Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

It is that time of the month of again where I delve into some stuff I have been reading throughout the month. This month has seen me read a nice range of stuff. Some of it has been some regular stuff that I always read, some not so regular. Let us get into it... 1: My French... As per the reading challenges in my French lessons are occurrences that I do as part of my plan to learn French. I am slowly but surely on my way to seven hundred days! I am continuing this for as long as I can. I said many, many weeks ago that I planned to get to one thousand days! I know, it is a big task. However, I have no plan not to make it. I take each day as it comes, make it through a week and hope I can reach the next one hundred milestone. You get two streak freezes which means if you accidentally miss a day then you get our streak saved! I once missed two days without realising because life was hectic then. 2: My chess... I recently started learning and have been doing well with it the past few weeks...

I'll have a bottle of Frascati and another blog post... This is my review of the BBC and Open University production of Caryl Churchill's play Top Girls . I thought this was a cleverly done televised piece because the actors used were sometimes playing multiple characters. Marlene of course was the exception as her character was present throughout, therefore Lesley Manville who played her did not play anyone else. The characters were so varied too. For example, Lesley Sharp played Dull Gret and then played Marlene's niece Angie. Dull Gret is a quite, reserved character unlike Angie who is loud and rebellious. I liked how we saw the contrast, almost as if the two sides to one character. Yes, I am aware the characters are completely different.  Their costumes reflected their personalities too. All the costumes well executed. I loved what Lady Nejo was wearing because was so intricate. To see a fine detail and care taken to a costume for a play this is crucial because it helps ...

I decided that all you readers of my blog deserved yet another review of another Caryl Churchill play. Today I am reviewing her 1982 play Top Girls . This play asks what it takes to be a woman, particularly a woman who wants something for herself. It also asks what implications that can have other women. The central character Marlene, becomes head of an employment agency known as Top Girls. It is evident how misogyny and adhering to the Patriarchy were present in the 1980s. One of the workers at the Top Girls agency, Howard becomes sick. When his wife turns up at the agency, it is discovered that his sickness is shock at having to work for a woman. Mrs Kidd even suggests that Marlene could give up the job to allow Harold to have it. I am glad that things are different now even if things in life could be better! Now despite Marlene's advancing career, there is the underlying fact that she has a unwell mother and a sister with her own daughter. The familiar aspect of her life seems t...

Today I give you my insight into Caryl Churchill 1978 play Cloud 9 . This is a play in two halves, set in two different locations, in two different time periods. We start with act one set in British colony in Africa in the Victorian era. Then fast forward to act two and we find ourselves in 1979 London. However, for the characters, it is only twenty-five years later for them. That may be hard to comprehend but I found the play had amusing qualities that made the play take me out of that. I much preferred act two I must admit. In act one, the men seemed to dominate the play and had to act in a certain way, expectant of the Victorian era. I got confused how one man could cheat on his wife, while criticising her for lusting after his friend who lusts after him after his friend had also done stuff with his son. If I confused you then good, I was baffled by the whole thing. Now if you think that was confusing, act two had more to offer... While act one was highlighting gender roles and gend...

For today's blog post, I am taking you back towards the twentieth century, just as the second world war had ended. This morality play was written in 1945 but set in 1912. Between this time, people had suffered through two world wars and witnessed the sinking of the titanic. So when Arthur Birling drags on about things that he claims will happen and do, immediately it made me think is this a man we can listen to?  This is evidence enough that he gets things wrong; one example is when he states the titanic  ‘unsinkable’. Of course what he said was not true - we know and audiences in 1945/1946 (when the first UK performance was) knew it was not true. When he said this, it was quite early on in the play and after that, I was not taking him seriously. Then we have Inspector Goole... Arthur does not like him because he thinks her is calling the shots and ruining what is meant to be a happy moment that he has intruded on. But as the play goes on, he uncovers secrets and I grow to und...

Hello blog readers. I hope November is treating you well...Welcome back another Caryl Churchill play review. This time I give to you my unfiltered thoughts on her 1978 play Traps . For this play we find ourselves surrounded with characters including Syl who dreams of life away from her home and the baby she attends to. But later on, she decides she wants a baby soon or she just won't. Then there is Syl's partner Jack of whom Syl seems happy with. We have Jack's sister Christine, of which the pair seem a bit too close for siblings. Christine's partner, Reg does not seem to treat her nice, which Jack does not seem too bothered by. I wander why if Reg hurts Christine, why he is not chucked out of the house. The house is lived in by Albert, Syl, Jack and Jack's "friend" Del. I do question their friendship. Speaking of Albert...  This is who Syl speaks to at the start of the play with the baby. In between the two acts, he "dies" it would seem however,...

Today is Friday. Today is time for another blog post. Today you are presented with a review of Light Shining in Buckinghamshire  (1976) by author of the month, Caryl Churchill. This play shines a spotlight on religious views and opinions from the 17th century. I am going to be honest and point out that this play confused me a bit. I was trying to work out what was going on. I think it was the whole idea of God's army and how soldiers were going to fight because it was God wanted. However, as much as some characters claimed they were doing as they should do according to God, others rightly pointed out that God was not bad and that he would not see people suffer. What I like about this play is how Caryl Churchill is challenging beliefs about religion and asking questions. Such questions being asked are - what makes someone religious and what is good and bad? Just because someone states that they are a religious person and everything they do is in the name of God, does it mean that is...

Hi! Sorry for the delay in the blog post, the internet keeps playing up for me so I could not post yesterday when I planned to. For my blog post I am off on another bookshop visit. This time I found myself in the East Sussex of Hailsham where down Market Street in Hailsham. It is near North Street and High Street which is good for people visiting by bus or catching a train and then a bus to Hailsham as it has no train station itself. When you enter the bookshop it can come across as quite small. Despite this, I see the bookshop as small and mighty. You never know what you are going to get and that is what I like in a bookshop. Normally, it is fiction that I go for though they have some other stuff as well. I will say that if you want something specific then you cannot guarantee to get, though that often goes with a lot of second-hand bookshops. I must point as well that paperback books are priced at £1.20 which to me is a steal! Can you imagine wanting to get some Margaret Atwood books...

There's witchcraft a foot and the witchfinder general comes to village in my latest book reviewing. Today's the day the witchy play of Caryl Churchill is reviewed. Let me introduce you to Vinegar Tom  (1976)… The play's title is taken from the name of a witch's familiar that famous witchfinder Matthew Hopkins mentioned in his pamphlet 'The Discovery of Witches'. This is why in the play, the character of Alice has a cat called Vinegar Tomcat; it is Caryl Churchill's allusion to Matthew Hopkins. In this play we do meet Witchfinders, though neither are Matthew Hopkins. They still however have plans to weed out any witches in the village. The women here are treated as inferior to men, as though men are better. This reminds me of Churchill's play Owners  (1972) that I read and reviewed recently. The play is set in the 17th century so that is a little understanding. I do however disagree with it. The use of the songs in modern time highlight the discrimination...

Another day, another play. Is that not what they say? Regardless, it's time to have a review of my second play. Today's review is that of the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex  (C.429 BC) by Sophocles. This play is a bit of a shocker from start to finish. The moment that shook me most was when Oedipus found out the truth about his wife Jocasta and how she is his mother. I still cannot comprehend marrying your own mother and having children with her. The mythology of the Greeks is a strange one to me. Then we have Oedipus' hamartia which leads to a turn of events I found unexpected. Hamartia is the tragic flaw of the protagonist that leads to their downfall. His determination for answers and truth, after justice ends up leaving him in the wrong. Oedipus never expected to discover that he  was the one who committed the murder on his own father. This led to his "downfall". I mention "downfall" though it also became the downfall of his wife/mother. Jocasta, who ends...

For today's blog post I am reviewing Caryl Churchill's 1972 play Owners . First of all, I have been looking forwards to reading more Caryl Churchill as a feminist agender person who read her play Cloud 9  (1979). Some of Caryl Churchill's views on things are similar to mine so there is also that! As I read Owners , Churchill did not disappoint. I liked reading the play a lot. But... I am going to try not to rant about Clegg. Or Marion... Or Worsely... Or Alec even! The lot of them! Especially Clegg as I find him to be the worst! Caryl Churchill has done a very good job here because she has highlighted sexism and misogyny at its finest with the men in the play. Clegg is by far the worse. Clegg sees women as just meant to be obey the men and not be strong and independent. Take Marion, her character starts off as being a powerful women with her own mind and caring support for Lisa. Although as it transpires, she is a selfish b***h who goes behind Lisa's back on more than o...

Hello all and welcome to November. For those who celebrate it, Christmas is on its way. For those who do not celebrate it or do not want to think about it yet, November brings in a colder air. That gives everyone the perfect the excuse to cosy up on the sofa or in a comfy, oversized chair with a great book to read. For this month I am going to be celebrating some playwrights as that is the theme of the month for November and December. I like reading plays and seeing them too. I have seen some wonderful plays, musicals and pantomimes (apparently) performed. Winter is commonly a time to see a show or a play, though reading a play not so much. That is why I am going to be reviewing some plays across these next two months. For this month, the author of the month is going to be the feminist playwright Caryl Churchill. As a proud feminist, I am looking forward to reading plays by Caryl Churchill who is quote possibly one of the most well-known playwrights to come out of Second Wave Feminism....

Apologies for not posting last Friday (31st October). I had no internet connection; I believe something to do with it being Halloween is the reason why... Superstitious, maybe... Moving on! This post here is the one from Friday; there will be another one published for today (Monday 3rd November) so keep a look out for it. I am now going to delve into what I read during October. 1: Zom-B  (2012) by Darren Shan.  Last month, when the theme of the month was horror, I picked Darren Shan as author of the month. When I was a teenager my hands somehow grabbed hold of my book, not sure how exactly but I read it. I decided to read again last month to remind myself what gory details happened. Also I wanted to be able to follow when I read more of the novels in the series, which I did. Read my review if you want to know what I really thought of it. 2: Hotel websites. I am going away and am needing to book somewhere to stay when I travel. Though this is not the easiest thing to do when ot...