Carol's Comments November 2017

Carol’s Comments November 2017

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. While watching the Academy Awards telecast in February, I immediately became very fascinated by Best Picture nominee Lion. I definitely knew I wanted to eventually see the film as well as read Saroo Brierley’s memoir which inspired the movie. So when I finally finished my Jane Austen tribute blog in August, I checked out the book Lion soon afterward.

Originally titled A Long Way Home, Brierley’s incredibly amazing autobiography written with Larry Buttrose recounts how at age five he becomes separated from his older brother in Calcutta. After living in an orphanage for a month, Saroo’s ordeal finally ends when an Australian couple Sue and John Brierley adopt him in 1987 and he starts a new life in Hobart, Tasmania. 

Saroo remained curious about his Indian roots and heritage throughout his childhood and adolescence and was still haunted by the memories and traumatic events of losing his Indian family. In fact, when Saroo was a young boy, he told his adoptive parents he still wanted to find his birth mother but was very reluctant about visiting India.

Then in 2007, after deciding to earn a degree in Hospitality Management in Canberra, Australia, Saroo’s thoughts return again to searching for his childhood home in India after befriending several Indian students. They encourage him at age 26 to become more inquisitive and further explore his Indian cultural and geographical origins. That’s when he starts to search the Internet for more information. Determined to find the whereabouts of his mother, younger sister and two older brothers, he painstakingly uses Google Earth to locate them. Miraculously, he pinpoints the exact location of his hometown and reunites with his family after 25 years on February 11, 2012.

Brierley’s compelling and absorbing narrative, especially his vivid description of his early years in abject poverty makes the reader feel like they are actually experiencing Saroo’s unbelievable and courageous journey. It reminded me somewhat of Malala Yousafzai’s intriguing memoir I Am Malala that I reviewed in November 2014. I highly recommend this uplifting book to readers of all ages.

After reading such an exceptional book, I couldn’t wait to watch the film adaptation starring Oscar nominees Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman. Directed by Garth Davis, the movie begins when Saroo (perfectly played by young actor Sunny Pawar) follows his older brother Guddu to the train station where they become separated. Using a documentary film style, Luke Davies’ screenplay realistically depicts Saroo’s determination to survive and escape Calcutta’s dangers and finally being adopted by Sue and John Brierley, sympathetically portrayed by Nicole Kidman and David Weham when he starts a new life in Australia. 

The movie doesn’t rush Saroo’s struggles. The screenplay devotes 45 minutes to show the poverty and degradation this young boy must endure. Most notably, in this early segment, the actors speak in Hindi – English subtitles included- which makes this part of the film more authentic.  However, the screen adaption does exclude some of the more unsavory and brutal experiences Saroo witnesses on Calcutta’s streets.

Later in the film, Dev Patel’s genuinely engaging portrayal of adult Saroo greatly enhances the young man’s determination not only to make a fulfilling life for himself in Australia but also to use Google Earth to help him miraculously reunite with his long lost Indian family. These reunion scenes are especially emotional and heartwarming.

I wholeheartedly recommend reading Brierley’s memoir first to fully appreciate the movie. Lion is truly an unforgettable film and deserved its Best Picture Academy Award nomination. It’s a must-see for everyone.

After browsing through Bill Goldstein’s new literary criticism biography The World Broke in Two, I learned that in 1922, British literature ushered in the modernist age when T.S. Eliot published his epic poem The Waste Land and Virginia Woolf started Mrs. Dalloway completing it later in 1925. Most importantly, E.M. Forster, after overcoming a massive writer’s block, returned to his classic novel A Passage to India. I knew I definitely wanted to read it because the book and movie Lion had piqued my interest in Indian culture, religion and politics. It was the perfect choice.

Unfortunately, all copies of Forster’s novel (including the large print edition) were checked out at the public library for quite some time. So I resorted to watching David Lean’s magnificent film adaptation first.

Set in 1920’s British colonial India, David Lean’s direction and screenplay marvelously brings Forster’s novel to life. The 1984 film centers on Adela Quested portrayed by Judy Davis who makes her first trip to Chandrapore, India with her elderly companion Mrs. Moore played by Best Supporting Actress winner Peggy Ashcroft.

Looking for an unconventional adventure, Adela and Mrs. Moore decide to tour the mysterious Marabar Caves with the amiable Dr. Aziz so they can see the “real” India. Unfortunately, the outing takes a tragic turn when Adela returns home confused, hysterical, scratched and bloodied with her clothes in disarray. British authorities assume she was attacked and sexually assaulted by Dr. Aziz and strongly encourage her to press charges against him. Despite efforts by Aziz’s friend schoolmaster Cyril Fielding and Mrs. Moore to prove his innocence, Aziz’s trial ignites the turmoil of class conflict and injustice.

Although much more subdued and understated than some of his more spectacular epics like Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, Lean’s adaptation of A Passage to India instead strikingly and tragically illustrates how bigotry, prejudice, social inequalities and racism can irrevocably ruin a virtuous man’s life. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, Lean’s mesmerizing classic running nearly three hours powerfully captures Forster’s social commentary about racial injustice and class distinctions in early 20th century British controlled India.

Nearly two weeks after watching the film version of A Passage to India, I finally got to read the book. Published in 1924, Forster begins his final novel with an atmospheric prelude to events that will happen later in the story. Unlike the movie, in Forster’s book, Dr. Aziz becomes the central character rather than Adela Quested. Even before his unjust arrest for assaulting Miss Quested at the Marabar Caves, Aziz is also more cynical and extremely wary and suspicious not only of the British colonists (including his good friend and ally Cyril Fielding) but of his fellow Indians both Hindu and Muslim. After a very public trial, Aziz is finally vindicated but with an enormous price that tears all of Chandrapore’s residents both British and Indian apart.

A Passage to India is a very difficult book to read mainly due to its overly descriptive early 20th century writing style. I would strongly suggest watching David Lean’s superb film before tackling the book. The movie’s screenplay makes the novel easier to understand especially in comprehending Dr. Aziz’s backstory and the cultural clash between the Indians and the British. Despite these challenges for the reader, I highly recommend A Passage to India primarily because the novel’s themes seem strangely relevant in these uncertain times.

The books and movies reviewed in this blog can be found at most local public libraries. My readers in St. Joseph County, Indiana can visit the St. Joseph County Public Library’s web site at libraryforlife.org for additional information. Thanks for reading! Happy Thanksgiving! See you all next time.

Carol's Comments August 2017

Carol’s Comments August 2017

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. This Spring I read in the New York Times Book Review that Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors would reach a major milestone in 2017 when the literary world would commemorate the 200th anniversary of her death on July 18. I definitely knew I wanted to dedicate a blog to Miss Austen, just as I had done for Charlotte Bronte last summer and Harper Lee in 2015. At first, I thought I would read books that re-imagined most of Austen’s six novels. Then I realized that I had already reviewed P.D. James’ Death Comes to Pemberley, a mystery “sequel” to Pride and Prejudice in May 2012 and while skimming through many recent modern retellings of her beloved classics, none of them – especially Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld thrilled me.

After much contemplation, I decided instead to focus on Jane Austen’s remarkable life in fiction and film rather than traditional biography. I first selected Kathleen Flynn’s unconventional bestselling debut novel The Jane Austen Project. 

Skillfully blending science fiction with historical fiction, Flynn’s imaginative book concerns two researchers from a technologically advanced post -apocalyptic future- Dr. Rachel Katzman and actor turned scholar Liam Finucane who time travel back to early 19^th century England to retrieve Jane Austen’s unfinished manuscript The Watsons while also trying to discover the cause of the author’s mysterious death at age 41 and possibly prevent it. 

When Rachel and Liam arrive in Leatherhead, Surrey England through a time portal on September 15, 1815, they pose as siblings Dr. William and Mary Ravenswood former Jamaican plantation owners. While living in the past, the pair must be careful not to influence or interfere too much with people and events that could dramatically change the timeline and irrevocably alter the future. About a month later in October 1815, they meet and befriend Jane Austen’s favorite brother banker Henry Austen a few weeks before she will be visiting him in London.

Unfortunately, complications arise for the time travelers’ mission when Henry Austen becomes smitten with Rachel (aka Mary) and proposes marriage to her. The consequences of this action could seriously disrupt the space/time continuum as well as Rachel and Liam’s efforts to obtain the lost manuscript and avert the circumstances surrounding Jane Austen’s untimely death in July 1817. 

Rachel begrudgingly agrees to a secret engagement to Henry Austen even after his bank fails and he begins studying to become a vicar. She hopes she can postpone the marriage long enough for the time portal to re-open in September 1816 and escape with Liam and the manuscript back to the future.

 Despite its very metaphysical and thought provoking conclusion, Flynn’s inventive novel has one serious drawback. The author only gives the reader a very sketchy description of the futuristic world. The story never fully explains how the apocalypse occurred or how the Prometheus Server, the machine making time travel possible, was developed. Although the reader must at times overlook some implausible plot elements, The Jane Austen Project is a very riveting and captivating adventure story for both time travel and Jane Austen fans alike. It’s such a terrific escapist read that I really had trouble putting it down.

Next I started my Jane Austen movie marathon with the 2007 feature film Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway. Directed by Julian Jarrold, Anne Hathaway gives a very ebullient and vivacious performance as the young aspiring author Jane Austen in this very stylized biopic.

Set in late 18^th century England, this lavish film primarily focuses on Jane’s intense romance with the brash young Irish lawyer Tom LeFroy- (one of Austen’s potential real life suitors) ardently played by James McAvoy. The film strongly suggests that this relationship along with other significant events in her life greatly influenced Austen’s writing of Pride and Prejudice and fueled her independent spirit.

Although the screenplay written by Kevin Hood and Sarah Williams seemed a bit too melodramatic and frothy at times, Becoming Jane beautifully captures the manners and customs of the English Regency period and also features memorable supporting performances by Maggie Smith as Lady Gresham and James Cromwell as Jane Austen’s father Reverend Austen. This lovely film is a must-see for all Jane Austen devotees and incurable romantics just like me.

Finally, I concluded my Jane Austen cinematic tribute by watching Miss Austen Regrets, a Masterpiece Classic TV movie first broadcast in 2008.

Directed by Jeremy Lovering, Miss Austen Regrets begins with a flashback to 1802 where 27 year old Jane Austen, strikingly played by Olivia Williams, accepts a marriage proposal and then quickly changes her mind the next day. Then the film suddenly fast forwards 12 years to 1814 where Miss Austen, now 39 is advising her favorite young niece Fanny Knight about whom she should marry during her visit to her brother Edward’s estate. While helping her niece with her romantic dilemma, Jane also solemnly ponders and reminisces about her own decision to choose single life as a writer over marriage.

Gwyneth Hughes’ screenplay uses Austen’s actual surviving correspondence to create a more realistic and unsentimental depiction of Jane Austen, not only as an author but her personal relationships with her family- particularly with her sister Cassandra, portrayed by Greta Scacchi and friends as well. For instance, when Austen’s idealistic overly romantic niece naively asks her aunt how to attract a suitor like Mr. Darcy, her Aunt Jane replies, “The only way to get a man like Mr. Darcy is to make him up.”

This television program also includes a very pleasant surprise for Downton Abbey fans. Hugh Bonneville appears as Reverend Brook Bridges, the former  beau that Jane Austen rejected 12 years ago. This wonderful and strangely poignant and bittersweet Masterpiece production is much more satisfying in its realism than the idealized and rather sumptuous Becoming Jane. In fact, at times, it seems to mirror Austen’s family relationships depicted in The Jane Austen Project. I highly recommend viewing this forgotten Masterpiece gem.

The book and movies reviewed in this blog can be found at most local public libraries. My readers in St. Joseph County, Indiana can visit the St Joseph County Public Library’s web site at libraryforlife.org for additional information. Thanks for reading! See you all next time.

Carol's Comments June 2017

Carol’s Comments June 2017

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. I absolutely love classic situation comedies especially ones from the 1980’s and 1990’s.  My all-time favorites from NBC include Frasier, Friends, Will and Grace and Seinfeld. In fact, I enjoy these four shows so much that I frequently watch them for a couple of hours whenever I can. So when I recently learned that NBC planned to broadcast a new Will and Grace revival series in the network’s Fall schedule on Thursday night, I knew I’d be glued to the screen for all 12 episodes!

After devouring an excerpt of Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s new book Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything in Entertainment Weekly several months ago, I definitely knew I wanted to read it. Author of Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, a fabulous book about the Mary Tyler Moore Show that I reviewed in June 2013, Armstrong traces the development of Seinfeld from a quirky sitcom about nothing into an enduring pop culture phenomenon. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David created the show in 1989 as a limited series called The Seinfeld Chronicles. Although it didn’t do well in the ratings at first, the show got a four episode reprieve in summer 1990 running after Cheers reruns and performing remarkably well. After some debate, NBC renewed it as a 13 episode regular series for midseason in January 1991, Then finally in its” third” season, Seinfeld got a slot on the network’s coveted “Must See TV” Fall schedule. 

During this season, the show really began to develop its own alternative universe- a blend of real life with the TV world. In addition to the series’ four central characters, Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine, Armstrong describes the origin stories for the sitcom’s most endearing and iconic weirdoes like the Soup Nazi and J. Peterman. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld strongly encouraged their writers to create storylines that focused on their own real life experiences and then adapt them to the wacky and surreal Seinfeld world. This resulted in such memorable episodes as The Contest, The Junior Mint and The Chinese Restaurant as well as catchphrases like Yada Yada. 

However, after Larry David’s departure as head writer and co-creator in 1996, Season 8 became more manic, cartoonish and absurd under Seinfeld’s sole creative control. For example, during this penultimate season, viewers watched these very bizarre, existential episodes: Elaine meets and befriends the Bizarro Jerry, Kramer and George, Elaine’s Desperado boyfriend, Kramer’s new shower head, Jerry swaps personalities with Kramer when they switch apartments and finally The Betrayal episode that begins in reverse. 

Critics and fans alike commented that the series’ quality had diminished considerably. So by the beginning of the ninth and final season, power struggles and demands for bigger salaries had literally transformed the four major stars into their spiteful fictional counterparts.

Armstrong remarks that Seinfeld lives on better in syndication because audiences forgot about the disastrous series finale and embrace early episodes as comfort in their everyday lives. Seinfeld also dramatically influenced future situation comedies like The Office, Arrested Development and 30 Rock not only how it was filmed but its absurdist scripts as well.

Although I found Armstrong’s book entertaining, Seinfeldia lacked the warmth and sincerity of her previous book profiling the Mary Tyler Moore Show, It concentrated too much on the writers and the mechanics of the scripts rather than the characters and actors who played them. I especially disliked Chapters 12 -15 that surreally recounted what happened with Seinfeld fans and actors after the show ended in May 1998. The strange world of Seinfeldia is very weird- especially how devoted fans act out their obsession about the show on the internet. Armstrong seems to be writing a book within a book which didn’t appeal to me. Seinfeldia is definitely a very strange book about a very offbeat yet treasured television show.

After binge watching all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls last fall, I couldn’t wait to see the new four part revival series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life which premiered on Netflix after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I only have a Netflix DVD subscription so I would have to wait patiently for the DVD to finally be released. Meanwhile, I desperately wanted to read Lauren Graham’s new autobiography, Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between). I decided to wait because I knew it would probably contain lots of spoilers about the new show. But as the months rolled by with no Gilmore Girls DVD in sight, I risked it and indulged in the book.

In this stream of consciousness eclectic memoir, Graham uses comical essays to recount her unconventional childhood growing up in Hawaii, Japan and the Virgin Islands, the years as a struggling actress and most importantly, playing Lorelei Gilmore for seven years on Gilmore Girls and revisiting this beloved character nine years later in the new revival series. She also mentions the interim years between Gilmore series acting on the NBC drama Parenthood where she met her current boyfriend Peter Krause who ironically played her brother on the show.

Despite Graham’s rather frenetic writing style, my two favorite chapters naturally revolved around Gilmore Girls past and present. First, in What It Was Like, Part One, Graham, after viewing the entire Gilmore Girls original series again after almost 10 years, humorously discusses her acting style while also revealing behind the scenes tidbits about specific episodes and commenting how American pop culture has dramatically transformed in the last decade.

Next, in the last chapter, What It Was Like, Part Two, Graham features actual entries from a diary she kept while filming the new Netflix revival series, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. She offers readers very funny and poignant observations without giving away too many spoilers.

Graham, who recently turned 50, showed me that women don’t need to be married or have children to have a successful and fulfilling life. Her intelligence (she has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University), humor, honesty and genuineness truly inspires me. She definitely has become one of my role models and kindred spirits. Talking as Fast as I Can is an essential read for all ardent Gilmore Girls fans. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Since David Letterman retired after 33 years as a late night talk show host two years ago, I’m still suffering from major Letterman withdrawal. After faithfully watching Late Show with David Letterman on CBS for 22 years, I just can’t seem to find the perfect substitute, At first, I tried alternating between The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, The Late Show’s new host depending on the scheduled guests, but neither seemed to delight me not even when Colbert switched to more political satire after the 2016 presidential election. I still missed Letterman’s sarcastic, goofy humor and offbeat Midwestern sensibilities. Nowadays, I usually drift off to sleep watching Friends or Modern Family reruns.

So last month when I read a positive review about Jason Zinoman’s new bestselling book: Letterman: the Last Giant of Late Night in the New York Times Book Review, I quickly reserved a copy at the library.

In this very revealing and absorbing biography, Zinoman, The New York Times comedy columnist skillfully chronicles Letterman’s career from his early days as a college radio station disc jockey at Ball State University and a TV weatherman in Indianapolis through his years on Late Night on NBC and his 22 year stint on The Late Show at CBS where he literally transformed late night television talk shows.

For example, Letterman's unlikely journey to TV late night icon began when NBC gave him his own morning talk show in summer 1980. Lasting only four months, The David Letterman Show was a total disaster except for the debut of Stupid Pet Tricks which would later become a mainstay both on Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman. This enduring segment along with other comedy standards like Small Town News and Viewer Mail were created by his head writer and longtime girlfriend Merrill Markoe. 

In the chapters where Zinoman describes the creation of Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, the book almost becomes a psychological character study of Letterman’s ironic, absurdist humor. For instance, the show’s writers not only created oddball characters like Larry”Bud” Melman for the host to interact with but in 1985 premiered The Top Ten List, Letterman’s signature skit that reflected the humor of both stand-up comedian Dave and weird surreal Dave whose depressive mood swings, reclusiveness and self-deprecating remarks utterly baffled and frustrated his writing staff and producers.

When Late Show with David Letterman debuted on CBS in August 1993, it was an instant hit beating The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the ratings. Letterman felt vindicated after NBC didn’t choose him as The Tonight Show host after Johnny Carson retired in May 1992. Letterman’s ego also received a further boost when Carson made his last television appearance on The Late Show in 1994 thus solidifying and validating Letterman as his heir apparent. 

Furthermore, Zinoman mentions that while hosting The Late Show, Letterman’s humor, though still sarcastic, became more mainstream, introspective and less bizarre. He attributes this to three major events: his heart surgery in January 2000, being the first late night talk show host to return after the September 11^th terrorist attacks and the birth of his son Harry.

Letterman: the Last Giant of Late Night of Late Night is a very enlightening, fast-paced biography about a very enigmatic, complicated and irreverent television personality. I highly recommend it to all TV and pop culture enthusiasts.

All the books reviewed in this blog can be found at most local public libraries. My readers in St. Joseph County, Indiana can visit the St, Joseph County Public Library’s web site at libraryforlife.org for additional information. Thanks for reading! See you all next time!