Archive for the ‘Pop Culture’ Category

Put succinctly I had a love/hate relationship with Julie Powell’s book Julie & Julia.  Unlike some of her critics I do applaud Powell’s leap from the world of blogging into that of a published author. Many of her detractors have made it all about the food but that wasn’t why she embarked on 524 Recipes in 365 days; Jennie Yabroff in her Newsweek article Stop Hating Julie Powell, Please covers this well.

What Ms. Powell did need was someone to remind her that when people stop reading your words for free and start laying down money for your book, you then have an obligation to give them a reasonably professional product and that is where she just doesn’t deliver. Some of her word choices and phrasing were barely at a high school grammar 101 level. Attempts to be avant guard through drawing on sexual encounters (hers and those of her friends), a preoccupation with her own body odors and the ad nauseum descriptions about the grunge and filth of her apartment were imitations of twenty-something writers who had gone before her and who have done it so much better.

When she isn’t trying so hard and returns to the realness of her life the book improves. I enjoyed reading about the bona fide world of Julie Powell. This is also where she stops being a blogger and remembers that she is an author as her prose takes us through the drudgery of her day job, her escalating enthusiasm for cooking, to her growing obsession with completing the project Mastering the Art of French Cooking  and even her feelings for Julia Child.

It was a stark contrast indeed that while reading Julie & Julia I came across a piece of work by Elizabeth McCracken.  After years and years and years of reading it is not often that one can still stumble on an author who really draws you in,  This Does Not Have to Be a Secret from her book An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination does just that.

She has a wonderful style that never slips into some of the slickness that so many writers do. She writes about life events and emotions with a refreshing clarity and where I really felt a connection was her sense of humor; the dwarves of grief that she refers to will forever have a place in my imagination  and I will definitely be ordering one of her books for my winter reading

Authors such as Elizabeth McCracken provide a quality source of reading pleasure, and while pop culture figures such as Julie Powell may stretch their 15 minutes of fame into 30; I for one won’t be finding the time to read any more of her books.

This past weekend was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock and my Saturday morning tweet read -  This Sat 40 years ago I was 15 and driving through Cape Cod with parents listening to Woodstock news reports on car radio.

It only took that 123 character post and the fact that it was a grey and rainy Saturday to leave me with a mantle of sadness; as my mind went back to the August weekend in one of my favorite places, shared with two people that I still miss today. Unlike many writers who like to present themselves as having risen from the dregs of dreadful childhoods, I had a good relationship with my parents. On the surface they may have been stereotypical of the distant English parents; in private they were supportive and loving giving me little fodder for even a mild case of teenage angst.

That evening Chris and I ate pasta, drank wine and caught up on the conversations that we didn’t have time for in the week.  We then watched the movie Defiance. I had originally wanted to rent it because it starred Daniel Craig, who is on my short list of men I would have an affair with but the story proved to be so much more than I expected.

It is a World War II movie that looks at the Holocaust from a unique perspective. Telling the true story of a group of Jews in Eastern Europe who fought back from there home deep in the forest and the Bielski brothers who led them. While not a perfect movie the story itself is remarkable.

Saturday ended with me thinking that the type of person we become is not only the result of the family we are born into but also the time in history. For me is was about being a teenager growing up in the sixties. One thing I realized is that I want to start having the right conversations and asking the pertinent questions. From the hindsight of the person that I am today what talks I would have with my parents!

Relationships must be so much more than mere everyday words. Remember that a really sick friend is not just her disease; part of her still wants to talk about clothes, grumble about her husband and laugh over the funny parts of 30 Rock.  Realizing that a grumpy co-worker or colleague might be troubled by something in her life and responding accordingly. It’s about asking parents and grandparents to share the early years of their lives and seeing how they intertwined with the events of the time.

And ultimately never forgetting that everyone has a story.

I love words whether written, spoken or sung they have power. They can expand us with knowledge or debilitate us with emotion. The art of communication isn’t in the number of words used, as less wordage & fewer sentences often enables us to process the genuineness of character or content without clutter. Well informed people know that it is best to keep their answers brief and to the point. When you give a confident woman a compliment she merely smiles and says ‘thank-you’.

My respect for words leaves me with a dislike for anything that has a whiff of censorship. If you don’t like the words discard the book, leave the theater or change the channel.  It is in that context that I find myself in the surprising position of agreeing with Sarah Palin when she took offense to David Letterman’s recent joke. The content of that part of his monologue  left a bitter taste that even changing the channel didn’t erase. He has apologized and Palin accepted the apology in a 94 word statement in which she even managed to even make mention of the US military. Perhaps a short ‘I accept your apology’ would have been more appropriate and a little less opportunistic or better yet maybe a tweet would be good practice for the always wordy Ms. Palin.

The world of words has changed even in the short period of time since she ran for vice-president. Political protests are being covered in 140 characters, iconic newspapers no longer exist and this summer people will be enjoying there favorite beach book on devices like Kindle.

I had better end this post before I too am overly wordy or as a writer friend of mine emailed me this week while gathering research for an upcoming article ……….sometimes it is better to shut up, stop writing and listen.

We read to know that we are not alone – C.S. Lewis

Like many I was slightly put off by the title “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” . I decided to buy the book anyway (it was on sale) and from the first page I was captivated. For me it blended all the right ingredients; an interesting time in history, fascinating characters and a well paced story line.

I have noticed that other reviews whether they like the book or not, make little mention of the galvanizing event in the book and that was the occupation of Guernsey by the Germans and what life was subsequently like for the island’s occupants. Even Juliet the main character would have seemed amiss in any world other than the post-war England of 1946. The correspondence that she sets in motion could take you from charmed to horrified in the matter of a few sentences. There is nothing sensationalizing about how this is done and that is what makes the book a fascinating read.

I will echo some reviews in saying that it had the bones of a modern day classic but there were some weak areas in the second half that took it back into the ordinary. I have recently learnt that Mary Ann Shaffer died in February of 2008. Whether the introduction of the second author, Annie Barrows or Mary Ann’s health had something to do with the shift in the writing style I could not say.

The book does not rely on grandiose scenes or bombastic characters (except for Mark who does embody the impatience of the social changes to come)  and that is why Hollywood should never touch it.  I do see a Masterpiece Theatre style of production; one that would do justice to the book’s core elements of healing, the beauty of individuality and the allure of the unpretentious.

NB: While we are speaking of television productions that do credit to the original books be sure to catch HBO’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency based on Alexander McCall Smith’s books.

I have watched just about every episode of ER for the last 15 years. It was on my short list of TV programs to be be enjoyed at the end of the day when I no longer want to be informed, enlightened or improved.

If you were expecting the finale to have a big event or a major theme running through it then you would have been disappointed but if you are a true follower you knew that was never what made ER a hit. It ended as it began with the medical staff waiting for the casualties of a disaster in this case a power plant explosion. Before we came to that early morning scene there were stories of the patients interwoven with the life events of familiar characters both past and present.

Anyhing more would have been a different show.