Review: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kind of a three and a half stars as the ending let it down. (I think I could have done without the Sunday section at the end.) Went for four in the end because generally I found it interesting and funny in roughly equal measure.

Pratchett's stamp was all over the book but, if the appendix that details of the writing process is to be believed, it was a truly collaborative process. (I'm probably just not familiar enough with Gaiman to spot his fingerprints.) The writers claim they worked hard to make each other laugh and I laughed along with them, for example where they describe a hellhound's first appearance:

"It was already growling, and the growl was a low rumbling snarl of spring-coiled menace, the sort of growl that starts in the back of one throat and ends up in someone else's."

I also liked the "explanation" of the M25!

Now, clearly it is not a work of theology but it does raise interesting theological (and indeed philosophical) issues albeit wrapped in a comic fantasy. Not a great work but definitely great fun.

I'm labelling my final observation as a spoiler because I know some people get a bit twitchy about revealing plot details - not much of a spoiler in my opinion but better safe than spoiler!

***SPOILER ALERT!***
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I read in an appendix that the book started off as a parody of Richmal Crompton's Just William books called William the Antichrist. Adam and the Them, along with Tadfield, suddenly made a lot more sense.

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Review: A Room with a View

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this while on holiday in Florence. Went looking for the Pension Bertolini (it is now a hotel) and many of the other sights described in the book. Loved the city. Loved the book.

It is laugh out loud funny in places. It is the kind of book that on almost every page there's a line you want to share with the people around you. For example, from chapter 1:

"You must have it," said Miss Bartlett, part of whose travelling expenses were paid by Lucy's mother—a piece of generosity to which she made many a tactful allusion.

or

He preferred to talk to Lucy, whose playing he remembered, rather than to Miss Bartlett, who probably remembered his sermons.

and

He is nice," exclaimed Lucy. "Just what I remember. He seems to see good in every one. No one would take him for a clergyman."

I could go on!

It was interesting reading it straight after The Masters of Sitcom: From Hancock to Steptoe. Galton and Simpson may have invented the TV sitcom but so much of the humour in this book comes from the situations that it is clear Galton and Simpson were standing on the shoulders of giants.

Serious issues are addressed: class, sexuality, education, passion, repression... but it is seriously good fun and a seriously good read

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Review: The Masters of Sitcom: From Hancock to Steptoe

The Masters of Sitcom: From Hancock to Steptoe by Christopher Stevens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author argues that Galton and Simpson were not just “Masters of Sitcom” but that they invented (or at least re-invented) sitcom. When they first started writing, British comedy required a straight man to provide a set-up and a funny man to deliver the punchline. Galton and Simpson, along with Hancock, set out to change that.

In Hancock’s Half Hour, though, there would be no joke-telling, punchlines or music-hall patter. The writers were intent on getting rid of catchphrases, songs, running gags, musical interludes and sketches. This was a type of comedy as radical as the realist theatre that would sweep the English stage in the late fifties: natural, honest and unflinching.

As they did so, the author argues they changed the face of comedy and traces a direct line from Steptoe And Son to The Royale Family. Whether you buy into that thesis or not (and I'm inclined to give some of the credit to people like Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes) the real strength of this book is in the quotes from Galton and Simpson scripts. More than half the book is straight Galton and Simpson and that alone makes it worth a four star review.

I liked the insights given into their writing process. For example, on what is probably Hancock’s most famous line:

“A pint... that’s very nearly an armful!” It started off as, “A pint... that’s an armful!” and then one of us said, “Nearly an armful,” and the other one said, “Very nearly an armful.” It’s funnier, because it’s more precise.

It is imprecisely precise… and that’s why it’s funny. What’s missing though is much of an insight into the relationship with their actors… for example, with Hancock. Clearly a man with mental health issues and yet rather than help him, they seemed to pick at the wound. Given his insecurities, it seems a bit of an omission to reproduce the following without comment:

HANCOCK: I’ve been living a lie. (Dramatic) Geraldine, I have never said a funny thing in my life.
GERALDINE: When do we get to the lie?
TONY: All those funny things you hear me say aren’t me at all. I employ a ventriloquist. He stands off stage thinking up funny jokes while I stand here opening me mouth. (Emotional) Yes, Hancock the funny man is nothing but a great big dummy.
GERALDINE: When do we get to the lie?

Hmm! Insensitive? Ignorant? Evil? I can’t help but feel it was just plain nasty yet the author offers no comment.

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Review: Heaven, How I Got Here: The Story of the Thief on the Cross

Heaven, How I Got Here: The Story of the Thief on the Cross by Colin S. Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this over the Easter weekend - it seemed appropriate. The story describes Jesus’ crucifixion from the point of view of the “penitent thief”, that is the man to whom Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

I thought this was an intriguing premise but, I got pulled out of the world of the story a few times by some clumsiness in the writing. For example, in the opening page of the book, a first century Jew, writing from heaven, exclaims, “Looking back, the entire day and how it ended still blows my mind.” Really? His mind was blown? Or, the way the author broke the fourth wall (can a book have a wall, never mind a breakable fourth one?) for example, “…I asked Him to save me. That is something you can do too.” Addressing the reader directly can work (“Reader, I married him.”) but too often in this book it feels tacked on, as if the author doesn’t trust us to work things out for ourselves. A related third point is I felt preached at, and none too subtly preached at - especially at the end of the book.

The final section is a question and answer session with the author. He is asked why he didn’t turn it into a full sized novel. I must admit, I was wondering why he didn’t cut it down to a pamphlet as it felt stretched to me.

Worth reading – just be prepared to be beaten over the head with the message.


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Review: All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder Vol. 1. Written by Frank Miller

All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder Vol. 1. Written by Frank Miller by Frank Miller
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A lot of people hate this book. I don’t hate it. But I don’t like it. From reading the comments, I guess that many of the haters have a history with the Batman and just don’t like what Frank Millar has done to a beloved character. I have read a few Batman stories (including Batman: The Killing Joke - obviously) but I have no real history with him. I therefore don’t have a problem with a writer re-imaging a Batman and Robin origin story. I don’t see it as a huge leap to imagine a traumatised child growing up to not only fight crime but growing up to be a psychopath who fights crime. Once you are there, it is a believable step to see that crime fighting psychopath turn another traumatised child into a boy soldier. It was an interesting idea. I was willing to go with it.

I went with it but soon ran into problems. For a start, there were too many plot holes and loose ends. For example, Bruce Wayne at the circus with Vicki Vale; crime happens and the Batman appears but at no point does Vicki ask what happened to Bruce. (Minor related side annoyance - clean shaven Bruce becomes grizzled unshaven Batman in the space of seconds. Does the stubble come with the costume?) The dialogue is far from sparkling - don’t get me started on the infamous “Goshdarn Batman”. Characters appear and disappear with no discernible impact on the plot. Batgirl, The Joker, Catwoman... Why were they there? Perhaps all would have made sense if a Volume 2 had appeared but they are a waste of space in Volume 1.

My major issue though is with the portrayal of women. Comics are not always noted for their feminist, gender balanced attitudes but I got more annoyed with this book the more I read. It would fail the Bechdel Test big time! And it’s not just the dialogue, it’s the artwork too. Within the first few pages, we have Vicki Vale dictating a column... in her underwear. Or, our introduction to the Black Canary which I will summarise as follows: “Phworr! Eh? Eh? Phworr!”. A policeman gets beaten up by Batman... and for no good reason at all, there is a lingerie clad woman on the bed behind him. Worst of all, the Joker brings a female minion with him to clear up and she is stripped to the waist with two red swastikas covering her naughty bits. Seriously!?

If it hadn’t have been for the last few pages, this would have been a one star review. I wonder if the “haters” had given up by the end because I see a glimpse of light at the end of the psychopath tunnel.

***Spoiler alert***
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Having almost turned Robin into a murderer, the Batman seems to have a moment of self-realisation, shares a moment of grief and (I think) takes a step back from the madness. I could be wrong but I think there is a glimpse of hope at the end.

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Review: The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved the characters in this book: living; dead and undead. The Jacks are suitably nasty and yet I laughed out loud when I made the connection between the first Jack we meet and his surname. And Bod, the focus of the story, is both completely ordinary and believably extraordinary. Most of the chapters are more or less self contained, with a satisfying beginning, middle and end (perfect for a parent looking for something to read to a child at bedtime) but various threads are picked up and developed into a beautifully woven conclusion.

Ostensibly, it is a children’s book but Gaiman never talk down to his audience. He writes in a manner that assumes you’re smart enough to keep up. And it’s funny. For example, he is unsure whether he should look for his friend so seeks advice from a poet; as Bod says, “... if you couldn’t trust a poet to offer sensible advice, who could you trust?”

Ever since I heard a radio adaptation of Gaiman’s “Neverwhere” I’ve wanted to read something of his. Don’t know why it has taken me so long to get around to it. I don’t intend for it to be too long before I read another.

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Review: Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race

Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw the film and assumed the book would be similar, i.e. a “based on a true story” semi-fictional account. But no. This is more of a history book than an historical novel. It is meticulously researched, but told in a somewhat plodding style. The people, brought to life so clearly in the film, are lost in the historical detail. It is a pity that such an interesting and compelling story is not told in a more interesting and compelling way.

That said, I still enjoyed the book and found much of the detail fascinating and occasionally horrifying. For instance, I was aware of the American civil rights movement in the 1960s but the description of the protagonists’ experiences in Hidden Figures brings to life the scandal of institutionalised racism as well as the (not so) petty indignities that were suffered day and daily. As a teacher, a couple of examples stood out. I was astonished to read that, in one school, the white janitor was paid more than the black teachers... including the headteacher. And, in relation to the state of Virginia’s reaction to a Supreme Court ruling that schools were to be integrated, the attitude of a white parent is frightening:

“In the fall of 1958, Virginia’s governor Lindsay Almond chained the doors of the schools in localities that attempted to comply with the Supreme Court’s Brown decision. Thirteen thousand students in the three cities that had moved forward with integration—Front Royal, Charlottesville, and Norfolk—found themselves sitting at home in the fall of 1958. “I would rather have my children live in ignorance than have them go to school with Negroes,” one white parent told a reporter. ...white students as well as black paying the price for the state’s racial crusade.”

Frightening because I suspect that level of intolerance is not far below the surface in our society today. When I read how nine black children, trying to go to school, had to be protected by the US Army from: “...the screaming, spitting, bottle-throwing white crowd that surrounded them.” I was reminded that it was not so long ago that a similar situation played out in Northern Ireland.

As a Computing teacher, I enjoyed reading about a time when computers were people. I also liked some of the small details. For example, I have clear memories of the TV pictures from Mission Control, with its rows of white men facing a huge map of the world but was amused to learn that the progress of the Mercury capsule was tracked by: “...a little cutout of a Mercury capsule, suspended on a wire.” Brilliant! High-tech meets Heath Robinson.

More interesting than enjoyable and more three and a half than four stars but still worth reading.

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