KARLA'S CHOICE

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Had to give up on Nick Harkaway's debut under his dad's John Le Carré name, KARLA'S CHOICE. Liked what I read of it (and I adore Harkaway's work, GNOMON especially; his turning of phrase and rhythm is spectacular) and Harkaway made an honest go of it, but it lacked the authenticity of his dad's work. Not in the spycraft sort of way, but in the human voice behind it. Felt too much like reading a really good novelization of a really good film adapt of a Le Carré classic: I'd rather read the original. Had a similar feeling watching Mangold's INDIANA JONES flick: the characters are there but the absence of the heart behind is acutely felt. Time to let Le Carré rest. Solid go, but no.

DAYS GONE REMASTERED (2025)

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Finished it the other night and found it to be a - sometimes by turn, sometimes simultaneously - heartfelt, involving, repetitive, enraging, buggy, fun, cacophony of more-than-occasional brilliance that delivered that unicorn of my gaming tastes: an open world that, thanks in no small part to traversing the wilds of Oregon on a customizable motorcycle (though the inability to carry a spare fuel can was, by far, the most mystifying part of the experience) and its SOA-meets-RED DEAD-meets-LAST OF US pedigree, was a distinct pleasure to explore and/or seek out growlers, polystyrene, kerosene, and cultists that needed dispatching. Thinking: while it lacked the narrative heft and clear direction of THE LAST OF US, it's that very lack of heft and direction mixed with even more interesting characters that would've – should've – made it the obvious candidate for series adaptation. Far easier to surprise and take in different directions. Alas.

currently_20250519

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  • READING :: BLINDNESS, by José Saramago

  • LISTENING :: I'm woefully out of the loop; need to dig for new stuff – though I've been listening to a lot of Sonic Youth and The Pixies.

  • WATCHING :: DUSTER, s1 (Max)... SEVERANCE, s2... a low dose of narrative series as it's the end of the school year and our brains can rarely handle more than a true crime doc which we've watched all the good ones.

  • PLAYING :: Wrapped up a replay of SUPERHOT last night and I'm riding 'round a post-apocalyptic Oregon killing zombies and marauders in DAYS GONE REMASTERED which is quite good save for a bug that's prevented me from clearing up one of the infestations LOOK I CAN ONLY BURN IT WHEN IT'S THERE EVEN THOUGH YOU SAY IT'S THERE BUT IT'S NOT BECAUSE I ALREADY FUCKING BURNED IT.