Book Review: Sweet Land Stories

When Homer & Langley was first published, I scooped it up. Sadly, I was not blown away like I had wished to be. So when someone recommended Doctorow's Sweet Land Stories, I put it at the bottom of my "to be read" pile. While on vacation, I ran out of things to read (which NEVER happens to me) and with great trepidation I picked up Sweet Land Stories. From the first sentence in the first story, I couldn't put it down! Since finishing it, I have told just about anyone who will listen how wonderful this little book is. Clocking it at a little over 150 pages, this collection of stories packs a punch that many extensive novels can't even accomplish.

Each tale has a hint of mystery about it. However, these are not by any means mystery or thriller tales. Instead, Doctorow creates intriguing situations that the reader just falls into and doesn't want to leave. Still, the point of his stories is not to find out what happened to so-and-so but to watch how different people from a variety of backgrounds handle certain situations. In the first time, we are presented with a boy and his mother who must flee the city for reasons unknown and start again in the country. The reader begins reading in an attempt to figure out what they're running from, but soon becomes caught up in the characters themselves and how certain events change them as people. Similarly, the second tale "Baby Wilson" is about a woman who steals a baby from the hospital and runs away with her boyfriend in hopes of raising the boy as their own. The reader becomes enthralled with the chase but it becomes clear that the real drama lies within the boyfriend who loves his girlfriend but believes her to be mentally unstable.

This is just a sampling from the five tales that Doctorow presents but all of the stories are masterfully written. Some of the stories run longer than others, but Doctorow never wastes a word! His descriptions are poetic are enthralling. His characters are flawed, not particularly likable, but harshly real. Unlike other collections of stories, Doctorow does not give the reader the complete story. Instead, he just gives a glimpse into a certain moment in time. However, these moments are so poignant that the reader never feels of if he/she has been gypped. His characters are as complex as if they were in a 500 page tome. There is not a single piece of criticism that I have for this book. It is simply extraordinary.

-DLP

Book Review: Bee Season

I recently read Myla Goldberg's Bee Season on the train between Boston and New York. Goldberg's story of a young girl who aspires to spelling greatness after years of mediocrity pulled me in deep. I felt compelled by the characters, curious about their secrets and dark pasts, searching for the skeletons. The more I read, the more I felt Goldberg hinted at some dark force underlying the Naumann family, one barely held together by ritual.

Goldberg brings to life four members of the Naumann family - Saul (slightly distant father figure with intellectual aspirations beyond his role as Cantor at the local synagogue), Miriam (detached, meticulous mother figure, highly intelligent, breadwinner), Aaron (eldest child, a son, socially awkward, yearning to belong), and Eliza (average elementary school girl who discovers her talent for spelling and passion for words). As the members of this family move through Goldberg's story, they drift away from each other toward their search for meaning, religion and order. In their own way, the Naumann's all hope for the same end, but choose vastly different means and due to the distant, pre-existing relationships between them, drift so very far away from each other. The parallels in each member's life as their searches take on a religious quality demonstrates our universal search for meaning. Beyond that, Goldberg's novel was disappointing. As I mentioned earlier, I felt the text foreshadowed more. More what? I'm not sure. Maybe more answers, more in-depth explanations of why each sought the path they did, but when I finished Bee Season I thought "that's nice" and flipped through the Star magazine my hubs bought me at Penn Station.

Later, I continued to ponder why I stopped enjoying Bee Season. And then it dawned on me. It is the perfect story for a made for tv movie. Family drama. Religion. Search for self. Theft. Spelling. Hello, Lifetime. This conclusion made even more sense when I remembered that Elizabeth Strout, author of Amy and Isabelle was quoted praising Bee Season on the back cover. Amy and Isabelle is the same genre! Two prime Lifetime movies! A quick google search informs me that a film version of Bee Season was released in 2005, starring Richard Gere. IMDB reports the tagline as "

Words may define us, but it's love that connects us," which is utterly ridiculous. The spelling bee business was merely a lens through which to observe a family falling apart at the seams. Furthermore, words and spelling played a small role in the overarching family drama. This is no Akeelah and the Bee, a heartwarming tale starring Laurence Fishburne. I know it was heartwarming because I cried when I watched it. That movie had focus - surprise, this girl can spell! Bee Season lacks focus as a novel - it is called Bee Season, but it is really a family drama - so I cannot imagine it gained focus as a movie. Anyway, even though Bee Season made it to the big screen (I assume this because I do not believe a movie with Richard Gere went direct to DVD, that just seems wrong), I relegate it to the status of decent Lifetime movie material. Cute read for the train ride, but the end is skim-able.

- KER

Now on DVD: Couples Retreat

My second movie on my movie marathon night was Couples Retreat and if there is any movie that's worse than Hot Tub Time Machine...it's Couples Retreat!

When Jason Smith calls his friends together for a powerpoint presentation, they think that he's just trying to sell them something. However, Jason and his wife Cynthia are actually announcing that their marriage is failing and they're planning to get a divorce. Before they finalize it, they are planning to attend a couples' retreat on a Caribbean island and they want all of their friends to join them. At first, they all resist but eventually decide that a vacation on  beautiful island might not be that bad even if they do have to talk about their feelings once a day. Unfortunately for them, their "vacation" becomes a bonding experience as they all attend yoga classes, steam baths, and therapy sessions. Through all of this it becomes clear that Jason and Cynthia are not the only couple with problems.

I think my disappointment with this movie came from the fact that it's not funny enough to be a comedy but it's not powerful enough to be a drama. Some of the issues that the couples face are very real and at times the film was even insightful, yet this was undermined by its weak attempts at humor. I can honestly say that I didn't laugh, chuckle, or smirk even once! Sadly, I would have to say to pass on this film because though I loved the cast...I couldn't even push myself to like it.

-DLP

Now on DVD: Hot Tub Time Machine

This past weekend I had a movie night and loaded up on comedies that I hadn't gotten a chance to see in the theater. Usually, Summer is a movie-lull month in which few good movies are brought to the theater and even fewer find their way to the shelves at Blockbusters. However, Hot Tub Time Machine caught my glance from across the store and I pounced at the opportunity to watch John Cusak, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson poke fun at each other and the year 1986. Within a half an hour, I was bored and disappointed.

Cusak, Corddry and Robinson are all friends who have somehow gone astray in their personal lives and their friendship with each other. When Corddry tries to commit suicide, Cusak and Robinson come to see him in the hospital where the gang starts to reminisce about the time that they spent at a ski lodge in 1986. The three decide to return to the lodge to do some much needed bonding and bring Duke along for the ride. The four men start drinking and soon find themselves partying in the hot tub. As the title states, the hot tub transports the men to 1986 which just happens to be the year that Duke was born. They make a pact to relive the night exactly as they had 24 years ago so that they can return to the present. Of course things don't always go as planned and hilarity ensues.

Unfortunately, I found very little hilarity in this film. I chuckled a few times at the period clothing, fear of Russia and communism, and the music. But those were the only jokes that I found even remotely humorous. Otherwise, it was just your typical "American Pie", "Euro Trip" romp which is fun for the first while but I couldn't help but feel that many of the jokes are now old hat. I was expecting more and found this film virtually laugh-free.

-DLP

Book Review: Thumb Flagging

This spring I came across a copy of Jerome Peterson's Thumb Flagging, described as "The lure of the open road and the undeniable wanderlust of the heart have overtaken the life of young, kindhearted Jay Patterson." A book about hitchhiking and free spirits, I thought "why not? I liked On the Road."

Thumb Flagging certainly portrays the freedom of the open road when traveling with nothing but a sleeping bag and a few food provisions. Jay and his friend Willy practice the art of thumb flagging, while skipping out on work and generally attempting to be zen. Jay becomes Willy's student, studying such crafts of chatting with strangers and picking a good ride. This 'buddy' premise is cute and has potential, but unfortunately I found the writing shallow and far from compelling. As I read, I could never find the rhythm of the novel that would completely absorb me in Jay and Willy's world. Instead, I constantly wondered when the adventure would end.

Honestly, I thought this book was self published due to what I view as poor editing. The narrative structure shifts without warning and frequently the author changes tense within a paragraph. These mistakes demonstrate a clear need for a re-read by a careful eye or a more developed writing style. If those shifts were intentional, I failed to see how they furthered the storytelling arc. Additionally, the simplistic characters, with no real depth, left me feeling bored.

I felt frustrated by my boredom because Jay is a young man trying to find his way in the world. On one hand, Jay's search for self should ring true. I am young person figuring out my place in the world, but I could not relate to Jay. Perhaps others can. Maybe the disconnect for me was the time of the novel. I'm guessing this novel is based on life in the 1970s, but here Peterson remains vague, which led me to believe there should be a universal quality to Jay's story. There are major differences in the ways we grow into ourselves. Jay's style of wandering aimlessly missed for me. Why can't he reflect on his selfhood and keep going to work time? What about healthcare? What about paying rent? Jay seemed frivolous, not artistic or even interesting. I am a realist. I read to meet new characters and engage in new worlds. I am willing to accept a story as representative of time and place, but Thumb Flagging failed to pull me into its world. I have a hard time letting go the realities and responsibilities of my daily life. I don't want to read exclusively about people like myself, but I expect to be intrigued, interested and curious about the characters I read about and I never felt that curiosity for Jay.

Be your own judge.
http://thumbflagging.blogspot.com/

- KER