March Booknotes

 

“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” —Malorie Blackman

A BOOK AND A MOVIE:

Nonfiction: Biography

Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman

Do you think “cancel culture” is something new? Think again!

Publisher’s Description: “In the aftermath of World War II, Chaplin was criticized for being politically liberal and internationalist in outlook. He had never become a US citizen, something that would be held against him as xenophobia set in when the postwar Red Scare took hold.

Politics aside, Chaplin had another his sexual interest in young women. He had been married three times and had had numerous affairs. In the 1940s, he was the subject of a paternity suit, which he lost, despite blood tests that proved he was not the father. His sexuality became a convenient way for those who opposed his politics to condemn him. Refused permission to return to the US after a trip abroad, he settled in Switzerland and made his last two films in London.”

Eyman debunks all the inferences about Chaplin's so called left wing/Communist political leanings. Chaplin was indifferent to politics. He was never a member of any political party and held mixed views on social issues. There were two exceptions. His pro-Soviet speech about supporting a second front against the Nazis during World War II. Then there was his 1940 satire, The Great Dictator, about Hitler and fascism (when most Hollywood studios cowered at criticizing Nazi Germany). These were used against him by right wing politicians during America's subsequent years of paranoia – The Red Scare. But, as Eyman demonstrates, Chaplin was more of a man of the world than of any one political persuasion.

This passage made me shudder: "The FBI files on Chaplin extend to over 1,900 pages filled with invariably derogatory and often blatantly incorrect information based on dubious sources and hearsay. Nevertheless, the FBI leaked volumes of biased or incorrect information to friendly reporters, who used the FBI's misinformation and added disinformation of their own – to create a self-perpetuating feedback loop of distortion.”

While many biographers eagerly embrace scandalous secrets and craft narratives to suit their own agendas, Eyman does not. He emerges as a dedicated truth-seeker, committed to offering a genuine and all-encompassing portrayal of Chaplin.

"I always wanted to write about him, but bookshops groan under the weight of books about Charlie Chaplin, and I didn't have an approach. What could be said about him that hadn't already been said? And then it hit me. Focus on the process by which Chaplin segued from the status of beloved icon to despised ingrate; focus on him being converted from one of America's prized immigrants to a man without a country." – the author

Through painstaking research and layers of information, Eyman brings Chaplin to life, offering fresh angles on his character and his life's accomplishments. Chaplin’s story vividly illustrates the intersection between politics and art and unveils new facets of that intersection that might have otherwise remained concealed.

Suggested Chaplin Movie: The Great Dictator (available free through the public library’s Kanopy app or via online commercial video sites $)

Filmed in 1940, this is a dark comedic satire of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany. The Great Dictator was banned in Nazi-occupied countries and censored in Ireland due to its anti-Nazi message.

Plot: “After dedicated service in the Great War, a Jewish barber (Charles Chaplin) spends years in an army hospital recovering from his wounds, unaware of the simultaneous rise of fascist dictator Adenoid Hynkel (also Chaplin) and his anti-Semitic policies. When the barber, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Hynkel, returns to his quiet neighborhood, he is stunned by the brutal changes and recklessly joins a beautiful girl (Paulette Goddard) and her neighbors in rebelling.”

From its slow, slapstick beginning, this movie went on to become one of my favorites. The speech Chaplin’s character gives as the end of the movie is worth listening to even now! The speech has been used as lyrics in more than 40 songs. Recording artists such as Coldplay and U2 have played the speech during live shows, and coffee company Lavazza used it in a television advertisement.

Finally, most impressive of all, Ukrainian President Zelensky invoked the speech during his video call to the opening of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. "The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish," Zelensky quoted.  He went on to say, "The world needs a new Chaplin who will prove [to] us that cinema isn’t silent. We need cinema to show that each time the ending will be on the side of freedom. Again, then as now, there is a dictator. Again, then as now, there is a war for freedom. Again, then as now, cinema must not be silent."

Fiction: Literature, Interwar Years

Coming up for Air by George Orwell

In 1938, George Bowling, an English insurance salesman hits middle age and feels compelled to “come up for air.” So, after winning 17 pounds on a bet, he packs a suitcase, leaves his wife and two children in their average English neighborhood (“a line of semi-detached torture chambers”), and goes in search of the village where he grew up.

George believes that the happiest times of his life were spent fishing in a pond near his childhood village, and he seeks to recreate that happiness. However, the pond he remembers from thirty years ago is gone and his boyhood village has changed beyond recognition. The most memorable and foreshadowing event of his trip was an accidental bombing of the village by the Royal Air Force.

Ever in the background of George’s quest is the threat of war; by this time war with Hitler was seen as inevitable and there is a sense of impending doom. George is aware that a good deal of what is around him will be destroyed, as the First World War swept away the world of his childhood. George realizes “you can’t go back in time” and that there is absolutely nothing he can do to prevent the coming war so “it’s best to just let it come.”

Some readers might find George an endearing character because he senses his inadequate masculinity and seems somewhat aware of his many obvious faults. I find him to be a “stereotypical male.” George considers how women let themselves go after marriage; conning men to get to the altar and then suddenly rushing into middle age and dowdiness. This is from a man who is 45, fat, has false teeth, bad skin, and wears ugly clothes. Oh, the irony!

Coming up for Air is amazing prose! It was a pleasure to read even if nothing momentous happened. This is certainly a different aspect of George Orwell’s work compared to 1984 and Animal Farm.

“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism.” – George Orwell

Fiction: Historical Fiction, World War II

The Constant Soldier by William Ryan

The Constant Soldier is set in an idyllic Silesian village in 1944. Silesia was once Polish but was occupied by Nazi Germany. When this story takes place, the Russians are advancing rapidly from the east into Silesia.

Paul Brandt, a Wehrmacht soldier, returns home to his Silesian village, a decorated hero from the Eastern Front. He is discharged after losing an arm and his face is scarred from burns. His own father almost fails to recognize him when he picks him up at the village train station.

Brandt’s family are ethnic Germans, but they do not support the Nazis and are outraged when he accepts a position as steward at a “rest hut.” This “hut” is a luxurious villa providing a respite for the Nazi officers who supervise prisoners at a nearby “work camp.” While Brandt appears to accept the status quo of the Nazis, he is willing to sabotage Germany’s war effort.

Brandt, we learn, joined the army as the lesser of two evils. He was charged with subversive political activities before the war and was given the choice of military service or prison. He chose to join the Wehrmacht. However, the young woman he was arrested with, Judith, does not have a choice. She was sentenced to slave laborer in “work camps.” Brandt discovers Judith is a slave at the rest hut where he works, and he decides he must right the wrong done to her.  

However, trapped between the evil of the Nazis and the oncoming, merciless Russians, what can a one-armed man do?

Brandt has a very strong conscience. Disgusted and appalled by the acts of violence inflicted by his fellow German soldiers, Paul is compelled to act. His thoughts and his relationship with his father and sister create a surprisingly emotional novel. The strength of Brandt’s beliefs, his ability to work (with one arm!) through many difficult situations at huge risk to his own safety, provide an excellent example of courage and perseverance.

The Constant Soldier is an enthralling novel that offers a gripping but subtle narrative set against the horrors of the absolute abuse of absolute power. It's a bleak but rewarding story about guilt, personal and shared, and taking responsibility for your actions, even if doing so offers no possibility of reward.

Fiction: Contemporary Fiction

Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, Daniel Bowles (Translator - German)

Nominated for the International Booker Prize 2025

The story begins in Zurich where Christian, an author, has arrived to care for his 80-year-old mother. She has just been discharged (again) from a mental institution. She swallows drugs like candy and has a passion for cheap wine and hard liquor. All this makes sense given Christian’s family history which includes a grandfather who was intimately associated with and supportive of the Nazis in addition to his mother’s and his own childhood abuse.

Thanks to the association with the Nazis, Christian’s family is very wealthy. Christian and his mother set off a road-trip around Switzerland in a hired cab with the family fortune in a plastic bag. To atone for their family history, they attempt to give away their fortune to random strangers.

As they travel, Christian’s mother asks him to tell her stories. Both mother and son love a good story and quote their favorites. Some of the stories are about their lives while others are merely fiction, but all are powerful and help to develop an understanding of this mother and her son.

Eurotrash is a story of reconciling with personal, familial, and national history and shame. This novel was strange, disturbing, maddening, and darkly comic. But it also had moments that were tender and moving. It is both a satire of wealth and a sad meditation on ageing.

Nonfiction: Spirituality, Sports

Still Running: The Art of Meditation in Motion by Vanessa Zuisei Goddard

“Why do you run? … If you knew you could live forever, would you still run?

When we see running solely as exercise and focus on improving our times, covering a certain number of miles, or losing weight, we miss the deeper implications of running. We miss the opportunity to take up running as a practice that bridges the apparent gap between stillness and movement, meditation and activity.

Goddard, a Zen teacher and running workshop leader, combines Buddhist teachings with the sport of running. She asks readers to examine their intent, commitment, and discipline regarding running, and how those same principles relate to other aspects of their lives.

This is an unusual book, a book that speaks about the spiritual and meditative aspects of running but includes some practical advice as well. There are thirteen practical practices like abdominal breathing, cadence, and using visualization. I found these practices can be applied, not just to running, but to many other activities as well.

Ultimately, Still Running is about the joy of movement. And it’s about the power of stillness; learning how to use that power to live wholeheartedly. This book is helping me develop the most important aspect of spiritual practice, a deep inner stillness, especially during our current national nadir! Running is my reliable source of stability.

“What you do is completely up to you. Just choose deliberately. Choose to be awake in all the many and varied moments of your life so that, in the end, hopefully you’ll be able to look back at that life and say, ‘It wasn’t perfect, but I was there for it.’”

Nonfiction: Feminism, Essays

The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Rebellion by Gloria Steinem, Samantha Dion Baker (Illustrations)

This is a short book containing an illustrated collection of Gloria Steinem's most inspirational and revealing quotes. Steinem also includes special sections for quotes from other people that she has found encouraging and edifying.

In addition, there are essays by the feminist activist herself. She includes short, upbeat, and empowering essays about: families, aging, work, friends, adversaries, and humor.

Here is a short sampling of some of Steinem’s quotes:

 “Voting isn’t the most we can do, but it’s the least”

“I’m beginning to realize the pleasure of being a nothing-to-lose, take-no-shit older woman.”

“The art of life is not controlling what happens, it’s using what happens.”

“There is still no ‘right’ way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.” Said another way: “A woman who aspires to be something will be called a bitch.”

“Growth comes from saying ‘yes’ to the unknown.”

“If we bless our bodies, our bodies will bless us.”

Fiction: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction

We Do Not Part by Han Kang; E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (Translators - Korean)

 “Why is the world so violent and painful? And yet how can the world be this beautiful?”

We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully considering a hidden chapter of Korean history.

Kyungha gets a call from an old friend, Inseon, who lives on Jeju Island. Inseon, having injured her finger while woodworking and now in a Seoul hospital, urgently needs help to care for her pet white bird, Ama. This journey sets the stage for the first part of the novel. After battling through heavy snow and nearly impassible roads, Kyungha finally arrives at Inseon’s cabin. Sadly, she finds Ama dead. After tenderly preparing Ama for burial, and digging through the frozen ground, Ama is buried. Then Kyungha’s thoughts are filled with memories of Inseon, her rebellious past, her family tales, and the early days of Korean massacres.

The second part of the novel shifts into a surreal dreamscape. In the cabin buffeted by a blizzard, Inseon, who was supposed to be in the hospital, returns to narrate the Jeju Island Massacre (1948-1950). 30,000 Jeju civilians died, including members of Inseon’s family. These painful memories, pieced together from old newspapers, letters, and her mother Jeongsim’s fragmented recollections, build a raw tapestry of historical grief.

The third, brief part of the novel centers on a promise running throughout the book. Despite years of government silence and denial, the pain of the past still lingers. Kyungha once mentioned to Inseon that maybe planting trees and photographing their snow-covered stumps would help banish her nightmares about the massacres. Inseon, already had that idea and shows Kyungha the land set aside for that project.

All in all, this is a captivating book with a lasting impact. It makes you feel what it’s like for those who suffer deeply from violence and their descendants from generational trauma. Yet somehow, they still find the strength to move forward. It reminded me that while some people might have seemingly peaceful lives, others are battling storms we never see. The past lingers, unforgotten.