Steve Lindahl

New Music by Reynolds Price

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

New Music: A Trilogy by Reynolds Price

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reynolds Price's work is considered a treasure, especially along the tobacco road corridor in North Carolina. He was a graduate of Duke University and returned there to teach for many years. He wrote novels, memoirs, short stories and, plays, including New Music.

When I saw Price's play was on the schedule for Triad Stage in Greensboro I was excited to see it. New Music is the type of play Triad Stage does well. At almost any moment during the show there are only a few characters on stage, so the staging issues aren't complicated. And it isn't a classic work they feel they have to reinvent. This was a good production.

The set was excellent, as it always is at Triad Stage. It was simple, with places on the stage that designated two different homes and a store. There was no need for set changes. There was also an apartment upstage which provided interesting levels and variety. The acting was wonderful, especially Gayton Scott who plays Roma Avery, a middle aged woman with a cutting, sarcastic side to her that affects her relationship with her son and daughter-in-law. I could see the compensation for insecurity that drove Roma to act the way she did in every move Scott made.

New Music is a trilogy. Triad Stage has decided to put on the entire work in two parts. I saw part one, which is the first two plays. All three plays follow the lives of the Averys, a wealthy southern family. In August Snow Neal and Taw are in the first year of their marriage. It hasn't been an easy year for Taw. Neal spends too much time at his mother's home and too much time with Porter Farwell, his lifelong friend. He often comes home drunk.

Taw has decided to give Neal an ultimatum. He needs to clean up his act or she will leave him. Throughout the beginning of the show the audience's sympathies switch back and forth. Is Taw too domineering or has Neal's behavior forced her hand? There's also a hint that the relationship between Neal and Porter wasn't just a friendship. The subtlety and character development in August Snow was outstanding. I thought the production was as good as you can get and well worth the price of the ticket.

The second play Night Dance didn't come up to the level of the first. This takes place after Neal and Taw have been married for nine years. There is a focus on their decision to have or not to have children. There is also a second plot surrounding World War Two. Neal has flat feet and wasn't able to join the service while Wayne, the fiancé of their friend and landlord Genevieve Slappy, is in the fight. This play was weaker than the first. There was a scene with Wayne's father that didn't advance the plot in any way. The homosexual relationship between Neal and Porter was talked about, so the subtlety was lost. And there were ghosts that appeared in the play, which wasn't in keeping with the style of the show.

The evening was too long even though it was only half the show. We decided not to go back for part two. However, the first play alone was well worth the ticket price and it was a good feeling to see a show by Reynolds Price.

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The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:08:00 +0000

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The full name of Paula Mclain's novel is The Paris Wife – A Novel. I suppose the subtitle is to let the reader know this is historical fiction. Still, the big events seem to stick with the way things really went during the five year marriage of Elizabeth Hadley Richardson and Ernest Hemingway.

They met in Chicago a short time after Hadley's mother died. They decided to move to Paris because as Sherwood Anderson tells Ernest: “Paris is the place to be. That's where the real writers are now. The rate of exchange is good. There are things to do at any hour. Everything's interesting and everyone has something to contribute.” But did Hemingway react in a controlled and understanding manner when Hadley lost three years of his manuscripts on a train bound for Lausanne, but react with fury when, on the same trip, Hadley told him she'd forgotten her diaphragm? There must have been some conjecture there.

The picture I got of Hadley and Ernest's personalities was of two opposites. Hadley seemed optimistic, supportive, but also whiny. Ernest seemed self-centered, dogmatic, and at times cruel. I don't know how much of their personalities was based on research, but it is a fact that The Torrents of Spring was a parody of the work of Sherwood Anderson, who had been a friend. Hemingway seemed to be someone who was willing to step on others to advance his career and willing to hurt others to show off. It was interesting to note that Hadley had a successful marriage after their divorce while Ernest went through four wives then committed suicide.

Although I believe the Hemingway marriage didn't last because Hadley and Ernest weren't good together, the book seems to put much of the blame on the Paris scene. They spent most of their time partying with rich friends from the art and literary world. Ernest's second wife was Pauline Pfeiffer, who was part of their crowd and a friend of Hadley's. They tried to be a threesome for awhile, which was in keeping with the anything goes attitude of that time and place, but it didn't work for Hadley. The fact that she tried says a great deal about her personality.

This book presents an interesting view of one of the world's greatest writers. It is well worth reading.

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The Doomsday Book at our book club

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:05:00 +0000

Connie Willis's The Doomsday Book was a hit at our book club. My wife recommended it and led the discussion. The club meets in our church and many of the members are in our choir and bell choir. Christian traditions that have provided continuity throughout history were one interesting topic of discussion. The technology of the future from a viewpoint that is now twenty years old was another. The characters in the book are strong and interesting. It is the human side of Willis's portrayal of life in Europe during the plague that was the most fascinating. I recommend this choice to others looking for book club discussions. The only problem with it is accessibility. It's twenty years old, so our local library had only one copy left...and it was in Korean.

Anyone who would like to read my review from May of last year can find it here: Doomsday May 21 2011.

The River King by Alice Hoffman

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:38:00 +0000

The River King by Alice Hoffman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The River King is a beautiful novel that fits in the magic realism genre, defined in Wikipedia as “...an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world.”

The story is about a wealthy boarding school in Massachusetts and the relationship of its students and faculty with the people of the town. There are elements of arrogance, jealousy, and corruption that pervade the plot, but all of the book is wrapped in a romantic vision of life. There is Carlin Leander who befriends August Pierce but chooses the self centered Harry McKenna for her lover due to his looks and reputation. There is Betsy Chase, the teacher who is engaged to another teacher and is leading what she believes to be a perfect life until Abel Grey, a town police officer comes along. And there are many other relationships that are explored, some current, some as part of the school's history.

Hoffman's writing style suits the magic elements because of its wonderful metaphors and romantic aspect that is always present. Here's a quote from the beginning of the novel, as Hoffman is introducing the students of the Haddan School to the reader:

Each September, when the new students arrived, Annie Howe's roses had an odd effect on certain girls, the sensitive ones who had never been away from home before and were easily influenced. When such girls walked past the brittle canes in the gardens behind St. Anne's, they felt something cold at the base of their spines, a bad case of pins and needles, as though someone were issuing a warning: Be careful who you choose to love and who loves you in return.

Later she brings in more of the magical aspects when Carlin finds gifts left to her by Gus, the soul mate she has lost to the river.

Carlin reached into her pocket and brought forth a small fish, which she placed upon the table. Helen leaned forward for a better look. It was one of those silver minnows found in the Haddan River, small and shimmering and gasping for breath. Helen Davis might have dropped the little fish in a tumbler of water had Midnight not pounced on it and eaten it whole.

In spite of herself, Carlin Laughed. “Did you see that? He ate it.”

“You bad, bad boy,” Helen scolded. “You rascal.”

“I told you Gus left me things,” Carlin said to Abe. “But you didn't believe me.”

Hoffman's writing is wonderful. Her use of language is lovely and her plot weaves many independent stories, all about love and survival, into one, like the rose garden that is entwined throughout the story. I loved the way she balanced one character, Carlin Leander, who pushes the love she feels away from her with another character, Betsy Chase, who cannot resist the love she feels. The ending didn't resolve as well as I had hoped it would, but that was the only flaw I could find. I will be reading more Alice Hoffman books.

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Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:11:00 +0000

Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Diane Chamberlain knows how to create suspense with plot elements she reveals to her readers, but keeps hidden from her characters. She did that successfully in Secrets She Left Behind with an important letter that isn't read when it should be and with a woman who develops relationships with two of the main characters without revealing her friendship with Maggie to Keith or her affair with Keith to Maggie. Both of those suspenseful twists keep her readers interested. The latter of the two is especially intriguing because it is an indirect way to reveal that the woman, Jen, is up to something harmful.

I was paging through Goodreads looking for an interesting book that was available through the NC digital library when I came across Secrets She Left Behind. It isn't the type of book I normally read and it is a sequel to another Diane Chamberlain book that I haven't read. So there were a couple of strikes against it up front. Still, it should be able to stand on its own. I enjoyed the aspect I mentioned previously. I was also pulled into the story by the fact that one part of the plot, arson committed by a young woman trying to impress a man, reminded me of a true event that occurred in 2002 in Greensboro, NC when Janet Danahey burned down an apartment building near the UNCG campus, killing four people.

I feel the writing in the book could have been tighter and the plot involved too many major subjects to treat any of them seriously. The novel covers alcoholism, birth defects, infidelity, arson, missing persons, burn victims, revenge, and more. Another review called this novel “too much of a soap opera.” I think that's a fair criticism. But that said, there are many people who enjoy the soaps. This book would appeal to them.

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Absolution by Miriam Herin

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:46:00 +0000

Absolution by Miriam Herin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolution is the best baby boomer book I've read in a long time. Miriam Herin has captured the internal turmoil our generation went through during the Vietnam war era and still live with all these years later.

The novel opens with the killing of Richard Delaney by Anh Dung “Billy” Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, in what appears to be a botched robbery of a drug store. There is no question about Billy's identity. The case is turned over to Adam Borstein, an assistant district attorney. The prosecution seems straight forward until Ev Quincy, a high profile defense attorney, is brought in.

Maggie Delaney, Richard's wife, learns there are some facts about the killing that don't seem right, especially given what she knew about her husband. She starts her own investigation into Richard's experience in Vietnam. A great deal of the story takes place in flashbacks to the war and protests against the war. There is an especially moving and graphic description of a short time Maggie spent in prison after participating in one of the protests. Maggie and Richard had an unusual marriage because their political beliefs, especially concerning the war, were extreme opposites. Richard was a lieutenant in the special forces while Maggie was active in the anti-war movement.

Herin's picture of the sexual revolution is an accurate telling of what was considered personal empowerment at the time. In one scene Maggie walks into her apartment to find a man who, against her wishes, has been crashing at her place. The man and a woman she's never met before are in her living room. They are naked and have obviously just had sex. The smell of pot is throughout her home. Yet there was also a beautiful scene of Maggie's own first experience.

I was in college from 1968 through 1972, which was the height of the war protests. I opposed the war and still feel that was the right decision. But I based that decision on a limited amount of knowledge. I didn't even know who the Montagnards were until years later. This book was thoroughly researched and presents a complete picture of what was happening at that time. It also presents a good perspective on war in general. It's available in Kindle format for $.99.

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Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Arcadia Falls is a novel about the relationships of women to each other and to art. It starts out following Meg Rosenthal, a recently widowed woman who has been awarded a teaching position at The Arcadia School, a private high school for the arts in rural New York. Meg is driving to the village of Arcadia with her teenage daughter, Sally. The plan is for Sally to attend the school where Meg will be teaching.

Meg is driving an eleven-year-old Jaguar that sums up her situation in life. The car belonged to Jude, her deceased husband. The Jaguar brand represents the opulence of their former lifestyle, but the car is now “past due for its service appointment” and has a set of bald tires. Jude had gambled their money trying to start a hedge fund, leaving Meg and Sally with little to get by on. Their car and their lifestyles have suffered.

Meg is teaching a folklore class with a concentration on The Changeling Girl, an illustrated fairy tale written by Lily Eberhardt, who, along with Vera Beecher, Lily's mentor and lover, founded the school. The story of The Changeling Girl parallels the events happening to Meg and Sally. Along with Lily's book there are letters and a journal that are critical to the novel, allowing the story to move back and forth between what happened years earlier, when the school was first founded, and what is happening in the present.

There are only three important men in this book: Jude, Meg's husband, who died before the story started, Virgil Nash, Lily's male lover, who brings an aspect of sexual attraction and deceit to the book, and Callum Reade, the local sheriff, who is a kind and stable force in Meg's life. Those characters are treated well, but the book is about women.

Goodman treats the lesbian relationship between Vera and Lily with respect and also handles the importance of art in a woman's life very well. The theme of mother/daughter relationships runs throughout the book through Meg and Sally as well as a child of Lily's that is given up for adoption.

Arcadia Falls is insightful and fun. I plan to read more by Carol Goodman.

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A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:19:00 +0000

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory is a short, beautifully written story by one of my favorite authors. It's about the relationship between a woman in the latter years of her life and a boy just starting out. It is, according to the book jacket notes, “based on Capote's own boyhood in rural Alabama in the 1930's.” The edition I read was illustrated by Beth Peck. The pictures are as wonderful as the text.

Here is how Capote introduces the relationship between the woman and the boy:

I am seven; she is sixty-something. We are cousins, very distant ones, and we have lived together—well, as long as I can remember. Other people inhabit the house, relatives; and though they have power over us, and frequently make us cry, we are not, on the whole, too much aware of them. We are each other's best friend.

Together they gather ingredients for fruitcakes which they share with people as diverse as President Roosevelt, some missionaries to Borneo, and the little knife grinder who comes through town twice a year. They also go into the woods to find a Christmas tree and later fly kites together. It is their relationship that is important, not what they do. It comes out in the way they speak to each other, dance together, and deal with the other people in the house, who often think they act inappropriately.

The book covers their relationship until the boy goes away. Some people, my wife among them, think the book should have stopped a page or so before it did. But what is happy can't be as beautiful without what is sad and it is all part of the memory. The book only took about an hour to read and it had the power to bring out my own Christmas memories. That was an hour well spent.

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Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:17:00 +0000

Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the right book to read in the month when Lindsay Lohan's Playboy pictorial came out. Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller are, like Lohan, products of dysfunctional parents. Their mother has an out of control fascination with fame and their father, who has serious issues that are revealed later in the story, is an absentee parent with a new family.

Three Girls and Their Brother must have been inspired by the Hemingway sisters. Like Joan, Margaux, and Mariel, the Heller girls are the grandchildren of a major literary figure and are successful models and actresses. The similarities continue as Amelia, the youngest Heller, begins to achieve the most success and becomes involved with a film actor who has a destructive interest in very young girls.

The Heller women, unlike their real life counterparts, have a brother. Philip has a view of what is important in life that runs counter to the view of their mother. He is very protective of Amelia and serves as an anchor to the wild action in the story.

The story is told through the points of view of the three siblings. This is handled very well and works to increase the sense that these young people are the only family they have.

This is a feel good book in the sense that it makes those of us who are not famous, satisfied with our lives. I was disappointed with the ending which had elements that felt as if they were set up and somewhat unbelievable. Also, there were too many issues left open. But overall, it was an excellent read and lots of fun. I listened to the audio version, which was well narrated.

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Anna Karenina, the last stop on my Tolstoy mini-marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If Anna Karenina had been written in the twenty-first century it would have been cut back to about half its length. There are scenes of farming and Russian politics as well as long divergences into philosophical discussions about what is important in life. The modern thought would have been that those scenes do not advance the story. But what's wonderful about nineteenth century literature in general and Anna Karenina specifically is that Tolstoy took the time to explore his characters and topics thoroughly.

Anna sums up her tragic flaw in a brief way when she says, “It is only those two creatures I love (Seryozha, her son, and Alexy, her lover), and one excludes the other.” But her words are much too simplistic. Anna slowly swirls down into her personal disaster because of all the elements around her. When Anna goes to the theater Madame Kartasova reacts by telling her it is a disgrace to sit beside her. It's easy to say society is not important, but incidents like that have to upset Anna. She and Vronsky live in the country because they can be away from occurrences such as that, but life in the country is lonely leaving Anna nothing to dwell on but her situation. She can't sleep, so she resorts to morphine and opium. These drugs are short term solutions that make the long term situation even worse. Her husband doesn't react violently to the revelation that his wife has had an affair, instead, due to his influence by Countess Lidia Ivanova, he acts magnanimously, in a very self-righteous manner. Anna cannot help but be injured by Alexy Alexandrovitch's attitude and by his refusal to allow her to see her son. This sends her even deeper into her downward spiral. In the end the reader can feel and understand the reasons Anna needs to end her life.

Tolstoy starts his book with what has become one of the most famous opening lines in all literature: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. But those words are not entirely true. Levin and Kitty's life is the counterpoint to Vronsky and Anna's. Tolstoy examines that life with just as much detail and continues to explain Levin's spiritual state even after Anna's story has run its course. When I first read Anna Karenina over twenty years ago, I was pulled in by Anna's story. This time it was Levin who held my interest the most. I loved his insecurities and his attempts to search for meaning in life. In my opinion his respect and love for Kitty made their love story more powerful than the tragic story of Anna and Vronsky. Perhaps what makes Tolstoy's writing so powerful is his ability to reach out to readers at all stages of their lives.

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Anna Karenina and birth control

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:26:00 +0000

There is a section in part six of Anna Karenina where Anna reveals to Dolly that it is impossible for her to have more children.

Anna hasn't received a divorce, causing Vronsky to be concerned that any children they might have will legally belong to Alexey Alexandrovitch.

Anna reacts with this section:

“What children?” Anna said, not looking at Dolly, and half closing her eyes.

“Annie and those to come...”

“He need not trouble on that score; I shall have no more children.”

“How can you tell that you won't?”

“I shall not, because I don't wish it.” And, in spite of all her emotion, Anna smiled, as she caught the naïve expression of curiosity, wonder, and horror on Dolly's face.

“The doctor told me after my illness...”

“Impossible!” said Dolly, opening her eyes wide.

The quick research I did on this section indicates that some readers consider this to be Anna revealing that she uses birth control.

This takes place in the late nineteenth century, so condoms and diaphragms were available. But a diaphragm would have been difficult to use regularly without Vronsky's knowledge and a condom would have been impossible.

The other option Anna had was the most common form of birth control in Russia at that time, abortion. I think Anna is either revealing here that she has had at least one abortion and intends to have others or that she has had a hysterectomy.

Either of those revelations would explain Dolly's reaction, but the two possibilities would give Dolly very different views of Anna. The Christian church existed in Czarist Russia in a number of different forms. Dolly is not presented as a devout follower, but she could have been influenced by what were then the current views of the morality of abortion. If that was the case she might have been appalled at what Anna had done. But Anna does say “The doctor told me after my illness...”, so there is a good chance Anna is talking about an operation that has left her sterile. If so, Dolly is reacting to what has happened to Anna's womanhood, from a nineteenth century perspective. In this case she would have been filled with pity for Anna. When she leaves Anna's home, Dolly seems more appalled than consumed with pity, but either way her reaction is interesting.

Once again, Tolstoy touches on a topic that is very relevant to a modern reader, even though his novel was written and set in the eighteen hundreds.

The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankel

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:43:00 +0000

The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell is a book that takes some interesting political positions. In the struggle between the followers of Mao Tse Tung and the followers of Deng Xiaoping, it is the Mao disciples who are fighting ruthless corruption in China. Capitalism is not producing positive results for the masses and Mao even gets a pass on the cultural revolution. The heroine of the novel, a Swedish judge, had admired China's red guard during her college years, so the admiration for the old style red communism is not limited to the boundaries of the People's Republic. Combine that perspective with a view on Robert Mugabe that emphasizes the positive and this book presents a perspective I'm not used to hearing.

... Robert Mugabe was a man who in many ways deserved her admiration and respect. Even if not everything he did was good, he was basically convinced that the roots of colonialism grew very deep and needed to be cut away not just once but many times. Not least of the reasons she respected him was she had read how he was constantly and brutally attacked in the Western media.

The Man from Beijing is an action thriller and a good one. I was pleased with the unique story, but disappointed with the ending, which I felt left too many loose ends and was too dependent on information found in diaries. Overall the book was exciting and the characters were well drawn: flawed and real. My wife disagrees with my assessment of the ending. We'll be discussing this book in our next book club meeting, so it will be interesting to hear other people's opinions on this.

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Tea Party, Occupy Movement, and what we can learn from Tolstoy

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:34:00 +0000

As I've mentioned in other blog posts, one of the most interesting aspects of reading literature from another era is the way it gives us a window into the thought of a time with knowledge of what eventually occurred. Anna Karenina was published in serial form from 1873 to 1877. The October revolution in Russia took place in 1917, forty-four years later. Yet in the text of Tolstoy's novel communism is mentioned a few times. It's thought of as a radical, but logical approach to the problems of economic injustice.

Konstantin Levin is the character with a conscience and a tendency toward philosophical thought that Tolstoy uses to present the impressions of what was then a new political philosophy.

Then, too, his brother's talk of communism, which he had treated so lightly at the time, now made him think. He considered a revolution in economic conditions nonsense. But he always felt the injustice of his own abundance in comparison with the poverty of the peasants, and now he determined that so as to feel quite in the right, though he had worked hard and lived by no means luxuriously before, he would now work still harder, and would allow himself even less luxury.

Later Konstantin Levin needs to defend his ideas to his brother Nikolay.

“You've simply borrowed an idea that's not your own, but you've distorted it, and are trying to apply it where it's not applicable.”

“But I tell you it's nothing to do with it. They deny the justice of property, of capital, of inheritance, while I do not deny this chief stimulus.”

I can see parallels with our own time, as our politics becomes more polarized with each election. The trickle down philosophy of the Tea Party and the justice for all philosophy of the Occupy movement both have their points. But just as the communists of Tolstoy's era eventually became the Stalinists of latter years, our right and left wing radicals could lead us down a dangerous path if we're not careful to remain rational.

The Hearts and Minds of Tolstoy's Characters

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:57:00 +0000

As I make my way through Anna Karenina I am once again amazed at the ability of Tolstoy to understand what's in the hearts and minds of his characters. I've passed the section in the novel where Anna reveals to her husband that she is having an affair. She's been pushed into this admission because she's pregnant. She attributes to herself a love of truth, but that truth was not so important before she was forced to face it.

Despite the fact that the affair occurred because of a mutual attraction between Anna and Vronsky that led to Vronsky pursuing her until she submitted, Anna sees her husband as being at fault. She admits to her own flaws, but passes them over quickly in her mind and concentrates on what annoys her about her husband.

“I'm a wicked woman, a lost woman,” she thought; “but I don't like lying, I can't endure a falsehood, while as for him (her husband) it's the breath of his life—falsehood. He knows all about it, he sees it all; what does he care if he can talk so calmly? If he were to kill me, if he were to kill Vronsky, I might respect him. No, all he wants is falsehood and propriety,” Anna said to herself, not considering exactly what it was she wanted of her husband, and how she would have liked to see him behave. She did not understand either that Alexey Alexandrovitch's peculiar loquacity that day, so exasperating to her, was merely the expression of his inward distress and uneasiness.

As a reader I sympathize with Anna because I see her humanity. I also sympathize with her husband and her lover, because I can understand what they're going through as well. This novel concentrates on what the characters feel rather than what the author feels better than either Resurrection or War and Peace. That's why I consider this the best of the three I've included in my reading list.

Tolstoy mini marathon continues with Anna Karenina

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:25:00 +0000

I saved Anna Karenina for the last book in my mini Tolstoy marathon, because I've read it before and, although it was too long ago to remember many details, I do remember that it was a wonderful read. I'm about a fifth of the way through it and it is even better than my memory of it.

I wonder if the readers of War and Peace told Tolstoy that his handling of relationships in that work was great and that he should write another book that focused exclusively on the characters rather than covering history and dwelling on conjecture about the reasons populations follow leaders. If so, they pointed him in the right direction.

Tolstoy's brilliance comes from his observation of human behavior and his ability to put the tiniest details into his writing without ever losing the attention of his readers. The next section is a good example of this. It is written from the point of view of Count Vronsky when he first sees Anna.

With the insight of a man of the world, from one glance at this lady's appearance Vronsky classified her as belonging to the best society. He begged pardon, and was getting into the carriage, but felt he must glance at her once more; not that she was very beautiful, not on account of the elegance and modest grace which were apparent in her whole figure, but because in the expression of her charming face, as she passed close by him there was something peculiarly caressing and soft. As he looked around, she too turned her head. Her shining gray eyes, that looked dark from the thick lashes, rested with friendly attention on his face, as though she were recognizing him, and then promptly turned away to the passing crowd, as though seeking someone. In that brief look Vronsky had time to notice the suppressed eagerness which played over her face, and flitted between the brilliant eyes and the faint smile that curved her red lips. It was as though her nature were so brimming over with something that against her will it showed itself now in the flash of her eyes, and now in her smile. Deliberately she shrouded the light in her eyes, but it shone against her will in the faintly perceptible smile.

I believe I could build an entire writing class on the study of that single paragaph.

Lovely in Her Bones by Sharyn McCrumb

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:27:00 +0000

Lovely in Her Bones by Sharyn McCrumb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read a couple of Sharyn McCrumb books in the past. I enjoyed them both, so I thought I'd read a few more. I'm glad I made that decision.

McCrumb wrote her first novel, Sick of Shadows, years ago when we were in a writers' group together. I got to critique that one before it was published and that's something I'm proud of. The other book of hers I read was The Rosewood Casket. I think her writing skills grew over time, but she was always talented and Lovely in Her Bones is a good example of that.

Lovely in Her Bones is one of McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson novels, stories of a young amateur detective's adventures. This one is filled with interesting facts about anthropology and about life in the Appalachian mountains. It was first published in 1985, so I'm sure some things have changed over that period. I imagine there are new ways to determine race from bones and I believe hydrofracking is the environmental concern getting the most press today, rather than strip mining. But the human sides of racial issues as well as money vs. pollution issues haven't changed. And the same goes for relationship issues. Sharyn McCrumb's characters are complex and interesting. Milo isn't the perfect boyfriend for Elizabeth. I like the twists that fact caused.

Lovely in Her Bones is a short, fun read. Sharyn McCrumb's sense of humor is wonderful. I plan to read the rest of the series.

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War and Peace by Tolstoy

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:28:00 +0000

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In War and Peace Tolstoy takes three roles. He is a novelist, an historian, and a philosopher. When the role of philosopher is incorporated into the characters it works wonderfully. As an example here is something Pierre says toward the end of the book when explaining his need to go to Petersburg. It expresses a thought that could be the motto for the current Occupy movement. The idea is, at its core, profound, but it is expressed in a simple way.

I only wished to say that ideas that have great results are always simple ones. My whole idea is that if vicious people are united and constitute a power, then honest folk must do the same. Now that's simple enough.

But in the second epilogue Tolstoy drops the story entirely and reflects on the reasons people do what they do. He has interesting ideas about power.

The question: how did individuals make nations act as they wished and by what was the will of these individuals themselves guided?

Tolstoy goes on to reflect on the reasons people do anything, from conducting a war to raising his arm. It can be interesting if the reader is in the right frame of mind, but can drag if he isn't.

The history contained in the novel was fascinating to me because I knew very little about the Napoleonic wars. While reading the book I often went to the internet to compare Tolstoy's view from some other historians. It was an interesting way to learn about that period of world history.

The story within the novel was the reason I read the book. The characters were all well portrayed and unique. We stayed with them long enough to get to know them well. Early on in the book Prince Andrew Bolkonski was my favorite, but as the story went on I found myself more drawn toward Pierre Bezukhov. He was constantly trying to understand the purpose of life throughout the book. He tried a spiritual road, joining the Masons and trying to live according to their disciplines. He wasn't in the military, but went into battle to sit with the troops and try to understand war. He also tried to free his serfs to see if that brought him a feeling of self worth. Toward the end he found value in his relationship with Natash Rostova, but even after he'd settled into that happy marriage, he was still searching for more, through political activism. I also loved the way real people were portrayed as characters including General Kutuzov and Napoleon.

I'm sure it is no surprise that I've rated War and Peace as a five star book given its place in the history of literature. But it isn't only its reputation that makes it well worth the time it takes to read it.

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The burning of Moscow in War and Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:19:00 +0000

One of the great things about reading War and Peace is the way it draws the reader into situations that are a part of history. I believe I mentioned this in a previous blog when I was talking about the scenes that focus on Napoleon and how real he seems in the book. This picture also applies to the big events as well as to the individuals who populate those events.

Prior to reading War and Peace I knew very little about the burning of Moscow in 1812. Apparently the Russians were being invaded by a French army that was stronger than their own. Since they were convinced that they couldn't defeat the French they abandoned the city. Here's where things get a little vague. Tolstoy writes that the fires were accidentally set by the French occupiers who were careless in homes that did not belong to them.

However tempting it might be for the French to blame Rostopchin's ferocity and for Russians to blame the scoundrel Bonaparte, or later on to place an heroic torch in the hands of their own people, it is impossible not to see that there could be no such direct cause of the fire, for Moscow had to burn as every village, factory, or house must burn which is left by its owners and in which strangers are allowed to live and cook their porridge.

When I did a quick web search on the burning of Moscow I found that other historians (I think it is fair to call Tolstoy an historian) had different theories, some believing the city was burned by the Russians to keep its treasures out of the hands of the French and others believing that the French intentionally set the fires as a part of the anger and hatred that always accompanies war. It would be nice to know the truth, but it is the way the French reacted that is the most interesting result of the fire.

At first I thought it was simply the lack of supplies that wrecked havoc on the French, but it was more complex than that. The burning affected the French soldiers psychologically. Napoleon issued proclamations offering the Russians peaceful reentry into their city and declaring severe punishment for French soldiers found looting, but this did no good. He had crossed all of Europe to take over a city that had no people! A month later the French left Moscow and did so in a way that left them vulnerable to Russian attacks.

Tolstoy - War and Peace - The Beehive metaphor

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:13:00 +0000

The most striking difference between modern literature and nineteenth century literature is, for me, the way classic authors, such as Tolstoy, explore each concept fully. Modern writers tend to edit until their work says precisely what they want said with as few words as possible. Flash fiction, for example, is a style that could not have succeeded in the eighteen hundreds.

My preference is for the modern, concise style, but both forms have their attractions. I thought about this specifically when I read a section in War and Peace where the mostly deserted city of Moscow was compared to a beehive.

If Tolstoy had been a twenty-first century writer and chosen the beehive metaphor for his work, he would have stopped after the section that reads:

There were still people in it, perhaps a fiftieth part of its former inhabitants had remained, but it was empty. It was empty in the sense that a dying queenless hive is empty.

Instead Tolstoy went on for pages of description about the similarities between the hive and the city. Here are some samples:

1....instead of the former spirituous fragrant smell of honey and venom, and the warm whiffs of crowded life, comes an odor of emptiness and decay mingling with the smell of honey.
2.There is no longer the measure quiet sound of throbbing activity, like the sound of boiling water, but diverse discordant sounds of disorder.
3.Instead of a neatly glued floor, swept by the bees with the fanning of their wings, there is a floor littered with bits of wax, excrement, dying bees scarcely moving their legs, and dead ones that have not been cleared away.

It is amazing to me how carefully he was able to explore each and every detail and see the comparison from hundreds of different perspectives. It is an amazing section to read.

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:44:00 +0000

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Heather Gudenkauf's novel The Weight of Silence is a nearly perfect book with a major flaw. I'm rating this book as five stars because it gives me as much of what I want out of a story as I can get. It's a page turner at times. It has believable and flawed characters. It makes me think about situations from other people's points of view. I can't ask for more than that. Still, I couldn't get my mind off of one problem while I was reading it.

Calli Clark is a young girl, five or six years old, in a troubled family living in Willow Creek, a small, rural town. The trouble in her family comes from her father, Griff, who is abusive and suffers with a serious alcohol problem. Her mother, Toni, is a sweet, loving, woman who is too weak to confront her husband and rationalizes her acceptance of her husband's ways because she wants to keep her family together.

Something has happened to Calli in the past that has caused her to stop speaking. This selective mutism is the reason for the title and it is the force behind everything that happens in this book. It was caused by a family secret that must come out.

Here is where I have trouble with the plot. Calli is an intelligent young girl who can express herself clearly by writing. Gudenkauf makes a point about how many words she can write at an early age. Calli meets with a counselor who gets her to write a journal made up of words and pictures. Clearly, she can express herself with paper and pencil. Yet, except for Mr. Wilson the counselor, no one, not even her mother, gives Calli the opportunity to “speak” on paper. At school she communicates through her friend, Petra, who is so close to Calli she always knows what Calli is thinking.

Calli is taken into the woods behind her home by her father, in a jealous rage. He is convinced that Deputy Sheriff Louis is Calli's biological father because Toni had a relationship with Louis prior to her marriage. At the same time Petra sees something out of her bedroom window and heads into the woods to follow what she saw.

The story is about the search for the two young girls out in the woods. But it is about much more than that. It is a story of human failings and how they affect relationships. It makes me think and keeps me enthralled. For that I can certainly suspend my disbelief about one part of the plot.

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My fourth post on Tolstoy's War and Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:28:00 +0000

I've been thinking about the reasons that War and Peace is impressing me so much while Resurrection left me flat. The main idea I've come up with is the different motivation Tolstoy must have had while writing. War and Peace is filled with astute and detailed observations of his characters that bring them to life, while the characters in Resurrection feel as if they have been manipulated into becoming evidence to justify Tolstoy's point of view concerning prison reform. In one case Tolstoy was an observer of humanity. In the other he was trying to change humanity.

General Kutuzov is a good example of the way Tolstoy used his observance of human characteristics to make his portrayal of this, real general into a full bodied character. Here's a paragraph that demonstrates this:

The Russians did not seek out the best position but, on the contrary, during the retreat passed many positions better than Borodino. They did not stop at any one of these positions because Kutuzov did not wish to occupy a position he had not himself chosen, because the popular demand for a battle had not yet expressed itself strongly enough, and because Miloradovich had not yet arrived with the militia, and for many other reasons. The fact is that other positions they had passed were stronger, and that the position at Borodino (the one where the battle was fought), far from being strong, was no more a position than any other spot one might find in the Russian Empire by sticking a pin into the map at hazard.

In this paragraph Tolstoy shows how Kutuzov thought of all aspects, including political strength, before making his decision. Tolstoy didn't pass judgment on this process he simply reported it. Aspects of it might have been true, but it is far more likely to be a scene created in the mind of an great writer of fiction.

My third post on Tolstoy's War and Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:46:00 +0000

I'm continuing to make my way through War and Peace and the trip gets more interesting the further I get into it.

In my last blog entry about Tolstoy's novel I wrote about Prince Andrew Bolkonski and how interesting and tragic his relationship with his wife was. After her death, he went on to an engagement with Natasha Rostova, a much younger woman. This way of "moving on" seemed to lessen his revelation concerning the love for his wife and presented a weaker picture of Bolkonski, especially in his relationship with his father, who disapproved of his engagement.

Tolstoy was brilliant in the way he wove multiple plots into the novel. All the characters seem to know each other and to affect each other's plans, but they all have their own stories.

I'm now at the point of the story where Nicholas Rostov is spurred on by the adrenaline rush of a battle, captures a French officer, and earns the St. George's Cross. What is fascinating about this section is the internal struggles Rostov goes through with his own fears and the way he conquers them. From what I have read about Tolstoy I feel he was very different from Rostov, yet as a writer he was able to go into Rostov's head completely. I've never been in a war, yet I felt I understood what Rostov was feeling.

Tolstoy was born in 1828, seven years after the death of Napoleon. Yet Tolstoy has included Napoleon as one of the characters of War and Peace and has given the readers as complete a study of his emotions as he has with any of his other characters. This makes the novel a historical fiction while providing what is most likely one of the best pictures possible of how the French Emperor thought. Again, so much is happening in this book and it is all fascinating.

Bookmarks Festival - Winston Salem - 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:13:00 +0000

This year's Bookmarks Festival had great weather and a huge turnout. I was at the Barnhill's Bookstore most of the day. I met a number of interesting people and sold some books. The only reading I had time to attend was a spontaneous poetry reading under a tree by the Press53 booth. I loved watching the authors reading from their books. It felt about as sincere as any reading I've ever attended. I wish I was able to attend some of the official readings. I understand they also went well. It was fun watching the lines of people following the writers to the book signing table. Overall, It was a great day.

My second post on War and Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:38:00 +0000

I'm a little more than a third of the way through War and Peace now and absolutely fascinated by the way the complicated plot weaves about among the many characters. It helps that I'm reading on my Kindle, because if a character comes up who seems to be someone I should know I can search the book to find earlier appearances. I've also discovered a Wikipedia entry for “List of War and Peace characters.” That has helped me keep track of all the counts, countesses, princes, and princesses.

[SPOILER ALERT FROM THIS POINT ON]

At this point in the book Prince Andrew Bolkonski is the character I find the most interesting. I love the way he was so concerned about making his mark in the service, due primarily to his father's successful career, that he did not listen to the wishes of his wife and even became irritated with her. Then when he is wounded and is lying on a battlefield, on the Pratzen Heights, he looks up at the lofty sky, thinking he is going to die, and has a spiritual awakening. This road to Damascus event changes Prince Andrew's life. Among the other changes he experiences is a new found respect and love for his wife. The French army finds him and because Napoleon instructs them to take care of him, Bolkonski is nursed back to health. He returns to his wife on the day she is giving birth to their son. He has the opportunity to call her “My darling,” something he has never called her before. After that moment she dies. When Andrew looks at his wife's dead body he sees on her face an expression that says, “I love you all, and have done no harm to anyone; and what have you done to me?”

When describing these moments they sound maudlin and too coincidental. But Tolstoy manages to keep that feeling out of his writing by dwelling on the thoughts and emotions of Prince Andrew. It is extremely powerful.

First reactions to starting War and Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Lindahl) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:48:00 +0000

I'm now a little under a quarter of the way through War and Peace in my Tolstoy mini marathon. What has impressed me most is the timelessness of Tolstoy's characters. The Russian generals all seem to be faking their skills and playing politics. The choice for the direction of a campaign comes down to my way over your way, rather than a logical decision, much like our current politicians.

Meanwhile, on the home front, women and their fathers are conniving for marriages to wealthy men. There is a little talk of love, but it is mostly position and possessions that drive these affairs. There is a wonderful scene where Helene is using her charms to attract Pierre, a man who has unexpectedly come into an enormous fortune.

Helene stooped forward to make room, and looked round with a smile. She was, as always at evening parties, wearing a dress such as was then fashionable, cut very low at front and back. Her bust, which had always seemed like marble to Pierre, was so close to him that his shortsighted eyes could not but perceive the living charm of her neck and shoulders, so near to his lips that he need only have bent his head a little to have touched them.

What is most wonderful about this scene is the clarity of what Pierre is feeling. He is a naïve man experiencing a mixture of embarrassment and attraction that could have been set in any time period.

At my place in the novel, I am about to ride with Count Rostov into what it appears will be a disastrous confrontation with the French Army under Napoleon. But things don't always go the way I expect in this novel. I'm excited to find out how this battle turns out.