What are you reading?

[JackFavell]

Oh my gosh, it sounds just my speed! I love quirky. I'll see if I can find it!

[charliechaplinfan]

I followed a link on my Amazon recommendations to a book called Naples 44 by Norman Lewis, he worked for British Intelligence during the invasion of Italy in 1943/44, his story startts with the landing on the beaches at Salerno. It's one of the most compelling books that I've ever read and being a fan of Italian Neo Realistic movies it fits right into the theme and fleshes out some of the problems aside from the war that Italy faced.

Lewis gets posted to Naples, one of his first jobs is to investigate underground knocking, it's reported all over the city and the only explanation seems to be a German soldiers down in the catacombs, so 50 armed men go into the catacombs to search but the catacombs are so vast they have to give up leaving the men underground to perish.

He has to make contacts for intelligence reasons, a lot of these are professionals, Italy has an enormous amount of lawyers, accountants, surgeons, the pride the Italian families take in achieving the professional status for their sons is not balanced against how many actually find jobs, only 1 in 10 ever find employment the others becoming part of the gentile down and outs. One contact is a professional uncle from Rome, hired at funerals to wail over the hearse, he only accepts commisions in other parts of Naples as the Naplese never travel out of their district.

The Zona Di Camorra or Mafia zone is well established in these areas, helped by te American army who seemed to have employed Vito Genovese as an interpretor and either known or unbeknownst to the Army he is running a huge Mafia enterprise that controls most of the black market, yet no one is willing to dislodge him from this position. It's not told in this book but on wikipedia it does say that Genovese was brought to book eventually for his war time escapades.

Stories of how they try to cut down on the blackmarket, the small man who takes only a little to feed his family ends up gettingg three years, his family starve whilst the big guys get away with it. Young lads who jump on the back of Allied vans to pinch goods have their fingers severed by troops trying to protect their goods. Girls as young as 12 being offered as prostitutes for a loaf of bread to the soldiers, housewives sitting around the headquarters willing to sleep with anyone if they can get a little bread for their brood. Starvation everywhere, a typhus epidemic, then the eruption of Vesuvius, held back by Saint Gennaro, the protector of Naples, a contrast in the book, the faith of the populace in Saint Gennaro to protect them, twice a year a vial of blood is brought out and as long as the blood liquifies Naples will be OK for the next 6 months. Vesuvius is held back by prayers and splashes of holy water sent in the direction of the lava.

A funny aside, all the telephone cables in one village are cut to allow a religious procession to go through and the war falters as no one can get any communication through. Lots of political parties spring up, some supported by thousands, some by one or two all trying to get the Allies help. One wants a split and Southern Italy an Sicily to go back to farming the land rejecting all machinery, women to work in the field with their babies tied to their back if necessary ruled by one family. They regret getting rid of Mussolini the only man to deal with the mafia and get some kind of order into the country.

It's a fascinating, fast moving, diverse account of one man's experience in Italy, it says so much about the Italian suffering and the strength of character in front of all adversity, war, volcanos, the mafia, typhus, starvation, nothing keeps them down for long. The cradle of Neo Realism, it's so apparent why.

[charliechaplinfan]

I have been reading a book called Black Diamonds which is the history of a family called Wentworth who owned coal mines and land in Yorkshire, their home remains today the largest private stately home in England. after reading How Green was My Valley it was really interesting to read a book that deals with the social history of the coal mining family and the man who worked for them and one that deals with the conditions down the pit. Alongside this social history was the rather troubled history of the family, possibly best known for Peter Fitzwilliam, Earl of Wentworth who died in a plane with Kathleen Kennedy, sister of JFK.

[ChiO]

The book I most hoped for as an Christmas present became the first one read: Directors on the Edge: Outliers in Hollywood (James Ursini 2011). A mere 125 pages, double-spaced, it -- according to the cover -- "analyzes the work" of Hugo Haas, Reginald LeBorg, Ida Lupino, Gerd Oswald, and Edgar G. Ulmer. A chapter is devoted to each. The term "analyzes" is puffing at best. There is a one paragraph biography, then a summary of selected films (translation: the ones most noir-like) by each of the directors. The analysis is limited, for the most part, to subordinate clauses to segue from one movie summary to the next.

The cover also refers to the book as a "lavishly illustrated study." Setting aside that there really is no "study," this approaches fraudulent misrepresentation, unless one considers small black-and-white reproductions of posters and grainy black-and-white photos to constitute "lavishly illustrated." A proofreader would have also helped the text.

If one is interested in an introduction to outlier directors, it can serve that purpose. Being generally unfamiliar with Haas' and LeBorg's movies, it did pique my interest. There are also a couple of Oswald Westerns and Lupino's TV work on Thriller that I'll be searching for. But if one is generally familiar with any of these directors' works, then unfortunately this volume doesn't add much value to the widget.

Here's to hoping Melodrama & Meaning: History, Culture and the Films of Douglas Sirk (Barbara Klinger 1994) is better.

[RedRiver]

I'm reading contemporary thrillers by an author named John Lutz. They're all alike. But they're good. Serial killer stories, New York City cops. Pretty exciting. Lutz wrote the book that would be filmed as SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. There doesn't seem to be a copy of that one around here. The movie is quite good. Of the far too many violent, psycho shockers, this one stands out.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've been reading so fast on my kindle, mostly works of fiction that have been on offer over Christmas. One book I reread is Birdsong by Sebastien Faulks, for any fans of BBC drama it's just been made into a drama that was broadcast last night, I didn't watch because this beautiful novel is so set in my head that my characterisations are better than anything that TV could put together. I might soften and watch on iplayer. I'd recommend the book to any literature lover and the programme to anyone who likes a good story with historical details of the First World War. If you like Downton you'll love this.

I've downloaded my first kindle biography Chaplin's Girl a biography of Virginia Cherrill. It's based on interviews her friend of fifty years taped without her knowledge. I'm part way through, she's just left Cary, it is quite candid but not cruel, the thing to remember is that Virginia knew nothing about the tapes, it's just her talking to a friend. Her biographer Miranda Seymour has reasearched her background and there are plenty of pictures throughout. As it is quite candid, we here how she just didn't like Chaplin and he didn't like her, she's said that before but in all her talking about City Lights only one moment she's light about and that's about the boxing scene which Chaplin filmed with all his freinds sat in the audeince. She hated the 2 years she worked for Chaplin, who was under immense pressure at the time bringing a silent out in a world that wants talkies, he'd also suffered a breakdown not long before. Plenty of people were sacked, Virginia herself was but she wasn't bothered and managed to renegoiate better terms for herself when he desperately needed her back.

She loved Cary, only Cary and Florek her last husband, she certainly attracted the men and was a free spirit. She said that no one had written about Cary Grant, no one had touched on him. She loved him desperately, they laughed, no one was as funny, no one has quick with the one liners, they fell out, no one was as jealous and possessive, they fought, he drank and he hit her. Yet she loved him and mourned for him for years afterwards but she could not be possessed. What about the famous trio with Randolph Scott, he was only a good friend, a good, calming influence on the deeply insecure Cary. Virginia laughs at the idea they were gay. Douglas Fairbanks Jnr once told her that Cary had said she was the best lover he ever had and she returned the compliment, he too was her favourite. Not an inch of truth in the rumour, Cary loved women.

Someone said that Cary's acting improved once they'd parted, Sylvia Scarlett was one of his first movies after their split, he was very ambitious, he found the Cary Grant we know and love. She makes it clear that he had both health problems and discovered about his mother whilst they were together. She doesn't blame him, she still loved him, he was her favourite actor, she understood but couldn't live with him.

I'm looking forward to what else she has to say. I think she goes on to be the Countess of Jersey next.

[JackFavell]

Wow! What a find, Alison! That book sounds great. I have to check my kindle to see if it's available over here.

I've been reading like a house afire lately, my brain finally seems to be working again.

Alice still wants me to tell her stories at night...that was fine when she was 6 or 8, but now she's picky! So sometimes I just tell her the stories of movies I've seen, but I am actually running out of scenarios. So I decided to download some of the classics, and I've started with King Arthur, as she has an interest in magic and has already gone through most of the mythology stories. The version I am finding I like the best for her is the one by Howard Pyle printed in 1902, it has flowery language, but is not in verse. It's just lovely to read and contains some great illustrations. Beware of the kindle edition of Idylls of the King, as it IS in verse, but whoever translated it onto the kindle wrote it out as if it were prose. Arrrgh!

I am also reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tales of the Jazz Age, which is a super collection of short stories and one act plays. It contains some characteristically beautiful prose. So far, it deals with the return of WWI vets, masquerade balls, girls who smell of powder and perfume and carry flasks in their stockings, and a camel. It's highly entertaining, if a bit depressing at times. It reminds me that Fitzgerald was simply the best of his generation at putting together words beautifully, though his themes deal with the rot and malaise underneath the every day life of the entitled and the underprivileged. No one but he could write so perfectly about how quickly love can turn to revulsion, or how easily a friend can turn cruel after being hit up for money.

A friend lent me The Pillars of the Earth, and I started that one too. As she put it, it's an airport or beach book, sordid and sexy in details, but easily picked up and put down, as Sgt. Paine says in The Third Man. However it deals with the building of a cathedral in medieval times. It's a very quick read, and so far, it feels right in atmosphere. Follett really captures what life must have been like in the 12th century.

[charliechaplinfan]

My Dad is really in to Ken Follett at the moment, he's loving his kindle because the Ken Follett books are quite chunky. Let me know how you get on I can see myself getting into those kind of books.

I've really been able to open up my reading lately, the library is fine but it hasn't a huge collection of books, I like to go off on tangents with books just like movies, I love the Amazon recommends, I've been following some of those and most have been pleasant surprises.

I'm really taken with the Virginia Cherrill book, it's impossible not to like her, such a free spirit, finding her way into the upper echelons of society by her charm. The only person who didn't like her was Charlie Chaplin, I'd have loved more details here, she didn't like him and the recordings don't really reveal anything new. The suppostion is still there, did Chaplin not like her because she wasn't as serious as he was about City Lights or did she refuse to be one of his girls? I suppose we'll never know now.

Can't wait until I read some more.

[JackFavell]

I can't wait to hear more about it! I used to be a free spirit... well anyway, I'm drawn to them. I always thought Cherrill was a bit of a prig in real life, but I guess that goes the way of most of my other deluded notions about stars. Once again, I have totally misjudged someone based on little information.

[charliechaplinfan]

Virginia's friend tells how she got a call from Virginia one night, Virginia had been watching The Bishop's Wife and enjoyed bragging to her friend how she had slept with both stars. David Niven was a friend with benefits as they say today.

Reading a bit further on, she missed Cary like hell and regretted leaving him. It must be tough forgetting when your ex is one of the most famous faces in Hollywood.

[RedRiver]

I haven't read Ken Follett's hefty historical novels. It seems so un-Follett! People do like them, though. I like his thrillers. In recent years, he's kind of pandered to the market. Sensational, broad. In earlier decades, he wrote some pretty classy suspense. EYE OF THE NEEDLE, THE KEY TO REBECCA, THE MAN FROM ST. PETERSBURG. The man has talent.

[JackFavell]

Wow, to be with a priest and an angel......


Follett is very enjoyable. I am really surprised because I am such a snob. Another crack in my veneer.... I can no longer look down my nose at such books. After years of limiting myself I finally see why people read these things.

[RedRiver]

I like thrillers. Will I remember the story a year from now? No. But it's fun reading. A lot of authors (or their publishers) feel it has to be grotesquely violent to be exciting. That is SO not the case. Ken Follett, William Goldman, Stephen King know better. The suspense is in what MIGHT happen. I'm about halfway through Linwood Barclay's new one. THE ACCIDENT. Exciting, if not entirely credible!

[charliechaplinfan]

I finished Chaplin's Girl, Virginia came across as so thoroughly likeable and completely unaffected. Following her divorce from Cary Grant she had an affair with a Maharaja from Jaipur who wanted to marry her, the state of purdah put her off somewhat, so she married the Count of Jersey and became the chatelaine of a number of country houses. She suffered three miscarriages through her life and in her last pregnancy she was sent to America, the war was on, when the baby miscarried she insisted on coming home to England on a freight boat and then waiting in Lisbon for her passage home. She was 'mother' to many of the Polish airmen during the war and there she found her last husband, Florek who she remained with for the rest of her life. What a colourful life she had. God bless her friend who talked to her about her past and tape recorded all of their conversations and entrusted the recordings to the right biographer.

A little moan about biographers in general, Virginia's tapes were used for a biography of Cary Grant by Mark Eliot which I bought a few years ago and have never finished because it seemed to be serving a purpose and trying to prove every rumour about Grant. Reading what Virginia's biographer has to say and going off the transcripts of the tapes, Virginia completely rejects the idea that Cary and Randolph Scott were gay and involved in a relationship. Cary was completely mad about women, he was the best lover she ever had and had the best sense of humour. Randolph Scott was a good friend to both of them, he had a calming influence on his friend who at this point in his career was insecure, that's what comes out of Chaplin's Girl. Reading what Mark Eliot says about the Cherill/Grant marriage, she forced it, Cary went through with it to get back at Scott, the marriage wasn't consummated for weeks. In short, he uses the same tapes but ignores what Virginia said about their sexual relationship and skews the whole first part of the book to try to prove that Cary was gay and involved with Scott. Two books using the same material coming up with different conclusions. I won't be reading any of Eliot's other works.

[JackFavell]

Thanks for the heads up on Mark Eliot. This is the reason I stay away from biographies nowadays. I am seriously trying to scrape together some money to get Cherrill's book.