February 22, 2012

Good book, bad film? Day #3

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 12:56 pm  

Book: Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Film: Bridget Jones’s Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire

You’d have thought Helen Fielding’s sharp, knowing, laugh-out-loud funny writing would be a gift to any screenwriter.  Shame, then, that the people who adapted Bridget Jones’s Diary into a film decided to blunt the edges of the dialogue and ramp up the slapstick. (Not to mention giving poor old Colin Firth the worst pre-kiss line since Andie MacDowell simpered ‘Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed’ at the end of Four Weddings.)

The end result’s a movie that’s about as funny as being dumped for someone younger and thinner than you, and as subtle as an ample bottom zooming down a fireman’s pole.

By Laura C

February 21, 2012

Good book, bad film? Day #2

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 9:22 am  

I Am Legend: the book (a 1954 horror novel by Richard Matheson)

Trailblazing in its day, this book introduced the concept of human extinction by zombie-like disease (and inspired Romero’s cult classic Night of the Living Dead). (Spoiler alert) Robert Neville’s the last human on earth. Captured by the zombies/vampires who’ve taken over the world, he realises they’re in fact sentient, intelligent beings. He’s the monster with morals that don’t apply anymore: a relic of a bygone age who must die so society can move forward. The book ends with his affecting last words: ‘[I am] a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. I am legend.’

I Am Legend: the film (a 2007 Will Smith-vehicle)

Robert Neville is the last man on earth. He races around in a sports car, chased by feral vampires. Hang on – he’s not the last man on earth. He finds a cure for the disease and randomly sacrifices himself, becoming (you’ve guessed it) legend. Or not.

By Emma

February 20, 2012

Good book, bad film? Day #1

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 10:45 am  

This week, all week, we’ll be posting blogs about good books that spawned bad films. Or bad books that produced good films. It’s all a matter of opinion.

First up, it’s two different interpretations of Atonement.

Book: Atonement, by Ian McEwan

Film: Atonement, directed by Joe Wright

A film that fancies itself no end, from the close-up of typewriter letters thwacking into paper to that gratuitous long take at Dunkirk. And one that exposes what’s wrong with the book. Why should I care about two people I barely know anything about? Or give the time of day to a narrator who’s an inveterate liar?

By Jan

Atonement the book wallows in its own postmodern take on storytelling: it’s smug and unsatisfying. Whereas Atonement the film leaves out any academic posturing on the subjectivity of truth. It’s a good old-fashioned story (with a beginning, middle and an end), where the atmospheric surroundings are brought to life. After watching the film, I wanted to re-read the book.

By Rebecca

February 17, 2012

Never be bored on a train again

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Filed under Bits and pieces   Blogatron 3000 @ 1:32 pm  

Did you know, half of all books in Britain are never read? And up to 13 million books are sent to landfills every year, while only a fraction of books are printed on recycled paper. The London Book Swap wants to change all that.

Creator Chris Gilson is launching the scheme at all tube and train stations across the city around the 2012 Olympics. The rules are simple. You, the weary London tube/train trekker, go to the book stalls (you’ll find them in every London station), and pick up books you’d like to read. For free. Or you can drop off those books that are cluttering up your shelves.

The campaign aims to ‘help to cement London as a capital of literacy as well as sport’. And London’s own peroxide, floppy-haired mayor thinks it’s: ‘a very good idea and would say something powerful about the kind of city we are and our commitment to literacy, which obviously we are trying to demonstrate in lots of ways particularly with young people.’

The project needs help spreading the word, so pass it on to any book lovers you know. You can find more info here. Or have a look at their Twitter.

By Laura Swizz

February 14, 2012

Valentine’s date acceptance form

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 10:17 am  

Dearest [name],

I would like to enquire as to your availability on 14.02.12, on which date I propose we engage in some form of evening entertainment, such as [tea and cakes/a rave/twitching].

The aforementioned entertainment would ideally take place in a venue adequately proximous to both of our abodes.

If you aim to add an overnight extension to the festivities, I would be happy to settle upon a location considerably nearer to one of our abodes than the other. To this point, I should add that I own a [bearskin rug/hot chocolate machine/Tempur mattress], though I do not want this to affect your decision.

Please indicate your acquiescence to the above request by filling in the below form and returning it to me in the stamped and addressed envelope.

Yours expectantly,

[Name]

———————

I, [Firstname Surname], agree to attend [insert entertainment] with [Firstname Surname] on 14.02.12. I hereby agree to Have A Good Time and, if the evening warrants it, to indicate said enjoyment by way of engaging in [insert sexual act].

Date offer subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply. (At least until the alcohol starts flowing.)

By ?

February 9, 2012

New banks on the block

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 5:15 pm  

There are two new high street banks floating about at the moment. They both want your attention, and they both want your cash. Those banks are Virgin Money and Metro Bank.

It’s a really interesting situation that banking hasn’t seen before – the public doesn’t know anything about either bank and that means there are no customer services records to see, no branches to visit, no stats, nothing. So the only ways to get you hooked are with their accounts. And with their branding.

Here’s some bits from Metro Bank’s boastful ‘about us’ page.

‘With our unique, customer-focused retail business we reinvent the rules of retail banking, making every effort to remove all stupid bank rules from our day to day services to offer simpler and more convenient banking to you.’

‘We aim to exceed the expectations of our customers every day.’

And here’s some bits Virgin Money’s calm, honest ‘find out more’ page.

‘We’ve made no secret of our ambition to build a new kind of bank in the UK, one that makes everyone better off – customers, staff, shareholders, partners and the communities we serve.’

‘We’re here to build a bank that’s fair, transparent and honest – bringing a fresh face and some much-needed competition to the high street.’

Which will do better? For me, calm and honest definitely beats boastful when it comes to keep my cash safe and sound, so my money’s on Virgin.

By George

February 8, 2012

Freedom of tweets

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 4:38 pm  

So today, this is happening.

À mon avis, one of the sillier public trials we’ve seen recently. Paul Chambers is facing trial in a court of law for tweeting a joke. No, really.

The story goes: he’s off to meet a lady from Northern Ireland for a date. But when he arrives at Robin Hood airport in Nottingham, it’s closed. And being a cheeky sort, he tweets: ‘Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed, you’ve got a week… otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!’.

Fine, sure, very droll. Just a man getting grumpy about some rubbish public transport. Nothing new. Let’s move on. Let’s not report Paul, send plain clothed officers to his house, search him, his house and his car, then arrest him and take him to court under the Crown Prosecution Service’s provisions against bomb hoaxers and try him in the High Court, because that would be madness.

Ah, too late.

Now, many people far more qualified than me can comment on just how silly and damaging this is for freedom of speech, or how seriously people take our law enforcement, or even the politics of social media. But it does seem that in an age when we tweet 300 million times a day, the law needs to catch up with just how fast publically available opinion is growing.

We all use hyperbole like Paul’s in speech every day and nobody bats an eyelid. But now, thankfully, everyone has the opportunity and the soapbox to air their views on sites like Twitter. And after all, it’s really just an ongoing conversation – everyone can be just as facetious and dramatic as we would be in real conversation. Which for my money, is brilliant.

It’s just a shame the law doesn’t think so eh?

Keep up, law.

By George

A couple of things

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Latest news, Where we've been quoted   Blogatron 3000 @ 9:40 am  

Big ideas that could change your company from Nick in Business Works.

And small details that will change how you look at hyphens forever in The Writer’s house style guide (our free gift to you).

February 7, 2012

Utter pants

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 11:59 am  

Does anyone remember the underpants gnomes’ profit plan in South Park?

Ahahaha. How absurd. The last bit doesn’t logically follow the first bit. Isn’t fiction fun?

Funny I should say that, because it’s not just fiction.

Look what the University of Wollongong is telling its students:

Highly nominalised writing can be difficult to read … However, nominalisation is a significant feature of academic writing contributing greatly to its impersonal tone, abstraction and complexity. So learning how to use nominalisations in your own writing is an important part of becoming a sophisticated writer at university.

I’m sorry, what?

Let’s deconstruct that. First, they assert an opinion:

Highly nominalised writing can be difficult to read

Yup, bang on. (For those who don’t know, ‘nominalisation’ means turning a verb into a noun. So ‘the use of’ instead of ‘using’, for example.)

Next, they drive that opinion home:

nominalisation is a significant feature of academic writing contributing greatly to its impersonal tone, abstraction and complexity

Ouch. They’ve really got it in for nominalisation. Surely there can only be one way to end this argument:

learning how to use nominalisations in your own writing is an important part of becoming a sophisticated writer

Astonishing.

This must be why Neil hates teachers so much.

By Padders

February 3, 2012

National Libraries Week: day #5

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Filed under Bits and pieces, Wordy thoughts   Blogatron 3000 @ 9:26 am  

Name: John Simmons

Library: Alexandra Park

Book: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

My local library – Alexandra Park in north London – is a shamefully neglected resource. The shame is all mine. I believe deeply in libraries. They were so important to me in childhood and youth. After that I could afford to buy books, to collect books, so I lost the library habit. It’s time to rediscover it.

I feel almost nervous now as I approach my local library. As I open the doors there’s a lot of noise: it’s the Movers & Shakers session for under-12 month babies (and parents). I hum along to Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. At the front desk I ask about joining and the librarian is as helpful as can be. She goes to great lengths to get me the book I want to read – Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a science fiction classic.

I’d not read the book but its theme seemed made for National Libraries Day. The title refers to the temperature at which books burn. A leading character is a fireman. In this dystopian future the job of the fireman is not to put out fires but to burn books. Systematically, alphabetically. Books are dangerous things.

Fahrenheit 451 was written in McCarthy-era America, when ideas and art and intellectual curiosity were suspect. In that sense it’s a political book, disturbing and thought-provoking. It’s also a great story, written in a simple, visual style as if primed to be turned into a film. In the 1960s it was made into a film by Francois Truffaut but no one seems to rate the film as highly as the book.

So I recommend you to seek out the book. Try your local library. There are books in libraries that you can no longer find in bookshops. Ray Bradbury wrote an introduction to an edition of the book in this century. Part of it goes like this:

‘The main thing to call attention to is the fact that I’ve been a library person all of my life. I sold newspapers until I was 22 and had no money to attend college, but I spent three or four nights a week at the local library and fed on books over a long period of time.

Some of my early stories tell of librarians and book burners and people in small towns finding ways to memorise the books so that if they were burned they had some sort of immortality.’

Books contain ideas, and ideas contain immortality. We need libraries to contain books.

By John Simmons

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