Kafka On the Shore, Huraki Murakami

I finished reading Kafka on the Shore today.  I'm sad it's over, I enjoyed reading this book a lot.  I like magical realism and when a tidy narrative takes twists and turns into the impossible.  The writing, characters & story were all great.  I really loved the parallel construction of the two stories alternating back and forth -- thought it really worked well, and I'm not always a big fan of these kinds of structures.

I suspect the book got such a favorable reception from me because it struck me as both deep and also very much a fantasy of escapism and the impossible - things that resonate with me a lot these days.  I'm also struck at having sandwiched the May 25th period with Wind Up Bird Chronicle and this late November period with Kafka on the Shore, bringing a decidedly Murakami flavor to a rather pedestrian life experience...

Grading it an A-, as I did feel there was something holding it back from being a masterpiece.  Murakami said in interviews you need to read it a few times to work out some riddles -- that will have to wait for me... 

Teotihuacan at Quai Branly

Today I went to see Teotihuacan at the Musée du Quai Branly (here's a link in English).  It was my first time visiting this art museum (focused on the far flung regions of the world) so I also went through part of the main collections (sticking with Americas since I'd already spent 2 hours on that). 

It was enjoyable - a part of history I don't know at all, so I learned a good deal.  I'm always astonished though, when I look at the development of the populations in the Americas at how far behind on most technology they were for so long (writing, sciences, etc).  The art too seems so primitive, even if some of it is lovely.

Renoir au XXe siecle - Grand Palais

Today I went to see Renoir au XXe siècle, at the Grand Palais.

I enjoyed it, but wasn't knocked out, which was pretty much what I suspected because he's never been one of my favorites. 

I did enjoy the focus on a specific part of his career (the end) and some of the artists he influenced being hung alongside him (Picasso, Matisse, Bonnard). 

The audioguide was well done for once, but I need to remember that leaving at 16h30 to go to an expo is not such a good time, as it was quite crowded with the last wave of guided tours... earlier must be better. 

Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon was a forgettable movie that would have been better off staying forgotten.  Plot was stupid, almost non-existent, not amusing, not funny, not well-acted.  Really nothing redeeming except helped me through an hour on the elliptical machine (and was only 99c on iTunes).

Le vent nous emportera (The Wind Will Carry Us)

In the process of organizing our DVDs I sometimes come across things that look like they'd be good, and Le vent nous emportera was one of them.  The movie didn't live up to the box, however.  Screaming with awards won & with a poetic, beautiful photo on the front we thought we were about to discover a new favorite director, but that was not to be. 

We both found the movie beautifully filmed, and it while the documentary-style filming & lack of score was interesting, the story, frankly, was not.  We liked the off-screen-ness of several of the surrounding characters, but E fell asleep several times watching it, and neither of us enjoyed it very much. 

Ce que le jour doit à la nuit, Yasmina Khadra

A family friend had loved Ce que le jour doit à la nuit, and recommended it to me and so I decided to go ahead and try it in French.  As is always the case when I read in French, it's frustrating to read so slowly and for it to require so much effort, so it is easy to get distracted, easy to put the book down and pick up something else, and not easy to finish.  I finally picked up the book again and pushed myself through it, and was glad I did.  When I had longer stretches of time to read it was very enjoyable, which is an important lesson in terms of future reading in French - it's hard for me to do it in small 20 minute slices since each time it's hard to fall back into it (unlike in English).

The book was nice & interesting.  Well written, good descriptions, and I really liked the lack of melodrama that accompanied the major plot twists.  Not yet out in English, by the way.

People Will Talk by Joseph Mankiewicz

My mom & I watched People Will Talk after going to dinner at L'Ourcine.  It was a good Cary Grant movie with a racy-for-the-epoch plot & was quite a good movie.  I give it a B.  I'll probably see it again, as my husband had left it in a pile of things he wanted us to see together (I thought it was the pile of stuff he'd already seen...)

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go was a very well structured story, and Ishiguro's signature controlled emotions and careful construction. The sci-fi futuristic aspect not my cup of tea, but the writing was beautiful.

The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife was a very original story, fast moving, interesting concept. The book probably could have been successful with a 100 pages less (it got a bit repetitive) but I enjoyed it. Ending not as strong as the beginnning, but with a highly original concept thats not surprising.

Compulsion, Johnathan Kellerman

Compulsion, by Johnathan Kellerman is not my genre of books, but I needed something light and page-turning. It fit the bill, but I hesitate for the second star. Luckily it was a VERY quick read but really left me feeling empty afterwards. Makes me wonder why people read books like this when there are so many really good books out there...

 

Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout

I read Olive Kitteridge in the days before the hospital & just after the surgery.  Series of linked stories that I really liked.

Loved the linked stories in this book, they were far less gimmicky than I usually find that structure to be. The writing was subtle and insightful without being obtrusive or in-your-face intellectual. It's been a long time since I've read a story where you had so much abivalence for the main character - you don't exactly like her, but you do appreciate her - very well done.

Le Dôme - fish brasserie

After the theatre we went to a fish restaurant that was VERY good.  Le Dôme is in the Montparnasse area, and everything we ate was really top quality. 

I had mussels with a cream sauce (with a dash of curry & fleur d'oranger), E started with oysters. Then we both had a fabulous lobster salad.  Main dishes of lotte and sole meunière were excellent.  Desset of millefeuille which they are famous for was amazing, and we are fans of millefeuille at Boulangerie Monge (and we'd had it for brunch!) but this blew it away.  A few bites of caramel & chocolate Berthillion ice creams didn't hurt either....

Yum.  Instantly became a place I'll put into regular rotation, even if it's a bit spendy...

Abraham - Michel Jonasz

We went to see a French one man show, Abraham,  by singer Michel Jonasz. 

It was a sad, touching one act play, which was really very well played and the text was very good.  I wasnt crazy about the songs but I am never a big fan of musical theatre. 

La Bohème, Paris Opera

We went to see our first opera of the season, La Bohème (actually it was supposed to be the second, but the first was rescheduled due to a strike...).

I was not crazy about the music - probably not helped by the fact that the singer playing Mimi wasn't the greatest, and I found the orchestra too loud vs the vocals, but I actually think the music just isn't as good as the other operas I've been to. Being a novice to opera maybe that's unfair, but it was my gut feeling.

The sets were beautiful, and in particular act 2 was amazing - probably 80 people onstage.

After the opera, we went to eat dinner at Bofinger, a classic French brasserie, which was quite good.  A really nice evening!