The Monthly Media Catchup: Everything I Read, Watched & Listened To | February 2020
February was a month of settling in to my final semester of university, which brought with it a bout of deadlines that arrived much earlier than usual. With all this writing came less reading, but lots of collapsing onto the couch with some feel good TV, even some films, which is so unlike me as I am, generally, someone who watches films exclusively at the cinema.
After this intense period of watching I am once again out of TV shows to watch, so please leave any recommendations in the comments (I only really like light-hearted TV because I 1. am a wimp and 2. use TV as a way to relax so don’t enjoy anything stressful.)
As always, let’s start with books, of which there was a mere three this month…
Books
Perfume by Patrick Suskind | ★★★★
This was the first book I had to read for a university module about humans, animals and their intersection (which is super interesting.) I’ve actually read this novel before, as Sam bought me it for my birthday a few years ago because we used to semi-ironically listen to Nirvana and this was Kurt Cobain’s favourite book. Following a man who has an abnormally strong sense of smell which defines his life from his birth to his death, it’s a very weird, unusual story. It’s written in a similar style to Vladimir Nabokov’s prose, which I love, so the style of writing was probably my favourite thing about it, but the hilarity of the strangeness of the story is also great.
Expectation by Anna Hope | ★★★
I was definitely influenced to read this book by its social media coverage, as lots of my favourite people to follow Instagram sung its praises. Whilst I enjoyed its plot and the issues it explored, motherhood and friendship being two of them, I found the writing style to be a little dull, which made certain moments have less impact, and limited it from surpassing a 3 star review. An easy, enjoyable read? Definitely! But it’s not one I’ll particularly remember or will go out of my way to recommend.
I’m trying to monitor whether I’m reading books because I saw them on social media and unthinkingly added them to my ‘to read list’ or if because there something I’m really interested in. Instead of relying on social media, I’m trying to discover new books more and more by wondering round bookshops and picking up books that intrigue me, reading their blurb and maybe a few pages, rather than taking so many recommendations off social media, as I think I’m beginning to lose my own taste in books.
Company Parade by Storm Jameson | ★★★★
This is the first in a series of Storm Jameson novels that I’ll be reviewing over the next couple months, as her fiction is the subject of my dissertation. Jameson is an author who sat on the margins of the modernist movement and has long been forgotten, but I became fascinated by her after studying one of her novels on a module last year and have decided to focus my dissertation on her work. If anyone’s interested, it’s about how she depicts clothing as uniquely powerful for her female characters- still working on my title.
This novel follows a young woman from Yorkshire who moved to London to pursue a career in writing in the post-WW1 years. It partly explores the trauma of war on society and individuals but what I love about Jameson’s fiction is her capacity, which is way ahead of its time, to authentically explore and depict young woman, who are often working-class, in a way that has philosophical and socio-economic importance. I like to think of her as Virginia Woolf but with more social commentary. This is a bit of a lazy comparison but I feel like it’s the best way to get people to read her work, which they should because it’s great and a shame that it’s been forgotten.
Tv
Next in Fashion | ★★★★
I was really excited about this show, mainly because it’s hosted by Tan France and Alexa Chung, a duo I didn’t know I needed, but that makes so much sense. Happily, it did not disappoint and I enjoyed every episode. The designers were all really great personalities but were, equally, incredibly talented designers (good job casting directors!) I loved watching the process behind each design and I think the themes for each week were well-chosen, plus, the guest judges were really impressive and not outdated at all, which I think they sometimes can be shows like this one.
(Mild spoiler: I really wanted the runner up to win, mainly because his looks on the sportswear week and the climate week were incredible. This is very weird for me because I’m generally uninterested in menswear, so this did ignite a minor identity crisis. But the winner’s ultra feminine final collection won me over the end which reassured me of my roots in womenswear.)
Crashing | ★★★★
Since finishing Fleabag, I’ve wanted to watch this series, also created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but didn’t get round to it very quickly. I’m at once happy and sad that I finally did, happy because I finally watched it, sad because now it’s over. The humour is very much similar to that of Fleabag and although it isn’t quite as genius, it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable watch with weird and wonderful characters.
Love Is Blind | ★★★
This Netflix series really appealed to the part of me that is obsessed with the weirdness of American culture because, wow, is it weird. Weird in all the best ways that make great television, though.
I have to say though, as I watched the credits appear for the series finale, I felt my final brain cell slide begrudgingly down the side of my head, like a slug moving away from the grasp of a piece of kitchen roll. But we all need TV like this now again, especially when all your days are spent reading critical theory, there’s really nothing like good, sh*t TV.
Film
While we’re young | ★★★
I watched this at the beginning of the month, not solely because Adam Driver stars in it, but mostly that. It was a relaxed, funny watch and I really enjoyed it but it obviously hasn’t made that much of an impact on me because I can barely remember the plot. From what I can remember, it’s about a middle aged couple who become friends with a younger couple, sparking a mid-life crisis of sorts in which they try and re-live their youth.
parasite | ★★★★★
I’ve wanted to see Parasite for a while but, to be totally honest, I was put off a little bit because it’s a foreign language film and there’s subtitles. I thought this would make it a tiring watch requiring a lot of mental energy, especially in the cinema, but after the first 10 minutes, I didn’t even notice that I was reading subtitles rather than listening to words. The plot of this film was phenomenal, the humour mirrored my own down to a tee and the twists and turns it took consistently shocked me but made total sense. The social commentary running throughout it was also so affecting, without it being in-your-face, and completely universal, transcending language and countries. One of the best films I’ve watched in a long time.
booksmart | ★★★★
This is the perfect easy-to-watch, feel-good and hilarious film. I love that more films about female friendship are being made and I love that Beanie Feldstein is being cast in them because she is simply great.
fighting with my family | ★★★
When I suggested to Sam that we should watch a film about wrestling he was very confused. “Florence Pugh’s in it,” I explained. he was still confused. “She was in Little Wome-”, “Oh okay, I get it.”
I actually really enjoyed this film. Again, like Booksmart, it was easy to watch, funny and, at times, heartwarming. But I wasn’t always convinced by the script which was sometimes cliched and cringeworthy.
