Book review: “Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys

Inspired by Jane Eyre, this novel tells the story of Rochester’s first wife, Antoinette, the white daughter of former slave owners who grows up in the Coulibri Estate, a down at heel plantation in Jamaica. In Part One, told by Antoinette, the family finances are in ruins following the Emancipation Act freeing the slaves, and her widowed mother struggles to keep the estate and family going, as the family are resented and tormented by the black community. Her mother remarries, but tragedy is not far away, as the family are driven from their estate, Antoinette is rejected by her mother and sent away to school.

In Part Two, an Englishman tells the story of his wedding and the start of his marriage to Antoinette, followed by his account of the rumours and tales that surround her heritage, while Antoinette sinks deeper and deeper into her memories, thoughts and fears, culminating in a trip to Christophine, a servant from Antointette’s childhood whom she always had a connection with and who is known to practice obeah (a local religious belief, including healing beliefs viewed by Europeans as witchcraft).

Finally, Part Three is told in Antoinette’s voice, and is based back in England, where she is cared for by Grace Poole, and concludes with a familiar story from Jane Eyre.

I’ve not read many “classics”, so I’ve been catching up on the odd one, here and there, and last year I read Jane Eyre before I watched the BBC1 adaptation, and it was only subsequently when I heard about the BBC4 dramatisation of this novel that I even knew it existed. And I am so glad I found out about it. Completely different in tone, whereas Jane Eyre is the story of a naive young woman falling in love, Wide Sargasso Sea is an illuminating insight into the mind of a mentally disturbed young woman. Whilst always in the first person narratives, it is a contemplation on the factors that may have been involved in driving someone to insanity, and perhaps even questioning whether she is even insane, or merely reacting to the environmental and emotional factors that have shaped her from a young child, or possibly suffering from an illness she has inherited from her mothers genes, who also displayed the same characteristics.

The first person narrative forces us into Antoinette’s thoughts initially, and when the narrative changes to her husband (he is never actually named), we have the mirrored point of view, and look at her from the outside again. But, whoever the narrator is, we are firmly in the centre of their world, and it is a genuinely thought provoking story.

Although this is a short novel – only 125 pages – it is rich and dense in language, and enthralling throughout. I loved this book, and especially if you’ve read Jane Eyre, but even if you haven’t, I would recommend it as a great read.

TV review: Doctor Who Series 1 – “Boom Town”

With new companion Jack in tow, The Doctor parks the TARDIS on the rift that runs through the centre of Cardiff (remember The Unquiet Dead?) to recharge itself. Rose, meanwhile, is taking the opportunity to catch up with boyfriend Mickey by asking him to bring her passport to Cardiff for her. The TARDIS needs 24 hours on the rift, so the crew go for a relaxing evening out only for The Doctor to find out one of his old enemy’s now the Mayor of Cardiff, and is planning her escape from Earth which also just happens to allow her to reap her revenge on the human race. Can The Doctor foil her plan in time?

This is the best Russell T Davies script of Series 1 so far. The episode starts with a straight forward “alien with an evil plan” plot, but develops into a marvellous contemplation on the ethics of the death penalty – not exactly what you expect from a family programme on prime time Saturday night television. Russell has written an episode that, although reasonable light on special effects, is beautifully crafted with his characteristic comedy elements (where Margaret keeps trying to teleport to get away from her pursuers, only for The Doctor to reverse the process) yet wonderfully emotive dramatic scenes for all the main characters (with the possible exception of Jack). In some of the quieter moments we see Rose having to deal with the reality of how badly she has treated Mickey, but for the most part, this is an episode about The Doctor and Margaret/Blon. It is amazing that Russell has managed to include such a broad development of Margaret/Blon’s character in a 45 minute episode. We know of her mercenary history from Aliens of London/World War Three, but from the start when we see her spare the life of a young journalist who is a potential threat to expose her plan, simply because the woman is pregnant and getting married; Margaret/Blon displays emotions we don’t expect from an alien threat. As the episode develops, Margaret/Blon challenges the TARDIS crew to question their principles and the morality of the death penalty, and then in a one to one situation in the last meal scene in the restaurant, we see her questioning The Doctor’s resolve about accepting the consequences of knowingly sending another being to their death. This is a rare achievement in modern television to provide genuine entertaining programmes and stories, while challenging audiences on their own morals and the cause and effect of individual choices.

I can’t complete this review without congratulating the production team. The cinematography of this episode is faultless, especially the lighting of the interior TARDIS scenes, and the close framing of the shots within the restaurant scenes, and is a fantastic collaboration between cinematographer and director. In fact, the only point on which I have a criticism is the incidental music. At times, I find the soundtrack overpowering and intrusive, and actually spoils my enjoyment of the story, and this is evident in this episode.

Another fantastic episode, and my favourite Russell T Davies script of Series 1, but because the soundtrack does spoil it slightly for me at times, my rating for this episode is 9/10.

Book review: “The Last Testament” by Sam Bourne

The book opens amidst the looting of the Baghdad Museum of Antiquities, where we see an Iraqi boy who finds himself swept up in the crowd. Escaping the mob, he finds an ancient clay tablet in a hidden vault, which he feels must be valuable if it’s been locked away. We then skip forward a few years and witness the death of an archaeologist at a peace rally, who approaches the prime minister and is mistaken for an assasin reaching for a gun and is shot by bodyguards; it turns out he merely wanted to give the prime minister a letter. The result is that, instead of completing a peace deal between the Isrealis and the Palestinians, a series of revenge killings look set to disrupt and even destroy the peace process. Maggie Costello, an former negotiator is “persuaded” out of retirement to try and recover the talks, but as soon as she arrives, she starts to believe that the initial shooting was not just a mistake, so investigates the apparently random killings and is soon on a political, religious and very high risk quest to find the truth

I read Sam Bourne’s first novel, The Righteous Men last year as part of the Richard & Judy Summer Read book club, and liked it enough to try his latest thriller. This book would make a great beach read, as it’s an exciting, action-packed thriller. Although it’s about 560 pages, I managed to read it in three sittings, and really enjoyed it. Having said that, the chapters move around quite quickly, jumping back and forward in time, and I did find myself having to flick back to the previous chapter to check where I was in the sequence of events, but after a quick reminder, it was easy to understand where the plot was going. There are obvious comparisons between this author and Dan Brown, but for me, Sam Bourne wins hands down; at least his books are well written, even though nowhere near literary classics, they are enjoyable summer fodder, as opposed to The Da Vinci Code which I felt was poorly written, badly plotted and was extremely overhyped. So, overall, a good holiday page turner, but not too taxing on the brain.

TV review: Doctor Who Series 1 – “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”

The start of this story sees an out of control spacecraft on a collision course with Earth, with the TARDIS locking onto its flight path and taking chase. The Doctor and Rose land in London, 1942, in the middle of the blitz and right at the start of an air-raid. As The Doctor tries to find the location of the spacecraft, Rose becomes separated from him after spotting a child in a gas mask on the roof of a building. Before long she is hanging from a barrage balloon that has come loose, and is desperately trying to avoid bombers and fighter planes, but is rescued by the suave, handsome and utterly charming American airman, Captain Jack Harkness. Meanwhile, when the policy phone on the TARDIS mysteriously rings, a young girl warns The Doctor against answering. When he answers it anyway, a child’s voice on the line asks him “Are you my mummy?”. Following the girl, Nancy, The Doctor meets up with a group of homeless children she looks after, as they tuck into a meal left by a family who have escaped to their Anderson shelter during the air-raid. They are soon interrupted by a young child with a scar on his hand and wearing a gas mask, who repeatedly asks, “Are you my mummy?”. Nancy tells The Doctor not to touch the boy, as anyone who touches him becomes like him, empty inside. It is soon a race against time to find out what is causing the mysterious illness that creates the gas-mask zombies.

After “Father’s Day” last week, you think it’s going to be hard to match the quality of the episode, but this two-parter written by Steven Moffat is its equal in every way. A different tone, this episode is by far the creepiest episode of the new series, and I can imagine children hiding behind cushions and sofas across the land, as the image of the young boy with a gas-mask asking “Are you my mummy?” sends a shiver down my spine every time. The beauty of the script is the various seemingly unconnected plot lines that are skilfully woven together at the last minute to give a few unexpected twists and, overall, an epic story. The introduction of the fabulous Captain Jack is another of the joys in this episode, a truly 51st century man, his humour and personality are a welcome introduction into the story, and he is played brilliantly by John Barrowman. For such as scary story, there are a lot of funny moments as well, one of my favourites being when Rose is asking The Doctor to dance while they are stuck in a room on the 7th floor of the hospital and he is trying to find a way out, to which The Doctor replies, “I’m trying to resonate concrete”.

Again, the period detail of the design of this episode seems immaculate. Everything looks authentic, and the simplicity of the effects for the nano-genes is beautiful and somehow realistic. As I’ve probably said before, the highest praise you can give for the design and effects teams are that their work is so believable, it becomes unnoticeable and just feels real, and they have achieved this yet again.

One final note regarding this two-parter, for anyone who is watching them on DVD, both episodes have an audio commentary by Steven Moffat, John Barrowman and Dave Houghton, which are definitely worth a listen. Funny, intelligent, silly and informative, these commentaries are an excellent extra addition for the DVD release of the series.

So, my rating for these episodes is fairly obviously going to be 10/10. Not just great Doctor Who, but great television.

TV review: Doctor Who Series 1 – “Father’s Day”

Since Rose was a little girl, Jackie has told her how her dad, Pete Tyler, died in a hit and run road accident on the way to their friends wedding, when Rose was just a baby. She was always sad that he’d died alone, before the ambulance arrived. Rose asks The Doctor if he can take her back to the day her father died so that he isn’t alone as he dies. Unfortunately, as she witnesses the accident, Rose is rooted to the spot and is unable to go to Pete. She asks The Doctor if she can try again, and he reluctantly agrees, but tells her this is her last chance, but when Rose makes a mistake causing history to change, the alien Reapers appear to cleanse the wound in time.

What an amazing episode. Being set in the 1987, still so fresh in my memory, I didn’t imagine this would end up being a period piece, but from the cars to the fashions to the hairstyles, the design department have done a great job sending me back to my teenage years for this episode. From the colour scheme and artwork in Jackie’s flat, to the peach bridesmaid dresses and permed hair at the wedding, the set, make-up and wardrobe were perfect for the era. The design of and effects for the Reapers were excellent, and felt very realistic, with the pterodactyl look, even down to the shrieking scream they emit.

The script by Paul Cornell is so beautiful – warm, emotional and caring – that we see how the new Doctor Who series is a drama series for the 21st century. The terminology has changed from the classic series, so we no longer have assistants to The Doctor, but companions who travel alongside him, and this episode is definitely Rose’s episode. Her character is growing all the time, and in this episode she has the chance to meet the father she never knew, giving us an emotionally charged episode from the very start. But just because this is an emotional episode, does not mean we lose all the fun and warmth we see in other stories, although Jackie does seem to be the butt of most of the jokes, none of them are cruel. There are also many endearing, quieter moments which are lovingly shot and portrayed by the actors, such as when the bride and groom ask The Doctor if they can save them, even though they’re not important; Christopher Eccleston brings to life their story and he shows that perhaps there is a small part of The Doctor that dreams that perhaps he could live a life like theirs, knowing he could never bring himself to do it. Even with all these wonderful vignettes within the story, it is Billie Piper and Sean Dingwall’s performances that are incredible throughout the episode. Their journey is a joy to watch, while all the time, tugging at the heartstrings. Doctor Who should not make you cry, but Paul Cornell’s script had tears streaming down my face on more than one occasion, and by the end of the episode I was a blubbering wreck.

The best of the new series so far, I can’t find any fault with this episode, and I’m happy to give this one a rating of 10/10.

TV review: Doctor Who Series 1 – “The Long Game”

With new companion, Adam, in tow, the TARDIS travellers arrive on Satellite 5, a space station dedicated to broadcasting the news in the year 200,00. But it’s not long before The Doctor realises something is not quite right; wrong technology, wrong cuisine, wrong culture. While The Doctor goes to investigate with two of the stations journalists, Adam’s head is turned by the amount of information available to him, and Rose unwittingly gives him a way to exploit this. When one of the journalists is promoted to floor 500, the jealousy shown by the other leads The Doctor to find a way to follow and meet The Editor of the news to try and figure out what is going wrong with the future history of the human race.

This episode for me is a bit hit and miss. The story itself seemed a bit weak but there are some great guest performances from Simon Pegg and Tamsin Greig. Simon Pegg gives a brilliantly sycophantic performance as The Editor – a role he obviously relished – while Tamsin Greig’s acerbic yet charming medic was an excellent comic turn in the episode, raising the standard of an otherwise average story. I have to admit, that I’ve waited a week since watching the episode before writing this review, and the problem I have with it at the moment, is that apart from the two guest performances I’ve mentioned, the rest of the programme is instantly forgettable. I don’t remember much of the usual sparkling dialogue from either The Doctor or Rose, and there is no distinct peril, action or comedy to make this episode stand out. There were some good ideas that could have been fleshed out more, like Suki’s back story in the rebel guerrilla movement, or more detail on the background of the alien and its world.

Overall, The Long Game is probably my least favourite episode of the Series 1 and my rating for this story is a disappointed 6/10.

TV review: Doctor Who Series 1 – “Dalek”

After latching on to a distress signal, the TARDIS drops The Doctor and Rose in a concrete bunker, half a mile underground, in Utah, 2012. Alien artefacts are exhibited in glass cases, and they realise they must be in some sort of museum. They are quickly captured and taken to the owner, Henry van Statten, who claims to be the biggest collector of alien technology in the world, which he exploits to patent and make money out of. One of his most prized pieces is being investigated, or should that be tortured, by one of his chief scientists, and it is this that has been sending out the signal into the universe, trying to find someone who can help it. But as soon as The Doctor comes face to face with it, he realises he has come face to face with one of his greatest and deadliest opponents …

For the first time in the new series, we are introduced to the Daleks, and it gives the writers a chance to show a different side to The Doctor. We see someone who obviously hasn’t come to terms with the past, and who is angry and frightened to think that a Dalek has survived the Time War. Christopher Eccleston extends the emotional range of The Doctor, with an emotional rollercoaster of a ride in the episode. Rob Shearman’s script gives new viewers an insight into the history of this mysterious time traveller, covering some of the story of the Time War and why The Doctor is so threatened by this one alien, and also gives us the opportunity to question The Doctor and his motives. But, to counterbalance this, we also see the Dalek from Rose’s perspective – alone, scared, vulnerable – and we actually begin to wonder whether The Doctor is the real monster in this episode. A brilliantly emotionally charged episode, with a fantastic script. The acting, particularly from Christopher Eccleston, is outstanding. In fact, this episodes perfectly encapsulates what the new series is about; this is not just a good versus bad, alien versus Time Lord/human sci-fi programme, this is a morality tale which develops characters and tries to show how the choices we make can influence not just our lives, but the lives of others as well.

The production on this episode is so good, it’s almost unnoticeable, which is exactly what it needs to be. You never actually think that you’re looking at effects, the drama of the episode makes it entirely believable, and the design and effects look effortless. You can’t really give a higher recommendation than that, it is just perfect.

A fantastic episode all round, and the writing and acting are superb; who would have thought it would be possible to feel sorry for a Dalek? As good as anything we’ve seen so far in this series, my rating for this episode is 9/10.

Book review: “The Fall of Troy” by Peter Ackroyd

Heinrich Obermann, a German archaeologist believes he has found the site of the ancient city of Troy. After marrying the beautiful young Sophia Chrysanthis who can read the works of Homer, they travel to the excavation. Herr Obermann educates his young bride in his theories of Troy, but she as time passes Sophia begins to wonder at the techniques and methods of her husband, particularly when visiting foreign academics question the validity of the finds and how the great German archaeologist has arrived at his conclusions. The theories of a visiting British archaeologist bring the beginning of a chain of events that have a devastating conclusion for all those concerned.

Peter Ackroyd has written a fascinating book about love and obsession. Herr Obermann is obsessed with proving that Homers telling of the Trojan war is true, and it seems will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. We are never quite sure of the validity of his evidence and there are underhand dealings with the excavation finds, and all the while Obermann tells us how the evidence is all there to prove his theory. Amazingly, we never seem to see things from Obermann’s perspective throughout the entire story, but always through Sophia’s, or one of the other characters thoughts and words. Ackroyd tempts us throughout with the mysterious events that surround those who question Obermann’s knowledge and his conclusions about the archaeology of the site; are they the work of Obermann himself, or the result of his prayers to the Greek gods he seems to commune with, or merely just accident?

In other hands, this story could have been a long, drawn out affair, but Ackroyd has written an intriguing, concise tale, but still manages to include beautiful descriptive passages, such as in chapter thirteen when talking of a trip Sophia makes to a local town, where there is a lovely description of the sky and a comparison to the sky over Troy. The Fall of Troy is a wonderful book that I just couldn’t put down, and I would heartily recommend it.

Book review: “26a” by Diana Evans

Georgia and Bessi are identical twins, the middle daughters of a Nigerian mother and English father, growing up in Neasden in the 1980’s. We meet them before their birth and are immediately thrown into the unique consciousness the twins inhabit, separating them out from everyone else, even their family. Their mother is desperately missing her own family back in Lagos, while their father is struggling to deal with his own isolation from his family and his Derbyshire upbringing. The family move to Nigeria for a period, where Georgia has a life changing experience, but she is unable to share with anyone, not even her beloved Bessi. Mixed with this, meeting the maternal grandfather, the sisters are told tales of the mythology surrounding twins in Nigeria; stories that will haunt Georgia forever. Back in England, as the girls grow up, Bessi strikes a move for independence, while Georgia attempts to deal with her own inner demons.

A first novel by Diana Evans, 26a deals with family relationships and in particular, the bonds between identical twins. The twins in the book inhabit their own dream world at times, and are able to communicate and visit each other in their dreams and imaginations. The author deals with some of the stories and myths regarding twins, as well as delving into the terrifying world of depression.

Heart-breaking and uplifting in turns, this book not only reveals the inner workings of the relationship of twins, but also of other “couples” – husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons as well as young lovers – showing how any relationship between two people can provide comfort as well as claustrophobia. For a short book (230 pages), the story and the language are both dense and enthralling, and at the end you feel like you’ve read an epic novel. While the magical voyages through the twins thoughts and their final journey together are beautifully written, I personally preferred the real world passages, as I found some of the ideas hard to realise in my own head, although this may be as a result of being an only child myself, and not being able to associate with the sibling relationship, let alone that of a twin. A good book, though, which I enjoyed a lot and will definitely look out for Diana Evans work in the future.

Film review: Hairspray (2007)

In 1988, John Waters gave us a film about a teenage girl from Baltimore in the 1960’s with a mother played by a man in drag, with performances from stars such as Debbie Harry and Sonny Bono, which was a charming film, with a message about discrimination. The low budget production with its heart in the right place, it was heart-warming with a great soundtrack, and I loved it, although I haven’t seen it for a few years now. More recently, the story was adapted into a Tony-winning Broadway musical, with a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, which has now, in turn, been developed into this 2007 musical film.

When I arrived at the screening, things did not bode well, because as the film started, I felt the start of a headache. This was followed by finding out the girl behind me had a laugh that started with an eardrum piercing shriek, and had an annoying habit of kicking the back of my chair. It was going to have to be a great film for me to enjoy it with this particular cinema experience. Unfortunately, it was not. Considering the running time was 25 minutes longer than the original, there was a distinct lack of plot. Many of the storylines and much of the character development had been lost from the plot, and although the songs were good, it seemed as though it was just one after another with no discernable story in between. John Travolta was hideously miscast as Edna Turnblad with an excruciatingly distracting portrayal of the role played by Divine in the original, and of the other high profile actors only Queen Latifah gave a good performance. The only good thing I came out of the screening with, was a memory of the original film, and the need to get it on DVD as quickly as possible to remind myself how good it was compared to this awful remake. I can’t give this film any more than 2/5, and that’s only because I love Marc Shaimans work and most of the songs were good.