Bleak House is endless. Even at half its length it's way too long. Aside from that it's quite dull, the story is muddled and the characters are not particularly endearing despite being well depicted.

It's also too sentimental in places, especially Esther's narratives. Her perpetual effusiveness regarding her friends and her general inability to hold in tears is very wearisome. It's not all mush though. There are some great portrayals of Dickensian London.

The writing gets sticky in places and I often had to reread passages. I missed a couple of salient points including something quite sigificant about Mr Skimpole.

This is no match for Great Expectations and I wouldn't recommend it. Just watch the 2005 BBC adaptation. It actually surpasses the book.

I've recently started reading 19th century adventure novels and I enjoyed this a lot more than Treasure Island, partly because it was easier to read. It's a story of three English gentlemen on a quest for jewels in a fantastical southern African lost world. I particularly liked the sense of journey, especially the arduous hike through the desert. I also liked the feeling of suspense in places and I wish they hadn't encountered the Kukuana people so quickly after crossing the mountains. It's a shame we don't get better acquainted with Good and Curtis as they were involved in the story from the very beginning but it's really a book for children.

In conclusion, this is a good story even if it's not a literary masterpiece.

I've been wanting to read some classic 19th century literature and I downloaded this after having seen it recommended on so many 'must read' lists. Bearing in mind it was written for children over a century ago I shouldn't be too harsh but as classic novels go it's not great.

It reads more like a rough script for a movie than a novel. The pacing is all over the shop and there are lots of descriptions of the ships rigging which are too difficult to digest. There were parts which I enjoyed and the general plot is very good. Also, it's so short that you could read it comfortably in a day or two but I shan't be reading it again.

While I wasn't half as smitten with Australia as Bryson, this book has evoked in me some of the wonderment I felt while I was exploring its natural wonders. It's the story of his journey around Australia and it's illustrated with interesting anecdotes and facts, and it's all done in a light hearted, well humoured sort of way. One gripe, he does overplay the dangers of the bush a bit too much. Australians don't have to put up with bears, cougars and rattle snakes at least.

Overall, it's an interesting and accessible piece of Australiana. Similar books written by Australian authors tend to be excruciatingly anal. So, I highly recommend this as a travel companion.

I managed about 50 minutes of this pretentious pap before I threw the TV set at my girlfriend for recommending it to me. I hated what I saw of it for a handful of reasons:

One, it's set in a world where people fall in love at discos.

Two, it's like being spoken to in the indicative by a teenager telling you about life's dramas.

Three, much of the movie is meant to be in England but the setting is hopelessly American save for the omnipresent red telephone box...Arrrggh!!!!

Four, the scene where Nemo's 15 and he's about to shag his sister and they're staring intensely into each other's eyes because they're 'in love' - for that there isn't enough vommit in the world.

Five, the main guy is called Nemo... Nemo ffs!!!, and he looks like he's got thyroid eye disease.

Skip six, it's too awful to mention.

Seven, just to reiterate, it's a story told from an emotional, teenagery standpoint where life is like a movie and everything has celestial meaning.

Eight, overall it's hopelessly French, pretentious and very 1990's. I can think of a better title. It starts with 'b', ends in 'ks' and has 'olloc' in the middle.

First of all, I use this book in South Korea and I've noticed a lot of discrepancies with the distribution information. For example, Elegant buntings are resident in Korea and very easy to find in winter, but according to the book they're only summer visitors. However, this book is thorough in every other respect and its illustrations are second to none. I didn't think I'd find a book of this calibre for East Asia.

I'm reviewing this as a single player game because I'm not into the multi-player thing.

This is essentially GTA repackaged as a cowboy and western. Whereas in GTA you have whole cities to explore, in RDR you have a couple of small towns and masses upon masses of empty countryside. The missions range from being incredibly fun to just pure tedious (the cattle herding missions especially). The characters are excellent, from the slippery Irish fellow to the MacFarlanes, but the main guy is just a bit on the dull side. I like that in typical GTA style parts of the world are closed off until enough missions are complete. The only substantial town in the game is Blackwater, and it still isn't very big. There should be more to do there. The atmosphere in the game is bang on the money. There were times when I found myself trotting around the Rio Bravo just to soak up the ambience, well, until I got savaged by a puma. The playability is very good, although I couldn't get the hang of quick draw but smashing away at all the buttons seemed to get me through. Oh, and horseriding is a ball ache. Thumb tapping away only to lose your concentration and get danced off your horse, makes for some very tedious long journeys.

Okay, this is still a seriously good game, but as of its release in 2010 we'd already had nine years of open world GTA's. This was a well needed change in atmosphere but otherwise it didn't offer anything new. I'll definitely buy the sequel if it ever emerges. Why don't Rockstar set their next open world in the future, maybe with a bit of a sci-fi theme. Lazer guns, interplanetry travel and Millenium Falcon'esque' spacehips!

SPOILER
The tedious hang glider side missions are a waste of time. You don't get to fly it in the end.

This movie calls for the audience to sympathise with the protagonist's artistic integrity, which I feel is obscene. He's an overpaid, bloated, actor going through a midlife crisis and he's in a bit of a strop because he wants nothing more than to be a playwriter, or something of that sort, but instead he's burdened with a lucrative advertising contract which earns him millions. He's flown to Japan for it, a fascinating country, only to be filmed saying a couple of lines whilst appearing to sip whisky. Back at his five start hotel he's waited on hand and foot. I really feel for the guy.

No I don't, and I dislike how his cigarette puffing, melancholy, pug-nosed trollop appears to show no appreciation for the wonderful lifestyle she's been provided with by her rich, successful husband who seems to be a nice guy.

Finally, I don't like this American thing of calling attention to the frustrations of the rich and the spoilt. Basically, people who don't know they're alive. Desperate Housewives is an example. Annoying movie anyway.

I'm far from being a movie buff but as a half perceptive human being I must say that Crash is truly awful. It's an emotionally driven film outlining racial issues in western society which apparently we're all ignorant of. The racial platitudes brought up are the sort which would normally be the reserve of sixth form discussion groups. However, the numerous glaring cliches seem to have eluded the film press, who've piled praise on this mawkish drivel. Tut, tut.

I can't believe the critical acclaim this film has received. The paedophile aspect didn't bother me so much as the mawkish sentimentality (there most definitely is a paedo aspect to it!!) It's overly sentimental, clichéd and incredibly superficial (especially Gary Oldman's character), and it must be one of the most overrated 'great films' of all time. I hate the way that when fans speak of it they put on a solemn tone, as if to show great reverence for what is nothing more than a poxy, French film. Sort it out, people, and realise you're wrong for liking this movie! After seeing the other one-star reviews I can expect to recieve a multiplicity of defensive, drivelling comments from an offended Leon lynch mob. Flaming bunch of saddos!