David Brent: Life on the Road

It's fair to say that 'The Office' was a well-observed mockumentary sit-com about the everyday mundanity of office life. A rare thing in a sit-com that seemed to improve as it went, making strong social comment along with laughs.

But since the success of 'The Office', the Gervais-Merchant writing team have delved into difficult areas; the social comment, and laughs, declining as they went. 'Extras' felt indulgent and 'Life's Too Short' short on a lot of things. Much like Steve Coogan with Alan Partridge before him, Ricky Gervais - after some time away in Hollywood - has now returned to the character that first made his name. However, this time Stephen Merchant isn't anywhere to be found.

As explored in the final Christmas episodes, David Brent is now working in the Berkshire area as a sales rep for a cleaning company. But, self-absorbed as ever, having saved some money, he takes some time off work, hires a backing band and sound engineer and organises a 'tour' of the region, living out his dream of being a musician. But, inevitably, his dream falls short for a second time.

The film, therefore, is a building on one of the famous 'The Office' moments, where Brent 'went home to get' his guitar and tells the story of his former dream during a rather unsuccessful training day.  What starts off as an adlibbed piece in a thirty minute episode becomes a feature film. There is a hint of over-indulgence here.

When asked why there were so many songs in 'Bigger, Longer and Uncut', Trey Parker and Matt Stone replied that they 'wanted to be rock stars.' Gervais himself is a former musician, in a band that never quite made it. 'David Brent: Life on the Road', therefore, is a vehicle for Gervais to have his music heard on a wider scale. While these are songs designed to be comical, they are passable as songs written by someone who knows his stuff, rather than coming across as too amateurish. But with so much screentime dedicated to live performances, the songs are neither good, nor funny, enough to justify the focus.

No doubt one of the funniest elements of 'The Office' was Brent's awkwardness when faced with sensitive subjects, such as race, disability and sexuality. A lot of the songs featured are along similar lines (literally), with awkward lyrics bordering on the offensive. While no offence is intended, the fact that it has become such an important part of his comedy over the years shows perhaps the frequent post-irony at play has left Gervais confused as to his own thoughts on the subjects. Moments become awkward, but for the wrong reasons.

There are laughs here: some office bants still feature; and some of the songs do hit the funny bone on occasion. But one thing that's missing here is the others: Gareth, Tim and Dawn were all important parts of 'The Office' structure, and Brent's playing off them is what made it so strong. Here though, they are not present, and his interactions with the band - with the exception of Doc Brown's Dom - are kept on stage, lacking the natural flow of the series.

But, more importantly, it may be the absence of Merchant that is most noticeable. Gervais needed the second writer to reign the Brent within and stop this feeling like life imitating art.

As Richard Herring would say: 'They should have put Tim from 'The Office' in it.'

Every 14 Days...(33)

A Clergyman's Daughter (George Orwell)

And so I reach my final George Orwell novel: 'A Clergyman's Daughter'. I decided to leave this one until last as, you know, 'The Clergyman's Daughter:; she sounds like a right frigo! But it's the fact that she has less-than-frigid moments that get her into so much trouble.

Living a repetitive life in a small Suffolk village, Dorothy is the servant of her father, ensuring the running of the local church, and indeed lots of the daily life of the village. But lured by the advances of an older local (piss) artist, and the fear of the scandal it will bring, she soon finds herself awake in London, lost and confused as to how and why she got there. She then goes on a journey to find money, food and shelter, all the while keeping her secret safe.

Being Orwell, this is a critique of something, and here it is various institutions keeping the little man in his place: Dorothy struggles to get consistent pay as a hop picker; before being constantly moved on as a homeless in London; before working in a low-level private school, where education and the magic of teaching come second to obtaining the school fees from the parents. In all areas, she is kept in her place, unable to go against the status quo, as the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. She, therefore, returns to her old life, the scandal now died down, in yet another system of daily struggle, but one supposedly more respectable.  

The switching of scenarios asks some faith in the reader: To go from scenario to scenario in quick succession, often without real explanation, doesn't leave this as a story with natural flow. The whole chapter of random dialogue between London's homeless is difficult to follow, but serves to show the various  characters that inhabit the streets.

This is not his best, probably his worst, but is still an interesting work, nonetheless. Orwell done, now for the complete works of Katie Price.

Days to read: 20

Days per book: 14.9

The Shipping Man (Matthew McCleery)

The enticing back cover of this book reads thus:

'Part fast paced financial thriller, part ship finance text book, The Shipping Man is required reading for anyone with an interest in capital formation for shipping.'

Now, this book isn't really aimed at me. But it is aimed at my wife, and that is why I bought it for her as a gift - I'm that kind of husband.

Robert Fairchild is a bored American stockbroker?, investment banker? - one of those sorts of jobs - and unwittingly finds himself with the opportunity to buy himself a shipping vessel, courtesy of a mysterious Greek stranger. Soon realising that venturing into the shipping industry - like buying a flat in Budapest - isn't as simple as Monopoly, he finds himself left with a ship in need of some TLC (don't go chasing waterfalls). Needing to get rid of it quick, he comes to a mutual agreement with an unusual Norwegian, as his shipping adventure continues.

It's not really the stuff of classic literature, and immediately on reading you know this is written by someone whom isn't exactly an English Literature graduate. Broken into short, simple paragraphs, this doesn't paint pictures with words, and has dialogue designed to describe financial transactions, as opposed character development.

So, is it any good? Well, if you want classic literature, definitely not. If you work in the Norwegian ship finance industry, it will probably make references to things you come across on a daily basis, and as such, you can feel a connection to it. It's entertaining enough, and offers some insight into a world in which I have never really expressed an interest.

It's fair to say this has niche appeal.

Days to read: 11

Days per book: 14.9

Satantango (Laszlo Krasznahorkai)

I fell for Foyles of Charring Cross Road's marketing, picking this up off the 'suggestions shelf' and buying it as it was written by someone with a Hungarian name - my Hungarian wife was with me at the time, and was able to confirm it was indeed a Hungarian name (doesn't Hungarian look like Higuain?!).

I subsequently learnt that Bela Tarr's epic film adaptation is over a whopping seven hours in length and opens with something like ten minutes of cows standing in a field. This is going to be a real page-turner then, isn't it?!

A village lies in wait in Eighties Hungary; waiting for The End. The inhabitants spend their days drinking, suspicious of each other, with nothing to hope for. Until one day, news comes that the charismatic Irimias is due to return after some years away. On his arrival, the village bursts back into life, with the villagers eager to follow him to a better tomorrow, whatever that may be. But their habits now entrenched, the group cannot help but live out the same problems that plagued their days, just in a new location.

Much like the film after it (I'm guessing), this is one that is a challenge for its audience. There are no paragraphs, well, one per chapter anyway, meaning that this is written in long blocks of text, making it difficult to follow exactly who is talking, when; or leave a pause for breath. But essentially, you know it means it's written by someone better than you are.

This is a long slog, but a rewarding one: the officers' translating Irimias' 'reports' toward the end bringing humour; as does the tragedy of the conclusion. It is not always the most entertaining, but absorbing and clever, and as you come to the end, you just know you're going to give a third of a day in attempting to watch it on the moving picture box. I like cows.  

Days to read: 17

Days per book: 15.0

The Nakano Thrift Shop (Hiromi Kawakami)

Feeling forced into reading Kawakami's 'Strange Weather in Tokyo' after months of Internet marketing, the marketing for her latest work was much more direct and easy: It was everywhere in Foyles, so it was picked up and bought.

Now, the former was somewhat light, but enjoyable enough, so didn't fully satisfy. This is something that can also be said of 'The Nakano Thrift Shop'.

Hitomi is a young and naive girl whom takes a job at a small thrift shop, run by the strange middle-aged womaniser, Mr Nakano. The slow life in the shop means that Nitomi, Nakano-san, his sister and the other young employee, Takeo, spend much of their days sitting around and yacking, while eating take-away ramen. Nothing much happens then, until Hitomi starts making whoopee with Takeo, leading to obsessive mobile phone antics.

I said Hitomi was naive, and that is pretty much the theme of this book. She seems confused in the adult world, unsure of her life goals both in work and love. She is, therefore, a little annoying. As the narrator, you are put into her state of mind and may find yourself not always agreeing with her way of thinking, or just annoyed by it.

The writing style is quite simplistic, stating things blatantly, rather than laying seeds for the imagination, and so it doesn't ask too much of its reader. This will no doubt make it a 'bestseller', easy for daily commutes, but won't challenge you too much.

Like 'Strange Weather in Tokyo' before it, this is the very definition of a light read.

Days to read: 12

Days per book: 14.9