oz617's reviews
463 reviews

Of the Caryl Churchill plays I’ve studied, far and away (heh) I enjoyed this the most. I wish more plays were filmed, though. Much of my opinion depends so much on how actors and directors would interpret Churchill’s words.

Turns out I can’t stand Baudrillard. The devil’s advocate personified.

There were bits of this novel I couldn’t follow – when the action starts jumping between character’s heads, you have to read carefully to stay in the loop, and when people started teleporting I kept flipping back to check I’d not missed a transitional scene. I could definitely see this being an episode of the original series, though I’m glad it wasn’t. Some of the horror of the physical transformations would be hilarious on a 60s shoestring budget.

Calls back to the show in fun ways, introduces a new species we could never see on screen (especially with 90s effects), and charmingly portrays beloved characters. Pretty much what I’m asking for in a Star Trek novel!

I’m sure this is an important book for any young readers with separated parents. I felt that more could be done with the haunted house setting – I’d have been disappointed by the lack of plot as a child – but the Breakfast Club style conversations about the characters’ lives are lovely.

Intriguingly absurd, would recommend for fans of theatre about theatre.

It wasn’t as racist as I expected it to be, but the bar was on the ground

I didn’t understand a great deal of this play. This isn’t a slight – it wasn’t written for me to understand, and there’s something quite refreshing in that. For me it was an interesting slice of life into a world I’m unfamiliar with, for others I’m sure it’s even better in its relatability.

This is the first short story collection I’ve read where the stories are linked by more than theme. I wish I’d known that going in – I’d have looked out more for connecting threads from the beginning – but discovering familiar characters halfway through was equally fun. Definitely one to reread.

Looking up necromancy techniques so I can resurrect Mr Dickens and clobber him over the head with this brick of a novel. My new literary arch nemesis. The one good thing I can say about this is that you could make a fairly interesting queer and/or feminist reading of some of the side characters, but I have no idea why you’d put yourself through such a thing rather than analysing a better (and shorter) book.