Bookworm Extra

The Bookworm Books, cinema and more for KS4 students and 6th formers

We’re giving you an extra little burst of Bookworm goodness before Christmas.

Two reasons: first we know lots of you still know nothing about The Bookworm or where to find it online. The Bookworm is a magazine unique to Swanshurst giving staff and students the opportunity to share their love of culture - books, films, comics, music and more. So on the next page you’ll find a very simple guide to finding The Bookworm online. Secondly our Autumn edition is, we admit, mainly aimed at fans of fantasy (there’s lots on everything from Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings) so we thought some of you would enjoy something a little different.

There’s nothing cooler at the minute than the new James Bond film Skyfall. Have you seen it yet? If you’re a fan of action films then try and check it out on the big screen. You can’t beat seeing films at the cinema. Daniel Craig is brilliant as Bond and Javier Bardem is arguably the best Bond villain ever. It’s a stylish, often beautiful film, always exciting, directed with real panache by Sam Mendes. Even, if like me you’re not a big fan of the Bond franchise, Skyfall, and Craig’s first Bond film Casino Royale, might be for you. They are substantial, gritty movies - a kind of mix between the Bourne films and Ian Fleming’s original novels.

If The Bookworm is to succeed we need YOUR input. That means your reviews, articles, opinions and recommendations.

We mainly concentrate on fiction and films but we’re keen to include more nonfiction. If you’re interested, or if you have any ideas of what you’d like to see in The Bookworm come and tell us.

Our first Bookworm came out in the Spring.

There are articles on Dytopias, Horror and ‘books for rebels’. The Book Doctor recommends crime and thrillers. Ms Quayum writes about Stephen King. Ms Moody and Ms Osgood write about their favourite classic and a favourite contemporary novel plus Mr Beniston interviewed.

Our summer edition has two main features—one on comics and graphic novels with brilliant articles from Ms Russon and Mr Stock and another recommending novels that have featured in the Booker Prize shortlists.

Ms Osgood and Ms Arif fight over the Brontes.

Ms Hopkins interviewed. Momina Khan kicks off our movie section plus Anisa Younis on Dickens.

This is the current edition. Harry Potter in 30 words. Ms Hardwick on Philip Pullman, Ms Osgood on Cornelia Funke, Eleanor Burgess on Tolkein, Ms Moody on Dianna WynneJones, Ms Bridger on Alan Garner, Ella Crabtree and Ms Arif on Terry Pratchett. Shannon Jones on Hardy. Mr Stock on Final Fantasy VII. New section on non-fiction books featuring scientist Brian Cox. Mr Beniston gets angry plus an extensive movie section.

Hazel Grace Lancaster, 16. Diagnosed with cancer at 13. Despite treatment she’s never been anything but terminal. After being diagnosed with clinical depression, her mother sends her to a cancer support group, in what they like to call “the literal heart of Jesus” (it’s in a church!). It’s at this particular support group that Hazel meets Augustus Waters, a 17 year old boy in remission from osteosarcoma. Hazel introduces Augustus to her favourite book, ’An Imperial Affliction’ by the author Peter Van Houten. She has tried to contact the author countless times and failed as the book ends abruptly and leaves you wondering what happens in the end. Augustus finds a way to contact Van Houten who promises Augustus that if they come to Amsterdam he’ll tell them how the story ends. Will they go to Amsterdam?

And what fate awaits Sisyphus the hamster? This book is AWESOME. It makes you laugh and cry—it’s quite possibly John Green’s best work.

[Amal Ahmed]

“I don't hate people. I just feel better when they aren't around.”

Charles Bukowski is a misanthrope. For those of you that don’t know this word, it’s pretty much the embodiment of misery, cynicism and general dislike of the world. It means you hate everything, and I mean everything.

Your view is skewed by a bitter outlook, destroying your relationships and removing all those close to you. Or at least this is what Bukowski explores as his idea of misanthropy. His books, most notably the ones containing ‘Hank Chinaski’ - Bukowski’s literary alter-ego, show the progression of such a pessimistic protagonist throughout his life. Through childhood, through maturity and through old age, he pushes people away. And it is fascinating.

Ham On Rye, the novel following Hank’s earlier years, shows his battles with both his hideous appearance and his peers. In Post-Office we see him dwindle his life away at a menial job, only coping through hitting the bottle.

As a reader we beg for him not to make another spiteful move, but he does, and we can’t help but feel for sorry him (somehow). Perhaps that is the real craft of Charles Bukowski. How can he make such a vile and rancorous character so likeable?

It always occurs to me whilst I read his work that Hank is Bukowski, and so it is not Hank that I adore, but Bukowski himself. He only became a full time writer aged 49. By then, he had already experienced a world of solitude and anguish, all of which pours out in his novels. Sure, reading it might make you feel like a miserable wretch as well, but this kind of sadness is enjoyable to experience every now and then, I guarantee it. [Mr Stock]

Murk.

A dirty substance that is sprinkled onto human beings as they sleep, taking away their glow and giving them that subconscious inability to reveal their true selves. They become slippery and hard to catch.

Because everyone is a mask, you see? A mask of grime.

In this messed up universe, no one dares to be themselves.

Humans ,they hide inside of those dim shadows where the light no longer reaches. It’s true, people become nothing more then an unbreakable demeanour. And what is beneath that demeanour, you ask?

I'll let you all in on a little secret.

It’s nothing.

They're hollow inside, this mask is the only thing that is left of them.

Everyone has their secrets. Secrets that stay hidden beneath all the laughter and smiles, gloomy pasts that eat them away from the inside.

And so to Battle Royale, written by Takami Koushun is a story set in a type of Japan that is unknown to the world, where positive discrimination is taken to levels so extreme that no life is considered worthy enough to be living. The world that Koushun has created shows just what might be the consequences of being run by a country that had no respect for human life.

The Republic of Greater East Asia is a country that holds a great belief that every human being is worth exactly the same thing- and this would have been a pretty good belief, right?

Wrong.

The author turns such a simple belief into something completely horrific and gruesome. Amazingly you almost have to stop and wonder about whether ‘equality’ is actually a good thing or not! Of course this is a totalitarian version of equality where the Japanese state really has lost the plot.

In my opinion, and most likely, the opinion of many others who have read the book, Battle Royale is an incredibly cleverly written thriller that explores

the deeper meanings behind trust and many other things. It will make you stop and think about the hidden meanings behind peoples actions, about what their true intentions are, what secrets they have to tell and what lies they have to hide.

The book begins with a class of 42 school children on their way to a school trip- or so they think. What they don’t know is that- unluckily for them- they have been picked to take part in a sick game that the government calls the "conscription system".

Students are taken onto an unknown, isolated island and made to kill each other until only one of them survives.

From here, begins a most unsavoury tale of (dis)trust, friendship and morbidity. A lot of it.

Takami Koushun is an expert in writing books that have you strapped to the most thrilling roller coaster of gore that you will ever sit on. And he doesn't plan on letting you off until the very last second, when he is sure that every bit of emotion in your heart has been shaken right to the core. He will make sure that his books will never leave your heart and that every bit of time that you spend on reading it will be worth it.

This book is packed full of action, filled with twists and turns that succeed in shaking you right down to the core.

Koushun doesn't even give readers a chance to regain their breath before he plunges them, head first, into yet another chapter of bloodshed and anguish.

Yes, the book is one that is a little hard to take sometimes- with so many main characters that it becomes hard to keep track of them all, but the question is this: Are you hard enough to take it? [Maham Hassan] The movie adaption of Battle Royale is fantastic but it’s for 6th formers only. Its an 18 certificate with LOTS of violence. It was made in 2000 when Japanese cinema was producing some excellent films, many exploring the consequences of the on-going economic crisis Japan had suffered since 1990. It also stars the legend that is Beat Tikashi Kitano.

Welcome to the scary world of our resident horror specialist . . .

Khadija Tahir It’s January 1937. 28 year old Jack is poor, lonely and is desperately wanting to change his life.

When he is offered a place on an arctic expedition he says yes. Then he is off to Norway. The summer is very brief and as the nights become longer he starts to notice strange things.....

I wouldn't really consider Dark Matter as a horror story but a spine chilling ghost story. There isn't any blood or gore but the language and also the way it is written makes it very scary and will give you a fright if you get through it. It may seem a little slow at the start but don't let that put you off.

I thought this novel was beautifully written but very scary at the same time, but because the writer did not use any normal horror features such as violence and blood, it makes it even cleverer. The presentation of the settings and characters makes it feel cinematic and very visual. It really does get very exciting and you almost feel like you are in the position of the protagonist. The tension builds up and makes you wonder how you would cope in this sort of situation.

If you like this, then try these . . .

Let me begin by telling you that Stephen King is probably one of the best horror writers you can ever come across maybe the best ever. He is very hard to beat but Edgar Allen Poe and Susan Hill are with him in my Top 10.

Now to The Shining: it is set in the 70’s and it is about an ill tempered ex teacher/alcoholic. He gets a job as a caretaker in the winter months at a hotel in a very isolated place. He takes along his 5 year old son (who may be a kind of clairvoyant) and his wife. What could go wrong?

Turns out the hotel has a bit of a dodgy past and the kid has powers called...have a guess...THE SHINING! I wont reveal anymore because you can go read it yourself. Unlike Dark Matter, this has a healthy dose of blood, gore and violence, so much that the classic film adaptation has an 18 certificate (I wouldn't recommend watching it alone probably because you’re not 18 but after all it is labelled one of the scariest horror movies ever, up there with The Exorcist). I have to admit I am now worried by any hotel room which has the numbers 127 (you’ll understand after you read the book) but the rest of the book did still freak me out (probably because I read it late at night; that isn't recommended either for the easily scared).

Read about Ms Quayum’s love of Stephen King in last spring’s Bookworm here.

Anyone that has read one of Anthony Horowitz’s books—whether its one of the Alex Rider novels or his great new novel Oblivion will know what a brilliant writer he is. He is the first author approved

by The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate and is the official successor of Doyle—for this alone he has my respect.

At first I was sceptical as to how good this book could be as I am a big Holmes fan. I’ve read some of the original tales and love the films with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. Holmes and Watson are definitely having a renaissance at the moment: a particular favourite adaptation of mine is the new BBC series Sherlock which modernises the series brilliantly. However having read the book I have to say that Horowitz has certainly stepped up and taken the responsibility seriously.

I was wondering how they were going to get around the fact that-very simply put-the original tales were all published then (when Watson ‘lived’) and this is now. Horowitz is very clever in this respect and simply puts in the preface: ‘When I am done, assuming I have the strength for the task, I will have this manuscript packed up and sent to the vaults of Cox and Co. in Charing Cross, where cer(above) Separated at birth? tain others of my private papers are stored. I will Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and give instructions that for one hundred years, the Anthony Horowitz. packet must not be opened. It is impossible to (and left) The Holmes imagine what the world will be like then, what advances mankind will have made, but perhaps renaissance is everywhere: readers will be more inured to scandal and Benedict Cumberbatch and corruption than my own would have been.’ And Martin Freeman on the indeed we are! But in this ingenious way BBC; Robert Downey Jr and Horowitz introduces the idea of why and leaves Jude Law on the big screen. himself open to writing more books.

The mystery is enthralling and even just fifty pages in or so you can see it unfolding before you. It’s an interesting read that makes you want to continue to find out how and why for yourself. It doesn’t leave you bored and wanting to turn to the end to find out what happens and the solution to the mystery (as I do all too often!)

All and all a good read that will introduce you back into 221b Baker Street and the alleyways of London with Holmes and Watson. [Ella Crabtree]

We’ve got a brand new collection of bestselling books for you to look at on history, race and racism, equality and inequality, politics, capitalism and women’s rights.

Pick up a brochure and pick out something that interests you.

"What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals.

Some are monkeys who dance on your finger-tips, others are lions who can bite your head off. We are those lions, Mr Manager."

Jayaben Desai

“I confess I am not charmed with the ideal of life held out by those who think … that the trampling, crushing, elbowing, and treading on each other's heels, which form the existing type of social life, are the most desirable lot of human kind … The best state for human nature is that in which, while no one is poor, no one desires to be richer, nor has any reason to fear being thrust back, by the efforts of others to push themselves forward." John Stuart Mill

We’ve also bought a small collection of popular science books.

These are perfect if you love science or even if you love reading but you’re not keen on fiction. Take a look at the brochure and you’ll find some brilliant books.

Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.

Stephen Jay Gould

People who boast about their IQ are losers. Stephen Hawking Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. Martin Luther King The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance - the idea that anything is possible. Ray Bradbury

Japanese author Haruko Murakami is a worldwide sensation. Norwegian Wood is his most popular and accessible book and it’s the kind of book I wish I could have read when I was a teenager or in my early twenties. Toru is the main character and narrator. The novel begins when he is 37 but it is all about his recollections of life when we was nineteen, just starting college and of his relationships with two girls, Naoko and Midori. I think the reason Marukami is so popular with younger readers is twofold.

First his books are full of discussions. Even though most of the characters in Norwegian Wood are very likeable, they have all kinds of opinions that you might not necessarily agree with. It’s up to you to decide. Secondly his characters have to deal with all the emotions, longings and problems of growing up—sex and relationships; career choices; disappointments and unfulfilled desires; death; family issues, it’s all in the mix. The older me has a couple of quibbles with Murakami, especially his sexual politics, but really that’s part of the excitement of reading his books—you always want to discuss them afterwards.

When you’ve read the book watch the extraordinary and beautiful movie adaptation, directed by Trần Anh Hùng. [Mr B] Do you ever think how cultural products—books, films, music affect you?

For me they are far more powerful than adverts. David Lynch’s great 80s TV series Twin Peaks started me off drinking black coffee (and I still do). B&W films make me want to go out and buy a new suit and tie (usually I resist). After reading Norwegian Wood I went straight out and bought a new (very old) Bud Powell CD

HUGE thanks to

Amal Ella Khadija Maham & Mr Stock for helping me produce this Bookworm Extra in double quick time.

CINEMA CLUB The Bookworm is all about trying to convince you to expand your horizons.

I’m sure lots of you love films and some of you already consider yourself movie fans. The most recent edition of Total Film celebrates it’s 200th issue with its top 50 films from the last 15 years. It’s an intriguing starting place to discover films that have been made in your lifetimes. In this mini Cinema Club all I’m gonna do is guide you to some other lists that might encourage you to try new things this winter: three great movie lists to get you thinking.

Empire magazine’s 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time is the most accessible.

This is a list for the generation whose tastes were formed by blockbusters like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark and everyone born since. The art-house, sub-titled and B&W films mentioned here are good ones to start with. This is a great list full of popular films that all film fans will have an opinion on.

Then, getting a little more highbrow, you could try The Guardian online. There are three lists to look at—1,000 films to see before you die splits films alphabetically. 100 best films of the noughties might be a good place to start— obviously these are all modern films that you might have seen. The Greatest films of all time splits its films into genres—Horror, Arthouse and Drama, Sci-fi and Fantasy, Action, Comedy, Crime and Romance.

Finally take a look at Sight and Sound’s most recent greatest film poll. This poll is decided upon by film directors and film critics so as you can imagine it’s the most esoteric of all. It’s a list dominated by older foreign films. That doesn’t mean you have to bore yourself silly with old films that aren’t relevant to your life, but it does mean you should be open to the idea that these films can be earth-shatteringly good.

Autumn and winter are the perfect time to try something new. There are some great art-house and foreign movies on at the cinema over the next couple of months and loads of great old films on TV over Christmas.

There are some great films out at the moment. First the magnificent Rust and Bone which has gone straight into my top 5 for the year. So often Hollywood love stories are sentimental or winsome with one dimensional characters played by actors too keen to show you what to think. This is a love story with a difference—contradictory characters, lots of passion and the leads, played by Marion Cotillard (of Inception, Dark Knight Rises and Le Vie en Rose) and new star Matthias Schoenaerts are extraordinary.

Director Jacques Audiard has been compared to Martin Scorsese for his mixture of realism and stylish camera work (think about the effect of the close-ups when you see it). He has made some of THE outstanding films of the last fifteen years. Check out A Self Made Hero (1997), Read My Lips (2001), The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) and A Prophet (2009).

If you want to see some something truly original try Beasts of the Southern Wild by first time director Benh Zeitlin and with Silver Linings Playbook Hollywood proves that it can still make fantastic romantic comedies.

Ben Affleck’s new film Argo is enjoyable too. It’s a weird mixture of nail-biting drama and comedy about a bizarre event at the start of the Iranian Revolution in 1980. It looks back to the great Hollywood political thrillers of the 1970s like All the Presidents Men, The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor. The politics are surprisingly good. The film begins with a prologue detailing the CIA’s involvement in propping up the corrupt regime of the Shah so that you always understand the anger of the Iranian people towards the USA. Having said that, does the portrayal of hard-line Iranians in the final third veer toward caricature? And what conclusions do you draw about the CIA? Like I said, I’d love to know what you think (see overleaf).

I’m not always SO serious: last weekend I noticed that two recent Disney films are now cheap on DVD. Tangled has the best mime artist, the best horse and a great song (see 22/23). The Muppets is a joy; especially funny is the Jack Black sketch involving a barber shop quartet and a Nirvana tune. [Mr B]

Mr Beniston gets THOUGHTFUL If you’ve read the Autumn Bookworm you’ll know I had a column ‘Mr Beniston gets angry’ (thus the Hulk cartoon) but this time I’m being thoughtful instead (thus the Bruce Banner cartoon—please keep up!)

Quite often for me, the way I react to books and films is influenced by connections I make with other works of art. Sometimes writers and film-makers intentionally reference other books or films in their work. It’s posh name is intertextuality—you’ll learn about it in English. Often though the connections may be personal to you, influenced by what you’re doing at the time or what’s going on in the world.

In the last week I’ve see two films— Argo (at the cinema) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and I’m reading an amazing history book called Into the Silence about the first explorers to climb Mount Everest.

The first chapter of Into the Silence is the best single, short account of the first World War that I think I’ve ever read. Wade Davis communicates the appalling horror and the senselessness of the war. It’s hard to imagine the barbarity as tens of thousands could die in just an hour or the horror of the different ways men lost their lives or were maimed. Davis also gives you a tremendous sense of the hubris and inanity of ruling classes across Europe (especially the British).

A couple of days later I was happily enjoying the second Sherlock Holmes film. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are really good as Holmes and Watson and it still amazes me that Guy Ritchie can actually direct. However, about half way through the heroes (and a few others) are escaping through a forest as soldiers shoot at them, as artillery is fired and as shells explode around them. The action is played out in slow

motion emphasising the explosions and regimes around the world. Umm! their effect. The slow motion really With Argo (see page 15) its hard to gives the scene an unusual intensity. doubt the good intentions of its director Now I LOVE violence in movies—so it

is with some surprise that instead of enjoying the action I couldn’t help thinking about all those people killed and injured by flying shrapnel 100 years ago or those currently facing the same fate in the Middle East. I’m not going to criticise the film because lots of other times in my life I wouldn’t have thought twice, but I do think that the shock of juxtapositions—of art with slices of history or of art with contemporary events—can help to shock us out of stale ideas and provoke thought.

It’s worth saying that the film has a moral seriousness to it as well.

Professor Moriarty, Holmes’ nemesis, is an arms dealer scheming to cause a European conflict so he can make more money. It’s interesting how arms dealers are, quite rightly, fair game as baddies in films, TV and books but in the real world . . . it’s perfectly legitimate for European Prime Ministers to sell and promote arms to undemocratic

and producers— Ben Affleck and George Clooney are both left leaning Hollywood liberals. The trouble is that its hard to watch the film (and it’s representation of Iranians) without thinking of contemporary events—a nasty strain of anti-Islamic feeling propounded by governments and the press throughout the western world; the ever present threat of war against Iran, plus film fans will also compare it, unfavourably, with some of the astonishing films being made in Iran (try A Separation or About Elly). These films are tough examinations of Iranian society and they refuse to sensationalise or simplify.

In difficult times some people will look even harder for escape and consolation.

My point I think, is that the more precarious the world becomes the more difficult it is to overlook and forgive the simplifications of popular culture. The contradictions in society are just too great. What do you think?

Les Miserables was written in 1862 by French author Victor Hugo. It’s a BIG book but it was a ‘popular’ novel of its day and is easy to read. The film version out in January is based on the musical. It stars Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.

Be ready to cry your hearts out.

Great Expectations is many people’s favourite Dickens novel.

It’s full of amazing characters like Miss Havisham, Abel Magwitch, Joe Gargery, Estella and Pip. In this new adaption Jeremy Irvine is Pip and Holliday Grainger is Estella. You can read Anisa Younis’ review of the book in the Summer Bookworm.

Read the book See the film

Ms Boughey reviewed The Life of Pi in our Summer Bookworm.

It won the Booker prize in 2001.

Directed by Ang Lee, (who has made the modern masterpieces Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) this promises a great deal.

I’ve got a dream I'm malicious, mean and scary My sneer could curdle dairy And violence-wise my hands are not the cleanest But despite my evil look and my temper and my hook I've always yearned to be a concert pianist Can't you see me on the stage performing Mozart Tickling the ivories till they gleam Yep, I'd rather be called deadly for my killer show-tune medley Cuz way down deep inside I've got a dream He's got a dream He's got a dream See, I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem Though I do like breaking femurs, you can count me with the dreamers Like everybody else, I've got a dream I've got scars and lumps and bruises Plus something here that oozes And let's not even mention my complexion But despite my extra toes And my goitre And my nose I really want to make a love connection Can't you see me with a special little lady Rowing in a rowboat down a stream Though I'm one disgusting blighter I'm a lover, not a fighter Cuz way down deep inside I've got a dream I've got a dream He's got a dream I've got a dream He's got a dream And I know one day romance will reign supreme Though my face leaves people screaming

There's a child behind it dreaming Like everybody else, I've got a dream Toll would like to quit and be a florist Gunter does interior design Urf is into mime Attila's cupcakes are sublime Bruiser knits Killer sews Ven does little puppet shows And Vladimir collects ceramic unicorns I have dreams like you, no really Just much less touchy-feely They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny On an island that I own Tan and rested and alone Surrounded by enormous piles of money I've got a dream She's got a dream I've got a dream She's got a dream I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam And with every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower Like all you lovely folks, I've got a dream She's got a dream They got a dream We've got a dream So our differences ain't really that extreme We're one big team Call us brutal Sick Sadistic And grotesquely optimistic Cuz way down deep inside we've got a dream I've got a dream