Book Review: The Girl on the Train

Title: The Girl On The Train
Author: Paula Hawkins
Published: 13th January 2015
Dates read: 1st-2nd June 2016
Rating: 8/10


For the first time ever, I had been sat alone in an airport. On every other occasion I have travelled it has always been with someone else, and my natural anxiety set in when faced with the very large departures board of Heathrow Terminal Three alone. And so my natural survival instinct led me to the abundance of bookstores in Heathrow departures lounge to try and soothe my nerves, (despite the book already stowed in my bag in anticipation). So naturally I sought solace in a violent psychological thriller which once I started I didn't put down the entire journey across the North Atlantic.
Anybody who knows me well, knows my love for Hitchcock and more specifically his 1954 film Rear Window, and therefore my interest in the concept of voyeurism or the voyeur. If you tell me, you don't enjoy people watching, you're seriously missing something in your life. It is an indulgence all of us participate in, whether consciously or not. Unfortunately, I am the least conspicuous person in the world, so whilst I love to people watch, I won't be making a career as a successful voyeur any time soon.
The Girl on the Train then is every murder mystery, voyeur-obsessed bookworm's dream come true. It depicts the life of Rachel, a troubled alcoholic London commuter, who takes the same train every day to and from work, which stops at the same red signal, at the back of a row of houses every day. During these short pauses, Rachel gazes longingly into the lives of the people in the house, creating names, personalities and a life for the individuals who inhabit such houses, in a desperate attempt at escapism from her own failures and alcoholism. However, one day Rachel witnesses something in one of the houses which sets in motion a rollercoaster of events, which left me devouring page after page after page in an almost frenzied manner to unravel the mystery. Never in my life have I so wanted to have Doctor Who's reading gift!
For me, the whole idea of somebody watching someone else from afar, and constructing a life for them is a fascinating concept, and something which The Girl on the Train captured perfectly. Too many times, have I studied somebody and imagined who they are and what their life is like. On top of that, there was the added excitement of a possible mystery, the excitement of maybe witnessing something important, something valuable as an invisible entity. The alternate viewpoints of the book adds an interesting dimension of viewing both within and without. You see from the point of view of the watcher and the watched, which added a rich dimension of interest for me. I loved the idea that whilst in one chapter Rachel was witnessing something, in the next we could read the same scenario, with completely different connotations or conclusions.
Whilst I felt The Girl on the Train didn't have the most unique mystery plotline to it and I was pretty sure by the end of the book, I had it figured out, I feel like the mystery is the most obvious dimension to focus on, but by no means the most important. The book explores more interesting themes than just the simplicity of the plot. The focus on small details, such as the clothes on the side of the train line, in the opening chapters of the book, appealed to me as an individual as it seemed a thought process that I would too, take on and adds to the image of the voyeur
In conclusion, I devoured this book in the space of about nine consecutive hours. It takes an interesting dimension on the genre of psychological thriller, and it left me wanting for more. I await in eager anticipation Paula Hawkins next novel, and I can only hope that the upcoming film due for release in October lives up to the novel!

(Dissertation Procrastination), Theatre - Billy Elliot.

Sorry its been so long since my las blog post. I've actually seen an opera and a play since the last Ballet I reviewed the opera called The Mikado and the play Dealers Choice. I will review those in due course, university got the better of me, and to be frank I have had enough of typing words to last me a lifetime. However, in order to prolong the pain of my dissertation even longer, and to add a bit more procrastination to my list of things to do to avoid doing my dissertation! Anyway without further ado....

Performance: Billy Elliot The Musical
Performed by:
Date: 5th April 2016
Location: Victoria Palace Theatre, Victoria, London.
Seat: Stalls, Row M, Seat 8.
Rating: 9/10.


So this was a rather nice surprise from the boyfriend, I had no idea we were going until I was steered into the foyer of the Victoria Palace Theatre and he was asking to pick up tickets! It was lovely. We haven't seen anything in a while, and although I have already seen Billy Elliot before when I was about fourteen, he hadn't seen it. The musical was closing and in its last week in London, after running for eleven years, so were very lucky to catch it in its closing days (though we missed Elton!).
The story is based on a young boy in 1984 Britain -(a very different 1984 to the one we saw last June! Thank God!)- living in a small mining village in County Durham, suffering throughout the tyranny of Margaret Thatcher, the strike against the closure of the coal pits and the repercussions that faced the miners who refused to support such closures by working. It is a very clever exploration of the controversy surrounding Thatchers policies, through the eyes of the children. The main story revolves around Billy's love of ballet instead of boxing, his journey through learning the craft of ballet and his ultimate dream of dancing at the Royal Ballet School; all encouraged by his eccentric teacher Mrs Wilkinson. However, the strike, Thatcher and the pit closures, I feel also play an incredibly important role in the construction of the musical. A lot of the musical comically satirizes Thatcher, and the hardships of strike and job loss. Particularly for the likes of the generations who were young adults or teenagers in the 80's (such as my dad) there was a lot of enjoyment as they were reliving their teenage years through comical means. Boyfriend is an avid anti-Thatcher so I think he particularly enjoyed the song 'Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher' in which the words 'Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher, We all celebrate today, cause it's one day closer to your death!' accompanied by a giant oafish puppet Thatcher playing the piano. For me, I got a lot more enjoyment from the musical (particularly since the first time I saw it) since studying Thatcher in my last year of school and my first year of university. Having this prior historical context of Thatchers terms in government, made me understand the humour that little bit more.

Other issues that are scrutinized by the musical are Billy's families difficulty in accepting his passion for dancing, which in turn lead to some interesting gender issues. Despite it only being thirty years ago, Billy's love of ballet is seen by his family as 'poofish' and homosexual in origin. Whilst in our enlightened and arguably more liberated society of today this is obviously ridiculous, it is an controversy very well portrayed by Billy Elliot through the character of Micheal. Micheal is Billy's cross-dressing friend, who takes pleasure in dressing his mothers clothes with the justification 'me dad does it all the time!'. Personally, I believe this issue is epitomized in the song 'Expressing Yourself' in which the boys dance around in dresses, with giant dresses and essentially the moral being that there is nothing wrong with expressing yourself, being yourself, and doing this in the way you want. I feel like this is a perfect way of putting this issue to bed. It is an entertaining and whimsical way of portraying a moral, that we should accept everyone for who they are, and we can express ourselves in any way without it being anything other than exactly that, no compromises. Obviously, the musical ends with Billy's dad and brother supporting Billy, which further adds to this moral. But it is a fantastic, topical and relevant controversy to address and only adds to the brilliance of the musical.

Of course, I cannot talk about Billy Elliot without devoting some of this review to the fantastic music of Elton John and Lee Hall. The music and lyrics are perfect, and there isn't a single weak song in the musical. Each song keeps with the humorous and energetic tone of the musical, which adds a bit of light to a lot of heavy and deep issues. On many occasions I found myself singing and dancing along to the upbeat tones. That said, the music is also touching, particularly when Billy reads his letter from his dead mother out to Mrs Wilkinson. It is the perfect mix of relief, hilarity and humanity. Furthermore, the tap dancing of the musical is one of its most fantastic features! I absoloutley love tap dancing and dancing anyway (as you might have gathered from my love of ballet) so for me this was just the icing on the cake. Specifically in Billy's 'Angry Dance' the tap dancing is just incredible and makes you feel the power, and expression Billy feels when he dances. Its really amazing to behold. The sheer amount of skill it must take to star in a musical like this is just breathtaking. Each cast member tap and ballet dances, sings and acts and our Billy (I'd love to credit him, but I didn't note down which Billy was our Billy i'm afraid!) was incredible. Our Mrs Wilkinson was to boyfriends delight, Ruthie Henshall, who is very famous for her role as Fantine in Les Miserables and she also was very very good!

All in all, Billy Elliot is a hilarious, energetic exploration of 80's Britain, which portrays some controversial issues in a positive and funny light which can be enjoyed both by young and older audiences. Its a real shame that it has finished in London for now, but it is on tour, so if you get the chance please I beg you, go and see it. I highly suspect after the renovations of The Victoria Palace are finished it will resume its rightful place on the West End but that remains to be seen.

Ballet - The Nutcracker

Performance: The Nutcracker
Performed by: English National Ballet
Date: 18th December 2015
Location: The Coliseum, Covent Garden, London
Seat: Balcony, Row B, Seat 27
Rating: 5/10


Firstly, I must apologise for how late this review is, christmas and university work has made it impossible to update the blog.
I was initially incredibly excited about going to see the Nutcracker, especially at Christmas. However, I felt a little bit let down by this particular performance. Admittedly, a lot of it could have been a serious mistake on my behalf for booking me and boyfriend tickets to the matinee production, which is something i've sworn off almost entirely, theatre is for the evening! However, the tickets were completely sold out on evening performances before christmas so this was my only option.  To their credit, ENO did warn me prior to booking that there would be children at the performance, but I really have to warn those of you considering taking the risk, just don't. This might not be the popular view, but what possesses parents to bring their under three year olds to two and a half hour ballets?! The ENO and ENB run special child friendly opera's and ballets so that children can enjoy the magic of such productions, whilst simultaneously condensing and abridging so that children do not lose focus, as they do. With the constant running commentary going on behind me, to the running up and down the balcony stairs, clicking mouth and random bursts of applause midway through dance from the very small child behind, it is safe to say, I found it so difficult to concentrate, enjoy and appreciate the ENB's beautiful dancing and Tchaikovsky's wonderful music.
Whilst I fully appreciate and even encourage introducing children to theatre at a young age, too much is too much, a young three year old is simply not going to appreciate a two-hour ballet. If they are being disruptive it is down to the parent to chastise the child, not just let them run up and down balcony stairs, throw their binoculars down said stairs and complain loudly throughout the entire performance.
That said, it happened and I have learnt from my mistakes! However, there were a few other reasons I didn't enjoy the ballet as much as I had hoped.
After The Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky was once again called upon to write both an opera and a ballet, in which he adapted E.T.A Hoffman's story The Nutcracker and The Mouse King. It was first performed in 1892, as a two part ballet, and despite its unsuccessful beginnings still today remains one of Tchaikovsky's most famous, and recognisable repertoires. It contributes to nearly 50% of ballet ticket sales overall! As discussed, in other blog posts, Tchaikovsky is quite possibly my all time favourite composer, and particularly The Nutcracker Suites I have grown up on through the likes of Disney's Fantasia. Therefore, the music itself cannot be faulted. It was every bit as wondrous as I had hoped, and the orchestra played it flawlessly.
However, the dancing itself was somewhat troubling to me. Whist I certainly cannot pertain to be a ballet dancer or critic myself, I felt the dancing was not quite together. Particularly in Waltz of the Snowflakes and Arabian Dance (my favourite piece from the ballet) I felt the dancing wasn't quite all there, it was a little messy and out of sync, and not necessarily just these dances alone but other parts of the ballet. In complete contrast, Spanish Dance, Russian Dance, Chinese Dance were fantastic and The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy was astounding. Unfortunately, these were in the minority and I did not find my breathe taken away for the most part.
On the other hand, I have nothing but praise for the costumes. I feel one of the main parts of a ballet, is the costume as there is no speech, you focus more intently on such things. As the programme states, there are over 400 Swarovski Crystal elements in each of the nine Sugar Plum Fairy costumes, which amounts to £10,000 worth of crystal, so as you can imagine, the costumes sparkled beautifully and poured with regal beauty. But more than that, the costumes of the rats and the Rat King caught my attention even more! They were absolutely amazing, and genuinely terrifying, and how the dancers danced with such large rat heads balanced on top of their heads is beyond me. The costumes truly were astounding, so there is plenty of praise for that aspect.
Overall, I felt myself coming away from the production disappointed. which was really unexpected. The audience were unfortunately a lot of the problem, which there is nobody to blame for, however, I feel the dancing was not completely up to scratch, and some of the choreography was slightly dull, none of the dancing took my breathe away entirely, that is not to say the dancers are not incredible, they obviously very much are. I would love to go back and see if a different audience would perhaps change my perception, so maybe I shall try again next year!

Ballet - Sleeping Beauty

Performance: Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty
Date: 1st December 2015
Location: Sadlers Wells, Angel, Islington, London.
Seat: Second Circle, Row O, Seat 16
Rating: 4/5

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty is my third ballet experience. Unfortunately I felt I went in with a bit of a prejudiced opinion after seeing Cinderella at the Coliseum in July, and feeling like nothing could possibly match this. Whilst Sleeping Beauty was incredible and beautiful, there is no denying that, I felt it lacked something.
The music for Sleeping Beauty was composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1889, and first performed the following year. Along with Swan Lake and The Nutcracker it is among Tchaikovsky's longest lasting and most famous repertoire. Tchaikovsky is quite possibly my favourite composer, therefore I loved the music, it was incredible. It is hard to understand why Tchaikovsky hated his music so much. However Sleeping Beauty was not played live, rather it was pre-recorded which I felt took away from the magic slightly.
Bourne, like Wheeldon with his contemporary take on the ballet, changed the story slightly. Instead of a spindle which pricks Aurora and sends her into her sleep, it is a rose. Furthermore, Bourne used the different acts to be set in different periods of time, for example the last act was set in the modern day as opposed to the first act which was set in the 1800's. The first three acts, I felt worked really well, fitting in with the classical tropes of fairy stories and ballets with beautiful glittering costumes and props. However, the modern act, Aurora's marriage, I felt took the magic away from the ballet and the fairy story, with the characters dressed in jeans and hoodies. This to me felt like a betrayal of the enchanting and mystical nature of the fairy tale, and I feel one of the beauties of watching the ballet is seeing the intricate and exquisite costumes that are presented, which compliment the beauty of the dancing. Moreover, unfortunately I found the storyline a little muddled and hard to follow. The ballet was marketed as a Gothic Romance, and this came into play with the fairies. However, it was hard to decipher whether the fairies were good or evil, and what role they played within the story. The man that falls in love with Aurora also gets some sort of vampirific transition at the end of act II which was just a bit strange. I understood the practicality of it, it meant that the man she loved could then live 100 years to eventually wake Aurora up, but it just didn't fit in well with the storyline, and I felt there could have been better ways around this plotline.
Bourne, must however, be commended on the fantastic use of puppetry in the first and final acts. The young, baby Aurora, is represented through puppetry and it was just wonderful. The movements of the puppet looked so realistic it took me a while to establish it was in fact a puppet and not a child. It was incredibly clever and was the subject of quite a lot of mischievous humour, much like a child which me and the audience appreciated immensely. 
Additionally the staging exceeded usual expectations. The stage had two conveyer belts at the back which the fairies in particular stood on and danced, and it really added some interesting and wonderful dimensions to the dancing, making the fairies look like they were truly floating. The transition of time between the four acts was conveyed wonderfully through the staging, with the windows being broken and taped and the closed gates growing ivy and trees. It goes without saying that the choreography and dancing was breathtakingly beautiful and wondrous, as they usually are.
Overall, I did enjoy Sleeping Beauty immensely, the music, set, costumes and dancing was beautiful. I just felt at times the plot and storyline was confusing and hard to follow, the characters hard to decipher who was who, and some of the classic tropes of ballet and fairy tales were taken away, which in turn took away some of the beauty of the ballet and the story.

Theatre - Lulu

Performance: Lulu by Frank Wedekind
Performed by: Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Date: 2nd December 2015
Location: Silk Street Theatre, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Barbican, London, United Kingdom
Seat: Unreserved (Near the front at the centre)
Rating: 4.5/5

It is that time of the year again when Guildhall puts on its Christmas show, and as per usual it exceeds expectations by being truly wonderful. Lulu was written by Frank Wedekind in 1895 and is formed of two plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's box (however in contemporary theatre it is condensed into one play under the name of Lulu as this performance was). Lulu is among Wedekind's most popular works along with Spring Awakening.  It depicts the dark but deeply humorous tale of the alluring and beautiful Lulu and her many (many!) sexual experiences and relationships with men and women alike, and the descent of each into destitution or death, and finally Lulu's descent herself. Lulu evaluates many different issues which are hugely relevant even in today's society. Lulu herself represents that of the strong empowered feminist trapped in the patriarchal society of the late Nineteenth century. Despite being an active character and the centralised theme of the plot, every plot, action, endeavour and achievement is governed by a man often through marriage, in which she can only escape through death. Her promiscuity and adultery only goes to further this view point, that she cannot escape marriage, nor does she want to, for she fears being alone, without the male dominance above everything else.  The play portrays an incredibly dark side to human sexual nature and particularly male sexuality and the affinity toward younger girls. Wedekind's own life is perhaps reflected within the play with his deep rooted jealousy in his own marriage, his utter scorn for adultery and his belief sexual allure and sex was the only thing to keep his marriage alive. We can see familiar attributes in Lulu's character in conjunction with Wedekind's in her desperate need for validation from her husbands, her constant erogenous presence through her actions, her outfits and her speech, and finally her ultimate demise at the hands of a man, as a result of her constant philandering.
Lulu is deeply sexual and strangely liberating for a late Nineteenth century play. It appears Wedekind enjoyed to push social boundaries and causing a stir with his exploration of the fiercely private sex life, marriage and its mockery through Lulu's satirical adultery and lesbianism, these same tropes can be seen through Spring Awakening, essentially a critique of the privacy of sex, and the consequences of such prudishness. It is hard to imagine in a world dominated by sex, that such plays would be so frowned upon, but the Nineteenth Century was one dominated by the private sphere, sexual repression and prudishness.
Guildhall's production of Lulu was absolutely fantastic. The staging was incredibly simple, but effective. The most powerful staging was the photographs of the actresses playing Lulu in different (incredibly sexual, I might add) poses, which then turned to paintings, which were both creative and interesting. This was particularly powerful in Act I when Lulu is being painted and the photograph was the pose in which she was striking on stage.
A further striking but brilliant feature of the Guildhall interpretation of the play, was at the end of each act, the actress of Lulu changed. I was initially hesitant with this idea but felt it worked well and was portrayed cleverly with each previous Lulu handing a prop to the next Lulu in scene changes, almost passing the torch if you like. It made for an interesting portrayal, as each Lulu slowly sank into demise.
I furthermore, couldn't write a review without mentioning the music that was written especially for the play. The music by Alex Hall, a composer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, was very potent and interesting. It was very dark, eerie and ethereal, particularly in Act III, with the jazz influenced movements. The music complimented the dark plot beautifully.
Overall, Lulu by Guildhall was a fantastic take on a fantastic play. It illuminated some very interesting and dark issues, with some very clever humour, which took some relief from the essentially incredibly depressing end to the play. It is with great regret I announce tonight was the last performance of the play, or I would urge all to go and see it!

Theatre - Jesus Christ Superstar

Performance: Jesus Christ Superstar
Performed by: Really Useful Theatre Group
Date: 24th September 2015
Location: New Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon, London
Seat: Stalls, Row T, Seat 9.
Rating: 3.5/5

I will begin by being the first to admit that I don't know the biblical stories very well, I was never brought up in a particularly Christian way nor did I really take an interest in it, therefore I went into Jesus Christ Superstar only having a vague understanding of the plot which may have been a disadvantage to me and why I perhaps did not get the full potential of the musical.
I will begin by saying that the vocal range of some of the songs of this musical are incredible and indisputably more difficult than that of Phantom of the Opera. I found myself in awe at the incredible power and beauty of the voices demanded of Judas and Jesus in particular, by Lloyd-Webber. Glenn Carter the actor who played Jesus delivered the high notes perfectly and beautifully.

In typical Lloyd-Webber style there was hardly any speech but more a continuos stream of songs and recitative, which I felt made the plotline slightly harder to follow. That said, the music was the entirely redeeming feature of the musical with only one word to describe it. Incredible. I will be the first to admit I felt nothing could ever sway my love for Phantom but Jesus Christ Superstar knocked it right off its pedestal. It goes without saying that the storyline of Phantom is stronger, but the music for Jesus Christ Superstar is vocally and audibly more impressive and awe-inspiring.
Unfortunately, the best and arguably most famous song of the musical (to which it is named after) 'Superstar', I felt in this particular production was gimmicky and almost cheap, and I missed the entire meaning of the song, that being Judas in hell, feeling it was more Judas in X-Factor than anything else. Furthermore, I felt Mary Magdalene and her general presence in the musical was unneeded in a sense. Whilst I appreciate that Mary Magdalene was an important part of Jesus' story, it felt like the love story that was trying to be established between them  was one-dimensional and quite frankly non-existent. I felt no sympathy for the character of Mary and her heartbreak as I felt there was no depth to her character or to Mary and Jesus' relationship.
That being said, there were many more amazing things than terrible ones. 'The Temple' in which Jesus is overcome by Lepers was an incredible scene, and 'Herod's Song' was, although almost drag-like in its nature, a much needed relief (much like the Thénardiers presence in Les Miserables) from the heavy and dark plotline.
The one scene which stuck out the most impressive to me was 'The Last Supper'. The company arranged themselves on stage to mimic Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting The Last Supper which I felt was a fantastic touch and a brilliant reference to the painting and its legacy.
Jesus Christ Superstar, was a very good production, with some incredible vocal talent and aptitude and fantastic music, however the storyline was rather weak and was not interesting enough to carry the musical through. Furthermore, some of the songs may have been slightly misinterpreted or portrayed in the wrong way upon stage, sometimes making them difficult to follow. 

The Book Thief - Book Review.

Title: The Book Thief 

Author: Markus Zusak

Published: 14th March 2006 (UK) 

Dates read: 8th September 2015 - 22nd September 2015. 

Rating: 5/5 

"The best word shakers were those who understood the true power of words. They were always able to climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small skinny girl. She was renowned as the best of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words. She had desire. She was hungry for them." 

Where to begin with this wonderful book? I will begin with admitting that The Book Thief took me two attempts to read, and an aeroplane journey from Italy to England to get into. However, after the initial push I couldn't put it down! 

The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel and her childhood throughout the duration of Nazi Germany. She arrives at her foster parents house aged nine on Himmel Street, her parents having been taken away accused of communism to the much dreaded Concentration Camps, which would become so infamous. The first distinctive feature that sets this book apart from so many other WWII books is the fact it is narrated by Death, a feature I will be the first to admit which threw me at first. However, the further through the book I progressed I stopped finding this a confusing feature and instead found it actually an incredibly clever and insightful move on Zusak's behalf. WWII like most wars is riddled by the presence of death and suffering, and to have Death narrate, for me, further adds to the haunting nature of the book and of course WWII itself. You, as the reader, are therefore reading from both Liesel's perspective, and Death's. The second contradistinctive feature was the perspective of the novel itself. Most WWII fiction concentrates on the plight of the Jews and their suffering, or perhaps even the Nazi perspective. The Book Thief takes an entirely different objectivity by focusing on the life of a German child, who isn't entirely convinced by the Third Reich beliefs and propaganda and a town which isn't benefiting economically and therefore are suffering under hardship too. Whilst the issue of the Holocaust is explored through the character of Max, as it is can hardly be a WWII novel without this dimension, it is not the forefront of the novel and instead provides a backbone to the storyline (a beautiful storyline nonetheless). Furthermore, it defines the takeover of Hitler in a different way, it alludes to the power of words and their meaning, describing how Hitler took over the world with words, and not with force. I felt this was a very important lesson in general, about the power of words, the effect they can have, and how you can't always believe their meaning. The Book Thief takes a fresh perspective on WWII and Nazi Germany undeniably.. Finally, the prose of The Book Thief also makes it incredibly distinctive. It doesn't follow the standard novel text, but deviates including the handwritten stories written to Liesel from Max and drawings, which are so detailed to the fact that you can see the pages of 'Mein Kampf' showing through as described in the book. For me, this added to the beauty of the book and the importance of imagination. Furthermore, Death interrupts the book with little snippets of text throughout the book, relating to the story, for example dictionary definitions after Liesel receives a dictionary defining emotions parallel to the context of the storyline. I know many who have read this disliked this feature, feeling it interrupted the storyline, but I felt like this set it apart from other books in a wonderful way, so the reader could never forget the omnipresent sense of Death, much like how it must of felt during WWII. 

The Book Thief was truly an incredible read, which made me want to start reading from the beginning again the minute I had turned the last page (admittedly through my streaming eyes!), it made me laugh and cry, and Zusak's words sent me into goosebumps at some points in the book, with me sometimes having to close the book and just absorb the beauty of the prose.