Review: Matilda - Roald Dahl

"So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone."

Matilda is the world's most famous bookworm, no thanks to her ghastly parents.

Her father thinks she's a little scab. Her mother spends all afternoon playing bingo.

And her headmistress, Miss Trunchbull?

She's the worst of all.

She's a big bully, who thinks all her pupils are rotten and locks them in the dreaded Chokey.

Despite these beastly grownups trying to push her down, Matilda is an extraordinary girl with a magical mind.

And she's had enough.

So all the terrible adults had better watch out, because she's going to teach them a lesson they'll never forget!

Visit Roald Dahl's website for more information

Review:
I was a huge Roald Dahl fan as a child, I think I had nearly all of his books and they were stories I'd read over and over again so it's very hard for me to be objective about them now as an adult. It's funny because on the surface Matilda should have been my favourite of his books - its about a little girl who loves reading and spending time in the library which was totally me as a child and if I'm honest still describes me now LOL - but I think my heart had already been stolen by the BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so I only read this one a handful of times. It wasn't until the movie released that I really started to appreciate this story and it's impossible to reread this now as an adult without picturing Mara Wilson as Matilda.

There's just something special about all of Roald Dahl's books but Matilda really is one of his most well loved characters and there's a very good reason for that. She's an intelligent child who doesn't fit in at home and whose parents definitely don't appreciate her but she finds a magical place when she discovers the local library and teaches herself to read. Her love of books and reading is something all bookworms will appreciate but I also love her constant search for knowledge and her excitement about getting to attend school for the first time.

The relationship she develops with her teacher Miss Honey is heartwarming and desperately needed after we've seen how badly she is treated by her parents. Then of course there is the terrifying headmistress Mrs Trunchbull who runs her school more like a prison until Matilda dishes out some much deserved punishment of her own.

I loved revisiting this story and I think I appreciated it so much more now that I'm an adult. The movie will always hold a special place in my heart but now the book does too. It's hard to believe that this story is 30 years old this year and I absolutely love the newly updated covers designed by the original illustrator Quentin Blake. His drawings throughout the book add so much to the story and I love the way he's imagined some of the exciting jobs that Matilda could have chosen for the new anniversary editions. I'm very, very tempted to collect the set but I'm not sure my already straining book cases can take the pressure.

Matilda as Chief Executive of the British Library, a World Traveller or an Astrophysicist on the new 30th Anniversary Hardbacks.

And just because I can here's the movie trailer!



Source: Purchased

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Review: Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams: Volume 1 - Philip K. Dick

From the visionary writer who inspired Blade Runner, Total Recall, The Man in the High Castle, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly comes a collection of ten stories to reprogram your mind.

From tales of a wife who suspects her husband may no longer be the same man after returning from a trip into deep space, to a government agent seeking the source behind a recent wave of illegal, telepath-inhibiting 'hoods', these stories investigate what it means to be human in a changing world.

These ten stories inspired the ten episodes of Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, the hit TV series from Channel Four and Sony Pictures Television. Each story also has an exclusive introduction by the writers who adapted it for the series, including Ronald D. Moore, Matthew Graham, Jessica Mecklenburg, Tony Grisoni and Jack Thorne.

Visit Philip K. Dick's page on Goodreads for more information

Review:
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams is a collection of the ten short stories that inspired the Channel Four TV series of the same name, each story also comes with a brief introduction from the writer who adapted it for the series which explains their thought process behind any changes they made. I'll talk about each story separately but as they're not printed in the order they're airing on TV I'll also confirm which episode each story relates to. Overall I really enjoyed this collection, it was fun to dip in and out of as I watched the TV show. I've not read anything by Philip K. Dick before but even though the stories were originally published in the 1950s most of them still felt very relevant today so I'm definitely interested in trying some of his full length novels.

The stories included are:

1. Exhibit Piece - adapted by Ronald D. Moore (episode 5: Real Life)

The episode based on this story was called Real Life and was actually very different to the original story in a lot of ways. It's hard to say too much about the plot because there are so many differences but the adaptation captured the feel or the story very well and I enjoyed both versions a lot. It was clever of Ronald D. Moore to make the story feel more modern with the use of virtual reality.

2. The Commuter - adapted by Jack Thorne (episode 3)

This is the story of a train station ticket clerk whose life is turned upside-down by a commuter who keeps trying to buy a ticket to a destination that doesn't exist. The clerk becomes obsessed with this unknown destination and is determined to uncover the mystery behind his disappearing customer.

This was a really fun story that shows you to be careful what you wish for as it may backfire in ways you couldn't have guessed. I think I liked the adaptation more than the original story, probably because it was set in the UK so the locations were familiar to me, there were a few other changes but I think they did a great job of capturing the essence of the original.

3. Impossible Planet - adapted by David Farr (episode 2)

This story is about a wealthy old woman who is desperate to visit Earth before she dies and the two space tourism guides who are willing to take her money even though, like most people, they believe Earth never existed and they certainly don't know how to find it.

I have to admit I didn't love this story, it just felt a little too short and incomplete for me. The TV episode was better in some ways, at least it was a more rounded story, but a lot of things were added and they didn't always work for me. I wasn't convinced by the romantic elements and was a bit confused about some of the other additions but overall I enjoyed the adaptation more than the original story.

4. The Hanging Stranger - adapted by Dee Rees (episode 10: Kill All Others)

This was one of the instances where I ended up enjoying the original story far more than the TV adaptation. The story is about an alien invasion where the episode is more about mob mentality and paranoia but there was never really an explanation for why people behaved the way they did. How did people single out the "others"? It seemed to be that anyone could just randomly accuse someone and then everyone else would jump on board the lynch mob. At least in the original story there was an explanation for why things happened the way they did.

5. Sales Pitch - adapted by Toni Grisoni (episode 4: Crazy Diamond)

The episode called Crazy Diamond is based on this short story. We ended up watching the episode before reading it which I think was a mistake because the episode completely confused us and neither my Dad or I were a fan of the adaptation. It's a shame because the actual story was really good, one of my favourites from the ones I've read so far! It was a really clever look at consumerism and the way we're constantly bombarded with advertisements trying to sell us stuff we don't really want or need. Considering how long ago this story was written (back in 1954!) it's probably more relevant today than ever and I thought the story ending was hilarious.

6. The Father-Thing - adapted by Michael Dinner (episode 7)

The Father-Thing is an invasion of the bodysnatchers type story and it's all about what a little boy does when he realises his father is no longer his father. The episode took the essence of the original story and updated it to a more modern setting which I thought worked really well but I enjoyed both versions. I actually think the show worked a little better because it changed a few things that didn't make much sense to me in the story which made it more believable.

7. The Hood Maker - adapted by Matthew Graham (episode 1)

This story is set in a world without much technology but where some people have gained telepathic skills. These teeps have the ability to read minds and they are used by the government to help control the populace. At the start of the story someone starts making protective hoods which allow humans to keep their thoughts private and this causes all kinds of problems.

What I thought was really interesting was that the original story focuses on the human side where people are terrified of what they teeps are capable of and live in fear of having their minds invaded but the TV show focused on the story of one of the teeps and showed how badly she was treated by her government handlers and how much danger they were all in from the public. It was really easy to see things from both sides and it raised interesting questions both about people's rights to privacy and about the way humanity has a terrible tendency to focus on our differences rather than our similarities.

8. Foster You're Dead - adapted by Kalen Egan and Travis Sentell (episode 9: Safe & Sound)

I think this was probably one of my favourite stories from the collection, the two versions are very different but the essential essence remains the same with big businesses & the government playing on people's fear and paranoia to make them spend money buying things they don't really need. In the original story it's all about people buying bomb shelters to protect themselves in case of a future war while the TV series is set further into the future where technology has a bigger role to play in people's lives.

9. Human Is - adapted by Jessica Mecklenburg (episode 6)

I think Human Is was probably my favourite story (and adaptation!) so far, it's about a pretty neglectful husband who travels to a distant planet and comes home like a completely different person. I don't really want to say too much more than that but it was an interesting look at what it means to be "human" and I really enjoyed both the original story and the adaptation, they were very similar but had slightly different endings. I actually think Jessica Mecklenburg came up with an even better ending than the original even though they were both very similar. I'd happily watch this episode again.

10. Autofac - adapted by Travis Beacham (episode 8)

I really enjoyed that story, it's set in a post-apocalyptic world where machines have taken over production worldwide and are eating up the few remaining resources at a horrifying rate. Loved how different the story was to the adaptation, they started the same but went in very different directions and it's hard to decide which version I preferred. Clever messages about consumerism and being careful what you wish for!

Source: Received from Gollancz in exchange for an honest review

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Roald Dahl Day: My love for The BFG (Let's talk about the book and the movies!)

Every year I plan to write a blog post to celebrate Roald Dahl Day and every year time runs away with me and I somehow end up missing it. But this year we're celebrating 100 years since his birth so I guess that makes it a perfect time to talk about how much Roald Dahl's books meant to me as a child.

I used to reread all of his books over and over again but The BFG was always my favourite, I just loved everything about it from the friendship that forms between Sophie and the BFG, to the adventures they have together along with all of the crazy new words you discover along the way. Don't you just think that we should use words like scrumdiddlyumptious, gobblefunking and whiffswiddle in every day conversation? Not to mention the fact that I'm still waiting for someone to invent a real life version of frobscottle so I can practise my whizzpopping LOL.

The BFG is just the ultimate adventure story, I loved the idea of dreams being real things that you could capture and I desperately wanted to visit the land of dreams so I could find my own. I wanted a giant friend who could run so fast with me hiding in their pocket that it felt like I was flying and I even wanted to have breakfast with the Queen. Roald Dahl's stories always have a darker side to them and the giants terrified me but you get to see justice served in the end which was incredibly satisfying.

I still have my original copy of this book from 1985 and it's one of my most treasured and reread books. The illustrations by Quentin Blake compliment the story perfectly and make it something to be treasured.

My brother was never much of a reader (I'm pretty convinced he must be a changeling because surely we can't be related! LOL) but he absolutely adored the animated version of The BFG and would make us watch it over and over again. I think I've probably seen this adaptation of the story even more times than I've read the book and I have to say it's pretty perfect. It completely captures the feel of the story with it's laugh out loud humour but also the more heartwarming moments between Sophie and the BFG as well as the fearsome man eating giants to add tension. I love the music too and can remember singing along with my brother when he we were kids.

This animation may have been created in 1989 but it's still utterly brilliant and when we watched it with my 12 year old nephew a few months ago he loved it just as much as we did.

Being such a huge fan of the story I had incredibly high hopes for the new Disney version directed by Steven Spielberg. We made a family outing of it a few weeks ago and I think my Dad, brother and I were probably even more excited than my nephew was. There is no denying that the visual effects in the new movie are stunning, the land of dreams in particular was spectacular and the giants looked impressive.

The opening scene where Sophie first sees the BFG and the way he manages to sneak down the streets and avoid being spotted by anyone else was very cleverly done. The young actress who played Sophie did a brilliant job and there was one moment in particular that made me laugh so hard I had tears rolling down my face. I wasn't the only one either and pretty much the entire audience was laughing hysterically.

Unfortunately even though there were things I loved about the movie it didn't manage to live up to expectations and we all agreed that the animated version that is nearly 30 years old was better. The new movie stays pretty faithful to the book but it managed to be boring in spite of that, there were actually times when I was just wishing it was over so we could leave the cinema and no matter how good the graphics were or how humourous those few stand out moments were it just didn't make up for the poor pacing.

The new movie may have been a slight disappointment but that hasn't decreased my love of The BFG. I have so many happy childhood memories wrapped up in reading Roald Dahl stories and it's easy to see why they're still so popular today.

Digitally remastered trailer for the original animated movie made in 1989:



Trailer for the 2016 Disney & Steven Spielberg movie:



What is your favourite Roald Dahl book? Are you a fan of The BFG? I'd love to know what you thought of the movies, if you've seen them both which was your favourite?

Book & Movie Review: The Martian - Andy Weir

I'm stranded on Mars.

I have no way to communicate with Earth.

I'm in a Habitat designed to last 31 days.

If the Oxygenator breaks down, I'll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I'll die of thirst. If the Habitat breaches, I'll just kind of explode.

If none of these things happen, I'll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

So Yeah. I'm screwed.

Visit Andy Weir's blog for more information

Review:
Mark Watney is part of a six man mission to Mars, the plan is to spend thirty days on the planet carrying out various experiments but just six days into the mission a major storm changes their plans and they have to evacuate. Unfortunately Mark has an accident as they're leaving and the others, presuming he's dead, are forced to leave him behind. Now Mark is trapped, completely alone on a planet over 50 million miles from home with no way to contact Earth. He's in a habitat that's only designed for short term use and he only has enough supplies to last a year (and that's if he rations them!). That might not be so bad if the next mission from Earth wasn't four years away but as things stand he's completely screwed.

What follows is a bit like Robinson Crusoe on Mars only Mark's chances of survival are much, much lower, in fact he's facing pretty impossible odds whichever way you choose to look at things. The good news is that Mark is well trained, he's a mechanical engineer and a botanist which might just save his life. If Mark can figure out a way to grow crops on a planet with no soil he might be able to make enough food to stay alive long enough for a rescue mission to reach him. Of course it's not quite as simple as that and there are lots of other issues to deal with but food has got to be one of the top priorities.

The Martian is one of my favourite books of 2015, I wanted to read it after seeing trailers for the movie but I had no idea how much I'd end up loving it. Mark's story captured me from the very first page and I absolutely devoured it. The main part of the book is told in the form of Mark's daily mission logs but as we get further along and people on Earth realise he survived the initial accident we start to see what's happening at the NASA base and how they are doing their best to rescue him. It's funny because The Martian is quite a science heavy story which isn't usually the kind of thing that appeals to me but the science is told in such a straightforward and personable manner that I didn't find it at all overwhelming. In fact I was just fascinated by Mark's thought processes and the various tasks and goals he set himself in order to survive.

Mark's a great narrator, he's in this horrendous situation with very little chance of actually surviving but he still manages to keep his sense of humour and I was surprised how many times I laughed while reading this book. Nothing quite goes to plan for him though, every time he solves one problem and thinks he has things figured out something will happen that throws everything back up in the air again. Mars is an incredibly hostile environment and I think the planet is trying to tell him something - humans just aren't meant to survive out there.

Considering I picked this book up on a whim to read before the movie came out I'm still surprised by how much I loved it but it's a story I'd recommend to everyone. There was just something about it that completely caught my attention and I loved every minute of it. While I'm on the subject of the movie I thought they did an excellent job with the adaptation. Obviously it doesn't follow the story 100% but movies never do, it included all of the major plot points though and more importantly it captured the feel of the book. The special effects are phenomenal and I loved Matt Damon's portrayal of Mark. Both the book and the movie are well worth checking out, personally I'd recommend reading the book first but I think that pretty much goes without saying!

Just in case I haven't convinced you here's the movie trailer to really catch your interest.



Source: Purchased

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Book Review & Movie Comparison: The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

This is the story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected . . .

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day, to whisk him away on a journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon . . .

The prelude to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies since its publication in 1937, establishing itself as one of the most beloved and influential books of the twentieth century.

The Middle-Earth Universe:
The Hobbit
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Silmarillion

Visit J.R.R. Tolkien's website for more information

Review:
I've lost count of the number of times I've read The Hobbit over the years, it was the book that started my love of all things fantasy and it was always a go to book that I could read again and again as I was growing up. It must have been at least 5 years since I last read it though so I wanted to pick it up again before going to see the movie. It doesn't matter how many times I pick it up I still love it as much as the first and it always surprises me how many little details I forget between readings.

I know that most people have already read the story but if you're one of the few who haven't then I'd highly recommend it. It's a great story for adults but I also think it makes fantastic bed time reading with children because it's such a fun adventure story. There is a reason it's considered a classic! The last thing Bilbo Baggins is looking for is an adventure, he is quite happy living in his hobbit hole enjoying plenty of food and good company when he wants it (which is not too often thank you very much). When Gandalf arrives with a party of thirteen dwarves Bilbo is convinced they have come to the wrong person for help but the more he learns about their quest to re-claim their lands from the dragon who stole them the more curious he becomes and in the end he can't resist joining them.

Bilbo is the least likely of heroes, he doesn't consider himself particularly brave or smart and he has practically no experience of travelling or fighting, but when it comes down to it the dwarves wouldn't have got very far without him. I always enjoy seeing Bilbo reach is full potential, he goes on a journey of personal discovery and proves to everyone just what a strong character he is. The story isn't as dark or scary as the Lord of the Rings books are and is suitable for a younger audience but it is still quite scary in places and the scenes with Gollum are particularly creepy. I love the riddle contest between Bilbo and Gollum but have to admit that I'd be hopeless at figuring out the answers myself if I was in Bilbo's place! The Hobbit is such an enjoyable story and a great introduction to the Lord of the Rings books, I really think I'm going to have to re-read those this year too!

Source: Purchased

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I mentioned that my main reason for re-reading the book was because I wanted to go and see The Hobbit movie. My Dad, brother and I are all huge fans of the Lord of the Rings films and going to see them was always a family outing so we wanted to carry on that tradition with The Hobbit. As much as I love the LoTRs movies they had to leave out quite a lot of events because of the pure scale of the world building in the books - there was no way to fit it all into a 3 hour film even if they wanted to - so I was really pleased when I found out that they were splitting the The Hobbit into 3 separate films. The only downside to that is that we are going to have to wait so long to see all of them but if the first instalment is anything to go by then the rest will be worth the wait.

I didn't quite manage to finish re-reading the book before we saw the film but I was well over halfway through so I had made it further in the story than the movie does. I have to say I was impressed with how well they kept to the storyline. Yes there were a couple of differences, the main one being Thorin's attitude to Bilbo which I did feel a little disappointed with, but over all they stuck quite closely to the plot and I could see the reason for the changes that they had made. Anyone who has watched the LoTRs films will already be familiar with Bilbo, Gandalf and of course Gollum but I really enjoyed getting to know the younger Bilbo on screen. I also really liked the way they had tied the two sets of films together by starting the story with the older version of Bilbo writing about his adventures and by including both Elrond and Galadriel.

I absolutely loved all the dwarves too, I had a little trouble keeping the names straight in my head as I was watching but I think that will come with time and my favourites were without a doubt Bofur & Kili (yes I do have a bit of a thing for Irish accents!). I'm already really looking forward to watching the next two films and will definitely be watching this one again when it comes out on DVD.

Book to Movie Comparison: Now Is Good (Before I Die) - Jenny Downham

I absolutely loved Jenny Downham's book Before I Die (which has now been re-released as Now is Good to match the movie title) when I read it last year. You can read my review of the book here for more information but if you haven't read it yet then I'd highly recommend it. The story is a heartbreaking one that definitely requires tissues but at the same time it will make you appreciate the important things and want to make the most of every moment.

Book Covers and Synopsis:

It's really going to happen. They said it would, but this is quicker than anyone thought.

Everyone has to die. We all know it.

With only a few months of life left, sixteen-year-old Tessa knows it better than most.

She's made a list though - ten things she wants to do before she dies. Number one is sex. Starting tonight.

But getting what you want isn't easy. And getting what you want doesn't always give you what you need. And sometimes the most unexpected things become important.

Uplifting, life-affirming, joyous - this extraordinary novel celebrates what it is to be alive by confronting what it's really like to die.

Anyway, as a huge fan of the book I was looking forward to seeing the film adaptation so when Random House offered me the chance to attend a preview last month I couldn't say yes fast enough! Kirsty (from The Overflowing Library) & I set off for London early and spent the day hunting for Wenlock and Mandeville statues (more about that in another blog post next week!) before making our way to the Warner Bros offices to see the film.

I have to say that I think Warner Bros have done a fantastic job with the adaptation of Now is Good. They can never fit as much detail into a movie as there is in a book but I felt they have captured the essence of the story perfectly. Dakota Fanning gives a heartbreaking portrayal of Tessa and I loved Jeremy Irving as Adam. The relationship between Tessa and her father was moving and her younger brother Cal was adorable.

Considering I cried buckets when reading the book I knew the film would be a tearjerker and I'm glad I'd remembered to take plenty of tissues with me. I don't think there was a dry eye in the theatre! My only warning would be for fellow blood phobics out there, if you are the kind of person who faints at the sight of blood then I can warn you when you need to leave the cinema. My blood & needle phobia has caused me to faint many, many times (during blood tests & injections, at the dentist, visiting people in the hospital, when I've had a bad nose bleed, during my first aid course - the list could go on forever!) but I had NEVER fainted at the cinema before!

There was one particular scene where Tessa has a very nasty nose bleed that sent me over the edge and yes I managed to faint in the middle of the film! Luckily Kirsty was the only one who noticed so although I practically frightened the life out of her I didn't completely humiliate myself in front of the entire cinema. One thing about fainting when you're already sat down is that you don't nessecarily fall out of your seat LOL. I thought I was probably the only one who had this problem so I wouldn't have bothered to warn people but Clare from Random House found out that one of the other publicists fainted at exactly the same point during another preview screening so you have been warned!

In spite of the awkward fainting moment and feeling rather traumatised after it happened I did really enjoy the film. I don't think the ending had quite the same impact on me that it would have if I wasn't still recovering though. I did cry but not as much as I think I could have!

Now is Good is in cinemas in the UK now so make sure you book your ticket. In case you haven't already seen it here is the UK trailer:


I'd like to say a massive thank you to Random House & Warner Bros for inviting us to the preview screening - it was definitely a memorable experience!

Shhhh don't tell everyone but Kirsty even got to meet Batman on the way out!

Who was there:

Clare - Random House

Kirsty - The Overflowing Library