Ang Lee's Life of Pi

I was fortunate enough to get preview tickets to Ang Lee's latest film, an adaptation of Yann Martel's book Life of Pi, and it turned out to be a great freebie.

Though I haven't read the book (yet) and can't comment on how successful the translation to film is, as a movie in its own right it's a great watch: colourful, imaginative and moving. For once the use of 3D - which I usually dislike - seems entirely apt, lending an extra dimension (no pun intended) to the fantastical photography.

It remains to be seen whether the film will be the success it deserves to be - after all, a film about a boy lost at sea with only a tiger for company is probably quite a hard sell - but if there's any justice it'll be a huge hit.

Skyfall

And so, with much fanfare, the latest James Bond film is released - and very good it is too!

Skyfall is perhaps not quite the "Best Bond Film Ever", as some have proclaimed, but it is nevertheless a beautifully shot film with a simple enough plot that banishes memories of the disappointing previous entry, Quantum of Solace. (I didn't dislike QoS as much as most, but it definitely wasn't anywhere near as good as Casino Royale.)

Much as I liked the film's inventive action sequences and gorgeous cinematography, it did go off the boil in the final stretch (Home Alone, anyone?). I'd also question the need to open up Bond's past - surely the point of Bond is that he's a bit of an enigma. The revelations were a little too much for my liking.

Overall Skyfall is a great watch, though. Javier Bardem hams it up to perfection, Daniel Craig is on his way to becoming every bit as iconic as the other Bonds (I still don't buy that he's better than Connery, but other opinions are available) and the decks are cleared for the series to continue afresh.

Job well done, Sam Mendes!

First Book Published

I'm delighted to announce the self-publication of 50/50, my first collection of short (very short!) stories

The book contains fifty unique stories, each consisting of no more than fifty words

The e-book is now available for purchase on Amazon's Kindle Store at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/50-ebook/dp/B009XW0IAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351380622&sr=8-1

Kindle e-books can be read on any Kindle e-book reader device as well as most mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Samsung Galaxy range by downloading Amazon's Kindle app

For more information about my current and future publications, please visit:

http://www.peterknowles.co.uk

Thank you!

Lewis Hamilton's Big Gamble

So Lewis Hamilton has finally made his mind up and will be leaving McLaren at the end of this Formula 1 season to join Mercedes. Part of me is glad that the will-he won't-he soap opera is over, but of course another part of me knows that it isn't over. In fact, it's probably only just begun.

Hamilton is a great driver - probably the fastest in Formula 1. He is pretty much unbeatable when his car actually works. But he's also a bit of a diva, focusing just as much on his off-track popularity as his on-track results. It's says a lot that he dumped his father as a manager to join Simon Fuller's management company. When Hamilton wins, he's the most gracious driver in the world, effusively thanking his team for doing a great job and praising the heavens. When he loses, he's like a smacked puppy, despondent and sullen, refusing to take off his sunglasses for interviews. Hamilton needs to grow up, basically. He's no longer a young buck pushing everyone of his way: he has serious competition, not just from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel but from his team-mate, Jenson Button, whose consistency means that while he may not grab as many wins or headlines as Hamilton, he gets more points. And you can't win an F1 championship without points.

The change in teams has been a long time coming. It's no secret that Hamilton has been unhappy with his car's poor reliability and his team's poor strategy. But while it's correct that McLaren have let Hamilton down from time to time, the reverse is also true: Hamilton's brash driving style has prematurely ended a few races and he has left himself open to unnecessary penalties. Just a few weeks ago he bizarrely tweeted sensitive racing data. It hasn't been a pretty break-up, for sure. He may have won the Championship in 2008 after narrowly missing out in 2007, but since then his end-of-year finishes have been poor (5th in 2009 and 2011, 4th in 2010).

And so Hamilton evidently thinks that he will be better off with Mercedes, a decent team but not one that is challenging for the championship this year and probably won't next year either. It's a huge gamble for Hamilton to place all his chips on one spin of the wheel, betting that his new team will adapt well to the 2014 season regulation changes. What will happen in the interim - in next year's competition? Can we expect another twelve months of drama? How will Hamilton cope with the likelihood of not challenging for any race wins? Expect to see those sunglasses a lot.

Of course, if it all pays off them Hamilton will have every right to be smug. He'll have proved his critics wrong. But if Mercedes don't perform, it's difficult to see how Hamilton could ever have any hope of becoming a double World Champion. Mighty big stakes are being played for...

Alan Moore: Storyteller

I've just finished the above book, by Gary Spencer Millidge in collaboration with the author, which is probably the best I've read since Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. As an aspiring writer (not of comics but novels and short stories), I took two important lessons from this book; One - if you feel the need to create then just do it and don't let anything stop you, and; Two - don't compromise on your vision, even if it hurts you financially and professionally. Moore may have fallen out with just about every single comic publisher, perhaps justifiably, perhaps not, but just consider what works resulted from the realisation of his uncompromising vision...

The book covers Moore's writing all the way from its very beginnings up to the latest installment of his on-going series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century. Any good book about Alan Moore needs plenty of graphics and images to support the text and this book is certainly not lacking in this regard: the pictures enhance the text immensely, demonstrating just what makes Moore stand out from the pack. I could have read a book twice this length but that's not to say that it feels lacking, more that the subject is so interesting. True, I didn't particularly have much interest in Moore's non-comic work, but these sections were still a good read and provided a fuller picture of the man.

The best way to measure the success of a book like this is whether or not it causes the reader to revisit the subject's work. For the past few days I've been frantically catching up on the Moore comics I've either never read or had any intention of reading, and I can't wait to go back over my favourites.

A great read, thoroughly recommended.

When No Means Yes (Apparently)

At the moment it seems like there’s barely a day goes bywithout another rape-related headline. US Missouri Congressman Todd Akin becamea news sensation after idiotically making reference to “legitimate rape”, andnow England’s own Bradford West MP George Galloway has come out in support ofJulian Assange (who also appears to never be out of the headlines these days),stating that his alleged conduct, if proven, would amount to no more than “badsexual etiquette”.

Whatever one believes about the legitimacy of the chargesAssange faces – whether they were politically motivated or genuine, and franklyI couldn’t care less – the simple fact remains that the allegations arenevertheless incredibly serious and no sane person should seek to moderate themin such a manner. To do so legitimises rape – and no, Congressman Akin, not inthe way you think.

 Amazingly, some menstill fail to understand that if a woman fails to give consent or says “No” at anypoint, before or during a sexual act, then to proceed any further is anunequivocal, unjustifiable violation, and it is rape, pure and simple.

How much longer can such idiots – and note that they areboth at differing ends of the political spectrum, proving that there really isno division when it comes to stupidity and ignorance – continue to protest andexcuse their disgraceful point of view? It’s baffling.

The Dark Knight Rises (again)

WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS!

I thought I would give some more detailed thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises, now that I've seen it again, this time on a standard-sized cinema screen rather than IMAX.

The Dark Knight was all about anarchy, whereas The Dark Knight Rises is about hope. TDKR is set eight years after the conclusion of TDK, and Batman has not been seen since taking the blame for several murders and the death of Gotham's fallen District Attorney, Harvey Dent. Bruce Wayne still mourns the death of his beloved Rachel and has become a recluse, only brought out of retirement when he is provoked by Selina Kyle (Catwoman, though never named as such) stealing his fingerprints and his mother's pearls. 

The villain is the mercenary Bane, who bankrupts Bruce Wayne in order to obtain a mysterious clean energy device engineered by Wayne Enterprises, which is then turned into an immensely powerful neutron bomb. Bane holds a city to ransom, pretending to give Gotham a modicum of hope when his bomb's gradual decay means that the city's demise is inevitable. He likewise tortures Batman / Bruce Wayne, breaking his back and leaving him in the third-world prison where Bane himself was born and raised, the only glimmer of hope being the sunlight cascading through a seemingly-unreachable exit. Bruce has to slowly rebuild his body and soul before returning to Gotham to save the city one last time, where it transpires that Bane is actually under the influence of Talia al-Ghul, daughter of Batman Begin's chief villain Ra's al-Ghul, who is bent on achieving her father's aim of destroying Gotham.

No, the film is not perfect. There is a lot of exposition, which is not in itself a bad thing, but there is also not much Batman. The slow build up to his return to action after eight years could have resulted in a spectacular set-piece, but there's not much more than a bit of riding around on the Batcycle. It's hard not feel a little disappointed. Bane also can't quite match the Joker's brilliance as a villain. Many people have raised the issue of Bane's incomprehensible dialogue; I struggled on both viewings to understand everything said, but there was a definite improvement for my second viewing on a standard screen. Perhaps it's because IMAX is so loud that the purposely-distorted dialogue is even more distorted, or that it's partially drowned out by the booming background noises. Whatever the reason, I do think that any home viewings will require use of subtitles to ensure full comprehension of Bane's important speeches. And Marion Cottilard's Talia al-Ghul was not exactly convincing as Gotham's reckoning, but at least her character provided a neat link to the first film and allowed for a satisfying conclusion.

Ah, yes - the end! I liked the ending on the first viewing and even more the second time around. It ties up everything very neatly, with a few little twists to delight and reward fans. Batman gives his life for Gotham - or does he? In one last effort he uses the Bat helicopter to carry off the pivotal bomb into the distance, its explosion apparently signalling the Dark Knight's final sacrifice. I listen to the podcast of Mark Kermode's weekly Radio 5 Live film reviews and for once I have to disagree with his view that the ending is open to interpretation. I don't see where there is any ambiguity - there are frequent references throughout the film to the Bat's autopilot not working (leading us to believe that Batman could not have escaped the explosion), and then it is revealed to Lucius Fox by his engineers that Bruce Wayne had actually fixed the software some months prior. There is the executors' reference to the pearls missing from Bruce Wayne's inventory, which are obviously the same ones that Catwoman stole and the only thing that Bruce really values. And then of course there is that final meeting and silent exchange of glances in Florence between Bruce and Alfred, which links in with a previous conversation regarding Alfred's hopes for his master's escape from a brutal life... There's no suggestion that any of this is a dream and so it must be taken at face value. Bruce Wayne finally managed to escape - through Batman's death he found his salvation.

Perhaps the film should have been called Rise of Robin, as the character of "John" Blake (his real name revealed at the end to be Robin, in a gift to geeks everywhere) slowly loses faith in guns and the police department he works for. Batman's legacy is literally left to him through Bruce Wayne's will, and we see the potential for a new masked crimefighter. Would he also be called Batman? Or just Robin? Or even perhaps Nightwing, as in the comics? Whatever the case may be, a dark knight does indeed rise.

So where does TDKR stand when place alongside the previous two Nolan films? It's certainly not as good The Dark Knight, which was an absolute masterpiece, but it easily ranks alongside Batman Begins. It's a fitting conclusion to an epic trilogy, the likes of which may never be matched. Will there be some Robin films? Who knows. We can only hope...

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Watching Tinker Tailor Solider Spy again at the weekend, I was reminded just how rare such solid, intriguing films are. TTSS was rewarded at the Baftas, and rightly so, because it’s an acting master-class: a showcase for great actors such as Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt and Toby Stephens.

The plot is dense and requires complete attention, but this effort pays off because of the rich characters and subtle moods that build to a great finale. Tomas Alfredson’s previous film, the child- vampire  classic Let the Right One In, was similarly well-made, and both films are really about human relationships rather than their superficial subjects of spies or supernatural beings.

I wouldn’t hold my breath for more adaptations of John Le Carre’s other George Smiley novels – it’s not the sort of film to spawn a number of sequels – but fingers crossed!

Barcelona

Barcelona really is a fantastic city. Five nights there wasn’t enough to see a tenth of what was on offer. Highlights were the amazing Gaudi architecture, the characterful Gothic quarter and of course the excellent weather. The interior of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia is like being inside an octopus – the design was, and is, so far ahead of it’s time that it’s a miracle that building was ever started. With so much sight-seeing I could do with another holiday to recover!

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises was never going to be as good as The Dark Knight, which is surely the best comic-book movie ever made, but the film is a fitting finale to a great trilogy - possibly the best movie trilogy ever, no less.

I liked the slow build-up to Batman's first appearance, which is something that a few people hated. But the Nolan Batman films have never just been about action, focusing heavily on the characters and their struggles. It takes time for Bruce Wayne to realise that Batman is needed, and when he does indeed return it is heart-pounding stuff.

Bane is a decent villain, although like many people I struggled understanding his dialogue (I reckon I caught about 60% of it, but it's not overly problematic). Marion Cottilard was less convincing in her important role, but you can't have everything. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman was surprising, with the viewer never quite sure which way she would turn. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake introduces a potentially exciting direction for some non-Nolan Bat-films... It will be interesting to see what happens in the future in this regard.

The film is perhaps a little too long but the trilogy had to have a proper send-off and there was no need to rush things. The nature of the ending  was also expected (could it really have gone any other way?) but nevertheless contained a few little twists and turns.

Smiles all round then, and I may even be tempted to pop back to the cinema for a second viewing!

The Dark Night

Well, it's not often I get nervous before going to see a film, but tomorrow I have tickets to finally see The Dark Knight, and Manchester's IMAX screen, no less. Fingers crossed it will live up to my expectations, otherwise tomorrow will be a dark night for me...

London 2012 Olympics

I have to admit I wasn't particularly interested in the Olympics before the games started but during the past week I've become a great fan, from the fascinating opening ceremony to the addictive swimming (yay Chad Le Clos and his eccentric father, Bert!).

Team GB are also doing extremely well - with the odd surprise and disappointment keeing it interesting - and indeed the whole hosting task is going surprisingly smoothly. Congratulations all-round!

I almost wish I wasn't heading off to Barcelona on Sunday (hah, almost!), but at least the games will still be going when I come back.

The Amazingly Average Spider-Man

In a world where comic book movies keep on getting bigger and better (The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises) I suppose it was inevitable that there would be setbacks. Green Lantern, for example, wasn't really terrible, but nor was it anything like as good as it could have been. The same goes for The Amazing Spider-Man. And to think in a previous blog I was so optimistic...

The problems with rebooting the Spider-Man series were numerous: the previous Sam Raimi-directed trilogy was a huge success and still fresh in the minds of many; the best bad-guys had already been used; previous casting had been spot-on. The latest film therefore has no choice but to try to be different: no Mary Jane (instead Peter Parker's love interest is bleach-blonde Gwen Stacy), no organic web shooters (the film is in this sense more loyal to the comic, but could a teenager really invent his own web shooting device?). There's a different origin story, and of course a different cast. And I'm sorry to say that the original trilogy, as flawed as it was, did everything better.

I thought Andrew Garfield was too cocky for a teenage Spider-Man (and too old - as was Emma Stone's Gwen). His discovery of his superpowers seemed relatively straight-forward and mundane. The Lizard was a bland baddie, and subjected to surprisingly poor CGI. Uncle Ben's death was barely felt. I admire the efforts to take the series down a different route, but I actually found myself bored towards the end. This surprised even me.

Here's hoping that any further Spider-Man films will have a bit more life to them. Spidey deserves more - and the film-makers should realise that with great power comes great responsibility...

The Dark Knight Rises

Well, one of the most eagerly-awaited films of the year is being released on Friday - Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.

As a huge fan of the first two films in this trilogy - I maintain that The Dark Knight is the best comic book film ever made, as great as the recent Marcel adaptations were - I couldn't be more excited.

Much has been kept secret, but what is clear is that this will definitely be the final Batman film for Nolan and star Christian Bale, and so how exactly it will all end is very much up in the air.

With reviews already appearing it will be hard to avoid plot spoilers, so to avoid having the suspense ruined it would be a good idea to get to the cinema as quickly as possible!

Prometheus

Warning: contains Prometheus plot spoilers.

Prometheus, then: director Ridley Scott's indirect prequel to his film Alien, which was the first in the long-running Alien series that progressively declined under different directors. There were big hopes that Scott's return to the series would produce something spectacular. And it does. In a way…

 

The plot itself is intriguing but drip-fed to the viewer. It seems to boil down to this: Gradually we learn of the Engineers – humanoid aliens, whose own origins are not explained but seem to have been around for several millennia – who appear to have made it their job to populate the universe with life, using their own DNA to seed planets capable of sustaining life. As the film later establishes (when a DNA match is made), Earth is one of these planets. Two thousand years ago, however, the Engineers appear to have decided that humans were not doing a terribly good job. (The reason for this is never made clear; Scott has mentioned that the idea of Jesus' crucifixion was considered but discarded, with the more likely explanation being the fall of the Roman Empire, which exemplified humanity's predilection for self-destruction and cruelty). The Engineers therefore set up a kind of biological weapons factory on the planet LV-223 which would then be used to eradicate life on Earth. The film does not determine whether this is the purpose of the Xenomorphs (the terrifying chest-popping, acid-blooded "aliens" from the Alien series) but it seems more than likely. Unfortunately, it seems that the Engineers were attacked by their own creations and forced to flee, where one surviving Engineer remained in hibernation until the arrival of the ship Prometheus and its crew, who were led to the planet by star maps found throughout ancient Earth civilisations. Predictably, everything then goes horribly wrong for the crew – key players being scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and android David (Michael Fassbender), the former approaching the trip as a search for answers and the latter more as an experiment – whose mixed motivations range from attempting to uncover the truth of humanity’s origins to simply being there to pick up a fat pay cheque.

 

If you aren't intrigued by this premise then arguably Prometheus is not for you, especially as there are a lot of questions raised and a few left hanging with the ending. What exactly was the reason for the Engineers’ decision to attack Earth? Were the star maps meant to be invitations or warnings? And where exactly do the Xenomorphs feature in all this? Yes, at the end of Prometheus we see the birth of a Xenomorph, but this is likely not the first such creature: the murals within the Engineers’ colony detail the Xenomorph's life cycle, and something attacked the Engineers. There is much to ponder after the credits role.

 

So while Prometheus both is an Alien film and it isn't, I would argue nevertheless that on its own merits it is a fantastic example of a science-fiction film. The opening images are simply beautiful, and much of the film is actually explained in the first scene of self-sacrifice, setting the tone for a film that is never once boring. The best films in the science-fiction genre focus on grand ideas and concepts rather than gimmickry: Prometheus has the guts to ponder the origins of life, its subsequent dissemination throughout the universe, and the use of weapons of mass destruction to destroy it. The film ends with Shaw departing to track down the Engineers in the search for answers, leaving the door wide open for sequels. Scott has mentioned in a BBC Radio interview that there would be at least a further two films before the series linked up with the original Alien - perhaps the greatest concern therefore is that, given Prometheus' mixed reception, these sequels may never be made. But even if they aren't, I believe the film stands on its own two feet as a shining example of what great science-fiction should be. There are odd moments that stick out uncomfortably: the script could have been sharper in places, one or two of the actors could have been a little more convincing, and it's never explained why Guy Pearce spends his entire screen-time in old-man make-up (apparently make-up free scenes of him as the younger Weyland were excised from the final cut).

Why has Prometheus received such mixed reviews? Its flaws are not so damaging to its overall impact. But perhaps everyone expected something perfect from Ridley Scott, and Prometheus is not perfect (but then again, no film is). No doubt some expected more answers, and more Aliens (with a capital A). But it seems that the film's flaws have been the focus of most reviews, whereas we should in fact be concentrating on what the film does brilliantly: creating a fascinating new legend separate from the previous Alien films.

Even taking into account its flaws, I have no doubt that Prometheus will be re-evaluated and considered to be a classic, much as Scott's Blade Runner was maligned on its release but is now widely considered to be one of the finest science-fiction films ever made. Sometimes it just takes a little time for people to truly appreciate what they have.

Argh! It's "Should Have", NOT "Should Of"!

I'm not an aggressive enforcer of language by any means. While I hate poor grammar an punctuation, I accept that any living language will naturally change over time as new words are added, old words fall out of common use and meanings change.

That said, certain usages are just plain wrong, no matter how common they are. Most irritating is the use of "should of" instead of "should have". I understand that the confusion comes from shortening "should have" to "should've", which in turns sounds like "should of". But it's wrong. It's obviously wrong. "Should of" does not make grammatical sense!

What's worse is that people are now clearly enunciating "should of" when they speak, and I have read several letters from supposedly-professional firms containing this abomination.

Is there anything that can be done? Is it petty to correct people? Should I just continue to hold my tongue?

All I can say for certain is that anyone misusing language in this way should of paid more attention at school.

The Amazing Spider-Man

The new Spider-Man film seems to be gathering good reviews, which is something of a relief. The original Sam Raimi-directed trilogy ended on a bit of a low note, becoming too camp and busy for its own good, so it's good to see the series being revived and taken in a different direction, focusing on Peter Parker's student years.

In a world where re-boots and re-imaginings are all the rage, it was inevitable that this particular multi-billion dollar franchise would be at the top of the list. It doesn't hurt that donning the web-slinger's costume is Andrew Garfield, one of the freshest new talents of recent years. Maybe it won't quite match up to The Avengers phenomenon but it should do well.

And given how Hollywood likes its films to come in threes nowadays, expect to see some sequels announced very soon...

What is it with England and penalties?

Another major tournament, another defeat on penalties. The England football team really need to break this curse before it completely destroys any confidence.

Italy were undoubtedly the better side last night and deserved to go through, but there was always a glimmer of hope that England might somehow pull it off.

At least my wife put it into perspective when she leaned over during extra tome and said, "You do realise that even if you go through you'll get hammered by Germany?"

And so all I can really say is good luck Italy!

Prof. Brian Cox's Cockcroft Rutherford Lecture 2012

I had the great fortune to be able to attend last night's annual Cockroft Rutherford lecture at Manchester University, delivered by no less than Professor Brian Cox. Unsurprisingly, "A Scientist in the Media" was the best lecture I've been to - but then again I did study a Business degree, so there wasn't too much competition.

Brian did a great job of selling the idea of science being the driving force for humanity's progress, incorporating photos, diagrams and clips of TV shows, starting with Carl Sagan's Cosmos and including a couple of his own, and managing to be not only informative but funny too.

The lecture was apparently webcast so I presume it will be available to watch somewhere, and I'd thoroughly recommend trying to view it if at all possible, as it gave a great insight into Brian's passion for science and its role in the modern world. My only wish was that it could have been longer than an hour.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Last night my wife and I had the fortune of attending a book signing by Carlos Ruiz Zafon at Waterstones in Manchester, organised as publicity for his latest book, The Prisoner of Heaven. It was the first time I'd been to an author event and was a little nervous as to what to expect. Would it be sycophantic and dull? But I can say that I would definitely attend more if they have the promise to be as good. Carlos was pretty much the perfect interviewee - just a short question from the enthusiastic introducer or the audience was enough to prompt a full and interesting response about the life of a professional writer or some interesting nugget about his incredibly popular series. Plus, I'm now the proud owner of a signed and dedicated copy of The Shadow of the Wind, and Magda has her Polish copy of The Angel's Game similarly enhanced. All in all, a good night!

Full of hope for England's Euro 2012

So far so good! England are currently, and perhaps unexpectedly, doing themselves proud in the Euro 2012 football competition. Having drawn with France and just beaten Sweden, they now sit joint-top in their group and need just one point from their next game against Ukraine to progress to the knock-out stages.

There's always a worry with England that they will succumb to nerves or pressure and fail to live up to their significant potential. The World Cup 2010 campaign was a prime example of this - by and large there seemed to be a complete lack of belief, and it appeared as though many players were disenchanted and complacent.

Now, though, England are playing well. A number of injuries has brought forth a wealth of new and fresh talent and the players seem to be once again confident in their abilities. There's no shortage of talent, it's more the case that the players can't seem to tap this reserve.

Whatever happens during Euro 2012, England are playing with their hearts and for this they should be applauded. After all, trying your best is all anyone can ever ask of you. It doesn't really matter if England get knocked out so long as the players give their all. Mind you, lifting the cup wouldn't be all that bad either...

The Last Flag?

I've just finished reading Darryl Ponicsan's Last Flag Flying, the sequel to his earlier 1970s book The Last Detail which was adapted into one of my favourite films. The events of the The Last Detail - in which two US Navy sailors, Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky and "Mule" Mulhall, escort young cadet Larry Meadows to a Naval prison, the boy having been sentenced to eight years for the petty crime of stealing $40 from a charity box - are relived and repeated. This time the three - now some thirty-five years older - are escorting home the body of Meadows' son, a Marine killed during the second Iraq war.

Last Flag Flying is a strange kind of sequel. At the end of the novel of The Last Detail, Buddusky was killed in a drunken brawl (this was changed for the film, and both endings work well). In writing the sequel Ponicsan was therefore obviously faced with a dilemma: whether to write the book without Buddusky, or to somehow resurrect him. Given that he was the most entertaining and interesting character, there really was no other choice but to bring him back to life. Thus Ponicsan re-writes history: Buddusky was not killed after all, but severely injured, and received a pay-off from the Navy to keep it quiet. It's an awkward plot device, and I feel the book never truly recovers from this premise. For one thing, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and for another, it almost entirely robs the first novel of its dramatic, tragic ending.

Last Flag Flying is nevertheless a worthwhile read. Getting past the explanation for why Buddusky is still alive, it is the story of three men who are once again united for a terrible purpose. The men are older, and each has changed in many ways, but they are also still very much the same as before. Fate - or rather, the Internet - has brought them together again, and they must now finally face up to both their bitter pasts and their uncertain futures.

It's a very political book: Ponicsan is scathing about the reasons for the war.The tragedy of the death of Meadows' son looms large. It was an unnecessary, avoidable death, and of course Meadow Jnr is not the only victim. Whilst Ponicsan might not always make the subtlest of points, it is hard not to agree with his point of view. There were - are - many things wrong with the invasion of Iraq, and the price of war is always paid not by the men and women in charge but by those on the front line and their families.

The book raises the interesting question of whether it is a good idea to resurrect characters? To go back to the past and reinvent it for the present? Despite Last Flag Flying's problems, it is a less awkward sequel than Winston Groom's Gump & Co was to Forrest Gump. Groom had to make serious u-turns to write a sequel that conformed to the successful film adaption of his first novel, and the result is a very messy read. By the end of Last Flag Flying however I was sad to see the conclusion of the trio's adventures. As short as the two Flag books are - less than 350 pages in total - a lot of ground is covered nevertheless, and I had grown to be extremely fond of Buddusky, Mulhall and Meadows. I enjoyed catching up with the three men, whose lives seemed to have been stopped too short at the conclusion of The Last Detail. It really would be overkill should Ponicsan ever write a third Flag book, but nevertheless I would be delighted to read it.

The very idea of a sequel to The Last Detail should have sent alarm bells ringing, but overall I'm certainly glad for having read Last Flag Flying, and would recommend both books to anyone. Neither book is perfect, but then few books are. Ponicsan was brave to even attempt a sequel after such a long interval, and even if the result is uneven, we should not forget just how difficult it is to recapture the past.

At The Mercy Of The Internet

How quickly things have changed! Not too many years ago our homes and offices were quite capable of running happily without access to the Internet. Instead of downloading or streaming films we went to the rental stores. Instead of accessing 24-hour news updates at a single click, we read daily newspapers or monthly magazines. Our offices were slower - less focused on speed. Whether at work or at home there was less pressure to be always available - or to be constantly connected.

And now? We rely so much on the Internet, with its speedy data transfers and widened communication possibilities, that we are simply unable to function without it. A break in the connection means that our offices grind to a halt. No longer do we receive the updates we crave. We feel cut off from the world - unable to communicate. And it only takes a few minutes - seconds, even - for the irritation to begin.

It's sad in a way, because, after all, the world did function prior to the World Wide Web. Technology has given us much. We should indeed be thankful for its richness and the benefits we derive. But perhaps we should also remember how to exist without it. Just in case...

The Importance of Questions

I've just finished reading Mark Kurlansky's book What?, subtitled Are These Really the Twenty Most Important Questions in Human History? It is a short book of questions - literally, for every sentence (bar the last) takes the form of a question.

Kurlansky's aim is to get people to ask more questions, and I fully support his quest. Too few people ask too few questions. If we lived in a world where more questions were asked, perhaps we would not take so many things for granted. Or perhaps we would be driven mad by the lack of answers. In any case, it is only through questions that we can discover: how much we do or do not know, how much we want to know, what we are, who we are, even why we are. It is an essential part of our development - as individuals, as humans - to ask questions. People who don't question are stagnating. A world that is not being questioned is standing still.

So question. Question everything. Question yourself, and others. How? That is up to you...

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography - Walter Isaacson

I'm very nearly finished reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, and all I can say is that it is simply one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.

His story is a remarkable one - founding Apple, being kicked out, starting another company which is then purchased by Apple thus returning him to the fold, and then overseeing a spectacular reversal of fortunes to transform Apple from nearly bankrupt to holding a cash reserved of $40bn. All while managing to establish Pixar as the best CGI animation film studio in the world.

Job's persistent, unremitting focus on creating great products rather than making money was the complete opposite approach to every other tech company, and this is why Apple has grown so impressively over the past 10-15 years. And yes, it's true that Apple products are expensive - overpriced, even. But they are lovingly-crafted works of art. Every millimetre of every Apple product has been pored over and carefully considered. And it is art that actually has function, which is no mean feat. So yes, the cost to the purchaser is high - but if something has worth, there must be a price to pay.

It's a relatively balanced book, too. Isaacson is not afraid of highlighting Jobs' flaws - he expected the best and refused to accept anything less than perfection, resulting in an abusive management style that burned many people over the years. There's no excuse for this type of behaviour, no matter what results are obtained. But Jobs also got many things right, and it is these things that we should choose to remember. The book certainly does raise the question of how Apple can maintain its success following Jobs' untimely death, but hopefully he has left them with enough of his spirit.

Why is the book so inspiring? What elevates it above being a simply great biography? Because it successfully relays Jobs' message that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right - no matter how much time it takes, or how much extra it costs. If you cut corners - whether it's designing a tablet computer or entering a marriage - it will never be "right". It will always be a failure. And to shift shoddy products onto the world is nothing short of a sin. You are selling yourself, and everyone else, short. Your potential is unfulfilled, and you are wasting everyone's time, including your own.

Now that Steve Jobs is dead, we are the ones who have to keep his dream of perfection alive. So go and do your best.