Each June, I set myself the goal of reading a set list of books over the summer. Most years, I read some of them, but seldom all. Along the way, I purchase or borrow books, and they end up taking priority. This year’s list is a mix of notable books and bestsellers, both fiction and nonfiction.
I’ve read many of Verghese’s earlier works and almost all Toibin’s and Strout’s novels; they are favorite writers of mine! Years ago, I read Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips for my book group and then later her Quiet Dell.
Claire Keegan is a recent discovery, and as part of becoming a Tar Heel, I will read Wilmington’s Lie. Sadly, Jacqueline Winspear is giving up Maisie Dobbs, detective, and the title here is her last appearance. Overall, this list includes many writers whom I’ve read previously.
MY SUMMER READING LIST
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (#18, end of the Maisie Dobbs series)
Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Demon of Unrestby Eric Larson (Abraham Lincoln & the months before the Civil War)
Homecoming by Kate Morton
Long Island by Colm Toibin (return of Ellis Lacey of his earlier Brooklyn)
If you like political drama and were a fan of the Danish series, Borgen, then you’d probably also enjoy COBRA. A massive geomagnetic storm knocks out power to the entire U.K., and there are not enough new transformers to replace all the damaged ones. Which section of the country will have to wait? It’s a monumental crisis for British prime minister Robert Sutherland and his team, including chief of staff Anna Marshall.
This 6-part series is action packed with nail-biting tension and personal drama. Who is the man who just shows up on Anna’s doorstep? What really happened to Georgia, the best friend of Sutherland’s daughter? How far will Home Secretary Archie Glover go in attempting to become the next PM? Finally, how does the prime minister deal with rioting and destruction and calm the country?
The title, COBRA, stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room and is used as a code for an emergency meeting of the PM and all the cabinet secretaries. There are some familiar faces from other British series such as Victoria Hamilton, the elegantly competent Anna, who appeared in The Crown and Lark Rise to Candleford.
This is escapism that seems eerily possible! We binge watched Season 1, the first of three seasons.
EXHIBITION: EXOTIC FASHION
Sleeping Beauties (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Dior’s Garden with a floral theme
The Costume Institute’s annual exhibit opens after the Met’s May gala. The gala is always an extravagant display of fabric, color, and celebrities. The exhibit also sometimes wows but not always. This year, I appreciated the effort that went into making the exhibit immersive with a wide array of dresses from various periods and designers, but also the incorporation of videos running overhead, voiceovers, and other sounds relative to the theme of individual galleries. Water lapping in the marine sections, insects buzzing in the nature section and so on. Nonetheless, it was not an exhibit I loved.
Clamshell gown by Alexander McQueen
Dramatic butterfly gown
Poppies or perhaps roses?
The first space was narrow and very crowded (even though I was there right after the museum opened), so I moved through quickly. I looked at the fashions but did not do much reading of the descriptive wall plaques. Overall, I got the general impression of the theme, but made short work of what is a long and large exhibit.
The gowns here are ones I found particularly striking, several of them showcasing flowers. One does wonder whether a woman could move at all in some of these creations!
EXHIBITION: SNIPPETS OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour (Museum of Modern Art)
Tucked away into a small gallery on MoMA’s second floor is Lessons of the Hour. British filmmaker and artist, Isaac Julien uses ten video screens of different sizes to present scenes of Frederick Douglass’s life and work. Douglass was a 19th century abolitionist, an orator, and an author. A Black man, he was the most photographed person of his era.
Douglass’s life is not depicted linearly, and different images and texts appear simultaneously on the various screens. It is possible to stand in the gallery for just a few minutes or sit on the banquette long enough to absorb more of the role this man played in the overall quest for equal rights for all people. A worthwhile experience and one that is available into September.
Note: Header photo is a more traditional yellow Liberty gown from the 1880’s. All unattributed photos by JWFarrington.
Street Life, Harlem, ca. 1939-40, William H. Johnson
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s retrospective, The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism, is a stunning exhibit of African American paintings from the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s. These years in New York and elsewhere brought forth a revival of interest in African American art, literature, and music. This exhibit is a celebration of Blacks portrayed on canvas.
The colors are often bright and bold, human figures are occasionally flat, and some paintings are individual portraits. There are also groups enjoying cocktails, dancing, or just hanging out. Many artists are represented, but Archibald Motley Jr., and William H. Johnson figure prominently. I liked the dressiness and the larger than life appearance of the couple in Johnson’s Street Life above. Here are a few other favorites, such as this jitterbugging couple.
Jitterbugs V, ca. 1941-42, Johnson
African American women were often depicted as the New Negro Woman. Very dark, almost defiant, always feminine, and beautiful. I like Alston’s strong female below. Also Motley’s stylish women socializing over drinks.
Girl in a Red Dress, 1934, Charles H. Alston
Cocktails, ca. 1926, Archibald J. Motley Jr.
The exhibit also includes portraits of famous people like the poet Langston Hughes and this one of a statuesque Marian Anderson.
Anderson, by Laura Wheeler Waring, 1944
Variations in Black skin tones were also evident in some works. Laura Wheeler Waring makes starkly clear the difference in a racially mixed family in the following piece.
Mother and Daughter, 1927, L. W. Waring
There is much to see and appreciate in this exhibit, and it runs through July 28th. Highly recommended!
MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE
Sea Salt (Upper East Side)
With pink blooms surrounding its entrance, it’s hard to miss Sea Salt on 1st Avenue. This Turkish/Greek bar and grill has been open for about three years, but this was our first visit. The space is light and attractive, and the staff gave us a warm welcome.
Sea Salt interior
For dinner, we began with fried calamari rings dusted with oregano with an aioli sauce on the side for dipping. Nicely crisp. For mains, the Chief Penguin tried the lamb kebab with rice and greens, while I ordered the whole branzino with lemon and capers. The lamb was lightly spiced while the branzino was delicately delicious. Specialty cocktails and wines by the glass are also on offer.
Branzino at Sea Salt
On a second visit, we sampled the Greek salad (lovely and fresh), manti (mini dumplings with beef in a yogurt-based sauce), and adana kebab (spiced ground lamb patties) with rice. Sea Salt is well on its way to being a personal favorite!
The Whitney Biennial is held every two years and brings together the works of contemporary painters, sculptors, video artists and the like. This year there are 70 artists represented and the works can be abstract, challenging, and occasionally accessible. I find the experience of viewing this exhibit interesting and yet somewhat off-putting. But I feel it’s a good exercise to be exposed to art I don’t necessarily like or understand. Here are several works from the Biennial. Luger’s inverted tipi echoes his Native American heritage while stating that the world is upside down.
from Future Ancestral Technologies by C. H. Luger
Philadelphia artist Karyn Olivier uses found objects as reference points for the past or loss. Anyone who’s spent time in Maine will recognize these lobster trappings.
How Many Ways Can You Disappear, 2021
We also spent time in a gallery of works from the Whitney’s permanent collection. Here are two pieces that spoke to me, one visually appealing, the other disturbing and powerful. I like the vibrancy and beauty of the Gullah woman in Dry Clean.
Dry Clean, Eldzier Cortor, c.1945-46
Norman Lewis’ stark black and white oil painting is chilling with its masks, skulls, and echoes of Klansmen and would easily have fit in the Biennial exhibit.
American Totem, Norman Lewis, 1960
DINING AROUND—THAI STREET FOOD
Up Thai (Upper East Side)
We had walked by Up Thai in the past, but never eaten here before. I read a recommendation for it and decided to book. It’s a very popular place and while an attractive space, it’s jammed packed with tables and there is very little space for the wait staff to navigate. Granted, we were here on a Friday night, but it was crowded with families with children as well as 30 and 40 somethings.
Our waitress was smilingly pleasant and efficient, and we loved what we ordered! UP spring rolls with shrimp and crabmeat with plum sauce to start.
UP spring rolls
Then a medium spicy green curry with chicken, string beans, bamboo shoots, bell pepper, and basil leaves, along with pad krapraw, an entrée of Thai chili, onion, peppers, shitake mushrooms, more basil leaves, and pork. Both dishes came with white rice.
On a return visit, we sampled the curry puffs and a vermicelli dish with shrimp. The vermicelli with ginger and other spices was especially good. In addition, we ordered pad krapraw, this time with chicken. We had more than enough to share. It was all so good that we will be regulars here!
GUT WRENCHING & HEARTRENDING NOVEL
In Memoriamby Alice Winn
Author Winn (theguardian.com)
In her first published novel, Alice Winn depicts the mostly unspoken love between two young men, schoolboys together, and then soldiers in the front lines in France. Ellwood (Elly or Sidney) and Gaunt (Henry) are classmates at an upper-class English boarding school. When Britain enters the World War, they and most of their classmates enthuse about joining up as soon as they are old enough. Their view of war is one of glory and excitement on the battlefield. Little do they envision the carnage and the gruesomeness they will experience in the trenches at Ypres, Loos, and the Somme.
The novel alternates in time and space between Ellwood and Gaunt and their experiences together and separately (Henry becomes a German prisoner of war) and those of their closest friends and classmates. Besides this group, Gaunt’s sister Maud is the other principal character. She serves as a nurse during the war years, giving her some perspective on what these young men have suffered. The years covered are 1913 to 1919.
The battle scenes are extremely graphic and some of the most gut wrenching I’ve ever read. Bodies are blasted apart and pile up. These scenes are contrasted with and redeemed by tenderness and shared forbidden love. Despite all the deaths that litter these pages, the reader is left with a sense of hope in the years after the war.
Inspired by war remembrances in the historical archives of her own college and enriched by extensive research, Winn has crafted a powerful, moving, and ultimately beautiful work of art. Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)
