Literary Highlights of Christ Church College, Oxford University

Christ Church College at Oxford, founded in 1546, has a rich literary history. The majestic front quad and fountain recall scenes from Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. The movie adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass was filmed on this campus too.

Christ Church was also the model for Hogwarts' dining hall in Harry Potter, making this Oxford college the most popular tourist destination. Visits are limited to afternoons and there is an admission charge.

According to Oxford legend, the fireplace andirons inspired the trippy neck extending scene in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll was a lecturer of mathematics at Christ Church, which was his alma mater too.

The entrance to the dining hall (above) is nearly as grand as the adjacent cathedral. Christ Church is the only Oxford college with a cathedral, instead of a smaller chapel, and visitors can attend Evensong without paying admission. The colleges of Oxford University were originally founded as religious institutions.

On a rare clear day, the limestone glows as gold as the setting sun. Although Christ Church is one of the wealthiest colleges, it ran out of funding to complete the cloisters so the front quad is open to the rain. The arches on the walls show where the covered cloister would have been attached had their patron Cardinal Wolsey not lost favor with King Henry VIII.

Despite its posh history, the rainbow flag in back quad shows that the student body is open-minded now.

The back entrance leads to...

Merton Street, which has hardly changed since medieval times. You can see how living in Oxford inspired me to write a novel about an American at a British school. This is my magical home away from home.

Landline & Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, a double review

Wagon wheels at Rocky Ridge Orchard in Bowdoin, Maine

Rainbow Rowell captures the cool geek voice of my generation. She uses just the right amount of pop cultural references to place a book in its decade without making the story feel too dated. Her quirky characters are smart and well-meaning but lack judgment. We love them because we can relate to their mistakes. Rowell is best known for her bestseller young adult novels, Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, but she also wrote two novels for adults.

Attachments (2011) was Rowell's impressive debut. Twenty-something Lincoln is still living with his mom at the end of the millennium. His job at the local newspaper is to prevent a Y2K crash and to monitor employee use of email. Beth, a music and film reviewer, and Jennifer, a copy editor, raise flags for using work email for personal chit chat, but instead of issuing a warning, Lincoln reads their exchanges and falls in love with Beth before first sight. Lincoln knows snooping is wrong, but he can't stop anymore than we can stop reading this bittersweet romance.

Although I found the premise creepy, Lincoln was a sympathetic character and the cyber security issues still felt relevant today. It was nice to see a close friendship between two women portrayed realistically through the ups and downs of life. Sometimes, however, this realism became too mundane, which is the downside of using email to tell a story. This narrative device was especially irritating in my audio book since every email exchange was tagged with the sender's and recipient's full names. The listening experience improved when the characters interacted in real time. I often stayed in the garage to finish a chapter. Attachments would translate well to the screen, as it reminded me of You've Got Mail. If you loved that movie, read this book.

Landline (July, 2014), Rowell's latest, is a contemporary realistic novel with a touch of magic. Georgie McCool's marriage is crumbling. She's so wrapped up in pitching a new TV series that she doesn't notice that her husband, who is home raising their kids, has left her until a day after her family is gone. Georgie returns to her childhood home and discovers that her old landline phone allows her to speak to her husband in the past.

Given the opportunity to do-over, what would Georgie change? This compelling question was well explored in the narrative, however, the magic phone was never explained. It thus felt like a plot gimmick and didn't integrate well with this otherwise realistic story. Still, I enjoyed the book for the well-developed characters and their witty banter. I often had to put the book down to laugh.

Georgie's dog-breeder mom:

"Kids are perceptive, Georgie. They're like dogs" - she offered a meatball from her own fork to the pug in her lap - "they know when their people are unhappy."

"I think you may just have reverse-anthropomorphized your own grandchildren."

Set over Christmas, Landline reads like a modern retelling of It's a Wonderful Life with a feminist twist. If you know someone who lives for holiday specials, Landline would make a wonderful Christmas present. Attachments in paperback (not audiobook) would make a good gift too. Rowell's YA books would be a better match for the teenagers and maybe some adults on your list.

Although I prefer Rowell's young adult fiction over her novels for adults, it's nice to see an author who can cross back in forth between marketing categories. Her YA books have more gritty realism and are less sentimental so I hope she writes more. I'd read any book written by Rainbow Rowell; she's one of my favorite authors. Her writing inspires my writing too.

Beautiful Creatures movie review & Blizzard photos

Three years ago I reviewed Beautiful Creatures on its print debut and interviewed the authors, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Yesterday I went to a prescreening of the movie adaptation, which will be released on Valentine's Day. Familiar elements were the star-crossed lovers and the casters (the politically correct term for witches and wizards), but the deep south setting with Gothic undertones made this young adult novel unique. Dripping moss, crumbling tombstones, a dilapidated plantation and a timeless small town translated well to the big screen.

Richard LaGravenese's clever screenplay was true to the spirit of the book with a few modifications. Alice Englert (Jane Campion's daughter and a dead ringer for Debra Winger) was well cast as caster Lena, bringing more heart to the character than she had on the page. Alden Ehrenreich is a likable Ethan, a popular jock who reads Kurt Vonnegut and dreams of college. His bond with Lena is as much intellectual as passionate, quite unusual for a teen movie. Amma, played by the superb Viola Davies, is now the librarian. I missed Amma's southern cooking, but that was worth sacrificing to avoid the cliché of the big-hearted African American maid. Sadly, there is only a hint of her voodoo magic. Uncle Macon, no longer a vampire, is a more compelling character played by Jeremy Irons. The actress who steals the show is Emma Thompson, delighting in her wicked role.

Beautiful Creatures is a teen movie that parents won't mind seeing with the kids. The few violent scenes are not especially graphic and sex is barely implied, making it appropriate for tweens as well. The special effects, although quite cool, are a bit distracting; this is a big budget Hollywood production. The literary tie-in To Kill a Mockingbird is weaker in the movie, but it's still there. For complexity and depth, a 563-page novel beats a two-hour movie. Still, fans of the book won't be disappointed, and hopefully the movie will lead more teens to discover the marvelous book, the first in a series, so expect sequel movies too.

Reviewers Disclosure: I watched a free prescreening but was not paid to write this review.

For those of you who asked how Maine fared in Blizzard Nemo:

Our back deck

Henry shoveling after 6 hours

Scout in the backyard with 26 inches of snow

Coriolanus movie review

Ralph Fiennes as Coriolanus with Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius

Coriolanus is a fabulous modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragic play. The movie remains true to the original language and Italian setting but is visually an action thriller with graphic violence and modern military dress. In Shakespeare's time, Italy was not a nation but a patchwork of kingdoms and independent city-states. Although nominally set in Rome, Coriolanus was shot in Serbia to recall more recent ethnic conflicts. The battle scenes and TV news montages draw disturbing parallels to the current civil uprisings and military crack downs in Arab nations. Shakespeare’s work is clearly still relevant four hundred years later.

Venessa Redgrave as Volumnia

Ralph Fiennes (yes, Voldemort in Harry Potter) plays Coriolanus, the charismatic war hero pushed reluctantly into politics. The belligerent leader fixates on revenge after his own people turn on him. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Fiennes's acting is top caliber. Even more impressive, he directed and produced the film. Vanessa Redgrave, playing his she-wolf mother, still manages to steal every scene that she’s in. Watching the two verbally spar on film is nearly as good as live theater.

Coriolanus, however, is not my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. There are thematic elements of Julius Caesar, Macbeth and Hamlet, but this tragedy is not as well crafted as the others. The story has sudden jumps and reversals of character that are hard to follow. Script editing to create a movie-length version may have exacerbated this problem. The language is not as beautiful, but it is still captivating. 

My favorite line: “There is no more mercy in him than there is milk in a male tiger.” 

Bottom line: if you love Shakespeare or war movies, go see this film. Rated R for graphic violence.

 

Disclosure: I watched a preview Blue Ray disk with a movie critic friend. After previewing in December, the movie opened nationally on January 20, 2012 in the USA.  I’m planning on seeing it a second time on the big screen when it comes to Maine.  Movie stills photos and trailer from The Weinstein Company.

War Horse Review: book, play and movie soon

Horse in Port Meadow, England

I usually prefer the original book to the adaption, but War Horse by Michael Morpurgo improved on stage. The novel follows a horse and his boy from a farm in Devon, England to the battlefields of World War I France. In reality, the cavalry was pitted against machine guns, barbed wire, trenches and tanks. Over 15 million people and 8 million horses died. War Horse does not glorify war but remembers the bravery and sacrifices of those who served, both human and equine.

Although the book was very good, it was absurd to have a horse narrate a story of war brutality in which many sympathetic characters suffer and die.  Animal narrators belong in innocent books for young children.  Furthermore, the voice wasn’t believably equine, and there was no explanation for how a farm horse could understand three languages. We also lose track of the boy’s story when they part. An omniscient third person narrator would have worked better. Still, what a great story!

Oddly enough, moving the story to the stage with horse puppets created more realism. The puppets didn’t speak, and they acted like true horses: snorting, galloping and even breathing. It was hard to see them abused because you believed they were alive. There was nothing childish or cutesy about these puppets, and the war scenes were horrific and loud. In fact, I would not recommend this play to families with young children or sensitive teenagers because it was terrifyingly real.

War Horse is a must see for a mature audience. Not only were the puppetry, acting and singing fabulous, the staging was gorgeously artistic. A cloud-like backdrop became an animated sketchbook. As the actor rode the puppet horse, an ink drawing of them galloped across the rolling fields. Later the screen projected battle scenes as the stage spun or broke into trenches. The play was true to the spirit of the book, but the secondary characters and the plot were condensed and modified for more poignancy and greater realism.


War Horse at Lincoln Center, NYC

War Horse is currently playing in London and in New York City. It won 5 Tonys, including best play in 2011 and extended its run. In 2012 War Horse is due to open in Toronto and will simultaneously tour American cities. My parents (thank you!) took my teenaged children and me to the New York production over Thanksgiving. I purchased the ebook and read it before seeing the play. Thank you, Bee, for the recommendation.


Steven Spielberg’s film adaption of War Horse will open on Christmas Day, 2011.

Update Movie Review: my husband (who's family comes from Devon) and I were disappointed by the film version of War Horse. The movie was overly sentimental with too many characters, and the film looked obviously photoshopped (ie a tropical red sunset in Devon). The best part was the first half set in England, even if the actors didn't get the Devonian accents right. The later war scenes felt contrived, and the farm in France was absurdly bucolic. Go see the play (best) or read the book instead.

Theater Watch: on a lighter note, we also saw and loved Noel Coward’s Private Lives on Broadway. Paul Gross and Kim Cattrall were superb.

Reading A Room with a View in Florence

Our view of San Lorenzo from our room at the Hotel Paris, Firenze

Hey, I’m back! I’ve missed you. This past month I’ve been traveling in Europe with my family. Our 21st Anniversary found us in Florence (or Firenze in Italian.)

Remember the 1985 film adaptation of A Room with a View? Recalling Lucy Honeychurch’s despair, I’d booked a room with a view (#336) at the (confusingly misnamed) Hotel Paris. What could be more romantic?

Henry Laurence

One click later, E. M. Forster’s original novel was downloaded onto my Kindle (most classics are free.) We popped mini bottles of Prosecco and pulled our chairs to the open window. Henry read out loud, with all the right accents, this Edwardian tale of class snobbery and passion.

The best lines and scenes from the movie were lifted directly from the book, although the cinematic Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter) was more spunky and outspoken than her literary model. The novel was both more subtle and satirical. It was surprisingly timeless and humorous.

Like Lucy, I had traveled to Italy from the English countryside. 

 My British in laws had rented a house in Somerset to celebrate their 75th and 80th birthdays. 

Happy Birthdays, N&T!

Our view of the Duomo from the Hotel Paris, Firenze

Out our Tuscan window,
church bells rang
and a horse-drawn carriage
clopped down the road
towards the Duomo
(our view with a craned neck).

Forster’s prose rose
above the din of American tourists.

(Snookie had been filming
Jersey Shore on location
only the week before,
sigh.)

My parents in Fiesole

Borrowing a page from Forster,

“The first fine afternoon drive up to Fiesole.” 

We joined my parents,
celebrating their 50th anniversary in Italy,
for lunch in this hill town overlooking Florence.

My dad and I might look Italian,
but we’re native New Yorkers.
From him, I inherited my love of Italy
and passion for exploring the world and photography.

View of Florence from the Pensione's terrace 

As we waited for lunch at Pensione Bencista in Fiesole, dark clouds gathered over Florence ominously.

 Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed over the Tuscan hills.

My sixteen-year-old son, an experienced mountaineer, 

pointed out that metal chairs under a canvas awning offered little protection from electrocution.

We moved inside as the rain lashed sidewise, whipping the olive trees into a frenzy and pelting the vineyards. Lunch was deliciously seasoned by the wild weather. From my mother, I inherited my love of storms and artistic skill for capturing them. The thunderstorm over Fiesole cut short our excursion . . . just like in A Room with a View. I thought of the poor Italian girl (evicted from the carriage for kissing the driver) and George (by his reckless choice) walking the five miles back to Florence. It could have been my son and I, had we set off sooner as planned.

View of Florence from the Uffizi Gallery

Hours later, the sun returned, basking Florence in that particular golden glow of Tuscany. Our best meals were at L'osteria di Giovanni and at Zibibbo. If I could eat only one type of cuisine forever, it would be Italian. Sometimes life is as rich and full as classic literature . . . at least in Italy.

South Harpswell, Maine

Maine in summer isn’t bad either. Our first week back, we drove down to Estes for lobster rolls and local brew on tap (the Italians don’t really do beer) by the sea. Then I fought jetlag to take my daughter and her friends to the midnight premier of Harry Potter (awesome!) Evenings find us enjoying sundowners on our deck after work. Friends stop by to chat and there is wifi. It is good to be back home.

A Tempest of Scattered Leaves

Looking at the fallen leaves, I feel empathy for the trees. At the peak of creativity, my colorful ideas are scattered all over the place. Last Friday a storm straight out of The Tempest blew through Maine. Rain lashed sideways and trees toppled. We lost power. In the dark, I sketched out an outline for a new novel (really plot fragments that could be woven into a narrative later) and quit work for the day.

Then I met two friends for a two-hour lunch at Trattoria Athena, a new Greek restaurant in Brunswick. I highly recommend the gyros and catching up with old friends. Years ago we used to get together weekly for playgroup. Our sons have remained close friends, but we had drifted apart lately. We laughed over how much busier we are driving our teenagers to activities now than when they were toddlers.

Not only am I a soccer mom, I’m a Shakespeare mom. My daughter plays center forward and on weekends Shakespeare takes center stage in her acting class. My son quit soccer to play evil Antonio in The Tempest, with rehearsals every day after school and tech work on weekends. I drive miles for the Bard. Luckily, my young adult novel “as u like it” is about teen actors and Shakespeare so I’ve been observing rehearsal and acting classes, getting double credit for parenting and work.

On the road I rake up inspiration for my novels. It’s hard to know where to draw the line between art and life. Am I writing about teen actors who love Shakespeare because of my kids or do my kids love Shakespeare and acting because I’m writing about it? I like to think that my young adult novel could plant the passion for Shakespeare. It keeps me going…mile after mile after mile.

Photos: back step, front yard maple, backyard maples, view from Bradbury Mountain in Pownell

Shakespeare Watch:


Helen Mirren is playing Prospero in a Miramax production of The Tempest! It looks absolutely amazing (movie release date: 12/10/10.) At my son's school, a talented girl was also cast in the lead role of Prospero. The character is actually more believable with the gender switch.

I'm always on the look out for Shakespeare themed novels. Don't you love the cover of this one?

Illyria by Elizabeth Hand takes Twelfth Night as an inspiration for an illicit love story between cousins who discover the joy of theater. Although Illyria was published (2010) as young adult fiction in the USA, the topic of incest, the 1970’s setting and the literary style make it better suited to an adult audience, in my opinion.

Hand is a Maine author, but Illyria was first published in the UK in 2007. Thank you, Beth Kephart, for the recommendation. No free products were received.

before i fall by Lauren Oliver (mother-daughter review)

Reviewers' Disclaimer: novel purchased at Nantucket Bookworks.

Usually if I don’t like a book, I quit, but I’m glad my daughter convinced me to keep reading "before i fall" by Lauren Oliver. Despite the unlikable characters, the story is meaningful and thought provoking. Oliver’s debut novel captures American high school at its ordinary worst.

Here’s the premise: a popular senior dies in a drunk driving accident. Sam wakes up the next morning to the same day. Given the chance to redo, what would she do differently? In this self-proclaimed homage to the 1993 movie Groundhog Day (video clip below), Oliver replays that fatal day six more times in variations. The problem is we are stuck in the head of a conventional teenaged girl instead of the hilarious Bill Murray.

This observation on popularity made me stop reading on page 18 of "before i fall:"

“So now I have first pick of everything. So what. That’s the way it is. Nobody ever said life was fair.”

Sam cheats on quizzes, dates a popular jerk, flirts with her teacher, goes to drunken parties and ridicules losers. She’s in a clique with three popular girls, who rule their suburban public high school with sassy entitlement. If this sounds familiar, it’s meant to be.

The novel gets much better on day three when Sam realizes that she has to change. This is when the Clique/Gossip Girl world is flipped upside down. The story avoids sounding preachy because Sam acts like a real teenager. Slowly, a code of morality evolves through trial and error mixed with introspection. Despite focusing on death, this amusing book is about living.

Oliver’s frequently philosophical reflections are delivered in a true teen voice:

Sam’s heart-throb boyfriend: “It’s like the idea of him is better than the him of him.”

"I’m popular - really popular - but I don’t have that many friends.”

On sophomores: “Lindsay calls them s’mores because they always stuck together and more than two will get you sick.”

“I’m dead, but I can’t stop living.”

After the first two chapters, "before i fall" is a book you can’t stop reading. Then it will make you think.

Groundhog Day Trailer (one of our favorite movies)

My 13-year-old daughter’s book review:

I picked up "before i fall" on a rainy day on Nantucket Island just after my mom told me about it. True, she didn’t seem very convinced, but that was just part of why I picked it, to see what it was really like.

Oliver narrates this book from a very believable voice. Sam has flashbacks to being a loner in middle school before she got popular. This perspective allows her to understand the loners in high school. I was worried the book would be repetitive, but it surprisingly wasn’t. It was interesting to see how the same day could go in so many different directions and still go back to the beginning by morning time.

"before i fall" was somewhat addicting and a very funny, pleasurable book. My only criticism would be the characters, most of which were not very likeable, although I did love Izzy and Kent. Unlike my mom, I never considered quitting a quarter way through, and despite my mixed feelings, this book was well worth reading.

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@Barrie Summy

Book Blog Watch: Check out a new book blog, The Contemps, posted by a collaboration of authors who write realistic contemporary fiction for teens. Congratulations to Beth Kephart for selling her thirteenth book to Egmont.

Cake Calamities and Clematis

When I hadn’t posted my blog all day, my dad emailed and my husband came home early from work. They feared the worst. I was baking my famous sponge cake. Honestly, it was not my fault this time. In a World Cup Soccer moment, my twenty-year-old cake mixer took a dive when the ref wasn’t watching.

I dropped my book (okay, maybe I shouldn’t have been reading) and raced the dog to the batter that had splattered on the floor. “If you want to bake a cake, you have to break some eggs.” In my case, two batches. My apologies to the neighbors, who may have passed by the screen door. I don’t usually swear like a fish wife.

The birthday girl poked her head in to ask, "Is it safe?"  No glass shards this time. I am now the mother of two teenagers. The older one is canoeing for 7 weeks in the wilderness so the more recently minted teen is an only child this month. As much as I’m missing my son, I’m really enjoying the one-on-one time with my daughter.

I’m sure many parents would disagree, but teenagers are more fun than younger children. It’s the age of both reflection and impulsive choices, of maturing into a unique person. I love the intense discussions and even the questioning. You don’t get unconditional love; you have to earn it.

Although it was her birthday, my 13-year-old daughter gave me a wonderful gift. She first said people over 35 can’t be cool, but then she made a few exceptions. According to her I’m a “cool mom.” The reason is “I don’t try.”


Our cool day in Brunswick, Maine:

• Hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon twists at The Wheelhouse Café
• Run into 2 neighbors who don’t recognize my grown up daughter
• Buy novels at Gulf of Maine Books and pick up free Mockingjay tattoos
• Try on high-heeled, pointy-toed shoes at Wyler Gallery
• Meet Dad for lunch too at Wild Oats Bakery and Café
• Sink into a comfy sofa to watch Letters to Juliet at Eveningstar Cinema (trailer below)
• Read the ARC of The Ruby Notebook by Laura Resau (review coming in September)
• And a weekend birthday party with friends to see the movie Eclipse

Romance in Tuscany with a Shakespeare theme. What’s not to love?

As for the images, they are of our clematis that usually peaks on my daughter’s birthday, but this year was 2 weeks early. Every year the roots grow deeper, the vine climbs higher and the blooms are more exuberant. Just like my beautiful daughter.

What else is blooming in my garden: late lupines, hydrangea, lilies, pansies, lobelia and yummy Early Bird and Cherry Tomatoes. For more Garden Blogger Bloom Day posts go to May Dreams Garden. I’ll come visit tomorrow while my daughter is at her first paid babysitting job. Don’t blink. They grow up fast.

Creative Insomnia

Sometimes my characters wake me with their chatter. My job is to listen to those voices, only they don’t keep normal hours. I stow index cards and a pen in the bathroom so as not to wake my husband. Henry sighs in the morning when he finds my nocturnal scribblings. Many of my author, artist and composer friends share this affliction or blessing, depending on your point of view. The problem is you can’t control when inspiration will hit.

During the day, I always have a notebook in my bag. Snippets of conversation are game, so is the way a storm dropped snow mushrooms in a brook (thanks, Alida, for showing them to me.) I collect laughter and sorrow. I have a hard time answering the question: “How many hours a week do you work?”

I do try to keep normal hours and write while the kids are at school. I’m there for them when they come in the door and need to talk. Once they start homework, I catch up on email and blog comments. I read other people’s novels in the evenings. I try to get my story out of my mind so that I can sleep.

Still, sometimes my best writing comes from those crazy nights. This happens more frequently during revision. I need extra time to see the entire manuscript as a whole. The adrenaline flows, and I can visualize every word. I get into a zone, and I won’t stop until I finish the draft. I love writing and revision, but it is my vice.

On my desk is the perfect first chapter. At least it’s perfect until it’s time to revise again. In the mean time, I’m catching up on sleep. Perfection can only be a dream.


Groundhog Day (1993) with Bill Murray is not about writing a novel, but it captures the process.

For those of you suffering from a more debilitating form of insomnia, I recommend Insomniac by Gayle Greene. It’s a layman’s review of the disease and its treatments (there is no known cure) as well as a memoir of a woman’s struggle to live with chronic insomnia. Gayle interviewed doctors, researchers and insomniacs. She presents the complex information in a format that is both easy to understand and engaging to read. Insomniac was a New York Times "Editors' Choice" when it was released in paperback last summer. Gayle and I share an agent, which makes us agent sisters (according to Barrie Summy.)

Gayle's list of insomniac writers includes: Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Lamott, Vladimir Nabokov, Charles Dickens, "maybe even Shakespeare" and Joyce Carol Oats, who provided the jacket blurb: "Impassioned and fascinating."

The book opens with this W.C. Fields quotation: "The cure for insomnia? Get plenty of sleep."

Blog watch: dovegreyreader scribbles and 3 other UK book bloggers are hosting Not the TV Book Group with online discussion of selected novels. Cynthia@Catching Days is posting a series on “reading like a writer.” A fun new blog, Books in the City, lives up to its name. She Brews Good Ale cooks good food too: a multi course meal prepared entirely from local ingredients and paired with locally brewed beer, recipes included. sixtyfivewhatnow posted artsy rainy day photos.

Theater watch: excellent New York Times review of As You Like It, playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music through March 13 and directed by Sam Mendes. I just figured out what I want for my birthday.

My Photos: sunset at Bailey Island, dawn from our back door, "snow mushrooms" in the woods behind our house, our mudroom entrance.