Long Book Sad War

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

New York : Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995, c1940.

 471 p. ; 21 cm.     

I have to be honest, I didn't really plan to read this book, but after watching the PBS series on Hemingway, and then reading a book from our library about the Spanish Civil War, I was curious to read this novel of his. 

I found the PBS series problematic in many ways. It overly lionized Hemingway, and tended to minimize what an awful and incredibly sexist person he was.  But there was great footage and lots of other information worth taking in about this really important literary figure.  

I initially sat down to read just excerpts of the novel, but the writing is compelling and I ended up enjoying reading it, even when I felt like the movement of narrative was overly ponderous.  Like Mario Vargas Llosa in the documentary, I too felt that the love affair in the novel was overwrought, immature and something of a distraction.  However, the portrayal of characters in the guerrilla band that the main character works with and the ludicrous characters running the war for the Republic are really strong points of the novel.  Hemingway's ability to convey the moral degradations and salvations of people at war are also striking. And knowing as we do that the fascists triumph in Spain, it is sometimes exquisitely painful to read this novel that was written before the outcome was determined. 

I can't say I would recommend this book to a student, but occasionally students pick Hemingway for their senior literary research paper and I'm glad I'll have read this as a point of reference going forward.  

It's Complicated

Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life by Catherine Reef
Boston : Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014
168 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm. 

Most people have some passing familiarity with the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, but this is one of those great non-fiction books for young adults that really expands the range of information about these two stunning Mexican painters.

The book is richly illustrated with photos and includes back matter featuring a nice selection of famous works by the two artists.  The back of the book also includes a timeline and copious notes by the author.

I really loved how this book does not condescend to young adults and manages to objectively convey the very unconventional nature of Rivera and Kahlo.  The book also skillfully conveys the artistic excellence of both artists - showing that Rivera was definitely more famous, prolific and well paid, while Kahlo was truly both a skilled (and self-taught) and truly original painter.  The book conveys the deep and complex love that existed between these two as they married, split up, and eventually remarried.

I also appreciated that Reef was able to honestly portray what a sexist user Diego Rivera was, but she also conveys the poignant tenderness that he held for Frida, and the deep bond between them.

"Stuck in the hospital [1950], Frida missed seeing Diego receive the National Prize for Plastic Arts....She saw her husband often, though, because he took the room next to hers, to be nearby at night.  Diego's presence comforted Frida like nothing else.  He read poetry to her and rocked her to sleep.  About once a week he brought in a borrowed movie projector and showed her the old Laurel and Hardy films....he did whatever he could think of to lighten her mood, even if he had to shake a tambourine and dance around the room, or roar like a bear with his arms raised and fingers curved like a claws." (p.101)

I would definitely recommend this book to any student interested in knowing more about Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera... or both!

a poet 'swonder full i fe!

Self Portrait by e.e. cummings 

at the National Portrait Gallery

E. E. Cummings: a poet's life by Catherine Reef
New York : Clarion Books, c2006.
149 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.

Finishing up April, National Poetry Month, with this biography of the famous US poet, e.e. cummings, seemed like a good idea.  And it was!  Reef has put together a wonderful and accessible biography of Cummings.  I really appreciated that Reef manages to present a lot of information in a manageable number of pages - and yet really develops a fascinating portrait of Cummings as a truly unique artist and human being.

I was really struck by how original Cummings was.  His poetry still has a freshness and vitality, but must have seemed stunningly unique when he published it. Reef also gives attention to Cummings serious work as a painter (as the self-portrait above reveals).

Reef also conveys what an original Cummings was in so many ways.  Though from a very conventional family, he rebelled by moving to Greenwich Village, volunteering to be an ambulance driver in WWI, traveling widely abroad, championing avant-garde artists (e.g. the Armory Show artists).

Reef manages to convey the various milieus that defined Cummings' life - WWI, the 1920s, WWII, the New Deal, etc.  She also brings Cummings to life as a man of great dedication, passion, talent, wit, playfulness and (yes) love - and all in the space of 149 pages enlivened with wonderful photographs and illustrations.

I would definitely recommend this book to any student curious about E. E. Cummings specifically or the life of an artist and writer generally.