Newsroom and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist

Earlier this week I saw Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.

I've heard folks say that the genre of romantic comedy is dead, because the relationships between men and women are no fraught that's it's hard to find humor.  I thought this romantic comedy was charming and I wonder if that fact that the couple is still in high school makes it easier to believe.  Of course, all the action in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist takes place in 24 hours!

I saw Newsroom for the first time this week (the first season is out on DVD, and it stars Emily Mortimer and and I thought that the acting was fantastically good at times.  The premise, of course, is absurd.  But, it's a feel-good romp - another romantic comedy.  And the act of viewing a fictional universe where people talk about doing things well simply because they can is deeply wish fulfilling.  

Liverpool Fantasy by Larry Kirwin

Larry Kirwan must be a very interesting man; he's written a very interesting book.

Mr. Kirwan is the leader of a New York Irish-American band called Black 47; he was born in Wexford.  Their records are available on Amazon.com.  He's also the host of a radio show called Celtic Crush.

Liverpool Fantasy is alternative history of the Beatles, and of Britain, one in which John Lennon has a disagreement with George Martin and stomps out of a recording session in 1963 (or 1962?  can't keep those dates from the dawn of time straight).  George and Ringo follow him out; Brian Epstein continues to manage Paul McCartney's career, taking him to America where he becomes Paul Montana, king of the Vegas showrooms.

In Larry's alternative reality, Lennon is threatened by the National Front, a paramilitary fascist organization that is part of a Tory coalition government. Lennon's son, Julian, is an "up and coming" captain in this organization.

This is a dystopian novel, and the fictional characters Kirwan has created are quite different in some ways than their real-life counterparts.  The fictional Lennon is a kind of cartoon character, a kind of caricature.

As a writer, Kirwan endlessly displays his fandom knowledge; he does have a tendency to place lyric fragments in characters' mouths, and that is a fictional practice of which I disapprove.  In my experience, our speech is very much influenced by what we read and hear, but no one I've ever met talks like this.  It's all a display of cleverness:  the concept, the execution, the expert fandom; to put lyric fragments in characters' mouths is inconsistent with the rest of the piece, distracting, and analagous to breaking the fourth wall: it reminds that you are consuming a piece of fiction instead of allowing you to experience the world of the novel.

I was amazed that Kirwan managed to incorporate a reference to Mr. Acker Bilk into his novel; I found myself wondering at times if I, playing along at home, should be assigning bonus points for the most obscure references.  If I thought of something that Mr. Kirwan didn't, should I award points to myself?

Kirwan is also a writer who surrounds his dialogue with a great deal of stage direction.  This reminds me of my friend who dismissed Faithful Place, saying, "Too many words!"  It's a cliche, but true:  there is much to be said for economy.

Nevertheless, I admire Kirwin for his daring and passion in reimagining such famous lives.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I loved the twist in this novel.  The premise seems "ripped from the headlines," and with the familiarity of the story comes a some certainty about the ending.

I expected a series of revelations.  I did not expect the big twist more than halfway through the book, which I found delightful in part because so unexpected.

The tone of the novel begins to shift at that point and I wonder if other readers begin to feel that the end of the novel doesn't quite match the beginning.

I was part of a book group that discussed this book, and I was very surprised that the group seemed a) not to like the book; b) think the author had some serious psychological problems; and c) not be interested in considering what the story has to say about marriage or about the way that our perception of the world is shaped by our experience of TV and movies and of the news (which is, in turn, shaped by TV and movies).

I knew from reading an interview with the author online that she consciously sought to use the suspense story as a vehicle for talking about marriage, and for blending the genre of suspense and women's fiction.  That made me think that it was a legitimate topic for discussion but it didn't interest any one else there.

Nevertheless, I have to admire this book for the twist!

The Light Between Two Oceans by M.L. Stedman

This book is currently on the NYT bestseller list; I read it for a book group.

Stedman is an Australian who's lived in Britain for some years (I honestly can't remember how many); this is her debut novel and there was a bidding war among British publishers for it.

I see this book as Anna Karenina meets the two entrepreneurs of Solomon.  I have not read Anna Karenina for many years, but I recall it as an psychological exploration and explanation of how a married woman could come to break her marriage vows by someone who viewed that as clearly wrong and almost inexplicable.  This novel also examines how a great crime came to be committed by people who were otherwise normal and law-abiding (albeit living under great stress).   It's also a portrait of loss, as there are many losses and bereavements in the novel.

A WWI vet, deeply troubled by his wartime experience as well as the breakdown of his parents' marriage, welcomes a posting to man the lighthouse at Janus Rock, a several hour boatride from the nearest southwestern Australia town.

The two oceans referred to are the Indian Ocean, along Australia's western shore, and the Southern Ocean, the body of water between Australia and Antarctica.  The place where the two oceans meet at the southwest corner of Australia is a place of strong, treacherous currents.

In town, before his posting, the vet meets a lively and attractive young woman.  Having lost both her brothers to the war, she not only is immediately attracted to the lighthouse keeper but feels that her life has shown her the importance of not wasting any time.

She pursues him, they marry, and she goes to live with him on Janus Rock.  After several painful miscarriages, a baby in a boat washes ashore and the wife insists that she and her husband keep the child and pass it off as their own rather than report the event to the authorities, as is customary and required.

With grave misgivings, her husband, who not only loves her but credits her with saving him after the emotional numbness he felt after the war, agrees.  As the years pass, guilt gnaws at him.

The child's mother leaves in the same town from which the lighthouse receives its supplies, and it's perhaps obvious that it's just a matter of time until the lighthouse keeper meets the mother of his adopted child and is confronted with her loss and suffering.

This book is beautifully written.  I disliked that the author sometimes told the reader something that I hope could be inferred, such as that it was easy, in the isolation of life at the lightouse, to imagine that there would no harm caused by keeping the baby.

In the opening of the novel, the author describes the founding of the town near Janus Rock, as if that town's history, too, were part of the story of this baby and all the people who loved her.