mjmooney Posted May 4, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 4, 2015 Non fiction: just started Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I saw that in the bookstore, it looked interesting. Let me know what you think, Mike. Meanwhile, Public Enemies is a better read than I expected. Reads fast and doesn't linger too long on one thing. Edited May 6, 2015 by maqroll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 bought this when I was in Newcastle the other day purely based on your review of it A second career, Rev? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 6, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I saw that in the bookstore, it looked interesting. Let me know what you think, Mike. Meanwhile, Public Enemies is a better read than I expected. Reads fast and doesn't linger too long on one thing.Which one? (I'm guessing you mean The Tank War, rather than Modernity Britain). I've temporarily shelved Public Enemies to give priority to the Kynaston. Edited May 6, 2015 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 no i mean modernity britain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 6, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 6, 2015 no i mean modernity britain Have you read the previous volumes (Austerity Britain and Family Britain)? It's all one long book (Tales of a New Jerusalem), planned to take the story up to 1979. I think it's utterly brilliant, but then I'm British, and lived through the period covered. I'm not sure how it would read for a younger and/or non-British audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolaVillan Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Reading this at the moment. It's a long but fascinating history of the Monarchy, from Roman Britain to Elizabeth II. Highly recommended if you like history Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 no i mean modernity britain Have you read the previous volumes (Austerity Britain and Family Britain)? It's all one long book (Tales of a New Jerusalem), planned to take the story up to 1979. I think it's utterly brilliant, but then I'm British, and lived through the period covered. I'm not sure how it would read for a younger and/or non-British audience. No, I'm only aware of Modernity...but it looked interesting enough, and I'm somewhat of an Anglophile, so...maybe I'll flip through it some more to get a better feel for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 starkey is a turd. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy This is the tale of a raven-haired beauty, who's a-wanting and a-yearning; a-yearning and a-wanting, but mostly for Paris. Only she is stuck on a blasted heath surrounded by a load of pagan yokels. Another passionate Hardy babe made sport of by the President of the Immortals. It is probably the only book where the plot could actually be said to be best explained with a Venn diagram. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 23, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 23, 2015 The recent Far From the Madding Crowd movie is an excellent adaptation of the book - blows away the 70s version. Julie Christie was lovely, but totally miscast as Bathsheba Everdene - Carey Mulligan nails it. Must read more Hardy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 (edited) The recent Far From the Madding Crowd movie is an excellent adaptation of the book - blows away the 70s version. Julie Christie was lovely, but totally miscast as Bathsheba Everdene - Carey Mulligan nails it. Must read more Hardy. Very few adaptations really work for me and having heard a reviewer tell of Sergeant Troy grabbing Bathsheba by the crotch, I can't say I fancy it much. I am sure that sort of thing might have gone on up against the jakes wall at the Quiet Woman but it is not the sort of thing Hardy would subject a gentlewoman to. Didn't she say to Oak, "Kiss my foot sir, my face is for mouths of consequence"? I always assumed that this meant she wasn't much of a goer. I think the whole swordplay thing with Troy was as far as the sexual symbolism went. Pandering to a modern audience always annoys me. Agree about Juile Christie though. Edited May 23, 2015 by MakemineVanilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 23, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 23, 2015 (edited) The groping scene worked for me. Obviously Hardy couldn't put that in the book at the time he was writing. But the film handles nicely her sexual awakening, and the classic dilemma of choosing between the steady reliable nice guy (Oak), the decent and rich - but cold and uptight - security guy (Boldwood) and the sexy but feckless bastard (Troy). Oak politely asks to marry her, and when she says no, simply says "OK, your call" and backs off - which leaves her a bit confused. Boldwood asks to marry her, and when she refuses goes all needy and pathetic. Troy just goes in for the kill, and totally turns her on. Works every time. Edited May 23, 2015 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 The groping scene worked for me. Obviously Hardy couldn't put that in the book at the time he was writing. But the film handles nicely her sexual awakening, and the classic dilemma of choosing between the steady reliable nice guy (Oak), the decent and rich - but cold and uptight - security guy (Boldwood) and the sexy but feckless bastard (Troy). Oak politely asks to marry her, and when she says no, simply says "OK, your call" and backs off - which leaves her a bit confused. Boldwood asks to marry her, and when she refuses goes all needy and pathetic. Troy just goes in for the kill, and totally turns her on. Works every time. If that is a précis of the plot I will definitely avoid the film because it is, as I dreaded, a version of the story crafted for a modern audience with all that is essentially Hardy removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 23, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 23, 2015 But it's a film. I've read the book, and I really like both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 But it's a film. I've read the book, and I really like both. I suppose it depends on your threshold of annoyance. We get used to books being butchered when they are adapted for other art forms and sometimes they are forgiveable (David Lean changing the ending of Great Expectations), sometimes they are not, like when War and Peace is reduced to a love story between Natasha and Bezukhov, Keira Knightly being cast as Elizabeth Bennet in P&P etc. Like seeing a favourite song butchered on The X Factor, it can sometimes get your goat more than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 24, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24, 2015 Yeah, I agree MMV. I just thought FFTMC was a better stab than most, despite the inevitable simplifications. I would always recommend people to read the book for a deeper experience, but most never will, so it has to be judged purely as a movie. In fact it was obvious that most in the cinema I went to hadn't read it, going by the audible gasps at some of the plot twists, particularly. Troy being alive and rocking up at the wedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Yeah, I agree MMV. I just thought FFTMC was a better stab than most, despite the inevitable simplifications. I would always recommend people to read the book for a deeper experience, but most never will, so it has to be judged purely as a movie. In fact it was obvious that most in the cinema I went to hadn't read it, going by the audible gasps at some of the plot twists, particularly. Troy being alive and rocking up at the wedding. Talking of films which distort things badly, The Battle of the Bulge left me with a chronically mistaken view of the Ardennes campaign. Will you be reading Beevor's new book on the subject? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 lol bulge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 24, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24, 2015 Yeah, I agree MMV. I just thought FFTMC was a better stab than most, despite the inevitable simplifications. I would always recommend people to read the book for a deeper experience, but most never will, so it has to be judged purely as a movie. In fact it was obvious that most in the cinema I went to hadn't read it, going by the audible gasps at some of the plot twists, particularly. Troy being alive and rocking up at the wedding. Talking of films which distort things badly, The Battle of the Bulge left me with a chronically mistaken view of the Ardennes campaign. Will you be reading Beevor's new book on the subject? Dunno, was thinking about this yesterday, having read the reviews, and flicked through it in a bookshop. Thing is, I've read dozens of books on the Ardennes campaign, don't know if I really need another. The film - as you say - is beyond ludicrous, on every imaginable level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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