The Whale; The Ladybird Books Story – TV review

A sinking ship of a drama that managed to be neither monstrous nor deep"Thar she blows!" said one of the crew as a whale came to the surface. The cetacean wasn't the only thing blowing heavily in The Whale (BBC1), a 90-minute dramatisation of the sinking of the Essex, a Nantucket whaler, by a sperm whale in the Pacific. This was the shipwreck that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick; the BBC film was so laboured it only served to unintentionally remind me of Melville's genius.The Whale felt like a big-screen movie epic trapped inside a relatively small-budget TV programme; the vastness of the ocean, skies and the whales got hopelessly lost. Worse still, it was structurally flawed, unable to make up its mind whether it was a rite-of-passage story for the young Tom Nickerson on his first voyage, a clash of wills between the two leads – the smouldering First Mate Chase and the even more smouldering Captain Pollard – talking in pirate-speak or Orca Strikes Back. Inevitably, it fell between every stool.The biggest disappointment was the whale itself. The whale scenes had been filmed by the BBC's natural history unit and they looked like it. They were beautiful, precise and graceful and wouldn't have been out of place in a David Attenborough film. What there wasn't was any sense of the menace or personality that had captured Melville's imagination and was supposed to be present here.When the whale attacked the boat, it came from out of the blue rather than from the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #falklands war

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Whale; The Ladybird Books Story – TV review'


The Whale; The Ladybird Books Story – TV review

A sinking ship of a drama that managed to be neither monstrous nor deep"Thar she blows!" said one of the crew as a whale came to the surface. The cetacean wasn't the only thing blowing heavily in The Whale (BBC1), a 90-minute dramatisation of the sinking of the Essex, a Nantucket whaler, by a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #falklands war


Book Review: ‘Burn Man: Selected Stories,’ by Mark Anthony Jarman

The anthology “Burn Man” selects from decades of Mark Anthony Jarman’s work, bringing the writer’s lush and searing stories to new readers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-01-14 10:00:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #selected stories #anthology


Book Review: ‘Joanna Russ: Novels & Stories’

A new collection of her novels and stories is a showcase for a science fiction pioneer. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-08 09:00:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #science fiction


Book Review: ‘Code Red’ and ‘Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories From BIPOC Authors’

Decades after “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” an anthology and a novel let readers see periods through the eyes of diverse protagonists. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-02 09:00:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #bipoc authors #anthology


TV review: Netflix's dark 'Daredevil' takes the superhero origin story to new heights

Daredevil can't see you, but he knows you're coming. His new show is so good, it might catch comic book fans by surprise. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2015-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Books: The new Trump book, plus book reviews and news

For book lovers and politics fiends, 2018 has gotten off to a bang with the early publication of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff. Welcome to the new year! I’m Carolyn Kellogg with this week’s books newsletter. THE BIG STORY Excerpts from “Fire and Fury” that... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books newsletter #trump book #book reviews #book lovers #michael wolff #carolyn kellogg


Book Review: ‘The Book of Love,’ by Kelly Link

In “The Book of Love,” the Pulitzer finalist and master of short stories pushes our understanding of what a fantasy novel can be. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-02-12 10:00:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #kelly link #pulitzer finalist #short stories


7 Book Review Podcasts for Discovering New Books

Book review podcasts are an engaging way to discover new books. Check out these podcasts across different genres, including All The Books! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-11-30 11:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review


The Biased Online Book Ratings Systems Undermining Professional Review Sources: Book Censorship News, November 4, 2022

BookLooks, RatedBooks, and more biased online rating systems getting books banned. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-11-04 10:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online book


Review: Larry Elder complained we'd never reviewed his books. So we did, like it or not

David Ulin read four of the recall candidate's books, from the jeremiad "Showdown" to the memoir "A Lot Like Me," and found not a writer but a brand. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-08 13:00:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


Books in the Media: Children's book reviews dip year on year

In August 2019, The Bookseller reported that children's books accounted for just 4.9% of review space, despite making up a third of the market. Latest figures from Books in the Media shows that this figure has dropped to 4.3%, when looking at reviews from the past 12 months.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-24 01:05:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #review space #latest figures #children's book


'New York Times Book Review' Adds Excerpts to Digital Reviews

The 'New York Times Book Review' will now add excerpts from the first chapter of books being reviewed to a select number of reviews it publishes digitally. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #select number #times book


New partnership between Oprah Winfrey and Apple brings Oprah's Book Club to Apple Books and Apple TV+

Oprah Winfrey has teamed up with Apple to launch her famous Oprah's Book Club in Apple Books. Her first selection is Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer. As well as bringing her recommendations to the Apple Books app, Oprah also has a series starting on Apple TV+ in November. New episodes are... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2019-09-23 14:41:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ta-nehisi coates #oprah winfrey #apple tv+ #water dancer #apple books #book club


Books in the Media: Children's books account for 4.9% of review space

Children's books account for just 4.9% of review space, despite making up a third of the market, according to data from Books in the Media.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-15 17:56:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #review space


Crazy about books? These 5 L.A. book events offer inspiring stories from Los Angeles and beyond

As we descend into the hazy thick of summer, this week’s book events remind us that one day in a life has the power to change everything. Indeed, it’s all that ever changes anything. In the memoir corner, we have a traumatic encounter at the train station, a knock on the door of a rundown... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-07-12 14:20:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #train station #memoir


New L.A. book fair LitLit comes to Hauser & Wirth presented by L.A. Review of Books

Book lovers! Sign up for the new L.A. Times Book Club for upcoming author events » The Los Angeles Review of Books and Hauser & Wirth Publishers are bringing a brand-new book fair to Los Angeles next month. LitLit, the Little Literary Fair, will premiere July 20 and 21 at Hauser &... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-25 17:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book lovers #literary fair #times book #book lover #book fair


Book reviews: Book of Cohen and A Dream of Italy

REVIEWS: David Cohen explores his famous namesake, Leonard, in Book of Cohen. Plus Nicky Pellegrino's latest. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2019-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


London Book Fair 2019: Why the Story of Our Networked World Is a Story of Upheaval

In his new book, former F.C.C. Chariman Tom Wheeler deftly explores 500 years of network revolutions, and offers an invaluable take on the challenges we now face. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


AdoramaPix photo book review: A great tool that creates beautiful, hard-bound books

If you live in New York City, you might be familiar with the professional photography shop Adorama in lower Manhattan. The company has taken its photo printing to the web with AdoramaPix, where you can order prints and create various products, including photo books.Whatever Adorama learned... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2018-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #square starting #portrait starting #landscape starting #lay flat


Books: The library fire, a criminal family, reviews and book news

Hello! I’m books editor Carolyn Kellogg with this week’s books newsletter from the L.A. Times. THE BIG STORY Although Susan Orlean is a staff writer for the New Yorker, she lives in Los Angeles part-time, and for the last six years has been writing a book that investigates a mystery many of us... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book news #books newsletter #big story #susan orlean #staff writer