WHAT I’M READING NOW
I have two books going currently. One is a book of essays by Janet Malcolm, a staff writer for The New Yorker, called Nobody’s Looking at You. The other is Kate Atkinson’s latest novel, Transcription. Several years ago I read her Life After Life which was excellent.
Our island book group will be discussing Atkinson’s new novel shortly, and I’m really enjoying it. Juliet, the main character who has been recruited to work for MI5 in 1940s London, is a delightful mix of innocence and wry humor. Her job is to transcribe conversations being held by a group of fifth columnists. We see her again in 1950 when she has a somewhat tedious job working on children’s programming for the BBC, but gets the sense that her past is re-visiting her. I guess I’ll find out if it is or if she is imagining it.
Malcolm’s essays, often based on interviews, are easy and flowing and come across as simply put together. She is an excellent crafter of casual transitions which make the reader feel as if no work was involved. Based on reading “Three Sisters,” I must visit the Argosy Bookshop, and “The Storyteller,” an extended piece about Rachel Maddow, helped me appreciate her reputation, even though I’ve never watched her TV show. I have several more essays yet to read and when done will feel that I’ve spent time with this great storyteller. (~JWFarrington)
CULTURAL SCENE
I have always admired Caroline Kennedy. She has escaped some of the foibles and missteps of others of the Kennedy family and has kept her life as private as possible for someone with her name. Kennedy was the featured guest this week at the Town Hall lecture series, and I enjoyed her presentation.
She is not a particularly polished public speaker, but she came across with warmth and genuineness. Her stories of being a child in the White House and her father’s reaching out to the Japanese captain responsible for the damage and death on the PT-109 were heartfelt. As the U.S. ambassador to Japan, she was warmly welcomed there both because of her father and for being the daughter of a Pacific War veteran. Most of us didn’t realize how delicate and fraught with tension President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima was.
Aside from her family recollections, Kennedy’s message was about reconciliation and history and reaching across generational divides. She claimed that her grandmother, Rose Kennedy, was hands down the best politician in the family. Overall, her talk was a soothing balm counteracting today’s rough political waters.
Arthur Miller wrote his play, The Crucible,during the McCarthy era. But, as numerous critics have stated, it seems relevant in whatever time period it is staged. The Asolo Theater has done its usual superb job presenting this dark and tortuous piece of theater. The set is dimly lit and stark with austere wooden tables and benches. How young girls dancing in the woods get labeled as witches and how this spreads to accusations against other upstanding wives and mothers is both chilling and a strong reminder how “fake news” can too quickly become viewed as truth. Definitely a play for our time too.
Note: Atkinson photo from the Irish Times; Malcolm photo from the New York Times.
