by James Kelman
This book won the Booker Prize for literature back in 1994 (I was only 3!) amidst controversy and outrage from the press, but fought back with many literary figures support of it as a work of art.
The reason, of course, is the fact that it contains an abundance of swear words. Can something that contains so much offensive language be Literature, with a capital L.
The answer is yes.
Written as a stream of consciousness, with no boundaries in the form of chapters or sections, the reader get a rare insight into the mindset of Sammy, a character dependant upon social security but with a strict sense of morality and key perspective of a bureaucratic, almost Kafka-esque nightmare of a welfare system. After taking a beating from the police after a three day bender, Sammy goes blind and now has to navigate the pitfalls and traps into which so many fall in dealing with the state. With the loss of one sense, we rely much more on the words recorded and their possible layers of meaning, as without facial expression and body language we are confused as to the subtleties and purpose of much of the conversations. The ambiguity over narration is also confusing as we cannot be sure of their authority and truthfulness. We only have Sammy's opinion, and don't even know whether he is to be trusted as we know nothing of his past. This battles with the idea that people are innocent until proven guilty, raising questions as to whether we believe Sammy or the state? and why we do or don't believe their version of events.
It's a hard book, no easy read, but it is very interesting to discuss. Personally I'm not comfortable with excessive swearing, but this is essential, along with the phonetic and dialect choices made by Kelman. If this book was written in Queen's English it would not be the same book, or represent the same situation or the same character. So who cares if he swears a lot, many people do. If you don't like it then don't read it, but if you're interested in seeing (or not seeing as the case may be) a different representation of life on the breadline then this book will not disappoint.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Friday, 28 January 2011
Free Willy II
Clearly not as good as the original, but a million times better than the third.
There is an oil spill in the hunting grounds of the Killer Wales and Jesse, Nadine and Elvis, Jesse's new-found half brother must do all they can to get Willy, Luna and little Spot to safety (nice little bit of echoing between humans and whales). Randolph is as always amazing as the native american healer, as are the other lead actors.
But the reason I adore this film is because of the whales and the music by Basil Poledouris. The footage of the whales hunting and singing combined with the haunting melodies makes this one of my favourite childhood films, despite it not having princesses or talking animals or explosions. In many ways it was years ahead of itself with regards to environmental message, and has an effect of making children think in a way which modern films can't quite seem to grasp.
There is an oil spill in the hunting grounds of the Killer Wales and Jesse, Nadine and Elvis, Jesse's new-found half brother must do all they can to get Willy, Luna and little Spot to safety (nice little bit of echoing between humans and whales). Randolph is as always amazing as the native american healer, as are the other lead actors.
But the reason I adore this film is because of the whales and the music by Basil Poledouris. The footage of the whales hunting and singing combined with the haunting melodies makes this one of my favourite childhood films, despite it not having princesses or talking animals or explosions. In many ways it was years ahead of itself with regards to environmental message, and has an effect of making children think in a way which modern films can't quite seem to grasp.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
The Sinking of the Laconia
aaagh I know it's been ages, but now that my essays are done I vow to do one blog a day until I've caught up :)
Ok, so I watched The Sinking of the Laconia about a week ago and I was a little confused at first. Essentially it was a troop ship during world war 2 that was carrying prisoners of war and civilians from Africa, but was sunk by a German U-Boat. When the Captain ordered the ship to rise to check out the damage they discovered the women and children and so took them aboard in order to save the survivors.
Basics out of the way... It started as a kind of bad Titanic remake, with the prisoners in squalid conditions below deck and the upper class English Ladies sipping tea and singing "We'll Meet Again" on the deck. This made the first episode rather dull in all honesty. However, on the sinking of the ship, we discover that one of the "ladies" is a German escaping trial, and many interesting bonds begin to develop, especially between the Germans and the British. It becomes a focused moral drama, where the decisions of the U-Boat captain and the British and German high command are called into question. The British suspect a trap, and so refuse to send out rescue boats, the Germans believe that War is War, and so the survivors should be abandoned in their lifeboats in the middle of the ocean.
The hardest parts involve the children and the Americans. The German escapee loses her baby when the ship sinks and two young children lose their mother, whilst their critical father abandons them to the care of others. The Americans, being told of a missing ship, send out a search plane. It see's the U-Boat, with painted red cross and many passengers and, ignoring the odd circumstances, fire recklessly, killing some and injuring others. The surviving British commander then jumps in front of the German Commander, saving his life and being injured in the process.
The main issues are then the intricate balance between respect, morality and orders, with a capital O. The U-boat captain acts honourably, ignoring his orders for as long as possible, whilst the impossible seeming friendships develop between foes and enemies, regardless or nationality and class. Thus what was a quite boring and predictable start became very enjoyable, despite the awful portrayal of a Welsh accent...
Ok, so I watched The Sinking of the Laconia about a week ago and I was a little confused at first. Essentially it was a troop ship during world war 2 that was carrying prisoners of war and civilians from Africa, but was sunk by a German U-Boat. When the Captain ordered the ship to rise to check out the damage they discovered the women and children and so took them aboard in order to save the survivors.
Basics out of the way... It started as a kind of bad Titanic remake, with the prisoners in squalid conditions below deck and the upper class English Ladies sipping tea and singing "We'll Meet Again" on the deck. This made the first episode rather dull in all honesty. However, on the sinking of the ship, we discover that one of the "ladies" is a German escaping trial, and many interesting bonds begin to develop, especially between the Germans and the British. It becomes a focused moral drama, where the decisions of the U-Boat captain and the British and German high command are called into question. The British suspect a trap, and so refuse to send out rescue boats, the Germans believe that War is War, and so the survivors should be abandoned in their lifeboats in the middle of the ocean.
The hardest parts involve the children and the Americans. The German escapee loses her baby when the ship sinks and two young children lose their mother, whilst their critical father abandons them to the care of others. The Americans, being told of a missing ship, send out a search plane. It see's the U-Boat, with painted red cross and many passengers and, ignoring the odd circumstances, fire recklessly, killing some and injuring others. The surviving British commander then jumps in front of the German Commander, saving his life and being injured in the process.
The main issues are then the intricate balance between respect, morality and orders, with a capital O. The U-boat captain acts honourably, ignoring his orders for as long as possible, whilst the impossible seeming friendships develop between foes and enemies, regardless or nationality and class. Thus what was a quite boring and predictable start became very enjoyable, despite the awful portrayal of a Welsh accent...
Thursday, 13 January 2011
The Hidden Truth of Churchmoor Terrace
by B.K. Nijjar.
I'm going to prefix this blog by stating that this is quite simply the funniest book that I have ever read. Ever ever ever.
It involves a mysterious house...
built on a haunted graveyard...
under which there lies a secret company office...
sitting on top of a hidden ballroom...
which hides the zombie barracks...
that covers the hidden tunnels...
to the mysterious GOLD MINE
and the lair of the pig monster...
with a secret door to a magic land where escaped dwarves live.
I KID YOU NOT. All this in under 200 pages? That's a bargain.
Essentially Cara (the heroine) and Lucia (her friend) are walking home from school when Lucia is blown away in a sudden mysterious tornado. Cara continues home as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. She later sneaks out to look for her friend who has not reappeared (shocking, I know) and discovers all of the above ^ and that some unnamed evil is TRYING TO SUCK THEIR LIFE SOURCE. Understand? Good.
Interesting plot twists/bits which make me love this book:
1. There are classes of zombie. Some slave away in the gold mine. Others Waltz around a ballroom in gowns and suits. Marx would have something to say about that...
2. The elegant Zombies drink blood from a special fountain and sleep upside-down on the ceiling, like Vampires
3. If there is need of a change of location, Cara will invariably knock herself unconscious or fall down a hole, like an uncoordinated Alice from Wonderland
4. Morphey the demon pig makes friends with Cara after nearly eating her, and takes her home to his lair on his back to meet the family. This would be sweet, except for the fact that he just tried to eat her...
5. The dwarves are bizare, like reject Disney characters, who escaped the mine into this Narnia/Ireland combo land, leading to the resurrection of the Zombies
6. Cara's lovely Dad shows up to save everyone and blow up half the street before everyone goes home for tea...
Except for Lucia, who you may have forgotten, who is now a zombie. Tragic eh?
I don't think it's meant to be a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing comedy, but that was it's effect on me and my friends on discovering several copies in the garage. If you can't source one (which you probably can't) feel free to borrow mine. It'll cheer you up in no time.
I'm going to prefix this blog by stating that this is quite simply the funniest book that I have ever read. Ever ever ever.
It involves a mysterious house...
built on a haunted graveyard...
under which there lies a secret company office...
sitting on top of a hidden ballroom...
which hides the zombie barracks...
that covers the hidden tunnels...
to the mysterious GOLD MINE
and the lair of the pig monster...
with a secret door to a magic land where escaped dwarves live.
I KID YOU NOT. All this in under 200 pages? That's a bargain.
Essentially Cara (the heroine) and Lucia (her friend) are walking home from school when Lucia is blown away in a sudden mysterious tornado. Cara continues home as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. She later sneaks out to look for her friend who has not reappeared (shocking, I know) and discovers all of the above ^ and that some unnamed evil is TRYING TO SUCK THEIR LIFE SOURCE. Understand? Good.
Interesting plot twists/bits which make me love this book:
1. There are classes of zombie. Some slave away in the gold mine. Others Waltz around a ballroom in gowns and suits. Marx would have something to say about that...
2. The elegant Zombies drink blood from a special fountain and sleep upside-down on the ceiling, like Vampires
3. If there is need of a change of location, Cara will invariably knock herself unconscious or fall down a hole, like an uncoordinated Alice from Wonderland
4. Morphey the demon pig makes friends with Cara after nearly eating her, and takes her home to his lair on his back to meet the family. This would be sweet, except for the fact that he just tried to eat her...
5. The dwarves are bizare, like reject Disney characters, who escaped the mine into this Narnia/Ireland combo land, leading to the resurrection of the Zombies
6. Cara's lovely Dad shows up to save everyone and blow up half the street before everyone goes home for tea...
Except for Lucia, who you may have forgotten, who is now a zombie. Tragic eh?
I don't think it's meant to be a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing comedy, but that was it's effect on me and my friends on discovering several copies in the garage. If you can't source one (which you probably can't) feel free to borrow mine. It'll cheer you up in no time.
5*
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
The Atom Station
The Atom Station by Halldór Laxness
Set in Iceland just after WW2 with the threat to some countries of the Cold War, and this leads the Americans to try to secure a deal to build a nuclear atom station. You can basically forget all this however and just concentrate on the relationships and character development as once again Capitalism and Socialism clash. The story is told from the perspective of 19 year old Ugla (from the North we are repeatedly told. i.e. she's a country bumpkin, a bit like me) coming to terms with the big city, where she has come to learn the harmonium, which I think is a basic piano.
...
It's sounding a bit dull, but I'm not doing it any justice. It's an amazing kind of surreal situation, with a maid, a crazy harmonium teacher, his demented mother, a member of parliament, his bonkers family, a prostitute called Cleopatra, two poet-thieves who believe themselves to be Gods, an unselfconscious policeman and a self-conscious policeman with a vocation to become a thief. Quite a cast eh?
The fact is, it draws you in and keeps you guessing all the way through, which is unusual. An odd mix of Icelandic folklore and traditions and new American influences, eclectic characters and a fantastic storyline with interesting underlying questions as to the motivations and loyalties of politicians, and the comparison of what is truth.
I will say I was disappointed in the ending, but only the last ten pages or so. But then again, I should have known it wouldn't end the way I wanted, it is after all a novel for my European novel course. I guess I should count myself lucky that it doesn't end with massacre or suicide, and with that I will have to be satisfied.
Set in Iceland just after WW2 with the threat to some countries of the Cold War, and this leads the Americans to try to secure a deal to build a nuclear atom station. You can basically forget all this however and just concentrate on the relationships and character development as once again Capitalism and Socialism clash. The story is told from the perspective of 19 year old Ugla (from the North we are repeatedly told. i.e. she's a country bumpkin, a bit like me) coming to terms with the big city, where she has come to learn the harmonium, which I think is a basic piano.
...
It's sounding a bit dull, but I'm not doing it any justice. It's an amazing kind of surreal situation, with a maid, a crazy harmonium teacher, his demented mother, a member of parliament, his bonkers family, a prostitute called Cleopatra, two poet-thieves who believe themselves to be Gods, an unselfconscious policeman and a self-conscious policeman with a vocation to become a thief. Quite a cast eh?
The fact is, it draws you in and keeps you guessing all the way through, which is unusual. An odd mix of Icelandic folklore and traditions and new American influences, eclectic characters and a fantastic storyline with interesting underlying questions as to the motivations and loyalties of politicians, and the comparison of what is truth.
I will say I was disappointed in the ending, but only the last ten pages or so. But then again, I should have known it wouldn't end the way I wanted, it is after all a novel for my European novel course. I guess I should count myself lucky that it doesn't end with massacre or suicide, and with that I will have to be satisfied.
4*
Clarification
Ok so to clarify, the number of stars I give a novel does not mean that I don't think a book is good, it simply means that I personally did not enjoy it. For example, Germinal is not an easy read, but I enjoyed it, whilst I didn't enjoy The Trick is to Keep Breathing despite thinking it is a good book.
However, sometimes I will think that a book is rubbish, in which case, tough luck. Sorry.
However, sometimes I will think that a book is rubbish, in which case, tough luck. Sorry.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
The Trick is to Keep Breathing
The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway
What to say... I didn't get it. I didn't figure out who "Joy" was until 3/4 of the way through, and she's the narrator.
The men are seemingly interchangeable, with no real differentiation between them, and the plot confused me so much in its roundabout way of un-chronologically listing events. Also the occasional two short lines set on their own in the margin at random intervals. Weird.
I'm going to presume however that this was a genuine plot device in order to convey the confusion and distress of the narrator's mind, in which case, it worked. I ended up more puzzled at the end than I had at the beginning. She seems like a bit of a slut, trying to explain away, cover, her mental problems with promiscuous behaviour with any Tom, Dick or Harry, regardless of whether they have families and partners.
I felt that the section of the the novel in the mental institute (or whatever the politically correct term is nowadays - God I sound old) was very well written to convey the horror of being constantly misunderstood and the irritation of being dismissed and labelled, although I think that maybe a definite label and easy 10 step solution is what she expected and wanted in some ways.
However, the most annoying part of the book is most certainly the conclusion, which royally pissed me off. To finish mourning her dead lover, get rid of her depression and begin living again she..................... (wait for it)................ cut her hair, dyed it purple and got some piercings.
THIS IS THE SOLUTION?!?!? A MID-LIFE CRISIS?!?!?!
I shouldn't criticise, different things work for different people after all and there is no easy solution yadda yadda yadda. But after plowing through this dull story, I was hoping for something a bit more profound. It honestly would have been more fitting for her to commit suicide.
Ms. Galloway, congratulations for writing the worst book I have read so far in 2011.
What to say... I didn't get it. I didn't figure out who "Joy" was until 3/4 of the way through, and she's the narrator.
The men are seemingly interchangeable, with no real differentiation between them, and the plot confused me so much in its roundabout way of un-chronologically listing events. Also the occasional two short lines set on their own in the margin at random intervals. Weird.
I'm going to presume however that this was a genuine plot device in order to convey the confusion and distress of the narrator's mind, in which case, it worked. I ended up more puzzled at the end than I had at the beginning. She seems like a bit of a slut, trying to explain away, cover, her mental problems with promiscuous behaviour with any Tom, Dick or Harry, regardless of whether they have families and partners.
I felt that the section of the the novel in the mental institute (or whatever the politically correct term is nowadays - God I sound old) was very well written to convey the horror of being constantly misunderstood and the irritation of being dismissed and labelled, although I think that maybe a definite label and easy 10 step solution is what she expected and wanted in some ways.
However, the most annoying part of the book is most certainly the conclusion, which royally pissed me off. To finish mourning her dead lover, get rid of her depression and begin living again she..................... (wait for it)................ cut her hair, dyed it purple and got some piercings.
THIS IS THE SOLUTION?!?!? A MID-LIFE CRISIS?!?!?!
I shouldn't criticise, different things work for different people after all and there is no easy solution yadda yadda yadda. But after plowing through this dull story, I was hoping for something a bit more profound. It honestly would have been more fitting for her to commit suicide.
Ms. Galloway, congratulations for writing the worst book I have read so far in 2011.
2*
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