Tuesday, March 10, 2020

February Consumption Diary

MUSIC


BOOKS

Image result for lanny coverLanny by Max Porter (novel, audiobook)

I started listening to this while camping last month, when I couldn't sleep because of the logging trucks, but I started from scratch again this month and yeah, I'm glad I did.

Porter has a subversive streak, evident both in how he puts a page together and use of narrative... For the longest time, the 'disappeared boy' arc felt fresh and new. That it doesn't hold that line to the very end is a bit disappointing, but it's still fantastic overall.


Image result for teleportation incidentThe Teleportation Incident by Ned Beauman (novel, audiobook)


A colleague said my latest novel reminded him of Beauman's work, so of course I checked him out.

On reflection, this is not the way to attack a new author. It's like being shown a photo of a celebrity and being told you look like them. You'll only see how old they look, or how far short of them your own appearance falls.

For me, The Teleportation Incident held up a mirror to my own hangup about soggy middle sections...


Image result for madame bovary audiobookMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (novel, audiobook)

One of the gazillion 'great' novels I've never read but knew enough about not to skip the Introduction for fear of spoilers.

I enjoyed it, but the fact I moved onto Middlemarch next, in which the characters seem much fuller and there's a sense of humour and brio, means Bovary has already slumped in my estimations. Sorry Gus!

...

And then these books, which for different reasons (some of it is laziness!), I won't comment on here:

Drongo by Ian Richards (novel)
This is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill (novella)
Mother Nut by John Jeremiah Sullivan (novella)
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (poetry)
The Book of Traps and Lessons by Kate Tempest (poetry)


MOVIES & TV

My Neighbour Totoro
Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back
Logan Lucky
Uncut Gems
Skyscraper
Succession - 2nd half of season 1 and all of season 2
Rick and Morty - Season 4
Brooklyn 99 - Season 1
Better Call Saul - first 2 eps of Season 5 (i.e. as soon as new eps drop, we're on em in the Cliff household)