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Deborah (162 KP) rated Seeking Mr Hare in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
SM
Seeking Mr Hare
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I've not read anything by Maurice Leitch before, but like most people I've heard of Burke & Hare, so thought this would be worth a read.

Overall it was very well written. As well as the historical Mr Hare, Thomas de Quincey (Confessions of An English Opium Eater) makes an appearance. The novel starts with Hare still held in gaol and we see him turn King's Evidence and be allowed to go free while his partner in crime (pun intended!) goes to the gallows. A plaster cast is taken of Hare's head and a phrenologist has a good feel of his skull!

Being somewhat notorious and with many people being outraged with his perceived escape from justice, Hare has some difficulty in getting away and he has little money and few possessions to his name.

So much for Hare's half of the narrative. His account is interspersed with chapters in the form of letters or journal entries from Mr Speed, a former police detective. He had been charged by a Lord with an interest in science and criminology to track Hare down. This is the weak point for me - I don't quite understand why. Hare was imprisoned while the trial was going on, so why is it only after he is released he has to be tracked down. What is Speed supposed to do for him employer if and when he catches up with Hare? What exact;y does he want to know? This isn't clear to me and so the book as a whole rather loses its point. I can't say much more as it will end up spoiling things, but the ending did seem very anti-climactic to me.
  
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James Dean Bradfield recommended Welsh-Connection by Man in Music (curated)

 
Welsh-Connection by Man
Welsh-Connection by Man
2013 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"They're a funny band, Man, because they were always on the fringes of being really successful but they didn't really hit the big time. But they did well in America, and for this, the line-up had changed a tiny bit and it causes a lot of conjecture among their fans, but it's just beautiful. Actually, I've got a sneaking feeling that My Morning Jacket must be fans of Man, because there's stuff on Welsh-Connection which sounds very much like MMJ on their album Circuital. The cover is a mock-up of the French Connection movie poster, so you can sense the mood of everything, but the actual song 'The Welsh Connection' is just amazing. There's a certain 70s, deep-brown and depressed mood to it, but it kind of flies as well. It's what you imagine the 70s to be like; you imagine them being devoid of fantasy, so you had to lift yourself above the strikes and the power cuts and the joblessness and the overcooked beige food. You imagine that there's no fantasy for you to actually plough, and you've gotta just rise above it and try and dream. That's why I love this record; it feels like you're floating above reality and the brownness of the 70s, and it's trying to get somewhere. I've always found Man intriguing, because they're a west Walian band but they were making music that was very much competing with some of the best American West Coast prog-rock bands or rock bands, and I always find that intriguing - when a band tapped into something that was not of their typography or geographical situation. It's just a beautiful record, and a lot of their fans don't actually think it's their best, but I think it's their best by a mile."

Source
  
Nobody (2021)
Nobody (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime
9
7.8 (20 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Nobody is what you get when you cross 'John Wick', 'Falling Down' and throw in a pinch of the British T.V. show 'The Prisoner'.
Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a seemingly normal family man who would let robbers take his money to make sure his son doesn't get shot, However, Hutch has a secret past which he has to turn to when events spiral out of control.
Bob Odenkirk plays Hutch well and manages an interesting take on the 'Past warrior/now family man' trope, most of the time the characters past is acknowledged/known by other characters and the viewer but Hutch comes across as a normal boring man whilst most of the other male characters seem to all be stronger than he is and the film slowly builds up to show us just how 'bad ass' he really is. And this leads to one of the problems with 'Nobody', it is obvious that Hutch's children know nothing of his past life but I was never sure of how much his wife, Becca, knew. From the beginning you assume she knows nothing, however as the film goes on Hutch and Becca refer to how things were before and some times it seems like she knew and even worked with Hutch whilst other times they could just be referring to earlier in there relationship and Becca's behaviour both seems to indicate that she does and doesn't know about Hutches past .
The action scenes are good with Hutch being a 'John Wick light' or a 'MacGyver', using guns and traps more than improvised weapons but still being able to make the fights entertaining.
Over all 'Nobody' is a good, entertaining film and well worth a watch and, lets face it, anything with Christopher Lloyd in it can't be all bad.