Kaseys Korner

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Hilarious beginning, a bit more serious ending but fantastically fun to read all the way thru. Some people might describe the Branch/Fox family as dysfunctional but if it is, I want in! The bonds between them all (especially Bernadette & Bee) are tight. Maybe they get stretchy but they snap back. Who wants a cookie cutter Mom/family?? This is so much more interesting. What matters is how they respect each other & that's all good. Based in Seattle, a city I've never visited, but written about so well, I feel like I could go now, walk around and be like, "oh yeah, I know this place & these people!" 

A lot of the book is written in Epistolary form but even those exchanges are snappy. The motion picture had just been released when I bought this. If it stayed true to the writing, it will definitely be good for some laughs. Easy to see why it became a best seller and count me in to watch the movie!!

Lincoln in the Bardo

** spoiler alert ** I guess you'd classify this book as historical fiction? The facts about President Lincolns young son (Willie) passing away during his Presidency are accurate but the bulk of the book is comprised of fictitious stories about spirits bound to earth in Oak Hill Cemetary (where Willie was originally interred.) There seemed to be a million of them too, all hanging around, scared to move onto the next place or not even cognizant of having passed away. Note to self: remember not to be afraid when its my turn to get placed in a "sickbox" because lurking about a cemetery after dark & having to go back into my "shell" at daylight manifests into a pretty awful existence. 

This has got to be the strangest story I've ever read. A speculation about what happens after death, interspersed with a lot of quotes. I'm not sure why I put this on my wtr list or why there's a wait list for it??? I'm pretty darn sure, I might not have finished it if it weren't such a fast read. There was no clear explanation given about why children get bound & suffer a fate worse than adults if they don't immediately move into the light either?? So crazy since the objective seemed to be to get young Willie to move along.

Unless you want to be a voyeur into Abraham Lincoln's grief over the loss of his child, or you're preoccupied with your own mortality & the possibilities of what happens in the afterlife, I would pass on this one.

 

 

The Count of Monte Cristo

** spoiler alert ** I spent the better part of the month of August with Edmond Dantes as my nightly companion. That's more time than I usually give anybody but wow, what a worthy compadre he turned out to be and what a masterful story Dumas penned. I can't even express how glad I am that I finally decided to embark on this journey. I've thought of reading 'The Count of Monte Cristo' for years but voluntarily delving into a 1300 page tome ~ ummmm, well, it would intermittently seem daunting, inconvenient, & downright even insurmountable so I would always put it off. I don't know what inspired the commitment at this point in time and make no mistake, it IS a commitment, because (obviously it's lengthy) but it's detailed to the point of pretty much being inside every characters head. Now that I've finished tho, I can say it's a thoroughly worthwhile passage of time, and guaranteed to stick with me until I'm gone from this world. 

I seriously believe the phrase "revenge is a dish best served cold" could have been coined and/or originated by Dantes. It should have been "on ice" after 24 years!! He certainly perfected how to exact it, that's for sure! I don't know that I'd have the fortitude or desire to stay focused for that length of time on retaliation but who knows? If my life had been screwed over in the way Edmonds was, maybe so??? I guess he had nothing but time to contemplate the details when he was imprisoned those 14 yrs in the dungeon of Chateau D'lf. As devastating as that isolation was, Edmond became the educated, cultured, critically thinking man he was due to meeting his fellow prisoner Abbe Faria. He actually could never have achieved his goals without the Abbe's tutelage and being in that dismal situation. The money didn't hurt either (also compliments of the Abbe) but it really was all about the undivided instruction & schooling he received within those fortress walls that enabled him to change from despondent, woe-is-me, victim to suave predator & elite man about town. 

So many complicated plot lines and intertwining details within the story. There's no way to get into them all. You just have to read the book ~ but again, it's not a speed read. There's also the adjustment of getting into the floriferous way of writing so commonplace in the mid 1800's, but after that, it's actually quite engaging & addicting. Plus downright riveting to watch the pieces get strategically & flawlessly placed to set up each persons downfall. I can't imagine vengeance being handled any more adeptly. In fact, the Count was diabolical in how thoroughly he plotted his schemes!!

Two points bummed me a little (Dumas, forgive me for questioning your logic!!) One, I was disappointed that Edmond & Mercedes did not get back together even when they were free to do so. That's probably the romantic in me lamenting that their youthful love couldn't be recaptured. I guess too much had transpired for that to happen?? I just wasn't rooting for Haidee to be the romantic interest of the Count's like I was a reunion with Mercedes. The second little niggling thing, was how drawn out it was for Maximilian Morrel to learn that Valentine was still alive. Arrggh. I wanted to shake the Count for putting him thru all that. 

Aside from those small hiccups, almost too inconsequential to count, it was a PHENOMENAL book. It's going in my top 5 all-time favorites! and I think I should give myself a star (or even better, a glass of champagne) for the accomplishment!!! haha

Chipmunk

Not the best pictures, I took them thru the glass, but noteworthy in that I live in the city & have never ever seen a Chipmunk in my garden.  I don't think they're "supposed" to be here?  

but here is certainly was.  For one day!  

and I haven't seen him since.  Did he hitch a ride down from the mountains?  or somebody's pet??  Not sure.  

Hope he finds a way home somehow....

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

I've been sitting on this treasure since April 2018, the 10th to be exact, when I originally downloaded it. That's not exactly ancient in terms of what else is sitting unread on my Kindle but still I can't believe I didn't get around to it faster. Thank goodness for the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry for getting me in gear with the news they're producing a movie from the book. I'm that weird nerd girl who always likes to read the book before seeing the movie.

I've read a lot of historical fiction written during the WWII period but nothing specifically about how the war affected Italy and the Italians. I wasn't actually conscious of that fact until I read the authors foreward. He stated that the Italian people chose to "forget" the war & get back on with their lives, to the extent any person, let alone a country, could actually forget something so devastating. They chose not to relive it or give it any more voice/life than it had ~ truly a remarkable feat to accomplish in the face of all they endured and witnessed.

Now to Pino. Pino, Pino, Pino. A boy turned man who had me turned six ways sideways in my feelings about him. Sometimes you love a protagonist, sometimes you can't stand them, in the worst case scenario, you feel nothing whatsoever about them. Where Pino is concerned, I felt about every emotion possible. And let me just stop right there & say I have absolutely no business passing any sort of judgment about his actions and decision making processes AT ALL. I'm just commenting as one human being to another. I started out admiring him when Father Re tasked him with the job of escorting Jews on those harrowing walks to safety. I was revolted when he put on the Nazi Swastika. I mean, seriously?? How his neighbors, friends and all the other citizens of Milan didn't murder him on the spot, I have no idea. But then again, I've never lived in a war zone so maybe all manner of behaviors are suspect and the fear is too great to act on them. I thought he was both fearless and a coward all at the same time. Especially when it came to Anna's fate. He's had a long life to live with that decision and I'm sure he's paid his own self imposed penitence a zillion times over. I can see why he was reluctant to tell his story. It's a mixed bag of the good, bad & ugly. He had a joie de vivre that was contagious thru out the pages, perhaps it's been that spirit that's allowed him to prevail in life? He's also seemed the kind of person that always comes out on top, no matter what trials life threw his way. I finished the book last night and am still conflicted on how I feel about him. It's possible I'd have acted in exactly the same manner or not even as well, in the same situation. He survived. SO many others did not. 
Maybe he just did what he had to do to make that happen?? or maybe he was lucky? Whatever my feelings & whatever the case, it's an incredible story, an incredible way to be thrown into adulthood. 

The book stirred a curiosity about Nazi Officers (like General Leyers) ~ who was he really?? Were there others in positions of command that took action to help end the War & that the Allies let off the hook? It sounded like it. Did he help the Allies the whole time he was inflicting atrocities?? or was he just a master at manipulating the circumstances to make sure he survived too?? There again was the dichotomy. Nothing simply good or evil. I have more questions about Leyers because of the ending tho than I did during the book. Despite the information the author relays about his life after the war, it sounded like he was still a proud Nazi ~ proud to have been at the right hand of Hitler?? Why then did he get a "pass?" All the gold and a long life to boot?? 

The book is nothing if not a testament to life not being fair. But it's an excellent read. I've been thinking about it a lot today which says something in itself about it. If you have an interest in this period in history, by all means don't overlook 'Beneath a Scarlet Sky.'