Media review August 2019

BOOKS

THE DRAGON KEEPER, by Robin Hobb (Margaret Lindholm Ogden)

In a mythical world, there are humans, Riverwild folk, who have claws for toes and areas of scales where they should have skin, and Elderlings, who have evolved an intimate relationship with the dragons. I didn’t mention them? Perhaps I should have, because they lie at the heart of this fascinating little tale. These dragons can communicate telepathically with the humans (and ‘humanoids’), and can usually fly and breathe fire. Unfortunately, these ones can’t do either, because of some issue with their early lives as sea-serpents. In fact they’re a bit of a liability. Then some humans and Riverwild people get together to help them find their ancestral lands. Will they get there? We don’t know yet, because at the end of this entertaining romp, they’ve barely started on their journey. Don’t worry, there are 3 other books in the tetrad, enough scope to answer all questions.

Robin Hobb has chosen wisely to focus on dragon myths, considering the world-wide success of Game of Thrones. But she has created her own unique world, nothing like the Seven Kingdoms, and reading her is addictive. People I know can’t stop reading her books, of which there are many. Will I do the same? You know, I think I might...

HELTER SKELTER, By Vince Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

On August 8th 1969, a group of three women and one man burst into a Los Angeles townhouse and murdered five people who were unfortunate enough to be there at the time. One of them was Sharon Tate, wife of film director Roman Polanski, who by a lucky chance was in Europe at the time. The following night the same killers invaded another home and butchered a husband and wife. They then melted away into the Hollywood Hills. They might never have been caught, because they left virtually no clues, but then one of them was arrested on unrelated charges and blabbed to a cell mate about the terrible things she had done. 

Vince Bugliosi was the assistant DA assigned to prosecuting them, and once he began his investigations it began to emerge that the killings weren’t the idea of the killers themselves, but of a certain Mr Charles Manson. And he kept going on about something called “Helter Skelter”, his name for an apocalyptic war he foretold would take place between blacks and whites, which, hopefully, would be precipitated by the murders he planned. Crazy stuff? Damn right. Don’t expect a lot of cold hard logic from these people, either from the guru himself, or his followers, who saw Manson as the second coming of Jesus Christ. I kid you not. And where did Manson get his inspiration for all this bloodlust? From reading between the lines of Beatles songs, apparently, particularly the famous White Album, in which the song Helter Skelter is included.

Helter Skelter turned out to be the most successful nonfiction crime book in publishing history, partly because of the content, which is truly sensational, and partly because it is actually a very well written book. It’s all there; the investigation, the tracking down of witnesses, several of whom were threatened with murder if they spoke, the forensic evidence, and finally the extraordinary 6 month trial. 

I have made nonfiction books on the subject of murder something of a special interest over the years, probably read over 200 of them. This, in my opinion, is among the top three or four.

DON QUIXOTE, by Miguel Cervantes

In late16th century Spain, a gentleman is obsessed by the idea of medieval chivalry and the idea of ‘Knights Errant’, those who wandered the land rescuing damsels in distress and righting wrongs wherever they find them. His library is filled with books on the subject, but then all rather goes to his head when he takes it upon himself to adopt just such a role for himself, taking on a squire to assist him, in the shape of one Sáncho Panza. The latter is offered the governorship of an island if he does his job well, and who’s going to turn their nose up at a carrot like that? Not Sancho, certainly, even though he, and indeed many others come to seriously doubt his master’s sanity.

But is he mad, or is he, like some renaissance vision of RD Laing, the only sane one in an insane world? You decide. Or don’t, and just let this incredible story wash over you, as the ‘ingenious gentleman’ sallies forth on one astonishing quest after another. Try not to get totally involved with him and his hapless assistant. Try to keep a straight face. You won’t be able to.

Don Quixote has been called the ‘first modern novel’, and it is true that despite its vintage, in the 2003 translation I read by the American Edith Grossman, it comes over as remarkably modern in its feel. And it is saying something that some of the foremost writers in history, Laurence Stern, Balzac, Proust and Joyce among them, all counted it among their favorite books.

I thought it would be hard to read this book. I was wrong. It was as easy and delightful as drinking fine champagne.

MOVIES

A STAR IS BORN (2018) P/D- Bradley Cooper

An entertainer (Bradley Cooper, who does just about everything in this movie, including singing and playing his own instruments, so we certainly know, as I like to say, who to blame) is on a slow downhill arc in his career when he meets another (Lady Gaga) whose star is very much on the rise. What can go wrong? Turns out, everything. And you’ll know that if you’ve seen either the original 1950s version of this story with James Mason and Judy Garland, or the remake in the 70s with Kris Kristopherson and Barbara Streisand.

Not content with these two perfectly acceptable efforts, apparently Bradley Cooper became obsessed with bringing his own take on an old story to the screen, and spent years persuading the money boys to play along. Eventually he won them round, and everybody made a lot of money and, to be fair, a pretty good film got made. Cooper is good, as is the good Lady, and also Sam Elliott as Cooper’s long time friend and manager. And the music’s great too. I’m just left wondering why he didn’t go for something completely original, rather than yet another remake.

THE ANGEL’S SHARE (2012) D- Ken Loach

A probation officer in Glasgow has the idea of taking his charges to a whisky tasting session as a change of pace from picking up litter. Surprisingly, they take to it and one of their number becomes something of an expert. Ah, but there’s a hidden agenda here. For these recidivists soon realize that some whiskies, if rare enough, can be worth a fortune. Now you see?

In this film Ken Loach spins a yarn which might be called “Once Upon a Time in Glasgow”, because what happens is far from the gritty, realistic tales he usually spins, and resembles a kind of fairy tale for the Gorbals. But it’s all done with Loach’s legendary skill, and his main protagonist Paul Brannigan makes us believe all this could really happen. Even though it couldn’t.

ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD (2019) D- Quentin Tarantino

A western movie star (Leo DiCaprio) who’s slightly past his sell-by date is given another chance to make his mark, this time in spaghetti westerns. But he can’t take his long-time stunt double and closest friend (Brad Pitt) along for the ride. It’s the end of an era... Brad, a very laid-back guy, tries not to get too upset as he finds little DIY jobs to do for his friends. But there’s something going on in the background of this movie (there always is with Tarantino), and we’re not sure it will be a McGuffin, that is something that’s bigged up but actually not the point of the movie at all, or whether it is going to turn into something really big.

I’m a little reluctant to spoil the plot of what is Tarantino’s best films for years, so I’ll just say this one is really worth seeing, for the acting, for the cleverness of the story, and for Tarantino’s quite extraordinary observational skills.