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| Tristan - harshly judged |
"To rise again at a decent hour” (2014) by Joshua Ferris
Tristan picked "To rise again at a decent hour” by Joshua Ferris because he'd read his first book "And Then We Came To The End" and enjoyed it a lot.
Tristan liked the extreme character of the Paul O'Rourke, the dentist protagonist: flitting between misanthropy and an acute desire to fit in. He also liked the diatribes and rants; the stylistic quirks; the faux-biblical stories of the Amelekites; being "cunt gripped"; and the scathing commentary on modern consumerism.
It was not all gravy though. Tristan conceded that it dragged a bit towards the inconclusive ending.
On the whole though it was Tristan's kind of thing. The oblique look at characters and situations, and the mix of detachment and heart-rending sadness. All in all, Joshua Ferris feels like a unique voice, and one which Tristan will happily read more of. 7.5/10
Keith admitted that he became increasingly bewildered as the story meandered to its conclusion however, when pressed for a pithy one liner, Keith proclaimed this novel to be tremendously good, sporadically amusing, and it left him with an unprecedented longing to visit his dentist, with all the attendant horrors and indignities he habitually suffers there. "Bravo Mr Ferris" cried Keith, holding his pint of Harveys aloft. 8/10
Hamish felt that page one was as good as this book got. A more charitable reviewer than Hamish might conclude that our dentist protagonist is the personification of contemporary man's feeling of displacement from spirituality, love, material reality, the past and other humans. However for Hamish, whilst not a bad book, it was ultimately "utterly average". What was the point? Alas, no one could answer that one. 5/10
A consensus was emerging that the first third of the book showed great promise and invention, however this was not followed through in the final two thirds of the novel.
Nick felt the dentist was on "the edge of madness". Amongst Nick's varied life experiences were encounters with dental students at St Thomas's who were some of the biggest mentalists Nick has ever encountered. Is it any wonder that dentists as a professional group have the highest rate of suicides? No Nick, it is not. "To rise again at a decent hour” is obsessed with mouths and it bores like one of his dentist's drills. Nick acknowledged the interesting ideas but concluded, that unlike Tibor Fischer, this is all mouth and not enough trousers. 6/10
Nigel reenacted the moment he finished the book, throwing a copy across the pub whilst exclaiming "Is that it?"
An ambitious and original book that promised so much ultimately delivered so little. Nigel had hurled the tome with a profound sense of disappointment. Nigel was excited by the opening 20 pages or so. The book contains some pithy observations on modern life and the plot embraces some big themes: religion, identity, identity theft, social media, obsession, baseball, affluence's disappointment, racism, love and relationships, loss, dentistry, and the big one - what's it all about? A fairly engaging, meandering plot felt to Nigel as though we must be heading for some kind of interesting pay off. We weren't. The sense of anticlimax still rankles. Ultimately this is fairly enjoyable, inconsequential tosh. Nigel concluded it was enjoyable enough but also eminently forgettable. 5/10
How some of the reviewers quoted on the paperback edition conclude this book is "hilarious" and "riotously funny" baffled all the HBGers.
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| Robin - used his infallible "sleep test" |
“2001” by Dr Dre
Tristan only chose “2001” by Dr Dre because it involved a doctor and so was a foil to Joshua Ferris's dentist.
In keeping with Tristan's reputation for outrageous conduct, he revealed that he didn't even get around to listening to it but he hoped we had all enjoyed it.
It transpired he was not the only member of the group to have not managed to cop an earful of Dre's beats. Indeed the only two people who had listened to it were Nick and Nigel, and it turned out that Nigel had waved the white flag after three songs.
Nigel stated that at the risk of common on like a Guardian reading, middle class stereotype, he heartily dislikes the gratuitous sexism of much of the hip hop genre which seems to appeal to idiotic teenage boys and/or not-very-nice people. Dre's “Fuck You" being a classic case in point which is just deeply unpleasant. Bitches, dicks, etc. There are so many examples of how the creativity of hip hop can be used to celebrate positivity and/or have an uplifting or campaigning message (e.g. Arrested Development, Jurassic 5, De La Soul etc) but alas "2001" was not one of them containing the depressingly predictable raps about violence, drugs, pussy, bitches, dope, guns, and gangsters.
Woah. Hold on there. Nick, who correctly pointed out was the only HBGer qualified to offer informed comment as he had listened to the entire thing, quite possibly more than once, revealed it is actually a concept album, and "what a concept"...
“Scarface" (1983) directed by Brian De Palma
Tristan enjoyed “Scarface" a lot. Oliver Stone is a great cinematographer, and there are some fantastic scenes, the sets were brilliant, and the storyline gripping.
The montage scenes seemed cheesy and dated, as did some other bits. And what's with Al Pacino's accent? He sounds like an Italian American badly impersonating Speedy Gonzales?
But all in all, a rollocking ride, with a few buried Existential Questions (what is happiness? what do you buy when you've bought everything? can an empire built on violence and control ever persist?). Great stuff. 7/10
Nick celebrated the macho performance, lavishing it with 6.5/10
Hamish lauded Al Pacino in his pomp and, with an involuntary shudder, recalled the chainsaw scene. 8/10
Robin "enjoyed it" 7/10
Keith praised a rather ridiculous romp and riot. He was a first time viewer. 9/10
Nigel saw it in the cinema and had enjoyed repeat viewings over the years and compared this latest viewing as akin to encountering an ex with whom he was once very much in love. As Nigel proved, he can still quote swathes of dialogue. The years have not been as kind as they might to some of the scenes however it is still a complete classic. 9/10
"Say hello to my little friend"
Endorse it
And finally to "Endorse it" - our new feature in which everyone is invited to recommend stuff. Here's what we came up with...
Nick: Whiplash 2015 film
Keith: Camp 14 - Total Control Zone - documentary on Netflix
Robin: Wolf Hall BBC TV adaptation
Nigel: "May We Be Forgiven" book by AM Homes
Hamish: ????
And with that we bade each other farewell after another evening of top flight gentlemanly discourse.
