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 5th 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 20th 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!
