The Cue Card

It’s been a scattered week. Is everyone feeling that? Much to do during this holiday season. I got our tree?! Though it took us a while to find where the box of decorations were put. We plan to decorate the tree this weekend with festivities, so until then I’m putting a photo of our “naked tree” up. It’s a stout pleasant thing, right? It’ll look better with the balls.

I know most of you finished decorating and gift buying long ago, but I’m often behind in this endeavor, especially since our Thanksgiving trip was my main focus this season. I still have gifts to buy, but I’m used to being a last-minute Christmas shopper, ha, though I avoid crowds and do most of it online.

Do you still send out Christmas cards? I’m old-school and like such things, but I’ll likely only send out a few this week. After all there’s only two weeks left until Christmas. What am I waiting for?!

Meanwhile, last week we saw the movie Belfast written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It’s well done and is a coming-of-age tale about a young boy (Buddy) and his working-class family amid the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Have you seen it? It’s based on Branagh’s youth. Apparently he was born in Belfast, the son of working-class Protestant parents and moved with his family at age nine to England to escape the Troubles. The movie shows violence between Protestants and Catholics in a neighborhood where they had once lived peacefully together. 

It’s a moving tale, shot in black-and-white, and the boy’s parents and grandparents play large roles, trying to keep Buddy safe and answer his many questions as they consider leaving Belfast and the violence behind. Irish actors Jamie Dornan (as the Dad) and Caitriona Balfe (as the Mom) are terrific … as well as Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds as the grandparents. The movie seems to balance the grim parts with cute parts, so it mixes both to good effect and feels substantive without being too heavy. The musical score too is pretty major with many songs by Belfast-born Van Morrison. I think the movie might get some Oscar nominations, so we’ll see. And now I’ll leave you with a review of the book I finished lately.

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout / Random House / 256 pages / 2021

At first it took me a while to get into this novel — #3 in the Lucy Barton series, which I listened to as an audiobook read by Kimberly Farr. It felt like random thoughts from Lucy, a successful novelist, about life and her marriage to her first husband William. It seems as readers we’re stuck in Lucy’s head for most of this story and there’s much grief in there as her second husband has recently passed, and misery from her childhood abuse still hangs over her. 

I wasn’t sure if there would be much of a story to find here other than random remembrances and thoughts, but then William, her ex-husband, asks her to accompany him on a trip to Maine to investigate a possible half-sister (Lois Bubar) he never knew about … and to see his mother’s old house. Then the novel sort of picked up for me. I liked how Lucy often wonders if we can ever really know another person … “we are all mysteries” as she puts it. I’m sure she’s right. 

Although divorced, I thought Lucy and William sort of seemed right for one another … even though William engaged in various affairs when they were married and his mind sort of checks out at times and is unavailable. Still they seem quite close … and helpful to one another in regards to each other’s troubled backgrounds. They feel like peas that should fit in the same pod … but have adjustments to make. 

What captures me again about a Strout novel is how she can write with a naturalness of everyday talk and diction, putting all the pauses and back and forth with the realness of reflection and people who have lived hard lives and have much baggage. There’s often a lot of darkness in a Strout novel but also a touch of humanity and tenderness too. Apparently this is my sixth book of hers …. her Lucy and Olive series capture formidable main characters, but might not be for everyone … as they are mostly character studies without a ton of action that cast light on the frailties and perseverance of the human condition. 

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this novel and author before and what did you think?  And what are you reading now? Happy Holidays!

Hi. Sorry I have been out of the blogosphere for a few weeks. We had a good trip to Southern California around Thanksgiving to see siblings and visit with my folks at a senior community. It was quite a bit warmer than expected and we were at the beach for a few days and even took a dip in the ocean. Luckily there were no signs of the gloppy oil spill that happened back in October off the coast of Orange County. I was so involved with family there, which was terrific seeing them after such a long absence, that I never got to post a Happy Thanksgiving message, but I hope those from the States had a warm and wonderful holiday. How was yours?

Now we are into December, and I’m looking to buy a Christmas tree and wreath this week to get into the spirit. There’s a little bit of snow on the ground here and I’m just catching up. I’ve seen a couple Best Books of 2021 lists, such as from the Washington Post here, and the New York Times here, but I won’t be announcing my list till the end of the month.

It’s interesting to see that the only novel that is on both the Post’s and Times’ lists is the novel by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers called The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, which came out in August. It’s over 800 pages long so I haven’t gotten to it yet, but just hearing the author talk about it back in October on the New York Times podcast was enough to think ‘Wow this sounds really good.’ Could it be the novel of the year for those who’ve read it?

Recently, a few tennis friends and I went to the movies to see King Richard starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, the father and first coach of tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams. It basically covers the early years, when their Dad starts to teach them the sport and the family is poor and living in Compton, California. You could say his coaching and decisions for the two young athletes are quite unorthodox but proved to be just the right thing for the girls.

The movie is better than I expected it would be. I guess I thought it’d be a cheesy sports movie, but the performances by Will Smith and some of the other cast, such as the mother played by Aunjanue Ellis, make it rise quite a bit above that. And while it seemingly portrays Richard Williams most frequently in a good light, I don’t think it always makes him out to be an easy person. The girls’ story, too, is pretty inspiring. As a tennis player and fan, I knew I had to see it, but I think non-tennis fans will enjoy it as well. It’s likely Will Smith will get an Oscar nomination for the role as it seems he put a lot into the portrayal. 

Last up this week is a review of Canadian writer Cedar Bowers’s debut novel Astra, which came out in June and was longlisted for Canada’s Giller Prize. I picked it up since the novel was on display at the library and has a fetching book cover, don’t you think?

Each of the chapters in the novel focuses on a different person and propels the story forward about Astra and their relations with her. Astra is a girl who was born and raised at an agricultural  commune in British Columbia. She grows up a feral wild child from a poor background who eventually leaves the commune for Calgary and tries to manage with what she’s been given and can do for herself. There’s chapters of her father, women who knew her from the commune, people who gave her jobs, her former boyfriend, her son, and others. 

Through these, a picture emerges of Astra … of her flaws, damaged self from her commune life, and her elusive nature … as well as her allure to the people she meets and knows. The story covers her life from her youth to middle age and as a grandparent, and where she ends up seems to take the story full circle. She can never truly escape the impact the commune had on her. There’s some interesting parts to this character study … and some decent storytelling. I’ll be curious to see what Cedar Bowers puts out next. Her husband is novelist Michael Christie, who wrote the novel Greenwood, and they live on Vancouver Island.

The structure of Astra reminded me a little of Elizabeth Strout’s novel Olive Kitteridge, since Astra, like Olive, has a part in each chapter that focuses on other characters and their relation to her. It’s an interesting way to see the main character from different sides and viewpoints. 

That’s all for now. What about you have you read this one and how was your week? 

Hi. I hope everyone is doing well. It’s been much milder here these past weeks and there is no snow on the ground. It’s just about a couple weeks now until U.S. Thanksgiving. We are planning to fly next weekend to Southern California to see my parents and siblings so that should be fun. It’s been many years since we went anywhere for the holiday. Will you be traveling for it or getting together with family? There’s much to do before then. Here’s a photo of the girls before one of their walks. 

We went out a couple times recently first to the movies and then to a restaurant with friends, which feels weird since we’ve been living under a rock for so long here. Both seemed fairly safe. Heck I’ve been playing tennis (doubles) indoors for quite awhile with proof of full vaccination. So we remain cautiously optimistic that Covid might be winding down for good. Knock on wood, right? What do think? It seems things are pretty open and the amount of travelers around Thanksgiving will likely be crazy … as if Covid is completely done, which might be a bit premature once again. 

Meanwhile this week we saw the movie Passing at the theater. I think it’s on Netflix but we don’t get it, and my husband and I are starting to enjoy going to movies again. It seems archaic — right? — but a bit fun too. Passing is excellent and follows the book closely, about two acquaintances in the 1920s who bump into each other 12 years later in New York and renew a friendship, but one is living a different life that is dangerous.

The two leads played by actresses Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are terrific. I guess I hadn’t seen Tessa Thompson before but she was in the Creed boxing films. Passing is a quiet, low-budget type of film that was shot in black-and-white in New York, but it’s powerful too, much like Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel that it’s based on. See it if you get a chance. 

In book news, this past week Canada’s top literary award the Giller Prize was announced with author Omar El Akkad winning for his 2021 novel What Strange Paradise, which tells the story of a global refugee crisis through the eyes of 9-year-old Amir, a Syrian refugee who winds up on a small island nation where a teenage girl named Vanna lives. The narrative tells both their stories of how they got to be where they are.

Being about refugees, the novel seems quite a timely story for our times. While I wasn’t a big fan of Akkad’s bleak debut novel American War, I’ve put myself on the library wait list for this one. Omar El Akkad is an interesting author; he’s been all over the world as a journalist and has a lot of perspective on things that are happening now. I met Omar during his book tour for American War in 2017. See here. 

I sort of miss those non-virtual book events. Hmm, will they ever come back? Although we’re able to see more virtual author talks, it’s not completely the same right? But just this week I watched an online author talk with Susan Orlean for her new nonfiction book On Animals. She’s a gem of an author and speaker and her talks are always very entertaining.

It was great to see and it was part of our city’s book festival called Wordfest, which used to be all in-person but has moved to being all virtual the past two years. I’m not sure the festival will ever be coming back in-person, but I hope so. I’m sure it saves a lot of money not to put it on in town, though I miss chatting with other readers and the authors there. What do you think: do you like the virtual chats better or not as well?

And now I’ll leave you with what I finished lately. 

A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris /Little Brown /352 pages /2021

As the novel starts 68-year-old father Charlie Barnes is sitting in his basement office about to call each of his grown kids to tell them he has pancreatic cancer, although he hasn’t actually gotten the test results back yet from the doctor. Charlie feels he’s had many failures in his life, including: not getting his college degree, having a career of about 40 jobs, being on his fifth marriage, and having up-and-down relationships with his kids. 

He’s mad too because it’s 2008 and the investment firm Bear Stearns, where he once worked, shafted many before going kaput. He tries to call the CEO and give him a piece of his mind, but the guy who answers the phone says there’s no one there by that name. So Charlie moves on to calling his kids, and leaves messages at their work places about his pancreatic cancer. It’s actually quite comical about those he speaks with in relaying the message. His kids have been told about his health scares before, which weren’t warranted, so they aren’t sure whether to believe him this time. On this day, Charlie seems to be looking back, a bit of a sad sack agonizing over how his life hasn’t amounted to much and now he thinks he’s about to die. 

Then later you learn that it’s actually Charlie’s foster son Jake, an author, who is the one telling Charlie’s story in a novel in an effort to pay him tribute despite his mistakes as he learns of the diagnosis. But his siblings think Jake’s novel is an untruthful account. So you’re not sure exactly what to believe; Jake, the writer, has left some things out and given his take on what happened in their lives. 

In spite of that you get a good picture of the family who all come into play … of Charlie, his current wife Barbara, his son Jerry, daughter Marcie, Jake, and one other daughter who becomes apparent near the end. They all seem flawed but Charlie, the patriarch, has some lovable qualities despite his mistakes. It all adds up to a narrative that leaves much to think about. It’s in part warm and also quite funny … and this author is playing with the reader in various ways to great effect. 

This is a metafictional kind of tale, in which you’re reminded it’s a novel about Charlie being written. I found it a pretty creative family story, of their arguments with each other, that is quite funny at times. I listened to the audiobook read by actor Nick Offerman, who seems to nail the family dynamics and humor. It was my first Joshua Ferris novel, but now I’d like to go back and read a couple of his other novels sometime. He seems a talent and a hoot.

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this author before? And how was your week?

Hi. We are getting some heavy rain today, which we haven’t seen in months. It’s been very dry. So we are happy … and happy too that it isn’t snow. Yesterday the doggies went hiking with my husband. And pictured here is Willow, so pleased with herself to be on top of the mountain with them. It’s been six weeks now that’s we’ve had Willow and she’s doing well … still learning and going to puppy classes. Her favorite things are chasing the ball (hundreds of times in a row), having her tummy rubbed, being patted endlessly, and chewing whatever toy is in reach. 

Meanwhile we indulged in much sci-fi this week, which is very unusual considering I’m not typically a science fiction fan, but I guess there are exceptions. On Thursday, we went to the Opening Night at the theater of the new movie Dune, which is an epic feature, and early in the week we also started the TV series Foundation on Apple+, based on the Isaac Asimov sci-fi books. So I guess I’ve gone galactic recently. Not sure what is happening.

We hadn’t been to a movie theater since 2019, and overall it seemed quite safe as we weren’t sitting near anyone. Dune was worth going to see on the big screen. Timothee Chalamet does a good job playing Paul, the son of a noble family who travel to the planet Arrakis to rule and manage the very valuable spice production, but unfortunately things don’t go exactly as planned. Arrakis is quite the desert wasteland, and it’s more than just hot (the inhabitants need to recycle their own sweat) … but worse are the giant sand worms who live underground. So beware. Just don’t make a sound and you might make it.

I remembered a bit from the Frank Herbert novel, which I read back in the 1980s. I can’t tell you any more of what happens, but you should see it. It’s quite a production and the cinematography is awesome. The movie covers only half the book so there will be a sequel to cover the rest. 

Also this week I finished the audiobook of Nella Larsen’s 1929 short novel Passing. I’m pretty sure I first learned of this classic last year from JoAnn’s review of it over at her blog Lakeside Musing. It piqued my interest since I liked Brit Bennett’s novel The Vanishing Half last year, which has some of the same themes and plot turns in it involving race and class.

Larsen’s novel is about two black childhood friends in New York — Irene and Clare who have been out of contact for 12 years when Clare gets back in touch wanting to visit Irene. Soon Irene comes to learn Clare is secretly racially “passing” as white and has a white husband, who does not know her true identity and makes a terrible scene in front of them. Yikes. Irene, who is married to a doctor, doesn’t want to be involved with Clare or the risks she poses, though Clare misses Harlem and wants to return to the culture and her old friends. 

It’s more of a complex tale than you initially think, and Irene turns out a pretty conniving  friend as time goes on. It’s clear these two friends have taken different paths in life regarding race and marriage. And even though you can sense what might happen early on, the ending is still palpable and a bit of a surprise. 

It’s hard to believe I hadn’t heard of this novel or author before last year. Though a revival of her writing has been underway for awhile. As for her life, it seems Nella Larsen, who grew up in Chicago and moved to New York in 1914 to go to nursing school, worked as a nurse for years, then as a librarian, and later took a leave to write her first novel, becoming active as well in Harlem’s arts community. 

Tragically later in life after a divorce, Larsen left Harlem and her writing behind and returned to nursing before dying in 1964 at age 72. It’s sad to think that this author with such promise put out two novels and then struggling with depression and life’s circumstances stopped writing all together. Ugh. Only now some of us are just starting to learn of her. Still there’s a movie coming of Passing soon … and I’m looking forward to seeing it with actresses Tessa Thompson as Irene and Ruth Negga as Clare. Don’t miss it. 

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this author or seen the sci-fi mentioned — and if so, what did you think? Happy Halloween preparations.