A Small Revolution in Germany (2020) by Philip Hensher

Keith had torn a review of this book out of the newspaper and when he later pondered this crumpled fragment he knew it was the perfect choice for HBG and so it was that his Rebellious Youth theme was born

READ: A Small Revolution in Germany (2020) by Philip Hensher

The book’s central question seems to be…

Can you age without compromising your values and political beliefs? 

Or is it just a satire on the left? 

Or is it holding a mirror up to a more widespread disillusionment with politics and politicians? 

Or asking how far people will go in pursuit of their own ambitions? 

One former comrade appears totally ruthless in a desire for power and self advancement.

Do most of Spike’s old friends sell out for the sake of power, or have they simply grown up? 

And is the murder of Tracey/Alex significant in this regard?

Keith found a scrap of paper

So many questions to ponder? But is that what Philip Hensher intended? Or is it a failure of the novel that it is so ambiguous and we could not come up with a satisfactory answer?

Whilst no one was proclaiming this as any kind of masterpiece we all found things to enjoy, some more than others

Nick 5.5 / Tristan 7.5 / Nigel 6 / Keith 7 / Roland 7.5 / Robin 5 / Hamish 7.5

LISTEN: Keith’s Sonic Youth playlist

Everyone found plenty to enjoy in Keith’s Sonic Youth playlist. Some of us were old SY fans, others were just discovering them. Nick and Hamish felt they were our generation’s Velvet Underground. High praise

WATCH: If… (1968) directed by Lindsay Anderson

Youth versus tradition and authority. If... is an absorbing, compelling and surprising modern classic from Lindsay Anderson which skewers the English public school experience. The tradition of the public school collides with the tumult of the late 1960s. Coincidentally If…. premiered soon after the events of May 1968 in Paris. 

Roland takes aim at "If...."

Malcolm McDowell captivates in his screen debut. The rest of the cast are pretty amazing too.

Despite the film’s deserved classic status not everyone was feeling the love. Both Hamish and Roland described it as “awful”. 

The rest of us were in thrall to its genius.

Endorse it

Guilt (BBC iPlayer)

Squid Game (Netflix)

Worthing Football Club

Rival Consoles (Concert)

The Specials (Concert)

Stasiland (Book)

Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace Your Limits. Change Your Life by Oliver Burkeman (Book)

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)

Instructions for a Heatwave (2013) by Maggie O’Farrell

*1970s Britain*

On Wednesday 21st July 2021 we met on the beach at Hove having made abandoned our plan to cycle to Devils Dyke after numbers dwindled. 

We discussed Tristan’s 1970s Britain choices

READ: Instructions for a Heatwave (2013) by Maggie O’Farrell

There was much love for this book. Most gushed about its many perceived merits. Even the naysayers enjoyed it but felt it was a tad predictable and lacking any jeopardy.

Nick 9 / Tristan 9 / Nigel 6 / Keith 8 / Roland 6 / Robin 7 / Hamish 9

LISTEN: Cut (1979) by The Slits

Most had barely listened to this seminal album. The Dennis Bovell production is what elevates it. The earlier Peel Sessions by The Slits show how transformational Dennis Bovell was. And of course The Slits blazed a trail for women everywhere. The stunning cover of I Heard It Through the Grapevine  takes the original song in a totally different direction.

WATCH: Abigail’s Party (1977) directed by Mike Leigh (DVD)

We all loved this perfect fit with the theme

Beverley is the epitome of the nightmare suburban housewife: crass, tactless, lacking self awareness and seething with a thwarted energy. 

A razor sharp deconstruction of subtle class dynamics too.

Interestingly Dennis Potter concluded that, for all its merits, it was sneering and vindictive. Which perhaps fits with Mike Leigh’s agenda? Either way it’s a masterpiece.

ENDORSE IT

Goodwood Festival of Speed

West Cork podcast + Netflix series

Stewart Lee: Unreliable narrator (BBC Sounds)

Bob Dylan: Verbatim (BBC Sounds)

NEXT TIME

Next time out we are discussing Hamish’s choices

Theme to be revealed (apparently it’s quite obvious and stems from the film)

READ:  The Zero (2006) by Jess Walter 

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

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

Date of discussion: Thursday 9th September 2021

Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) by Philip Roth

The hardest working book group in Hove assembled on Thursday 24th June 2021 in the modern environs of Nick’s space age kitchen for his Cancel Culture themed selections starting with…

READING: Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) by Philip Roth

Nick is a fan of Philip Roth but confessed this was his first “early work” and it was a bit ho hum compared with his majestic late period. 

Keith and Robin continued to damn Portnoy with feint praise.

Nigel felt it was akin to being trapped in a lift with an angry, talkative, boring and unfunny Woody Allen. The monologue was meandering and whiny. What was presumably shocking and groundbreaking in 1969 has not aged well. 

Roland - stick or twist? The eternal dilemma

Tristan quite liked elements of it and gave it an extra point for the ending punchline which made him laugh.

Hamish described it as dire before lambasting it for its many shortcomings.

Roland, ever the maverick, loved it and related to the binary dilemma of sticking with a sexually attractive partner versus someone with more cerebral charms.

Nick 5 / Tristan 6 / Nigel 3 / Keith 6 / Roland 9 / Robin 5.5 / Hamish 26

LISTENING: You Are The Quarry (2004) by Morrissey

Nick - unforgivable

Nick feels it is harder to forgive musicians for their shortcomings and dubious political views than it is writers and film makers. Roland called it a dud whilst the rest of us ranged from neutral to outright fans of the music. 

WATCHING: Chinatown (1974) directed by Roman Polanski

Some of us heralded this a noir masterpiece with a solid and charismatic Jack Nicholson performance at its core, others felt it was a tad disappointing. None could overlook the unforgivable conduct and behaviour of director Roman Polanski

HBG endorse it: 28 May 2021 - 24 June 2021

Succession (Sky Atlantic)

Afternoon tea at the post office in Glynde, Sussex

Stewart Lee - Unreliable Narrator (BBC podcast)

Discounted breakfast at Hixon Green in Lewes and Hove

Time (BBC iPlayer)

Together (BBC iPlayer)

Marlet Kayak Club on Brighton seafront

Next time out we are discussing Tristan's choices….

*1970s Britain*

READ: Instructions for a Heatwave (2013) by Maggie O’Farrell

LISTEN: Cut (1979) by The Slits

WATCH: Abigail’s Party (1977) directed by Mike Leigh (DVD)

Date of meeting: Wednesday 21st July 2021

Hamish will be unveiling the choices for Thursday 9th September 2021

The Silence of the Girls (2018) by Pat Barker

Hove’s most celebrated literary salon assembled on Thursday 27th May 2021 in the convivial surrounds of a fashionable conservatory to celebrate Roland’s Troy themed selections starting with…

READING: The Silence of the Girls (2018) by Pat Barker

Roland confessed to slight disappointment and Hamish, juices flowing given the Regeneration trilogy was also a little sniffy. 

Nigel felt it was an inspired idea to tell the story with female voices in this male dominated war. A masterstroke. We witness a whole new level of unpleasantness through the eyes of the women claimed as part of the bounty of war. These women were turned into slaves whilst having to process the trauma of their new masters having destroyed their cities, and killed their fathers, brothers and children. By viewing legends from a different perspective, Pat Barker allows us to rethink history. The Gods are there in the background however the primary focus is the cost of wars waged by men and the harsh reality of conquest and slavery.

Robin dismissed it as “a turkey” 

Nick, by contrast, dubbed it “really great” and praised Pat Barker’s brilliance at evoking the visceral horrors of war before describing this as an earthy, clever and credible novel.

Alas Keith could not keep the love going and found it passable if a little unsatisfactory

Thankfully Tristan was on hand to laud a brilliant reinterpretation. Some sections are genuinely gripping and vivid, for example a section when a plague ravages the prison camp, or some of the blood-drenched battle scenes.

Nick 8 / Tristan 10 / Nigel 7 / Keith 5 / Roland 7 / Robin 3 / Hamish 6

LISTENING: Promises (2021) by Floating Points

Most of us could barely discern much difference between Movements 1 to 5. After Movement 6 it was easier to discern some progression but by that time wewere losing the will to live. All except Nick that is, who heralded this as “the best thing HBG have ever done”. Were drugs involved? Seems likely.

Another turkey

WATCHING: Troy (2004) directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Prime / DVD)

Troy has the production values of 1954 rather than 2004. Bum numbingly long for no good reason, boring, ridiculous and dated. A load of old codswallop. Wooden horse, wooden acting. Robin again broke out the T word - it’s a turkey. 

HBG endorse it: 23 April 2021 - 27 May 2021

Nomadland (film)

Motherland (BBC iPlayer)

This Time With Alan Partridge (BBC iPlayer)

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Steuart (Book/audiobook)

Halston (Netflix)

Next time out we are discussing Nick's choices….

*Cancel Culture*

READ: Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) by Philip Roth

LISTEN: You Are The Quarry (2004) by Morrissey

WATCH: Chinatown (1974) directed by Roland Polanski (DVD)

Date of meeting: Thursday 24th June 2021

Tristan will be unveiling the choices for 22nd July 2021

Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (2018) by Isabel Tree

On 22 April 2021 we met in a Hove conservatory to discuss Robin’s How To Save The Planet themed choices

READ: Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (2018) by Isabel Tree

LISTEN: Planet Earth playlist 

WATCH: Blackfish (2013) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Netflix)

READ: Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (2018) by Isabel Tree

Robin declared this was fabulous and to varying degrees we all agreed with one outlier. Yep, Nick labelled this “pedestrian” with insufficient sex between Isabella and Charlie. Strange but true.

Wilding (2018) is Isabella Tree's account of how the Knepp estate in West Sussex changed from being a farm to a more natural environment. It's wonderful. Inspiring, informative and passionate. We learnt so much about how nature, left to its own devices, can transform an estate laid bare after decades of intensive agriculture into a rich, diverse ecosystem.

Isabella and her husband Charlie Burrell have also introduced Exmoor ponies, longhorn cattle, red deer and Tamworth pigs which are allowed to roam free on their aristocratic estate. The animals live out in the open all year round and give birth unassisted by humans. Numerous plants, including many rare ones, have returned together with trees, insects, bats and many other organisms. As the herbicides and pesticides of the farm disappear the habitats are regaining some equilibrium. Most surprising is the increase in the variety and abundance of birds including nightingales and turtle doves whose dwindling numbers have made them endangered. 

Needless to say it has not all been plain sailing and Isabella details a plethora of issues. These include the response of their neighbours, the limited thinking and attitudes of some conservationists, the difficultly in getting funding, and the behaviour of some visitors to the estate. Nevertheless what ultimately emerges is a compelling and reasoned argument in favour of incentivising more landowners to give some of their land back to nature. 

Nick 6 / Tristan 8 / Nigel 9 / Keith 9 / Roland 9 / Robin 10 / Hamish 8

LISTENED: Planet Earth playlist 

An interesting and eclectic collection most of which were familiar to the group. Some tunes just seemed to refer to the planet whilst others had an explicitly environmental or ecological subtext. The artist earth was included because or their name. The lyrics of Radiohead’s Idioteque were ambiguous. Possibly about nuclear war? Likewise UB40’s The Earth Dies Screaming. Is that about war? Or what?

Anyway, we all found plenty to enjoy. Favourites included Marvin Gaye, Johnny Cash, and Louie Armstrong. Marvin Gaye in particular is a gem and his What’s Going On album would also have made a good choice for this theme.

WATCHED: Blackfish (2013) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Netflix)

Hard-hitting, grim and depressing. We found it hard to dwell on humanity’s treatment of animals as we find it so awful and so completely unnecessary

We hope one day there will be no zoos, circuses with animals, wet markets, dairy farming, meat farming, fishing, as it’s now beyond question that animals have complex emotional lives and deserve the same respect as humans. 

HBG endorse it: 19 March 2021 - 22 April 2021

Molly’s Game (Netflix)

Line of Duty (BBC iPlayer)

1234 by Craig Brown (Book/audiobook)

Seaspiracy (Netflix)

Walk around deserted Shermanbury Place nr Henfield, West Sussex

Obama & Springsteen podcast

The Seek app

Promising Young Women (Sky)

Come As You Are (Sky)

Blinded By The Light (Prime)

Next time out we are discussing Roland's choices….

*Troy*

READ: The Silence of the Girls (2018) by Pat Barker

LISTEN: Promises (2021) by Floating Points

WATCH: Troy (2004) directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Prime / DVD)

Date of meeting: Thursday 27th May 2021

Nick will be unveiling the choices for Thursday 24th June 2021

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1963) by Walter Tevis

On 18 March 2021 we met on Zoom (inna lockdown stylee once again) to discuss Nigel’s “Loving The Alien” themed choices….

Loving The Alien

READ: The Man Who Fell To Earth (1963) by Walter Tevis

LISTEN: Loving The Alien playlist 

WATCH: Aliens (1986) dir by James Cameron

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1963) by Walter Tevis

Nigel explained how he was a teenage Bowie freak who had last read The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis as a teen in late 1970s London suburbia following the 1976 Nic Roeg film adaptation.

Nigel has seen the Nic Roeg film numerous times over the years and recalls this far more clearly than the source novel. 

Generally we felt the film unfairly overshadows the film. The book is possibly now the better cultural experience. 

In 2020 Nigel read another Walter Tevis novel, The Queens Gambit (1983), which was recently turned into a very successful Netflix series. Nigel had not seen the adaptation. Reading The Queens Gambit prompted Nigel to look at other Tevis novels. Three of Walter Tevis's six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money and, of course, The Man Who Fell to Earth. This realisation inspired this choice.

Not only did The Man Who Fell to Earth inspire the Roeg film it also inspired Bowie’s Lazarus 2015 musical. 

Despite being a mere 209 pages and almost 60 years old the novel still packs a powerful punch and has stood the test of time. Thomas Jerome Newton, the eponymous man, is not a man but an alien from a far off planet hoping to rescue his own dying species. He is able to pass himself off as human and, using his advanced technological knowledge, creates a very profitable corporation. His mission, which always felt like a long shot, becomes ever more futile. 

As with most great Science Fiction, the story is a way of holding up a mirror up to own world. Hamish questioned whether it really is a sci fi novel given that it is all on Earth.

Themes we discerned…

The Cold War. The novel is a product of its era. Newton explains that it was atomic weapons which all but destroyed his planet and that Earth is heading for the same fate

Melancholy. Every character seems lost. Newton is of course literally lost far from home but Bryce and Betty Jo are also lost souls. Newton, the fragile alien, is in the grip of an existential crisis, sick of pop culture and suspicious of authority. It’s only Farnsworth who seems remotely satisfied but he’s only a bit part character who we never really get to know.

Our treatment of people/organisms who are different to us (immigrants, animals, different cultures etc). Usually with mistrust, aggression, suspicion and even abuse - and a distinct lack of any empathy

Our desire to fit in. Thomas Jerome Newton quickly starts to “go native” and soon feels his mission is futile. Indeed he’s relieved when he can abandon his mission. Roland felt Newton quickly becomes human and alcohol is just a symptom of humanity’s general malaise

Alcoholism. Newton and Betty Jo are reliant on alcohol to get through the day. The novel is permeated with booze. Write about what you know is the age old advice to authors, so it’s surely no coincidence that Walter Tevis had a serious alcohol problem? Keith wondered if this aspect was wholly successful. Robin felt people (and aliens) who are displaced are more prone to becoming alcoholics. 

The Man Who Fell To Earth is a top notch philosophical, provocative and contemplative sci-fi. An excellent story arc maintains the readers interest. Well written with surprising literary flourishes.

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

Loving The Alien playlist 

The strong links between the book and David Bowie made a Bowie playlist all but inevitable. Bowie’s preoccupation with Aliens sealed the deal. Obviously Bowie didn’t really believe in Aliens but felt they were a useful metaphor for exploring issues of otherness and difference. Just like Walter Tevis. Plus Aliens and space are cool and fun, of course.

The playlist is a selection of some of Bowie’s alien or spaced themed tunes which also serves as the briefest of whistle stops through his wonderful and varied musical career. 

We open with Bowie’s first hit, the Apollo 11 inspired tune, which still sounds as timeless and perfect as it ever did, before jumping forward to Lazarus, one of the last songs he released. Lazarus was, according to Bowie's producer Tony Visconti, a self-epitaph and a commentary on his impending death. Listening to it still brings a lump to my throat…. Look up here, I'm in heaven, I’ve got scars that can't be seen

Tempting though it is to go through the playlists song by song we mainly agreed that this is a splendid selection of songs by one of the all time musical greats. 

That said, Hamish shocked HBG by suggesting that there were three average songs. Robin felt Bowie was the easy option but still found time to laud the playlist and specifically the drum sound on Moonage Dream. Roland lambasted Bowie as “a very uneven artist” with “a lot of dross including Lazarus”. The playlist was a journey of rediscovery for Tristan having been an obsessive listener for four years and then wandered off to listen to other things. The variability was all part of the charm. 

RIP Mr Bowie

Nick - / Tristan 7 / Nigel 10 / Keith - / Roland 5 / Robin 9 / Hamish 7

Aliens (1986) dir by James Cameron

Nigel explained how he’d managed never to see this film despite enjoying the original 1979 Alien film on multiple occasions. It was, of course, an obvious fit with our Loving The Alien theme. HBG is also very keen on a good old fashioned blockbuster of any vintage. 

The banter amongst the Marines has not aged too well but, that aside, Aliens stands up really well given its age. 

The cast are the usual mishmash of marines and technicians with solitary company man the slimy Burke obviously a wrong un from the off.

Plotwise Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley must surely have been able to relate to John McClane’s quip in Die Hard 2 “How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?” 

Once we’re back on the planet it really is same shit/different day however the tension never lets up and it’s incredible how the film maintains such a pitch of unremitting intensity for so long. The running time flies by but the viewer is totally drained by the conclusion. 

Hamish was less enthused and Keith even less so. However Tristan felt this is a masterpiece and he loves it.

Nick 12 / Tristan 9 / Nigel 8 / Keith - / Roland 3 / Robin - / Hamish 5

HBG endorse it: 12 February 2021 - 18 March 2021

Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020) (dir by Julien Temple) (BBC iPlayer)

Beats (2019) dir by Brian Welsh

Informer (BBC series on Netflix)

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (Book)

Can’t Get You Out of My Head (Adam Curtis series on iPlayer)

Zero Zero Zero (Sky Atlantic)

Unforgotten (Netflix / ITV)

Ride Upon The Storm (Walter All4)

Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan (Novel)

Beautiful Boy (BBC iPlayer)

Waves (Now TV)

The Forty Year Old Version (Netflix)

News of the World (Netflix)

The White Tiger (Netflix)

The Terror (BBC iPlayer)

Raging Bull (Film)

Call My Agent (Netflix)

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Novel)

Next time out we will discuss Robin’s choices….

How to save the planet

READ: Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (2018) by Isabel Tree
Blackfish
LISTEN: How to save the planet playlist
WATCH: Blackfish (2013) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite