Boring Arts Review 7

Thanks to me having time off uni, I've been able to watch, read, and listen to way more stuff, and I'm all the better for it! Here's what I've been checking out, I reckon you should do the same!

I've linked to all the albums! 

Books

I've read a few books this month, and I've got loads to say about both of them:

Trainspotting, a book about the various mishaps of Scottish heroin addicts in the 80s, is one of the most disgusting and poignant books I've ever read. It's the type of book where you're not sure why you kept on reading, but which will stay in your mind for months after. There's not really a plot to it, it's more a collection of short stories revolving around Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie, four addicts living in Edinburgh. By the end of the book, I couldn't really tell you who they were, aside from Renton being the ambitious one, Begbie being a scumbag, and Sick Boy having the best luck at sex. 

However, Irvine Welsh did such a good job of painting the bleak, depressing world of Edinburgh that I didn't really mind. The Scottish patter was hard to understand at the beginning, but soon it became second nature to me. Treating each chapter as a short story instead of as part of an overarching narrative helped me enjoy the book way more, and Welsh is incredible at shifting between anger, comedy and melancholy across stories. I'm looking forward to watching the film at some point, I wonder how it handles the plot...but I'm also excited about the soundtrack. I mean, come on: Blur, Pulp, Underworld - it's a work of art.

I also read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was actually my second time reading it, the first was nearly four years ago, but after having read a review of an Ishiguro book somewhere, I remembered how much I loved reading his stuff, so decided to give him another go. I remember when I read Never Let Me Go the first time, I enjoyed it, even if I felt like the main premise behind the book could have been avoided. That premise, by the way, is about how the main characters aren't actually human, they're just clones whose only purpose in life is to be organ donors.

The book itself isn't really about that, though. It's more a slice of life narrated by Kathy H., a boarding school student, recounting her childhood and adolescence with her friends. We get scenes where she remembers getting into arguments with her friends over a pencil case, for example, which made me nostalgic for primary school and how things that once seemed so big were laughably trivial. Sure, the organ donation is there, but it looms in the background, and the focus instead lies on Kathy's thoughts about the school and her sex life. I was actually really surprised, reading the second time, just how often sex is mentioned. 

I could go on, genuinely, I have loads to say, but that might need to wait for another blogpost. The book is incredible as a slice of life, and fantasic as a slow-burn horror, as you learn about the world at the same pace as Kathy does. Ishiguro's writing is beautifully minimalistic, and Kathy's such a fantastic narrator. It's even surprisingly quotable: I'll always view Norfolk as the lost corner of England after this book.

Music

I've checked out a few new releases this month. The most exciting for me has got to be the debut Mary in the Junkyard record, Role Model Hermit. It's a terrific indie record, with some lovely guitar rock blended with more acoustic numbers. New Muscles is probably my fave track, with its droning bass and vibrant drumming reminding me of post-punk at times. Seek and Destroy is similarly enjoyable, and the reflective closer, Mouse, is a lovely note to end on. I especially like Clari Freeman-Taylor's vocals on these songs, they're perfect for anxious, relationship-focused tracks. 

I also listened to the new album by the Strokes, Reality Awaits. I remember hearing the first single from the album, Falling Out of Love, and hating it - it sounded tired and plodding, and I wasn't a fan of Julian Casablancas's autotune-flavoured singing. Since then, the song has grown on me, and I actually enjoy the album as a whole. There is autotune on most tracks, but at least the rest of the band knows how to play, and the end result isn't all that bad. Dine N' Dash and Going to Babble On were both highlights for me. 

TV

I watched the new Netflix show I Will Find You, which is a thriller about a man wrongly arrested for the murder of his son. The first episode was fantastic and emotional, even if the action hijinks at the end were laughably absurd. The show didn't get better afterwards, it just kept on getting wackier to the point I was desperate for it to end. For example, our protag, an accused child killer, spends lots of the show evading the police in broad daylight, and somehow keeps on getting away with it. It just wasn't it for me.

I also ended up watching the Office - the British version, obviously. I remember watching the first episode years back and finding it deeply unamusing, but I gave it another crack and I absolutely loved it. Ricky Gervais as David Brent plays a boss who's so pathetic and insecure you almost feel sorry for, but then does something so stupid you regret feeling that way. That's not forgetting Tim, played by Martin Freeman, who might be my favourite sitcom character of all time. He's so mundane, it's tragic seeing him struggle to get the office romance he so desperately wants, stuck in a job he so clearly hates. It's also very funny, I almost forgot to mention that. 

Oh, and I've started watching Game of Thrones. Lots of sex, violence, and families which feel woefully unexplained so far. It is thrilling, though.