World Book Day: My First Book Review

It's the day that many people and children pretend that they read books. Yes we have reached World Book Day where we all share our favourite books and authors. Growing up Roald Dahl was the author for me, with the classic tales Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and the lesser known, but for me better Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator being my favourites. I couldn't guess how many times I might have read those, but we shall settle on a lot. Another regular when I was young was Sue Townsend's famous diaries of Adrian Mole.

More recent times and my interest has moved to thriller, horror and crime. Authors such as Harlen Coben, Richard Laymon and my favourite Robert Goddard are never far from my grasp.

Last year I happened to pickup again my dusty and battered copy of H. G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds. Once again it filled me with the anticipation of old and the many times I had read it before. In the early nineties it was the book that I chose to read for my school English review that I had to write for my coursework. Some twenty odd years later I found and read the same copy and have recently found the original review that was submitted into my coursework folder back in 1993. It is as expected naive and more than a little spoiler filled.

Book Review: The War Of The Worlds

The War Of The Worlds is an unquestionable classic in the science fiction genre. It has often been imitated, but rarely bettered. The War Of The Worlds was written by British writer Herbert George Wells, who also wrote other classics such as The Invisible Man and The Time Machine. In 1953, America took over and made a feature film starring Gene Barry. Although the film was set in California and not London as the book was, it came out well, particularly the special effects which received an Oscar. The seventies saw a musical record version featuring David Essex. Mid-eighties brought a revival for The War Of The Worlds in America as it became a TV series featuring much more gruesome Martians and more consequences. The downside to a reasonably entertaining series was that H. G. Wells was never credited for its creation. The reason I read The War Of The Worlds was that I am a keen fan of science fiction and that I had recently seen the TV series mentioned.

The War Of The Worlds' plot, although simple to understand, has great depth when you get into it. It is told from the point of view of someone who lived through and obviously survived the invasion of Martians from Mars. They came in spaceships like shooting stars. When they reached Earth they took time in building war machines in which the flesh and blood part of the alien sat. From there they had supreme power with their terrifying heat ray. The narrator sets of for safety and to search for Carrie his wife. On his journey he meets a deranged curate who claims he has seen visions of the Martians coming, and a man (who was left unnamed) with the dream of human life starting up again, this time underground. During his journey he also sees an alien in its true form and not hiding in its war machine shell. This extract describes the alien well:

"Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, it was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacle appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air."

After some 170 pages of small text the story finally finishes, but not until there is a strange twist. The death of the Martians does not come from the power of mans technology, but from bacteria causing the Martians to die of influenza.

The War Of The Worlds has few characters which number no more than five. The most important of these is the narrator, who although he tells the whole story, he is never actually named. The only thing you do learn about him is that he is a journalist. The second character is also never named but he is the person who has the dream which is mentioned above.

Although I have counted Carrie as a character featured in the book, she never actually appears in the story as such, she is just mentioned by the narrator. The Parson is probably the deepest character with his insane vision and reactions to everything. He makes a stunning farewell as one of the alien's lunch! The final character is also not in the book for long. His part is solely as the narrator's brother an is again unnamed.

The War Of The Worlds has stunning detail throughout, but you can see that from the extract. Here is another one to give you a better idea, this one describes the alien's war machines:

"A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather."

It says big in the above sentence and this is all that could appear in some books, but H. G. Wells goes that little bit further by adding that it's perhaps the size of a bear. This sort of detail helps the book incredibly, its gives the reader some sort of comparison for these aliens and their machines.

Due to the detail throughout the book, it gets a great deal of atmosphere. This is especially true when he describes the terror of people as they fight with each other to get onto the steamer in chapter seventeen. The final paragraph of the book describes well the panic and confusion caused by the Martians invasion. Read for example this short passage:

"And strangest of all it is to hold my wife's hand again, and to think that I have counted her, and that she has counted me, among the dead."

The War Of The Worlds is a stunning book, throughout it keeps a fast pace. If you are interested in science fiction you will find this book to your liking. Those who are unsure what genre they are a main fan of should have a read too. If you are going to read it though, you must have patience as it is not an easy read. Although written many years ago, it has never dated and probably never will. Overall The War Of The Worlds is an enjoyable read and is strongly recommended. I'll finish with a word from the narrator:

"Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange horror of its appearance. Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread..."

The Curse Of Sekhemka?

Last night despite protest, increasing legal threats and worldwide dis-reputation growing, Northampton Borough Council and leader David Mackintosh sold the ancient Egyptian statue, Sekhemka. It made a touch under £16 million so alls good?

Or is it and will it be? We now await decisions from the Arts Council and the Museum Association regarding loss of funding or accreditation. If we do lose accreditation we shall be one of only three in the country and struck from a list of eighteen hundred. What this means is unknown, Bury and Croydon have both lost their accreditation with MLA (they say nothing has changed for them) due to their own sale of a museum item, so some would say the writing is on the wall for Northampton Museum. History shows we are about to go it alone.

However we now have £8 million in the pot which is ring-fenced for the museum to build the new world (or maybe keep the place going?). It is interesting that the mention of ring-fencing was hastily mentioned in the statement issued. It's as if they think we don't trust councils to spend money correctly...

So all we need to do now it await and see the fallout. Will the Egyptian Ambassador (David Mackintosh quite rudely said he did not recognise what he had to say) bring down a legal curse upon us? Will the museum become an outcast with loss of recognition?

We also have the question of possible other Egyptian items in the museum. If these exist, now the crowning jewel has gone from the collection, perhaps we may as well sell the rest of them. I think this story is far from complete and we have still much to learn.

Incidentally in October, the Question Time is to come from Northampton with presenter David Dimbleby on loan for it from the BBC. What price we auction him off?

The Eighties, My Eighties, No Longer My Eighties - The Saville, Hall and Harris Effect

The eighties were my decade. During the eighties I went from a bright eyed three year old to an Adrian Mole thirteen year old.

For me it will always be my decade for the unique style, be it dress, film or music; which I listen to as I write this. Ninety odd percent of music I listen to to this day was created in my decade. I still live there in a large part of my brain.

As well as the music, dress and films, there was of course the television. My television included the silly antics of It's A Knockout as people wearing bizarre costumes inevitably fell over in a comical way while Stuart Hall in his most wonderful style commentated on proceedings. Then I may have seen Jim'll Fix It, this wasn't a requirement for me, but I watched it now and again as lovely Jimmy Saville filled the eyes of young children with wonder as he gave them everything that they wanted. After school in the later eighties I would have rushed home to watch Rolf's Cartoon Club and marvelled as he hummed away as he filled us with wonder as a splodge evolved before my growing eyes into the most spectacularly drawing or painting.

Oh the wonderful Stuart Hall, Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris.

Now one is in prison, one dead in disgrace and one about to go to be sentenced.

It fills me with tears that this, my childhood has come to this as bit by bit it picks itself apart and takes all my wide eyed wonder away.

However now as a thirty seven year old adult I think and wonder, yes my dreams of a childhood are being destroyed as a thirty seven year old adult, but that makes me the lucky one. My childhood was happy, I went through it with wide eyes and delight as I watched my TV. For those that these three evil and wicked men assaulted, their childhood was taken when they should have enjoyed it like me and that is the true horror in this very sad story.

David Mackintosh And The Curse Of Abington Street

At Monday's council meeting, leader of Northampton Borough Council, David Mackintosh gave his final, final, final, decision on reopening Abington Street to traffic. And he was unanimous in that.

However as he chose to ignore his final chance of not going against the majority of the Northampton people, did he lay prostrate on the sacrificial slab his political ambitions in next years General Election?

Mr Mackintosh has proven himself since taking charge a man of dedication to his cause and his place as leader. A local person (as he keeps telling us), with a will to do what (he thinks) is right for his home town. At all costs?

There is something to be admired of someone who has such dedication and belief that what he is doing is correct. However when by chance of life, you find yourself in so much power that you actually can do (albeit locally) almost what you chose, it makes your beliefs and dedication inherently bad to everyone else.

It perhaps comes with the territory of a politician that they can be a little self centred and only interested in their own opinions, except when it comes round to voting time. Therefore perhaps in this respect Mr Mackintosh is the ideal politician. Self interest at all times.

However a touch of humility wouldn't be a bad thing. Knowing you just might be wrong on the odd occasion is useful perhaps. Whether it be that you really shouldn't have claimed for that item on expenses, or maybe this bus station really isn't going to be big enough. It wouldn't hurt the odd politician once in a while to look human. One of us.

However back to the subject in mind here. There is no question that Mr Mackintosh truly believes that his parties plan (it was in the manifesto) to open the street is, unquestionably the right thing to do. So much so, he has totally and thoroughly ignored the majority of the Northampton public, even going as far as to ignore everything that their own "public consultation" found.

So we reach the point of no return? Whether it is successful or not time will tell. Most doubt it will be.

However time will also tell whether Mr Mackintosh, who, let me remind you again, needs your votes next year, will get them.

To be continued...

Theatre Review: National Theatre Connections - The Wardrobe and Heritage at Royal & Derngate (Royal and Underground)

The National Theatre of ten new plays for young people reached Northampton this week on its countrywide tour, and I was able on the first day to see two of them. Good fun they were too.

The first, The Wardrobe by Sam Holcroft was probably a cleverer idea on paper than the success on stage. The idea was that it told the tale of various interludes through time of the very same wardrobe and was made up of small parts, some of which worked more successfully than others. It was perhaps actually on the part of the performers than some parts felt more alive. Particularly the boys convent section which was superbly played by the group, as well as an earlier part where a young Alan Carr literally stole the show with his upper class performance.

Another thing that jarred a little was the actual staging and use of the wardrobe. It was bizarrely big at times and seemed in one section to have another exit. Fair enough for freedom of the play, but if you are really going to restrict your play idea to a wardrobe, you really need to work with the confines of it for the audience to accept it. A pleasant enough play though with a great idea, but did not really fulfil its promise.

Heritage, written by Dafydd James and performed by Stopsley High School however was a completely different story. Dark, funny and sometimes gloriously rude, this was a wonderful little play. A group of young people have been gathered together to perform a village anthem, but as the play develops, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems.

For the most part this feels like a modern day Lord Of The Flies, with a band of youngsters together, but not really getting on with one another and exchanging insults, potential romance and some really very funny conversations. The young performers were also excellent, with some huge potential in the future I should imagine if they stick with it.

This really is a very dark comedy and it is actually made I think much more powerful by the fact that the performers are so young. A real gem!

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/
http://connections.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

Theatre Review: Elements Of War at Royal & Derngate / Lies, Love And Lust at The Holy Sepulchre, Northampton

It was the young and the really young that provided my theatre experiences this weekend. First up in the form of the Royal & Derngate Youth Theatre and their fascinating performance of Elements Of War. As much a physical artistic performance as a play, this was a very different kind of show.

Broken up into four lightly connecting parts, the cast gradually got older with the first act portrayed by what I would guess seven to nine year olds and their trusty suitcases. It told the tale of their evacuation from the coming war between Wind and Fire. Although there would have been undoubted nerves from these youngsters and a few of them were a little low on voice for the large (for them) stage. They were mostly very impressive little performers, with a few more obvious future stars than others.

A neat piece of work throughout the show was the telling of developments through letters home, via broken and interconnecting stories. One ending as another started, telling the concerns of those even away from the war very well.

The second act concentrated on journalists and politicians, with gaggles of media hounding the leaders of Wind and Fire for answers. In this second act, a nice little light hearted moment came from a bored television viewer flicking through the channels. The television framed by umbrellas by the young performers.

The second part moved up the age bracket with the performers and was the domain of a little more serious story development with the doomed romance of Isabella and Noah, the latter an immigrant. The second part also featured some striking choreographed pieces, with battle, misery and eventual total death. The battle performance was striking, bold and with loud crashing sound, very powerful.

The final part courtesy of bottles of water (who would think this could possibly work!) was a suitably emotional ending. Its funny how a simple little play like this can really tell the real pointlessness of war so well and I have to say the young performers were on the whole, very, very impressive.

*

Later that day I sneakily found myself at the first public performance of first year BA (Hons) Acting students from Northampton University. Having been mighty impressed by the third year and their performances of Animal Farm and Love And Information, I was interested to see what a two year previous performance would look like.

First of all, unlike the third year performance, which was readily accessible material, the first were performing work by John Donne and all his gloriously olde English. Dost's and thou's a plenty, and much like Shakespeare for me, a confused look on my face now and again.

However, this was as much about the performance as anything else, and without a shadow of a doubt, this was striking. Certainly that first year must have covered projection and emotion especially, as it was written over the performers like a clowns red nose.

Nerves? Maybe, well almost certainly, its got to be the case for a first public performance. Maybe even more so in front of family and friends. However if there were nerves, they certainly didn't show. This was a performance of confidence and boldness, and for me incredible for first years. I greatly look forward to seeing how far these performers can go over the next couple of years.

I am also already looking forward to seeing the current second years. Although I shall need to brush up on on my Shakespeare first. Double, double and lots of some toil and all that, I believe.

Theatre Review: Love And Information at The Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The second performance I saw from the Northampton University Actors was a version of Love And Information by Caryl Churchill. Although I do not know whether this was an adapted version or not, this was a very fast paced and snappy show.

Short snippets, much like watching a sketch show, but with an much serious as comedic. Because of the shear pace, nothing ever really outstayed its welcome if there were dud parts (of which there were a couple). However the performers presented it with such style that even the poorer parts were easily ignored.

I particularly loved the running joke presented from the back of the stage of the poor lady failing to get any interest whatsoever from her partner. Likewise the glorious "red flower" speech was superb and delivered perfectly, sadly who by, my mind is a blur (Edit: It was Zoe Habour. *applause*). This was due to the countless characters and scenes, and never due to the performers. By the time one scene was finished, I had already forgot who was in the previous one.

Actually this once again highlights for me the skill involved in these stage performers. I could go to the shop to get bread and milk and come back with bread and cheese. So I truly tip my hat to those that can perform such a complicated play as this, or even any play over two minutes, if it was down to me.

Also the shear style with how tables and chairs were placed was lovely. I may be easily pleased, and not a snooty theatre critic, but put simply, I like what I see and it was glorious on the eye. I am thinking this would be Nik Corral and Lily Bootman to thank for this?

The ear was also pleased (I have discovered that my selected seat is rather close to the speaker), with a nice mixing of music to connect the scenes, I shall name check DJ Walde again for this, who was equally impressive on Animal Farm.

Finally I would like to return to the play proper and highlight what for me was the best scene and for what generally was a light-hearted show, it was a very serious one. The "piano" scene as I will call it was just so simple and yet so powerful at the same time. It was also superbly played, and you know who you are. Unfortunately I don't, and I must stop now as I have to go and get some milk...

*

I have to take this opportunity to applaud the young actors involved in these two performances over the last few days. I have seen a few plays now on stage, mostly in London and for me these young performers for the most part entertained me in the same way as the "stars" of the West End. Likewise I have seen enough television over the years with some substantially inferior acting than that on stage at the Royal in the last couple of days and for me that should stand them well in the future. I look forward to seeing them again, wherever that may be.