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Monthly Archives: April 2013
May Preview
April has flown by and now May is almost upon us. After spending the past month in the States, I will be headed back to North Country (or Canada as some call it) on Monday to rejoin the husb (who enjoyed part of the time in Florida with me) and our dog Stella, pictured here.
Oh Stella, how I can’t wait to see you! It should be good to be back. The weather has finally gotten nice at home (the snow is gone!) and I’m looking forward to summer.
There’s some new releases to look forward to as well. If you look at the list at the right, you’ll see some strong authors with new books coming out. I’m definitely curious about Khaled Hosseini’s new novel “And the Mountains Echoed,” which I think is another story of his partly set in Afghanistan but I don’t know much about it yet. I’ve read his other two novels and really was transported (as were most) by “The Kite Runner” back in 2003. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” followed, which was quite grim but good as well.
Also the award-winning author of “Half of a Yellow Sun” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has a new novel coming out called “Americanah.” I’ve always wanted to read “Half of a Yellow Sun,” which won the Orange Prize in 2007, or for that matter her first novel “Purple Hibiscus” from 2003. Her books are typically set in Adichie’s home country of Nigeria and have received a lot of recognition. I’ll have to play catch up and read all of them, pronto. Have you read her?
Another pick for May books also takes place overseas: Chechnya of all places. Set during the Chechnyan conflict, “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” is a debut novel by Anthony Marra that has been receiving quite a bit of high praise. Ann Patchett calls it “simply spectacular” and T.C. Boyle says it’s hard to believe it’s a first novel. Apparently it’s about a resilient doctor who risks everything to save the life of a hunted child, and it unravels the unexpected ties that bind us together. Hmm, sounds powerful.
But if that’s not your cup of tea, you might check out Gail Godwin’s new book “Flora” set during the final months of WWII, or Philip Meyer’s multigenerational epic of the American West called “The Son,” which Kate Atkinson calls “stunning” and Charles Frazier says is “remarkable.” Perhaps it’s in the similar vein of Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove” if you liked that.
Moving on to May movies (see list at the left), it’s all “The Great Gatsby” as far as I can tell. Apparently the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic has sold buckets this year in anticipation for this adaptation by director and co-screenwriter Baz Luhrmann. I plan to reread it myself before the Big Day. The movie’s set during the Roaring Twenties but looks to have a contemporary feel and soundtrack to it. It’s going to be a bit different than the several other Great Gatsby film versions over the decades. You might recall the 1974 version of it with Robert Redford as Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy but that might seem tame after this new version with Leo DiCaprio as Gatsby and Carey Mulligan as Daisy. I’m keeping my mind open about it and of this classic coming to life.
Lastly, for May albums, there’s some strong releases for this month, see list at the bottom right. I’m definitely enticed by new ones from Pistol Annies and Natalie Maines. I plan to check out those along with my pick of Patty Griffin’s new album “American Kid.” I don’t plan to miss hearing Patty’s gorgeous vocals and new songs. She hasn’t put out a new album since 2007 so this is a big treat.
How about you, which new book, movie or music releases are you most looking forward to in May? Continue reading
Posted in Top Picks
12 Comments
The Place Beyond the Pines
Ryan Gosling is good at those gritty roles where he’s a down-and-out, drifter-type guy trying to make good but who ends up doing something bad. His latest crime drama “The Place Beyond the Pines” is sort of like his 2011 film “Drive” in which he makes his living as a stunt man and mechanic but moonlights as a getaway driver in heists, and has a girlfriend with a baby he tries to help. Similarly in “The Place Beyond the Pines” he’s a motorcycle stunt rider who takes to robbing banks to support his lover and their newborn son. Seem familiar?
But “The Place Beyond the Pines” goes in a different direction when Gosling’s character Luke has a showdown with a cop played by Bradley Cooper who similarly has an infant son like Luke’s. The second half of the film is mostly about the cop, his guilt over what transpired, and the sons each have had. Cut to 15 years in the future, and all comes to a head when Luke’s son crosses paths with the cop.
The movie could’ve been more of an engrossing character study about fathers and sons with themes of guilt and redemption, but it bungles a bit in the second half, going on too long with a detour into police corruption and seemingly being too implausible and coincidental at times, especially with the sons’ chance relations. It’s a bit predictable, too, and yet “The Place Beyond the Pines” has enough going for it — some good acting, shots, and twists — that make it an entertaining crime drama. The parallels between the characters, their fates, and the themes, provoke enough thoughts that it’ll likely go through your mind for quite awhile after it’s done.
Have you seen this? And what do you think of Ryan Gosling and the films he’s been in? Continue reading
Posted in Movies
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The Burgess Boys
Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel “The Burgess Boys” follows up her 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winner “Olive Kitteridge,” which I liked quite a bit along with her novel “Amy and Isabelle” from 1998. So I jumped to read this one about two middle-age brothers, Bob and Jim, both lawyers in NYC, and their sister, Susan, who still lives in their hometown of Shirley Falls, Maine. “The Burgess” family reunites in Maine after Susan’s teenage son, Zach, pulls a senseless prank at a mosque that eventually leads to a hate-crime charge. Jim, who’s a hotshot corporate attorney,works to get the charge on his nephew dropped, while Bob, the hapless brother who’s always idolized Jim, goes to lend support to their sister Susan, who desperately needs their help.
“The Burgess Boys” is a bit of a departure for Strout, whose past books have mainly been about women and children, not brothers. This one seems a bit more accessible than quirky “Olive Kitteridge,” and is propelled by the topical issue of immigration and the prejudices surrounding the era after 9/11. But like her other books, “The Burgess Boys” focuses mainly on family relationships, which Strout writes so adeptly about, and involves New York and Maine, which might make you think Olive Kitteridge is going to pop out of the story briefly, but alas she doesn’t.
Strout writes masterfully about the Burgess siblings and I got drawn in to the Jim-Bob-Susan dynamic of the story along with their spouses and exes. There’s a hierarchy, disfunctionality and grievances towards one another that feels very real, all shaped by the guilt of their father’s accidental death when they were young. Towards the end of the book, a secret about this is revealed that blows the story into another gear.
“The Burgess Boys” is a book that’s both subtle yet charged. I’m sure I especially won’t forget about Bob or Jim for a while. They conjure a complexity about brothers that seems to hit a nail on the head. With “The Burgess Boys,” I felt for a time like I had stepped into a siblings’ world and how they had grown up in Maine with the weight of their childhood on their shoulders. Perhaps because of this they seem to hang on to each other despite their troubled relations, and the book is more touching than a downer.
It might be a departure from “Olive,” but “The Burgess Boys” is a solid follow-up. Continue reading
Posted in Books
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Spring Break 2013
Enjoying some sunshine in Florida with plenty of beach reading. More to come …. Continue reading
Posted in Daily Cue
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