Frances The Mute

Advantages: moments of truely classic music
Disadvantages: many may regard as a hard listen

...i am currently listening to frances the mute as i write this review. upon initially listening to frances the mute i was disapointed. the first thing i noticed is that there was 5 tracks, and secondly that some tracks were acompanied by several minutes of pure noise at either side. after i had listened to mars voltas previous releases almost their death it was somewhat of a disapointment. But from the outset this album is nothing short of outstanding. Cedric Bixler argueably has the best voice in rock music in the world today, omar rodriguez lopez plays some of the most experimental, soulful, atonal and melodic guitar iv'e heard for a good few years. The drummer john theodore is something else, in the live setting he shines as a powerhouse in a complete shower of genres from jazz through to salsa, punk, rock, dance and world...

eunuch_provocatuer 26.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Frances The Mute - Mars Volta (The)

Shannon and Frances

Advantages: Top Brit flick
Disadvantages: Too far fetched?

...I’ll be perfectly honest in saying I didn’t expect much from this. People saying it was the British Thelma & Louise put me off straight away (as if it would be, they said that about Beautiful Creatures too) and after aforementioned Beautiful Creatures (which wasn’t all that) I thought it would be more of the same. I was wrong. To compare this to Beautiful Creatures isn’t really do-able….this is much more a comedy whereas Creatures is quite dark and serious…so although I preferred this to BC, it is different. Two Women, Shannon (Minnie Driver) and Frances (Mary McCormack), go out on the drink as it’s Shannon’s birthday. As they’re out getting lashed a bank robbery begins to take place. The robbers have got a guy on the roof as lookout, Danny, (the guy from Human Traffic who...

Staggly 25.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of High Heels And Low Lifes (DVD)

Wildwood and confusing island!

Advantages: The main characters showed some promise.
Disadvantages: Too much happening at once with little explanation as to why!

...Here we are again, another book review about another book bought from my local library sale, not a good one this time though! The book I will now review is ?Wildwood by Frances Gordon?. This was one of the books I was actually looking forward to. The blurb on the front of the book describes it as ?A chilling novel in the best selling tradition of Anne Rice?. The general idea behind the book is that it is an adult fairytale, chilling and slightly disturbing, being something of an urban legend if you like, so I was genuinely looking forward to this. The jist of the story is this - Felicity has just discovered that her husband is not exactly faithful to her, the fact that his untruths now not only run to endless affairs but have now included her imminent bankruptcy due to him falsifying documents and her signature. The fact...

sarahbarrow 04.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Wildwood - Frances Gordon

The Sound of Silence

Advantages: beautifully written, thought provoking,
Disadvantages: scenes of war might be disturbing for some

...Could you imagine a world, without hearing music or a world where you were no longer able to chat on your mobile phone? How would it feel like to be deaf? Graina O Neil, the main character of Deafening by Frances Itani, certainly knows about deafness as she lost her hearing after contracting Scarlet Fever as a young child.. The book tells her story and how she copes or does not cope with her disability. The book is set in Canada before and during the First World War follows Graina throughout her t childhood and schooling in a special school for the deaf onto her marriage to Jim (or as she calls him ChM). Two weeks into their marriage Jim leaves for the trenches of France and Belgium and the book becomes both their stories. If I had to pick out two words that defined Deafening I would choose loss and fight. Most...

duskmaiden 17.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Deafening - Frances Itani

A Silent World

Advantages: A great read
Disadvantages: Some chapters too long

...When browsing The Book People online a few months ago I came across this book. I was immediately intrigued because of the title so I read a bit more about it and placed my order! I payed £3.99 for this book, which I think is a couple of pound cheaper than the RRP. The Author Frances Itani was born in Belleville, Ontario and lives in Ottawa. She has previously published books of short stories and poetry. Deafening, her first novel, was published in 2003 and won the Commonwealth Writers prize. It has been published in 16 countries. The Story Deafening is set in Deseronto, Ontario pre-World War I. The story is based around Grania O'Neill, a young girl who lost her hearing after suffering from Scarlet Fever. Grania's mother feels guilty so finds it hard to accept this and takes her to see many doctors to try and bring back her...

bluejules 15.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Deafening - Frances Itani

"Do you Miss the Songs of the Birds?"

Advantages: haunting
Disadvantages: none

...The novel Deafening is in fact the first novel by author Frances Itani, although she has written short story and poetry collections. This book was only released in the UK in 2004, and I was recently drawn to it in an airport bookshop by both its cover, and its back page précis. It has already won a Commonwealth Writers Award and there are three pages of recommendations from the world?s International press. Deafening is a story of both deafness and survival. A child born in 1896 in Deseronto, Canada, to hearing parents and hearing herself until she contracts Scarlet Fever at the age of five which leaves her permanently deaf. And of survival of a young Field Army Ambulance officer, who was sent to Europe in the First World War. From the start of this book the bond between Grania (Graw-nee-ya) and her Grandma (Mamo) is apparent. One...

helencbradshaw 07.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of Deafening - Frances Itani

Riskier than stereotype

Advantages: Well developed characters, not typical of the crime fiction genre
Disadvantages: Slow to get going

...Safer than Houses is a novel from the author Frances Fyfield. It's from the Crime Fiction genre, and has a jacket price of £7.99, though I got my copy for just 50p from a charity shop. It was published in 2005 by Time Warner Books. **The author** I had not previously heard of Frances Fyfield, though with a little research I have found her to be an prolific writer, with more than 20 novels to her name, some of which were written as Frances Hegarty. Fyfield sticks well within the crime fiction genre, since reading Safer than Houses I have found that my brother and best friend are fans of hers, and both of them lay testament to this. She has a website (francesfyfield.co.uk) and from this I have learnt that she has won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for her latest book ? always a good recommendation for an author! Moving on to the novel in...

M.Newcastle 27.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Safer than Houses - Frances Fyfield

Get those boys reading!

Advantages: Interesting subject, well illustrated
Disadvantages: Some difficult words

...than one aimed at a bright five or six-year-old. Other titles in the Download series feature snowboarding, rock climbing, fast cars, Formula 1, BMX and mountain biking, racing cars and sky diving. I would recommend these books to any parent with a child between the ages of eight and fifteen who is not taking easily to reading but has an interest in any of the subjects focused on. I would imagine that they should feature in any school library as well as upper junior and lower secondary classrooms to increase confidence in reading and offer enjoyment at the same time. Download Motocross by Frances Ridley Published by Rising Stars UK Ltd 48 pages Paperback ISBN 1-905056-97-4 Price £5.00 Amazon £4.00...

denella 04.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Motocross (Download) - Frances Ridley

"Where, you tend a rose, my lad, A thistle cannot grow."

Advantages: Heartwarming and endearing, a classic that needs to be read - whatever your age!!
Disadvantages: Some of the dialect writing could be difficult for younger children

...Last week I bought a copy of the wonderful 'Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett for my granddaughters 9th birthday. I have bought all four of my daughters this book and this is the second granddaughter for whom I have bought it ( 6 more to go!!) I still have a VERY well thumbed copy of this book that my godmother ( the angel who introduced me to the wonders of the written word) bought me 50 years ago!! I cannot believe that it is half a centur since I first opened the pages of that little gem of a book. I decided that it was about time I re-read my book ( yet again), for although classed as children's fiction I still find it a good book for an adult, in fact adults are better suited tounderstand some of the issues that arise in the book. THE BOOK The book centres on an extremely spoilt little girl - Mary Lennox...

oldchem 21.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Probably Fyfield's best

Advantages: Strong storyline filled with suspense
Disadvantages: Not to be read alone on a dark night

...Introduction This is one of Frances Fyfield's Helen West series, of which she has written at least 6. Fyfield also writes a series of books about a lawyer called Sarah Fortune, which are not bad, as well as some one-offs, which I would not recommend, particularly not Undercurrents and The Nature of the Beast (about which someone else has written a great review), at least not to start with. One of the reasons I think the Helen West series is so good is that Fyfield is a practising criminal lawyer, having worked for the Metropolitan Police and Crime Prosecution Service as a prosecutor, exactly as Helen West is. When she begins to steer away from the field about which she knows least in her one-off novels, the momentum is somehow lost. The Helen West series has been adapted for TV with Amanda Burton as Helen West. I have not seen...

sunmeilan 23.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Shadow Play - Frances Fyfield