BOOK REVIEW: The Language of Sycamores

Lisa Wingate is a writer of unusual heartfelt warmth and honesty.  Her THE LANGUAGE OF SYCAMORES is certainly no exception to this.

Karen Sommerfield has just been the victim of downsizing from her high powered job. The job had allowed her to distance herself from a recent miscarriage, a bout with cancer and her marriage to an airline pilot who is rarely home. Now that she is jobless and facing the fact that the cancer may have reoccurred, she decides to go home to the farm in Missouri in search of herself.

Her sister Kate, with her husband and two young children, now lives on the farm that had belonged to their Grandma Rose. Karen and Kate have not had a close relationship. One has been busy getting ahead in the corporate world in Boston; the other has been living on a farm raising children. The rivalry has been of long standing due to a father who had high ideals for both girls. Karen has not been back since Grandma Rose’s funeral. Karen rediscovers her lost love of music, a love that her father had made her abandon to pursue a more lucrative career. She also finds Dell, a young neglected girl who says that Grandma Rose still talks to her. With the help of Dell, music, the call of her home memories, and the soft, secret language of the sycamore trees, Karen discovers herself and some very surprising answers to life’s questions.

Actually THE LANGUAGE OF SYCAMORES is part of a five book series. Each book could be read for itself and I have to admit that I did not read them in proper order. I would recommend reading Tending Roses first. It is Kate’s story of coming home to take care of Grandma Rose, to get the feisty old woman ready to go to a nursing home. I also really enjoyed the final book, A Thousand Voices. This is Dell’s story and her search for her Native American father. Trust me; once you meet Grandma Rose’s family you will want to learn more about them.

Lisa Wingate is an author who knows how to tell a story. As life can make you laugh and cry at the same time, so do her books. What another author could turn into maudlin sentimentality, Lisa Wingate turns into warn, true, see-myself-and-friends, inspirational stories. I highly recommend her.

BOOK REVIEW: The Return

Sharon Sala is very high on my list of favorite authors. She is very prolific and as a result some books are better than others. THE RETURN is one of the good ones.

For generations the feud between the Joslins and the Blairs had raged with hatred on both sides. In 1973 the final scene should have played out on a lonely mountain, leaving a young mother dead and her new-born daughter in the arms of the mountain’s “witch”.  Twenty-five years later, Katherine Fane brings the body of the only family she has ever known back to be buried on the mountain.

Katherine’s arrival with her Granny’s casket is met with superstitious fear by the people in Camarune, Kentucky. A calf is born with one eye; an egg with blood in its membrane is broken for breakfast; snakes appear in a barn. The people are so sure that the witch or her granddaughter has cursed the town for the things that happened in the past and things quickly get violent.

Sheriff Luke DePriest has been busy tracking an unusual thief - a thief who only takes basic necessities and leaves carved wooden pieces in their place. As the sheriff tries to keep peace in town, protect Katherine, and find the thief, an old man is watching Katherine from the woods and another shattered old man is watching through hate filled eyes the impossible conclusion to the feud that should have ended twenty-five years earlier. Home is where a person goes to be safe, to find comfort.

It was easy to get into Katherine’s mind as she found these things in Granny’s old cabin, but not in the people of the town. The conclusion of the book, although not completely unexpected and a little too neatly tied up, was still very satisfactory. By then I was so involved with the characters that I finished the book with a smile and a tear. That makes a good read.

BOOK REVIEW: Fall of Light

The cover of the book advised me that the author had been the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award and that she was “This generation’s Ray Bradbury”.  How could I refuse? Allow me to state up front that although FALL OF LIGHT by Nina Kiriki Hoffman was an interesting read, Ray Bradbury is still the only Ray Bradbury.

Movie makeup artist Opal LaZelle has used her magical powers to specialize in transforming actors into the grotesque creatures of grade B horror movies. Her current job is to turn actor Corvus Weather into the Dark God making it easier for him to “become” the role. It seems that something is causing his performance to become a little too convincing. When Corvus seems to be taking his role off the set, Opal realizes that he is not acting.

The old women in the isolated town where the movie is being shot tell of how young girls vanished years ago and how residents were still reluctant to go out after dark. It soon becomes apparent that Corvus has become possessed by the supernatural power that has been sleeping all these years. Opal’s powers may not be strong enough to save Corvus and other members of the cast and crew.

 I was very disappointed in this book, especially after the build-up on the cover. I know that it is accepted that books dealing with the supernatural should leave some questions unanswered, however, Ms. Hoffman needed to be clearer on many points. After spending a large part of the story showing evil intentions by the possessed Corvus, when we do get to meet this unknown being, it seemed anti-climatically benign.   About half way through the book Opal has to confront herself and her use of power. This would have been a terrific turn for the plot line, but, again, I felt that too many questions were left unanswered.

Author Nina Kiriki Hoffman has an impressive list of works that have been published as well as awards received. Her physical descriptions of color and texture were worthy of a movie, but her characters lacked depth; and as I said, too many questions were left hanging. It seemed as if the author could not quite make up her mind where she wanted the book to go. To compare her writing to the poetic Ray Bradbury just seemed wrong.

BOOK: Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the current political climate, it seemed only right that I learn something about the Mormon religion. Most books on the subject seem to be written either by devout members of the church or disgruntled ex-members. UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN was written by Jon Krakauer, a man who admits that he has no idea if there is a God. He has written a book that is a combination of true-crime reporting and well-documented history.

UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN’s base story is that of brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty. In July of 1984. Ron and Dan brutally killed their brother Allen’s wife Brenda and his fifteen-month-old daughter Erica, on what they believed to be a commandment from God. As members of the 40,000 strong Mormon Fundamentalists community, Ron and Dan believed that Brenda was keeping Allen from being a true believer and was encouraging the other women in the family to be disobedient to their husbands and church.

In telling Ron and Dan’s story, Krakauer goes into the history of the Mormon faith, starting with Joseph Smith being given the golden plates in 1827 and their finding their present headquarters in Salt Lake City. He covers the split between the main body of the Mormons, now known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) and the Mormon Fundamentalists. The main body of the LDS make it very clear that the Fundamentalists are not part of the Mormon church.

Parts of the book were a tough read. The early church promoted polygamy and the author‘s detailing of family histories became very complicated. It was when the LDS did away with polygamy that caused the uprising of the Fundamentalists.

Although this book covers the details of Ron and Dan’s lives and thought process surrounding the murders and the trials that followed, Krakauer makes a good case against extremes in any religion… be it Mormon, Muslim, or Christian. It raises some interesting questions. Questions like: Is everyone who prays for God’s guidance to be considered psychotic? ..or.. How far does a person go to follow the laws of his faith over the laws of the land?

Jon Krakauer has written a book that has all of the true crime reporting of In Cold Blood, but also has given the reader a history of a little known religion that is growing rapidly. He also helps us to understand how religious splinter groups can start and how dangerous such groups can be.

UPDATE: Update on Local Happenings

Things seem to be back to normal at our place. Well, as normal as can be expected. Our front porch offers a view into two of the court rooms in the Centre County Court House so we had more involvement in the two big court cases in Bellefonte this summer than we wanted. The Sandusky trial may have attracted more media attention, but the so-called Russian Mafia trial was a little frightening. The police coverage included snipers on the surrounding buildings. (All of this action did give my husband a chance to hang out with part of the NBC crew.)

More recently, a fire that destroyed the hotel and theatre in our block caused us to be evacuated from our home. This was the fourth beautiful, historical building that our town has lost in the last few years. Our home is the third building up the hill and it was a very good thing that it was a calm, damp night. It has probably gone through every person’s mind what he would grab in such a case. We did think of the important papers and our medicines as well as the “always-packed-in-case–somebody-asks-me-to-go-someplace-interesting” bag. That took care of the important stuff.

I did go back in the house for my address book. To my surprise, I found two women taking pictures off my walls. Having strangers going through my house did make me a little uncomfortable although I am sure that they were being helpful. The pictures were not a priority; my brother and our daughter would have copies of them.

We got back into our house about 6:30 in the morning, threw everything that we had taken out the night before on the dining room table, except for that bag packed to go interesting places, and headed to the Seneca Casino. I felt that I needed, and deserved, some R&R. Now everything is back in its proper place, as I said, back to normal.  The only thing that I cannot find is the grocery gift cards that are used for our community “soup kitchen”. When I think of what could have been, that seems a minor thing.

Back to normal also means that book reviews will be starting again this week. My reading did slow down, but I never go anywhere without something to read and I love sharing. Now you have had my apologies if you were expecting a book review last week.

THEATER: The Man Who Came To Dinner

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER is currently playing at Boal Barn and the opening night attendance was proof of how badly we need local coverage of the arts.  State College Community Theatre provided another fun evening, but few people were aware that a show was going on. I really wish that The Weekender could cover, once a week, the local arts as well as the sports section covers local sports daily.

Now that I have that off my chest, allow me to tell you why you need to go to Boalsburg before THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER is over. The show is funny, well directed, well-acted, and the producers have even included a glossary of terms in the program for those of you who are too young to remember Katherine Cornell, Jascha Heifetz, or Margaret Bourke White. (There is a lot of “name dropping in the play.)

The story involves the Stanley family who is initially thrilled that the famous Sheridan Whiteside has broken his hip going into their home and will be forced to spend an extended visit. A visit spent in a wheelchair. They quickly come to realize that the time will also be spent following his dictatorial demands.

This show requires a very strong male actor to play Whiteside and Jason Poorman was well cast. He knew when to harass, when to flatter, and when to be extremely sly. Playing a strong, bigger than life character from a wheelchair must be difficult, but Jason made good use of the complete stage.

Kat Shondeck gets my personal Tony for her role as Whiteside’s long suffering assistant, Maggie. If a good performance is more about re-acting than acting, she was brilliant. Her facial expressions spoke louder than most actress’ speech.

It is always a delight to watch Katie Kensinger vamp up a stage whether she is playing the long suffering Miss Adelaide or the glamorous Lorraine Sheldon, the man stealing friend of Sheridan Whiteside. Katie had an opportunity to show a range of acting skills as she went from seductive to revengeful all in one scene. The silver and black gown did her figure justice……or maybe it was the other way around.

To me the best part of local theatre is watching actors show what they can do in a multiple series of roles. I love to see versatility. This list of talents has to include Jonathan Hetler. His over-the-top portrayal of Beverly Carlton was pure fun and different than other roles I have seen him in. Very good.
Local theatre buffs are very familiar with the name of Martha Traverse for her work on and back stage. Her part in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER was listed as a “cameo” performance. Trust me, she almost steals the show as the batty sister Harriet Stanley. Again, folks, there are no small parts in the theatre!

The rest of the cast also deserve special recognition and from the talent spread among them, if they have not been mentioned from earlier shows, you will be hearing about them in the future.

September is an idyllic time to visit the Barn; the weather is just about ideal and the staff has chosen the perfect show to end what was a superlative season. The program for this last show of the summer season has a teaser in the form of the list of next summer’s shows. Look for me there next year.
THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER will be at the Barn until September the 15th.

For ticket information, please visit their website.

BOOK REVIEW: The Hunger Games Trilogy

Over the last several years our granddaughter Grace kept telling me about this great book series that she had read. It sounded good to me, but other books were already on my night stand waiting. This year the first book in the series fell into my hands and I thought, “It is time.” That is how I found myself wrapped up in THE HUNGER GAMES by Susanne Collins.

The former North America is now a country called Panem ruled by beautiful people in a beautiful Capitol. The rulers are harsh, cruel, and easily bored. The outlying area consists of twelve districts where the people are controlled by desperate poverty. Each district is responsible for supplying the Capitol with the needs required for the citizens’ lavish lifestyle. The districts also provide the children for the yearly big entertainment, the Hunger Games.

The rules for the Hunger Game are simple enough: each district supplies a boy and a girl; then the twenty-four youngsters, called Tributes, meet in an elaborate arena and battle to the death until only one is left. This event is televised for the enjoyment of all, thus, great effort is put into costuming, makeup, TV interviews, etc. This allows the citizens of the Capitol to pick favorites and to know who to bet on.

In District 12, sixteen-year –old Katniss Everdeen has been taking care of her little sister, Prim, and their mother since their father was killed in a coal mining accident. In order to feed her family and provide meat for others in her neighborhood, Katniss and her friend Gale spend the days outside the fenced town hunting. At the yearly drawing for the games, Prim’s name is pulled. Katniss knows that her gentle sister would never be able to survive the violence of the games, so she volunteers to take her place.

Katniss and Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son, are the two from District 12 who will be expected to kill not only the Tributes from the other Districts, but each other.

By the end of the first book I was captured. There was no way that I could not read the following books, CATCHING FIRE and MOCKINGJAY. The story does not end with the end of the Game, but continues through the revolution that finally brings the Districts together. From the beginning to the end, the reader is introduced to fascinating characters and given fast moving plots.

I have to admit that the middle book, CATCHING FIRE was not as good as the other two. It was needed for the plot advancement, but was little more than a short story pumped up. There should have been a way for the author to have blended it into the other two.

Suzanne Collins makes a very anti-war statement with these books. (I was not surprised to hear that she was raised as an army brat.) The violent scenes are at times shocking, especially when it is remembered how young so many of the Tributes are. It was a fine line for the author to develop a heroine who had to kill, but make her someone who we would still root for.

I remember how shocked I was by Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”; THE HUNGER GAMES goes more than one step beyond her story. This series proves once again that some of the best writing is being done for the Young Adult trade.