Another one for the book club. I’ve actually read this dystopian novel some years ago, but I was happy to revisit Atwood’s nightmarish yet highly imaginative envisioning of the future where messing with nature comes to a no good, very bad end for the human race.
This is not a spoiler, since the book opens in the post-apocalyptic future where the world’s population has been wiped out, and follows what could be the last human survivor who calls himself Snowman. The only other inhabitants are a mysterious new breed of humans called Children of Crake: physically flawless and beautiful, lacking sexual drive and violent impulses, unable to create art or technology, devoid of envy, anger and existential angst. Despite their reverence for Snowman, his chances of survival look pretty grim, with the dwindling supplies and no real weapon to protect himself against the genetically engineered animals now running amok (including some nasty mutant pigs you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark narrow alley).
I found a list of my top favourite 50 albums I’d made back in 2008, and I thought it would be fun to revisit and update. More than half of my picks remained the same, so my musical tastes haven’t undergone a dramatic change in the last ten years. Organising the albums in the exact order of preference is too much headache, so after the top two it’s a loose list.
I very much enjoyed this highly entertaining biographical drama about the controversial ice skater Tonya Harding, which plays as part savage black comedy, part tragedy, and part 
A terrible unwieldy title can sometimes seriously put you off watching a film, but I’m glad that the positive word of mouth and critical acclaim got me into the cinema after all. This sharp, funny, brutal drama from Martin McDonagh is probably the best worst-named movie I’ve seen.
These new Star Wars movies sure do bring out my analytical side. I’ve already done my review of The Last Jedi, but in this piece of over-thinking I wanted to focus more on Rey, who I find one of the most frustrating protagonists in the recent times. No don’t run, this is not another article on why Rey is a Mary Sue, or why it’s wrong and/or sexist to think that she is. I have zero interest in comparing power levels and skills and why this character shouldn’t have beaten that character, I’m more interested in examining things like motivations and character arcs, and why the writing for this trilogy so far has been letting Rey down.
yggdrasille.com 