The End of the Affair (1951) by Graham Greene

On Thursday 11 July 2019 Nick introduced his theme which was…

The End of the Affair

…and so we started with his literary selection….

BOOK: The End of the Affair (1951) by Graham Greene

Nick was fascinated by the book’s biographical basis and the exploration of faith

Nigel read it in January 2018 and decided to read it again, dubbing it a gorgeously written eulogy for a love affair which has the lot, tragedy, humour, insight and much more. He felt much more sympathy for Bendrix second time round.

Keith was a little unsatisfied by the book but wondered if this was just a manifestation of his anti-Kindle feelings.

Roland declared it “a great book”, whilst Robin labelled it a beautifully written flawed masterpiece

Tristan thought it was a stinker and lamented the pedestrian plot, unlikeable narrator, and the metaphysical waffle which said nothing about love, affairs or the human condition.

Nick 7.5 / Tristan 3 / Nigel 9 / Keith 6 / Roland 8 / Robin 8


MUSIC: Blood on the Tracks (1975) by Bob Dylan

Blood on the Tracks is Nick’s desert island disc. Robin loves it. Roland thinks it’s a classic. Tristan loves a bit of Bob but prefers 'Bringing It All Back Home’. It’s not for Keith. Nigel likes it, but not his voice overly, and prefers Highway 1 Revisited and John Wesley Harding.







FILM: Silver Linings Playbook (2012) directed by David O. Russell

Most of us really liked this film. Jennifer L and Bradley C are fab in their roles, which really adds to the appeal, however all the cast are great.

Keith was less smitten, with Tristan, Robin and Roland annoyed by the cliche Hollywood ending

ENDORSE IT

Utrecht (City)
Middle England by Jonathan Coe (book)
Wild Wild Country (TV Netflix)
The Staircase (TV Netflix)
Making a Murderer (TV Netflix)
Office Politics by The Divine Comedy (Music)
Where The Action Is by The Waterboys (Music)
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap (Theatre)
Easy - Season 3 (TV Netflix)
Stranger Things - Season 3 (TV Netflix)
The Cricket World Cup (Sport)
The Women's World Cup (Sport)


ADDENDUM

Just when we felt sure the evening couldn't get any better, we were joined by a mature balding man clutching a packet of Alpen muesli who asked if we wanted to hear a joke. Thus ensued four jokes from his repertoire including "the funniest joke of all time" and one that aircraft cabin crew the world over love so much they will lavish you with wonderful service throughout your journey if you share it with them when you board the plane. As Keith articulated, the most disturbing aspect was that he'd identified us as his target audience given the jokes were somewhat unreconstructed and involved references to nymphomaniacs and bit tits.


After our Summer recess we’ll be back with Tristan’s selections…

Theme: Lighthearted Nerdiness

BOOK: Sourdough (2017) by Robin Sloan
MUSIC: OK Computer (1997) by Radiohead
FILM: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) directed by Edgar Wright

Mythago Wood (1984) by Robert Holdstock

On Thursday 6th June 2019, Hove Book Group, as tradition dictates when tis close to the Summer Solstice, cycled up to Devils Dyke from Hove where we discussed Roland's Natural Horrors choices...

Book: Mythago Wood (1984) by Robert Holdstock

Roland explained that Mythago Wood is a fantasy novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, published in the United Kingdom in 1984. It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985. It served as the first in a series of novels known as the Mythago Wood or Ryhope Wood cycle. He also confessed that this choice was “a total gamble” and ultimately dubbed it “too implausible”.

Nick was equally dismissive and likened it to King Solomon’s Mines.

Nigel surprised everyone by revealing fantasy is not a genre he feels any affinity with, and Mythago Wood (1984) by Robert Holdstock was not a book he would ever have read were it not for HBG. It’s enjoyable enough. The writing is functional and the book feels quite dated. The sole female character is a beautiful young girl that the three male protagonists all desire. For those with an appetite for this stuff, there are six more books in the series. One was enough for Nigel.

Keith got a negative vibe having approached this fantasy novel as a possible instantiation of CG Jung's archetypes of the collective unconscious theory

Robin called it Shocking. It’s as if Jung and a Victorian spinster got together to weave a tale about a small English family, ancient myths and estrangement.

Tristan asked what the point of it was and lamented the plodding language

Nick 4 / Tristan 3 / Nigel 5 / Keith 3 / Roland 4 / Robin 2


Music: Luminous (2014) by The Horrors

Luminous is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Horrors. It was released on 5 May 2014 by record label XL. The album's style has been described as neo-psychedelia, shoegazing and dream pop.

Nick and Nigel dug it. Roland dubbed it groovesome. Keith exclaimed it was pulsating, danceable psychedelia. Robin stated the Horrors are the masters of reinvention. Tristan may not have listened to it.


Film: Errementari (2017) directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo

Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil is a re-telling of an ancient fable about a Blacksmith who finds himself battling the Devil.

The note taking seems to have gone awry at this point. Perhaps another stunning Dyke sunset distracted the nominated note taker? Hazy recollections suggest most of us were unimpressed, especially those who had watched the dubbed version.

Fortunately no such distractions were around for the endorsements…

ENDORSE IT

The Virtues - Shane Meadows on Channel 4 (TV)
'The A to Z of David Bowie’ Podcast - final episode now been and gone
Conn Iggulden - Emperor series (books)
Utrecht - city in the Netherlands (travel)
Coal Black Mornings by Brett Anderson (book)
Mum (BBC TV)
There is no Planet B (book)
Wooden Shjips (live music)

Stranger Weather in Tokyo (2014) by Hiromi Kawakami

On 2 May 2019 Hove’s finest gathered at their current meeting venue of choice, the Westy, to dive into Nigel’s Turning Japanese themed choices

Isn’t Japan amazing?

Turns out Nigel is not the only HBGer very attracted to Japan which feels so alien and yet also so familiar

Most of us had only visited through numerous Studio Ghibli films and the novels of Haruki Murakami, all of which are charming and beguiling.

Nigel was interested in reading more Japanese fiction and particularly to gain a female perspective. Hiromi Kawakami is, apparently, one of Japan's most popular contemporary novelists, so who better?

HBG has also enjoyed great success with many of the “foreign" books we’ve read - for example, really enjoyed reading Hans Fallada, Eimar McBride, Emmanuel Livintnoff, Michel Houellbeq, Kenneth Cook etc

Book: Stranger Weather in Tokyo (2014) by Hiromi Kawakami

Strange weather in Tokyo is reminiscent of Haruki Murakami. It has the same charming simplicity which masks a quiet profundity. The same slightly askew vibe. The two lead characters, Tsukiko and Sensei, are both typically self contained and independent. It feels very Japanese, partly through explicit references to baseball, food and sake, and also to the marking of the seasons, from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms.

Despite an age difference of about 30 years, Tsukiko and Sensei very gradually embark on an intimate relationship. The boundaries and formality begin to dissolve as both slowly come to terms with their feelings. This love story is conveyed through some wonderful and somewhat magical excursions within and outside the city.

Strange weather in Tokyo is an engrossing and enchanting evocation of friendship, love and loneliness, which packs a lot into its 172 pages. Most of us liked or loved it, except one of us who felt it was flat….

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

Music:🐝 Turning Japanese….I think I'm Turning Japanese I really think so (Spotify playlist)

Nigel had lovingly curated a Turning Japanese playlist which embraced some of the more extreme examples of Japanese pop. Not something we’d want on heavy rotation but most found something to enjoy or appreciate












Film: One Cut Of The Dead (2017) directed by Shinichiro Ueda

One Cut of the Dead (カメラを止めるな! Kamera o Tomeru na!, transl. "Don't Stop the Camera!") is a 2017 Japanese zombie comedy film directed by Shinichiro Ueda. Made with a low budget of ¥3 million ($25,000) with a cast of unknown actors, the film opened in Japan in a small theatre for a six day run. Following its international success at its screening at the Udine Film Festival, the film began getting wider release, including a re-release in Japan. It grossed ¥3.12 billion in Japan and $30.5 million worldwide, making box office history by earning over a thousand times its budget. The film also received universal critical acclaim, holding a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

This film within a film within a film met with mixed responses. Nick and Nigel were very enthusiastic. Others were less so. Roland was troubled by the lack of cleavage.


Endorse It

Mark Kermode interviews the legendary Malcolm McDowell (Kermode on Film podcast #24 - 9 April 2019)

Milkman (2018) by Anna Burns (Book) (Booker Prize Winner 2018)

Don’t Forget The Driver (iPlayer)

Loro (Film)

Suede (Concert in Brighton)

Bohemian Rhapsody (Film)

Middle England by Jonathan Coe (Book)

The Museum of Jurassic Technology (LA museum)

I, Tonya (Film)

William Boyd - The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth (Book)

The Party (Film - Netflix)

Allotments

Eighth Grade (Film)

Afterlife (Netflix series)


Next time out we’re embracing Roland’s Natural Horrors themed choices

Book: Mythago Wood (1984) by Robert Holdstock

Mythago Wood is a fantasy novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, published in the United Kingdom in 1984. It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985. It served as the first in a series of novels known as the Mythago Wood or Ryhope Wood cycle.

Music: Luminous (2014) by The Horrors

Luminous is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Horrors. It was released on 5 May 2014 by record label XL. The album's style has been described as neo-psychedelia, shoegazing and dream pop.

Film: Errementari (2017) directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo

Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil is a re-telling of an ancient fable about a Blacksmith who finds himself battling the Devil.

See you there

The Humans (2013) by Matt Haig

On Wednesday 3rd April 2019, Hove’s finest gathered to debate Robin's “We’re Only Humans" themed choices

On Tuesday 2nd April 2019 we will discuss Robin's “We’re Only Humans" themed choices...

BOOK: The Humans (2013) by Matt Haig

It is a love story and a murder story and a what-are-we-here-for? story. It is about humans.

We all liked it, some even loved it, all except one. There’s always one isn’t there? Nick thought it was fine but was ultimately disappointed

Nick 5 / Tristan 8 / Nigel 8 / Keith 8 / Roland 9 / Robin 8





 

MUSIC: Reproduction (1979) by The Human League

Robin was not familiar with the synth pop landmark 1979 release and was a tad disappointed, Empire State Human aside.

Nigel regaled HBG with tales of early League gigs - slideshow n all















FILM: Life is Beautiful (1997) directed by Roberto Benigni

We were expecting something along the lines of Cinema Paradiso, which we really enjoyed. Roberto Begnini’s full on slapstick was too much for many. Generally annoying but sporadically charming. It’s a big hearted film that many love, including Tristan

Tristan 8 / Nigel 4 / Keith 6 / Robin 6


Endorse It

Fleabag (BBC iPlayer)

John Crace (Guardian Political Sketch writer)

The Road To Brexit - Matt Berry comedy (BBC iPlayer)

La Forza del Destino (Opera)

This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC iPlayer)

Jim Jones and the Righteous Mind (live music in Brighton)

David Bowie by Dylan Jones (Book)

Jah Wobble - A Very British Coup (Song) (2019) feat. Keith Levene, Richard Dudanski, Mark Stewart, Andrew Weatherall & Youth

How To Burn A Million Quid (BBC Radio 4 programme available via BBC Sounds app etc)

The Stranglers (Live music in Brighton)

Race Against The World (BBC iPlayer)

My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) by Ottessa Moshfegh

Thursday 7th March 2019 -  Keith's “Year" themed choices

On Thursday 7th March 2019 we discussed Keith's “Year" themed choices

BOOK: My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) by Ottessa Moshfegh

The 2016 Booker nominee’s fable about a New Yorker avoiding life through drug-induced sleep hits its targets with pitiless black humour. My Year of Rest and Relaxation uses vicious humour to engage with some profound issues: narcissism, abandonment, sex, privilege, self loathing, identity, status, fashion, art, urbanity and more.

Keith wife’s wonders if she even knows him after he was a little underwhelmed.

Nigel, Robin and Tristan loved it and proclaimed another brilliant book group choice. It combines the blankness of Bret Easton Ellis with the pharmacology of Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation. Nigel also read Ottessa Moshfegh's 2016 Booker nominated Eileen, also v good. A new favourite author. Hurrah.

Roland and Nick were less taken with it.

Nick 7 / Tristan 8.5 / Nigel 9 / Keith 6 / Roland 6.5 / Robin 8




MUSIC: This Year's Model by Elvis Costello / The Golden Year by Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

Two for the price of one as Keith curates the best of This Year's Model and The Golden Year

Many of us love early Elvis. Superb. Righteous indignation shackled to hooktastic tunes and biting lyrics. This Year’s Model is an early gem. It was this album that he first worked with The Attractions and really attained lift off. One of the all time great rock n roll bands, specialising in nervous, amphetamine-fuelled, paranoid music. Few key tracks missing in the playlist not least Lipstick Vogue and Night Rally.

Keith loves Ou Est Le Swimming Pool and wanted to share the love. We were saddened to discover the singer committed suicide in 2010 just as they were gaining a bit of traction. They still made this, their debut album. It’s OK. Perhaps too much of a contrast to the brilliant Elvis Costello.




FILM: The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006) directed by Cao Hamburger

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (Portuguese: O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias) is a 2006 Brazilian drama film directed by Cao Hamburger. The screenplay, which took four years to be completed, was written by Hamburger, Adriana Falcão, Claudio Galperin, Anna Muylaert and Bráulio Mantovani.

An enjoyable little film. Apparently highly acclaimed in Brazil and South America. The acting is great. The sympathetic little boy at the centre of the story works really well as a way of highlighting both the world cup, the dictatorship and resistance, and his own confusion and insecurity.

It was well received by everyone except Roland who, somewhat inexplicably, went on an impassioned rant about its short comings. Amongst his many complaints was that the love interest was not sufficiently attractive and the film lacked CGI. Another chapter in HBG folklore was written




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Holy Holy featuring Woody Woodmansey and Tony Visconti playing Ziggy + The Man Who Sold The World at De La Warr pavilion (Live Concert)

Lewes Psychedelic Festival (Event)

Ian Brown - Ripples (2019) (CD/LP/Download)
Snapped Ankles - Stunning Luxury (2019) (CD/LP/Download)
Weezer - Weezer (Black Album) (2019) (CD/LP/Download)
Lana del Rey - hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but I have it (Single)
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (Pop Group)

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (Book)

The Favourite (film)
Tree of Blood (Netflix film)
Sunday’s Illness (Netflix film)
Icarus (Netflix documentary)
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix documentary)
Three Identical Strangers (Documentary film)
Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me (Documentary film)

Isle of Portland (Place)

The Golden Gate (1986) by Vikram Seth

On Wednesday 30th January 2019 we discussed Tristan’s "Three Takes on ‘Frisco" themed choices 

Three Takes on 'Frisco

BOOK: The Golden Gate (1986) by Vikram Seth

The Golden Gate (1986) is the first novel by poet and novelist Vikram Seth. 

The work is a novel in verse composed of 590 Onegin stanzas (sonnets written in iambic tetrameter, with the rhyme scheme following the ABABCCDDEFFEGG pattern of Eugene Onegin). 

It was inspired by Charles Johnston's translation of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin.

You may not be surprised to learn that Tristan was motivated by pretentious oneupmanship. Tristan embraced the rhythm of the 590 Onegin stanzas and found it was good.

What did the rest of Hove’s finest make of it?

Nick was surprised that he didn’t hate it. Keith didn’t want to read it but was won over. Robin didn’t know what he thought - he could have given it 10 and could have given it 0 (he gave it 0). Roland was dreading it and found it hard work. Nigel admired the achievement but struggled with the reality. 

Nick 7.5 / Tristan 6.5 / Nigel 4 / Keith 7 / Roland 4 / Robin 0 

MUSIC: Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills (1968)

Cheap Thrills is a studio album by American rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. It was their last album with Janis Joplin as lead singer. For Cheap Thrills, the band and producer John Simon incorporated recordings of crowd noise to give the impression of a live album, for which it was subsequently mistaken by listeners. Only the final song, a cover of "Ball and Chain", had been recorded live (at The Fillmore in San Francisco). Cheap Thrills reached number one on the charts for eight nonconsecutive weeks in 1968

HBG damned it with feint praise. Most hadn’t even listened to it, including Tristan who chose it. Big Brother and the Holding Company do lay it on a bit thick: all the po-faced histrionics, Janis Joplin’s caterwauling, and the full on guitar shredding blues solos are just too much.


FILM: Bullitt (1968) directed by Peter Yates

Bullitt is a 1968 American thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner was based on the 1963 novel, Mute Witness, by Robert L. Fish, writing under the pseudonym Robert L. Pike. Lalo Schifrin wrote the original jazz-inspired score, arranged for brass and percussion. Robert Duvall has a small role as a cab driver who provides information to McQueen.

Tristan dismissed it as a bit rubbish but with good period detail. Keith blimmin loved it. Robin thought it was dated but OK. Roland was amused but in a bad way. Nick stated you'd have to have a heart of stone not to love this film. The second best car chase after French Connection. Nigel declared it an absolute classic that still stands up really well. The Lalo Schifrin score and the moody SF location shots are brilliant. The wide aperture shots from a distance work brilliantly, as do some of the sections filmed in reflections, it all creates quite an arty aesthetic which makes, what might otherwise be a somewhat routine police procedural, both compelling and captivating to look at. FUN TRIV…. the second month running Nigel has acquired the soundtrack music

Nick 9 / Tristan 6 / Nigel 9 / Keith 10 / Roland 4 / Robin 6

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We are currently endorsing…

The Water Knife book

The Wind Up Girl book

Weezer - Weezer (Teal album)

The Favourite film

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Widows film  

Dave Roberts

Sunderland Til I Die (Netflix)

Manchester By Sea film

Cassandra Drake by Posy Simmonds

The Wife film

Christopher Robin film

Stan and Ollie film

And with that we went back to stockpiling in readiness for no deal brexit

Never Mind (1992) by Edward St Aubyn

BOOK: Never Mind (1992) by Edward St Aubyn

On Thursday 3rd January 2019 we discussed Nick's “English Upper Class Debauchery” themed choices 

Nick explained how Never Mind (1992), winner of the Betty Trask Award, was the starting point for his “English Upper Class Debauchery” theme

Never Mind is the first in Edward St Aubyn's semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels, recently adapted for TV for Sky Atlantic and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as aristocratic addict, Patrick.

Nick stressed how important it is to read the other four books in the series and how they are all, including Never Mind, beautifully written. To an audible exclamation of shock, Nick had no hesitation in lavishing the full 10 on St Aubyn's series opener.

One shocking episode dominates this book and everyone in the group was appalled by it. At the age of five, St Aubyn was raped by his father. This is documented in this first book. The abuse continued for three years, until the eight-year-old St Aubyn somehow persuaded his father, who was then almost 60, to stop. His mother claimed to know nothing of the abuse when he told her decades later. St Aubyn was a drug addict from the age of 16 to 28. This phase is charted in his remarkable second novel, Bad News. 

All of us acclaimed this book. Some of us had read further into the series. Nigel has read the entire series and he stated it is only as a cumulative experience that these Patrick Melrose novels really work. Treat the five short Patrick Melrose novels as one long book and you will enjoy a reading experience to rival Anthony Powell's magnificent A Dance To The Music Of Time - the highest praise Nigel could give. That said, he was least impressed by this book, the series opener, which was reflected in his rating (out of ten)...

Nick 10 / Tristan 9 / Nigel 7 / Keith 8 / Roland 9 / Robin 8.5 

MUSIC: Roxy Music - Avalon (1982)

Nick soundtracked his “English Upper Class Debauchery” themed choices with the languid sound of Bryan Ferry and his Roxy Music at their commercial peak

Avalon is the eighth and final studio album by Roxy Music. Released in May 1982, it was recorded in 1981–82 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of the band's later work. 

Somewhat surprisingly most dismissed it as a bit boring - the two big hit singles notwithstanding. Nigel, ever the contrarian, came to it feeling much the same way but, having listened to it extensively, was a complete convert to its charms, heralding the blend of experimentation with the smoother stylings. 

It was much the same story with...

FILM: High-Rise (2015) directed by Ben Wheatley

High-Rise is a 2015 British dystopian drama directed by Ben Wheatley, starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, and Elisabeth Moss. It was produced by Jeremy Thomas through his production company Recorded Picture Company. Its screenplay was written by Amy Jump and based on the 1975 novel High-Rise by British writer J. G. Ballard. 

Roland enjoys a quiet night in watching High-Rise

The film is set in a luxury tower block during the 1970s. Featuring a wealth of modern conveniences, the building allows its residents to become gradually uninterested in the outside world. The infrastructure begins to fail and tensions between residents become apparent, and the building soon descends into chaos.

Most were bored and underwhelmed. Nigel heralded it a cinematic masterclass.

ENDORSE IT

We are currently endorsing...

Banksy exhibition in Madrid
Roma (Netflix)
The Death of Stalin (Film)
Sunderland Til I Die (Netflix)
Click and Collect (iPlayer)
Paddington 2 (Film)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Netflix)
i360 (Brighton tourist attraction)
1927: The Animals & Children Took To The Streets (Show at The Old Market, Hove)
That Peter Crouch Podcast