Janet's Log - Stardate 2015

[Alexi]

They massacred PS I love You in exactly the same way and I loved that book. Although my tastes have changed significantly since so not sure what I would make of it now.

 

Anyway, it's very frustrating. Why the need? Is the US film audience that obsessed with seeing films set in their own country? A little insular and disturbing if so! But I can't see it would make much difference.

[Athena]

I haven't seen the film P.S. I Love You, so it's good to know that, Alexi! (I haven't yet read the book either, but it's on my shelf).

 

I also don't see the need. I guess if a US company is making the movie, it is cheaper for them to film it in the US than in Britain, but then those plane tickets are probably not that costly compared with all the other costs . That is certainly a disturbing thought you mentioned!

[Janet]

I wonder if there have been cases of US books being set in the UK?  I'm sure there are plenty of films that have been filmed/set in different countries from their books, but I just think it's a shame as it seems to happen such a lot. 

[Nollaig]

I'm glad you liked The Girl On The Train, it's been such a divisive book, but I loved it!

[Janet]

There are seven of us at book club and we all enjoyed it, Noll. 

[Janet]

 

Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl by Wendy Jones

 

The ‘blurb’

Every inch of Grayson's childhood bedroom was covered with pictures of aeroplanes, and every surface with models. Fantasy took over his life, in a world of battles ruled by his teddy bear, Alan Measles. He grew up. And in 2003, an acclaimed ceramic artist, he accepted the Turner Prize as his alter-ego Clare, wearing his best dress, with a bow in his hair.

 

Now he tells his own story, his voice beautifully caught by his friend, the writer Wendy Jones. Early childhood in Chelmsford, Essex is a rural Eden that ends abruptly with the arrival of his stepfather, leading to constant swerving between his parents' houses, and between boys' and women's clothes. But as Grayson enters art college and discovers the world of London squats and New Romanticism, he starts to find himself. At last he steps out as a potter and transvestite.

 

I have Perry’s Playing to the Gallery on my wish list – I have been hoping it might come out in paperback but it seems unlikely now.

I saw this when I was with Michelle in Waterstone’s in Bluewater and I thought I’d give it a punt.  I actually thought it was written by Perry, but it’s a biography and was written by Wendy Jones – I didn’t realise as her name doesn’t really stand out on the cover!  Clever marketing, huh!  Anyway, it turns out that Wendy Jones and Grayson Perry are friends and he recorded it for her to write so I was pleased about that as it means it’s told in his voice.

 

Grayson Perry is famous (in the UK, anyway – I’m not sure if his fame carries further than that) as a potter and transvestite.  His alter-ego, Claire, actually picked up Perry’s CBE from Prince Charles at the palace.  This book covers, in quite a bit of detail, the period of his life from his birth up until he was about 23 years old, and then very briefly details some of the stuff he’s been up to since then.  His work is quirky.  It’s not the sort of stuff I’d have in my own house.  I found this biography to be very interesting.  Perry’s younger years were not at all easy – largely due to his family’s inability to accept his transvestism – it’s quite sad to read the lack of acceptance from his family and he and his mother have been estranged for 25 years.  I guess it can be a hard thing to understand and many people seem to assume that transvestism = homosexuality, but Grayson Perry has been happily married to Philippa since 1992.   I enjoyed this book and will probably pick up Playing to the Gallery next time I’m passing Bristol Central Library.

 

The paperback edition is 198 pages long and is published by Vintage.  It was first published in 2006.  The ISBN is 9780099485162.  

 

3½/5 (I enjoyed it)

 

(Finished 3 June 2015)

[poppyshake]

Re: The Girl on the Train .. No!!! It's not going to be set in the US is it?? Why oh why oh why?!?       

I must say this always gives me immense respect for J.K. Rowling and her refusal to give way on that grounds .. hoorah!! I wouldn't want to see a movie adaptation of Gone with the Wind set in Cornwall (though .. now I think about it .. why not?     ) and similarly don't want to see British books being given an American makeover. Oh botheration!! I was looking forward to it

 

On the plus side, I guess that rules Keira Knightley out!  

 

Glad you enjoyed the book Janet .. I thought it was pretty unputdownable   Great reviews xx  

[Janet]

Thanks, Kay. 

[frankie]

I must say this always gives me immense respect for J.K. Rowling and her refusal to give way on that grounds .. hoorah!! I wouldn't want to see a movie adaptation of Gone with the Wind set in Cornwall (though .. now I think about it .. why not?     ) and similarly don't want to see British books being given an American makeover. Oh botheration!! I was looking forward to it

 When I was reading the books and they were talking about the movies, I don't think I paid much attention to that discussion... I may have read the first books so late that the movies were in the making already? But I cannot understand how and why in the world should these books have been made into movies in the States. I can sort of understand why Americans would love to make the British thrillers, but Harry Potters?? That's just .... It's like saying Jesus was a Hindu and that's that. No. NO. J.K. Rowling is so amazing  

 

On the plus side, I guess that rules Keira Knightley out!  

 

A very good point!! Although... How is she with her palette of accents? Can she do a convincing American? Don't rule her out yet 

 

[Alexi]

 

A very good point!! Although... How is she with her palette of accents? Can she do a convincing American? Don't rule her out yet

She can't do convincing anything yet that has never held her up in the past

[frankie]

She can't do convincing anything yet that has never held her up in the past

 

:lol:  

 

And yet they keep giving her parts in movies....  

[Janet]

 

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

 

The ‘blurb’

The synopsis suggests that it doesn’t want to give anything away, but actually I think that’s exactly what it does!  For that reason, I’m going to hide it from my review.  Don’t click if you intend to read it.

 

 

Rosemary's young, just at college, and she's decided not to tell anyone a thing about her family. So we're not going to tell you too much either: you'll have to find out for yourselves, round about page 77, what it is that makes her unhappy family unlike any other.

 

Rosemary is now an only child, but she used to have a sister the same age as her, and an older brother. Both are now gone - vanished from her life. There's something unique about Rosemary's sister, Fern. And it was this decision, made by her parents, to give Rosemary a sister like no other, that began all of Rosemary's trouble. So now she's telling her story: full of hilarious asides and brilliantly spiky lines, it's a looping narrative that begins towards the end, and then goes back to the beginning. Twice.

 

It's funny, clever, intimate, honest, analytical and swirling with ideas that will come back to bite you. We hope you enjoy it, and if, when you're telling a friend about it, you do decide to spill the beans about Fern - it's pretty hard to resist - don't worry. One of the few studies Rosemary doesn't quote says that spoilers actually enhance reading.

 

 

This was one of several books that were nearly chosen for our May book club and a couple of us decided to read it anyway.  It tells the story of a girl called Rosemary who had a sister and brother, both of whom disappeared.    There is quite a twist in it, which I must admit I didn’t see coming…

 

BIG SPOILER, so please do not click if you intend reading this book!

 

 

Aside from the whole 'raising animals as humans' debate, I found the animal liberation side of it quite interesting.

 

Animal testing is an emotive subject so I don't want to get into a debate with anyone who reads this comment, but although I'm definitely against it in terms of cosmetic reasons, having watched my Dad coping with Parkinson's disease for 34 years I do sort of agree with it if it's for medical reasons.  I'm sure there are many people who would disagree.  From that point of view I found it interesting.  

 

 

I did think it dragged somewhat though - there were elements of it which could have been cut short - or cut out altogether, and (in my opinion) it wouldn't have made any less of a book.  It certainly hasn’t made me feel like I should rush out and buy any more of this author’s work.  

 

The Guardian declared this book to be Hilarious and heartbreaking - I thought it was enjoyable enough, but I didn't find it hilarious in the slightest!

 

The paperback edition is 336 pages long and is published by Serpent's Tail.  It was first published in 2014.  The ISBN is 978 1846689666.   I read it on my Kindle.

 

2½/5 (I quite enjoyed it)

 

(Finished 16 June 2015)

 

[Janet]

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper

The ‘blurb’
I lay very still, with all my senses telling me that I had gone mad. The plague? Nobody's had the plague for centuries ...Nathan Field, a talented young actor, arrives at the newly rebuilt Globe Theatre in London to play Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. As rehearsals begin, eerie echoes of the past begin to haunt Nat, and he falls sick with a mysterious sickness. When he wakes, Nat finds himself in 1599, an actor at the original Globe - and his co-star is none other than the King of Shadows himself: William Shakespeare. Nat's new life is full of excitement, danger and the passionate friendship that he has longed for since the tragic death of his parents. But why has he been sent to the past - and is he trapped there forever?

My Mum bought me this book in a charity sale. It’s a children’s ‘time-slip’ book, a genre I really enjoy. It’s a simple tale about a young boy who has had a bit of a sad past and who gets the opportunity to travel from his home in the US to London to perform in the Globe theatre which has been newly rebuilt. He becomes unwell and wakes in the past. Bewildered he has to learn to live in the 16th century whilst working out just why he has been sent back in time… and how to get home again. Obviously I’m not the target audience so I did find it rather simplistic, but nonetheless it’s a sweet tale and I enjoyed it.

The paperback edition is 192 pages long and is published by Puffin. It was first published in 1999. The ISBN is 9780141307992.

3½/5 (I enjoyed it)

(Finished 23 June 2015)
 

[Nollaig]

I clicked all the spoilers for Beside Ourselves, I couldn't resist. I still want to read the book though!

[Janet]

I try not to use spoilers if I can help it, but in this case without them I didn't really know how to review it. I hope I haven't completely spoiled your enjoyment of it when you get to it!

[Athena]

I clicked all the spoilers for Beside Ourselves, I couldn't resist. I still want to read the book though!

You are terrible ! I don't like being spoiled, so I only click on spoilers for books I've already read, or that I think I have maybe absolutely no interest in ever reading.

[Nollaig]

You are terrible ! I don't like being spoiled, so I only click on spoilers for books I've already read, or that I think I have maybe absolutely no interest in ever reading.

 

It's like when someone goes, 'I must tell you something - actually no, never mind'. I MUST KNOW!

[Athena]

It's like when someone goes, 'I must tell you something - actually no, never mind'. I MUST KNOW!

That makes sense , I get that feeling too in some situations like that.

[Janet]

Noll, whatever you do, DON'T go into the cellar...!

[Janet]

Noll, whatever you do, DON'T go into the cellar...!

[Janet]

Noll, whatever you do, DON'T go into the cellar...!

[Nollaig]

Three warnings!

 

I didn't know we had a cellar, where is it?! 

[Janet]

  I'm not sure, Noll - but keep your eyes peeled!

 

~~~~~

 

Okay, sleuthing BCFers.  I have a problem! You know when you're trying to remember the name of someone and it's just not coming?   Well, I'm trying to remember the name of an actor... but I can't remember his name, or what he's been in!      I'm sure one of his TV shows will come to me.

 

I *think* his name is Douglas.  He's definitely British.  He has slightly wavy brown hair, and is probably in his early 50s now.  I thought his surname was Booth, but it's not Douglas Booth (he's not old enough).  It's not Douglas Henshall either.   I expect now I've posted this it'll come to me!  I know it's nothing to go on...

 

Over to you guys!

 

~~~~~

 

I have had a lovely day today.  I met up with Claire (for the first time ever) and Kay and Alan today.  We met in Waterstone's and spent nearly three hours there... and I didn't buy a book!  Nor did Claire.  I can't speak for Kay though! 

 

I finished my audio book of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie on the bus on the way home. 

 

Edit: Hodge!!! His name is Douglas Hodge!      I knew asking would make me instantly remember - I've been trying to think what it is since about 5pm! 

Edited August 4, 2015 by Janet

[poppyshake]

Really lovely to see you and Claire, Janet .. and no .. I didn't buy a book either Feel we are letting the side down  

xx 

[chesilbeach]

I can't believe how fast the time went!  It was lovely to meet you, Janet, and I had a smashing time with you, Kay and Alan.  I can't believe that not one of us bought even a single book!