Blogging NaNoWriMo 2012: I'm In

I may have finally lost my marbles. After abandoning my project after just a week in 2010 due to workload pressures, I took part again in 2011 even though my workload had increased. If I thought my workload was heavy last year then I was delusional. Things are even worse this time around. Amongst other things, I'm drowning in the current chapter of my thesis, I'm rewriting one novel in segments for my agent, I'm writing regularly for 2020UK and I have a new project in the pipeline (more on that next week). I really don't have time for NaNo - so why am I doing it?

Well, if there's one thing this year has taught me it's that I find it very difficult to finish a first draft without the added incentive of the NaNo deadline. I'm working on something which is around 36k at the moment and every time I try and get back into it I can't. Not because I don't want to write it but because there isn't the deadline in my head which lies that I have to finish it by a specific date or I lose. It's not that I can't set my own deadlines, it's just that when other things are pressing externally (like the PhD and the novel rewrite) they take precedence over arbitrary deadlines. I can't fool my mind into thinking something's important when it isn't. However, I have managed to fool myself into thinking NaNo is important.

It gives me a first draft. No matter that the 2011 completed draft hasn't been worked on since - I still know what needs to change about it and I'm waiting for a window in my schedule. I think it's important to get as many first drafts down as I can. If the last two years have taught me anything it's that I can't predict how much more hectic things are going to get so I need to squeeze as much in while I can.

So I'm in, despite the fact that I'm away for a few days after the 5th November and despite the fact I'll miss my usual first day spurt due to a 'Careers in Academia' session. I promise to heed the advice of friends who think I'm close to collapse and give up if necessary. I promise to listen specifically to Claire because she has a sixth sense about when I'm close to pitching myself off a cliff. I have an idea (more on that next week) and I'm raring to go. I just hope the end of November doesn't come around as quickly as it did last year.

Book Review: The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

It's a mark of how long this one has been sitting on my bookshelf that I have the hardback edition. I actually wish it was still sitting on there so I could delay the pleasure of reading it a little longer. This is the kind of book where I wanted to drink in every word and description and I heartily recommend it.

The Somnambulist focuses on Phoebe Turner, a seventeen year-old who lives with her religious mother, Maud, and her ex-actress aunt, Cissy. When tragedy strikes she finds herself taking up a job as companion to the wife of businessman Nathaniel Samuels but the relocation to his country estate stirs up secrets and creates further problems.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this novel is the submersion in Victorian society. The descriptions of Wilton's Music Hall are particularly entrancing, as are the vivid descriptions of the docks. In fact, every setting comes alive on the page. That's not to say the characters don't, although I would say that some of the most vivid characters are supporting ones. I particularly like Isaac, the senile old Jew, who we hear of several times. There is something about the description of both him and his shop which is reminiscent of Dickens at his best in Bleak House.

There are many twists and turns in this novel, some of which I anticipated and some of which were complete surprises. Fox utilises both types well, offering the reader involvement in the discovery of the secrets but still managing to surprise them more than once. She also manages to demonstrate her immersion in Victorian society without hitting the reader over the head with the research. What this creates is an atmospheric and surprising novel which stayed with me days after I'd finished it.

Classic Film Review: Lifeboat (1944)

With a story by John Steinbeck and direction by Alfred Hitchcock, Lifeboat certainly boasted the cream of creative talent. The film tells the story of a group of survivors stranded in a lifeboat after their ship is torpedoed by the Germans. Both written and set during WWII it holds some typically standard views but is no less involving for that. The main tension within the film comes from the German sailor they pull on board. They need his help but is he trying to get in their way or get them out of the Atlantic alive?

The beauty of this film lies with the direction. Only Hitchcock could have made every scene, every angle of a lifeboat feel fresh and new. It sounds like a boring film with only the one setting but you quickly forget you're watching a single boat due to the ingenious angles and use of all available space. It never becomes boring and, because of the confined space, tension is rife.

There are a few notable characters. Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead) is the first character we encounter, floating in the lifeboat on her own making a film of the man swimming towards her. When John Kovac (John Hodiak) boards he's unimpressed by her grandeur and, throughout the film, she loses her camera, typewriter, mink coat and beloved diamond bracelet. Also pulled aboard are Gus Smith (William Bendix), Alice MacKenzie (Mary Anderson), Charles 'Ritt' Rittenhouse (Henry Hull), Mrs Higgins (Heather Angel) and her baby, Stanley 'Sparks' Garrett (Hume Cronyn) and George 'Joe' Spencer' (Canada Lee), along with their German associate, Willy (Walter Slezak). All have their own little arcs and some of them are more likeable than others.

Some of the early tension comes via Mrs Higgins. It's clear when she's pulled aboard that her baby isn't at all well and the scenes which follow that are traumatic. Equally as harrowing is the realisation that Gus has developed gangrene in his injured leg and that the only way to ensure he at least gets a chance at life is amputation. Gus is by far one of the most likeable characters, a man completely in love but worried that he'll lose her if he's at all injured. All of the characters contribute to the plot but, for me, it was Gus who held it together and what happens to him is horrific.

I won't reveal the various ups and downs (quite literally) of the lifeboat but I will say that this is a film which surprised me. Tallulah Bankhead was a better leading lady than I could have imagined and, while her chemistry with John Hodiak wasn't sizzling, it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. My favourite performance in this though was probably Hume Cronyn as Sparks. Along with Gus, Sparks provides some of the heart for the film and he's a likeable man you really want to survive.

Television Review: Parade's End

I was told before I started watching this that if I persevered past the first episode then I'd enjoy it. That advice was sound, though I can't help thinking that isn't the way to draw viewers to a five part series. While I understand the need to frame the story correctly, I think much of what was covered in the first fragmented episode could have been inserted elsewhere in the form of flashbacks (which we got anyway) so that the first episode didn't become a mess of confusing images. It set up back-story, yes, but at the expense of front-story.

To briefly surmise: Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch) married Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) when he discovered she was pregnant, despite not being certain that the baby was his. That act sums up his whole demeanour - he is a noble man, often misrepresented and a product of the past on a collision course with the future. Although he falls in love with Valentine Wallop (Adelaide Clemens) he clings on to the remnants of his marriage even while Sylvia indulges in affairs and stays with him only to make him suffer. She is a thoroughly despicable character with few - if any - redeeming features. It's a mark of how well Rebecca Hall portrays her that I detest the character and not the actress.

WWI is an integral aspect of this story. Tietjens shuns protection in order to go into the trenches, struggling with memory loss and shell shock after his first return from the trenches. We see more when he goes back, experiencing the destruction and pointlessness through Tietjens eyes. There are a few bitter comic moments as orders are given and rescinded and the establishment proves itself to be the incompetent force that history depicts. These are grim moments of humour but in an adaptation as heavy as this I'll take whatever I can get.

I don't mean to say that it wasn't a good adaptation of a good original story by Ford Madox Ford. It is very forceful in places, dramatic in others and emotional when the cap fits. It has an excellent supporting cast including Roger Allam as General Campion, Rupert Everett as Mark Tietjens and Miranda Richardson as Mrs Wannop. There is also a spectacular performance from Rufus Sewell as Reverend Duchemin, a mad vicar who perturbs both other characters and the audience.

There is a lot crammed into five hours: war, suffrage, marriage, infidelity, deceit and misunderstandings. As a consequence, it is very heavy and requires attention. That said, if you make it past the first episode then there are some exquisite scenes to enjoy. The period detail is wonderful and it is beautifully shot and presented. There are a few particular scenes which stick in my head. The first is when Christopher and Valentine get lost in the fog and spend the night looking for the way home. It's beautifully set-up and executed and sets the tone for their romance. Secondly, there is a quiet little scene when Christopher is showing his son, Michael, the well at the family estate. It's a touching little moment, although I can't really explain why.

All in all, I'd recommend persevering with this, though don't expect an easy ride.

A Favourite Song - Elaine Paige

I have many songs I would call 'favourites'. There's my iTunes playlist called 'Musical Favs Etc' which has 762 songs on it. I could apparently get through 1.7 days listening to nothing but my 'favourites'. Nevertheless, some songs are just downright beautiful and I have to listen to the lyrics over and over again. I'm thinking of 'Vincent' by Don McLean and 'Waterloo Sunset' by The Kinks, both of which make the hairs of the back of my neck stand up. But there's another one obsessing me at the moment. I've been entranced by it since Sarah Kennedy played it on her old Radio 2 morning show (happy days, I miss Sarah) then I remember Elaine Paige herself being encouraged to play it on her own Radio 2 show. For a major West End star, Elaine is notoriously reluctant to play her own songs but I could happily listen to this one on a loop - as I did last night.

The set-up: 'Like An Image Passing By' uses the tune of ABBA's 'My Love, My Life' (itself a gorgeous song about losing love) and was used in the English version of a musical for children based on ABBA songs. I don't much care about the context of the song - it works perfectly well alone. This is a song of failure and loss but Elaine Paige puts so much emotion into it that it damn near breaks my heart every time.

I know it is too late,
From this moment time and tide will not wait.
Yet I was master of my fate,
Being the ruling queen,
I never wanted a change of scene.

Like an image passing by, I see my life,
In the twinkling of an eye, my lonely life,
And at this my darkest hour, fading like a flower,
Beauty is bound to die.

From the present to the past, I see my life,
Catching up with me at last, my empty life.
Now the hourglass is turning, 
And in my eyes are burning,
Tears I should have cried long ago,
Now I'll cry forever.

Now, it's my turn to sleep,
Oh, how true that beauty's only skin deep.
I was wrong, thinking I could keep,
Everything in my hand,
Knowing my castle was built on sand.

Like an image passing by, I see my life,
In the twinkling of an eye, my lonely life,
And at this my darkest hour, fading like a flower,
Beauty is bound to die.

From the present to the past, I see my life,
Catching up with me at last, my empty life.
Now the hourglass is turning, 
And in my eyes are burning,
Tears I should have cried long ago,
Now I'll cry forever.

Now I'll cry forever. 

Book Review: The Scourging Angel by Benedict Gummer

Benedict Gummer's lengthy book examines the UK before, during and after the Black Death of the fourteenth century. Utilising an array of sources, Gummer builds up a thorough picture of the political and social contexts of a world very similar to our own but also very different.

The amount of detail in this book is astounding. As well as hypothesising about the probable path of the disease in England, Gummer also looks at the probable route in Scotland and Ireland - of course, this involves an in-depth analysis of the tensions between those countries and England. He also zones in on specific places in the country where detailed information was available for mortality rates (via parish records of tenancies and such). These village or town snapshots allow the plague to become more than just a sweeping disease as they show the real human effects and the consequent knock-on effects of the pestilence.

One of the central protagonists in this narrative is naturally the king of the period - Edward III. In relating the effects of the plague, Gummer also documents a sovereign somewhat successful in battle against France but flawed in other ways. The ruling classes in general are looked at in detail - both the ones who reacted well to the pestilence and those who reacted badly. The intricacies of the feudal system are well-explained by Gummer, with particular attention being paid to those which seem so alien to modern readers.

I have to say, my favourite sections of this exceptional book are those which examine the effects on - and recovery of - Ireland in this period. The plague, added to English-Irish tensions, creates a fascinating dynamic. Equally, the discussions of architecture (amid the deaths of some pioneering masons) is extremely interesting. At first I was surprised how much of the book is devoted to the after-effects of the disease but this is actually very important, showing the fundamental changes that occurred during the late fourteenth century, some a result of the plague and some not. What Gummer achieves in this book is an accessible history only occasionally bogged down by the sheer amount of detail. The immersion in his subject is evidenced not only by the extensive bibliography but by the lengthy notes section. This book is primarily a history of the Black Death but it is also a history of the UK in the fourteenth century. I bought it for the former but have found my interest piqued by the latter.

Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I was certainly late to the party with The Handmaid's Tale. Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel imagines a dystopian future where strict Christian values have taken over and women, amongst others, are the major casualties. The protagonist, Offred, is the handmaid of the title, a fertile woman who has been put in the house of an important couple to have a baby for them. Slowly, via her monologue, we learn about her present and the past which created it, ending with a look at the future.

Atwood creates a potent world which is recognisable as our own but fundamentally different. She refrains from describing the world, allowing Offred to reveal it slowly. While this is effective, there was a sense for me that very little actually happened in the first third of the novel. This isn't to say that it wasn't interesting, just that an awful lot had to be set up before things 'out of the ordinary' could occur. However, Atwood's strong prose goes a long way towards making that irrelevant. One thing which irritated me personally were the varying chapter lengths cut up by subtitles. While I understood the significance of them, at times it felt like the flow was completely interrupted and I found it difficult to get back into the story. This was probably deliberate but it jarred on me occasionally.

The Handmaid's Tale is as relevant a novel now as it was in 1985. The thought occurred to me time and again while reading it and, for that reason alone, it's certainly worth reading. It's a social commentary about women, traditional values and religion which are all topics still prevalent in US politics and beyond. Not a disappointing novel by any stretch of the imagination but one that makes for uncomfortable reading throughout.