at the end of the day, Iām a bit of a curtain twitcher...
Many thanks to NetGalley and Picador/ Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Cloverfield (2008) in Movies
Oct 5, 2020
I knew some one who absolutely hated this film for the very fact that the monster is rarely seen, although he clamed that you never actually saw the monster, which isn't true so I don't think he watched all the way to the end. He had a point though, if you want to watch a film where monsters fight it out amongst themselves then this probably won't be for you.
The monster is really nothing more than a plot device and the fact that it is only revealed in parts and not fully seen until the end helps to keep the film centred on the people and helps add a touch of reality to the film, after all if you lived in Japan during a Kaiju attack you would be more interested in saving your own life than weather you were about to be eaten by Godzilla or Ghidorah.
Being a found footage film, Cloverfield suffers slightly from the usual shaky camera work and occasional low sound but these are kept to a minimum. The film also manages to avoid relying on night vision or infra red so the footage is, for the most part, much clearer than other films of this style and doesn't keep switching formats which make the film less distracting than others.
Over all Cloverfield is a good monster/survival film which leaves some questions to be answered in the sequels (or not )
ClareR (5859 KP) rated Heatstroke in Books
Dec 27, 2020
Rachel appears to be struggling with the fact that sheās ageing, and she wants to feel both young and attractive to men - and to some extent, boys. She is constantly thinking about what other people think about her: appearances are supremely important, and she canāt understand her daughters need to look older and alter her looks with makeup. Mia is growing up and becoming more independent, and this pushes Rachel further in to despair. Surely if her daughter is older, she is too!
I found it hard to excuse Rachelās behaviour. She could have made her daughters friend safe quite easily, I think.
I liked the abrupt ending. I rather like it when a book finishes and you can make your own mind up as to what has happened afterwards. Donāt get me wrong - a book that ends with a resolution is just as enjoyable, but you canāt beat an unresolved ending! And i donāt think that this book would have been able to give the quick fix end. Itās clear that there is a lot that needs to be done to make Rachelās family ābetterā.
I enjoyed this book: as a debut novel, it has certainly given me something to think about, and a name to look out for in the future!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this fabulous book.
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