GEORGIA

For the first time in a while, a really busy reading month! I've finally managed to get back to the library so I've borrowed loads of books I've wanted to read for a while, finished two books that I've been slogging through for months, and read my first ever book in a foreign language! It's been very exciting. Another library book, I picked up  The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Crime fiction is my favourite ever genre of books and I love to laugh (what a stupid thing to say- who doesn't), so this was a real delight. Each of the characters was just so sweet and I honestly just wanted to make them all a cup of tea. Also, the twists and turns in the mystery were really fun. I know some people are annoyed by the ending but honestly I'm just excited for a sequel- I couldn't get enough. Osman is very funny. I gave this 5 stars just because it was so entertaining. I love books that are just a whirlwind of escapism and this was exactly that. Then I read...

May was another weaker reading month, but I definitely made up for it with June and July (you'll see!) But we do have some variety this week: a poetry collection I read for school, my first ever Margaret Atwood (which I think has set my life on a new trajectory if I'm being a bit theatrical), some non-fiction and one of the best books I think I've ever read. Admittedly, if it wasn't for school I never would've read Carol Ann Duffy's  The World's Wife. Although I did like Duffy's one poem in the GCSE anthology, I was still kind of under the impression that poetry wasn't really for me (mainly r. h. sin's fault). I was wrong, and this collection proved that. There are some slightly naff ones in the collection, with ones like Elvis's Twin Sister and Frau Freud inspiring vague irritation more than anything else, but I still gave it 5 stars. Duffy's use of language is gorgeous and I just love feminism in literature so this was right up my all...

SPOILERS AHEAD Ballet and the gothic have quite a lot in common: they both originated in Italy, as all good things seem to; they both desire to evoke emotion; and they seem to have perfectly intertwined in Darren Aronofsky’s (pretty controversial) masterpiece, Black Swan. Whilst on the surface this just seems like a psychological thriller, if you pay attention you’ll find a million and one different features of the gothic implemented to build up the terror. And it certainly worked— I’ve never been more on edge.  CHARACTER Whilst Nina Sayers is the main character of Black Swan, there are two other characters in this film who play key roles in bringing to life it’s gothic elements: Lily, Nina’s rival; and Thomas Leroy, the choreographer behind it all. All three of them fall into at least one traditional gothic role. Nina and Lily occupy each end of the Madonna-Whore dichotomy, respectively. With her childlike innocence, pristine appearance, and light colour-scheme, Nina very much con...

I need to stop starting 400+ page books! It’s really holding me back on tearing through my goodreads goals. In case anyone was interested, I have finished none of the three (three!) different ones that I started— instead I half abandoned them and read some shorter ones instead. But I only managed three, whilst I technically did read six.  The first book I read was The Kite Runner , by Khaled Hosseini. Let me just preface this by saying I absolutely understand that this is an excellent book, and it deserves all of the praise it has received. That being said, it didn’t really hit for me. I definitely cried (a lot) but it just felt a tiny bit lifeless; as though it was written more to be considered the best book of all time than for the sake of telling a story. Although it was an incredible story; even if at some points it felt like pain just for the sake of pain. I really didn’t like the main character but all of the characters around him were lovely. An incredibly well written book...

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD Suspiria (1977) is a very divisive film. Some love it; others believe it to be one of the most overrated films of all time. Centred around a dance school and yet featuring almost no actual dancing, the story follows Suzy Bannion— from her arrival at a prestigious academy, to her eventual exit: running for her life and overcome with hysterical laughter. But what happens in the slick 90 minutes between these two events that causes such difference of opinion? Is Suspiria really Dario Argento’s masterpiece, or is just a bygone product of its era— scary in the 70s, but just another giallo of many to us now? In terms of the visual experience, the answer is no. Suspiria is a feast for the eyes from start to finish. There’s meaning in everything you look at. Particularly, the colour red. One could fill an entire novel analysing every time a rouge tone appeared on the screen during this film; but I’ll try not to. In the most obvious colour theory, red means danger. Su...

 Okay, I think I jinxed myself with what I said in the last post. My reading rate halved and I only got through 4 books this month. But in my defence they were all quite long. And very dense, some of them. April's trajectory is looking a little better I'd say. Two weeks off school and one down already. But what did I read in March? Kicking things off with some nice light reading, I read Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. And it's very understandable exactly why this book was banned. Truly quite horrifying. Although I gave it 4/5 stars, it was criminally long. I can sort of see why Nabokov included almost every single detail of every single day, in that it reveals to his readers the extent of the ordeal he put Dolores through, but it got a little bit tedious at times. However, his writing style is masterful. Suspense and a horrible sinister feeling run all the way throughout, even in the seemingly mundane. And the ending was honestly not where I thought it was heading at all but...

A relationship between a teenage girl and an adult man is always going to be an uncomfortable subject to portray in film. But writer, director and lead actress Suzanne Lindon treats the central relationship in  Spring Blossom  with sensitivity and uncomfortable awe. The fact that Lindon was a teenager when she wrote the script is incredibly clear—something I intend as a compliment. Despite its premise being not relatable to most,  Spring Blossom  captures the teenage experience in an all too painfully realistic way. Though niche in focus, its emotions are universal. From the very beginning, the autobiographical lead character Suzanne does not fit in with her peers. This is made obvious through various uncomfortably awkward scenes of her struggling to make conversation with those around her. We’ve all been there. It’s a classic coming-of-age film trope—one I think most people have been drawn to at some point in their life. But  Spring Blossom  still manages ...