Monday, Monday

 I was lucky enough to see MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG on Broadway in June of 24 so I was eager to see the filmed version. Seeing everything in closeup rather than as you see an a stage sort of threw me off. Still it was worth seeing if you like Sondheim, which I do.

The weather here is awful. So cold that everything is icy and a fear of falling makes me walk even less assuredly.

Saw two concerts one with the DSO with a terrific violinist and the other was Detroit Chamber Orchestra.

Watching the Beatles Anthology on HBO.  So much footage I don't remember seeing before.

2019

 My street in Philly in the fifties. 

What about you?  

FFB: CONTINENTAL DRIFT, Russell Banks

 

Continental Drift, Russell Banks.

It is hard for me to choose between AFFLICTION and CONTINENTAL DRIFT as my favorite novel by Russell Banks. But I am going with this one today. You may have seen the filmed version of AFFLICTION, a tremendous film with Nick Nolte and James Coburn.

Bob Dubois is a furnace repairman in a blue-collar town in New Hampshire, a state the American Dream has bypassed. Although Bob has a wife, three kids and a steady, if low-paying job, he is persuaded to look for a better life in Miami by his brother.

Bob is a good man although not a smart one. The sixties has persuaded him that there is something better out there. That it is foolish to be satisfied with a meager living in a depressed town.

Another character is also seeking a better life in Miami. A female Haitian refuge, who truly does need asylum and comes to the U.S. in a perilous manner. These two lives intersect in a Florida that is the antithesis of paradise, both characters suffering tragedy. This is not a happy book or one to escape into, but it is one that presents characters and situations that seem real and compelling.

(And sadly the life of a Haitian refuge would be even more precarious today). 

Short Story Wednesday: "Elephant" Raymond Carver

 First I read "Safety" by Joan Silber, which was so depressing I had to wash it down with a second story. Briefly it recounts the bad deeds of ICE and how similar it is to what went on in eastern Europe nearly a century ago.

 A late in life tale by Carver relates the story of a man who cannot stop loaning and giving his family members money to keep them going. It is just about that. Over and over again until you fear for his sanity. I am sure such things happen in families but I would disown them all. Mirian Toewles reads and discusses it. I am going in for another try and what the title means. There is no tragedy here and yet...

TracyK 

George Kelley 

Jerry House 

Monday, Monday

 Saw Wake Up Dead Man, (slept through some of it) and Eternity (same). Enjoyed seeing Kevin and celebrating his turning 19. He is taking quite a group of classes next semester. One in music, one in art, one in writing, one in philosophy and one in math.  He's trying out all the family businesses.

Saw the movie Lurker, which was strange but interesting. (Apple) 

Trying to settle into a book. Maybe THE COPENHAGEN TRILOGY. Or A Pale View of Hills. 

Watched a Poirot-- FIVE LITTLE PIGS, which is one of my favorites and so beautifully made. Also watching the many episodes of THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY on Disney. Also watched Sad Cypress. What's your favorite Christie. 

Snow here. Ugh. 

What about you?  

Apparently sending out three group emails with 20 names on each has meant friends are getting things from other friends and not knowing what is going on. Sorry if you've had that happen. 

Short Story Wednesday: "The Peach Stone" Paul Horgan from THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF THE CENTURY"

 In this collection, I am familiar with most of the writers although not always the story selected by John Updike. I had never heard of Paul Horgan and I guess he mostly wrote historical fiction. Originally published in the YALE REVIEW in 1943, I find the selection of this one somewhat mysterious. It is well-written but terribly sad-maybe it seemed like a story written in wartime should be sad even if it is not about the war.  

Four of them are in a car headed toward Weed, New Mexico. Well five if you could the body of a two-year old laid out between her mother and a school teacher, coming along to provide support. The child's death is due to a fire caused by the wind blowing some tumbleweeds, which the chimney then set on fire. The father was to have cleaned up this area and did not. By the time the fire is spotted and run to, the little girl is dead.

There is almost no conversation but various people break down along the way. What could they possible talk about on this long painful drive. There is no subject worth the difficulty of the words. We are told what they are thinking, one and then another. It is a relief when they reach Weed and this journey ends. 

George Kelley 

Jerry House 

Monday, Monday

 Enjoyed PETER HUJAR'S DAY although I wish the sound had been better and that I knew more about Hujar. Also loved NOUVELLE VAGUE. (See BREATHLESS first). Richard Linklater sure made two great films this year. Also saw RENTAL FAMILY, such a nice film. 

Just started THE COPENHAGEN TRILOGY (Tove Ditlevsen).  

Still loving PLURIBUS. THE BEAST IN ME is okay as is CEMETERY ROAD.  Does Clare Danes ever play a totally sane person.  Starting to rewatch POIROT. 

Eager to see Kevin this week. He turns 19. When I turned 19, I got married.  

What about you?