Deer on a damp beach
Exploring some rock pools
Goatfell
I'm about to finish my book so perhaps I will write about that once I have.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Dysconnection
A weekend in Arran
Well it certainly has been a long since I posted anything on my old blog.
Monday 2 May 2011
The Red Pony
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck was really a nice little read which lasted as long as my delay in Edinburgh airport.
5 short episodes in a young boys life...mostly involving
My favourite section of the novelette was when he was wandering home from school and put laods of amphibians and lizards in his lunch box.
What a lad.
Shame all his horses kept dying...
I do like John Steinbeck.
8/10
Friday 22 April 2011
Confessions
Confessions, a Japanese film by Tetsuya Nakashima, was bizzare...
It had a lovely soundtrack and some really nice shots of cloudy skys. Infact most of the film was shot really nicely... The quiet atmospheric music worked really well. Those were my visual highlights.
The content of the film didn't particularly inspire me. Consisting mostly of people killing each other in some kind of never ending spiral of revenge and psychotic rage. Sitting in the cinema without a sense of impending exam failrue was delightful. As was the lovely pint of Weinstephan afterwards.
So, overall, a sucess.
It had a lovely soundtrack and some really nice shots of cloudy skys. Infact most of the film was shot really nicely... The quiet atmospheric music worked really well. Those were my visual highlights.
The content of the film didn't particularly inspire me. Consisting mostly of people killing each other in some kind of never ending spiral of revenge and psychotic rage. Sitting in the cinema without a sense of impending exam failrue was delightful. As was the lovely pint of Weinstephan afterwards.
So, overall, a sucess.
Thursday 21 April 2011
Rebecca
Rebecca by Daphne Dumaurier was really great. I give it 9/10
The beginning was idilic... Driving around the French countryside with a lovely man and just having a great time. This only caused me acute distress when they arrived back in England to their charming English country home to find that everything wasn't going to stay so delightful.
I felt total empathy with our narrator...I felt myself experiencing all her emotions along the way... With her terrible sense of helpless awkwardness at the start; being out of her depth and feeling like her husband thought of her as nothing more than a pleasant accompaniment to the house and not as a genuine lover or life companion. Also feeling like some other woman had left such a great impression and she was living pathetically in her shadow. The relief when all her fears are proved unfounded was incredible. But at the same time such a sense of grief for all the time lost, and sense of regret for never confronting her feeling at the beginning - perhaps none of this would ever have had to happen. I wonder in life how many people miss out on things just by jumping to conclusions and deciding it's all better left unsaid?
It was a really easy read, yet unlike other 'easy reads' was really well written. The descriptions of Mauderly were really vivid and I felt like I was right there in the big old misty forest with the dogs. I could see the dusty old rooms of Rebecca and feel all the undercurrents of emotion and curiosity running through the friends and family who came to visit.
The novel gripped me throughout... There was the perfect balance of questions answered and thoughts left brooding to keep you reading more. There were twists in this novel that I never saw coming and genuinely sent shivers down my spine!
Reading this novel was a pleasure from start to finish.
A nice break from endless revision.
Execpt that it wasn't endless and I'm flying to Geneva tomorrow.
Sweet.
Thursday 31 March 2011
Radio
Have got the next two weeks off to revise for pending exams. Simultaneously discovered the Desert Island Discs archive.
Going to treat myself to a new person everyday during my lunch break.
First stop Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall...
Monday 28 March 2011
Re:vision
Sunday 13 March 2011
Fish II
.
Some more fish-on-hands
Stumbled across with my friend Hans whilst exploring the degree show of Munich Art School.
Some more fish-on-hands
Stumbled across with my friend Hans whilst exploring the degree show of Munich Art School.
Saturday 12 March 2011
Cloud Atlas
Been a wee while coming but I finally finished Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
I really like the structure of this novel with 6 different narratives spanning from the missionaries exploring the islands of Australasia to a post apocalyptic community living in simple rural community... The novel went forward in chronological order telling the start of each story set along these different periods of history. I really liked the first chapter, a narrative by a man on a mission ship in Australia. Adam was such a moral man, I really liked him. He liked exploring the islands and making sketches of whales whilst the sailors on the ships got drunk. It reminded me of a really quaint novel I read a couple of years ago called "Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish" also set in a similar time... Really odd period of history where 'missionaries' would go and impose themselves on perfectly happy native peoples. The pictures of the fish were phenom though!
The letters from a composer living in a lovely french chateau were delightful...until he started sleeping with the owners wife, that made me feel uncomfortable because I'm a bit of a prude.
I quite enjoyed getting to know new characters and settings in each new chapter...but then when it came to the concluding sections I found I had mostly forgotten what had happened in the beginning perhaps my fault for taking so long to read it.
The middling chapters I was less keen on, particularly the one set in the future with specially bred humans for menial jobs. Although it was an interesting idea the dialogue between this clone and a computer I found a bit strange.
Really liked the last part. A world which seems to be from the stone age, but is actually what is left of the earth after our civilisation has destroyed the earth as we know it. I found it quite poignant as it is probably going to happen some time...That something we have created will eventually be the cause of the end of the world as we know it. Even if it's indirectly, I suppose, like climate change or something.
Again I think I was attracted to this part of the story in particular because there was something innocent about these little communities, they lacked the corruption of modern technology. There seems to be a bit of a running theme here as I enjoy any story which has anything to with wandering about in the countryside looking after goats... It's not that I have anything against Ipods but I do wonder what would ever happen if we were left to our own devices again.
Was talking about something similar the other day...wondering if men are still evolving and decided that we probably aren't in ourselves but are developing through technology. Does that perhaps mean that technology will over take what we can control? Might sound a bit sci-fi fantasy, but I'm not sure it's such a wild idea...
I found in general the novel was really well written with interesting characters and all that, with the exception of one story about a man who gets admitted to an old folk home against his will and then plans to escape...found that all a little silly.
I was a little disappointed by most of the conclusions to the novelettes. All in all an enjoyable read, and found the structure quite fun. Lots of people, at least 4, have said to me that they really enjoy this book so maybe I'm missing something, perhaps some subtle part of the undertone was lost on me.
I am going to rate this book a 6.5/10
I really like the structure of this novel with 6 different narratives spanning from the missionaries exploring the islands of Australasia to a post apocalyptic community living in simple rural community... The novel went forward in chronological order telling the start of each story set along these different periods of history. I really liked the first chapter, a narrative by a man on a mission ship in Australia. Adam was such a moral man, I really liked him. He liked exploring the islands and making sketches of whales whilst the sailors on the ships got drunk. It reminded me of a really quaint novel I read a couple of years ago called "Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish" also set in a similar time... Really odd period of history where 'missionaries' would go and impose themselves on perfectly happy native peoples. The pictures of the fish were phenom though!
The letters from a composer living in a lovely french chateau were delightful...until he started sleeping with the owners wife, that made me feel uncomfortable because I'm a bit of a prude.
I quite enjoyed getting to know new characters and settings in each new chapter...but then when it came to the concluding sections I found I had mostly forgotten what had happened in the beginning perhaps my fault for taking so long to read it.
The middling chapters I was less keen on, particularly the one set in the future with specially bred humans for menial jobs. Although it was an interesting idea the dialogue between this clone and a computer I found a bit strange.
Really liked the last part. A world which seems to be from the stone age, but is actually what is left of the earth after our civilisation has destroyed the earth as we know it. I found it quite poignant as it is probably going to happen some time...That something we have created will eventually be the cause of the end of the world as we know it. Even if it's indirectly, I suppose, like climate change or something.
Again I think I was attracted to this part of the story in particular because there was something innocent about these little communities, they lacked the corruption of modern technology. There seems to be a bit of a running theme here as I enjoy any story which has anything to with wandering about in the countryside looking after goats... It's not that I have anything against Ipods but I do wonder what would ever happen if we were left to our own devices again.
Was talking about something similar the other day...wondering if men are still evolving and decided that we probably aren't in ourselves but are developing through technology. Does that perhaps mean that technology will over take what we can control? Might sound a bit sci-fi fantasy, but I'm not sure it's such a wild idea...
I found in general the novel was really well written with interesting characters and all that, with the exception of one story about a man who gets admitted to an old folk home against his will and then plans to escape...found that all a little silly.
I was a little disappointed by most of the conclusions to the novelettes. All in all an enjoyable read, and found the structure quite fun. Lots of people, at least 4, have said to me that they really enjoy this book so maybe I'm missing something, perhaps some subtle part of the undertone was lost on me.
I am going to rate this book a 6.5/10
Sunday 27 February 2011
Stars
Just listening to a song by Laura Veirs called To the Country, it is quite pleasant.
It mentions looking up at stars, which made me remember one of my favourite moments of my life so far(!)
When I was in Borneo trekking in the rainforest we camped by the side of an abandoned logging track one night. It was one of the few places in the jungle where you had a clear view of the sky because all the trees had been cleared and the sky looked stunning. There was no electric lights for miles and miles around and the sky was literally Full of stars. It was genuinely awesome. Me and my friend Millie spent hours lying on our backs in the dirt looking at the sky, I saw 4 shooting stars. Makes you feel so small when you think of each of the stars in the sky as another Sun...
The universe is incredible.
It mentions looking up at stars, which made me remember one of my favourite moments of my life so far(!)
When I was in Borneo trekking in the rainforest we camped by the side of an abandoned logging track one night. It was one of the few places in the jungle where you had a clear view of the sky because all the trees had been cleared and the sky looked stunning. There was no electric lights for miles and miles around and the sky was literally Full of stars. It was genuinely awesome. Me and my friend Millie spent hours lying on our backs in the dirt looking at the sky, I saw 4 shooting stars. Makes you feel so small when you think of each of the stars in the sky as another Sun...
The universe is incredible.
Bus Journeys
I saw this on my way to Ninewells one morning last week, well I saw it every morning, but decided to take a picture of it one day.
It's pretty neat having a camera phone, I can just take pictures of things I see from the bus.
Nice to see the wall paper.
It's pretty neat having a camera phone, I can just take pictures of things I see from the bus.
Nice to see the wall paper.
Baking
There is something incredibly satisfying about cooking and baking.
It's fascinating that you can start with 4 separate ingredients and some how they all mix together to become something different. And once you've made a cake you can't then separate it back to it's original components... Wow! Chemistry in action. It's quite amazing that people have evolved to mix things together to make things like cakes. Pretty cool.
Cooking is more about the chopping and peeling and mixing and frying, that's all pretty fun. I like following a recipe.
I really like eating it afterwards too. Just love to eat.
So for the first time I made a bakewell tart from scratch. It was really great.
I think this picture is the most appetising.
It's fascinating that you can start with 4 separate ingredients and some how they all mix together to become something different. And once you've made a cake you can't then separate it back to it's original components... Wow! Chemistry in action. It's quite amazing that people have evolved to mix things together to make things like cakes. Pretty cool.
Cooking is more about the chopping and peeling and mixing and frying, that's all pretty fun. I like following a recipe.
I really like eating it afterwards too. Just love to eat.
So for the first time I made a bakewell tart from scratch. It was really great.
I think this picture is the most appetising.Unfortunately I made a slight error of judgement when transporting the bakewell to my friend's house and the majority of the filling ended up lining my linen carrier bag. Still tasted great.
The finished product.
The finished product.Monday 14 February 2011
Biutiful
.
Biutiful was on my list of things to see at the DCA this weekend. My rating 6.1/10
I liked this film, but I don't know if I enjoyed it. As my mother would say, it wasn't very uplifting. Not that I have anything against a realistic and perhaps depressing end to a film, but one without much of a glimmer of hope: it was perhaps a little much for a sleepy Sunday evening. Maybe I should just stop going to the cinema on a Sunday night.
The boy Mateo was my favourite, a babe. His table etiquette reminded me of myself circa Indian buffet a few weeks ago. Continental boys are so cute with their olive skin and dark eyes, especially when they have those mullets. Mmm Mmm Mmmmmmm, love a mullet. The innocence of children is so delightful to watch - like how he kept telling his dad about owl pellets.. Also can't help but feel some kind of a connection when a character shares my name...so Ana was nice. =I got a terrible wave of guilt as she was gifted her grandmother's precious diamond ring though, as I remembered the precious family heir loom I recently misplaced....
The part of the story about the Chinese immigrants was pretty sad. To think that a life in a freezing basement eating bread and little else is better than what's on offer back home is pretty awful. I found the scene of bodies lying in the morning light on the beach pretty chilling – the contrast between the sunrise – a fresh start – and death the end of their “new start”. People can be really nasty....
The character of the mother I found really heartbreaking. I can't imagine how hard it must be to live with something like that. This woman obviously loves her children, but does that mean she always has their best interests at heart? She constantly struggles to keep the man she loves but at the next turn undoes all good intentions and burns her own bridges. Mental health issues seem to me to be so common and yet there is still this sense of mystery and almost superstition about it all... Black Swan was an extreme version...but I wonder how extreme it seems to someone who has gone through it themselves. It made me feel even worse for the the father. He obviously cared very much for this woman, and wanted to part of a loving family - but how much responsibility can you take for someone elses mistakes? What is reasonable to expect from a partner...
One part of this film I really didn't enjoy was the bodies on the ceiling. Just looked silly - like it belonged in a Japanese horror film.
Ultimately you just feel so sorry for the father - trying to do the best for his kids, trying to stand by the immigrants he is finding work...
I would like to know why prostatic cancer causes his pee to turn red though. Didn't get that. Kept playing on my mind.
One really poignant moment was when Uxbal (cracking name!) met his embalmed, extradited father in the morgue. How strange it must be to meet your father when he is younger than you? Or even to just never know your own father. Also made me intrigued to learn more about what exactly happened under Franco's rule... Guernica was a fascinating thing to see when I was in Madrid. Need to level up my general/historical knowledge somewhat.
This film left me with lots of unanswered questions.
We never really get an inkling of what might happen to his children after he has died.
What happens to the Chinese factory owners? Do they get punished for their human trafficking?
Does Ige ever see her husband again?
Why can he see dead people, and was that really at all necessary or relevant to any of the rest of the film?
I would love to visit the Pyrenees also. In the snow or otherwise.
And have a lovely handsome, honourable husband. But hopefully one that doesn't die at 45.
I notice I haven't really had many highlights of this film. The part where there are lots of birds flying in front of the sunset is nice.
The soundtrack was also really beautiful.
Other than that, just ate a cracking stuffed aubergine. I'm such a great chef.
Saturday 12 February 2011
The Beginning of Spring
Yesterday was a really beautiful day. The sky was really blue, the outlines of all the buildings were really crisp. The sun was warm and there was hardly any wind.
Walked along the beach some and threw some drift wood into the sea.
I spent aprox. 30 minutes sitting on this rocky outcrop looking at the brids floating about and eating bread; a swan thought I was going to feed him, but I didn't.
I kicked some stuff off the peir: a shell, a piece of metal, a big stone, a wee stone. Was pretty neat. They all made different plopping sounds when they fell in.
We walked up to the castle but it was closing...
I bought a nice new coffee mug with matching saucer from a charity shop for 50p. A real bargain.
All and all just really pleasant. Nothing beats an afternoon out in the fresh air.
Except for when I missed the bus. That was a little frustrating.
Thursday 3 February 2011
Nice Tiles
Saturday 29 January 2011
Titles make me nervous.
I was going to write about how wonderful it is to be in my pyjamas in bed with the curtains pulled and the front door locked at 10pm on a Saturday. But whilst in my warm and indulgently long shower I decided I would quite like to write about food.
And definitely not Take Me Out.
This is what I've eaten today.
In Pictures (yasss)
x1, peeled
A refreshing orange from the fruit bowel(sic) I keep on my window sill.
It was a really great orange. In the grand scheme of things, pretty average in flavour but the 5 from that particular batch I have eaten so far this week have been really sour and flavourless so it really was a pleasant surprise. What a great way to start a day!
I always feel really cheeky when I eat fruit, anything, in bed.
x1, toasted.
I made the mistake of asking my flatmate to prepare it for me, unaware of her total toasting incompetence. Talk about lacking life skills....
I managed to salvage the sacrilege with a layer of hummus.
x1, peeled
The consumption of this banana proved unremarkable.
x9
I couldn't resist treating myself to a half price packet of Milk Chocolate McVities, usually more of a plain digestive, or recently even rich tea kind of girl, but after 2 hours hard bouldering...
x1 courtesy of Holly Knox Yeoman.
It was better than her Mongolian Beef circa. 20/01/11
x8
Just love salt, don't I?
Not really sure why I decided to do that. Today has neither been typical nor exciting in terms of food.
And definitely not Take Me Out.
This is what I've eaten today.
In Pictures (yasss)
x1, peeledA refreshing orange from the fruit bowel(sic) I keep on my window sill.
It was a really great orange. In the grand scheme of things, pretty average in flavour but the 5 from that particular batch I have eaten so far this week have been really sour and flavourless so it really was a pleasant surprise. What a great way to start a day!
I always feel really cheeky when I eat fruit, anything, in bed.
x1, toasted.I made the mistake of asking my flatmate to prepare it for me, unaware of her total toasting incompetence. Talk about lacking life skills....
I managed to salvage the sacrilege with a layer of hummus.
x1, peeledThe consumption of this banana proved unremarkable.
x9I couldn't resist treating myself to a half price packet of Milk Chocolate McVities, usually more of a plain digestive, or recently even rich tea kind of girl, but after 2 hours hard bouldering...
x1 courtesy of Holly Knox Yeoman.It was better than her Mongolian Beef circa. 20/01/11
x8
Just love salt, don't I?
Not really sure why I decided to do that. Today has neither been typical nor exciting in terms of food.
Sunday 23 January 2011
Ten from 2010.
Ten nice days from the year that was.
1. A damp day when Rachel and I took a trip to Broughty Ferry.
2. The time Holly had a pheasent in the freezer and we pretended it was a baby.
3. A cycle trip to Tentsmuir, with fishcakes for dinner.
4. Exploring in Girona
5. The day it rained in Trieste forcing Imogen and I to drink wine all afternoon.
6. Swimming in the rain and Brotseit with Hans
7. Cycling in Bruges
8. My 21st birthday made very special by many lovely friends...
9. Wandering round the Lake District with some companions
10. Snow days with Holly Yeoman
All in all, a real nice year.
1. A damp day when Rachel and I took a trip to Broughty Ferry.
2. The time Holly had a pheasent in the freezer and we pretended it was a baby.
3. A cycle trip to Tentsmuir, with fishcakes for dinner.
4. Exploring in Girona
5. The day it rained in Trieste forcing Imogen and I to drink wine all afternoon.
6. Swimming in the rain and Brotseit with Hans
7. Cycling in Bruges
8. My 21st birthday made very special by many lovely friends...
9. Wandering round the Lake District with some companions
10. Snow days with Holly Yeoman
All in all, a real nice year.
NEDS
NEDS directed by Peter Mullan. 7/10
Quiiiiiite good. I must point out before I start that I went to see this film at the of a long day and a long week and was not exactly in a relaxed and receptive mood. I also was desperate for the toilet about 30 minutes from the end. These factors undoubtedly played a small role in my over-all appreciation of the film.
Also on a more general note I have come across some minor problems in reviewing cinema as opposed to novels. Thus, whilst reading a novel you have no choice but to have it's narative pretty much your only focus, film however is much more passive and has the ability to move a lot faster... Meaning if you are some what distractable, as am I, you are liable to miss important points or subtle references. Having said that I am usually a very attentive viewer. But, yes, thought I would take that into account.
So NEDS. Sure, it was good, I'm glad I went to see it. But for me it wasn't very special.
I'm not sure I have an awful lot to say about it.
The characters were well played, the script was good, the story was interesting....
I was tired.
Quiiiiiite good. I must point out before I start that I went to see this film at the of a long day and a long week and was not exactly in a relaxed and receptive mood. I also was desperate for the toilet about 30 minutes from the end. These factors undoubtedly played a small role in my over-all appreciation of the film.
Also on a more general note I have come across some minor problems in reviewing cinema as opposed to novels. Thus, whilst reading a novel you have no choice but to have it's narative pretty much your only focus, film however is much more passive and has the ability to move a lot faster... Meaning if you are some what distractable, as am I, you are liable to miss important points or subtle references. Having said that I am usually a very attentive viewer. But, yes, thought I would take that into account.
So NEDS. Sure, it was good, I'm glad I went to see it. But for me it wasn't very special.
I'm not sure I have an awful lot to say about it.
The characters were well played, the script was good, the story was interesting....
I was tired.
Saturday 22 January 2011
Retrospective
So to back track on about books I have read between my last couple... May not be very elaborative as it has been quite some time since I finished them.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
I really enjoyed this novel. I love John Steinbeck's style of writing. My favourite chapter of the whole book was very near the beginning and dedicated to the description of a turtle crossing the road. It was magical. It highlighted to me the differences in peoples' or, I suppose, animals' perspectives of the world. Each person has their own personal significant events and reacts to events in their own way. I like to think of myself as quite an empathetic kind of person... I also just really like turtles. I think that was one of the most endearing aspects of this book for me: Steinbeck's way of zooming in and out the perspective through-out. Alternate chapters would follow the tale of the Joad family's struggle to find work and travel the long road to the coast, in the background the story of the depression and mass migration of thousands in the U.S at that time. I found the historical context of the novel fascinating as well. I have mentioned before my poor grasp of general knowledge and world history. I really like a novel as a way of gaining an insight into a period of history. I enjoy getting a human perspective on historical events.
One aspect of the book I found particularly interesting was that of prejudice and immigration. People have a terrible habit of picking up the worst in the unkown and have very little sympathy. It made me feel awful, really, as I can relate it to so many things I see every day. Assylm seekers, homeless people. It is so easy to think that these people are not your resposibility, that some how it is their fault they live on the streets or that there is someone else to give them a helping hand. This story just highlighted how easily people can fall out of luck, and how difficult it is to find a helping hand when you need it most. A subject that, unfortunately, will probably always be contemporary.
The end was so touching. The bitter struggle for survival... That sounds really cliched but I really can't think of better words. It was heart breaking when the baby was lost, but also almost a relief. As if an innocent new life shouldn't deserve to brought into such a dire situation. The bitter sweet last scene was really moving. The loss of one life meaning possiblity of saving another...
Enough pretentious waffling for now I think. But really a great read. A firm 9/10
The Accidental by Ali Smith
A peculiar novel about how a young woman manages to infiltrate a family, bonding with each member a bizarre, seemingly very personal way. I found the characterisation of the different family members quite interesting, although not fascinating. I could relate in some ways to both of the children. I particularly liked the daughter who filmed sunrises. Bit of a geek, with no friends. Babe.
I imagine that part of the point of the novel was that this woman was never fully explained and seemed to drift in and out of the their lives with no sense of direction or purpose. I found this quite disconcerting. Who was she? Where had she come from? How was it that she managed to just move in with strangers without anyone mentioning her identity? I imagine these are questions the author wanted to raise, but I wanted them to answered by the novel rather than left to my imagination. I fear I don't have a very lively imagination. I also wasn't really sure how I felt about the physical relationships in the book. The 'stranger' managed to get physical with almost all member of the family - particularly disturbing was her repeated copulations with the 15 year old son in the local church attic. I really don't know how I felt about it all. I suppose she conjured some kind of inspiration and sense of purpose in everyone. Which is a good thing. But the way she went about it seemed very deceptive. I couldn't decide whether or not I liked her.
For these reasons. I'm out. No, but really, for those reasons I didn't really like the book. I was waiting for answers which I never got. The novel seemed to reach no conclusion and I was never sure who I liked and what I wanted to happen. It gets a mediocre 5.5/10
Those are the only two I can remember - so probably doesn't say very much for any others I read.
I'm currently writing this in bed with Holly. We are blogging together. Think the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the grandparents all in bed together - it's real cosy in here.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
I really enjoyed this novel. I love John Steinbeck's style of writing. My favourite chapter of the whole book was very near the beginning and dedicated to the description of a turtle crossing the road. It was magical. It highlighted to me the differences in peoples' or, I suppose, animals' perspectives of the world. Each person has their own personal significant events and reacts to events in their own way. I like to think of myself as quite an empathetic kind of person... I also just really like turtles. I think that was one of the most endearing aspects of this book for me: Steinbeck's way of zooming in and out the perspective through-out. Alternate chapters would follow the tale of the Joad family's struggle to find work and travel the long road to the coast, in the background the story of the depression and mass migration of thousands in the U.S at that time. I found the historical context of the novel fascinating as well. I have mentioned before my poor grasp of general knowledge and world history. I really like a novel as a way of gaining an insight into a period of history. I enjoy getting a human perspective on historical events.
One aspect of the book I found particularly interesting was that of prejudice and immigration. People have a terrible habit of picking up the worst in the unkown and have very little sympathy. It made me feel awful, really, as I can relate it to so many things I see every day. Assylm seekers, homeless people. It is so easy to think that these people are not your resposibility, that some how it is their fault they live on the streets or that there is someone else to give them a helping hand. This story just highlighted how easily people can fall out of luck, and how difficult it is to find a helping hand when you need it most. A subject that, unfortunately, will probably always be contemporary.
The end was so touching. The bitter struggle for survival... That sounds really cliched but I really can't think of better words. It was heart breaking when the baby was lost, but also almost a relief. As if an innocent new life shouldn't deserve to brought into such a dire situation. The bitter sweet last scene was really moving. The loss of one life meaning possiblity of saving another...
Enough pretentious waffling for now I think. But really a great read. A firm 9/10
The Accidental by Ali Smith
A peculiar novel about how a young woman manages to infiltrate a family, bonding with each member a bizarre, seemingly very personal way. I found the characterisation of the different family members quite interesting, although not fascinating. I could relate in some ways to both of the children. I particularly liked the daughter who filmed sunrises. Bit of a geek, with no friends. Babe.
I imagine that part of the point of the novel was that this woman was never fully explained and seemed to drift in and out of the their lives with no sense of direction or purpose. I found this quite disconcerting. Who was she? Where had she come from? How was it that she managed to just move in with strangers without anyone mentioning her identity? I imagine these are questions the author wanted to raise, but I wanted them to answered by the novel rather than left to my imagination. I fear I don't have a very lively imagination. I also wasn't really sure how I felt about the physical relationships in the book. The 'stranger' managed to get physical with almost all member of the family - particularly disturbing was her repeated copulations with the 15 year old son in the local church attic. I really don't know how I felt about it all. I suppose she conjured some kind of inspiration and sense of purpose in everyone. Which is a good thing. But the way she went about it seemed very deceptive. I couldn't decide whether or not I liked her.
For these reasons. I'm out. No, but really, for those reasons I didn't really like the book. I was waiting for answers which I never got. The novel seemed to reach no conclusion and I was never sure who I liked and what I wanted to happen. It gets a mediocre 5.5/10
Those are the only two I can remember - so probably doesn't say very much for any others I read.
I'm currently writing this in bed with Holly. We are blogging together. Think the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the grandparents all in bed together - it's real cosy in here.
Eyes
I'm not sure I want to be a doctor any more. But I really, really enjoy looking at irises thorugh a slit lamp.
Here was a diagram I drew of an eye. And a pin hole camera I got for my birthday... I like them both a whole bunch.
Monday 17 January 2011
Cinema
I consider going to the cinema one of my favourite past times. Perhaps because I am pretty anti-social and enjoy being able to sit next to someone and acceptably not say anything for two hours. Also because there are some pretty great films out there.
So, as I already (albeit occasionally) review the books I read, I thought I might try out scribbling down my thoughts on films I see at the cinema.
Last night I went to see Chatroom by director Hideo Nakata.
Probably the worst film I have seen in a long time. No doubt in my bottom 5 of all time. Made even more frustrating by the fact I was planning on going to The King's Speech but was persuaded otherwise at the last minute...that will have to wait for another Sunday.
The basic plot is of 5 'Chelsea Teens!' who meet in a chatroom and share their life-weary woes. A the age of 15.
The physical depiction of the chatroom was an interesting idea; having never used a chatroom I can't really comment on how accurately it portrayed the experience but it was certainly an interesting idea. The film started with uninteresting teenage vocabulary ridden dialogue between the characters - fair enough, I thought, as it is, after all, trying to depict how the youth of today interact with one another....but it didn't move on from that. The whole time I kept waiting for some 'real', interesting, and well contrsructed twist or turn in the plot. I honestly thought the writer had deliberately made it mundane in order to make the twist all the more shocking and punchy when it finally came crashing in. Unfortunately it just never did...
Other parts of the film were just as boring and cliched. For example our depressed young friend, Jim, who the main character, William, is trying to manipulate towards suicide: the roots of his depression stem from the day his father left one afternoon next to the penguin enclosure at the local zoo. Cue the most hideously cliched flashback of having the best day of his life: in the sunshine with his dad and the penguins, having one last slow-motion hug, with nauseating emotional strings in the background, before his father wanders away never to be seen again. It made me frown at the screen. I really hoped it was supposed to be tongue in cheek, but I fear that was not the intention.
I didn't connect at all with any of the characters, they were all really superficially and lazily characterised.
The main character William, for example, has some sort of history of self harm and depression, although it's never really clear what that exactly is. He gets off on making other people commit suicide online and let him watch through his 'powers of persuasion'...Not that we witness anything mighty convincing in the film. There is poorly disguised jealousy of his brother, with his mother's best selling novels all being based on his successful, polite, more handsome older brother Ripley. His mother, brother and father incidentally have no personality of their own at all.
It's not so much that I found any particular piece of the film unbelievable but just entirely boring. Even with a plot involving suicide and manipulation, mental illness....
The plot idea was a really interesting one, but the characters let it down. With a little more work it has the potential to actually be quite interesting. But at the end of the day, with all the teeny-bloggers some how managing to track each other down in real life and grab the gun just before William jumps in front of a moving train is a little too shite for me. Sorry, couldn't really put it in any other way.
I would rate this film a generous 1/10.
Roll on next weekend.
So, as I already (albeit occasionally) review the books I read, I thought I might try out scribbling down my thoughts on films I see at the cinema.
Last night I went to see Chatroom by director Hideo Nakata.
Probably the worst film I have seen in a long time. No doubt in my bottom 5 of all time. Made even more frustrating by the fact I was planning on going to The King's Speech but was persuaded otherwise at the last minute...that will have to wait for another Sunday.
The basic plot is of 5 'Chelsea Teens!' who meet in a chatroom and share their life-weary woes. A the age of 15.
The physical depiction of the chatroom was an interesting idea; having never used a chatroom I can't really comment on how accurately it portrayed the experience but it was certainly an interesting idea. The film started with uninteresting teenage vocabulary ridden dialogue between the characters - fair enough, I thought, as it is, after all, trying to depict how the youth of today interact with one another....but it didn't move on from that. The whole time I kept waiting for some 'real', interesting, and well contrsructed twist or turn in the plot. I honestly thought the writer had deliberately made it mundane in order to make the twist all the more shocking and punchy when it finally came crashing in. Unfortunately it just never did...
Other parts of the film were just as boring and cliched. For example our depressed young friend, Jim, who the main character, William, is trying to manipulate towards suicide: the roots of his depression stem from the day his father left one afternoon next to the penguin enclosure at the local zoo. Cue the most hideously cliched flashback of having the best day of his life: in the sunshine with his dad and the penguins, having one last slow-motion hug, with nauseating emotional strings in the background, before his father wanders away never to be seen again. It made me frown at the screen. I really hoped it was supposed to be tongue in cheek, but I fear that was not the intention.
I didn't connect at all with any of the characters, they were all really superficially and lazily characterised.
The main character William, for example, has some sort of history of self harm and depression, although it's never really clear what that exactly is. He gets off on making other people commit suicide online and let him watch through his 'powers of persuasion'...Not that we witness anything mighty convincing in the film. There is poorly disguised jealousy of his brother, with his mother's best selling novels all being based on his successful, polite, more handsome older brother Ripley. His mother, brother and father incidentally have no personality of their own at all.
It's not so much that I found any particular piece of the film unbelievable but just entirely boring. Even with a plot involving suicide and manipulation, mental illness....
The plot idea was a really interesting one, but the characters let it down. With a little more work it has the potential to actually be quite interesting. But at the end of the day, with all the teeny-bloggers some how managing to track each other down in real life and grab the gun just before William jumps in front of a moving train is a little too shite for me. Sorry, couldn't really put it in any other way.
I would rate this film a generous 1/10.
Roll on next weekend.
Monday 10 January 2011
New Year
It has been quite some time since I have made a post on my humble blog, a little put out by distractions such as exams and holidays.
I think it would be quite nice to begin again. What better time than at the beginning of not only a new year, but a new decade. Gosh, that makes me feel quite old.
Since my last entry I have turned 21, and although if anyone asked I wouldn't say I feel any different. I think I perhaps feel more like a real person. I feel unlikely to radically change the way I have in the past 20 years in the next 20 years. Other than things like getting a real job and maybe living in my own home. But I don't think, personally, ascepts of myself, will change a vast amount.
Anyway. What I really wanted to do was write down some sort of New Years Resolutions so that I couldn't deny I made them in the weeks and months ahead.
1. Read nice books, and write about them on this blog.
2. Try and go swimming or to the climbing wall or do some form of excercise at least once a month! If not more regularly.
3. Eat good.
At the moment that's all I've got. It's a start.
Must dash - rat brains to disect.
I think it would be quite nice to begin again. What better time than at the beginning of not only a new year, but a new decade. Gosh, that makes me feel quite old.
Since my last entry I have turned 21, and although if anyone asked I wouldn't say I feel any different. I think I perhaps feel more like a real person. I feel unlikely to radically change the way I have in the past 20 years in the next 20 years. Other than things like getting a real job and maybe living in my own home. But I don't think, personally, ascepts of myself, will change a vast amount.
Anyway. What I really wanted to do was write down some sort of New Years Resolutions so that I couldn't deny I made them in the weeks and months ahead.
1. Read nice books, and write about them on this blog.
2. Try and go swimming or to the climbing wall or do some form of excercise at least once a month! If not more regularly.
3. Eat good.
At the moment that's all I've got. It's a start.
Must dash - rat brains to disect.
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