Half Moon Street

Sometimes I think I've traveled to more places than I actually have. I watch a lot of foreign films; French New Wave is among my favorite genres. I read books set in European, Asian and South American countries. Fortunately, Paul Theroux travels to all the places I haven't and is a prolific writer to boot. Last summer I read Dark Star Safari, his narrative about traveling in a mostly traditional manner from Alexandria to Cape Town. His Africa isn't glamorous-- it's more Peace Corps than Safari and he purposely takes the trail less taken (at least by the white man). Theroux is one of my favorite writers; he has a caustic wit and isn't afraid to express an unpopular opinion. He writes mostly non-fiction, but I find his fiction equally captivating. He sets his stories in foreign locales but mixes the ordinary with irony and sarcasm.
Half Moon Street is an older volume of two novellas. I picked it up hoping to escape from wintry Boston. I got as far as London. The first of the two stories is set in London in the 1980s. Dr. Slaughter is a young woman with a fellowship in international relations. She's headstrong and gutsy, but calculating. She doesn't have the financial means to live the life she wants, but lives frugally, eating vegetarian, turning down alcohol and exercising religiously. When presented with an opportunity to become an "escort" she sees it as a means to meet people who can further her career while also making money and providing a social life on the side. This story is one that makes you cringe, but also one that has you keep reading, like watching a wreck. Ms. Slaughter's name alone suggests a terrible end, but it isn't until the novella's final paragraph that even the reader realizes how close she's come.
The second novella takes place in Boston and it's suburbs and the Cape. We learn of two brothers, twins, who, far from being close, are nothing but. As children they would trick parents. teachers and friends, one playing the other. The impersonations were mostly self preservation for each-- passing history, passing a driver's test. After the Vietnam War one brother goes missing, and the remaining brother is mostly satisfied by his disappearance as he can live his own life. One day the missing brother shows up, sick, at his brother's door. After being told he can stay a week, no more, his twin goes to the family vacation home on the Cape. Upon his return, the "missing" brother is dead. The surviving brother disposes of the body (after all, it wasn't his fault) and then goes on an unintended mission to find out who his brother was. It turns out he was a doctor in Kenmore Square and the brother turns to his old ruse of impersonation to find out why his brother was killed. The end is as chilling an end as the first novella. Both stories are unrelated save the theme of impersonation and its unintended consequences. Netflix rating of 3/5 stars.

Sophie's Choice

Watching Sophie's Choice was like visiting a familiar place you haven't been in awhile and seeing old friends. The cinematic recreation was just how I envisioned everything from the book. The Pink Palace was the industrial surplus navy pink I envisioned, the rooms spacious and warm, Sophie's and Nathan's apartment made precious with the gramophone, her silky robes and changing screen.
I was prompted to watch Sophie's Choice by a recent article in the New Yorker by Styron's daughter, recounting her years growing up in New York, the daughter of a successful, well regarded author. Reading Sophie's Choice you know Stingo is a young Styron, but according to Ms. Styron, Nathan is who Styron was to become; plagued by depression, Styron passed away just over a year ago. Ms. Styron wrote of the society types that came to her house growing up. Her parents welcomed everyone and a party was never more than 30 seconds away, not unlike Sophie's and Nathan's imaginary fetes, the calm before the storm.
The two sides of Styron were well portrayed by McNichol and Kline and in a sense, really emphasized the turn from naivete to striking and debilitating knowledge of love, sex and life. As in the book, the viewer (who is also Stingo) is made uncomfortable by Nathan and Sophie's love, by their furious fights, and by their lying (and ultimately, by Sophie's truth). But even as we realize Sophie's fate, Stingo remains in the dark, asking Sophie to marry him and have a family with him. Even though Sophie is less than 10 years younger than Stingo, she might as well be a lifetime older.
Ms. Styron admitted that due to the frankness and candidness of Sophie's Choice, she didn't read it at all growing up, but watched the movie over and over. In my mind, the book has more depth by far. It references literary works by Thomas Wolfe and Emily Dickinson that the movie only touches on and Stingo's father and his family's slave owning past are mentioned briefly if at all. But the movie held it's own. I'll give it 5 netflix stars.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Several months back our book club read The Good Earth, which told of the hard life of peasants in China in the early 20th century. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See takes place about a century earlier, but despite the better standing of Lily and Snow Flower, their hardships were much the same as the family in The Good Earth.
Lily and Snow Flower are sworn as laotong, an eternal BFF, early in their lives. They understand their roles as women-- from early footbinding, to learning domestic arts, to marriage and serving their husbands and husband's families. While they never question those roles, they find ways to communicate true feelings, happiness, and especially unhappiness through the secret writing nu shu. Just like the peasants in The Good Earth, these girls experience drought, famine, untimely death and illness as well as success through hard work and tradition keeping.
The friendship Lily and Snow Flower shared was poignant, but the descriptions of the accepted footbindings were what really amazed me. Although impossible to change a tradition in one generation or by one woman, I was surprised that the two "sisters" so easily and readily accepted the practice for their own daughters after experiencing such pain and personal loss.
I enjoyed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan-- the story moved swiftly and the characters came to life with plausible jealousies, loves, desires and pain. Netflix rating 3/5.

Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt may be the longest resting book on my bookshelf. Seven years ago, right after college, I lived in a big, old house in Allston, shared with 5+ individuals, none of whom I met before moving in. For a variety of reasons, I was miserable. At the end of the year, when we were all moving out, I went through Messy Jessie's room and scavenged stuff she'd left behind-- some Pottery Barn chairs and a copy of Angela's Ashes.
Here I'm going to compare my year of suffering to the McCourts':
The McCourts had to live upstairs in "Italy" because downstairs "Ireland" was always flooded. I had to live in my room solely because our living room wasn't furnished. The McCourts had to fight off rats and fleas in their flat. I lived mouse free because of Red Head's cat, Doodle. The rent collector threatened the McCourts with eviction because of non-payment of rent. When our landlord came to pick up the rent, Red Head told us not to answer the door and keep the apartment dark, so he would leave. We were also threatened with eviction! The McCourts were cold and ill-clothed. I was cold because we had to pay for our own heat and were advised to be frugal less we end up with a $200 heating bill.
In all, the McCourts were probably worse off, living poverty stricken in Ireland during the Depression and World War II. Both Frank and I vowed to move on to better situations-- he to America and me to Brighton, the neighborhood not of college slumming, but of young professionals.
Angela's Ashes was a delight to read in part because it's impossible to read without the lilting Irish accent. The vernacular of young Frankie is naive and hilarious. He knows if he asks too many questions he'll get a thump on the head. At times I thought the storylines a bit redundant, but Mr. McCourt earned his storytelling. I certainly liked Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke, Ha, Ha, Ha better, but I'll give Angela's Ashes 4/5 netflix stars.