Year: 2007

sandwich?

Posted on by Greig

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsThe final book of the Harry Potter series arrived at my door at 8.05am today. Four and a half hours later I had finished reading it.
I have to say that overall I’m quite happy with the way things turn out in the end. Rowling managed to tie up loads of the loose ends but not leave everything too pat. It was also quite refreshing to see her be utterly ruthless in dispatching beloved characters. The only problem is the serious amount of nothing much happening before things start to take off into one insane set piece after another.
I never make recommendations about Harry Potter books, you’ll either be reading it or avoiding it like the plague.
As for me, I quite liked it.

Rating: A-

disease?

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Unknown Pleasures

Chris Ott

Unknown Pleasures 33 and a thirdPart of Continuum’s 33 and 1/3 series of short books that examine recordings by beloved artists over the years.
This one looks at the rise of Joy Division at the making of their classic debut album, Unknown Pleasures.
Given the brevity of the book it cannot compete with works like “Touching From a Distance” or celebrate the myth to the extent that Twenty-Four Hour Party People did.
It’s a basic, functional little volume.
It’s worth picking up cheap if you particularly love Joy Division.

Rating: C+

drink me?

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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half Blood PrinceSixth and penultimate book in the outrageously successful JF fantasy series. I’ve reviewed this book before, back when it first came out.
Reading it a second time makes plain that some character’s motivations aren’t what they seemed to be the first time I read it, which makes the upcoming final book all the more interesting.
What else? Well I’d still rate the book the same, it’s entertaining enough, but it’s filled with flashbacks and the present day action is pretty sparse until the last third of the book. As for the big twist, well it’s still pretty shocking but I’ve changed my mind a great deal about it’s implications.
As before, no recommendation, but I did enjoy reading it.

Rating: B+

inquisitor?

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixThe fifth Harry Potter book and basis for the latest film in the series which is due out later this year. I did a quick re-read in preparation for the film. I’ve reviewed it before when the book first came out, and this the first time I’ve read it since it came out.

Rating: B+

stv?

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Election 2007
So the polls closed not long ago here in Scotland and the first genuinely close, actually interesting Scottish Parliament election reaches it’s denouement.

dungeon?

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Maria McKee
Tom Baxter
Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh

Tom Baxter played an acoustic show supported by a guy with a violin. It was innocuous singer songwriter stuff. Guy’s got a nice voice though.

Maria McKee, however, has an exceptional voice. An enormous talent who has somehow ended up on the musical margins with minimal sales and a determinedly cult audience despite outstanding critical acclaim. Perhaps it’s just that the album that should have made her a superstar, Life Is Sweet, came out at the wrong time or

curious yellow?

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Glasshouse

Charles Stross

GlasshouseStross is not a writer who lacks confidence or ideas and in this novel it leads him to deal with post-singularity identity while simultaneously taking aim at prescribed gender roles within society.
It opens in the far future with a man who has elected to have his memory wiped. He begins a relationship with a woman when, suddenly, he finds himself in danger from a past he does not remember. To escape the danger he enters an utterly secure experiment studying 20th century gender roles. In the study he awakes to find himself in the body of a woman and expected to conform to a role he cannot begin to understand.
This book has a cracking couple of opening chapters then it hits a lull that it took me a force of will to overcome.
However once it gets past the lull, it cracks along at a stunning pace until it hits a satisfying denouement.
This is one for fans of top-notch modern science fiction. It’s less than subtle at times, so it may annoy someone expecting better writing. It’s jammed full of ideas though and will entertain sci-fans properly

Rating: A-

solly?

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Breakfast At Tiffanys

Truman Capote

Breakfast At TiffanysCapote’s novella is famously the basis of a much sanitised hollywood film version. In this, the original work, it’s pretty blatant that Holly is a hooker of sorts and she’s portrayed as even more of a creature of impulse and criminal tendencies that she is in the film.
I got the impression that Holly was something almost feral yet so glamorous that the narrator loved her from a distance in his way but never really understood her.
Not my usual kind of thing but it’s a pretty good read and is definitely worth seeking out if you’ve only ever seen the film version of these particular characters.

 

Rating: B