We had our first meeting of 2011 on Thursday 13th January 2011 at The Poets' Corner which is our new favourite pub. Once agan it was the perfect venue. We even managed to sit on a round table. Ideal.
This time out we discussed:
BOOK: "Farewell, My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler
Nigel explained that he enjoyed the crime genre, including our recent discussion about "Burning Angel" by James Lee Burke, and "Farewell, My Lovely" felt like a good book to follow the masterly "The Road" as well as something reasonably light to read over Christmas.
Nigel was enthusiastic, describing the book as a page turner, he loved the Marlow character and the hard boiled writing style and the similes (e.g. "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun." AND "It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.").
Everyone agreed that the twist at the end was unforeseen. However that was the only point of agreement. Most found something to enjoy in the book. That said...
Nick couldn't remember the plot despite finishing it only days earlier
Hamish described the plot as "unbelievable"Tristan "loved it at the start" but his enthusiasm waned as he read on
Don "couldn't be bothered with the plot"
Robin read half of it and then watched the Robert Mitchum film version
Most found the incessant similes were a bit too much. Although what's not to love about....
"The voice got as cool as a cafeteria dinner."
No pleasing some people.
The scores on the doors (out of 10):
Nick 6
Hamish 6
Robin 7
Tristan 6
Don 6
Nigel 8
Overall 6.5/10
FILM: "The Long Goodbye" directed by Robert Altman 1973
Nigel chose this film as it followed on from the book, being a 1970s evocation of the Marlow character by master auteur Robert Altman.
Nick described it as a "steaming pile of shit"
Robin "enjoyed it"
Tristan "would recommend it" but didn't rate it too highly
The scores on the doors (out of 10):
Nick 2
Robin 6.5
Tristan 5
Nigel 8
Overall 5.5/10
MUSIC: Fleetwood Mac - post mid 1070s onwards
MUSIC: Fleetwood Mac - post mid 1070s onwards
Nigel didn't specify an album but just suggested a listen to anything from Rumours onwards. He'd only recently discovered the poptastic-ness of the Mac. He loved that they are basically two different bands both of whom enjoyed success. If he's not in the mood then the Mac feel too slick and formulaic, if he is they get him "punching the air in delight". 7/10
Don was very enthusiastic about Fleetwood Mac and waxed lyrical about their many attributes. 8/10
Tristan saw some merit but described them as "mildly irritating" 4/10
Robin also had fond memories of listening to Fleetwood Mac. 8/10
Hamish described it as "soft rock at its absolute finest" and gave Rumours 10/10.
Nick was less impressed awarding the Mac 3/10.
Overall the Mac (version 2) rated 6.5 for their poptastic tunes.
And after a few crisps courtesy of Tristan, and more enjoyable chat about this and that, we wended our way into the cool Hove night air. Ten ten til we do it again.
