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Could The Aliens Who Abducted My Wife Please Return Her!

27/6/2012

Balloon or arrival of the Mother-Ship?

After some quiet reflection, I realise now that I should've guessed something was very very wrong when I suggested going to our local cinema to see the Coen brothers' version of True Grit and she agreed to come along without any complaint. At the time I deluded myself that it was the lure of Jeff Bridges (who is worth seeing in whatever he does) and that she was momentarily declaring a truce, and for just this once putting aside her jaundiced view of Westerns. True Grit does after all come from a highly acclaimed novel by Charles Portis and over the years there have been other literary exceptions, Charles Frasier's Cold Mountain and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses spring immediately to mind. However, getting her to the cinema for a 'western' has invariably been in my thirty odd years of experience very difficult indeed.

When I picked up and casually dropped into the shopping basket a triple DVD starring John Wayne without even the slightest hint of opprobrium from my life's partner - I really should have known! Instead, I just went along with it, buried my head in the sand and told myself that peoples' tastes can change. We watched the elegiac The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, followed by The Sons of Katie Elder (not so good I think, but the wife seemed to enjoy it), then True Grit (The John Wayne version and though not faithful to the book still the best I think) again. I only really started to become suspicious when she let it be known that she wouldn't be at all disappointed to receive a darn good western in her Christmas stocking.

Huh!!!!

I tested it out, took her at her word and gave her a copy of John Ford's The Searchers - she loved it! What was perhaps even more disturbing than this was that in my Christmas stocking she had given me a copy of High Noon and expressed genuine enthusiasm about sitting down with me to watch it. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable! But there was more to come, and this previously unheard of appreciation for the western genre hasn't let-up yet. A week ago we watched The Magnificent Seven and when I recently arrived back from Wales with a copy of the appropriately named The Outlaw Josie Wales, I was instructed not to watch it without her.

Would anyone know how I could get in touch with Mulder and Scully, or their counterparts in real life? However, in their defence, I must say the aliens who replicated her did a damn nearly perfect job. For instance, I still get told off for being untidy and for cluttering up the dining table with my writing stuff. But after thirty years of living with someone the western thing was the aliens' big mistake. In real life such a change just doesn't, couldn't possibly happen! So once again I reiterate, could the aliens who abducted my wife please return her ... but ... then again, it has been nice watching all those cowboy films on Saturday evenings ... and in every other way she is exactly the same ...

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Cartref

20/6/2012

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The naked author at home

The sun is streaming through the window in the room in our house in Kent where I write. Note that I didn't use the word 'Study' - the room where I write is actually our Dining Room; however, the surface of its large table disappeared many months ago under manuscripts and various bits of writing-related paraphernalia. Both my wife and I write; we have always shared a passion for books, and although Jude sometimes raises her eyes to the heavens and throws her hands up in despair at the clutter and mess in this room, we both know that when push comes to shove she'd have no difficulty agreeing that writing always comes first in our house! As long as the hoovering gets done and the kitchen floor gets a swish with a mop and it doesn't look exactly like a student squat, then it's okay by us!

I've only recently returned from a trip to Wales, one of my regular visits to see my mother. I always find it difficult these days. The little bungalow where I lived from age twelve until I had an address of my own that I could refer to as 'home' is empty now - up for sale but not selling, caught in the housing slump. My mother lives less than half a mile away in sheltered housing and I just can't bring myself to tell her that everything that was left behind has been cleared now, because she like to think that if she ever changes her mind she could always pack up her things and go home. It's wishful thinking of course, she needs a lot of support these days - but hey! If I reach eighty-eight and want to believe in a few cheerful fantasies, don't disabuse me of these notions, please, just nod and let me get on with it.

When in Wales I finished reading October Sky by Homer H Hickam, which seemed to have a certain synchronicity for me at that moment in time. The book is set in Coalwood, West Virginia, a long way from Aberdare in the valleys of South Wales where I spent my earliest years and where its unmissable cemetery is the final resting place for generations of my ancestors. Mining was the lifeblood of both Coalwood and Aberdare, and my grandfather died from the same miners' lung disease that took Homer Hickam's father. However, October Sky is also about the young Homer's fascination with rockets and his boyish indignation at the Russians who are at that time (Sputnik, 1957) winning the Space Race. He and a bunch of friends decide to set the record straight and gradually their endeavours are taken up and proudly supported by the folk of Coalwood. It is everything its reviewers claim with all the clichéd words you'd expect to find on any cover for any rites of passage tale, "Absorbing ... wonderful ... funny ... painful ...
inspirational," however, for this book every one of these words is applicable and accurate.

It is a joy to read and it's not difficult to understand why it's been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird. This book has a similar sense of mood and wonderment about it as that fine American twentieth-century classic does (and yes, I still feel bitter that anyone could give T K a M one star on Amazon! Grrr!). The book October Sky was originally published in 1998 as Rocket Boys and I believe it was also made into a movie, however, not one that I've ever seen or recall hearing about. My wife came home with the paperback a few years back - she'd picked it up for 50p out of the charity book box in the village-store/post office she passes every day on her way to work. She sees discovering great reads as a kind of vocation. Occasionally I'll exclaim when I've reached the end of my current book, "I don't know what to read next!" She generally asks a few pertinent questions about my mood at that particular moment in time, and then, almost unerringly, she'll produce something worth reading. I won't deny it, I am a
lucky man!

Cartref by the way is the Welsh word for Home.

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Frankenstein Update

17/6/2012

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I don't generally update my weekly blog posts, however I thought the NT Live production of Frankenstein warranted some further comment. The combination we watched was Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster and Jonny Lee Miller as Victor Frankenstein. If possible, we may return next week to see the roles reversed.

First let me pay tribute to the writing and directing. Nick Dear's adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic was unquestionably approached with great sensitivity and appreciation for the original work. The script skilfully conveys the themes of the novel, yet manages to make it both intriguing and relevant to people watching (as we were) via a relatively new medium two hundred years on from when it was written. Danny Boyle's assured direction had the confidence to give the story and its characters room to develop against a powerfully minimal set.

From the opening moments we are on the side of the monster - I was at all times deeply moved by Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal. We see the poor creature's initial struggle for life and its cruel abandonment by the brilliant doctor who has created it. In fact the only people who do not despise and reject the monster for its ugliness are a blind man who teaches it to read, think and converse philosophically, and Elizabeth, Victor Frankenstein's betrothed, who is filled with compassion for the poor creature.

I enjoyed this show immensely, although I have to admit that it was probably the only show I've seen in the NT Live programme where I regretted not having been a member of the original theatre audience. But don't misunderstand me, I was still glad to be there, and nothing was wrong with the performance at all - the fact the N T audience were standing at the curtain call proves it. However, the show had a certain kind of theatricality that can only be fully appreciated when you are physically present and able to take in and absorb the whole. For the first twenty minutes there is virtually no dialogue as the monster is born and literally finds its feet. It is a distressing process to observe - as Frankenstein's creation meets pain and rejection time and time again. There were moments when the poor creature's suffering was almost unbearable to witness. There is no doubt in my mind that the story and the profound philosophical questions it raises, is as relevant today as when Mary Shelley wrote it.

During the unfolding of this play I was aware of only one monster - the devastatingly destructive force that is man's ego.

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NT Live

13/6/2012

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(Not NT Live) Me with friend c. 1985

I am really looking forward to seeing the NT Live showing of Frankenstein at my local cinema this week. This is the encore version of the recent National Theatre production of Mary Shelley's classic Gothic novel, adapted for the stage by Nick Dear, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternating in the roles of Frankenstein and monster (we are watching BC as monster). The production was hugely successful and the show is being screened in this encore version because of its enormous popularity and by public demand. For this opportunity I am delighted, because I missed the production the first time round!

My wife and I, often accompanied by our son and his girlfriend, have seen a number of these
NT Live productions - in fact, since going to watch Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard over a year ago now, I think we may have seen everything on offer. It's an incredibly straightforward way of getting to see some of the best theatre around - and all for the cost of a cinema seat! However, it is not only a matter of expense but one of convenience too. We live thirty odd miles from central London and West-end theatre visits mean for us a car and train journey, a rushed supper (usually from a sandwich carton) and the often fairly grim late night journey home again which never bodes well for work next morning.

Here's the list of plays seen and enjoyed so far:

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean (Hugely successful on Broadway, also showing in an encore version this Autumn)

The Kitchen by Arnold Wesker

Collaborators by John Hodge

Travelling Light by Nicholas Wright

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith

I've heard a few critics complain that theatre should only be viewed 'live' and others voice the concern that this concentrated focus on a few of the most celebrated Theatre, Opera and Ballet companies from around the world must inevitably lead to the damage and detriment of humbler venues who are unable to present on such a lavish scale. I personally think this is nonsense; as far as I am concerned being exposed to quality can only lead to an increased appetite for good stuff. In fact, a great deal of the money spent on these NT Live productions in terms of set design is probably less apparent to the cinema viewer than they are to someone sitting in the actual venue watching the production at the same moment, because we are watching a scene often in a two shot or a close up which they cannot. It is the actual theatre goer who is probably at greater risk of being distracted than those who are watching in a cinema seat. And surely, anything that encourages people to see plays new and old must only be a good thing?

I would be the first to agree that it should never become a substitute for live theatre visits - but this bi-product of digital technology is, I have to say, a wonderfully enjoyable theatrical hybrid! Within minutes you completely forget you are watching on a screen. However I have to say that at curtain call time, being unable to join in and show your appreciation for the performance does feel slightly odd.

Here are some of the plays being offered in the new season starting in the Autumn:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time from the book by Mark Haddon adapted by
Simon Stephens

The Last of the Haussmans by Stephen Beresford

Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare

NT Live productions are screened right around the world. Check out what's happening here:

NT Live

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Good Cop, Dead Cop by Jennifer Petkus

6/6/2012

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Peer review was something I'd heard of but always viewed with some ambivalence. It is of course a very good idea for us independent authors, because it creates an opportunity to discuss our work and opens up another avenue of exposure for it. However, it's not difficult to imagine how it might easily prove to be a path fraught with many pitfalls - to put it plainly: what happens if the book you're reviewing totally stinks? And there is of course always that somewhat intangible little matter of 'taste'. Just take a look at the book reviews on Amazon - choose a book you personally adore and in no time at all you may find yourself incandescent with rage! Be honest, what moron could ever give To Kill a Mockingbird one star!

Before exchanging books with Jennifer Petkus we agreed upon certain parameters. If either of us didn't feel we could give the other person's book at least the equivalent of a strong 'Like' then we wouldn't post a review. I am not a critic, never intend to become one and certainly don't plan to use this blog to write defamatory remarks about anyone or anything (certainly not a fellow indie author!). Anything that appears on this blogsite is stuff I feel positive about. I want people to trust the site, to value what I say and hopefully return to it many times, so it would be extremely injudicious to use this platform in praise of what in 'my opinion' isn't worthy - shooting oneself in the foot is the expression that springs to mind! Personally, when it comes to books, I have an unwritten fifty page rule - if I've reached this (approximate) point and I am losing the will to live - then the book's put down, because life's too short for this kind of noble sacrifice (several names in the literary pantheon have bitten the dust at fifty pages).

So the fact that I am actually writing about Good Cop, Dead Cop by Jennifer Petkus should immediately be conveying to you that I made it all the way to the book's end and liked it. The story is set in Denver, Colorado, not somewhere I am personally acquainted with, however the author depicts it as a location very clearly. In fact, everything Jennifer Petkus writes about is done in a way that assures the reader she knows exactly what she's talking about. On the surface the book reads like a straightforward police procedural with a couple of cops, Alex Munroe and Linda Yamaguchi, who are working together on a series of cases. There's the usual cheeky banter between the two main protagonists and a range of characters, likeable and otherwise, that you'd expect to find in most stories set around a police precinct. Nothing unexpected so far, except for the fact that Alex Munroe died at the age of sixty-two which was already some years ago by the time the story starts. His partner, rookie cop Linda, wears a terminal on her arm which picks up Alex's 'field' and allows her to communicate with him. There's a bit of geeky science stuff to explain how the technology works, but Petkus manages to get this across to the reader without sounding like she has been busy swotting up on those computer manuals they don't even bother to print any more.

We are in a parallel universe (of sorts), where in the late twentieth century it was discovered that an afterlife actually existed and due to the development of 'the afternet' it is suddenly possible to communicate with the dead - or rather 'disembodied' (the word 'dead' is now considered to be a rather prejudicial term) who are only just beginning, for want of a better expression, to find their feet. The book suggests that in the future there may be a growing struggle for 'disembodied rights'. In fact the plot concerns itself with the disappearance of several disembodied people - a rather neat idea I thought - someone appears to have been abducting the dead! The disembodied, who were also invisible to other disembodied people too until the discovery of 'the afternet', often hang around newly installed terminals in Starbucks' coffee shops. Even so, 'afternet' technology is still in its infancy and Yamaguchi has undergone special training to enable her to work with a disembodied partner. I'm not going to get bogged down in the detail concerning communications between the living and those who are de*d, because the author has given these matters a great deal of thought and explains everything a
reader needs to know in a skilful and often humorous way, which didn't find me skipping pages or leave me bored even once.

The author writes with an assured confidence, and the book's main protagonists have a life that continues off the page. They are both extremely likeable, interact well together and swiftly established themselves in my imagination. I particularly enjoyed the short witty pieces which were presented as coming from a variety of different sources and preceded most of the chapters. These generally related to matters concerning the afterlife and the 'afternet' and the
reaction of the living to it. This is imaginative stuff and Jennifer Petkus employs a sly sense of humour which is very well suited to her smart scenario.

I am not someone who often reads Sci-Fi and if like me you habitually turn away at mention of any science stuff - take my word for it, you have nothing to worry about with Good Cop, Dead Cop. Once I had reached the book's end, I was certainly more than ready for another instalment. In this debut novel, Petkus has laid the foundation for what could easily become a very enjoyable series. I understand there is a sequel on the way and I will happily read it - there is a lot of potential here! In fact, although the main characters believe that the case has largely been wound-up, we are privy to facts that strongly suggest they are not - there are more dastardly deeds afoot!

This is well written, a very enjoyable read and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Find out more about Good Cop, Dead Cop and Jennifer Petkus

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Could The Aliens Who Abducted My Wife Please Return Her!

Cartref

Frankenstein Update

NT Live

Good Cop, Dead Cop by Jennifer Petkus

M J Johnson

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