Category: Books

Tidy Tidbits: Bach, Beethoven & Clementine

JWF 4 Comments

READING

And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer.  Belfer is one of my favorite novelists.  I had been thinking about her and wondering if she had published anything recently when I happened upon her new novel at Three Lives in New York.  This historical novel deals with music, specifically a possible missing cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the actions taken in the name of religion, be it Jewish, Catholic or other.  Going back and forth in time between New York in the present, Germany in 1945, and the Berlin of Sara Levy from 1776 to the1851, it is a tale of mystery and discovery and prejudice.

Sara Levy is a harpsichord student of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann’s son, and a real person.  The gift of a musical score from Wilhelm to his favored student Sara and what becomes of it after her death is a trail that Susanna Kessler, a young foundation executive, must unravel after the sudden death of her Uncle Henry who was a soldier in WWII.  Becoming entwined in the search to validate the score are competing Bach scholars, a disillusioned minister, and Susanna’s own family.  I found this a most engaging novel and quickly raced through it.  The characters, both real and imagined, are well drawn and the book is rich with details of academic politics, foundation business, library research, and, of course, Bach’s music.

About a week after I bought the novel, I was surprised to see an article about Belfer and her husband in the Arts & Leisure section of the Sunday NYT under the heading, Classical, and entitled, “A Literary Couple Grapple with Bach and His God.”  It turns out her husband is a musicologist and they both published books in May—hers this novel and his a book of scholarly essays, Bach & God.  The article is an interview with them.

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Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell.  I’m well into this fascinating book.  It’s significant and surprising that until now, other than an account of her life by her daughter Mary, there has been no other biography of this complex, strong, and accomplished woman.  She was smart and very intuitive about people, but devoted her life to Winston and to furthering his career, sometimes to the detriment of her health and certainly to the dismay of her children.  She was about the only person who could and would stand up to Winston’s forceful personality and without her, his ultimate success in government is questionable.  But she needed to escape him periodically and she would go away for several months at a time without seeing him or their five children.  In public and even with close friends, she came across as always composed and often remote, but she also had a temper and could explode over a small detail.  Theirs was a fractious and complicated marriage with more time spent apart than together, resulting in a legacy of letters and notes.

WATCHING

While I wait for the next season of my Australian series, I’m deep into U.S. politics with the absorbing and very well crafted, Madam Secretary.  Tea Leoni as Secretary Elizabeth McCloud is smart, effective, beautiful and not above the occasional use of spy craft.  With background as a CIA analyst and then a professor, she brings an unusual resume to the job.  Her husband Henry is a noted religion scholar and professor who also possesses intelligence experience.  Episodes about crises in various parts of the world and diplomatic kerfuffles echo real life events of the past few years.  Adding to the enjoyment of the series is the portrayal of the McCords’ three children, especially their older daughter Stevie, a college dropout who is learning about the harsh realities of the job scene, and Elizabeth’s lively office staff.  I thought there was only one season, but just learned that it continues on prime time TV.

LISTENING

It’s June in Sarasota and that means the Sarasota Music Festival is in full swing along with the restaurant scene’s Savor Sarasota.  Last week we went to three concerts, all enjoyable, but the best one by far was the Saturday night symphony concert.  The orchestra was comprised of summer music students and the program included a simply  marvelous performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major by Noah Bendix-Balgley.  Bendix-Balgley is a former festival student of about a decade ago and joined the faculty in 2013.  In 2014, he was named the 1st Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic.  His is a career to follow!

 

Tidy Tidbits: Local Fare

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BUY LOCAL

The Florida season is over, the snow birds have retreated north, and it’s quiet time for many local merchants.  If you live in Sarasota or Bradenton, remember to visit your favorite downtown shops and restaurants.  They need you and they really appreciate your business!

Two of my regular stops are Bookstore 1 Sarasota and the Artisan Cheese Company.  In addition to Stilton (a stately, elegant cheese) and creamy, nutty L’Amuse Gouda, we indulged in some soft cheese and, for the first time, tried the store’s own pimento cheese.  Now, I know of pimento cheese from Southern novels, have sampled it from several suppliers and have always been underwhelmed.  Louise said that her version flew out of the store as soon as she put it on the shelf.  Well, it’s scrumptious!  The right mix of cheese, enough bits of pimento, and a hint of heat make it positively addictive.  I’ll be back for more.

Louise & Parker Converse shop owners (www.artisancheesecompanycm)
Shop owners Louise and Parker Converse (www.artisancheesecompany.com)

At my favorite bookstore, a proper one with shelves of books and more books, magazines, a children’s section and tables of temptation, I was intrigued by at least six new novels.  I settled on two, one the latest from Lauren Belfer, while the Chief Penguin located the hefty libretto for Hamilton.  With somewhat lighter pockets, we left happy merchants and headed home.

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Program cover (www.thelowry.com)

GIRL POWER  

For this year’s summer musical, Asolo Rep is presenting the U.S. premiere of Hetty Feather.  Based on a book by Jacqueline Wilson, it’s the story of Victorian girl Hetty’s tumultuous and, at times rollicking, journey from a foundling hospital to a foster home and then back to the hospital with encounters with the circus along the way.  Hetty is spunky and lively and always on the lookout for her real mother.  With exceedingly creative and clever staging (ropes, ladders and a suspended ring) and a very nimble and talented British cast, this is delightful family fare.

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SHOUT-OUT

While in New York, I finally visited Rizzoli Bookstore’s new location on Broadway not far from Eataly.  It is very spacious and all on one floor, but retains the feel of the old Rizzoli on W. 57th Street.  Dark wood bookcases, long tables of books and classic chandeliers.  I was told by one of the staff that they were able to save and re-use many of the fixtures including cases and lights, hence the familiarity.  They have a big space at the back (I’m assuming for events) with some comfy chairs and even several restrooms (another plus).  I enjoyed my time browsing and left with one of the several new novels I’d spied.  Definitely add it to your bookstore list!

WHAT I’M READING

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.  I suggested this title (previously unread by me) to my west coast book group and found myself plodding through it.  Published in 1920 and Lewis’ first successful novel, it is the story of Will Kennicutt, a doctor in small town Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, and his younger wife, Carol.  She is from the big city and has problems adjusting to what she views as a provincial, gossipy, unsophisticated place.  She is both a romantic and a self-appointed reformer who doesn’t really know what she wants or how to accomplish her supposed aims.  A satirical study in gender roles and cultural mores in a different time, but with a perspective on social class that still has relevance.  Overall, I found it too long and very dense.

First Women:  The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies by Kate Anderson Brower.  For a relaxing change of pace, this breezy work is about the bonds, the correspondence, and the unlikely friendships between these First Ladies.  Each is unique in personality and style and each, as wife of the president, made the White House her home.  Not a lot of new information here, but an engaging look at the times they inhabited and the roles they played—from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama.  Brower’s earlier book is The Residence about those who staff the White House.

 

Note:  Header photo and Rizzoli image by JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Book List: January-May 2016

JWF 2 Comments

By popular request and for your reference (as well as my own), I’ve created an alphabetical list of all of the books I’ve mentioned or commented on since the beginning of the year; i.e. January through May, with one title that will appear in another posting this month.  List includes the genre and the date of the blog post in which it appeared.

It is possible to search my blog by the tags, “books” or “reading,” for example, and get the posts that have those tags, but this does not provide an organized list.  And you can see all the posts that are categorized as Books or Reading, but that again just gives you the entire post.  So here’s the first list of authors and titles.  I’ll do this periodically throughout the year.

BOOKS CITED 2016, Jan-May

Addair, Lynsey           This is What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love & War

(memoir) 3/20/16

Coutts, Marion           Iceberg (memoir)  2/20/16

Fair, Eric                     Consequence (memoir) 5/18/16

Fechtor, Jessica         Stir: My Broken Brain & the Meals That Brought Me Home (memoir) 5/18/16

Gawande, Atul           Being Mortal (nonfiction) 2/20/16

George, Elizabeth      Banquet of Consequences (Inspector Lynley mystery) 5/18/16

Groff, Lauren             Fates and Furies (novel)   2/14/16

Harrod-Eagles, C.     The Dancing Years (historical novel, Morland Dynasty) 4/29/16

Haslett, Adam            Imagine Me Gone (novel) 5/30/16

Kalanithi, Paul           When Breath Becomes Air (memoir)

Kinsley, Michael        Old Age: A Beginner’s Guide (memoir) 5/22/16

LeBan, Elizabeth       The Restaurant Critic’s Wife (novel) 5/18/16

Lee, Janice Y. K.        Expatriates (novel) 3/5/16

Markham, Beryl        West with the Night (memoir) 2/14/16

Newman, Janis C.    Master Plan for Rescue (novel) 1/29/16

Ng, Celeste                Everything I Never Told You (novel) 3/5/16

Norris, John              Mary McGrory, The First Queen of Journalism (biography) 1/22/16

Nuland, Sherwin       How We Die (nonfiction) 2/20/16

Nutt, Amy Ellis          Becoming Nicole (nonfiction) 1/9/16

Redniss, Lauren        Radioactive (graphic biography) 4/23/16

Reisman, Nancy        Trompe L’Oeil (novel) 1/9/16

Sansom, C. J.             Dissolution (Tudor mystery) 5/22/16

Strout, Elizabeth        My Name is Lucy Barton (novel) 4/23/16

Tallent, Elizabeth      Mendocino Fire (short stories)

Traister, Rebecca       All the Single Ladies… (nonfiction) 4/15/16

Walker, Walter          Crime of Privilege (mystery) 2/20/16

Warlick, Ashley          Arrangement (historical novel) 3/20/16

Winspear, J.                Journey to Munich (Maisie Dobbs mystery) 4/23/16

 

Manhattan: Culture Notes

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They say good things come in threes, so here you have a play, a film, and a novel.  All deserving of attention, and at least two, of kudos.

BRILLIANT THEATER

Last week we saw Hamilton and it lived up to all the hype. We were seated in the 3rd row of the mezzanine (best seats I could get last September without taking out a loan!)  which actually gave us a good view of the entire stage and the ability to see the dance routines from above. Lin-Manuel Miranda is one very creative guy and how he makes history come live! Even allowing for dramatic license, one will never think of these Founding Fathers quite the same way.

Mairanda is marvelous as the ambitious, verbose, self-centered, self-righteous Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson is foppishly funny in “What Did I Miss?” George Washington is appropriately reasonable and statesmanlike, King George is childishly amusing (got a lot of laughs from the audience), and Aaron Burr is smooth, sometimes slick, and oh, so envious of Hamilton’s rapid rise. The few females, the two Schuyler sisters and Maria, the object of Hamilton’s adulterous affair, have secondary roles although Hamilton’s wife Eliza Schuyler delivers several poignant songs.

My only criticism is that it was not possible to understand all the words, especially in some of the early numbers, and it was not always clear then what event precipitated that dialogue. We were part of an extremely enthusiastic audience, lots of families with kids and at least one school class, and the cast received many cheers and an immediate standing ovation at the conclusion. Definitely see it!!!

Postscript: I am now reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton on which the play is loosely based.

ENTERTAINING TRUTH

I would never ever vote for Anthony Weiner, but the new documentary, Weiner, which tracks his primary campaign for mayor of New York, is intense, funny at points, and vastly entertaining. Presenting the sexting scandal of 2011 with clips of press conferences and TV interviews, the film then goes deep into his daily life in 2013 as he mounts his campaign to return to public office and faces chapter two of the sex scandal. It is amazing to me that Weiner gave the filmmakers such unfettered access to his wife and son as well as to his campaign team. Call it hubris, craziness, or what you will, the man has charisma and determination despite being, literally, his own worst enemy.

SUPERB FICTION

Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett

Thoroughly enveloping. Madness, music, siblings and suicide. It sounds like a depressing combination, but rather than being depressing, Imagine Me Gone is a fully imagined portrayal of family dynamics told in the voices of the five family members. In this case, a father who is mentally ill, his wife, and their three children, all of whom bear the scars, be they scratches or full-blown cuts, of his affliction. The eldest son, Michael, is 36 and still single and suffers from his own mental issues. Sister Celia is wary of trusting in her own long-term relationship, and brother Alex is gay and seeking a stable place in the world. Initially each one invests time and mental effort in trying to assuage Michael’s anguish and in managing his anxiety and his ineptitude for daily life. Their mother Margaret goes into debt in her efforts to support her eldest son. Haslett’s writing is tender and exquisite, beautifully nuanced in his depiction of family relationships. You, the reader, feel for each member of this damaged family. But it is ultimately a story with hope. One of the best novels I’ve read thus far this year!

John, the father, about Alec as a kid:

The beast isn’t in Alec.  I have no way of knowing this for certain.  He’s too young.  Maybe I just don’t see it and don’t want to. But in his eagerness to please there is such squiriming energy and a kind of literalness.  He’s up on the surface of himself opening outward, even when he’s embarrassed, perhaps particularly so then, because he finds embarrassment so painful, he’ll do anything to get off the spot.”

Margaret reflecting on her work colleague, Suzanne:

She’s an unlikely librarian, her flair wasted, if not resented, by everyone but the high school boys and their fathers.   Early on, she decided that I was to be her ally against the forces of boredom and small-mindedness. I was too tired to resist.

 

 Header photo: Richard Rodgers Theater before all the seats were filled (JWFarrington)