Culture Bits: New Year, Screen & Page

JANUARY REFLECTIONS

Turning the calendar page into a new year brings to mind the crafting of resolutions, everything from eating a healthier diet to being a kinder person.  January is also a time to pause and reflect on both past and future.  Entering a whole new decade seems a bit momentous, a moment of drama, and 2020 particularly so.  Perhaps it’s the ring of the two twenties side by side; possibly it’s that the fate of our government lies in the upcoming presidential election; or maybe it’s just that we as individuals are marking significant events in our own lives.  

For me, 2020 marks my 50th college reunion as well as the Chief Penguin’s and my 50th wedding anniversary.  Compiling favorite college memories and then summarizing my life in just 400 words for the reunion book, reminds me of how much life I’ve already lived, and that much less life remains ahead.  That’s a sobering thought.  Contemplating one’s mortality is hard to do, but after seventy, as one loses dear friends, one realizes anew that time is both limited and precious.  Each day of good health must be appreciated and savored. 

Certainly, the most significant relationship I developed at college was that with my future spouse.  I met Greg the end of my first year, and we have been connected ever since.  We were fortunate that we had the opportunity to live in San Francisco after years on the east coast, that we worked successfully at the same institutions, and that we produced a wonderful son who has a marvelous wife and two delightful daughters.  Along the way, partly because of career and later just for pleasure, we did a lot of international travel.  This included two trips to China when our son was small, three weeks in Madagascar with a noted botanist in 2009, and after retirement, trips to Vietnam and Cambodia as well as Chile and New Zealand.  Travel is broadening; I believe it expands your mind and alters your perspective.  

In this milestone year, we will again travel, first to Ireland, where we’ve never been, and then in the fall to France for Normandy and Bordeaux and a return to the Dordogne and Provence.  This January especially, I value my past and all that I’ve experienced, while still eagerly anticipating a future rich with new adventures.

VIEWING AND READING-–BIG SCREEN

1917

If you’ve ever wondered what trench warfare was really like, 1917 does an amazing job of portraying it.  Dirty, claustrophobic, and terrifying.  During the battle of Ypres, two British soldiers are sent on a mission to the front lines with an urgent message for a general that will affect the outcome of the next encounter with the Germans.  The men selected (the one who chose his partner thought it might be an easy assignment) must race against the clock, travel cross country through rough terrain and behind enemy lines, always struggling to stay undiscovered and alive.  Based on a true incident, it’s a tale of courage and loyalty, coupled with sheer guts and grit.  At one point, I did wonder how many more obstacles would have to be overcome and were they all real or added for cinematic effect.  Gripping and almost painful to watch.

SMALL SCREEN—FAMILY SAGA

From Father to Daughter  (Acorn + Amazon Prime)

(acorntv.com)

For a change of pace, my treadmill fare is an Italian series about a wine-making family.  Giovanni is the bull-headed, domineering, and abusive patriarch, who, in partnership with a friend, makes grappa.  When the series opens in 1958, he has two daughters and very much wants a son to join him in the business.  He is blessed with twins, a boy and a girl, but promptly exults in his son, Antonio, while ignoring Sofia, the daughter.  As his family matures, his wife Franca laments the suitor she left behind in Brazil; his oldest daughter, Maria Theresa leaves for Padua against his will to study chemistry; while Elena, the middle child, gets pregnant at 16 and marries a local boy.  How life unfolds and unravels over the decades for this dysfunctional family has its soap opera moments, but it’s good entertainment and keeps me striding along!

ON THE PAGE—BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

Joy Davidman (http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/tag/joy-davidman/)

When I was growing up, the earlier works of C. S. Lewis such as The Screwtape Letters were popular with adults including my parents.  An Oxford don, Lewis wrote both fiction and nonfiction about religion and faith in the context of Christianity.  In the 50’s, he published the Chronicles of Narnia for children, the first one of which I read aloud to our son.  Lewis was a celebrated author, but he became even more famous after the early and untimely death of his wife, Joy.  Their story was the subject of several books, a play, and eventually a movie, Shadowlands, which I saw years ago.

Callahan’s novel is a fictional account of the relationship between Joy Davidman and Jack Lewis.  It began as an epistolary friendship as they exchanged letters. She had read an article about Lewis and began the correspondence.  They were a most unlikely pairing.  He was a reserved British bachelor in his 50’s and she American, Jewish, then an atheist, now a Christian, 38 years old, and married with two young sons.  Her marriage to an alcoholic was imploding and she wrote to Lewis for advice.  

After several years they met. She subsequently spent significant blocks of time in England with her sons and eventually was forced to divorce her husband.  Despite their love, Jack was reluctant to acknowledge his feelings and become a bridegroom.  The novel is told in the first person from Joy’s perspective and is full of emotion and at times seems overwrought.  But this is perhaps an accurate presentation of her personality.  Joy was passionate and outspoken, and her life was messy.  She was also a talented writer and poet whose work, given the times, was underappreciated.  

Callahan captures this woman brimming with life, but some readers may be put off by the many theological and philosophical conversations that inform her conversations and letters with Lewis.  (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo is of the Roman god, Janus (all-to-human.blogspot.com)

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Film

TIMELY NOVEL

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Author Lefteri is the child of refugees from Cyprus and once volunteered at a refugee center in Athens.  Her life experiences obviously informed this novel about a refugee couple who flee from war ravaged Syria.  Nuri was a beekeeper, but the war and the death of their young child force them to leave.  England is their desired destination.  Afra is an artist, but since the trauma of Sami’s death, she is blind and speaks little.  The novel is delicate and poignant as you relive their travails through Nuri’s dreams and reflections.  Despite cramped and crowded living conditions, dangerous travel, and a lack of material goods, these two are survivors, always hopeful for a better life with Nuri’s cousin Mustafa in Yorkshire.  There’s a lightness to the writing, it’s never ponderous; a novel of perseverance and patience midst turmoil. I recommend it!

FILM

The Irishman (Netflix and theaters)

Sherran and Hoffa in The Irishman (thedailybeast.com)

This film about the Mafia and Jimmy Hoffa is long, more than 3 hours.  We decided to watch it at home, and by so doing, were able to pause it twice and view it over several nights.  Robert DeNiro is excellent as Frank Sherran, the Irishman of the title, a corrupt labor union official looking back on his long career. Also excellent is Al Pacino as Teamster Union boss Hoffa.  

I found the first third a bit slow and keeping the characters straight somewhat difficult; after that it became more engaging as Hoffa’s story unfolded.  I remember reading about Hoffa’s “disappearance” in real life and was primed for how it was going to play out here.  Not an action film, but there are a number of efficiently executed murders.  There has been quite a bit of press discussion, even controversy about its effectiveness, about the computer-rendered youthfulness of DeNiro (76), Pacino, and others in the early scenes when they are in their 30’s and 40’s. The Chief Penguin liked this film more than I did.

NEW NONFICTION

Following up on my last blog, here’s a list of nonfiction titles, one of which I’ve read, and others which are waiting to be attacked. Two of them are memoirs. First, though, I’m re-reading the novel, The Maze at Windermere, which I selected for my local book group.

Nonfiction

All the Lives We Ever Lived by Kathryn Smyth

American Fire by Monica Hesse

The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power

The Last Ocean:  A Journey Through Memory and Forgetting by Nicole Gerard

This is a book about Alzheimer’s which includes chapters on current research, information on memory facilities, and the role and care needed for caregivers. It’s based around the author’s account of her father’s decline and eventual death from it. I expected there to be more about Gerard’s own experiences, but it turned out to be more nonfiction than memoir. She resides in Britain so there is a natural focus on resources in the U.K. Sobering and dense, but thought provoking, particularly if you are just learning about Alzheimer’s.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Madera and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Books, Books, Books: 2019 & 2020

I love books. It’s that simple and consequently, most of my recent Christmas gifts and other purchases were books. Here’s a line-up of books recently  acquired that I’ve added to my ever growing and seldom diminishing book stack. Two of them I have already read.

Here, I’ve listed just the fiction titles along with my favorite titles of 2019. A future blog will include new nonfiction titles.

FICTION TO READ IN 2020

Akin by Emma Donogue 

I actually finished Akin, by the author of Room, on the last day of 2019. It’s the story of a 79-year old man, readying himself for a journey to Nice, France, his birthplace, when he gets a call from social services that a great nephew he has never met needs a place to stay. The 11-year old’s mother is in prison, father deceased several years, and grandmother with whom he has been living has just herself died.

Widower and retired chemistry professor Noah takes Michael in and together they journey to France. The journey and their time together is culture shock for both of them, but you can guess how it will end. Donogue is good at capturing the set-in-his routineness of Noah’s life as well as the haphazard nature of Michael’s upbringing and his lack of manners. Their dialogue is mostly believable, and I only questioned one reference Noah made to Michael about his late wife. Very good overall!

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beach Keane 

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 

The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout 

Some people I know found Strout’s earlier work, Olive Kittredge too depressing. I thought it was very well done. And I think this new book about Olive is even better, excellent, in fact! I know why it was nominated for awards and on the year’s best lists.

In it, Olive ages from 73 to 86, acquires a second husband named Jack, although she still reminisces about Henry, her first; interacts with a variety of younger people in the town of Crosby, and generally speaks her mind. She can be both cantankerous and kind. There’s a touching chapter called “Light” about Olive’s visits with former pupil Cindy Coombs, a young woman fighting cancer, in which they each reveal insecurities and worries. What Strout does so wonderfully well is capture the awkwardness and indignities of aging along with the vulnerabilities of both young and old. Olive’s relations with her son have been strained, and after he and his wife and children visit her, she’s forced to reflect on how her own behavior has had an impact on the relationship. Highly recommended!

The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson 

Testaments by Margaret Atwood

FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019 (3 novels & 2 nonfiction titles)

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

Upstate by James Woods

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gotlieb

No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder

A Reader

Note: Text and photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Manhattan: Mostly Movies

Besides spending time with our son and family in this Christmas season, we took in several films and also an exhibit of works by women at the Grolier Club. And, as always, we ate well! Vinegar chicken and an assortment of tasty veggies on Christmas plus good Italian fare at favorite new and old restaurants.

ON SCREEN

Two Popes (Theaters & Netflix)

This is an engaging and witty film.  It’s the fascinating fictional account of a meeting between Pope Benedict and then Cardinal Borgoglio who became Pope Francis.  The cardinal has gone to Rome to submit his resignation to the pope, only the pope refuses to accept it.  The two men are diametrically opposite in both their views and their approach to the pomp of the office; Pope Benedict revels in it while Pope Francis eschews the red shoes and other trappings.  Anthony Hopkins portrays a wry and solitary pope while the cardinal has deep regrets about some actions in his youth that he feels preclude him from ever becoming the pontiff.  While these men did have a meeting in real life, it came later, but with this film, I felt I learned more about Pope Francis’ early career.  

A Hidden Life

I don’t know if I’ve seen other Terrence Malick films, but this one is both beautiful and moving.  I became immersed in the life and fate of Franz Jagerstatter, a real Austrian farmer, who when conscripted into the army, refuses to swear loyalty to Hitler.  A devoutly religious man with a strong moral sense, he risks his life and his family (his wife Fani must manage the farm and their two young daughters with minimal help) for his beliefs.  But, will his sacrifice make any difference in the larger sense?  Scenes of green pastures and mountains alternate with the torture of prison in this three-hour film. The dialogue is mostly English with some untranslated German.  Worth seeing.

Little Women

This “Little Women” is wonderful!  Like many, I’ve read the novel multiple times, seen movie versions, and know the story well.  This is an exuberant version punctuated by sadness, the heartaches of young love, and the toll of grinding poverty.  But these girls, Meg, Amy, Beth, and particularly Jo, romp and bicker and love each other.  They have talents and minds as well as hearts.  I recall Marmee in the book as seeming too goodie-goodie, but here she is a giving neighbor and also a woman occasionally frustrated and angered by life’s lacks.  

The cast is all-star including Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Meryl Streep as cranky, rich Aunt March, Laura Dern as Marmee, and the handsome winning Timothee Chalamet as the irrepressible Laurie Lawrence.  Even Sydney from Grantchester, James Norton, shows up as Meg’s suitor.  My only quibble is that if you don’t know the story, the back and forth jumps in time can be a bit confusing.  But, overall it’s simply marvelous!!

ON PAPER

Five Hundred Years of Women’s Work (Grolier Club)

Although it’s a private club devoted to books and printing, the Grolier Club opens its occasional exhibits to the public at no charge. This current exhibit of works by women is a rich sampling from the Baskin Collection: women as authors, printers, publishers, and bookbinders from the 15th century onward.  The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection is housed at Duke University and these items on display here until early February.  

Many of the works relate to the suffrage movement both in the UK and the United States, as well as to the fight for women’s reproductive rights (contraception, abortion, etc.).  There is correspondence by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as well as between several generations of Pankhursts, a letter by Charlotte Bronte, and works by an early Dutch artist and scientist.  Also treatises on the treatment of African Americans.  One final case highlights lovely examples of elaborate bookbinding.  

Ms. Baskin began collecting rare works by and about women with her late husband, but after his death continued to collect and until 2015, the 11,000 item collection remained in her hands. 

DINING—MORE ITALIAN

It seems that Manhattan has more Italian restaurants than any other cuisine, at least on the Upper East Side!  We tried another one the other night and will add it to our list for a return visit.  Bella Blu is a long narrow space with a bar on the right and walls splashed with bright colors.  Add to that lavish Christmas wreaths and bells and you have sensory overload.  We dined early, but already two-thirds of the tables were occupied in this family friendly place.  

The tasty frisée salad with walnuts and Gorgonzola was big enough to share while the ravioli with guanciale were superb.  We also sampled the fritto misto and the penne with cubes of fresh tuna in a tomato, black olive and oregano sauce.  They also have pizzas and many other pasta and meat entrees that will lure us back.  Service was efficient to brisk, but it is the holiday season and everyone wants to dine out!

Text and photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).