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The pursuit of recording history is almost everything that is real, but it is only so because of the people that report on the present they lived through.
To live through history in any chosen field, to become part of it, weave the words that capture the moment with sincerity is to then make sure it is documented with grace, humility, and if left to the truly skilful, with more than a fair share of humour attached to the project.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
A train of thought occurs when you start to see the connections that bind the fair percentage of the so-called supergroups and rock and roll celebrities that inhabited the scene between the late 60s and through to the final years of the 1980s; in the land of the excessive and the extreme, the opportunity to be bold, brash, and experimental was far more important than it is today, to be seen as someone rather than just anyone was for the soul and not for the likes and thumbs up of social media, and that albums could be created from the debauched dynamic as well as the ‘truth’ audiences were meant to attach themselves to in the era of peace, love, and understanding post Woodstock vibe.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
How we view the Horror genre is perhaps an insight into our own imagination; like many offerings of art from the individual or group that may disturb the peace of one, it can offer in another the release of vision, and in the case of that which brought to the attention the minds of Stephen King, Lovecraft, Poe, and Anne Rice to the public arena, and by doing so reveals a truth of humanity when pushed to the extreme. Imagination, it should be argued is the ability to reckon with the impossible and see it as a reality, that horror is a fact we should not hide from, no matter the subject, no matter the intent.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is impossible to add to a classic novel…that of course is a pretentious statement that screams there is no need for change, that the older the book, the more it is sacred and revered, and untouchable.
Books and lies are very much at the forefront of Sandra Newman’s colossal Julia, a work of fiction that lays bare the perspective of the female participant and object of affection and hate of Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984, Julia Worthing to the point where the original book is remembered for other reasons, that the boldness of Ms. Newman in her writing as she envelopes Julia into a tale matching Smith’s but taking it further, showing the complete descent of rule and the horrors committed in the role of Government when left to rot in the hands of mad people, liars, and psychopaths.
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Alex Cross, the detective invention of American crime writer James Patterson, was always destined to make history, and to be immersed into the fabric of society in his fictional, and yet relatable, Washington D.C. The longevity of the man has transcended time itself it seems as the characters have not only become fully fleshed out, but an institution to the long term fans of the books, and to the hopes of those behind the new television series due to hit before Christmas.
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Few novels have captured the moment and the progression of thought and fear as with as much intelligence and succinctness of expression as George Orwell’s 1984.
There are even fewer writer’s to whom their name exemplifies a movement, whose sense of style and pain can evoke a feeling within the mind that the world is very wrong, that freedom has been eroded, that our lives have been forever erased, altered, lied to over and over again to the point where at times we argue amongst ourselves about an act misremembered in the belief that one person’s truth is another’s lie.
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It is the right of the author to touch upon subjects, even openly discuss them in depth, that will cause distress, consternation, and even anger, and this is absolute in works of fiction, this is imperative to further the discourse of events in the world that have strode alongside us like a demon, a dark shadow whispering to us that we are not in control, we are just forces of agency in a world of darkness.
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In some respects, it is possible to look upon the literary works of Stephen King and understand that in his novellas and short stories the labour behind them is more intensely arrived at than some of his larger bound novels.
There has long been a question mark about the modern master of horror and his ability to complete a novel with a greater tightness, cruelly perhaps driven by some who seek the alternative narrative of dismissing the saga and only wishing for the attention span to be satisfied rather than working and striving for a greater insight into the man and his nightmares.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The reader will always understand that to read an autobiography at times will leave them curious as well as informed. The willingness to immerse yourself into another life through the painted verbal tales is one of sharing, of commitment, perhaps a smidgen of questioning interest at the beans they wish to spill on their time at top, but you never expect to be completely broken by a passage that becomes the backbone of the book.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
We are a collection of stories that reside in time, occasionally finding our paths careering into the orbits and narrative of others to whom we may not have interacted with before, until a day of reckoning comes out of the blue. It is a crash, an accident waiting to happen, and the outcome can send shockwaves through every sphere of influence and relationship that we all once held dear.