Author: gr4c5

I write. I read. I cook. I run. That's me, in a nutshell.

Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

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Gilman, Dorothy. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. New York: Fawcett Books, 1966.

Reason read: September 10th is National Grandparents Day. In an odd twist of ironies, I am connected to someone who just killed his grandparents this weekend. I am in a state of shock.

Mrs. Pollifax is a bored, retired widow looking for excitement. So, what does she do? She takes a trip to Washington D.C. and inserts herself as a spy for the CIA. It’s really quite simple. They need an unassuming, nondescript individual to pick up a package in Mexico City and Mrs. Pollifax has nothing better to do but volunteer. What starts off as an innocent vacation turns dramatic when the package isn’t there and Mrs. Pollifax goes missing. It’s a hard-to-believe tale but one thing is for sure, Mrs. Pollifax is definitely unexpected. You will fall in love with her immediately.

Author fact: Gilman died on my birthday at the age of 88 years old.

Book trivia: Each installment of the The Mrs. Pollifax series takes place in a different foreign country. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax takes place in Mexico City, Mexico and an unknown location in Albania.

Nancy said: if you are planning a trip to Albania the perfect accompaniment for the trip is The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (p 12).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the ever so simple chapter called, what else? “Albania” (p 12).

Tender is the Night

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Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tender is the Night. Read by George Guidall. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 1996.

Reason read: F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in September…

How many people remember this from their English lit days? Tender is the Night is a study in the push-pull of relationships at their strongest and weakest. Dick Diver is a wealthy psychiatrist who falls for the mentally unstable Nicole Warren. A doctor marrying a patient begins as a dance between crazy and sane. Both are wealthy, society driven people with magnetic, charming personalities. The French Riviera serves as the backdrop and Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Murphy serve as the inspiration for the the first half of Tender is the Night. Zurich, Switzerland and Fitzgerald’s relationship with his mentally ill wife, Zelda, help finish the rest of the story. Overall, it is a tragic display of how mental illness infects like a contagion, bringing down even the most solid of minds.

Lines I liked, “He had long been outside the world of simple desires and their fulfillments, and he was inept and uncertain” (p 206) and “Well, you never knew exactly how much space you occupied in people’s lives” (p 211).

Author fact: Fitzgerald was a Princeton graduate.

Book trivia: Tender is the Night bombed commercially. Just goes to show you, you can’t judge a book by its sales. It’s now considered Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. Another piece of trivia: Tender is the Night was made into a 1962 film starring Jason Robards (who played Heidi’s grandfather in a much later movie).

Nancy said: Tender is the Night needs to be read with Everybody Was So Young by Amanda Vaill and Living well is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tomkins.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the previously mentioned chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 45).

Boat Runner

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Murphy, Devin. The Boat Runner. New York: Harper Perennial, 2017.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, this is the September book awarded to me.

Told from the first person perspective of fourteen year old Jacob Koopman. He lives in a Dutch town during the early stages of World War II with his artistic older brother, Edwin, light bulb manufacturer father and musician mother, Drika. His father, in an attempt to build better relations with the Germans for their Volkswagon business, sends Jacob and Edwin to an SS training camp where they learn different aspects of warfare through fun and games. It seemed innocent enough until all hell breaks loose. It starts with a forbidding crack. Suddenly their quiet town is overrun with soldiers imposing curfews and taking over Father Koopman’s factory, then Edwin goes missing and Uncle Martin starts running ammunition and supplies for the Germans. When the Allied bombs begin to fall Jacob’s life changes forever. This is a tragic story of loyalty and survival; of doing whatever it takes to take your next breath.
I thoroughly enjoyed Murphy’s style of writing. There were certain angular sentences that really stuck out to me. You couldn’t help but catch your breath on their sharp corners. I still have scars…

Word of warning: do not read this right before bed. I had vivid dreams of war and some reason World War III was being fought against Darth Vadar. I was on a small pleasure boat somewhere off the Caribbean with his son…
As an aside, this is the first fiction I have received from the Early Review program in a really long time. I’m glad that I received it even though it is a truly tragic book.

Living Well is the Best Revenge

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Tomkins, Calvin. Living Well is the Best Revenge. New York: Viking Press, 1962.

Reason read: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birth month is September. Tender is the Night is (sort of) based on real life characters, Sara and Gerald Murphy. Living Well is the Best Revenge was also written about Sara and Gerald Murphy.

What is it about Sara and Gerald Murphy? Was it their personalities that made them so attractive? Or was it just the era they were living in at the time? This was back in the day when people gave houses as wedding gifts and didn’t worry about the red tape and mountains of paperwork that went with it. Maybe it was the people they associated with that made their light glow a little brighter. For Sara and Gerald Murphy could call Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Igor Stravinsky, John Dos Passos, and, of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald as their friends. Maybe it was their talents. Gerald, encouraged and inspired by Picasso among others, spent nine years as an artist, creating breathtaking paintings. Sadly, he only produced ten works of art and many are either missing or have been destroyed. Together, Sara and Gerald knew how to throw an intimate, yet memorable party. They had personality and flair. Although this is a tiny book, Tomkins gives a succinct portrait of the captivating couple.

Quote I liked to describe Gerald, “Organizer of private gaiety, curator of a richly encrusted happiness” (p 86).

As an aside, I found it interesting to compare Tomkins and Vaill in what details they both considered worthy of inclusion in their books. For example, they both thought the story of Gerald falling through the ice and being made to finish a walk with his father in frozen clothes a telling detail of Gerald’s character.

Author fact: Tomkins has written a bunch of other works but I’m only reading Living Well is the Best Revenge.

Book trivia: Living Well is the Best Revenge is an incredibly short book, less than 150 pages. It is made even shorter by 44 pages of 74 fabulous photographs.

Nancy said: Living Well is the Best Revenge should be read together with Everybody Was So Young and Tender is the Night. They belong together.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the obvious chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 62).

Back to School September

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September starts out with sunny skies and a promise of a return to normalcy. What is “normal” anyway? I’m hoping to run without pain (have a whopping 72 miles scheduled). I’m also hoping to get back on track with the reading:

Fiction:

  • Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald –  in honor of F Scott Fitzgerald’s birth month.

Nonfiction:

  • O Jerusalem! by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
  • Burton and Speke by William Harrison – in honor of September being Curiosity Month (and isn’t that what exploring as all about, being curious?)
  • Living Well is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tomkins – in honor of F Scott Fitzgerald’s birth month (& the reading of Tender is the Night)
  • Everybody was So Young by Amanda Vaill – in honor of F Scott Fitzgerald’s birth month (& the reading of Tender is the Night)

Series Continuation:

  • Passion Spins the Plot by Vardis Fisher – to continue the series started in August in honor of the day Butch Cassidy robbed a bank in Idaho.

Early Review for LibraryThing:

  • The Boat Runner by Devin Murphy (the first fiction I have received in a long time!)

Henry James: the Middle Years

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Edel, Leon. Henry James: the middle Years, 1882 – 1895 (Vol. 3). Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1962.

Reason read: believe it or not I started this series in April, in honor of Henry James’s birth month (4/15/1843). I should have finished The Middle Years in JUNE (yes, June). Technically, if I had kept to the schedule I should be finished with the entire series by now…but as it stands, I am STILL reading.

Henry James is approaching middle age. As Edel describes, “…when James is in his forties, the center of his life” (p 18). When we last left off, James had gone back to Europe and preferred a residency there, bouncing between Rome, Paris and London. He no longer considers Massachusetts home. As James builds his literary reputation so grows his social relationships as well. As a self proclaimed “eternal” bachelor, James cultivates long standing close relationships, mostly with married women. Most notably during this time is his friendship with great-niece of James Fenimore Cooper, Constance. We would know much more about James’s social life if he had only stopped burning his letters and asking his relationships to do the same!
It is at this time James starts toying with the idea of becoming involved in the theater. He is asked to dramatize The American and realizes working with actors was a whole different game.

As an aside, reading about Nathaniel Hawthorne and Virginia Woolf at the same time as plodding through James was interesting. The other biographies gave me a different perspective on James and his work.

Author fact: Edel won a National Book Award and Pulitzer for his work on Henry James.

Book trivia: My favorite picture is titled “Henry James at Cornwall” and shows James lounging on a step while Mrs. Leslie Stephen and her son Adrian look on. In the background, with his back to the camera, is an unnamed man presumably reading a book. Another piece of trivia: The Middle Years is also a short story by James. Well played, Mr. Edel.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Literary Lives: the Americans” (p 144).

August Awakenings

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What can I tell you about August? I still have moments of wanting to hurl myself off a cliff. But, but. But! The good news is, by default, that recklessness has made me shed my fear of flying, ants, and flying ants. I went zip lining in Alaska and found myself the first to volunteer; literally throwing myself off every platform.
I was forced to dedicate more time to the run while I punished myself with late-read books from July. As a result of all that, August’s mileage was decent considering 10 days were spent traveling (25 – the most since April) while the reading list was a little lackluster:

Fiction:

  • Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (AB left over from July)
  • In Tragic Life by Vardis Fisher – such a sad book!

Nonfiction:

  • Hawthorne: a Life by Brenda Wineapple (left over from July)
  • Miami by Joan Didion

Series Continuations:

  • The Eagle Has Flown by Jack Higgins
  • Henry James: the Middle Years by Leon Edel (left over from JUNE)

Early Review:

  • Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea J. Ritchie

For Fun:

  • Pharos Gate by Nick Bantock – I know, I know. I shouldn’t be reading anything for fun while I had so many July books still on my plate. This took me all over an hour to read and besides, Bantock is one of my favorites. How could I not?

In Tragic Life

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Fisher, Vardis. In Tragic Life. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1932.

Reason read: Originally, I chose it for July for when Idaho became a state. However, the book took so long in getting to me that I decided to still read it even though July is long gone. I found a new reason to read In Tragic Life: Butch Cassidy robbed an Idaho bank in August 1896. In Tragic Life starts roughly around that same time.

Vridar Hunter is a young boy growing up in rural Idaho. Wait, isn’t all of Idaho untamed wilderness? Just kidding. Anyway, In Tragic Life details young Vridar’s coming of age into his teenage years. Poverty, education, family & schoolboy crushes are the focus at this time. Confessional: I thought Vridar was a little whiny in the beginning. He was constantly in terror or frightened over something. He was afraid of nearly everything – the dark, his father’s hands, nature, night, himself. Vridar had paralyzing fear, blinding fear and was haunted or desperately afraid. All the time. But, in reality that fear was founded. The “tragic” in In Tragic Life is truly justified. If Vridar wasn’t watching animals die in horrific ways he was being verbally abused by his family. If that wasn’t enough, when he finally went to school he was bullied on a consistent and continual basis. He never has any close friends. His only companions seem to be his brother and the kids he beat up previously. Parts of In Tragic Life were very painful to read, especially the cruelty, particularly towards animals.

Author fact: Fisher was born, raised and died in Idaho.

Book trivia: In Tragic Life is the first in the tetralogy.

Nancy said: I shudder if this is true, but Pearl called In Tragic Life “sprawling autobiographical” (p 122).

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Idaho: and Nary a Potato to be Seen” (p 121).

Miami

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Didion, Joan. Miami. New York: Vintage International, 1998.

Reason read: Here’s the whole train: Miami has an extremely strong Cuban culture. Fidel Castro was Cuban. Fidel Castro also had a birthday in August. Reading Miami to acknowledge the connection.

It took me some time to navigate Didion’s true focus for Miami. I was expecting an overarching, historical portrait of a city in Florida which is rich in culture and diversity today and yesterday. Instead, Miami started out as a tirade about how Cubans in Miami are often ignored (when they aren’t being misunderstood). Cuban ethnicity is left out of the equation when Anglos describe Miami. The naive gringos err on the side of stereotypes or misconception when trying to describe or name something that is uniquely Cuban. I wasn’t expecting this us against them narrative. It is more accurate to say Didion’s Miami is about the Cuban Exile Community, past and present. Didion moves the reader directly into the eye of a political hurricane which is in a nutshell government conspiracies and corruptions, the underbelly of wheeling and dealing like failed and successful assassinations. Organized crime and car bombs that go boom in the night. Bay of Pigs. Watergate. Ronald Reagan. Nightmares in the light of day. Sunny Miami.

I am distracted easily. Put in front of me a sentence that is too long winded and my mind starts to wander and my eyes jump all over the page, forgetting what I just tried to read. Miami is full of crazy long (in my mind run-on) sentences that drove me to distraction. Case in point: “On the morning of the anniversary ground was being broken for the renovation of the bungalow, an occasion for Claud Pepper, fresh from the continuing debate in the House of Representatives over aid to the Nicaraguan contras, to characterize the landing at Giron as “one of the most heroic events in the history of the world” and for many of those present to voice what had become by that spring the most urgent concern of the exile community, the very concern which now lends the occasion its retrospective charge, the “the freedom fighters of the eighties” not be treated by the Reagan administration as the men of the 2506 has been treated, or believed that they had been treated, by the Kennedy administration” (p 16).

Here is a short quote I liked, “To spend time in Miami is to acquire a certain fluency in cognitive dissonance” (p 99).

Author fact: At the time of Miami’s publication Didion had published a combined ten books, both fiction and nonfiction.

Book trivia: I was hoping for some good photographs of historic Miami but none were included.

Nancy said: Pearl said Miami had gorgeous writing (p 146).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the incredibly obvious chapter called “Miami and Environs” (p 145).

Eagle Has Flown

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Higgins, Jack. The Eagle Has Flown. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1991.

Reason read: Jack Higgins was born in July. This finishes the series started in honor of his birth month.

At the end of The Eagle Has Landed a German plot to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill had failed horribly and a massacre ensued. Left in suspense, readers didn’t know if antagonists Liam Devlin and Kurt Steiner survived. Now, in the much-anticipated sequel we learn Steiner did survive. He is being held prisoner in the Tower of London. And who better to rescue Steiner than Liam Devlin who also survived the botched kidnapping? Yes, he survived. Of course he did, he’s the center character. Devlin is the bad guy we all love to hate: poet, daredevil, ruggedly handsome gunslinger, a scholar and, as a member of the IRA, a man who stands by his convictions. He claims to be neutral but wants a united Ireland; he couldn’t care a lick about Nazi Germany but will chose the side with the biggest payout. General Walter Schellenberg is sent to recruit Devlin to the task, but standing in his way is Brigadier Dougal Munro of British Intelligence. He has a few tricks up his sleeve as well and what ensues is a fast paced chase across Europe. True to form, behind every Higgins plot there is an astonishingly resourceful and brilliant woman. This time there are a few. True to Higgins form, expect a twist at the end.

As an aside, I see my reading friend has taken to writing in books again. Shame on you, W.P.!

Author fact: in the blog before I mentioned Higgins wrote this book and Eye of the Needle. This time the author fact is simple. At the time of the publication of The Eagle Has Flown Higgins was living in the Channel Islands off the coast of California. Not be confused with the ones in the English Channel.

Book trivia: Eagle Has Flown is short and fast paced. One could read in a weekend.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the obvious chapter “World War II Fiction” (p 253).

50 Ways to Wear a Scarf

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Friedman, Lauren. New York: Chronicle Books, 2014.

Reason read: a cute book.

In actuality, I was looking for a book that would teach me how to wear ONE scarf 50 different ways. That was not the case with this book despite its claim of many style possibilities held within a “single scarf.” To use this book appropriately you would need a square scarf, a long rectangular scarf and a tiny scarf (something small enough to fit in a breast pocket). You would not be able to tie an Amelia Earhart with a pocket scarf, for example.
However, the illustrations were super cute as well as the names of each style. No scarf tying for men. Mike Gordon, you are out of luck.

Invisible No More

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Ritchie, Andrea J. Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color. Boston: Beacon Press, 2017.

Reason read: an Early Review book for LibraryThing.

The praise for Invisible No More is overwhelming. Six pages of accolades from such notables as the cofounder of Black Lives Matter and the executive directors of Race Forward, Amnesty International, and Color of Change, to name a few. Words like powerful, passionate, incisive, compelling, and essential pepper their reviews. And they are correct in every word. Invisible No More paints an ugly picture of racial profiling and police violence targeting women of color in thorough detail. Well researched and presented, Invisible No More draws back the curtain & exposes our dangerous society for what it is, prejudiced against race, religion, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, ability and intelligence. If you are caught jaywalking, fear for your safety if you are not white, not pure bred American, not a masculine man, not a bible thumping Catholic, not missionary-style-sex straight, not old money rich, not physically strong and capable, nor intellectually book smart. Fear for your life if you talk back, appear to speak out, try to stand up, attempt to look authority in the eye, use your mind, or heaven forbid,exercise your right. If there is any doubt as to how well Ritchie has researched her subject, consider the over 50 pages of notes she has compiled to support her narrative.

Wait and see moments: There are two different forewords, one written by Angela Davis of the University of California and the other by Marianne Kaba from Project NIA. We will have to wait and see if both introductions stay.

Confessional: this took me a really long time to finish. As Ritchie describes disturbing case after disturbing case to make her point I found I could only digest her words in small, miserable bites. Sometimes, I had the accompanying visual of an oft-played YouTube video in my head. Other times, Ritchie’s words alone were enough to shock and sadden me. What is this world coming to?

Possession

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Byatt, A.S. Possession: a romance. New York: Random house, 1990.

Reason read: Byatt was born in August.

Possession is nothing short of amazing. Byatt invites you down so many different rabbit holes it is impossible to predict where you will end up. Young
academic Roland Mitchell has an obsession with long-dead poet Randolph Henry Ash. He’s in competition with several other scholars researching Ash, all equally as obsessed. They all feel they “possess” the man. When you first meet Roland you cannot help but think of him as a spineless wimp; a bland soul without backbone. From the beginning, you are told he is an unwilling participant in his relationship with girlfriend, Val, by his reluctance to rock the boat with her. The real problem lies in the probability he doesn’t even want the boat at all. All he cares about is researching the life and times of Randolph Ash. This timid nature poses a real problem when he stumbles upon a new fact about Ash, something never reported before. So begins the mystery. Byatt takes us from Roland’s world to Randall’s world. Via letters, journals and poetry a secret is exposed. With the help of another young academic, Roland’s opposite in every way, Roland discovers the truth about his beloved Randall Ash. His own true self is revealed as well.

As an aside, I love concentric circles. I just finished a book about Virginia Woolf and she makes a mention here in Possession. Also, I just finished seeing Natalie Merchant in concert. Christina Rossetti pops up in Natalie’s music and Byatt’s Possession.

Quotations to quote: “The basement was full of the sharp warmth of frying onions which meant she was cooking something complicated” (p 19), “…It did not have for him the magnetic feel of the two letters that were folded into his pocket, but it represented the tease of curiosity” (p 49), and one more, “They sit at table and exchange metaphysical theories and I sit there like a shape-shifting witch, swelling with rage and shrinking with shame, and they see nothing (p 396).

Author fact: at the time of publication Byatt had written five fictions and several nonfictions.

Book trivia: the cover to Possession is a painting of Sir Edward Burne-Jones called “The Beguiling of Merlin.” I have to admit, Merlin is a little freaky looking.

Nancy said: Pearl said Possession is probably Byatt’s best known work but not her favorite.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “All in the Family: Writer Dynasties” (p 6).

Stranger in a Strange Land

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Heinlein, Robert. Stranger in a Strange Land. Read by Christopher Hurt. Blackstone Audio, Inc., 1996.
Heinlein, Robert. Stranger in a Strange Land. New York: Ace Books, 2003.

Reason read: July is Heinlein’s birth month. Read and listened to in his honor.

Stranger in a Strange Land is everything you would expect from a 1960s cult classic written six years before the infamous Summer of Love. Originally published in 1961 Stranger’s main character, Valentine Michael Smith, is a far out dude; literally, as he is a man raised by the inhabitants of the planet Mars. His gifts of telekinesis, telepathy, and “grokking” make him a mystic, a guru, and finally a cult leader (once humans dismiss the notion of killing him for being a freak). Being born on Mars, like any good self-respecting alien, he has issues with language barriers and differing cultures once arriving on Earth. His first conflict is not understanding a money-grubbing reporter out to sell his story. His second is not comprehending the female species…two problems that exist for some humans in this day and age. The third and most confusing barrier is understanding his own sexuality. Let me back up. When “Mike Smith” was under the threat of media exploitation, Nurse Jill and a colleague “kidnapped” him to keep him safe. Smith ended up at the home of doctor/lawyer/writer Jubal Harshaw who lives a very Charlie’s Angels kind of existence with three bubbly, beautiful secretaries (one blonde, one brunette and one..you guessed it, redhead).  It is here, at Jubal’s estate in the Poconos mountains that Smith learns about women (after he tries to kiss Jubal and is immediately rebuffed).
A word of warning to those agnostic, atheist or otherwise unmoved by religion. After chapter part three Heinlein gets heavy with the Bible, church, the idea of sin and so forth. It’s a crucial part to the story as Mike starts his own church, becoming that cult leader I spoke of earlier.

As an aside, Jubal’s sarcasm and wit sort of reminded me of Francis Underwood in House of Cards. It didn’t help that Christopher Hurt reads with a slight southern accent.

Quote I liked (From Valentine Michael Smith), “I want to spit back at the camel and ask him what he’s so sour about” (p 383).

Author fact: Heinlein was a military man with the U.S. Navy.

Book trivia: Stranger in a Strange Land won Heinlein his second Hugo Award and is considered by most to be his “masterpiece.” Another piece of book trivia: Three years after Heinlein’s death his wife worked to get Stranger republished in its original, uncut version.

Nancy said: Heinlein is best known for Stranger in a Strange Land according to Pearl. She called it a “cult classic” (p 108).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Robert Heinlein: Too Good To Miss” (p 108).

Pharos Gate

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Bantock, Nick. The Pharos Gate: Griffin & Sabine’s Lost Correspondence. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2016.

Reason read: because Nick Bantock is one of my favorites.

I can’t remember what I said in my Griffin & Sabine review way back when except to say I know I mentioned my ongoing love affair with this series. How could I not? It’s evocative of a very sensual time in my life. I was introduced to Griffin and Sabine by a passionate summer romance. This man made mixed tapes, baked cinnamon scones, read Shakespeare and even wrote poetry, one word at a time, on rose petals. He took me shelling, canoeing and on searches for sunsets. He made my friends want to puke from jealousy. We read to each other as Griffin and Sabine. But, I digress..

Griffin and Sabine. I sigh to hear their names. Their backstory is such: Griffin is an artist in damp and dreary London. One day he receives an unusual postcard from a woman claiming to have the ability to see his art as he is creating it…except Sabine is somewhere in the South Pacific. Trying to make sense of her unusual voyeurism into his creativity before it is fully formed forces Griffin to continue a correspondence with her. Soon they fall in love without ever meeting. [Been there.] Subsequent volumes have Griffin and Sabine trying to cross the enormous divide to see each other face to face, but like any decent romance, their efforts are thwarted at every turn. In Pharos Gate the star-crossed couple discover a safe place to meet: at Pharos Gate in Alexandria. With the help of a friend Griffin sets off across the globe to reach his love. And reach her, he does. But! I haven’t really ruined it for you. Supposedly this is the final book in the series and yet Bantock leaves his audience hanging once again…Yes, they meet but then what? We don’t know. I adore it.