Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan

The title certainly made me pick up the book, but it is somewhat misleading. Rose is left by her husband Nathan, and the story plays out between flashbacks of their life together and her "recovery" from the shock of divorce, as well as losing her job. Nathan has left Rose for HER assistant -–a slight twist on the "affair with his secretary". Their two grown children weigh in heavily as do Rose's friends and acquaintances. However, Rose does not plan or plot revenge, it just comes upon Nathan through his own actions. Not quite the same, but a good read nonetheless. Amazing how in literature, the scorned woman always has an old (or new) beau to pick up pretty quickly - I rarely see that happen in real life!

"The Solace of Leaving Early" by Haven Kimmel (posted 4/14/03)

I highly recommend this book. I read it in Oct of '02 and reread it this week. Combining exquisite writing – example: (Germane is Langston's dog)

"Germane's intense civility, as a dog, came about in part, Langston believed, because of his early and repetitious exposure to Emily Dickinson. Other poets had done him no harm, but Emily seemed to understand the metaphorical relationship between woman and dog in a way that elevated Germane's status beyond the literal, and thus, Langston concluded, he behaved more like the Platonic ieal. He exhibited more Dogness."

with a fascinating story, characters that you feel you know and a resolution that warms the heart. It is essential that you discover the plot as you read, so I'll say no more!

Two posts today, to make up for my missed weeks.

"Standing in the Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg

Flagg does it again, a delightful read with characters who are fun and interesting. I found this book better than her previous one "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl". Many of the characters that were minor in that book, are major in this one. It takes place in the small town of Elmwood Springs, MO from 1946 to the present. Most of the characters stick pretty close to home, and a trip to St. Louis is a major event.

The book is heavier on the early decades, and gets briefer as time goes on – of course, we lose some of the characters to death! Neighbor Dorothy, the radio broadcaster, is at the center and her family, neighbors and friends revolve around. I think it gives you a real flavor of small town life in the 50s. Flagg does not ignore problems, but the overall feeling is one of friendship, goodwill, and nostalgia.






The Loop by Nicholas Evans

I read this book for one of my book clubs. It is a good read, but somewhat "soap opera-ish". What I mean by that is that the characters are all or nothing types, the bad guy cheats on his wife (a lot) is abusive to his son, has to be on top at all times, and hires a killer for the wolves. The wife is all-suffering, totally good, and stays with the husband until her youngest child leaves home. The other characters have somewhat more depth. The story is definitely a page-turner. My feeling is that the author is writing for women – all but one of the strong, good characters are women and all but one of the mean characters are men.

The biggest impression I took away from it is how wasteful humans are – killing indiscriminately and often for no more than our own amusement, whether wolves, bison, etc. The situation has not changed much today – witness the approval of snow mobiles in Yellowstone even though they are detrimental to the survival of wildlife.

On a slightly different note for today, my feeling is that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. But I do have a few exceptions.

"Never Cry Wolf" by Farley Mowat was a wonderful movie. It follows the story very well and the visuals of the Canadian landscape make it even better than the book.

"First Wives Club" by Olivia Goldsmith was a good book but the movie improved the story. In addition to getting revenge on the husbands who totally deserved it, the women in the movie also turned their rage to good by opening the woman's center in memory of their dead friend. It mae the movie more inspiring. The music also added a nice note.

"Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whisle Stop Café" by Fanny Flag. This movie worked beautifully and stayed faithful to the story. The acting of Jessica Tandy & Kathy Bates made it great.

"How to Make An American Quilt" by Whitney Otto. I liked the movie, and couldn't read the book at all. There is something about Otto's style that gets on my nerves. I also couldn't read "A Collection of Beauties at the Height of their Popularity. I did finish "Now You See Her" about a middle-aged woman who fears she is disappearing – and actually does. I liked a lot of what this book had to say but the main reason I finished it is that I was in Japan and didn't have too many other options!

"Harry Potter" by JK Rowling – the books are outstanding and the movies fill the bill!

"Nobody's Fool" by Richard Russo. A wonderful movie starring Jessica Tandy & Paul Newman – how could they go wrong? But when you read the book, you realize the movie only covers about 25% of it.

BTW - I am not going to bother with the links to Amazon any more unless someone requests them.

Blessings
by Anna Quindlen

I have long admired Quindlen's editorials and was very excited when she started writing novels. Her first, "Object Lessons", was enjoyable but obviously a first book. She made a big leap forward with "One True Thing" a story about a young woman who goes home to care for her mother who is dying of cancer, and comes to understand the value of her mother's life. This was also made into a movie. I skipped "Black & Blue" as I can't read about abuse. Her newest "Blessings" is another great leap forward.

A baby is abandoned at an estate called Blessings, presided over by Lydia Blessing, an 80-year old widow. The baby is placed on the garage steps instead of the house, and so is found by the handyman, Skip Cuddy. He cares for the baby and keeps it a secret for several weeks. Once he is discovered, Lydia is pulled into the plot and they care for the baby together. As time goes on, Lydia reminisces about her life and secrets are revealed. She also comes to realize that SHE made choices, they were not foisted upon her. This is a very enjoyable book which explores many aspects of life.

Book 7
The House on Eccles Road
by Judith Kitchen

This book is fascinating. The style is very unusual – one day and the thoughts, feelings and actions of several people whose lives overlap. From one paragraph to the next the person can change, but you never get confused. Molly Blohm is coming back to life today, from the death of her child eight years ago. The centerpiece is her decision to sing again. It is also her wedding anniversary and the tension of whether and how to remind her husband (or not) is one focus of her day. This is a beautifully written and very meaningful book – exploring themes of loss, love and life.
The real reviews link this book to James Joyce's Ulysses and the character of Molly Bloom – I haven't a clue about that!

Book 6


All Families Are Psychotic
by Douglas Coupland

Coupland makes his point with a family that is truly over the top. Imagine the mother getting AIDS when her son is shot standing in front of her, and the bullet passes through him into her. And who does the shooting? His father, her ex-husband. And why? Because the son picked up and slept with the father's second (or maybe third) wife. Another son has a girlfriend named Shw and the daughter is an astronaut whose husband is having an affair with her fellow astronaut's wife. But that is balanced out because the daughter is having an affair with the fellow astronaut.
Breathless yet? But wait, there's more. The book is fast moving, and certainly keeps your attention. The hot orange cover (I've also seen it in hot pink & hot lime green) is reflective of the pacing and content!

I have enjoyed most of Coupland's books, starting way back with Microserfs. I decided to re-read a couple of them to see how well they have held up over the years. "Generation X ", published in 1991 is full of "stories" told to each other by three friends who become family as they drift in meaningless jobs. There are some premonitions of the end of the world scenarios of "Girlfriend in a Coma."
Girlfriend in a Coma
A very strange book, indeed. The end of the world arrives, but then changes its mind. It's quite messy in the meantime, but fascinating.


Miss Wyoming (Vintage Contemporaries)
I think this is my favorite of Coupland's books (although I haven't read "Microserfs" in years). Miss Wyoming is a former child / teen beauty queen who finds herself the sole survivor of a plane crash. She wonders off and makes a new life for herself, including having a baby. She encounters several former fans who help her maintain her life "off the grid". Her story parallels that of a movie director who takes off in the same way, without the fortuitous plane crash. My daughter didn't like this book, so I was motivated to reread it to check my reaction. I found that I liked it just as much on my second reading.

Two of Couplands books that I could not get into at all – "Life after God" and "Polaroids from the Dead" (essays).

Book 5
Old Dogs and Children by Robert Inman


I read this recently on a vacation to Phoenix. It is told from the perspective of an old woman looking back on her life – a form I find I enjoy. Alternating "books" between Bright Birdsong's present as a 67-year old woman eight years after the death of her Congressman husband and her withdrawal from an activist past, and her childhood, growing up in a small southern town dominated by her father. Bright grew up privileged and enormously influenced by her father. Her sense of responsibility to improve the town remained strong until the death of her husband. The story opens with that sense being reawakened. Bright deals with her difficult relationship with her daughter, her budding relationship with her 10-year old grandson, the de-facto exclusion of blacks from the town's swimming pool and her win of $50,000 in the grocery store sweepstakes.

Most striking to me in the historical sections of the book was the unthinking cruelty toward Blacks and women, the pervasiveness of "it has always been this way and always should be". And amazement at how much things have changed.

Book 4
About a Boy
One of my favorites – I read the book about two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it – the plot, the characters and especially the philosophy: two is not enough, you need to build a pyramid of family, friends, etc. In order to make his philosophy a reality, Marcus, only child of a divorced mum, and a nerdy misfit, joins up with Will, very cool single guy who is on the lookout for single women to date, but only non-seriously. Will is very resistant to Marcus' persistent desire for friendship, until he finds him useful in gaining the interest of a woman.

I read the book a second time (rare for me – there are way too many good books out there to spend time repeating one, but I do make an occasional exception and this was one) and again enjoyed it. When I heard they were making a movie, I was very excited. Then I heard that Hugh Grant was staring in it and was very disappointed. However, the book was SO good I had to go see the movie. And it was excellent - even old Hugh. The acting was great and they stuck close to the story in both fact and spirit. The one scene they added (the singing performance at the school talent show) was "spot on" as the British would say.

Even with the strength of this movie, the book was better. That is nearly always the case (I have a list of about half-dozen exceptions which I will publish at some point) because there is almost always much more in the book. For instance, this movie had to leave out the whole romance between Marcus and his punk-rock "girlfriend" especially their disastrous and hilarious train trip to visit Marcus' father.