July 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
On the move; I am in Boston, Wanda in Pennsylvania, TG in Utah, TF, Val, and Trudy: where are you? Hope wherever this finds you, you are able to enjoy a good read.... Either "On the Move" or if you have moved on from the Oliver  Sacks' autobiography, some other compelling and entertaining read.

Please enjoy this last interview of Dr. Sacks from Radiolab:
https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/453321


We'll be meeting, per Wanda's choice, at Cork & Craft this Wednesday, 12:30- see you then...


Happy Reading,
LK

On the Move

Related Poem Content Details

BY THOM GUNN

The blue jay scuffling in the bushes follows

Some hidden purpose, and the gust of birds

That spurts across the field, the wheeling swallows,

Has nested in the trees and undergrowth.

Seeking their instinct, or their poise, or both,

One moves with an uncertain violence

Under the dust thrown by a baffled sense

Or the dull thunder of approximate words.

On motorcycles, up the road, they come:

Small, black, as flies hanging in heat, the Boys,

Until the distance throws them forth, their hum

Bulges to thunder held by calf and thigh.

In goggles, donned impersonality,

In gleaming jackets trophied with the dust,

They strap in doubt – by hiding it, robust –

And almost hear a meaning in their noise.

Exact conclusion of their hardiness

Has no shape yet, but from known whereabouts

They ride, direction where the tyres press.

They scare a flight of birds across the field:

Much that is natural, to the will must yield.

Men manufacture both machine and soul,

And use what they imperfectly control

To dare a future from the taken routes.

It is a part solution, after all.

One is not necessarily discord

On earth; or damned because, half animal,

One lacks direct instinct, because one wakes

Afloat on movement that divides and breaks.

One joins the movement in a valueless world,

Choosing it, till, both hurler and the hurled,

One moves as well, always toward, toward.

A minute holds them, who have come to go:

The self-defined, astride the created will

They burst away; the towns they travel through

Are home for neither bird nor holiness,

For birds and saints complete their purposes.

At worst, one is in motion; and at best,

Reaching no absolute, in which to rest,

One is always nearer by not keeping still.

June 2016 Recap

Dear Bookclub,
Our June rendezvous at the Bernardo Winery's Cafe Merlot, had us occupying a tucked away table on a sunny afternoon and holding court on Anthony Marra's "Constellation" among other topics. Tiptoeing around key aspects of the richly told tale, Terry and I tried not reveal any uncovered developments to Trudy and Val, who had not yet finished. Our Chechnya-knowledge increased thousands of percent and the awe over Marra's talent was undeniable.



Hopefully, when all are done with the read, discussion to be continued.....

Trudy presented three choices, (actually four, I groaned away"A Man Called Ove" - sorry!!!) for October's read:

"When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi

"Heat and Light" by Jennifer Haigh *chosen

"The Gene:An Intimate History" by Siddhartha Mukherjee


Discussion turned towards great books, podcasts, interviews, etc:

"The Sympathizer"- interview with the author Viet Thanh Nguyen:
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/11/398728517/a-dark-funny-and-vietnamese-look-at-the-vietnam-war

Encouragement to listen to "Born with Teeth:A Memoir" by Kate Mulgrew.

"The Hedge" - help! My list just says "The Hedge" and googling is not ringing any memory bells for me. Does anyone remember what this was please?

"Zoo" TV Series on Netflix

"The Life We Bury" by Allen Eskins

Please note that our July meeting will be June 29. Wanda to announce location.

Visiting with Ginger last Wednesday was wonderful! Wish we had taken a picture... we must when she returns in a few short weeks. In the meanwhile, here is Wednesday, who we visited last Wednesday. So many of our Wednesdays are so special!

And my little cousin of Wednesday, nestled into the dining room hutch:

Happy Reading,
LK

June 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
In the spirit of my journey to refreshment at Canyon Ranch, I will be brief about the upcoming June meeting:

Cafe Merlot - Wednesday June 1st at 12:30 -

 discussing Anthony Marra's 

"A Constellation of Vital Phenomena"

Namaste and peaceful reading,
LK

My to-pack  reading pile for the world of unplugged.

May 2016 Recap

An earlier translation with illustrations. I want one! Only available from 'these' sellers priced from $335.99 up to $17,436.12. Not kidding. Nate would notice that on the Visa.

Dear Bookclub,
Another day-in-paradise-lunch-on-the-Veranda kept us from delving too deeply into the grimy nooks and crannies of "The Door". Provoking a variety of reactions, the read transported us as readers to a  new territory of communication, understanding and diversity just beyond the shadows of the horrors of Hungary's past. Strangely refreshing, not unanimously liked, the fairytale (Grimm's) quality piquing the imagination of the cinematic possibilities, Szabo's story dense with Emerence as epic, stirred more questions than certainty. That is the both magnetism and repulsion.

The reference about the cosmonaut that I could not recall (Gagarin) was just one example of the bitter views spewed by Emerence; hard to discuss because the admiration for her generous contributions to her circle loomed large in our memories. What a trick! And I meant to ask, what exactly is a christening bowl? The obvious does not seem to fit its use as a vessel for all that food. Hmmm...so many little wonders. Please tell me your ideas.

TG, your wonder about 'the prize' in the book must be autobiographical as you guessed (from Amazon blurb):
Magda Szabo was born in 1917 in Debrecen, Hungary. She began her literary career as a poet. In the 1950s she disappeared from the publishing scene for political reasons and made her living by teaching and translating from French and English. She began writing novels, and in 1978 was awarded the Kossuth Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Hungary. Magda Szabo died in 2007. 


Finally, the empathy evoked by so many of the characters, (remember the Lieutenant Colonel?) has left a little print on my heart which is how I want to remember this little gem.

I erred in posting the link to the trailer for "The Door" in the previous post - now corrected and here it is again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU5fgaWhfqQ

Back to our bubble.. Celebrating Val who defies the definition of defying an 'age'. What a treasure in our midst!

Terrie recommended four fantastic books for the upcoming Septmeber selection:

Ivan Doig  "Last Bus to Wisdom"
Curtis Sittenfeld  "Eligible"
Helen Simonson "The Summer Before the War"
Annie Proulx "Barkskins" *chosen

Enlightenment from Trudy about an app for movie management (new to me!): GoWatchIt

https://gowatchit.com/home

Please sign up to request "The Door" and perhaps our nudging will make it available.

Happy reading,
LK 

May 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
"The Door". An innocuous title for a powerful piece of literature. The unassuming "Door" became tightly focused from the incomprehensible Hungarian to a precise English translation that stirs gratitude for such a process. How easily possible to have never heard of Magda Szabo's work without the efforts of Len Rix and the powers that be in the publishing realm. Ali Smith's introduction to the translated English version becomes more appreciated realizing her personal experience with translators and the enormous faith that is needed to permit the process.

Here is a little blurb about Rix:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/books/review/translating-in-tongues.html?_r=0

A glimpse into the thoughts of Ali Smith on translations:
http://authors-translators.blogspot.com/2014/11/ali-smith-and-her-translators.html

Searching high and low for the movie... help please! Directed by Ivan Szabo, (no relation) starring Helen Mirren as Emerence:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194577/

The trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU5fgaWhfqQ

I am not so good at finding movies to stream but it must be out there somewhere??? Anyone able to find it?

Looking forward to being together this Wednesday, 12:30, the Veranda.
Happy reading!
LK

April 2016 Recap

 

   
Dear Bookclub,
 Our April gathering, amidst Val's very splendid garden, (featuring roses beyond content with the El Niño spring), had us wheeling in delight as we settled on her veranda, circling a table beneath a cozy wisteria. Launching on a perfect salad, we caught up and eventually landed on our read.

"Circling the Sun", perhaps more aptly titled "Circling Denys", succeeded in a discussion of the spot-on descriptions of Africa and the lack of likability and character development of the Kenyan colony depicted. Tilting toward the dreaded bodice-ripper, Beryl's infatuation with Denys left us wondering about the inconceivable actions of a maternal abandonment: Beryl's being abandoned, Beryl abandoning her son and the author, Paula McClain's own abandonment: her mother vanished when she was four. How this abandonment leaves a distinct hunger in its wake.

unbelievable blueberry cake

Val, very thoughtfully, had previously emailed us her suggested titles for an upcoming read so we were able to come prepared with our indecision:

"The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and a Son on Life, Love and Loss"  by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt

"Margaret The First: A Novel" by  Danielle Dulton

"Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs" by Sally Mann *chosen

Touring the garden

 Next up: "The Door" by Magda Szabo

Happy Reading!
LK

PS: Blueberry Cake recipe (I think this is it??!!)
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/02/09/lemon-blueberry-layer-cake/

Mid March 2016 Musings/April 2016 Bookclub Meeting

Dearest Bookclub,

It is a dreary month for San Diego... just kidding. Can't even get El Niño right because dreary is not in the mission statement. So, let's just say it's a good idea to sit inside and read because you can; the weather is non-dictatorial. 

Must share this musing, a take on an Esquire magazine article on "The 80 Best Books Every Man Should Read":

http://lithub.com/80-books-no-woman-should-read/

We've come a long way baby? Yes, Beryl Markham's shaking the gender lock was remarkable. And what happens in today's global society suggests the disconnect persists yet progress is undeniable. Is McLain's take on Markham a 'Best Book Every Woman Should Read'?



 

"Circling the Sun" promotes the womanly spirit in Paula McLain's novel about Beryl Markham. As Jean Zimmerman declared in her July 28, 2015 NPR book review:

'Paula McLain has created a voice that is lush and intricate to evoke a character who is enviably brave and independent. Markham's self-stated challenge is overcoming the "horrible crimes [of] being a woman and daring to think I could be free." Soaring high over the Atlantic at the age of 28, she finally embraces the freedom she seeks when she learns to defy gravity.'

To read the entire review:
 http://www.npr.org/2015/07/28/426741186/an-airborne-adventurers-journey-in-circling-the-sun 


However, not so fast. Alexandra Fuller's July 31, 2015 New York Times review takes issue with McLain's portrayal - not to 'take away' from Markham's achievements. Fuller states, "McLain’s rendition of Markham as a flapper with a penchant for adventure is exasperating.." Feeling McLain's produced another best-selling bodice ripper at the expense of the fairer sex; is that us as the female body of readers?

Check out entire review:
 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/books/review/circling-the-sun-by-paula-mclain.html?_r=0

 Val has invited us to her home for lunch on April 6 at 1 PM for our next meeting. See you there!

Happy reading,
LK