What I've Been Reading
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
I loved this book so much, you can see why it was nominated for the Booker. A nameless woman escapes her life to a convent near the town she grew up in. Her days are simple and repetitive as she reflects on the trauma that went before. Whilst she is silently going about her retreat, the nuns are preparing for the return of a beloved sister's body, murdered overseas. There has also been a drought and there is a huge infestation of mice.
This sounds dour and I guess it is, but not in Charlotte Wood's deft hands. There is something light and easy within the darker tones that lift the reader and also makes it a page turner. You want to know what and why. Her writing is spare but full of emotions, and she creates a world you do not want to leave. This is a special book, will easily make my top 5 this year.
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
Oh my goodness, another masterpiece. This is a memoir of Richard, his father and the war with some HG Wells thrown in for good measure. How does it all tie up together? Beautifully so, but to try and describe it would do it no favours plus spoilers! I love books like this, every time you think you know where it is headed, it takes a sharp turn and takes you somewhere completely different.
His father was a prisoner of war in Japan near Hiroshima at that time, he nearly died in his beloved Franklin River, but what he weaves between these two life and death events WILL leave you breathless. It has been called a daisy chain of events, my colleague said it was the ripple effect of life.
His words and sentence structure, made me constantly pause, re-read, read out loud, text people, and weep. But mostly it made me think. It was astonishingly beautiful. It is full of heart, sharp humour, and genuine drama. This is easily one of the best books I have read.
One Day We Are All Going to Die - Elise Eshe Hearst
This is a lovely companion piece to Nadine Cohen's Everyone and Everything. Naomi is in her mid 20s, working at the Jewish Museum in Melbourne and having a torrid affair with her married colleague. Her holocaust survivor Grandmother, Cookie, is starting to suffer from Dementia. Her life is a mess, she needs to make some changes. This is dark and deep, light and humourous, and full of interesting information about working in a museum.
The Pursuit of Art by Martin Gayford
I enjoyed this book about the author travelling to see great and unusual art or interview artists including Marina Abramovic and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Gayford is an art critic and writer, and his essays are easy to read and engaging. He loves art and this comes across and is infectious. He travels at great lengths to see some amazing art. He makes you want to follows his every step.
Weather by Jenny Offill
This is an interesting novella about Lizzie, a Librarian who has seen it all, but is very disillusioned with the world. She muses on race and politics and the environment. hmmm. She looks after her mother and brother, both have mental health issues. Her husband and son are on a holiday without her. Her life is same old, same old, but then her old mentor asks for her help answering emails for her blog. Her mentor has a science/environmental blog that is popular and the correspondence is getting out of control. Lizzie uses this correspondence to help make meaning of her life and life generally.
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentille
Another stand-alone murder mystery by Gentille. Theo is staying with her lawyer brother in the US, after abandoning her own career in law in Australia. She is trying to write her debut novel and meets a writing hero in the small-town dinner. They strike a relationship but he turns up dead a week later and she is a suspect. The race is on to find the killer before she gets put away herself. This is a classic murder with twists and turns.
We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
Another Japanese comfort book, this time short stories. People visiting a special psychologist who prescribes a cat for them to look after as their medicine. Quirky, humourous and moving, this was a lot of fun.
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa
When Rintaro's grandfather dies, he is left alone looking after his grandfather's second hand bookshop until his aunt comes to collect him. His school friends visit and try to cheer him up, but one day a talking cat, Tiger, appears and takes him through a portal in the shop to other dimensions, where he helps the cat 'save books'. A little bit of magic realism works in these comfort books from Japan. This is cute, witty, and wise. Highly recommend.
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman
Three memoir style essays from Nick Offerman about the American outdoors, specifically three different journey style holidays he has taken. My favourite of the three is a hiking trek he takes with Jeff Tweedy and George Saunders (IKR!!!!). Fascinating conversation and observations, funny and so very intelligent. At times I felt like I was intruding. A great read.
The Encoding Green: poems of fields, meadows, and grasses edited by Cecily Parks
Cecily has gathered all sorts of poems that celebrate the green of our natural world. Poetry, classic and modern celebrating the grasses, fields, and land on our earth. Just beautiful.
What I've Been Watching
Hacks S3
Hacks is one of my favourite shows, and S3 upped the ante. Firstly, we get to see inside Deborah's clothes bunker...amazing! Some amazing guest stars, especially J Smith-Cameron as her estranged sister, and Deidre Hall as herself (this was pure gold!). The ups and downs continued as The Late Show is dangled in front of Deborah. Will she get the gig or will she sabotage it. This show is all killer, no filler, can't wait for S4!
Getting On S1-3 US
I loved the UK version of this show, that came first. Jo Brand wrote and starred in it, based on her years nursing. I wasn't sure about the US remake (which is some years old now) but it starred Alex Borstein, Niecy Nash, and the superb Laurie Metcalf. It was pretty good, with the right mix of pathos and humour. And as always, Metcalf showcases her unique sense of physical humour which always draws me in.
Julia S2
The second series of Julia, commence with Julia and her hubby holidaying in France at Simones (Isabella Rossellini), before heading back to the US to shoot the follow season of her successful show. Avis (Bebe Neuwirth) follows them over and gets caught up with Jean-Paul Satre. David Hyde Pierce gets to showcase his talents by also playing the twin brother of Paul Child and Sarah Lancashire is perfection as Julia Childs. A lot happens in this season, it is a shame it was not continued.
Frasier
I didn't mind the first season of the Frasier reboot, thing is the cast is good, but it just isn't the old cast. The kid that plays Niles' son is perfection and a few guest appearances kept things rolling. I will give S2 a go when I get a chance.
Long Way Up
I loved the first 2 Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman series where they took motorcycles through Africa and across the world. This is the third series after a long break. Charley has been doing a lot of solo motorcycle shows and was recovering from a serious injury. This time they are tackling South and Central America, which includes quite a few challenging areas, from the terrain to the people. And they are doing it on prototype electric Harleys! This in itself was quite the challenge.
This was a genuinely edge of your seat show, placing our heroes in some tricky positions. But their beautiful friendship and love for each other and riding shine through. At one section Ewan meets up with one of his daughters - who he adopted from Mongolia after meeting her in the first ride they did many years ago - this was quite emotional.
I love a good travel show and this gives you that and then some. Highly recommend.
Michael Palin in Nigeria
This was Palin at his best, still travelling in his 80s and after his wife has died. He is certainly more fragile than I have ever seen him but also still managing perfectly fine. The humour and his love of people are still there. This one was gret viewing.
The Assembly
The has had varying reviews but I really enjoyed it. A bunch of disabled students are put through their paces at University doing media and getting to interview Australian celebrities as part of it all. They have media legend, Leigh Sales, showing them the ropes and guiding them through and each episode goes behind the scenes of the prep and then shows the interview. They were all superb, but the PM (I mean what other PM would allow such a personal thing other than Albo!), Amanda Keller, and Delta Goodrem stood out.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
We saw this at the cinemas and really enjoyed it. It did take a while to get into and the exposition at the beginning was really clunky. But once we got to Halloween and the glorious Burton set design, things started to move. It didn't really offer anything new, but that was ok. Much like the Banana Boat Song in the first, the musical number in this one was also masterful. It had us both squealing with laughter. Everyone was great, especially Jenna Ortega and Michael Keaton (who looked like he was just having a blast!) but man I love seeing Winona back on the screen, she was everything!
Beetlejuice
We had to rewatch this prior to seeing the new one. It is a close to perfect film, from the cast, to the set design, the worlds created and Beetlejuice himself. Iconic cast and film and hasn't really dated either. Daylight come and I wanna go home!
Being John Malkovich
Rewatching BJM fot the millionth time. Although, it has been a while but it still holds up beautifully. It is one of the most perfect films I have seen. What a script!!! I remember seeing it at the cinema and I've never laughed so much out loud than at that seminal Malkovich scene.
So much to take from it. How beautiful and clever it was. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's first film. Michael Stipe produced it. Why didn't Cameron Diaz do more indie roles. The clever cameos. Cusack and Keener were never better. But mostly, what a terrific sport JM was. Totally worth the rewatch.
Mothering Sunday
Jane is the servant of a rich family in 20s England. She is having an affair with their friend and neighbour, Paul. He is engaged to another. Paul's parents are having a garden party with his fiance's parents, and he stays at home with Jane. Then he rushes off to the party. Jane lingers in the mansion before returning to her own, where she returns to find Paul has been killed in a car crash. The story also moves to the future where Jane is now a writer and married but still holding the secret. Another jump to the future (now played by the glorious Glenda Jackson, her first on screen roles in years) she is an award-winning writer. The film jumps about a bit but is really lovely.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Based on the book of the same name, Harold receives a letter from an old colleague who reveals she is dying of cancer. He decides to take a walking pilgrimage to visit her and collects many friends and media attention on the way, much to the chagrin of his wife. Beautifully portrayed by Jim Broadbent, this was a really lovely film.
Event Horizon
This came up in the Sam Neill autobiography and I had never heard of it, so wanted to check it out. It is not great, more a B grade sci-fi with some memorable scenes. It now has quite the cult following, you can see why. It is almost so bad it is good...almost!
Remembering Gene Wilder
This was such a great documentary. Wilder was such a genius and talent, yet such a gentle soul with those beautiful eyes. There was his back story, his rise, his collaborations with Brooks, his relationships, especially with Richard Prior, and all those great films. Loads of interviews with others and some lovely voice work by Wilder himself, coming from interviews and a book of his life he narrated. A must watch for film buffs.
Supermensch
I saw this a few years back and it popped up in my timeline and I said to Andrew we have to watch this. He loved it and it was just as great as the first time. Shep Gordon was a talent manager in Hollywood, and he looked after an eclectic stable of stars, from Alice Cooper to Blondie to Anne Murray to Michael Douglas and that barely tips the surface. So you hear about all of these people and Shep and how great he was. A truly beloved man, and quite the enigma. This is a great doco!
McKellen: playing the part
A lovely little doco about the man and his theatrical life. It barely tipped the surface but it was enjoyable.
David Holmes: the boy who lived
This is a remarkable and little known story. David was Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double in the Harry Potter movies until a simple stunt went wrong in The Deathly Hallows, Part 1. His neck was broken and he is paralysed from the neck down. The doco is about his short but wonderful career as a stunt double, his work on Harry Potter and his life since the accident. Spoiler: Daniel and him are still close friends, but that is why Daniel is so beloved. This gets quite emotional in parts, but mostly is an uplifting and wonderful doco.
What I've Been listening to
Brydon & Richard Ayoade
I love the Rob Brydon podcast, Brydon &, but his interview with Richard Ayoade was exceptional. Richard Ayoade is mostly as you see him, but there is a slight persona when he is being filmed. Here you really got to know Ayoade, the father, the husband, the friend, the human and it was glorious. Look it up, you won't be disappointed.
Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti has a podcast with philosopher Stephen Asma called Chinwag. And that is what happens, they have a chinwag about all things esoteric but especially occult. They muse together, and with guests about these kind of topics, life and everything else. I adore Giamatti's voice and would listen to him read the phone book, but I don't have to. I can listen to this.
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