a respite from the frenzy...
I'm enjoying a brief intermission in my July plans. So a quick update on media consumed...
The movie Yesterday, in spite of its young leads, is probably targeting the baby boomer crowd, because the premise that the Beatles' songs are so enduring and would speak to a modern audience is a bit of a hard sell for me. Some of their songs would certainly be well-received, but many of those that they used in the film? Eh, I have my doubts.
I loved the way that they used the song "Help," with its frenzied tempo.
The lead actor, Himesh Patel, was capable and engaging. I didn't really connect with Lily James' character, and I'm uncertain if it was the writing, the acting, or just me. I had the same reaction to her in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but the writing did a lot of similar things with her character in that film, so I'm still undecided about the reason for it.
The ending felt rushed and parts of it unlikely, and the (lack of) explanation for what happened was just frustrating. So I'm not whole-heartedly embracing the film, although it was charming and diverting enough to make it an acceptable use of time if you just want a break from the summer heat.
Books: I just read two novels with a connecting theme of alternate American histories. The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller has a premise of magic philosophy making human flight, teleportation, and other skills possible--primarily for (some) women, who have stronger innate capabilities in those areas than (most) men. It's set in... hm, 1917, I believe; the "Great War" was ongoing, at any rate. The leading character is a young white man who wants to do rescue flights. As a man attempting to fly--a skill seen as the domain of (some) women--he's not well-received.
While I was iffy about having a white man as the 'face' of the oppressed, the novelist did far better than I thought; use of flight and teleportation are constantly at risk in political circles because those skills are best achieved by women, and at one point the lead character acknowledges that, for all of his difficulties in trying to get trained at a school where traditionally only women are taught flight, a young woman his age at Harvard would have a worse situation.
The world-building was stellar; a slow build and reveal of the skills, training, and cost of magic philosophy; interesting slight changes to history because of flight and teleportation. Also, I enjoyed the romance, and the important role that this woman played in working to maintain rights to practice philosophy.
So thumbs up, and if the beginning doesn't instantly grab your attention, give it a few extra chapters. I found the last half was much stronger than the first half, because this alternate history gets some rich development that takes time to build.
Mary Robinette Kowal's The Fated Sky has a premise of interplanetary flight in the 1960s, motivated by a fast-changing climate after a meteor struck Earth. The plan is to have colonies established on Mars. The narrator is an American woman who's known as the "Lady Astronaut". She has become the (publicly acceptable) female face of the American part of the space program; many of her colleagues from various countries deal with greater discrimination than she does, which comes to a head during an early effort to send people to Mars. I enjoyed the story, even though--like the other novel--there were times when having a light-skinned character as the 'face' of the oppressed doesn't work well... but like the other novel, the narrative takes the time to point that out.
I liked The Fated Sky without loving it. I'm curious to try something else by Kowal; I think she's done a series set in an alternate Victorian era England? That might work better for me.
Posted at Dreamwidth: https://rose-griffes.dreamwidth.org/312952.html. Comment where you wish.
The movie Yesterday, in spite of its young leads, is probably targeting the baby boomer crowd, because the premise that the Beatles' songs are so enduring and would speak to a modern audience is a bit of a hard sell for me. Some of their songs would certainly be well-received, but many of those that they used in the film? Eh, I have my doubts.
I loved the way that they used the song "Help," with its frenzied tempo.
The lead actor, Himesh Patel, was capable and engaging. I didn't really connect with Lily James' character, and I'm uncertain if it was the writing, the acting, or just me. I had the same reaction to her in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but the writing did a lot of similar things with her character in that film, so I'm still undecided about the reason for it.
The ending felt rushed and parts of it unlikely, and the (lack of) explanation for what happened was just frustrating. So I'm not whole-heartedly embracing the film, although it was charming and diverting enough to make it an acceptable use of time if you just want a break from the summer heat.
Books: I just read two novels with a connecting theme of alternate American histories. The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller has a premise of magic philosophy making human flight, teleportation, and other skills possible--primarily for (some) women, who have stronger innate capabilities in those areas than (most) men. It's set in... hm, 1917, I believe; the "Great War" was ongoing, at any rate. The leading character is a young white man who wants to do rescue flights. As a man attempting to fly--a skill seen as the domain of (some) women--he's not well-received.
While I was iffy about having a white man as the 'face' of the oppressed, the novelist did far better than I thought; use of flight and teleportation are constantly at risk in political circles because those skills are best achieved by women, and at one point the lead character acknowledges that, for all of his difficulties in trying to get trained at a school where traditionally only women are taught flight, a young woman his age at Harvard would have a worse situation.
The world-building was stellar; a slow build and reveal of the skills, training, and cost of magic philosophy; interesting slight changes to history because of flight and teleportation. Also, I enjoyed the romance, and the important role that this woman played in working to maintain rights to practice philosophy.
So thumbs up, and if the beginning doesn't instantly grab your attention, give it a few extra chapters. I found the last half was much stronger than the first half, because this alternate history gets some rich development that takes time to build.
Mary Robinette Kowal's The Fated Sky has a premise of interplanetary flight in the 1960s, motivated by a fast-changing climate after a meteor struck Earth. The plan is to have colonies established on Mars. The narrator is an American woman who's known as the "Lady Astronaut". She has become the (publicly acceptable) female face of the American part of the space program; many of her colleagues from various countries deal with greater discrimination than she does, which comes to a head during an early effort to send people to Mars. I enjoyed the story, even though--like the other novel--there were times when having a light-skinned character as the 'face' of the oppressed doesn't work well... but like the other novel, the narrative takes the time to point that out.
I liked The Fated Sky without loving it. I'm curious to try something else by Kowal; I think she's done a series set in an alternate Victorian era England? That might work better for me.
Posted at Dreamwidth: https://rose-griffes.dreamwidth.org/312952.html. Comment where you wish.