Every 14 Days...(9)

Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris (Lucian Randall)

I’d read that Lucian Randall’s book around the career of Chris Morris rarely goes into too much depth and so would add little to the knowledge of one of his fans. While keeping himself out of the spotlight, his work has always come under great scrutiny for its controversial nature and subject matter. So, while a book around the enigmatic and semi-mythical man maybe interesting, does it add anything?

Essentially, no. Much of the first half of the book focuses on the ‘On the Hour’ team, their various disputes and the transition to television spawning a long list of individual career pathways. Most of which can be gained from 'The Day Today’ DVD extras, any work of Lee and Herring in the 90s and having heard the name Steve Coogan. While offering the odd tid-bit here and there, it doesn’t add much to the bank of comedy trivia.

As the title suggests, much of the fruit of the work revolves around ‘Brass Eye’ and its various controversies; and it does offer some extra depth to that which may already be known. But, while ‘Disgusting Bliss’ serves as a good story of Chris Morris’ career, it’s more of a chronological summary, whereas something more creative would have been better. Most of the main players involved are referenced and quoted throughout, but in many ways, it feels more like a fan writing about his hero, though anything else would prove tricky when writing about such an elusive subject.

Days to read:14

Days per book: 15.3

Dawn of the Dumb (Charlie Brooker)

Returning to the sometimes Chris Morris collaborator’s collection of articles for The Guardian, ‘Dawn of the Dumb’ is ‘Screen Burn Part II’, continuing to feature his ‘Screen Burn’ column, as well as extra pieces written for the newspaper.

The latter stands the test of time a little better, being more a collection of his thoughts and musings that are less dated than his various whining over ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.  Much like with ‘Screen Burn’ before it, it is laugh out loud (LOL) funny in parts, though also drags if reading too much at once. Here also, his obsessions over ‘Big Brother’ seem to dominate many articles, with little said about other shows on television at the time, apart from any ITV ‘talent’ show and ‘Dragons’ Den’, which have become new targets for his rage here.

Again, brilliant in parts; this could serve as an article a day toilet roll!

Days to read: 12

Days per book: 15.2

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (David Simon)

So, having finally seen ‘The Wire’, I thought I’d go to the original research material that created it: ‘Homicide’, especially as I had a 3 month trip coming up, it’s a long old read and was only £4. Not just in weight terms, but much like the ‘The Wire’ this is heavy stuff, with plenty of depth into character backgrounds , with numerous personalities to follow. This is essentially a journalistic account of the year David Simon spent with the Baltimore Homicide Department, watching their every move and documenting their lives. Everything here then is real.

Three things are covered in the book: Firstly the backgrounds of each of the detectives in the department, all of whose identities are included; details of the murders that they worked over the course of 1988; and lastly descriptions of the process in which the detectives work.  This is a full and detailed research project that formed the basis for much of the television work Simon has since been part of.

Perhaps having just watched ‘The Wire’ all the way through, I can’t help but picture each of the detectives included in their on-screen personas, which probably clouds a lot of my reading here, and so, it probably wasn’t as rewarding for me to read this. Indeed, with so much detail to follow, it can be easy to miss parts of entire story threads and feel bogged-down with information. But reading this only adds to the credibility of the television series, knowing that much of it was based on real detectives working real cases.

Days to read: 12

Days per book: 15.1

Kitchen (Banana Yoshimoto)

So, next I decided to have a look at the debut novels of two of Japan’s better known authors throughout the world: Murakami Ryu, who I’ve read before; and Banana Yoshimoto, who is new to me. Starting with the latter, I quickly worked through the short ‘Kitchen’, Yoshimoto’s debut from 1988.

My first reaction is that this is a book written by a woman, for women. There is a bit too much sentiment in the writing style, with the narration has far too much subjectivity too it than I like, feeling a bit more like an extended list of what the character was feeling each moment, not letting the reader draw their own conclusions. This left me a little like how I felt after reading Xinran’s ‘The Good Women of China’: feeling like I am too stupid to understand how those involved may or may not feel.

But it’s not all bad. The writing improves as the book progresses, and this edition comes with the short (carried away by a…) ‘Moonlight Shadow’ which is an improvement on ‘Kitchen’. Banana Yoshimoto is lauded by many, but doesn’t really do it for me. Though, all that have mentioned liking her have been women. But, in the words of Mike Newell ‘I know that sounds sexist, but I am a sexist.’

Days to read: 7

Days per book: 14.8

Almost Transparent Blue (Murakami Ryu)

Off the back of the success of Miike Takeshi’s ‘Audition’, I read Murakami’s book that it was based on. Enjoying it, I followed it up with his ‘In the Miso Soup’, which I also liked. His debut, written when he was 23, winning him the Akutagawa Prize, is a far more complex affair than the simple, easy to read novels from later in his career.

To start, the writing style is a little confused: It continually switches between an endless stream of consciousness from the narrator’s perspective, to structured dialogue between the characters. Speaking of the characters, none really seem to develop personalities or idiosyncrasies here. Combined with the writing style, it is often difficult to tell who is actually speaking, though in the context of the story, it almost seems unnecessary, melding into a ball of different voices as the characters seem to.

With little in the way of character identity thrown into a world of endless drug abuse and sex, there is no real sympathy or empathy with any characters. All seem far too preoccupied with heroin and penis size to truly care for, making you relieved that it’s only a short piece. The main point of intrigue here is that the lead shares the authors name, hinting at a semi-autobiographical nature, as does the strange ‘Letter to Lilly’ at the book’s close. Other intrigue comes in the setting: a small Japanese town with a US Army base, leading to some insight to the opinion of the Japanese to Their US guests in the 1970s.

Like ‘Kitchen’, it improves as it goes, though in a short work, that isn’t really a good thing, and the lack of any real story make this simply a graphic description of drug and sex parties among a band of losers, though perhaps that is what people looked for in it. But not for me.

Despite their success, neither Yoshimoto’s nor Murakami’s debuts did much for me. Murakami is a writer I would say has definitely improved since, though the extent I will both to consider another Yoshimoto book is debatable. Though willing to try…

Days to read: 6

Days per book: 14.5