Category: Books

On the Road: Tar Heel State

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North Carolina was a large source of tar, pitch and turpentine for many years and around the time of the Civil War became known as the Tar Heel State and its inhabitants Tar Heelers.  Tar was used to coat the bottom of boats and a large amount was exported to England.  Initially, the term was a derogatory one, but later was adopted favorably as the state’s and its residents’ nickname.

We spent a week in North Carolina at Thanksgiving. We didn’t see any tar or turpentine, but did enjoy touring the Reynolda House in Winston-Salem, country home of A. J. Reynolds of tobacco fame and his wife Katharine.  Katharine was a very progressive woman for her time (1920’s) and she oversaw the building of the home, the creation of a school for the workers, and the beginnings of a village.  At one time, 300 families lived on the estate.  Unfortunately, she died in childbirth and barely spent any time here.   The house is impressive—bungalow style with an expansive main room featuring double staircases and an Aeolian organ plus garden rooms, porches, a jazzy red and white lower level bar cum entertainment space, and a stunningly gorgeous swimming pool!  The bungalow movement emphasized fresh air for good health and the porches and patios are designed to promote it. There are also extensive gardens, most of which were dormant, but a few rose blooms and cabbage heads remained and the conservatory showcased seasonal poinsettias and a few bromeliads.

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The featured exhibit, The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887-1920, is a very pleasing collection of paintings.  Some familiar names here, Childe Hassam, for example, but mostly not works we’d seen anywhere else.  Organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, it is worth seeing.

 

Central North Carolina has a lot of clay and has been a locus for pottery since the 1700’s.  Seagrove, south of Greensboro, and the surrounding area abound with studios open to the public.  We were there the day before Thanksgiving so many studios were closed, but we took advantage of the North Carolina Pottery Center to get oriented and see samples of about 80 different potters’ work. We then visited three studios and vowed that we needed to return for a full day to leisurely tour the area.  As you can see, I prefer the more contemporary designs.

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Bookstores for Book Lovers

I’m a longtime connoisseur of bookstores, particularly independent ones.  I have my favorites in the U.S. and even a few in the U.K.  In my opinion, a good bookstore smells of paper and ink, is light on the non-book miscellaneous merchandise (note cards are fine), has nooks and corners where you can linger and browse, offers a comfortable chair or two, and is laid out more like a maze than an array of aisles.

In Durham, we re-visited The Regulator Bookshop, a favorite haunt for at least 30 years. Located in the bustling 9th Street business corridor, The Regulator is scruffy in a good way.  There is a side room off the main area devoted to magazines and greeting cards, an open area with tables of books and books on shelves, a raised area for kids’ books, and a very welcoming long banquette. Many years ago, I spent several hours in that spot reading to my young son while our car was being repaired.  Downstairs, where once there was a coffee bar, there is now a space for events surrounded by used books and remainder titles.  Overall the store is inviting and always lively with readers of all ages.

A more recent addition to my list is McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village (near Chapel Hill) where for ten years or so, we’ve whiled away an occasional hour or two.  It’s more genteel than The Regulator which, considering its clientele of largely retirees, makes sense.  The store is carpeted and feels like being inside a home.  There are multiple rooms (one devoted to books for children through teens), another with a fireplace and comfy chairs, and yet another in the back packed with mystery books.  There are appealing displays of the latest titles and staff recommendations along with a focus on local and regional fiction and nonfiction.  I always find something to buy—usually too many “somethings!”

Book of the Week

I just finished Colum McCann’s latest work, Thirteen Ways of Looking, which is a collection of one novella and several short stories.  Not only is McCann an elegant stylist who makes every word count, he is accessible and witty and portrays his characters with compassion and understanding.  The title novella beautifully captures the thought processes and asides of a retired judge as he reflects on his career and negotiates lunchtime conversation with his favorite waiter and his fragile son.  And I thought the last story of a damaged nun, an outlier who is revisited by past trauma, was brilliant.  The New York Times included this title among its 100 notable books of the year.

Header image:  Discovery Room at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh

(All photos copyright by JWFarrington)

Tidy Tidbits: Portraits of Women

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On the Screen

While the reviews were a bit mixed and the Chief Penguin was reluctant, I did get us to see Suffragette.  He found the beginning a bit slow while I liked and appreciated the way it set up the harsh and hostile working conditions Maud (Carey Mulligan) experienced in the laundry.  It stretches credulity some that Maud would so easily be drawn into the movement after one encounter with women throwing rocks at store windows, but her difficult work situation combined with a husband who, typical of the time and his class, doesn’t understand that his wife might want more for herself, provide context for the battles to come.  Although she doesn’t early on identify herself as a suffragette, Maud is bold and daring, and she too is arrested and imprisoned.

Meryl Streep appears in a brief scene as the determined, upper class, movement leader, Emmeline Pankhurst.  Based on real events, this film drives home the violence, perseverance and sacrifice British women endured to win the vote after decades of cajoling and reasoning failed.  Overall I thought it was a good movie.  Before the credits, there is a list of countries and the years the women received the vote with a few surprises:  Italy 1945, Switzerland 1971.

On the Page

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis:  The Untold Story by Barbara Leaming.

There have been many other books about Jackie Kennedy, but this one focuses on her response to her husband’s assassination in Dallas and how that impacted her behavior and her choices in the years to come including her later marriage to Aristotle Onassis.  Leaming posits that Jackie suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) long before it was officially identified as an aftereffect of war or of experiencing other horrific events.  For many years after, Mrs. Kennedy tried to find a place where she felt safe.

This book is an interesting approach to a life that seems to me not to have been that happy, and the reader may feel, like I did, that the details of that tragic ride are recounted too many times.  As a wealthy young woman, Jacqueline Bouvier was a product of her time who wanted marriage and children, but didn’t want to be ordinary.  In the end, enigmatic and elusive, she was anything but ordinary.

Being Thankful

Thanksgiving prompted some reflection on life’s blessings.  My list is short, but packed with substance.

  1. Good health. Without it, everything else pales.
  2. Happy marriage. We just celebrated our 45th anniversary!  Onward to 50.  Shall I say I was a child bride of 16?  Not.
  3. Family. We don’t live close to anyone, but I cherish the visits and phone calls with our son and family and with my siblings and their offspring.
  4. Friends.  I have dear friends here and others scattered from North Carolina to Maine and across the country in San Francisco.  You all provide rich context to this stage of life for which I’m most grateful.

 

Header image:  Emmeline Pankhurst (www.theguardian.com)

Tidy Tidbits: Culture Notes

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Not the Season But

You soon learn when you move here, that everyone refers to “the season.” The season runs from after Christmas through April and perhaps into May. It’s when the snowbirds fly south, all of the part-time residents are back, and the cultural season is in full swing. That said, although the season has not yet arrived, the pace has picked up, and there is a seemingly endless parade of local festivals and fairs, everything from chalk in Venice to blues in Bradenton. Recently, we enjoyed our first Sarasota Orchestra concert for 2015-16, the Sarasota Opera’s very fine production of “La Boheme” and the South Florida Museum’s annual Snooty Gala. Pianist Marc Andre Hamelin and the orchestra presented a memorable performance of Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto along with two pieces by Shostakovich. An upcoming orchestra concert will feature violinist Leila Josefowicz whom we got to know during her years of study at the Curtis Institute.

On the Small Screen

These two TV series on PBS have ended or almost so, but I do think they are worth mentioning. In “Home Fires,” the focus is on the women in a small English town and their desire to help the war effort, but also on the rivalry for leadership of the Women’s Institute. Absorbing and convincing, it will immerse you in the daily lives of the villagers as tensions develop over the impending war.

The characters are many, the social and political alliances tangled and complex, and the accents sometimes thick, but “Indian Summers” is worth one’s time. Set in the early 1930’s at a summer retreat in the Himalayas, it depicts the waning power of the ruling British Colonials and the rising protest of the native classes. Both series are available on DVD.

On the Page

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.

Some of you may recall the stir that was caused when Ms. Clark died at age 104 in 2011, and it was discovered that she owned several sumptuous properties preserved, but not lived in for decades.  They included a chateau style house in Connecticut purchased as a safe house, but never furnished and never visited. Raised in luxury in elegant surroundings on Fifth Avenue, Huguette Clark ended up living the last twenty years in a small, spare hospital room.

While occasionally reading like a sales catalog of fancy goods and art, this is both a lively family history (the first quarter details her father’s creation of a business empire the equal of the Rockefellers and his colorful, questionable career as a U.S. senator) and a fascinating account of this eccentric, strange, and yet generous woman.  Most of the people who worked for her or advised her never met her and dealt with her through letters or phone calls or via the few trusted individuals in her employ. She purchased dolls and art for her own enjoyment while giving away millions of dollars to staff and friends. Dedman’s co-author is Ms. Clark’s grandson and the inclusion of his phone conversations with Huguette shows a more personal side to this very private, secretive woman.

 

Winding Up New York: Mostly Food & Film

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For our last week in Manhattan, we sampled a few new restaurants and took in one more film.  We also had the pleasure of taking our granddaughter to pre-school one morning, more afternoon time at the playground plus a Friday night family dinner at Mario Batali’s super kid-friendly restaurant, Otto.  They have pizza and pasta dishes to please every palate.  Lastly, a visit to the new Whitney Museum.  More about that in a future blog.

Eating (A few more West Village spots)

I Sodi.  An early entrant on the West Village restaurant scene, this tight small space, bar on one wall and tables on the other, is wildly popular and deservedly so.  Their sage and ricotta ravioli were divine and the splayed Cornish hen grilled under a brick straightforwardly good.  The orange tart with chocolate gelato was the perfect finish.

Po.  A small Italian place, not as cramped as I Sodi, but equally good on the food.  Service here is polished and friendly and everything a notch up from some other small restaurants. Duck ragu over long pasta and the linguine con vongole were both superb as was the beautifully presented goat cheese tartuffo over slivered endive and radicchio.  Reservations here are accepted 30 days in advance; we got in the same day only because of a phone cancellation moments before!  Beginners luck, you might say!

Piadina. Another West Village cozy Italian dining spot with a slight tilt toward seafood.  The sole accompanied by broccoli rabe and slivered endive with cherry tomatoes was lovely. Short menu and friendly staff.  Cash only.

Malatesta. This became our neighborhood hangout where we ate three times!  Crowded, noisy, and very popular, with indoor and sidewalk seating.  We liked their homemade pastas and the salads. Go early for a seat inside and remember they too only take cash!  Strange to me in this age of cards for everything, but there’s an ATM 2 doors away.

Watching

The Martian.  Space movies are not my usual cup of tea, but I was persuaded to see this one and was glad I did.  From the opening scenes, I was captivated.  We paid the extra for the 3D glasses which put you right in the red Mars scape, but the film would still be good without them.

It is an intelligent film that portrays astronauts who are well trained and who think creatively.  Matt Damon, as Mark Watney, dominates the screen with his amazing ingenuity coupled with a nice guyness, a sense of humor and a let’s get on with it can-do attitude. Combined they make his dire situation bearable and engaging for the audience.  The crew who unknowingly leave him behind alive are a dedicated and perhaps unbelievably harmonious team.  Note that the mission commander is a woman, Capt. Lewis, played by Jessica Chastain.  The technology that Watney, the crew, and the ground staff have at their disposal is impressive, but it is still nail biting time as the days pass by and a rescue has not yet happened.  As a viewer, I knew what the ending had to be, but it’s a long tense time getting there.  See it!

Reading

Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming.  I have enjoyed watching Cumming as the manipulative Eli Gold on “The Good Wife,” am bemused at his dramatic way of introducing “Masterpiece Mystery,” and had known a bit about his other acting roles and that he performed at Feinstein’s in New York.

I found this, his memoir of his childhood and what he learned about his absent maternal grandfather and his father, a searing read.  He is honest and brave and unstinting in his portrayal of his more vulnerable, injured self.  Severely abused both physically and emotionally by his father, it’s a testament to his own spirit and to his mother’s love that he was able to emerge in middle age relatively whole and intact.  I got so caught up that I read it through in less than a day.  And, by the way, Cumming is a very good writer—graceful and nuanced, even when describing awful events.

Header photo:  www.kimberlybelle.com