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spooky_miss) wrote2010-05-31 07:56 pm
spooky_miss) wrote2010-05-31 07:56 pm
Books Forty Seven and Forty Eight, Film 30
Nearly made it...only two off my target now! I'm sure I will catch up with that later on in the year though, when I'm on holiday I read more as well, and I have some of those coming up! :)
Book Forty Seven - The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
This book describes a woman's life in the year after her husband dies suddenly. It describes his death, how she feels about it, and how she begins to cope without him there. It also describes how she has to break the news to their daughter, who at the time of her husbands death is seriously ill in hospital. There are also flashbacks to things her and her husband have done throughout their lives and marriage. The book started well, and you really felt for the woman and what she'd gone through, but then it just got a bit less interesting, they didn't seem to have a very interesting life, from the flashbacks, and there was something about them adopting their child which wasn't very clear. I wasn't sure if this was a true story or not - as the author's name was mentioned in the book, but it just got a bit confusing and I sort of lost interest, which was a shame as it was good at the beginning. There were some parts which were quite moving - such as she couldn't bear to move her husbands pile of books from his side of the bed, or she kept his shoes because he'd need them when he came back - but they were only small bits. I'm not sure if I would recommend this or not, as maybe for someone who has lost someone close to them it would be better, but for me it just wasn't. 5 / 10
Book Forty Eight - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan-Doyle
This book was great! It follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson as they investigate the fate of Sir Charles Baskerville, and the myth of a great hound who inhabits the moors close to his home. The new owner of Baskerville Hall, Henry Baskerville, also has some suspicious occurances surrounding him, and Holmes and Watson try to find out whats going on. I admit I haven't read many Sherlock Holmes stories, and I know I should do, as this was great. I did at times think that Holmes should come across as a bit of a know-it-all, as he seems to work things out so easily, but it is written well so that he doesn't. I like that it always explains why he has come to a certain conclusion, and doesn't just leave us wondering why he thinks a certain thing. I'll definately be reading more stories involving Sherlock Holmes - oh and will continue to look forward to the sequel to the Sherlock Holmes film :D 8 / 10
Film 30 - Robin Hood
I haven't been to the cinema for ages, but I went on Saturday to see Robin Hood. I was expecting a bit of an "english Gladiator" as it stars Russell Crowe and is directed by Ridley Scott, and it was a little bit like that at times, but it doesn't detract from the story. It starts in France, with King Richard's army about to storm another castle, one last one before they can come home. King Richard is apparently killed, and as Robin and his friends had been put in the stocks by him for fighting, they escape, and try to ride back to England. On the way they bump into a group of English soldiers who have been ambushed while trying to take the King's crown back to England, and Robin is asked by Robert of Loxley, while he is dying, to take his sword back to his father in Nottingham. Robin and his "merry men" ("the more the merrier" he says at one point!) get back to Nottingham, and Robin (in a "Gladiator" type scene!) gets together all the barons to fight against the French army who are going to land in England and fight for the crown as King Richard is dead and the current king, John, is weak. It also involves the sacking of all the towns by King John's men to get the taxes, even though he has promised to treat the country well. It all ends with the French being defeated, of course, and to set the film up for a sequel King John realises that it is Robin who the army he has gathered has been listening to, and so begins not to like him. Oh and I've missed a big bit out about Robin's romance with Marian and him pretending to be Robert of Loxley..but you get the idea :) It was a lot better than I thought it would be, and had some great bits in it - some straight out of Monty Python it seems! ("You shall not pass until you solve me this riddle..." :D ) But I do recommend it - it probably has lots of historical innaccuracies, but it doesn't matter so much as its an entertaining story, in my opinion! :) 8 / 10
Came back in time to see our atrocious performance in the Eurovision song contest (well the results of it anyway!). Why can't we either a) stop giving so much money to it, or b) actually pay attention to what every other country does and actually put someone who is already famous in there for it, so we might actually do ok. How come other countries can have acts such as Lordi and Tatu who are already famous, but we have rubbish who have never ever performed before in their lives? Gah!
Book Forty Seven - The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
This book describes a woman's life in the year after her husband dies suddenly. It describes his death, how she feels about it, and how she begins to cope without him there. It also describes how she has to break the news to their daughter, who at the time of her husbands death is seriously ill in hospital. There are also flashbacks to things her and her husband have done throughout their lives and marriage. The book started well, and you really felt for the woman and what she'd gone through, but then it just got a bit less interesting, they didn't seem to have a very interesting life, from the flashbacks, and there was something about them adopting their child which wasn't very clear. I wasn't sure if this was a true story or not - as the author's name was mentioned in the book, but it just got a bit confusing and I sort of lost interest, which was a shame as it was good at the beginning. There were some parts which were quite moving - such as she couldn't bear to move her husbands pile of books from his side of the bed, or she kept his shoes because he'd need them when he came back - but they were only small bits. I'm not sure if I would recommend this or not, as maybe for someone who has lost someone close to them it would be better, but for me it just wasn't. 5 / 10
Book Forty Eight - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan-Doyle
This book was great! It follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson as they investigate the fate of Sir Charles Baskerville, and the myth of a great hound who inhabits the moors close to his home. The new owner of Baskerville Hall, Henry Baskerville, also has some suspicious occurances surrounding him, and Holmes and Watson try to find out whats going on. I admit I haven't read many Sherlock Holmes stories, and I know I should do, as this was great. I did at times think that Holmes should come across as a bit of a know-it-all, as he seems to work things out so easily, but it is written well so that he doesn't. I like that it always explains why he has come to a certain conclusion, and doesn't just leave us wondering why he thinks a certain thing. I'll definately be reading more stories involving Sherlock Holmes - oh and will continue to look forward to the sequel to the Sherlock Holmes film :D 8 / 10
Film 30 - Robin Hood
I haven't been to the cinema for ages, but I went on Saturday to see Robin Hood. I was expecting a bit of an "english Gladiator" as it stars Russell Crowe and is directed by Ridley Scott, and it was a little bit like that at times, but it doesn't detract from the story. It starts in France, with King Richard's army about to storm another castle, one last one before they can come home. King Richard is apparently killed, and as Robin and his friends had been put in the stocks by him for fighting, they escape, and try to ride back to England. On the way they bump into a group of English soldiers who have been ambushed while trying to take the King's crown back to England, and Robin is asked by Robert of Loxley, while he is dying, to take his sword back to his father in Nottingham. Robin and his "merry men" ("the more the merrier" he says at one point!) get back to Nottingham, and Robin (in a "Gladiator" type scene!) gets together all the barons to fight against the French army who are going to land in England and fight for the crown as King Richard is dead and the current king, John, is weak. It also involves the sacking of all the towns by King John's men to get the taxes, even though he has promised to treat the country well. It all ends with the French being defeated, of course, and to set the film up for a sequel King John realises that it is Robin who the army he has gathered has been listening to, and so begins not to like him. Oh and I've missed a big bit out about Robin's romance with Marian and him pretending to be Robert of Loxley..but you get the idea :) It was a lot better than I thought it would be, and had some great bits in it - some straight out of Monty Python it seems! ("You shall not pass until you solve me this riddle..." :D ) But I do recommend it - it probably has lots of historical innaccuracies, but it doesn't matter so much as its an entertaining story, in my opinion! :) 8 / 10
Came back in time to see our atrocious performance in the Eurovision song contest (well the results of it anyway!). Why can't we either a) stop giving so much money to it, or b) actually pay attention to what every other country does and actually put someone who is already famous in there for it, so we might actually do ok. How come other countries can have acts such as Lordi and Tatu who are already famous, but we have rubbish who have never ever performed before in their lives? Gah!
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and that's disappointing about the year of magical thinking, it's been on my list for ages.
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