Category: TV

Maine Moments: Late Summer Reading & Viewing

JWF Leave a comment

AFTERMATH

Peaceful view of Sarasota Bay

When Hurricane Idalia came barreling toward the Florida Gulf Coast, we watched, worried, and wondered from Maine.  Had we been home, we would have once again landed on the doorstep of our good friend in Venice where we sheltered last year during Ian.  

Our little island was a lucky place. Idalia left only storm debris and extra water here and there, but no damage to our building or others.  Anna Maria Island and downtown Bradenton, however, had significant flooding.  A big sigh of relief here and a cautious hope that Florida escapes further big storms this season.

As summer waned, I dove into several more books, and the Chief Penguin and I found some entertaining and some serious viewing. Next week I’ll share an overview of my summer reading.

JUST BECAUSE FICTION

I call this group “just because” fiction, because they are books that I came across or picked up that I might not otherwise have read.  But did read.  Summer is a time to do something different, read more widely, read remaindered titles, or just dabble with an unfamiliar author.  Did I love all these works?  No, I didn’t.  Did I finish them?  Yes, even if in one case, I skimmed a lot.  So, proceed with caution.

The English Teacher by Lily King

I got this on deep discount at Sherman’s in Boothbay Harbor because I’m a fan of King’s more recent novels. Published in 2005, The English Teacher is a story of adolescence and of a new marriage.  Peter is a high school sophomore with a new set of stepsiblings whom he desperately wants to like and to have like him.  His mother, Vida, never a wife until now, is the English teacher and her class is studying Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles.  

Vida is struggling in the marriage and her life.  Peter gets assigned to her class and discussions there bring to a head Vida’s unresolved issues.  King’s writing acutely portrays the anguish of both son and mother.  It’s an emotional book and one I found painful at points.

Margreete’s Harbor by Eleanor Morse (2021)

Appropriately for my summer, this is a novel set on the Maine coast from 1955 to 1967.  I did not know Eleanor Morse, but she has written several other novels and lives on Peaks Island.  

The character who catalyzes events is Margreete, a 70ish woman who is becoming forgetful and showing signs of early dementia.  This character alone may be enough for some of a certain age to set the novel aside. 

Liddie, Margreete’s daughter, and her husband Harry and their children Eva and Bernie, move from Michigan to start a new life with Margreete.  Liddie is a professional cellist and Harry a high school history teacher who holds strong views about the Vietnam War.  

This is a domestic novel in the truest sense capturing the small details of daily life as seen from the individual perspective of each family member.  I liked parts of it, but found it overly detailed and wished that it had been shorter.

Think of Horses by Mary Clearman Blew

Author Blew (inland360.com)

As a memento of our June trip to Montana, I purchased this novel in Big Fork.  Blew is the author of other books and nonfiction. Think of Horses, published in 2022 by the University of Nebraska Press, is the last book in her Montana quartet and set in the present. The other three take place in 1925, 1975, and 2012.

Tam Bowen, a successful romance novelist, has returned to her home county for the summer.  An unwed mother at 17, now age 50, she has had no recent contact with her adult son, Rob.  Tam relates easily to horses as her deceased father was a consummate horse-breaker, and he trained her.  Through horses, she makes the acquaintance of James, a neighbor, and his half brother teenage Calvin.  

Tam’s early life story made her the subject of gossip and in some quarters, hatred.  Returning to the area, she raises the ire and the violent tendencies of some of her neighbors.  These four individuals, Tam, Calvin, James, and even Rob, are all fragile with heartbreak in their histories.  

How they deal with each other, and both come together and disconnect, makes for a poignant story set midst the roughness and the beauty of the west.  (~JWFarrington)

VIEWING EXTREMES

FUN CHANGE OF PACE

Red, White & Royal Blue (Prime Video)

First Son Alex & Prince Henry (Town & Country)

After all the crime shows, we’d been watching, we needed something lighter and humorous.  Red, White & Royal Blue was just the thing, a political rom-com.  I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time.

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of the U. S. President while Prince Henry of the U.K. is the spare.  The two don’t hit if off initially and cause an embarrassing display at a wedding.  When they do become involved romantically, they must keep it a secret.  With a female president, a Hispanic first son, and a gay couple, this is contemporary comedy.  It’s great fun. Highly recommended for relief from everything serious!

TRAGEDY OF WAR

Generation War

Charly, Greta, Wilhelm & Friedhelm (The Telegraph)

Generation War is a German series aired in 2013 that follows five young Berliners as they serve and suffer in the Second World War from 1941 to 1945.  When first aired in Germany, it was watched by millions, but also the focus of much public debate.  

Greta is a bartender who aspires to become a popular singer; Viktor, a Jew, is her tailor boyfriend; Charlotte (Charly) is enthused about the prospect of nursing at the front, while brothers Wilhelm and Friedhelm are an army officer and an enlisted soldier respectively.  

As presented on American TV, the production is in three parts, each about 90 minutes long.  Narrated by Wilhelm and told from the German perspective, it contains some of the most brutal and almost physically punishing scenes of war I’ve ever seen.  

These 20-year-olds are initially full of idealism for a quick victory and, except for Viktor, accepting of the goals set out by Hitler.  They compromise their values, they see and do things that are horrible, and they are rendered emotionally numb by the machinery of war. 

This is strong stuff.  It’s an excellent series, but one that requires fortitude on the part of the viewer. Highly recommended!  For another perspective, here is a review from NPR that appeared in 2014.  

Note: Header photo of Maine coast and other of Sarasota Bay ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Time: Brunswick Break & More

JWF 1 Comment

EVOCATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

Emma at the Mirror 2006 (Melissa Ann Pinney)

Earlier this week, we drove down to Brunswick to Bowdoin College. This campus is one out of central casting with its expansive green and soaring church spires. On this day, the green was being readied for the return of students.

Our mission, however, was to visit the latest exhibit at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.  People Watching: Contemporary Photography since 1965 is a wonderful exhibit.  Wide ranging in appeal with 120 works by a variety of photographers, most, but not all, Americans.  The exhibit is divided into sections featuring photos on the street, at home, at work, and self portraits.  Here are a few photos that I particularly liked.

When the Storm Ends I Will Finish My Work 2021 (self portrait by Meryl McMaster)
Woman in Leopard Print 2019 (Quasmi)

SPICY LUNCH

While in Brunswick, we also met my Scarborough cousins for an Indian lunch at Shere Punjab.  We four had enjoyed this restaurant last year so returned for a rematch.  It’s a small place, welcoming, and looks to be family-run.  We began with an order of samosas, and they were excellent, some of the best I’ve had recently.  

Entrees range from chicken, shrimp or lamb curry to chicken tikka and chicken masala, along with several vegetarian dishes. You decide your level of spiciness from 1 to 10.  Three of us increased our level from what we’d ordered before.  I went from a 3 to 4 for my chicken curry (plenty spicy for me), while the Chief Penguin and my cousin had a level 6 on their chicken masala.  Add in some papadums, chutney, wedges of garlic naan, and you have a filling, satisfying meal.  

RECENT VIEWING

Murders in London

London Kills (Acorn)

Vivienne backed by Rob, Billie & David (amcnetworks.com)

The Chief Penguin and I were addicted to London Kills until we had watched it all.  There are 4 seasons and 20 episodes total.  Each episode is 45 minutes, and some nights we watched two of them back-to-back.

Every episode, detectives from the elite murder squad race out to the latest crime scene.  They examine the body, arrive at their initial determination of cause of death and likely weapon, and then decide who will do the “death knock” visit.  None of these cases is straightforward, even if they seem so.  There are always individuals with connections that lead to other crimes and corruption or tangled motives and unlikely accomplices. 

The detectives are Detective Inspector David Bradford (the boss), Detective Sergeant Vivienne Cole, Detective Constable Rob Brady, and trainee DC Billie Fitzgerald.  When the series opens, DI Bradford has just returned from leave.  His wife has been missing for months and the case is still open.  

In a twist that is typical of this series, Amber, the woman who reports the first murder, appears in a later episode with a purse belonging to Bradford’s wife.  Initially, David seems put off by Vivienne’s case comments, but she is sharp and insightful, often with the key observation.  Rob is also a good detective and a decent guy who has a personal friendship with the boss.  Trainee Billie is talented, but her soft approach to suspects occasionally leads her astray.  

They are an appealing team who mostly work together well, and the series is an exciting one.  It is fun to see Sharon Small as Vivienne Cole.  She played the nondescript but smart Barbara Havers in the Inspector Lynley series.  Highly recommended!  I’m keen for a Series 5, yet to be announced.

Note: Most photos by JWFarrington. Header photo is Monday Morning, Mother of Two by Elinor Carucci, 2010.

Maine Musings: On Screen & Page

JWF Leave a comment

DUPLICITY IN THE GEM WORLD

Rough Diamonds (Netflix)

Noah & Adina (Times of Israel)

Rough Diamonds is a fascinating and gripping Belgian series set in the Diamond District in Antwerp in the present day.  The Wolfson family, very orthodox Haredi Jews, have a diamond trading business that’s in trouble.  Unbeknownst to Father Ezra, head of the company, the youngest son Yanki has made some questionable deals.  Estranged son Noah who left the family and his religion some years before, returns from London to mourn a death.  

As their father’s health diminishes, Noah, his sister Adina, and his ineffectual older brother Eli, unite to try to save the company midst a web of corruption, violence, and tainted goods.  Meanwhile, prosecutor Jo Smets is investigating the Albanian mafia and stolen jewels.

It is hard at first, maybe even at the end, to interpret all the various strands of the plot.  Why does Noah work for his mother-in-law at all?  Are the bad guys the Albanians or some of the Wolfsons?  Has the prosecutor Smets overreached in her investigative efforts with Eli?  

With these elements swirling around, one of the most compelling aspects of this series is cultural. It’s the interlocking relationships among siblings and cousins, between spouses, and between the Wolfsons and the other Jews in their temple community.   There are 8 episodes, and summaries online indicate there will be a Season 2.  Suspenseful and recommended!

RECENT BOOKS

CRIME IN YORKSHIRE

Many Rivers to Cross by Peter Robinson

British crime writer Peter Robinson penned twenty-eight novels featuring Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks.  The setting is a small town in Yorkshire.  Over the years, I’ve read many of Robinson’s books, and I enjoyed the TV series, DCI Banks. based on several of them.  

Many Rivers to Cross is near the end of the series and the second to feature the intriguing Zelda.  Beautiful, from Moldova, trafficked as a teenager and sexually abused, she shows up in the U.K. as a pavement artist.  Partner to the much older artist Raymond Cabbot, father of DI Annie Cabbot, Zelda and Raymond are friends of Banks.  

The crime that opens the initial investigation is finding a young Arab boy’s body in a rubbish bin.  Trying to identify the boy and how he came to be there leads to drug activity in the area, a second death, and examining the roles of various community members.  The book begins slowly, almost meanderingly, and then picks up speed as links with Albanian mobsters appear, and players from Zelda’s past seem to be involved.  

Part of the attraction of this series is the character of Alan Banks himself.  He loves music of all types from classical to rock, and the reader is regularly treated to comments on what he is listening to.  A fully drawn complex character, he has two grown children and several past amours, one of whom is still a colleague.  He is compassionately thorough in his investigations, a decent man, with a good moral sense. 

In his lifetime, Peter Robinson received many book awards and was noted for his literary bent (he earned a Ph.D. in English from York University).  Sadly, he died late in 2022.  Wanting to know more about him, I found this lovely tribute by his wife, Sheila Halladay.  Be forewarned, there are a few spoilers about his last books.  You can find it at Crime Reads.

ROM-COM FUN

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

(CultureMap Houston)

For a complete change of pace, I recommend Katherine Center’s new novel, The Bodyguard. Written during the pandemic, It’s fun, humorous, and ultimately sweet, but not icky.  I read in the “Watching” column about a new film on Netflix, Happiness for Beginners, based on one of Center’s books. I haven’t watched the film yet, but that mention led me to this novel. Center grew up in Texas and the ranch she describes belongs to her grandparents.

Hannah Brooks is a highly trained personal protection agent or bodyguard.  Stunned and grieved by the recent death of her mother, she is given a local assignment in Houston, rather than her preference for something far away.  Her client is Jack Stapleton, a well-known movie star back home to spend time with his ill mother.  

Prepared to provide protection, Hannah is initially incredulous when she is required to pose as Jack’s girlfriend in front of his family.  That’s only the beginning of the antics when this skilled agent must try things she’s never encountered like riding a horse and trying to maintain professional distance in a close relationship.  

Hannah and Jack each have some heavy baggage, but how their relationship evolves is both amusing and heartwarming.  The book is written in the first person in Hannah’s voice.  My only quibble is that I found the epilogue a bit overdone in terms of life lessons.  It’s a fast read, perfect for a summer afternoon!

Note: Header image of summer dahlias ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Musings: Mostly Books

JWF 2 Comments

VIRGINIA BOOTLEGGERS

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Author Walls (Simon & Schuster)

Set in rural Virginia during Prohibition, Jeannette Walls’ new novel, Hang the Moon, is a rollicking ride with a family of whiskey bootleggers.  The Duke, Sallie Kincaid’s father and kingpin of the local economy, is a big man both in size and personality.  He receives adoration but offers little in return.  With multiple wives and children from various relationships, he is a force to be obeyed.  In his motherless daughter Sallie, he inspires hero worship and a zeal to be like him.  

At 18, Sallie, the focal point of the novel, is called back home after having been sent away some years before.  She is determined to win the Duke’s admiration, or at least, his respect.  Learning to drive, she convinces him to hire her as his bagman.  She collects rents from the tenants, makes deliveries, and inevitably gets caught up in the long-running feud between Kincaid’s men and those of the Bond family. 

It’s a life of hard work, violence, and skirting the law.  Sallie is fierce and independent and while coming into her own after the Duke’s death, has seen only what she wanted to see about the relationships between her aunts, cousins, and siblings.  Her Kincaid family history is a complex web of extramarital affairs, deaths, and failed marriages.  

Walls cites an impressive number of sources in her afterword and details which characters are modeled after real people. Highly recommended–it’s hard to put down once you start! (~JWFarrington)

TAKEOFF ON LITTLE WOMEN

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Napolitano (author’s website)

Who are we in our 20’s and how do we evolve and grow as we progress toward middle age?  Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful is a wonderfully enveloping novel about four sisters and the two men who impact their lives.  The women: ambitious organized Julia; Sylvie, earnest reader and librarian in the making; and the twins, Cecelia artistic and free-spirited; and Emeline, nurturer and caregiver; are entwined in a close-knit Catholic family in Chicago.  Julia meets William Waters in college.  Unloved, overlooked by his parents, and unsure of himself, he is Julia’s opposite in so many ways.  

When they marry, William acquires an instant family which he finds both overwhelming and mostly delightful.  Julia is a planner who has her life mapped out; William struggles on her suggested path but is not as focused or driven as she.  He gets his kicks from basketball and mentoring injured players.

Charlie, the girls’ father, is an alcoholic dreamer and seemingly ineffectual, but he sees them all more clearly than they realize.  His early death leaves a big hole, and they reflect fondly on his always cheery greeting of “Hello, Beautiful.”  

There is a rupture when one sister leaves town and, over the decades as they age, their relationships shift as new people come into the mix.  The tightness of the sisterly bonds and a subplot about absentee fathers make for an emotion-laden experience. 

I found this novel so absorbing, I read it very quickly, completely caught up in the unfolding story.  Highly recommended. (~JWFarrington)

VIEWING NOTES (PBS Passport)

Will, wife Bonnie, & Geordie in Grantchester (PBS)

This past week, we finished the most recent seasons of both Grantchester and Endeavour. In Season 8 of Grantchester, Will is in turmoil, Leonard is having difficulties with his halfway house and Daniel, and Geordie faces forced retirement.  There’s a lot going on, and it’s emotionally absorbing.  There will be one more season with Tom Brittney as vicar Will Davenport before he departs the series.

This season of Endeavour is the finale.  We watched the first two episodes and had saved up this last one.  It’s poignant and bittersweet as almost everyone moves on to another place or phase.  DI Thursday may be retiring, there are old murders to solve, festering scores to settle, and Miss Thursday is getting married.  Endeavour Morse must face what comes after. 

Endeavour & Joan Thursday (WTTW)

If you are a fan of any of the Colin Dexter-based series from John Thaw in Inspector Morse, to Kevin Whately as Lewis, and then Shaun Evans as the young Morse in Endeavour, I highly recommend a short documentary.  

Morse & Lewis (CUNY TV)

It’s called Morse and The Last Endeavour:  A Masterpiece Mystery! Special.  It’s an affectionate look at the entire set of episodes from 1987 to the present and includes interviews with many of the actors about their characters, along with comments about what it was like to film in Oxford.  It’s a treat!  But there are spoilers so watch all of this Endeavour first.

There’s also a one-on-one interview with Shaun Evans about his evolving role as both actor and director. It too is on PBS Passport and worth watching.

Note: Header photo of lilies taken ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)