RETURN TO THE BIG APPLE
The Chief Penguin and I are back in Manhattan after almost a year and a half. And it’s different. Covid-19 has taken its toll with more empty storefronts, favorite restaurants shuttered, fewer people on the streets, and less traffic all around. But, and it’s a welcome but, the city is becoming alive again! The Upper East Side seems more active than the West Village, possibly the difference between residents and schools in one area and more tourists in the other.
Restaurant dining is reviving. We appreciated and benefited from the creativity shown in the various outdoor structures that have been built in the street or on the sidewalk.
We dined at two favorites, Sel et Poivre, very distanced from other diners, and Via Carota, which is serving exclusively outside. Sitting at a sidewalk table, we also sampled a Mediterranean restaurant new to us called A la Turka.
Reservations are essential since dining capacity is still limited by NYS rules. That can mean you need to reserve farther ahead (2 weeks out) or not until a day before. Overall, we’re delighted to be here, enjoying the bustle of the city and spending time with our marvelous granddaughters.
WATCHING AND READING
IN-DEPTH BIOGRAPY SERIES
Hemingway (PBS)
Ernest Hemingway was an incredibly complex man. Product of a dysfunctional family, whose father committed suicide, he, nonetheless, was a superb storyteller and masterful stylist whose novels made an indelible impression on American literature. Filmmaker Ken Burns has a reputation for delving deeply into whatever topic he presents from baseball to the Civil War. Here, this attention to detail and nuance is focused on one man’s adventurous life.
Hemingway had four wives and other women along the way, he fought in several wars, he loved Spain, and he lived in Cuba. Aside from his personal life, this 3-part series provides a close examination of each of Hemingway’s works from early novels to his account life in Paris (A Moveable Feast) to late works such as The Old Man and the Sea. Literary scholars offer additional analysis, but I found most intriguing the comments from other writers like Tobias Woolf and Mary Karr, but especially those of the Irish novelist, Edna O’Brien. It’s a fascinating journey from beginning to end!
WORLD WAR II MYSTERY
Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear
I’ve read all the Maisie Dobbs mysteries, and this is one of the best. I’m even wondering if it’s Winspear’s swan song for Maisie. But there’s an historic event at the end that leaves the door open.
Freddie, a young messenger boy, witnesses what appears to be a murder. Did he really see it? No body is found. While haunted by Freddie’s experience, Maisie is primarily working for Scotland Yard vetting special agents for Resistance work in France. Two young women she knows are among the interviewees. Maisie’s personal life is also more complicated. She has a young daughter and an American friend and love named Mark Scott.
This novel details more about what’s involved in fighting a war in 1940 when England is regularly being bombed. It feels more personal than Winspear’s earlier works with a minor theme of friendship and love. There’s a poignant quote about whether war makes one too brittle to relax and accept love.
If you like mysteries that focus more on the people and procedures with less high drama, then this is for you. I find Maisie endlessly fascinating! (~JWFarrington)
Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
