Say Cheese

Here we go again...another post full of excuses as to why I'm not reviewing a book!

Once more my reading has slowed down, however this time not because I have got a reader's block or even my regular problem of getting stuck on a reading group novel. 


I've just been too busy to read!


I am studying again and a lot of the books I've been reading and dipping into are books relevant to the course - a Diploma in Drama.  The current units are on Shakespeare and so I'm reading a few plays, critical studies of the man and history books about the age in which he lived and wrote.  The current programmes on the television have been very helpful as well.


In addition to this I went on a photography experience day a little while ago. 


This was a truly wonderful experience.  A whole day was spent with a professional photographer, Paul Sawer, at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we got up close and personal to a wide range of birds of prey and saw two flying shows.  All through the day we were guided with our shots and camera use and I've been blown away by my results from the day.  I am generally best at landscape shots but I could easily see myself wanting to do some more wildlife shoots like this.

Cobweb the male barn owl in flight

I was very pleased with the how my equipment behaved, I was using a super-zoom lens on this day and while it is a great lens for me to take out and about it doesn't always get the best reviews.  However I found that all my pictures needed was a little cropping to get rid of the tiny bits of lens visible in the tightly zoomed shots. The auto-focus and image stabilising worked a treat. Of course I've come away wanting a new lens specially for this type of photography but realistically I know that I don't need one AND would have problems carrying it about if I did!

My favourite shots of the day can be found on my Flickr stream but I can't resist putting just a few more here!

 

Three week old eagle owl chicks

 

Swooping red kite

Bataleur eagle

 

Pipped at the post

 Sadly the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library didn't win the Library of the Year award on Monday night.  We've shrugged off the disappointment and have started working on projects that will hopefully mean that 2013 is our year.

It was a shame we couldn't have added this award to Norwich as it would have been the icing on the literary cake as last Thursday it was announce that Norwich had become the first English UNESCO City of Literature.

We did lose to another City of Literature, Edinburgh, so there is no shame in it!

Dystopian Australian Fiction

A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard

A while ago a friend in publishing sent me an advance copy of a new teen novel to read. To my shame the book slipped down my to-be-read pile and it wasn't until I got a small twitter nudge that I dug the book back out.

I read it from cover to cover on a train journey to London a few weeks ago and it has really stayed with me since I finished it.

I've read quite a bit of Australian kid lit, not trying to be trite but "some of my favourite authors are from Australia" and books from the antipodes can sneak their way to the top of the pile just due to this quirk.

A Small Free Kiss in the Dark was different from the start as it is all about a destructive war, about what we never find out, and the whole idea of bombings, barricades and military fighting in Sydney really stuck out.

I was quickly swept up into the story and read through the book quickly - although I can't recall a lot of the fine details now. It did move me hugely and the twists were unusual and the story a strange mixture of simplistic children's book and hard hitting war novel. It is the unusual premise of a book set in an area that I've visited but in a world that I can't associate with that location that has stayed with me.

On finishing the book I was instantly reminded of the unsettled feelings I experienced as a teenager on reading Louise Lawrence's Children of the Dust or Robert Swindell's Brother in the Land.  These books were about living in the aftermath of nuclear war (a still real prospect during my childhood) and it was the fear that, although unlikely, the happenings in the books *could* come true that haunted me.
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark has that same foreboding - as we are in a time when terrorism or economic crises could cause society to disintegrate quickly and entirely - and that it what has made this book stick in my memory.

As dystopian books are all the rage at the moment this book might do well, but I found it very unsettling as it was too realistic, unlike many of the Hunger Games'esque books that are all the rage.

Theatrical Interlude 5 (2012)

What the Butler Saw, Vaudeville Theatre, May 2012.

This was a surprise addition to my theatre calendar for 2012: an unexpected trip to London for work, some lieu time and a May Madness Offer from Lastminute.com all worked in my favour and after a lot of deliberation I decided to see Orton's What the Butler Saw.


I found the play to be a very full on experience from the instant the curtain rose and it wasn't until the 2nd act that I felt I had got in my stride to go with the humour, I almost felt that a 'warm up act' was needed like you get at some stand up comedy shows just so that you are in the right mindset for when the action starts.

Like most of the plays I've seen so far this year this was truly a comedy (nay farce) and I enjoyed the performances of all six actors immensely, as to be expected Tim McInnerny is brilliant but I found Omid Djalili's style of delivery spot on for his role.

I knew nothing about the play before seeing it which was a delight for as the plot became more and more farcical I was swept up and eager to see how it was all going to resolve itself.

I can't say that this was the best play I've seen, and to be honest it would probably fall in the bottom half of a ranked list. I can't quite put my finger on why, I liked the actors, the acting and the scenery. I also laughed a lot - especially in the second half. I'll also never again be able to look at a statue of Winston Churchill without sniggering. There's even full frontal (good looking) male nudity. But...

Perhaps a comedy/farce like this needs to be a shared experience? I saw this alone and sat in an area of the theatre that was sparsely populated...

It was great for the £10 I paid for the ticket but not one I want to see again, or that I can put my hand on my heart and recommend. I am left wondering if I shouldn't have paid the same money and gone to see The King's Speech.

When I saw the play it was still in preview, and it isn't until May 16th that the press night is held and it is officially 'open'.

Theatrical Interlude 4 (2012)

Hay Fever, Noel Coward Theatre, May 2012.

This theatrical trip was nearly a disaster.  Once more there were huge rail problems on the day of the outing, however this time I'd always planned on going the slower, indirect route and consequently missed all of the trouble.  It was a good feeling to outwit the trains for once.

I'd not seen any Noel Coward plays before this one. I've seen some of the films he scripted and read a few of the plays but I wasn't sure what to expect, especially as reviews have been so mixed.

I loved it.  It was laugh out loud funny, the cast worked as a whole, the set and the costumes were fantastic.

When we arrived at the theatre we were expecting to be seated in limited view seats in the Upper Circle however as we tried to get in to the theatre we found we'd been upgraded to the fifth row of the Dress Circle in seats that were far more expensive than the ones we had paid for.  Sadly the reason for this was because there weren't enough people in the audience to fill the Dress Circle let alone that and the Upper... I hope it was just a quiet day because the play is very good and deserves to be seen.

There are a lot of famous people in the play - Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Northam and Olivia Colman being the biggest names, but it wasn't about them at all - it was a true ensemble piece without a weak link. The acting is quite over the top, but only as the script demands and the physical comedy was just as funny as the script. I shall now be looking for more Coward plays to go and see.

The lasting impression of the play - I really want some silk pyjamas and a silk dressing gown to swan around the house in - the elegant cigarette holder is an optional extra.

Lest we Forget

War Diaries, published by Simon and Schuster and the Imperial War Museum

I've written in other places about my fascination with the diary format and I've reviewed quite a few books set during war time.  Now two of my favourite genres have collided with these new books from the Imperial War Museum:

A Chaplain at Gallipoli: The Great War Diaries of Kenneth Best
A Nurse at the Front: The First World War Stories of Sister Edith Appleton

Kenneth Best was, as the title says, an army Chaplain in WW1 and he served in Egypt and then at Gallipoli. After being invalided home from this battle front he continued as a Chaplain on the Western Front.  He is very frank in his diaries, he criticises and questions constantly and unlike a lot of his fellow priests he spent a lot of time right on the front line and got a reputation for bravery from the men he ministered to.

While I knew that the Gallipoli campaign was ill fated, badly planned and ultimately a disaster this book with the full explanation of Kenneth's comments really brought this home.  I really didn't realise how many British and Indian soldiers were involved, I did have the idea that it was almost a solely ANZAC affair.

Edith Appleton was a career nurse with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service and served in France throughout World War One.  I knew more about this aspect of the war, Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth was the first memoir of WW1 that I read and she was a nurse in France during some of the war. This lead me on to other nursing memoirs and novels.

What I wasn't aware of was the animosity between the various nursing services and especially towards the VADs such as Vera Brittain.  In most of the books about this era that I've read the VADs have been pretty much the equivalent of the 'brave Tommies' who could do no wrong...Edith's diary certainly gives another view!

There are already another two books planned in this series and I for one can't wait to find out more about these lesser known theatres of war. I'm personally hoping for a more personal account of the naval experience of WW1 but I know I'll read what ever is published.

Trumpet Blowing

I always knew I worked somewhere very special but we are all very proud and excited at the Millennium Library because we've made the short list for the Library of the Year award at the Bookseller Industry Awards.

We are up against some really strong competition but to be named one of the top 5 libraries in the country is something special.

We find out if we are the winner on Monday 14th May and I think I'll be keeping everything crossed between now and then.

In addition to our wonderful news, the children's book department at Jarrolds here in Norwich has also been nominated for an award - Independent Children's Bookseller of the Year. Just goes to show how great Norwich is!

Trying New Things

Dancing on Ice, Nottingham Arena, April 2012

I didn't intend 2012 to be a year of new challenges and experiences but that does seem to be how it is panning out so far - and that includes the blog as blogger seems to have changed quite radically since I last posted.

On Saturday I took a friend to see Dancing on Ice Live in Nottingham.  This really was a treat for her and I admit that I was dreading it a little bit.  I am the clumsiest person around on solid ground and can't ice skate to save my life, plus I've never watched an episode of Dancing on Ice.  However I do remember watching the Olympics back in 1984 and seeing Torvill and Dean winning their gold medal with Ravel's Bolero.

The arena was huge and we were *pretty* high up - jokes about oxygen masks and nosebleeds felt pertinent!  The advantage to these seats became clear as soon as the skaters appeared on the ice as we could see all of the skaters at once and the patterns they were creating on the ice.  There were big screens to the side so that seeing close ups were possible.

I only knew one of the 'celebrities' who was skating and so that part of the show left me a little cold but I was blown away when Torvill and Dean or the professional took to the ice - the speed, grace and moves that these people performed were truly incredible.  Skating whilst hula-hooping fire has to be seen to be believed.

What surprised me the most was how influenced I was by the lighting (and costumes) when the ice and lights were yellows and oranges I instantly disliked the routine but the pinks, blues and purples really captured my attention.

I did surprise myself with how much fun I did have, but this was a one off - I don't think I'll be doing it again.

The trying new things continues today as it is World Book Night and I will be the MC for an Open Mic poetry night...

Too Much of a Good Thing

Life in the Dales

I started reading the Gervase Phinn autobiographies a few years ago and found them great fun. Phinn started out as a teacher in a small school in the Yorkshire Dales and progressed on to school inspector. These are his memoirs of this career - I suppose they are a school version of the James Herriot books. I think that they have to be heavily condensed and pretty fictionalised but I might be wrong on this account.

These came to an end and then I discovered the novels by Jack Sheffield, these are very similar to Phinn's books but very definitely fiction. At present these are coming out at the rate of one a year and I eagerly await each new volume, especially as they generally end on a real cliff hanger. The other appeal of these books is that they start in the same year that I started school so while I went to a school in a Kent town rather than a rural village I can remember some of the things that Sheffield talks about.

I was quite excited to see a new book in this vein on the library shelf last week (All Teachers Great and Small by Andy Seed) however after the genius that is Phinn and Sheffield this just feels like a pale imitation, it is *another* memoir/novel of a teacher just starting out in a rural school in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1980s...yawn.

Now I know if something is selling then there are likely to be more in the same style but really - another one just the same as those that already exist? I will try to read it to the end but I think that this might be a book too far. If only it was set in another county I'd be okay but I'm only on page 27 but I already feel like I've read it before but in a better, funnier format.

Theatrical Interlude 3 (2012)

She Stoops to Conquer, National Theatre Live (encore), Cinema City Norwich. April 2012

Having never seen any theatre from the 1700s by a strange quirk of timing I've ended up seeing two in three days thanks to the delights of the National Theatre Live programme.

Sadly this experience wasn't quite the joy that I found the Recruiting Officer to be, however similar the themes in both plays.

I'm not sure if She Stoops didn't quite hit the spot because it was at the cinema and thus I had to watch what the camera showed me or if it was because I found the size of the Olivier Stage created a barrier between the actors and the audience. In the intimate Donmar the knowing winks, nods and asides felt like they could have been aimed at me but knowing just how big the Olivier Theatre at the National is I never felt as much a part of the play as I was supposed to.

The acting in the play was very good, again not a dud amongst the main players and even though the play is well over 200 years old it did feel very accessible and funny. The elements of farce were well handled and just on the right side of cringe worthy. I did think at a few points that the male leads were channeling Black Adder the Third but it (just) worked wonderfully.

I do wonder if I'd seen this play first and The Recruiting Officer at the cinema I'd feel the same but I love the opportunity that National Theatre Live gives me to see more London plays and this was a very nice way to spend a Monday afternoon.

Theatrical Interlude 2 (2012)

The Recruiting Officer, Donmar Warehouse, March 2012

From all accounts my theatre going friends and I were incredibly lucky to secure tickets for this production as it is quite hard to get tickets for this venue without being a 'friend of the theatre' for any performance - let alone when it is a sell out 5 star play.

We knew very little about this play in advance short of it being a comedy written in the very early 1700s.

Our tickets were very clear in saying that late-comers wouldn't be admitted so we arrived in plenty of time and found that as soon as the auditorium doors opened there was action on the stage - with musicians and dancers lighting hundreds of candles. The theatre itself was tiny but the seats were very comfortable and even being sat at the end of the row at the side of the stage we could see everything.

The play itself was a real surprise, it felt like a real bridge between Shakespearean theatre and modern plays - the interaction with the audience and the use of space beyond the stage was very much like a production at the Globe but the language was modern dialogue and natural rather than poetic and rhythmic.

The action all took place in a very short space of time and followed the intrigues of both star crossed lovers and the unscrupulous manner in which people were press ganged into the army. From the very start the play was incredibly funny (and that is before the stage became slippery and a dramatic skid led to some corpsing) and in a way the whole experience reminded me of an up market pantomime with lots of playing up to the audience although luckily no actual audience participation.
The humour continued right up to the last scene when all of a sudden it became wonderfully poignant - the lovers had all been reconciled, the pseudo-baddy (a wonderfully camp Mark Gatiss) had got his comeuppance and overcome this and the recruiting officer had his new soldiers. Then the new recruits all stood in a line playing the traditional song "Over the Hills and Far Away" and through their actions remind you that soldiers go to war...

All of the cast were brilliant, each person inhabited their role completely and the skill of the ensemble to act whilst playing musical instruments, singing, dancing and acting as stagehands was a real stand out.

This was a thoroughly fun play to see and yet again a play that I came out of wishing I could straight back in and see it again.

Criminally Good

Phew! The first Norwich Crime Festival is more or less over. As I write this post there is just one book signing session to go.

On the whole the 10 days have been great fun, it is no secret that crime books as a whole aren't often my choice of reading matter but I have loved meeting so many varied authors and hearing their stories. I don't know if tales of my cowardice have done the rounds but none of the events were even that terrifying in the end, however gory some of the books might be.

Two events really do stand out for me.

The very first event of the festival was a coffee morning with Anne Zouroudi, the creator of the Greek Detective books. These are books I've liked for a while and it was great to hear how real life has influenced the work, how the Greeks feel about the books and to hear just how the author imagines her main character. I've always found myself transported to Greece as I've read the books and now knowing some of the stories behind the books I am going to go back to book one and reread them all.

My absolute favourite event, possibly of all time, was with Caroline Lawrence. The Roman Mystery books have pride of place on my shelves, I have a complete set of first editions and now all of them are signed. Although marketed as children's books there is so much history in them that I think everyone should read them, in fact before Mr Norfolkbookworm and I went to Rome I made him read several of the books and we even used them as guide books when we went to Ostia. (If you look closely at the photo of me at the top of the page you might even see that in it I am reading a Roman Mystery book sitting on a wall in Ostia)
Caroline's event was just like the books and appealed to adults just as much as children and the hour we had rushed by and was full of information, writing tips and artefacts. After hearing the talk you'll never take loo roll for granted again!
Caroline's new books are set in the American West and now knowing some of the background to these I can't wait to get my teeth into the first one of this series.

So what next?
I now have a list of recommended books as long as my arm, many new friends, a pile of thank you letters to write, many happy memories and about a week of sleep to catch up on.

Oh and the Norwich Crime Festival 2013 to start planning!

A rare picture of me taken with Caroline Lawrence at the event on March 28th 2012

Coming late to the party

Mr Norfolkbookworm and I have just had a week away where we did nothing more strenuous than stroll from our apartment to a restaurant. It was heaven having nothing to do except read, chat and relax. Perhaps reading 18 books in 8 days was a little excessive however.

There were a few turkeys among the books but on the whole they were all pretty good. One stood out however:

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.

This was a big book when it was first released and I know that I did have a copy at some point but that I never got beyond the first few pages. I can't remember if it was the font used in the book, the style or the hype that put me off.

This year two close friends have been really encouraging me to give the book another go and I am so pleased that I listened to them because the book really blew me away. I knew the basic premise - Kevin commits a Columbine style crime, his mother isn't that surprised as he's been trouble since birth.
However the subtle nuances, the ambiguity and the tension were masterful and I'd managed to create an entirely different scenario in my head than the one that played out due to this skill. I was thus astounded by the end of the book.

I'm not going to see the new film though, as I don't think the pictures in my mind can be surpassed.

I also read the novel version of another film - The Descendants - and again I won't be watching the film. In this case because I thought the book was dreadful and can't see how the movie can be any different, even if George Clooney is the star!

Theatrical Interlude 1 (2012)

Aida, Royal Albert Hall, March 2012

This was a new theatrical experience for me - an opera, in Italian and staged in the round.

I'm not a stranger to opera in some ways as my parents like the music a lot and CDs of various operas were often playing when I was at living at home but actually seeing one was new.

Mr Norfolkbookworm and I went to one of the Christmas music extravaganzas at the Royal Albert Hall just before Christmas 2011 and picked up a leaflet for Aida, on mentioning it to my mum we discovered that it was my dad's favourite opera and thus the super secret birthday outing was concocted.

As there were four of us we booked seats in one of the boxes on the 2nd tier which was lovely, we had a pretty good view of all of the stage, the wonderful projections and the surtitles. We also had plenty of space to store our wet coats and umbrellas which was a great relief as the weather was a little inclement the day we went. Tea and coffee being delivered in the interval was a real luxury and meant no frantic queueing!

I don't know what I was expecting from an opera, I think I thought it would be a little stuffy and hard to follow but, this version at least, captivated me.

The actors, dancers and singers were all, in my opinion, very good. Their voices filled the Hall beautifully and event when the surtitles were brief the plot was easy to follow. The space in the Royal Albert Hall was used to the full, there was a fountain on stage at one point and sometimes the chorus were up above the 'gods' so the singing floated down in a truly beautiful way.

The score was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and despite the scale of the venue every note could be heard. The people sitting next to us constantly referring to the RPO as 'the band' nearly had us all in hysterics, such wonderful music reduced to that!

I don't know that I am a convert to opera, I liked this fun, immersive style but when I've seen performances from the New York Met on the television it hasn't captivated me like this one did but never say never, and I am now looking for a good ballet to see to continue expanding my horizons.



The one thing that amuses me however is how sniffy critics can be about modern musicals and their 'thin' plots...to be honest Aida isn't a deep story and the characters all a little fickle. Of course opera is classical and culture so it is all okay - unlike musical theatre which is merely populist.

All quiet on the reading front

I've still not learned my lesson, despite my last post being all about how much I had to read I still found myself browsing Net Galley a lot in February and then downloading lots of new things to try.

I'm not sure if the books I tried have already been published in the USA or are in proof form still but they have been very hit and miss with me, and so far (sadly) more miss than hit. In fact there has only been one that I've actually finished.

Paris in Love by Eloisa James is a year in the life of an American family who move to Paris. It is a strange book, at times it seems like a diary, at others like a letter to an unknown recipient and at other times it is so disjointed it is like overhearing one half of a conversation with an over excited teenager.

I enjoyed it, mostly, and would love to spend longer than a weekend in Paris to discover some of the places that Eloisa talks about but if I ate all that she talks about I'd be spherical!

I'm about to go on holiday and I've downloaded a few more proofs to my Kindle - for free it is worth trying lots of new authors and genres I feel.

Never decreasing piles

I think I've solved a problem...

...however much I read the piles around the house never seem to get smaller. I do pass books on when I've read them, whether to friends, family or charity so in theory the number of the books should either stay the same or decrease. With my eReader this should be doubly true (we won't talk about how much there is on there that I've not read yet).

This isn't the case and it was bothering me a little but I've had an epiphany.

Whenever I read a book about a new subject then I automatically want to read more about the subject.

Take last week - the failed theatre trip lead to me downloading the script to Three Days in May and devouring it.*

The topic was so interesting that I've instantly hunted out a couple of history books covering the events of May 1940 to learn more about it. Obviously these have bumped to the top of the to-be-read pile and once more books that had nearly reached the coveted position of 'next-to-be-read' have dropped down the pile.

Add in the new library books that are due any day and it is easy to see why I'll never get through the books waiting to be read.

I suppose that I could ban myself from buying/borrowing/downloading anything new until I've read everything that I own but we all know that is never going to happen!


* Let's not talk about how sad I am that I won't see this performed

Best laid plans

This was supposed to be a review of the first piece of theatre I plan on seeing in 2012 - oh well plans are nice!

I think that the trip was doomed from the start as the tickets never arrived (company I ordered them with were great and had arranged for them to be at the box office for me).

Today I awoke to the news that there had been a fire next to the rail track which had melted the over head power cables - no trains and no alternative route that could guarantee I could get there on time. Added to that the worry about how I'd get home afterwards. The train company hopes there will be trains but also suggested a new route. This alternative would mean the two carriage cross country train would be holding the equivalent of two intercity trains - no thanks!

Amazon have the play script available for the Kindle, I shall stay in the warm this afternoon and read the play instead. Not quite the same is it....

Less regular than usual

While I know that I am not the most prolific and regular of bloggers I have a feeling that service may get even more sporadic over the next 2 months.

But I do have a good reason as I am heavily involved in the planning and running of the first Norwich Crime Festival, as well as being in charge of creating the online content.

Crime isn't a genre I generally read a lot of but I am quickly learning that I might have dismissed it too quickly. I'm never going to be a fan of the gritty, violent books. Or those based on pathology but thrillers and historical crime is certainly growing on me.

Anyhow the Norwich Crime Festival runs from March 21st through until March 31st and all of the details can be found here on the official website.

Trying New Things

Reading Rut

With my reading currently being stuck in a bit of a rut - since Christmas I've read just one new book but in the most part have just re-read old favourites such as Little Women - I thought I would try something new. Not just new but a real departure for me.

A graphic novel.

I think I can count on one hand the number of graphic novels I've read. Looking through my reading journals I can see Persopolis, Maus and Fun Home plus one about the dropping of the atomic bomb in Japan in 1945 listed. All pretty intense novels about topics I'd read in traditional book form.

300 was a slight departure from this although it is still about a weighty topic that I'd read about in traditional format! This one was in full colour and the action took place over entire double page spreads rather than in small boxes which are read left-to-right and top-to-bottom.

I think I enjoyed it, I liked the way that the story was simplified and through the use of the illustrations I could really see the differences in the armies, something that is harder to do from just text.

But...

...I don't think it was very historically accurate, and I think that a lot of things were glossed over, especially about the history of the Spartans themselves.

I can't help thinking that if you are writing a book, a book of any genre, about a historical event then it should either be accurate or clearly marked as a 're-imagining'.

This isn't a criticism of the genre at all and I will be searching out more graphic novels - all recommendations gratefully received.

The dawn of cinema

2012 New Year Resolution

In my round up of 2011 I stated that I wanted to see more films this year. Last year I only saw 4 films at the cinema - already this year I've seen half that many so I am on track to keep this resolution.

The two films I've seen so far this year seem to be diametrically opposed at first glance - Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. One is a special effects laden film based on a children's book and the other a homage to the silent movies of the 1920s.

However when you look deeper they are actually both about one thing - a love of early cinema.

While Hugo is an adventure story, and a 3D one at that, the under current is the discovery by the children that Papa George is actually Georges Melies - the innovative early film maker. The last half of Hugo was all about how he made his films and then the chance to see some of them on a big screen.
The film was a fun watch, the acting good and the story lovely but I expected the latter as Hugo is based on the wonderful book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. As ever with an adaptation I did find the book better but it was faithful to the book and the only thing making me wince was the 3D. Watching 3D films when you already wear glasses is not the best experience in my opinion.

The Artist was a true delight. Starting in 1927, when the silent movie was at its height, we meet the heart throb of the moment George Valentin and also wannabe actress Peppy Miller. Through the rest of the film we see one star wane as the other rises as the talkie takes over from the wonderful silent movie.
The Artist isn't entirely silent, every so often there are sound effects and voices and, as they are meant to, these really leap out at the viewer and for me broke the spell a little. It was also filmed in colour and converted to black and white and as a photographer who sometimes uses this technique I could see this occasionally and again it pulled me out of the movie for a moment.

I am pleased that I went and saw both of these films on the big screen but I think, surprisingly, that it was The Artist that is the film which worked best for me. Silent movies, with their beautiful sound track and text boards explaining the plot, make for an immersive experience and I think that watching this at home on a smaller screen, with the distractions of the house, just wouldn't be the same. Hugo, while enjoyable on the big screen in 3D, will be just fine as a 2D DVD!

Last night saw the Golden Globes being announces and both of these films won awards. Best Director went to Scorsese/Hugo and then Best Motion Picture (comedy or drama), Best Actor (comedy or drama) and Best Original Score went to the Artist.



Now if only my other resolution (to actually read the books set for book group) was going so well!

That was 2011...

The obligatory review of the year post.

Hmmm... 2011 turned out to be the year of theatre rather than the year of books, which wasn't something I predicted last January.

In fact in 2011 I actually only read 141 books. This is probably the lowest number since I learned to read. More shockingly for those who know me is that I only read 18 books meant for children or young adults.

In contrast I saw 19 plays/musicals live at the theatre and 3 plays as part of the National Theatre Live. I saw four stand up comedians and saw 3 episodes of a radio comedy taped. I also did one behind the scenes theatre tour, saw one major art exhibition and went to a classical music/carol concert at the Royal Albert Hall. No wonder I didn't have that much time for reading.

More surprising than the lack of books this year is how little any of them stand out. I do think that the top few books from my self imposed World Book Night challenge are probably the best books I read all year. In fact apart from them I think that some of the plays I read this year are my personal 'bests' for 2011.

I've been thinking about this for a while because I am an occasional poster on the Norfolk Library Book review Blog and we were asked for our top reads of the year. I was looking through my reading diary and what quickly became clear was that it was the books I loathed that stuck out more clearly and this became the post Turkeys of 2011.

So I wonder what 2012 has in store?
More theatre that is for certain, more films too as already there are several being trailed that look exciting. I am hoping that I read more, and enjoy more books in 2012 but I will settle for quality over quantity...

As for resolutions - well I think that will have to be to actually get over my mental block about books I have to read for book groups. And on that note I suppose I should stop blogging and get back to Doctor Zhivago!

Happy New Year!

Theatrical Interlude 21

Collaborators, National Theatre Live (encore), Cinema City, Norwich. December 2011

Tickets to see this in London appear to be like gold dust and to add insult to injury when I tried to book tickets to see this Live it had also sold out. Luckily my local Picture House cinema put on an 'encore' performance and so I did manage to get tickets.

It still feels quite odd to go to the cinema to see a play but once I managed to get my head around the concept I was sucked in.

This is a very odd play and not one I can sum up easily. Like many tales about Stalinist Russia it is not always a comfortable watch. Sticking to your principles and ideals under such circumstances must have been very hard and seeing how a passionate man became corrupted was shown very convincingly.

The actors were very good, although at the very start Simon Russell Beale did seem to be playing Ricky Gervais rather than Josef Stalin. Alex Jennings was very good as Bulgakov and the rest of the cast supported brilliantly.

Collaborators is currently being performed in the Cottesloe Theatre at the National, and this small, versatile space worked well for the staging. This was very much theatre in the round and a limited space for the stage really did mean the set was used in a truly innovative way - I do wonder how the transfer to the Olivier Theatre will work.

I think that at times the metaphors were over egged a little, and I felt very uncomfortable during much of the play as I was feeling sympathy for Stalin - happily the end did manage to recreate the more traditional view of the dictator.

On the whole this was a really enjoyable play, one that I am very glad that I have seen but not one that I will be sad that I only saw at the cinema and not actually at the theatre live.

Theatrical Interlude 20

Roald Dahl's Matilda, Cambridge Theatre London, December 2011

This is another performance that I'd been looking forward to for a while, and indeed I'd booked tickets shortly after the box office opened way back in the summer.

Now nearly a week after seeing Matilda I am still not entirely sure what I thought of it. There was lots to enjoy.

The acting was amazing, the child actors were very good especially the girl playing Matilda. Miss Trunchbull (played by Bertie Carvel) was outstanding and it was very hard to believe that it was a man playing the role.

I quite liked the set, it was clever and eye catching but at times it was distracting, all too often I found myself trying to spot words formed by the letters. The way the props appeared from being set into the stage was very clever and I did like the way that you saw how the staging was working.

However, for me, there was lots that made this an outing that was merely 'meh' rather than 'wow':

• there were no catchy tunes that I came out humming, in fact each act seemed to only have one song that was reworded...
• the plot had been changed. Matilda the novel isn't an overly complex book and in changing the story I felt that you really lost just how exceptional the child Matilda was.
• The book is all about championing books and stories and I felt this was lost totally, especially in the scenes just after the interval where audience members were mocked for reading (and for taking part in the audience participation!)
• at times I really couldn't hear when the adults were singing
• what was the point of the extra story lines when Dahl had created a perfect book in the first place?!
• I couldn't take Mr Wormwood seriously as he just reminded me of David Tenant's Doctor Who and I was expecting to hear the TimeLord every time the character appeared on the stage.
  

Oh dear, this is becoming a totally damning write up and I don't think that it was truly that bad there were just so many niggles (and that is before I even think about the behaviour of the audience).

I suppose that in a way it is my own fault, this was after all an adaptation of a favourite book and we all know how much I squirm through films made from favourite books!

On the whole I had a good time, just from the reviews I expected to be blown away and I wasn't. For me I felt that Matilda didn't know if it was a play, a musical or a pantomime, if it had only been just one of these things it would have been so much better.

I think that Matilda will go on to win lots of theatre prizes and I think that those awarded to the actors are fully deserving I am just not sure of those awarded to the piece as a whole.

I'm off to re-read the book now...

Author events

In my current job at the library (and when I worked for Waterstone's) planning events with authors is a routine part of my job and over the past 10+ years I've been lucky enough to meet many authors.

However as the person organising the events I haven't always been able to enjoy them thoroughly. I'm on edge during them, making sure that the building stays relatively quiet, that the author doesn't need anything etc etc.

This week I went to see Alan Hollinghurst at UEA where he was speaking as part of the Autumn Literary Festival and once I remembered that I could just sit back and relax I really enjoyed the talk.

I've admired Mr Hollinghurst for a few years now and while a lot of the talk was about the newest novel (The Stranger's Child) there was also a lot about the other novels and the influences on Hollinghurst's work. I didn't find the new book to be my favourite novel but hearing about it from the horse's mouth (so to speak) did make me look at it in a different way and I now understand a little more of why it is structured as it is.

Mr Hollinghurst had a fantastic voice, as well as being very interesting speaker, and it was a delight to be able to sit for the whole hour and just listen without having to be on duty.

I am pleased that I get the chance to meet so many fantastic authors, and I'm already well under way planing events for next spring, but I must try to go to more talks where I can concentrate on the speaker!

Theatrical Interlude 19

Driving Miss Daisy, Wyndhams Theatre London, November 2011

This trip came about almost by accident. My normal theatre going companions and I saw a poster for this on one of our other trips to London and all of us instantly said "I love that film". To think is to act and we quickly booked tickets to the first matinee that all three of us could make.

Using Lastminute.com our seats were allocated on arrival and while we were quite high up in the theatre we had centre seats and a fabulous view - well once the vertigo had vanished the view was good!

This is a cleverly staged play. As we took our seats the stage was dominated by a large staircase in the middle with assorted items of furniture dotted about, and as the play continues this remains the only staging. However all of these items are on runners and move in and out of the centre stage as the scenes change. Small props are used and it is up to the actors to move them on and off set as needed - it is a very stark play in this way.

The 'car' is a park bench and two dining chairs all set on a revolving part of the stage and as movement is needed for the plot the stage moves and a projection plays in the background. Writing it down makes it sound a little tacky but in fact it worked splendidly as a visual effect - even from the height we were sitting.
The use of projection throughout the play also highlighted the passage of time and managed to give the impression that there was a larger cast.

There are only three actors in the whole play - Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones and Boyd Gaines and all three were superb the day we saw them. It took just a little while for me to get my ear attuned to the deep south accent but very quickly I was swept away and found myself totally immersed into the story, and by the end totally moved.

The play is set in the deep south of America from the late 1940s through until the 1970s and at times the racism and the language used made me uncomfortable but obviously was totally in keeping with the setting. I don't remember it being quite so overt in the film but it has been well over a decade since I last saw the film so this may just be a false memory.

It was a lovely day out and I am very pleased that I got to see this play during the limited London run. It won many awards in New York and I hope that it wins something at the London theatre awards.

Theatrical Interlude 18

War Horse, New London Theatre, November 2011

This is a play that has been on my 'to see' list for a long time but as the booking period stretched through until 2013 it wasn't one I wanted to see urgently. However once the film version was announced I knew that I wanted to see the stage show before the film.

I've long been a fan of Michael Morpurgo and I've read the novel War Horse several times but I was still a little nervous about seeing the show - after all I'm renowned for sitting there going "it didn't happen like that in the book!"

I needn't have worried from the first instant that actors appeared on the stage I was captivated, everyone raves about the model horses but it is true - after a couple of seconds you really do forget that they are puppets, it really is just like live horses are on the stage. I'm not a great horse lover - the ones I've know have either tried to bite me or have trodden on me but Joey and Topthorn could easily win me over to being a fan. It was the goose that repeatedly stole the show however...

The story has been altered from the book but for me it worked totally and to include everything from the book would have given the play an impossibly long run time. Like Black Beauty the original book is told from the horse's view point and to try and do this on stage would have diminished the power of the play.

I can't put in to words how I feel about this play because it was so totally absorbing and moving. It is incredible that the brutality and horror of war can be so comprehensively portrayed without any violence or fake blood being used. I wonder if playing on the very British love of animals to depict the war is one way to bring the horror home?

I laughed and cried throughout the play and if it had been possible I think I would have stayed in my seat and watched it again straight away.

I'm looking forward to the film but I will be going to see this play again - as soon as I can manage.

Pioneering

The Harvey Girls - Lesley Poling-Kempes

One of the first books I remember buying for myself was The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder - all about the story of an American pioneer family moving West towards the end of the 1800s as America itself spread west.
I devoured the whole series of these books and later as an adult read biographies and critical responses to the books and despite now being able to see their faults, racist attitudes and hidden messages, I still love them and the whole idea of the growth of the Wild West.

As I may have mentioned (!) we've just come back from the west of America and one of the things that still surprises me is how new the area is in terms of being a place where westerner live. We went to towns that were younger than my grandparents and even the state of Arizona is 100 until next year.

In a lot of the gift and book shops we visited this book kept catching my eye, and on getting home I did treat myself to a copy and it was a lovely, if a bit disjointed, social history of the working women who helped open the west of America for white migrants.

Harvey was strongly connected to the railroads and as they expanded west he made sure that he built hotels and restaurants along the lines so that where ever the trains stopped people could get consistently good food and lodging. As well as employing local people he took advantage of the growing freedom of women, and economic need, and employed women from all over the country. As well as their wages they got full bed and board and often became some of the best wage earners in their families.

The Harvey hotels are mostly gone now but the legacy lives on as his family still run some of the gift shops at some of the west's National Parks - only fitting as it was Harvey that opened the areas up to the public but building hotels and extending railway lines to encompass them!

This book is a mixture of Harvey's history, the railroad history and the personal history of the Harvey Girls and is a fascinating read if, like me, these things interest you. It is pretty niche to be honest but still fascinating and a reminder that in some places history is far more recent than in the UK!

Sequally Surprised

House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

I've mentioned before how I keep getting my hopes up when reading sequels to much loved books, and how they keep getting dashed. That notwithstanding I still keep doing it on the grounds that at least once it will have to be a success.

The House of Silk is for me that success story - hurrah.

I approached the book cautiously, for me, took my time reading it and I wasn't disappointed. I couldn't find any anachronisms and the writing style felt natural, unforced and not at all like a pastiche. Conan Doyle probably wouldn't have written about such a topic but the way Horowitz did was sensitive, discreet and just how it could have been written at the turn of the last century.

I thought I was going to have historical fact issues with the book when Horowitz mentioned Arizona in the 1880s/1890s. Having just come back from there and finding that Arizona only became a state in 1912 I thought he'd made a mistake, however he did just say 'Arizona' not the 'State of Arizona' and the name was in use before 1912. Once I realised that I felt more comfortable and nothing else jumped out.

I think the book is being received positively, the reviewers mostly seem to have enjoyed the book and I certainly felt that it slotted in well with the originals - however I am a latecomer to Sherlock Holmes, if I'd been a fan for years (like I have been with some of the other sequels/prequels) I do wonder if I'd feel the same.

It doesn't matter I enjoyed the book, I will re-read it and I am quite happy to shelve it alongside the originals and not give it straight to charity in disappointment!

Busy Week

Double Celebrations

This week was one of the best I've had at work for a while. The Forum (pictured, and where the library is situated) turned 10 this week.

In 1994 a catastrophic fire destroyed Norwich City Library, lots of books and historical documents. The BBC has a great piece here about the fire.


Out of the ashes came the wonderful building we now have, this opened to the public in November 2001 and was officially opened in June 2002 by the Queen. I can't believe that it has been ten years time does fly.

We've had lots of activities planned to celebrate the birthday - story time sessions with Maisy Mouse making a guest appearance, a quiz, author event, a huge 'create the birthday bunting' competition and of course a birthday party complete with cake:


What made the day even more special was the release of this story by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy stating that for the 5th year running the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library is the busiest in the country.

Wow - for half of the library's current incarnation we have been the busiest in the country.

In fact the statistics get better for not only is the city the busiest library but Norfolk is also the busiest Shire County when it comes to Library use.

We are very proud - there are lots of jokes about Norfolk, few of them flattering, but we are obviously doing something right in this time where there only seems to be bad press for libraries.

Now comes the hard work - keeping the standards this high for the next 10 years!

World Book Night 2012

The 25 books that have been picked at the 2012 World Book Night titles were announced today and I am trying to decide if I will attempt to read all 25 by the time 23rd April rolls round.


The list this year reads:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Player of Games by Iain M Banks
Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Take by Martina Cole
Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell
Someone Like You by Roald Dahl
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Room by Emma Donoghue
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Misery by Stephen King
The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Let the Right One In by John Ajvde Lindqvist
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
The Damned Utd by David Peace
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak

Reading them all by April would be easier - there is a lot more time for the challenge this year, and I've already read 10 of the titles...

but...

the list doesn't excite me at all this year. Perhaps making myself read them would be good but if I read these will I miss better, newer books?

I think I'll sleep on it for a while, after all there 6 months until WBN 2012...

Incredibly Cross

I think that regular readers to this blog know that I work in a library.

In fact I work in (currently) the busiest library in the country - in the last year that we have figures for 1,502 449 people came through our doors.
Every morning there are people waiting outside the doors to come in.

These are people from all walks of life, some come in for advice, others for books, some to use the computers and others for the regular training or story sessions that we run. The one thing I know is that we are busy from the moment we open at 9am until the minute we shut the doors at 8pm.

I'm lucky, I work for a council that sees the value of libraries - unlike many areas around the country.

Just this week the author Nicholas Rankin gave a talk here in Norwich, he started it by saying that he'd spent nights this week camping outside his local library to stop it being shut. There is currently a legal challenge in progress trying to save his library - Kensal Rise - which was ironically closed 111 years to the day since it was opened by Mark Twain.
It isn't just authors and celebrities that are trying to save local libraries whole families are standing vigil trying to save these precious resources.

Just today figures were released showing just how many children joined the Summer Reading Challenge in 2011. This is an annual game that is run through libraries during the summer holidays. Children are encouraged to read six books during the holiday and are rewarded throughout and then on completing the challenge come to special ceremonies where they receive a certificate and medal. This challenge has been proven to help participants with their school work in many ways.

Libraries are important for so many reasons - personal and national - which is why articles like this one in the Telegraph make me so angry. Happily it seems that most people agree with me and not the author and the Twitter and Blogosphere are full of examples showing just how wrong this article is.

However our libraries are under threat so please if you are reading this and you don't usually visit a library please find your local branch and borrow a book or two. They might be there at the moment but once they are closed I can't see that they will be reopened and we need libraries.

For more information about campaigns to save libraries please have a look at Voices for the Library or The Bookseller's Campaign. For up-to-date information on library closures Public Library News is place to look.

Currently 428 libraries are under threat of closure in the UK - sign the petition to save libraries.

Reality Reading

Ranger Confidential by Andrea Lankford

While we were in America we actually only went into a couple of bookshops, and they were second-hand specialists not 'new' bookshops. However many of the National Parks we visited had dedicated bookshops within the gift shops and I saw a great many books that I wanted to read.

Luggage allowances didn't let me buy too many at all, but free wifi in hotels and a Kindle did mean that I could download this one on the road.

I've admitted to liking biographies and exposes in the past and this is another in that style.

Lankford was a Park Ranger in several of America's parks and in this book she talks about the ups and downs of the job. Like in all jobs there seem to be a lot more 'downs' than you'd originally think.

The park rangers that we met were unfailingly smart, informative and polite but after reading this book I am not at all sure how they manage it. In our time in the 5 parks we visited we saw no trouble at all, and only one idiot blatantly ignoring the signs saying to keep behind the railings however it would seem that we were lucky and that usually there are plenty of rule breakers in the National Parks, and that is before Mother Nature decides to intervene.

I realise that Lankford is going to pick the 'good' stories to tell but my hat goes off to all the park rangers out there. Like other emergency service workers you do a great job and do not deserve some of the things that happen to you.

This wasn't a comfortable read, and I am glad that I read it after we'd visited the Parks but it was informative and moving.

Grand Canyon from Mather Point - taken Sept 2011.