Empire Falls

    

     More often than not, when I am reading a book all sorts of questions, themes, and ideas pop into my mind and remain with me long after a book is finished. That was not exactly the case with this book, in fact I had some trouble going back and picking it up again, a rarity for me. It's not that this book is bad; on the contrary, it is actually quite intricate and affecting. Richard Russo has an incredible ability to layer in memories with present events that make the entire story come together in a profound, intriguing way.

     Empire Falls is a small town in Maine consisting of life-long residents that never quite got back on their feet after the local shirt factory closed down decades earlier, leaving many people unemployed. This town is full of individuals that did not live up to their own expectations, that think they have more figured out than they really do, and that turned out exactly as everyone had expected. Miles Roby is the central character that, much to his own chagrin, has been working at the Empire Grill for the past 20 years. His adolescent ambition was to be a professor or writer which did not pan out due to his return home from college when his mother became ill. Years later he still runs the restaurant that is owned by the wealthiest woman in town, with continued hopes that she will give him ownership upon her death. The side stories of Miles' ex-wife and daughter provide different perspectives that add depth to the central character and also illustrate Richard Russo's ability to create greatness out of the seemingly mundane. Unique characters such as Miles' dad Max, who's deepest desire is to score $500 so he can drink it away in Key West, and Walt Comeau, Miles' ex-wife's new husband that owns a health club and visits the diner daily due to his own guilt and vanity, are what develop this novel's humanity and remind us of the greatness found in small-town, blue-collar America.

     If you were to read a book after me, you would inevitably be disturbed by the markings I have placed all over the book, i.e. lines or quotes that I want to remember, questions that I have and hope are resolved in the end, etc. Shockingly, I only marked one passage of this book but the emotions were so perfectly and beautifully conveyed that I believe it provides a nice glimpse into Russo's arsenal of impressive writing.

"Today's photo was of the old Empire Shirt Factory's office staff, taken in 1966, the year before the factory closed, and the only person in the second row not looking at the camera was a young and beautiful Grace Roby. Miles quickly checked the caption below, relieved to see that his mother was among the identified, because it would have broken his heart to see a "Does anyone know this woman?" affixed to her. Still, seeing his mother so unexpectedly gave Miles a sensation not unlike the one you'd have standing on railroad tracks and feeling, or imagining, the far-off trembling of something large racing your way--not danger, exactly, unless for some inexplicable reason you were duty bound to remain right where you were. Perhaps it was the fact that Grace was not looking at the camera, but rather of at an oblique angle, that suggested she might have been listening to that same distant rumbling. If indeed it was an intimation of her own mortality she was hearing, Miles reflected, it had been closer than she thought."  (p.297)

The Time Traveler's Wife

 Wow. I kept thinking about what to say as an introduction to this post but the only word that kept coming to mind was: Wow. This novel, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, is a complete love affair/ time traveling powerhouse. I knew immediately that I would love this book because the excerpt before the first chapter was from Rainer Maria Rilke...it was clearly meant to be a favorite. I would also like to begin this post by stating that there are not enough good things I can say about this book and I am absolutely sure that nothing I can say will in any way do it justice. You simply must read it.

  This novel tells the story of Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire as they spend their lives together and apart. Henry (an intelligent, sometimes volatile time traveler) meets Clare (a spirited and extremely patient artist) when he is 28 and she is 20; whereas Clare meets Henry when he is 36 and she is 6. This may sound confusing, and it is, but after you adjust to the discontinuity the resulting story is an immensely powerful journey that is so gripping it makes longing and separation seem somehow appealing.

Henry is a "Chrono Impaired" individual that has no control over where or when he travels. He compares it to epilepsy, in that stress and flashing lights can often prompt these bouts of travel. Things like sex, meditation, and running help him to stay rooted in the present. Henry is unable to take anything with him when he travels so he always end up at his destination stark naked. As you can imagine, this makes things quite difficult and results in Henry's great ability to lie, steal, and run for his life.

Clare, on the other hand, seems to be the most patient and understanding woman in the world. Though it is frustrating for her, she handles being continuously left behind with such security and grace that it makes you wonder how she manages to live this way her entire life. Clare is a character of such strength and spirit, it is almost impossible to not love and admire her.

This dazzling novel will leave you completely entranced and wondering, "Why is love intensified by absence?" The following two excerpts were my favorite from the book and I feel as though they encompass the ideas and feelings behind each moment of this book.

Oh not because happiness exists,

that too-hasty profit snatched from approaching loss.

But because truly being here is so much; because everything here

apparently needs us, this fleeting world, which in some strange way

keeps calling to us. Us, the most fleeting of all.

...Ah, but what can we take along

into that other realm? Not the art of looking,

which is learned so slowly, and nothing that happened here. Nothing.

The sufferings, then. And, above all, the heaviness,

and the long experience of love,--just what is wholly

unsayable.

                                             --from The Ninth Duino Elegy,

                                                             Rainer Maria Rilke

"What is it? My dear?"

"Ah, how can we bear it?"

"Bear what?"

"This. For so short a time. How can we sleep this time away?"

"We can be quiet together, and pretend--since it is only the beginning--that we have all the time in the world."

"And every day we shall have less. And then none."

"Would you rather, therefore, have had nothing at all?"

"No. This is where I have always been coming to. Since my time began. And when I go away from here, this will be the mid-point, to which everything ran, before, and from which everything will run. But now, my love, we are here, we are now, and those other times are running elsewhere."

                                  --A.S. Byatt, Possession

Olive Kitteridge

    
     To be honest, I did not like this book at first. In fact, I stopped reading after a few chapters because I just didn't like it, and I happen to be a firm believer that life is too short to keep reading a book you do not like (obviously school and work materials are exceptions). To be fair, I did not like the book because some of the character flaws I found in Olive I recognized in myself and that is never fun for anyone. Needless to say, I was completely fine with my decision to move on to greener pastures when a friend at work mentioned that this was one of her all time favorite books. You know those people in your life that no matter what the subject, whether it is books, movies, or restaurants, you always trust their opinion? Well this friend is a trusted literary go-to. After talking with her I decided to give this novel a second go and I must say that I am glad I did. While I do have mixed feelings about this book, it is absolutely worth a read.
    
     The premise of this novel by Elizabeth Strout is the character of Olive Kitteridge as seen from 13 different points of view. The 13 stories all present a different facet of Olive, but more often than not she comes across in a less than favorable light. This is not a novel about a lovable heroine that the reader is drawn to; in fact, the author said in an interview that she wrote this novel in short story format partly because she thought the reader might need an occasional break from Olive. She was right. The piecing together of these narratives present Olive as a blunt and over-bearing wife, mother, and former school teacher. She is unapologetic, harsh, and sometimes callous with fleeting moments of real depth and insight that force the reader to wonder "Who is Olive Kitteridge?" and "How did she become this way?"

     Without taking away all of the intensity that is this novel, one central idea in this book is recognized by Olive on p.211,
"Sometimes, like now, Olive had a sense of just how desperately hard every person in the world was working to get what they needed. For most, it was a sense of safety, in the sea of terror that life increasingly became. People thought love would do it, and maybe it did."
The thoughts in this passage are reflected not only by Olive but also by the other narrators that intersect with Olive as they struggle to get by in their own lives. Loneliness is also important to this novel, as that passage suggests. While reading these stories it becomes clear that loneliness is not only the driving force that has shaped her life, it is also what continues to haunt her daily. One of the best examples of this is on p. 68,
"She knows that loneliness can kill people--in different ways can actually make you die. Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really."
Direct interactions and revelations, like this one, were the most intriguing part of the book, for me, and they were made even more significant by the alternating storylines of the surrounding characters.

    One part of this novel that I am taking away, first and foremost, is the idea that maybe the hardships we go through in life are so we can help someone with them in the future. I think Olive Kitteridge continually illustrates this theme, despite her seemingly cold exterior. This novel is above all poignant and extremely thought provoking. Some thoughts, you may wish it had not, but it will absolutely force you to look at life in a different light. Added bonus: the vocabulary in this book was exceptional!
One review of this novel said, "Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge....You'll never forget her...."
I think they may be right.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

      I love the artist Johannes Vermeer so when I saw this book, I knew it was a must read. A few years ago I went to Amsterdam and my favorite part of the trip was probably the Rijks museum. I was lucky enough to see some phenomenal works, including a few by Vermeer. Johannes Vermeer painted many portraits and the majority of the paintings were of women. The most intriguing part about a well done portrait is always the story behind it. This book Girl with a Pearl Earring is the imagined story of the girl that inspired Vermeer's most popular painting.

   Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier tells the story of Griet, a young maid that is sent to live with the Vermeer family in order to earn money for her struggling family. The story takes place in 1660s Holland and does a wonderful job of illustrating the daily life and social structures that make up the small town of Delft. The story develops as Griet  struggles to find her footing in a new environment which includes a mysterious master and his mistrusting wife, skeptical servants, and an ever expanding brood of children.

      There are many beautiful things to be said about this novel. There are many references to and images of light in this novel and the way it transforms ordinary into beautiful. The most significant quality of this book, in my opinion, is the way in which it describes art and the processes behind it. The following passage in particular breaks down the way Vermeer creates each painting; it also provides a completely new way of viewing life for Griet,

He began the painting of the baker's daughter with a layer of pale grey on the white canvas. Then he made reddish-brown marks all over it to indicate where the girl and the table and pitcher and window and map would go. After that I thought he would begin to paint what he saw--a girl's face, a blue skirt, a yellow and black bodice, a brown map, a silver pitcher and basin, a white wall. Instead he painted patches of color--black where her skirt would be, ocher for the bodice and the map on the wall, red for the pitcher and the basin it sat it, another grey for the wall. They were the wrong colors--none was the color of the thing itself. He spent a long time on these false colors, as I called them...When at last he began to add colors on top of the false colors, I saw what he meant. He painted a light blue over the girl's skirt, and it became a blue through which bits of black could be seen, darker in the shadow of the table, lighter closer to the window. To the wall areas he added yellow ocher, through which some of the grey showed. It became a bright but not a white wall. When the light shone on the wall, I discovered, it was not white, but many colors...After that I could not stop looking at things. (p.100-102)

There were two things that I did not love about this novel. The first being that the author did not foreshadow any of the events, the opposite in fact, she went ahead and told you exactly what was going to happen. I never realized how important I find foreshadowing, but apparently I am a big fan. My other problem with the book was the lack of climax. I felt like I was continually waiting for a big event that never came. On the other hand, maybe that was the idea. Maybe there was not supposed to be a groundbreaking event but rather a series of subtle happenings that create the themes of awakening and self-discovery. I, however, felt a little let down at the end because the things I had been waiting for never occurred. Despite these criticisms of the novel, I did enjoy the book and it is a good read, especially for art lovers!

The following images are some of my favorite Vermeer paintings and are quite interesting to look at and compare while reading this novel.

He saw things in a way others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face. (p. 60)

Letters to a Young Poet

     This post will be on the short side as the book itself is quite short.  Short, but extraordinary. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke is made up of ten letters that Rilke wrote to Franz Kappus through the years 1903-1908. This correspondence began when  Kappus, then nineteen, wrote to Rilke, a twenty-seven year old poet, seeking advice. Kappus learned from his school’s chaplain that Rilke had attended a similar military school supervised by the same chaplain. Kappus then wrote to Rilke and enclosed some of his writing for advice about pursuing the life of an artist. The letters that Rilke responded with were filled with advice and wisdom not only about being an artist but also about the ways in which to live life. Rilke had so many ideas about distinguishing the important from the unimportant and the delights that result from a sometimes difficult life. The following passages were some of my favorites (I tried to limit myself) but in no way do justice to the immense depth and intelligence that are found in this seemingly small book.

     Things aren’t all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsayable than all other things are works of art, those mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life.(p. 4)

Being an artist means: not numbering and counting, but ripening like a tree, which doesn’t force its sap, and stands confidently in the storms of spring, not afraid that afterward summer may not come. It does come. But it comes only to those who are patient, who are there as if eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly silent and vast. I learn it every day of my life, learn it with pain I am grateful for: patience is everything! (p. 24-25)

 It is good to love: because love is difficult. For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation. 
Loving does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person (for what would a union be of two people who are unclarified, unfinished, and still incoherent--?), it is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become world in himself for the sake of another person; it is a great, demanding claim on him, something that chooses him and calls him to vast distances. (p. 68-70)

And as for the rest, let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.
And about feelings: All feelings that concentrate you and lift you up are pure; only that feeling is impure which grasps just one side of your being and thus distorts you. (p. 101)

The Paris Wife

     Let me just start by saying that I finished 3/4 of this book in one sitting, absolutely could not put it down! A few months ago I saw a movie called "Midnight in Paris." I completely loved the film because it was partly set in Paris during the 1920s and featured an amazing slew of authors and artists all partying together and critiquing/inspiring one another.  When I heard about this novel, I knew I would love it because it involves many of the same characters; anything that describes Paris during prohibition and the Jazz age in combination with this set of artistic minds, count me in!
    
     The Paris Wife by Paula McLain is so well written you can almost taste the wine and hear the jazz music playing in the background as this remarkable story of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, comes to life. The enigmatic character of Ernest Hemingway is wonderfully examined as he is shown in contrast to the "simple and good" character of Hadley. The prologue of the novel sets a tone of
exhilaration and heartbreak that continues throughout the story, as seen in these two passages,

"Interesting people were everywhere just then. The cafes of Montparnasse breathed them in and out, French painters and Russian dancers and American writers. On any given night, you could see Picasso walking from Saint-Germain to his apartment in the rue des Grands Augustins, always exactly the same route and always looking quietly at everyone and everything. Nearly anyone might feel like a painter walking the streets of Paris then because the light brought it out in you, and the shadows alongside the buildings, and the bridges which seemed to want to break your heart, and the sculpturally beautiful women in Chanel's black sheath dresses, smoking and throwing back their heads to laugh. We could walk into any cafe and feel the wonderfully chaos of it, ordering Pernod or Rhum St. James until we were beautifully blurred and happy to be there together." (p. xi)

"There was no back home anymore, not in the essential way, and that was part of Paris, too.  Why we couldn't stop drinking or talking to kissing the wrong people no matter what it ruined. Some of us had looked into the faces of the dead and tried not to remember anything in particular. Ernest was one of these. He often said he'd died in the war, just for a moment; that his soul had left his body like a silk handkerchief, slipping out and levitating over his chest. It had returned without being called back, and I often wondered if writing for him was a way of knowing his soul was there after all, back in its place." (p. ix)

     The story begins with Hadley as she travels to Chicago to stay with friends and is introduced to the charismatic and irresistibly real Ernest. In no time at all the pair are intrigued by one another and continue their relationship through daily letters. After a whirlwind romance, Ernest and Hadley are married and move to Paris so Ernest can focus on his writing career amongst other current artists. While in Paris, the couple becomes close friends with many literary greats such as Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein. Upon entering the home of Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas for the first time it states,

"When we arrived at the door, a proper French maid met us and took our coats, then led us into the room--the room, we knew by now, the most important salon in Paris. The walls were covered with paintings by heroes of cubism and postimpressionism and the otherwise highly modern-- Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Paul Gauguin, Juan Gris, and Paul
Cezanne." (p. 86)

     The speed of their attachment and the intensity of their affection for one another are described in such a way that I found myself hoping it would never end. As the relationship between Hadley and Ernest progresses however, even the happiest moments are read with a sense of foreboding as Ernest's idiosyncrasies and ideas about life become more and more unyielding. The success he begins to see from his writing and the circle or friends he surrounds himself with convince him that he is entitled to anything and everything that he might desire. When Hadley discovers Ernest's desires and deceptions, the reader is then shown the lengths some will go to for love; and for others, the breaking point.

     Paula McLain does a superb job of breathing life into a story that is not often told. The Paris Wife is simply beautiful and devastating.

                                           Hadley and Ernest Hemingway
   

Dracula

     This is one novel that I have been meaning to read for quite a while. There is no denying that a vampire craze is currently sweeping the nation and everywhere you look there is a new book, movie, or television show with the ever popular drop of blood decorating the title. When one thinks of vampires, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Attractive individuals with pale skin, red lips, slicked back hair and never seem to age? How about cloves of garlic, crucifixes, and stakes through the heart? The current trend made me curious about the origins of vampire fascination and in what ways these new media ventures resembled the classic novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is truly unbelievable that this novel, written in 1897, is still being looked to as the prototype for future vampire characters and fueling new ideas that continue to attract today's audiences.


     This novel is told through a series of diary entries and letters from several rotating authors. This constant change in perspective and tone presents a frightening story in a well rounded and engaging way. The story begins with Jonathon Harker as he journeys to Transylvania to conduct business with a new client interested in buying property in London, Count Dracula. While there are many strange characteristics that the Count possesses, such as discussing the previous centuries of his family history in the first person, having no reflection whilst in front of mirrors, and maintaining the ability to control wolves, Jonathon Harker is not truly convinced of the Count's demonic nature until he witnesses the Count crawling down the side of his castle one night. From there on out Jonathon Harker is determined to risk his life for the opportunity to escape and return to England. The novel then switches to narrators in London that are all, in some way, connected to Harker. Dracula's arrival in London shortly after immediately affects Harker's fiancée Mina and her friend Lucy. Once it is discovered that Lucy has been bitten by Dracula, Mina and a group of men band together and vow to destroy the demon Dracula, or die trying. The leader of this band of merry men is Dr. Van Helsing. Van Helsing is presented as Dracula's doppelganger and the one individual with the most information regarding vampire's actions and the means by which they may be destroyed. Without giving away too much of the story, I will say that Stoker shows what great feats may be accomplished in the face of evil if you have love, faith, and a group of friends to stand by you.


     The following two descriptions of Dracula are the before and after if you will. The first is given when the vampire has been without blood for a time; the latter is after a recent blood-sucking:


His face was a strong--a very strong--aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples, but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. (p. 27)


I raised the lid and laid it back against the wall; and then I saw something which filled my very soul with horror. There lay the Count; but looking as if his youth had been half-renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood...Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood; he lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion. (p.65)



     The following excerpts describe the traits of his personality and abilities, some of which are still used today in modern depictions and some of which I had no idea:



We have seen amongst us that he can even grow younger; that his vital faculties grow strenuous, and seem as though they refresh themselves when his special pabulum is plenty. (p. 286)


He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be someone of the household who bid him to come; though afterwards he can come as he please. (p. 287)


The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance (a sort of devil's academy), amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the Devil claims the tenth scholar as his due. (p. 288)


The nosferatu do not die like the bee when he sting once. He is only stronger; and being stronger, have yet more power to work evil. This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men; he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages; he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil in callous, and the heart of him is not; he can, within limitations, appear at will when, and where, and in any of the forms that are to him; he can, within his range, direct the elements: the storm, the fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things: the rat, and the owl, and the bat--the moth, and the fox, and the wolf; he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown. (p. 284)

     The intensity and depth of these descriptive passages regarding Dracula, the king vampire for all intents and purposes, are enough to fascinate and frighten the reader until the end. The constant opposition between good and evil, biting social commentary, and extraordinary prose are just added bonuses in this classic by Bram Stoker.