Devon Book Club discussion

Thought it would be interesting to start this topic.

Carol wrote: "Thought it would be interesting to start this topic."

Congratulations on getting it going. You are now offically a Goodreads techie

trying to share from my fb info http:/bit.ly/1A0eEep

oh it didn't say that it's a preview of lit events in 2015. Think there was enough in January to keep me going all year!

Sue wrote: "oh it didn't say that it's a preview of lit events in 2015. Think there was enough in January to keep me going all year!"

Lots of good stuff coming up

Sue wrote: "oh it didn't say that it's a preview of lit events in 2015. Think there was enough in January to keep me going all year!"

Great link, Sue, if a little daunting...!

Sue wrote: "trying to share from my fb info http:/bit.ly/1A0eEep"

What a lot of books! Very clear detail on the photos.

Passed a pleasant hour watching Death in Paradise last night. It has a happy, holiday-feel to it with the blue skies, sandy beaches and tropical vegetation. The approach to murder is lightly frivolous, the story line is somewhat weak and the star of the acting cast is undoubtedly the iguana. Evidently he/she is added later and the actors have to pretend, or in other words, act.

As an ageing juvenile, a strange thing I find about Death in Paradise, is seeing the actor (John Jules, I believe is his name) who used to be the cat in Red Dwarf, and the police commissioner who was once the young student in Rising Damp.It seems quite odd to seem them reincarnated in such different roles, whereas the detective seems to be playing much the same person he was when in the role of the eldest son in My Family.

Have been dipping into the film, The Book Thief, which originated from the book by Markus Zusak.
Have been both enticed and bored by it at turns. As befits a film taking place in Nazi Germany during the war, a strong undercurrent of something unpleasant about to happen, runs through it. The small town is attractive and I was surprised to see the red swastikas everywhere, had always thought of them as black. The director, Brian Percival, evidently comes from Downton Abbey, and has clearly brought his artistic skills with him, set-wise.
It has had very poor reviews, in particular, that from the Telegraph:
"The narrator is Death himself. But the film can't be resuscitated."

Carol wrote: "Passed a pleasant hour watching Death in Paradise last night. It has a happy, holiday-feel to it with the blue skies, sandy beaches and tropical vegetation. The approach to murder is lightly frivol..."
I too enjoy watching D in P. It's amusing and harmless and wonderful stress-busting escapism for a weekday night. I can cope with the weak story lines. :) It's funny that they insist on getting all the suspects together, a la Christie, for the denouement at the end.

Yes, I'm never happy with that denouement. Hate it when the suspect just admits it, or doesn't attempt to run off. However, I enjoy it as a whole, so can't be too picky.

I've just watched a video from a link someone sent me of a dance interpretation of Sylvia Plath's Tulips. I enjoyed it and found it thought-provoking so thought you might too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esfph...
Hope the link works! It's around five minutes long.

Yes, loved it. Beautifully evocative.

On a cold, wet, windy January evening Death in Paradise is a very pleasant watch. The setting is a delight and, as Carol says, some of the cast are so familiar they feel like old friends. The one regular member of the cast who was new to me is Sara Martins - and I could watch her for a very long time without getting bored.

Watched The Monuments Men last night. Saw it originally at the cinema and rated it highly enough to get the DVD. I suppose the idea of rescuing the great art treasures of Europe before they were stolen/destroyed by the Nazis was bound to appeal to me (and George Clooney was tolerable...) but I do think it's a well-constructed film with a good mix of camaraderie, humour and some genuinely moving moments. It's based on a true story which I believe involved rather more women than the token one who appeared in the film. I wonder why they chose to change that...?

Watched Dirty Harry last night, for the umpteenth time. There, that's lowered the tone nicely! Enjoyed it as usual!

Carol wrote: "Watched Dirty Harry last night, for the umpteenth time. There, that's lowered the tone nicely! Enjoyed it as usual!"
Do you know, I've never seen it! Not sure why but maybe that's something I should rectify if you enjoy it so much...?!

Well, you have to be prepared for rather dated sexist stuff! Not sure how the sisterhood rates it, as it is so much 'tongue-in-cheek'. Well, I like it, anyway.
Looking forward to seeing The Monuments Men. George Clooney second favourite after Matt Damon!

Carol wrote: "Well, you have to be prepared for rather dated sexist stuff! Not sure how the sisterhood rates it, as it is so much 'tongue-in-cheek'. Well, I like it, anyway.
Looking forward to seeing The Monumen..."
You'll be in your element with TMM then, Carol: both of them in one film!

Watched the 3 hour concert for Charlie Hebdo last night. Very moved by it all.

Saw Foyle's War last night. Anti semitism after the last war a very pertinent topic given what's been happening in France.
Enjoyed it, but always feel it should be a bit shorter. Also, guessed what the plot was from near the beginning.

Saw the last episode of Foyle's War last night. Sad that Horowitz isn't writing any more of it. Honeysuckle Weeks, as Sam, looks a lot older now than she did 12 years' ago, not surprisingly, although Foyle himself does not seem to have aged.
A rather sad last episode. Could not watch the execution of Elise, as too close to reality about what so often happened to the young women sent to spy in Nazi-controlled France.
An excellent series. Will really miss it.

We've been recording and watching the latest series of Father Brown which airs in the afternoon. The stories are, pretty loosely, based on GK Chesterton's. They're entertaining and Mark Williams is excellent but sometimes I feel the constraint of trying to produce a meaningful and mysterious story in just three-quarters of an hour takes its toll. It's a shame they don't have longer and a bigger cast.

Saw Catastrophe on Monday. Very amusing. It's the first in a series.

Watched Wolf Hall. Did anyone else see it?
Haven't read the book yet, so came to it fresh, without any preconceived ideas. I found it very slow. Thomas Cromwell seemed too quiet for my taste. When his wife and daughters died, I felt I had to imagine his grief, rather than to see him experience it. Was very pleased when Damian Lewis arrived as Henry, a few minutes from the end. The pictures I have seen of Henry show him as a not very attractive man, so very happy that the good-looking D. Lewis has been chosen to represent him!

Saw The Descendants last night, starring George Clooney. It was sentimental and delightful, with a wonderful backdrop of Hawaii. Loved it.

Saw French Canadian folk band Le Vent du Nord in Truro last night. They were brilliant - a very talented set of instrumentalists and singers whose joy in their music was very infectious. Loved it!

I should think it's a bit warmer for them over here in Cornwall, than in Canada!

Carol wrote: "I should think it's a bit warmer for them over here in Cornwall, than in Canada!"

Apparently it was -37 degrees Centigrade when they left Canada. They found the reaction to the snow when they were in Glasgow quite funny.

Carol wrote: "Watched Wolf Hall. Did anyone else see it?
Haven't read the book yet, so came to it fresh, without any preconceived ideas. I found it very slow. Thomas Cromwell seemed too quiet for my taste. When..."

I felt it was all very ponderous and heavy going,not feeling at all inspired to watch the next episode - and I had been so looking forward to this series. Also, the scenery felt far too bright, clean and polished for the 1500's!Not read the books either.

Yes, I felt that about the scenery as well, Angela. It was all too beautiful for the era, even although they were rich people.
Will watch the next episode though. I read that the first 200 pages are rather slow-going in the novel, but that the following pages are gripping, so will probably find that as well for the series.

An interesting tit bit from The Times which has a section answering questions on Wolf Hall: evidently the illness which suddenly killed the wife and children was called 'the scourge without dread'. It disappeared in 1551, so not much is known about it. It is thought that it was viral, and that the symptoms were far more severe than was shown in the film. According to Professor MacCulloch the victim quite literally'coughed his guts out.'

Also from The Times: it comments on the Tyndale Bible (it was noticeable in the film that it was really beautifully illustrated) and says that it'was one of the most influential texts of Tudor England.' Tyndale was finally arrested in Antwerp and strangled.

Carol wrote: "Also from The Times: it comments on the Tyndale Bible (it was noticeable in the film that it was really beautifully illustrated) and says that it'was one of the most influential texts of Tudor Engl..."

I agree that the book gets more interestign as it progresses. I will watch teh rest of the series but agree it was underhwlming - to my surprise as all the Twitter traffic was lauding it as a triumph

I have to disagree. While I had a few 'historical' quibbles (too clean and - maybe - too many candles), and was at first taken aback by the colossal degree of reduction/condensation of information and history compared to the novels, I think it is a triumph. I thought it too fast and brief if anything, but reasoned that such concerns were satisfied by the sets, context and the actors' superb conveying of their 'nature' (eg Mark Gatiss only had to say a few [snide] words and I realised who he was supposed to be). I've put an (over)long personal review over on 'dovegreyreader', where it was lost among a flood of praise.

I watched Wolf Hall this weekend on iplayer. I thought it was rather slow, much like the book. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of it though. I believe it was even slower moving than the Shardlake books by C.J.Sansom which I loved!

DrMama wrote: "I have to disagree. While I had a few 'historical' quibbles (too clean and - maybe - too many candles), and was at first taken aback by the colossal degree of reduction/condensation of information..."

Controversy - excellent. I loved the book but the first episode didn't convey to me anything like its' intensity. Perhaps that is what you mean by going too fast - didn't get into the detail. I think it was quite superficial by comparison. However, I shall watch the series and hope it improves

Ian wrote: "DrMama wrote: "I have to disagree. While I had a few 'historical' quibbles (too clean and - maybe - too many candles), and was at first taken aback by the colossal degree of reduction/condensation..."

Yes ... I think you've hit the nail on the head Ian. I was a bit distracted at first, thinking 'but they've missed the bit with his Dad kicking him ... and all his years in Europe ... and the long happy years with his wife, and how he slowly gained some wealth and comfort, and built his relationship with the Cardinal ... and loads more machinations, too' ... etc. In fact, I think such thoughts initially stopped me from noticing the actual intensity - particularly in Mark Rylance's perfomance, but I do think it's there: in the twinkle of an eye, a wrinkle, a bitten-back remark. I then had to remind myself that this cannot be the book, and after that, most of the performances did begin to seduce me, as well as the clever juxtaposition that they have decided on. NB I found Cromwell's stillness at the death of his wife and daughters heartbreaking ... For me, it was the personification of the shock experienced when faced with the incomprehensibility of death. However, I am aware that this response was possibly aided by knowing Cromwell's background. Having said that, my partner loved it, and he has not read the books - in fact usually loathes historical stuff. He only stayed to watch it once he had ascertained that it wasn't like the Philippa Gregory I'd watched last year!

DrMama wrote: "I have to disagree. While I had a few 'historical' quibbles (too clean and - maybe - too many candles),

There's an article here that touches on the cleanliness issue http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/1... I haven't seen it yet but having read the article, will now have to try not to be distracted by the teeth.

Ruth wrote: "DrMama wrote: "I have to disagree. While I had a few 'historical' quibbles (too clean and - maybe - too many candles),

There's an article here that touches on the cleanliness issue http://www.te..."

Really interesting Ruth: I had not thought about the fact that sugar had not yet really arrived in England.

We watched it, and I'm sure we'll watch the rest of the series, but given the life-and-death issues it all felt rather flat, rational and unemotional.

Watched Identity Thief last night. Wore my Xmas robin sweater, had a glass of port and lemon, and found it very amusing. Husband not quite so in the mood, but he managed a few laughs. Loved the way the extremely large woman was so confident and lively and very much 'in her skin' as the French say. She reminded me somewhat of Roseann Barr.

Not a TV or radio programme, but has anyone seen the short video on the net of a cat in a shark suit going around on a hoover? Thought it was hilariously funny. Will see if I can find a link to it.

Carol wrote: "Saw Catastrophe on Monday. Very amusing. It's the first in a series."

Carol wrote: "Watched Identity Thief last night. Wore my Xmas robin sweater, had a glass of port and lemon, and found it very amusing. Husband not quite so in the mood, but he managed a few laughs. Loved the way..."

Carol wrote: "Watched Wolf Hall. Did anyone else see it?
Haven't read the book yet, so came to it fresh, without any preconceived ideas. I found it very slow. Thomas Cromwell seemed too quiet for my taste. When..."

I watched it, have read the book and still enjoyed it, I like the way they are presenting the story, there's a lot of internal monologue in the book, very difficult to represent. The sense of menace and of political manoeuvring is very nicely done. I also like the fact that Anne has that slight French accent, would have been even better if her father was called by his actual name of Bullen.

Angela wrote: "Carol wrote: "Watched Wolf Hall. Did anyone else see it?
Haven't read the book yet, so came to it fresh, without any preconceived ideas. I found it very slow. Thomas Cromwell seemed too quiet for ..."

I'm a bit surprised about the comments about too bright and clean, where do we get this idea that eveything'in history' is automatically dull and grubby, what you see now is the effect of the passage of time on once bright and new thngs.

Ley wrote: "Carol wrote: "Saw Catastrophe on Monday. Very amusing. It's the first in a series."

Carol wrote: "Watched Identity Thief last night. Wore my Xmas robin sweater, had a glass of port and lemon, and ..."
Never knew that Boleyn was really Bullen. Bulley is, I believe, a Flemish name which sounds a bit similar. Wonder if Bullen originally came from Flanders, and not from France.

Watched Catastrophe again last night. Love it. The man is so laid-back and calm, and the woman is so volatile and quirky; he is a perfect foil to her.

I was disappointed by Wolf Hall. I had attempted the book and struggled to be honest so was looking forward to a more palatable version on TV. I found it slow and didn't grab me. I really enjoyed the Philippa Gregory Cousins War series on TV, much more pacey, racy and my cup of tea! Saying that, I enjoyed Damien Lewis as Henry and will continue to watch the series to see if it improves.

Re Bullen/Boleyn, my ex and I used to run Exmoor Brassrubbing Centre where we had a replica of the brass to sir Thomas Bullen, Anne's father, the original is at Hever Castle, very attractive brass with lots of decoration as he was a KG.