Colleen Mondor's Blog, page 12

In Honor of All That Is Right in the World: Heart Covers STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

From the Kennedy Center Honors, 2012. I watch this and think we all just might make it in this world, as long as we keep doing this sort of wonderful magic.

Kevin Guilfoile on how nonfiction is permeated with all we do not know

This is part of a very brief passage in A Drive Into the Gap and I've been thinking about it a lot since I read it last week:

On some level, most novelists write fiction to create order our of chaos. When you shape a fictional story, you can tie every loose end, fit the round pegs comfortably in circular holes. In a novel the author can create a world that makes sense.

The non-fiction writer often does the opposite. He starts with the assumption that the true story he wants to tell conforms to a logical narrative. Instead he discovers that there are always motivations that are incomprehensible. That people act irrationally. That memories are imperfect. The non-fiction writer uncovers the chaos hidden beneath the orderly surface.

There was a very big part of me that desperately wanted to make A Map of My Dead Pilots fictional. I wrote parts of it that way at first, or tried to. but the truth kept beating me down and forcing its way into the narrative. At one point in the final manuscript I do tell readers how I would have rewritten one small story if it is was fiction; how I would have made it a happily ever after.

Truth is so messy. I don't think some novelists realize that. Truth is just impossible to accept sometimes. Guilfoile writes that "...there are always motivations that are incomprehensible". This is the question of why behind every pilot error aircraft accident. I'm still trying to understand some from 1929. I look at accident reports and wonder, "Why did this pilot take this chance that killed him?"

Two weeks ago a pilot crashed in Alaska and died along with three of his passengers. The final Probable Cause report is likely a year away but I know we are never going to understand why he made the final decisions that led to the crash.

Truth is so messy. In a novel I could tell you what he was thinking; what all of them were thinking. As a journalist, as an nonfiction writer, I can only tell you what happened and then lead into the chaos with me so we can both try to find answers together.

Surveying the stacks & making some lists

I have a holiday gift list up at Alaska Dispatch for the pilot or aircraft owner in your life. Lots of great ideas on this one - I've been collecting items for months to add to it.

I also have a new column up at Bookslut with some great adventure novels for teens (my 100th column!) and I have a feature on NF titles for kids/teens that are really off the beaten path (sea monsters! collective nouns! hovercrafts!)

That feature also includes the coolest pop-up I've seen in ages on national parks. It's STUNNING.

I have enjoyed my friend Kelly Fineman's downsizing posts for the past few months and because I know her, they've made me think a lot more about getting rid of stuff than the average episode of Clean House. Also, Kelly's level of stuff sounds pretty similar to my own so she's a lot easier for me to identify with.

The other night I was downstairs sorting out books for future columns when I started looking at my own bookshelves. I'm pretty picky about the books I keep and I really have remarkably few when you consider how many I could keep (an insane number, trust me). But I do have two overloaded shelves of books I have bought or have been given to me that I plan to read someday and just haven't gotten to. They are a mess and some of the books have been there for years. I finally decided it was time to let them go.

Kelly's been writing a lot about space and keeping things for emotional reasons and not sitting on things because it's too hard to deal with the trouble of getting rid of them and all of this and more made me pull all the books off the 2 shelves and ruthlessly (RUTHLESSLY) go through them. I think I have about a dozen left which I am now going to read over the next couple of months. I might very well love them all and keep them forever, or give them a shot and pass them along but either way - those shelves are never going to be such a mess again. (Donating all discards this week to local Friends of Library bookstore.)

Books should never become a burden, emotional or otherwise. If you are not going to read them then it's time to set them free, so someone else can give them a good home. I can't believe it took me so long to get this message into my head. Thanks, Kelly!

Let's stuff some stockings

You don't usually put books in stockings but Kevin Guilfoile's A Drive Into the Gap is so reasonably priced ($6.95) and such a compact size (69 pages) that it fits perfectly into the stocking-stuffer category. It's also bloody brilliant, so a nice surprise to share with the reader in your life who likes books about fathers and sons, baseball, writing or heartfelt real-life mysteries. Special bonus if they know who Roberto Clemente was.

Basically, anyone who enjoys a good story which, in this case, also happens to be true.

I bought A Drive Into the Gap after reading Walter Biggins' review at Bookslut. It's about Guilfoile's father, who has Alzheimer's, and the mystery behind the bat that Clemente used for his 3,000 hit. It's also a bit about baseball, which Guilfoile's father worked in, and storytelling - especially about mythic moments - and about how Barry Bonds is a jerk. (I knew it!!!) (Okay this is only a couple of pages in the book but still, I KNEW IT!!!)

It's just a lovely little book, a quick but thoughtful read, and something different from standard stocking fare.

I also recommend some of the Field Notes notebooks as unexpected gifts. They are surprisingly addictive - you wouldn't think little notebooks would be so useful in the electronic age but they are. I love mine and use them to keep track of the different writing projects (big and small) that I'm involved in, as well as the standard daily "To Do" list.

Oh - and put some pens in the stockings! These are SEVEN YEAR pens and they are very reasonably priced and super cool. Pens are always good for the stocking. (I always put in scratch-off lottery tickets and coffee cards too.) (Oh and magnets which are always a good thing!) (And bookmarks!!!!) (And I buy an issue of a magazine that I think my husband would like but hasn't picked up.) (This doesn't fit in the stocking, but I put it underneath it.)

Hmmmm, what else? Oh - I also always put in Burt's Bees lip balm because, well, you can never have enough lip balm in the winter.

I love stocking stuffers. They make me happy. :)

The Real Alice in Wonderland

I keep thinking I'm going to feel 100% any moment now because I first got sick two long weeks ago and yet still, something is not quite right. It's all very frustrating.

I did read Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin in the midst of all this illness however, and I enjoyed it immensely. The basic facts of the Alice in Wonderland biography are here: Alice Liddell Hargreaves was the inspiration for the famous book, her father was dean of Christ Church, Oxford and that was how the family came to know Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll). Dodgson took photos of Alice and her sisters, he spent a lot of time with the girls and one afternoon trip he told them the Wonderland story and at Alice's urging later wrote it down. Then something happened between the Liddells and Dodgson and there was a brutal falling out and they never really spoke again. Later, Alice became very close to Prince Leopold (as in brother to the King and son of Queen Victoria) and they broke up - although they each named a child after the other.

Whew!

Benjamin takes all these facts, including Alice's eventual marriage and the birth of her three sons (sadly, two died in WWI), and folds them into a novel about her life that is enormously compelling. She writes about her complicated childhood as the daughter of a very important man (and one of the only married men at Oxford) and shows how difficult it was to stand out in such a big family. A lot of Alice's childhood struggles were ordinary and utterly predictable but the friendship she developed with Dodgson was something altogether different and just what it was about is a literary mystery for the ages.

Benjamin doesn't drop any major bombs here and she shouldn't; her restraint is perfect and lends itself well to this complicated history. What Alice did, what Dodgson did, what her sister and mother and father and everyone thought (and the source of their motivations) are handled with care and empathy. That is what makes Alice I Have Been so believable - you can see the history unfolding exactly as the story does and by the time Leopold comes onto the scene you are so caught up in Alice's life that you really wish the book would abandon the truth and give us the story we want (Alice as a princess!!).

And don't even get me started on the deaths of her sons. Brutal, absolutely brutal.

Melanie Benjamin has also written about Ameila Earhart and Mrs. Tom Thumb - if they are half as good as her treatment of Alice, then they must be read as well.

Reporting from Wonderland

I have been crazy sick for the past week and a half so all writing of all kinds (like here) has been pretty much impossible. I have been reading a bit though and wanted to highly recommend Alice, I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin. I'll be writing more about this novel of the real Alice, (Alice Liddell Hargreaves), in the next day or so but wanted to mention it now when I had the chance.

Also, there will be an Alice in Wonderland 2 apparently, due out in 2016. Hmmmmm.

Handel in the food court. Really.

One of the better aspects of reviewing books for children and teens is that you end up reading a ton of stuff that you would never approach in an adult-sized (i.e. longer) book. A perfect example is Handel: Who Knew What He Liked by M.T. Anderson and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Released this year in a new format, this short biography for kids gives you everything you never knew about the composer George Handel which, if you are like me, is a whole ton of stuff.

Basically, I knew the "Messiah" enough to recognize when I heard bits of it but why it was written and anything else Handel composed and even what the heck his life was like....well, I knew nothing. So I get this compact biography in the mail from Candlewick and in about 15 minutes I find out that Handel's father thought he should do something practical with his life, and he loved big wigs, and he loved Italian opera, and he hit rock bottom and he wrote the "Messiah" in a fury of creativity. In just a few pages I got a measure of the man (and so did my son because I read it out loud to him while he was playing Angry Birds Star Wars).

I really think a lot of teens and adults should peruse nonfiction titles in the children's section. It's a good way to gather a little bit of information on a topic (fully illustrated!) and figure out what things you want to learn more about. Personally, I doubt I'll be straying too much more in Handel's personal history but I'm happy with what I know now and totally ready to slay someone at Trivial Pursuit if his name comes up. :)



[RE the Video - I wonder why I'm never around for one of these awesome flash mobs???]

Deep Down by Deborah Coates: 'That's the thing, we knew we were home."

Deborah Coates is out with a sequel to her South Dakota rural fantasy Wide Open and I just read it and it is really really good.

That doesn't sound like what a professional book reviewer is supposed to say, but it's how I feel.

In Wide Open, Afghanistan vet Hallie came home to investigate the death of her sister. Hallie died in Afghanistan for seven minutes and since then she has been able to see ghosts. They don't talk to her but they hang out around her and through the ghosts she uncovers this whole mad plot by a crazy guy to control the weather.

And that's all I'm going to say because you need to read it to find out what happens.

In Deep Down, Hallie is wondering if she should stay in South Dakota. She has solved the mystery surrounding her sister, defeated the bad guys and now she's just not sure if staying at home with her dad is the right thing to do. Her military career is over and is ranching what she wants to do? There's a tantalizing job possibility and maybe she needs to find herself. But then there's a ghost and some dogs that aren't alive or dead (or ghosts) and Death and, well, a hole helluva a lot of bad stuff.

So Hallie has to stick around for awhile.

BUT...what makes Deep Down so good is that while the fantasy is great and I enjoy the world building a lot, it's the characters that Coates has created here that I truly adore. Hallie smart and tough but also very realistic - she doesn't know what she should do and she's scared she's going to make the wrong decision. Things are complicated by her budding romance with local cop Boyd. They are halfway to being serious but not quite there enough to be sharing life-changing decisions. The two of them are trying to figure themselves out as a couple and it's nice to see; it's very adult and normal and the fact that dead people are trying to kill them while they do this is just icing on the fantasy cake.

The romance is just a small layer to the novel though; in fact it's more about the consideration of relationships rather than what you think of when you think romance. Here's a passage between Hallie and her father that I just love that shows you what Coates is doing in the midst of all the battling against evil forces:



He smiled. "Before you were born, or Dell either, your mom and I went to Florida for a couple of weeks. We did all the things you're supposed to do--snorkeling, parasailing, took a boat ride through the Everglades. And it was --different as hell--but that was part of it. We flew back into Rapid City at night and it was starting to snow as we headed back here. Snowed harder and the wind came up and it was pretty much a whiteout by the time we hit the end of the drive. We made it up to the house, practically sideways the whole way. We didn't have boots, coats, nothing. Snow over our shoes and we're bent against the wind crossing the yard.

"Then it stopped. Snow still falling, but straight down and the moon came out. Your mom and me, we stood there in the cold like idiots looking out across the fields all clean and still and home. That's the thing, we knew were home."

He looked at her finally. "It's not prettier or better than other places and it sure as hell isn't an easy place, but I know how to live here. And that counts."

And that is what made this book such a winner for me. It's about who you are and where you belong and the people you want to be part of that decision. It's thoughtful while still being full of mystery and danger and magic. It's just a good story and I can't wait to see where Coates takes these wonderful characters next.

Deep Down by Deborah Coates: 'That's the thing, we knew were home."

Deborah Coates is out with a sequel to her South Dakota rural fantasy Wide Open and I just read it and it is really really good.

That doesn't sound like what a professional book reviewer is supposed to say, but it's how I feel.

In Wide Open, Afghanistan vet Hallie came home to investigate the death of her sister. Hallie died in Afghanistan for seven minutes and since then she has been able to see ghosts. They don't talk to her but they hang out around her and through the ghosts she uncovers this whole mad plot by a crazy guy to control the weather.

And that's all I'm going to say because you need to read it to find out what happens.

In Deep Down, Hallie is wondering if she should stay in South Dakota. She has solved the mystery surrounding her sister, defeated the bad guys and now she's just not sure if staying at home with her dad is the right thing to do. Her military career is over and is ranching what she wants to do? There's a tantalizing job possibility and maybe she needs to find herself. But then there's a ghost and some dogs that aren't alive or dead (or ghosts) and Death and, well, a hole helluva a lot of bad stuff.

So Hallie has to stick around for awhile.

BUT...what makes Deep Down so good is that while the fantasy is great and I enjoy the world building a lot, it's the characters that Coates has created here that I truly adore. Hallie smart and tough but also very realistic - she doesn't know what she should do and she's scared she's going to make the wrong decision. Things are complicated by her budding romance with local cop Boyd. They are halfway to being serious but not quite there enough to be sharing life-changing decisions. The two of them are trying to figure themselves out as a couple and it's nice to see; it's very adult and normal and the fact that dead people are trying to kill them while they do this is just icing on the fantasy cake.

The romance is just a small layer to the novel though; in fact it's more about the consideration of relationships rather than what you think of when you think romance. Here's a passage between Hallie and her father that I just love that shows you what Coates is doing in the midst of all the battling against evil forces:



He smiled. "Before you were born, or Dell either, your mom and I went to Florida for a couple of weeks. We did all the things you're supposed to do--snorkeling, parasailing, took a boat ride through the Everglades. And it was --different as hell--but that was part of it. We flew back into Rapid City at night and it was starting to snow as we headed back here. Snowed harder and the wind came up and it was pretty much a whiteout by the time we hit the end of the drive. We made it up to the house, practically sideways the whole way. We didn't have boots, coats, nothing. Snow over our shoes and we're bent against the wind crossing the yard.

"Then it stopped. Snow still falling, but straight down and the moon came out. Your mom and me, we stood there in the cold like idiots looking out across the fields all clean and still and home. That's the thing, we knew were home."

He looked at her finally. "It's not prettier or better than other places and it sure as hell isn't an easy place, but I know how to live here. And that counts."

And that is what made this book such a winner for me. It's about who you are and where you belong and the people you want to be part of that decision. It's thoughtful while still being full of mystery and danger and magic. It's just a good story and I can't wait to see where Coates takes these wonderful characters next.

Vanishing Ice in art

From the publisher, here is a bit of Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012 by Barbara Matilsky:

Beginning in the eighteenth century, collaborations between the arts and sciences contributed to a deeper understanding of snowcapped mountains, the Arctic, and Antarctica. A resurgence of interest in these environments as dramatic indicators of climate change galvanizes contemporary expeditions to the glaciers and the poles. Today, artists, writers, and scientists awaken the world to both the beauty and increasing vulnerability of ice.

For a thousand different reasons, this book appeals to me in a very big way. I saw a copy at PNBA but it was sealed so I couldn't get a look at the interior illustrations. There is an exhibition at the Whatcom Museum however that gives a hint of what's inside. You can also read this article in The Oregonian.