Memory Keeper: The Movie

-- MIRANDA

The Memory Keeper's Daughter has been adapted into a Lifetime Movie. Yeah, that sounds about right. It premiers April 12, if anyone's interested. You can check out Lifetime's page about the movie here, but be warned that their photo page for the flick didn't like my browser at all and would only let me look at the first picture of Dermot Mulroney.

Middlesex, and then some

-by Miranda

I wasn't going to post about Middlesex until I finished the book, but it's been dull as ditchwater around these parts this last week or so, so I decided to post up. In case you were wondering, I was going to wait until I finished the book to post because I like being able to look at the book as a whole rather than disecting it bit by bit. I'm not going to completely eschew chapter-by-chapter posts (I've got a book in mind that I'll be posting by chapter) but for now I'm going to go with a more traditional book reviewy style, giving my opinion and trying to avoid spoilers. I'll still clearly mark when I'm about to spoiler it up, but, like I did with Memory Keeper, I'll try not to give away too much of the plot in my write up.

Anyway- Now that I'm done with business, let me get down to... business.

I'm just about halfway through Middlesex, and I can't wait to send this book off to Abigayle. It's so so good. The writing itself is beautiful, and the story is very complicated and compelling. How wonderful to find a book with both of these Cs, so often I read boring books with complicated plots, or simple books that I just don't give a damn about. Middlesex is told as sort of a memoir, with the narrator Cal breaking in every once in a while to give updates on his current life. Of course, it's not really a memoir until halfway through, because for the first half of the book, Cal hasn't been born yet. But in order to understand Cal (formerly Calliope), you really do need to understand his family's history. And fascinating history it is. I plan on drawing up a family tree to go along with my next entry, which I'll post after I finish.

That's all I'll talk about for now, tune in sometime this week or early next for my complete entry on Middlesex.

Finishing The Memory Keeper's Daughter

-- By Miranda

Sometimes people do the wrong things for what they believe are the right reasons. In Atonement, Briony believed that Robbie was a sex fiend, so she used her imagination to fill in the blanks after Lola was attacked. In Gone Baby Gone, every single character does the wrong thing in an attempt to put everything right. In The Memory Keeper's Daughter, David Henry gives away his daughter, born with Down syndrom, because he thinks this will spare his wife pain. Nobody is right, but nobody is really entirely wrong. It's this morally ambiguous theme that I find very interesting in stories, whether they be novels or films.

But Memory Keeper doesn't really rate up there with Atonement and Gone Baby Gone (which I just saw this weekend, that's why it's fresh in my mind [also, you should rent it, it's good]). The choice the doctor makes in the book is so clearly wrong, whereas in GBG, there really isn't a right answer (I'm being intentionally vague where the movie is concerned, I don't want to give anything away). He gives his daughter away to the nurse, to save his wife pain. He had a sister with a heart condition that died young, and people with Down syndrome often have heart problems. So, his reasoning is somewhat understandable. But he tells his wife that their daughter died, as though that wouldn't be painful. At least he just didn't give her away because she was mentally handicapped, I don't think I could have read the whole story. The character would have been completely different, more evil instead of just confused. Also, the repercussions of the secret are deep and do effect everyone in the story, but perhaps not as catastrophically as the lie in Atonement. But perhaps my views are a little biased, because Atonement is my favorite book I've read so far this year. Maybe if I had read Memory Keeper first I would have liked it better.

The ending I felt was a little anticlimactic. Maybe that's because it had a somewhat happy ending, which really isn't what I thought would happen based on the premis of the novel. Of course, as Abby pointed out in the comments for my first entry about Memory Keeper, the description did say something about the "redemptive power of love," so I knew I was looking at a happyish ending. I guess I could go on for a while, but I won't.

The reviewers on Amazon have given this book 3 stars out of five. That sounds about right.

Now, on to Middlesex!

Sharing the Love

Hey Ladies--

If you're looking for a way to spread the love of reading, the Dewey Donation System is in the midst of their annual book drive. I just donated 4 books to the Children's Institute in LA.

Visit the website: http://deweydonationsystem.org/

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

-- by Miranda

This is another book I got from the library. Actually, it's a book my mom got from the library, but I decided that I'll read it also before I take it back. I'm only two chapters in, but so far, so good. From what I've read so far and from the summary I'm guessing that the whole book is going to be about how one night, one event, changes the lives of numerous people. That makes me a little worried about how much I'll enjoy this book, because we all know I loved Atonement, and I don't really think another book could do the whole one-life-changing-event thing nearly as well. We'll see.

Here's the back-of-the-book summary:

"This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love."

My FBI: Anti-terrorism is anti-chronological

--by Abby

I'm really enjoying My FBI, I'm about a third of the way through. The first chapter was all about the bombing of the Khobar Towers, and did not reflect well on the Clinton Administration. I hate to hear bad things about Bill (he's my homeboy) but I was never really up on foreign policy in the '90s. Anyway, the Khobar Towers debacle sort of pushed right through the end of Freeh's stint as Director of the FBI, and therefore, is chronologically the end of the saga.

The second chapter has so far covered his entire childhood and jumped right up to Bill Clinton convincing Freeh to take the job. This chapter was kinder to Mr. Clinton. Apparently, it is impossible not to like the man on first impression. Also, Freeh thinks he's the single best politician of his generation. I'm not sure yet if that's a compliment.

Sidenote: the chapters are really long. So I'm still in the 2nd chapter.

Yeah, so its out of order, but it's really interesting, compelling reading. Rarely have I been able to read about any event with so much circumspection. Not only do you see the event--all the facts plus the details provided by hindsight-- but you also get the microcosm of internal politics and personal motives and the macroscopic impact of decisions made by people in power.

I'm now thoroughly convinced that I do not belong in government, nor any position where so much is at stake. Waaaay too much pressure. Freeh seems to deal with it well. I'm liking the man. Even though he's from Jersey.

Atonement: The Movie

-- by Miranda

Last night Mom and I went and saw Atonement. I'll go ahead and give you my mom's opinion first. She thought the movie was better than the book, but then, she didn't really like the book much. She thought it was a good movie.

I loved the book, and I loved the movie. I don't know if you could say that it was better than the book. Movies are rarely better than the book. But I think reading the book and seeing the movie compliment each other.

**Warning: from here out there are spoilers.**

Reading the book you obviously get more backround information on all the characters. In the movie, Cecelia and Briony's father is only mentioned twice, in a throwaway line when Leon returns home and when Cee and Robbie are talking about his schooling. They could have very well left out these lines and the father would have been forgotten all together. He really has very little impact on the story anyway. Their mother has a smaller role in the movie than she does in the book, but I didn't really expect the movie to focus on Emily Tallis's migraines. Oh, and if you were curious, apparently the British pronounce it "Mee- graines."

Now, I think the casting was great. Saoirse Ronan was great as young Briony, but I think more credit should be given to Juno Temple who plays Lola. It's not an easy role to play, but she does well with it.

The end of the movie is different from the book, in that instead of a birthday party, Briony is being interviewed about the release of her 21st novel, Atonement. It makes me wonder if in the movie universe, Paul and Lola have already died, leaving Briony free and clear to release her libelous book. Maybe that's just my wishful thinking, I hated seeing those two so happy and carefree at the end of the book. I still feel that they are the true villans. Briony may have lied, but they just stood by and watched an innocent man go to prison. Briony at least had the decency to feel guilty about her accusations.

Some things about the movie that I felt were better than the book: The movie makes it clear that Robbie's war buddy knew Robbie was dying. Looking back, I think "Of course! How could he not know the man was dying?" And I'll just say that the scene depicting Cecilia's death was much more emotional for me than it was in the book. I was in tears in the theater.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the movie. I told myself that I wasn't going to be buying anymore dvds, but I'm going to break that promise to myself and buy it when it comes out in a few weeks.

Lastly, Cecilia's green dress was just as gorgeous as depicted in the book. Fantastic.