The Cuckoo's Calling | review

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Much like The Bourne Triology this is a story worth experiencing more than once. Even though this is a detective story, I'm curious to know whether I pick up the hints now that I have learned how it all connects in the end. Could I have seen it all coming or did Galbraith keep all the knowledge to himself and his private detective, leaving no real clues for the reader? From previous experiences with the author I'd like to say that the hints are there, but cannot know for sure as this is not a fantasy children's book.

I gave this 4/5 stars on Goodreads but not really because of the plot which actually was not as thrilling as I had first hoped. Not once was I so wrapped up in the story, so caught up in suspense that I could not put the book down. Plot-wise it deserves 3 stars, not 4. The reason behind the fourth star is the understanding of people and of the setting. Galbraith understands humans, understands their quirks, their nature, the many layers of a personality and this makes the story so good. I kept reading because I got caught in a setting painted by words, because I could not believe that Lula was dead either. She felt so real, they all did. Sometimes I found myself longing to google Guy Somé to see his designs or research Lula to finally see her stunning beauty. She felt so real, and I continuously hoped she had not died, that I would get to meet her by turning the pages.
Although there were a lot of characters involved they were easy to tell apart due to this fundamental understanding of human beings. They had individual ways of speaking; dialects and vocabularies; and this proved to be not only entertaining but also very helpful.
     Also the whole London atmosphere was described so clearly but so seemingly absentmindedly that it made the experience feel much more real and more natural. I have never been to London but the whole city noise felt so close; the double-decker buses driving past each other, the constant rush of cars and people talking and shouting.

Quite the book. Some loose ends were not satisfactorily dealt with but I suspect the next books in the series will continue from where this one left off, and I will definitely go right back to the London atmosphere with its fascinating people and surprising characters.
But until then I will end this with the words; go read it.

Bourne | review

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A few weeks back I watched the Bourne trilogy with my father, who have had the series recommended by a friend. It is an action thriller starring Matt Damon and it is surprisingly good. Normally I find action-thrillers rather dull, as I do not watch movies for the action but for the story, for the characters, the set-up and the plot. Similarly I do not tend to read crime novels more than once. Once the culprit has been revealed and the last threads have been knotted together, I loose interest in the story. This trilogy was different, however.

The story begins on a boat in the middle of the night. Upon discovering an unconscious man in the ocean, the crew members of a boat rescue him from the water, the bullets in his back and a tiny laser pointer showing the man's bank information. As he wakes up he is disturbed by a throbbing headache, a considerable memory loss and weird instincts that makes him a robotic killer machine if he needs it. Bit by bit he tries to discover who he is and what has happened to him, while a secret organization tries to terminate him for things he cannot remember he has done, or rather not done. 

Throughout the story we, as the seers, connect with the main character, Jason Bourne, on a deeper level than we normally would, due to him suffering from amnesia. Together with Jason we dig up his past through the three films, and together with him we have to deal with the dilemmas of his past, have to decide whether we are with or against him once we get the facts. This makes the story much deeper than I had firstly anticipated, as I thought the movies were like the James Bond series or like Mission Impossible where the main characters are one dimensional and the plot either too much and ill-founded, or too much and crude. 

Contrary to James Bond and Ethan Hunt, Jason Bourne has real character. Also, his relationship to women is much better and more interesting and more realistic than the two mentioned characters. Bond fools around with any woman he meets, ever. This is annoying and is very, very sexist. Ethan on the other hand is so perfect and it is just too freaking much, in my opinion. His feelings, the love of his life and his perfectly nice and proper personality is just too much. Jason Bourne on the other hand loves one girl, but again in a way that is far more realistic than Ethans, and I like this very much. He might not treat her perfectly, but that is just it. He is in a stressed situation and he has to think of their safety before her feelings. He does this because he likes her, not to be mean. Therefore I prefer Jason to Ethan and Bond. 
Moreover, who doesn't like a super cool, invincible ninja?

In every movie there is at least one car-chasing scene, and as they are a bit lengthy they get sort of boring in my opinion, but I am not very into that as it mostly consists of a lot of noise and wrecked vehicles and infrastructure. 
Apart from car-chasing there is also some pretty cool fighting scenes in every movie - both with and without guns. And as already mentioned Jason Bourne can be a killer-machine if he wants to, and has quite a bit of ninja-skill too, but his opponents are of similar skill, which only add to the enjoyment.  

Lastly I have to mention the cinematograhy which is quite beautiful; quite a few stunning shots of various cities gives the seer a nice overview of the storyline and nice breaks in the action. But not only landscape shots make these movies pretty; also the individual set-ups really add to the overall cinematographic feeling of the movie. There has gone series thought into every detail - considering both the plot and the shots - and it is this that makes the movies stand out in comparison to other movies of the same genre.

Overall very thrilling and entertaining films I would definitely watch again.