Reading - July 2023

The Full English by Stuart Maconie (2023)

Another travelogue from young master Maconie, this time following in the footsteps of J.B. Priestley and his famous (it says here, I'd never heard of it) book from almost 100 years ago, English Journey. It's entertaining and informed by a similar spirit to Priestley of wishing to shine a light into corners of the country that perhaps need it most. Maconie is scathing about the current Tory government - rightly so, they're a complete shower - and if the political opinions are surprising in a ostensibly light-hearted travel book, they don't jar (but then I share them).

The Rough Guide To The Titanic by Greg Ward (2012)

This is a bit embarrassing - my (at least) sixth time of reading this. I'm still not quite sure why; it's not that I find anything to do with Titanic fascinating, and this the only book I have about it. It's just interesting enough to warrant revisiting every couple of years. This book is probably pretty definitive, so there's not much else I'd need to read. What struck me this time is the description of how badly the reporters and amateur radio operators of the day behaved - basically, the same as today, if you consider amateur radio enthusiasts the equivalent of people on Twitter/Facebook these days.

Country of the Blind by Christopher Brookmyre (1997)

Just a really satisfying plot, with all the bad guys locked up and the good guys victorious - all in a bracing noir-ish style, with some nice side-helpings of political commentary. Absolutely bears multiple re-reads (I'm probably close to double figures by now).

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (2012)

Occasionally I enjoy a bit of angsty YA and I really enjoyed Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. This uses exactly the same format of alternating viewpoints - written by each author? - and if it doesn't quite capture the same feeling of being seduced by life as much as by that special one, then it's not for want of trying. Dash and Lily are both 16 going on 32, unfeasibly articulate but realistically self-conscious, and nice people to spend time with. Preditable but sweet and obviously crying out for being filmed - although possibly not a four hour Netflix series.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (2017)

I found this quite compelling but not particularly enjoyable to read, for some reason. So I finished it, because I wanted to know how it ended. The story of a man who has a mysterious medical condition that means he lives for hundreds of years, this feels like a metaphor for something, or maybe it's just a way to explore the human condition, in common with other Matt Haig books. It's similar in that way to Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife and, similarly, it tells us that love is the real truth and meaning to life. (side note: in a news item about a forthcoming TV adaptation of this book, it's rather bizarrely described as a "high-stakes superhero thriller" - which it absolutely is not. Another classic case of an individual plot being shoe-horned into an unimaginative Hollywood template, I fear)

Watching - July 2023

Gods of Tennis (BBC, 2023)

Three hour long specials about the tennis stars of the 70s and 80s, which is slap bang in the era that I started watching Wimbledon (for ages the only tennis on telly anyway). Enjoyable for both the chance to revisit some classic moments and hearing them put into context all these years later. Refreshingly for documentaries this long, they don't feel like they were padded to fit the time. Now, if we can lose the unnecessarily melodramatic voice-over, we might be getting somewhere ...

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Been meaning to rewatch this for ages, preferably with B but he hasn't shown much interest and so I went ahead anyway. Funny and well-plotted, and possibly the perfect 90s Britpop movie - all swaggering new lad mockneys and an ace soundtrack.

Le Mans '66 (2019)

You can't beat a good film about motor racing and this is superbly made. Christian Bale and Matt Damon both inhabit their characters superbly, the action sequences are fantastic and it doesn't cut too many corners round the truth to be distracting. Great fun.

Point Break (1991)

Watched with Z over fish & chips, while everyone else was out. It's a real boys' film, all male bonding and macho posturing - which makes it a bit more surprising that it was directed by a woman. 

Rush (2013)

More classic cars! I grew up reading about this era of Formula 1 but I don't think I ever watched it - and in any case, there's no way it would have looked this good on 70s TV. So it's kind of nostalgic and fresh at the same time. There's no getting away from it though: James Hunt might be the hero of the film, portrayed as a naturally talented genius - but Niki Lauda was the better driver and the real legend here.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Movie time with the family! (apart from B)

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

If you leave aside the central issue of how the fluffing flip did he get that painting into that briefcase?? this is a very effective and well-made drama. Always been one of my favourites.

L.A. Story (1991)

An old favourite that I must have watched dozens of times on video, this now seems a little uneven. At its core, it's a romcom with a hint of the fantastical, and some of the best scenes have no comedy at all, just a beautiful, romantic, almost lyricism. And then there's the slapstick - but then, it is a Steve Martin film.