Reading Re-Cap: 2024

For this 8th iteration, I had to make some adjustments to the headings I've used since the inception of this series in 2018. First off, no novel I finished this past year that is worth recommending felt like a good fit with the word casual.  And because each of the seven novels I'd previously recommended to casual readers were so uniformly excellent, I chose not to cheapen the heading this year with something not worth the time. I look forward to returning to it next December.     

This year also has the first-ever * attached to novel most likely to be recommended to discerning readers and - as you'll see below - I cited the same title for two headings - most intriguing and most personally useful. In earlier years each of those headings had their own book. All that aside, ignore my headings if you wish when you offer your own 2024 reading re-cap. I've been pleased when readers of my blog have sought out books from either my re-caps or titles offered by others as a comment on this post in years past. 

Novel* most likely to be recommended to discerning readers: James - Percival Everett (2024)  

Reflections From The Bell Curve: James  

I attached that asterisk because after finishing Claire Keegan's Foster a few weeks back, I thought that book would inch past James for this heading this year. But technically, Foster is a novella. Do yourself a favor, discerning readers; read both, soon. 

Novel and non-fiction that most deepened my experience of living: Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - James McBride (2023); The Splendid and the Vile - Erik Larson (2020)

Most worthwhile re-read: The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

Most intriguing AND Most personally useful: You're Not Listening - Kate Murphy (2019)

As always, I reserve the right to make an adjustment to this re-cap if anything I finish over the next twelve days surpasses any of the titles above for their respective headings. Given TC Boyle, Elizabeth Strout, and Colson Whitehead are among the authors in my current queue, don't take any bets on this being the final final word. Most of all, I look forward to hearing your re-cap. Bookworms unite!  

A Friendship Nourished by Music

Aside from those in your family of origin, which relationship in your life has the oldest roots? What has helped to nourish those roots? 

Bob and I started kindergarten together in 1954. We remained schoolmates and on/off friends through grammar school and junior high. Beginning in 1964, when he drafted me to learn drums to complete the band he'd started, we were virtually inseparable until graduation from Irvington High in 1967.

In our sophomore year of college - me at Newark State, him at Seton Hall - I turned the musical draft around, asking him to round out a group I'd formed as a freshman. The three-part harmony he heard in my trio sealed the deal; we were joined at the musical hip again until spring of senior year, 1971.  

Although each of us knew what the other was up to, young adult life separated us until the mid-80s. In an odd coincidence, it turned out we'd each bought homes less than a mile from one another. After we discovered the proximity, our musical bond helped re-ignite our dormant friendship. We began following a smoking ten-piece band for years. Next: Starting our own families - quite a bit later than most of our peers - and a longer break, except for holiday cards.   

The final movement in this lifelong symphony began over ten years ago, soon after I stopped working full time. Thank you, Facebook. For the last few years, our distance from each other has made regular face-to-face contact more challenging. But not long after having lunch together last month, it dawned on me that my relationship with Bob had now entered its eighth decade. Those long periods without contact apparently did little damage to our strong and enduring roots, which have been continually nourished by the most ancient of the arts, music.   

Making the Effort

I'm comfortable asserting that there are few things guaranteed to make a more positive impression than folks who remember our name after meeting us just one time. Ever stopped to consider why such a simple thing as hearing someone you hardly know use your name has such an outsized impact on you? 

Spending lots of time with my new grandson these last weeks has fortified my resolve to continue being that person who works diligently at remembering names. How many times in our early lives do we hear our names said by the people caring for us? Take a moment and think about the imprint our names make on each of us during infancy. Then think about the way you feel when someone new to you uses your name. 

Nourishment, sleep, and touch help us thrive. I'm currently re-experiencing how critical each of these elements are in a new life. I submit that hearing our name satisfies another primal need in all of us, for all our lives. And knowing another person made an effort to remember our name makes that person stand apart from those who don't. 

Reflections From The Bell Curve: That Name Thing

#73: The Mt. Rushmore Series

For this latest iteration in my most prolific series, I'd like to hear nominations for films that - in your view - best portray fraying or highly dysfunctional marriages. Movie junkies should have little trouble offering up four. The rest of you, please weigh in with at least one or two. 

One qualifier: Try to avoid using any film marriage coming apart for the most obvious reason, the death of a child. Because as great as Ordinary People and Manchester by the Sea are, I'd like you to instead try to recall movies that accurately depict the nitty-gritty of married life, i.e., day-to-day life together, flaws and all. My mountain is listed chronologically by release date of film. Construct yours however you wish. 

1.) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966): In my view, Mike Nichols's adaptation of the eponymous Edward Albee play set the standard for this type of movie almost a half-century ago. I've often wondered if the tempestuous real-life marriage of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton helped fuel their explosive performances in this groundbreaking film.  

2.) Another Woman (1988): Woody Allen has explored the fraught terrain of marriage several times over his long and controversial career. For my money, this gem - anchored by an extraordinary Gena Rowlands turn - is the best of the bunch. And in the smarmy husband sweepstakes, few have ever surpassed Ian Holm. 

3.) Revolutionary Road (2008): It took forty-seven years for someone to convert this coruscating Richard Yates novel into a movie. What I appreciated about this brave adaptation was how director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe didn't take sides. Leo De Caprio and Kate Winslet emerge as equally flawed and human in this difficult-to-watch, brilliant film. 

4.) Marriage Story (2019): In order to avoid duplicating directors on my monument, I picked this Noah Baumbach film over its near equal, The Squid and the Whale (2003). Tough choice; both movies are close to perfect. In the end, the later film got enshrined on the strength of the climactic fight scene between Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. The intensity and complete believability of that scene is seared into my memory. 

Reflections From The Bell Curve: Two To Zero (So Far)

p.s. Thanks to my film-loving daughter for suggesting a post like this to me several months ago. In the end, the subject was a perfect fit for Mt. Rushmore. Would be sweet if a few people - especially you, sweetheart - chimed in today.       

Talking to Strangers

Although all the Malcolm Gladwell books I've read previously have enriched me in some way, I suspect Talking to Strangers (2019) will linger with me longest. Which book by this influential contemporary essayist has had a similar impact on you?

Gladwell uses the Sandra Bland tragedy to bookend his persuasive argument that the way we human beings draw conclusions about people we don't know is deeply flawed. His scrupulous deconstruction of the Jerry Sandusky scandal helped me see how hastily I condemned some of the collateral players in that notorious case. A similar aha arrived when Gladwell assisted me to see shades of gray in the infamous Stanford rape case involving Brock Turner and "Emily Doe", who later identified herself as Chanel Miller in her memoir entitled Know My Name.

Reflections From The Bell Curve: Remember Her Name

I'm still more inclined to sympathize with Miller's plight than I am with Turner's damaged reputation. But thanks to Gladwell, the Sandusky & Miller cases, Neville Chamberlain's pacifying of Hitler, and officer Brian Encina's tragic misreading of Sandra Bland's defiance are all filed now in a more nuanced portion of my brain. 

Upon finishing, I frequently ask myself how I benefitted - as a reader, as an aspiring writer, or as a thinker - by spending time with a book. Talking to Strangers spoke to me across all three of those dimensions. What recently finished book landed that way with you? 

    

The Continuing Search for Holden Caulfield

Of all the characters created in 20th century fiction, Holden Caulfield has to be among the most memorable. Holden's unique voice in JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye captured the alienation many of us feel during the awkward years of adolescence.

Catcher in the Rye has remained popular since its publication in 1951. But Salinger would not allow any of his books to be adapted to film, meaning Holden has never been represented on the screen. This film geek has lost count of how many times he's cast Holden in the never-made movie. Although not a good fit ethnically, Sal Mineo has stayed in my mind for this iconic part among actors who came of age in the 50's. Which actor do you see as Holden from the decade in which Catcher in the Rye was published?    

Can't envision an actor from the 50s you say? How about the 60s then? Of late, my wife's vision of Dustin Hoffman has struck me as a better fit than the previous 60s actor I'd pictured. Hoffman is more ethnically accurate than Sal Mineo and, like Mineo, about the right height as I've always imagined Holden. But now it's your turn. How about an actor who came of age in each subsequent decade since Holden's creation? You've still got the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, and now the 20s to work with and yes, before you ask, I've got someone in my mind's eye from each of those decades. But right this moment I'd rather hear from the aspiring casting directors among you. Is your couch ready?  

p.s. I have envisioned a contemporary actor, less ethnic than either Mineo or Hoffman that might be right. One issue with Timothee Chalamet portraying Holden Caulfield is that Timothee is just a little too pretty. But he'll do until someone takes his place in my imagination. Or until one of you suggests an alternative.  

Home Away from Home with a Genius

Our imminent trip to be with my new grandson in L.A. will end up being the longest period my wife and I have spent away from home since our cross-country driving trip in 2000. Although I suspect it will not be the case, should you detect a different vibe across my next several posts, just assume the fabled Southern California mellow has me in its temporary grip. Don't worry; I'll be back to my cranky East Coast self by the time the ball drops to greet 2025. Actually, I think I'm immune to mellow.  

In the meanwhile, my daughter has reserved a pile of books for me through the L.A. library system, my son-in-law's guitar awaits my nimble fingers, my grandson's continuing musical education is ready to be resumed in earnest. Though I plan to avoid excess gushing about this particular two-month-old during the time spent in my home away from home, I offer no guarantees. Consequently, if you decide to tune out my December reflections, I won't take it personally. Just don't expect me to listen to any future crowing you make about your grandchildren. 

In addition, skipping upcoming dispatches from the bell curve means you could miss out on knowing the prodigy's first spoken words, in several languages. And soon after, when I post the first YouTube video of him playing the Chopin etudes, you'll wish you'd been paying closer attention. Just saying. 

Creativity

"Novel associations that are useful."

For me, creativity is a driving force in life. Of all the definitions I've been exposed to, the one in italics above has stuck with me the longest. How do you define this elusive quality? More significantly, how do you express yourself creatively? Since its inception in March 2011, this blog has been both a catalyst for other manifestations of my creativity as well as a critical component all by itself in my creative life. And as with all creative endeavors I've undertaken, some days I'm more satisfied with what I've created here than on others. 

How do any of us evaluate the merits of one creative endeavor vs. another? Over my lifetime, I've many times heard interviewers ask authors, songwriters, artists etc. which of their works was their "favorite". Often the answer given is some variation on "...they're each my 'children' so asking me to name a 'favorite' is unfair..." For those of us on the bell curve who might never be interviewed, why not weigh in right here today and tell me and others: "What is your 'favorite' thing you've created?"  I'm listening and interested.