Frog Music, Artful and All My Puny Sorrows

I was very disappointed in Frog Music as the first third was very good. Set in the oppressive heat of San Francisco in 1876, Blanche is a dancer at The Hall of Mirrors. Coupled with a murder mystery, so far so good. But then the book, already a little sordid becomes quite distasteful. It only picks up towards the end as Blanche stumbles on the truth. This time the flash forwards and flashbacks are interminable and ruin the plot. I was glad when it was over. The author's Room was so much better.

Artful probably deserves top marks for it's intelligence, originality and downright creative genius. Unfortunately, it's written for final year degree literature students instead of plain old book lovers like me. I have always enjoyed everything written by Ali Smith, so I had to give this book a go. She says at the start "This book began life as four lectures .... at St Anne's College, Oxford". Did she change things for the novel to make it almost a work of fiction? Here we have a narrator, a bereaved (woman or man?) whose partner's essays and notes form the four chapters (lectures). That's when I got lost. They are packed with extracts from books, many of which I had never heard of, and poems that I had to skip. But I loved the bits when the (woman?) is speaking to us about her ex-partner. Here Smith is as delightful and witty as ever. Early on she writes "I could offer a figment of my imagination tea if I wanted". I would probably have added "to" at the end of that sentence. The fact that the author doesn't always impresses me. The book also has woven into it bits of popular culture. So although it is incomprehensible in terms of traditional narrative and plot, it remains a startling piece of writing. She/He quotes from J G Ballard's novel "Crash" where he says "We now live inside an enormous novel". And one that can take many shapes and sizes as Ali Smith proves here.

All My Puny Sorrows is not a bad book, but it did go wandering around too much. A family drama revolving around two sisters, their mother, aunt and children. Yoli is trying to save Elf, the sister she loves very much. Unfortunately there is quite a lot of repetition. It reminded me of an Anne Tyler novel, although if she had written this story it would have been a lot better and briefer. The cities of Winnipeg and Toronto are well drawn, and the dialogue crackles with wit and intelligence. Not quite the good novel it could have easily been.

A Little Chaos, Far From The Madding Crowd and The Age of Adaline

A warm and friendly movie, with Kate Winslet as landscape designer Sabine de Barre on top form. She just seems to get better. The only nasty part was when her new garden in Versailles gets sabotaged. Director Alan Rickman (who also plays the King) brings in a colourful and well told story despite the flimsy plot. And his scene with just Winslet is joyously outstanding. The sets, locations, photography, dialogue and costumes are all marvellous. Why were most of the critics so disparaging? Probably because it was so conventional and had no punch. But they couldn't really say why. They and I loved the cameos from Stanley Tucci and Helen McCrory. Maybe it's my age, but I loved it.

I can hardly remember John Schlesinger's 1967 movie with Julie Christie but here is another good British movie. This time the Thomas Hardy novel has been adapted by director Thomas Vinterberg and screenwriter David Nichols. Their condensation of the novel works as it never fails to be gripping. Of course they are lucky having Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene ( just why did The Hunger Games have to pinch her surname and then vandalise it ) who gives a convincing yet modern performance. Although it does show up the pretty ordinary acting from Matthias Schoenaerts (replicating that in A Little Chaos) and Tom Sturidge. Fortunately we have Martin Sheen. I thought he would be completely wrong in the role of Boldwood but he was brilliant. He provides a sense of pain and vulnerability in a subtle and restrained piece of acting, deserving at least of an Oscar nomination. The few action scenes are well filmed and the dialogue again has a modern feel. And then there are Mulligan's dresses. They almost steal the film on their own.

Somehow it was good to see an American film after two British melodramas, even if it had the biggest and most laughable co-incidence in movie history. A fantasy romantic drama featuring two  obviously cheap leads, probably all it deserved. But suddenly over half way, there he was, Harrison Ford as we have never seen before. The well heeled (obviously) father of Adaline's boyfriend, and seeming to have appeared from another movie being shot on the the same set. The implausible story was helped by a decent script, beautiful photography (again) and locations. It was just about worth seeing.

Grant and Stone Marlow 5

Another May, another Marlow 5 Mile. This time we met lots of friends from Aylesbury Parkrun, both before and after the race. Sunday was perfect for running. Bright but not sunny, mild at around 14C. I knew I couldn't match my time from last year (44 minutes 33secs) and I didn't want to. It was great running at a nice pace at just over 9 minutes per mile, finishing in 45 minutes 11 seconds and 553 out of 993 runners.

The benefit of being just 70 years old came with coming in third of ten in my age group. I wonder how long that will last? Alison also enjoyed her run, apparently there were lots running her pace. As usual we called in at John Lewis at High Wycombe for a well deserved cup of tea and a cake.

Narcissus Pipit

When all the daffodils have come and gone, the late flowering Narcissus Pipit that I grew in pots are still going strong in the middle of May.

These came from our visit last September to The Lost Gardens of Heligan. I can't remember the name of the supplier, but it could have been the Trecanna Nursery. Highly recommended.

Tring Book Club - A Commonplace Killing by Sian Busby

A well researched murder mystery set in post war London. Holloway in 1946 is a depressing place and a murder starts Divisional Detective Inspector Jim Cooper on the hunt for the killer. Rationing is way of life, that's if there is anything to buy. Food is in short supply and the black market thrives. Busby portrays the state of the country in atmospheric detail. The plotting of the detective work is fairly basic and the writing, whilst trying to invoke the style of the period, remains somewhat clunky at times. But a reasonably entertaining read and an emotional introduction from Robert Peston.

Not the most successful of my choices for Book Club. Whilst everyone enjoyed the atmosphere of post war London, it seemed to be a fairly flimsy story with an even more clunky ending. There are better crime fiction novels out there.

Bluebells and Beech - May 2015

Most years in May, I take my camera on a circular walk from Wendover Woods to see the bluebells. Not far from the car park and there they are.

Across a field and you come to the top of Aston Hill. Past the mountain bike centre, the beech trees are luminous as they are just out into leaf.

Coming down the hill, there are some nice views across to Dunstable Downs in the distance and the end of the Chiltern ridge.

Across more fields at the bottom of Aston Hill, the path climbs up the next hill to Pavis Wood. Here there is a narrow path off the main Ridgeway that has been created through the bluebells. It never fails to be impressive.

Finally, I rejoin the Ridgeway where the beech trees are again quite superb.  A wonderful walk on a  mild, sunny Bank Holiday.

Death of a Salesman at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Two Arthur Miller plays in five weeks, both new to me, and equally bleak. Here we have Willy Loman, a washed up salesman of sixty three. I could not help comparing my own self, retired at the same age. But Willy is still dreaming, not only wishing for a life with no more travelling, but also that he can earn enough on which to enjoy his last years. Anthony Sher is quite extraordinary, perhaps the best piece of acting I have ever witnessed. I can only vaguely remember his performance as Shylock in the RSC production of The Merchant of Venice at The Barbican in 1988. Well it was twenty seven years ago. I'm glad I kept the programme as it tells me the part of Soliano was played by a certain Gregory Doran, united here with Sher again, but this time as director.

This is such a powerful play, although maybe something about how things used to be. But the human drama is quite staggering. Harriet Walter is equally outstanding as Willy's supportive wife Linda. How she tolerates Willy's constant put-downs later in the play I have no idea. And where did  Arthur Miller dream up such a person. I also loved Joshua Richards' performance as Charley, it's just a shame that Willy's two sons paled in comparison. But that is a minor quibble. The set was amazing, the main Stratford theatre is making such exceptional use of it's stage these days.

Next up for me ..... The Merchant of Venice to close the circle.