The Zero (2006) by Jess Walter

Hamish started with the music and, via the band themselves, eventually settled on these terrorism themed selections.

READ:  The Zero (2006) by Jess Walter 

The Zero is a brilliant novel about 9/11

Brian Remy is a brilliant creation and his shattered consciousness is a superb storytelling device

The moments of rejoining scenes between gaps also inspire some great blackly comedic moments. Brian’s baffled questions were interpreted as humorous, wise or merely rhetorical

In the Q&A at the back of the book Jess Walter explains how he wanted Brian Remy to be an unwilling hero, and wanted him to feel how most people felt after the attacks: confused and frightened, a helpless person with good intentions.

Nothing makes sense: torturing suspects, sleeping with his girlfriend's boss, wandering a vast warehouse for processing scraps of paper, mysterious figures handing him envelopes etc. 

In less capable hands this could easily have gone awry but Jess Walter pulls if off and, in doing so, created a mesmeric, harrowing, funny, provocative, and brilliant tour de force.

There was a lot of positivity about The Zero:

Hamish praised its prescience,
Keith the memory loss,
Robin was fascinated but also frustrated,
Tristan described the style as a brilliant storytelling device, Nigel was blown away by it,
Roland acknowledged the brilliance but also found it a struggle,
and Nick listened to an audible book with awful narration so felt unable to rate it fairly. 

Nick - / Tristan 7.5 / Nigel 9 / Keith 7 / Roland 7 / Robin 7.5 / Hamish 8

LISTEN: Nocturnes (2020) by Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus

Opening song, I Carry The Sun, is a real charmer and not what any of us was expecting given how Hamish described them, via their record company, as nutters and that they feature on Maconie’s The Freak Zone. 

The more ambient fare was also well received although Tristan found it a little deflating.

WATCH: That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) directed by Luis Buñuel

That Obscure Object of Desire tells the story of Mathieu (Fernando Rey), the frustrated, unrequited, ageing rich Lothario, and Conchita (played alternately by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). Conchita’s teasing behaviour ultimately results in a beating from Mathieu and it is this that convinces Conchita that Mathieu truly loves her and is a worthy partner. This after spurned him numerous times for buying her lavish gifts including houses. 

The recurring backdrop of terrorist violence and bombings are never explored. 

All of us found quite a bit to enjoy and appreciate in this film, all except Robin who was fuming. Robin described this as the worst film we have ever watched and it made him really angry. He likened the scenes in the train compartment to a sketch on The Two Ronnies. Ouch. Take that Luis Buñuel. There’s our most memorable HBG moment of 2021 right there.

Endorse it

9/11: Inside the Presidents War Room (BBC iPlayer)

Deceit documentary (All4)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) dir by Quentin Tarantino (Film - Netflix)

The Curiously Specific Book Podcast

Victorious Festival (Portsmouth)

Free Fire (2016) directed by Ben Wheatley (Film - Prime)

American Psycho at 30 (Radio about the Brett Easton Ellis book - BBC Sounds)

The Devil All the Time (2020) dir by Antonio Campos (Film - Netflix)

You Were Never Really Here (2017) dir by Lynne Ramsay (Film - Amazon Prime)

The Dead Don't Die (2019) dir by Jim Jarmusch (Film - Netflix)

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (Book)

The Art of Self-Defense (2019) dir by Riley Stearns (Film - Netflix)

Bad Trip (2021) Dir by Kitao Sakurai (Film - Netflix)

Light Years (1975) by James Salter

On Thursday 6 February 2020 Hove’s leading book group of gentlemen readers gathered for their monthly literary salon to discuss Roland’s Tainted Love themed selections

Reading: Light Years (1975) by James Salter

Light Years (1975) by James Salter

To varying degrees we struggled with Light Years which seemed to be more about “the beautiful writing” and less about the plot.

Light Years (1975) by James Salter is the story of a marriage between two Americans, the Berlands: Nedra (the woman) and Viri (the man). Viri was born in 1928 and Nedra a few years later. Had they had renamed themselves, or were two sets of American parents were giving their kids such unusual names in that era? Other characters have names like Franca, Jivan, Kaya, Arnauld, and Hadji (this one a dog).

Reviews were peppered with words and phrases like challenging, hard to get into, and exhausting. That said, we all found redeeming features, and all agreed things picked up in the second half of the book. 

The plot, such as it is, was slightly puzzling. Nedra and Viri live a charmed and good life, complete with two lovely daughters, a dog, and a vibrant social life, enjoying a lovely rural environment just outside New York and yet, before you know it, they’re both being unfaithful, and eventually they split up.

A preponderance of four and five star reviews on Amazon and GoodReads is testimony to this book’s appeal for many readers who are in thrall Salter’s beautiful writing. In reality his writing is often over laden with metaphors, similes, and analogies, aligned to a meandering plot.

Tristan had lovingly prepared this marvellous parody...

Tristra sat at a table in the Westbourne. As always there was something thrillingly vulgar about her. Outside, cars passed on the wet tarmac, like beasts from a mythical painting.

For the day to unfold it must in its blueness, its immensity hide the conspiracy she lived on,  hide but enclose it, invisible,  like stars in the daytime sky.

Her dog Nigri trotted past, toes clicking on the bare wood. fragrant beast, eyes dark as coffee, smiling mouth. Like all the old, he was always hungry.

Roli walked in. He had a long nose, an intelligent face.

Would you like some lager? she asked
I don't think there is any.
We drank it all?
Some time ago.

She was reading from a book, that transported her to distant realms

Oh Roli, she said. It's wonderful. 

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

*

Listening: Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go (12 inch version) (1981) by Soft Cell

A 12 incher

We agreed that Tainted Love still sounds great. A cover version should do something new and interesting with a song and this version of Tainted Love most definitely does that. This twelve inch version which segues into Where Did Our Love Go ups the ante even more.

Shut it Nick

It’s a sublime slice of 80s synth pop.

We love it.

Nick pointed out they missed a trick by not putting one of their own compositions on the single thereby missing out on lots of royalties as this was a huge hit back in 1981. 

*

Watching: Marriage Story (2019) directed by Noah Baumbach (Netflix)

Keith was unimpressed

Most of us enjoyed this credibly handled story of a marriage break up. 

The two leads, Scarlett Johanson and Adam Driver are superb, as is the supporting cast

There was some disagreement about whether Laura Dern was any good. 

Despite being quite slow moving it was always interesting and there were some really powerful scenes. 

However Keith was left unimpressed and did not like it at all: too American and too unsubtle. He wouldn't even acknowledge Laura Dern's performance would be a worthy best supporting winner. Only time will tell whether the Academy recognises her performance at the 2020 Oscars (edit: they did).

Take that Driver. And you Johanson. 

*

Endorse It

1917 (Film/Cinema)
Peter Gabriel’s third LP (Music)
Uncut Gems (Film on Netflix)
Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy (Book)
Peter Gabriel - Third LP (Music)
Only You (Film on Netflix)
A Kind of Loving (Book)
A Kind of Loving (Film/DVD)
Phantom Thread (Film on Netflix)
Stewart Copeland’s Adventures in Music (BBC iPlayer)
Inside No. 9 (BBC iPlayer)

*

Next time out…

Reading: Cal (1983) by Bernard MacLaverty

Listening: Astral Weeks (1968) by Van Morrison

Watching: Good Vibrations (2013) directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn