Review
“On Leave” is a worthwhile novel that deserves this English revival because it convincingly conveys the alienation felt by soldiers who return home on a brief leave from hostilities taking place abroad.
The trio of writers has flattened Stephen King’s gaggle of high school teens into two-dimensional clichés, devoid of any adolescent intensity.
German architect Hans Scharoun’s compelling story, as both a man and an artist navigating perilous times, has been neglected (aside from architectural historians and seriously informed students) until relatively recently.
It’s sort of like someone snatching the epic novel you’re a few chapters from the end of out of your hands and subsequently run off cackling into the sunset, only to allow you to finish it in a year.
Does the distrust of (even a little) narrative ambiguity by North American dramaturgs and audiences mean that international plays must be made more ‘cinematic’ when they are produced here?
Most of HBO’s “The Normal Heart” is a pretty decent adaptation of the 1985 stage script, with some good things added, including an effective pre-credit section set on Fire Island in 1982.
Michael Nesmith’s proto-Americana songs had aged the least—listen to the jangly guitar and stream-of-conscious lyric on “Tapioca Tundra” and you’d swear that was where R.E.M. got the idea.
Like the Jon Savage book it is based on, “Teenage” avoids gooey nostalgia; the documentary’s enjoyable to watch, and refreshingly not tongue-in-cheek.
Music Commentary: Brian Wilson’s Legacy Thrives — 2026 Reissues Reviewed