VITA IN SCATOLA (Life in a Tin) - Bruno Bozzetto

Just needed some inspiration for my next motion graphics project, and the sheer simplicity with its excellent execution from this short film is just what I need. Worth a watch, whether you are aware of the work of Bruno Bozzetto or not.

Review: Sushi and Beyond: One Family's Remarkable Journey Through the Greatest Food Nation on Earth

Sushi and Beyond: One Family's Remarkable Journey Through the Greatest Food Nation on Earth by Michael Booth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'Sushi and Beyond' is such a joyful read because of Michael Booth's enthusiasm for all things Japanese food and his travels with his family to the very country itself. With his knowledge and expertise shining through, you can feel you were there sampling all of those delicacies with his descriptive approach to the food. As for the destinations, Booth paints a good impression of them as well. Whilst this book is not intended as a tourist guide to Japan, it does paint a personalised account of one man going with his family to investigate the health benefits of the country's approach to food.
Whilst the novelty dies down about two-thirds throughout the book, it reminds a pleasant experience and is worth reading for anyone that has been or not been to Japan, our likes their cuisine (or should that be what WE think is Japanese food for those living in the West.) Sushi and Beyond is a well-written book that makes a fascinating read whether you know your ramen from your udon or not.


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Review: Cassandra Darke

Cassandra Darke by Posy Simmonds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With the complexity of your average TV drama, Posy Simmonds manages to juggle text and images to tell a complex tale featuring our titular character. Whilst people that read plenty of books may plough this rather quickly, you may wish to take your time to appreciate Posy Simmonds' work as an illustrator. Using an array of medium, you are able to see some of the textures that each art medium is making, which for those that do comic book work a breath of fresh air from the usual cleaning up.
Cassandra Drake is a solid suburban tale of love, crime, and everything in between. The characters are well crafted, making you emphasise with them at the right places in the story. A very good read that is an ideal start for anyone getting into the work of Posy Simmonds.


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Review: Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whilst it takes a while for this sequel to find its feet, Insurgent makes an interesting read after the somewhat cinematic offering from Divergent.
Literally following on from the events of Divergent, Insurgent does take its time to develop new settings for some of the established characters from the first place. However, the middle of this book feels a bit slow, and you wish that they just got a move on. Luckily, the final third makes up for the padded middle and gets some momentum with plenty of drama and action to keep you glued to reading this.
Despite its flaws, Insurgent is a solid sequel to Divergent and manages to make old and new characters in this universe seem fully fledged by the time you do get around to reading the final book in this trilogy.


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Review: Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Written in the first person, Divergent manages to get stuck in with its cast-based system, and pulls no punches in sinking you to the level of their titular character, Tris, going through this system, and struggling to find her place in this world.
For anyone that has seen the film, you might probably breeze through reading this, as the film is surprisingly faithful to the events in the book - although you do wonder whether they just copied and pasted from the book to make that screenplay, but that's going off point a bit!
Divergent is an engaging experience to read through, with a cast of characters and character arcs that come alive whilst reading this novel. A solid book, which will make you want to pick up reading the next instalment as soon as you have finished this.


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Day 12 and Day 13 of Inktober: Professor Hastings

I have been doing Inktober this year, but if you bear with me, I will try and sort them out, and make relevant postings. I was inspired by Dave Alvarez's Muppetober contest over on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DAlvarezStudio/status/1050440806010683393) to give doing some fan art of an obscure Muppet. I decided to attempt Professor Hastings from Sesame Street. I tried a couple of attempts at depicting his character. Whilst my intial drawing (the middle drawing) had more detail, I felt I wasn't getting the proportions right on the character. So I made a digital coloured drawing of my second drawing at it resembles more of the character. I was also pleased with the tartan effect on his waistcoat.

Review: The Night Manager

The Night Manager by John le Carré
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For anyone interested in checking out the original novel having watched the recent TV adaptation, then be prepared for a shock. For a start, the novel is in fact set during the post-Cold-War boom, so expect many references to that period of history rather than the contemporary setting the TV series went for.
As for the novel, it suffers from many convoluted characters that clutter up a lot of the main narrative. Therefore, there will be chapters that deviate from the actual main story, and you might as well as feel lost, as there is so much to put up with if reading on a chapter-by-chapter basis. In its defence, it does ties things up in the end rather nicely, making up reading all of those chapters a bit rewarding.
For anyone new to John le Carré's writing may find it at least engaging, but may wonder what the fuss is all about after getting lost amidst all the exposure to such an expansive cast of characters. This is a good thriller, but you may wish to try another novel from John le Carré to appreciate how he does things.


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