The Winter Warming

I might be spending all of December eschewing my reading list (it’s seriously out of control at this point) and delving back into books I’ve loved in the past, but only because I needed a mental break from all the new and wonderful books that came into my life this year. And let me tell you, it was a damned good year for reading, even if my travels and social life meant that I didn’t hit the same page count as previous years!

The Night Manager - John le Carré

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, it’s a double win for John le Carré’s The Night Manager (in different formats of course)! After finishing off the amazing mini-series I headed right out to the bookshop to hunt for a copy of the novel. Low and behold, my shopping karma offered me up a first edition hardcover in near mint condition from my favourite local secondhand shop - SCORE (and cue rampant jealousy from my book-loving friends)! Now the novel may not have Tom Hiddleston to feast your eyes on, but thus far this is the most intimately Le Carré has ever gotten into any of his characters - even above the ever-popular George Smiley. The tv series delves well into all of the characters (as I discussed last week), but the novel’s focus is set squarely on our unlikely hero Jonathan Pine and his drive to take down Richard Onslow Roper is clearly driven by a simmering anger that most didn’t quite pick up on in the tv series. Anger at the death of a woman he briefly loved, at the ineffectiveness of the British intelligence apparatus, at the blindness of people, at the unfairness of the world - all culminating into a brilliant deep-cover mission that reads as an ode to “going forward because there's nothing behind and running because if you stand still any longer you'll fall over.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Charles Vess & William Shakespeare

I hit the highest point ever of book karma this year when I finally cracked open Charles Vess’ illustrated version of my favourite Shakespeare play. Not only was I treated to one of my favourite stories combined with the most perfect artwork I can imagine for it, but I had previously missed the inscription penned on the inside cover. It is addressed to [a different] Jaimie with “best wishes,” 1989. Seriously, what kind of past life synergy would make a personalized inscription to a person who spells their name the same way that I do in the year after I was born occur? This is officially my proof that magic exists in the real world - if only you open the pages of a book!

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, volume 1: Birds, Bees, Blood, & Beer - Ben Templesmith

If creepy, supernatural, beautifully illustrated, blood-soaked, oddly endearing graphic novels are your jam (like they are mine), this is one series not to miss. I picked the first volume up for a song from a library book sale a while back, and finally got around to reading it this year and boy was I glad I decided to take a chance on it. It has hints of everything that I love about the urban fantasy genre (throwing unexpected characters together, treading on modernist themes in a dark faerie tale environment, and plenty of adventure) and takes full advantage of the graphic novel medium to depict the stunningly strange story of one of the oddest protagonists I’ve ever encountered - a supernaturally endowed worm with varying powers, aptly named Wormwood as he is as intoxicating as he is soaked in dry wit. It’s really just too bad that the series had to end so quickly, since, in my opinion, this is one of the few expressions of Templesmith’s art  in which he is truly free to roam the depths of his dark imagination. 

The Lies of Locke Lamora (The Gentleman Bastards #1) - Scott Lynch

Lately it’s been very rare that I pick up a 400+ page book and read it cover to cover in basically one sitting, but once I started reading this book there was really no other alternative. I read it while puppy-sitting the infamous Oscar & Felix (aka the Odd Couple), and literally every minute of that long weekend that I wasn’t playing with them or traipsing around their park my eyes were glued to the adventures of Locke Lamora & the Gentleman Bastards - the most notorious crew of thieves and con-men that the port city of Camorr has ever seen. Lynch’s story reads like a one-off crime caper, but as the series progresses (I also read the rest of the books in preparation for the release of the fourth book this Autumn, which didn’t happen…) the quarrels that Locke & co. pick in this first act start to come full circle and are hopefully building into a fantastic fourth book. The key that makes Lynch’s story so successful, in my opinion, is that he builds his characters and the world that they play in to a very specific point - just enough information to keep the story going but with endless opportunity to build more, which he later takes full advantage of to create well-rounded stories and characters which go far beyond what on the surface seems like a simple caper. Now if only Lynch would hurry up and get the next book published!!!

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone (illustrated edition) - Jim Kay & J.K. Rowling

I know, including what is technically a re-read novel on the best-of list is cheating a bit, but how could I resist gushing about the beautifully illustrated edition of Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone that came out last Autumn? Harry Potter was and is such a big deal for my generation that this illustrated version could have been judged very poorly if they hadn’t done a good job, but thankfully Rowling has exceptional taste and this is definitely the beginning of a wonderful collaboration with artist Jim Kay!

**images from Goodreads

Weekend Plans

This has been a bit of an odd year for TV for me. I’ve found myself extremely frustrated with a lot of the so-called popular shows and completely fed up with others that I’ve watched for years (and overall feeling like I was wasting time watching shows that I didn’t actually like very much), which led to the biggest purge of my schedule ever. A purge so big that I cut long-time favs The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural (seriously, why are they still on the air when they aren’t doing anything new), popular pick Orange is the New Black (what’s the point of this show again?), all reality shows except America’s Next Top Model (which may not make it through the re-vamped season unless they up their game), and judged harshly a few so-called “classics of modern tv” (cough Breaking Bad and The Fall). And yet, there were some absolutely phenomenal new premieres this year and I discovered (and re-discovered) some absolute gems, so I’m not writing television off just yet!

You’re the Worst 

I can’t believe that I missed out on this show from the get go, but discovering it 3 years on left me with plenty to binge watch over a few long weekends - which was absolutely awesome. I don’t think that I’ve laughed so hard at the ridiculous antics of a show’s characters since Parks & Recreation wrapped up last year, which is really the appeal behind this show. As the title suggests the main characters are literally the worst, and yet, somehow, they’re absolutely endearing for their foibles, negative behavior, and absolute lack of self-knowledge - all topics which most of our generation can relate to. Maybe a little too much in a few cases! We’re three seasons in and our characters are still stumbling around trying to figure things out, even after a lot of personal growth has happened, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing what happens to them next! Though seriously, Sunday Funday is so over...

The Night Manager

I may not be a fan of John Le Carre’s brand of espionage on screen normally (I loved the novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, but couldn’t keep track of the look-alike cast in the recent film), but this latest adaptation was absolutely splendid. Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie lead an all-star cast (they had me at Hiddleston, haha) in a spy caper that spans the globe from a hotel in Egypt to a private island and culminates in the warfields of the Middle East, and while the premise of the story is pretty simple it’s really the characters who drive it. Obviously a deeper understanding of the story will be gained from reading the novel (there’s only so much one can visually portray in some cases), but I think that the director and writers did a spectacular job in translating the conflicted character of Jonathan Pine, who goes under deep cover in order to bring down one of the world’s most notorious gun-runners, Laurie’s enigmatic Richard Onslow Roper. The characters are full of surprises, and are at no point simple or one-dimensional - the subtle deceit, rampant bitterness, and the surprising care that they all show at various points makes for one helluva narrative that just begs to be watched in a single sitting (and over and over again). 

London Spy

I feel a bit bad about including a second series that’s on the surface about espionage, but London Spy is a lot less about spies than a commentary on social constructs. It’s not really a series that I can describe adequately, since it is just so strange in its narrative turns and characterization, but it filled a niche in the tv market that is severely lacking in my eyes. Unlike the Night Manager, which does a lot of traveling and involves a large interaction of characters, London Spy plays things much closer to the chest. It could have easily sprawled into a systematic wounding of the British espionage machinery, but the story circles consistently around Ben Wishaw’s Daniel Holt who seemingly stumbles into a much more complicated world than he ever wanted to be involved with. The finale of the series left me with more questions than answers, but whether they’ll produce a second series is still up in the air - I seriously hope they do (if only so that Holt can get some actual closure), but if they don’t I’ll have to live satisfied that this little gem was produced in all its strange glory in the first place. 

South Park

This was definitely the perfect year to get back into South Park. Lots of people I know were glued to the various political satire/comedy shows that seemed to dominate the airwaves this year, but for me South Park was on a whole other level. They can push the envelope on SNL and John Oliver, but South Park’s standing as a show that literally gives no fucks has always been one to ignore the boundaries completely. Maybe they get away with it more because they’re operating on a truly fictional (animated) plane, but I don’t think that’s entirely the case. There were plenty of Donald Trump impersonators, but making the ever-random Mr. Garrison the face of political insanity was pure genius - he is clearly a representation of his real-world counterpart, but he stays true to the Garrison way of reacting before fully understanding the situation and then learning to live with it. What’s next for the newly elected president? Who knows - but more importantly will the newly-reformed Cartman manage to keep his internet history from Heidi? And what of the dastardly member-berries?!

Marvel’s Jessica Jones

Marvel may not be my favourite among comic book publishers, but they are definitely exceeding expectations with their cinematic universe. Jessica Jones is probably the most off-kilter (and grittiest) that they’ve delved into, thus far, but I fully applaud their choice because it brought audiences a much-needed reprieve from spandex clad superheros. The titular protagonist is has a penchant for leather jackets and sarcasm instead, putting her squarely in same camp as classic anti-heroes like Marvel’s Logan/Wolverine and rival publisher DC/Vertigo’s John Constantine & Lucifer who hate having to be the hero but do it anyways (all while screwing up continually). Considering what has happened previously with TV adaptations of my favourite type of character, I was not expecting much from Jessica Jones & co, but was instantly hooked by the realism of the story. The only truly supernatural part of this story are the powers that some of the characters have, but the situations that they’re in are straight out of the worst parts of human existence. Kilgrave’s abilities have startling similarities to the systematic emotional control and abuse that are unfortunately rampant in society, so the story plays as an extended metaphor and commentary. Bravo Marvel on a unique start - I just hope they don’t ruin it for the second series...

**images from here, here, here, here, and here