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Steven Spielberg FAQ

Barry Monush brings this fan fired Spielberg tribute to us and opts for detail rather than depth.The lack of criticism(especially for his misfires such as Hook and A.I)leave it all feeling totally unbalanced.Still not bad in paperback form at £6 from WHSmith's to read on a flight.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King. Part of the Dark Tower series, is a gripping and realistic read, one which makes you eager for the next part of the overall story.

Rocky : The Complete Films

Edited by Paul Duncan from dozens of archive interviews with Sylvester Stallone,much of it(if you're a fan of the films)is trivia that you'll already know about,injuries during filming etc but the book's strength is in the revelations of what might have been.
Mickey Goldmill was originally going to be a blatant racist character with no likeable qualities, Stallone correctly realising this was too dark.On the opposite end of the scale,there was silly talk of the Pope appearing in one of the sequels.Again, rightly dropped.It is also features a superb poster gallery with previously unleased shots that round it off nicely.
Great read.

Shazam!
The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal

I picked this up from Waterstones in York.Originally released in 2010 but reissued to tie in with new film,this wonderful effort from Chip Kidd and Geoff Spears concentrates on history of the character pre-DC back in his 1940's heyday.Worth it for the stunning artwork alone if you're not a huge fan of the man formerly known as Captain Marvel.

The Year's Best Science Fiction No.4 - Edited by Harry Harrison & Brian Aldiss

Fourteen short stories mostly from 1970 apart from translations of two earlier works from Eastern Europe.

Some of them are a bit pretentious, most of them are a bit dull - there are no standout stories that I would want to read again.

The book itself is a 49 year old paperback which because it was published in decimalisation year has both prices on the cover - 30p and 6/-. That fact is probably more interesting than the contents. I picked it up for £1 at Forbidden Planet in London about 25 years ago and have finally got round to reading it.

Command - #45/Oct 1997



This is the first issue of this magazine that I've read. It was published bimonthly between 1989 and 2001 and had a wargame in each issue although the articles are not gaming related and focus solely on history. I bought this because I wanted the Operation Sea Lion game to add to my collection on the same subject.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well written and informative all the articles are and I would be interested in picking up other issues if I can get them for a reasonable price.

Some old geezers from sarf London drive down to Margate to scatter their drinking partner's ashes and.......er that's it.

It's not badly written it's just that the story and characters are not that interesting. The dialogue which is mostly the internal thoughts of six of the characters is in a style of cockney which rings slightly false. I lived in East London (admittedly not Bermondsey) for the best part of twenty years and I never heard anyone refer to tobacco as "snout" outside of HM Prison Slade. Swift was brought up in South London but as he went to Dulwich college I'm guessing he didn't spend much time slumming it up the Old Kent Road.

I Picked it up for thirty bob at a charity shop thinking that I should read one Booker prize winner before I die and I'm pleased that I did although I'll probably stick to Andy McNab from now on.

Great Expectations 1860-61 Charles Dickens



I picked up this double bill, Published by Hazell, Watson and Viney, for £1 at a book stall. There's no publication date and the internet sources say 1930s or 1950s but it definitely looks like a 30s edition to me.

The plot is a bit far-fetched but I was carried along by it quite easily with disbelief suspended and the characters, dialogue and descriptive writing are all very good. The book is quite moving and I'm not ashamed to admit that I filled up several times near the end (160 year old spoiler alert) when Pip tells Magwitch on his deathbed that his daughter had lived and grown up a lady and that he loved her, when Pip retuns to the smithy to reconcile with Joe and propose to Biddy only to find that they had got married that day, and right at the end when Pip finds Estella having one last shufti at the site of the old house and they stroll off into the sunset.

Ranked first in a Guardian poll of Dickens novels and 17th in the BBC's Big Read poll in 2003 to find Britain's best loved novel.

^ Did you know his original ending had Pip and Estella meeting, but failing to get it on, but the publishers made him change it because they said it was too downbeat.

(31-03-2020 20:30 )M-L-L Wrote:   ^ Did you know his original ending had Pip and Estella meeting, but failing to get it on, but the publishers made him change it because they said it was too downbeat.

Yes, I read that. In the article (wikipedia?) it also said that with the current ending Chas changed the wording such that it has an ambiguous meaning. It could be read as they do have a parting but Pip just doesn't know it yet. I don't buy that though, it's too cynical an interpretation.