a series of unfortunate events

| nicole

✨ my rating: 5 of 5 stars ✨

I am so happy that this series came out, to do real justice to the books (instead of the older movie which wasn’t that great in my opinion).

I loved reading the books when I was a kid, and I remember going to my school library every week just to read them. This series took the time to really explore the intricate stories of the books, and the characters were every bit as weird and quirky as I remember them to be. The sets were also stunning, almost reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s aesthetic, and shone through in the beautiful cinematography. The actors playing the characters were impeccably chosen and had on-point delivery – Esme Squalor was AMAZING, as were the Baudelaires, Kit Snicket and Count Olaf, among the others.

Plotwise, there were some parts that I found overly exaggerated (cough cough Mr Poe, no pun intended), and repetitive (Lemony Snicket butting in all the time), but funnily enough I kind of got used to it after a while. At the same time, the show does very well in conveying moral questions and reflecting the absurdities of reality in a subtle and refined way, which is what drew me to the books in the first place.

I was also all prepared to be disappointed by the ending, because in my mind, there was no conceivable way to end it satisfactorily given the ambiguity of the books. The mystery of the sugar bowl, for instance. So the theories online about its significance were right! I won’t spoil it, but I felt that the show handled it really well, managing to balance uncertainty with finality, and ending on an optimistic note.

A Series of Unfortunate Events; directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

🌹date finished watching: 2 feb 2019 🌹

never let me go

| nicole

✨ my rating: 0.5 of 5 stars ✨

The first part was promising, but it quickly fell flat. First, the plot was kind of hard to get into as it wasn’t portrayed very smoothly – the entire premise was hardly subtle, with the schoolteacher randomly explicitly talking about it out of the blue. It made it sound absurd and even laughable. There were many unanswered questions – such as why these kids don’t just run away or revolt; and why they’re modelled after the “outcasts” of society. The whole idea of the art gallery was pretty weird too and anyone could have seen from a mile away that it would be debunked (because what the heck Tommy). The dynamic between the characters was also hardly fleshed out. For instance, them basically pinning it all on Ruth as the bad guy, and Tommy playing the victim as if he was forced into a relationship with her. Overall, I really didn’t enjoy the show.

Never Let Me Go; directed by Mark Romanek

🌹date watched: 1 feb 2019 🌹

dubliners

| nicole
Dubliners

Dubliners by James Joyce

✨ my rating: 3 of 5 stars ✨

James Joyce writes in a very realistic manner, and is able to set the scene and capture emotions really well. I think one of my favourite pieces was “Eveline”, where a young girl determined to run away ends up back where she’s started – a circular journey. I’ve felt that way a lot before too, where a path looks exciting and bright but I just want to go back and re-route. All of the stories were very readable and relatable. However, I felt that it didn’t really leave a very deep impression on me, and didn’t make me feel much.

🌹date read: 1 feb 2019 🌹

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all that you’ve seen here is god

| nicole

All That You’ve Seen Here Is God: New Versions of Four Greek Tragedies Sophocles’ Ajax, Philoctetes, Women of Trachis; Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound by Sophocles

✨ my rating: 2 of 5 stars ✨

Definitely an accessible read and good way to understand the gist of Greek tragedies, but i felt that it was insufficient. Granted, the author does mention that he cuts out lots of parts to make it simpler. However, I found it slightly too easy and even the script seemed a bit unrefined (for instance, the unnecessary and excessive bits of “AAAH” to convey Prometheus screaming could have been put as stage directions for the actor to howl in anguish instead, which would make for a better read in my opinion).

🌹date read: 29 jan 2019 🌹

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stranger than we can imagine

| nicole

Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century by John Higgs

✨ my rating: 5 of 5 stars ✨

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING (here’s my elevator pitch for why). The book takes us on a journey through the 20th century, weaving together a surprisingly coherent narrative that threads through science, art, politics and pop culture, in a way that is wholly readable and devoid of academic jargon. It does so while presenting meaningful and original insights, grasping the bigger motifs that underlie the era. Moreover, Higgs writes with humour and wit, so you not only learn, you get a laugh out of it too. Granted, it’s a very Western point of view, but that’s what the book was focusing on anyway – it’d be interesting to take the same concept and apply it to the East, and to see where they converge. Anyway, I couldn’t stop reading it, finishing it within two days. It’s such a great book 🙂

🌹date read: 28 jan 2019 🌹

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the end of the f***ing world

| nicole

✨ my rating: 4 of 5 stars ✨

This was surprisingly really good, despite my initial apprehension! When I first heard the premise of the series, I was confused as to its appeal – a psychopath going on a road trip with someone who he plans to kill? Um… weird. Indeed, it’s warped and weird but it’s great.

The actual show is far from this distilled synopsis. It depicts two teenagers with messy and difficult backgrounds, who both feel like outsiders. I thought that the characters were developed really well despite their unlikeable traits – their portrayals succeed at evoking empathy within the viewer even as we’re aware that they’re doing the wrong things. You can see that inside, they just want to be loved, and they’re running from the hurts and pains that they’ve been carrying around.

The flat and dry deadpan humour is also effective in this context, conveying the emptiness they feel inside. It’s realistic in the sense that they don’t offer any glamourised version of the two protagonists’ relationship – it’s not some romantic whirlwind, but it’s more of them each trying to figure themselves out, and understanding themselves better with the help of each other. Also, the soundtrack is lovely and the angsty indie undertones fit the mood and is the perfect backdrop for such a surreal plot. Definitely worth a watch!

The End of the F***ing World; directed by Jonathan Entwistle, Lucy Tcherniak

🌹date watched: 26 jan 2019 🌹

from the ruins of empire

| nicole

From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia by Pankaj Mishra

✨ my rating: 1 of 5 stars ✨

The subject matter of the book is very interesting and I have no doubt that the author nows much of what he’s talking about. However, I didn’t enjoy how he spun the narrative as it grew increasingly tedious to read. His points weren’t brought across in a clear and concise way, but rather felt like he was beating around the bush a lot; I couldn’t help but feel like his arguments were very… fluffy, for lack of a better word. There were many repetitive points and excessive block quoting, and his writing just dragged on and on. Overall, it sounded good on the blurb but ended up being a dull read for me.

🌹date read: 26 jan 2019 🌹

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bridget jones’s diary

| nicole

✨ my rating: 1 of 5 stars ✨

I generally don’t watch chick flicks, so heads-up my views on this may be skewed by the fact that I’m not a big rom-com fan. This was an… interesting modern take on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”. The humour is slapstick, crude, but somewhat charming – though I doubt it would fly in today’s context given many of the sexist stereotypical portrayals of people, especially women. Those bits were a downer for me – I didn’t find it funny seeing her go to the office/party/streets in her underwear, it was just excessive and unnecessary. Also, I’m not really a fan of Colin Firth’s representation of Darcy, not here and not in the 1995 BBC series of P&P either (he portrays Darcy as a piece of cardboard). Overall, it was all right, but I didn’t love it.

Bridget Jones’s Diary; directed by Sharon Maguire

🌹date watched: 23 jan 2019 🌹

school for love

| nicole

School for Love by Olivia Manning

✨ my rating: 5 of 5 stars ✨

As the title suggests, the characters are all learning about love, and searching for it simultaneously. It’s a really wonderful story and a lovely book! I was intrigued by how it takes place in Jerusalem during the war period, a setting that I’m not very well-acquainted with. Felix Latimer, an English boy, comes to stay with his distant relative, Miss Bohun, after both his parents pass away.

There is no high-energy, charged plot here; Manning chronicles the bleak days of the young orphaned Felix, and its coldness seeps through the pages. However, the characters make all the difference to me – she has an uncanny ability to bring out bright insights about human behaviour, enabling me to identify with various traits of each character. Felix’s ability to see small joys in spite of the lack of love he receives is so endearing, and the descriptions of him with his cat Faro are so warm and pure! His coming of age is believable, honest and wholesome; I loved journeying with him. Ms Bohun’s strange and nasty character is also given various dimensions, such that we are able to both dislike and yet pity her. We are compelled to, as Felix is, admire or take interest in Mrs Ellis at first, but come to see her flaws and shortcomings over time. The dynamics between them, and the fleshed out characteristics of each, make this novel vibrant in spite of the dreariness of their lives.

🌹 date finished: 21 jan 2019 🌹

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