First Lines: May 2023 edition

Two of my progeny reading
on a bench in Philadelphia in 2012.
Because what else is there to do in Philadelphia?

Below are the first lines of the 8 books I finished reading in May, 2 of which were children’s lit.  This was election month, with a candidate in the house, doors to knock, and deadlines to meet.  (The candidate and his slate won the primary election - on to November!)  But also we went on vacation (after the election) which meant I had a little extra time to read these 2,381 pages.

 

 

Book 1

Lenni

When people say “terminal,” I think of the airport.

 

 

Book 2

You may think you know what’s inside, but you don’t.

You see the boxy buildings, brick or concrete – flanked by lush green athletic fields, a primary-colored playground, or a crumbling blacktop spiked with rusted basketball hoops – in front of which yellow buses groan exhaustive sighs before depositing or collecting lines of chattering bag-backed students.

         Look deeper.

 

 

Book 3

Kneeling in the fragrant moist grass of the village green Clara Morrow carefully hid the Easter egg and thought about raising the dead, which she planned to do right after supper. 

 

Book 4

Jane and Prudence were walking in the college garden before dinner.

 

Book 5

Prologue

Every historian writes in – and is impacted by – a precise historical moment.  My moment, this book’s moment, coincides with the televised and untelevised killings of unarmed human beings at the hands of law enforcement officials, and with the televised and untelevised life of the shooting star of #Black Lives Matter during America’s stormiest nights.

 

Book 6

At the end of the century before last, in the market square of the city of Baltese, there stood a boy with a hat on his head and a coin in his hand.

 

Book 7

Mma Ramotswe had by no means forgotten her late white van. 

 

Book 8

(The book begins with graphic pages)

“Happy birthday to Youuuuuuuu.”

“What’s this, Donald?”

“This is your birthday present. It is a Ulysses Super-Suction, Multi-Terrain 200X!  Happy birthday.”

“It’s a vacuum cleaner.”

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, by Marianne Cronin.  Published 2021.  323 pages. 

Quite amusing in parts, despite the centrality of death in the story.  Made me cry at the end.  Everyone in book club loved it.

 

Book 2

The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession, by Alexandra Robbins. Published 2023.  338 pages.

In which it is credibly posited that teachers have a very hard job, sometimes with untenable working conditions.  I am a little untrusting of books that try to make a point with just anecdotes, but this book intersperses national statistics with a deep dive into the stories of three particular teachers.  I am descended from teachers and in general have respect and fondness for teachers and the teaching profession.  I tend to agree with the author that many teachers in the US are not adequately compensated for their jobs.

 

 

Book 3

The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Gamache #3) by Louise Penny.  311 pages. Published 2007.

In which it is acknowledged that this tiny town in Quebec has a morbid past.  Enjoyable, and funny at times.  Includes murder and  baby waterfowl.

 

Book 4

Jane and Prudence, by Barbara Pym.  222 pages. First published 1953.

I was delighted to find this Pym novel that I had not known about.  The story is akin to Jane Austen’s Emma, but set in the 1950s. Pym excels at depicting nervous wives of clergy and workplaces where it is unclear what kind of work is being done.  Prudence works in Dr. Grampian’s office, where there is grave uncertainty about the usefulness of the work and the workers:   

Dr. Grampian was some kind of an economist or historian, she believed. He wrote the kind of books that nobody could be expected to read.

 

His voice droned on, dictating endless sentences without verbs.

 

The characters' names are sometimes Dickensian:  the office co-workers Mr. Mortlake (Deadpool?!) and Miss Trapnell, the villagers Miss Doggett and Mrs. Arkright.  In a Pym novel there is usually at least one character named obliquely in reference to church terminology:  In another book there is Father Greatorex; in this book perhaps it is Mr. Manifold.  As in “Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”  And in several scripture verses.

  

This book fulfills my need for tea featured in writing.  Pym would have us believe that pouring out tea is a challenging skill and also a great honour. Perhaps in 1953 England she was correct.  Of course, there are some things that Simply Are Not Done:

         ‘Have you some garlic?’ Prudence asked.

         ‘Garlic?’ echoed Jane in astonishment. ‘Certainly not!  Imagine a clergyman and his wife going about the parish smelling of garlic!’

 

Book 5

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi, 592 pages. Published 2016.

A few adjectives for this book: all-encompassing, challenging, necessary, damning, and in the end, hopeful.  The author makes his excellent and difficult point repeatedly, but repetition is necessary, because his thesis upends just about every way I have had of thinking about the role of racist ideas in our history.  The book examines major figures who spoke and acted on racial justice, diving into where each famous figure exhibits antiracist and, yes, racist thinking.  It’s mind-blowing to read about how W.E.B. Du Bois or Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. or William Lloyd Garrison promoted antiracist ideas at this point, but racist ideas at that point. 

 

I am grateful to my friend Tracy for pointing me to this book.  I’m planning to read it again at some point.  I think there’s a children’s adaptation.  Regarding page count in the version I read: the text ends at page 510 and the rest are endnotes, discussion questions, and other info. 

 

 

Book 6

The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo with Yoko Tanaka (Illustrator).  224 pages. Published 2009.

It was okay. As with the other DiCamillo stories I have read, an animal features prominently.   I enjoyed DiCamillo’s  The Beatryce Prophecy and Flora and Ulysses a bit more than this one.

Book 7

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #12) by Alexander McCall Smith.  213 pages. Published 2011.

The familiar thoughtful characters, and a not too strenuous plot. Includes talking shoes.  Good for vacation reading.

 

 

Book 8

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo with K. G. Campbell (Illustrator)  240 pages. Published 2013.

My second reading.  It’s a favorite.  Recommend.

What We Learned This School Year 20/21: Covid Edition

A 2021 Still Life
April necessities

This was the school year when nearly all of us learned how to do a virtual class or meeting.  Not all of us learned to turn off our camera when eating or walking around during a zoom class/meeting.

Here are some selections from the broad swath of what our graduating senior, Younger Daughter, learned during her final year of college.  

What Our Graduating College Senior Learned

Class: Project Seminar 

This class was about archives.  The cadaver (physical body) - the ones used in medical school - can be thought of as an archive.  I learned that in this case, one must destroy data in order to use it and preserve it.

Class:  Lit and Science

I learned that anatomy textbooks used to be like pop-up books. And that before the 1800s the way people got cadavers was - if people were condemned to death and hung, hospitals were allowed to use the bodies.  

(Mom’s comment: She spent a lot of time thinking about cadavers.)

Class:  Molecular Biology

Really cool!  I learned about viral recombination and the viral reproductive system.  I learned that people are using bacterial DNA to form computer circuits to store data that can then be transformed back into movies, books, and other information.

(Mom’s comment: SAY WHAT?! DNA is used to store movies?!)

Class:  Cell Biology

I learned that it is apparently difficult for many people to give an engaging 15-minute presentation.  Most people don’t know how long 15 minutes is.  I learned about autophagy:  your body is supposed to chew up mitochondria, get rid of them, and remake them later.  However, as you get older, your body gets worse at doing this.

Class: Cell Biology Laboratory 

I learned that professors like to use undergraduates as free labor to do their lab work.

Class: Undergraduate Teaching Experience

(i.e. being an Organic Chemistry Teaching Assistant)

I learned how to put together a slide presentation. I learned that however interesting you make a presentation, no one will show up (neither in person nor online).

Class:  Biology Writing Class

I learned how to write scientifically, which was more fun than I thought it would be.  I learned how to summarize while still keeping an interesting tone and maintaining a low emotional level.

Class: Language of Medicine

I learned about Foucault - his theory on the evolution of medicine from the French Revolution until now.  I learned that I don’t want to read Foucault any more.

Class: Cellular and Developmental Biology Seminar

I learned that I was losing focus by this point.  It was very hard to do this class by zoom. 

Class:  Developmental Biology

I learned about the Hox genes - they determine where your arms go and where your legs go, so they don’t get mixed up.  The Hox genes work in a cascade fashion.

I learned that a sea urchin turns its body inside out when gastrulation is finished (except “inside out” is not exactly it). Gastrulation is the formation of the layers of the body  - the endoderm, the ectoderm and the mesoderm.

I learned that there is a primitive streak in the chick. 

(Mom’s comment:  I have no idea what any of this means.)

Class:  Developmental Biology Laboratory

I learned that I hate working with flies so much!  They look cute under the microscope, but they are so annoying!  You have to put them to sleep, but there are always some who will not go to sleep (and more complaining about flies).  And fly embryos are even more annoying.  I also learned that I was the only one in the class who kept a proper lab notebook.

(Mom’s comment:  Only a biology major would think flies look cute.)

Class:  Life

I learned that I enjoy having people over for tea.  I learned how to bake.  I learned that moving is an incredible hassle that I never want to do again.

(Mom’s comment:  She said that before the move had actually taken place.  It’s done now.  But she certainly will have to move again at some point.)

What the Common Household Mom Learned

I learned to be so very grateful for my mother’s life and wisdom at the same time as I miss her greatly.  I learned that grief has no timeline, and that each of us grieves differently.  

I learned that democracy is fragile and far more dependent on norms than we expect it to be.  That is a lesson of the past few years, not just this school year.

I learned that 39 candidates for one office is too many candidates to reasonably keep track of (actually it was for 9 seats of the same judicial office but no matter how many seats, 39 is too many). 

A distanced graduation.  But at least
they got to graduate in person.

 

It can snow in April - but we already knew this.

What we learned this year, College Sophomore Edition

My father would say, “You can always tell a sophomore, but you cannot tell him much.” 

Our rising junior, on the other hand, can say a lot about what she learned her sophomore year.  I’ve tried to boil it down to a concentrated syrup.  

Human Physiology class

Younger Daughter: I learned the different parts of the heart and how blood flows through it.  I learned about pancreatic alpha and beta cells and the way the insulin is released.  

Father and daughter joyfully begin singing the Weird Al Yankovic song: 

 “Insulin, glucagon,

   Comin' from the islets of Langerhans...”

Me:  Wait.  Pancreatic what?

YD:  The pancreatic alpha and beta cells.  We learned the ‘fasted and fed’ cycle.

Me [finding something I understand]:  I’m on the fed cycle.

YD:  Yeah, you actually are, because we just had dinner.   And we learned about the acid kine and the parts of the [she waxes on about anatomy]… and the glomerulus…

Me:  Okay, you lost me.  Let’s move on to the next class.

* * * * *

Introduction to Physics 2 class

YD:  Okay… In Physics class – did I learn anything in physics class?

Son (who tutored her all year long in physics):  Yes, you did!  

YD:  I learned that I hate ‘flipped classroom’ methods.  It’s essentially a way for a teacher to duck their responsibilities.  It means the student is responsible for teaching themselves instead of the professor teaching them.

Husband: I want this transcribed so I can share it among all of my colleagues.

…

 [Lengthy discussion of the flipped classroom model.]

…

Me:  Hmm.  So there’s not one single thing you learned in physics?

YD: The things I learned are what my brother taught me. I did not learn any thing from my physics professor.

Son (that very brother who taught her): Really.

YD:   Yes.  You were a much better professor than he was.

Son:  That’s very interesting because I didn’t know half of the stuff that you did in physics.

YD:   I learned about resistance, and whether or not it is futile.

Son:  You learned what voltage is.

YD:    Yes , I did. It took me a very long time to get that, but I did eventually learn what voltage was.

Husband:  What is the difference between voltage and power?

YD:   Um, power equals V over R.

Son:  (whispers ‘wrong!’)

YD:   Power equals V R?

Son: (whispers ‘wrong!’)

YD:    Come on! Power equals I r-squared!  Power equals voltage times current.

Son:   Ding!

* * * * *

Introduction to Film class

YD: In Film class, I learned that film is not about quality.  You should not care whether or not you like the film.  It’s not allowed.  … I learned the Coen Brothers are amazing and I love their filmography so far.

Me: She used the word ‘filmography.’

YD:  I also learned to use the word ‘mise-en-sceh.’ [She leaves off the final ‘n’.]  I don’t think that’s how you pronounce it.

Me:  ‘Mise-en- scène’.  [Pronounced ‘sen’.] 

YD:   That’s costumes, placement of the characters, background, like whether or not there are trees, or rivers going by, props that you have.  The shot itself is like the framing around those things in the mise-en-sceh ,… sceeene,…

Me:  Scène. 

Husband:  You sure it’s not Noonian Soong?

YD: It’s not Khan Nunian Soon.

Son: Did you mix up Khan with Dr. Soong?!

(Star Trek fans can refer to Khan Noonien Singh.  I had no idea what they were talking about.)

* * * * *

19^th Century British Literature class

YD: I learned that Dickens is not the champion of the poor.  I learned that George Eliot is –

Me:  Wait!  Back up.  Dickens not the champion of the poor?!

YD:  No.  Not really.

Husband:  Didn’t he make fun of the poor?

YD:  Sort of.  He doesn’t quite see them as human.  He sees them as things to be cared for. 

Husband:    He makes fun of Jews, too.

YD:  Yes, he does.  Dickens mainly is a great supporter of the middle class.  He sees the poor as people who are automatically below ‘us’, and yet should be taken care of as part of our responsibilities as the middle class.  The aristocracy must fall because they are overbloated and corrupt.

Husband:    Denny Crane said, “I have a problem with the poor.  They have no money.”

YD:  Dickens’ problem with the poor was that he didn’t like them.  He thought that they were violent and helpless.

Me: [thinking of Oliver Twist] I think I see what you mean – the orphan street boy who is saved is actually surreptitiously a part of the middle class.

YD:  Yes.  Either that or he dies, which happens in Bleak House.  Which is less bleak than you think, even though many people die in it.  And one person spontaneously combusts.  I learned that that was a viable theory in the 1800s. 

Husband:  There are still people who maintain that people can spontaneously combust.

YD:  There are some people who maintain that the earth is flat.

Husband:  That too.

* * * * *

Me (thinking back to the YD’s crisis caused by her needing to mail in a tax form before April 15^th and not having postal items): Did you learn that you should always have an envelope and stamps?

YD:  No, I didn’t, because I was able to do everything online.

Me:  But you might have needed an envelope!

* * * * *

What the Common Household Mom learned:

The youth no longer need envelopes, nor stamps, nor cash.   But they still want me to buy the groceries and make the dinner.

Not something The Youth need to know