Tag: 1970s

Endeavour, Series 8

Endeavour, Series 8 by Russell Lewis (ITV, 2021) Set fifty years before their broadcast, Series 8’s three feature-length stories work better as historical pieces than as full-fledged murder investigations. That said, Morse is back on track to morph from brilliant young puzzle solver into John Thaw’s slower, more jaded incarnation.

Full Bore

Full Bore by William McInnes (Hachette, 2016); audiobook read by William McInnes (W F Howes, 2017) A gentle, rather wistful gathering together of memories and musings. McInnes presents recollections within recollections, the weave of his stories constituting less a riotous series of anecdotes and more an appreciation of life as a mosaic of shared happiness and small moments.

The Apparition Phase

The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean (William Heinemann, 2020); audiobook read by Theo Solomon (Penguin Audio, 2020) The first few chapters promise gothic horror and suspense. Then Abi disappears and we’re left with gormless Tim plodding through a paranormal scenario that is all setup, no delivery. A long novel whose plot might just about have sustained a short story.

The Land Before Avocado

The Land Before Avocado: Journeys in a Lost Australia by Richard Glover (ABC Books, 2018); audiobook read by the author (Bolinda, 2018) Part personal recollection, part assiduous research, Glover delivers a time capsule of Australian social history for the years 1975-1985. Though the material itself is fascinating, and tragicomic in a ‘truth as satire’ way, the delivery suffers whenever Glover…

Black Hole

Black Hole by Charles Burns (Pantheon, 2005) [collecting Black Hole #1-12, Fantagraphics, 1995-2004] Burns goes all out in this shadowy and grotesque, trippy mix of 70s teen culture, body horror and sexually explicit allegory (self-identity; belonging). The plot is deliberately abstruse, and though the black-and-white artwork is striking, some characters are hard to tell apart.