A Tale of Two Books (Book Review)

I've read countless books on the subjects of politics & war & I've found most of them interesting at some level but few have touched me & few have left me with absolutely nothing.

In this tale of two books, I read one of each category. Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" grabbed me by the throat while Nicole Wallace's "Eighteen Acres" was an un-adulterated waste of my time.

Why do these seemingly 'useless' books ever get published? Especially now when publishing a BOOK seems like a luxury. Why spend the publishing capital to bring out something like "Eighteen Acres", the story about a female president with a female cabinet who's husband has an affair, her favorite white house correspondent has an affair..... with the President's husband, etc, etc, etc. The story brought nothing -- including political issues -- to the table of life except "escapism" whose very existence must be explained by its popularity. I just don't get it.

On the other hand there are novelists who weave serious, practical, realistic, emotional, meaningful situations into their story telling. 

 

Tim O'brien's "The Things They Carried" is one such book. It's the story of Alpha Company in War. There's no philosophizing, no lecturing, hectoring or moralizing. It's just the story of Alpha Company, what they carried with them into war, what these things meant to them & the struggle the author had telling this tale.

It's an extraordianary work, recognized by the Pulitzer Committee, the National Book Critics Circle & other such elite organizations. It may even be assigned reading for some students. 

 

For me it was a down to earth emotional trip. It carried me into another reality, made me think, feel & wonder about the versatility of the human spirit while the state plunders the human body & soul.

If you haven't read this book, please do. If you see "Eighteen Acres" on the shelf, don't make it one of the books you carry out of the store with you.

Other Books by Tim O"Brien

• Going After Cacciato
• Lake of the Woods
• Tomcat in Love
• If I die in a Combat Zone
• July, July

Other Books by Nicolle Wallace (thankfully)

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Book Review > "Innocent" by Scott Turow

406 pp

Other books by Scott Turow

• Limitations
• Ordinary Heroes
• Ultimate Punishment
• Reversible Errors
• Personal Injuries
• The Laws of Our Fathers
• Pleading Guilty
• The Burden of Proof
• Presumed Innocent
• One L

This book had 3 distinct story parts:

1. A love affair between an aging judge & a young lawyer
2. A court case
3. The relationship between a father & son

There are only a few characters in this book; the main ones are father, son, lover, DA.

For me, the core of this book is the relationship between the father and the son; both lawyers. The father, a well known & respected Prosecutor & Judge, about to be elevated from the Court of Appeals to the Superior Court, finds himself deliciously & troublingly embroiled in a great love affair and has to confront his demons.

That confrontation unfolds in a courtroom as Judge Rusty Sabich, once accused & acquitted of a prior murder charge, is again charged of murder; this time of his own wife.

The prosecutor's explanation of the murder plot takes shape as the reader is follows step by step through the logical questioning of the Judge and as he testifies to those questions put to him by the current DA, his prior & current nemesis. Of course, there are two sides to every court case & the defense side is just as convincing.

In the beginning of this novel Turow provides the back story of the prior murder charges (& acquittal) brought by Tommy Molto against Rusty Sabich; details not permitted into evidence at the second trial for fear of prejudicing the jury. It also puts the reader on the the emotional roller coaster that is the intimate & sincere love affair between Rusty & Anna. As a senior citizen, myself, reading about this sexy love affair produced some longing in me. Of course, it is immoral by our puritanical social standards but it is also very real, desirable and special for both participants. Unfortunately, it could never have ended well and didn't.

Nevertheless this secret affair, to all except the participants, plays a pivotal role in Rusty's wife's demise and the strengthening of Rusty's  relationship with Nat, his  overshadowed son (who is clerking in the Superior Court), and who hasn't quite found his place in life when the story begins.

The dialog between father & son seems haltingly genuine as does the court testimony and other relationships in the book. None was a real stretch for this reader. It all seemed so credible, thanks to the author's talent. It will probably make an excellent movie one day.

I consider "Innocent" a thoroughly enjoyable read; once I got into it, I could hardly put it down. For anyone who likes a process piece, like a CSI or seeing how lawyers present opposing views of the same evidence, this is a definite read. I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Innocent by Scott Turow | Book review (guardian.co.uk)
• Back To The Courtroom (living2read.blogspot.com)

Sunday morning viewing

Christian Amanpour's "This Week" covered one important & terribly sad issue: Army suicides. But it struck me that in her interview with vice chief of staff of the army, General Peter Chiarelli, who is in charge of solving this problem, I heard more from Amanpour than I did from Chiarelli. Not good for an interviewer.


I forgot about 'Face The Nation' & felt like I had 'been there, done that' with David Gregory's "Meet the Press" so I didn't bother.


On the other hand, Chris Matthews and his merry band voted 7 to 5 that Hillary Clinton would run as Obama's Vice President in 2012, switching jobs with Joe Biden.


And then Mathews ran some absolutely charming stories told by Bob Smith, the former White House pianist who entertained presidents from Nixon through Clinton.


Mr. Smith told the story about Richard Nixon used to order aboard empty bottles of very expensive vintage wines when entertaining on the Presidential yacht, Sequoia.. Then, before his guests arrived, he would stand at the bar with a funnel, filling the bottles with swill akin to Carlo Rossi. And when all his guests later rose in a toast, relishing their fine wines, he'd wink at the piano player as if to say: "Got 'em!".


Cary Grant ducked out of a White House dinner to sit down & play a few tunes with Mr. Smith. When dinner was announced, Cary Grant, who had been standing next to the piano with his cocktail, didn't follow the crowd into the next room. 'Mr. Grant', said the piano player, 'aren't you hungry? Don't you want any dinner?' 'No', Mr. Grant replied, explaining he was tired of everything, including being Cary Grant. All he wanted to do was to be Archie Leach (his real name), to listen to Cole Porter music & to reminisce -- which is exactly what he did for the next hour or so.


And finally, Mr. Smith told the following anecdote. After Bush senior won the presidency, the entire Bush clan came back to the White House to celebrate. And as Smith explained it, he recognized everyone: sister Dorothy, brothers Jeb, Neil, etc. etc. & then there was this guy who sat in the corner....


Chris Wallace of Fox News had an interesting interview with Ted Olsen, a conservative, who successfully argued for the rights of gays to marry (in opposition to California's Prop 8) before a gay, Republican Federal Judge. It was Olsen's contention, as a conservative, that this right is granted under the 14th amendment to the constitution & that the judge was anything but an activist judge; more to the point: he was following the original meanings of the 14th amendment.


It was clear that in the interview that Chris Wallace was totally outmatched by Ted Olsen who is used to this question and answer format, having argued so many cases before the Supreme Court. Chris Wallace tipped his hat to Olsen at the end of the interview.


Fareed Zakaria, of CNN, had two interesting interviews: one with Hamid Gul, the 74 year old former Pakistani ISA chief who is named in the WikiLeaks documents as plotting with the Taliban against Allied interests, particularly the United States. But as Gul pointed out in the interview, the U.S. pays for information & the Afghanies, a 'wily bunch who will do anything for money', simply manufacture information to get the money. Given the poverty in Afghanistan, this probably makes some sense. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine that these tips aren't well corroborated. However, I was surprised to hear Gul TOTALLY dismiss Hamid Karzai and call the Afghanies a 'treacherous' bunch. It seems there's no love lost there. Gul is credited with helping to organize the  Mujaheddin to fight against the, then, Soviet Union.


The second interview was with Serbia's well spoken, 35 year old Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic,  (someone I knew nothing about) who stated categorically that the current government is committed to solving all their problems with breakaway Kosovo diplomatically and legally; dismissing any & all military options as a thing of the past. If this is so, it would be a tremendous advance in Balkan politics.


This was one of those Sunday mornings when I actually felt I had learned a thing or two watching the boob tube.

Movie Review > Salt

Salt: She's beautiful, there's a plot about Russian sleeper agents & complex action sequences. It's a  thriller. What more can anyone ask from this genre? I think it's a 'go-see' if you like this type of movie. Angelina Jolie carries the film, plays it to the hilt & is... well, sort of believable, as a REALLY tough CIA operative named Evelyn Salt. This is the 'pilot' film. Expect sequels; I'd bet money on it. Would 3.5 stars (of 5) be too much? Nah. I enjoyed it. It was fun. Here are a couple of other reviews. 

• NPR > Who Is 'Salt'? Tastily Enough, It's Angelina Jolie 
• NYT > Spies, Spider Venom & Sex Appeal
• The Stranger > Salt: More Like Womb Raider, Amirite?

Movie Review > Inception starring Leonardo De Caprio

"Inception" starring Leonardo DeCaprio directed by Christopher Nolan (Momento, Dark knight, Insomnia) is what I would call a REAL psychological thriller. Personal analysis helps.

Here we go.

Leonardo de Caprio -- the extractor -- specializes in subconscious security. He spies on, and tries to extract information from his target's psyche. To do it he has to get into the target's sub-conscious where ideas & truths run free. Our most natural experience with the sub-conscious is in dreams so De Caprio has a way to enter these dreams.

This movie naturally centers around a particularly difficult case. To succeed, the plan is two fold. 

First, the inception of an idea, i.e. planting/suggesting an idea to the target, since once implanted, there is no stopping it. Ideas and truths -- as well as fears & doubts -- roam freely in the sub-conscious; thus modern day psychoanalysis. The idea being that the inception of the idea will eventually lead to truth. 

But because of the complexity of this case, the other part of the plan involves, not one or two but three levels of dreams, i.e. the participants in the level one dream, are taken over by folks @ level 2, only to be supplanted by the folks at the 3rd level of the dream. This suggests the complexity of the target's defenses  protecting the truth. So you sit in a darkened movie theatre following Leonardo de Caprio (and others) pursue the idea implanted deep in the target's psyche.

The overall architect of this multi-tiered dream construct is non other than Ellen Page, the quirky star of current Microsoft commercials but most preciously starring in the wonderful "Juno".  I'm not sure why she was cast in this role except maybe it was her ability to provide a flat-line performance, i.e. objective, methodical, mathematical. 

Anyway, back to the plot.

The plot, i.e. the assignment, is to discover the final wishes of a dying tycoon: is he going to leave his company to his son or force him to strike out on his own? A pretty thin motive to be carrying such a heavy movie load but Mr. Nolan tries to bulk it up by having the dying tycoon's only competitor finance the whole caper for business reasons.

The trick here is to make sure that (1) there is enough time to complete the job & (2) that everyone is sufficiently asleep so they don't wake up & interrupt the flow of the various dreams which have to work in sync to succeed. 

Enter an East Asian character who has the right sleeping potion. He also has the music that, when played, awakens everyone from their drugged sleep. The sleep has to be deep enough to repel any doubts caused by outside influences (noise, light, etc.) because any of these would intrude on the dreams & create greater obstacles to retrieving the truth. These disturbed 'dreamscape' scenes are visually interesting.

Confused enough?

The last layer of this plot involves the investigator, himself, who is trying to 'return' home to his kids having left his wife behind in an earlier dreamscape where there was nothing but happy times. He is torn by the guilt of leaving her behind & returning to real life & the love of his kids. Each time any of these feelings enter his psyche, his wife appears & he has to interrupt his mission to deal with her.

At the end of this rather longish movie, everything is resolved. You might be a  little tired of thinking about what you just saw but you cannot deny that you were on a director's trip much as "Apolcalypse Now" was for Francis Ford Coppola. If you enjoy this sort of movie, you will probably enjoy this one, too. I did. 

Book Review > Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter

First Sergeant Earl Swagger returns from the war in Europe & the the Pacific, a certified hero, a tough guy; winner of the medal of honor bestoyed on him by President Harry S. Truman.

With his young wife newly pregnant & still living in a military Quonset hut & ready to work at the local mill until he can afford a house in Polk County AK, Earl is recruited to help organize a group of highly trained shooters (including Audy Murphy) by a newly elected & ambitious prosecuting attorney named Becker, the group to be led by an old time FBI agent and fast draw named D.A. Parker. Their aim:  to clean up Hot Springs.

The group, drawn from varied locations & walks of life, train in a secret location with pistols, rifles, automatic weapons, military tactics & discipline. Earl's sergeantry comes in handy here. Up at 5:00am, stripping down weapons, reassembling them in the dark, shooting, shooting & more shooting,  physical exercise, eating & sleeping repeated day after day until, finally they are ready for 'battle'.

Their nemesis: Owney Maddox, the godfather of Hot Springs who runs all the whorehouses, gambling casinos, numbers rackets & the like. All the local politicians are in his pocket as are the judges & police. His enforcers are an ornery clan of ruthless hillbillies. They rule the city unopposed until D.A. Parker, Earl Swagger & the team start taking Owney's underworld kingdom apart piece by piece in one surprise raid after another.

This causes great consternation, not only for Owney Maddox, but also for the godfather's in the New York mob who consider Hot Springs their personal playground, their safe haven, a place where everything is under control, where they can let their hair down, go to shows starring Mickey Rooney, Dina Shore & other stars of the time, to drink, gamble & cavort with whores without fear of being hassled by the cops. 

There are four or five detailed story lines in this book. One of them has Bugsy Seigel visiting Hot Springs with his girlfriend, Virgina Hill, on his way out west to build a casino in a place called Las Vegas, a state where gambling is legal & Meyer Lansky sees the potential of a great investment for mob monies. 

Other story lines involve Earl's wife, Earl's family background, racial integration, loyalty, betrayal and final restitution. 

The book has the richness of extreme detail that all Stephen Hunter books have, interwoven with bits of history, mixed with the brutality of the times. This book is definitely a page turner. My only problem is that I find the dialog in Mr. Hunter's books a bit stilted but after a while you just accept it as you are swept away by the story. 

Other books by & information about the author, Stephen Hunter

• Wikipedia
• Random House
• Unofficial Stephen Hunter website

Movie Review > 'Solitary Man' starring Michael Douglas

'Solitary Man' stars Michael Douglas w Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito & Mary-Louise Parker.

It took a lot of executive producers, producers, a couple of writers & two directors (I'm not sure how that works) to get this film to market. To me that usually means (1) it is a crappy film by some first timers starring unknowns or (2) when you have a cast like this one, it isn't your 'usual' Hollywood fare which is generally good in my book.

And so it was with 'Solitary Man', which felt like a thoughtfully constructed David Mamet play -- lots of interesting dialog with almost no action.

'Solitary Man' is the story about a man, a super car salesman, reminiscent of Gordon Gecko, also played so deliciously by Mr. Douglas -- who we watch on a downward spiral starting from a high flying New York City lifestyle, finally becoming the solitary man.

One piece of his storied existence collapses after another. And while on the one hand, we could feel sorry for him, on the other hand we feel he might be getting everything he deserves for having lived his arrogant, salesman, over-the-top life when the truth stopped mattering.

The character -- as played by Mr. Douglas -- walks this careful line throughtout the film so the audience can never quite commit to one camp or the other.

And while there are some minor scenes with the rest of this accomplished cast, this movie is all Michael Douglas. And like a mature Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart", Michael Douglas gets better with age in my opinion.

There's a depth & a realism to this role that almost makes one forget that he's Michael Douglas or maybe makes you marvel that it actually is Michael Douglas. Perhaps Mr. Douglas -- who's has had his share of ups & downs -- found some truth in the character based on his own experience from which to draw inspiration. However he did it, it worked.

I would give it four stars were I an actual reviewer. If you like thought provoking films, go see it. Don't go see it for laughs even though there are a few of those as well.

The official website is here.

Book Review > Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley

The heroine, athletic, motor cycle riding, Florence Farfaletti (does her name remind you of a pasta) -- once married to a minor Arabian prince -- joins the U.S. Foreign Service & becomes embroiled in a 'sensitive' event wherein Nazrah, one the Wasabian Ambassador's wives, tries to escape her marriage by asking for political asylum.

Unfortunately, it doesn't end well for Nazrah, who is eventually returned to her country where she is beheaded.

This event 'radicalizes' Florence into becoming a CIA dupe (maybe), tasked with 'charming' the ultra conservative paternalistic culture of the Royal Kingdom of Wasabia into a more modern society based on her operational proposal titled "Female Emancipation as a Mean of Achieving Long-term Political Stability in the Near East". 

Instead she turns the kingdom on its political head, revealing -- at once -- the ridiculous anachronistic culture of Wasabia, the self-serving, backstabbing nature of our intergovernmental agencies as well as the resulting foreign policies & the interests of big money that overrides all of it. 

Even though Buckley deals with very real & extremely important issues, he does it in an entertaining fashion using Florence as his foil..... Or should I say rapier. It's a fast, sometimes humorous, but 'telling' read. You only wish a real person could pull this off one day & make right what's wrong in so much of that part of the world. 

Movie Review > The Ghost Writer

"The Ghost Writer", the most recent Roman Polanski effort is a good old fashioned thriller in the style of "Chinatown" or, better yet, a political thriller like "The Parallax View". 

This two hour film didn't seem too long or at all contrived. The characters & situations flow easily as we follow the Ewan McGregor character -- the writer hired to 'ghost' a former U.K. Prime Minister's memoirs -- as he painstakenly unravels an elegant mystery that revolves around the fine art of modern espionage. 

The prime minister character, fashioned after Tony Blair, is played ably by Pierce Brosnan. His accomplished political wife, played by Olivia Williams, floats in and out of the thriller, while putting up with her husband's personal assistant (wink, wink) played by a buttoned up Kim Cattrall. The dialog is snappy most of the way through and there are few legitimate laughs to be had as a bonus. 

In England, a political advesary accuses the P.M. of a war crime while he is visiting America which sets off a media frenzy (and the mystery) that everyone here in the U.S. should already be familiar with: remote trucks, shouting reporters, microphones, angry mobs of protesters, helicopters & the rest. You know.... it could easily have been coverage of Paris Hilton going to jail or Lindsay Lohan coming out of jail or tracking Michael Jackson on his way to and from court, only more serious, presumably. Here, at least, there is some real suspense.

Anyway, I walked out of the theatre feeling like I hadn't wasted a minute of my time except on the ads & trailers preceeding the film. If I were a critic I'd be tempted to give "The Ghost Writer" five stars but would probably back off a bit & give it 4 or 4.5. I had a great date. Even the popcorn was tasty. 

Film Review: "Crazy Heart" w Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell & Robert Duvall

Jeff Bridges was so scuzzy in 'Crazy Heart'. He was so sweaty, so raw, so natural, that you could just about smell him on the screen where he portrays a character named 'Bad Blake' (what he thought of himself), a talented but end-of-career boozy country singer, playing one night stands (in more ways than one) in dingy bars, even in a bowling alley, who falls in love too late in his troubled life.

I don't know if Jeff Bridges will get a best actor Oscar for his performance this year, considering the competition in his category & the politics of such awards, but his performance was exceptional. He seems to get better every time I see him on the screen.

Bridges seem to slip in and out of this kind of role with great ease. Whether this is because he has become one of those exceptional character actors or because it's just so close to his own personality is hard for me to know. John Wayne always played John Wayne -- even in 'True Grit' when he was probably at his best.

In any case, I would definitely recommend spending the $8 on 'Crazy Heart'. It's a touching film with a meaty role for 'Bad' even though the very end was a bit too 'packaged' for me.

Others in the cast include Robert Duvall, Maggie Gyllenhaal & Colin Farrell -- all of whom play convincing roles as they touch the life of "Bad Blake" aka Otis (I forgot his last name).

Happy Valentine's Day.

Book Review

The Rum Diary by Hunter S Thompson

Copyright 1998 (long lost novel)

Large Format

204 pages

This is a thinly veiled novel about a young newspaper man, aged 31, from New York City, who decides on an adventure, arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the winter of 1958. 

There he gets a job at the local American rag, thus joining a cast of adventurers, miscreants and journalistic drunks.

Because I was born & grew up in Puerto Rico, it was an enjoyable read for me but if you like Hunter S Thompson, gonzo journalist, you'll like this book anyway. Although labeled a novel, I tend to think otherwise.

There are funny, thoughtful -- as well as -- pathetic scenes with people easily imaginable in the tropics at that time. Now Puerto Rico is an overgrown tourist destination and heavily dependent on U.S. 'foreign' aid.

At one time Hunter Thompson lived on an island off Puerto Rico (he may still).

It is rumored than Johnny Depp bought the film rights to this book. It is a fact that a movie is being made out of it. Depp, as the main character, is a perfect fit.

When the film is released, I will definitely see it.

What a good book can do for you.

I just finished reading an excellent little book called "Losing Mum & Pup" by Christopher Buckley on the subject of becoming an orphan.

I enjoyed the book tremendously as it was honest, funny, profane but when I finished it I think I became a bit depressed.

I started thinking about how claustrophobic a coffin might be & wondered if you could really be sure that the ashes you got back (assuming you went that route) were those of your loved one. I mean, how could you tell? And if I wondered about that, I wondered how I might ever be comforted by having a pot of doubtful ashes on my mantel or side table.

I guess I starting thinking about these things because my father is 97 and is dying very slowly of renal failure. He's not in pain & won't go on dialysis (I salute his decision) so it's just a matter of a short while, maybe months.

Whenever he dies he will be buried in a plain pine box next to his wife, my mother. One way or another, they'll be together again. So much for my thoughts about coffins.

But then I started thinking about Carol's wishes. She says she wants to be cremated & scattered in the Mediterranean. I promised I would do that.  Putting the questions of legitimate Carol ash aside, I then wondered what I would want. Once I scatter Carol, I'll never find her again. If I get scattered, where would I want to be -- the Mediterranean too? Is it comforting to think I'd be in the same sea?

And if I went the Jewish burial-in-a-pine-box route, where would I want to be planted? Ridgefield? Puerto Rico, next to my parents? Hmmmm. Not very romantic & besides, I'm 66 & all grown up now.