What if the one person who is supposed to protect you against the world is the one who exploits you? That is the topic in Black and White, a novel about Clara Dunne, whose mother is Ruth Dunne, a world-famous photographer. Clara was Ruth's muse, her favorite subject for photography, and Ruth always photographed her in the nude. The story is told from Clara's point of view, now an adult with a daughter of her own. She ran away from her home in New York City at age 18, and never looked back. Living in Maine with her artist husband, Clara is contacted by her older sister, Robin, when Ruth's failing health reaches the point of no return. Clara is forced to face her past, face having been exploited by her mother, face Robin, perpetually angry at having been ignored by their mother, and face the fact that her mother's fame outshines any notion of how the "Clara Series" affected it's subject.
Ruth is seen as the ultimate artiste, beautiful, talented, brilliant even, in her depictions of Clara. From the age of three, Clara is photographed naked in all sorts of ways- Clara With The Lizard was the beginning, a photograph of Clara in the bathtub with a plastic lizard in her mouth, one leg up on the side of the tub, "splayed open" for all to see. It ended with "Clara at Age 14", at which point Clara makes sure her mother will no longer photograph her.
This story is a raw, emotional one. Clara as an adult is not in touch with any emotions of her past. She focuses solely on the present; her marriage, daughter and life on a remote island off the coast of Maine. When she does finally see Ruth again, Ruth is still the elitist, the snobby artist surrounded by sycophants who only value her for her work.
I did enjoy this story very much. It unravels perfectly, bits of information about the past doled out piece by piece. It subtly hits the same question over and over: Does Ruth deserve forgiveness? It isn't only Clara who needs to forgive; Robin has also been damaged as her mother ignored her completely in favor of her work, which just happened to be Clara. The one thing that bothered me about the story was Ruth herself. While she is not one-dimensional as a character, she comes off as very self-involved as well as unapologetic, and since she is dying, does not really evolve much as a character. So-called 'villians' should not be truly one-dimensional; they rarely are in real life.
In all, this was an emotionally moving, well told story. I felt for the characters, as flawed as they all were. I would be interested in reading more by this author.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A Review of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fanny Flagg
I have seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes multiple times and have enjoyed it quite a bit. So I decided to read the book because I was curious if I would enjoy it as well. I have read several other books by Ms. Flagg, and have enjoyed her writing style and stories of Southern life and the women who live there. This book was no exception.
The story takes place in two different time periods: the 1980's, with the story of Ninny Threadgoode, an 86-year-old living in a Birmingham, Alabama nursing home and her interactions with Evelyn Couch, a 48-year-old dissatisfied housewife. Cleo shares with Evelyn her memories of Ruth Jamison and Idgie Threadgoode (Ninny's sister-in-law), who lived in the 1920's-30's in Whistle Stop Alabama.
Both stories take their turns detailing the lives of the individual women, and the two separate friendships. Evelyn visits the nursing home with her husband to visit his mother, and she winds up spending a good deal of time with Ninny. Evelyn sees her as a nuisance in the beginning, but eventually comes to depend on Ninny for her rough charm and common sense. Evelyn is suffering from menopause-induced mid-life crisis. She feels useless and helpless, confused by the world around her and her lack of connection with it. Ninny needs a friend, and an ear to listen to her tales. And so these two women become erstwhile friends, much as the other two women whose tales are spun by Ninny, became friends earlier in the century.
It appears that Ruth and Idgie have a relationship that borders on romantic, as both act as though they love each other as more than just friends. Their friendship includes raising a child, one that Ruth has had by her husband, Frank Bennett, whom she left after being unable to endure any more of his beatings. He appears later in the story as well, and is part of the mystery that is present here.
This story is well-written and engaging, the characters and narrative the driving force. Neither story is more or less engaging than the other, and while I often get frustrated with books that switch back and forth because I am more invested in one story line than the other, that did not happen here. I was just as interested in what was going on with Ninny and Evelyn as I was with Idgie and Ruth. Both stories were both funny and heartbreaking, as Evelyn battles her feelings of helplessness by acting in ways that we have all imagined but never have actually done, for fear of the consequences. For example, when a young girl "steals" a parking space Evelyn was waiting for and then sasses Evelyn when she calls her on it, Evelyn decides to get even. She slams into the parked VW bug with her big boat of a car until it's no more than junk. Her character definitely is the most evolved throughout the story, and the one with the happiest ending. The others have their own endings, as such, some happier than others. In all, I enjoyed spending time in Alabama with Fanny Flagg's iconic characters. The book was just as wonderful as the movie.
The story takes place in two different time periods: the 1980's, with the story of Ninny Threadgoode, an 86-year-old living in a Birmingham, Alabama nursing home and her interactions with Evelyn Couch, a 48-year-old dissatisfied housewife. Cleo shares with Evelyn her memories of Ruth Jamison and Idgie Threadgoode (Ninny's sister-in-law), who lived in the 1920's-30's in Whistle Stop Alabama.
Both stories take their turns detailing the lives of the individual women, and the two separate friendships. Evelyn visits the nursing home with her husband to visit his mother, and she winds up spending a good deal of time with Ninny. Evelyn sees her as a nuisance in the beginning, but eventually comes to depend on Ninny for her rough charm and common sense. Evelyn is suffering from menopause-induced mid-life crisis. She feels useless and helpless, confused by the world around her and her lack of connection with it. Ninny needs a friend, and an ear to listen to her tales. And so these two women become erstwhile friends, much as the other two women whose tales are spun by Ninny, became friends earlier in the century.
It appears that Ruth and Idgie have a relationship that borders on romantic, as both act as though they love each other as more than just friends. Their friendship includes raising a child, one that Ruth has had by her husband, Frank Bennett, whom she left after being unable to endure any more of his beatings. He appears later in the story as well, and is part of the mystery that is present here.
This story is well-written and engaging, the characters and narrative the driving force. Neither story is more or less engaging than the other, and while I often get frustrated with books that switch back and forth because I am more invested in one story line than the other, that did not happen here. I was just as interested in what was going on with Ninny and Evelyn as I was with Idgie and Ruth. Both stories were both funny and heartbreaking, as Evelyn battles her feelings of helplessness by acting in ways that we have all imagined but never have actually done, for fear of the consequences. For example, when a young girl "steals" a parking space Evelyn was waiting for and then sasses Evelyn when she calls her on it, Evelyn decides to get even. She slams into the parked VW bug with her big boat of a car until it's no more than junk. Her character definitely is the most evolved throughout the story, and the one with the happiest ending. The others have their own endings, as such, some happier than others. In all, I enjoyed spending time in Alabama with Fanny Flagg's iconic characters. The book was just as wonderful as the movie.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
A Review of Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Freedom is a sweeping expanse of a novel, covering many decades, locales and trips around the country. It is the story of Walter and Patty Berglund, a married couple living in Minnesota and trying to navigate their marriage through parenthood, nature conservancy, infidelity, politics, more infidelity, religiosity, depression, need I go on? This is a seriously heavy novel, both literally and figuratively. At 560 pages, it covers quite a bit. It is told from multiple perspectives; twice Patty writes an "autobiography" in the third person. The rest is told from the perspective of several of the main characters: Walter, Richard Katz (Walter's college roommate, best friend and worst enemy) and Joey Berglund (Patty and Walter's cold, calculating son).
This story covers so many wide and varied topics that it is hard to describe in a succinct manner. The Berglund's marriage is extremely flawed; they eventually separate partway through the novel. Walter is very much into his convictions about conservation on the planet, especially of varied bird species. But he also is very into a "nonpopulation" approach, encouraging people not to have children. He is almost radically concerned with world overpopulation.
While this story is quite a masterpiece it was also one of the most tedious books I have ever read. The author has an amazing command of the language. But he is overly verbose, using as many 50c SAT words as he can in each sentence. He takes far to long to get to the point, and often, after an entire paragraph or even a whole page of set up, he would finally make his point, which was usually somthing very simple. This was irritating to read over and over.
I enjoyed some parts of this story, and it was not at all predictable (which is it's most redeeming aspect, in my opinion). It was very difficult to get into the flow of the story, 100 pages or more, and I was struck by how much of the dialogue was fighting between the characters. One part of the story, a fight between Walter and Patty, was multiple pages of capital letter screaming. Again, the word tedious comes to mind.
I do feel that Jonathan Franzen is quite a talented writer, and I know his writing has been lauded by many, but this book was not my favorite.
This story covers so many wide and varied topics that it is hard to describe in a succinct manner. The Berglund's marriage is extremely flawed; they eventually separate partway through the novel. Walter is very much into his convictions about conservation on the planet, especially of varied bird species. But he also is very into a "nonpopulation" approach, encouraging people not to have children. He is almost radically concerned with world overpopulation.
While this story is quite a masterpiece it was also one of the most tedious books I have ever read. The author has an amazing command of the language. But he is overly verbose, using as many 50c SAT words as he can in each sentence. He takes far to long to get to the point, and often, after an entire paragraph or even a whole page of set up, he would finally make his point, which was usually somthing very simple. This was irritating to read over and over.
I enjoyed some parts of this story, and it was not at all predictable (which is it's most redeeming aspect, in my opinion). It was very difficult to get into the flow of the story, 100 pages or more, and I was struck by how much of the dialogue was fighting between the characters. One part of the story, a fight between Walter and Patty, was multiple pages of capital letter screaming. Again, the word tedious comes to mind.
I do feel that Jonathan Franzen is quite a talented writer, and I know his writing has been lauded by many, but this book was not my favorite.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Return
This is a story I wrote for my writing class:
“Why am I here?” Kate thought to herself as she drove the car into the garage. She got out, closed the bay door and retrieved her briefcase. “Honey? I’m home!” she muttered as she walked into the house. It was as empty as it had been the day she left it; the furniture gone, the big bay window sporting only one faded green curtain panel.
Kate dropped her briefcase and looked around. “What a joke,” she sighed. “Why would anyone want this house? We were so miserable here.” She walked into the kitchen to see if any of the appliances remained. Maybe she could sell them for cash. Technically, she still owned the house, even though she didn’t live in it anymore, hadn’t been back, in fact, since that last night. A haze came through her mind as soon as the thought materialized. She often found that this happened to her. In fact, it was happening more and more lately. She just needed more sleep. That was all.
She shook it off, continued forward. And brushed by something. When she turned to see what it was, she realized that she was upstairs in the main bedroom. Confused, she went to the window to look outside. She had stood in this spot often when she still lived in the house. Kate couldn’t remember coming upstairs, but she went to look anyway.
Curiously, outside the window, fog had rolled in. The fog was so thick that she couldn’t see past a foot or two. “That’s odd,” she thought to herself. “It was sunny and warm when I came in.” She stepped back from the window and found herself in the kitchen. She blinked, confused, and walked forward toward the sink to see if the vision outside the downstairs window was any clearer. Again, she saw only fog.
“That’s enough! I’m outta here. This house is giving me the creeps!” Kate went to grab her briefcase so she could get back into her car. But her briefcase wasn’t where she had dropped it just a few minutes ago. “What’s going on?” she sobbed. “I don’t know what’s happening!” She began wailing. He wouldn’t let her go. Again, he wouldn’t let her leave. “Please, I can’t do this anymore, John. I can’t be married to you anymore.”
She ran toward the stairs, intending to go back into her bedroom and lock the door. She saw John, blocking her way up the stairs. He reached for her. Again, he reached out with his fists. And with the knife that he held in his right hand. The fog descended over everything this time.
**********
Sarah Jones was sitting at the table in the kitchen. She turned to her mother. “Didn’t you hear the lady scream that time, Mommy? It was just like the last time I heard it. And the time before,” she commented matter-of-factly. Molly Jones cast a worried glance at her husband. “What lady, Sarah?” she asked her daughter.
“Kate. The lady with the briefcase. Her name is Kate. John won’t let her leave. He says they will be together forever,” Sarah continued coloring in her coloring book. She smiled at her mother and father.
“Sarah,” said Bill Jones, “who are Kate and John?” Sarah looked up at him. “They live here, too, Daddy. Kate tries to leave all the time. But she keeps coming back. Over and over she comes back. And he makes her scream, Daddy. She screams every time.”
“Why am I here?” Kate thought to herself as she drove the car into the garage. She got out, closed the bay door and retrieved her briefcase. “Honey? I’m home!” she muttered as she walked into the house. It was as empty as it had been the day she left it; the furniture gone, the big bay window sporting only one faded green curtain panel.
Kate dropped her briefcase and looked around. “What a joke,” she sighed. “Why would anyone want this house? We were so miserable here.” She walked into the kitchen to see if any of the appliances remained. Maybe she could sell them for cash. Technically, she still owned the house, even though she didn’t live in it anymore, hadn’t been back, in fact, since that last night. A haze came through her mind as soon as the thought materialized. She often found that this happened to her. In fact, it was happening more and more lately. She just needed more sleep. That was all.
She shook it off, continued forward. And brushed by something. When she turned to see what it was, she realized that she was upstairs in the main bedroom. Confused, she went to the window to look outside. She had stood in this spot often when she still lived in the house. Kate couldn’t remember coming upstairs, but she went to look anyway.
Curiously, outside the window, fog had rolled in. The fog was so thick that she couldn’t see past a foot or two. “That’s odd,” she thought to herself. “It was sunny and warm when I came in.” She stepped back from the window and found herself in the kitchen. She blinked, confused, and walked forward toward the sink to see if the vision outside the downstairs window was any clearer. Again, she saw only fog.
“That’s enough! I’m outta here. This house is giving me the creeps!” Kate went to grab her briefcase so she could get back into her car. But her briefcase wasn’t where she had dropped it just a few minutes ago. “What’s going on?” she sobbed. “I don’t know what’s happening!” She began wailing. He wouldn’t let her go. Again, he wouldn’t let her leave. “Please, I can’t do this anymore, John. I can’t be married to you anymore.”
She ran toward the stairs, intending to go back into her bedroom and lock the door. She saw John, blocking her way up the stairs. He reached for her. Again, he reached out with his fists. And with the knife that he held in his right hand. The fog descended over everything this time.
**********
Sarah Jones was sitting at the table in the kitchen. She turned to her mother. “Didn’t you hear the lady scream that time, Mommy? It was just like the last time I heard it. And the time before,” she commented matter-of-factly. Molly Jones cast a worried glance at her husband. “What lady, Sarah?” she asked her daughter.
“Kate. The lady with the briefcase. Her name is Kate. John won’t let her leave. He says they will be together forever,” Sarah continued coloring in her coloring book. She smiled at her mother and father.
“Sarah,” said Bill Jones, “who are Kate and John?” Sarah looked up at him. “They live here, too, Daddy. Kate tries to leave all the time. But she keeps coming back. Over and over she comes back. And he makes her scream, Daddy. She screams every time.”
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