The one hundredth book: #078 Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - James Hogg

It was interesting to see a different structure in this novel. It's a classic twist these days - tell the story from two perspectives, first the clear then the inner thoughts of another player to show what's really going on. In this case, we first hear the sotry of a nobleman's firstborn and favourite son, up to his murder and the chase of his murderer, his half brother. It's a straight forward tale, quite interesting and well written. It's the other half, though, where we see through the half brother's eyes (supposedly from his various memoirs) as he explains how the religious sect he's raised in said he'll go to heaven regardless of his actions, becoming a justified sinner. It makes it an interesting psychological novel at this point, never really engendering sympathy in its protagonist, but adding so much more to the exploration of this character and where it leads. It really felt like a step up in storytelling that I hope to see more often.

The four hundred and eighth album: #408 Magazine - Real Life

Between yesterday's album and today's, I think it's become more clear that the best post punk comes when an album does more than just that. In the case of Magazine, the accessibility of new wave does a lot to appeal to my interests, a lighter touch that makes the songs a lot more digestible. That's not to say it's gone completely soft, but it doesn't push as much as it did before and there are more interesting tracks in here, with the second side especially building up to a happier atmosphere.