The Cue Card

Greetings. We had a big snowstorm last week and now have a lot of snow on the ground. It’s been cold too! Ouch. Nonetheless my husband and I went cross-country skiing both days this past weekend, which was fun, and now have been watching quite a bit of the Olympics. Some of the events have already been spectacular such as when the Norwegians made a medal sweep of the cross-country “skiathlon” race — in which the skier fell at the beginning, was trampled, and still got up and won the race after being in last place: Wow. Can you tell I’m already in deep watching the Games? I’ll be cheering on a couple hometown skiers — Go Trevor! — among others. I’m also wondering if the women’s Canadian hockey team will win its fifth Olympic gold in a row. You hear about such things when you live here. No pressure or anything, right? I’m also rooting for the big team down south and various other athletes as well. I’m all over the place.

Meanwhile recently I went through a “Big Little Lies” phase — not me personally — but I’m talking about the 2014 novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty and the HBO TV series that’s based on it. I finished both — as I had to see what all the fuss was about … since the TV series recently won 4 Golden Globes as well as 8 Emmys. I was curious: was it really that good? I think I hadn’t picked up the popular, bestselling novel before because it seemed to be essentially chick-lit, which in full-blown mode isn’t usually my cup of tea, but there’s a bit more to this novel than just that. For one thing it’s done well and for another it takes quite a stand. For those who don’t know what the book’s about:

It takes place in an idyllic Australian seaside town where you find out at the beginning that someone has died at the parents’ Trivia Night — a part of the elementary school’s fundraiser. You don’t know who it is or what has happened but eventually the story leads up to that. Backtrack six months earlier, and you meet the characters who appear to be the possible victims or perpetrators at the school’s kindergarten orientation.

There’s Chloe’s mom, the remarried Madeline who is gregarious and knows everyone and everything going on in town, but is having issues with her ex-husband and their teenage daughter who wants to move in with her dad’s new family. And then there’s her best friend Celeste, who seems to have the perfect life, rich and beautiful with twin boys and a hedge fund manager husband, though it’s far from the happiness it appears. And lastly Jane, who Madeline and Celeste befriend, is a young single mom who’s just moved to town with her son Ziggy and seems to have something dark hidden in her past.

All of them seem to be having family issues or have secrets that unfold as times goes on. But it’s after Jane’s son Ziggy is accused of bullying at school that sides are drawn and tensions mount among cliques of moms at school and within marriages, which eventually boil over on the night of the fundraiser.

Oh my, it’s more than you bargained for. I liked how the novel effectively takes on such serious issues as bullying and domestic abuse — as well as being a bit satirical and funny in places about the whole school gossipy scene and these well-off parents with families who behave badly. I thought it made some interesting connections and conclusions and was pretty much an easy page-turner about the three women’s lives, though the long countdown the chapters take to get to what happens at the school’s fundraiser drove me sort of crazy. It felt a bit long at 486 pages and I didn’t really care for the group narrative that acted like a Greek chorus at the end of each chapter. Those seemed to bog things down though I’m sure they’re meant to show various viewpoints and for comic relief. Despite these minor gripes, I’m glad I read the novel, and I eagerly took on the show.

The TV series follows the novel pretty closely though it adds a couple of things too. One noticeable change is that it’s set in Monterey, California, instead of Australia, though it seems to work well and the scenery is gorgeous. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley are all quite good as the three friends whose kids are in kindergarten together and whose lives involve some sticky family issues. Laura Dern too is great as the parent whose child is being bullied and who lashes out at the child she thinks is responsible.

The show is a bit soap opera-y about the well-off, but it makes for total escape watching and an entertaining show … beautiful people in a beautiful landscape behaving badly. You know the kind. And by the end you find out what happens at the school’s fundraiser and who dies. I enjoyed it and perhaps liked it maybe more than the book. Even my husband liked it, ha, which was a test. Apparently Meryl Streep has been cast in the show’s Season 2, which has yet to be filmed and which goes beyond the book, since that ended with Season 1.

Next up I finished debut author Karen Cleveland’s spy thriller “Need to Know.” It’s about a CIA analyst named Vivian — a wife and mother of four children — who finds out in a secret dossier that someone close to her is a part of a Russian sleeper cell and everything she thought she knew and trusted is not what it was. Oh my, this is a plot that might appeal to fans of the TV show “The Americans,” which, as you probably know, is about two Soviet KGB officers in the 1980s that pose as an American married couple living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with their two children. (I think I only watched Season 1, but the sixth and final season is supposed to start in March.)

Anyways, this story made me feel quite uncomfortable at first because the main character Vivian seems to be giving in to the Russians to shield the person close to her. I was afraid the whole thing was going to be about “breaking bad” and handing over classified information, which felt awful, but luckily towards the end the story takes a turn and Vivian gets more of a backbone. Thank goodness. I still had trouble believing some of her earlier decisions, but I thought her fear felt pretty palpable and the situation to be as bad as one of your worst nightmares.

It’s quite a fast-paced book, one that mixes a family drama with a spy thriller. Apparently the author was a CIA analyst herself so she knows her way around Langley and those who fight to keep secrets. I think I gave it a 3.5 on Goodreads. I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a series, which I guess I wouldn’t mind checking out more of.

Lastly my husband and I saw the movie “The Post,” which we both liked. There are a few facets to the movie that make it quite a story to see, especially in the era when the press is quite often vilified and attacked under the current administration. Is it any wonder that Steven Spielberg rushed to make the film after Trump was elected and got it into theaters in six months flat.

Set during a few weeks in 1971, the movie revisits the Washington Post’s decision to publish portions of the Pentagon Papers, a classified report about America’s involvement in Vietnam. It runs through the events as they unfolded in a suspenseful fashion: about how the New York Times had broken the story but had been ordered to stop publishing the papers; and how the Washington Post then obtained them and what was at stake to publish them; and how the newspaper could’ve been ruined.

It’s an anxious ride revisiting this episode in history — and what it meant to freedom of the press, as the movie shows, and being able to hold the government accountable, which is so essential to our democracy. What I liked too about the movie is how it shows Katharine Graham coming into her own as publisher of The Post during a time when the industry and government was very male run. She had a lot on the line (she was about to take her company public at the time of the Pentagon Papers) and she held the reins and came through big time.

It’s interesting to note that Graham was an unlikely feminist pioneer of her times who was quite shy and prone to self-doubt, but she was thrust into the spotlight after her husband’s death when she took over The Post and went on to become quite a newspaper icon. I am grateful that I got a chance to hear her speak a few times when I worked at The Post in the 1990s. I recommend reading her autobiography, if you haven’t already, called “Personal History,” which is fascinating.

Indeed some of the best parts of the movie are just the quiet performances and interactions between Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, and Tom Hanks as executive editor Ben Bradlee. Meryl is particularly wonderful in the role — she seems to be able to conjure up the late Mrs. Graham. And what’s best too are the scenes of the old linotype machines and the newspaper going to press. Ahh those were the days. I told you I was crazy about newspaper movies, and this one is no exception.

What about you — have you seen or read any of these works, and if so, what did you think?

Greetings, it’s been a while. Last week we were on a road trip to Park City, Utah, to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law there. It took two days of driving 8 hours plus, but we made it even after a snowstorm caught up to us in central Montana. Wisely we stayed over in Butte. On the road we listened to a 2011 WWII history called “Inferno: the World at War 1939-1945” by British author Max Hastings. It’s quite an epic one-volume history of the entire war (both politically and militarily) and paints the gruesome global toll of it all. We’re still only a part of the way into it but had to take breaks from the bleakness it portrays. Still it’s well done — both detailed and wide-ranging — and adds a lot of information that I hadn’t known before. We hope to finish it for a trip we’re taking  later in the year to a few WWII sites.

Meanwhile we took along our yellow Lab, Stella, so she could meet up with her half-sister, Sadie, who lives with my sister. The dogs had never met so it was fun to get them together and let them run alongside us as we took to the cross-country ski trails. They’re quite different dogs but got along well, so it was nice. (See Sadie on the left, and Stella on the right). Park City is a cool town that I hadn’t spent much time in before, but by happenstance the Sundance Film Festival, which showcases independent (and often lower budget) films, was going on while we were there — and by some miracle, considering the massive crowds, I got in off the wait list to see two movies. It turned out to be a bucket-list kind of experience.

The first one was a drama-mystery film called “Nancy” about a woman who starts to believe she’s the daughter of a married couple whose child went missing thirty years ago. Oh it’s a bit strange and dark, the thirty-something girl (played by Andrea Riseborough) is quite down-and-out and you’re not sure if she’s up to tricks but she’s also sad and you start pulling for her — as well as the couple that she seeks out to meet in hopes that she is their daughter.

It’s an unsettling tale of two affected parties who come to help each other in unexpected ways. I was impressed by the script by filmmaker Christina Choe and by the performance by Andrea Riseborough as Nancy, which is quite eerie and tough. I last saw her in “Battle of the Sexes” and now after this, think she’s quite a talent and rising star. It’s a smaller-budget film but worth its sad weight.

I also saw at Sundance the documentary “RBG” about the life and work of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ohh it’s quite excellent and emotional too. If you get a chance: run … do not walk to see it. The path Justice Ginsburg helped pave for women’s rights, especially in the late 1960s and through the 1970s, is pretty extraordinary. Her personal, family life too is quite a story.

Which reminds me: I need to put the biography: “Notorious RBG: The Life and Time of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” on my list this year; I’ve heard it’s good. It’s no wonder RBG is capturing such a huge resurgence in popularity these days at 84. She’s rocking. A two-time cancer survivor and an icon for human rights — she has a sly wit about her too. She laughs at her portrayal on Saturday Night Live by Kate McKinnon, which does seem pretty funny. And she works out with a trainer too, who says she’s as tough as a cyborg. Is there anything, she can’t do? Go RBG, Go.

Next up, I finished the audiobook of Willa Cather’s 1913 novel “O Pioneers!.” I had remembered Cather’s book “My Antonia” fondly from my youth so I thought I would try this one out too. It’s considered the first novel in Cather’s prairie trilogy and is about a family of Swedish-American immigrants who struggle to make a life farming in Nebraska  at the beginning of the 20th century. Oh I wanted to like this one just as much, but for some reason it fell a bit short for me.

Granted, there’s much to admire about Alexandra, the daughter who is given control of the farm once her father dies. She steers her three brothers into keeping the family farm despite the hardships they face and eventually they are able to make it prosperous. Alexandra is a seemingly strong character (perhaps ahead of her time) who postpones love to devote herself to making the farm a success. I liked too how Cather’s writing about the land is quite evocative of the time and place — and life on the wind-swept prairie.

Yet at the same time the story comes off a bit plotless and meanders along sort of undramatically until … wham a violent dramatic event occurs at the end in which Alexandra sides with a jealous husband over her beloved brother and neighborhood friend. I guess the end confounded me a bit or seemed out of place, though it’s likely I’m viewing it through today’s lens instead of the societal mores of the times. Still it’s unfair how Alexandra’s ultimate turn at love and marriage contrasts with her brother’s though perhaps that’s the point. It reminded me slightly of Edith Wharton’s “Ethan Frome,” which came out just two years before this and I recently read, but that tragic story was stronger to me and put together better. But I haven’t given up on Cather. I’ll try out some of her others in the future and probably reread “My Antonia.”

Lastly, when we got back, my husband and I saw the movie “All the Money in the World” based on the true story of the 1973 kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III in Rome whose mother tried desperately to convince his oil tycoon grandfather to pay the ransom, which he scoffed at despite his vast wealth.

Oh it’s quite a doozy of a story, played out quite expertly by Christopher Plummer as the grandfather and Michelle Williams as the mother. (I hear she’s playing Janis Joplin soon.) You might not remember the case, but it’s best to go into it blind so I won’t say much more: other than the movie moves along at a good pace and the Getty family surely was dysfunctional. Someday I plan to get to the Getty art museum in Los Angeles and visit its Villa, which is a re-creation of the Villa of the Papyri from the Roman world. Till then this movie gave me a glimpse into the man behind it.

What about you — have you seen any of these films or been to Sundance, or read any of Willa Cather’s — and if so what did you think?

How goes it? Have you set your reading goals for the year? I hope to read and listen to about the same amount of books as I did last year — perhaps 60, or five per month, which feels a reasonable pace to me. My first three books of 2018 included one nonfiction book and two page-turners, though since then I’ve had a bit of trouble settling down. Lately I pick up one book read some, then put it down and pick up another, which is very unusual for me. Usually I just commit to a book and stick with it. It seems I need to reclaim some focus these days.

Granted, it’s been busy this month with travels. And tomorrow we’re taking a road trip of about 13 hours to meet up with my sister and her husband in the States. It’s a short trip then we will drive back, but we get to take our dog Stella, which will be fun since they have her half sister — a Yellow Lab that she will meet for the first time. Hmm. I hope to take plenty of pictures of our treks with the dogs. Needless to say this long preamble is basically to make the case I haven’t had a lot of time recently so I will put forth a few mini reviews of what I’ve finished lately.

From the publisher’s synopsis: In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death.

My thoughts: I came upon Peter Nichols’s 2001 nonfiction book “A Voyage for Madmen” because my husband, who enjoys sailing, had a copy of it on our shelves. I wanted to read it because there’s a movie coming out in February or March called “The Mercy” starring Colin Firth as Donald Crowhurst, who was a competitor in this round-the-world yacht race. And boy, the mysterious circumstances surrounding him and the race is something I had to find out about. (Rachel Weisz stars as his wife in the upcoming movie.)

I went into the book, not knowing much about the 1968 sailboat race, which was an amazing undertaking back then. It was the first solo round-the-world race, in which the sailors were not allowed to stop on land or receive supplies or food. Everything they needed had to be onboard at the race’s start and each of them had to travel alone on their boat. It was a time before GPS, cell phones, and satellite dishes, so basically one had to navigate by charts and the skies using a sextant, and communications were done through two-way radios though those often broke down. Needless to say, the sailors in this race were much of the time completely out of touch with the rest of the world and by themselves for many months at sea. Oh the dangers they faced were staggering too; 30 to 40 foot waves from storms in the Southern Ocean knocked them about senselessly.

I’m glad that I didn’t Google the race beforehand because the author let’s the story unfold as it happens, detailing the nine racers as they are underway and not giving away who wins till the end. It adds to the suspense of the book — only you know from the subtitle that nine start the undertaking but only one crosses the finish line, taking 10 months to do it. I found myself guessing along the way who it would be. The action and details of each boat at sea are quite fascinating, as well as the backgrounds of the sailors, the geography and their routes. I was hooked by the story and the incredible risks and hardships that all the competitors had to face. How they were able to recover from the damages to their boats at sea was pretty incredible too.

My only slight warning to other readers is that it takes some focus at the book’s beginning to keep track of all the different people and racers, and a bit of the history. Though after awhile you get a handle on each boat and participant. There’s also a fair amount about sailing throughout the book — terms and techniques used and a swath of information about the sea and sailors etc. — but I sort of welcomed learning about it all. For those without an interest in boats or sailing, this might not be a read for you. However at times “A Voyage for Madmen” reads like an epic survival tale and human interest story.

I don’t want to say too much about Donald Crowhurst and the other racers or what happens, but they all have their ways about them. Some drop out, some boats fall apart, others can’t handle the circumstances and only one finishes. There’s enough stuffed into this story to encompass much of the human battle and condition, making it an enjoyable nonfiction read and my first of the year.

Next up, I finished the audiobook of Alafair Burke’s 2016 crime thriller “The Ex.” I hadn’t tried her before and didn’t realize she’s the daughter of crime novelist James Lee Burke, duh! “The Ex” is about New York City lawyer Olivia Randall who comes to defend her long-ago love (Jack Harris) who may — or may not — have killed the man responsible for his wife’s death. As Olivia begins to investigate the case, details and secrets about her once relationship with Jack emerge. And as evidence mounts, she is forced to confront doubts whether he was capable of the crime and if she ever really knew him.

I was impressed by the author’s storytelling and pretty captivated by the story, particularly because the protagonist, defense lawyer Olivia Randall, is a sassy and tough, smart character. She’s appealing, especially with Xe Sands reading the part for the audio — one of my favorite narrators.

Towards the end, I figured out whodunit but still enjoyed following where it goes with it nonetheless. The storyline, too, gets a bit crazy near the end — not sure if it’s totally believable — but still Olivia Randal’s detective and legal work were well worth my time with it. I would definitely check out the author’s next book — “The Wife” — sometime, which coincidentally just came out this month.

Speaking of page-turners, I also finished the audiobook of Robyn Harding’s 2017 family drama “The Party,” which I first heard head-spinning things about from Ti at her blog Book Chatter. And she wasn’t kidding this story was hard to put down. I was wrapped up in it from start to finish. It’s about an accident at a Sweet 16 birthday party that triggers a series of traumatic events that threaten to unravel a wealthy family in San Francisco and their seemingly picture-perfect life. Oh my! You invite teenage kids over for a little celebration, and this is what you get in return. Jeepers, how alarming.

“The Party” is a novel that’s been marketed for folks who liked Liane Moriarty’s novel “Big Little Lies” — perhaps with a splash of “Mean Girls” thrown in. Oh those high school cliques, darn them. Jeff and Kim Sanders are the parents who let their daughter Hannah have a sleepover party for her 16th bday, inviting four of her friends. But good girls will be bad girls sometimes, and unfortunately things go terribly wrong. In the end, the consequences that play out over the following months come on like a train wreck waiting to happen.

I liked the character development of the parents and teens, and the story felt real to me. Everyone came off rather flawed. And I also liked how the chapters alternated narrators mainly between Jeff and Kim Sanders and their daughter Hannah; their viewpoints all differed and led down a path that you try to reckon with. It’s a quick story that kept me listening for long walks at a time and one where I felt its shattering effects.

Lastly I wanted to briefly mention we saw the Golden Globe-winning movie “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” last week, and although it’s not an easy movie, I liked it and felt it elicited strong emotions while also including dark humor and bold themes. It’s about a mother who buys ad space on billboards to challenge her town’s police to solve her daughter’s murder. One could say it’s a movie that touches on various issues, including policing and racism, viligantism, abuse and redemption.

Both Sam Rockwell who plays a racist cop and Frances McDormand who plays the mother that takes up arms are pretty rough, flawed characters — you don’t necessarily like either, but during the story they seem to undergo slight transformations, which unearth some compassion about them after all. It’s a movie that shows both the harsh and nasty side of human nature, along with the more tender. I found it quite a different kind of film and one I’m still thinking about. But if you’re sensitive to bad language, or tough themes, this one is chock full of them, so beware. It might not be your cup of tea.

What about you — have you read any of these books or authors, or seen this movie — and if so, what did you think?