Monthly Archives: June 2007

Fiction: “Kaaterskill Falls” by Allegra Goodman

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I think I picked up this paperback after Goodman’s more recent book “Intuition” started being reviewed all over the place. And as to why I decided to read it now, I guess Michael Chabon’s latest got me in the mood for random outbursts of Yiddish (and/or Hebrew) and explications of Talmudic law!

The plot was somewhat meandering (no big climax at the end) and predictable — surely all intelligent people must struggle at one time or another with belief and the irrationality of restrictive religions — but the intelligence and integrity of the writing kept me interested.
Elizabeth was a wonderfully written character, I really enjoyed thinking through her thoughts.

And if you yourself are now in the mood for some yiddish, how about a list of ways to incorporate Yiddish into bedroom talk, via Josh Berg, a friend of a friend.

Fiction: “Pippa Passes” by Rumer Godden

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Un petit roman about a young ballerina who goes to Venice and blossoms. Sweet and light. But pretty inconsequential.

If you are interested in reading Rumer Godden, an author of some renown although you don’t hear much about her these days, I highly (HIGHLY!!) recommend instead both “In This House of Brede” and “China Court” both of which are easy to obtain, in my experience, at any decent-sized used bookstore.

I’ve told you this before, but FYI the author is the namesake of Bruce & Demi’s child.

On Reuniting.

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You know, it takes time. You can’t just have coffee and expect… There’s just so much to work through. Trust has to be built again on both sides. You have to learn if we’re even the same people we were, if you can fit in each other’s lives. It’s a long important process…
Can we just skip it? Can you just be kissing me now?

-Tara, BtVS, 6:18 “Entropy”

Big Screen: Paris, Je T’Aime.

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According to the poster, 18 vignettes (the picture grid at the beginning & end was 4×4 so suggested 16. Felt more like 30). All set in different Paris neighborhoods, some concerned with Paris, some not. Some realistic and true, some purely fantastical and nutso. Some I liked, some I hated, but all short enough that just hold out for a few minutes and you’re on to a new one. A couple random shots at the end linking some of the stories to each other, but not all. Lots of famous faces popping up, some in unexpected ways. Overall = enjoyable. But quite wacky.

And tell me the Elijah Wood segment did not totally steal all its coloration ideas from Sin City (which he was also in). I cannot tell him or Tobey Maguire apart and they both kinda creep me out.

History: “Killing Pablo” by Mark Bowden

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I am becoming quite the Mark Bowden groupie, eh?

This book reveals the secrets of US government/military involvement in the hunt for and eventual murder of Pablo Escobar, former head of the Colombian cocaine cartel, and quite the terrorist. Bowden manages to take all these people’s memories and turn them into quite a page turner, it feels like you’re reading a story of what happened rather than a journalist’s report.

Good. Intriguing. But I would recommend both Black Hawk Down (love that book) and Guests of the Ayatollah over this one. This one feels a little stiff in comparison.

In Concert: Dinosaur Jr.

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Either we missed Lou Barlow doing a solo set at the beginning of the night…or he decided not to when he came back on stage after Dinosaur and everyone started Booing because it wasn’t the encore they were looking for? (Jackhats!)

Great sounds. Really rocking out. The hair on the lead singer is like less-coiffed leftovers from a Ratt video. And it drove me nuts all night to try to figure out what was on his t-shirt. Dinosaur? Diamond? DeeWayne?

Fiction: “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” by Michael Chabon

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One of those detective stories where the detective is such a slack-ass drunken messed-up dude that you spend half the time worrying about him rather than the mystery (think John Rebus/Ian Rankin).

Takes place in an alternate US where the Jewish refugees from WWII were all settled in Alaska but the district is about to revert to Alaskan control and they will be homeless.

There’s rabbi-led Jewish mobsters, chess games, long-standing friendships and broken-up relationships, and bad fathers, and unhappy sons. It’s a detective novel with a philosophical treatise buried in the heart of it. Once I got past the first chapter, I really couldn’t put it down.

If you loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (and how could you not? That’s a GREAT book!), you will surely find this book wonderful as well.

Ponder your responses well.

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…”I’m not like her, am I?”

This question is like the cowboy in Mulholland Drive, who you see again one time if you do good and two times if you do bad. Answer the question wisely, and you won’t have to hear it again for another year. Try to give a clever answer, and you have bigger immediate problems than the humidity index.

–from “Love Is a Mix Tape” by Rob Sheffield.

No pain, no gain?

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It’s the same with people who say, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Even people who say this must realize that the exact opposite is true. What doesn’t kill you maims you, cripples you, leaves you weak, makes you whiny and full of yourself at the same time. The more pain, the more pompous you get. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you incredibly annoying.

–from “Love Is a Mix Tape” by Rob Sheffield