Friday Fun

This has been making the rounds on facebook all week, but I thought it might be fun to share here, too. What are the first four words you see when you look at this smiley face? They are supposed to describe your personality.

My four words: happy, elegant, peaceful, naive. I'm not so sure about naive...
Care to share yours?

Author Birthday: Orhan Pamuk

(photo credit: John Smock/ Associated Press)

From today's Writer's Almanac:

The Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (books by this author) celebrates his 60th birthday today. He was born in Istanbul in 1952 and grew up in a fairly wealthy and Westernized district. He studied architecture and then journalism, but at 23 years old, he decided to become a novelist. He lived with his mother and wrote full time, and seven years later, he published his first novel, Cevdet Bey and His Sons (1982). He's worked as a novelist for 30 years and has never held any other kind of job, and apart from three years he spent in New York, he's lived his entire life in the Istanbul district of his birth. 

In 2005, Pamuk gave an interview in which he made remarks about the Armenian Genocide and the mass killing of tens of thousands of Kurds. He said: "Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here, and a million Armenians. And almost nobody dares to mention that. So I do." Criminal charges were filed against Pamuk in Turkey, and his statements resulted in a new law making it illegal to make anti-Turkish remarks. There was an international outcry, and several noted authors — including Gabriel García Márquez, Umberto Eco, John Updike, and Günter Grass — spoke out in Pamuk's defense. The charges were dropped early in 2006. 

Recent books include The Naïve and Sentimental Novelist (2010) and Pieces from the View: Life, Streets, Literature (2010).

 Orhan Pamuk is an author I've been meaning to read for years, yet have a vague sense of intimidation when faced with his work. The Museum of Innocence is on my shelf, but I'm not sure that's the best place to begin. Have you read Pamuk? Do you have any recommendations?


Louise Erdrich is also celebrating a birthday today. Here is my Author Birthday post from last year.

Tuesday Intro: The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

Since her marriage to Edward Swift, three years after the sudden death of her first husband Horace Torrington, Charlotte had changed her position at the breakfast table in order to accommodate her new husband's needs: specifically, aiding him in the spreading of toast and cutting of meat, owing to his having suffered the loss of his left arm at the age of twenty-three in an unfortunate encounter with the narrow wheels of a speeding gig, out of which he had fallen on the driveway of his them home in County Wicklow. Having always faced the window and wide view, now Charlotte sat on Edward's left, and faced him. 

Her eldest children, Emerald and Clovis, aged nineteen and twenty respectively, but for whom the word 'children' is not inaccurate at the point at which we discover them, did not like this new arrangement. Nor did they like or approve of Edward Swift; single arm notwithstanding, they found he did not fit.

The Uninvited Guests
by Sadie Jones

I was initially drawn to this book by the cover (isn't it gorgeous?), but after just one chapter, the writing and story have me totally invested. Can't wait to read more today...

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening paragraph(s). Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Audio Archive: The Big Rock Candy Mountain

June is Audiobook Month.  Regular readers of Lakeside Musing know my love of audiobooks has been well-chronicled over the years. In celebration of Audiobook Month, I will post a review from my audio archives each Monday. This week I begin with The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner, originally reviewed 6/10/11. Keep up with all Audiobook Month activities on twitter by following #JIAM2012.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain
by Wallace Stegner, 1942
Blackstone Audio,  2010
narrated by Mark Bramhall
25 hours 41 minutes

source: purchased

In a nutshell:
Based largely on his own childhood, Stegner has created a masterful, harrowing saga of a family trying to survive during the lean years of the early 20th century. It is the conflict between the hardscrabble existence and Bo's pursuit of the frontier myth and of the American dream that gives the book such resonance and power. (from publisher)

My thoughts:
My appreciation for Wallace Stegner grows every time I read (or listen to) one of his novels. The Big Rock Candy Mountain, a family saga simply told with dignity and honesty, features writing that is startling beautiful and, at times, even haunting.

Stegner writes of family relationships and dynamics with amazing acuity. I was not surprised to learn this is considered his most autobiographical novel. Stegner's love of nature, the outdoors and the American west is evident in the stunning physical descriptions of the land. I was also quite taken with his thoughts on home, roots and permanence. In fact, I ended up borrowing the book from the library to reread a several passages.

"You had to stay in a place to make it a home.  A home had to be lived in every day, every month, every year for a long time, till it was worn like an old shoe and fitted the comfortable curvatures of your life."  (page 236)

I won't go into the plot (this is one to experience for yourself) but The New Yorker called it "A well-written study of a footloose family.. Stands out beautifully and unforgettably."

Stegner won the Pulitzer Prize in 1971 for Angle of Repose. Crossing to Safety, his final novel written in 1987, may just be my all-time favorite book. The Big Rock Candy Mountain, in addition to being an excellent novel,  provides valuable insight into the writer's life.

My rating:

Notes on the audio production:
It took a few moments to remember why Mark Bramhall's voice sounded so familiar. Finally, I recognized him as the narrator of Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. Again, it took some time to get used to his voice, but Bramhall is an excellent reader. My only complaint (the same one I had with Revolutionary Road) is that I found his 'female voice' annoyingly sappy. It seemed to impart a 'spineless doormat' feeling to the character, but, in all fairness, there were times when this characterization was right on the mark.

Bottom line: If you are ready to make the time commitment, Stegner's most autobiographical novel will not disappoint. It is beautiful, haunting and insightful.

The Sunday Salon: May was...

A very exciting month
Blogging was assigned a low priority
College graduation for Daughter #1
Downtown Living Tour
Excellent dinner at The Mission
Finished The Makioka Sisters; will watch film soon
Glad Farmers' Market season is here
House is full with all three girls home for the summer,
I don't know where to put all of their stuff!
Jobs for the summer would be nice...
Kids adding to Netflix queue - interesting viewing ahead
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen is my current read/listen
Mother's Day and Memorial Day
New brakes for my car            
Outlet mall shopping
Pin It and Do It Challenge
Quite a lot of cooking and baking this month
Really enjoyed Tabloid City by Pete Hamill
Still reading Clarissa, and still behind schedule
The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine for bookclub
The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones arrived from the library
Vase filled with wildflowers makes me smile
Winter King by Thomas Penn on audio
eXtra long dog walks
Yale reunion for my husband
Zelda celebrates her 2nd anniversary in our family

Weekend Cooking: Pin It and Do It Wrap-Up

May was a delicious month here by the lake. Trish's Pin It and Do It Challenge was all the encouragement I needed to join Pinterest, then three recipe successes motivated me try four more 'pins' before the month ended.

Last Sunday, I offered to bring dessert and an appetizer to a family dinner. Reactions to the Kahlua Bundt Cake from Better Recipes were mixed. The flavor of the kahlua glaze was a little too strong for some, but my daughter and I loved it.

These Mini Caprese Bites were quickly devoured. The skewers I had were a bit too long, so I cut them down to size. The picture was taken before the balsamic vinegar/extra virgin olive oil was drizzled over the tray.

We had another opportunity to use our handy grill rack a couple of night later with this Sweet and Spicy Citrus Tilapia.

The recipe says to marinate the fish for 15 minutes, but I'd leave it even longer next time. There will definitely be a next time!

Finally, Martha Stewart's Tortilla and Black Bean Pie was a big hit. We're having more vegetarian meals now that the girls are home for the summer. This recipe is a variation on Martha's tortilla pie, another family favorite. I added some baby spinach we had in the refrigerator and cut back slightly on the cheese.

With seven total pins, I finished the challenge at the 'Pinterested' level. One more and I would have been 'Pin Obsessed'...maybe next time. Thanks for hosting this challenge Trish. It's been fun!

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend.

Below Stairs by Margaret Powell

It's all about timing... and marketing. The long wait for season three is beginning to feel interminable and Downton Abbey fans are restless. Could there be a better time to reissue Margaret Powell's 1968 memoir Below Stairs? A description like "The Classics Kitchen Maid's Memoir that inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey" on the cover instantly targets the audience.

I loved Margaret Powell's plain-spoken, yet feisty voice. She was an intelligent young woman forced to leave school at an early age and enter the work force, eventually ending up 'in service' as a kitchen maid - the worst job in the house. Years of hard work and determination, however, lead her to the best job - cook. It's impossible for Downton Abbey fans not to compare Powell to Daisy and, later on, to Mrs. Patmore.

Below Stairs serves up a fascinating look at real Downton Abbey-esque situations from heirarchy and protocol amongst servants, to kitchen routines and meal preparation, and even relationships with the 'upstairs people'.

Some favorite passages:
"Wealthy children were never allowed to play with low-class children like us. They were never allowed to play with anyone but similarly wealthy children... Mind you, we had a kind of contempt for them. They couldn't do the things that we could do.... They weren't allowed to do anything exciting. It wasn't their fault. So we never mixed, never." p.10

"Later on in life I never ever took a place where there were nannies and children, and where they had to have separate meals in the nursery. The nanny would come down with all the airs and graces of a miniature employer, saying what the children wanted and what she wanted. There were always feuds between the nursery and the kitchen. There always were and there always had been. The parlourmaid, the housemaid, and the cook always thought nanny and nursemaid considered themselves better than they  were, and they did, of course." p 79

" Living in such close contact with other servants, a lot of quarrels went on. You can't coop up a lot of females, perhaps it even applies to men, without words passing, and what words, too. But it didn't matter how much we servants quarreled among ourselves, a united front was always presented to them upstairs... We always called them 'Them'. 'Them' was the enemy, 'Them' always overworked us, and 'Them' underpaid us, and to 'Them' servants were a race apart, a necessary evil. "p. 91

"You see I was determined to get married. I didn't want to be an old maid. In those days people put on a very contemptuous expression when they talked about 'being on the shelf', or being a spinster. It meant you were lacking practically everything. Nowadays women who don't get married have often had all the sex they want and all the security. They just don't want to take a man for life, which I don't blame them for in the least. But I needed one to support me. I couldn't see myself being a cook for the rest of my life. I wanted one to take me on for life." p. 135-6

"...even in those days I always found time for reading, I mean books that were worth reading."  p.136-7

"The employers always claimed that the training they gave you stood you in good stead when you left and married and had a family of your own. When I left domestic service I took with  me the knowledge of how to cook an elaborate seven-course dinner and an enormous inferiority complex. I can't say that I found those an asset to my married life." p.190-1

Bottom line: Below Stairs is a must read for Downton Abbey fans.

My rating:

FTC disclosure: borrowed from the library