Within A Budding Grove

Good morning 16th Arrondissementers! Gossip Girl here with all the latest. Marcel and his grandmother arrived in style for a summer seaside holiday in Balbec. But what about his romance with Gilberte? Looks like it's as dead as last summer's pantaloon fad.

Too bad Marcel is so frequently sick in his room; he's missing out on grand opportunities to see and be seen on the front, especially in regards to a band of rich and pretty girls. But oh, someone spied him visiting the great painter Elstir in his studio. And we know Elstir is friendly with Albertine, Andree, Rosamunde and the others.

Meanwhile that cad Bloch continues his social climb despite being of lower class than both Marcel and none other than Robert de St. Loup. He slyly stabs each in the back, insinuating the other. Best be careful, B, otherwise you'll be out of favor at Rivebelle.

So, by the end of the summer, who will Marcel pick-- the modest and thoughtful Andree? Or the frivolous yet pretty Albertine? Best read Within A Budding Grove by Marcel Proust to find out...I'll never tell.

xoxo,

Gossip Girl

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination and Observatory Mansions

Warning! The following is written during the holiday season; it's so sickly sweet you should probably make a dentist appointment first.

Nearly seven years ago a small group of us started a book club. We realized that now out of school, we might like to read for fun, but we also realized that just because we all lived near each other didn't mean we'd still see each other all the time, so book club became a once a month way to make sure we caught up. Over the years some friends have joined us and some friends have left us, but there's still a few from that first year. We take turns picking books and I think we each have a certain style.
Mihee tends to pick books that cause us all grief-- they're usually obscure classics or biographies of scientists, while Steph waits to pick a book by a certain author she's been excited about for a long time.
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken was Dali's pick last month. It wasn't a happy book: it's a memoir about the loss of a child. But it was the most honest book I've read in a long time. Elizabeth is an author married to another author: Edward Carey. While reading An Exact Replica, I kept meaning to look up Edward Carey, but it wasn't until Tishka visited a few weekends ago and we were talking about a book we often joke about, Observatory Mansions. And that's when we realized it was Edward Carey's first novel. We were ecstatic! Years ago, Observatory Mansions was one of Steph's picks for book club. It's about an oddball cast of characters who live in a rundown apartment building called Observatory Mansions. I don't remember a lot of details about the book, but the protaganist, Francis Orme, wears white gloves every day and impersonates statues in public. Anna Tap is the (anti)heroine. While I was reading Observatory Mansions, I thought it was one of the worst books I'd ever read. But I think back to it quite often (as I do another hated book, American Pastoral by Phillip Roth).
When I realized both authors were married and had the shared experience Ms. McCracken writes about, I could see how their mutual creativity and quirkiness attracted and protected the other. I could mostly tell they were lucky to have found each other.
Neither of these books is for everyone, but they both told a story that will stay with me for a long time...kind of like my book club friends.
Netflix stars-- 5 for An Exact Replica and 3 for Observatory Mansions.