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Oct. 4th, 2020
Julie Otsuka "The Buddha in the Attic" (Anchor)
Otsuka's beautifully written, heart-wrenching novel is written as a first-person everywoman memoir of Japanese mail-order "picture brides" brought to San Francisco in the early twentieth century to work alongside their labouring husbands. For most, it was a joyless life of hard labour and disappointment. Otsuka follows them up until World War II when their lives or the lives of their children and grandchildren were disrupted with sudden removal to internment camps for the duration of the war:
"There were six brothers from a strawberry ranch in Dominguez who left wearing cowboy boots so they wouldn't get bitten by snakes. . . . There were children who left thinking they were going camping. There were children who left thinking they were going hiking, or to the circus, or swimming for the day at the beach. There was a boy on roller skates who did not care where it was he was going as long as there were paved streets." The final chapter is written in the first person of someone who watched her Japanese neighbours herded away: "We began to receive reports of lights left on in some of the Japanese houses, and animals in distress. A listless canary glimpsed through the Fujimoto's' front window. Dying koi in a pond over at the Yamaguchi'. And everywhere the dogs. . . . Last loads of laundry still cling to the line. In one of their kitchens---Emi Saito's---a black telephone rings and rings. . . . Morning glories begin to grow wild in their gardens. . . . A lemon tree is dug up over at the Sawada's'. Locks are jimmied off of front and back doors. Cars are stripped." Otsuka has begun with stories of hardship and dashed hope and ends with quiet, emotion-charged intimate details of one of America's most shameful episodes.
A difficult and painful read.
Otsuka's beautifully written, heart-wrenching novel is written as a first-person everywoman memoir of Japanese mail-order "picture brides" brought to San Francisco in the early twentieth century to work alongside their labouring husbands. For most, it was a joyless life of hard labour and disappointment. Otsuka follows them up until World War II when their lives or the lives of their children and grandchildren were disrupted with sudden removal to internment camps for the duration of the war:
"There were six brothers from a strawberry ranch in Dominguez who left wearing cowboy boots so they wouldn't get bitten by snakes. . . . There were children who left thinking they were going camping. There were children who left thinking they were going hiking, or to the circus, or swimming for the day at the beach. There was a boy on roller skates who did not care where it was he was going as long as there were paved streets." The final chapter is written in the first person of someone who watched her Japanese neighbours herded away: "We began to receive reports of lights left on in some of the Japanese houses, and animals in distress. A listless canary glimpsed through the Fujimoto's' front window. Dying koi in a pond over at the Yamaguchi'. And everywhere the dogs. . . . Last loads of laundry still cling to the line. In one of their kitchens---Emi Saito's---a black telephone rings and rings. . . . Morning glories begin to grow wild in their gardens. . . . A lemon tree is dug up over at the Sawada's'. Locks are jimmied off of front and back doors. Cars are stripped." Otsuka has begun with stories of hardship and dashed hope and ends with quiet, emotion-charged intimate details of one of America's most shameful episodes.
A difficult and painful read.
Jacob Gurevitsch - Lovers in Paris
Oct. 4th, 2020 09:02 amArtist : Jacob Gurevitsch
Title : Lovers In Paris
Title : Lovers In Paris
PHILIPPE SARDE - Les choses de la vie
Oct. 4th, 2020 09:06 amLes Choses de la vie est un film français réalisé par Claude Sautet avec les deux acteurs français inoubliables and merveilleux: MICHEL PICCOLI, ROMY SCHNEIDER.
Il s'agit d'une adaptation du roman homonyme 'Les Choses de la vie' de Paul Guimard datant de 1967.
Il s'agit d'une adaptation du roman homonyme 'Les Choses de la vie' de Paul Guimard datant de 1967.
Sleepy Sunday
Oct. 4th, 2020 09:09 pmWell, that was a nice evening siesta I just had.
Today I popped over to Sittingbourne to do another supermarket covert shop. I was going to do it yesterday but afterward decided to head home from town to pick up my mail as I was flagged that my Shirley Collins CD had arrived.
Anyway, the weather was against me today. It was drizzling rain for most of the day. Also, this supermarket is not close to a bus route so it involved a good fifteen minutes of walking.
I then had a quick pint of ale in the Golden Hope pub before getting the 333 bus back to Ospringe.
When I arrived home I played the final disc of the 4 CD set of Siegfried, opera two of the Ring Cycle by Wagner. This is where our hero, Siegfried, after killing off the dragon, Fafner, awakens the sleeping Valkyrie Brunnhilde to which they fall madly in love declaring their eternal love for each other.
Wagner / Siegfried / Act 3 Finale
I then listened to some John Cage "Indeterminancy" and after fell asleep.
Today I popped over to Sittingbourne to do another supermarket covert shop. I was going to do it yesterday but afterward decided to head home from town to pick up my mail as I was flagged that my Shirley Collins CD had arrived.
Anyway, the weather was against me today. It was drizzling rain for most of the day. Also, this supermarket is not close to a bus route so it involved a good fifteen minutes of walking.
I then had a quick pint of ale in the Golden Hope pub before getting the 333 bus back to Ospringe.
When I arrived home I played the final disc of the 4 CD set of Siegfried, opera two of the Ring Cycle by Wagner. This is where our hero, Siegfried, after killing off the dragon, Fafner, awakens the sleeping Valkyrie Brunnhilde to which they fall madly in love declaring their eternal love for each other.
Wagner / Siegfried / Act 3 Finale
I then listened to some John Cage "Indeterminancy" and after fell asleep.
Folk Sunday Selection
Oct. 4th, 2020 09:36 pmMusic for a slouching Sunday -
Shirley Collins - Locked In Ice
Lisa Knapp - Shipping Song
Lisa Knapp - Till April is Dead
Richard Dawson - Prostitute
Enjoy
Shirley Collins - Locked In Ice
Lisa Knapp - Shipping Song
Lisa Knapp - Till April is Dead
Richard Dawson - Prostitute
Enjoy
Just Wondering
Oct. 4th, 2020 10:43 pmDo you tend to eat soup more for lunch or for dinner?
Do you tend to hold onto something for years, then toss it only to find you need it suddenly? What was it?
How often do you get bored and what do you to alleviate it?
Do you tend to hold onto something for years, then toss it only to find you need it suddenly? What was it?
How often do you get bored and what do you to alleviate it?
Paul Auster "The Music Of Chance" (Faber & Faber)
An intriguing story about resilience and endeavour.
The principal character is Jim Nashe, a Boston firefighter who unexpectedly inherits a minor fortune from his hitherto absent father. After making provision for his young daughter Juliette, who is being brought up by his sister, Jim leaves his job and decides to go driving around the country, with no particular plan or itinerary in mind. He has several one nights stands on the way, and even starts an "occasional" relationship with a former acquaintance whom he meets by chance in a bookstore.
Then, after several months, he chances up Jack Pozzi (known as "Jackpot") who is virtually crawling up the road after a brutal beating. Jim picks him up and is fascinated by his story. It turns out that Jack is a wannabe professional poker player who is hoping to participate in a game with two bizarre multi-millionaires. As the reader has always known he would, Jim offers to stake Jack in the game.
The description of the game is brisk and avoids any technicalities (which is fortunate as they would have meant nothing whatsoever to me), but keeps the reader's attention at full tension. And that is when the fun starts!
There is always a great economy about Auster's writing, with no hint of frill or embellishment (- as you have probably guessed I was trying to avoid the obvious pun of "austerity", though that is perhaps "le mot juste"), and this novel shows no departure from that. As usual, at the most basic level the events depicted are scarcely credible. However, as one reads it one's disbelief is entirely suspended, and the book is utterly beguiling and engrossing - I virtually read it in a single sitting.
An intriguing story about resilience and endeavour.
The principal character is Jim Nashe, a Boston firefighter who unexpectedly inherits a minor fortune from his hitherto absent father. After making provision for his young daughter Juliette, who is being brought up by his sister, Jim leaves his job and decides to go driving around the country, with no particular plan or itinerary in mind. He has several one nights stands on the way, and even starts an "occasional" relationship with a former acquaintance whom he meets by chance in a bookstore.
Then, after several months, he chances up Jack Pozzi (known as "Jackpot") who is virtually crawling up the road after a brutal beating. Jim picks him up and is fascinated by his story. It turns out that Jack is a wannabe professional poker player who is hoping to participate in a game with two bizarre multi-millionaires. As the reader has always known he would, Jim offers to stake Jack in the game.
The description of the game is brisk and avoids any technicalities (which is fortunate as they would have meant nothing whatsoever to me), but keeps the reader's attention at full tension. And that is when the fun starts!
There is always a great economy about Auster's writing, with no hint of frill or embellishment (- as you have probably guessed I was trying to avoid the obvious pun of "austerity", though that is perhaps "le mot juste"), and this novel shows no departure from that. As usual, at the most basic level the events depicted are scarcely credible. However, as one reads it one's disbelief is entirely suspended, and the book is utterly beguiling and engrossing - I virtually read it in a single sitting.
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