Vile Bodies

[altariel]

We watched Bright Young Things over the weekend, which is Stephen Fry's adaptation of Vile Bodies. I'd only read middling reviews of it, but I thought it was extremely good, although depressing even tho' a happy ending had been tagged on for some reason. Extra nerdy points for fans of the Dune miniseries(es): James McAvoy and Alec Newman were in it, who play (Young) Leto and Paul Atreides, respectively.

HPB landed yesterday morning and to be honest I found it a slog and not really all that engaging... and yet somehow still better than OotP... I've been enjoying reading people's comments about it much more. Perhaps I am just in a bad mood, since I have been grumpy about the end of season 4 of Babylon 5 as well.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the BYT comments. I bought it on the strength of the middling reviews, because it was only at middling price in the sale, but I haven't managed to see it yet. I'll move it up the list.

(Ha, did you see that, the way I suggested that I'm organised, and have a list and things? It's a lie.)

Sorry you're tired. I hope the week improves. Cooler weather would be a good start.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Oh, I liked Bright Young Things too! Although I can never remember which one is Vile Bodies (sounds like a Professionals crossover dunnit?) and which is Decline and Fall which actually I think would have been a much better idea for a movie.

Sent down for immorality, eh? Expect you'll become a schoolmaster, what?
...which might explain a lot about Snape.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Definitely put it further up your list (whether it exists or not *g*).

Cooler today, thank god... hope it carries on this way...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Decline and Fall is the one in the school and Vile Bodies is, er, the other one...

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Weather has broken here! We've had rain!

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! Well, I'd rather not too much rain, but rain as a transition to cooler weather would be good.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

It's cooler, too. I've put a shawl on.

[(Anonymous)]

...is the one with the motor race

[kradical.livejournal.com]

I actually saw Bright Young Things in the theatre, mainly due to my Fry fangeekitude, and I rather enjoyed it. Never read Vile Bodies, and didn't know that the happy ending was tacked on, but I can sorta kinda see why it was after the relentlessness of the Bad Shit that happens throughout.

Good stuff....

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That's the one!

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

But HBP has the largest percentage of potentially rude lines of any other HP book!

... or are your literary standards different?

(And didn't you like Snape?)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's possible I'm being incredibly grumpy about it, I must be getting old. It just didn't 'spark' for me in any way (possibly because I get so irritated every time Dumbledore appears).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Vile Bodies is brilliant, if bleak (that's Waugh for you). It ends with Adam in the trench with the drunk Major (it was published in 1930, IIRC, so predictive on Waugh's part there).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

PS Not the bleakest end to a Waugh novel either.