Cultural disappointment

Which is a grand title for what it is. 

Last night we watched Best Sellers starring Michael Caine. He played a grumpy, reclusive author who, because of a long-forgotten contract clause, is forced to do a book tour. It was billed as a comic drama but the only funny bit was that Caine was celebrated because his catchphrase became "Bullshite", which soon lost any comedic value.

Husband suggested it because he thought I would enjoy it but we both found it  mostly depressing and disappointing.

And I've just returned two library books. One was from Simon Brett's Decluttering series, Waste of a Life. In several places he repeated himself feeding us facts that we already knew, and it wasn't up to his standards. I love Brett's work, his novels and his radio sitcoms, but feel he may be trying too hard now.

The other was the Million Copy International Best Seller, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982. A fiction it reads like a case study complete with footnotes and academic references. It deals with familiar themes of gender discrimination, sexism and patriarchy. What made it unusual was that it was set in Korea and maybe that's why it was a best seller.

I've just been looking at some reviews that all say how important and thought-provoking it is so maybe I missed the point. It was the referring to academic papers in the middle of the text that put me off. A couple of times I checked that it was indeed a work of fiction. Don't let me put you off. It's probably just me being thick.

On the plus side the hernia I had yesterday has gone today.