Season Review 2013/14 out tomorrow (2nd June)

[Red Astaire]

Just a quick heads up - The season review dvd which I buy every year is out tomorrow. I pre-ordered mine on Amazon so I'll be waiting by the letter box bright and early. The last few years have been crap for obvious reasons but I canna wait to relive last season (even if I skip the Chelsea game 🙁)

 

[eecheerow]

I would have bought it, but... you know.

 

[Red Astaire]

Yeah I know - Plenty of great games on there though even if the ending is a bit of a downer.

 

[peterhague]

What's been the crappest one to watch of the previous 4 seasons?

 

[Red Astaire]

The one with the beach ball goal. That was bloody awful. I bought it but I think I only watched it once. I can't remember what season. 2009/10 maybe?

 

[peterhague]

Yep. I thought you'd say that tbh.

 

[Red Astaire]

My DVD collection is pretty funny now I come to to think of it. It's stuffed with criterion collections, film noire, Hitchcock, Italian neo realism and French new wave. Plus all manner of Woody Allen, Scorsese and Bergman. Then there is this big block of red LFC DVDs - It kind of stands out a bit on my shelf.

 

[Modo]

Last season review I bought was from 04/05. I still view it from time to time.
Would have bought this season's as well but...you know.

 

[peterhague]

Haha that reminds me of when my brother found it hilarious to see one of our book shelves at home packed full of high brow literature and histroy books and the like and just the one book right in the middle bearing in big block capitals 'BOTHAM - MY STORY'.

 

[Red Astaire]

Haha that reminds me of when my brother found it hilarious to see one of our book shelves at home packed full of high brow literature and histroy books and the like and just the one book right in the middle bearing in big block capitals 'BOTHAM - MY STORY'.

Ha ha - My bookshelf is similar. Hardy, Huxley, Thompson, Bukowski, Greene and then..... J.K Rowling 😳

 

[peterhague]

I've never read any Harry Potter books. I bet they're completely shit, aren't they?

 

[Red Astaire]

No - They are very good and I would recommend you to give them a go. Very well written and surprisingly funny. I guess the books and characters became part of a zeitgeist that got tired and boring but that doesn't detract from what is a great story told over 7 books. Try reading one on a long haul flight and the time will fly. Easy reading and good fun.

 

[peterhague]

It's the very hackneyed setting and characters that put me off right from the beginning. I find it hard to believe anyone with any real imagination could have produced them.

I'll definitely give one a try if I ever get the chance though.

 

[Red Astaire]

Think of them like pulp Peter - Good reading when the time is right. Like Stephen King maybe.

 

[Silver Sean]

No - They are very good and I would recommend you to give them a go. Very well written and surprisingly funny. I guess the books and characters became part of a zeitgeist that got tired and boring but that doesn't detract from what is a great story told over 7 books. Try reading one on a long haul flight and the time will fly. Easy reading and good fun.

No. No they are not. Brilliant if you are 11. Appallingly written, reductive, rehashed shite if you're over 11. They are kid's books. Even if they do sell them in 'grown up' black covers.

 

[Red Astaire]

No. No they are not. Brilliant if you are 11. Appallingly written, reductive, rehashed shite if you're over 11. They are kid's books. Even if they do sell them in 'grown up' black covers.

Ok a couple of questions. @Silver Sean

1) Have you read them? All of them I mean.

2) Do you feel that the 500 million books that have been sold and translated into 73 different languages somehow means that all of those people like 'Appallingly written, reductive, rehashed shite' Kids and Adults alike?

3) Are you experienced in writing yourself and because of that you feel your opinion carries some sort of weight?

4) Do you think any books that are written for kids could in no way be read by an adult and enjoyed?

5) May I ask what you would classify as a good well written book or maybe you could venture an author you admire.

Cheers

 

[Silver Sean]

Ok a couple of questions. @Silver Sean

1) Have you read them? All of them I mean.

2) Do you feel that the 500 million books that have been sold and translated into 73 different languages somehow means that all of those people like 'Appallingly written, reductive, rehashed shite' Kids and Adults alike?

3) Are you experienced in writing yourself and because of that you feel your opinion carries some sort of weight?

4) Do you think any books that are written for kids could in no way be read by an adult and enjoyed?

5) May I ask what you would classify as a good well written book or maybe you could venture an author you admire.

Cheers

In reply. I read the first one, which is for 10 and 11 year olds as I am a writer and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I then read half of the second one before I'd read enough. They are children's books that are a mix of Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers/Famous Five/Secret Seven and Tolkien by way of C.S. Lewis and Roald Dahl. Clever of her and undeniably well thought out and well constructed with a good use of inventive language to create a world.

The amount of sales holds no merit. The Da Vinci Code is one of the worst written books of all time but sold millions. My dispute is that there is a huge difference between being a good storyteller and being a good writer. The bible is the best selling book of all time and that's some of the worst fiction ever written by dozens of people. I didn't say Rowling couldn't spin a good yarn.

I am a novelist with a literary agent who is marketing two of my novels as we speak. I have a Masters in Scriptwriting and a degree in journalism, so I think I know a little about writing, yes.

Many children's books are brilliantly written and great reading for adults. I would try Killing God by Kevin Brooks, the Silver Sword by Ian Serrallier, A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle, the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, any Jack London, The Secret Garden, Gullivar's Travels, most of Dahl is still beautifully written AND tells a great story and the Phillip Pullman trilogy is very clever and well-written. Modern adult fiction IMHO doesn't get any better than Willy Vlautin, James Frey, Ron Rash, Donald Ray Pollock (I could go on and on) and of the old guys I love Graham Greene, Hemingway, Keroac, John Buchan, Huxley, Orwell, Twain, Dumas, (again I could go on and on) but it's all personal taste of course.

Having said that anything that gets kids excited about books and reading is to be celebrated, and I read a good deal of badly written but well-told stories as a child myself. I'm sure my daughter will too. My main issue is fully grown adults buying the adult cover versions of Harry Potter books and reading them as if they are reading Proust's Remembrance of things past. Just winds me up.

 

[Red Astaire]

Agree about the adult covers. They're pretty stupid. In fact I agree with most of what you say there including your choice of authors. I wasn't a massive fan of the Pullman trilogy though - I have read them and appreciate the writing but I found them a chore rather than a pleasure.

I'm not sure I understand your argument that they are terribly written when you have only read 1 and a half books of a seven book story arc. The books change in tone a lot as she moves through the story. I'm also a writer (of sorts) and to me I find them beautifully written. You're right that they engage with kids and that's kind of the point. An analogy would be if you watched 'Raiders Of The Lost Arc' or 'Star Wars' again when you are in your 40's or 50's. They are aimed at kids but when I watch them again they remind me of what it was like to be a kid and all the good fun I had then watching them.

As I said to Peter earlier. I'm not saying they are high brow novels. I used the word pulp but I don't even mean that really. More they are very well written, easy on the eye and to me they are a series of fairly gripping page turners. Also they are undeniable classics in my opinion and whether you agree or not the influence they have had on childrens literature has been huge.

Good luck with your two novels. I am a scriptwriter not a novelist. I work on my own stuff and get sent other scripts to adapt or doctor. I've been on a baby sabbatical for the last 12 months but have recently started up again. I've been co-writing theatre stuff recently which is a first for me. If you haven't ever done it before and fancied a challenge give it a go. I love it. 🙂

 

[dmishra]

Agree about the adult covers. They're pretty stupid. In fact I agree with most of what you say there including your choice of authors. I wasn't a massive fan of the Pullman trilogy though - I have read them and appreciate the writing but I found them a chore rather than a pleasure.

Agree with this! I found the Bartimaeus trilogy a lot more enjoyable, even though it's not really a great work of writing.

 

[Silver Sean]

Agree about the adult covers. They're pretty stupid. In fact I agree with most of what you say there including your choice of authors. I wasn't a massive fan of the Pullman trilogy though - I have read them and appreciate the writing but I found them a chore rather than a pleasure.

I'm not sure I understand your argument that they are terribly written when you have only read 1 and a half books of a seven book story arc. The books change in tone a lot as she moves through the story. I'm also a writer (of sorts) and to me I find them beautifully written. You're right that they engage with kids and that's kind of the point. An analogy would be if you watched 'Raiders Of The Lost Arc' or 'Star Wars' again when you are in your 40's or 50's. They are aimed at kids but when I watch them again they remind me of what it was like to be a kid and all the good fun I had then watching them.

As I said to Peter earlier. I'm not saying they are high brow novels. I used the word pulp but I don't even mean that really. More they are very well written, easy on the eye and to me they are a series of fairly gripping page turners. Also they are undeniable classics in my opinion and whether you agree or not the influence they have had on childrens literature has been huge.

Good luck with your two novels. I am a scriptwriter not a novelist. I work on my own stuff and get sent other scripts to adapt or doctor. I've been on a baby sabbatical for the last 12 months but have recently started up again. I've been co-writing theatre stuff recently which is a first for me. If you haven't ever done it before and fancied a challenge give it a go. I love it. 🙂

Good luck with the scriptwriting. I moved back to fiction after a few years of visiting Hollywood for meetings and commissioning editors about TV pilots. It's a nightmare landscape out there for TV and film. I have a sit com pilot that we are making ourselves this year and have some decent actors interested. We may put the pilot online and see if anyone bites.

 

[jexykrodic]

It's gone all 'pseuds corner' in here.

What happened to 'Season Review'?

Is it out yet? How much is it? How does it rate etc etc

 

[Red Astaire]

Yep back on topic - It's great. Buy it for sure. I don't know about anyone else but you get a different slant on the season when you watch it condensed to 2 hours. What stands out the most though (as anyone needs reminding) is just how utterly magical Suarez was when he came back. Henderson as well. I know that is stating the bleeding obvious but I still got a buzz watching it.