#3 in my 2007 movie challenge was The Queen. Mirren conveyed a lot of emotion with great economy. I loved the strength and independence of the queen, and enjoyed her wardobes of pearls and scarves–the queen has really good accessories. I was also reminded of what a terrible deal Diana got–bad marriage, divorce, then hounded literally to death by paparazzi. Too many overlook the irony of romanticizing princesses while also mourning her tragic death.
#3 in my 2007 book challenge was Hemingway’s Sun Also Rises. Long a favorite of my husband, it was more what I was expecting from a Hemingway book than A Moveable Feast: dark, bitter and depressing. The female character had no redeeming aspects, and left a trail of wrecked men in her wake. I felt sorry for all the characters in the book. The writing illustrated a technique Hemingway wrote about in AMF: deliberately leaving out critical detail. We never find out what Jake Barnes’s accident was, how it happened, or any details of its aftermath. This novel is in stark contrast to the remembered sweetness and joy in AMF of his early years in Paris. The ending sentence is powerful and enigmatic, and illustrates the writing advice Hemingway noted in AMF: All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.
#2 in my 2007 movie challenge was the 1944 film Jane Eyre. I consulted Time Out, so I wasn’t expecting much, and wasn’t disappointed. I wanted to watch in advance of the Masterpiece Theater Jane Eyre, part I of which is airing in the US this Sunday, 21 January 2007. The 1944 film is worthwhile, but uneven. A very young Elizabeth Taylor is Jane’s childhood friend Helen. Jane’s Aunt Reeves is played with cruel glee by Agnes Moorehead, better known as Endora from the TV show, Bewitched. The adult Jane is played by Joan Fontaine, too pretty and moist eyed for me to accept as pale, plain, indomitable Jane. Orson Welles seems to have a good time as Rochester, and was more convincing to me in that role. I didn’t care for the movie’s combination of text and voiceover. The last part of the book, with St. John Rivers, was deleted from the film version, and made for a more conventional, and less interesting, story than the book.
#1 in my 2007 movie challenge, Brick was from the library, so I broke my vow of borrowing less right away. It’s a noir thriller set in high school. The humor is dark, and the dialogue fast, jargon-y, and often hard to follow. It’s entertaining, and I like Joseph Gordon Levitt, and thought he did a credible job as the bitter loner trying to find his ex. But I found the movie as a whole faintly absurd, often purposely so, as in the kitchen scene with a character’s mom. The heavy dialogue and the often brutal actions (only one of which was shown, and then not closely) hung strangely on the young actors, as if they were playing dress-up in a movie beyond their years.
#2 in my 2007 book challenge was A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. Like Demian, AMF was named by a friend (are you out there, JS?) as one of his favorite books. I bought it and it sat on my shelf. This book is one I regret having waited so long to meet. It is a memoir of Hemingway’s early writing career in Paris, and of his first marriage. It’s literary history, but I also read it as an apology to his first wife, Hadley, and an extended, elegiac suicide note. Having read only a little Hemingway long ago (a book of short stories, in college), I was expecting A Moveable Feast to be well written. I was not expecting a gentle book of humility, love, and sadness. This is one I will gladly read again.
#1 in my 2007 book challenge was Demian by Hermann Hesse. Years ago, a friend said it was his favorite book, so I picked up a copy and it sat on my shelf till now. Emil Sinclair feels different from his family and at his school. After meeting Max Demian, he becomes more aware of difference. After a brief struggle to fit in, Sinclair begins a program of self-education. While Sinclair does evolve, it’s not into the social structure, the typical end of a coming-of-age novel, but rather to someplace beyond it. Nietzsche is a clear influence. The homo-eroticism is barely veiled. This was intriguing to read so soon after I’d read Catcher in the Rye and King Dork. Sinclair and Caulfield have a lot in common. In contrast, King Dork ends with fairly predictable social and familial acceptance.
I’m going to continue with book and movie goals of fifty apiece, with three clarifications.
One, I want to read and watch more of what I already have than I did in 2006. I’ll need to continue the reined-in book buying, and be more selective about what I put in my library reserve queue.
Two, I want to read better books. There weren’t many “wow” books for me last year, even including the four I liked enough to purchase after borrowing them from the library. I read a lot of books that made me go “meh” last year. To do this, I’m going to try and worry less about how many books I’m reading, since fifty seems to be an attainable goal.
Three, I’m going to try not to make lists in advance. They spoil some of the fun of seeking out a new book, whether it’s from the library, store, or my own bookshelves.
My vague goal for 2007 is to get organized–clear the crap, purge the paper, detox from magazines, curb impulse buying at Target–but I was reminded of this article from the Onion.
I’m doomed.
“What’s this book called, Mommy?” said Drake, holding up a book at Grammy’s house.
“Mimi’s Toes,” I replied, trying to keep the disdain out of my voice. I think the book’s rhyme scheme is forced, which makes it unpleasant to read. I’m also not a devotee of the Baby Einstein line in general.
[Yes, yes, I know it's wildly popular, and to each her own, etc. But I can't help suspecting that Baby Einstein's success is based on a canny brand name. Would the products sell so well if the brand was Virtual Babysitter, or Wishful Parent?]
“It’s not That Stupid Monkey Book?” he said, wide eyed and innocent.
I sighed, feeling guilty for having been overheard. “No, that was something mean I said. It’s called Mimi’s Toes. Would you like to read it during your bath?” I offered.
“Yeah!” he exclaimed, grinning, then clutched it and ran out of the room. I suppose I should be glad he’s developed his own likes and dislikes, rather than simply internalizing my prejudices.
For a recent trip, 3yo Drake’s loveys got lost in the shuffle of packing and were left behind. I worried that he would have trouble falling asleep away from home and without his bedtime friends, so I asked my husband G. Grod to send them. He went to the Fed Ex office. Overnighting the duck and the lamb would be $33. He paused. $33 was well beyond the “might as well send them” realm, and into “must be done” territory.
I know if I send them, he’ll be fine without them, he mused. But…
The woman behind the counter looked at him sympathetically and shook her head. “You gotta send them.”
G. Grod nodded. And paid $33.
I gave Drake a teddy bear at Grammy’s house, and he slept fine. His friends arrived the next day in their $33 box. I can only hope that his good night’s sleep was due to his certainty that the friends were on their way. I’m sure he knew his dad would not let him down.
I watched 58 movies in 2006, averaging nearly 5 a month. Apologies for no italics or links, but all are linked in the 2006 Movie Challenge category on the right. I saw only ten in theaters, but I enjoyed all of them. I was more selective this year about what films I saw in theaters, and this made them worth the effort and cost of childcare, movie snacks, and non-matinee prices:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Cars
Casino Royale
Good Night, and Good Luck
Lawrence of Arabia
New World, The
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Thank You for Smoking
Walk the Line
Eighteen were from our home library, either on DVD or Tivo. I often skip over what we have unwatched at home in favor of something new from the library. As with books, I’m going to try and improve on the ratio, because there were fewer disappointments (Alfie, The Quiet Man, Sense & Sensibility) than delights (Happy Accidents, The Palm Beach Story, Triplets of Belleville, Wuthering Heights):
Alfie (1966)
Happy Accidents
Lady Eve, The
Nausicaa
Palm Beach Story, The
Pride & Prejudice (1940)
Producers, The (1968)
Quiet Man, The
Ref, The
Sense & Sensibility
Silverado
Spellbound (2002)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Triplets of Belleville
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
What’s Cooking
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Wuthering Heights (1939)
I borrowed thirty-two from the library, but only finished thirty of them, since I couldn’t stay awake for either Ong-Bak or Hero. There were a lot of disappointments here (13 Conversations About One Thing, The Family Stone, Junebug, Made, Nicholas Nickleby, Rumor Has It, Sky High, and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill), especially compared to the few I thought were really good (The Constant Gardener and Inside Man). It’s further reason to be more selective about reserving items from the library. Just because they’re free doesn’t mean they’re worth my time.
13 Conversations about One Thing
40 Year-Old Virgin, The
Anchorman
Broken Flowers
Bruce Almighty
Constant Gardener, The
Crash
Family Stone, The
Fever Pitch (2005)
Graduate, The
Grizzly Man
Hustle & Flow
In Her Shoes
Inside Man
Junebug
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Last Holiday
Lord of War
Made
Matador, The
Millions
Mysterious Skin
Nicholas Nickleby
Proof
Rumor Has It
Sky High
Syriana
Upside of Anger, The
Wedding Crashers
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
A few days ago, I heard Drake pass gas loudly. My husband heard it too, and he and I looked up together. Drake gazed calmly back at us, and asked, “Who’s at the door?”
I take two things from this event. Lying about farting is innate behavior, not learned. It’s also probably a developmental milestone the childhood books neglect to mention.
I read 69 books in 2006, an average of 5.75 a month. Many were young-adult titles and graphic novels, both of which tend to be fast reads. While I trounced my fifty-book goal, I slowed down considerably at the end of the year, reading less than just after Guppy was born. Making books a priority is a continuous process, not an event. When I have less time for myself, I need to put reading somewhere after sleep and food, and before just about everything else. I liked most of the books I read, so it’s time well spent. I’ve starred the dozen titles that I most enjoyed. I apologize for the lack of italics and links, but all reviews are listed in the 2006 Book Challenge category on the right.
I was disappointed by several sequels: Bangkok Tattoo, Batman Dark Victory, Catwoman: When in Rome, Magic Lessons, Tears of the Giraffe, Scott Pilgrim #3, and Second Helpings. The third book in Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe series was better than #2, though, so perhaps there’s hope for some of those other less-than-stellar sequels.
In addition to the lame sequels, I didn’t care for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I found precious and affected. I didn’t find Allende’s Zorro emotionally compelling, though I thought the history was interesting.
I liked four books enough to purchase after I had borrowed them from the library: King Dork, Reading Like a Writer, Black Swan Green and The Thirteenth Tale.
From the home shelves, I finally got around to Middlesex and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I enjoyed them both a great deal, and will try to go “shopping” on my own shelves more often this year.
I re-read 18 books last year, several in preparation for the sequels. Bangkok 8 and Magic or Madness were fun to read again. And I appreciate Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights more with each reading.
The Thirteenth Tale was an homage to the Brontes, as well as a fun read. Pete Hautman’s The Prop had good characters and a tight plot; I raced through it.
Intuition got a lot of good reviews last year, but I was more impressed by Sigrid Nunez’s The Last of Her Kind. Both were good stories well told, but I felt Nunez did a better job with POV.
Finally, Kathryn Davis’s Thin Place was probably the best modern book I read this year. Davis took some wild leaps in POV, and pulled them together into a lingering, unsettling whole.
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens
Baby by Patricia MacLachlan
Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett
Batman Dark Victory by Loeb/Sale
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
*Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Bungalow Kitchens by Jane Powell
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Catwoman: When in Rome by Loeb/Sale
Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Goodnight, Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard
*How to Read Like a Writer by Francine Prose
Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan
I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Intuition by Allegra Goodman
*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
*Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke
*King Dork by Frank Portman
Magic Lessons by Justine Larbalestier
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier
*Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Monkey Island by Paula Fox
Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
My Sister’s Continent by Gina Frangello
Persuasion by Jane Austen
*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Salvation Run by Mary Gardner
Satellite Down Rob Thomas
Scott Pilgrim v. 1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Scott Pilgrim v. 2 by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Scott Pilgrim v. 3 by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark
The Accidental by Ali Smith
The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
The Explosive Child by Ross Greene
The Film Snob’s Dictionary by Kamp/Levi
The Finishing School by Muriel Spark
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
*The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
The Memory Artists by Jeffrey Moore
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
*The Prop by Pete Hautman
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
*The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis
*The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Truth and Consequences by Alison Lurie
V for Vendetta by Moore/Lloyd
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
*Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Zorro by Isabel Allende
‘Tis the season for end-of-year reading lists. They’re fun for comparison and contrast. But this was the only books-not-read list I saw (via Pages Turned), and I found it so funny I am compelled to follow suit. I could come up with any number of unread books. Instead, I’ll just note the obvious ones.
1. Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende. Bought (breaking my new I’m-only-buying-books-that-I’ve read-and-loved vow) on sale at Target after a friend invited me to see Allende speak. I read the first 50 pages, then stopped because I found out my friend was reading Zorro. I started Zorro (from library), took forever to finish it because I didn’t love it, then returned Ines.
2. Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty. I re-read the first two books in her trilogy, and didn’t like them as well as I remembered. I had to finish Middlesex for my book group, so I returned this to the library unread, since I couldn’t muster any excitment to read it.
3. Rash by Pete Hautman. I like Hautman’s books a lot. The Prop was one of my favorite books of last year. But Rash came in at the library in the midst of my summer reading challenge, and I could either read it, or the books on my shelf that I’d set as my goal, so I returned it unread.
4. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson and 5. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marish Pessl. I was still slogging through Zorro when these came into the library at the same time. I knew I’d never have time to re-read Case Histories before OGT was due, and I had no idea that STiCP was so long. I returned them promptly to the library so someone else could get them quickly.
6. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert; 7. Not Buying It by Judith Levine; and 8. The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susannah Clarke. I put these in my library queue before I made my young-adult-centered reading list for the summer. I knew I could either read them, or the books I’d set for myself. I gritted my teeth, and deleted them from my queue. I still want to read the first two, but my enthusiasm for the Clarke book has dimmed in the meantime.
9. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and 10. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I wanted to read these in the aftermath of my re-reading of Jane Eyre. Again, I knew if I did, I wouldn’t complete my summer reading list. I put them off for later, and never got to them.
And finally, because every list of 10 should have an 11. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien. Because anytime I say to my husband that I don’t know what to read next, he says, “You know, there’s this great book…” Both he and I know that I’ll probably never read it. I’d have to go back and start the trilogy again from the beginning. I think I came to these books too late in life to love them.
Books recommended by my husband that I don’t read, though, and vice versa, is another topic, for another day.
Mom: Hi, how are you?
Me: OK, but busy. Drake and Guppy are pretty demanding lately.
Mom: (starts to talk)
THUNK (Guppy’s large head hitting wood floor, after Drake has shoved him)
Guppy: WAAAAAH! (wail of outrage)
Me, dropping phone: DRAKE!
Pitter, patter (Drake running away)
Me, gritted teeth: Sorry Mom, gotta go. (Hang up)
The past several years I’ve skipped New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, I’ve jotted down a few wishes for change in my journal, then forget about them. Lo and behold, when I check back at the end of the year, they’re usually under way.
Goal setting was a big part of my last job. I learned that vague goals are almost certain to fail, and that whenever possible it helps to have a quantifiable or concrete goal.
This year, though, I feel the urge to steel my resolve. What’s more, I intend to do it vaguely. In short, this is the year I want to get organized and clear out the junk.
I still have boxes of paper from each of the last three moves. I have two more piles, one for each child. I have magazines that are years old. Over the years, I’ve done a decent job at cleaning out wardrobe, books, comics and CDs. The paper, though, continues to accumulate.
I have some specific strategies to accomplish the great paper purge. I’ve called to cancel one catalog. Each time I receive one, I’ll call to cancel. I will re-register my name on the junk-mail removal list. I’ll try to let magazine subscriptions lapse. I won’t sign up for more. I will only buy magazines when I travel, or on special occasions. I will not borrow them from doctors’ offices anymore. I’m going to try to get all recurring bills and statements sent electronically.
I’m still going to have book, movie and writing goals. Those are important to me, and setting goals reminds me to prioritize them. But this year I’m setting an extra one of reducing the garbage in, after increasing the garbage out. It’s like a paper diet. I just hope this isn’t hubris.
Our little family continues to be laid low by viruses. My husband and I were supposed to go out with friends on Saturday. Guppy had vomited, but then went to sleep peacefully, so we thought the babysitter would be OK. (Or maybe we weren’t sure, but it had been so long since we’d had grown-up company that we were willing to believe it might be.) But when the babysitter called to say that Drake had also vomited, we turned the car around. Clearly, we were not meant to have a night out.
I’m doing all the right things for us: periodic fresh air and sun, vitamins, rest, fluids, healthful and sustaining foods, staying in. Yet the sniffling, barfing, coughing, and excessive pooping continues into its FOURTH MONTH.
Please forgive the lack of posts. And think healthful thoughts in our direction. I’m convinced it’s because we haven’t had a proper freeze, and the weather keeps bouncing up into unseasonably warm. I don’t want warm. I live in MN. Bring on the cold, already.
#58 in my movie challenge, Spellbound, the documentary not the Hitchcock film, was my last movie of the year. I finished watching just after midnight. It focuses on the kids, and doesn’t take cheap shots at them or their parents. It shows them all as complex people and does a fair job at showing why spelling is important to each of the kids. While the variance in economic background of those who made it to the finals was wide, it narrowed significantly as the spellers moved to the finals.
I went to the state spelling bee in 7th grade. I can’t remember if I got beyond the first round, but I will always remember the word I missed: jacamar. It’s a type of bird.
#57 in my movie challenge for the year was Wrath of Khan. My husband has joked that he married me even though I’d never seen this. Having befriended and dated geeks, though, I knew all the basic points. I was surprised to find Kirk’s “Khan!” not nearly as drawn out as it is in parody. Bad hair, bad wigs, bad costumes. Weirdly smooth pecs on Ricardo Montalban. Like many things geeks hold dear, its impact is not as strong for those of us who come to it later in life.
Not bad, but hardly epic.
#56 in my movie challenge for the year was Happy Accidents, a weird indie mystery/romance from 2000. Marisa Tomei (who with red hair bears a startling resemblance to one of my friends from college) starts dating Vincent D’onofrio, who may or may not be from the future.
Funny, kooky and sweet.
