Eavesdropping on farts

The 80s was a great time to grow up.  Not only did we have great music, but world events made things interesting (and those events affected the music, of course).  The Cold War heated up and many people feared a nuclear war was imminent.  But I think it might have been worse back in the 60s when the Russians were lead by a guy who seemed unstable and had a propensity toward violent outbursts.  He was a guy who said what was on his mind and did crazy things.  Turns out he was crazy – crazy like a fox.

Nikita Khrushchev had been one of Stalin's deputies and a military leader during WWII.  In his own words he'd been up to his elbows in blood.  And while that's a fact, I wonder if it doesn't give us a distorted picture of who he really was.  After all, everyone did what Stalin said without question or they didn't live long.  And as soon as Stalin was dead Khrushchev loosened things up (a little) and did away with some of the harshest practices.  But perhaps the most interesting – and certainly the strangest – image we get of him was when he came to the United States.

It was an accident, really.  Ike had only intended to invite Khrushchev if he'd back down on some inflammatory statements he'd made about Berlin, but the US ambassador messed up the invitation.  And Khrushchev was so thrilled to be invited that he pretended to be offended by Sweden so he could cancel an already planned visit there.  K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America's Most Unlikely Tourist by Peter Carlson recounts some of the most bizarre historical events I've ever read.  Khrushchev – or "K" as he was often referred to in America – was still a leader with an outsize ego, and he insisted on having the biggest plane, the Tu-114.  Unfortunately, it was taller than the stairway ramps and initially they needed a ladder to get out.  And that's only the beginning!

From the "kitchen debates" at the World's Fair in Moscow with Vice President Richard Nixon (it was at a display of an "modern American kitchen") to an actual supermarket visit in the US, where members of the press stood on moving check stand conveyor belts, climbed on store shelves, and knocked women shoppers into displays of potato chips, the trip was the first media circus.  Khrushchev was initially wary of being invited to Camp David (the Soviets didn't know it was a presidential retreat), but he was a master politician and once he was allowed a little freedom to interact with the crowds he enjoyed himself immensely, hamming it up, swapping hats, and playing the vaudevillian.  He most loved the cafeteria at the IBM offices with its self-serve style, and laughed on a visit to a corn farmer in Iowa who threw trash in an angry fit at the reporters trampling his crops.  But the book isn't all funny as World War III seemed about to start when he exploded at being harangued by the mayor of Los Angeles and denied a visit to Disneyland.

Peter Carlson has written an easy and fast read that was both hilarious and frightening.  K comes across as the funniest dictator imaginable, with his playing the crowds one moment and throwing a tantrum the next (and it turns out most of the time it was all for show).  And yet, it demonstrates why Cold War tensions ran so high with such a volatile personality running the largest nation on earth.  (He engineered a return trip to the US where he famously banged his shoe on the desk at the United Nations.)  In fact, he was so unpredictable that he was subsequently deposed as leader and later lamented to Nixon that the KGB had even bugged his bathroom so they could eavesdrop on his farts.  But his story would make a great summer read, so if you're looking for a great beach book, I'd recommend this one.

Who needs magic?

One of the most likeable characters in the Harry Potter books - at least in my opinion - was Ron's dad, Mr. Weasley.  He's a guy who can do magic, and yet he's fascinated to the point of obsession with how muggles get by without it.  Since Harry grew up in a muggle home he's always asking him about things like electricity and escalators and rubber duckies.  I suspect most of us would LOVE to live in a magical world and be able to use magic for our own benefit, and yet he's curious about our world.  But what if we really lived in a world with magic?  How easy would it be to rely too much on it?  That's a question I wondered about while reading The Real Boy by Anne Ursu.

Oscar works for the magician Caleb.  But he isn't his apprentice; he's just the "hand."  He spends most of his time hidden in the cellar mixing herbs and potions for the customers who come from the shining city to buy Caleb's magic.  They rely on it for almost everything, from potions and spells that will make them lucky or beautiful, or help them gain money or make someone fall in love with them.  But there's something different about Oscar.  Many people call him "simple" - or worse! - but in some ways he's actually smarter than Caleb's apprentice, Wolf.  But when the usual order of things starts to unravel, and children in the city begin to fall ill, Oscar will have to venture out of his comfortable life in the basement to confront the problems.

This is an interesting story that kept me guessing throughout.  It's told from Oscar's point of view, and the mystery of what's going on and how Oscar and Caleb fit into it all, as well as the interesting characters, makes for a compelling read.  And I honestly liked the way it ended, and thought it had a nice message.  But the most interesting thing in the story was Oscar himself.  He seems to be somewhere on the autism spectrum, like Asperger’s maybe.  He is obsessed with order and I thought it was an interesting glimpse into his thought processes.  (I received this book from Amazon Vine, and it sounds like readers of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime might enjoy this one as well.)

My Beloved Brontosaurus

"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." — C. S. Lewis

Like most kids - or boys, at least - I was in love with dinosaurs.  My favorite was Triceratops.  I remember visiting the quarry at Dinosaur National Monument and the Vernal museum when I was a kid.  When I had sons of my own I went back to Vernal so they could see it (which resulted in my oldest wanting to be a paleontologist until he was around 12).  I drew numerous pictures of them (some of which I still have, and yeah, they're pretty bad) and the stuffed animal I slept with (until I got sick one night and threw up on him) was a little blue Brontosaurus (my mom tried to wash him, but he was never the same).  I even remember avoiding commercials for "Jurassic Park" before it came out because I didn't want to ruin the movie - then Jamie and I went on opening night.

As an adult (or a close approximation of one) I no longer spend my time doodling dinosaurs or wondering where I can find a fossil, but I still find them interesting.  Keeping up with the science and discoveries, however, is a bit beyond my reach.  That's where My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs by Brian Switek was a nice read.  He's obsessive and writes about them in a way that is easily understood.  And he covers a lot of topics, such as did they really have feathers, what color were they, and what did they sound like, as well as what happened to Brontosaurus?  (The bones that were described as "Brontosaurus" had previously been described as "Apatasaurus.")  And he explains very clearly why it's so hard to assemble a skeleton, because dinosaur skeletons are rarely found intact; once the animal died, it was usually scavenged and eaten by others.  

The writing is clear and understandable, and while there's a little bit of travelogue in it, it's entertaining and not overdone.  This is, however, a book for grownups.  It's not written anywhere near a childs level (and pictures are minimal) and has occasional profanities, plus he covers... umm, theories of how dinosaurs mated.  So, this isn't the kind of book you'll want to purchase for a 7 year, but if you're still interested enough (like me) to read a relatively short and easily understood book, you might want to buy it for yourself.

When I was about 5 years old with the book I got from the Dinosaur quarry (I couldn't find the picture with Grandma in front of the Stegosaurus statue).

 

Braiden and Taylor *not climbing* on the quarry wall.

I'm not sure where this was, but it was a Triceratops, so...

"Authentic heroes," instead of the "screen variety"

In 1940, more than half the adult US population went to the movies each week. In addition to a double feature and some short cartoons, they also got ten to twenty minutes of newsreels, which was one of the primary sources for Americans to see and hear the news in the days before television.  And then (as today!) the way current events were portrayed by the media was a very powerful way to influence public opinion.  This was never more evident than the famous 1935 German propaganda film "Triumph of the Will" by Leni Riefenstahl, which galvanized support behind Adolf Hitler.

And the movies made by Hollywood reflected - unofficially, for the most part - the stand taken by the United States.  Films like "How Green was My Valley" and "Mrs. Miniver" were decidedly pro-British.  Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris (which I received from Amazon Vine) is an account of the relationship between movies and the war effort during WWII.  It focuses on five famous Hollywood directors who put their lives and careers on hold and enlisted during the Second World War. Although mostly a bit too old for regular service, all were able to contribute their unique filmmaking talents. I'd heard of Frank Capra, John Ford, and John Huston, but William Wyler and George Stevens were new to me (in name at least - I'd heard of some of their films).

All the men were touched by their service in different ways. I loved Huston's comment that after "working with authentic heroes, I was in no mood to put up with the screen variety." His most notable wartime film was the mostly forgotten "Report From the Aleutians," which tried to play up the mostly non-existent action.  Capra spent his time fighting government bureaucracy trying to make the "Why We Fight" and "Know Your Enemy" series of films for soldiers.  Perhaps the most successful was Ford's "Battle of Midway," which for the first time showed audiences actual combat footage.  It also set the tone for future war movies, with choppy footage and cameras shaking after explosions (and yes, even critics back then found the sappy narration a bit over the top). But there was also the private film he had made and quietly sent to the families of the members of Torpedo Squadron Eight, all but one of which died in the battle.

For me, Wyler and Stevens became my favorites.  I enjoyed the accounts of Wyler's filming on bombing runs with the crew of the Memphis Belle (not to be confused with the 1990 film).  He even lost his hearing after spending an entire bombing run in the belly of a bomber (it returned partially in the following years).   Stevens believed it was important to prepare the public for life after the war, and was forever scarred by his painful yet crucial filming of the liberation of concentration camps.

And although this felt like an unusually long read (about 450 pages), I really enjoyed it and found myself constantly turning down page corners and marking interesting quotes and information. Whether it was Capra's efforts to increase the visibility of negroes in film two decades before the Civil Rights Movement or the wartime activities of other notables such a Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) who worked on the "Private SNAFU" cartoons or John Wayne who avoided military service, it's an interesting look at how American culture was influenced. Harris also follows up with their work after the war, such as the awards competition that pitted Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" against Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives" (which won easily). Ironically, both films were efforts by the directors to put their own experiences into perspective and to deal with them in the only way they knew how.

But perhaps one of my favorite comments that illustrates the human side Harris captures in this excellent book is when Stevens filmed some Axis collaborators from the prison in Luxembourg. "When they march these prisoners through the streets," Stevens wrote, "a little boy about ten marches bravely in the front rank. Probably his father is the prisoner marching by his side."

San Francisco

For President's Day weekend we went to San Francisco.  Jamie's always complained that - even though she's lived in Southern California for most of her life - she's never been there.  So, we fixed that.  And had a great time!

Since we had to drive through Oakland, I talked everyone into stopping to see the temple.

 

The temple has the best view of the Bay area, even on a gloomy day.  After checking in we had a nice late lunch at a bbq place in Ghiradelli Square, which I thought was really good.  But the most overrated food of all we had was the Ghiradelli ice cream - skip it unless you like melted and salty ice cream.

 

But we woke up to a beautiful day and a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge from our hotel.  The hotel was right near Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world."

 

We spent a little time on Hyde Street Pier and got to tour some of the old ships.

 

A big anchor, a beautiful girl, and Ghiradelli Square in the background.

 

We took a trolley to Union Station, then walked through China Town to Little Italy, where we had a delicious lunch.

 

We had forgotten to buy Alcatraz tickets in advance, but by a miracle we were able to get tickets - for the last trip of the day, too (which was what we wanted in the first place).

 

 

 

 

The next morning, before leaving, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, then walked out on it from the Sausalito side.

 

And last of all, before we drove back home, Kate wanted to see this tiled staircase - very cool.

 

Now I think Jamie and I need to go back sometime, and leave the kids at home.

LDStorymakers 2014

I've gotten a little lazy about posting here lately, but I've been kind of busy.  Honest!  

My reading - and more especially writing about my reading - has had to take a back seat to my real writing.  The LDStorymakers Conference is coming up at the end of April and I'm attending.  I've never been to a writers conference before, but I'm actually really excited.  I was even able to get into the class being taught by Orson Scott Card (I've only read one of his books, but I hope he won't hold it against me).  Plus, I think my novel is almost ready and I even went out on a limb and signed up to pitch it to an agent at the conference.  Thanks to some helpful criticism and comments from S. M. (Sarah) Anderson and Ashley Benning (and Jamie, Kate, and Poppy), I've revised a few things to make it flow better and am almost done with the latest rewrite.

Some things I've learned?

• Working from an outline - even if it's general and changes - can save a LOT of time.  I wish I'd done that from the beginning, but I really didn't know what I was doing and had to figure it out the hard way.
• Go with what feels right.  I rarely read "grown-up" fiction, so why did I think I could write it?  No, I should have just written the story as YA from the beginning and saved myself a lot of time and effort.
• Just write, and revise later.  I once read that the business of writing is all about RE-writing.  But you can't RE-write if you don't have stuff to RE-write.
• Writing is hard work.  Sure, you might think, you're just making stuff up - what's so hard about that?  Yeah, I say, go ahead and try it!
• It's very hard to let someone else read what you've written.  When you put your thoughts (and let's face it: thoughts are intimate) on paper and hand it to someone else, it feels like being naked - which is a very uncomfortable feeling (for most of us, anyway).  But... am I not writing to be read?  (This blog kinda started as an effort to get over that.)
• A writer's group is an invaluable asset.  My family would love to read what I've written and help, but they struggle to provide feedback.  Getting feedback from other writers is much more useful.  They've faced the same challenges and can see your mistakes a lot easier.  (And, going forward, I intend to try to find or make a group of my own.)
• And finally - don't quit.  You'll never write a novel if you don't keep at it.

So hopefully I'm ready to move on to the next part of writing: publishing.  And if I neglect my blog reviews, that's why.

One big reason why NOT

I recently finished a book that reminded me of a television movie I saw as a teenager.  Actually, I think I only saw the second half, and I don't even remember the name but it was about a teenage boy who commits suicide.  The part I saw was very emotional and emphasized the impact it had on those left behind - family, friends, even acquaintances.  But aside from the emotional punch, I think I remember it for two reasons.  First, the next day at school I found a printed script for the whole movie - which I read - and which, apparently, had been distributed ahead of time to schools.  And second, I saw an article in the newspaper criticizing the movie - not because it didn't have good intentions, but (if I recall correctly) because studies had shown that such good intentions more often backfire.

The book that brought back these memories is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.  It's the fictional story of Hannah Baker who took her own life, but as told by her to a number of her classmates in recordings she left behind.  We hear her story as Clay, a boy who had a crush on her, listens to the tapes where she identifies the people she feels are responsible for her decision.  After each person has listened, they are to mail the tapes to the next person, otherwise a second set of tapes will be made public.  Some of the reasons were boys whose lies resulted in her having a "reputation" at school, friends who betrayed her, girls who pretended to be her friend in order to use her, and worse - much worse!  But it's not the issues that pull you in, it's the characters, which are very well-developed.  And Clay listens to the tapes, wondering what he did that got him included in this awful list.

Naturally, it's a sad and depressing book that left a hopeless and frustrated feeling in me, and yet it's an important topic that too often gets ignored because it's uncomfortable and painful to discuss.  It's also a very popular book right now.  But what concerns me ties back to that earlier experience.  The newspaper article about the television movie pointed out that such stories usually illustrate in very vivid terms the sense of loss felt by those family, friends, and even acquaintances after the fact.  Unfortunately, this is often perceived by teenagers suffering from depression as the attention and compassion they desperately need and aren't receiving, and supposedly studies show that suicides actually increase after such well-intentioned efforts.  

So, how does this book do?  Early on I thought it was falling face first into that mold.  Hannah is a sympathetic character - even if each incident isn't the end of the world, she's been wronged by others, and as the insults mount, Clay is practically writhing in agony over her death (okay, he was maybe a bit overwrought at times).  It isn't until late in the book that we see Hannah as "not fully reaching out for help" and only hinting at her problems to those who might have been able to help.  But Jay Asher does a very good job writing for teens and portraying their world where so much is seen in black and white terms, and given the subject material there's some grittiness here (I don't remember a lot of profanity, but there's some sexual content - although it's not portrayed in a flattering way).

And I was impressed with the format of the book - where Hannah's words are in italics and Clay's thoughts (and conversation with other characters) are in regular type, and they intertwine into a narrative which doesn't always align perfectly, but creates a kind of tension.  (I imagine it would be interesting to listen to the audio version.)  Using the symbols for play, pause, and stop was rather clever, and he used the old medium of cassette tapes rather well - although it's dated, it fits into the more modern story easily.  

But the real question: Would I recommend this book?  It's a dark story that sticks in your thinking for a while and not something I'd want an already depressed teenager to read, and it certainly won't be for a lot of people.  But if it encourages teens to be more aware of the struggles of others, and maybe reach out more... I guess that would be the best possible result.  I might lean more toward recommending it to adults than teens.  So, I guess my answer would be a definite... maybe.

Talking to ghosts

Have you ever known anyone who claimed to have seen or spoken with spirits of those who've passed on?  My family sometimes likes to watch those 'ghost hunter' shows (which I think is a lot of nonsense) but a couple of times I've heard unusual stories from people who I think are pretty level-headed.  They're not the kind who are given to spouting wild stories, and whenever they've shared these stories with me it's always been with a shrug and a sheepishness that I can relate to.  After all, there have been a few... um, unusual happenings... I can't easily explain.  I don't doubt that spirits are around us, but I'm not sure why someone might actually be able to see or talk with them.

In Listening for Lucca by Suzanne LaFleur (which I received from Amazon Vine), Sienna's parents have moved the family from Brooklyn to Maine with the hope it'll help their children; Lucca abruptly stopped speaking about a year earlier, and Sienna has an unusual obsession with abandoned things. Her parents don't know it, but she also has visions of the past. Such "weirdness" makes things uncomfortable for her and even cost her some friends in Brooklyn.  But the story takes a twist at the new house (a house which Sienna saw repeatedly in her dreams before they moved there) when she finds an old pen and it starts writing its own story - the story of Sarah and Joshua - and Sienna wonders if her story and theirs might be connected.

Despite the 'historical visions' Sienna has, this isn't historical fiction, and the drama plays out more around the human relationships. She's a sympathetic character with her unusual "gift," and she's reluctant making new friends in the new town.  I thought the relationship with her parents was depicted in an interesting way.  Most interesting, perhaps, is her relationship with her little brother.  No one knows why he stopped speaking, but Sarah secretly blames herself.  But there's also the 'ghost whisperer' aspect of the story.  Her ability to see visions and people, places, and events from the past creates an interesting plot thread that runs through the story.  Some online reviewers were a little troubled with the "possession" element in the story - and I was a little bothered that the book actually uses that word at one point - and felt it was treating a serious and potentially dangerous thing too lightly.  Personally, I wasn't so alarmed with it and suspect most won't be either, but I guess it's something some parents and readers might want to know.  Nonetheless, I thought it was an interesting story, and quite well-written, too.

Small words with long shadows

There was one book I left off my "top ten list for 2013" which would have been right near the top.  The problem is that I am quite at a loss as to how to review The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley.  It is impossible to tell anything of the story without giving away the resolution to the ending of the previous book in the series, which left me with my jaw hanging open and my wife somewhat concerned about my mental state.  Besides, those who've been reading this excellent series don't need me to summarize what happened in this book – it's already on their TBR list and they've probably marked January 14th, 2014 on their calendar, the day it hits bookstore shelves.  (And it's doubtless a good thing you didn't see the happy dance I did when I managed to score an advance copy of this from Amazon Vine!  I even told puzzled strangers in the parking lot of my exceedingly good luck.)  Suffice it to say that it all begins with a murder on the little-used railway platform of Bishops Lacey.

Although it wasn't entirely clear (or maybe I just didn't want to believe it) this seems to be the final installment of the most charming series I've read in a while.  Alan Bradley has such a clever way with words that I frequently found myself moved to laughter and sometimes tears by what I read, but mostly I just found myself moved to keep reading!  I know I've probably said this about each of the other books in the series but it's the kind of writing that I'd like to read slowly and savor each word, but alas!, is nearly impossible when I can't put the book down.  And it's what Carl Sagan was talking about when he said "A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."  I'll be honest, for quite a few chapters this wasn't my favorite in the series (unfortunately, I can't tell you why) and it took me a while to get into it.  But having finished now I would be a most ungrateful reader if I did not say: Thank you, Mr. Bradley!

Don't look back

Happy New Year!