Carol's Comments September 2020

Carol’s Comments September 2020

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. After posting my last blog in early May, I didn’t think I’d be writing another blog for a quite a long time. Fortunately, while finding ways to entertain myself at home during the last six months, I added a unique new book and revisited a beloved classic from my own library collection. Both books were so compelling that I wanted to share them with my readers.

 

One afternoon while searching for calendars and books on Amazon, I discovered that Maira Kalman, one of my favorite illustrators had recently published a new edition of The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein. I quickly ordered a copy.

Originally written by Stein in 1933, Alice B Toklas’ “autobiography” begins in 1907 with her first trip to France where she meets Gertrude Stein for the first time. This momentous encounter soon culminates into a lifelong friendship and partnership lasting forty years.

This exceptional and sometimes very humorous book primarily focuses on the pair’s unconventional literary lifestyle among the Parisian avant garde. The two women frequently host various soirees at their home at rue de Fleurus welcoming and mentoring such expatriate authors as Ernest Hemingway and T.S. Eliot along with modern artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

Maira Kalman’s very whimsical and charming color illustrations interspersed throughout the  biography cleverly and comically enhance Stein’s witty narrative by bringing the eclectic adventures, experiences and opinions of these eccentric inimitable companions and their bohemian artistic friends to life. I highly recommend this utterly fabulous and very funny early 20^th century biography to anyone who enjoys historical fiction like The Paris Wife or Woody Allen’s 2011 film Midnight in Paris.

 

After briefly visiting the early years before and after World War I in The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas,, I still wanted to immerse myself in a novel or a memoir that concentrated specifically on World War I.  Since the public library hadn't reopened yet, I remembered I still owned a copy of Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain which I hadn’t read in 40 years. I retrieved it quickly from my bookcase.

Testament of Youth, probably the only World War I memoir told from a woman’s perspective gives the reader a truly realistic, unromantic view of the first modern war that nearly annihilated an entire generation. I usually don’t read books over 500 pages for this blog but the memoir’s themes were so intriguing and fascinating, I felt drawn to it.

Written in three parts,Brittain's memoir chronicles her life from 1900-1925. The autobiography begins by describing her life in England as a young middle class woman studying hard to get accepted into Oxford while leading an idyllic life with her younger brother Edward and their friends Roland Leighton (her future fiancé), Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow. Unfortunately, when England declares war on Germany in August 1914, these young peoples’ lives dramatically change forever.

Brittain decides to abandon her studies at Oxford in 1915 and volunteer as an armed services nurse where she served in London, Malta and the Western front in France witnessing the terrible horrors of war firsthand. Tragically, by the war’s end in 1918, she loses everyone she truly loves: her brother Edward, her fiancé Roland and her friends Victor and Geoffrey.

Depressed and overwhelmed, Brittain manages to recover by returning to Oxford and supporting and writing about various pacifist and feminist causes. Ultimately, Testament of Youth is an outstanding and poignant tribute to the Lost Generation as well as an authentic depiction of the tragedy of modern warfare. Despite its length (661 pages), I wholeheartedly recommend this unforgettable memoir.

After finishing Testament of Youth, I really wanted to watch a screen adaptation of Brittain’s incredible memoir. I tried to locate a copy of the extraordinary 1979 BBC five part miniseries starring Cheryl Campbell which aired on PBS in 1980. Unfortunately, the program isn’t currently available on DVD, streaming service or any cable movie channel. Undaunted, I decided to find a copy of the 2014 feature film dramatization produced by BBC Films. I didn’t have to search very long because one afternoon while leisurely browsing through the cable TV guide, I coincidently stumbled upon this film on Movieplex.

Directed by James Kent and starring Alicia Vikander as Vera Brittain, the movie’s screenplay written by Juliette Towhidi focuses only on one third of Brittain’s memoir (specifically 1914-1918)  that describes Brittain’s brief time at Oxford, her service as an army nurse and her brother Edward’s and fiancé Roland’s tragic untimely deaths. Although the movie accurately portrays in graphic detail the brutality and futility of war, I wish it would have explored the aftermath of World War I and Brittain’s transformation into a pacifist and feminist supporter and writer in post-war England. Instead it briefly notes these significant contributions  at the end of the film.

The 2014 movie version of Brittain’s book is very serious minded and thoughtful but feels somewhat incomplete. Despite these flaws and until the 1979 miniseries becomes available again, I still recommend viewing this film especially for anyone interested in World War I or early 20^th century England.

The books and film 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.org for additional information.

Thanks for reading! See you all (hopefully very soon) next time.