ETA
This is the hurricane season that just doesn’t want to quit. It was a wild week with tropical storm Eta bearing down on Florida’s southwest coast. In our area, we experienced torrential rain (8 inches total) and wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour. At high tide, the surge brought brought water and debris through our mangrove hedges closer to our homes than anyone had ever seen. Some folks had roof leaks, but other than that, we were very fortunate. Thankfully, we were spared hurricane force winds.
GENDER DYNAMICS AND FAMILY LIFE
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
First a confession, I started this book last year. It didn’t captivate me, and I did a lot of skimming before setting it aside. This year it’s a book group selection so I picked it up with more serious intent. And this time, I became immersed. Oh, it did take a few chapters to become accustomed to what seems like Frankel’s scatter shot or kitchen sink approach to sentences. Put in as many words and related phrases as possible and string it out into a fairly long sentence.
I got past that, and I made the effort to learn the four older children and keep them straight. The bedtime fairy tale that writer/father Penn spins for them featuring Prince Grumwald and Princess Stephanie, plays an important role which I was impatient with previously.
This is a novel of family life. Anyone who’s been a parent, particularly a parent of more than one child, will relate to issues of schedules, schoolyard fights, and the general messiness of kids. More importantly, it’s about a child born Claude who wants to dress like a girl and be called Poppy. How these parents, ER doctor Rosie and author Penn, and his/her siblings keep Poppy’s big secret, and what the ramifications are, make for a poignant, heartwarming, and ultimately life-affirming novel. Recommended!
VIEWING: SWEDEN AFTER THE WAR
The Restaurant, or the translated Swedish title, Our Time is Now (Amazon Prime, Season 1; Seasons 2-4, Sundance for $)
This Swedish series has been compared to Downton Abbey in its popularity in that country. We too can become immersed in a post-war world seen through the lens of a family-owned restaurant. It opens in 1945 Stockholm at the Djurgardskalleren, a very formal dining room serving traditional fare. The Lowander family: matriarch Helga, sons Gustaf (restaurant manager) and Peter (initially a budding lawyer), and pampered daughter Nina (creator of the DK Club) will soon be celebrating the restaurant’s 50th anniversary. Business is at a low ebb. Chef Backe is a fixture. He both admires and feels threatened by rising chef Calle’s talents.
But times are changing. The wait staff, especially Maggan, seek better working conditions through union membership. Women like Nina feel stifled by dated expectations of a woman’s role. As the 50’s lead into the 60’s, new music emerges, new cuisine is introduced to restaurant patrons, and society loosens up.
The four seasons unfold through the decades into the 1970’s. It’s an absorbing story of loves and longing, failed and successful marriages, and sibling rivalries over who has the most power. All against the backdrop of the social issues of the time. Highly recommended!
CULTURE THIS WEEK
PIANO RECITAL—Jeremy Denk
Thanks to our friend, Patricia, we’ve discovered the rich offerings from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Their first concert was presented live to a small audience and available online for viewing for 72 hours. Pianist Jeremy Denk gave an exquisite performance of pieces by Robert and Clara Schumann, Bolts of Loving Thunder by contemporary composer Missy Mazzoli, and Brahms’ Four Piano Pieces. The Mazzoli piece was commissioned for Emmanuel Ax in 2013 and inspired by some of Brahms’ early work.
Thanks to my resident tech whiz, we were able to watch on our big screen! Unlike some organizations that set a fixed price for each streamed performance, the PCMS takes a pay-what-you-want approach. This recital was 50 minutes, a perfect length for at-home viewing.
SERENADE FOR STRINGS—Sarasota Orchestra
If you’re local, you’ll be pleased to know that the Sarasota Orchestra has put together its own series of concerts. They are presented live for a small audience in Holley Hall and then later streamed. Live tickets sell out quickly, but the streaming versions are only $10.
The orchestra’s first program, featuring thirteen musicians, consists of works by Tchaikovsky and the 18thcentury composer, Joseph Bologne. We have yet to watch this concert, but our streaming ticket allows five days from the date the link is sent out.
Covid-19 has forced cultural organizations to adapt and be creative in new ways. I foresee a future where you’ll have multiple subscription options. Like magazines that you can receive in print or online or both, there may well be these kinds of paid combo packages for concerts, opera and dance.
Note: Header photo is out a window showing tropical storm Eta in action. ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
