GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE

by Susan Vreeland



"A professor invites a colleague from the art department to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer -- why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of stories that trace ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in human lives. Vreeland's characters remind us, through their love of the mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts, and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable." (From the back of the Penguin edition.)

Thanks to the Art History Reading Challenge, Johannes Vermeer and I meet again. Girl in Hyacinth Blue would be a perfect book for a reading group. I loved the way the stories followed the painting back in time and the reader is shown glimpses of the various lives it had touched. To compare and contrast those lives and the part the painting played in them would be a remarkable discussion! I thought it was an ingenious way of tying together a series of short stories. It could be my lack of experience in this type of sub-genre, but there is always something that feels unique about the way Vreeland approaches her subjects. This was my second of her books for this challenge, and she is a writer that believe I will continue to explore.

MICHELANGELO AND THE POPE'S CEILING

by Ross King



"[T]he extraordinary story of the four years during which Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Although the artist considered himself a sculptor, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo as a painter. With only scant knowledge of the art of fresco, Michelangelo created figures so beautiful that when they were unveiled in 1512, they stunned the onlookers. Ross King chronicles what went into this monumental project: not only Michelangelo's experiments with the composition of pigment and plaster, but also his ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems, and bitter rivalry with Raphael, who was working on the neighboring Papal Apartments." (From the CD container.)

As much as I love history, I find it difficult to find non-fiction history books that capture and hold my attention. So many of them are so very dry. The problem is exacerbated when the historical topic is not something in which I've had anything beyond a vague curious interest. The ceiling of Sistine Chapel is one of those topics. When I see pictures of it, I'm astounded. Take the pictures away, I forget all about it.

With that confession out of the way, why did I choose Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling? I chose it because I am committed to finishing all of my reading challenges for this year and I had two books left to go for the Art History Reading Challenge. I wanted an audiobook, and the day I went to the library this was the only one that fit the bill. Thank the library gods! What a great book!!

I not only learned more than I ever thought I wanted to know about Michelangelo, his life and his amazing frescoes, but I learned about other prominent artists like Da Vinci, Raphael, and too many others for me to remember all their names, and about familiar classic authors like Erasmus and Machiavelli. I learned about European history generally and Italian history specifically, history of the papacy, more about the Borgias and tons about Pope Julian II. I learned about art and how frescoes and paintings were done. I learned about famous works I immediately looked up on the Internet so I could see them and about amazing pieces that are lost to us forever. And I was so engrossed in the presentation that I often forgot it was non-fiction.

So, I've gone from vaguely curious to scoping out Amazon for Michelangelo's Selected Poems and Letters. If that is not the mark of a wonderful non-fiction book, I don't know what is. Aren't reading challenges great? :-)

How Cool Is This??

For the last three years Peter and I have been reading the various annual editions of The Intellectual Devotional, which we have loved. The various topics are always interesting, but I inevitably look forward to Literature day every week. What would be my 2010 Edition is going to be all about health and wellness. Intriguing, but I think it may get bumped because I found this: The Bibliophile's Devotional: 365 Days of Literary Classics!! I mean seriously. Does it get any better than that? I think not! Yes. I bought it. Score!! It's on my nightstand waiting impatiently for New Year's Day.

WISHFUL DRINKING

by Carrie Fisher



I took one look at the cover and knew I had to read this. Peter and I recently re-watched all the original Star Wars movies, because I turned him on to the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series and we wanted to reacquaint ourselves with some of the lesser known characters. (If you are a Star Wars fan, I highly recommend that series of books. They are wonderful!) Anyway, Princess Leia passed out with her martini glass was too good to pass up. :-)

Wishful Drinking is Carrie Fisher's first memoir. As a Star Wars fan, I guess what I really wanted was a book all about her time making those movies, because like so many other narrow-minded fans I believe that her life began and ended with the Star Wars trilogy. This is not that book, because I'm a dolt and there is much more to Carrie Fisher than silly hairdos, awesome metal bikinis, and dating "scruffy looking nerf-herders". This is about her addiction and mental illness, but it's not your typical "woe-is-me, popular-celebrity-brought-low" memoir. It is written in the self-deprecating, humorous style that has made Carrie Fisher a very popular fiction writer. (Remember Postcards from the Edge?) And she is very, very funny!

The book is short, easy to breeze through, but loaded with detailed anecdotes about her strange life, from her famous parents (Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher) and their various marriages/affairs to Star Wars and becoming a Pez dispenser to her own marriages, accidental overdose, AA meetings, bipolar diagnosis and continuing road to recovery. It is all told in bits and pieces, each section not necessarily having anything to do with the others, and made me smile and giggle even when all I really wanted to know was how cool it was to work with Harrison Ford. (Though she tells a great story about when they filmed the scene in the trash compactor!)

Fisher apparently performs Wishful Drinking as a comedy show, and I could completely envision that as I read. But my brain still lurches wildly whenever I try to picture my idolized Princess Leia with such a potty mouth. And I think it is exactly that kind of type-cast thinking that helped send her *over* that non-fictional edge. In her honor, I promise I will try to separate "Carrie Fisher" from "Princess Leia" in the future, but it won't be easy!

And Then Tonight I Picked Up These . . .

All Art Is Propaganda and Facing Unpleasant Facts, both books of essays by George Orwell. And now I must stop. At least for this week. :-)

New Purchases

Yeah, I'm still at it. Someone's gotta keep the bookstores in business. It might as well be me. :-)


First up, the geek in me had to have Wishful Drinking by Princess Leia . . . I mean, Carrie Fisher. Love the cover!! This is Carrie Fisher's memoir and I'll be suspending all other reading this weekend for it.


Carrie Fisher's book was part of the "Buy One, Get One 50% Off" promotion, so I had to pick a second one from the table. Bummer, huh? :-) I opted for the paperback edition of 2666 by Roberto Bolano. I have no idea when I'll actually get to this but it's one I've been wanting to purchase, so there you go. Excuse provided!


I picked up Marcel Proust's Search for Lost Time: A Reader's Guide to The Remembrance of Things Past by Patrick Alexander because I do plan to finish The Remembrance of Things Past someday. I read Swann's Way back when I first started this blog and enjoyed it quite a bit, but I've been intimidated to continue with the series. This is supposed to be informative and funny, and that's a great combination. I'll take that, thank you!

And last but not least I picked up a little hardcover called The 100 Greatest Poems of All Time because it was only $5.99 and why not, right? We could all use a little more poetry in our lives even if we don't really get it. ;-)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN

by Hisham Matar



"Qaddafi's Libya, 1979. Nine-year-old Suleiman one day sees his father across the square of a busy marketplace. Wasn't he supposed to be away on business yet again? Why is he going into that strange building with the green shutters? Why did he lie?

Suleiman is soon caught up in a world he cannot hope to understand -- where the sound of the telephone ringing becomes a portent of grave danger; where his mother frantically burns his father's cherished books; where a stranger full of sinister questions sits outside in a parked car all day.

In the Country of Men is a stunning depiction of a child confronted with the private fallout of a public nightmare." (From the back of the Dial Press Trade Paperback edition.)

I was originally going to say that my lack of knowledge regarding the politics in Libya dampened my enthusiasm for In the Country of Men, but after thinking on it for a while I decided it actually enhanced the effect of the novel. The story is told from the point of view of a young boy who doesn't understand what is happening or the reasons for it until he is older. My own ignorance put me in a position similar to that of the young Suleiman, which was just as frustrating to me as it was to him.

I didn't love this book, but it made me curious and reflective. There are books that maybe don't rip your heart out and cause you to brood for days, leaping immediately to your list of your life's most impactful reads, but they do make you think twice about complaining about your life. In the Country of Men is one of those.

LLP: 2009 Fourth Quarter Goals

And here we are. The final quarter of the first year of my Lifetime Learning Project. I have been having a ball with this! I may not accomplish some of the exact goals I set out earlier this year, but I have learned so much about myself and my habits that I'm very excited about continuing the Project next year. I have already begun my Annual Goals post so I don't forget some of the things I want to include. You'll have to wait until later for that though. :-)

In the meantime, here are the things I'd like to do over the next three months toward my 2009 Annual Goals:

1) Finish the rest of my Reading Challenges. I only have eight left, and if I can polish those off I'll have completed all twenty challenges I signed up for this year. This is my main goal.

2) Compose an essay on the use of Reading Challenges for personal growth and self-education. Here it is!

3) Finish watching The Teaching Company DVDs for The Art of Reading.

Let's get started!