fauxklore | 2nd Quarter 2024 Update

Books: I only made it through 9 books this quarter. Sigh.

Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing. I had seen the movie, but hadn’t read the book before. The story has to do with a girl who is basically left on her own to grow up in a shack deep in a North Carolina marsh and spends her time exploring the marsh animals and plants. She meets a boy who teaches her to read and, after their relationship falls apart when he goes to college, gets involved with another local boy, who is a rich socially connected type. When he is found dead, she’s the chief suspect and much of the book concerns her trial for his murder. I thought the book was interesting and raised interesting questions about the divisions between the local people. But it was hard to like a lot of the characters.
Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman, Sounds Like Titanic. This is a memoir about the author’s time as a fake violinist, playing to a dead mike while CDs of the composer’s music play in the background. There’s a lot of humor, though the effect of the deception on her mental health also plays a significant role. Can you suffer from imposter syndrome when you’re making good money being an imposter? Recommended.
Susan Branch, Girlfriends Forever. For those who are not familiar with her, Branch writes silly books that are little more than the sort of tripe women’s magazines publish, full of “oh, how wonderful my girlfriends are” and “here are recipes for healthy meals mixed with ooey gooey desserts.” What’s even worse is that she uses fonts that are supposed to look like handwriting, making it hard to read. Don’t waste your time.
Andrew D. Blechman, Leisureville. What is life like in senior communities like The Villages in Florida and the Del Webb communities in Arizona? Apparently, there’s lots of golf, lots of sex (The Villages has the highest rate of STDs in the U.S.), and an insular group of residents who don’t care that the communities are completely under the control of the owners. Overall, interesting, but depressing.
Michelle Zauner, Crying in H-Mart. Zauner uses food (primarily Korean food) to structure her memoir about her mother’s death from cancer - and, of course, what life with her parents was like before that. The challenges of being a mixed-race girl in Oregon, combined with regular trips to Korea, were interesting. It wasn’t entirely relatable for me, since my mother would have been content to eat bland boiled chicken every day of her life. But I did relate to the intergenerational cultural struggle. I thought this was worth reading - and following with an excursion to my local H-Mart.
Alfred Lansing,Endurance. I’d read this book about Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition at least twice before and it’s still just as good a read the third time around. The crew’s struggle to survive is terrifying and inspiring. Not everyone is cooperative all the time and Shackleton’s leadership skills are tested throughout the ordeal. And, while “the boss” gets a lot of the credit, I’m also thoroughly impressed with Frank Worsley. If you have any interest in exploration / adventure, this is a must read.
Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures. This is a thoroughly charming novel about the relationship between an elderly woman and the octopus at the aquarium where she works. The chapters told by the octopus are particularly entertaining. The backstory is that Tova lost her son when he was 18 years old. After her husband died of cancer, she is somewhat at loose ends. There’s also a young man searching for his father and a complicated series of events that lead to him finding connections, including one with Tova. It’s pretty implausible and the ending felt sudden, but it was enjoyable enough for me to overlook those flaws. Recommended.
Tim Butcher, Blood River: A Journey Into Africa’s Broken Heart. Butcher set out to recreate H.M. Stanley’s journey down the Congo River, starting in 2004. He gets motorcycle rides (and, later on, boat rides) from aid workers, U.N. staff, and missionaries. Somehow, he manages not to get killed along the way. He does, however, end up sick - probably with malaria. So he “cheats” a bit with a helicopter ride for one leg. Usually travel books make me want to go to a place, but not this one. An interesting read, yes, but beyond anything I’d want to risk.
Matthew Desmond, Evicted. My primary book club had selected this book, but the two leaders decided it was too hard to read and abandoned it. That’s really a pity because I found it pretty interesting. Desmond looks not only at the people living in low-income housing (and being forced out of it) but also the landlords and the people working for them. Joblessness, drug use, and single parenthood all play roles, but Desmond also addresses policy issues that exacerbate the instability of the lives of his subjects and suggests solutions. His research was primarily in Milwaukee, by the way, though he does give examples from other cities. There were some times I’d have liked more back story about some of the people. At any rate, I found it an interesting read, probably because my father worked on development for the New York City Housing Authority.

Movies: I saw two movies as part of the Washington Jewish Film Festival and two on an airplanes.

Next Goal Wins. I watched this on a plane because of my boundless love for Taika Waititi. It had gotten mediocre reviews, but I liked it quite a lot. The story (based on actual events) has to do with the American Samoa football (i.e. soccer) team, which had suffered a particularly embarrassing defeat against Australia ten years earlier. Thomas Rongen is the American coach who is hired to turn things around and he immediately gets into a conflict with Jaliyah, a transgender player. I was intrigued by the acceptance of a third gender (fa’afafine) in Samoan culture, something I was only vaguely aware of before seeing this. We also eventually see Rogen’s transformation - and get a satisfying ending, which goes beyond the sports aspect. Recommended.
The Catskills: This documentary was really sweet. There were segments about some of the more famous Catskill resorts, e.g. Grossinger’s, but also about the bungalow colonies. And let’s not forget the food! And the entertainment! (We had a neighbor who was a comedian on the Borscht Belt circuit. It was a great thrill to see his show, though I can’t remember if we saw him at the Homowack or the Concord or the Nevele.) My favorite parts of the (relatively few) weekends we spent at those hotels were rowing on the lake at the Homowack and playing miniature golf and pinball with the other kids my age, and those parts didn’t really get talked about. Basically, if you liked movies like Dirty Dancing or Sweet Lorraine, you’ll like this.
Shari and Lamb Chop: I had a Lamb Chop puppet when I was little, though I never really mastered ventriloquism. I have a running joke about my annual Shari Lewis Memorial Lamb Chop dinner for National Ventriloquism Week. (Scheduled for July 17th this year, by the way.) I’m sure Charlie Horse and other puppets had their fans, but Lamb Chop was the best. And this film was a lovely tribute to her and her puppeteer. I also learned lots of things about Shari Lewis that I’d never known, e.g. that her father was the official magician of New York City, using the name Peter Pan the Magic Man. And did you know that Lamb Chop is an honorary three-star general in the Marines? Anyone in my age group is sure to laugh and cry throughout this thoroughly charming movie.
Oppenheimer: The flight from Lisbon to Washington, D.C. is the perfect length for watching a long movie and still being able to get in a nap. While it was an interesting movie, I found it somewhat hard to keep track of all the characters. I also found the nonlinear chronology hard to follow at times. I suspect that was because an airplane was actually not the ideal place to watch a movie like this. Overall, it was interesting enough, but I’d liked Barbie better.

Goals: Sometimes the only way I know that I am making progress is that I know I’m not going backwards.

I have a tentative plan for a westward circumnavigation, though I haven’t booked anything yet. I’m looking at Novemberish.
I haven’t been to any new national parks yet this year.
I haven’t made any progress on going through genealogy-related email.
I’ve read 24 books, out of my goal of 80. I need to read shorter books.
I’ve gotten a little further on organizing my bedroom, but still have a long ways to go.
I’ve made a little more progress on one afghan.
I still haven’t found my parents’ slides.
I’d attempted to go to one AAA game, but it got rained out. I have another coming up and am hoping for the weather to cooperate. And I have an idea for a trip to go to 2 more.
It’s been too miserable out to exercise.

2nd Quarter 2024 Update - Books, Movies, Goals

no subject