We don’t watch television that much. We don’t have satellite (it’s just not worth the cost and we don’t have cable in SA) and the public broadcaster in South Africa is not worth watching most of the time (unless you really like soapies, infomercials local rip-offs of various reality shows and unscripted teen chat shows). We pay our TV licence like good law-abiding citizens, but we don’t really get our money’s worth. But sometimes the SABC surprises us with a worthwhile offering.
Source: IMDb
Last Friday was such an occasion. The DVD we were watching was finished and I flicked through the three channels to see if maybe anything was on. That’s how I came across Kinky Boots. Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews Kinky Boots“→
About a month ago I mentioned that I had won a copy of Dan Brown’s Inferno, which was a good thing as, after The Lost Symbol I wasn’t planning on buying one of his novels again. Turns out my instincts were right as Mr Brown’s latest offering was not much of an improvement on its predecessor.
I have to admit that wasn’t my first impression. In fact, I quite enjoyed the first two thirds of the novel.
(At this point it would be pertinent to insert a spoiler warning. I am going to reveal significantly more than the jacket blurb, but I’ll try not to ruin the big stuff just in case you really want to read it.) Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews Inferno by Dan Brown”→
I’m one of those people who would have a serious problem if you were to ask me what is my favourite book, author, song, composer, even genre. My tastes are simply too broad and I like too many things. However, if you ask me about my favourite movie I can answer in a heartbeat. No, it’s not The Lord of the Rings trilogy or Narnia (though I’d give them a close second place). It’s the 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush. This movie was my first introduction to Hugo’s epic tale and, while I have yet to read the book, I believe it is the single most beautiful story ever written. More about that another time.
I am also very familiar with the musical, having watched the 1995 recording of Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert several times and listening to the tape until it left this world for a better place. This is another area where I can easily tell you my favourite. Les Misérables has second place, after Phantom of the Opera (in this case music trumps story).
When I heard the musical was being turned into a movie, I was simultaneously excited and apprehensive.
Just in case you’ve never heard of this book before (you barbarian), a few quick facts: Eric Arthur Blair, under the name of George Orwell, wrote it in the late 1940s. He died shortly after publishing it. He wrote a few other novels during his life, but none so famous as Animal Farm, which preceded Nineteen Eighty-Four and is about a bunch of farm animals who rebel against their master and start running the farm for themselves but is actually a satirical allegory of the rise of communism in post-revolutionary Russia.
Both Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four carry the same message: they want to warn us of the danger of not thinking for ourselves and giving too much power to those who govern over us. According to Wikipedia these two books together have sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author.
Most people in the English-speaking world are forced at one time or another to read Animal Farm during high school (I can recite significant portions of Animal Farm from memory – occupational hazard of being an English teacher), which is a shame, really, as they end up hating what is really a delightful little novella. On the other hand, for some reason people think there’s something wrong with them if they have not yet read Nineteen Eighty-four, or at least, that’s the only conclusion I can draw from the fact that it’s the book most people have lied about having read.
If you haven’t read either of these, but are planning to still do so and don’t want me to spoil it, you might want to stop reading about here. If you’re not planning to read them, read on – at least next time you lie about having read it you’ll sound a bit more informed 😉
If you liked Forrest Gump (the movie, not the book), chances are you’ll love The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared (the book – movie’s expected later this year). This book, recommended by someone in my writer’s group, was an unexpected surprise that I can see myself reading several more times before I celebrate my centenary.
The story is simple: Alan Karlsson, on his hundredth birthday, decides he’s fed up with the old age home, climbs through his bedroom window in his slippers and gets on a bus, picking up some luggage along the way. He joins forces with a professional thief and a hot-dog seller/almost vet/almost doctor/almost architect/almost…well, rather you just read the book…and finds himself on the run, wanted by the police for a triple murder. There’s something about an Elephant and a bunch of Bibles in there as well, but let me not give too much away right now. Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson”→
if all else fails...use a hammer 