The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

My book club chose The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin as its April selection. Bibliophile that I am, I absolutely loved this novel about a curmudgeonly proprietor of a bookstore located on a remote island in New England. A.J Fikry is a literary snob who doesn't really like people and he has a lot on his mind. His wife was recently killed in a tragic car accident, his bookstore has fewer and fewer customers every month, and his priceless first edition of Tamerlane by Edgar Allan Poe has been stolen. Books are the only consolation in his life despite the well-meaning intentions of his sister-in-law, the police chief, and an eccentric sales rep from a publishing house. Suddenly, Fikry's life is turned upside down when a young woman abandons her toddler in his bookstore (because she thinks it will be a safe place for the child to grow up). This novel is a funny and tender exploration of how life can change in an instant and how books can bring people together.  It spans a decade in A.J. Fikry's life and every chapter begins with a reference to one of his favorite short stories, such as "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl (which I teach to my sophomores), "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, among others. I think I must be as much of a literary snob as Fikry because I took great pleasure in the fact that I understood each of his references and the significance of each of them in his life.  Figuring out each reference is half the fun of the novel! Even though Fikry is as irascible as can be, he is such a sympathetic character.  I loved the fact that he judged people based on their favorite book and I loved that he organized book clubs for people (whether they like to read or not). This is a book for book lovers and I highly recommend it.

Note:  It is especially appropriate for book clubs!

Hot Rods

Yesterday I spent the afternoon watching Sean play baseball.  It was a perfect day for baseball because the sun was shining but it wasn't too hot.  It felt so nice to be sitting outside on the bleachers watching my adorable nephew.  This year his team is called the Hot Rods and they played really well.  There has been a lot of improvement since last year.

Sean got a run!  It was so fun to watch him cross home plate!  He also got to play third base and was involved in a great play resulting in an out!  The Hot Rods ended up winning 9-5!

Apparently our cheering was too embarrassing so we got "the look."

I sure do love this kid!

Note:  I find little league baseball to be highly amusing!  The Dad of the opposing pitcher was sitting behind us and he kept up a steady barrage of instructions for his son.  I really wanted to turn around and tell him to just let the poor kid play!  I'm sure he would play much better without all of the pressure!

The Water Diviner

When I was fourteen, my bedroom was in the basement just off the family room where the TV was located.  I have always had a difficult time going to sleep so I would often sneak into the family room late at night to watch movies on cable.  One night an obscure Australian film called Gallipoli was on HBO.  It stars a very young Mel Gibson just on the cusp of stardom and I was immediately enthralled by the story of two mates caught up in the excitement of running off to war only to find themselves in the middle of a futile battle with Turkey over the Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I.  In my opinion, it is director Peter Weir's masterpiece.  I watched it every time it was shown on HBO (usually late at night) and I eventually had a friend who worked at Blockbuster Video special order a copy for me.  Fourteen is a rather impressionable age, I grant you, but no movie has ever been able to equal the emotional impact that Gallipoli had on me then or continues to have on me today.  I have yet to watch it without crying in certain scenes nor can I listen to Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor (used in a pivotal scene) without tearing up.  When I saw a preview for The Water Diviner, I knew immediately that I would have to see it (which I did last night) because it deals with the same subject matter.  While Gallipoli culminates in a dramatic scene from the battle, The Water Diviner begins in the trenches and depicts the aftermath.  Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) is an Australian water diviner who to travels to Turkey four years after World War I to reclaim the bodies of his three sons who were killed at Gallipoli.  While in Turkey, he meets with much resistance from the British but is ultimately aided by a Turkish officer named Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan).  Crowe, in his directorial debut, definitely takes great pains to emphasize that the Turks had just as many casualties as the ANZAC forces and the anti-war theme really resonated with me.  I found the battle scenes, shown as flashbacks, to be incredibly affecting.  However, I didn't particularly like Connor's romance with a Turkish woman (Olga Kurylenko) or his adventures through Istanbul with her son (Dylan Georgiades).  To me, this entirely superfluous storyline lessened the impact; a father looking for the bodies of his lost sons in a country still ravaged by war is compelling enough without adding familiar plot devices meant to appeal to a wider audience.  The Water Diviner is a good movie but it isn't great (although it could have been).  For true greatness, try to find a copy of Gallipoli.

Ex Machina

Yesterday was cold, rainy, and gloomy.  I can think of no better way to occupy a day like that than by seeing an atmospheric science fiction film at the Broadway, my favorite art house theatre.  This film is outstanding.  Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a computer programmer, is picked to spend a week with Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the reclusive CEO of the company Caleb works for, at his high-tech compound in the mountains (a key card is required to access various rooms in the facility).  Nathan wants him to administer a Turing test to Ava (Alicia Vikander), an alluring humanoid artificial intelligence which he created, to see if she has consciousness.  As Caleb interacts with Ava, he becomes more and more attached to her and fears for her ultimate fate.  There is an incredible amount of suspense and tension as these three characters move to a final resolution which is not what I was expecting. The script is incredibly intelligent without being too scientific.  To be sure, the big ideas involving the ramifications of artificial intelligence are explored (What does it mean to be alive?) but, ultimately, this movie is a thriller about three people, whose motives are all suspect, interacting in an enclosed space.  It is ominous, to say the least, with every scene leaving me more and more unsettled because I was never sure what would happen next and I was never sure who was manipulating whom.  The tension is heightened by the dramatic score by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow (from Portishead).  The juxtaposition between the expansive surrounding scenery (it was filmed in Norway) and the creepy interior of Nathan's hideaway highlights the claustrophobia.  All three actors give highly nuanced performances, especially Vikander as Ava.  Definitely see this smart and sophisticated psychological thriller.

Crumb and the Pirates

Yesterday Tashena performed at the Capitol Theatre with Children's Dance Theatre (CDT) in their production of Crumb and the Pirates.  I really love that Tashena performs on the same stage as prima ballerinas and Broadway stars!  My entire family went to support her (as we do every year).  While I really enjoy watching Tashena play sports, I especially love watching her perform on stage!  She is such a beautiful dancer and I think she expresses everything she feels through dance.  Tashena was on the CDT Dancers' Council this year so she got to perform in an extra dance called "Silver."  It was very beautiful with original music composed specifically for it by Wachira Waigwa-Stone.  Crumb and the Pirates tells the story of a fishing village in Napoli.  After being caught in a terrible storm, many fishermen from the village are presumed dead.  A young boy named Crumb thinks that his father, one of the missing fishermen, is still alive and decides to borrow a boat and look for him.  As he is fishing, he feels a tug on his pole so he reels in his line only to discover that he has brought a sunken pirate ship, with a group of prisoners in the hold, to the surface.  Captain Rafael the Red decides to follow Crumb back to Napoli and the pirates wreak havoc on the village.  When Rafael decides to marry his mother, Marie, Crumb comes up with a plan to banish the pirates back to the sea but not before discovering the mystery in the ship's hold!  I really enjoyed this story and all of the dances, especially the pirates, the prisoners, and the little girls who portrayed seagulls!  Tashena's dance was "Fog" which was very mysterious and atmospheric.  The dancers wore gray tunics and they moved in and out of actual fog on the stage.  The dancers seemed to disappear at times!  A lot of the choreography involved rolling and tumbling across the stage which I thought was very effective at simulating how fog moves.  Tashena was amazing!  I always get a tear in my eye watching her!

Crumb and the Pirates will be performed once again at the Sandy Amphitheater on June 23 (a free concert) and at the Utah Arts Festival on June 27.  Come see my beautiful and talented niece perform!

Note:  CDT is the performing arm of the Tanner Dance Program at the University of Utah.  Go here for more information.