This reading roll stretches all the way back to July. Got in some great summer reading this year!
Kaiulani: Crown Princess of Hawai’i
My mom brought this book back from Hawai’i for me. My interest in Kaiulani stems from a memory of being transfixed by her achingly beautiful and youthful portrait (Either in Kawaiaha’o Church or the Bishop Museum, I can’t recall) while visiting Hawai’i years ago.
My mom and I have always been suckers for a tragic or unusual princess story (not that being a princess is a usual thing by any means). One of our favourites is Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898). Her life was filled with tragedy — the death of a young child, the murder-suicide of her only son and his lover, her alienation from her husband and her perpetual pining for her homeland of Hungary. We visited her imperial apartments while in Vienna and saw her personal gym where she worked on maintaining her 20 inch waist. Sisi was an anorexic who often subsisted only on broth to keep her weight down. She was also famous for her ridiculously long hair. She was murdered in 1898, stabbed with a sharpened file in the heart. Apparently she was not aware she had been injured until she removed her corset, the pressure of which had contained the bleeding.
We also love Princess Diana for all the obvious reasons. Check out those Hunters! Now all the girls in Vancouver look like Lady Di too.
The content of Kaiulani was definitely interesting and of course, tragic. Born to a Hawaiian mother and Scottish father, and in line for the Hawaiian throne, Kaiulani had an idyllic childhood growing up in tropical pastoral paradise on land that is now Waikiki. While away at school in England, her heritage and right to the throne were taken away by Americans living in Hawai’i who, in classic American fashion, wanted Hawai’i’s riches for themselves. The writing style was… unusual. It made more sense when I realised the book was actually first published in 1962. A movie based on Kaiulani’s life was recently released to little fanfare, starring Q’orianka Kilcher, who is as Hawai’ian as Taylor Lautner is Native American.
The Golden Spruce
Jordan really loved this book and I was equally fascinated by the story. The golden spruce was a tree with a rare genetic mutation that caused its needles to appear golden in colour. It was considered a sacred tree by the Haida people of the Haida Gwaii islands, off the west coast of British Columbia. In 1997 it was felled by Grant Hadwin in protest of the logging of old growth forests in BC. Hadwin, a skilled outdoorsman, mysteriously vanished on his way to trial. This book was really interesting. John Vaillant weaves together the history of logging in BC with the story of the Haida and the climax is alternatively frustrating and oddly beautiful. Probably the best book I read this summer. Warning: seeing photos of the old growth stands that once covered Vancouver is mega depressing.
Valley of the Dolls
Does this book really need an introduction? It was pretty amazing. I read sections of this aloud to Blair on Brady’s Beach on our west coast camping trip. I especially enjoyed reading up on who the characters were based – Neely O’Hara aka Judy Garland, Helen Lawson aka Ethel Merman. I watched the movie and it was pretty disappointing. Gotta check out Ebert’s sequel for the real camp, I guess.
Barney’s Version
Jordan’s been hinting that I should read his favourite book forever and I finally picked it up this summer. Of course I loved it – Mordecai Richler is one of Canada’s best authors and for good reason. His black humour, his wonderful characters, his scotch and cigars! A movie version starring Paul Giamatti as the titular character has just been released. The trailer reeks of romantic comedy and apparently Giamatti never read the book. Fuck you, Paul Giamatti.
Lolita
I was apartment-sitting for the month of September and the residents had a bookshelf packed with classics. Lolita was wonderful. It goes without saying that Nabokov’s writing is pure artistry.
Middlesex
Jordy lent me this book and it sat around my apartment for a while before I picked it up. Why did I wait so long? I had no idea “hermaphrodite” was a mere slice of the plot. I love a good multi-generational family story and Eugenides is so good at filling in all the wonderful details to make each generation vivid. Apparently Middlesex is in the works as an HBO series, which is awesome. Nothing warms my heart like the words “HBO series”. I can’t think of a better forum to translate this book to the screen.
