vodkafan

I watched a couple of films in the last few days. The Awakening was a pretty decent ghost story. Note I said Ghost story, not horror. I have been waiting years for a ghost story as good as The Others, and this came pretty close. Rebecca Hall was the lead actress and I very much liked her character, my only reservation being that she was rather too self confident and free thinking for a 1920s woman, along with her wild and sexy hairstyle, which seemed especially anachronistic to me. The other film was a crazy Japanese zombie martial arts film called Versus. An escaped convict finds himself in The Forest of Ressurrection, one of a number of places on the earth acting as a portal between this plane of existence and the next, where at certain times the dead can come back to life. He is supposed to meet some local gangsters there who helped spring him from jail. They bring with them a young female hostage, the sight of whom raises a small spark of compassion in the convict, who rescues her and they run off into the forest, followed by the enraged gangsters. Unfortunately for the gangsters, this is where they have unwittingly been bringing their enemies for gangland executions and the forest is full of bodies in shallow graves, who as soon as the convict arrives start coming back to life . It soon transpires that this is no accident of timing, and the convict and the girl are predestined to take part in a battle of good versus evil that has been repeated in centuries past. This was recommended to me by a friend at work who is into this type of obscure stuff. It cost me only 40p from Amazon so was worth a watch, although it is not a keeper for me, I will trade it in at the shop downstairs.

I'm right behind you big guy. Just been a leetle preoccupied lately

Hi Alyson welcome! I think you are our first Canuck watch out for those bears

I am relieved to hear you say that Ruth!

Yes must be reversed. I think Charmer's copy is same as mine. Wonder why they did that?

That was Chapter 4 Ruth - chapter 3 was when she was dating. Seeing as you have brought it up though I agree with you, it was obvious that if she was going to that sort of place for her research she was going to meet the worst examples of both men and women. I was very uncomfortable about that chapter because although she did not spare the women from harsh criticism , the implication seemed to be that all men were walking about seeing women as sex objects all the time. That's just not true it would get in the way of our fishing and sports and playing about underneath our cars. The stupid statements of the male friend she went there with initially (not Jim) were not typical. True, men do say that stuff occasionally as we say many stupid things when beered up but in this case he was telling Norah that for maximum shock effect. I have seen that attitude before, it is a kind of petulant reverse showing off where a man will deliberately show the worst aspects of male behaviour on purpose (unrestrained burping, farting, being ignorant) Speaking personally I have never been to a strip club (my younger brother has once and he told me he did not like it). I have also never paid for any kind of sex either real or online or been tempted to. I don't know anybody who has. I agree it was a thoroughly depressing chapter. I will come back later and put my thoughts on chapter 3, which I did like much better.

Cruxifix Killer sounds nasty

I am re-reading chapter 3 tonight. If you are ready and you want to bash on with the discussion Ruth please do. We have all discussed chapter 2 except Frankie but she will catch up. Funny enough although I have not read the whole book yet I have had no problems with the ethics of what she did so far. It is in the nature of a jolly jape kind of thing.

Hi Julie long time no speak. Gillespie and I sounds great that's going on my wishlist. Like Chesil I also have slowed down buying and trying to clear my TBR.

Have just finished yesterday A Helmet For My Pillow which was a wartime biography. Will review it Saturday. Hope to finish another book today. Have had to change one of my Genre reads; I had planned to read Emma by Jane Austen as my chosen classic but realised I don't have it on my Kindle! Will substitute Jane Eyre instead.

Well this will shock you all. When I moved into the flat above a shop in centre of our town I was told there was no facilities for recycling. Everything goes into one bin bag just like the good old days. And then every night we go out and dump our bags in the street outside the flat and early in the morning every morning the council street cleaners take it all away. Yay!!

Welcome Charmer

Welcome Spud. Sounds good that you like in-depth book discussions. As Chrissy said don't feel shy about starting your own threads about books and inviting discussions.

A very funny gay film called But I'm a Cheerleader. It is a laugh a minute. I love this film too Chrissy! Have to rewatch it again soon.

I have thought of another question to ask. This one is just a bit of fun really. Although the story has a happy ending it finishes in 1940 and there is still 5 years of war left. I liked to think that John Howard survived the war and stayed in good health long enough to reunite with Nicole after the war and develop a relationship with her as her father in law. How would you like to see the characters end up in your version ?

Roland is that Elsie and Mairi book a true story ? I remember reading an article about a very similar pair of women, perhaps it was them. If so I would like to read this one.

That is very interesting. Maybe the Secret Services blackmailed him or something? That is the usual way to recruit informers.

Glad you enjoyed Pied Piper Dawn and thanks for answering the questions on the Reading Circle group.

Yes I do agree with you Poppy about rather reading a truthful account. Glad there are at least two of us who are Winterson fans we can compare notes. My reading is all over the place at the moment I am reading 4 books at once: Sail Self Made Man A Helmet For My Pillow Uncertain Destiny Going to try to finish two today

The Uninvited Guests sounds good that's going on my wishlist thanks

Milo that's a valid question but you will have to jump in and read the book to satisfy yourself as to the answer. Personally, having read a fair bit of the book now, I think the author had an attitude of "let's see". I think it was a genuine attempt at exploring something that many people don't get to explore. I don't think the motive was money or anything material, which would have been shallow. She did immerse herself as much as she was able to . I don't agree with all her conclusions and observations, and she says herself in the intro that it can only remain a subjective experience, but I give her respect for doing it. Are you going to give the book a go?

Good thorough review Poppy

I read a Norwegian book set in the 19th century a while back called Dana's Book. It was weird but the woman certainly did change her own world and that of a few people around her. She kills her husband in the first couple of pages.

Ok we are all on board now so I will progress on with chapter 2. There is a lot of truth in this chapter, I believe Norah divined a lot of things correctly. I was pleased that she realised the significance and importance of the handshake. Some men are back slappers and shoulder punchers, but these are rare and most men do not like that. Women may have noticed that on the whole men do not touch each other very much. This makes the handshake even more important. The handshake is an intimate thing. It is the only accepted way for men to be intimate . You can divine almost everything about a man's character from that small contact: whether you can depend on him , if he is honest or a liar, or an idiot ; Strong or weak; whether he respects you , if he thinks he is better than you, acceptance or intolerance, whether he likes you and how much he is pleased to see you at that moment. And here is a thing ladies; I hate to say it but women almost without exception have horrible dead fish handshakes. They just don't get it. Even women whom I have loved and respected greatly in my life, I have been dismayed by the lack of character in their limp handshakes. I don't understand that. Because I know they have great character. I have heard that lesbians have good handshakes but I don't know any socially so I haven't been able to check that out. Another thing that came up with Ned is that men do not discuss their wives and that is absolutely very true. Norah describes it as "reverential". There are many aspects and reasons for this. It is just a sort of code of conduct. If they have problems with their wives they keep it inside and have another beer. They just hope the problem will go away. I have seen it time and time again that when a man finally does start criticising his wife then it is usually right at the very end of the relationship when all hope is lost and they are just about to break up. It is very bad form for a man to discuss his sex life if he is married or in a committed relationship. However, it is totally different if he is in a casual relationship or has a one night stand. That counts as sport and he will then tell everybody in detail of the whole circumstances. This is because it increases his standing among other males to be irresistable to women. But I have seen women make the transition from 'lady of the night' to angel- from talked about to "shut it-that's my girlfriend" - in minutes sometimes. It is a mysterious process in a man's mind that suddenly makes her worth it. The way the lads treated the boy Alex is also true. It is just training.It doesn't mean we don't love them or have quality time with them when alone. There is one major thing that Norah did not pick up on, and could not, because she could not get into that situation without being found out. That is the locker room stuff. Male nakedness. Together. I don't know what psychologists would call it but I call it "social homosexuality". From when we are small children we are herded together in our nakedness at school. During games lessons I remember being disquieted by this at first when I was small and asking my dad about it. I said I didn't want to get changed in front of the other boys because they would see my winkler and I was shy. I never forget what he said: " You must walk about as if you have the biggest winkler in the whole school." That is about the only piece of advice he ever gave me. But it is very true. That is where it starts. The male sexual confidence in himself. For, how can you eventually as a teenager stand in front of a girl naked-that terrifying rite of passage- if you have not first stood in front of your own sex and even seen their erections? OK I have given up secrets here. Discuss.

UFO. Anybody else remember that ? Karsa?