Carol's Comments December 2019

Carol’s Comments December 2019

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. When I posted my last column in August, I thought I wouldn’t write another blog until next spring. However, after reading three incredibly irresistible books this autumn, I knew I had to share them with my readers before the Christmas holidays.

While browsing the St. Joseph County Public Library’s web site in early September, I noticed an intriguing feature which matched books to a person’s astrological sign. I’m a Pisces so I wanted to discover what books might correspond with my artistic, sensitive, intuitive and incurably romantic nature. The only two books that interested me were Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus which I already reviewed in 2015 when it was the featured selection for St. Joseph County Public Library’s One Book, One Michiana campaign and the 2010 National Book Award winner  Just Kids by Patti Smith. I quickly put a hold on Smith’s autobiography and had to wait awhile since the library only owned one copy. It was definitely worth it.

Smith’s fascinating memoir lovingly chronicles her unconventional relationship with avant garde artist Robert Mapplethorpe in 1960s and 1970s New York. 

Born only a month apart in 1946, they meet each other accidently in 1967 in the East Village, where they soon live together leading a bohemian hippie lifestyle as “starving artists.”  Mapplethorpe’s artistic focus becomes very controversial as his art, sculpture and photography trend toward a fascination with death, freaks and his own homosexuality.

Smith’s and Mapplethorpe’s luck dramatically changes when they move to the Chelsea Hotel.  To make a living and support Mapplethorpe through his artistic endeavors, Patti Smith, a voracious reader and poet, works at Scribner Books on 5^th Avenue which gives her tremendous access to the literary and artistic minds of the late 1960s and early 1970s.  For instance, the couple’s neighbors at the Chelsea Hotel included such rock and roll greats like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin along with Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane.  

Unfortunately, Mapplethorpe’s homosexuality and excessive and reckless psychedelic drug abuse eventually alters their relationship, However, after Smith begins her own career as a poet and rock musician in the 1980s , she continues to support Mapplethorpe after his AIDS diagnosis and until his tragic death from the disease at age 42 on March 9, 1989. Ultimately, Just Kids is a very unique, poignant and devastatingly heartbreaking tribute to an unconventional friendship between star-crossed artists.

While visiting the River Park Branch Library a few weeks later, I found my next book accidently when I picked up the current issue of BookPage which featured Lara Prescott’s debut novel The Secrets We Kept on the cover. After reading a very insightful interview with Prescott where she described her motivation for writing her first novel, I knew I must read and review it,

Primarily set in Washington D.C. during the Cold War 1950s, Prescott’s new novel vividly depicts how the CIA secretly attempted to smuggle Dr. Zhivago into the Soviet Union as a propaganda tool to influence Russian minds about the reality of the Soviet political system and its subversive effects on Russian society. 

The narrative alternates between the West (Washington D.C.) and the East (Russia) where the plot focuses on Boris Pasternak and his longtime mistress/lover Olga Ivinskaya, Pasternak’s inspiration for Lara Antipova in his Nobel Prize winning masterpiece.

In the Washington D.C. subplot, the storyline revolves around Irina Drozdova, a young CIA typist of Russian descent. Because of her ethnic background, the fledgling typist is later recruited to become a spy and learn how to clandestinely transport secret documents around Washington D.C. (and later internationally) without suspicion. Her supervisor assigns seasoned former OSS operative and propagandist Sally Forrester to train Irina. Sally and Irina’s professional relationship soon develops into a deeper friendship which will have a profound effect on them forever.

Although the Washington D.C. section of the book dealing with CIA typists turned spies was a bit melodramatic, the plot was still very riveting especially the ingenious ways CIA operatives smuggled copies of Dr. Zhivago back to Russia attempting to use literature as a weapon against communism. For example, the CIA needed Russian language editions to appear to be published in Europe so Soviet officials wouldn’t suspect it was American propaganda when Pasternak’s novel was distributed to Russian readers at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels or the 1959 Vienna World Youth Festival.

My favorite part of Prescott’s novel centered on Boris Pasternak’s mistress Olga Ivinskaya and her fervent attempts to protect Dr. Zhivago and the man she loved from the KGB/Soviet regime. I thought these chapters realistically captured the Soviet Union during the Cold War period in the 1950s particularly the three years she spent in the Gulag prison system.  I highly recommend this absorbing novel (and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick) to anyone who enjoys 20^th century historical fiction or spy thrillers.

Shortly after the new Downton Abbey movie’s September 20 release date, the Masterpiece online newsletter announced that Elizabeth McGovern (aka Lady Cora Grantham) would be starring in the film adaptation of The Chaperone, Laura Moriarty’s 2012 novel. I definitely knew I wanted to read Moriarty’s book before the movie aired November 24 on PBS.

The Chaperone  takes place in 1922 Wichita, Kansas  where future silent film star teenage Louise Brooks needs a chaperone to attend the prestigious Denishawn Dance School for several weeks during the summer in New York City. 36 year old Wichita matron Cora Carlisle eagerly volunteers to accompany her as her chaperone. 

Cora hopes this adventure will help unearth a secret from her past that she has revealed to no one for over 30 years. Through flashbacks, the reader learns that Cora was an orphan in New York City who was transported on an orphan train by the Children’s Aid Society and adopted by a kind childless couple in rural Kansas.

While mischievous Louise Brooks perfects her dancing skills at the Denishawn studio, Cora has whole afternoons to rediscover and explore her origins, even possibly locating her birth parents. Although the book’s main plot is supposed to center on Louise Brooks, it is really more about Cora Carlisle’s unique journey of self-discovery by revisiting and reconciling her past with her present life. 

After finishing Moriarty’s captivating book, I couldn’t wait to see the film version. Fortunately, I discovered that I didn’t need to wait until November 24 to view it. As an Amazon Prime member, The Chaperone was available as a 7 day free subscription on Prime Video’s Masterpiece channel. I signed up immediately in mid-October.

The movie version of Moriarty’s novel directed by Michael Engler and a screenplay written by Julian Fellowes stars Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern as (now re-named) Norma Carlisle and Haley Lu Richardson as the vivacious and charismatic Louise Brooks.

The film begins in 1942 when Norma Carlisle visits 36 year old Louise Brooks at her mother’s home after she learns that the former actress has returned to Wichita desolate and discouraged. 

Told in flashback, the movie jumps back twenty years to 1922 when Norma accompanies Louise to New York for a few weeks so the unruly but talented 16 year old can attend dancing classes at the Denishawn  Dance Studio. Unlike the book, the film concentrates more on the 1922 New York adventure and shows Norma’s earlier life as an orphan in subtle mental flashbacks and dreams during Norma’s travels with Louise. 

Although the movie’s set and costume design authentically depicted New York and Wichita during the 1920s, I thought Moriarty’s novel more realistically portrayed Louise Brook’s scandalous, impetuous behavior befitting a free spirited flapper. The movie seemed to downplay these aspects. Richardson’s portrayal was very enchanting but appeared more vulnerable than uninhibited.  I recommend reading Moriarty’s novel first to fully appreciate the film version. Despite these flaws, The Chaperone is an excellent addition to the Masterpiece lineup.

The books and movie 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 sjcpl.lib.in.us for additional information. Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas and see you all next time in 2020!

Carol's Comments August 2019

Carol’s Comments August 2019

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another  issue of  Carol’s Comments. This summer I just wanted to relax and immerse myself in some escapist fiction. My first selection, City of Girls, the new novel by one of my favorite authors Elizabeth Gilbert was an easy choice. After I discovered on Gilbert’s Facebook page that her book would be published on June 4^th and Entertainment Weekly featured it as the top book in its Summer Preview issue, I quickly put a hold on the novel at the library so I’d be one of the first people to read it. I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Told through the perspective of the novel’s central character, 89 year old Vivian Morris, she breezily recalls that in 1940, after being expelled from Vassar at age 19, her parents send her to New York City to live with her eccentric Aunt Peg who owns a rundown theater company called the Lily Playhouse. 

An expert seamstress, Vivian soon becomes the costume designer at the Playhouse for all the actors and showgirls especially Bronx-born Celia Ray, who introduces her to a hedonist bohemian lifestyle Vivian adores. Celia and Vivian soon become the 1940’s version of Zelda Fitzgerald,

However, in March 1941, Vivian’s provocative sexual escapades nearly ruined her life forever when columnist Walter Winchell threatened to name her in an unsavory public indiscretion with Celia and a famous actress'’ ex-husband. Fortunately, her Aunt Peg’s best friend and business associate surprisingly rescues her and saves Vivian’s reputation.

Although very entertaining and fast moving, I thought City of Girls lacked depth. For instance, the characters, though very quirky and colorful, had no dimension. They seemed more like caricatures rather than real people the reader could relate to or empathize with. Furthermore, the book’s depiction of the 1940’s New York theater scene seemed quite bland and pedestrian. The plot needed more elements from Cabaret and Victor/Victoria and less Stage Door and 42^nd Street. Most importantly, Vivian’s transformation from innocent and naïve college student to promiscuous party girl seemed rather forced and unrealistic. Gilbert needed to borrow some erotic scenarios from Judith Krantz or even E.L, James to make the main character’s sensual adventures more believable.

Finally, the chapters focusing on post -World War II New York and the rest of Vivian’s life seemed a bit rushed. I wished the author had spent more time describing Vivian’s later years- especially her 20 year designer wedding gown business venture with her friend Marjorie Lowtsky and her intriguing and elusive platonic love relationship with Frank Grecco. Despite these obvious flaws, City of Girls is a delightfully frothy summer treat that transports the reader to a simpler time. 

After finishing City of Girls, I just couldn’t find a current fiction title that appealed to me. Feeling a bit discouraged, I decided to browse the general fiction shelves at the River Park Branch Library for inspiration. Thankfully, I found one of Sarah Waters’ older novels, The Little Stranger. Its sinister theme suited my literary taste precisely.

Set in England after World War II, Waters’ novel centers on the Ayres family who own the once elegant Hundreds Hall, located in Warwickshire. Narrated by Dr. Faraday, who returns to Hundreds Hall almost 30 years later (he first visited there as a 10 year old boy in 1919) to treat a servant’s stomach ailment. There he meets the family matriarch Angela Ayres and her two surviving children: 24 year old Roderick who is wounded and physically and emotionally scarred in the war and her 26 year old daughter Caroline. During his visit, Dr. Faraday also learns that an older sibling, Susan, died of diphtheria at age 6 shortly after World War I in 1919. Dr. Faraday will shortly become entwined in the family’s upcoming gruesome travails.

Soon afterward, a menacing force casts a spell of horrifying foreboding after a tragic accident occurs involving the family dog Gyp and a young neighbor girl Gillian Baker-Hyde. Only Roderick is fully aware of the immense danger this force poses while everyone else- including Dr. Faraday believe it’s a delusion. This terrifying spirit eventually encompasses the entire house leading to the ghastly destruction of the whole Ayres family within a year.

Waters’ very atmospheric plot uses psychological terror rather than graphic horror to build irresistible suspense. The Little Stranger reminded me a lot of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The book was so spellbinding and spooky that I couldn’t stop reading it even when it gave me a few nightmares. In addition to the primary frightening ghost story, Waters’ novel also features a second underlying sub-plot focusing on the disintegration of the aristocratic family estate system after World War II. I recommend The Little Stranger to anyone who enjoys Gothic or psychological horror fiction.

Next I decided to travel back in time to 1985 and re-read one of my favorite contemporary fiction classics The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler.

Tyler’s marvelous novel revolves around travel writer Macon Leary who ironically hates travel and drastic change. After his 12 year old son Ethan ‘s senseless  murder at a fast food restaurant a year ago and then his wife Sarah divorces him soon afterward, Macon feels suddenly adrift and overwhelmed living alone in his house in Baltimore. To ease his grief, he becomes extremely attached to his son’s dog, a Welsh corgi named Edward. He fervently insists on keeping Edward even after the dog becomes very unmanageable mainly because the dog is Macon’s last emotional link to his dead son.

When Macon needs to board Edward when he takes a business trip, the veterinarian rejects the dog due to excessive biting. Desperate, Macon stops at the Meow-Bow Animal Hospital where the quirky receptionist Muriel Pritchett, who is also a freelance dog trainer, accepts the dog enthusiastically. Almost immediately Muriel has a strangely calming effect on Edward. Muriel eagerly offers to train the dog when Macon returns from his travels.

A few months later, after breaking his leg in a strange mishap, Macon returns to his unconventional family home to recuperate and live with his two divorced brothers Porter and Charles and his nurturing unmarried sister Rose. While living there, he eventually hires Muriel to train Edward to stop misbehaving. Muriel’s grueling obedience lessons gradually have a therapeutic effect on the dog as well as Macon. As Macon’s unlikely relationship with Muriel deepens, he begins a personal journey that leads him away from uncertainty into acceptance and confidence about life’s true purpose. This intensifies when Macon starts living with Muriel and learns more about her life and her 7 year old son Alexander. Macon’s outlook becomes more optimistic as he truly begins to live again. He develops a zest for life he has never experienced.

Ironically, a business trip to Paris, where Macon has a brief reunion with his ex-wife Sarah, unexpectedly brings back what he truly desires- an unconventional happy life with Muriel Pritchett.  Focusing on realistic multidimensional characters and authentic settings, Anne Tyler, especially in The Accidental Tourist, is a fantastic storyteller of everyday modern life.

After I read The Accidental Tourist, I planned to watch and review Lawrence Kasdan’s wonderful 1988 screen adaptation starring William Hurt, Geena Davis and Kathleen Turner. Unfortunately after an exhaustive search, I couldn’t find a copy of the movie anywhere- not even at the public library. If the film ever becomes readily available on DVD, Netflix, cable television or any other streaming service again, I highly recommend it especially for Geena Davis’ charm delightful Oscar winning performance as Muriel Pritchett.

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 sjcpl.lib.in.us for additional information. My blog may be taking a brief hiatus this fall so I can see the new Downton Abbey movie at the theater and watch all six seasons of the original series at home. Thanks for reading! See you all next time in 2020- or maybe sooner!

Carol's Comments May 2019

Carol’s Comments May 2019

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. When Spring approached, I wanted to immerse myself in historical novels focusing on famous, but often overlooked women as well as sample some fanciful literary fiction.

I first selected The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict. Published in 2016, Benedict’s compelling novel centers on Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein’s first wife who also was a brilliant physicist and mathematician. 

Told through the perspective of the book’s central character, Mileva (also known as “Mitza”) recalls how she met Albert Einstein for the first time on October 20, 1896 while attending Zurich’s Swiss Federal Polytechnic to study physics and mathematics. Originally from Zagreb, Croatia, Mileva has many obstacles to overcome: her ethnic background, being a woman scientist in a male dominated profession and a physical disability. 

As the months pass, Mileva’s friendship with Einstein soon develops into a romantic relationship. She also feels very exhilarated discussing scientific topics at Zurich’s Café Metropole with Einstein and his scholarly friends. As their relationship intensifies, Einstein wants them to lead an unconventional, bohemian life together.

However, after returning from a romantic rendezvous at Lake Como, Mileva discovers she is pregnant. Einstein promises to marry her but continuously delays the marriage due to lack of job prospects. So Mileva returns to her parents’ home in Serbia to give birth to her daughter Lieserl. Unfortunately, Albert selfishly never allows her to bring their daughter to live with them in Bern,Switzerland  or ever shows any real interest in her even when Lieserl contracts scarlet fever and dies in Serbia.

Devastated by her daughter’s death, Mileva finally marries Einstein in Bern on January 6, 1903. Despite having two sons - Hans Albert shortly after their marriage and Edward in 1910, their marriage deteriorates basically because Einstein never gives Mileva credit for developing the theory of relativity. According to Benedict’s novel, when the relativity article entitled “Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” was published in the scholarly journal Annalen der Physik in 1905, only Einstein’s name appeared on the work. Apparently, Einstein had asked the journal editors to remove her name from the article. Furious and feeling utterly betrayed, Mileva could do nothing to correct this blatant error.

After several attempts to save their marriage, it completely collapses on Einstein’s birthday, March 14, 1913 when Mileva accidently discovers a note that he is having an affair with his cousin Elsa in Berlin. Finally in July 1914, on the eve of World War I, Mileva leaves Albert forever going back to Zurich with their two sons after completely rejecting her husband’s untenable and extremely cruel demands for continuing the marriage.

After the divorce and until her death in 1948, Mileva Maric Einstein tutored and mentored promising female scientists- partially restoring the exceptional scientific career she truly deserved.

For further information about Albert Einstein’s tumultuous first marriage, I highly recommend watching the excellent 2017 miniseries Genius: Einstein which originally aired on the National Geographic Channel. Based on Walter Isaacson’s bestselling biography Einstein: His Life and Universe and produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, the film stars Johnny Flynn and Geoffrey Rush as the young and older Einstein respectively.

When picking up books at the River Park Branch Library on March 8 (which coincidentally was International Women’s Day), I spotted the new children’s book by New York senator and Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand  Bold and Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right To Vote on a Women’s History Month display. I knew I had to snatch it up because it contained illustrations by my favorite artist Maira Kalman.

The picture book features ten short biographies on the following women’s rights pioneers: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Jovita Idar, Alice Paul, Inez Milholland, Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell and Lucy Burns. Kalman’s appealing drawings accentuate each woman’s contribution to American women’s fight for suffrage.

Gillibrand also includes a section that discusses when the 19^th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1919 and later ratified on August 18, 1920.

My favorite chapter in this book is Gillibrand’s own personal recollections about how important women’s rights were to her own great-grandmother Mimi, her grandmother Polly and her mother Penny. Kalman’s whimsical art especially enhances this section. Finally Gillibrand also provides a glossary at the end of the book that highlights other people and milestones that contributed to American women’s suffrage and equal rights such as Frances Perkins, Billie Jean King, Shirley Chisholm, Sandra Day O’Connor, Maya Lin and the Women’s Liberation Movement.

This delightful and informative book will appeal to adults as well as children age 6 and older. I highly recommend it especially to readers who enjoy American women’s history and biography.

About six months ago, a friend suggested that I might enjoy reading Amor Towles’ 2016 bestselling novel A Gentleman in Moscow. The book sounded very interesting because I especially like fiction set in 20^th century Russia. I quickly added it to my Books to Read list. Then while watching CBS Sunday Morning in late March, I learned that Towles’ novel would soon be adapted into a film. I knew I definitely wanted to review it for this blog- especially because the book had just been released in paperback debuting at #1 on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List.

Towles’ imaginative novel begins on June 21, 1922 when 32 year old Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a supposedly subversive poem entitled “Where is It Now” in 1913. He must never leave his humble quarters at the Metropol Hotel located directly across from the Kremlin or he will be shot. 

Living in his sparse attic room, Count Rostov observes the turbulent years of Soviet history rush past by befriending many of the hotel’s guests and staff specifically 9 year old Nina Kulikova who resides with her family in the Count’s former luxurious Suite 317 where he lived for four years when he returned to Russia from Paris in 1918. Also on the first anniversary of his house arrest, he meets the alluringly seductive Russian movie actress Anna Urbanova. He immediately becomes so captivated with her that they quickly start a romantic relationship lasting many years.

Throughout his thirty year "imprisonment" at the Metropol, the Count often recalls his former aristocratic life in pre-Revolutionary Russia. For instance, the reader learns about his beloved younger sister Helena who died from scarlet fever in 1916 and his modern thinking unconventional grandmother who lived an idyllic life with him at the family country estate Idlehour in Nizhny Novgorod until the Russian Revolution altered their lives forever.

By 1930, Rostov becomes such an integral part of the hotel’s daily routine that he joins the wait staff at the Metropol's upscale Boyarsky restaurant.

The plot then fast forwards to 1938, when the Count’s young friend Nina returns to the hotel with her 5 year old daughter Sofia. She pleads with Rostov to watch over Sofia while she travels to Siberia to be near her husband who has been imprisoned there. Sadly, Nina never returns to claim her daughter so Rostov essentially becomes Sofia’s doting adoptive father.

By the time Sofia reaches her 17^th birthday in June 1950, Rostov feels grateful that a near tragic event four years earlier didn’t jeopardize either of their lives. At this point, he believes that his confinement at the Metropol has ironically shielded him from the political turmoil outside its walls. 

Then in June 1954, the narrative takes a pivotal turn for Count Rostov when Sofia, now an accomplished pianist travels to Paris to perform in a piano competition. Her enterprising actions create a very unexpected and satisfying ending not only for Count Rostov, but for other Metropol hotel residents as well.

Filled with much humor, poignancy and many memorable multifaceted characters, Towles’ marvelous modern fable skillfully blends historical fiction with magical realism. I recommend it to readers who especially like inventive literary fiction. A Gentleman in Moscow will surely become a contemporary classic.

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 sjcpl.lib.in.us for additional information. Thanks for reading! Happy Memorial Day and see you all next time!