Category: Reviews

Brideshead Revisited book review

We’ve had Brideshead Revisited lying around the house for years so I finally picked it up last week. First off, I want more Evelyn Waugh. Second off, why hasn’t any writer written their own version of what happens next? Does Charles Ryder ever find happiness? Does Julia ever remarry? What becomes of Sebastian in the end, does a brilliant young man like him truly end his days as a porter for a monastery?

It’s such a tragedy, of no discernible cause. Why does Sebastian hate his mother so much that it drives him to drink? From all I can see his family is a bit odd, a bit eccentric, a bit cold to each other, but not to the extent that it would drive him to despair. But I guess the point of seeing things through Ryder’s eyes is to show that each family has its strange dynamics that no outsider can ever truly appreciate, no matter how long they spend with the family. And so in the end poor Charlie finds himself booted to the curb and the family goes on as dysfunctionally as ever. I can only hope they found some measure of contentment in their final decisions.

I hear there’s a movie and a TV series out now, but I don’t think they could capture the true magic of the book, because most of it depends on the power of your own imagination. I might give them a shot one day, though.

Infernal Affairs movie review

Quick Review
I watched this famous Hong Kong film starring Tony Leung and Andy Lau last weekend. Tony stars as Yan, a police mole deep within a triad gang. Andy stars as Lau, a gang mole high up in the police service. After a botched gang cocaine trade, both higher ups charge their moles with finding the identity of the other group’s mole. And so a deadly game of cat-and-mouse begins.

First, spoilers for the ending. Quick! Look away! Yan dies, Lau gets away with everything.

The acting is brilliant, the music is really good. Lights, action, cinematography, everything about Infernal Affairs is brilliant except one thing…the plot. The characters are really too stupid for words. What bothered me the most?

1. Lau managing to get all sorts of information to his triad boss during a stakeout, with the rest of the police force sitting right by him. Eventually it’s revealed that the guy right next with him was in the triad too, which is why he got away with it, but at the time it really pissed me off.
2. Yan picking up his phone after Inspector Wong died. The first thing he should have done was trash that thing and hope the number couldn’t be traced to him. Better hope he had a special phone only for Wong affairs.
3. Yan trusting Lau immediately and going along with him, all while knowing of the existence of a triad mole within the police. Dumbass.
4. Yan having solid evidence of Lau being the triad’s mole and choosing to blackmail him with it instead of turning it straight into the police. THIS DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL! Did he have a deathwish? I can only conclude he had a deathwish.
5. Yan confronting Lau face-to-face before making arrangements to have the evidence sent to the police. This allowed Lau to get clean away with everything once Yan has been killed by a bad cop. What An Idiot!

The ‘Lau Wins’ ending evidently went down pretty badly because eventually they trotted the same actors out for Infernal Affairs 3 (Infernal Affairs 2 apparently does not deserve to be mentioned) where Lau eventually pays for his sins. Yah, whatever. Infernal Affairs was really gripping, but now that it’s over I don’t think I want to watch it again. But I was impressed by both Andy and Tony, so I’ll be looking for more films by them in the future.

Sgt Frog volume 1 manga review

I get bored at the salon a lot, so I’ve taken to bringing my own literature. Last week it was Sgt Frog volume 1.

Keroro, the frog sergeant in question, is an alien who comes to Earth as a scout in readiness for the invasion of the Earth. By chance he ends up in the Hinata family house where he is quickly captured. When a hilarious misunderstanding leaves him and his platoon stranded on Earth, Keroro is left to fend for himself as he best knows how…which means slaving for the Hinata household as their unpaid housekeeper!

Sounds like a sad tale, but it’s actually quite hilarious, mostly due to Keroro’s charm and upbeat attitude. Far from a shrinking violet he’s a tough-talking, mischievously insubordinate, choleric and has a crazy love for building Gundam models. Part of the humor comes from the disjointed fact that he’s an alien frog and yet loves modern things like iMacs and manga.

The human component is the Hinata family: Natsumi the bossy older sis, Fuyuki the easygoing little brother and their mother Aki. Personally I’m always more interested in the activities of the frog team, but the humans provide a good foil for their personalities to bounce off. It wouldn’t be the same manga without them.

Volume 1 starts Keroro’s abandonment on Earth. He later finds his subordinate Tamama (soooo cuuuuuuuute) who is living with Fuyuki’s classmate Momoka. The end of the volume introduces Moa, a.k.a. Angol Mois, the Lord of Destruction… currently disguised as a 14 year old girl who called Keroro “Uncle”. I can’t wait for volume 2!

So Long, and thanks for all the Fish (1) book review

I love the title, but the fourth book in the Hitchiker Quintology just doesn’t do it for me. For those unfamiliar with the series, it’s a series of books about the literally out-of-this-world adventures of an ordinary earthling, Arthur Dent, thrown into space after the Earth is demolished to make space for an intergalactic bypass. It’s as crazy as it sounds, and each volume is jam-packed with impossible happenings, fantastic new locations and colorful characters of all shapes and colors (my personal favorite is the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, btw).

Then you come to So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and everything takes a turn for the worse. I’m about a third through it and I bet it picks up later, but I’m really bored so far. Actually I’ve read the whole series before way back in high school and I don’t remember this one being quite so bad, so we’ll see.

What’s wrong with it? Firstly, you’re just dealing with Arthur Dent so far. He works as the straight man to a host of nutters, but as a character on his own he’s dreadfully boring. Secondly everything takes place on Earth, and not just Earth…Britain! The least romantic nation on the planet. Thirdly, nothing’s happened except Arthur’s got a crush on this girl and he doesn’t know how to handle it. Well whoopdy-doo! Welcome to puberty! Color me unimpressed!

Ah, it’s good to get that off my chest. 90-10 odds that things will pick up very shortly and make this slog worth it (I distinctly remember Arthur and Fenchurch making out on the wing of an airplane, which is seriously gross), but man, what a let-down after the last three.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1)

If you’re at all interested in self-improvement, you must have heard of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. It’s become something of a ‘bible’ in this modern day. Schools recommend it to their students, bosses to their employees (and vice versa), I bet even hospitals recommend it to patients sometimes.

Just because something is popular or bestselling, though, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. I will come straight up and admit I haven’t read the whole thing yet. I’ve only read the first few pages. I agree with his overall idea, that instead of changing our personalities we need to change our principles and our deep thinking in order to be more effective. That’s a good idea. Better than good, it’s true.

What I have a problem with is the preachy, excessively wordy, downright disheartening way these ideas are expressed. A book at least has to hold your attention before it can proceed to inform or educate you, or even educate you. Stephen R. Covey fails at the very first step, with his cheesy metaphors, self-flagellating examples and plodding writing style. I’m thinking of buying the audio version instead. I mean, there might be something good in there since it’s spawned so many spin-offs and rip-offs, but getting to it…that’s another matter.