A Rainy Day and Christmas Books

It’s raining, it’s pouring ~~ a perfect day to get things done for the holidays. Such as putting up our new tree. The operative word there is ‘new’ — we broke down and bought an artificial tree – I know, it was hard for me too. But, given our drought and fires, live trees are scarce and wildly expensive out here. We only need a small tree to fit into our bay window seat, so we decided to go check out Balsam Hill’s new factory outlet just south of the city.

I’ll show you more, once we put up the new tree ~~ but not today.

I also have presents to wrap and pack for shipping ~~ but not today.

There’s cookie baking to do for friends and family ~~ but not today.

What is happening today? Wait for it – yes, getting out my collection of Christmas books. Lest you think I won the lottery (I did not), I’ve been collecting Christmas books for years, a tradition inspired by my book barmy mother.

I put them out to display around my reading nook. Most chosen for their beautiful covers – so facing up of course. And there these books will remain until the last whispers of the holiday season are over.

Today I am lovingly going through them, re-familiarizing myself with each one, and deciding which I will read, re-read, or just pleasantly browse through. What to choose, what to select?

There’s holiday murders and mysteries – always fun.

Years ago, there was a holiday book group meeting with wine tasting at a local bookstore – it was great fun, but somehow these lovelies came home with me.

I could go veddy, veddy British for this Christmas…

Or perhaps one of these?

This next one is definitely for Christmas Eve – I’ve have this beautiful book for several years, but only dipped in and out of it. This year, I want to read it cover to cover.

Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in a strange, spidery handwriting and a hand-colored drawing.  This book contains all the letters J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his children in the guise of Father Christmas from 1920 through 1943.

A new arrival. A rare find on e-bay, a collection of Christmas stories by Bess Streeter Aldrich, who was one of Nebraska’s most widely read and enjoyed authors. Her writing career spanned forty-some years, in which she wrote largely autobiographically, about living in the Midwest. This is an older hardback with the original illustrations, definitely well read, and with no spine but I’m quite pleased to have it.

I must confess, there is yet one more — still to arrive. I was shopping on Thrift Books (check them out as a good alternative to the big A) for Christmas gifts and saw this come up. I once had a copy, but must have lent it to someone or gave it away in a fit of clearing out. What was I thinking? I must have “one of the best Christmas mysteries ever written”, according to Martin Edwards, a well know British crime fiction critic.

Well that sums up my Christmas books from my shelves.

But, wait there’s more – remember, I have a Kindle and I haven’t shared my digital Christmas books, neatly arranged in their own Christmas collection, where I can browse the covers and see what else I can add to my holiday reading list.

Meanwhile, as I’ve been messing around with my books, Husband baked a galette made from bruised apples scavenged from our farmer’s market just a few blocks away. We go in the morning, but then he sometimes goes back as the market closes down and gets great bargains. These apples were free.

Someone has to economize after the money spent on books.

Apple galette and tea anyone?

After Life

Not at all surprisingly, After Life – a Netflix original series – won the National Television Award for Best Comedy

After Life was written, directed, and stars Ricky Gervais. Now I know he is an actor who many love, but I have to admit, I was not a real fan, having never really gotten into The Office (either the UK version or the US one). However, I fell hard and head-long into After Life.

Ricky Gervais plays Tony, a newspaper writer, who has just suffered the loss of his wife from cancer, a soul-crushing tragedy for anyone to endure. However, Tony does not reach out for help or accept any caring. Instead he becomes depressed, misanthropic, and bitter.

If you’re looking for a hero, Tony isn’t it. He’s often mean, a bit prejudiced, arrogant, and he thinks he’s right about everything — the self-absorbed master of his own universe. And the show uses Ricky Gervais’s standard rude, offensive and unapologetic humor.

I can hear you asking, really Book Barmy? This show sounds dreadful – but trust me, it’s absolutely not.

After Life incredibly relatable, dark, yet most of all — beautiful. The show is peppered with silly, realistic day-to-day moments that will make you sadly smile. Living with grief is hard, but this series shows such a struggling man with humorous compassion which had me binge watching all three seasons.

There’s a wacky cast of characters, the postman who is victim to Ricky’s Tony’s sarcastic barbs and assorted, weird but lovable, friends and co-workers. The wonderful Penelope Wilton plays Anne, the widow Tony befriends at the cemetery where both their spouses are buried. It’s a delight to see her on their meeting bench, talking to her dead husband and offering advice to Tony when he can’t quite see past himself. We all need a friend outside our own worlds to lean on, and Anne gives Tony exactly that, quietly understanding things that no one else can.

After Life is mix of beauty, sadness, and laughs, but at the same time, it’s true and heart breaking. Brilliantly, its tough topics are handled with a sort of sarcastic humor that keeps the audience’s head above water, without sugar-coating the depths of Tony’s grief. And yet, the powerful ending, when Tony reaches the realization that life is brief and fragile, but worth having a good go at – if you’re like me, you will only have happy tears

Here’s one of my favorite clips. Tony has been assigned to visit and report on children in a cancer ward with his sidekick photographer, Lenny.

CLIP HERE

Warnings: There is profanity and some offensive humor. Also, Tony seriously considers suicide, but in the end there is always a reason to carry on, even it it’s just to feed the dog.

Persuasion – A Modern Take

I was reluctant to watch the new version of Persuasion, now airing on Netflix. The reviews have been mixed, and in some cases sparked actual outrage on this modern take on the beloved Jane Austen classic. Slate magazine actually called it a disaster.

But then the other night, I decided to dip in, intending only to get a feel for it. I soon found myself chuckling away and very much enjoying this contemporary slant directed by Carrie Cracknell – who is well known in the British theater circuit.

Richard Grant is perfectly cast as the vain father, and much to my surprise, Dakota Johnson plays a sassy, sharp, and irreverent Anne who swills wine from a bottle.

This Persuasion has a playful tone with plenty of humor – but it stays largely faithful to the original story being told. There is still the typical Austen romance, heartache, and longing but with an ethnically diverse cast and modern point of view. It is beautifully filmed, with luscious scenery and sets — and the costumes are just wonderful.

The story is told through Anne’s inner dialogue which takes a bit of getting used to, but I soon embraced this very different way of telling the story. Her sister, Mary, shines with quick retorts and sarcastic one-liners which I hope I will remember to use myself.

On the negative side, the use of modern language and current phrases is often a bit jarring — giving the film an acerbic tone – nothing like the soft sensibility of pure Jane Austen. Here’s two examples that stuck with me Anne says of Mr. Elliot “I never trust a 10″ and tells her sister “We’re worse than ex’s – we’re friends”. Both are funny, but a great departure.

And speaking of pure – this updated version of Persuasion is not for true-died-in-the-wool Jane Austen fans (or “Janeites’ as they’re called). But I think that’s a good thing.

Jane Austen’s writing style, vocabulary, and chaste characters likely don’t appeal to most modern, young readers. Netflix has broken the rules by giving us a new perspective and infused a breath of fresh air into dusty Jane Austen. I can only hope this film version will relate to a younger audience and motivate new readers to Jane Austen. (I imagine Jane Austen, herself, would have approved)

I recommend you prepare yourself for a lovely evening. Ignore the harsh reviews, toss out your preconceptions, shut the curtains, stay cool, and enjoy this new Persuasion for what it is.

Watch the trailer HERE

Call me a dweeb, but I think one evening, I will go back and re-watch another (and my favorite) film version of Persuasion just for contrast.

Hello, Bookstore

Hello Bookstore is a documentary that won’t appeal to everyone – only if ~~ (check all that apply):

___ You are barmy about books.

___ You like bookish people

___ You cherish quirky, independent bookstores

___ You adore people who talk about books

___ You admire booksellers who know & love their books

___ You want to follow a bookstore through good & bad times.

I rented this wonderful film after my sister sent me a review from the Boston Globe, and then upon reading this review in the The New York Times:

Matthew Tannenbaum’s reading voice beckons. Which may be a funny thing to remark upon given that we see his face nearly nonstop in “Hello, Bookstore.” Then again, the documentary about this bookstore owner, directed by A.B. Zax, is a tribute to the love of reading and the pleasures of a smartly stocked bookstore. Tannenbaum’s fondness for his store and its wares is a beautiful thing to behold, even at its most vulnerable.

The film is dedicated to a bookshop simply called ‘The Bookstore’ in Lenox, Massachusetts and its owner, Matthew Tannenbaum. The viewer is a fly on the shelf (as the NY Times called it) inside the bookstore and shadowing Mr. Tannenbaum before, during, and after, the pandemic.

We watch as Tannenbaum conducts curbside business through his closed glass door, loudly asking; “What are you looking for?”, and fulfilling orders by having customers read him their credit card numbers, but also conducting his business as usual — telling a customer; “oh I have just the one [book] for you.” Then turns to the camera; “That’s so much fun.”

The director started this project in 2019 before before the pandemic, so the documentary is interspersed with normal bookstore activity before and after the closure. We see regular customers who come to shop for books and sit at the in-store wine bar, delightfully named Get Lit.

Mr. Tannenbaum tells of his first job at the Gotham Book Mart and how he wanted to work there as soon as he smelled the books and heard the timeworn wooden floors creak (a comrade! I said to the TV screen..).

He interrupts the interview to nod towards a customer; “Look at that smile, he’s found a book.”

In another scene, Mr. Tannenbaum recommends a book to a customer, saying; “My bookmark never had a chance.” Then when (again through the closed front door) a customer can’t remember which book it was she wanted from the current NY Times best-seller list, he goes and gets his copy of the paper and passes it out to her.

An older gentleman customer comes in after the pandemic seeking the books he ordered six months prior and after Mr. Tannenbaum conducts a long search behind the counter, the customer realizes he had already brought them home and leaves….”successful transaction!”, says our bookseller.

There is a short segment on the Bookstore’s struggles during the pandemic and a successful GoFundMe campaign, but the focus of the film is the books, customers, and Mr. Tannenbaum himself.

The camera also catches Mr. Tannenbaum sitting down to read to us from his favorite books or poetry during which he does with great joy. And he ends one session choking up and saying; “Fiction is how I see the world — I don’t run away from the world.”.

This is a bibliophile’s cult film and, as I said, not for everyone. See questions above. As you can tell, I truly enjoyed it. Perfect viewing for hot sleepy night in front of the air conditioner (or a cool, foggy one out HERE) It will cost you $5.99 to stream it on Amazon Prime and/or YouTube (I will gladly send the funds to anyone who can’t afford that.)

I laughed out loud at the closing scene ~~ a customer says to Mr. Tannenbaum;

“I see what you do. You are surrounded by all the things you love in the world and the only thing that interrupts you is people trying to give you money”.

If you follow us here at Book Barmy ~~ I ask, how can you resist?

Karl the Fog

It’s summer here in San Francisco and we have our typical fog and more fog. (The above was taken on a walk during the afternoon a few days ago.) While it’s rather nice to wake up to the sound of fog horns (good excuse to cuddle back under the duvet for a bit) and delightful to go to sleep with that soothing sound – I must admit the fog does get tiresome for us residents. We have even given the fog a name – Karl — but more on that later.

For our tourists, the summers here are a big – really big – surprise. Even though we warn them, they don’t believe us and come out with get this – shorts and tee-shirts! Such tourists are dubbed blue legs — as their legs turn blue when hanging from the cable cars. The vendors down at Fisherman’s Wharf fund their children’s education from selling overpriced San Francisco jackets and sweatshirts to teeth-chattering visitors.

Now remember our fog is named Karl and he has a Twitter account with many, many followers. A great topic of conversation here is “what has Karl said lately?” — as Karl’s a big joker.

One of the favorites was on 4/20, when the city has its annual cannabis celebration in Golden Gate Park:

It’s hard to tell where the clouds in Golden Gate Park end and I begin. “Today’s high: everyone in San Francisco.”

But Karl disappeared, not the fog, but the Twitter feed for the last two years…leaving us all scratching our heads. But then, earlier this year the San Francisco Chronicle published this:

After a two year-long social media hiatus, San Francisco’s unofficial weather mascot Karl the Fog rolled back into Twitter.

“Oh, hey down there. I know it’s been a while, so hope you still recognize me (I put on a few metric tons over the last two years),” tweeted Karl.

“Moved in with my parents in Point Reyes at the start of the pandemic. The free rent was great, but nothing beats hanging 6ft away from you.”

Karl the Fog has been a part of San Francisco since his Twitter account first appeared in 2010. The anonymous user behind the parody account has tweeted over 10,000 times and has amassed a following of around 344,700 fog joke lovers.

What caused Karl’s account to go quiet for more than two years wasn’t immediately clear. A message seeking comment was not immediately returned.

“All that is sunny does not glitter,” reads Karl’s Twitter bio. “Not all those in the fog are lost.”

(excerpted from the San Francisco Chronicle)

So while you may be suffering from heat and humidity, maybe it helps to think of us out here bundled up in the gloomy fog.

Escapist Reading

I ran across this quote from Neil Gaiman last evening, and had to share. I often try reading more ‘realistic’ current fiction. But inevitably, I come back to my comfort, escapist reading.

Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you’ve never been. Once you’ve visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different.

And while we’re on the subject, I’d like to say a few words about escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it’s a bad thing. As if ‘escapist’ fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds herself in. If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape, why wouldn’t you take it?

And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with (and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armor: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real. As J.R.R. Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against escape are jailers.