On Screen On Page: September 7, 2024
A Spanish Civil War movie; Cumberbatch; Gideon Haigh memoir; nonfiction re space, editing, justice/freedom
Onto my Shopping List
I always pore over the Ned Kelly shortlist for best Australian crime novel. From its eight aspirants, this year I only select one for consideration (from a series I didn’t even know existed), namely Tim Ayliffe’s The Wrong Man.
Nonfiction about space, alien life, etc., is seemingly endless. For some reason, this appeals: The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life by Nathalie A. Cabrol.
A UK exhibition has an associated expensive book (similar to another one, in some respects, that I’m currently reading, Adam Moss’s The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing). Is Dirk van Hulle’s Write Cut Rewrite: The Cutting Room Floor of Modern Literature for me?
Timothy Snyder is a role model, battling for justice and freedom. His blog Thinking About… is a treasure. Well, he has a new book, On Freedom, coming out in ten days.
Junot Diaz recommends the debut novel by Venezualan author Alejandro Puyana, Freedom Is a Feast.
Onto Bedside Table
One of our movie club’s selections, a film I’d never heard of: The Teacher Who Promised the Sea. Spanish, looks to be at least fascinating.
My cultural diet used to consist of books, movies/show, and albums. For some reason (aging?) I ditched the third element. Now that I’m jumping into Window Seat, the latest from indie (business mode), indie (music genre) singer-songwriter Steve Robinson (to be released in October), should I rename this newsletter On Screen On Page On Album?
Pam told me a friend recommended Eric, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Say what? How could this have slipped past me three months ago? The first couple of episodes are splendid.
Peter Craven is one of Australia’s most eloquent, passionate critic. He doesn’t review often these days but in The Age a week ago, his review of Gideon Haigh’s raw memoir, My Brother Jaz, calls him a “great literary artist.”
