I would have read more of The Bradbury Report last night, but I only managed one chapter because we went to watch the wonderful Robert Downey Jr / Jamie Foxx film, The Soloist. Go see it.
(Robert Downey Jr is such a legend.)
This guy is way less crazy than the rest of us are.
I worked my way through a few more chapters of Tender is the Night, and if I wasn’t the type to finish books just because I started them (with only a handful of exceptions), I’d have given up by now. Fitzgerald just isn’t for me, I think. But I shall go on. Slowly.
I also started reading The Bradbury Report (manuscript) on the train this weekend. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s superficially similar to Never Let Me Go, but I haven’t got through enough of it yet to really make a comparison (plus I read the Ishiguro years ago, so I’m not even sure any comparison on my part would be of any use).
I had to get through half of Tender is the Night before it got interesting. I appreciate Fitzgerald needed to set up the narrative so the back story really takes on meaning, but it was a slog to get here — and I’m not sure (at the moment) if the journey was worth it.
As Neil says, You have got to be kidding me: Smeaton promises to ‘bring a storm down on Westminster’ if elected. He’s right in one respect, though — vote or stop complaining.
If electing Smeato is the way to demonstrate how ‘celebrity’-driven politics is these days and that we’re all going to hell in a handbasket because we’re too fucking complacent to care about how a country is governed, bring it on. BRING IT ON. We need it.
I totally have a blog crush on Motivated Grammar.
Last night I finished The Hurricane Party by Klas Ostergren. It was weird. I got really into it earlier, but then when the myth is recounted in the middle of the book, I kind of lost the plot (literally). It gets super-surreal in the end — that’s quite a feat, given it’s set in a dystopian near-future. I’ve only read one other Ostergren novel, Gentlemen (which I plan to read again because I think it needs another go), and I think he’s one weird author.
Next up: I’ll either continue to slog my way through Tender is the Night (F. Scott Fitzgerald) or get started on the manuscript of The Bradbury Report (Steven Polansky).
Neil put on The Acid House (DVD) while I was playing with my computer. Once that movie finished and it was time for bed, I decided to pick up my BookCrossing copy of the short story collection and read A Soft Touch. I have a soft spot for Kevin McKidd at the moment, and once again, it’s a bit hard getting my head aroond the dialect and accent, but it’s much easier now that I actually live in the country and hear it all the time. I thought the story was good and I’m going to be reading the rest of it at some point.
So. I hate walking round, near, behind someone smoking because the smell is pretty unpleasant. I’m kind of the typical ex-smoker who’s pretty militant about people being horrible and making me smell their smoke.
However, I think it would be a bad idea to ban the practice in public places. Like it or not, it really is an individual’s right to smoke, even if you think it’s dumb. What we need is a cigarette that doesn’t ‘smoke’ (come on, inventors). What we also need is robust enforcement of anti-littering laws so that people who do smoke aren’t dropping their butts all over the place.
Dilemma. Do I pre-order And Another Thing, or do I wait for it to be published in mass market paperback, buy all six, and read them in sequence? Is it overly nitpicky to be somewhat unsure about this sequel written by someone other than Douglas Adams?
This morning also brought news that Ian Brady wants to be transferred to a Scottish prison to die here (apparently he was born in Glasgow — I did not know this) and he was inspired by The Libyan. Er, The Libyan’s guilt is still being questioned. Brady is a proven serial abuser and murderer of young children. He is not terminally ill, he’s on hunger strike. I’m thinking he’s an idiot and no politician is stupid enough to actually consider it. I hope.
This morning’s Good Morning Scotland had an interesting segment on elections and whether the counts should be delayed till the next day, i.e. no more overnight returns. There is a view that they should be delayed so that more people can tune in to the results as they come in. IMHO, the temptation to tamper with polling boxes would be massive if they were left somewhere overnight. Neil put it quite succinctly: “It’s politics, not entertainment!”
Fascinating — the Economist Debates on international migration.
Some expensive and pointless political point-scoring here with an inquiry in the compassionate release of The Libyan: Full inquiry to be held on Megrahi. The guy’s gone home. If there’s going to be a ridiculously expensive inquiry that will have no impact whatsoever, at least make it useful in some way — since there are serious questions about his guilt, let’s investigate that.
Why do we still cling to mythical link with US? Because the UK can’t face its diminishing influence on the world stage, that’s why.
Aaaarrrrghhhhhhh. Do they even know what nonsense they’re spouting? SNP sets out vision of seat at top table of world leaders (actual document). Scotland has influence only as part of the UK and it’s always been that way (aka the British empire), who’re they kidding? Scotland does not have the money nor the population to go independent in any smooth or trouble-free way unless it maintains close ties with Westminister.
It’s practically guaranteed that if Scotland does go independent, one of the reasons they’ll be using to ‘influence’ anything of an international nature will be its historic links with the UK.
Has Scotland noticed how fucking tiny it is?