When pressed, I’ll tell people I don’t like fantasy. This claim is usually followed by a list of exceptions. I like Neil Gaiman. I like Harry Potter. I also like the Rivers of London-series by Ben Aaronovitch. The rest of the genre is, as they say, not my cup of tea. No offense to you fantasy lovers, but it just doesn’t do much for me. The suspension of disbelief required is, apparently, too big a leap. One of the reasons I do like these books, […]
Many self-loathing. Such love. Wow.
Hi. My name is Anastasia Rose Steele. This is totally an actual person name and not made up in any way. I go by Ana, as in pro-Ana, because we share a sense of destructive self-loathing. Anyhoodle, can I just tell you about this totally charming guy I met? I hated him the first time I saw him. It was love at first sight. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. First of all, with my trim frame and my luscious brown hair […]
Au Revoir les Enfants
On a wintry night in the Peak District, a thirteen year old girl, on holiday with her parents, goes missing. Her name is Rebecca, or Becky, or Bex. She’d been wearing a white hoodie, a navy blue body warmer, and canvas shoes. The town comes out in force, searching barns, quarries, forests, but nothing comes of it. Slowly, the people of the town resume daily life, and as the seasons pass, the girl slips from the public consciousness. The girl’s parents are occasionally seen wandering […]
Sorely Lacking Keanu Reeves. One Star.
The year is 1897 and Bram Stoker is a bored businessmen who boosts his income by writing pulpy novels. The most famous of these, simply titled Dracula, was not an immediate hit, but would turn out to define Stoker’s legacy. This isn’t entirely undeserved, but outside of its snug historical pocket the novel doesn’t come across all that well. The story is well-known to nearly everyone, and I was quite surprised at how closely, at first, it follows the 1993 movie. And yet this film, […]