Tristan

Suspicion -Dorothy L. Sayers A man suspects his housekeeper of slowly poisoning him and his wife, and subsequently tries to prove this. A well-structured plot, and a surprise twist ending make this one a definite winner. Autofac - Philip K. Dick During an all-consuming, destructive war, machines have been ordered to take the production and distribution of consumer products upon themselves. Now the war is over (and it appears that the machines won't stop doing this), humans are desperately trying to regain power and battle the machines over economic control. Plot feels pretty basic now (the man vs. machine theme is all-prevalent now), but it's still well thought out. The Hound - H.P. Lovecraft A couple of gravediggers discover that their last exploit was a bit of a mistake. They are being hunted by some sort of beast that seems to bear a grudge toward them and relishes screwing them up in various ways. Ah,what a jolly good fun it is to read good ol' H.P. You know almost exactly what you're going to get: unbridled anguish. Some like this, while others don't.. such is the way of the world.

Megadeth - Tornado of Souls. Wicked stuff..

The Bone Collector. Illogical in some parts, absolutely ridiculous in others. Not too bad an effort, but it's just 'meh' for me.. Oh, and I still actively dislike Angelina Jolie, so this film certainly hasn't changed that. And something tells me nothing ever will.

No redeeming qualities at all?

The Lurking Fear - H.P. Lovecraft Your basic dose of Lovecraft, filled to the brim with monstrous murdering, mind boggling madness, and mystery. Here it goes: A rural county is being haunted, and as those things develop themselves, an adventurer decides to go investigate. Weird things happen, some people die, and the search for the identity of the mysterious assailant gets completed, but with a terrible cost. More than adequate tale, with staggering writing and particularly wicked descriptions of pure terror. I'm really loving this excursion into Lovecraft territory, and I haven't even gotten to his best work yet. This looks very promising. I fully condone you undertaking such an action. It's very good.

Well, it was exceedingly popular back in the day (somewhere in the 1880's) but, due to the enormous impact Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde clearly has had since then, his 'lesser' works receive far less attention. It's a shame, but there you have it. An interesting point you raise regarding the translation. Apparently, both finnish and spanish share the same word in their vocabulary. But,in spanish, it means 'the well-spoken one'. Which makes perfect sense when one reads the story. rather fitting, me thinks.

Cinema Paradiso. Classic Italian film that is absolutely heartwrenching. Good stuff!

I got it for my birthday.

It is indeed. Recommended.

I have the recently published omnibus ( by Gollancz )which contains five of his major novels. Looks rather dashing on a bookshelf.

A Fish Called Wanda. Kevin Kline is simply hilarious in this one. Good times.

I really should go and try going through one of the films I rented from the library recently ( have to be returned in 4 days ), but I'm just too tired.. I'm watching Starship Troopers instead. Not much thinking required.

Sadly, I missed out on this one. The other members of the household were hogging all the tv-sets ( we have 3! ). I feel slighted.. Was it any good? Is it worth tuning in next time for?

Olalla - Robert Louis Stevenson While it's certainly not as groundbreaking or intricate as his The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson's Gothic novella hits all the right marks. It's a rather conventional tale on the surface, of a wounded soldier who receives the care of a (unknown to him) vampiric family up in the mountains in some far-off place. You'd expect a rather horrifying account of menacing vampires, trying to suck the poor fellows blood at every conceivable opportunity, but instead this offers something quite different: it's a love story. The soldier ( the idiot, right?) falls in love with a young woman (who reciprocates), but their love cannot be. They know it's doomed from the start.. quite excellent, with a nice, sad, poignant ending. Just the way I like them. I know many don't particularly like Stevenson't writing style on account of his heaviness with the words, but somehow I just don't. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I'm really starting to adore (not just love, adore!) older works of literature. It's a thing with me, I guess. Next Up: The Lurking Fear - H.P. Lovecraft

Penultimate sci-fi writing. I couldn't agree more. So far, I've only read this one and some of his short stories ( in the horror genre ) and I've loved them all. Some damn fine writing, even now. Doesn't feel old or archaic at all.. Will start on Island of Dr. Moreau soon. High hopes!

Mainly Osamu Tezuka's stuff. Ode to Kirihito, Apollo's Song.. all stellar works.

Glad you liked it. It really is adventure comics at its finest. The second volume is even better, with an even more extensive 'traditional prose' section at the end. I can't recommend it enough.

Fargo.

Silent Snow, Secret Snow - Conrad Aiken Masterfully told story of a 12 year old boy, who's starting to develop a schizophrenic personality. Creepy, somewhat tragic and wonderfully mysterious. Adored it. Next Up: Olalla - Robert Louis Stevenson

Will do.

Not only that, Kylie. They look, smell, and read awesome as well. Thanks for supporting it.

I Dream in Colour - The Opposition. Mostly forgotten underground postpunk band. Exciting stuff.

The Seven Year Itch. Old Hollywood at her finest.

I'd love to read your thoughts on Heart of Darkness Frankie. I'm quite interested in reading that one. Let us know what you think.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Got until page 100 or so, and then I just stopped and never resumed the thing. Ah well, someday..