This summer my son went to Italy, posting some pictures on Instagram that looked remarkably like the cover of this book,
Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter. My son's favorite place was Corniglia, and I knew exactly where it was, thanks to a
Cinque Terre picture map that functions as a sort of frontispiece in the book. My son loved Italy, and I loved this book, which starts in Italy and then rambles through time and geography in a wonderful way, going to Hollywood and Idaho to somehow critique the twentieth century and bring us right up to date with the craziness of reality shows on tv. We also get to visit the filming of the successful flop
Cleopatra (with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor) and ponder what it means to be a real artist or to "sell out," as they say. I laughed and I sat mouth open in awe at the marvelous truths revealed in this funny novel. The characters are easy to love, despite their flaws (which is what I want from real life, too, and to be loved in that way), down to a character you love to hate and hate to love!
We are in the beautiful ruins of summer now, with seedheads feeding the birds and leaves beginning to fall. Real fall starts on the 23rd this year, my calendar tells me, coinciding with Yom Kippur. (Ah, I just re-watched the film
Atonement, so
I'm coinciding, too.) I'm collecting balsam seeds in envelopes, and soon it'll be time to transplant the vintage geranium back into a pot to bring indoors. Likewise, before the first frost I'll bring in the hanging pots of fucsia, to hang indoors from a curtain rod...
But I hope we have many weeks of warmth to come. And many blue skies.
Although Beautiful Ruins isn't my favorite Jess Walter book, I am a big fan of his in general, and I'm glad so many people enjoyed this one. I mean what's not to like about a sparkling book set on the Italian coast?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite one, though, is Citizen Vince, in which an ex gangster is relocated to Spokane Washington in the witness protection program. It's 1980, and he is about to vote for the first time in his life, and trying to figure out how to decide whether to vote for Carter or Reagan. It's a timely one for the season upon us, and by this I don't mean fall.
Seana, I just read a summary of Citizen Vince at the back of my book and thought, "Hmm, I wonder if the library has that one!" Also, The Zero. Next up, though, is Financial Lives of the Poets--because of the title.
ReplyDeleteI liked The Zero as well. I haven't read Financial Lives of Poets, but I have it, so I've been remiss. I have heard it's good.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Beautiful Ruins when I read it a couple years back. Glad you enjoyed it, too.
ReplyDeleteI don't read a lot of contemporary fiction but I read this one when it first came out and I enjoyed it.Especially the going back and forth between Hollywood and Italy.Maybe I should pick another one of his.
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