April Reads: The Rooster Bar, Green, and The Wrong Side of Goodbye

The Rooster Bar by John Grisham was a disappointment for this reader, who has been a long-time Grisham fan. A Time to Kill is one of my favorite novels, as is The Firm, A Painted House, Playing for Pizza, and The Testament. I enjoy his characterizations of a variety of types of people, and that may be where this novel falls down. This tale of three law school students who have been sold a bill of goods by a for-profit law school left me disinterested in what was going to happen as a result of their friend’s suicide and their increasing concern about their college debt. I kept waiting for these three young people to make an effort to get the for-profit model changed so others wouldn’t end up in their predicament. However, they are more motivated by escaping the burden of the enormous debt that awaits them in a semester when they graduate from law school.

Sam Graham-Felsen’s first novel Green, is set in 1992 in Boston. The protagonist and narrator, whose name is David Greenfield, is a middle school student who loves the Celtics and Larry Bird. David’s parents have decided they will live in an area of high poverty and send David to a public school where he is one of a handful of white students. Complicating his life is the fact that he has to take a high stakes test to get into Latin, the public high school that may lead him on to Harvard University, his parents’ alma mater. Gradually, David comes into his own, helped by a new friend who educates him on what it means for someone to be poor, smart, and African-American. This novel, in spite of the fact that it has a young narrator, is not a YA book; it is an Alex Award winner, a book intended for adults but good for young adults. I was caught up in David’s story and his struggles to understand himself, his family, his school, and his community. Graham-Felsen captures the confusion of adolescence and middle school and brings his reader, even one as old as I am, along for the ride.

My favorite of this trio of novels is Michael Connelly’s The Wrong Side of Goodbye: A Bosch Novel. Hieronymous Bosch has become a star of the detective/murder mystery genre with not only novels but also a five-season series on Amazon Prime. Connelly has incorporated not just one but two plots in this 2016 addition to the Bosch novels. Harry (Hieronymous) Bosch as retired and is doing some volunteer work for the San Fernando Police Department, looking at some crimes that have remained unsolved. One of the most pressing is that of a rapist who has a very specific modus operandi, one that indicates he knows a great deal about his victims and their homes. However, the rapist’s DNA is not in the records, and he wears a mask, making identification very difficult. While Harry is focused on that case, he, in his role as PI, also gets a call to visit an extraordinarily wealthy old man who, before he dies, wants to know whether he has any living heirs. The old man knows his son was killed in Vietnam, but he has a nagging feeling that there may be a descendant out there somewhere. So, Harry gets to work, using the computer resources at the police department, which is grounds for dismissal. Before Harry can tell his client his discoveries, the old man is found dead at his desk. Cue the mystery music. Very quickly, Harry and his SFPD partner are deep into the serial rapist investigation when another woman is attacked, although she is able to chase the rapist away before she is harmed. Both plots become more complicated, requiring lots of quick thinking and deduction from Harry. Needless to say, Harry solves both the client’s and the SFPD’s cases. Connelly writing style kept me engaged all the way through, with some humor, some good foreshadowing, and some exciting plot turns. I am going to be checking out the Amazon Prime series soon.

They Shall Not Grow Old

They Shall Not Grow Old

What an amazing feat for Peter Jackson, director of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He has taken film of British soldiers during WW I and paired it with audio interviews, made in the 60s, of men who had served in WW I to create an amazing look at those soldiers’ experiences. By using digital technology, Jackson and his crew have given life to young men who have faded long ago into memories. About 15 minutes into the film, there was an audible gasp from the audience when we first saw the film looking as though it had been shot yesterday. The origin of the title became apparent as the bloodshed and the madness of the war filled the screen.

After the movie was finished and the credits had rolled, Jackson appeared again–this time to explain the process by which the film footage and the audio recordings were put together in a coherent way. It was fascinating to hear the details of how this was done–part of the process was being a detective. Lipreaders decoded what the soldiers were saying; experts in military history determined where the soldiers were from; sound men were able to recreate the booming of the artillery; and computer IT people digitized the film, smoothing out the movements and providing the appropriate colors. Be sure you stay for that.

This is not a film for the faint of heart or the squeamish. There are dead bodies, terrible injuries, filth, and horror. But, watching this is a reminder of why war is not the answer.

The Zookeeper’s Wife

The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story

By Diane Ackerman

Here is an interesting nonfiction account of the German occupation of Warsaw during World War II. I have read a number of books about the Warsaw Ghetto and the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis, but this book about the zoo in Warsaw and the Polish family who ran it is fascinating. Jan and Antonina Zabinski devoted their lives and careers to building a world-class zoo, one that was humane and responsive to the needs of its residents. Jan, a well-respected scientist, and Antonina, an author, were known throughout the zoo community for their efforts. When the Germans invaded Poland, they thought that perhaps their zoo might be spared from attack. However, they were quickly disillusioned by bombing that destroyed many of the animal habitats, killing some of the animals and allowing others to escape.

When a Nazi officer whom they knew as the curator of the Berlin zoo showed up, offering to take some of their rarer species back to Germany—just on loan for safekeeping, the Zabinskis knew they had no choice. The Germans coveted these rare animals as examples of purer Aryan breeds and wanted to use them in their efforts to reestablish them in the wild—all part of the crazy Nazi eugenics programs. Left with very few animals to care for, the Zabinskis turned their attentions to the people of Warsaw who needed their help: the Jews in the Ghetto. Their villa at the zoo became a refuge for Jewish refugees who were waiting to escape to safer places—a very dangerous enterprise for the Zabinskis and their young son Rhys.

I enjoyed this war story because it provided a viewpoint I was unfamiliar with, that of non-Jewish Polish citizens in their occupied country. The author, a naturalist, also uses her familiarity with the animal world to infuse her work with great stories about the Zabinskis’ pets and the art of zoo keeping.

The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan

The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan by Robert Hough

Published by House of Anansi Press Inc., 2015

ISBN 978-1-77089-945-2

Interested in pirates? The seafaring life? Rapscallions? 17th-century life? All of these form the basis for The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan by Robert Hough, a pick as the best adult book for high school students in 2016. Benny Wand, a young English criminal whose life has gone from bad to the absolute worst, is deported, as a result of his latest activities, to Jamaica. After a tenuous life on the beach with other criminal types, he is one of many recruited to work for a privateer named Captain Henry Morgan as he raids Spanish settlements in the Caribbean.

Morgan takes many risks to defeat the Spanish, some that Benny thinks are ill-advised. When Benny tells some of the ranking officers of his concerns, word gets back to Morgan who takes a closer look at Benny. What Morgan discovers is that Benny is a chess prodigy, a fact that Benny had used to cheat many men out of a lot of money, and, as a chess prodigy, Benny can see the end game in a match of wits with the enemy. Morgan appreciates Benny’s abilities, and the two of them form an unlikely friendship with Benny serving as advisor and chess partner for Benny.

Morgan’s descent into what can only be called a kind of madness is paralleled by Benny’s ascent into an adulthood that demands ethics and compassion. This novel is a study in how the choices people make about the situations life/fate hands them defines the lives they ultimately lead. Benny and Morgan, although alike in their problem-solving approaches, reach different conclusions about how to handle obstacles and difficulties.

Hough’s novel, based on historical fact, takes the reader to a different world, one which often sounds glamorous and exciting. However, that world, albeit exciting, was not glamorous, and the nitty-gritty details of the survival of this young man paint a picture of loneliness, uncertainty, and questioning the values of a society based in poverty and injustice.

Just One Damned Thing After Another

Just One Damned Thing After Another: the Chronicles of St. Mary’s

Jodi Taylor

First Night Shade Books (Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.) 2013

Best Adult Book for High School 2016

Did you enjoy Michael Crichton’s novel Timeline, the story of archeologists who travel back in time only to meet with disaster? Or Jasper Fforde’s series about Thursday Next, the literary operative who jumps in and out of novels? Or the series The Librarians which has been on TNT TV? If you did, you will also enjoy reading the first in a series of novels about a time-traveling historian named Madeline Maxwell.

Madeline is recruited to the University of Thirsk’s Institute of Historical Research by her former teacher Mrs. De Winter. The Institute’s purpose is to travel back to specific historical events and validate what history says occurred, and, of course, this is to be accomplished without changing the course of history. After some rigorous and, oftentimes frightening, training Maxwell is ready to embark on her new career. But, the title of the novel gives away a main component of the plot. Nothing ever goes smoothly or as planned. One particularly hairy adventure is when the historians travel back to the age of dinosaurs, where they find some dastardly time-traveling villains who are using the dinosaurs as targets for big game hunters. Needless to say, that doesn’t go well for Max, and the historians return to the Institute at St. Mary’s bloody and frightened.

The time-traveling villains soon make themselves known at the Institute itself, and Maxwell finds herself fired and separated from her associates, who have become her family, and from the man with whom she has fallen in love. Once again Mrs. De Winter intervenes to help Max rid the Institute of the ones who would destroy it. The novel’s conclusion leaves the reader wanting more and the historians ready to go back in time to save some of history’s most important items (think the manuscripts at the Library at Alexandria).

Full of excitement, wonder, and humor, this is also the story of a young woman finding herself and her strength.

A New Challenge

In August, I agreed to substitute for a teacher who would be taking maternity leave at the end of January. At the time, I thought, “Sure! Sounds like fun!” And, even though it is fun, what on earth was I thinking? I have been substitute teaching for a day or two a week for the last year and have enjoyed myself immensely. What is better to a teacher than getting to know students without having to plan or grade papers? And I could pick and choose what days I would work. Welp, done with all of that until the end of March.

The person I am subbing for has left lesson plans and materials to use–which is fantastic. That definitely makes my life easier. What I wasn’t prepared for was the reconditioning of mind and body to being with teenagers 7 hours a day, five days a week. Friday night I felt like someone had drained all of my life forces and left me a husk of a person. I had conveniently forgotten that at the beginning of every school year there is a period of becoming conditioned to the demands of the classroom. Wow.

The good news is the students have been lovely (I hope I haven’t jinxed myself by saying that), the other teachers are glad to see me, and I am teaching a subject that is fairly closely related to my normal area. Another positive is that a check of the school calendar shows that only four of the eight sub weeks are full weeks. There are some days off for winter break, girls and boys state basketball, and a couple of professional days. I can do this. It’s all in the attitude.

The person I am subbing for has a beautiful baby girl, and I really, truly am happy I can give her time to learn all about her daughter. But, warning, if someone asks you to do a long-term sub, give it more serious thought than I did. The money is pretty good, but be certain you are ready for a huge change to your retirement schedule!

I might rather be here than in the classroom. Ah, memories of warm, sunny Sitges, Spain. Tickets to Europe are cheaper in January, February, and March. I will remember that if someone asks me to do this long-term sub gig again.

Frederik Backman Novels

Swedish author Fredrik Backman has become one of my favorites. This young-ish (37) author conveys so much about the very real struggles of being human that it seems he is wise and experienced beyond his years. My introduction to Backman’s work was A Man Called Öve, which my husband and I listened to on a trip to Minnesota. We found ourselves laughing at loud at the inept attempts of this grieving widower to end his life so he could join his wife in death. Yes, we laughed. We also shed a few tears as Öve finds new meaning in his life through his interactions with his neighbors. Only a skillful wordsmith could create such humor from this depressing situation. We loved it.

I next read Britt-Marie Was Here, another tale of a woman who has been devalued by her husband finding new life and purpose. The characters are well-drawn and treated affectionately by the author. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry takes us along with a young girl who is tasked by her dying grandmother to go talk with people in the grandmother’s past. The grandmother, who is difficult and independent, has had contentious relationships with many of those who shared her life. As the girl interacts with these people, she discovers the woman her grandmother was, and she herself learns how to navigate the world. Once again, the characters are engaging and memorable. The individual stories in these two novels reaffirm one of my friends’ favorite maxims: Everyone is having struggles that we aren’t aware of. But in addition, it reaffirms that each of us is part of a complex web of actions and interactions, and we really can’t foresee how that web of relationships will play out.

Backman’s latest efforts, Beartown and its sequel Us Against You, are my favorites, even though they are darker with much less humor. I really wish I had a group of teenagers with who to read and discuss these novels. In fact, I have recommended them to my former colleagues who are still teaching high school. There are so many topics in these novels that touch on facets of life that teens face every day: rape, parental expectations, immigration,friendship, alcoholism, bullying, sports, death, fear of failure, coming out. Many reviews of the novel compare it to Friday Night Lights in terms of its examination of the effects of high school sports on a community. Beartown explores the more immediate reactions of a small town, whose fame and future is based on its hockey team, when the daughter of the general manager of the hockey team is raped by the star hockey player. Sides are taken and lines are drawn in the high school and in the community. Into this conflict throw a rivalry with the neighboring town and its hockey team. Us Against You examines the more long-term consequences of the actions in the previous novel and shows us both the damage done to the characters but also the strength that some of them show in their attempts to heal. This is a powerful pair of novels. The novels have been optioned for a tv series.

Leonardo’s Shadow

Leonardo’s Shadow: Or, My Astonishing Life as Leonardo da Vinci’s Servant by Christopher Grey

This fascinating historical novel was one of the ALA Best Books for Young Adults for 2008, but don’t let that label fool you—it’s also an enjoyable book for adults.

The narrator is 15-year-old Giacomo, an orphan who was rescued by da Vinci when the boy was a small child. Giacomo wants two things very much: to know who his parents were and to have da Vinci teach him to paint. Neither thing seems likely for Giacomo because he is caught up in da Vinci’s financial problems. The Duke of Milan has promised da Vinci a huge sum of money for painting a picture of the Last Supper on the wall of the church where the Duke’s wife is buried. The problem? The Duke has given da Vinci no money. Without the money, da Vinci won’t paint—it’s a conundrum, one that Giacomo helps solve.

Throughout the novel, the author weaves in historical information about life in 15th-century Milan, its politics, and how people lived. He also uses information that da Vinci left in his notes to tell the story of da Vinci’s flying machine and why there is no record of him ever trying to see if it would fly.

Giacomo’s story is fictional, of course, except that da Vinci refers to Giacomo in his notes—Grey has used that as a jumping-off point for this coming-of-age story. Giacomo, a clever young man, finds ways to improve his life, all the while taking care of da Vinci despite the painter’s prickly manner and apparent unconcern for the well-being of his home and servants.

I was quite taken with this novel and the story of the painting of a masterpiece—and the explanation of why the painting has not survived the centuries in its original condition. Young people or adults who like art or history will enjoy this novel.

Beginning March 1, 2019, you can go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the traveling exhibit entitled: Leonardo Da Vinci: 500 Years of Genius. Quoting from the 303 website: “Through high-definition motion graphics and surround sound, combined with authentic photography and video footage, the Leonardo da Vinci will also provide a cinematic experience will provide a breathtaking display of his codices, computer-generated imagery and art. Guests can even test a da Vinci-inspired catapult and create their own codex page with a self-portrait or still life. The Museum’s historical enactors will also be on hand, to present characters who bring a personal perspective to the story of Leonardo.” The exhibit runs through August 25, 2019. It’s on my list of things to do. Member tickets to the show are now on sale on the museum’s website.

Old Men in the Movies

My husband and I recently viewed three movies with old men, two in leading roles and one making a scene-stealing appearance as a minor character. Old Man with a Gun and Mule each had similar premise–old guy who has neglected his family for years in pursuit of pleasure and thrills.

Robert Redford in Old Man with a Gun is charming as a man who has been in and out of prison many times, often for robbing banks. He has never shot anyone and part of the reason he does it is for the thrill. The bank managers and tellers he robs all say that he seems like a gentleman and that he is happy. When he meets a woman with whom he strikes up a friendship, he lets down his guard, and ends up in prison one more time. But the woman (Sissy Spacek) waits for him and provides him with a place to stay when he is released. That’s a simplistic summary, but the movie is more of a character study than an action movie–a character study of the old bank robber and of the police detective who finds him. The detective becomes involved at a time when he is questioning his satisfaction with being on the police force, and catching this gentleman robber becomes his goal. Based loosely on a true story, this is an interesting look at ageing and the ideals that drive people to choose criminality. Redford is charming and still handsome, although there are a few too many close ups for me, and the movie did seem to drag somewhat. There is no violence, and I can’t remember if there’s any profanity.

Clint Eastwood, both as actor and director, in Mule creates a different sort of criminal, one who becomes a criminal unknowingly. He has lost his business, his wife and daughter won’t talk to him, and he needs a job. When a young man asks if he can drive well, he accepts the one-time job of delivering something. Obviously, it’s drugs that he is delivering, but, when he sees the amount of money he is making, he makes the choice to continue doing drug runs, even though it becomes increasingly clear that he is dealing with very dangerous people. He uses the money he makes to, in my mind, absolve himself of the selfish behavior he has shown his family over the years. This movie was not at all what I expected based on the trailer I had seen. There is a good deal of humor associated with his reaction to some of the situations in which he finds himself. There is no graphic violence–there is a shooting and one dead body, but very little blood and nothing I had to turn away from. I enjoyed the movie, although, here’s a warning: one of my friends felt like it made criminal activity acceptable. I don’t agree because the old man does pay a price, but be forewarned.

If I had to pick my favorite between the above two movies, I would go with Mule; however, my real favorite is Dick Van Dyke’s cameo in Mary Poppins Returns, a delightful continuation of the original Mary Poppins. Emily Blunt is a no-nonsense nanny who has returned to the home of her former charges. Although she is there ostensibly for their children, it becomes clear that their father and his sister need help as well. Lin Manuel-Miranda makes being a lamplighter look like a wonderful career as he sings and dances and shows the children and Mary Poppins the city of London. The songs are lovely, especially one about things that are lost, and the dancing is energetic and fun to watch. The third old man, Van Dyke, makes his appearance where he wows the audience by dancing as though he were decades younger than the 90+ years that he really is. If you want some great family viewing that may bring a few feels, I highly recommend Mary Poppins Returns.

Up for possible viewing this weekend are Bohemian Rhapsody and The Upside.

Movie Holiday

Sometimes my husband and I go several months without watching a movie in an actual movie theatre, but the last few weeks we have viewed five. That may be a record for us (even counting movies viewed at home.) Here are my quick reviews of two of them, both documentaries.

Free Solo. Documentary. What an incredible movie about an unbelievable man who has unaccomplished unimaginable goals. Alex Honnold became the first man to climb El Capitan, a 3000+ foot high sheer cliff in Yosemite Park, by himself without ropes. I arrived at the theatre thinking that the film would be just the climb; however, there is much more to the film than a climb. The documentary attempts to unlock the answer to the question of why Alex feels compelled to attempt this superhuman feat. It also examines his relationship to his family, girlfriend, and friends. All of them have misgivings about his feat, but all of them remain steadfastly supportive as he trains and plans. I left this movie exhausted emotionally and with sore leg muscles from unconsciously trying to help Alex make it to the top of the dome. Go to see this. You won’t be sorry.

Ocean of Grass. Documentary. This is a beautiful film about life on a Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch, following a family through a year of calving, branding, feeding, and selling their herd. Even though I live in Nebraska, have travelled through the Sandhills, and have a son who has had cattle, this movie was an eye-opener about the hardships and dangers of people who choose this life. I feel so much admiration for these people and what can only be a calling. The photography shows people who are unfamiliar with Nebraska’s Sandhills, the only place in the world with this particular geographical formation, what they are missing. The widespread distribution of this film could lead to an uptick in the number of tourists in this mostly unpopulated place. For those of you who want to visit, remember, “Nebraska. It’s not for everyone.”

Tomorrow’s post: Mary Poppins Returns, The Man with the Gun, and Mule.