Lord Carew's Bride

I'm excited to be putting up my first Books and the City! blog post.

I remember when I first saw Beauty and the Beast as I kid. It wasn't my favorite of the Disney fairy tales (I believe the honor fell to Snow White at the time) but it was a hauntingly beautiful story. After seeing it though, a question stuck in my mind: "How could Beauty love the Beast?" Now, as an adult who has seen some life (barely :)), the question that comes to mind is "How could Beauty not love the Beast?" He was potrayed as a man of substance, and isn't a man's substance more important than his trappings? When it comes to true love, shouldn't what's beneath the surface matter more than what is the surface?

Well, my attraction to stories about people who fall in like and then love for "what's beneath the surface" led me to buy Mary Balogh's newly re-released book, Lord Carew's Bride, a week ago. And when the 300-page book was delivered a few days ago, I sat down with it and devoured it within five hours. I've always found Ms. Balogh to be an engaging author and, with Lord Carew's Bride, she has outdone herself again.

Lord Carew's Bride is a modern day (nay Regency Age) Beauty and the Beast. It's about a beauty nursing a broken heart, the disabled gardener she finds solace with and the special companionship they develop. Throw in the scoundrel who broke the beauty's heart and the fact that the gardener is a marquess in disguise and you've got a delicious romp of a love triangle. I really enjoyed this story and I recommend it.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan News!

Hugh Jackman Joins 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'

• February 3, 2010
• |
• By: Leonard Jacobs
• Comments (0)

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Call it a leading role, call it an unbilled cameo. Either way, one thing is clear: Wolverine is headed to China.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hugh Jackman has joined the cast of 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,' helmed by Chinese-American director Wayne Wang.

Set during the 19th century, the story follows Snow Flower and Lily, two friends who struggle with the social and cultural norms of the time.

Given the storyline, it is unclear how large Jackman's role will be. The Reporter quoted local Chinese media as characterizing his role as the male lead; however, Jackman's publicist is insisting that the star is doing an "unbilled cameo."

Jackman is said to begin filming at the end of the month.

In the meantime, Jackman joins the project following the exit of its female lead, Zhang Ziyi. According to the report, Ziyi's exit was due to scheduling conflicts with Wong Kar-wai's 'The Grand Master.' Replacing her will be actress Li Bingbing.

'Snow Flower' also stars South Korean actress Jeon Ji-Hyun.

Just Kids

I recently finished Just Kids, a memoir by the rock singer and poet Patti Smith and really enjoyed it. In her memoir, Smith recounts moving from New Jersey to New York City when she was 19 in the late 60s with a dream of becoming an artist. She is unsure of what type of artist she wants to be, but desires to make a name for herself in art. She ends up meeting a cute boy named Robert Mapplethorpe, who also wants to be an artist, and the book charts their rise into the art and music world. Smith struggled quite a bit during her first few yeas in the city; she had little money and found herself sleeping in Central Park for a few nights. Somehow, she held on to her dream and, since then, she has developed a successful career. I think her music's pretty great.

I loved how Smith describes New York City in the 60s - chockfull of so much creative energy. People seemed really energized to create art, music and be involved in politics. Smith also describes other artists she encounters during that time: she meets Jimi Hendrix in front of his recording studio in the East Village, parties with Janis Joplin in a hotel room, hooks up with the playwright Sam Shepard at a concert. Smith wasn't famous at the time, but she was still able to talk to and hang out with pretty famous people. I don't imagine she'd have the same access to such people today. There seemed to be less of a divide between famous and non-famous people in those days.

I don't read memoirs often, but I liked this one so much I'd like to read more. Are there any memoirs you'd recommend reading?

Another Lisa See: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

From my post last month about Shanghai Girls, it is clear that I am thoroughly enamored with Lisa See. I finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan this week--another informative read. Like Shanghai Girls, Snow Flower and the Secret Fans is a sorrowful read.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan takes place in the 1800s and centers around the relationship of two loatong, "old-sames." Snow Flower and Lily signed their laotong contract at the age of seven basically agreeing to be best friends for life. Having a laotong raised one's status and marriageability and enabled Lily and Snow Flower to have a friendship that went beyond their childhood "daughter days" into their adolescent "hair-pinning days" into their married "rice and salt days." Most women's friendships ended when they got married and moved to a new village, but laotong, like Snow Flower and Lily, communicated through letters using nu shu--phonetic writing exclusive to women.

In addition to following the joyous, sorrowful and surprising moments of Lily and Snow Flower's friendship, the book also gave graphic and fascinating accounts of foot binding and a picture of the women's realm in 19th century China. While men where (and are?) clearly favored in Chinese society, the women had a unique culture all their own.

Have you ever heard of nu shu? Does anyone know when both Chinese women and men began to use the same alphabet?

The Witches of Eastwick - Novel to Film #3

As our 3rd choice in our "novel to film" round, we read "The Witches of Eastwick" by John Updike. As we discussed at brunch today, this film definitely deviated from the film in enough ways to make it noticeable and I think that I preferred the version on film as opposed to the version in the novel.

For one, the women in the novel are not sympathetic characters at all. They sleep with everyone in their neighborhood (single or married) and constantly neglect their children. They only use their powers to enact petty revenge on those who they are annoyed by. I felt like Updike was purposely making these women so vile that no one could identify with them. As though this was a snapshot of the evilness of women in general. Perhaps Updike had some serious issues with women. What do you think?

They definitely made the women more identifiable in the film and certainly more likable. I mean, who couldn't like Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, or Susan Sarandon? And they also added a bit of humor, which I appreciated over the dryness of the novel. Did anyone else feel like the novel was dry?

What are your other thoughts on the novel?

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Last month, I finished reading The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene, which I loved.

The story takes place in Mexico in the 1930s in a town where Catholic priests are being persecuted by anti-religious town officials. The priests are asked to give up preaching and giving confessions or risk losing their lives (the officials believe the priests are tainting the townspeople's minds with religious lies). One priest, however, continues to do his vocation and, in turn, is given a death verdict. Essentially, he has to run away from the town and hide from the town officials. There is an overzealous police lieutenant who will do anything (including murder innocent townspeople) to catch him.

The priest is a wonderful character. He is not what you would consider a "holy" person. He is an alcoholic (he drinks so much that he's called "whisky" priest) and has a child out-of-wedlock. He often questions his faith; he bristles at people who are too eager to show they have good faith; he is attracted to wayward people, lost souls. His spiritual beliefs, though complex, are true and pure. As he travels around the country, he is able to affect the various people he encounters with his words and actions.

The novel explores religion in a very interesting way and asks some tough questions. What does it mean to be a spiritual person or a so -called "good" person? Are religious people (i.e priests) quacks or do they have the potential to change people's lives? I might be making the novel sound more serious than it is. More than anything, it is an entertaining read, a real page turner. Greene was an avid moviegover, and his novels were greatly influenced by film. The Power and the Glory, in particular, reads like a first-rate thriller, a road movie and western all rolled into one. It's an enchanting book that also enlightened me.

Twenties Girl

After reading "The Witches of Eastwick", I was looking for something super light that I didn't have to use too many brain cells on and "Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella (of "Shopoholic" fame) was a perfect fit. I have to admit, I wasn't sure that I would like it all that much, but I had it on my shelf from when I got the book from a gift bag and just figured I'd give it a try.

I haven't read the "Shopoholic" series, but I did see the film which I did enjoy (even though it came out at the height of the recession madness). Did anyone else see it?

Anyway, the story is set in London and is about this girl named Lara who has just started a new business with her best friend, consulting for big corporations looking for executives. Unfortunately for Lara, her friend (who is the one who actually has the experience in the field) has up a left her suddenly to go on vacation with a new boyfriend and has no immediately plans to return.

At the same time, Lara is forced to attend her great aunt Sadie's funeral (she lived to be 105!) and is shocked when the ghost of Sadie starts talking to her and demanding that she find a necklace that she owned before she died. At that point, all kinds of craziness gets under way.

I actually thought that this was a fun, light-hearted story and I even was thinking how it might work as a film. There would definitely be plenty of elements to play with and it would be interesting to see how the ghost could be be portrayed.

Has anyone else read this or any of Kinsella's other books?