Every 14 Days...(11)

Round Ireland with a Fridge (Tony Hawks)

There have been a lot of books based on drunken bets in recent years, many getting to the point of needless stupidity in order to create an excuse to write a book about their ‘journey’. ‘Are you Dave Gorman?’ by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace is a book I have read previously and is one of the earlier ‘drunken bet’ books to come about. But preceding that was Tony Hawks’ (of the non-skateboarding variety) ‘Round Ireland with a Fridge’: an account of his circumnavigating Ireland with a refrigeration unit after seeing a man hitchhiking in such a way and wondering if it would be possible to achieve.

This is all very well and stupid. What follows is a witty and dry account, naturally with the non-skateboarder, though disappointingly he received a great deal of media coverage during his journey and as such often found it easy to find a free ride, free alcohol and free accommodation. This turns the journey more into a drunken tour round the pubs of Ireland – a book I’m sure has been written many times before.

Though while the journey may have been made easier for him, doesn’t mean it isn’t eventful and entertaining. Travelling alone (not even with a fridge) while reading made it an appropriate read and served as a minor travelling companion. Though I’m sure many have travelled round Asia with a book before me. Funny enough, it justifies the £100 bet it was originally born from. He may be no skateboarder, but has written a certainly cool book.

Days to read: 5

Days per book: 14.1

Coin Locker Babies (Murakami Ryu)

This book took a long time to get going. Over the first few days of reading, I had barely turned any pages, finding it clunky and difficult to get into. To start, there are lots of jumps in the timeline with constant moving forward in time, seeming like a new story starting every ten pages. This allows for plot holes to become apparent and little real affinity with the lead characters. When the two titular coin locker babies reach the age of 17, the book becomes more linear and the characters start to take greater shape, which was necessary if I was to keep going.

So continues my reading of what I’ve so far found to be the inconsistent Murakami Ryu. An improvement on ‘Almost Transparent Blue’, being that it has a story, it’s a bumpy read that has intriguing enough a story but asks too much of the imagination of the reader to fully grasp the motivations of the two leads, and is ultimately a little anticlimactic.

The writing style doesn’t make things any easier, though I would blame this more on the translation than the author himself. Use of slang seems like a cry to gain more street cred, but often feels inappropriate in the context. In looking at his girlfriend, Kiku dreams of her ‘armpits’, her ‘breasts’ and her ‘cunt’, as any young man would.

An overambitious piece, while it has its moments, it falls short in too many areas, furthering my opinions of Murakami as an inconsistent writer.

Days to read: 12

Days per book: 14

The Corner (David Simon and Ed Burns)

Having read ‘Homicide…’ after the joys of discovering ‘The Wire’ at last, I followed it up with David Simon’s sequel, ‘The Corner’, written with former homicide detective, Ed Burns. Like the non-fiction work about the Baltimore Homicide Department, ‘The Corner’ is the record of a year spent following the lives of those involved in Baltimore’s drugs wars; this time from the perspective of the dealers and addicts.

Focusing on one family, the McCullough’s, it’s the real-life account of twelve months in their, and the streets, lives. Again, it has a docu-drama feel: part description of events that unfolded; part account of the wider issues at hand in America’s cities.

With some minor overlap with ‘Homicide…’, it is clear to see how the real-life personalities charted here became the characters of the television series: with father Gary McCullough becoming addict and copper-fiend Bubbles and young dealer DeAndre McCullough part-D’Angelo Barksdale, part-Namond Brice. Indeed, some of those featured did themselves have some role or other in the making of ‘The Wire’, as art imitates life.

Again, it’s a long and detailed read, with numerous people covered extensively, though does show how much time and effort was put in to the research that would eventually become ‘The Wire’: a show two decades in the making.  

Days to read: 22

Days per book: 14.2

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

I've Never Seen The Wire

‘Now, normally when you see a special about jail, it’s on regular TV and there’s a lot of shit they don’t show. Oh, not the HBO jail specials...’ Chris Rock

Let’s say someone tells you they’ve just seen the greatest film of all time, and then that film turns out to be ‘Top Secret’ starring Val Kilmer. Whether or not you actually like the film, you will always walk away disappointed by the fact that you have not seen the greatest film ever made, despite Val Kilmer’s performance.

The audacity of hype often makes seeing something irrelevant, as however good someone says something is, the reality will get nowhere near to touching the excitement that your imagination will create. ‘The Hunger Games’ is not going to be the ‘film event of 2012’; it’s going to be shit.

I often found myself watching HBO’s ‘Oz’ late night on Channel 4 in the late 90s, when the channel was still reasonable. So, when mutterings among friends mentioned ‘The Wire’, a show that features many similar cast members as ‘Oz’, I could see myself believing that it might actually be ‘one of the greatest TV shows ever made.’

But, having never actually seen it for myself, I left it at that; what I can’t see, can’t entertain me. But as the name came up more and more, I decided that it probably would disappoint, never having heard a bad word said against it. I didn’t need to see it. I can sit comfortably knowing that it is one of the greatest television shows ever made without ever having seen it, much like how Christians treat their relationship to ‘Jerry Springer: The Opera.’

But maybe I should.

So, waiting for an adequate moment – say, quitting my job – to sit back to watch 60 episodes worth, I proceeded to borrow the box set and let the inevitable disappointment enrapture me.

I was soon disappointed to discover I had not been disappointed. Probably the first time since I first saw the whole first series of ‘Peep Show’, I actually wanted to watch as much as possible, putting off silly chores such as sleep to get through the first few episodes of the first season. A lot has been said about ‘The Wire’ being more novel than television show, and that is exactly how it works: every second has to be taken into fully understand what is going on and follow the many characters and each of their individual storylines.

With so much detail put into even the smallest regular characters, each is realistic, with charm, flaws, personal problems and an inability to speak clearly. Also, the fact that main characters can go missing for a few episodes if not relevant to the main storyline gives it an edge over many shows which serve more as a vehicle for overpaid celebrity. The cast, as well as the viewers, are in this for the long haul.

The creators/writers and many cast members having actually been part of homicide in Baltimore also adds to the realism, with former child murderer Felicia Pearson playing a hit-woman and Method Man playing a man with an actual Wu-Tang Clan tattoo, as well as Brits playing various degrees of convincing Maryland accents.

Much can be said about the level of depth, the multi-layered storylines, the social comment, the believable characters, the focusing on every aspect of crime, and I’m sure many others can do it better than me. But, with the understated nature of much of what takes place, for once you feel you are watching a television show that is about telling a story.

I easily missed ‘The Wire’; it being shown on random channel FX and at a not-exactly-noticeable-time on BBC Two, but perhaps that’s a good thing. There was not as much publicity that I’m aware of as doled out for other hour-long US drama series; the hype came more from people that had seen it and liked it (and not just on Facebook), with claims of it being ‘the greatest’ coming after people had seen it, rather than before.