dual personalities

Tag: Amor Towles

September 28, 2023

Split the planets and make an infidel of Abraham

by chuckofish

Today we remember the great Herman Melville (1819-91) who died on this day. We recommend reading some Moby-Dick–just open the book and start reading. You can’t go wrong.

“It was a black and hooded head; and hanging there in the midst of so intense a calm, it seemed the Sphynx’s in the desert. “Speak, thou vast and venerable head,” muttered Ahab, “which, though ungarnished with a beard, yet here and there lookest hoary with mosses; speak, mighty head, and tell us the secret thing that is in thee. Of all divers, thou hast dived the deepest. That head upon which the upper sun now gleams, has moved amid this world’s foundations. Where unrecorded names and navies rust, and untold hopes and anchors rot; where in her murderous hold this frigate earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the drowned; there, in that awful water-land, there was thy most familiar home. Thou hast been where bell or diver never went; hast slept by many a sailor’s side, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lay them down. Thou saw’st the locked lovers when leaping from their flaming ship; heart to heart they sank beneath the exulting wave; true to each other, when heaven seemed false to them. Thou saw’st the murdered mate when tossed by pirates from the midnight deck; for hours he fell into the deeper midnight of the insatiate maw; and his murderers still sailed on unharmed- while swift lightnings shivered the neighboring ship that would have borne a righteous husband to outstretched, longing arms. O head! thou has seen enough to split the planets and make an infidel of Abraham, and not one syllable is thine!” (p.339)

It might also be time to watch Moby-Dick (1956) starring Gregory Peck as Ahab, since I forgot to watch it on August 1, Melville’s birthday.

A few weeks ago I watched 10 minutes of the William Hurt/Ethan Hawke version but baled because it had already veered from the book. Sorry, not going to waste my time.

Speaking of tyrants, this is a good reminder of when it is necessary to obey God (and defy tyrants).

And while we’re on the subject of the ocean, researchers have completed in-depth underwater archaeological surveys of some of the wreckage from the Battle of Midway in 1942. The wrecks are located more than 16,000 feet below the surface. Learn more here.

By the way, I’m not the only one defending Puritans. This author also accuses critics of “a stunning ignorance of their theology.”

Last night I watched the Amor Towles “Library Talk” sponsored by the Library Speakers Consortium. It was very interesting, as you can imagine. He has a new book coming out next year–huzzah! Here is a list of upcoming LSC events. And here is a picture of Mr. Smith watching Amor Towles:

Who knew he was such an intellectual.

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October 21, 2021

Living in the land of Nod

by chuckofish

Our internet was out for about 36 hours and, boy, did that throw a monkey wrench into my day! Thankfully, I had already written my post for Tuesday, so daughter #1 was able to schedule it for me. But without the internet I was limited in my activities as you can imagine.

I did buckle down and finish reading The Lincoln Highway, which I really enjoyed. (I thought the ending was fine.) For me, the narrative bogged down in the middle and some of the characters annoyed me a little, but on the whole it is a very good read and a welcome look back at life before television, the internet, iPhones, etc took over everyone’s life. The character of Billy, eight years old and an avid reader, is definitely not someone you would meet today–although I’m sure there are exceptions. In fact, it would be a good book for a lot of eight year olds to read (or to have read to them by a parent). They might learn something about “Heroes, Adventurers, and other Intrepid Travelers” who are not included in the Marvel Comic universe. You know, Achilles, Daniel Boone, Julius Caesar, Edmund Dantes, Thomas Edison…

This book will win no prizes, because its lessons are unpopular and old-fashioned, some are even canceled, but it is worth reading and probably re-reading.

I am of the opinion, Professor, that everything of value in this life must be earned. That it should be earned. Because those who are given anything of value without having to earn it are bound to squander it. I believe that one should earn respect. One should earn trust. One should earn the love of a woman, and the right to call oneself a man. And one should also earn the right to hope. At one time I had a wellspring of hope–a wellspring that I had not earned. And not knowing what it was worth, on the day I left my wife and child, I squandered it. So over the last eight and a half years, I have learned to live without hope, just as surely as Cain lived without it once he entered the land of Nod…That is, said Ulysses, until I met this boy.

There is an abundance of references–classical, literary, biblical–throughout the book. If you are like me, and you enjoy that, this book is for you. If you do not know your elbow from a hot rock, never mind.

Here’s an interview with Amor Towles. The first few paragraphs are off-putting–all the talk of bestsellers and falling in love–but you can just read the parts where AT is talking and ignore the insipid interviewer.

In other news, this is a good article about Ben Johnson. You will recall that he is the only Academy Award winner to have also been a Rodeo National Champion. Our mother was always a fan of Ben. I remember clearly her pointing him out to me the first time I saw Shane (1953). He played a cowboy named Chris who comes through in the end and does the right thing.

Reading this article inspired us to watch Junior Bonner (1972) which stars Steve McQueen along with Ben Johnson and Robert Preston.

I have always liked this movie because Steve seems very “real” in it. He has very few lines, but his character comes across in the same way Ben Johnson always does–as the genuine article.

We were able to watch this, because we could still use our DVD player even though our internet was down. Thanks be to God! I also watched several episodes of Miami Vice from season one (1984). This show is not so great as, say, NYPD Blue, but I still really enjoyed watching it. Such a nostalgic trip back to the 1980s! Those clothes and that hair! And Bruce Willis in a breakthrough role… (those pants!)

…Gina and Trudy, when not dressed as undercover prostitutes, wearing dirndl skirts and polo shirts…I looked just like Gina in 1984!

Yes, back when everyone had a waist. And, of course, there’s Don Johnson, the pride of Flat Creek, Missouri…

Give me an amen.

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October 11, 2021

Come ye weary, heavy laden

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? The weather here is still balmy and summery and I have no complaints. Daughter #1 came home on Friday and we had a lovely time sitting outside at Club Taco listening to the musical stylings of Dusty Rhoades. On Saturday we got the OM to drive us to Hillsboro where we hung out at our favorite winery. Lots of people had the same idea and the line for wine was very long and slow, but once we got our bottle and spread out our picnic, we relaxed and enjoyed the musical stylings of Brian Tobin, whose playlist was all our favorite 1970s tunes. Among the others enjoying the beautiful day and rolling hills of Jefferson County was a 60th birthday party, a gathering of overweight ‘witches’ in black pointy hats and suggestive outfits and a group of rainbow-attired Megan Rapinoe lookalikes. Everyone had fun.

Sunday morning we headed to church. Even the OM came along and so did the boy and the wee twins. It made me so happy to be all together, that I’m afraid I cried through all the hymns. C’est la vie.

We sang this hymn which I was unacquainted with and I really like it.

Words: Joseph Hart, 1759; chorus, Walker’s Southern Harmony, 1835
Music: Walker’s Southern Harmony, 1835

The wee twins and their parents came over Sunday night for one more October barbecue. We had more fun. They went on a hunt for my newest estate sale find yard ornament.

The wee laddie also asked me to go dig around a bit for cool stuff (i.e. bugs) and we found this guy, which he identified correctly as a praying mantis.

I was impressed. He pays attention.

Meanwhile I have been reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, which my DP has previously reported is excellent. (I concur.) I also remembered that a year ago when I advised my students at my flyover institute to read A Gentleman in Moscow, one of them emailed me to tell me he had gone to school with Amor’s father, right here in St. Louis at the same school my brother attended. He was, indeed, his best friend.

The world is more than we know.

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September 1, 2018

You’ll find your fortune falling all over the town*

by chuckofish

Well, I tiptoed through the first week of classes without disturbing anyone’s lingering summer reverie. I kept up with my paperwork and even managed to read Amor Towles’ The Rules of Civility, a witty and sometimes sad trip to 1938 Manhatten, in which Katey, our female protagonist, attempts to secure a place among society’s movers and shakers.

1938 Vogue cover

The book was hard to put down, and I hated to see it end. If you want a plot summary, you can read the NYT review , though in my view the article is pretty superficial. Suffice it to say that Towles writes lovingly of his fully realized characters. The Rules of Civility is not the too clever, too knowing depiction of despicable rich people that we have come to expect from modern literature.

Walter Evans photograph

There are no real villains in this book, only imperfect but fundamentally decent people making their way in the world. That some of them are rich and privileged does not prevent them from having character or depth. How refreshing.

Like his second book, A Gentleman in Moscow, Towles’s first novel offers both insight into human nature and plenty of good advice. Take, for example, this passage in which our heroine reminisces about what her father told her as as he lay dying:

“Whatever setbacks he had faced in his life, he said, however daunting or dispiriting the unfolding of events, he always knew that he would make it through, as long as when he woke in the morning he was looking forward to his first cup of coffee. Only decades later would I realize that he had been giving me a piece of advice. Uncompromising purpose and the search for eternal truth have an unquestionable sex appeal for the young and high-minded; but when a person loses the ability to take pleasure in the mundane—in the cigarette on the stoop or the gingersnap in the bath—she has probably put herself in unnecessary danger. What my father was trying to tell me, as he neared the conclusion of his own course, was that this risk should not be treated lightly: One must be prepared to fight for one’s simple pleasures and to defend them against elegance and erudition and all manner of glamorous enticements.”

Yep, it’s those simple pleasures that really make life worth living. Remember that! One also has to love a heroine who reacts this way to her first experience target-shooting (another of life’s simple pleasures!):

“If only someone had told me about the confidence-boosting nature of guns, I’d have been shooting them all my life.”

1937 skeet shooting champion — looks as if she’s been shooting all her life.

And this passage reminded me of another dear Katie…

“Katey’s the hottest bookworm you’ll ever meet. If you took all the books that she’s read and piled them in a stack, you could climb to the Milky Way.”

1930s BLOND WOMAN SITTING BY WINDOW READING MAGAZINE PROFILE VIEW PLANTS IN BACKGROUND WINDOW SEAT

Oh, yes. There’s nothing quite like a good book to boost morale when the turkeys are getting you down. Try Amor Towles — you won’t regret it.

 

*Johnny Burke, “Pennies from Heaven”

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