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Contagion - HBO has paid for itself this month with the movie offerings. I'm happy not to have rented or otherwise paid to see Contagion, but it was fun to spot Peter's grade school in the movie, and to know that the snow on the ground in many of the scenes was fake. The concept of the movie is good. What if a contagious disease that causes death in a matter of days and that hadn't yet been identified, tore through our lives? The movie follows Matt Damon, whose wife is one of the first to die, as well as workers at the Center for Disease Control as they realize the seriousness of the disease then work to combat it. It's good, just slow moving at times, with some story lines that fritter out, and many aspects that are only dealt with visually and with slow music. Maybe the idea was to convey how even though the disease kills quickly, the aftermath lingers.
The All of It by Jeannette Haien - This short novel is told in a lovely Irish brogue, and It's the story of Father Declan de Loughry of the town of Roonatellin, and his parishioners, Enda and Kevin. It's got a bit of foul weather fishing in it and the story of a secret kept for many years. It's filled with emotion and love, and there's something musical about way it's written that makes it just charming.
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian - This is a fictional love story told against the backdrop of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. It's a good story, but I'm having trouble with it on a number of levels that are causing me to think and rethink about the Ottoman Empire and the Genocide of 1915, as well as the 1922 Catastrophe (turkish slaughter of Greeks and Armenians in Smyrna that my grandmother witnessed and survived) and how stories are told. First, there is the matter of a male author posing as a female writer in her first person voice. I think he did it so that he could show more sympathy to the Genocide. He's a very chatty female, but with a male bent, and at one point, the modern day Armenian American narrator tells us that "...Apparently I have fallen more deeply under the sway of what happened to my family than I might have expected to when I first started this story, given the pride I have always taken in my writerly jadedness.)" (p 237) And then there's the problem of the title and book cover which convey something lighthearted or happy. There wasn't a better title for this than The Sandcastle Girls?
If you want to learn about the Armenian Genocide, perhaps this will be your starting point, and perhaps that was the author's intent all along. If so, then know that the story is imaginative and readable, and that you will enjoy the characters.
Genocide is tragic ugly stain on humanity whenever it occurs, and just because almost 100 years have passed since the Armenian Genocide, it is no less wrong than it was at the time it was happening. It's time for the Turkish government to own this part of their history and to teach it in their schools so that it will never happen again. The continued denial is frustrating, sad, dishonest, and hateful. It really did happen.
Shelter by Frances Greenslade - Shelter transports the reader to the wilds of British Columbia in Canada during the 1950s to 1970s. It's narrated by Maggie, a girl secure in her happy life with her attentive parents and loving sister. They live in a way that nowadays would be called "off the grid", but thenadays was a way people lived outside of town or in the bush. The story is excellent and the bonus is that you get to learn about a different way of life in a beautiful rough landscape of forests and trees, lakes and rivers, terrain and seasons. It's also about people looking out for each other, and how their lives cross in seemingly casual ways with long term and serious results. Maggie tells the story without shock or apology, even when the stories within the story get on dangerous or shaky ground. This is a really good book.
What's Your Number - HBO finally brought in some new movies this summer, and this little Anna Faris chick flick is fun to watch. She's a sweet girl with a fun past who realizes that while things are adding up, her future is bearing down.
J. Edgar - Leonardo DiCaprio playing J. Edgar Hoover directed by Clint Eastwood. So happy I didn't take the time to see this at the theater. It's slow moving, just like Edgar himself as he aged. It's about a guy who got ahead because he worked hard and methodically, and kept himself in a position of power by knowing and keeping secrets. Sometimes good goes bad. The man was so private that it causes me to doubt the accuracy and truthfulness of this man's life.
Antoine Gold and the Rolls Royce and other Bankruptcy Stories by Harold Taxel - This book of short stories was very enlightening for a number of reasons. It's written by a bankruptcy trustee who is assigned business bankruptcy cases by the U.S. Court. Essentially he owns the business while he figures out where the money went and which bills the business can pay. These cases are fictional but based on real cases experienced by this trustee. Here are some life lessons to learn from this book, which I already knew, but which many people never learn. First of all, when something looks like it is too good to be true, it probably is. If someone is working hard to convince you of something, it may very well be a lie. The harder the person tries to convince, the more dishonest they could be. Pay your bills, don't owe money. Don't buy what you cannot afford in cash right now. Don't tell anyone how much you have, because if they are a bad guy, they will try to get the money from you somehow. There you have it: my review of this silly little book of stories about scumbags is the herheartonhersleeve way to hang on to what you have, because it's more than you will have if you let it go. Pretty simple.
Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin - I enjoyed this San Francisco story about a cast of characters that other readers have been meeting in the Tales of the City series for years. It is a mystery comprised of a few threads, and the question as one reads is whether the mystery might come together at some point. The characters are from all walks of life, and their paths are varied. I wanted to know the characters better, but their distance was OK since in the city, people are often separate from one another. The author let me know that their relationships to each other were valid and meaningful, and ultimately, that is the most important thing. It's a good book.
Orphan in the Sands by Virginia Haroutunian - It so happened that the copy of this book that Valerie found for me on Amazon (after years of searching), is signed by the author. The inscription reads "To Helen Kelly As we gaze into the future, its our past that holds the key. Virginia Haroutunian January 19, 2001". This is an autobiographical family history about a mother and her daughter. The mother was a refugee from the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and the story tells in personal detail how personal tragedy can affect future generations. Virginia is the daughter, and she is unfailingly honest in her self-explorations. Outwardly there is never anything wrong; it's the inner turmoil we carry that truly shapes our selves. It's a beautiful moment when she finally unlocks the doors with the key to her mother's hidden past. Her experience is probably more common than we know, because secrets and hidden pasts are such troublesome burdens for those who carry them. I'm so happy to have finally read this book, the review of which I cut out from a Michigan Alumnus magazine more than ten years ago. Thanks Valerie. Now we have to look for one called From Van to Detroit: Surviving the Armenian Genocide by Souren Aprahamian. Wish us luck. It doesn't seem to be anywhere.
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka - The Buddha in the Attic is about Japanese immigrants to America at the beginning of the 20th century. It's specifically about women, and it's written in an engaging, flowing style, compsed of many voices. Each sentence could be a paragraph, a chapter, or even an entire novel. With all these voices coming together as a chorus of experiences, many separate stories become one. It's a beautiful tapestry of a certain time and place in American history.
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - I was going on vacation, and I needed a book! The cover and title attracted me, while the designation as New York Times Bestseller sealed the deal. It's a vanilla romance about Cora, an educated mid-1800s debutante with a pushy mother. Vanilla is a nice flavor, and it was an easy read that I didn't want to put down. Daisy writes a page turner - perfect reading for when you don't want to think or learn too much.
Signs and Wonders by Alex Ohlin - This is a book of wonderful short stories, at once modern and timeless. They aren't overly dramatic, just very real, with characters who get you into and out of their lives efficiently and thoughtfully. Each story is individual and populated by men, women and children. I thoroughly enjoyed these glimpses into lives and thoughts and heads; it's written with intelligence and just the smallest bit of a quirky edge.
