Author: CaptainFez

Curmudgeon.

Book review: Seven Japanese Tales

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Seven Japanese Tales.Seven Japanese Tales by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Japanese culture, when compared to what’s generally passed off as Western culture, seems to be a little off. That’s not a value judgement, but an observation that compared to what Western Canon readers are used to, there’s more dissonance, and a willingness to examine topics which (at least in the time Tanizaki was writing) were either not covered in polite society, or were swept under the rug in bowdlerised editions.

It’s not the case here. Incest and fetishes, and the annihilation of the self in the service of one’s object of desire are the cornerstones of these works. Continue reading “Book review: Seven Japanese Tales” →

Book review: The Lucy Family Alphabet

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The Lucy Family Alphabet.The Lucy Family Alphabet by Judith Lucy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book describes Australian comedian Judith Lucy’s family.

It’s important to state at the outset for those unaware of Lucy’s act – though I’m uncertain who would read this book without knowing at least a little of the comedian’s work – that her caustic style makes much of the role of her family in her upbringing. The loony parents who won’t let their kids take showers (despite having a functional appliance) and who exist on disdain and laxatives are the cornerstone of her pieces. Continue reading “Book review: The Lucy Family Alphabet” →

Book review: Jack Maggs

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Jack Maggs.Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Peter Carey became one of my favourite authors from my HSC study of Oscar and Lucinda. I suspect the reason behind this was that that work was set in the same period as some of the other (to my younger self) fusty works but brimmed with self-confidence and interest.

I’ve managed to reread it on an almost yearly basis since I first devoured it (the night before a reading diary was due – one I’d supposedly been writing all holidays) though in the years since I’ve discovered that this compulsive consumption is common where Carey’s involved: something certainly true of Jack Maggs.

The book is another interpretation of an existing work. As Oscar and Lucinda is to Patrick White’s Voss, so is Jack Maggs to Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Continue reading “Book review: Jack Maggs” →

The luck of the Irish

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Sydney’s holding a St Patrick’s Day parade today so it’s fitting that I finished my playthrough of The Saboteur today. Or, as I like to think of it, Paddy O’Guinness Kills Nazis, Sees Boobs. 

Heard of it? I didn’t think so. It was pretty quickly forgotten, even by the standards of derivative sandbox shooters. But there was a reasonable mix of Continue reading “The luck of the Irish” →

Hmm.

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It’s been a bit quiet around here. I’m indeed writing posts – I have several in unfinished states – but they’ve just not come together yet.

But I did build a computer. See?

It's ALIVE!

I’ve only been putting it off for a decade or so now. If you’d like to know more about it, I’ve written a build review at Partpicker. Scintillating stuff, I’m sure, but what they say is true: if I can build a functional PC, then so can you.

More soon.

Book review: Great Expectations

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Great Expectations.Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I came late to Dickens, I think. My mother was always on at me to read A Tale of Two Cities – and I still haven’t, strangely – but I never seemed to click with the novels I tried. I just couldn’t get into his world.

It wasn’t until Year 12 that I had to read Great Expectations for a book report. As was my wont, I didn’t start reading the book until the night before the paper was due. But something strange happened: instead of just skimming, as I’d otherwise have done, I was engrossed. I ripped through the book, paying it closer attention than I’d expected to. I loved it. Continue reading “Book review: Great Expectations” →

Book review: Coldheart Canyon

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Coldheart Canyon: A Hollywood Ghost Story.Coldheart Canyon: A Hollywood Ghost Story by Clive Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve shied away from Barker for a couple of years now. I’m not sure why. Like King, he’s an author who I discovered in my teens, and the combination of splatter and verbosity seemed to be something better left behind in advancing years. I’d read Cabal and some of the Books of Blood – inspired by sneaked viewings of Nightbreed and Hellraiser but I kind of found some of his weirdly sensual prose a bit on the nose.

Ha.

In the interim, I understand he’s written some great stuff and some shit stuff. People I know who are fans have been alternately overjoyed and deeply disappointed at his recent work – but I’ll be investigating more closely if the quality of this one’s anything to go by. Continue reading “Book review: Coldheart Canyon” →

Book review: The Unconsoled

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The UnconsoledThe Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the second time I’ve tried to read The Unconsoled and the first time I’ve actually completed it. A couple of months after the novel was released, I picked up a copy of the enormous hardback, as I was certain the blurb rang true, that I would suddenly fall in love with the world inside.

It didn’t happen.

Instead, I was mystified and more than a little pissed off. Trying to make sense of the book was kind of like stuffing a pillow with smoke: Continue reading “Book review: The Unconsoled” →

Book review: L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City

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L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive CityL.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City by John Buntin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read some Ellroy? Like Dragnet? You’ll probably enjoy this book. It’s essentially a history of the LAPD, though that title wouldn’t have half as much excitement as this one: at once piggybacking on the Ellroy novel/flick and evoking the idea of a titanic struggle between good and evil.

The truth is a little less razzle-dazzle. What we have here is the story of the LAPD presented by focusing on the career of two men – William H. Parker, who would rise to head the organsation, and Mickey Cohen, part of a different Organisation altogether. Continue reading “Book review: L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City” →

New Oren Ambarchi interview

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My interview with composer and multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi (whose records are ace) has been published at Cyclic Defrost. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’m chasing a feeling I get from some of my favourite musics. Something that’s transporting, otherworldly. Ecstatic free sound. I’m searching for something that is almost unknown to me, until I find it, that is. Some kind of beauty.
“I know it when I find it. Somehow everything falls into place – hopefully – at a certain point. I’m happy for this to take a while, so it’s a journey.
“There is some perfectionism but I’m trying not to be too anal about it all. I don’t want to suck the life out of it from refining, refining, refining. It still needs to retain a rawness, an unpredictability. There’s a fine line there, and I have to watch it.”

You can read the rest here.