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A Book and a Play
Aug. 19th, 2024 03:32 pmGiven my recent reading slump (six books DNF'd in two weeks), I decided to try letting go of my expectations around reading and picking a book that was purely about pleasure.
Looking at my shelf, I chose Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan - and it didn't disappoint.
It's about a documentary film-maker, trying to find out what really happened on the day the subject of her last film had a catastrophic accident during a surfing competition, which left him largely incapacitated and eventually led to his suicide.
In her pursuit of the truth, Clover decided to make the focus of her next film the surfer's main rival, who apparently committed a frowned-upon but not illegal move to block the surfer, at least partially leading to the accident.
The rival, Kit Foley, has since quit surfing for snowboarding, so the book largely takes place in Austria and Switzerland, amongst spectacular scenery and a great deal of luxury.
It was a really compelling setup - high emotional stakes, great dynamics between the various characters and their different groups of friends, and an engaging protagonist I enjoyed spending time with.
The only issue I had with it was the start of the romance plot - which involved a fairly unbelievable and extremely unpalatable sex scene that really turned me off the whole book for a few pages.
However, the writing was good, the way the story came together at the end was both interesting and satisfying - and it even got me on the romance front, with the line "I'll be your penguin" almost making me burst into tears on the train...
So, overall, the book did exactly what it set out to do (in terms of engaging my emotions and keeping me hooked right to the end) and also exactly what I wanted it to do (presenting me with an entertaining read that didn't require any deep thought) and I have to give it cred it for that!
Last week, we also went to see Farm Hall at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, which is a (very short) play about a group of German scientists who were whisked away to a big house in the English countryside by the Allied forces shortly before the end of World War Two, to prevent their continued work on developing an atom bomb. And it was really good! I enjoyed the various dynamics between the different characters, as well as how the arc of the story progressed overall. The set being restricted to one room within the house gave it all an effectively claustrophobic feel, and there were some very interesting themes discussed as things played out. Recommended - and I do love getting home from the theatre by 10:15pm!
Looking at my shelf, I chose Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan - and it didn't disappoint.
It's about a documentary film-maker, trying to find out what really happened on the day the subject of her last film had a catastrophic accident during a surfing competition, which left him largely incapacitated and eventually led to his suicide.
In her pursuit of the truth, Clover decided to make the focus of her next film the surfer's main rival, who apparently committed a frowned-upon but not illegal move to block the surfer, at least partially leading to the accident.
The rival, Kit Foley, has since quit surfing for snowboarding, so the book largely takes place in Austria and Switzerland, amongst spectacular scenery and a great deal of luxury.
It was a really compelling setup - high emotional stakes, great dynamics between the various characters and their different groups of friends, and an engaging protagonist I enjoyed spending time with.
The only issue I had with it was the start of the romance plot - which involved a fairly unbelievable and extremely unpalatable sex scene that really turned me off the whole book for a few pages.
However, the writing was good, the way the story came together at the end was both interesting and satisfying - and it even got me on the romance front, with the line "I'll be your penguin" almost making me burst into tears on the train...
So, overall, the book did exactly what it set out to do (in terms of engaging my emotions and keeping me hooked right to the end) and also exactly what I wanted it to do (presenting me with an entertaining read that didn't require any deep thought) and I have to give it cred it for that!
Last week, we also went to see Farm Hall at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, which is a (very short) play about a group of German scientists who were whisked away to a big house in the English countryside by the Allied forces shortly before the end of World War Two, to prevent their continued work on developing an atom bomb. And it was really good! I enjoyed the various dynamics between the different characters, as well as how the arc of the story progressed overall. The set being restricted to one room within the house gave it all an effectively claustrophobic feel, and there were some very interesting themes discussed as things played out. Recommended - and I do love getting home from the theatre by 10:15pm!
