Author Archives: Houyhnhnm

gods and robots, by adrienne mayor

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

very excited to find this in the london library – a book exploring the anticipations of robots and ai in ancient mythology and literature, especially greek i’d always thought hephaestus’ robot servants were amazing Anyway, the book told me loads … Continue reading →

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acqua alta and the abc murders

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

acqua alta by donna leon there must be few detective stories like this one, with no twist, but it was ok as i recognised some of the places in venice, enjoyed the recent real acqua alta, and the novel ends … Continue reading →

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les miserables and die hard

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

les miserables what is it about les mis? four brilliant tunes, an epic plot rattled through at 200 novel-pages a minute, a series of injustices and pathetic deaths ending in those of the protagonists: the baddy jumping off a bridge, … Continue reading →

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a fish called wanda and brief answers to the big questions by stephen hawking

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

a fish called wanda some great moments, but overall disappointing; (‘sir’) michael palin’s stutter is always a little painful, but it was the (to modern eyes) slow editing which got me – and the sexism – both made it seem … Continue reading →

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the song of the sea & bohemian rhapsody

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

the song of the sea a chunkily animated irish folk-tale cartoon about a lighthouse-keeper, his selkie (seal-mermaid) lover, and their children; set in modern ireland, the story tells of children discovering their parents’, and their own, identities it’s beautiful to … Continue reading →

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the ape that understood the universe by steve stewart-williams and the dallas buyers guide

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

the ape that understood the universe by steve stewart-williams long-windedly and irritatingly covers the ground: first Darwinian natural selection of GENES, taking an explicitly and alternately triumphant and apologetic counter-zeitgeist stance that more of human nature is biological, genetic, than … Continue reading →

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they shall not grow old & troilus and cressida

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

they shall not grow old a project where technical brilliance is the direct explanation of emotional power: peter jackson’s restoration of the imperial war museum’s footage is, more than his shaping of the story and the effect of the oral-history … Continue reading →

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getting behind…

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

so here’s a list of what i had intended to write up in random pairs one day burger (carol adams’ book on the beef-based foodstuff) mclibel (the film of the trial) — quiddities (quine’s philosophical dictionary) hot fuzz (pegg II) … Continue reading →

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denial & shaun of the dead

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

denial timothy spall’s brilliant portrayal of hitler-admiring and holocaust-denier david irving, tom wilkinson’s patrician barrister, andrew scott’s arch lawyer, and rachel weisz’s deborah lipstadt: all reasons to remember this film it’s about holocaust-denial, of course, but in terms of genre … Continue reading →

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a cuckoo calling (jk rowling) & julia shaw’s the illusion of memory

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

a cuckoo calling really enjoyable – hard to put down (or a delight to pick up); cormoran strike and robyn are great characters, and the story unwinds and retangles in the manner of the best whodunnits that’s all it is … Continue reading →

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