Monday, September 19, 2011
Lackberg, Camilla: The Ice Princess
A writer, Erica Falck, has returned home after the death of her parents to sort out their possessions. She is out walking when she is called into a house to find the dead body of a childhood friend in what seems to be a suicide but is actually murder. One of the local detectives is an old boyfriend. During the course of the investigation their old feelings are resurrected and they fall in love. The book differs from many in the strong development of many of the characters, not just the central ones, so that it all but becomes a social history of the local area. This does lead to a number of threads in the story being left unresolved with one wanting to know what happens although the crime is solved by the end of the book. This does bring to light unsavoury events from the past which reflect badly on the parents of the dead woman among others though this is done without being too critical of their behaviour. There is a second book featuring the two main characters which may tie up some of the incomplete strands, particularly that of the disposition of the house that Erica and her sister inherited. A welcome change from some crime novels where the crime and its solution take precedent over the participants.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Pedro Almodovar: The Skin I Live In
I am revieing this now rather than the Frightfest films which precede it in time so a to place it next to the book on which it is
based. The differences are obvious. In the book, there is no housekeeper, the reason for the captivity is known more or less
from the start, there is no sub-plot ( the hard to accept co-incidence in the book) and the ending is decidedly different. That said, the film takes the basic premise of the book as the central plot with Almodavar adding his own twist. I was not taken with Banderas's performance which was almost that of a non-existent character but this was a minor blemish on a well made film. While there were flashbacks which did not quite gel all the time, the tale was developed more or less linearally which made the whole thng clear. The one thing that does puzzle me is the change to the ending of the book which does rather change the overall gestalt. A fine film but not a great one.
based. The differences are obvious. In the book, there is no housekeeper, the reason for the captivity is known more or less
from the start, there is no sub-plot ( the hard to accept co-incidence in the book) and the ending is decidedly different. That said, the film takes the basic premise of the book as the central plot with Almodavar adding his own twist. I was not taken with Banderas's performance which was almost that of a non-existent character but this was a minor blemish on a well made film. While there were flashbacks which did not quite gel all the time, the tale was developed more or less linearally which made the whole thng clear. The one thing that does puzzle me is the change to the ending of the book which does rather change the overall gestalt. A fine film but not a great one.
Jonquet, Thierry: Tarantula
This is the 1995 noir on which the new Almodovar film 'The Skin I Live In' is based, a review of which will follow shortly. The
book is tautly written (as with other non-English novels, the translator is to be congratulated) and developed in an unusual way. A celebrated plastic surgeon keeps his mistress captive and does take her out from time to time either to social functions where some consider her to be his second wife or to less reputable surroundings where he effectivelt pimps her out to punish her. why he does the latter is not explained but he does appear to be increasingly less happy with doing this. It turns out as the book develops that he has a daughter who is unbalanced to the extent that he finally agrees to give up the
regular visits he has been making. After the initial development, the focus switches to a petty crook with limited intelligence who has killed a policeman, having previously been looked after by his best friend who vanished some time back. While holed up, he sees a programme on TV featuring the plastic surgeon and decides that the wayout of his dilemma is to get a new face by forcing the surgeon to give him one. He watches him and concocts a scenario where he captures the mistress and uses the threat of her death to get the surgeon to comply. Naturally, the latter easily outwits him which leads to the
shocking denouement. The ending does rely on a hard to accept co-incidence but, provided this is accepted as possible, it
does not detract from the book. The standard noir formula does require a femme fatale which this book does not really have
so calling the book a noir is a misnomer - it is a tale of obsession and revenge.
book is tautly written (as with other non-English novels, the translator is to be congratulated) and developed in an unusual way. A celebrated plastic surgeon keeps his mistress captive and does take her out from time to time either to social functions where some consider her to be his second wife or to less reputable surroundings where he effectivelt pimps her out to punish her. why he does the latter is not explained but he does appear to be increasingly less happy with doing this. It turns out as the book develops that he has a daughter who is unbalanced to the extent that he finally agrees to give up the
regular visits he has been making. After the initial development, the focus switches to a petty crook with limited intelligence who has killed a policeman, having previously been looked after by his best friend who vanished some time back. While holed up, he sees a programme on TV featuring the plastic surgeon and decides that the wayout of his dilemma is to get a new face by forcing the surgeon to give him one. He watches him and concocts a scenario where he captures the mistress and uses the threat of her death to get the surgeon to comply. Naturally, the latter easily outwits him which leads to the
shocking denouement. The ending does rely on a hard to accept co-incidence but, provided this is accepted as possible, it
does not detract from the book. The standard noir formula does require a femme fatale which this book does not really have
so calling the book a noir is a misnomer - it is a tale of obsession and revenge.
Camilleri, Andrea: The Snack Thief
Another Inspector Montalbano mystery which is well up to the author's high standards. The underlying humour does not
detract from the darkness of the plot and there is, this time, something of an elegiac air. Having mentioned elsewhere that
so many detectives have flawed personal lives, deciding which characteristics of Montalbano are drawbacks is both easy and
hard to decide. He does not want to be promoted away from Vigato, enjoys his food rather too much, gets depressed easily,
does not want to commit to his long established lover who lives in Genoa and is, inevitably for Sicily, careful with his dealings with the Mafia. He does not suffer fools gladly and seems to play favourites at times (or rather, the reverse). All these traits do provide a lively and pleasing story. Camilleri has been praised for his sense of place which is apparent in the air of near
resignation at the ongoing socio-political environment and also, conversely, in the leisured pace of things.
detract from the darkness of the plot and there is, this time, something of an elegiac air. Having mentioned elsewhere that
so many detectives have flawed personal lives, deciding which characteristics of Montalbano are drawbacks is both easy and
hard to decide. He does not want to be promoted away from Vigato, enjoys his food rather too much, gets depressed easily,
does not want to commit to his long established lover who lives in Genoa and is, inevitably for Sicily, careful with his dealings with the Mafia. He does not suffer fools gladly and seems to play favourites at times (or rather, the reverse). All these traits do provide a lively and pleasing story. Camilleri has been praised for his sense of place which is apparent in the air of near
resignation at the ongoing socio-political environment and also, conversely, in the leisured pace of things.
Wilson, Robert: The Blind Man of Seville
Just as the previously reviewed book by this author (A Small Death in Lisbon) is multi-layered with different time strands, this
has an extensive back story both in narrative form and as diary extracts which the author has created extensively and then
used only parts of them. The present day story is that of a police inspector in Seville investigating a series of linked murders
to which he receives clues. He is convinced, rightly as it turns out, that the answer lies in the past and the book gradually
unravels the past links through his father's diaries. The latter is a celebrated painter now dead and the deciphering of his
past provides the answer eventually. As is so often the case, the policeman is flawed personally. As well as many self- doubts he is getting over a failed marriage which is not helped by his ex-wife having an affair with the instructing judge.
There are a number of set pieces some of which are background though one turns out to be another killing by the murderer.
Complicated but well written and an acceptable denouement which fits the overall story.
has an extensive back story both in narrative form and as diary extracts which the author has created extensively and then
used only parts of them. The present day story is that of a police inspector in Seville investigating a series of linked murders
to which he receives clues. He is convinced, rightly as it turns out, that the answer lies in the past and the book gradually
unravels the past links through his father's diaries. The latter is a celebrated painter now dead and the deciphering of his
past provides the answer eventually. As is so often the case, the policeman is flawed personally. As well as many self- doubts he is getting over a failed marriage which is not helped by his ex-wife having an affair with the instructing judge.
There are a number of set pieces some of which are background though one turns out to be another killing by the murderer.
Complicated but well written and an acceptable denouement which fits the overall story.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Stross, Charles: The Fuller Memorandum
Another adventure for Bob Howard and his wife Mo with her participation limited but vital. The continuing story of the secret branch of the British Secret Service that deals with the supernatural. Every bit as involving and well-crafted as the earlier books though the finale did seem a little over the top. The idea of a Lovecraftian world seen only by a gifted few is made a
perfectly reasonable construct and there is a definite consistency in its application. I have read and reviewed the two books which precede this. 'The Atrocity Archives' and 'The Jennifer Morgue', and this book maintains the high standards of those two
with a definite development of the characters.
perfectly reasonable construct and there is a definite consistency in its application. I have read and reviewed the two books which precede this. 'The Atrocity Archives' and 'The Jennifer Morgue', and this book maintains the high standards of those two
with a definite development of the characters.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Preston, Douglas: The Codex
Elsewhere in this blog is a review of one of this author's collaborations with Lincoln Child (as well as a review of one of the
latter's books) but this is the first solo effort I have read. There is no great difference in the style of this book from that of the collaborations with both requiring some suspension of disbelief as, come to think of it, do many adventure cum thriller
novels. A simple story - father calls his sons to the family mansion but he is gone as are the multi-million dollar works of
art and relics which he has taken back to the Mayan ruins of Honduras to be buried with him as he has but a few months to
live. The three react differently with the lead brother initially deciding to forget about it. He is persuaded otherwise by a
beautiful blonde ethnopharmacologist who talks him into going to find 'The Codex' which is a herbal dictionary of the many
plants used by the Mayans. One brother has teamed up with the man who had been his father's partner when he first went
to Honduras though they fell out there: this is the villain of the piece. Although going their own way, the three brothers do
eventually link up with a fourth brother who is part native Honduran. One has to accept the varied skills of the girl and the
main brother and the out and out villainy of the bad guy as well as the coincidences that bring them all together and lead to
the denouement. Well-written and equal to the collaborative works of which more as time goes by.
latter's books) but this is the first solo effort I have read. There is no great difference in the style of this book from that of the collaborations with both requiring some suspension of disbelief as, come to think of it, do many adventure cum thriller
novels. A simple story - father calls his sons to the family mansion but he is gone as are the multi-million dollar works of
art and relics which he has taken back to the Mayan ruins of Honduras to be buried with him as he has but a few months to
live. The three react differently with the lead brother initially deciding to forget about it. He is persuaded otherwise by a
beautiful blonde ethnopharmacologist who talks him into going to find 'The Codex' which is a herbal dictionary of the many
plants used by the Mayans. One brother has teamed up with the man who had been his father's partner when he first went
to Honduras though they fell out there: this is the villain of the piece. Although going their own way, the three brothers do
eventually link up with a fourth brother who is part native Honduran. One has to accept the varied skills of the girl and the
main brother and the out and out villainy of the bad guy as well as the coincidences that bring them all together and lead to
the denouement. Well-written and equal to the collaborative works of which more as time goes by.
Maberry, Jonathan: Patient Zero
I read this after a teasing review in either 'The Times' or 'Time Out'. The hero seems to be too good to be true with lightning
reflexes and a lack of conscience when it comes to the bad guys. The premise of the book is the development of a drug which turns people into zombies, as does their then biting others, with a double villain. The money provider for the work
done in developing the drug is the head of a world-wide drug corporation whose intent is to capture the world drug market
but he is working with the talented wife of a terrorist Muslim whose aim is the destruction of the USA and the entire Western
world. Thus, there are two threads - one the efforts to contain and wipe out the zombies on US soil and the other the way in which the jihadist outwits the man with the money. The book moves along at a fast pace and there are no untoward leaps of faith required to follow the story as long as the basic idea is accepted. A sequel appears to be set up at the end but I will take my time getting to it.
reflexes and a lack of conscience when it comes to the bad guys. The premise of the book is the development of a drug which turns people into zombies, as does their then biting others, with a double villain. The money provider for the work
done in developing the drug is the head of a world-wide drug corporation whose intent is to capture the world drug market
but he is working with the talented wife of a terrorist Muslim whose aim is the destruction of the USA and the entire Western
world. Thus, there are two threads - one the efforts to contain and wipe out the zombies on US soil and the other the way in which the jihadist outwits the man with the money. The book moves along at a fast pace and there are no untoward leaps of faith required to follow the story as long as the basic idea is accepted. A sequel appears to be set up at the end but I will take my time getting to it.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Thompson, Jim; Pop. 1280
Thompson is probably the coldest and most spare of the hard-boiled school of crime writers. He has no standard formula or regular hero like Hammett's Continental Op but deals with the lower strata of human existence as he finds it. This book is
set in the early years of the 20th century and tells of a sheriff in a small town with a population of 1280. His aim is to do as
little as possible to avoid over-exerting himself but circumstances somewhat change this as it is election year and his lack of
effort has led to adverse comments and a strong opponent. In sparse language we learn that he eats a lot, was tricked into
marriage but has sex regularly with two other women, kills the two local pimps and then manages to point the finger of blame at another, kills the husband of one of his mistresses and a local black who learns he has done this and eventually gets rid of his wife and her live-in brother (or lover). There is a strong leavening of humour in the telling without this creating any
sympathy for the sheriff whose apparent dumb exterior hides a cunning, manipulative and psychotic mind. The end is a tad
sudden leaving matters unresolved. The book forms the basis of the film 'Coup de Torchon' which transfers the action fo
Franch West Africa with the lead role taken by the inimitable Philipe Noiret for whom one cannot help but feel sympathy,
misplaced though this is.
set in the early years of the 20th century and tells of a sheriff in a small town with a population of 1280. His aim is to do as
little as possible to avoid over-exerting himself but circumstances somewhat change this as it is election year and his lack of
effort has led to adverse comments and a strong opponent. In sparse language we learn that he eats a lot, was tricked into
marriage but has sex regularly with two other women, kills the two local pimps and then manages to point the finger of blame at another, kills the husband of one of his mistresses and a local black who learns he has done this and eventually gets rid of his wife and her live-in brother (or lover). There is a strong leavening of humour in the telling without this creating any
sympathy for the sheriff whose apparent dumb exterior hides a cunning, manipulative and psychotic mind. The end is a tad
sudden leaving matters unresolved. The book forms the basis of the film 'Coup de Torchon' which transfers the action fo
Franch West Africa with the lead role taken by the inimitable Philipe Noiret for whom one cannot help but feel sympathy,
misplaced though this is.
Grimwood, Jon Courtenay: Stamping Butterflies
I must have read the trilogy of 'Felaheen', 'Effendi' and 'Pashazade' some time before I started reviewing as it was my memory
of those books that made me choose this one which links events in 1969 Marrakesh with an attempted assination of the US
President in the present day of the novel and life on a distant planet in the far future. Gradually the strands come together with, understandably, the links between the former two more obvious than the final connection. The writing evokes the
different settings very tellingly and the complicated tale keeps one's attention throughout. The jumps from 1969 to now to
whenever do sometimes jar a little for this reader - I was almost tempted to read each part through rather than accepting the
developing interlinking pattern. Very inventive and very well written.
of those books that made me choose this one which links events in 1969 Marrakesh with an attempted assination of the US
President in the present day of the novel and life on a distant planet in the far future. Gradually the strands come together with, understandably, the links between the former two more obvious than the final connection. The writing evokes the
different settings very tellingly and the complicated tale keeps one's attention throughout. The jumps from 1969 to now to
whenever do sometimes jar a little for this reader - I was almost tempted to read each part through rather than accepting the
developing interlinking pattern. Very inventive and very well written.
Hughes, Dorothy B.: In a Lonely Place
A masterly tale of a psychotic killer whose identity is known to the reade from the start. Dixon Steele, a World War II veteran,
has moved to Los Angeles to write, being supported by a monthly cheque from his uncle. He is living in an apartment which
belongs to a former Princeton colleague who is supposedly in Rio. His best wartime friend is now a sergeant detective with
the Los Angeles police and he uses this friendship to keep abreast of developments in the latest murder, the sixth in recent
months. His friend's wife is not altogether sure of him but the wartime friendship prevails. Steele takes up with a woman in
the apartments who, like him, is an opportunist but they fall in love though she does keep some distance between them. The
denouement, after more murders, results in his being caught with the twist being that all the murders had duplicated his killing of an English girl whom he had loved but then strangled. Tightly plotted and written, the book confirms Dorothy B.
Hughes' place at the very top of thriller writers of the period - if not of all time.
The book was made into a film a few years after its publication with Humphrey Bogart in the lead and Gloria Grahame as the
girl living in the same apartments. Although the names are the same, the plot is both simplified and coarsened with Bogart
playing an established screenwriter with a violent temper. The end result is the same though it would appear that he commits only one murder. Both Bogart and Grahame are on top form and Nicholas Ray's directing is competent enough to make the film a highly considered one but it is not a patch on the book.
has moved to Los Angeles to write, being supported by a monthly cheque from his uncle. He is living in an apartment which
belongs to a former Princeton colleague who is supposedly in Rio. His best wartime friend is now a sergeant detective with
the Los Angeles police and he uses this friendship to keep abreast of developments in the latest murder, the sixth in recent
months. His friend's wife is not altogether sure of him but the wartime friendship prevails. Steele takes up with a woman in
the apartments who, like him, is an opportunist but they fall in love though she does keep some distance between them. The
denouement, after more murders, results in his being caught with the twist being that all the murders had duplicated his killing of an English girl whom he had loved but then strangled. Tightly plotted and written, the book confirms Dorothy B.
Hughes' place at the very top of thriller writers of the period - if not of all time.
The book was made into a film a few years after its publication with Humphrey Bogart in the lead and Gloria Grahame as the
girl living in the same apartments. Although the names are the same, the plot is both simplified and coarsened with Bogart
playing an established screenwriter with a violent temper. The end result is the same though it would appear that he commits only one murder. Both Bogart and Grahame are on top form and Nicholas Ray's directing is competent enough to make the film a highly considered one but it is not a patch on the book.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Sucker Punch: Zach Snyder (with Hot Tub Time Machine and Your Highness)
I had intended to review only the first two films titled but, having seen the third before writing this, have decided to do a single review of all three. 'Sucker Punch' is a fantasy which is either the imaginings of Abbie Cornish which the closing scene suggests or a retreat from reality into a comic-book world involving Emily Browning who has the main part. Five girls are imprisoned in a mental institute for young ladies which the chief warder operates as a brothel with the house shrink, played by Carla Gugino using a weird accent, as the madam. Part of their duties is to dance for the selected customers and it is when made to do this that Emily Browning escapes into a different fantasy world each time. All wear costumes meant to arouse - schoolgirl with very short skirt, tight leather and so on - and each fantasy includes Scott Glenn as some form of father figure/guide. At least one reviewer has desribed this as soft porn for the teenage male which it might have been fifty or so years ago but hardly now. Taken at face level, it is a series of well-imagined and executed implausible adventures in which, eventually, three of the girls die as they do in the intervening reality. This leaves ... now broked in spirit and trapped but her efforts have helped Abbie Cornish, the only one old enough to be thought of as a woman, to escape to a nearby bus station where she is saved from police interrogation and recapture by the bus driver - Scott Glenn. Fast-paced enjoyable hokum.
'Hot Tub Time Machine' is much nearer to porn though not so described. Four male friends return to a ski lodge to relive their past with the weekend starting badly until they short-circuit the hot tub accidentally and are taken back to their earlier
visit where they try to repeat what happened in order to return to the present. A series of misadventures, mainly sexual, do
eventually get three of the four back, the fourth choosing not to return: this alters what the present has become but for the
better for all. A few amusing moments in a rather gross film in which John Cusack is wasted.
However, this is easily surpassed in grossness by 'Your Highness' which is almost a Carry On film with explicitness rather than
the innuendo the English series had to use. James Franco, who should know better, is the heroic older son of Charles Dance,
who seems nowadays to collect pay cheques, whose bride-to-be, Zooey Deschanel, is seized by the inevitable evil wizard just
as the wedding ceremony is all but done. He sets off to rescue her with his younger brother, Danny McBride, who has been a
foul-mouthes wastrel in his brother's shadow. The gallant knights with Franco turn out to be in the pay of the wizard which complicates matters as well as adding more vulgarity. Along the way they meet Natalie Portman whose near-nude swim in long shot is almost the film's highlight though she does have a good line in cgi assisted fighting. They do, at last, save the bride and kill the wizard returning hom in triumph. For no good reason, Portman seems to have a thing for Mc Bride but has
another quest to follow - however, she turns up at the end so all live happily. Utter rubbish but midly enjoyable.
'Hot Tub Time Machine' is much nearer to porn though not so described. Four male friends return to a ski lodge to relive their past with the weekend starting badly until they short-circuit the hot tub accidentally and are taken back to their earlier
visit where they try to repeat what happened in order to return to the present. A series of misadventures, mainly sexual, do
eventually get three of the four back, the fourth choosing not to return: this alters what the present has become but for the
better for all. A few amusing moments in a rather gross film in which John Cusack is wasted.
However, this is easily surpassed in grossness by 'Your Highness' which is almost a Carry On film with explicitness rather than
the innuendo the English series had to use. James Franco, who should know better, is the heroic older son of Charles Dance,
who seems nowadays to collect pay cheques, whose bride-to-be, Zooey Deschanel, is seized by the inevitable evil wizard just
as the wedding ceremony is all but done. He sets off to rescue her with his younger brother, Danny McBride, who has been a
foul-mouthes wastrel in his brother's shadow. The gallant knights with Franco turn out to be in the pay of the wizard which complicates matters as well as adding more vulgarity. Along the way they meet Natalie Portman whose near-nude swim in long shot is almost the film's highlight though she does have a good line in cgi assisted fighting. They do, at last, save the bride and kill the wizard returning hom in triumph. For no good reason, Portman seems to have a thing for Mc Bride but has
another quest to follow - however, she turns up at the end so all live happily. Utter rubbish but midly enjoyable.
Campbell, Ramsey: Scared Stiff
A series of short stories about sex and death by one of the leading writers of horror fiction which are explicit rather than implicit about sexual matters though rather tame. Although by a single author, the tales vary in effectiveness quite a lot with the best reasonably good and the worst rather trite. Not a great encouragement to read his longer works.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Evans, Gareth and Robson, Di (Eds): Towards Re-Enchantment
The full title continues 'Place and Its Meanings' which describes this collection of essays and poems about different parts of
the United Kingdom by various authors. Some are much better than others at evoking a sense of the place they are describing with the essays by Richard Mabey on Norfolk, Iain Sinclair on Springgield Park, Jay Griffiths on Ystrad Fflur being
especially good. Others which impressed were Ken Worpole on Essex and Kathleen Jamie on Rona while Robert Macfarlane on the Isle of Lewis rather extended the local to the more general. However, I found this final essay in the book to be one of the more memorable. A few were spoilt for me by the political undertones with which I did not agree and I wonder if this was the appropriate place to express them - the editors presumably thought it was. The editors run a production agency which provides a platform for artists to explore the nature and values of contemporary society etc. which does incline one to the feeling that radical/socialist thought is more likely to find favour than expressions of a more right-wing frame of mind. There is, of course, every reason to encourage this approach even though it is not one which I find quite to my liking.
Overall, I am pleased to have read the collection though I did sort of skip the poetry.
the United Kingdom by various authors. Some are much better than others at evoking a sense of the place they are describing with the essays by Richard Mabey on Norfolk, Iain Sinclair on Springgield Park, Jay Griffiths on Ystrad Fflur being
especially good. Others which impressed were Ken Worpole on Essex and Kathleen Jamie on Rona while Robert Macfarlane on the Isle of Lewis rather extended the local to the more general. However, I found this final essay in the book to be one of the more memorable. A few were spoilt for me by the political undertones with which I did not agree and I wonder if this was the appropriate place to express them - the editors presumably thought it was. The editors run a production agency which provides a platform for artists to explore the nature and values of contemporary society etc. which does incline one to the feeling that radical/socialist thought is more likely to find favour than expressions of a more right-wing frame of mind. There is, of course, every reason to encourage this approach even though it is not one which I find quite to my liking.
Overall, I am pleased to have read the collection though I did sort of skip the poetry.
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