Joseph Sciuto's Blog: A Curious View: A Compilation of Short Stories by Joseph Sciuto, page 2

ANN NAPOLITANO’S, “WITHIN ARM’S REACH.”

After reading Ms. Napolitano’s amazing novel, “Hello Beautiful,” about an Italian American family living in Ohio I could not resist reading another novel by her. Being of Italian descent, her portrayal of the Italian American family was right on target and her characters were electrifying.

The second novel I chose to read by her, “Within Arm’s Reach,” started off a little slowly and then like a Nolan Ryan fastball it knocked me off my feet. The novel is about an Irish American family living in New Jersey. Not only are the characters great but the storyline takes us back to Ireland and to the myths, fairytales, and the influence of the Catholic Church on the Irish population.

As someone who has studied Irish history and whose favorite modern poet is Yeats and who one of my very favorite novelists is, James Joyce, I found myself in Heaven. Not only is the story line fascinating, the characters electrifying, but the history behind it all is simply mystifying.

I highly recommend this book. Ms. Napolitano is an amazingly talented writer and I will be reading more of her books.

GEORGE ORWELL’S, “ANIMAL FARM.”

Since the age of sixteen, I have read The New York Times religiously first thing in the morning. At that time, President Carter was negotiating the historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

When I moved to Los Angeles in 1982, the idea that I could no longer get The New York Times seriously bothered me, despite reassurances that the LA Times was a great newspaper. A few days after arriving in Los Angeles, I found out I could get the NY Times delivered, a day late, right to my door. I immediately signed up. A day late was a million times better than what I expected.

Naturally, with the spread of the internet I have never again had a problem getting the newspaper that I have lived with for nearly my entire life. I have read about numerous tragedies both in the United States and over seas, but never in the entire time have I dreaded reading my favorite newspaper more than over the last eight months.

What has become of our country over this time frame has literally made me sick. To think how many men and women have lost their lives protecting our freedom and our way of life, and how many have been seriously wounded, emotionally and physically, protecting our way of life and freedom to have it suddenly blown apart by a five time draft dodger and a bunch of sickening lackeys is really very hard to handle and comprehend.

So after reading the paper each morning, I have started looking at clips of penguins, flip, flopping on sheets of ice, elephants protecting their babies, conscientious humans protecting and caring for injured turtles, dolphins, and ducks, and naturally pandas happily playing. As a way to relieve the stress after reading the news, it has greatly worked for me.

So why in the world did I decide to reread “Animal Farm,” after 40 years? It’s not like I had forgot the main theme of the book, certainly a few of the characters yes, but not the plot.

Once some of the animals started acting like our politicians in Washington D.C., I was ready to put it down but naturally I continued because I was already half way through the 100 page book.

It was not until the last few pages, that the stress I felt throughout this book found an outlet and quickly dissipated. It was when a couple of the corrupt animals started walking like humans on two legs. As was repeated throughout the book by the animals, “Two legs bad, four legs good.”

“Animal Farm,” is undeniably a classic like Orwell’s “1984.” My negative reaction throughout most of the book was brought on by the fact that some of the animals were acting so much like the individuals I read about each morning in The New York Times. Thankfully, they are nothing like that, and thankfully most humans are not like the totalitarian leader and his lackeys running our government.

“FRODOR DOSTOYEVSKY’S, “THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF FRODOR DOSTOYEVSKY.”

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I have told this story a million times but it’s still worth repeating. My love of literature happened be accident. In the late 1970’s while attending “John Jay College of Criminal Justice,” I picked up Dostoyevsky’s, “Crime and Punishment.” Attending a Criminal Justice College, I naturally thought it was about law and order, police work, etc.

Wow, was I wrong. The characters, the plot, the writing, and the moral composition of this novel so fascinated me that I read it in a couple of days which for me at the time was a miracle…considering it was a five hundred page novel.

I would eventually go on to read almost all of Dostoyevsky’s works. I’m sure a few have slipped by as new, previously unfounded, pieces of his work have mysteriously showed over the years.

A year after reading the book, I transferred to Stony Brook University and graduated with a degree in English literature.

Over the years, I try to go back to many of the classics that I read many years ago and re-read them. The works by such greats as Dostoyevsky, Conrad, The Bronte Sisters, Hemingway, etc…I have read numerous times and never once have I been disappointed. In fact, it often amazes me how much more I learn each time I re-read them.

The short stories in this collection I had all read before, except for “Notes From the Underground,” (The story that was the inspiration behind the movie, “Taxi Driver,” I had read quite a few times). It is a collection of stories that I would highly recommend to individuals who have never read Dostoyevsky and might be intimidated by the size of all his novels.

Like all his novels, all the stories contain great characters, a fascinating look at Russia during the middle of the 19th century, and questions of morality that we as human beings should be asking ourselves every day.

PERCIVAL EVERETT’S, “JAMES.”

Mr. Everett’s, “James,” is undeniably one of the bests novels I have read on slavery. It would be easy to compare it to some of Toni Morrison’s brilliant books on the subject but Mr. Everett’s style is completely different. Mr. Everett’s use of language, slave language, is much more similar to Faulkner’s use of language and more similar to Hemingway’s style of writing and to one of Hemingway’s favorite writers Mark Twain.

Mr. Everett’s main character, besides James, is Huckleberry Finn (Huck). In the acknowledgement Mr. Everett remarks, “Heaven for the climate, hell for my long awaited lunch with Mark Twain.”

“James, has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for 2025. It dives deep down into the soul of slaves and there so called “masters” and the way they are treated by most white people. As Ann Patchett wrote, “James is funny and horrifying, brilliant and riveting. Who should read this book? Every single person in the country.”

“James,” is an amazing piece of literature.

FRANZ KAFKA’S, “METAMORPHOSIS AND OTHER STORIES.”

When you enter the world of Franz Kafka you enter a completely different universe (well, maybe not as different now as it was ten years ago but still different). He’s different from geniuses like Orwell and Ray Bradbury. In a sense, they were fortune tellers who in many ways have predicted the future.

Kafka’s writing is in the present which was at the turn of the 20th century in Germany and Europe, but his use of allegory is much greater than most writers I have read. “Metamorphosis,” which can easily be interpreted a hundred different ways, finds Gregor… a young successful young man who supports his mother and father and younger sister… suddenly is transformed into a monstrous cockroach over night.

He naturally becomes useless and an embarrassment to his family, and no longer the money supplier. He is like the star athletic who is suddenly involved in a tragic accident and paralyzed. He eventually becomes a liability to his family.

“Metamorphosis,” is one of many wonderful short stories in this book. “The Hunger-Artist,”and “Josefine, the Singer or the Mouse People,” I found nearly as interesting as Metamorphosis.”

The collection is just short of 300 pages with at least 25 short stories. It reads more like 600 pages, but then you wouldn’t expect anything different from this marvelous writer.

GEORGE ORWELL’S, “1984.”

I was fairly certain that I had read, “1984,” but I still had my doubts. So I did what I always do when I have any doubts about reading a book, I go back and read it.

It’s not I like I am a stranger to re-reading books. I lost count of how many times I have read, Hemingway’s, “The Sun Also Rises,” Conrad’s, “Heart of Darkness and “Lord Jim,” Dostoevsky’s, “Crime and Punishment,” and Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby.”

After reading the first chapter of “1984,” the only thought that went through my mind was that if I had read it previously my memory is seriously starting to fail me.

“1984,” is one of those books where much of its lexicon have become part of the English language, such as “Big Brother,” “Ministry of Truth,” and “The Thought Police.”

During these uncertain times, much of what Orwell talks about in “1984,” which was originally published in 1949, is sadly coming true.

But what struck me most was the superb construction of the novel, the brilliant writing, and the superb characters of Wilson and Julia.

The hype around the novel is truly deserving but it goes so much further. It is undeniably a great novel on so many levels, and for those who have doubts if they ever read it or for those who read it years ago, it deserves a second reading.

I see it one day being in the company of the other books I mentioned previously that I have read many times. Truly amazing!!!!!

“THE ROAD,” BY CORMAC McCARTHY

“The Road,” is the first book I have read by the Pulitzer Prize Winner, Mr. McCarthy. At first, I thought I was reading an e.e. cummings’ poem, which as anyone familiar with the famous poet, novelist, painter, etc., knows wasn’t, at times, in love with any form of punctuation.

After reading a few more pages I thought I was reading the original script for “Mad Max.” The post apocalyptic movie staring the controversial actor and director Mel Gibson.

Don’t get me wrong, I like most of e.e. cummings’ poetry and one of his novels, and I truly enjoyed the first “Mad Max,” movie but didn’t enjoy it enough to see any of the sequels.

First impressions are not always correct. In fact, most are usually wrong. After reading a few more pages of Mr. McCarthy’s novel I suddenly realized that I was reading a book of major significance, especially during these turmoil times on the world stage and in Washington D.C.

Yes, it takes place in a post apocalyptic country one can easily assume is the United States. Secondly, the reader is never really told who the bad guys are and what they have done.

The book is solely focused on the relationship between a father and his young son as they try to survive by keeping on the run and hoping to find a place, the coast, where the good guys live and the landscape is not covered in ash and the sky is not always dark.

The loving relationship between the father and son is so empathetical, so very human, and trustworthy that it takes on a much bigger, symbolic picture than just the bond between a father and son.

It speaks to the world we live in today, especially here in the United States where a good percentage of our population sees evil in the color of a person’s skin, in their religion, and customs and forgets that those very people are human beings with very similar concerns and feelings. They believe the lies of authoritarians, who seek only power and wealth, and whose policies might one day literally lead us into a world so brilliantly described by Mr. McCarthy.

“Behind the Editing of Mission: Impossible II — How nepotism….not a near-fatal motorcycle accident….totaled a dream career,” By Tony Ciccone

My contract as second editor on Mission: Impossible II Start date 6/4/99

A superbly written, heart wrenching story, of betrayal, nepotism, and a complete lack of empathy at the very top of the Hollywood food chain. A near-fatal motorcycle accident and the theft of a brilliantly edited 53 minutes of film by the recuperating second editor by the lead editor on the number one box office movie of 2000, “Mission Impossible II.” The theft compounded by the fact that Mr. Ciccone’s main credit was reduced to “Additional Film Editor,” and a promising career and legacy sabotaged without an ounce of guilt from the perpetrators. This is a story that should be made into a movie. It has all the ingredients.

Read the Full article at: https://lnkd.in/g-qbXi4R

“REMEMBERING CHARLES DUNNING,” BY JOSEPH SCIUTO

It was back in 1982. I had just moved from New York to lovely Westwood Village in Los Angeles. Walking out of my building, if I took a left I was within a half of a block of the village. If I took a right, I was walking through the residential area of Westwood and looking at the beautiful homes. One would consider the Westwood area at that time to be upper middle class.

Like was my habit back in New York, I continued to take early morning walks and I usually walked from my Lindbrook Drive apartment straight into the residential section and down about two miles to Santa Monica Blvd. I would then turn around and walk back home.

On the day of my first walk, I looked across the street and saw a person who looked very familiar to me. It was the actor Charles Dunning who by then had already been in numerous movies, such as “The Sting,” “True Confessions,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” and “Tootsie.”

He was walking slowly and even from a distance I could see the constricted and focused concentration on his face and in his eyes. I simply figured he was going over lines for some movie he was currently starring in. I thought to myself that my really good friend, Tony, who got me the apartment was right when he said, “You could be walking down any street in Los Angeles and see a movie star.”

I continued my walks every morning, and every morning at just about 7am I ran across Charles Dunning, always walking alone, with that same look on his face and in his eyes. This went on for about three months and then I didn’t see him for about six months, and then the original cycle started up again and I saw him every morning for an extremely long time, walking alone, with that same look on his face and in his eyes.

Never once did I even consider saying, “Hello,” which as anyone who knows me is quite unusual because I will talk to almost anymore. I was scared that if I even slightly disturbed him he might have a heart attack or something equally as bad.

A couple of years later when my friend Tony and I moved from Westwood to West Hollywood I never saw Mr. Dunning again, except in his movies and on TV shows.

After spending many years working at the infamous West Hollywood Palm restaurant I became quite familiar with that constricted and focused concentration on customers’ faces and in their eyes. The look wasn’t always present, except when we sat directly across from each other, when the restaurant was just about empty, and they confided in me about their experiences during World War 2, Korea, and the Vietnam war. They were mostly former soldiers, a few war correspondents, and two were survivors of the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

The battlefield stories they told were horrifying, brutal, and inhumane as were the treatment of the two survivors of Auschwitz. It was as though they were transported back in time and reliving every horrible minute of their experiences. Their faces constricted and their eyes laser focused as though they were looking at a movie…a movie about their experiences…a movie that one never forgets.

It wasn’t until recently when I came upon a video about Charles Dunning that I was able to put two and two together. The man who I probably walked passed over a hundred times with that same look and expression, always walking alone, slowly, as though retracing every second of horrible experiences.

He was a decorated veteran of World War 2 and in this small video clip one could see the connection I was finally able to make some forty years later: Click link and then directly below it a small box will show up with another link: http://www.thisDate.com. Click that link.

www.ThisDate.com | Charles Durning was one of the most reliable character actors of the 20th century. He was also one of the most distinguished heroes of… | Instagraminstagram.com/reel/C_Ag

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It is worth repeating, “I saw things that nobody should have to see. I will take the memory of those boys who didn’t make it to my grave.”

Charles Dunning is a reminder of the sacrifices so many young men and women made in order to preserve the freedom we Americans enjoy. They fought against fascism, dictatorships, and authoritarianism. Apparently, those lessons were not learned when over 75 million Americans went to the polls and voted for a five time draft dodger. Sadly, now all Americans are suffering the consequences.

Sometimes look into the faces and the eyes of individuals who might seem lost, but are actually reliving experiences that nobody should have to see.

“UKRAINIAN DIARY,” BY ANZHELIKA SHALAHINA.

There is nothing more that a historian or a historical fiction writer loves more than a “subject” that leaves behind a lot of correspondence, such as letters, emails, and especially diaries. That is one of the many reasons why there have been so many biographies on the great Ernest Hemingway. He was an obsessive letter writer, usually writing as many as five letters each morning. Historians are constantly finding letters he wrote to acquaintances throughout the world.

The discovery of a diary on the subject a historian is writing about is like finding a treasure chest full with gold coins.

And why are these correspondences so desired? Because unlike staged interviews or even autobiographies, the subject is most likely to express his/her real feelings and emotions in letters and diaries.

“The Diary of Anne Frank,” is one of the most famous pieces of writing in the world and deservingly so. It is the uncensored thoughts, emotions, and dreams of a young girl entering adolescence, hiding in attic with her family, in hope of escaping the Nazis’ termination of the Jewish people. She and her sister would eventually die in Auschwitz with their hopes and dreams exterminated like millions of other Jewish children by a brutal and inhumane regime.

Ms. Shalahina’s “Ukrainian Diary,” is also an emotional, heart wrenching portrait, of a young, intelligent, ambitious young lady in her late twenties whose life is upended by the brutal invasion of the Russians and Vladimar Putin.

Ms. Shalahina, who at the time of the invasion, lived in the Donbas regime of Ukraine where there are many native Russians also living. Neighbors suddenly become adversaries. Russian friends who she communicated with were suddenly talking now about “The Greater Russia.”

She, like thousands of other Ukrainians, are forced to move into the middle of the country and eventually she and her mother and her cat move to Kiev where warning sirens ring throughout the night, and water and electricity are rationed to 4 hour periods a day. Russian drones and bombs drop indiscriminately onto schools, businesses, and apartment buildings killing and maiming innocent children.

The temperature in their apartment, during the winter time, is usually below freezing. The author’s life, like the lives of millions of Ukrainians, is turned upside/down. Ms. Shalahina’s emotions swing back and forth, from hoping to survive for one more hour or day to wishing she was just dead. She discards all Russian friends and it is a struggle for this highly ambitious, talented woman to find the enthusiasm to continue to do the work she loves.

“Ukrainian Diary,” is a brutally honest and emotional chronicle that tells the story of a young, talented and promising lady whose path to success is curtailed by the invasion of their country by a ruthless and inhumane dictator. Her diary, like the diary of Anne Frank, nevertheless speaks to the millions of young Ukrainians whose dreams and goals have been put aside because the next hour, or day, or weeks is all about survival.

Thankfully, Ms. Shalahina is still alive and living in Kiev where she continues to keep the world informed, through her writing and videos, about Ukraine… about the continued war and the uncompromising courage of the Ukrainian people.