Holding Doors for Strangers - Kidic

Holding Doors for Strangers is Kidic's first commercial release, and it's a great first start.

The band is Dublin based and I have known Morgan the lead singer for years as we went to college together and he's going out with one of my best mates! But besides that I wouldn't be reviewing them if they weren't any good.

The video (also try here if link not working) for the song is down right brilliant, funny and inspired. And the song itself is very catchy and radio friendly. The song can be downloaded in the Irish charts so go do a new band a favour and give them your support. Kidic are ones to watch.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

Well it's here at last and I finally got my hands on it a week after it's general release in the English speaking world. Not bad considering I was in Japan.

So does the final book in the Harry Potter series live up to the hype and expectation of the legions of fans? I can only speak for myself on that score and I say... kind of.

It's not an anti climatic ending by any means and all the loose ends are neatly tied up which I think left the book being a bit of a disappointment. There won't be anymore and that's final.

But as for the story itself. It's fast moving from the start and sweeps you along in its complicated wake without any chance to catch your breath. There's plenty of thrills and spills to cater for all tastes and we finally see Harry, Ron and Hermione come of age. The flip side of it is that we also see some of the well loved characters in the story fall by the wayside. Some who have been there from the start and others who made later entries in the series.

As the story has progressed the plot line has increasingly become more sophisticated and intriguing and to this end the finale is appropriately and fully satisfying. Now that the theories have been put to rest is a good time to go back and read all the books from start to finish. And that's what I plan to do once I get home...

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

I'm a bit nervous writing a review of this one as it is after all a modern American classic and I am after all just me. I'm not a student of English, nor a graduate in English studies and this review is not meant to be used as a study guide!

I am also nervous about writing my thoughts on this book because of the way this book made me feel.

For the first time in many years I connected with a character in a book. I lived this story with Esther and I understood without any hesitation where it was that she was coming from.

It is a book about confusion, madness, life styles, love and sex. It is a snapshot of a few months in the life of a young woman who does not know where it is that she is going, what she is supposed to do, or how she is supposed to fill the expectations that are demanded of her.

The weight of expectation that she feels in relation to her career, love life, sex life and family life drives her mad. The reality of her madness was very real to me. I could see how and why it happened to her and how she got to a position where to her, suicide was the only real option.

It was a great comfort to me to read this book. It was good to see such honesty and truth about an aspect of life which I think most of us face, in one shape or form, at some stage or other in our lives. The thing is, most of us just don't acknowledge it. It is unacceptable to acknowledge such a thing in polite company, and there is always that stigma associated with depression which makes it almost possible to address it as a topic in a real way.

I realise that many people read this book in school or college and probably analyse it to death. But I would suggest that it is not just a story for young impressionables, it's a story for all women to consider. And if you're a man it's a story which may give you an insight into what it is to be a woman and how difficult it can be at times, if you're open to it that is.

This goes in my top ten favourite books of all times and I'll be re-reading it again soon.

Once

Once is a low budget movie/musical set in Dublin and starring Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames and Marketa Irglova. It's directed by John Carney who used to play with Glen in the Frames and is marked as an up and coming director and one to watch, apparantly. The film won the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Festival this year and I was really excited about seeing it, as I'm a well documented Frames fan!

I remember when it was being shot in Dublin 2 years ago, I know where I was when Glen was doing the busking scenes on Grafton Street. I also knew all the music featured in the movie very well as well as the majority of the locations where it was located. For this reason I found it to be a personal film and I really enjoyed watching it.

The story is best described as a snapshot of two people's lives. A moment in time when two paths cross and how they were both affected by it. It also shows a side of Dublin which I in my cosseted world just wouldn't know in an intimate way. It shows the poor of Dublin, the immigrant community, the disenfranchised and the lonely.

The music is mostly taken from an album written by Glen and Marketa called the Swell Season. I think it's one of the most beautiful albums I've heard in a very long time and I just don't get tired of listening to it.

The film itself is very simpy made. Glen does a good job in his role and is a fantastic live performer. But Marketa steals all their scenes together. She has a very pure and sweet voice and a quiet clarity of beauty that is very attractive and compelling.

It's a film I would happily recommend to anyone even someone with an anti Frames prejudice.

300

This movie is everything you want it to be and more!!!

Ok so there were no elephants and rhinoceri in the historical records, but there were hundreds of thousands of Persians vs just three hundred Spartans at Thermopolyae and the rest is just window dressing.

There's lots of blood, lots of gore and lots and lots of glorious naked men!

The basic historical accuracy of the story is intact in the film which is cool, but it's been sexed up remarkably and is a cracking viewing experience! The cinematography is sumptuous, the editing is flawless. The makeup and costumes are over the top and understated in equal measure to the extent that your senses are left reeling.

Some might claim that this is a movie for boys. I would resent that implication personally, but I would concede that most girlie girls I know would hate this movie with a passion and would probably walk out. So if you're going to go see it pick your viewing mate carefully, sit back and let the blood flow! It gets a major thumbs up from me!

Maus - Art Spiegelman

Maus is a comic book with a difference. It's a Pulitzer prize winning comic strip story of the authors father's experience during World War II as a Jew in Poland.

It's an amazing story which explores the author's relationship with his father, his father's relationship with his son and most importantly his father's relationship with the world and how that was coloured by his experiences during the War.

The descriptions and images used in the book are striking to say the least. The use of animal images for different races is very effective. But it's the story of Vladek's passionate will to survive and how it shaped him and his life that is the most striking element of all in this story.

Comic books may not be your thing and I can't say that they're mine but this is one that you should take a look at it. It's interesting to soak up a story in words and pictures and I had read both books in a matter of a few hours. So if you have a few hours to spare give it a go, I don't think you'll find it a waste of your time.

Primary Colours - Anonymous

Primary Colours was first published during the Clinton administration and is undoubtedly based on the Clinton bid for election in 1992. Although this was over fifteen years ago I found that the story, the process, the drama is timeless. This is not just a book of a time, it is a book about a process.

I've become a huge fan (belatedly) of the West Wing. We've currently just started the nail biting season five and am in a constant sweat of expectation over what will happen next. Plus the increasing excitement in the States over the next Democratic nominee for President made this book an interesting choice for me and one that I enjoyed reading immensely.

Politics is a dirty business and this book in a novel form aims to show the dirtiest side of the business. It's a story about idealism and how it can be destructive. It shows you how initial good intentions can be warped by malpractice and it also highlights just how despicable moral cowardice actually is.

I would recommend this book as a good read. It provides food for thought and I personally found the description of procedures and processes involved in the American political model fascinating.

The Last Apache Girl by Jim Fergus

Ned Giles is a seventeen year old orphan during the Depression in the USA and chooses to seek a career as a photographer on an Apache hunting expedition in Mexico rather than being taken into care on the death of his parents. On his adventure he meets beguiling, funny, bewitching and interesting characters all of whom shape his experience. The other lead character in this story is Chideh, a young Apache girl, who witnesses her nearest family being slaughtered while she is preparing to celebrate her coming of age ceremony. Her life cannot be more far removed from Ned's yet they form a connection and relationship which defines this story.

This is a very readable and enjoyable book. It is evocotive of a time and place most of us have no knowledge of and as such it is captivating. The style of writing is gripping, beautifully descriptive and thought provoking in many ways.

I would recommend this as an excellent choice for a holiday read or for a long journey. The time will fly and you'll be left wanting to know more about the Apache culture and the suppression of the Native American cultures in the United States.