Among Others by Jo Walton
Read for the Once Upon a Time VI challenge Many, many moons ago Carl posted his review of this book. And then and there I thought, that sounds interesting. But I...
4 May 2012
Grave’s end by Elaine Mercado
In 1982 Elaine Mercado and her family moved from an apartment into what they hoped would be their dream home. This house, in the Gravesend section of south Brooklyn, needed some...
10 December 2011
Nicholas Dane by Melvin Burgess
This is the sort of book I don’t usually read. You know the ones, from the “sad story” section of the bookshop. The misery-books as I call them. But a few years ago I’d heard of Melvin Burgess as an author to look out for. I’ve read his Lady : My life as a Bitch and to be honest I wasn’t all that impressed, but I’ll always give an author a second go. So I tried this one.
In the 1980’s Nick Dane is growing up as an average, if bright kid. He comes from a single parent family, and his mother has a secret. She never got off the drugs, not completely. And in the course of having a “taste” she accidentally overdoses and Nick is left all alone in the world. Soon he finds himself carted off to a “home” for boys, and soon learns that the violence and random beatings are not the worse this place has to offer.
1 November 2010
A swift, pure cry by Siobhan Dowd
Author: Siobhan Down ISBN: 9780099488163 DDC: 823.92 LibraryThing | Wikipedia | Siobhan Dowd Trust The place brought to mind a sinking ship. Wood creaked on the floor, across the pews, up...
14 January 2010
We Own the Night dir. by James Gray
Bobby is a night club manager. It is the 1980’s, New York. Life is good. Until the day his brother comes calling. Bobby’s brother, Joe, you see, is a cop. A...
18 December 2007
The Lives of Others dir. by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
In 1984 in East Germany the secret police, or Stasi were everywhere, watching everything. This film details the activities of one officer, Wiesler, as he monitored a popular playwright. Wiesler doesn’t believe that Dreyman could possibly be as pro the party as he makes out. Too arrogant. So he suggests keeping him under surveillance, just in case. His superior officer doesn’t agree, at first, but then Minister Bruno Hempf mentions that perhaps he isn’t such a fan, and that perhaps Dreyman isn’t a favourite. It turns out that Hempf is more than interested in Dreyman’s girlfriend, the actress Christa-Maria Sieland, and so would like nothing better than to remove his rival by having him arrested and taken away.
20 April 2007
The History Boys dir. by Nicholas Hytner
Set in 1983, in a Yorkshire grammer school, this film tells the story of a group of teenage boys trying to get into Oxford and Cambridge. Their headmaster who wants them...
13 October 2006
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