So whilst in Oxford, out for lunch with an old friend, I ended up spending 70 quid on books. Now even though I am both an avid reader and a philosophy student, that's still a lot. A massive, gaping hole in my already pitiful bank balance. Still, I figured it had to be done. I acquired a selection of philosophy books that I'm going to need for next year. Including in those, is one Critique of Pure Reason by Emmanuel Kant. Now anyone who knows me will be aware of my dislike of what I have studied of Kantian philosophy, but I have been somewhat reliably informed that I will be more impressed by the rest of it. I have to say I will take some convincing.
Luckily, Kant is a topic for another day, probably read over Christmas while hammering on my ginger friend's door at 3 in the morning to complain about him. That'll cheer her up. Nope, for now I have to buckle up for over a 1000 pages of British philosopher fun!
But luckily for me, the real reason I went into that book shop was to finally acquire the infamous A Song of Fire and Ice stories, commonly referred to as Game of Thrones, after the first book and (obviously) the TV series. I've watched all three series, so it made cracking on with Book 1 weird, but also, strangely, it made me appreciate just how very, very good a homage the series is to the books, as well as how good the books are.
There are many adaptations which completely screw around with the works they're working from. Films where they run out of time so jam everything in and cut and chop out important bits, little touches of inspiration. But, when you have 10 hours to translate the book, rather than 2, it is incredible how not only does every scene feel identical, but at times you can sense they've lifted the dialogue right out of it.
The attention to detail when moving GoT from the paperback to the screen is incredible and it pays off. In a book series, especially an unfinished one, the tiniest of details and characters are important. Take the Eragon series. A great set of books, but a movie so butchered, it ruined the series, made it impossible to continue, because they'd left out so much, the second film became almost impossible to write.
With Game of Thrones, you not only feel that the show does the book justice, but it also means you can appreciate just how good the book is. When you love the series, you realise you owe that to the book.
Now the dilemma remains, do I carry on reading past what's already been shown, or wait...
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Luis Suarez
So let's talk about Luis Suarez. I know this is my first blog post but let's fly right into what's bugging me.
There are many ways of looking at the Luis Suarez saga that has dominated the transfer window so far this summer. Should we sell him? Does he want to leave? Etc. etc.
First off, as a Liverpool supporter, I cannot condone any of Suarez's actions. Not the biting, not the diving, not the racism and God knows I've tried to defend him but he's just undefendable. Now, entering this transfer window, I've lost any shred of respect I had for the man as a person. I understand he wants to go to Real Madrid and I do not begrudge him that. But let's not pretend it has to do with his treatment at the hands of the English press. It's quite frankly embarrassing for the club to hear him come out and say that. It is clearly a ploy to try and get Madrid to come calling for him. A ploy that, despite rumours, appears to have failed.
This whole summer, it has been Suarez, not Madrid who has done the talking. Madrid for their part, haven't said anything on the Suarez front although there have been rumours. Though to be fair, when a top class striker comes out and publicly wants to move to your club, they'd be mad not to have a look at him. But it seems that whether they feel his discipline record makes him a liability (which is understandable) or they just don't feel he's good value for money, they've not made the effort yet this summer. It's entirely possible they're just biding their time, in which case they must have a pretty low opinion of Arsene Wenger's transfer dealings (also understandable).
This brings us to the Gunners. Arsenal have made their interest in Suarez very public. Their first £30m bid was rejected and tonight apparently their second bid failed too. Here, we enter the realm of guesswork, as some reports say they offered £35m plus an extra £7m if they win a trophy next season, whilst more official reports indicate they offered £40m and £1, in order to get past the £40m mark which means Liverpool have to let Suarez talk to them, but they don't have to accept the offer. Apparently they haven't.
Suarez himself apparently wants to move to Arsenal now. So that would be the English press garbage out the window then. If he wants to move to a better club and play Champions League football then trying to create a smokescreen to move to Madrid is poor play on his part. Also, whilst there can be no denying that on last season's performance Arsenal are in a better position than Liverpool, we have strengthened and they have not. It is not unreasonable to assume that the clubs are both in a top 4 fight and whichever one has Suarez may have the edge. So for Suarez, it may not be the glorious move he thinks it is. Given another season (and he has three left on his contract) he may see the difference between us and the Gunners isn't considerable.
Suarez has dragged the club through the ringer and there are many who believe it is best that he should go if he wants to. Others think we should keep hold of him. There are also disagreements on valuations. Liverpool clearly think that Suarez is worth more than £40m and no amount of kicking and screaming from Arsenal fans can change that. And they are entitled to hold off for a better offer. Whilst Suarez himself appears to want out, the ball is still in Liverpool's court. They are under no obligation whatsoever to sell him and unless Arsenal make an offer that they feel is worthy of their valuation of Suarez, they should not sell.
The debate about Suarez's valuation is an interesting one. Some feel £40m is generous, others feel that it isn't enough. Edison Cavani recently went for £55m and Liverpool are entitled to believe Suarez is worth that much. In my opinion and many others, he is one of the top two strikers in the league alongside Van Persie and this means he is worth a lot. But the bottom line is, it doesn't matter what people think he is worth. The only person who decides what Suarez is worth is Ian Ayre, as he is the man who decides if to sell him or not. If Ayre wants £55m, then Ayre will either get £55m or Suarez will be playing in a Liverpool shirt next season.
Personally, I don't know where Luis will be come September. I don't know how serious Arsenal are in signing him but if I was Rodgers or Ayre I wouldn't consider selling him to a rival club (and yes Arsenal are a rival club) unless they offer an extravagant amount which I don't think they will. Real Madrid are a different prospect but whether or not they sign him will become clearer once Higuain is out the door.
As for where I hope Suarez is... Well strikers are hard to come by these days, and unless Liverpool are serious about paying for Soldado's £25.8m release clause before Spurs get the chance, finding a replacement for Suarez if Higuain goes to Napoli will be impossible and a step backwards for the club, even if we make a massive profit. Even if we can bring in 4 players such as Eriksen, Alderweild and the like, we need a 20 plus goal a season striker and Suarez brings that to the table. Unless we have a deal for a replacement that will get goals on the table, I sincerely hope that Ayre tells Arsene Suarez isn't for sale. Because the last thing we need is to move back. We can challenge for top 4 with the team that we have, but not replacing Suarez would end those hopes.
One final point. The one thing Liverpool have in their favour is that as mentioned above, Suarez has 3 years on his contract and I believe he is the sort of player who will still bang in the goals if he is forced to stay. So whilst keeping him may be a gamble, losing him is a bigger one. The ball is in our court and we cannot afford to fold. Be strong Ayre.
There are many ways of looking at the Luis Suarez saga that has dominated the transfer window so far this summer. Should we sell him? Does he want to leave? Etc. etc.
First off, as a Liverpool supporter, I cannot condone any of Suarez's actions. Not the biting, not the diving, not the racism and God knows I've tried to defend him but he's just undefendable. Now, entering this transfer window, I've lost any shred of respect I had for the man as a person. I understand he wants to go to Real Madrid and I do not begrudge him that. But let's not pretend it has to do with his treatment at the hands of the English press. It's quite frankly embarrassing for the club to hear him come out and say that. It is clearly a ploy to try and get Madrid to come calling for him. A ploy that, despite rumours, appears to have failed.
This whole summer, it has been Suarez, not Madrid who has done the talking. Madrid for their part, haven't said anything on the Suarez front although there have been rumours. Though to be fair, when a top class striker comes out and publicly wants to move to your club, they'd be mad not to have a look at him. But it seems that whether they feel his discipline record makes him a liability (which is understandable) or they just don't feel he's good value for money, they've not made the effort yet this summer. It's entirely possible they're just biding their time, in which case they must have a pretty low opinion of Arsene Wenger's transfer dealings (also understandable).
This brings us to the Gunners. Arsenal have made their interest in Suarez very public. Their first £30m bid was rejected and tonight apparently their second bid failed too. Here, we enter the realm of guesswork, as some reports say they offered £35m plus an extra £7m if they win a trophy next season, whilst more official reports indicate they offered £40m and £1, in order to get past the £40m mark which means Liverpool have to let Suarez talk to them, but they don't have to accept the offer. Apparently they haven't.
Suarez himself apparently wants to move to Arsenal now. So that would be the English press garbage out the window then. If he wants to move to a better club and play Champions League football then trying to create a smokescreen to move to Madrid is poor play on his part. Also, whilst there can be no denying that on last season's performance Arsenal are in a better position than Liverpool, we have strengthened and they have not. It is not unreasonable to assume that the clubs are both in a top 4 fight and whichever one has Suarez may have the edge. So for Suarez, it may not be the glorious move he thinks it is. Given another season (and he has three left on his contract) he may see the difference between us and the Gunners isn't considerable.
Suarez has dragged the club through the ringer and there are many who believe it is best that he should go if he wants to. Others think we should keep hold of him. There are also disagreements on valuations. Liverpool clearly think that Suarez is worth more than £40m and no amount of kicking and screaming from Arsenal fans can change that. And they are entitled to hold off for a better offer. Whilst Suarez himself appears to want out, the ball is still in Liverpool's court. They are under no obligation whatsoever to sell him and unless Arsenal make an offer that they feel is worthy of their valuation of Suarez, they should not sell.
The debate about Suarez's valuation is an interesting one. Some feel £40m is generous, others feel that it isn't enough. Edison Cavani recently went for £55m and Liverpool are entitled to believe Suarez is worth that much. In my opinion and many others, he is one of the top two strikers in the league alongside Van Persie and this means he is worth a lot. But the bottom line is, it doesn't matter what people think he is worth. The only person who decides what Suarez is worth is Ian Ayre, as he is the man who decides if to sell him or not. If Ayre wants £55m, then Ayre will either get £55m or Suarez will be playing in a Liverpool shirt next season.
Personally, I don't know where Luis will be come September. I don't know how serious Arsenal are in signing him but if I was Rodgers or Ayre I wouldn't consider selling him to a rival club (and yes Arsenal are a rival club) unless they offer an extravagant amount which I don't think they will. Real Madrid are a different prospect but whether or not they sign him will become clearer once Higuain is out the door.
As for where I hope Suarez is... Well strikers are hard to come by these days, and unless Liverpool are serious about paying for Soldado's £25.8m release clause before Spurs get the chance, finding a replacement for Suarez if Higuain goes to Napoli will be impossible and a step backwards for the club, even if we make a massive profit. Even if we can bring in 4 players such as Eriksen, Alderweild and the like, we need a 20 plus goal a season striker and Suarez brings that to the table. Unless we have a deal for a replacement that will get goals on the table, I sincerely hope that Ayre tells Arsene Suarez isn't for sale. Because the last thing we need is to move back. We can challenge for top 4 with the team that we have, but not replacing Suarez would end those hopes.
One final point. The one thing Liverpool have in their favour is that as mentioned above, Suarez has 3 years on his contract and I believe he is the sort of player who will still bang in the goals if he is forced to stay. So whilst keeping him may be a gamble, losing him is a bigger one. The ball is in our court and we cannot afford to fold. Be strong Ayre.
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