the peachy glow of haze in the sunset stirs up fear & mustard gas memories among the old-timers
Mustard Gas Memories [Tanka]
Reply
BOOK REVIEW: Tales of the City, Vol. 1 by Armistead Maupin (w/ Isabelle Bauthian & Sandrine Revel)
Tales of the City Graphic Novel by Isabelle BauthianMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Out: May 3, 2022 [may vary in your area]
Set in San Francisco in the 70’s, this graphic novel based upon a 1978 novel by Maupin adeptly moves between about half a dozen story arcs. All of these stories are connected by key characters being residents of a Barbary Lane rooming house run by a maternal and jovial hippie pot-grower landlady named Anna Madrigal.
In a sense, the lead character is Mary Ann Singleton, a new arrival at 28 Barbary Lane. Singleton isn’t the kind of lead that the entire story revolves around; there’s plenty going on that takes place outside her perspective. However, Singleton does make a great focal point because she’s a fish out of water. Being Midwestern and straight, she’s a run-of-the-mill character in Ohio (her home,) but in SF, she’s the oddball. Her extreme ordinariness among outcasts both generates tension and highlights the unconventionality of the Barbary Lane rooming house.
The story is soap opera-like. It’s loaded with drama and low-level intrigues – extramarital affairs, closeted gays with out of the closet partners, drugs, etc. – but the pacing of these low-level intrigues keeps the flow of the story intense.
I never read the original novels, but I thought the artists did a great job of not only of illustrating the work, but also of organizing the story into a graphic format.
I’d highly recommend interested readers check it out.
View all my reviews
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Gorkha Monuments
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
BOOK REVIEW: Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. WodehouseMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
This is the second novel and seventh book by P.G. Wodehouse to feature the comedic duo of Bertram Wooster and his butler Jeeves. Wooster is a young man from a wealthy family who thinks more highly of himself than anyone else does. He’s a schemer, but not a particularly adept one. He serves as both narrator and comedic foil. He’s not a bright man, but thinks himself clever and is jealous that people are always coming to his preternaturally professional and laconic manservant, Jeeves, with their problems.
The plot and the humor are driven by Bertram’s harebrained schemes to save the day while showing everybody that it is he, and not Jeeves, with the insight to solve their problems. In this case, said problems include rectifying two breakups, getting a relative to repay his aunt Dahlia, and keeping a temperamental French chef from quitting, forcing the household of Brinkley Manor (Dahlia’s estate) to be subjected to the horrors of British cuisine.
While lifestyles of the rich and British might not be relatable, the humor travels well. I found the book to be funny, and – while it has a slow build — it ultimately generates a compelling plot. If you like humorous novels, this one is worth reading.
View all my reviews
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Simplify [Free Verse]
One item per day was abandoned until living got hard. But like Diogenes -- who gave up his cup upon seeing a boy slurping from cupped palms -- eventually, it all was gone. Each item hand-weighed, its weight against is usefulness, and all were found expendable.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Odisha Butterflies
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Ripe Rice [Haiku]
fields of ripe rice stretch to the horizon to meet smoky skies
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Spring Flowers [Haiku]
spring blossoms - damp from passing showers - droop, but stay bright
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Propaganda [Common Meter]
The words were whispered down the line, but changed at every turn. Some words were written down in time, but gathered up to burn. And no one knew unvarnished truth -- only some stray excerpts. They tried to cobble together the judgments of experts. But truth was not to be retrieved by way of slick guesses and in the end all they had left were their burning messes.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 