It has to be said I’ve been slightly disappointed in the books I’ve read recently. I was unable to get into them for some reason. The Blade Itself by Joe Ambercrombie I read this on recommendation by Rick Riordan, one of my favourite young adult writers. I listened to it partly in audiobook and then gave up and read it on Kindle. I don’t believe it was a fault of the narrator; he did a good job, but I just couldn’t get into it very easily. On the positive side, I see that Amazon has enabled Whispersync for Voice for purchases on the Canadian store. It worked perfectly on this book. However, they do not yet offer the price reduction for both items, but maybe that will come. The Blade Itself is very similar to George R.R, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire in that character development is more important than plot progression. That is all very well, but Ambercrombie can’t compare to the depth of characterization that Martin has reached. None of the characters grabbed me in the manner of Tyrion, Jaime or Arya. In all fairness, Martin has had five books to develop his characters, while I…
Today I went out to the cinema despite the freezing cold to see this movie. Technically, it was excellent, with some superb performances, Gary Oldman and Benedict Cumberbatch both giving standout performances. Of course, it helped that all the main leads are very easy on the eye. However, as a woman, I was shocked by how darned chauvinistic it was. There was barely a single female character who wasn’t a) simple arm candy for the main characters b) a glorified tealady c) an adulteress or d) a damsel in distress the rescue of whom is held out as a reward for one of the main male characters The only positive female character , a smart secretary who seemed to know what was what (who got maybe 10 minutes’ screen time) was portrayed as less than traditionally attractive, and was forcibly put out to pasture (retired) very early on. Sadly, I fear that’s not too far from the truth of life in the 1970s British intelligence service. It’s been a while since I read John Le Carré’s novel on which the movie is based, so I can’t recall exactly if it’s as chauvinistic. When speaking with friends they asked me what…
Now that autumn's here, it's time to curl up with a mug of hot chocolate, a purring cat on your lap (or in the case of Meret, a biting cat…), to watch the new TV season. There are several new and returning shows that I am following: Desperate Housewives (ABC): this is the final season for Bree, Susan, Gaby and Lynette, and after eight years of following their exploits, I feel morally obliged to watch, despite the lacklustre effort of the last few seasons. If nothing else, the increase in tension of not knowing if all four are going to make it to the end of the season does add a bit of interest. There is a conscious effort to come full circle with many events this season echoing back to the first season, which is very nicely done. Glee (Fox): I absolutely adored Glee's first season. The mix of music and characters was fun TV viewing. Unfortunately, the second season had a major slump, focusing too much on new characters and not so much on those we'd come to love over the first season. The producers are promising a return to first season goodness, but we shall see. So far…