Captain Starlet
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Re: Books!
Jan 26, 2020, 16:47
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Currently reading a review copy of Eothen by William Kingslake
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Pursued By Trees
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Re: Books!
Jan 28, 2020, 22:56
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Apologies to everyone else for the shameless thread diversion!
On the recommendation of a friend, I started watching the films of Johnnie To. Through these, I got to know and admire the work of quite a few of the leading Hong Kong actors and started tracking down their films (Anthony Wong, Ching Wan Lau, Francis Ng, Louis Koo, Jordan Chan, Nick Cheung, Simon Yam, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Aaron Kwok. etc, etc) ... and other works by some of the directors of these (Wilson Yip, Herman Lau, Andrew Lau, Benny Chan, Fruit Chan, Alan Mak, Ka-Fai Wai, etc, etc). The discovery of a modern commercial cinema that I can enjoy to the same extent that I'm turned off by most modern USA film output has been hugely refreshing.
Wong Kar Wai, eh? Outstanding stuff, and heartening to see that he's kept true to his vision. It's very probably his being from Hong Kong that's kept him on track, while so many of his 5th generation contemporaries have strayed into much more commercial territory of late (Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou in particular).
Hong Kong Babylon is a lot more readable than Lisa Odham Stokes and Michael Hoovers 'City On Fire', which is relentlessly neo-marxist. Always an interesting perspective, but Hong Kong cinema is largely very careful to remain apolitical so the relevance is maybe a little tenuous in places.
Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like to chat more on this.
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Kwoo
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Re: Books!
Aug 11, 2020, 23:13
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Since posting this thread, I've reread Reposessed.
Something that totally blew my mind a while back was Binky Brown and The Holy Virgin Mary by Justin Green.
I've also been keeping up with Bill Griffith's daily Zippy strips.
I wonder if anyone here has read Dave Ball's autobiography? I wanna get a copy
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Kwoo
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Edited Aug 11, 2020, 23:15
Re: Books!
Aug 11, 2020, 23:14
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Thanks, I appreciate it!
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prefernot
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Re: Books!
Oct 28, 2020, 06:33
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I haven't seen any Hong Kong films, but I used to obsess about 1990s Chinese cinema, especially the films of Gong Li. Raise the Red Lantern is a classic for the whole planet.
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prefernot
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Re: Books!
Oct 28, 2020, 06:38
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I just started Hunter S. Thompson's Better Than Sex. Before that, it was Marianne Faithfull's autobiography.
As an overall accomplishment: I recently read every William Faulkner novel in chronological order (mostly). I have read every novel and short story by Faulkner, Herman Melville, and William Gaddis... where is my reward?
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spencer
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Re: Books!
Oct 28, 2020, 10:31
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Eavesdropping on Jane Austen's England - Roy and Lesley Adkins... fascinating.
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jb lamptoast-morsley
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Re: Books!
Oct 28, 2020, 12:57
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Last couple books I read were:
Stewart Lee - How I escaped my certain fate. Great insider's perspective on the stand up industry. Cope gets a mention too as a much admired stage presence (from around the time of Brain Donor I think)
Bill Bryson - Notes from a small island. This time it is an outsider's view on this great nation of ours - the kind of observations we are probably too close to and take as given which illuminate our psychology. Of course most people probably read it about 15 years ago.
Now reading The education of Hyman Kaplan. Recommended to me by a student in one of the adult education courses I support. It is more of an ESOL class than the classes I work in, but still of interest.
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tk421
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Re: Books!
Oct 28, 2020, 14:58
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Just finished Hell or Some Worse Place. A riveting & easy read about the denouement of the Elizabethen conquest of Ireland which culminated in siege of Kinsale. Worth getting hold off for a different take on the end of the Elizabethan era.
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Vybik Jon
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Re: Books!
Oct 28, 2020, 15:00
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Viz
Re-reading The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football - Harry Pearson
Hawkwind: Days Of The Underground - Joe Banks
Stalin Ate My Homework - Alexei Sayle
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