Better Than Friday - 135 (Patreon)

Hi there everyone, hope you're well and have a great weekend. 

Life continues to not be boring. 

1. Recent recommendation from a friend - The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez 

Recommended by a very cool guest who came on the show, who will appear in the next review. 

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An intimate portrayal of the drug wars in Colombia, from international fiction star Juan Gabriel Vasquez.Juan Gabriel Vásquez has been hailed not only as one of South America’s greatest literary stars, but also as one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation. In this New York Times-bestselling, award-winning, gorgeously wrought novel, Vásquez confronts the history of his home country, Colombia.

In the city of Bogotá, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict zoo once owned by legendary Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The article transports Antonio back to when the war between Escobar’s Medellín cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above. Back then, Antonio witnessed a friend’s murder, an event that haunts him still. As he investigates, he discovers the many ways in which his own life and his friend’s family have been shaped by his country’s recent violent past. His journey leads him all the way back to the 1960s and a world on the brink of change: a time before narco-trafficking trapped a whole generation in a living nightmare.

Vásquez is “one of the most original new voices of Latin American literature,” according to Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, and The Sound of Things Falling is his most personal, most contemporary novel to date, a masterpiece that takes his writing—and his literary star—even higher.

- Amazon

2. Lawrence English album inspired by 'The Peregrine' 

Took a listen to this and enjoyed it. 

3. Hemingway bar destroyed 

Very sad to hear about this. 

4. On the Road Again

Solid dark rendition of the Canned Heat classic.

5. Naked directed by Mike Leigh 

I’ve been seeing a lot of references to this film lately. Could be a sign of the bleak times. 

Haven't seen this in over a decade but I remember it was a great film, though, a caveat, extremely dark.Ebert put it well:"This is a painful movie to watch. But it is also exhilarating, as all good movies are, because we are watching the director and actors venturing beyond any conventional idea of what a modern movie can be about. 

Here there is no plot, no characters to identify with, no hope. But there is care: The filmmakers care enough about these people to observe them very closely, to note how they look and sound and what they feel."

Turns out our copy of Desert Solitaire we picked up from an estate sale recently was is actually signed by Edward Abbey. 

Exceptional find Lynn.