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.