The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - September

For whatever reason, I got caught up in the Wizard of Oz this fall. Carla picked up "The Annotated Wizard of Oz" at Powells for me. I don't have the book with me so don't have the editor, publisher, number of pages or all that.

It was fun to read; the characters from the movie are all there, but there are additional adventures. One of the interesting differences is the winged monkeys. The only reason the Wicked Witch of the West has power over them is she has a magic hat that allows her to command them to do her bidding three times. In the book, Dorothy gets the hat and has the monkeys help her and her pals.

I also think the book is better than the movie in how the ending holds together. The movie never made sense to me; Dorothy is running away to protect Toto from being destroyed. But when Dorothy comes back it seems her reason for leaving was different. And what was going to happen to Toto; wasn't the witch lady going to come back for him?

One interesting bit I read in the annotations was about seeing the adventure as a mythic hero journey as described by Joseph Campbell. Here is the short version of the hero myth as taken from page 30 of his Hero With a Thousand Faces.

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from the mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men.

Dorothy does all that. She leaves Kansas in a tornado and ends up in Oz, definitely a land of supernatural wonder. She has a decisive victory over two witches and the Wizard of Oz. Her companions become leaders in Oz and then she returns home.

So, that led me to read some Joseph Campbell. More on that in the next post.

Scorecard; late August

I may have read one or more of the first three before January 1.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
3. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
4. Couples by John Updike
5. The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
6. As They See 'Em by Bruce Weber
7. The first Elmore Leonard interlude (7 books)
8. Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman
9. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
10. Rhino Ranch by Larry McMurtry
11. Girls Like Us - Sheila Weller

The "for sure" list:

• The Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum. I have an annotated copy; think I'll read it straight through first; then again with the annotations)
• Friday Night Lights - H.G. Bissinger
• A Briefer History of Time - Stephen Hawking

The "probable" list:

• The Fifties - David Halberstam
• Another Elmore Leonard interlude

Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller

Title: Girls Like Us (Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation)

Author: Sheila Weller

Publisher: Washington Square Press

Pages: 527

Reading Dates: 8/16/09 ==> 8/31/09

I really like a couple of things about this book. First and foremost it is great to read the background behind these fantastic songs of my teen and early 20's. Second, it's fun to read about all the gossip of the life of the stars.

But what I liked is overbalanced by things that I find distracting. Reading as a man, I do not have the same feminist view of history; even realizing that filter, it seems that Shelia Weller sets the women up on pedestals and makes them into heroines; It all just seems so much about women fighting the male culture and we don't get enough of the other influences of the 60s and 70s - Vietnam first and foremost. The author disses virtually every male in the book. She goes on and on early about males marrying much younger women early on, but doesn't seem to pass that judgement on Carole and Joni when they get older and hit on young men. More that anything I see their careers as "typical" of an artist: the art means everything and everything (and everyone) has to jostle for 2nd place. Artists are narcissists.

I also got annoyed with Ms. Weillers writing style. There are too many paranthetical statements (with sometimes brackets within them [even those being starred for footnotes]). Here is a standout example writing about Joni Mitchell's song "Blue" on page 314

"Asher thought the song (which Rolling Stone's Timothy Crouse would call "beautiful[ly] mysterious and unresolved") was extraordinary. (its references to a drug addict's "needles" and Joni's proffering a she shell to her lover - John Fischbach remembers Joni giving a seashell to James on evening in L.A. - make it fairly clear that "Blues" is about James.) ...

So the sentence is "Asher thought the song was extraordinary. And then we get a whole sentence that is ONLY in parentesis.

It seems like it could have been written more directly.

Come the end of the book, I like Joni Mitchell less than I did before; talk about vain, after giving permission for the book, she didn't want to be included with 2 other artists. I learned much more about Carole King; I knew she wrote hits in the 50's but didn't know the details. And Carly I like more. Starting off, I thought that maybe Linda Ronstadt or Bonnie Raitt would have made a better 3rd. It also turns out that

The Scorecard in Mid August

Let's take a quick look at how I'm doing on my goal.

I may have read one or more of the first three before January 1.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
3. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
4. Couples by John Updike
5. The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
6. As They See 'Em by Bruce Weber
7. The first Elmore Leonard interlude (7 books)
8. Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman
9. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
10. Rhino Ranch by Larry McMurtry

The "for sure" list:

• Friday Night Lights - H.G. Bissinger
• Girls Like Us - Sheila Weller (biographies of Carol King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell)
• A Briefer History of Time - Stephen Hawking

The "probable" list:

• The Fifties - David Halberstam
• Another Elmore Leonard interlude

The "maybe/mabye not" list:

• The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffennegger (It's been on my beside table for a couple of years)
• Netherland - Joseph O'Neill. (Presiden Obama read it, but I hear it's depressing - just right for winter !)

If anyone's out there, I'm taking suggestions!

Rhino Ranch - Larry McMurtry

Title: Rhino Ranch

Author: Larry McMurtry

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 278

Reading Dates: 8/7/09 ==> 8/15/09

One of Larry McMurtry's better books in the last few years is the final chapter on Duane.

It's been interesting to follow McMurtry's various characters through their lives; some of the series were good; some not so much. Really, the Berrybender narratives sucked (IMHO); when I read them I really reconsidered what the heck I found so interesting in his novels.

Following Gus and Call through their lives was a challenge because, really, how do you follow up on Lonesome Dove.

The Moving On, Terms of Endearment group was probably my 2nd favorite; but I didn't like the book where people get killed in the gas station explosion. It seemed like McMurtry was just trying to get rid of people so he wouldn't have to write about them.

My favorite story arc is the Last Picture Show, Texasville, Duane's Depressed, and now Rhino Ranch. Reading this latest novel makes me want to go back and read the 1st two books of the group.

I have three main impressions of this book; two positive and one not so much. On the plus side, it does a nice job of comparing Duane's relationships with the women in his life (past and present). We see many different sides of strong women; one of McMurtry's strong points I think. Annie, his now ex-wife who doesn't know what she wants but goes all out to get there; K.K. slater the "billionairess" woman of strong opinions who gets what she wants; Honor Carcmichael his ex therapist who is going ; Dal, the new geologist in the office who is quiet, strong but, unfortunately, not as big a part of his life as he'd like. Of course, there are hits and misses and that's where the fun is.

Another nice thing about this book is the dialogue and pacing. McMurtry really does a good job of getting people talking; the conversations are quick and witty. Things really move along; a downside of this (maybe it's just me), is the incredibly short chapters; some are less than a page long. I used to look at this as just a way to get more pages out of a short novel; but with this I see it as a method of moving things along.

My main criticism with this novel is the time scale; sometimes we jump weeks from one chapter to another; other times, just a matter of minutes. It's hard to tell when this story is supposed to take place. I was thinking of it taking place in "the present" but the last few pages show that we are looking at history. It's just a little jarring.

I haven't even said anything about the plot. The story of trying to save African Black Rhinos by moving them to a huge ranch is Texas is interesting. Of course we have to see the plight of the Rhinos dying out (including being poached) as a parallel to Duane's loneliness and isolation from his home even though he lives right in Thalia.

Overall a nice book to read; but Richard Russo has moved into the top spot of my favorite authors list.

That Old Cape Magic - Richard Russo

Title: That Old Cape Magic

Author: Richard Russo

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Year: 2009

Pages: 261

Another great Richard Russo novel. I could tell that he has supplanted Larry McMurtry as my favorite author when I had both this and Rhino Ranch on my bedside table and picked this to read first.

The first part is great Russo with great descriptions of relationships. Griffin is the protagonist and the story opens as he and his wife are traveling separately to the wedding of Kelsey, his daughter's best friend. Part 1 develops relationships and compares Griffins parents and childhood with his wife's. There is some beautiful descriptions, like this on page 117 where Griffin is looking at his daughter and her boyfriend, soon to be fiance:

"... they looked like what they were, two young people who'd waited what had seemed like forever to find each other. Now they clung tightly together in the understanding of how lucky they were, that in another equally plausible scenario they wouldn't have met, still be alone still looking"

It wouldn't be Russo without some big problems, and Part 2 gets right to it with this opening paragraph:

"How quickly it had all fallen apart. Even a year later, most of it spent in L.A. the speed of what happened after Kelsey's wedding took Griffin's breath away"

I read that paragraph, and immediately put the book back down realizing I'd have to prepare myself before diving in.

Russo ties together many relationships, so we can see the richness and complexity of life. Griffin's parents had an on and off relationship and no seeming love for Griffin as he grew up. As a result he spends his adulthood keeping his wife and daughter away from his parents. In contrast, his wife Joy had a wonderful relationship with her family, a big family and Griffin only grudgingly comes to terms with this. We also get a snapshot of the relationship between a couple of strangers in a bar; the woman (Marguerite) wanting a special evening and her date, Harold, being a total clod. Another family we see in great retrospective of a family Griffin meets on the cape one summer as a child.

In the acknowledgments, he credits (among others) his mother who had recently passed away.

One nice thing is that has a fairly happy ending. What really brings me back over and over is keen eye when exploring relationships. Two Russo books in 1 year! Bonus.

My revised list for the rest of the year

I went to Powell's Wednesday and adjusted my list slightly. I took off "The Power of Myth" because it turns out to be a transcript of the TV series. I may just NetFlix the series. But joy of joys I found a new novel by Richard Russo

1. Rhino Ranch. Larry McMurtry. Just got it from Amazon. I want to see what happens to Duane. I may need to re-read The Last Picture Show to bring myself back to speed.
2. That Old Cape Magic. Richard Russo. A new Richard Russo novel; I'll be reading that as soon as it gets here!
3. Girls Like Us Sheila Weller. A biography of Carol King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell. I'm thinking it will be an interesting view of the 70's.
4. A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I figure I'll be lost about 1/2 way through the 1st sentence.
5. Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger. I liked Three Nights in August so I thought this might be fun to read sometime in September or October
6. Some more Elmore Leonard
7. The Fifties by David Halberstam. I've read lots of his stuff and love how he makes a book out of a bunch of really good long essays about topics (and tying them altogether). This will be a good book for winter; long nights and some time off from work will give me a good chance to dive in.

Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman

Title: Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don't Know About Them)

Published by Harper One, and imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 283 pages.

This is the most challenging of the religious books I've read in the past few years as I've studied what's becoming known as the New Paradigm: most notably (for me) the works of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.

In the current book, Mr. Ehrman talks about the historical-critical approach to the bible. The basic premise is that the Bible (and Christianity for that matter) is a product of people, not necessariy the inerrant word of God.

In studying the gospels he takes them horizontally, showing how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the stories differently. Some examples are how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem; what day did Jesus die, was Jesus in despair and doubt on the way to the cross (Mark) or calm and in control? Many of the books of the New Testament were not written by the people whose names are attached. Many other writings were considered for inclusion in the New Testament and were not, for various reasons. There were many variants of Christianity in the early church.

He also shows that Paul's understanding of Christ was not necessarily the same as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Interestingly, he points out that most pastors in the mainline Protestant pulpits today have studied the bible using the historical-critical approach, agree there are discrepancies, understand the discrepancies, but don't talk about it in their churches. Mr. (Dr?) Ehrtman himself went to Princeton Theological Seminar; he arrived as a fundamentalist, evangelical Christian and came out as something, someone, else entirely.

Nevertheless, this approach does not mean we have to give up our faith. We can look at how the individual authors of the New Testament approached Christ's life and see what message we can take away.

For me, I think it highlights one of the primary messages of the gospels: we just can't comprehend who Christ was/is. Over and over again in the gospels, the disciples just don't understand Christ, they squabble among themselves, jostle for attention and just don't get it. How could they? How can we? God is God and we are human; we can't understand God.

It's no wonder that as time goes on there became different interpretations. But we can still look at the Bible and get some value from it.

Goals for the rest of 2009

I'm figuring I've finished 5 books so far and need to get 3 more to meet my goal. Here is what I'm more or less considering for the rest of the year.

1. Jesus, Interrupted. Bart D. Ehrman. I'm 1/2 way through this as of August 4, 2009
2. Rhino Ranch. Larry McMurtry. Just got it from Amazon. I want to see what happens to Duane. I may need to re-read The Last Picture Show to bring myself back to speed.
3. Girls Like Us Sheila Weller. A biography of Carol King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell. I'm thinking it will be an interesting view of the 70's.
4. A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I figure I'll be lost about 1/2 way through the 1st sentence.
5. Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger. I liked Three Nights in August so I thought this might be fun to read sometime in September or October
6. The Power of Myth by Bill Moyers. I've tried Hero of a 1000 Faces by Joseph Campell and it was too much. I'm hoping the Bill Moyers book will be a little more approachable.
7. Some more Elmore Leonard
8. The Fifties by David Halberstam. I've read lots of his stuff and love how he makes a book out of a bunch of really good long essays about topics (and tying them altogether).

That should be a good year's work (for me). And it definitely includes more fiction than last year.

Getting Caught UP

Ohmygosh. I've totally left this and now I can't remember all I've read so far. This is exactly why I need to keep the blog; even if only to list titles.

Let's see what I can reconstruct

• A Thousand Splendid Suns: by the guy who wrote The Kite Runner I may have actually read this at the end of 2008. It is about the treatment of women (2 women in particular) by the Taliban in Afghanistan around 9/11. Those guys are f*($(&^! nuts. Nice story of heroism and perseverence. I might have read this at the end of 2008 (during the snow storm of December) so I won't count it for my 2009 count.
• Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. One of my favorite authors. I've got an extended entry elsewhere on my blog of this fantastic book.
• I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Read this after seeing the movie. Way, WAY different ending - and better than the movie. But it really makes my point about a lot of science fiction; lots of science; not very good fiction. When compared to Bridge of Sighs it just doesn't measure up. I might have read this at the end of 2008, so won't count it for my 2009 count
• Couples by John Updike. I read this shortly after he died. I've tried to read this before but never really got into it until this year. Nice story; depressing. Interesting if nothing else than for the look into the 60's society.
• The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam. Wow; what a great history of the Korean War, the 50's and a look into how politics works. The political parts alone provide a way to look at the politics of the earliest 21st century; the more things change the more they stay the same. What I particularly liked about this book was the way it gave concise, detailed summaries of many different topics. Learned why the Korean War started; a lot about Douglas MacArthur (what a meglomaniac (sp)); and the battles against communism and the division between right and left. The Replublicans really hated FDR (I mean what did he do besides win World War II); and I guess things just haven't changed.
• As They See 'Em" by Bruce Weber. As baseball started I figured it was time to read a baseball book. A neat story about umpires, giving a glimpse into the methods of umpiring; the tough life of minor league umpires, and what makes umpires tick. The author went to one of the MLB sanctioned umpire schools and interviewed lots of umpires in the majors and the minors. It gave me a real appreciation for what they do. I went to some Spring Training games while reading it (and AAA games after). I focused on the umpires at work, rather that the players. It was real eye opening; they have a tough job and I've had a hard time heckling them since!
• The Elmore Leonard interlude. Vacation hit and I wanted something light - just a book or two. Then I listened to an interview with Mr. Leonard on On Point . One of the people interviewed is a past Poet Laureate of the United States and a book editor for the NY Times. He raved about Elmore Leonard and said he has asked to review all his books for the NY Times. So, I figured, let's read some and see what's up. I got hooked. Here is a list of what I've read so far.
• Out of Sight Started with this book about a bank robber because it has the same characters as his latest and I didn't want to pay for the hardcover. Real fun
• Be Cool I wanted to get caught up with Chili Palmer
• Rum Punch about arms dealers in Florida. Lots of tough guys and saps not realizing how far they are into bad stuff until it's too late - seems like a common theme
• Forty Lashes Less One. A western. Kind of dumb premise; one of Elmore's first, not one of his best
• The Law at Randado A cool western - again about jail, hmmm lots of his books start out in jail or prison
• Escape from Five Shadows. Did I say lots of his books start in prison. Fun; good hero.
• Hombre Not one of Elmore's most lovable characters.
• Okay, I'm going to read some more; but 1 Elmore Leonard book can't count as a full 1 book toward by goal.
• Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman. My religious book for the year. Another foray into what has been called the New Paradigm. It takes a look at the New Testament through the lens of historical criticism. It shows the many discrepancies in the bible, why they are there, and how we can take a new look at the Bible without losing faith (although he is agnostic now). He started life as a fundamentalist and became much more liberal in his view of Christianity as he went through seminary at Princeton.

So that gets us up to early August 2009. For the official count, let's figure this

1. Bridge of Sighs Richard Russo
2. Couples. John Updike
3. The Coldest Winter David Halberstam
4. As They See 'Em Bruce Weber
5. 7 Elmore Leonard crime novels and westerns

I'll try to be more on top of it through the rest of the year; even if just to the point of getting titles and dates.

Book 1: Richard Russo: Bridge of Sighs

OH, what a great book to start the year. Exactly what fiction should do: explore the details of a made up life to let us see what is in our real life.

My favorite quote from the book is currently my e-mail signature

"The one life we're left with is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy, and then to shatter them. And it never, ever lets up. Blame love"

This is a book about divisions and how those divisions are crossed. It's about innocence and realism. The book is set in a small New England town where an old mill used to be the center of economic activity but is now closed (ah, typical Russo!). The town is divided into East and West with Division street the boundary. The protagonist, Lou, starts life on 1 side of town and ends up moving to the other side. The book unfolds as Lou is writing an autobiography; although there are 3rd person narratives of some of the other key players. The central event of Lou's life was when he was a kid and a group of bullies locked him in an old chest near a river (after he crossed a bridge). He ended up having the first of many spells where he just drifts away and is lost for a while. 

There are just so many conflicts and tensions in this book; not all are resolved. The recurring motif of divisions and bridges really interested me. One of  the key physical divisions is in an old park that has a wrought iron fence running around it. Lou spends many days with the caretaker of the park painting and keeping the fence in good shape.

Another central tension is innocence v. experience. Lou's dad (Big Lou) is a true innocent and just doesn't see the bad in people and can't figure out why bad things happen. Lou's mother is much more experienced and spends much of her life trying to navigate their lives through the reality of life. Lots of problems and challenges. Lou ends up being more like his dad than his mom.

Lou's best childhood friendship is also problematic and plays itself out through the entire book.

This is definitely 4.5 stars.

As I re-read my notes here it is apparent I need to work on my writing skills. I hope a little practice and writing up my notes soon after I read the book will help.

8 more books: My 2009 New Year's Resolutions

8-5-3-2 more or less

• Read 8 more books
• Lose 5 more pounds
• Floss 3 times a week
• Brush 2 minutes a day
• Give more; take less (at work I say that means give more guff; take less back talk). This is problematic because it doesn't meet one of my criteria: it isn't measurable

The Books

I was an English major in college but got away from reading. I remember in the 80's I read some of the new fiction (Less Than Zero) and some Thomas McGuane. I just got turned off by the protagonists going through hard times only to end up dead on the last page. I just go bummed out. I ended up reading more non-fiction; some religious stuff and history; and others. I'll go back and recap my 2008 list in later posts.

But this year, I thought I'd try rediscovering fiction and exploring life from that point of view. I plan to make at least 1/2 my list novels or short story collections.

It's early February and I'm on my 3rd book - Couples by John Updike. This has been on my shelf since college but I've never really gotten around to reading it. I figured now is the time. John Updike died recently and I've listened to a number of past interviews with him (Fresh Air, On Point with Tom Ashbrook). Listening to Updike talk really brought back to me what fiction is all about: exploring a made up life in order to show ourselves what our real lives are about. And Updike's focus on description; on making every word the right word, brought back to me the idea of the artistry of writing: it really is an art form.

 

Purpose - My 2008 New Year's Resolutions

A year ago - December 2007 I decided to take New Year's resolutions seriously; which is really, REALLY not like me. But surprise, surprise; I established some measurable goals and tried through the year to follow up on them. Some of them are personal (well all of them are personal) but one of them I thought might be a good point for discussion and give-and-take. And I plan to write about more than just my resolutions.

My resolution for 2008 was 8, 5, 4, 3. I wanted my resolutions to be easy to remember, measurable, and attainable. The numbers meant:

 

- Read 8 books. Status: Success: I read 11 books

- Lose 5 pounds: Status: Success: I was down 15 pounds during the year; ended up 10 pounds lighter at the end of the year

- Brush my teeth 4 minutes a day. Status: Not successful: Two - 2 minute sessions is TOO much; I couldn't keep it up and actually hurt my teeth with my electric tooth brush

- Floss 3 times a week. Status: Not successful: Probably averaged 2wice a month. 

So, reading that you probably figure you don't want to stand too close to me when we talk. Interesting that I picked two items involving my mouth.

Want I want to do in this blog is discuss the books I've read, but I figure I'll be all over the board and talk about food and other things of interest.