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Book Review: Mr. Foreigner
by Lang Reid
 Matthew
Neale, a writer who has already won the Whitbread Book of the Year award
in 2000 for his book English Passengers, had this week’s review book
published in 1987. It was republished in 2002 in paperback format (ISBN
0-75381-306-8) by the Phoenix group.
The plot revolves around a very young (and immature)
Englishman, who has found himself in Japan, working as an English teacher
in a shady language school in an even shadier area of Tokyo. The English
teacher is having a live-in affair with a Japanese girl, Keiko, and as an
example of the cultural void between the two, it is repeatedly brought to
the reader’s attention that the 30 year old Keiko has an affinity for
stuffed toys, Mickey Mouse and wears Mickey Mouse socks. Since one of the
senior people in this newspaper’s hierarchy also wears Mickey Mouse
ties, I would be loathe to comment on this; it should suffice to say that
I believe the average adult would not be too taken aback by Mr. Disney’s
expansion into the sock industry.
Most of the book is taken up with the tale of how
Keiko’s family are trying to entice the English teacher to marry the
young woman, and much is made of the family’s ‘strange’ business,
which is held from the reader till the end, but to put you out of your
misery, it turns out that they have strong underworld ties and run
brothels. Oh dear me! Yawn!
The rest of the book has a sub-plot, within which the
English teacher tries, very unsuccessfully, to wrest his agreed upon
salary from the woman who runs the language school. She hides behind her
husband, who is portrayed as the one who will not cough up with the
requisite number of yen, even though the lady says she has the yen to pay
up (take that pun any way you like)!
Side tracks are few, but include the English teacher
finding the language school husband in the brothel (which is owned by the
prospective in-laws, yawn again), but the poor sap hasn’t the gumption
to accost the man and extract the money by the time-honored method of
extortion. Oh yes, there is also an official from the Immigration
Department who claims to work for the bank, but who tells the English
teacher to leave Japan because the prospective in-laws are outlaws! It’s
all too much!
Mr. Foreigner is a slim book, and I was able to read it easily in one
afternoon. For me, it showed its age. Perhaps in 1987, Japan was
sufficiently mystical, and the Japanese people sufficiently inscrutable,
to get away with what I felt was a rather thin and purposely obtuse plot.
It left too many questions unanswered. The shrinking nature of the world
in the past 15 years makes vague cultural symbolism look like poor
researching, rather than stimulating interest in the intrigue of the
Orient. The writing style is slick and foretells of literary excellence -
later - but Mr. Foreigner was too early in Matthew Kneale’s career for
my money. At 395 baht it will not grace my bookshelves.
Movie Review: Antwone Fisher
By Poppy
 Derek Luke is a sailor suffering with aggression
problems. His chief decides to send him to the base psychiatrist, Jerome
Davenport, played by Denzel Washington, who also directed the movie.
Initially it’s only for three sessions. The Doctor soon discovers that
being abandoned at a very young age caused Antwone’s problem. The two
men form a very close bond as Dr. Jerome supports Antwone on his journey
of discovery about his past.
The flashback reminders of the young Antwone’s
dreadful past work well in this film, giving you an insight to his adult
behavior. One of the more frustrating aspects of the movie is that Antwone
never really finds out any information about his parents.
Antwone’s girlfriend Cheryl is played extremely
competently by Joy Bryant. The part could have slipped into insignificance
but she brings it to life making the character interesting.
The film touches on a few black issues and a lot of
child abuse and parental problems; there are also a lot of visual moments
of traumatic pain and suffering.
The music by Mychaela Danna contributes to the
intensity of the mood as only music can. It’s a well-directed movie and
the young actor Derek Luke is brilliant in his role. It can be very
emotional but does have a bright side. Be prepared for bad language,
violence and a theme involving child abuse.
Directed by Denzel Washington
Cast:
Derek Luke ... Antwone Fisher
Joy Bryant ... Cheryl Smolley
Denzel Washington ... Jerome Davenport
Salli Richardson ... Berta
Earl Billings ... James
Kevin Connolly (I) ... Slim
Viola Davis (I) ... Eva
Rainoldo Gooding ... Rashon Grayson
Novella Nelson ... Mrs. Tate
Yolonda Ross ... Nadine
Kente Scott ... Kansas City
Stephen Snedden ... Berkley
O.L. Duke ... Uncle Duke
Lissy Gulick ... Mona Nypris
Cory Hodges (I) ... Young Antwone
Leonard Howze
De’Angelo Wilson ... Jesse
Mott’s CD review:
Pink Floyd - Echoes - The Best Of
by Mott the Dog
***** 5 Stars Rating
Anything that is titled “Best Of” is always suspect
to the usual problem of why isn’t so and so on it or what is so and so
doing off it. Well let’s get that bit out of the way. Firstly, in this
Dog House Best of any Pink Floyd album would contain “Saucerful of
Secrets” from “Ummagumma”, “Reemergence” (the end of Atom Heart
Mother) and “Mudmen” from “Obscured by Clouds”. And certainly
would not include the dreadful “When Tigers Broke Free” who’s only
inclusion must be because it’s not available anywhere else on CD, as it
has only ever been released before as a single (failed) in 1982 from
additional material written for “The Wall, The Movie”. Also, nowhere
on a ‘Best of Pink Floyd’ should there be anything from the awful last
album by the Roger Waters led Pink Floyd “The Final Cut” represented
here by the extremely boring “Fletcher Memorial Home”.
Still, enough griping, the rest of the two hours
thirty-five minutes you get here is wonderful. Three from “Piper at the
Gates of Dawn”, “Set the controls for the heart of the Sun” (the
only track ever recorded by Pink Floyd as a five piece, before the
lovable, but totally mad Syd Barret scuttled off into the sunset) and
“Jugband Blues” from “Saucerful of Secrets”, “One of these
days” and the mighty “Echoes” (magnificently edited down to a more
manageable seventeen minutes from the original twenty three, although
keeping all the beeps, bonks, clangers and David Gilmour’s soaring
guitar solos - probably amongst the best he ever laid down in the studio)
from “Meddle”, fortunately the best half of the tracks from “Dark
Side Of The Moon” (five in all), two from “Wish You Were Here”, one
from “Animals”, four from “The Wall” (about as many as you need,
lets face it when you are “Comfortably Numb” who cares), and four
tracks carefully selected from the last two Waterless albums (Momentary
lapse of Reason and Division Bell). But unfortunately nothing from their 3
wonderful live albums.
Altogether this proves that Pink Floyd still reign as
the finest band in space, best of all though is that the album is topped
and tailed by two fine Syd Barret songs, which not only bring a bit of
light to the generally gloomy Pink Floyd thoughts, but should hopefully
bring a few pennies into Syd’s coffers as I’m sure they will be more
than welcome, at his reclusive home in Cambridge.
Disc two climaxes with the soaring “High Hopes”
which looks like being the final expression of their moody majesty, the
last track from the last Pink Floyd album. But there’s one final twist
in the tale as the closing chord decays, a bell rings and up pops Syd to
sing “Bike” - a genuinely cheerful, pleasantly bathetic coda to a
brilliant career. Which is what makes this such a wonderful “Best Of”
as songs from 1994 slip faultlessly into 1967 songs without missing a
beat. Wonderful, that’s Pink Floyd. Bye bye. Thank you for sharing. Have
a nice retirement.
Musicians
Syd Barret - Guitar, Vocals
David Gilmour - Guitar, Vocals
Roger Waters - Bass, Vocals
Rick Wright - Keyboards, Vocals
Nick Mason - Wears leather trousers, drives a Ferrari
F.40 and plays the drums very well
Track Listing
Disc I
1. Astronomy Domine
2. See Emily Play
3. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
4. Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)
5. Echoes
6. Hey You
7. Marooned
8. The Great Gig In The Sky
9. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
10. Money
11. Keep Talking
12. Sheep
13. Sorrow
Disc II
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-7)
2. Time
3. The Fletcher Memorial Home
4. Comfortably Numb
5. When The Tigers Broke Free
6. One Of These Days
7. Us And Them
8. Learning To Fly
9. Arnold Layne
10. Wish You Were Here
11. Jugband Blues
12. High Hopes
13. Bike
To contact Mott the Dog email: [email protected]
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