Bluestalking

The Sunday Salon: January 8, 2012

One whole week into 2012 and as far as I know I haven't broken a single resolution but then again that's not saying much as I can't recall what I resolved.

Oh, wait! I think one was something about my knees and taking positive action to improve my pain situation. If working out qualifies then I am ahead of that game. I did go, once. I was on the elliptical trainer for half an hour. With every step, ellip, or what have you, I felt a disgusting feeling of pain. It wasn't a sharp pain but did involve the sound of bone grinding on bone, with a pinch of loose cartilage or other organic matter being pulverized, accompanied by localized swelling.

For several days after I felt a distinct change in the status of my knees. Along with the stiffness and pain was added a general weakness in the joint, resulting in my knees giving way suddenly, and with no notice, the cheeky things. I guess you could say so far my resolutions are going gangbusters in 2012.

 

Reading

Basically, still reading all I was reading before:

Bleak House by Dickens (over halfway)

Striving hard to finish before the group discussion and I'm between half and three-quarters with a medium to pathetic chance of finishing on time. Still reading primarily from bedtime until I'm too tired to read further, which is usually a good hour or two. I've passed the rough patch in which I wasn't sure what was going on with a vague plotline and have passed through the much more fun and upbeat scene of Caddy's wedding to Prince Turveydrop. The deportment, I assure you, was impeccable.

 

A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry (ditto)

Reading this slowly to savor.

 

A Magnificient Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed The British Monarchy by Helen Rappaport

Nearly finished and will write the review today. It continues to be an exceptional work of history. Fascinating stuff.

 

Plus:

 

Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde

Reading for Readers Advisory Interest Group - a professional library group dedicated to reading a variety of genre literature, and next up is "Modern Romance." When I first heard this was the upcoming genre selection I felt my heart sink. I can read fantasy, thrillers, science fiction, graphic novels, etc., but I'd rather have the dry heaves than read romance.

So, I selected by going for something with subject matter I have interest in: old manor houses, British settings and characters, an artist, and a divorced woman being wooed, reluctantly, by an Irishman. Throw some flowers on that ancient, drafty house and my interest is piqued well enough.

I'm around a quarter through and, aside from the short-cut telling instead of showing parts and occasional clunky dialogue, it's honestly not that bad. I don't believe in romance, at least not the storybook sort, which I guess makes me a good test subject. If I think it's a fairly good read you know most readers of romance - minus the bodice-rippers, and you people can just forget it - set in modern Britain will have a good shot at liking it. At the least it proves I'm a fairly good sport.

 

Essays by Truman Capote

One by one I'm getting through a fairly chunky collection of Capote's essays at a snail's pace, which is intentional since it's a great way to dip into intelligent writing when I have a few minutes here and there. I'm a fan of his fiction - what little I've read - plus he was a southerner. Slam dunk. Will have more to say about some of the individual pieces in a future post. Hint: Mixed reaction.

 

Have to go switch the laundry, so that's it for today.

Ciao, y'all.

On reading War and Peace at the holidays

Tolstoy's War and Peace is the January discussion book for the Classics Book Group I belong to here at the library, which explains one reason we're not meeting in December, to allow extra time for everyone to - hopefully - get through this chunker.

One thousand two hundred and ninety six pages. That's 1,296, in the Pevear/Volokhonsky edition. And where am I? Somewhere in the early 100s. It's not looking good, my friends, though that could change at any minute. Things are just that exciting around here.

The rich language is one thing slowing me down. The other is understanding what Tolstoy is trying to say with the aforesaid rich language. I had to read the first few parts three times before I understood who was who and what what. I didn't get that the first bit was set at a party, for goodness sake, until I'd both read and re-read the section and took a gander at the Cliffs Notes - just to give me a little help mind you, not to skip the reading.

Ever read a Russian novel? It has its challenges, among them being the multiple names each character has, because in Russia it's common to have your formal given name as well as two or three nicknames. The same character can be called Princess So and So, Lise, then Liza, all within the space of a page. So, just when you think you have Princess So and So nailed down suddenly there's this other person being referenced. Of course you first think this is someone totally different, but then comes Lise and the same person's involved in the same dialogue with her. What the hell?

Luckily the translators included a character list at the front of the book. I could get by without it.

Another thing I find disruptive is the tendency of the Russian characters to exhibit alternating rapid emotions. Thus, you could have a dialogue like this:

Princess So and So:

"I love you! Yes, I will marry you! Oh, but Boris, you make me so sad. I want to kill myself. I hate you! I hate you! Would you like some tea? But life is not worth living! Kiss me! Then go away and die. Do you take cream and sugar?"

Okay, that's totally made up, but not far off from how the Russians seem to operate. It's like taking uppers and downers, in quick succession. Were all 19th Century Russians rapid-cycle bipolar? It's hard justifying that sort of behavior otherwise. I mean, I'm bipolar, but I don't vacillate like that. If I did I'd be hospitalized. Mine is much more sedate, if I can even use that term in the same paragraph as a chemical disorder.

But the language. Again, the language. It's gorgeous, thus impossible to read quickly. It's so richly plotted, not to mention a bit stream of consciousness. You just can't hurry it. So I'm a little worried about the January 19 deadline, especially with the holidays thrown in. I haven't even made a list of what I need to do for our celebration, though I have bought several gifts. Four others are easy peasey, leaving only my daughter who's difficult to buy for. And she gave me a list. It's just finding the very specific things the girl wants.

That leaves the food and the extras. And does Christmas ever have the extras. We need Christmas "crackers" (not the food, but the things that pop to reveal fortunes, little toys, and the paper crowns I covet), the cookies, as well as menu planning. No small feat. Not at all. And did I mention my daughter's birthday falls the week before? Oy.

So I'll be a little busy over the next month or so. Good busy, in some ways, but busy nonetheless. 'Tis the season.

Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch by Dai Sijie (Book Clubbers Group)

 

Two books in a row my fiction book group hasn't been crazy about, but fortunately that had little impact on how enjoyable the discussion was, each member bringing in her own perspective, discussing aspects some either missed or just dismissed as unimportant, etc. Interesting how opinions can change in the course of an hour.

In the basic plot, Mr. Muo's returning to China after having spent the 1990s in France, where he received his doctorate in psychoanalysis. And his biggest influence? Freud and his Interpretation of Dreams, which he either reads or talks about seemingly nonstop.

His return is, in part, precipitated by the urgent need to help his beloved, Volcano of the Old Moon, earn her release from prison. She was taken in for the offense of photographing the torture of members of the Western press, and Muo's returning - his life savings tucked in his, erm, underwear - to do what he can to help her.

He's told his chances will be assured if he hands over all his money to the corrupt (of course) Judge Di, but in the course of sitting in the man's office something tells him there must be another way. And there is. Judge Di hinted very strongly he'd release Volcano of the Old Moon in exchange for a virgin.

Yes, a virgin.

Off goes Mr. Muo on his mad quest, and from this point on the plot becomes more than a little convoluted, taking liberties with timelines by flashing back suddenly, throwing the reader into a tailspin. Some authors do that quite well. Flashbacks can be a brilliant method of filling the reader in about past events. Other times they can make you bang your head against the wall in frustration. We experienced more of the latter with Mr. Muo.

Not to say there weren't some hilarious moments. I highlighted lots of passages, more than anyone would want to read. In one scene Muo's confused for a raving mental patient, who tries running right past him, and if Muo hadn't mistaken the man for the Judge (because judges always run around in hospital nightgowns?) all would have been well. Instead, into the psycho ward he goes.

Aside from the humor were the passages devoted to books, gorgeously written odes to the love of books and reading:

"The spasms in his legs subsided as little by little he staggered along the pavement, lugging the plastic bags full of books. "If I ever become a millionaire," he vowed, "I'll just buy books, books, and more books ..."

The verdict of the group was the book's oddities were many, as were its confused, nightmarish images. Not a book that's easily understood, though digging deeper into it explains many of the more obscure themes. All in all it was a thumb's down, but thankfully I wasn't roasted over an open fire by a book group gone wild.

To me, the book's depths could be much better appreciated given time to actually think about and study them. From reading various reviews and interpretations I have an idea what more is there, but frankly I don't have the time to work on that further. I appreciate the book, but to me it's not worth plumbing the depths with so much else out there yet to be discovered.

So my own vote was a little more generous, but all in all it made for a pleasant hour. As far as other book groups go, this one's better suited to those more willing to dig deeply. AndI mean VERY deeply, following the whole Freudian theme, the critique of China and Dai Sijie's own life story woven through. Otherwise it may be better skipped over.

[I read my own copy of the book.]

Nonfiction group - Autobiography of Helen Keller

Great discussion last night about Helen Keller. Taking her words we tried to reconstruct how she was able to intellectualize all she did, why she enjoyed traveling if she had no sight or hearing, her joy at attending a circus... And so on and so on.

She was a woman who found true joy and happiness in just being alive, and all that without benefit of two senses most of us take for granted. There was no sense she felt sorry for herself. On a couple occasions she felt down, but she didn't stay there. Instead, she reminded herself how blessed she was, how many friends and acquaintances she had - who loved her deeply - that Anne Sullivan was her beloved teacher.

Keller and Sullivan are entombed in the Washington National Cathedral. Seems fitting two women so devoted to each other in life are together in death.

 

To supplement the discussion of the book, I researched child development for the age at which Keller was struck blind. At around the age of 19 months - when she fell ill from either meningitis or scarlet fever - a child's vocabulary and understanding of basic concepts of the world outside herself booms. She fell ill at a very critical point in development, when she'd have been learning at an incredible rate, adding volumes to her understanding every day. How much she retained from her first year and a half no one will ever know, but we touched on how that may have affected the woman she became once she was able to communicate. Did she maintain, somewhere in her subconscious, concepts of colors and shapes? She reportedly loved gardens. Was a vague picture of what "flower" meant tucked away in a fold, somewhere in her brain?

Things would have been very different for her had she been born in this century. But then, would she have become Helen Keller the world figure and role model? We had to leave that question hanging in the air, unanswerable.

In my research I also learned there was an Academy Award-winning documentary of her life - Unconquered: Helen Keller in Her Story, made when she was in her 70s. I've ordered this via interlibrary loan, and hope with our current loaning problems it makes it to me. But if not, it's available via Amazon for a reasonable price.

Fascinating material for discussion, all of this. I highly recommend the topic for other nonfiction book groups.

Maugham's 'The Painted Veil' unveiled

"Well, you know, women are often under the impression that men are much more madly in love with them than they really are."

- Charles Townsend to Kitty Fane, The Painted Veil

Book Group consensus? Well, not sure we actually reached one specifically, but at least two of us came away with more appreciation than we had going in. And isn't that the point of a Book Group? Ah, it certainly is. That's why going into a discussion with disparate opinions is a very good thing. Someone always sees what others don't, and pointing that out can have a huge impact on how the others feel once the discussion has wrapped up.

One of us liked The Painted Veil, and the rest of us were irritated with it. But even the one who enjoyed the novel pointed out flaws in Maugham's novel, wondering if it was his popularity ensuring anything he wrote would be published, regardless of quality. And that could be.

Is every book written by an author who's written "classics" considered to be classic? That's a great question one in the group brought up.

I wouldn't think so. Quality of writing varies, and every author seems to get a little sloppy sometimes. That, or they try something new - out of their usual element - and it falls flat, but still gets published because he or she is a name brand. Think Stephen King. Is Christine as good as The Stand or 'Salem's Lot? Not by a long shot. Yet, both were published and bought up eagerly by King fans.

The same no doubt goes for even those authors considered to be literary. How does Dickens' Pickwick Papers compare to Bleak House? Apples and oranges. Bleak House is a masterpiece; Pickwick Papers is an entertainment. Totally different styles.

But getting back to The Painted Veil, that Kitty... Vapid, vapid Kitty. And Walter! Is he really much better, when it comes down to it? What was he thinking marrying such an empty-headed pretty girl? See, boys? This is why you should look past that pretty face. Let this be a lesson to you, all you many men whom I KNOW are reading this right now.

Which character was more duped, Kitty, who married simply to do so before her sister did, or Walter, who married because he found a pretty girl who'd say yes to anything wearing pants just to leave England? Were both equally naive?

A valid question.

Then, Charles Townsend, the smooth talker. He and wife Dorothy had an understanding, whether express or implied, he would have flings and she would remain his wife and the brains of his career. Seems to have worked quite well for him. Just not so well for an unfortunate woman who fell in love with him.

Waddington? He lived with a Chinese woman, out of wedlock. But neither of them had "significant others" to whom they were married. Again, a different situation.

When it comes down to it, I think we reached the consensus was the "painted veil" was the pretty life Kitty expected when she married Walter. Then, when the veil was lifted, she saw all wasn't what she'd imagined. Being beautiful and spoiled, used to men falling all over her, she wanted another man, one who'd excite her as Walter never could. But then, following a very big turning point, some of us thought she'd changed and others didn't.

That's how we left it, some falling in one camp and some in the other. And there are valid arguments for each opinion. The book is open-ended, intentionally leaving room for each reader to decide for him or herself. Personally, this is the sort of book I enjoy. One that lets the individual reader fill in the blanks based on what s/he has learned about the characters, their personalities, personal morality, etc.

Chalk me up to the side that appreciated the book more after the discussion. And a good discussion it was, too.