HOVE BOOK GROUP: End of year review 2022

Another year and another seasonal celebration accompanied by our traditional look back at the previous 12 months

HBG December 2022

What was rated? What was slated?

Here are the answers...

HOVE BOOK GROUP: End of year review 2022 poll results

1. Favourite read

Olive Kitteridge (2008) by Elizabeth Strout (Tristan) - 12

All That Remains (2019) by Sue Black (Nick) - 8

Mayflies (2020) by Andrew O’Hagan (Hamish) - 6

*

The Year of Magical Thinking (2005) by Joan Didion (Roland) - 4

Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban (Nigel) - 4

Klara and the Sun (2021) by Kazuo Ishiguro (Roland) - 4

Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad (Nick) - 3

Epitaph For a Spy (1938) by Eric Ambler (Keith) - 1

Cocaine Nights (1996) by JG Ballard (Robin) - 0

Longitude (1995) by Dava Sobell (Robin) - 0

2. Favourite music

Dub Me Crazy (1982) by Mad Professor (Robin) - 12

Living Like a Refugee (2006) by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars (Keith) - 8

Ghosteen (2019) by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Nick) - 5

50 Song Memoir (2017) by The Magnetic Fields (Tristan) - 5

*

Homecoming (2021) by Du Blonde (Hamish) - 4

Viva Espagna playlist (Robin) - 2

Hymn to Nikkal by Clare O’Connell - from The Isolated Cellist (Roland) - 2

Bad Apples/Ballast (2022) by Objekt (Roland) - 2

The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails (Nick) - 1

Thunder Perfect Mind (1992) by Current 93 (Nigel) - 0

3. Favourite watch

Surge directed by Aneil Maria (Nick) - 9

Apocalypse Now (1979) dir by Francis Ford Copolla (Nigel) - 9

Rocks (2019) directed by Sarah Gavron (Tristan) - 8

Sexy Beast (2000) dir by Jonathan Glazer (Robin) - 5

*

Ex Machina (2014) dir by Alex Garland (Roland) - 4

The Straight Story (1999) dir by David Lynch (Nick) - 4

The Tribe (2021) dir by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (Hamish) - 1

Limbo (2020) dir by Ben Sharrock (Keith) - 0

October Sky (1999) dir by Joe Johnston (Robin) - 0

Pieces of a Woman (2020) dir by Kornél Mundruczó (Roland) - 0

4. Favourite theme

Mourning Glory (Roland) - 8

Mortality (Nick) - 8

Robots (Roland) - 7

The horror, the horror (Nick) - 5

*

Loss of childhood (Tristan) - 4

Refugees (Keith) - 4

Apocalyptic (Nigel) - 2

Viva Espagna (Robin) - 2

Science (Robin) - 0

All That Remains (2019) by Sue Black

 Theme: *Mortality*

We’re all facing up to our mortality and so Nick wisely decided it was time to take a look at what’s coming down the line

Nick confronting mortality

READ: All That Remains (2019) by Sue Black

Sue Black is one of the world's leading forensic anthropologists who is also an anatomy professor at Dundee University, and unsurprisingly an expert in her field.

In All That Remains: A Life in Death, Sue Black discusses her many encounters with death and illustrates the developments in forensic science with reference to some of the cases she has worked on (e.g. war crimes in Kosovo, missing person crimes, the 2004 Tsunami)

To varying degrees we all liked it

The gushing reviews and a strong opening chapter had us all primed for a gripping read. After that visceral first chapter that details Sue Black's first human dissection, some  thought the book tailed off.

The next third of the book details a lot of biographical information centred around the deaths of some of Sue Gray's close relatives.

We all appreciated the sections about the bodies donated to medical science, the trauma caused by sudden and violent deaths, and the science of forensics. 

Perhaps this book tries to do too much: memoir, science, and a meditation on death? Some would have settled for just the science, others felt this was just the ticket.

Nick 8 / Tristan 7 / Nigel 6 / Keith 8 / Roland  8 / Robin 8 / Hamish 6

LISTEN: Ghosteen (2019) by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave confronts an unbearable tragedy - some felt it works brilliants others were less convinced, but a musical version of Mythago Wood? C’mon Roland

WATCH: The Straight Story (1999) dir by David Lynch

To varying degrees we were all very positive about The Straight Story despite being distinctly un-Lynch-ian. In other Lynch news Robin loves Mullholland Drive and describes it as “hot”. Oooh

HBG endorse it: 27 October 2022 -> 24 November 2022

Diorama (Netflix)

The English (BBC iPlayer)

SAS Rogue Heroes (BBC iPlayer)

In Bruges (Film) (Netflix) 

Everything Everywhere All At Once (Film) (Prime) 

Liquorice Pizza (Film) (Prime) 

Klara and the Sun (2021) by Kazuo Ishiguro

 On Thursday 27th October 2022 we assembled in the upstairs room at The Poets pub in Hove to discuss Roland’s Robots themed selections.

Theme: *Robots*

READ: Klara and the Sun (2021) by Kazuo Ishiguro

A winning and provocative of what it is to be human through the eyes of a not-quite-human.

Klara is well realised - her AI logic, perceptiveness, intelligence and naivety all felt really convincing.

Her narration forces the reader to fill in the gaps in the story and to work to understand the world of the novel - and the agendas of the various characters.

The ending doesn’t fully deliver on the promise of the set up.

A deceptively simple book that asks profound questions.

Roland had this book lined up for weeks - he loved it. Hamish less so, an early start and then downhill. Robin warmed to it. Keith was lukewarm. Nigel was positive. Tristan was impressed but disappointed by the ending. Nick liked it.

Nick 8 / Tristan 7 / Nigel 8 / Keith 6  / Roland  8 / Robin 7 / Hamish 3

LISTEN: Bad Apples (2022) by Objekt

Some love it, some hated it

WATCH: Ex Machina (2014) dir by Alex Garland

To varying degrees we were all very positive about Ex Machina. Those that watched it.

HBG endorse it: 20 September 2022 -> 27 October 2022

TraumaZone (iPlayer)

Miriam Margoles - This Much is True (Book)

Liquorice Pizza (Prime) 

Detachment (Prime)

La Fosse (Cranbourne B&B, Dorset)

Am I Being Unreasonable? (BBC iPlayer)

Trevor Nelson (BBC Radio 2)

The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh film)

Queen and Slim (iPlayer)

Welcome to Wrexham (Documentary) (Disney +)

Tornado - Stewart Lee (iPlayer)

Get Back (2021) dir by Peter Jackson (Beatles Doc) (Disney +)

Elvis (2022) dir by Baz Luhrmann (Film)

Love and Let Die (2022) by John Higgs (Book)

Longitude (1995) by Dava Sobel

 On Tuesday 20 July 2022 we went on a Sussex road trip before ending up in Lewes where we enjoyed Robin’s hospitality and discussed his science themed choices

READ: Longitude (1995) by Dava Sobel

We all agreed that Dava Sobel has written a very accessible account of a genius who prevailed against the odds. It's concise, absorbing and packed full of fascinating details and interesting characters. A perfect history book for the general reader.

The subtitle says it all, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. That lone genius was John Harrison (1693-1776) a self taught clock maker. Over 40 years, he invented and produced four increasingly precise and compact chronometers capable of accurately measuring time over a long, rough sea voyage. By comparing the chronometer's time to local sun time, a navigator could precisely measure longitude. Prior to his invention there was no accurate way of measuring longitude and many lives were lost due to catastrophic miscalculations.

In 1714 the British Parliament offered a reward to whoever could solve the longitude problem with a prize of £20,000 for the winner. At that time astronomy was seen as the best route to a solution despite being time consuming and difficult.

You might think that Harrison's incredible devices would be unanimously welcomed. Alas, no. He was forever battling vested interests until eventually, and after decades, King George III intervened.

John Harrison's marine timekeepers are on display at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.

Nick 6.5 / Tristan 7  / Nigel 7 / Keith 5 / Roland 5.5 / Robin 7 / Hamish 6

WATCH: October Sky (1999) dir by Joe Johnston

Roland loved this film. The rest of us thought it was fine but perhaps a bit too schmaltzy 

LISTEN: Dub Me Crazy (1982) by Mad Professor

We were all in thrall to the Mad Professor. Or were we? My notes are a little vague on this point

HBG endorse it: 22 July 2022 -> 20 September 2022

Boys from Brazil - the rise of the Bolsanaros (iPlayer)

How to with John Wilson (iPlayer)

Arsenal: All or Nothing (Prime)

Beter Call Saul (Netflix)

Haywards Heath response to Climate Emergency

Raymond Briggs doc (iPlayer)

Portmeirion (Village, Wales)

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy (Book)

Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth (Theatre)

Prima Facie (National Theatre)

Trainwreck: Woodstock 99 (Netflix)

Jackie Brown (Netflix)

The Truth about Brewdog (iPlayer)

Cremona, Italy

Bad Manners (Live music)

Roland’s party 

Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban

 On Thursday 21 July 2022, the Magnificent Seven rode again to discuss Nigel's Apocalyptic themed choices….

*THEME: Apocalyptic*

READ: Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban

Nigel explained that he knew little about Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban before reading it however, upon completion, it rocketed straight into his list of all time favourite books. It's extraordinary. A masterpiece, and a breathtaking feat of imagination. Within a few pages he was transfixed.

Riddley Walker is set several thousand years in the future following a nuclear apocalypse.

To do it justice in a short review is impossible so here are a few key points:

    It's written in a strange, post-apocalyptic, survivor vernacular so the reader must slow down to understand what is happening. There are also various interpretations to ponder. Like the world, the language has been smashed into smaller pieces. The struggle with the language is what makes the novel so absorbing and rewarding

    Riddley's world is coherently and stunningly evoked. Semi-nomadic groups eke
out a precarious existence from the boggy ground, often digging up the remains of a destroyed civilisation. It all takes place in "Inland" which we'd recognise as East Kent completed with former place names brutally and amusingly transformed

    It's a philosophical book that touches on many big issues and even gets to the heart of what makes for a meaningful life

    Power is another core theme: nuclear power, individual power, political power, the power of nature, personal responsibility, and speaking truth to power. Ultimately the only power is no power

    It's sometimes quite funny

    The old Christian religion and corrupted memories of long-dead technology often inform the acquisition, rediscovery and sharing of forbidden knowledge. Riddley's world is one of ritual, superstition, dreams, omens, coincidences, and telepathy, often apprehended through feelings and intuition. Riddley rarely seems consciously aware of what he is doing until it is too late

    Religion, insofar as it exists is centred around the worship of Eusa a curious mix of the story of Saint Eustace and confused memories of nuclear war

    Punch and Judy-style puppet shows are used by the Government to disseminate propaganda

It just has to be experienced.

But would puzzling their way through Riddley's strange and wonderful world be enjoyable or simply not worth all the trubba…. 

Hamish aside, and to varying degrees, it was more of a thumbs down than a ringing endorsement for the wonderful Riddley Walker. Ah well. No accounting for taste eh?

Nick 6 / Tristan 5.5  / Nigel 10 / Keith 4 / Roland 4 / Robin 3 / Hamish 9

RIDDLEY LINKS:

http://www.errorbar.net/rw/

https://www.russellhoban.org/all-book-titles/riddley-walker?page=10

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/13/riddley-walker-russell-hoban-bookclub

http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/riddley.html

https://www.backlisted.fm/episodes/9-russell-hoban-riddley-walker

LISTEN: Thunder Perfect Mind (1992) by Current 93

Some listeners have dubbed this Apocalyptic Folk, in addition track five is inspired by Riddley Walker. Would HBG herald this an Apocalyptic Folk masterpiece. Nigel liked it, as did Hamish. Tristan and Roland hated it. Everyone else was somewhere in between.

WATCH: Apocalypse Now (1979) dir by Francis Ford Copolla

Finally, we all agree that Apocalypse Now is still one of the greatest films of all time, well all except Hamish who is so over Vietnam. 

ENDORSE IT

23 June 2022 -> 21 July 2022

The Dogs of Berlin (Netflix) 

Elvis (2022) (dir by Baz Luhrmann)

Love, Death and Robots (Netflix)

Oats Studios (Netflix)

Sister Sledge @ Love Supreme (Live music)

Sherwood (iPlayer)

In Bruges (Film) followed by a stay in Bruges (the place)

Deutschland 83 (TV)

Breaking Bad (Netflix)

Epitaph For a Spy (1938) by Eric Ambler

 On Wednesday 22 June 2022, and following our customary “longest day” cycle ride to Devil’s Dyke, then followed by a hasty relocation to the Ancient Mariner because they stopped serving drinks, and were not serving food (I know right?), we met to discuss Keith's Refugee themed choices….

READ: Epitaph For a Spy (1938) by Eric Ambler 

Josef Vadassy is a guileless Hungarian language teacher who lives in France and is on a rare holiday on the French Riviera. After indulging his interest in photography he gets picked up by the police and questioned about a series of photos of coastal fortifications he appears to have taken. Josef Vadassy is wrongly accused of spying with the only way to prove his innocence appearing to be unmasking the real spy.

The novel is particularly good at evoking the precariousness of the stateless person who is thrown into desperation when the authorities become suspicious, and his status allows him to be cynically used. The book also brings to life the turbulent, paranoid and uncertain years prior to WW2 with the authorities understandably suspicious of foreigners who might be gathering intelligence for a hostile neighbour.

The reactions varied considerably to this novel. Nick, Tristan and Roland were particularly damning

Nick 1 / Tristan 3 / Nigel 6 / Keith 6 / Roland 3 / Robin 5 / Hamish 6

LISTEN: Living Like a Refugee (2006) by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars

We all really liked their loose limbed, semi-acoustic take on reggae and African music, and which is embodied in the pared down title track. Sunshine music despite being borne out of tragedy, displacement and suffering

WATCH: Limbo (2020) dir by Ben Sharrock

A beautifully shot tale of migrants stuck on a remote Scottish island while their claims are being processed. An interminable process with an uncertain outcome. The island is both bleak and beautiful. The contact with the state is via a bizarre and blackly humorous series of cultural and vocational lessons from instructors Helga and Boris. It's slow and powerful, a bit too slow for some of our tastes, but it undeniably makes its point. 

ENDORSE IT

12 May 2022 -> 22 June 2022

Love Life (iPlayer)

Oumou Sangare (Music)

Sherwood (iPlayer)

Big Boys (All4)

The Fifth Season by MK Jemson

Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir

Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker (Book)

Small World (2022) by Metronomy (Music)

The Laidlaw Trilogy by William McIlvanney (Books)

The Morning Show (Season One) (Apple TV)

The Schizophonics (Live music)

Severance (Apple TV)

George Monbiot talk at Charleston

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Book)

Knepp Safari (Knepp Estate)

Joker (Prime)

Russian Doll (Netflix)

Old Enough (Netflix)

The Last Word (column in The Week magazine)

Mayflies (2020) by Andrew O’Hagan

 We met on Wednesday 11 May 2022 to discuss Hamish's unthemed choices….

READ: Mayflies (2020) by Andrew O’Hagan

Hamish stumbled across this book in Waterstones and responded to its down-to-earth style. It’s a heartfelt book about youth, friendship, death, and what it is to be human. 

For anyone who lived through the 1980s, and enjoyed the indie music of the era, this will resonate. The first part of the book embraces this era via a weekend trip to Manchester in 1986 for a group of Scottish friends. The passion and intensity of teenage life is stunningly evoked and this is clearly written from first hand experience. 

In part two, we are in 2017 and we revisit some of the characters in middle age. Much has changed. Many of us read the second part with lumps in our throats and tears in our eyes. It's moving, vivid and memorable.

Most of us were impressed although Tristan and Keith were less effusive.

Nick 8.5 / Tristan 6.5 / Nigel 8 / Keith 7 / Roland 8.5 / Robin 7.5 / Hamish 7.5

LISTEN: Homecoming (2021) by Du Blonde

Hamish enjoyed the chugging sounds. Nick was more damning stating there is
nothing remotely original about it, indeed it’s all highly derivative. Robin didn’t listen! Roland thought it didn’t work. Keith thought it was decent enough. Tristan and Nigel were far more positive, poopooing the naysayers and curmudgeons.

WATCH: The Tribe (2014) dir by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy

An usual film all related in Ukrainian sign language with no subtitles, so akin to watching a silent film.  Or, what it’s like for a deaf person to watch a film with dialogue and no subtitles. This device means the viewer has to pay close attention, and it slows down the storytelling. The content is very downbeat and depressing. A criminal gang operates from within a deaf school in Kyiv. How or why this is happening is never explained. It’s all pretty implausible. One of their rackets is prostitution and, as one new pupil rises up through the criminal gang, he also falls for one of the prostitutes. Suffice to say it does not end happily and there’s nothing to smile about during this intensely downbeat film.

HBG endorse it: 7 April 2022 -> 11 May 2022

The Atlanta History Centre

Melrose to Lindisfarne walk

Succession party

The Riwaq (Hove venue - Brighton festival)

Hofesh Schecter (Live dance)

The Street (2019) documentary dir by Zed Nelson (Prime)

Slow Horses (Apple TV)

Severance (Apple TV)

Ted Lasso (Apple TV)

Arsène Wenger: Invincible (2021) Dir by Gabriel Clarke & Christian Jeanpierre (Film) (Prime)

Navalny documentary (BBC iPlayer)

Panorama: The Post Office Scandal (BBC iPlayer)

Who You Think I Am (2019)  dir by Safy Nebbou (Film) (Netflix)

Better Call Saul (Season 6 - Netflix)

Gazza documentary (BBC iPlayer)

Lady Bee Marina (Southwick)

Ouse Valley (north of Lewes)

Foka Wolf (Artist)

Midsommar (2019) dir by Ari Aster (Film)

The Sparks Brothers (2021) dir by Edgar Wright (Film) (Netflix)

Wet Leg (live music)

Wet Leg debut LP (2022)

Olive Kitteridge (2008) by Elizabeth Strout

 *Theme - Loss of childhood* - Wednesday 6 April 2022

READ: Olive Kitteridge (2008) by Elizabeth Strout

Tristan’s Mum recommended this novel and it was an inspired choice. To varying degrees, and as the ratings below confirm, we all found much to enjoy and appreciate.

The novel is a series of interlinked short stories centred around the citizens of a small coastal town in Maine, not least the eponymous Olive Kitteridge who is a wonderful character: straight talking and brusque, but this belies a perceptive, caring side which she usually keeps well hidden.

The cumulative effect of the short stories gradually start to pack an emotional punch, stories which shine a convincing light on the drama and disappointments of ordinary lives. That it's also sporadically funny only makes the reading experience even richer and more satisfying.

For a novel which contains a lot of incident and tragedy and which includes violence, loneliness, suicide, death, eating disorders, divorce, murder, religious fundamentalists, hate, infidelity, trauma, hostage taking, and more, this is ultimately a positive and joyous book. A celebration of the everyday and the commonplace, and a reminder to make the most of the time we have whilst we still have to repair relationships, fall in love, help someone, etc. Ultimately it's these moments which give life meaning and value.

This is small town life writ large and a very worthy Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner.

Thanks Tristan’s Mum

Nick 9 / Tristan 9 / Nigel 9 / Keith 8 / Roland 9 / Robin 8.5 / Hamish 8

LISTEN: 50 Song Memoir (2017) by The Magnetic Fields

Stephin Merritt has never been afraid to think big, at least as far as his music is concerned, and his ad-hoc group the Magnetic Fields enjoyed their breakthrough with the wildly ambitious 1999 set 69 Love Songs, a three-disc collection featuring, yes, 69 songs about love. While that album bests 2017's 50 Song Memoir by 19 tracks, in nearly all other respects, 50 Song Memoir is a project of even greater scale and scope. Begun as Merritt was celebrating his 50th birthday, 50 Song Memoir finds him embracing pop songs as the medium for an autobiography, with each of the 50 tracks representing a different year in his life.

But is it any good? Most of us found it a bit meh. Hamish dubbed it the triumph of concept over content however Nick and Robin were very positive,

WATCH: Rocks (2019) directed by Sarah Gavron (Netflix)

We all enjoyed this social-realist adventure written by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson and directed by Sarah Gavron about a multi-ethnic community in East London which evokes the spirit of Ken Loach’s Kes or Céline Sciamma’s Bande Des Filles. It’s about a group of year 11 girls and a Nigerian British girl nicknamed “Rocks”, who whilst no great academic high-flier is really talented at cosmetics. Her dad is dead and she lives with her troubled mum, who has had, as a social worker delicately puts it, issues managing her medication.

Rocks has the responsibility of minding her kid brother, Emmanuel and there’s trouble when Rocks’s mum absents herself from the family home.

A low, British indie gem that is the antithesis of a Hollywood blockbuster.

HBG endorse it: 10 March 2022 -> 6 April 2022

The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) dir by Tarik Saleh

Operator Starsky (Ukrainian YouTuber)

House of Maxwell (iPlayer)

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) dir by Macon Blair (Netflix)

Best bits montage at the end of the final BBC Kermode & Mayo podcast

Things Fall Apart podcast by Jon Ronson (BBC Sounds)

The Ukrainian flag (again)

Putin (BBC Sounds)

The South Downs Way

Top Boy (Netflix)

Winchester (English City)

Boiling Point (2021) dir by Philip Barantini (Netflix)

The Gentlemen (2019) dir by Guy Ritchie (Netflix)

The Witch Finder (BBC iPlayer)

Sherlock Holmes (2009) dir by Guy Ritchie

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) dir by Guy Ritchie