Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell
Any of you who are a fan of David Mitchell’s previously Booker Prize nominated Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green probably read this before those. However, if you didn’t don’t be put off by the Japanese setting for this book. It is just as absorbing and interesting as his more recent work.
In his biog at the start of his books, it lets us know that David Mitchell has spent some time in Japan and reading through the book it is quite clear that he is very knowledgeable about parts of Japan and its culture.
Ostensibly, the book is about a 20 year old young man’s search for his illegitimate father who supposedly is a well off businessman. Unfortunately, his father and father’s legitimate family don’t know want to know and at the end of the day when he meets his father when delivering a pizza, you see what a horrible person he is and its probably a good thing.
The book’s more about a coming of age and a falling in love for one person in a complex, multi-faceted society that is Japan. It has it all – video games, daydreams, yakuza violence, the musings of a goatwriter!
At times the daydreamy bits go a bit off kilter and are hard to follow. The point in the book where he goes into hiding from the Yakuza is confusing at first because you don’t know if its reality or fantasy.
Having said that this is a very well written, absorbing work of fiction. It does encourage me to read Ghostwritten now.
Review of Apocalypto
Apocalypto is a Mayan word for the end of the world which was foretold as happening when an eclipse of the sun occurs and a sequence of events involving jaguars and other things occurs.
This is the basis of Mel Gibson’s latest directorial effort.
Its an interesting film on more than one level.
For one its an interesting depiction of the life of the Mayan Indians had in the mid 15th Century.
On another it is a very portrayal of man’s inhumanity to man when things begin to go pear-shaped.
The film just about works and first and foremost should be seen as a very entertaining piece of cinema which grabs you and drags along with to the very end of its two and something hours.
The film tells the tale of Jaguar Paw and his wife and kid who live in a small village in the forests of Mexico. Life is good…. Until a raiding party kills and rapes all the women, puts the men in stocks and drive toward the Mayan capital. It is here that we release that all seems to be going wrong in Mayan society… crops are failing, disease is prevalent and the people are not happy. Human sacrifice is the order of the day. Jaguar Paw and his chums are to be offered to the Gods to appease them. The scenes of sacrifice are very gory so if you’re of a weak disposition look away at this point.
Fortunately, just as Jaguar Paw is about to be decapitated, a solar ecipse takes place and its seen as a sign that the Gods have been appeased and the captives are taken away to given the chance to escape. Unfortunately, this involves running through a hail of arrows, spears and slingshots. Our hero manages to get through but not without getting an arrow through him.
At this point, the film gets a bit silly as our hero manages to run back home while getting chased by a bunch of fitter, bigger warrior, a fully grown black panther, jumping off a major waterfall and taking another arrow for his troubles.
Despite this he manages to get back to the dried up waterhole where his wife is hiding with the son. Only thing is the rains have arrived and the hole is filling up quickly…..
I won’t go on. The film is very good and a lot praise should go to Gibson for putting together a very marketable film using unknown actors and putting it all in a Mayan dialect so the whole film is subtitled.
Any of you who are a fan of David Mitchell’s previously Booker Prize nominated Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green probably read this before those. However, if you didn’t don’t be put off by the Japanese setting for this book. It is just as absorbing and interesting as his more recent work.
In his biog at the start of his books, it lets us know that David Mitchell has spent some time in Japan and reading through the book it is quite clear that he is very knowledgeable about parts of Japan and its culture.
Ostensibly, the book is about a 20 year old young man’s search for his illegitimate father who supposedly is a well off businessman. Unfortunately, his father and father’s legitimate family don’t know want to know and at the end of the day when he meets his father when delivering a pizza, you see what a horrible person he is and its probably a good thing.
The book’s more about a coming of age and a falling in love for one person in a complex, multi-faceted society that is Japan. It has it all – video games, daydreams, yakuza violence, the musings of a goatwriter!
At times the daydreamy bits go a bit off kilter and are hard to follow. The point in the book where he goes into hiding from the Yakuza is confusing at first because you don’t know if its reality or fantasy.
Having said that this is a very well written, absorbing work of fiction. It does encourage me to read Ghostwritten now.
Review of Apocalypto
Apocalypto is a Mayan word for the end of the world which was foretold as happening when an eclipse of the sun occurs and a sequence of events involving jaguars and other things occurs.
This is the basis of Mel Gibson’s latest directorial effort.
Its an interesting film on more than one level.
For one its an interesting depiction of the life of the Mayan Indians had in the mid 15th Century.
On another it is a very portrayal of man’s inhumanity to man when things begin to go pear-shaped.
The film just about works and first and foremost should be seen as a very entertaining piece of cinema which grabs you and drags along with to the very end of its two and something hours.
The film tells the tale of Jaguar Paw and his wife and kid who live in a small village in the forests of Mexico. Life is good…. Until a raiding party kills and rapes all the women, puts the men in stocks and drive toward the Mayan capital. It is here that we release that all seems to be going wrong in Mayan society… crops are failing, disease is prevalent and the people are not happy. Human sacrifice is the order of the day. Jaguar Paw and his chums are to be offered to the Gods to appease them. The scenes of sacrifice are very gory so if you’re of a weak disposition look away at this point.
Fortunately, just as Jaguar Paw is about to be decapitated, a solar ecipse takes place and its seen as a sign that the Gods have been appeased and the captives are taken away to given the chance to escape. Unfortunately, this involves running through a hail of arrows, spears and slingshots. Our hero manages to get through but not without getting an arrow through him.
At this point, the film gets a bit silly as our hero manages to run back home while getting chased by a bunch of fitter, bigger warrior, a fully grown black panther, jumping off a major waterfall and taking another arrow for his troubles.
Despite this he manages to get back to the dried up waterhole where his wife is hiding with the son. Only thing is the rains have arrived and the hole is filling up quickly…..
I won’t go on. The film is very good and a lot praise should go to Gibson for putting together a very marketable film using unknown actors and putting it all in a Mayan dialect so the whole film is subtitled.
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