Reading - May 2025

Wild Man Creek by Robyn Carr (2011)

There's obviously a formula to the Virgin River books, but Robyn Carr does a good job of varying the principal characters and keeps it from feeling too repetitive. I wish the heroine's ex had been given more of a comeuppance but that wasn't the main point of the story.

Manwatching by Desmond Morris (1977)

I remember this book being in the school library, but other than occasionally looking at the pictures of naked women (hey, I was 13 and we didn't have the internet), I didn't read it. However, I found it a couple of years ago in a charity shop and was curious. There's lots of interest, but what I find most fascinating is completely how it betrays the time in which it was written. Morris goes for a scientific, detached tone but more often only achieves patronising, and overall it couldn't be clearer that this is a book anchored in the male- and white-centric attitudes of the seventies. The whole section on sport only discusses and pictures men, while the section on aesthetic behaviour has photos of women in swimsuits. I'm no anthropologist but it seems obvious that many of the conclusions here mistake superficial and specific western social customs for underlying human "truths". Still, at the very least it's interesting to see how things have changed in the last forty years. (note: the edition I read is the original; the latest is called Peoplewatching and given the change in title, I really hope it's been updated to remove the more egregiously sexist content.)

Harvest Moon by Robyn Carr (2011)

A bit more depth than some of these books, with a troubled teenage daughter complicating the core relationship - but of course, she comes round in the end! At one point I was really caught up in it.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett (2001)

More than most Discworld books, this leaves me feeling like there's something I'm missing here that I'm just not well-read enough to understand. But reading the initial quote from Terry Pratchett at the start of the Annotated Pratchett file (link above) makes me think perhaps not. Anyway, the usual Discworld frenetic-ness abounds, although perhaps this one is a bit more meta-physical than usual. Eminently readable and as always, you can't fault the level of imagination that's gone into it.

Listen by Michal Faber (2023)

A hugely enjoyable discussion about why we listen to and enjoy music, from a  sociological perspective rather than a physiological one. If that sounds a bit dry, well, it isn't. Although it's clearly conceived as a complete work, it is effectively structured as a collection of connected essays on related topics. That can make it a little bitty, but I didn't mind as the writing was interesting. If, like me, you love music but (crucially) also tie your identity to some extent to that love of music, then there's lots to think about here. Some of it resonated with opinions I already had, some was a useful new perspective, but all was entertaining. Highly recommended.

Hidden Summit by Robyn Carr (2011)

Book number 15 in the Virgin River series! Getting towards the end now, I think. A pretty straightforward plot, but with some good drama going on too. Ends a bit suddenly though.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020)

This was recommended to me by B - possibly almost a year ago - and I put it off for ages because I'm not really a fan of fantasy. But it's nicely compact (Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is off-puttingly thick) and now I have more time, I felt I owed it to him to give it a go. And I'm pleased I did - it was very readable and I polished it off in an afternoon, so keen was I to learn what it was all about. But even though I really enjoyed it, I'm a bit disappointed. For most of the book, I assumed that the other world described would turn out to be really this world, but seen from a completely different point of view. However, it seems that the other world is, in fact, just another world (like Narnia, to which there are several references). OK, so far, so fantasy. But I do prefer my stories to be rooted in some kind of reality, so this, in some respects, for me, is a less imaginative option. But that's not to take away from the quality of the writing and I liked the slight element of mystery that was gradually unravelled.

Skallagrigg by William Horwood (1987)

I've owned this book since the early 90s (on the recommendation of a friend who wasn't known for reading much) and probably not read it since then. But it's survived various purges of books over thirty years because I remembered it being worth it, and I wasn't wrong. There's a lot going on and much that is very moving, even if it is a borderline mawkish at times (albeit one could say, with justification). A unique story.

Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley (2024)

Chosen fairly at random in the library on the basis of an amusing title and a promising premise (although I wouldn't have described this as an "enemies to lovers" romance like the cover says). Some of the relationship obstacles feel a bit forced and our hero is waaayyy to good to be true, but this doesn't stop me willing them to sort everything out.

Nothing Is Real by David Hepworth (2018)

Second time of reading (I saw it in the library and just fancied it - completely failing to remember that I actually own a copy) and I enjoyed it a bit more this time, I think. Hepworth's slightly staccato style is still a little jarring on paper but he knows what he's talking about, and if a few of the collected pieces here are a bit shorter than I'd like, well, never mind. Still waiting for a volume two though.

Showstopper by Peter Lovesey (2023)

An enjoyable murder mystery in the classic Christie mode. It's taken me a year since the first Peter Diamond book I read to get to this one, but I'll find more soon.

Watching - May 2025

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

I've been meaning to watch this for a while, having heard acceptable things about it, and I do love Eurovision. And it's that time of year, so it seemed appropriate. Well, I made it about 40 minutes in before giving up. It's woefully unfunny, appallingly patronising, and grindingly tedious. Will Ferrell lacks any subtlety as either a writer or performer and, as well as demonstrating an almost complete failure to understand anything about Eurovision as a cultural phenomenon, has managed to badly miscast himself in his own film, which is some sort of achievement. The whole thing is like a bad translation of a classic book into another language. It's only redeeming feature - in the bit I managed to sit through - is that someone has very effectively nailed the music styles. 

Red Notice (2021)

Apparently this is one of the most successful films on Netflix, which I can totally understand, as it's an easy watch, Ryan Reynolds is great being, y'know, Ryan Reynolds, and it happily fills time. I've seen it before and still didn't remember the twist at the end, which may say something about the memorableness of the plot, but more likely about me.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)

Amazon offered me yet another free trial of Prime so this is the first thing I watched. Again. I still love it. I wish I could own a copy.

Overboard (2018)

A gender-reversed version of the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, er, "classic", you say? Well, only if it has under 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. It does? Count me in! Actually a perfectly watchable remake that adds nothing to the original but is funny and ends happily (and incidentally has a much better user rating that RT gives it). Kept me amused, anyway, so clearly I have lower standards than the critics (but this isn't news).

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

An unabashed tribute to fast-talking, screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s, with Jennifer Jason Leigh doing her best Katharine Hepburn as a hard-boiled reporter, and an exaggerated style of its own. I remember watching it years - decades - ago and enjoying it. Coming back to it now that I know more of the movies it's emulating, I can see how closely the Coen brothers (and all their crew, of course) matched them, not just in style but in substance - which is to say, there isn't much emotional depth here, just like something such as Bringing Up Baby. Very clever and entertaining, but possibly a little shallow.

Wandavision (2021)

I'm not much of an MCU fan, and so although I've watched quite a few of the films (with the boys in particular), I wasn't overly bothered about this when it came out. But Z persuaded me otherwise (basically in exchange for him watching some of my recommendations) and so we binged it over a few nights. I loved the initial concept of each episode being based on a different sitcom, although some of them are so US-specific it failed to resonate culturally as much as the makers probably intended. For example, something like Family Ties (the sitcom that made Michael J. Fox famous, parodied in episode 5) was huge in the US but less so around the rest of the world, so you're left with a bit of a "huh?" moment. I'm not sure where else you could have taken that but it felt like the slow change into a fairly typical series of Marvel fight scenes was a bit of a disappointment. Full marks for the sitcom scenes though.

Eurovision Song Contest 2025 - Grand Final (2025)

All the usual fun!

Last One Laughing UK (season 1, 2025)

I heard about this via Richard Osman on the brilliant podcast The Rest Is Entertainment and it was interesting to hear his perspective as a producer: mainly that, as a format, it's genius, because you get ten comedians in a room for a day, and out of that, you've got an entire season! The show originated in Japan several years ago and has now been franchised to nearly thirty countries (the UK is surprisingly late to this party), so clearly it's been a success from a production point of view. However, on the evidence of the UK version, it's a mixed bag for the viewer. There are laughs, but not as many as a good scripted sitcom (which, in fairness, would be a much more expensive proposition). It starts a bit slowly, gets funnier but peters out slightly at the end, and there are too many shots of the participants making faces to try not to laugh, which are ultimately not that amusing. It's a bit hit and miss, really, and, annoyingly, the climax of the show is not actually the funniest moment. But that's the risk and balance you take, as a producer, I guess: maybe there's some sort of price per laugh formula - just good enough to get people watching, cheap enough to make within a certain budget.

Fargo (1996)

It probably says a lot about me that I enjoyed the ostensibly awful remake of Overboard earlier this month more than I did this. Sure, I know Fargo is a classic. William Goldman waxes lyrical about the script in his book Which Lie Did I Tell? and Roger Ebert's original review is glowing. These are both people whose views I trust a lot. There's probably all sorts of craft, themes and subtext that I don't even realise are going on (although probably not to the extent of this ridiculous over-analysis). I'm pleased I've seen it, but the story itself is really not my cup of tea, I don't get what the point of the film is, and I can't enjoy a film for the technique.

Last One Laughing Australia (2020)

Despite feeling that LOL UK was a very qualified success (see above), I was curious enough about the format to investigate a couple of the other dozen or so versions available on Prime. The setup is identical - enough that I wonder if it's the same set, just dressed differently - but of course the show changes vastly with a change of personnel. The Australian version was a lot more scatological and puerile in places, mainly due to one of the participants but possibly because of cultural differences I guess. I'm not sure in hindsight why I carried on watching, but overall it's a light-hearted, easy watch. And I don't know if it's coincidence, but in the Australian, UK and Canadian versions, it's what you might term the "elder statesman" of the group who wins. And I think I'm done with it for now.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

I happened to be listening to George Thorogood's brilliant "Bad to the Bone" and that reminded me of the scene when Arnie first rides off on the Harley, so I watched that and then obviously the rest of the film followed. Great stuff if you can ignore the time paradox stuff!

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

More time paradoxes (paradoxi?) that don't really bear thinking about - just enjoy a great film full of fun moments. Trilogy watched with Z.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

This is part of my cultural landscape and so, as such, I find it hugely enjoyable.

Hello Quo (2012)

I can't remember what prompted me to watch this again, other than it was free on Prime - although I'm sure when I watched it before, it was about half the length. A good reminder of how good they were in the early-to-mid 70s in particular, a bit less convincing about their continued relevance at the time of filming. 

Moana (2016)

Great songs, great animation - a classic already. Hard to see why Disney are bothering to remake it as live action (I mean, other than money ... but what other reason do they need, I suppose). Some revision for watching the sequel ...

Moana 2 (2024)

... which we watched that evening for our Saturday family film night. Very obviously a sequel, unfortunately: pretty much a shopping list of the same elements as the original, just not done as well - certainly it didn't keep the teens attention well enough. Can't fault the animation though.