who says stoners can't be philosophical too?

The House of Sleep revolves around four adults who knew each other in college, each with their own troubled relationship with sleep. Sarah’s narcolepsy has come at great personal cost; Robert has found himself chasing after . Gregory Dudden’s sleep clinic belies his obsession with sleep as a disease to be eradicated; Terry has switched from sleeping fourteen hours a day to an almost sleepless existence. The House of Sleep captures a peculiar intersection between sleep and self, especially when dreams and reality aren’t quite as clear-cut as they should be. The timelines of the various characters intersect satisfyingly. Rather like Ruth Rendell or Donna Tartt, The House of Sleep involves a lot of reflection on human relationships. Though the subject matter seems heavy, The House of Sleep is lightened with occasional moments of snark, especially around the characters who take themselves too seriously - especially around the men who are so absurdly self-absorbed they barely see what they look like to everyone else. This saved it from devolving completely into melodrama. Two things for readers to be aware of: the resolution of one of the storylines, involving a transgender character, is an absolute cliché - perhaps sadly representative of writing trends during the late 90s? Also, there are descriptions of sex - not necessarily graphic nor violent per se, but hard to avoid, and not always loving. The House of Sleep is a exploration into sleep and the mind - a book in which long-lost loves and long-held obsessions do not find rest.

While recovering from life changing physical and mental injury, Millicent Roper is offered a job at the Arcadia Project, a sort of law enforcement agency. Except the Project’s jurisdiction goes far beyond the human realm: it polices the fey realm as well. Borderline keeps the pace punchy, but what made it really interesting was the fact that the way Millie sees the world is coloured by her personality disorder, making her a slightly unreliable narrator. Yet she’s not the only one: most of the other characters starring in Borderline are unreliable narrators for various other reasons, from plain unwillingness to show emotion, to vested interests. This asymmetrical distribution of information keeps things forever off-kilter and allows for many, many twists. Millie’s narration is also punctuated with factual statements about herself - almost as a monologue - but this is often attributed to conscious work done with her therapist. It reads less as an excuse to dump information on the reader and more as the careful work of a diligent student, using the tools she is given to preserve her mental health - something not often seen in the fantasy genre, especially with a protagonist whose circumstances wouldn’t be out of place in a noir mystery as well. Although there are mystery elements in Borderline, this is a snappy fantasy novel. Characters are often acerbic toward each other, and Baker pulls no punches in putting her characters in danger. Borderline is an action-filled urban fantasy with an unusual protagonist, well worth reading especially for fans of the genre. If you enjoyed this, you’ll probably like the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, starting with Rivers of London.

Content note: physical and sexual violence Kirigoe Mima is a retiring pop idol headed for the greener grass of acting, but she is plagued by a stalker and terrifying visions. Layers of reality intersect - playing on the old trope of an actor losing sight of what's real and what's fiction. Perfect Blue takes a perspective of psychosis which robs the person of agency. Its simplistic treatment of serious mental illness does a disservice to people actually living with it. It has also... aged. Home fax machines and that new-fangled thing called the internet! And then there's the treatment of women characters (dismal) and racial stereotypes (alarming). The violence reminded me of a Ryu Murakami novel: gratuitous, graphic and plentiful. Blood as colour accent. Like a Bryan Fuller production, but all bright pastel colours. This was one long stretch I could have done without, to be honest.

This movie is just all over the place... Like a stream of Spike Lee's consciousness put partly together in a motion picture with a plot, almost like a dream. The violence is a mix of shock and (unintentional?) comedy. As expected, Black nationalist themes are all over, the film's gotta' be woke. So, a bunch of old vets get the genius idea to go backpacking for gold in one of the world's only surviving communist states, venturing without a guide into the inhospitable tropical jungle, filled with snakes, howling unidentified hairy predators, and leftover mines from 'Nam. What could possibly go wrong? All that negativity aside, it's got some good moments, and is shot beautifully. I enjoyed it, even if it was pretty out there.