Day 154 of the "What are you reading, and why?" project and Judy and Arlene, sisters, of Swedish ancestry, are reading The Emigrant Novels, by Vilhelm Moberg. In specific, Judy is about to finish Settlers, Book 3, of what used to be a trilogy, and today bought Last Letter Home, Book 4 of the "quadrilogy," so it will be ready and waiting.Arlene got Judy hooked by calling her up and telling her something Moberg had written (and I quote Judy quoting Moberg) about the sisters' ancestors' actual home area in Sweden, "where the men are hot, and the women are hot under the skirt!" (Judy's exclamation point!) Books 1 and 2 are called Emigrants and Unto a Good Land.
So, you know, now I want to read about these Swedes!!
And, in one of those freaky-deaky coincidii, today at work I handled a lovely book of poems by the Snell sisters, Cheryl Snell and Janet Snell, a poet and artist team. The book, Memento Mori, has beautiful color reproductions of Janet Snell's paintings.
A few minutes later, taking a little work break, I visited Sherry O'Keefe's blog (clickable on the blog roll!), where she had just interviewed...Cheryl Snell of the Snell Sisters!!
And now I am seeing Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye singing "Sisters, Sisters" in my head. Aauugghh! (But, fortunately, hearing Rosemary Clooney and Vera Allen/Trudy Stevens.) Time for The Huge Medley ("Sisters" & "Stepsisters Lament") by Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway, on Sibling Revelry!! But it's not an individual MP3 song. It's on the album only! Which I gave to my sister for Christmas!
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye it is, then, with large feathery fans.
2 comments:
What a nice surprise!Thanks, Kathleen.
My dear husband, who was a Swedish major in college, has read the Moberg (pronounced more like Mo-berry, which sounds ever so much nicer) books. We also went to a mini-film festival at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis (or the Walker Arts Center -- they were in the same place at the time -- not sure whether the Guthrie or the Walker showed movies, but now I'm kinda thinking it was the Walker) to see both "The Emigrants" and "The New Land" with remarks from director Jan Troell. With dinner in between the movies, I remember this being an 8-hour affair. Not sure that's accurate, but those are some long films. Plus remarks from Jan Troell!
Very powerful stuff. There's a statue of the two main characters, Kristina and Karl-Oskar, in Lindstrom MN, which we made a pilgrimage to see. He is looking forward and she is turned back, as if looking back to Sweden and the people she left behind.
I think there is also a musical version in Swedish. Which you should be in, Kathleen, given that your celebrity lookalike, Liv Ullman, was in the movies.
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