Monday, 22 October 2018

Wake In Fright (1961) by Kenneth Cook

On Thursday 11th October 2018 we met to discuss Nigel’s “Descent Into Hell” (aka “Aussie Noir”) theme

BOOK: Wake In Fright (1961) by Kenneth Cook



Wake In Fright was praised to the hilt by everyone

A mere 174 pages it packs a mighty punch. Written in 1961, it powerfully relates John Grant's descent into hell, here also known as outback town Bundanyabba ("the Yabba"). The people of the Yabba feel compelled to subsume any outsiders into their world. The ghastly hospitality of the local yokels provide the guileless fish-out-of-water John Grant with the worst days of his short life and from which he is powerless to escape.

'Wake In Fright' delivers a vivid sense of place - the heat, the light, the dust, the savagery, and the scale - are all powerfully rendered.

In the same way that once seen David Lynch's 'Blue Velvet' is never forgotten, so it with 'Wake In Fright'. There are some extraordinary scenes - truly horrific and nightmarish despite the banal and all too plausible set up. The outback is shown in all its weirdness - stark, hallucinogenic and brutal. 

Tristan 7/10 - Nick 7/10 - Keith 8/10 - Roland 9/10 - Nigel 10/10 - Robin 7/10



FILM: Wake In Fright (1971) 

The film adapation was also a bit hit with the denizens of HBG. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff and is a very powerful and faithful rendition of the book. Some parts of the plot are condensed but the essence remains. 

The kangaroo hunt is especially powerful and even more disturbing when depicted on the screen. The darkness of the trip is given even more violence in the film version with the hard drinking macho camaraderie and the disturbing homoerotic undertow writ large.

Apparently, upon release, the Australian critics were appalled as it paints such a horrifying portrait of life in the isolation of the Outback. Once seen never forgotten. The Australian outback seems to be unwelcoming at best, but it has surely never been depicted as grimmer, darker and more violent than in this depiction.



A classic film - every bit as good as the source material.

MUSIC: The Birthday Party - The Bad Seed EP (1983)

Nigel had identified two key tracks - Sonny’s Burning + Deep In The Woods - which epitomise the “Descent Into Hell” (aka “Aussie Noir”) theme

Curiously the music was less celebrated than the other two choices. Nigel was steadfast in his love of these key tracks which capture the moment when Nick Cave metamorphosed from Birthday Party to solo artist. Still, not everyone can enjoy Nigel’s impeccable taste. 


Nigel - impeccable taste
ENDORSE IT

American Animals (film)
Lincoln in the Bardo (book)
Mystery Road (BBC TV series)
Factfulness (book)
Molotov Jukebox (Pop group)
Reported Misgiving (TV)
Money Heist (Netflix)
Journeyman (film)
Snow Country (book)

And so ended another wonderful evening of cultural discourse and bonhomie


Monday, 8 October 2018

The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje

On Thursday 6th September 2018 we discussed Robin’s selections …

BOOK: The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje
MUSIC: Robin’s “Summertime” playlist 
FILM: Shutter Island (1994) directed by Martin Scorsese

Robin - loved the book

Robin loved the book. Keith less so. Nick thought it was amazing. Tristan, likewise, was most impressed, Nigel found it a bit of chore, whilst acknowledging its cleverness, and Roland labelled it a snooze fest 

The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje
Tristan 9/10 - Nick 10/10 - Keith 6/10 - Roland 5/10 - Nigel 6/10 - Robin 9/10




The music was a Summer playlist compiled by DJ Robin. All found it most enjoyable despite a few  bizarre inclusions.

Sadly Robin was not able to provide a DVD for the group to watch so not everyone had seen it. Robin (from memory) was gripped, Tristan deemed it ham fisted.

And finally here's what we're endorsing...

Idles (Punk group)
End of the Road Festival 2018
Wanderlust (BBC TV)
Venice - the place
Nick Harkaway 'Noon" (book)
Christopher Isherwood - Mr Norris Changes Trains (book)
Hamilton (musical)
Coasteering (kamikaze activity done on Cornish cliffs)
Sexy Beast (film)
Thomas More (historical figure)

See you next time


Friday, 20 July 2018

Nightmare in Berlin (1947) by Hans Fallada

BOOK: Nightmare in Berlin (1947) by Hans Fallada

HBG gathered on a balmy summer night in the agreeable pub garden at the Westbourne to discuss Keith’s Criminality and Art themed selections. Could we enjoy the work of artists who have done bad shit?

First up was Hans Fallada, best known for the runaway success of Alone in Berlin recently republished, and whose 'Nightmare in Berlin’ is the story of a married couple contending with a devastated postwar Germany.

Hans Fallada’s 1947 novel Alone in Berlin was the hit book of summer 2010, selling 300,000 copies and making a bestseller of an author who had been largely forgotten. In 2018 the late German author’s Nightmare in Berlin, an autobiographical novel beginning on the day the war ends, was published in English for the first time.

Keith, ever diligent, read it twice. This is writing as therapy, he announced, before lavishing a murderous 7/10

The rest of HBG were generally positive, albeit with some misgivings. It has an immediacy and is full of great details, however is also a tad repetitive and meandering. Overall though the consensus was it’s worth a read but it’s no ‘Alone in Berlin’, which many HBGers resolved to read at the earliest opportunity.

Keith tries to forgive Hans Fallada's murderous childhood

Tristan 6/10
Keith 7/10
Robin 6/10
Roland 6/10
Nigel 8/10
Nick 6.5/10

FILM: Heavenly Creatures (1994) directed by Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson’s 1994 feature film features a pair of murderous school girls. It is based on a true story. New Zealand was unsurprisingly stunned in 1952 by a brutal murder carried out by two girls, ages 15 and 16, who crushed the skull of one of their mothers with a rock. 

To varying degrees we loved it



MUSIC: Keith’s “All That Glitters…” playlist 

Keith went through the rap sheet of all the miscreants on his playlist and used this as a springboard to debate the extent to which their work is separate from their crimes.

So what’s on it?

Gary Glitter - I’m the leader
Phil Spector - To Know Him
Sex Pistols - Something Else
Babyshambles - Pentonville
Ian Brown - My Star
Jonathan King - Everybody’s Gone To The Moon
Wham! - Bad Boys
2Pace - Me Against The World
Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire

Jerry Lee...Keeping it in the family















ENDORSE IT

Dr Chatterjee’s Feel Better Live More podcast
Defiant Ones (Dr Dre/Jimmy Iovine doc) - Netflix
Paddington 2 - film
Death of Stalin - film
Wild Wild Country - Netflix
Nick Cave live in Pisa
Black Panther - film
New Dark Age - book 


Friday, 22 June 2018

Under Major Domo Minor (2015) by Patrick deWitt

It being the Summer Solstice it was time for our traditional cycle to Devil’s Dyke where, as usual, the sun shined and the sunset was a thing of beauty. 

Nigel was confined to his sick bed after being beset by a vicious virus however managed to convey his reactions to Tristan’s choices by email.

BOOK: Under Major Domo Minor (2015) by Patrick deWitt

So, without further ado, why Tristan why? What the heck is this Twisted Fairytales theme all about?

Turns out Tristan had read other work by Patrick deWitt and bloody loved it. Furthermore after the frown fest that was The Handsmaid’s Tale didn’t we deserve something a bit more lighthearted? Much nodding greeted this question.

'Under Major Domo Minor’ was everything Tristan had hoped for and more. He lavished it with praise before sticking a flake-like 9/10 into the finished review.

In a rare moment of HBG harmony everyone echoed this view…

Tristan 9/10
Keith 8/10
Robin 8.5/10
Roland 9/10
Nigel 8/10
Nick 8/10

Could this be a book of the year moment?

MUSIC: I, Gemini (2016) by Let’s Eat Grandma 

Sadly the music was greeted with less enthusiasm. Nigel has already been recommended Let’s Eat Grandma by a couple of friends with reliable taste so was delighted to get stuck into this album. Sadly the uber-girly vocals grated on his delicate eardrums and he could not really detect much by way of tuneage. 

This seemed to sum up much of the HBG reaction



FILM: A Company of Wolves (1984) directed by Neil Jordan

Again most seemed at best underwhelmed. Nigel thought this was a steaming pile of cack. and perhaps the worst film we’ve ever done. He was ill though.


ENDORSE IT

MUSIC: Boy Azooga - 1, 2 Kung Fu (2018 Heavenly records) 
BOOK: Brett Anderson - Coal Black Morning (2018) 
COMEDY: Rhys Darby stand up
BOOK: Richard Ford - Canada
TELEVISION: Atlanta (iPlayer)
BOOK: Patrick deWitt - The Sisters Brothers







Keith made the selections for our gathering on 19th July 2018








Saturday, 26 May 2018

The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood

Sir Nick prioritised Robert Peston over HBG so we all dutifully waited for him to arrive. Whilst waiting we were not idle, we endorsed….

ENDORSE IT:

TV: Atlanta (iPlayer) written by & starring Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino)
TV: Parks and Recreation (Amazon TV) 

FESTIVAL: The Great Escape 2018 (x 2 endorsements)

FOOTBALL: Unai Emery - new Arsenal FC manager

BOOK: Can't Stand Up For Falling Down: Rock'n'Roll War Stories by Allan Jones
BOOK: Happy by Derren Brown
BOOK: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
BOOK: King Rat by China Mieville 

FILM: The Florida Project (2017)
FILM: A Quiet Place (2018)

PLAY: The Ferryman at The Gielgud Theatre
PLAY: Flying Lovers

PERFORMANCE: Shut Down, Vincent Dance Theatre at Brighton Festival 2018

WILDLIFE: Tawny Owls in Partridge Green 

TALK: Arnhem talk by Antony Beevor

DRINK: Tarquin’s Gin from Cornwall 

COMING UP NEXT TIME:

Thursday 21st June 2018 (Tristan's choice)

Twisted Fairytales 

MUSIC: I Gemini - Let’s Eat Grandma
FILM: A Company of Wolves
BOOK: UnderMajorDomo Minor by Patrick deWitt


And so, finally, a breathless and bedraggled Nick arrived to discuss his "Dystopian Futures" selections…

BOOK: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood
MUSIC: Dog Man Star (1994) by Suede
FILM: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) dir by Denis Villeneuve 


BOOK: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Atwood's chilling tale of a concubine in an oppressive future America, was generally very well received by HBG.

Keith deemed it assured

Nigel identified it as fiercely political and bleak, yet witty and wise

Tristan opined that it is a cautionary tale with ever more prescience and relevance

Robin muttered it was post-feminism writ large, but dismissed the characterisation as weak and unconvincing

Roland concluded that it was claustrophobic and domestic 

Nick, controversially, going last, declared it hard to put down


Nick
7.5
Tristan
6.5
Keith
8
Robin
6.5
Roland
8
Nigel
7


MUSIC: Dog Man Star (1994) by Suede

Roland needed a lie down
Robin and Nigel had enjoyed an audience with Brett, Suede’s singer and lyricist, by way of preparation. Caps were doffed and forelocks tugged.

Keith and Nick adore Dog Man Star. 

Roland was troubled by the lack of slap bass and the histrionic vocals. After one listen he needed a  lie down

However, everyone else was firmly in favour, impressed by the sheer degree of ambition and the demented, doomed, destructive folly.


FILM: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) dir by Denis Villeneuve 

Robin didn’t watch it. More fool him.

Everyone else, aside from Roland, who was slightly underwhelmed in the cinema when it was released, was blown away by this visually stunning film: a narcotic spectacle of eerie and pitiless vastness, by turns satirical, tragic and romantic. Blade Runner 2049 riffs on the first film, to our collective approval

Tristan disappearing into the Hove night 


Nick
9
Tristan
8
Keith
7
Robin
-
Roland
6
Nigel
9




And with that, we disappeared wraith-like into the Hove night

Sunday, 22 April 2018

The Lesser Bohemians (2016) by Eimear McBride

With Hove Book Group still reeling from the shock news of Hamish's departure (hopefully only a sabbatical, but time will tell), on Thursday 19th April 2018 we discussed Roland’s “Awakenings” themed selections at The Westbourne public house in Hove

AWAKENINGS

BOOK: The Lesser Bohemians (2016) by Eimear McBride
MUSIC: A Certain Ratio 'I’d Like To See You Again' (1982)
FILM: Princess Cyd (2017) directed by Stephen Cone (Netflix)


BOOK: The Lesser Bohemians (2016) by Eimear McBride

Roland wondered if he might still be back on the Magic Bus, scene of his life’s greatest triumph. Here was a diffident 18-year-old Irish girl talking, writing or thinking in Eimear McBride’s characteristic broken sentences, gliding between the demotic and the lyrical. “Daub my soul with a good few pints til my mouth swings wide with unutterable shite. Laughing lots too, like it’s true. Worldening maybe, I think. I hope.” 

"Surely I’ve heard this voice before” exclaimed Roland

He then relaxed, no, it was not a Magic Bus flashback, the voice here is different, though it took a couple of chapters for Roland to calm down. The girl whose head we are in now is more eagerly poetic, more gently amused, more responsive to the sights around her. This is Eily, a young drama student new to the London of the 1990s and determined to lose her virginity as quickly and decorously as possible. "Hmmm, so there’s still a few parallels", Roland chuckled.
Roland - was he back on the Magic Bus

Eily meets Stephen, a 38-year-old actor, wiry, handsome, damaged. Like Roland, he is promiscuous on principle, dedicated to sensual pleasure but determined to control the feelings it unleashes. The two embark on a course of friendly but casual sex that turns, without either of them quite understanding what is happening, into a love affair that frightens them both in its intensity. Most of the book chronicles in microscopic detail their encounters in bed and out of it, offering a lens on to the touch and talk of lovers unlike any Roland had come across before.

The Lesser Bohemians confirms McBride’s status as a major novelist. She writes with beauty, wisdom and humour and she is uniquely sensitive to what is being communicated with every look or jerk of the body. If, Roland continued, in DH Lawrence’s formulation, the novel is “the one bright book of life”, then the life here radiates through the pages and illuminates ours.

How could the rest of the HBG fail to be impressed?

In a moment reminiscent of Don Moore hisself, Keith said he needed to refer to his notes, he unfolded a piece of A4 paper to reveal just one huge word - SHIT - and then he opened up another piece of A4 paper upon which was written 0/10

Roland on the Magic Bus
Ouch.

Nick and Robin were also dismissive.

Nigel was more positive. Despite struggling at the outset Nigel grew into it and, by the end, was impressed and very glad to have read it.


Tristan, through the medium of email stated….


Sitting at back of conference hall, I. Soft susurrus of pages turning near. Tap of hands on keyboard. Presenter talking glasses flash middle distance stare words slipping out just so. So on. On with the review. And what to say but fffff?

Fffff because this is not what I like. Ffffff because I’ve told you before it’s simple words expressing complex thoughts that move me that connect with me that drive the spear of comprehension right up into my brainpan until Oh! I am one with the author’s thoughts and Oh! That is how it should be now and forevermore. Why am I doing this? Paul Auster. Kurt Vonnegut. Hemmingway. You know the score. Not some fucked-up adolescent thought-dribble meandering.

And yet. And yet. And yet. I want to hate it. And I want to double-down on my views and tell you all again and again about the way to write and how. I mean Nigel’s going to have to read this out .This. Is. Not. It.

But I can’t. I am wrong. I have been beguiled and bewitched. And yes the snickersnack of ill-expressed half-expressed hinted-at jumble and the Oh what now? It’s some dialogue! Oh no it isn’t. Oh yes it is. Right in the middle of things just makes it harder to grasp. How is he going to say these comments in a smaller font? I cannot imagine. But be that as it may, I want to know. I really fucking care. I’m engrossed now and cannot get out. Great and prolonged and convincing descriptions of sex and drugs. The characters acutely observed and the plot riveting and all those things that it shouldn’t be,it is.

So bravo. Bravfuckingo. The book remains unfinished because it’s slow going ,so. But I will finish it. And I do enjoy it. And it gets from my mealy-mouthed mouth and fingers high a rapturous blinding eight. And a half.

So a mixed response for The Lesser Bohemians (2016) by Eimear McBride...

Roland 8.5/10 - Nigel 7/10 - Robin 4/10 - Tristan 8.5/10 - Nick 3/10 - Keith 0/10

…but a memorable discussion

MUSIC: A Certain Ratio 'I’d Like To See You Again' (1982)

Universally dissed by all and sundry - not what Roland, the self styled King of Jazz Funk, had expected

Back on the Magic Bus, yet again
FILM: Princess Cyd (2017) directed by Stephen Cone (Netflix)

Princess Cyd contained more Magic Bus flashbacks for Roland

We first hear of Cyd through an emergency call, where we learn two people have died in a shooting that leaves only a little girl behind as the survivor. When we see her for the first time, she is a teenager played by Jessie Pinnick. For reasons unknown to us, she is sent to spend the summer with her aunt Miranda (Rebecca Spence) a renowned novelist who lives in the Chicago house where she’s spent her whole life. 

Roland concluded that Princess Cyd recalls languorous films such as To Kill a Mockingbird, and, just like Robert Mulligan’s touching snapshot of childhood, it seems like the kind of film in which viewers will best identify with the leading character closest to their age, though without failing to see the beauty in the other. So while Cyd’s need to belong and discover pleasure are exquisite to behold, Miranda’s introspection left a stronger mark on this viewer. Her serene wisdom and patience, as channeled by Spence, brought to mind Auntie Mame had she had been an ascetic who found fulfillment in sensible banquets.

Roland 7.5/10 - Nigel 810 - Robin 6.5/10 - Tristan "Meh" - Nick 7/10 - Keith 5/10

ENDORSE IT

TV: This Country (Series Two) - BBC iPlayer (NB last month’s endorsement was Series One)
TV: The City and the City - BBC iPlayer
TV: Limmy’s Homemade Show - BBC iPlayer
PODCAST: Anger Management - Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage episode
BOOK: Dead Men’s Trousers by Irvine Welsh (latest installment of Trainspotting series)
MUSIC: Combat Sport by The Vaccines
MUSIC: The Deconstruction by Eels
FOOTBALL: Forest Green Rovers FC - Nigel loved his visit to the League Two vegan football club
PUB: The Woolpack in Stroud (Laurie Lee’s local)

NEXT TIME

Dystopian Futures

BOOK: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood
MUSIC: Dog Man Star (1994) by Suede
FILM: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) dir by Denis Villeneuve 


Friday, 16 March 2018

Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (2017) by Adelle Stripe

Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (2017) by Adelle Stripe



Nigel introduced the theme….

It’s Grim Up North
(aka Thatcher’s Britain)
(aka Andrea Dunbar)

…which we discussed on Thursday 15th March 2018 @ The Westbourne 

All except Hamish (AWOL) and Tristan (hanging out with parents)

Nigel heard the author, Adelle Stripe, on a podcast and was intrigued to find out more about her work and so discovered (the wonderfully titled) “Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile”

Despite Robin’s reaction to “Rita, Sue and Bob Too” (not enough smut), Nigel had very positive memories of the film, which he remembered as amusing, v English, original and unusual. He concluded that Andrea Dunbar was a rare talent, especially given her background, and was keen to find out more.

A bittersweet tale of the north/south divide, it reveals how a shy teenage girl defied the circumstances into which she was born and went on to become one of her generation's greatest dramatists. Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile is a poignant piece of kitchen sink noir that tells Dunbar's compelling story in print for the very first time.

What did the HBG make of Andrea + “Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile”?

In the main it was a resounding thumbs up for Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (2017) by Adelle Stripe

Stitched together from letters and scripts, newspaper cuttings and fractured memory, it is an undeniably harsh, yet fair portrait of one of the UK’s most original voices.

‘Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile’ would be an engrossing book if it were simply a portrait of Andrea’s life on the Buttershaw estate in Bradford. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the book is set, Buttershaw was a deprived council on the edge of Bradford. Most people there seem to have few opportunities to escape the place. 

What elevates ‘Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile’ is the incredible story of Andrea Dunbar, who got ‘The Arbor’, her first play, premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre in 1980. 

Andrea was ill equipped for this meteoric rise from obscurity. The book perfectly chronicles her discomfort at being thrust into the middle class theatrical world of London. People on the Buttershaw estate treated her differently, and Andrea also felt under pressure to deliver more plays. Her disappointment with the cinematic adaptation of ‘Rita, Sue and Bob Too’, and the reaction of many of her neighbours, also seems to have had a detrimental effect. Her success almost certainly contributed to her early death as she spent more and more time seeking escape in alcohol. 

Improbably Adelle Stripe has managed to make a page-turner out of this material, and that is a credit to both her writing skill, and also to the extraordinary Andrea Dunbar. All the dialogue rings true and the glimpses into Andrea’s thoughts and feelings are also completely credible. It’s a brilliant, concise (230 pages), darkly humorous, tragic, fascinating book which brings a talented, troubled, shy young woman to life whilst also unerringly evoking 1980s Britain. Wonderful.

Nigel 9/10
Nick 9/10
Robin 8/10
Roland 8.5/10
Keith 6/10
Tristan 6.5/10
Hamish - did not read

Music: Thatcher’s Britain playlist

Thatcher’s Britain playlist tracks

The Beat - Stand Down Margaret
Fun Boy Three - The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)
XTC - Making Plans For Nigel
The Flying Lizards - Money
Heaven 17 - (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
The Redskins - Bring it Down!
Wham! - Wham Rap!
The Jam - Town Called Malice
The Clash - Clampdown
The Pop Group - She is Beyond Good and Evil
The The - Heartland
UB40 - One In Ten
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Five Nights Of Bleeding
The Specials - Ghost Town
Billy Bragg - Which Side Are You On?
Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding

Keith felt these songs were not sufficiently Thatcherite, or anti-Thatcherite. Most found plenty to love. 


Film: The Arbor (2010) dir by Clio Barnard


Blown away. We were. Gritty. Grim. Cinematic. Powerful

Wow. Phew etc

Robin explained how verbatim theatre is a new form of contemporary political drama, in which the proceedings of some hearing or trial are reconstituted word-for-word on stage, acted out by performers. Artist and film-maker Clio Barnard experimentally and rather brilliantly applied this technique to her film about Andrea Dunbar and her family, ventriloquising the past with a new kind of "verbatim cinema". She journeyed back 30 years with this film about Andrea Dunbar who, physically weakened by alcoholism, died in 1990 of a brain haemorrhage aged 29.

Dunbar came from that part of Bradford's tough Buttershaw estate known as "the Arbor". Barnard has interviewed Dunbar's family, friends and grownup children and then got actors to lip-synch to the resulting audio soundtrack, talking about their memories. Passages of Dunbar's autobiographical plays are acted out in the open spaces of the very estates where she grew up, surrounded by the residents looking on. The effect is eerie and compelling: it merges the texture of fact and fiction. Her technique produces a hyperreal intensification of the pain in Dunbar's work and in her life, and the tragic story of how this pain was replicated, almost genetically, in the life of her daughter Lorraine, who suffered parental neglect as a child and domestic violence and racism in adult life, taking refuge in drugs in almost the same way that Andrea took refuge in alcohol. The story of Lorraine's own child is almost unbearably sad, and the experience of this child's temporary foster-parents – who were fatefully persuaded to release the child back into Lorraine's care – is very moving.

Endorse It

What we’re endorsing at the moment….

BOOK: Restoration (1989) by Rose Tremain
MUSIC: The Orielles - Silver Dollar Moment (2018) (Heavenly Records)
TV: This Country (BBC 3 Comedy) - iPlayer
TV: Man Like Mobeen (BBC 3 Comedy) - iPlayer
TV: Damned (Channel 4 Comedy) - All4
PODCAST: The A to Z of David Bowie
YOUTUBE VID: Mark Lemar and Bernard Manning
MUSIC: Franz Ferdinand live at the Brighton Dome 2018
BOOK: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
TV: Derry Girls (Channel 4 Comedy) - All4
TV: Mum (BBC 3 Comedy) - iPlayer
MUSIC: King of the South Seas (folk band)
FILM: I, Tonya


Next time….

BOOK: The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride
MUSIC: A Certain Ratio - ‘I’d Like To See You Again’
FILM: Princess Cyd (Netflix)