Lisbon!

We're going to Lisbon for a few days, like it's not hot enough here already. I have to admit that I actually hate heat and sun and that I get all red and blistered even with factor 50 sunscreen but the masochist in me desperately wanted to try something new. Now, despite the fact that I don't speak a word of Portuguese, I even doubt I've ever heard anyone speak it, I couldn't leave without locating all the bookstores first on the off chance that I might encounter some paper goodies to take home. Most people get cheesy souvenirs to remember their trips by, I get books...

Betty White: 88 and still great

In May this former Golden Girl became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live. Her appearance made the ratings sky rocket and was all due to the "Betty White to Host SNL (Please)" facebook campaign.

"I really have to thank Facebook … I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. I would never say the people on it are losers, but that’s only because I’m polite...People say ‘But Betty, Facebook is a great way to connect with old friends.’ Well at my age, if I want to connect with old friends, I need a Ouija board. Needless to say, we didn’t have Facebook when I was growing up. We had phonebook...but you wouldn’t waste an afternoon with it."

No matter what people say, she's one of those rare comedians who gets better with age. Check out one of her sketches, muffins will never be the same again...

Everything is Illuminated, the movie

Based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated is the directorial debut of actor Liev Schreiber who also wrote the screenplay. I read the novel several years ago after falling madly in love with Foer’s mesmerizing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close aka one of the best novels ever written.

Maybe my expectations were too high but I was kind of disappointed by Everything is Illuminated which usually means if the first 100 pages don’t excite me I either a) abandon the book or b) which was the case here, start skimming the pages to get to the end. The result: I know I read the novel but I don’t remember what it was about.

Seeing as I’m a masochistic sucker for book based movies (which are always inferior to the novel), I couldn’t help but torture myself. Everything is Illuminated, the movie however is one of those oddities together with High Fidelity where the movie takes an otherwise bland book to an entirely new stratosphere.

Jonathan Foer (Elijah Wood) obsessively collects items from his family, from toothbrushes to retainers to scraps of paper which he then seals in ziploc bags and pins to a wall in his house to record his family history. He is a collector, scared to lose touch with the past. Before his grandmother dies, she hands him a photograph of his grandfather together with the woman who helped get him out of Ukraine during the Second World War. Jonathan doesn’t have a lot to remember him by and decides to undertake a quest to Ukraine to find the woman, thank her and hopefully learn more about his grandfather. Here he is aided by Alex, his translator who is obsessed with western culture, Alex’ grandfather who is their blind and tormented driver and Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. the grandfather’s slightly “deranged seeing-eye bitch”.



Schreiber, probably best known for his role as Sabletooth in Wolverine, uses both poetic and breathtakingly beautiful imagery, bringing this otherwise ordinary tale to life with a little magic and a lot of grace. He effectively combines both humor and drama and follows the plot of the book quite accurately (or so I’m told), occasionally elaborating on certain events to suit the movie.

Everything is Illuminated is an endearingly quirky road movie that made me laugh out loud during the first half (Eugene Hutz as Alex is simply brilliant) but the closer they get to the tragic truth, the gloomier it gets. It is a dazzling combination of vivid colors, powerful emotions and wonderful performances. In the end, all characters, even the crazy ones, gain their own sparkling illumination in this story about relationships and connection. I laughed, I cried and basically loved it.

Yann Martel

Last Thursday, Yann Martel came to De Groene Waterman to promote his new novel Beatrice and Virgil. He was interviewed by Dutch author Johan de Boose who did quite an appalling job: hadn’t thought his questions through, constantly missed Martel’s point and his English was questionable at best but Martel luckily, was entertaining, refreshing and very poignant.

He started off with how and when he became a writer which for a budding novelist like myself was very interesting and inspiring. He naturally talked a lot about Life of Pi for which he received the Booker Prize in 2002, a novel that basically everyone I know loves. I on the other hand, thought it was just ok. I didn’t hate it but a boy sharing a lifeboat with a tiger, topped off with a spiritual sauce of religion and philosophy didn’t exactly get me excited still, it wasn’t bad.

His new novel, Beatrice and Virgil, deals with 2 writers, the Holocaust (which he went on and on about), a donkey and a monkey. The man likes his animals. I’m a bit hesitant to read it to tell you the truth because I’m afraid that like Life of Pi, his allegories will get the best of me. Hearing him talk about it has left me intrigued and alarmed so we’ll see.

Now, his next novel will be set in Portugal and will star three chimpanzees but he isn’t quite sure about the details yet. When Johan de Boose finally asked him why it takes him so long to write his novels, a question that was both ignorant and disrespectful in my opinion, Martel talked about his extensive research, intricate writing process and a little side project he’s got going: What is Stephen Harper reading?

Stephen Harper is the Canadian Prime Minister (Martel lives in Canada by the way) and Martel seriously doubted this man’s capacity to rule a nation seeing as he admitted to not having read a book since high school because he has bigger fish to fry now. So what does Harper know about creativity? Art? Humanity? Scared that such an individual might lead them to their downfall, Martel has vowed to send Harper a book accompanied by a letter every two weeks “that has been known to expand stillness”. You can follow his quest, the books, letters and occasional responses on the website What is Stephen Harper Reading? A noble and whimsical endeavor indeed.

The Art of McSweeney's

This book showcases both the extraordinary beauty and fascinating history of McSweeney's productions including their Quarterly Journal, novels and magazines The Believer and Wholpin. Besides juicy anecdotes, hundreds of images from napkin sketches to final covers have been included to illustrate their innovative methods and styles, complemented by several interviews with participating designers, artists and illustrators. The result is a (hopefully) dazzling book by the people who have turned books into visually and intellectually stimulating works of art.

Now, I tried to buy this book several months ago but the publication date kept on getting pushed back, needless to say I am now really excited to announce that it has finally been released and will be in my possession in the near future!

Of Bees and Mist

I’m not going to lie, I bought this book because I thought the cover was pretty. Sometimes, it’s just that simple. The cover made the book seem so magical and old-fashioned, the perfect companion for hot and rainy summer evenings and that’s exactly what it turned out to be.

Of Bees and Mist is the debut novel of Erick Setiawan, an Indonesian author who moved to the United States with his family at sixteen. Although he loved literature, he ended up studying computer sciences to make sure he’d never have to talk in class. He’s that shy. A year after he started working as a software engineer, he realized his heart wasn’t in it and gave up everything for his love of the written word which resulted in the oddly titled Of Bees and Mist.

It’s a multi-layered novel about three generations of women, jealousy, deception, hope and triumph. What could have been a painfully predictable Danielle Steel saga is turned upside down by a pinch of magic realism. I’m not a fan of the genre because it’s usually chaotic, frustrating and occasionally bewildering but Setiawan has found the perfect balance and has created a richly atmospheric and memorable piece of fiction that feels like a fairytale but clearly isn’t.

This bewitching and sweeping modern fantasy of two rival families predominantly deals with Meridia whose father vanishes daily in clouds of mist while her mother simply forgets about her. So when her true love Daniel proposes, it’s her ticket out of the madness. Or so it seems. Behind the façade of treacherous bees that is her new home, she will uncover shocking secrets and unfathomable mysteries that will take her years to unravel and in doing so, she will change the fates of all those who surround her. Ok, it sounds a bit corny but it’s a modern fable / gothic novel / love story so what did you expect?

The novel is set in an old-fashioned (Mediterranean ?) town, where there are no cars or telephones but there is a cinema and life revolves around the marketplace adding to the timeless quality which is also reminiscent of the magic realism of masters such as Marquez or Allende. Yet contrary to most fairy tales, there are no women who need to be saved here, it’s actually the women who do most of the saving and ass-kicking creating a modern twist to a novel that deals with an age old issue, relationships between lovers, parents, siblings and friends.

Of Bees and Mist is an intoxicating domestic drama (never thought I’d use those words together) filled with passion, ghosts, evil mother-in-laws and delightfully written prose.

The Prom Date

Arrested Development is a highly underrated and phenomenal sitcom that was sadly cancelled in 2006 after only 2,5 seasons. It's a quirky and hilarious show that combines wonderful dialogues and absurd situations with some of today’s greatest comic talents. Two of its stars, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett have now re-united for a funny short promoting Orbit gum called The Prom Date. Check it out.