All is Song & The Still Point

Title: All is Song

Author: Samantha Harvey

For Book #11, I'm going to talk about something classier and more literary. The first time I heard of Samantha Harvey was on the Culture Show in 2011. Five judges (or so) sat there debating about the best debut novelists of the year, and Harvey was one of them.

Her first book was The Wilderness, and it was a stunning novel about someone losing their life to Alzheimer's. Actually, this is shocking, but in my memory I mixed up The Wilderness with The Still Point, which is yet another beautiful novel. I also highly recommend that one! In fact, that will be Book #12). So ... it turns out I forgot what Harvey's first book was about. Oops. Anyway, I still remember her as a fantastic writer, and the book was a bittersweet story that felt entirely too real.

Now All is Song is not dissimilar: it is about Leonard and William, two middle-aged brothers, both still grappling with the meaning of life in different ways, but one of them is very much like a modern-day Socrates. William is a frustrating character to like simply because he questions everything around him to the point where you lose sense of the original question. The book is deeply philosophical, and it brings to memory all the things I used to read and learn in philosophy classes. Or in the Matrix: if you can see that the world is lying to you, would you rather live in the lie, or see the real truth? The red pill or the blue pill? Ok, so the book is totally not sci-fi, but it deals with the same issues about how complacent most human beings are with the world, how we just accept statements as facts just because it's what the majority of people thinks, and not because it's the absolute truth. 

All is Song is beautifully written. The narrative moves very slowly, but this is not an action-driven story, it's a thought-driven one. 

I thought that overall, The Wilderness was better (simply because I like the ending more), but this book is a good second novel. I can't wait to see what else is up Harvey's sleeves.

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Title: The Still Point

Author: Amy Sackville

I probably mixed up Harvey with Sackville because they were both first-time novelists. But my review is a bit different for this one ...

Read this book. Yes, read it! The Still Point is an inter-generational story about an arctic explorer who disappears on an exploration and leaves his young wife behind, and a modern-day tale about a slowly-disintegrating marriage. This is not a synopsis that would usually interest me, but it's so achingly and beautifully told that you definitely must read it if you like literary fiction. 

I read it one summer for a book club (I think), and in the heat of the summer, I felt the freezing cold depths of winter as described by Amy Sackville when she writes about the explorer stuck in the icy Arctic with no resources and almost no hope. That, I think, is a major sign that the book is amazing, as it gave me feelings and thoughts that I otherwise would not be able to have. 

The modern-day story is also equally well-written. You can feel the winter of the two character's marriage too, and the two stories meld together intelligently. Read it to understand what I'm trying to say!

PS: both the books have beautiful covers, don't you agree? 

PPS: Blogger's really annoying. I don't understand how 'normal' Arial can sometimes be one font size, and sometimes another. I've tried my best to stick to one font size for all posts, but it seems like it's not always up to me to decide font size! Sorry.

The Trout & The Red Lion (sister pubs)

Where to eat at a patio: The Trout 
Location: Oxford, OX2 8PN

[Took photos of all the food but haven't had time to upload yet ... will upload soon]

I'm going to start with The Trout first, because it has to be the best patio experience I've had (that I can recall) in the UK. Ok, so it rains half the time over here, which isn't conducive to positive outdoor dining experiences, but we lucked out. We originally wanted to drive out to another award-winning pub in the 'heart' of the Cotswolds, but firstly, it was a bit far, and also, their lunch menu wasn't exciting our tastebuds. 

I then remembered The Trout. We've already accidentally been to The Perch, which is another pub by Port Meadows (see my review here), and the ambience was lovely on a hot spring afternoon. The Trout, in comparison, stood out even more so. The quaint little pub (well, it's not so little when you saunter in, but it seems a bit small from the outside) sits right next to the river, with a beautiful bridge, plenty of outdoor seats, and a mini waterfall. 

The Trout is absolutely beautiful to visit. We originally had a last minute reservation inside the pub, which is nice and cozy enough, but seeing that the sun was out, we decided to risk sitting outside. 

Now that I've raved enough about the atmosphere, let's talk about the food. In one word, I'd sum it up by saying: stunning! They're known for their seafood, and I had the most delectable pan-fried scallops of the day as appetizer (with a beautiful roast tomato tapenade & balsamic vinegar), followed by a very very delightful main of linguini with prawns, chorizo, sweet chilli, crab. I frequently order this dish because my friend doesn't like seafood, so I don't get to cook it much, and this is one of the best renditions of the chorizo/prawns/linguini combo I've had ever! (I am in fact going to compare it to The Trout's sister pub version of the same dish later...) 

My friend had a perfectly cooked chargrilled asparagus with poached egg (I wasn't allowed to share so you'll have to trust him), and a really lovely spaghetti carbonara. It was extremely rich and creamy, but it wasn't too much so that you can't finish the meal and feel good. 

We ended the meal by sharing a white chocolate creme brulee - perfect! The meal was a bit pricy, about 50 quids including alcohol, but we stayed there for a good two and a half hours or more, and wandered around the Wolvercote area a bit (very picturesque!) so it was worth it. 

Highly recommended, especially if the weather is sunny, or else, it would probably make for a lovely cozy pub to go to in the deepest of winters. 

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Where to grab a bite: The Red Lion

Location: Central Oxford

 

Unfortunately, The Red Lion pales in comparison to The Trout. I generally enjoy The Red Lion, having been there a few times for drinks, and for an odd meal here and there. The pub is nicely decorated, very nicely lit and with interesting wall decors. The food is quite good, but very shortly after eating at The Trout, I then discovered that they are actually sister pubs, and then eating there ... well, it made it too easy to compare the two. 

I didn't consciously order the same dish, but it turns out I really do like ordering tiger prawns linguini with a bit of spice to it. At The Red Lion, it was decent, but I really loved the Trout's, so this one wasn't as good. It wasn't as sweet, didn't have as good an aftertaste ... 

Everyone else liked their dishes though. One bad thing was the service - we had a really talkative waiter who forgot some of our orders. That's fine, but one of us had to leave quite early and we didn't exactly want to dawdle. 

The redeemable factor here was their desserts. In fact, just the dessert I ordered. Their chocolate brownie was divine. I really mean this (and this means a lot, given that I have quite a sweet tooth). It was rich and melts in your mouth, drizzled with a lovely dark chocolate sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. Perfect. 

So I'd still go to the Red Lion, especially as it's smack in the centre of town so it's easy to get to ... but if you can make a bit of an effort, do go to The Trout instead! 

I Love Metric!

Event: Metric Concert & New Album Synthetica 

Location: 2012 Tour around the World 

I can't get enough of Metric. For over ten years, I've been in love with all the bands that had some relation to Broken Social Scene: this included the famous Feist, Stars and the awesome band that I'm now going to rave about, Metric.

While Feist is more folksy and Stars is more pop-like, Metric is full rock-n'-roll. They really put on a good live show, and there's not a moment where it's boring or uninteresting, even if they turn acoustic. 

If you've never heard of them, check out Black Sheep, the theme song from the indie film Scott Pilgrim, which is definitely rocked out. 

Yes, so there might be a reason why I'm biased towards all the bolded bands & films above, as they are all CANADIAN! Haha. However, I don't know anyone who has ever listened to Metric and not liked them. So there you go.

They were playing quite a lot of shows across the UK last month, and I caught their last show. They looked a bit worn out (the very sexy lead singer Emily Haines, who usually chats with the crowd comfortably, was rather silent as she just focussed on singing her heart out), but the energy was still very high, and everyone was singing along to their old anthems Help I'm Alive, Stadium Love, and Monster Hospital. 

They sang quite a lot from their new album too (Synthetica) and the good thing was that they released their whole album online way ahead of the tour, so lots of us were able to hum or at least bob along to the music. Their CD is really whacky - all the lyrics are printed backwards, and the case includes a mirrored sheet so that you can then 'read' the lyrics from the reflective sheet. Crazy!

If you want to hear more, listen to my Top 3 Metric songs: Empty (below), Poster of a Girl and Gimme Sympathy. 

Woody Allen: A Documentary

Title: Woody Allen: A Documentary
Where to watch: Selected Theatres in UK

'I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.'

The title gives it all away - Woody Allen: A Documentary is a film that's focussed entirely on Woody Allen. It naturally starts off from when he was young, and then leads into how he made it into the comedy scene, how he became a regular figure on tv talk shows, and ultimately, how he ended up on the big screen. 

I love Woody, especially his classics Manhattan, Annie Hall ... and yes, though the most recent Woody film I've seen was a tad cheesy (Midnight In Paris), it was still very, very enjoyable and definitely worth two hours of your life. 

Ok, so he has had a few big flops, but you've got to admire his career that has lasted over four decades; his jokes are still just as self-deprecating and relevant as it was in the 60s. Woody is a famously solipsistic man, and in this film you can see him constantly battling with the meaning of life in a very philosophical, psychoanalytical, and occasionally theological way. 

Everyone knows he is not without controversies and the film touches on that aspect lightly. Though the film pays tribute to Woody's inspirations (including one of my favourite directors, Fellini), it seems a bit of an oversight to not deal with Groucho Marx's influence over Woody. Overall, it's not a very critical film, more a movie directed by a big Woody fan. 

Ah well, still, if you're the least bit interested in Woody's films and how they came about, then it's interesting to watch this documentary. 

'My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.'

Fitzbillies (café) & Café de Flore (film)

Where to Snack: Fitzbillies 
Location: Cambridge, CB2 1RG
 

We were in Cambridge for a wedding, but before we left the next day, we made sure to try out Fitzbillies. There's been quite a lot of hype around it since it re-opened, so we wanted to see if it lived up to expectations. 

The first thing I found out when we got there was that 'no one' had ever gone into Fitzbillies before it shut down. Everyone in Cambridge knew it existed for a very long time, and had heard about its signature Chelsea buns, but no one (at least, not the student population) ever passed through its front doors. 

Well, the clientele now is packed full with young people and young families! So they have turned it around. The decor is clean, simple yet friendly, and their Chelsea buns are lovely. I have never had one before: I'd say it tastes like a Cinnabon, except with less cinnamon and sugar. It was still quite sweet though, so I'd recommend sharing a bun with someone. 

Their hot chocolate, by the way, is creamy and very good quality. As for their lunch menu, I really liked my 'lunch salad', which consisted of nice green salad with rabbit and beetroot and other sorts of yummy things (yummy means I can't remember what the ingredients were), but the other friends all thought their food was overpriced. At £7.10, I thought my salad was quite perfect. I also have never had rabbit before, so it was a nice little adventure trying out the meat. 

Lastly, just before we left, we also took away some ice cream, and boy was it good. It's not as amazing as some of the gelati I've had in my lifetime, but it's very creamy and rich, and our chocolate and raspberry & cream scoops complemented each other perfectly. We even took it down to the river and sat under the sun to watch the punters go by. 

I would definitely recommend going for tea at Fitzbillies, but perhaps skip the lunch fare if you think it's not affordable. Everything tasted good though.

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Title: Café de Flore
Where to watch: Selected Theatres in UK

Café de Flore is a very enigmatic film. I went to see it because the same director directed one of my favourite Canadian films of all time: C.R.A.Z.Y. That film is utterly mind-blowing for all sorts of reasons (the psychedelic use of music with Pink Floyd & Rolling Stones - great soundtrack!, beautiful & creative shots, surreal slow-mo scenes, great acting...) 

Anyway, I was hoping to get another film like that with this, but nope. Read a review here. The film has two storylines slowly converging into one, but the final conclusion was not really satisfactory. It felt more like a 'whaaaa?' than an 'ohhhhh!' (if you get what I mean). 

A lot of Jean-Marc Valleé's signature tropes were present: music of various genres were highlighted, good slow-mo sections, underwater shots, and beautiful young actors. His auteuristic style worked more or less, but occasionally I'd think that he's doing the same old trick because people loved it in C.R.A.Z.Y. For example, Pink Floyd again?! Can he not pick another band, or even another song, to feature? 

One interesting fact: you'd think that the film title refers to the café made famous by Sartre, de Beauvoir and the likes, but actually it refers to a song. Oh another tidbit: this director made Young Victoria! I haven't watched that yet but it had some good reviews.  

There's some moving acting in Café de Flore - Vanessa Paradis is in the cast - but overall, I wouldn't suggest anyone see it. Please go see C.R.A.Z.Y. instead!

Fifty Shades of Grey (Trilogy)

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey

Author: EL James

Why is the word-of-mouth hit Fifty Shades Trilogy (Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed) so popular? Most critics give credit to the rise of e-readers and their ability to allow for discreet reading. The plotline's not great, the heroine and hero lack character development.

Fifty Shades feels more like a fanfiction story than an original one, and indeed, after a bit of quick research, I found out the series started life as a piece of Twilight fanfiction. You can see the resemblance to Twilight in the brooding, secretive older man who has a dark, twisted past, and a submissive young lady who gets acquainted with the 'dark' side of life and discovers her 'inner goddess' along the way...

More than three friends have recommended the book to me (most of them in publishing actually!), so there must be something compelling about the novels. I guess the dark, racy nature of the story makes for an exciting page-turner.

The critics have given it mixed reviews. Some US states even banned the books from libraries. You should read it anyway, to see what it's all about. You can't escape from it really, they're about to turn it into a Hollywood film!  

Bookstart: Share 20 books in 2012 & Kurt Vonnegut

Event: Booktrust's 20th birthday celebration of Bookstart

Location: Anywhere you're near a book!

Joining well-known faces such as Gruffalo author (and Children's Laureate) Julia Donaldson and War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, I've recently made a pledge (and a silly balloon on my Twitter profile) to a great cause: to share 20 books in 2012.

This is part of a Bookstart campaign to get everyone to share books with their families and friends. Bookstart itself is aimed at helping children start reading, but hey, you can share books not just with children. This is what they recommend:

How can you share 20 books?

• reading picture books with your own children or other members of your family at bedtime or at anytime!
• reading to a group of children in a school or a library
• joining a reading group
• recommending books to your friends
• posting a book review on a website.

I'm probably just going to do the latter two. In previous entries, I've already shared with you the wonders of The Hunger Games, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Diana Athill's STET, TS Eliot's Four Quartet & Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach... so it's really easy to continue onwards writing reviews about another dozen or so books for the rest of this year. 

So for Book #7, I will talk about Slaughterhouse Five! 

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Title: Slaughterhouse Five

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

First of all, it is embarrassing to admit that I only read Slaughterhouse Five recently (over Easter holidays). Secondly, I have always thought that Slaughterhouse Five is about a group of children solving mysteries.

Yes, I mixed it up with The Famous Five, haha!

So naturally, I didn't really like it when I started reading, as it defied my expectation: why did the narrative launch immediately into a discussion about the representation of World War 2 (and in particular, the Dresden episode)? Where are the kids? Where's the mystery?

I started to like it by the end of chapter 1. It's very metafictional, with the author going on about how he's going to write about his war experiences authentically and correctly. He's very self-deprecating: 

I've finished my war book now. The next one I wrote is going to be fun. This one is a failure, and had to be, since it was written by a pillar of salt. It begins like this: Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. It ends like this: [...]

He does indeed give away the last sentence of his book, right in the first chapter. Very Joycean; very biblical.

Anyway, so the 2nd chapter brings us into this fictional account of Billy Pilgrim. That story itself is hard to appreciate, I think because the main character Billy is so difficult to like: he's quite pathetic, bad things happen to him but he doesn't try to change his situation much. He is a Cassandra-like creature, but the things he can foretell sound ridiculous. I really didn't like Billy Pilgrim, but the metafictional aspects of the story are awesome, where the I or me appears in the narrative as the 'author'. That is quite fun and unexpected. And I'm a huge sucker for metafiction.

Another quirky bit in the book is that whenever someone dies, or if someone talks about death (and this happens quite often!), the line 'So it goes' follows right after. This technique doesn't get old, and it's quite a funny yet resigned way of dealing with death.

Overall, the book is worth a read. It is actually ranked the 18th greatest English novel of the 20th century by Modern Library. In any case, if you must read only one satire on the world war, you should skip this one and pick up Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Catch-22 is quite lengthy, but it's absolutely a laugh-out-loud kind of novel.

TS Eliot & Ian McEwan

Title: The Four Quartet by TS Eliot

Location: St Michael's Church in East Coker

This has been a surprisingly literary weekend. We didn't set out to do anything other than have a relaxing Easter break, perhaps drive around the countryside and to the coast. We stayed in Yeovil, which isn't a spectacular town, but ended up having a nice cup of chai tea and a scrumptious raspberry & chocolate tart at the Pear Tree in the nearby town Sherbone. Someone wrote a review of what to do in Sherbone and recommended the Pear Tree (and also managed to slag off Yeovil, but I don't blame him). 

On the same day, we drove to East Coker, which turned out to be part of TS Eliot's famous poem the Four Quartets. I absolutely love Burnt Norton, the first part of the Four Quartets, so I'm embarrassed to say I didn't recognise the significance of East Coker until I saw his plaque inside the church. My favourite lines from Four Quartets: 

What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.

Isn't it beautiful? I fell in love with this section of the poem at the same time as reading Borges' short stories, and Borges' fiction primarily wrestled with the astounding idea that in art or literature, fiction and non-fiction (truth and lies) are given equal status. Only in literature can you follow the path you did not take, and learn what could have happened. Anyway. 

East Coker turns out to be Eliot's grandfather's home, and the Eliot family has ties to this village for centuries back. TS Eliot was born in the States, but he ended up becoming a British citizen. He lived in London for most of his life: when he visited East Coker though, he decided to have his ashes buried there. Quite poignant. There's a plaque dedicated to him inside the church, with part of his poem inked on it: 

In my beginning is my end. Of your kindness, pray for the soul of Thomas Stearns Eliot, poet. In my end is my beginning.

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Title: On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Location: Chesil Beach in Dorset 

After a lazy lunch today, we took off towards Bridport and Beaminster. We were told the two towns are quite picturesque, and decided to drive down to the coast. Bridport is small, quiet (especially on Easter Sunday), but it has a lovely cultural scene going on there: signs with the latest Bridport Film Festival, lots of used bookstores, cute pubs with book club evenings... We spent a nice afternoon chilling out at Beach & Barnicott, a lovely Grade II listed bar & restaurant. It is very comfortable, except that the ceiling started leaking while we were drinking Green & Blacks hot chocolate and devouring a moist carrot cake. Turns out the kitchen employees were draining their sinks, and yes, the water goes down through the ceiling and onto us (well, almost). Anyway, other than that incident, the pub was very relaxing and we had a nice time compiling a strange list of things we are good at (inspired by this book).

We then drove a few minutes more to West Bay and walked along the beach, which turns out to be next door to Chesil Beach! Chesil Beach, made famous by Ian McEwan's novella. I am the biggest fan of McEwan (at least, almost everything after The Child In Time), so it was really fortunate to accidentally find the setting of one of his stories. It was a bit chilly, but the walk by the beach and the Jurassic cliffs nearby are really astounding and dramatic - you can kind of picture dinosaurs seeing the same cliffs when they once roamed the earth. 

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely long (and literary) weekend as well!

Diana Athill & The Perch

Coming soon: Diana Athill talks about a life fully lived

Location: Christ Church, Oxford

Diana Athill's appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival is sold out! I'm really upset because I noted this event down, but didn't get around to buying tickets until it's too late. Her memoir STET is absolutely amazing, a behind-the-scenes look at what being an editor is all about (at least, before the digital age arrived). Not a lot of editors are 'famous' outside of the publishing industry, but if you are at all into literature, you probably would have heard of Athill's name.

It might be one of her last appearances too ... oh well! There are loads going on at the Literary Festival. I believe Philip Pullman and Kevin Crossley-Holland are also doing events (and yes, I do love children's lit!).

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Where to drink: The Perch

Location: Binsey Lane, Oxford

And while I'm on an Oxford theme: last weekend we discovered Port Meadows and The Perch, a wonderful countryside pub. Their food is quite pricy as they see themselves as a historic pub and 'French restaurant serving innovative and high quality food'. So instead, we had a small picnic by the meadows before wandering in to the beer garden. 

The pub itself is quaint yet sophisticated. Their beer selection is alright, we weren't in love with what we chose, but the atmosphere in the garden is lovely: the customers are a mixture of mainly young academic families with strollers, students, and then some suited figures. I never knew that Alice in Wonderland has links around this area of Oxford.

Port Meadows itself is worth a visit, especially in spring. Bucolic would be the right word to describe it, though that word always reminds me of cholera (my mind's a funny thing!).

Mad Men (5) and Hunger Games

Coming soon: Mad Men Season 5 and the film Hunger Games

Locations: on TVs and theatres near you

Mad Men and the Hunger Games target totally different demographics and have nothing in common, but they are both coming out near the end of the month. 

While I'm super excited for the new season of Mad Men to start, I am also very intrigued by the Hunger Games phenomenon. I read the first of the trilogy in one sitting, without meaning to. It was very gripping, a total page-turner. The 2nd and 3rd parts started to wear thin though. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but suffice to say, when you have a plot based around a dystopic world with rules and morals of its own, you just cannot go and drop in a deus ex machina over and over again. If a beloved character is about to die under existing 'rules', you should not arbitrarily change the rules so that the character survives! It's called bad plot design, and I really hate that.

The trailer for the first film looks good though, so I might give it a try. If you're crazy enough, you can also try the Hunger Games Workout at your local gym.

Mad Men, on the other hand, has amazing plot lines. Every episode is superbly crafted from first line to last. I love it insanely, including the costumes, the lighting, the moods, the shots. Beautiful. I wonder what will happen now that Don has proposed! And I also wonder if the writers/directors were ever inspired by In the Mood for Love. My favourite film of all time, ITMFL is also set in the 60s, and is a film full of longing silences, looks, and similar camera angles and shots.

There's a countdown on the official Mad Men website, a fashion gallery, and even a 'Mad Men job interview' game, where you can find out if you have what it takes to get hired! How timely, in this economic climate.