Well it was certainly a lively discussion yesterday evening at bookclub. All Quiet on the Western Front was praised all round for its matter of fact description of war, the way it was able to clearly portray the difficulties of daily life at the front line, as well as the way in which war was eventually normalised for the soldiers – where army life became comfortable while leave at home with family was disturbing. And while Remarque was German, we agreed (i think!) that the experiences and themes he wrote about seemed universal. We were delighted to have the “boot motif” pointed out – a pair of boots that makes its way from one dying soldier to another throughout the book. And a few of us wondered about the final paragraph – was it absolutely necessary to include the death of the narrator. While it was powerful – it could also have worked if we weren’t made aware of his fate. From here the conversation ranged from other wars to the filmic and televisual depictions of them (Gone with the Wind (!), Catch-22, Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War, World War 2, Vietnam, as well as conflicts in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan).

Opinions were a little more mixed on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It seemed to be that to fully appreciate this movie a knowledge of the trilogy up until now was needed. Some of us in the room were fans – others not so much! I agree – it’s difficult to understand the attraction of this film if you had not seen any of the others. Those of us who had enjoyed the direct reference of the opening to the conclusion of Raiders of the Lost Ark, as well as the in jokes with Indy’s snake phobia, and the allusions to previous characters (Sean Connery as his Dad in the Last Crusade). We also agreed that, as always, Cate Blanchett was great. And the consensus was that she acts rings around Nicole Kidman in whatever she does. Having been treated to the previews of Baz Luhrman’s Australia when going to see Indiana Jones, there was a fair amount of skepticism in the room as to whether Nicole was going to add anything to that project. Thoughts were also divided about Hugh Jackman – some strongly for, and some strongly against!

All this, plus yummy wine and cheese followed by brownies and tea made for a good night.
We didn’t even get to the question of the stereotypical representation of Russian villains which had made a little stir in the media, or whether Shia LeBoeuf (?) actually has any star quality…..
any more thoughts people…?