Completed
I've finished two books.
Gandhi ends as the life work for which Gandhi is best known is just beginning.
But that
was the intent of his writing, to elaborate his "experiments with truth" and how he got to the point everyone knows about
already. Indeed, that was very much what I was hoping for in the book, some understanding of how he became the man
whose name became synonymous with "non-violent protest."
Except that, as I got into it, I came to realize just how little I did know of his huge impact -
really just the barest sketch. The principles of non-violence and civil disobedience which were used to gain India
its independence. That his first work started in South Africa, I had no idea. His peculiar attitudes towards religion,
vegetarianism, and his personal life were all unknown to me.
I'm giving this 4/5 stars for being worth reading, but it is so different from anything else I've read. Some of that is the style of the time, and some of which is Gandhi's idiosyncracies. Impossible to put in a ranked list, but recommended.
Putting It Together James Lapine's interview book
about the making of Sunday in the Park with George did not disappoint. The recollections would probably be fascinating
for any production, but developing Sunday had its own dramatic arc. Up until the final weeks of previews, the show
was on the brink of collapse:
[The crew's] other little joke was "Sunday in the Park with George; Monday on the Truck with Waltons." Waltons was the trucking company that would come hals the set to the dump when a show closed.
The last two songs, without which the second act simply didn't work, were a long time coming.
Sondheim: I don't remember why they took so long. I do remember thinking that the key number in the show was going to be "Lesson #8" and I didn't quite know what to write.
Mandy Patinkin, in particular, was on edge not knowing what his arc was, and audiences were leaving at intermission, or giving "walking ovations," applauding as they made quick exits from the theater. (Mandy comes off as quite intense and a bit difficult to work with in the best of circumstance. Bernadette Peters, on the other hadn't sounds like a delight in all ways.) But the songs came, the 2nd act came together, the show was a critical success, had a respectable run and won a drama Pulitzer - one of the few musicals to do so.
And to cap it off, you can read the entire screenplay, included at the end of the book.
5/5 'nuff said.
Continuing Reading
Homo Deus is still checked out, I think. Or maybe it's expired. I'm going to get back to it...someday...honest!
Started
Denise Mina's The End of the Wasp Season is
next up. I've read Mina's work before and Wasp Season, like the others is about as dark as the genre gets. This is
the seamy underside of Glasgow. Alex Morrow's second outing has her investigating a brutal murder that... I don't really
know yet. I hadn't noticed with previous books, but with this one, she reminds me very much of John LeCarre. The books
start with scattered scenes, like staking your territory in a game of Go, but it takes a while for how they fit together to
emerge. Sure, it's the nature of whodunit's that through most of the book, you don't know whodunit. But this is a
deeper mystery. You're not sure what the it is exactly, or when you know superficially, it seems only a piece of the
it.
I'm looking forward to seeing how things fit together.
In conclusion
If these three books don't justify my calling my reading eclectic, I'm not sure what else I could do. Maybe add some non-fiction like Chip War (Chris Miller) - it is one of the 8 ebook holds I have out of the allowed 6. When you recommend a book and it is acquired, you get a hold automagically, even if you've already used up your allotment. I don't really mind the delay in acquiring hold books to read, though I was recently reading of how that is a major concern of libraries. The inability to renew if there are other holds can be inconvenient. It's a perfectly reasonable policy, but so, I think, would allowing one renewal even with others waiting. Longer/heavier books can be hard to finish in 21 days if you have anything else going on.
But a minor quibble. Ebooks from your local library are wonderful. Libraries are wonderful. Take advantage of them.