Category: Books

Tidy Tidbits: Friends & Family

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Being socially engaged with others is a key to good health and perhaps a longer life.  We entertained very good friends recently and I spent several days inhabiting J. D. Vance’s head in his disturbing and engrossing memoir of growing up in Appalachia.

FRIENDS

As is certainly evident in Vance’s memoir (noted below), we don’t get to to choose our parents or our grandparents.  Some of us are luckier than others.  But, we are able to select our friends.  One of the greatest pleasures of retirement is the gift of time and with that the opportunity to spend more time with good friends Last week our good friends, Mary and Joe, came for an overnight visit.  We’ve known them probably twenty years and, although we hadn’t seen them since the end of last summer, we picked up where we left off and had an easy, delightful time.  We’ve met and are acquainted with each other’s children and grandchildren and we share a common interest in good food, good books, and being by the water.  Conversation flowed effortlessly, and we parted knowing more time together awaits us come summer.

FAMILY

Hillbilly Elegy:  A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance

This is a remarkable book.  Remarkable for its unflinching candor and remarkable for the story it tells.  How J.D. Vance was able to escape from his family’s cycle of poverty, violence, and instability is amazing and riveting.  He describes hillbilly culture:  its mores, values, and attitudes, and both defends it and then holds it accountable for the ongoing problems experienced by this segment of society in Appalachia.  What enabled him to succeed at all was the relative stability provided by his grandparents.  They were strict and, to some of us, would come across as mean, but they loved him and, his grandmother in particular, instilled in him the value of education.  Also key to his survival (and he was surviving rather than thriving) was the protection his older sister Lindsay offered.  For a long time, they were a team, and Lindsay more the adult than his drug-addicted mother with her series of live-in boyfriends and, eventually, five husbands.  

Studies have demonstrated and Vance is evidence that constant disruption in childhood and daily exposure to loud arguments and violence leave scars that carry over into adulthood.  Vance was not only socially and culturally out of step when he went to college, but he lacked the necessary skills for developing a loving, long-term relationship.  He occasionally cites from the literature on poverty, but it offers few solutions.  Ultimately, he believes the answer lies not with the government, but with hillbillies themselves re-evaluating their conduct and facing the fact that it is harmful to their children.  His is a success story fueled by resentment and anger, but success none the less.  He had advantages many children from Jackson, Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio do not.

Published in June 2016, Vance’s memoir has been singled out as describing individuals most likely to be Trump supporters; read with that in mind, it offers an up-close look at lives most of us have little familiarity with.  The book jacket states that after law school, Vance became a principal at an investment firm in Silicon Valley and lived in San Francisco.  I thought this was one of the unlikeliest milieus for him and was puzzled.  My wonderment was partially answered by his op-ed piece in the March 16 New York Times in which he writes about deciding to move back to Ohio, but Columbus, not Middletown.

DIVIDED LOYALTIES

On the small screen, I just finished watching the five-part Netflix series, Rebellion.  Set in Dublin, it focuses on the Easter Rising of 1916 and three women who are caught up in the Irish rebels’ fight against the British government.  While these young women, a government employee, a doctor in training, and an activist, are all involved, two brothers are fighting on opposite sides while an upper class husband and wife have sharply different views on how they should participate or not.  I found it totally engrossing and well done and hope that there will be a second season.

Notes:  Header photo and coloring ©JW Farrington; downtown Middletown, Ohio from Pinterest.

Tidy Tidbits: Just Books

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BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS.  You’ll find fun with a favorite children’s book here along with Edna O’Brien’s sobering novel followed by a fast-paced thriller.

THAT CAT

I had the unexpected pleasure of reading The Cat in the Hat to a kindergarten class the other day—with some non-verbal assistance!   It was Dr. Seuss Day and the Chief Penguin and I were at the Community Day School in Sarasota.  This faith-based school is an inclusive place open to kids of all nationalities, flavors, and religions with a focus on preparing them to be global citizens and to have a positive impact on the world.    

Dr. Seuss Day celebrates the noted author’s birthday (March 2) and is a time when many schools invite volunteers in to read one of his books.  In the Sarasota-Manatee area, the event is also sponsored by the organization, Embracing Our Differences.

EVIL AND INNOCENCE

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien.  O’Brien is a noted Irish writer of stories, novels, and a memoir, and this is her latest novel.  Her first novel, which I have not read, but know of, The Country Girls, was published in 1961.  She was so severely castigated for its frank sexual content (mild by today’s standards) that she left Ireland for London and has been estranged from her home ever since.

The Little Red Chairs is a strange book but, despite my initial doubts, I ended up finding it worthwhile.  The early chapters present a bunch of characters in a small town in western Ireland and are somewhat confusing.  Eventually, things sort themselves out after Fidelma, a married woman who desperately wants a child, becomes the focal point.  She is attracted to the charismatic stranger and healer, Dr. Vlad, and ultimately seduces him.

But, Dr. Vlad is not who he pretends to be and is arrested for war crimes associated with the Bosnian War.  Horrific revenge is visited upon Fidelma for her actions and she must leave and forge a new life for herself in London.  Echoing throughout the early part are memories of and references to the massive slaughter in Sarajevo in 2002.  This is a dark novel of hate and evil based on the real war criminal, Radovan Karadzic (tried and convicted at The Hague), ending with a glimmer of hope for Fidelma’s salvation.

I read this novel for my book group here.  Everyone found it challenging, and responses to it were mixed to negative.  Some found there to be too much descriptive writing and others did not find themselves engaged with or caring about the characters, especially Fidelma.  Many of the book reviews I read consider it O’Brien’s masterpiece.  Particularly helpful for context is an interview with the 85 year old O’Brien which appeared in Smithsonian Magazine.  Had I read it before tackling the novel, I would have appreciated sooner what she was attempting.

CHANGE OF PACE THRILLER

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.  I had put off reading this thriller since it deals with a plane crash, but once I started it, I raced through it.  It was gripping.  A private plane leaving Martha’s Vineyard crashes a a short time later, and of the eleven people on board, only two survive, a man and a small boy.  Why did the plane crash and what are the back stories of the passengers and crew?  Hawley’s novel is a fast-paced account of the TSA investigation, the role of the press, the lives of the victims before the crash, and the effect of the crash on the two survivors.  If you’re looking for a quick escape into another realm, this could be it!

FOOTNOTE

Following up on my mention of  Colson’s novel, The Underground Railroad, most of the NY Times’ Travel section this past Sunday (February 26) was devoted to museums and historic sites related to the Underground Railroad.  Many of them in Maryland.

Images:  Red chairs from the Web (litstack.com); photos courtesy of L. Hershorin.

Sarasota Scene: Music & More

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MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC!

Recently, we’ve gorged on music—-several instrumental treats plus the Sarasota Opera’s lovely production of Madama Butterfly.  Last Music Monday, Sarasota Orchestra principal oboe, Christine Soojin Kim, was the guest along with the world renowned Bertram Lucarelli.  Although Mr. Lucarelli no longer performs (he’s 80 and reported that after the age of 70, the breathing just doesn’t work the same), it’s clear he is still passionate about this instrument.  We, the audience, were party to a coaching session with Ms. Kim.  She played a beautiful Mozart piece for piano and oboe, and he offered suggestions and comments as she played and then re-played certain sections.  It was a learning experience for us (and it seemed so for her).  She was a good sport to have a master class before 800 people!

This past week, we were introduced to a young French cellist, Edgar Moreau, and the pianist, Jessica Xylina Osborne who often plays with him.  They were a delightful pair and we learned about how she views playing with a wide variety of soloists and whether he approaches orchestral work differently than solo events.  Note that she calls herself a pianist, not an accompanist, as they are partners in the musical enterprise.  They shared works by Bach and others.

Finally, we got to hear again Sarasota’s own Betsy Traba, principal flutist in the Sarasota Orchestra, along with pianist Joe Holt and soprano Jenny Kim-Godfrey. They performed works by Poulenc, Saint-Saens, Mouquet and Mozart.  This was a Lunch Look, Listen recital at Michael’s on East and part of the Festival of French Music being offered this month and next.  All of these young (and established) musicians are worth watching!

DINING FIND–SARASOTA

Although we might not be the hip demographic Coolinary is looking to entice upstairs on Main Street, the Chief Penguin and I very much enjoyed our first meal here.  We were early birds at 5:15 for dinner before the opera and were soon joined by some other couples with the same intent.  It’s a surprisingly large space with a long bar and a mix of normal tables and those trendy high ones (my feet always dangle miles above the floor).

Between us we sampled the Caesar salad (the addition of some apple was unusual, but good); cauliflower fritters (three large battered slices) with a blue cheesy dipping sauce; house smoked salmon; sizzling shrimp on a skillet (love the concept, but they were under seasoned which the chef could easily remedy); and the baby back ribs from the bar food section of the menu.  All the portions were decent to large size and the ribs were especially good.  

Entree choices include grouper, salmon, red snapper, beef, lamb and chicken, and at least one vegetarian dish.  Posters on the wall highlight a number of late night events with live music.  Service was attentive and efficient and we plan to return.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I’ve had Colson Whitehead’s new novel, The Underground Railroad, on my stack for several months and just finished it.  I found it a powerful evocation of slavery and one woman’s journey toward freedom.  The cruelty, violence, brutality and denigration of slavery are all here along with the courage and risk-taking of those people who are conductors on the railroad.  When Cora makes her escape from the Randall plantation in Georgia she has limited knowledge of the fortitude and resilience that will be required of her.  

Whitehead’s choice to make the stations on the railroad real tunnels and stations is inspired, while his creation of varying sets of rules and expectations for the different states, particularly horrifying in North Carolina and on the surface more civilized in South Carolina, grounds the novel in an unexpected way.  Cora’s travels through these and other states, plus her encounters with slave catcher Ridgeway, graphically highlight how many ways there are to stifle, humiliate and even kill a person.  This book was named to 11 best books-of-the-year lists and won the National Book Award for Fiction—lots of attention and definitely deserved! I recommend it without reservation.

 

Note:  Photo of Ms. Kim from the orchestra’s web site; restaurant photo from Trip Advisor; Mr. Whitehead’s photo from literary-arts.org

Tidy Tidbits: Matters of the Heart (Mostly)

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With Valentine’s Day almost here, it seems appropriate to focus on love and romance and lighter fare.  Here are some notes on TV viewing, recent reading and a restaurant (new to us) that would fill the bill for a delicious meal.

ON THE SMALL SCREEN:  Love and Lust

Everyone learns early on that Henry VIII had six wives and that they all came to unpleasant or untimely ends.  Historian Lucy Worsley, both author and TV presenter, is our guide and expert host for a look at his queens, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr, from the women’s perspective.  Animated and knowledgeable, Worsley is ever present in this dramatization.  Her showing up as a lady-in-waiting with a wink to the at-home audience is a dramatic device I found more annoying than enlightening.  Nonetheless, this is an almost saucy take on the king’s roving eye and his desperate drive for a male heir.  Entitled, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, this three part series is on PBS.

ON THE PAGE:  Hearts & Flowers

Sometimes one craves chocolate or a bonbon.  And sometimes I need a break from more literary fiction to read a novel that is engaging, has a complement of romance, and requires no mental strain.  Novels like this present problems—tangled family relationships, secrets that are hurtful, failed marriages—but in the end, things slot into place for a happy ending.  Not a messy or twisted resolution like real life, but satisfying in a way that lets you, the reader, forget politics or the petty annoyances of your own life.

Susan Wiggs writes this kind of women’s fiction and her ongoing series, Lakeshore Chronicles, set in the Catskills, follows the trials and tribulations and loves of the various members of the extended Bellamy Family.  The most recent novel, Starlight on Willow Lake, deals with a widowed caregiver who, struggling to make a life for her two daughters, takes on the care of a prickly demanding quadriplegic whose son has been both physically and emotionally distant.  It’s a good read.  

ON THE PLATE:  Tampa Table

We went up to Tampa the other night for an alumni event at a local restaurant and were pleased to be introduced to Grille One Sixteen.  An attractive open space done in dark wood with white chair seats and a very long, white bar, this dining room delivered on the food.  The Chief Penguin sampled the shrimp and grits and I enjoyed the glazed salmon served on a bed of succotash.  The Caesar salad to start was a generous portion and nicely, but not overwhelmingly, garlicky.  Pre-dinner nibbles at the table included dumpling bites and long strips of Nueske bacon (my favorite!) in a tall glass.  Dessert was little glazed doughnuts, a house specialty.  The full menu also includes a range of steaks, baby back ribs, meatloaf, and burgers.  Based on this meal, I’d happily return!

Header photo:  Painting by Carmen Herrera photographed at the Whitney Museum.  Hearts are free clip art from the web.