Shiny new icon! Courtesy of
iconomicon , home of bizarre stock.
One of the best things about discovering a new book, film or tv series is the cat's cradle of other work that ties into it. For instance; I have recently enjoyed the film Inception; as such I rewatched Juno and discovered Whip It, via Ellen Page (oh dear heaven, I want to have a go at Roller Derby). I also watched (500) Days of Summer, which joins the small band of romantic comedies I actually like (very small. Intolerable Cruelty did hold that title single handed for a long time). I watched Bronson (Clockwork Orange meets early Terry Gilliam - surreal and violent and quite sad, actually) and realised Tom Hardy is a pretty special actor. Following that line, I read John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which is being made into a film by the director of Let the Right One In (horror! how I love thee) starring aforementioned Mr Hardy.
And that book is possibly the best thriller - one of the best novels - I have ever read. Tense, tight, spare prose, deftly drawn characters with colliding motivations and weaknesses, the plot layered but not over-cooked. Reading the book, I had a real sense of dark, cold grey nights, of condensation on glass and rain on windows. It is a claustrophobic, intense world, that of the spies, small and grubby in places, and that came across so clearly. People betrayed, mistreated or just ignored in preference to ideals, or the pursuit of glory or ambition. The heroes are not really such, apart from George Smiley, maybe, so clever and so calm. The last illusion of the illusionless man refers to him, and his love for his unfaithful wife, Ann.
Anyway, enough rambling, have some Inception recs:
This is Yusuf backstory, and Yusuf/Eames friendship:
Maryam, by
scrie The Gates of Horn and Ivory, by
jibrailis is Arthur/Eames, and for all that I am not shippy at all, this is amazing. The ending is made of epic win, and I do not say that lightly.
veritas_nescio writes the fic of my heart. Descriptive prose is my own special favourite thing, and this is all so beautiful. Read anything, everything.
Have the epic
j'veux ton amour, et je m'en fous d'apres by
hackthis It's more Eames/ensemble that anything else, and you know how backstory gets me every time.
Finally, all the art
fanlay has ever done, but particularly her
Inception pieces. A lot of her work is very much NOT safe for work, just to warn you all.
PS - Yuletide! Yuletide is a'coming. I have nominated some obscure things I think only me and two other people like, so should be fun!