Tag Archive: kafkaesque


The Vegetarian – blood, sex and diet

Filed under: Books, Fiction, Gender — Leave a comment
July 17, 2016

THE VEGETARIAN by Han Kang (Hogarth Books, 2015)
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By turns surreal and nightmarish, this is a short but complex novel which is full of secrets.

In very broad terms I would describe it as a book about descending into silence and , quite possibly , incurable madness.

The main character is Yeong-hye who is, by all accounts, an unremarkable woman. In the words of her brother-in-law: “The only thing that was especially unusual about her was that she didn’t eat meat”.

Her husband is beyond himself with a combination of rage and repulsion over his wife’s sudden change in eating habits. Her father turns to violence and attempts to force feed her meat. She tries to kill herself and is eventually institutionalized. She gives the impression that she would be happy to die and/or become a tree. Continue reading →

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THE LAST ONE NOW WILL LATER BE FIRST

Filed under: Italy, Modern Art, Parenting, Politics — Leave a comment
December 12, 2012
queue

“Queue,” by Alexei Sundukov . a painting in the Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg.

This image reflects my day today.

First stop was the bank to pay the latest government imposed tax designed to save the economy from its current nosedive – ha! ha! (IMU – the imposta municipal unica,if you’re remotely interested!).

This afternoon was the parent-teacher day at my daughter’s school. This involved the usual organised chaos where you have to repeat the question “Chi è l’ultimo?” (Who’s last?) ad nauseam at the groups gathered  in bleak corridors outside spartan classrooms.

It’s a very Kafkaesque situation; a ticket numbering system would at least let you know if you could afford to nip out to the bar for a coffee, as it is you have to maintain your place at all costs.

Lastly, I had to get a train ticket for an upcoming work meeting in Bologna, the respectful distance from the customer in front of me being marked by a yellow line.

Queues in Italy are never as orderly as they are in England so a degree of cultural adjustment is needed – to the casual observer there doesn’t seem to be any system but all the locals know the rules and woe betide you if you don’t follow them. In others words, a good metaphor for everyday life in modern Italy.

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BLACKOUT HITS BBC

Filed under: Television — Leave a comment
July 19, 2012

BLACKOUT – BBC One 

Booze is god but takes Daniel Demoys (Christopher Eccleston) on a one way ticket to hell (and back again).

If you want gritty Northern drama,Christopher Eccleston is a go to actor. In Blackout he convincingly plays alcoholic Daniel Demoys embroiled in a web of violence and deception largely of his own making.

He’s a corrupt local councillor who is supplementing his income by selling information about tenders for  lucrative service contracts.  This extra cash funds his heavy drinking and occasional whoring. When he’s not on the dark side he is a loving father and devoted husband. Redemption is on hand but comes at a cost.

This is an entertaining three parter directed by Tom Green and written by Bill Gallagher who clearly fancied working on something meatier after his adaption of Lark Rise To Candleford.

The brooding ambient soundtrack, constant rain, noirish photography and stylised aerial shots all conspire to give a Bladerunner quality to the unnamed metropolis. The actual location is referred to only as ‘the city’ but ,as it’s somewhere ‘up North’  with awful weather,  the smart money is on Manchester. Continue reading →

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