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redfiona99The two are, believe it or not, not related.
I watched 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' on BBC2 (BBC link here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019nky7). It was good, and I appear to have been doing Matthew Rhys a grave disservice for several years. The man can act! (Some explanation - he and Matthew MacFaddyen came to prominence at similar times and the similarity of name caused me to confuse them and I just assumed he was as bad as MacFaddyen.)
Alun Armstrong was fantastic as Mr. Grewgious, to the point where I got annoyed at the background music because he doesn't need the stirring music of duty and sorrow to get his point across.
I get visions of people complaining about Mr. Bazzard, given that wandering snarky assistants are not properly Dickensian, except, you know, how Mr. Bazzard actually is direct from Dickens. And I <3ed him muchly.
I spent an excessive amount of time trying to place where I'd seen the actor for Edwin Drood. It turns out that I'd last seen him as Ratallack in 'The Shadow Line'. Freddie Fox can act because, well, yes, totally different character and mannerisms and everything.
Obviously, they had to write in their own ending
It wasn't aliens.
It did at least make some sense, and they'd foreshadowed that Edwin Drood snr was the kind of man who had bastard offspring and treated them badly, and that John Jasper had hallucinations. There was, however, a certain level of cheating, probably slight too much, in the Agatha Christie mould of the author knows something you don't know.
I shall however be good and not refer to the whole thing as men with poor social skills and the awesome women they love. In particular dear, wonderful Rvd. Crisparkle, who I keep thinking of as Bracegirdle. Rory Kinnear did a wonderful job as someone who is basically good and kind, if wholly out of his depth (much like Mr. Grewgious), and I was so pleased that he got three quarters of a happy ending.
And I'm happy he made Helen Landless happy because she is the most awesome of the womenfolk.
~~~~
Book Meme - Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something
I found this a very difficult question to answer because well, I try not to do this. Not in the sense of closed-mindness but the idea of having your opinion moved by fiction, unless it highlights an issue you'd never thought of before or a viewpoint you hadn't considered (it's not a book but 'Cathy Come Home' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Come_Home is probably one of the greatest examples of this, although keeping a Dickens theme, you could probably suggest school conditions for 'Nicholas Nickelby' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Nickleby) or workhouse conditions for Oliver Twist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twist) strikes me as being a bit odd.
I think that might be why, if I'm reading non-fiction that isn't autobiographical or clearly personal viewpoint essays, I'd rather have the facts and then any discussion of the facts or author's conclusions from the facts clearly and separately marked.
This is not to say an author can't bring themselves into it and do it well to make a point. As the example, and my choice for this meme answer, I shall choose Stephen Jay Gould's essay 'The Median Isn't the Message' (which can be found here - http://www.cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html) originally taken from his essay collection 'Bully For Brontosaurus' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_for_Brontosaurus).
Day 1 - The best book you read last year
Day 2 - A book that you've read more than 3 times
Day 3 - Favourite series of books
Day 4 - Favourite book in your favourite series
Day 5 - A book that makes you happy
Day 6 - A book that makes you sad
Day 7 - Most under-rated book
Day 8 - Most over-rated book
Day 9 - A book you never expected to love
Day 10 - Favourite classic book
Day 11 - A book you hate
Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't any more
Day 13 - Favourite writer
Day 14 - Your favourite book by your favourite writer
Day 15 - Favourite male character
Day 16 - Favourite female character
Day 17 - Favorite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 - A book that disappointed you
Day 19 - Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 - Favourite book where the romantic aspects are important
Day 21 - Favourite childhood book
Day 22 - Favourite Book You Own
Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
Day 24 - A book you wish more people had read
Day 25 - The character who you can relate to the most
Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 - Favorite title
Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time
I watched 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' on BBC2 (BBC link here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019nky7). It was good, and I appear to have been doing Matthew Rhys a grave disservice for several years. The man can act! (Some explanation - he and Matthew MacFaddyen came to prominence at similar times and the similarity of name caused me to confuse them and I just assumed he was as bad as MacFaddyen.)
Alun Armstrong was fantastic as Mr. Grewgious, to the point where I got annoyed at the background music because he doesn't need the stirring music of duty and sorrow to get his point across.
I get visions of people complaining about Mr. Bazzard, given that wandering snarky assistants are not properly Dickensian, except, you know, how Mr. Bazzard actually is direct from Dickens. And I <3ed him muchly.
I spent an excessive amount of time trying to place where I'd seen the actor for Edwin Drood. It turns out that I'd last seen him as Ratallack in 'The Shadow Line'. Freddie Fox can act because, well, yes, totally different character and mannerisms and everything.
Obviously, they had to write in their own ending
It wasn't aliens.
It did at least make some sense, and they'd foreshadowed that Edwin Drood snr was the kind of man who had bastard offspring and treated them badly, and that John Jasper had hallucinations. There was, however, a certain level of cheating, probably slight too much, in the Agatha Christie mould of the author knows something you don't know.
I shall however be good and not refer to the whole thing as men with poor social skills and the awesome women they love. In particular dear, wonderful Rvd. Crisparkle, who I keep thinking of as Bracegirdle. Rory Kinnear did a wonderful job as someone who is basically good and kind, if wholly out of his depth (much like Mr. Grewgious), and I was so pleased that he got three quarters of a happy ending.
And I'm happy he made Helen Landless happy because she is the most awesome of the womenfolk.
~~~~
Book Meme - Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something
I found this a very difficult question to answer because well, I try not to do this. Not in the sense of closed-mindness but the idea of having your opinion moved by fiction, unless it highlights an issue you'd never thought of before or a viewpoint you hadn't considered (it's not a book but 'Cathy Come Home' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Come_Home is probably one of the greatest examples of this, although keeping a Dickens theme, you could probably suggest school conditions for 'Nicholas Nickelby' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Nickleby) or workhouse conditions for Oliver Twist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twist) strikes me as being a bit odd.
I think that might be why, if I'm reading non-fiction that isn't autobiographical or clearly personal viewpoint essays, I'd rather have the facts and then any discussion of the facts or author's conclusions from the facts clearly and separately marked.
This is not to say an author can't bring themselves into it and do it well to make a point. As the example, and my choice for this meme answer, I shall choose Stephen Jay Gould's essay 'The Median Isn't the Message' (which can be found here - http://www.cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html) originally taken from his essay collection 'Bully For Brontosaurus' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_for_Brontosaurus).
Day 1 - The best book you read last year
Day 2 - A book that you've read more than 3 times
Day 3 - Favourite series of books
Day 4 - Favourite book in your favourite series
Day 5 - A book that makes you happy
Day 6 - A book that makes you sad
Day 7 - Most under-rated book
Day 8 - Most over-rated book
Day 9 - A book you never expected to love
Day 10 - Favourite classic book
Day 11 - A book you hate
Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't any more
Day 13 - Favourite writer
Day 14 - Your favourite book by your favourite writer
Day 15 - Favourite male character
Day 16 - Favourite female character
Day 17 - Favorite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 - A book that disappointed you
Day 19 - Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 - Favourite book where the romantic aspects are important
Day 21 - Favourite childhood book
Day 22 - Favourite Book You Own
Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
Day 24 - A book you wish more people had read
Day 25 - The character who you can relate to the most
Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 - Favorite title
Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time
