Carol’s Comments
December 2014
Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s
Comments. This autumn has been quite a whirlwind for me. Just like the
swirling leaves and erratic weather, my reading choices also have been very
frenetic. I’ve flitted from one book and genre to another, not able to focus on
a central theme like I usually do. So when I finally settled on three books
that really felt comfortable and kept me interested, they resembled a
cornucopia of my eclectic tastes ranging from contemporary memoirs and
historical biography to re-imagined fanciful fiction.
The first book I selected was I Am Malala co-written by
Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb. Subtitled “the story of the girl who
stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban,” this powerfully absorbing
memoir chronicles Malala’s courageous young life as well as Pakistan’s
turbulent political history from its creation in 1947 to the present day
oppression under the Taliban. Born in 1997, Malala is a very unconventional
girl in a very traditional society. Supported by her father who also defies the
Taliban by establishing a school that educates both boys and girls, Malala
possesses an indomitable spirit as she faces adversity and insurmountable odds
advocating gender equality.
Amidst her country’s political turmoil, she
relentlessly crusades for girls’ educational rights. For example, she agrees, under
the pseudonym Gul Maki, to write a blog for the BBC Urdu web site vividly
describing life under the Taliban in through a girl’s point of view.
The Taliban nearly silence her quest for girls’ education
and gender equality by critically shooting her on October 9, 2012. She was only
15 years old. She miraculously survived this assassination attempt. I thought
the most heart wrenching chapters of the memoir focused on her long recovery
from her injuries. Through multiple surgeries, temporary paralysis and a strong
fighting spirit, she continues to champion for girls’ equality and freedom
while now living with her family in Birmingham, England.
This utterly fascinating book reminded me of a
modern day The Diary of Anne Frank with a more positive outcome. The memoir
also features a chronology of Pakistan’s history as well as including a
glossary of Islamic and Pakistani words and phrases. This makes it easier for
the reader to understand the Muslim culture. Told through a young girl’s
viewpoint, I Am Malala gives readers a glimpse into modern Pakistani
culture and an extremely disturbing portrait of a country gone absolutely
insane.
As a side note, shortly after finishing I Am
Malala, I learned that on October 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai at 17
became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, an award she truly deserved.
This Fall I watched a tremendous amount of PBS
without even including my favorite standby Masterpiece Classic/Mystery. I spent
almost every evening viewing many fine documentaries especially Ken Burns’
spectacular seven-part documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. It
intrigued me so much I can’t believe I watched a 14 hour documentary in seven
consecutive days! I totally immersed myself in Theodore, Eleanor and Franklin D
Roosevelts’ trials and triumphs.
After thoroughly enjoying Ken Burns’ documentary, I
couldn’t wait reading the accompanying book The Roosevelts: An Intimate
History primarily compiled and written by Geoffrey C. Ward with a
preface by Ken Burns. The book’s seven chapters use the same descriptive titles
featured in each episode of the documentary series:
1. Get
Action 1858-1901
2. In
the Arena 1901-1910
3. The
Fire of Life 1910-1919
4. The
Storm 1920-1933
5. The
Rising Road 1933-1939
6. The
Common Cause 1939-1944
7. A
Strong and Active Faith 1944-1962
These chapters, however, do not duplicate but instead
subtly enhance each segment by including stunning photographs, vignettes and
personal artifacts from the time period not mentioned in the film.
The book’s central theme focuses more on the
personal lives of its three subjects. For instance, Ward describes Theodore,
Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt as “wounded people” who triumph over great
adversity to lead meaningful, fulfilling and productive lives. Ward’s beautiful
book is an excellent companion piece to Burns’ documentary.
For further reading about Theodore Rooosevelt, I
recommend Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough, a very enlightening
biography about Theodore Roosevelt’s early life and Edmund Morris’ The Rise of
Theodore Roosevelt an excellent biography chronicling his early political
career.
For my readers interested in exploring more about
the personal lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, you must see the
excellent 1976 miniseries, Eleanor and Franklin starring Edward
Herrmann and Jane Alexander along with the 1977 followup Eleanor and Franklin: The White
House Years.
For some unknown reason, I keep gravitating toward
books and movies about the 1920s. For instance, while re-watching the marvelous
two- part 2011Woody Allen documentary which heavily focuses on the filming of Midnight
in Paris, I remembered how much I enjoyed reading The Paris Wife by Paula
McClain and Gioa Dilberto’s biography about Hadley Richardson Hemingway, Paris
Without End three years ago. I realized I wanted to learn even more
about Ernest Hemingway’s personal life.
While browsing The New York Times Trade Paperback Fiction
Bestseller List online one day, I found Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi
Wood and quickly requested it from the library.
Woods’ imaginative novel explores Hemingway’s life
from 1926 to 1961 through the unique perspective of his four wives: Hadley
Richardson Hemingway, Pauline “Fife” Pfeiffer, Martha Gelhorn and Mary Welsh.
Ironically, his first three wives’ narratives begin when their marriages are
disintegrating and in Mary Welsh’s case, while watching her husband deteriorate
mentally and physically.
Conversely, they all fondly recall in flashback, the
bewitching experience of loving a very charismatic yet incredibly complicated
man. These four women also would be linked forever together in an
unconventional sisterhood not only because of their passionate and enduring
love for the famous writer but because they all tolerated Hemingway’s
infidelities, chauvinism and self-aggrandizing behavior during their
relationship with him. More importantly, each wife inspired Hemingway to write The
Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and
the Sea, some of the greatest works in American literature.
This captivating novel reminded me of a feminine
version of A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s posthumously published fictional
memoir. Mrs. Hemingway is the perfect companion to The
Paris Wife. I highly recommend it.
I guess the old adage “the book is better than the
movie” in most cases, really rings true. As many of my readers know, in my
April 2012 column, I absolutely loved Death Comes to Pemberley, a
re-imagined mystery sequel to Pride and Prejudice by renowned
mystery author P.D. James and gave it a glowing review.
So when PBS announced on Facebook and other media
outlets that the network would air a BBC production of James’ novel on Masterpiece
Mystery this October, I frantically devoured any news I found about it
on social media, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. The previews
on PBS looked s very enticing as the miniseries premiere date approached that I
even marked my calendar so I wouldn’t miss it!
But when I started reading tepid reviews about the
program, I tried to dismiss them. I figured the reviewers were just being overly
critical about this screen adaption of the clever sequel to the Jane Austen
classic and the incomparable 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries
starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
Unfortunately, when I watched the two-part
adaptation on October 26 and November 2, I was extremely disappointed
especially Anna Maxwell Martin’s portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet Darcy. Totally
miscast and at least ten years too old for the role, Maxwell Marin seemed too
dowdy, sullen, drab and tentative to play Jane Austen’s high spirited,
vivacious and independent minded heroine.
The plodding story had such a convoluted plot that I
had a difficult following it and nearly fell asleep. Director Daniel Percival
should have trimmed at least 45 minutes from the film. Although Matthew Rhys
and Matthew Goode give decent performances as Darcy and George Wickham
respectively, this boring film lacks the mystery and suspense found in the
book. I recommend skipping this lackluster movie and reading P.D. James’
inventive novel instead.
All the books, movies and TV shows reviewed in my
column can be found at most local public libraries. My readers from St Joseph
County, Indiana can visit the St Joseph County Public Library’s web site at
libraryforlife,org for more information.
I’ll be taking a holiday break so see you all again
next time in 2015. Thanks for reading!
