Book 22 of 52: Loving Frank

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, but I've been very behind in my blog entries. It also took me a while to process how I felt about this book.  What I can tell you is that Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect, apparently had quite the life. Not only was married-with-kids Wright passionate about his work, but he had the hots for another woman.

The woman, Mamah (pronounced MAY-ma) Borthwick Cheney, first enters Wright’s world when she and her husband, Edwin, enlist the architect to build their dream home in a Chicago suburb. It's during this time Mamah and Frank form a bond that will be tested in every way a love affair can be. 

Mamah does what women in the early 1900s rarely, if ever, did. The free-spirited college grad ditches hubby and the kids to pursue her relationship with Wright, and her writing of feminist literature.

She abandons her children when they need her most, telling them "I'm going on a small vacation [that lasts two years]…just for me." I could not understand how a woman could walk away from her children, her flesh & blood. Especially since at the time her son was about the same age as my older son (age 6), and her daughter, the same age as my youngest son (age 1). I simply cannot imagine walking out the door and not coming back for two years, no matter who I loved or what my dreams were.

In the book, the resulting scandal sends the lovers to Europe where they pursue their passions — architecture, writing and each other. But their choices continue to have consequences across the pond. His business practices are clearly questionable and financial turmoil strikes. She struggles with loneliness while her writing career suffers fits and starts. Success for Mamah and Frank is brief and fleeting. Returning to the States brings little relief, as the tabloids hound them and society shuns them. Finally, they start over at Taliesin, a beautiful home Wright designs in Wisconsin. And it is there the two are able to find some peace and tranquility, working toward their “happily every after” that unfortunately never comes.

I don't want to give away the ending, but I had no idea of the story of Mamah & FLW. It hit me like an emotional punch to the gut.

This is Nancy Horan's first novel and I think she did a terrific job. Any book that makes me want to research more has done it's job. I love looking at photos of Frank's work, learning about the homes he created, and look forward to seeing his work close up some day.

Book 21 of 52: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

It's been a few weeks since I posted. This book took me a little longer to finish than I would have hoped. Glen (my sweet hubby) is transitioning out of his current job and reading hasn't been a priority during this stressful time. But his new start should mean more flexibility for our family and hopefully more reading and workout time for me!

I picked up this book on the recommendation of Carla, a co-worker and fellow bibliophile. It's non-fiction and takes place mainly during 1933 and 1934 as the Nazi's rose to power. I've read lots of books about the Holocaust and thought that this might fill in some gaps for me, as I really didn't understand how people could let it get so bad in Nazi Germany to begin with.

The book is essentially a biography of  the US Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd, a mild-mannered, penny-pincher professor and writer. It explores what life was like in Berlin during the first years of Hitler's regime as seen through the eyes of both him and his daughter Martha. There was tremendous research put into it, with the last quarter of it as endnotes and references. Despite the details, it read more like fiction, although there were some slow spots that I hit occasionally which made it hard to stay awake past 1am.

It's not that I'm lazy here, but a quote from the Globe & Mail really describes this book in a nutshell:

"This is a very sad book, sad because it was clear that Hitler could have been stopped early on, sad because so many Germans blithely followed him into the house of horrors, and sad because the small acts of defiance – undiplomatically lecturing Nazi leaders on German history – and breaches of protocol that make William Dodd a hero to us now made him seem a bit of a fool to others then."

For me, I appreciated the detail and richness of Larson's descriptions of Berlin as it reminded me of my trip there in 1988 (visiting both East & West Berlin, before the Wall came down). I was only 15 at the time and didn't really understand how lucky I was to have the experience, especially seeing East Berlin. The strongest memories are of a terrifying interrogation at the border between East and West Berlin, and my first airport "pat-down" upon leaving East Berlin airport, which sadly are now commonplace in our Canadian airports today. Reading this book brought back these 'ugly' memories and made me realize just how lucky we are to have our human rights and how little by little they can be chipped away before we even know it.

Book 20 of 52: The Best Laid Plans

A definite qualifier for Canadian content! I wasn't sure about reading a book about Canadian politics (zzzzzzzz), but I loved it! A thank you to Evadne for this recommendation. http://books.macedo.ca/  I never would have picked it up otherwise.

This was a very funny book. Others must agree with me, since it won the Stephen Leacock medal. There were a few parts that were so laugh out loud funny, that I got some strange looks from the people around me at the park this afternoon. As someone with an interest in politics, but not really much of an understanding of it, I would also say this provided me with some political education and insight into what may (or may not) happen on Parliment Hill.

The images of the Hill and surrounding Ottawa brought me back to my time during university when I spent my summers working on Tunney's Pasture for Health Canada and taking the bus across the bridge to Hull because rent was cheaper. I also remember one night waiting for the bus outside the front entrance to Parliment as Glen, my now husband, decided he really couldn't hold his bladder any longer and relieved himself on the lawn of Parliment Hill. A scene appropriate for this book.

Now, I live in Oakville where rent is a lot higher than Hull and where we no longer have to wait for a bus to get somewhere. It is also the is the equivalent to the Southern Ontario version of the Cumberland-Prescott which is Tory strong hold setting for this book. We will likely never (and I mean NEVER) see a NDP candidiate win in our riding. That said, this book has kept me ever hopeful that some strange event(s) could occur and I will eat those words....you just never know. The book itself was a little predictable. I knew what was going to happen, just not exactly how it was going to get there. That journey was the best part!

What really reasonated with me was not actually the novel, but the story of how it came to be published. Terry Fallis, despite winning the Stephen Leacock medal, could not get his book published. To overcome the huge barriers to publication he decided to self-publish it. He got creative, podcasting his book chapter by chapter, publishing on i-universe, and even sending his self-published novel to an awards committee. I'm a strong believer of going after what you want in life. Because of this I can't help but like this author and his book as well. Kuddos Terry!

I'm off to go find a copy of his second book, The High Road, which starts where The Best Laid Plans leaves off.

Book 19 of 52: Mao's Last Dancer

Written as an autobiography by Li Cunxin, this book tells the true story of Li as a young boy living in an impoverished village, who by extraordinary chance is plucked from his family in a remote Chinese village and becomes a world-famous dancer. The road from an 11-year-old peasant boy to ballet star was not an easy one: endless hours of training, injuries, horrible living conditions, a defection to the US, and years without speaking to his family.

During parts of it, I fondly remembered my ballet training. I trained in ballet for 12 years and even went to a performing arts' high school for dance. I loved the descriptions of the stages and studios Li danced in, the ballets he learned, and even recognized many of the names of the dancers he refer to. The training seemed so harsh, with teachers ripping his hamstrings to improve his flexibility. It was also a history lesson for me, learning about life under Chairman Mao in China. It shows you how children were brainwashed as soon as they got into school. They were told that Chairman Mao was their savior. While him and his policies were actually killing millions of people. 

I just loved this book -- maybe because it was about China, or maybe because it was about ballet, or maybe it was because it was a simple inspirational story about overcoming hardship and adversity.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ballet or the history of China. It was well over 400 pages, but an easy read. I have the DVD on hold at the library and I'm looking forward to seeing the movie in the next couple of weeks.