Saturday, January 28, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
One Hundred Words About Self
A Book Review
Self by Yann Martel
Self is very easy to read. It’s a compelling story. It’s part autobiography, part fiction, and it conveys a vivid experience of adolescent loss and discovery.
On page 89 the narrator’s parents die. On page 108 aged 18 the male narrator becomes a woman. Between 108 and 282 the narrative focuses on her developing sexual relationships with women then men. This culminates on 282 when she’s raped. On 313 she becomes a man, again. He’s a vagrant, has a number of same sex sexual encounters. The rape destroys his life.
At the end he meets Cathy. She wants a baby.
Self by Yann Martel
Self is very easy to read. It’s a compelling story. It’s part autobiography, part fiction, and it conveys a vivid experience of adolescent loss and discovery.
On page 89 the narrator’s parents die. On page 108 aged 18 the male narrator becomes a woman. Between 108 and 282 the narrative focuses on her developing sexual relationships with women then men. This culminates on 282 when she’s raped. On 313 she becomes a man, again. He’s a vagrant, has a number of same sex sexual encounters. The rape destroys his life.
At the end he meets Cathy. She wants a baby.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
One Hundred Words About The Leopard
The Leopard is a great book. We follow the measured, careful and self-conscious stride of Don Fabrizo a Prince of a province of Sicily in the 1860’s. He presides over a declining aristocratic way of life at a time of struggle for a unified Italy.
But whether political struggle, religious debates or domestic concerns this is a delicate and intensely sensitive portrait of an aging nobleman. We see him from the inside, poised, struggling with competing emotions, duties and responsibilities. A man imprisoned and yet completely at ease in his role as patriarch, father, husband, uncle, master, lover and Prince.
But whether political struggle, religious debates or domestic concerns this is a delicate and intensely sensitive portrait of an aging nobleman. We see him from the inside, poised, struggling with competing emotions, duties and responsibilities. A man imprisoned and yet completely at ease in his role as patriarch, father, husband, uncle, master, lover and Prince.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
One Hundred Words About Boubacar Traore
Amazon.co.uk: Kongo Magni [Import]: Music
I first heard Boubacar Traore ten years ago.
His voice has an extraordinary depth to it. It is a weathered, beaten up voice, burnished through personal hardships and suffering. It seems to reach out to the listener with an unassuming and surprising emotional intensity.
But that is not all. He sings his own songs. They seem simple and unsophisticated but the melodies are haunting and seductive. They draw you in to his world where he sings of life in Mali, celebrating its vitality, independence and hope for the future. There is dignity and integrity in everything he sings and plays.
I first heard Boubacar Traore ten years ago.
His voice has an extraordinary depth to it. It is a weathered, beaten up voice, burnished through personal hardships and suffering. It seems to reach out to the listener with an unassuming and surprising emotional intensity.
But that is not all. He sings his own songs. They seem simple and unsophisticated but the melodies are haunting and seductive. They draw you in to his world where he sings of life in Mali, celebrating its vitality, independence and hope for the future. There is dignity and integrity in everything he sings and plays.
One Hundred Words About Shylock
The Merchant of Venice (2004)
Michael Radford’s adaptation of The Merchant of Venice is stunning. And Pacino was born to play Shylock.
The play reverberates through our racist society.
Shylock, the moneylender Jew, seeks revenge disguised as justice against Antonio who has broken his bond. In return Antonio must give up a pound of his flesh to Shylock.
In court Shylock is tricked. He loses everything, even his religion. But the Christian court and its fashionable nobles are seen as bigots taking their own revenge.
The storyline of Bassanio’s – funded by Antonio – courtship and love for Portia shrivels under the harrowing fate of Shylock’s tragedy.
Michael Radford’s adaptation of The Merchant of Venice is stunning. And Pacino was born to play Shylock.
The play reverberates through our racist society.
Shylock, the moneylender Jew, seeks revenge disguised as justice against Antonio who has broken his bond. In return Antonio must give up a pound of his flesh to Shylock.
In court Shylock is tricked. He loses everything, even his religion. But the Christian court and its fashionable nobles are seen as bigots taking their own revenge.
The storyline of Bassanio’s – funded by Antonio – courtship and love for Portia shrivels under the harrowing fate of Shylock’s tragedy.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
One Hundred Words
We’ve just returned from Anglesey after a four-day trip. We went up for the funeral of my mother in law and stayed on to spend time with the family. I think it was the first time we’d all been together for years.
Despite staying in a hotel it is hard being there. Away from the home we’re enjoying, it’s a long drive, its colder up there and being on the coast the land is quite steep and hilly for me.
But it was very successful. At the lunch I knew most of the people there and I talked non-stop.
Despite staying in a hotel it is hard being there. Away from the home we’re enjoying, it’s a long drive, its colder up there and being on the coast the land is quite steep and hilly for me.
But it was very successful. At the lunch I knew most of the people there and I talked non-stop.