Tag Archives: Reviews

Up and away

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Caught Pixar’s Up with the kids on Fathers’ Day. Liked it better than Wall-E and Cars but nowhere near as much as The Incredibles or Monsters Inc.

The kids liked it but didn’t love it. I wonder if that’s because they didn’t really see themselves in any of the main characters – a grieving curmudgeon, a lonely boy scout and a misfit talking dog. I know, I’ve blogged previously that my daughter sometimes plays at being a Grandma so she should connect with the movie. Looks like I was wrong.

I know the Pixar crew are graduates of the Robert McKee screenwriting courses. It felt to me that they’d gone with some real McKee angles in Up – writing stories/scripts that address universal truths such as loneliness, shattered dreams, grief and old age. Indeed, the first five minutes of the film told a story that almost moved me to tears. After that bit of magic, it was sound the trumpets and bring in the action and gags.

Some of the best gags involved a) old age and b) dogs chasing squirrels. The kids obviously didn’t get the former. As for the latter, we don’t have squirrels Down Under so the joke lost a little impact (though we still laughed). I was also surprised by how Pixar handled some of the later fights scenes (no spoilers from me) and how scary some of the hunting dogs were. The Little Monkey (5yo) found it all a bit tough once the villain arrived on the scene. Interestingly, her cousin the Little Engineer (4yo), had no such qualms.

So, it lacked the wow factor we’d hoped for. And I’m a tad worried that I identified somewhat with the old guy Carl…

I’m now hoping Ponyo might be a better fit for the Little Dragon and I.

Update: I just spent a night making Up mobiles to hang in the kids’ rooms so they must be at least slightly under the Pixar spell.

Turning the page on Book Week

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Book Week has been and gone and authors everywhere are … self-medicating. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic fun and a real privilege to be spruiking the pleasures of reading and writing but hey, I’m not teacher-trained and soon learned I lack stamina. After four consecutive days of workshops, I was totally Jatz Crackered. I’ve got to say I have the utmost respect for educators who are committed, clever and energetic at what they do, day-in, day-out.

I also feel for those struggling with the enormity of their daily duties. Flicking back through the diary I’m reminded of one educator who looked to have lost control of their class. It reminded me of a scene I witnessed in India, a pack of vultures tearing apart an injured lamb. The daily stress for that teacher must be nigh-on unbearable.

The Melbourne Writers’ Festival has also wound up for 2009. I didn’t get to any sessions this year because I was workshopping in schools. I did score an invite to the launch party hosted by Text Publishing – because I’m teaming up with Text for my next novel! It was a top night, a good chance to meet the Text team and to introduce myself to some great wordsmiths. Hopefully I kept the faux pas to a minimum. Hopefully.

I was also chuffed to attend the YA Muster – a delicious dumpling dinner with some of Australia’s gun authors for young adults. It was reassuring to hear that we’re all on the same page, if you’ll pardon the pun, when it comes to issues such as book signing tables, school visits and juggling author time with other duties.

Other recent highlights included selecting prizewinners for writing workshop activities at Overnewton Anglican Community College (and seeing their eyes light up) and a reader-to-writer-to-journo-to-author talk to Year 10 at Aitken College, where they actually laughed at some of my gags.

This week I helped relaunch a library at Kilvington Girls’ Grammar, which was a first for me. On Friday, I’ll be be workshopping out west with young storytellers.

I’m also filling in again as Younger Readers’ book reviewer for the Sunday Age. And, in another first, some of the books on my desk are by authors I have met. Will that influence my reviews? I don’t think so. As I have written previously, 150 words doesn’t leave much room for bias.

On top of all this I have 10 days left to get in sufficiently good nick to survive a 120 km bike ride through the Kinglake hills, four weeks to help my wife set up her new business and four months to edit/redraft what will become my second novel. Not that I’m counting… or freaking out. Much.

For the record, I’m also jumping on the Bulldogs bandwagon for the footy finals. Personally, I reckon my team, the Kangas, should merge with the Dogs as they have similar histories, colours and cultures and traditionally struggle for cash. I say solve the money and membership issues and create a western suburbs superteam. Unlikely, I know. So, this September, go Scraggers!

Writing reviews

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I’ve just finished a stint as a guest reviewer of children’s books for the Sunday Age. I enjoyed the gig, although I think it took me a week or so to find the right voice for the reviews.

Being a reviewer raises some interesting ethical questions. If I hate a book do I say so? I don’t think so.

For starters, my opinion on a book is exactly that. A personal opinion. It carries no more weight than an opinion from anyone else. (In the case of children’s books it probably carries less weight than a child reviewer.)

I subscribe to the approach of Julian Burnside QC, who said (and I paraphrase) that if someone is brave enough to tackle an artistic endeavour, it isn’t his place to criticise their efforts. They deserve credit for having a go.

So I tried to bring that philosophy to my reviews. What do people want to know about a book? They want to know what it’s about. They’ll make their own mind up whether it’s any good.

For example, one of the books I was given to read (I don’t get to choose) was Part Three of a sci-fi series. Without reading the first two, it didn’t make much sense to me. Anyone who had read the preceding titles might have had a very different reading experience.

So how did I review it in the 150 words available? I stuck to the synopsis and the author’s successful track record. Hopefully that was fair.

On the other hand, if I loved a book, I tried to show this without going over the top.

At the end of the day, does the review really matter anyway? Most publicists would argue a bad review is better than no review because it’s the exposure that matters. I don’t know about that.

Depending on your authorly confidence, negative reviews can cut you to the bone. You just have to remember it’s one person’s opinion and hope that other people see things differently.

I can remember one sizzling, scathing review of a book from a very high profile Australian author. The review was so bad and so unprecedented for that author it made me want to read the book to see for myself whether it was so terrible. I did and it wasn’t.

So perhaps reviews aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. On the other hand, anything that encourages people to read has to be good, right? Any thoughts out there? Do you take reviews as gospel – or with a grain of salt?

The seat-belt sign is on

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Please resume your seats, fasten your seat-belts and switch off any electrical appliances that may interfere with the on-board navigation.

After a week of turbulence and unexpected requests, I’m pausing to review the diary for the month ahead. On top of the usual toils I am adding the following (with more likely to come):

By the end of the month I may well be as mad as the proverbial March Hare. I may also need to detour from the Thunder Road while these extra duties call. If this site seems idle, you know where to find me.