Book Review: Beautiful Ruins

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter was my "break back into books that have happiness and light" read after the trauma of GoT. I think what drew me to it was the Italian connection (as I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for last year's Italy trip.)

I was not disappointed. The book had so many references to places, not just Italy, that I could relate to. One scene took me back to the Spanish Steps and the Trinita Dei Monti, standing at the top in front of the church with my sister, watching the sun set over Rome, the steps full of tourists and artists and moony-eyed couples. Later on, I was back at the train station in Florence, and on the banks of the Arno. The scenes on the Amalfi coast made me frustrated; Amy and I had grand plans to visit a resort town only 1 hour from Rome on our first day in Italy. These plans were foiled by our early arrival at our hotel, which wasn't ready for us or our luggage. I even got excited over a mention of Termini. Ah, Italy. There was also a moment set in the Spokane airport that made me smile; the description of its squeaky-cleanness, its tiny terminals and welcome sign to the "inland Northwest." Ah, Spokane, I love you as well.

I can't not quote one of my favorite passages. It's one from the character Dee Moray, the doomed actress who almost made it, was almost in a movie with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who almost ruined the movie Cleopatra with her brief affair and resulting pregnancy with none other than Richard Burton himself. Her only keepsake from what could have been (beside her son, of course) was a still photograph of herself and Elizabeth Taylor, laughing on set.

By then, Debra could almost wonder if the whole thing - Pasquale, the fishermen, the paintings in the bunker, the little village on the cliffs - hadn't been some trick of the mind, another of her fantasies, a scene from some movie she had watched.

Isn't it always like that? Remembering the scenes in your life - the trips, the hard times, the pregnancies, the friendships, the rainstorms in Italian cities - and wondering if they really happened to you.

It is hard to go anywhere in Italy without seeing ruins. I almost always was amazed by the beauty of the ruins; they were old, they were remnants and reminders from a long ago time. But how would the original inhabitants see the same ruins? Would they be inspired? Probably not. They would just look at what was left, remembering what had been and be sad. Pretty much how I would feel to see the remains of my home in some distant future.

Without giving away too much, I think that Beautiful Ruins was a long metaphor.  We all sort of live amongst the ruins of our lives: secrets, guilt, events that we regret or know we could have handled better, memories of people that make us wonder what would have happened if ____.  How we make up stories for people that we don't know, and sometimes we get it right, and other times, we couldn't be farther from the true events. I liked how it wrapped up all the loose ends in a not too tidy way. I like that it showed that sometimes, it's better to just let ruins be and not disturb them, while other times, we should pursue those loose ends that make us wonder. How we can learn from others mistakes to remedy our own lives.

I truly enjoyed this beautiful book and would recommend it.

And now, I need to put the Cinque Terre on my list of must-visit places.

Summer 2014 Images

On Friday, Amy posted this about End of Summer images. I wanted to comment and tell her how much I loved her images, and share some moments of my own. But then I realized had an entire post of moments that I don't want to forget from Summer 2014.

Dinner with Shane. One night, the kids wanted to stay in with takeout from Five Guys, while Shane and I were more interested in our favorite Mexican restaurant. So we went on a date, just the two of us. It was a simple enough moment: sitting on the bench outside the restaurant, chatting and holding hands. Watching a group of girls who were all wearing their purple softball team uniforms talking and laughing and team-ing together. The view of the mountains, which were that shade of summer green that happens just before they start to turn. Later, the taste of a giant cold Coke and warmed refried beans with chips and salsa (the delicious detail that sets this restaurant apart from others.)

Walking with Ben. Thomas and Shane were running a four-mile training run for Thomas's black-belt physical test. Ben walked with me. The kid talked the whole time: wondering if the rock next to the trail was a meteor; why the sky was darker blue above us and lighter blue lower on the horizon; trying to find a rock of just the perfect size next to the trail that could be a meteor that wouldn't cause a giant crater, but would still put a dent in the trail. I loved his ceaseless chatter, the browning grasses next to the trail, the reddening trees on the mountains to the west, as he rode his scooter along the trail "that was only for walking, not for cartwheeling" he had earlier declared after I demonstrated a cartwheel.

Eating with Thomas. One evening, it ended up that it was only me and Thomas home for dinner, a very, very rare occurrence in our house. Shane was at a late meeting at work, and Ben had gone to the trampoline park with the neighbor kid's family. Not wanting to make dinner, I picked up Thomas from karate and declared it was date night. We went to Carl's Junior together (I'm a sucker for CJ!). We got burgers and fries and cokes and laughed through dinner. He's grown up so much this summer; he's now within an inch of my height, has bigger hands, and bigger feet than me. He's also matured so much, thanks to working at the library for volunteer hours, mowing lawns for his grandma and neighbors, and running with his dad. It was a great summer of growth for him.

Running in San Diego with my foursome. This is a family snapshot: Shane and Thomas ahead of me. We are in the cross walk at the intersection of Mission Bay Boulevard and San Rafael street, between the two bodies of water: the Pacific beach and Mission Bay, just down from our favorite San Diego hotel. Ben is riding his scooter next to me, and I am running. Usually runs in San Diego are solitary, but Thomas had a goal of running 4 miles without stopping before he started school, and so we did it all together on vacation.

Sitting in my sister's pool. For my mom's birthday, we had a family party at my sister's pool. I rarely swim, but on that day, I put on my suit and sat on the steps of the pool with my mom, sister Suzette, and great-niece Josie while she learned to not be afraid of the water. At some point, I ended up stealing my mom's straw hat right off of her head, which I wore for the rest of the party. Later, Amy and my niece Lyndsay came and sat with me. Visiting and watching the kids scream and play and swim while we visited made me happy.

Waiting for Wicked with Sisters Squared. The people on our Italy trip took to taking me and my mom and sisters Sisters Squared. It sort of stuck. In August, we got tickets to Wicked together. Looking down at the curtain at Capital Theater as we took selfies, talked about books we were reading, planned where we would eat dinner later (Desert Edge), and shared in the excitement of being together again as Sisters Squared is an image I don't want to forget.

Swearing with Amy. The end of Ragnar was a disaster. Amy and I sort of hobbled across the finish line, both of us near tears, swearing like sailors as the rest of our team ran ahead. I loved that I could tell my sister in just a few words what I was feeling, and that I didn't have to censor myself, but she would understand and swear along with me while declaring her own frustrations.

Talking Mom about laundry. A few weeks ago I had a little conversation on the phone with my mom that turned somehow to laundry. She told me a little story about folding laudry with my grandma when my two older sisters were tiny. My mom doesn't tell stories about that time very often, and I loved that it just came up so naturally.

Standing on the Pier at Pacific Ocean. I did get to go on one solo run during our time in San Diego. We stayed at a different hotel than we usually do; we were just down the beach a few miles, but it felt so different. I ended up on the sand, instead of the boardwalk where I normally run. I ran all the way to the end of Crystal Pier, where I stopped running, turned on I Wanna Get Better  by Bleachers (I didn't know I was lonely til I saw your face...) and looked out at the ocean. I love the way running on the beach smells. It's fishy and salty and sweaty, and it clears out my soul in a way that no other running anywhere can.

Thanks, Amy for your beautiful and inspiring post.(I enjoyed that moment at Ragnar, too. I always love driving out of Kamas on Saturday morning. It's one of my favorite parts of Ragnar.)

What are your summer images?

Game of Thrones: All that I don't want to forget

It has been a long summer. I started watching Game of Thrones (I hope we can still be friends!) in May or so, and loved the shows. But I had so many questions about who all the characters were, and what their history was, and what was really happening in the story. Plus, after I read Amy's review, I was intrigued. So, on July 7th, I started reading the books.

Holy cow. Never have I felt so....detached from a story that I am seriously interested in. George RR Martin makes no qualms about killing off characters - major, minor, meh, doesn't matter. I think it's a sort of fatalistic/realistic view of things: sometimes the hero who believes in honor just doesn't live. It happens that way in real life, right? But I'm not used to it in books.

Now, five books, more than 3,000 pages later, I'm finally finished. It was a race to the end; I needed to finish them and move on to something else (which makes me sound like I hate them; I don't, I just couldn't keep reading 900+ page books each month. My family was tired of seeing my nose in another damn book, I tell you.) One thing I know for 100% is this: I can't go back and re-read them in preparation for the 6th and 7th books, which have yet to have release dates. So, I'm giving myself a cheat sheet. Below is the fate (by the end of the 4th/5th book, as some characters finished their story in book 4. A Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons cover the same time period; half of the characters are in FfC, the other half are in DwD, and then a few creep in at the end to of DwD to make the story flow.)

If you are a fan of the series and don't want to be spoiled, don't keep reading. The books do not follow the TV series, but certain characters endure, so what I know from the books and what you know from the show may be different. I am only in season 2 of the TV series, and I know that things are different on the show.

I cannot promise that what I write regarding any one character will:

a- make sense
b- be in complete sentences
c- be grammatically correct.

Feel free to comment. I plan on updating this post regularly, until I finish with as many characters as I deem necessary.

If you are a fan of GOT, let me know. After all, winter is coming. And, you have to know your name, even if, like Jon Snow, you know nothing.

Cersei: She is seriously one of the most evil characters in all of literature. She has no sense of anything outside of herself. Cersei is awaiting trial for treason because she conspired with the Kettleback to bring down Margaery. She sent a letter to Jamie asking him to come to her defense, but Jamie ignored it and threw it in the fire. She confessed her sins, did a walk of shame naked through the streets of Kings Landing only to fall into the arms of a rescuer who is 8 feet tall (the Mountain? but wasn't his head sent to Dorne? He was experimented on with poison in Qyburn's dungeons.

Kevan Lannister - was serving as Hand for Tommen, was killed by the eunoch because he didn't believe the stories of Aegon being still alive. Died the same way as Tywin, with a cross bow to the gut.

Margaery - on house arrest.  Her father was able to release her from the Septon's dungeons but she will be tried for her supposed treasons agains Tommen as well. She asked for a potion that is usually used as an abortifacent (moon tea) from Pycell, and Cersei found out. Cersei was using Kettleback to say that he and other men, including a fool/singer that Cersei tortured into a confession, had been allegedly sleeping with Margaery behind Tommen's back (but I don't believe it.). Margaery's father Mace Tyrell is in Kings Landing. Her brother may be dead, after the injury he took during his battle at Dragonstone. Were she & Loras like Cersei & Jamie? I wonder.

Jamie - went off into the wild after his adventure getting back to Kings Landing with Brienne of Tarth. Solved the seige at Riverrun, giving the castle to his uncle Frey (who is also married to his favorite aunt, a Lannister, sister to his father and Kevan.) Was angry at Tyrion's allegations (which are mostly true) about Cersei sleeping with the Kettlebacks, and Lancel. Received a letter from Cersei asking him to come back to King's Landing, which he burned. Solved another seige dispute, then headed back to Kings Landing. Took a hostage, a young boy. Ran into Brienne, who told him she had a Stark girl who was being threatened by the Hound. Went with Brienne, who was believed dead (hung by the returned Catelyn Stark, who gave Brienne the choice between hanging and killing Jamie; Brienne must have chose life.) But I don't think Jamie is dead, even though he hasn't been heard from since he went off with Brienne.

Tyrion - has now signed on with the Second Son's, a company of sellswords outside the walls of Mereen. He was sold as a slave after being captured at sea by a slaver ship, along with Penny the dwarf and Jorah Mormont. He caught site of Dany during his performance in the slave pits, as well as Barristan, the old knight from King's Landing. Tyrion is wishing he had stayed with Aegon and Jon Griffin. Ben Plumb, who betrayed Dany by going over to the Yunkai, is in the Second Son's company and knows who Tyrion is. He gets Tyrion to agree to pay a ransom to Ben Plumb for not turning over Tyrion's head (or any other body parts!) to Cersei.Is still technically married to Sansa. Narrowly avoided greyscale, and still hopes to find Tysha, his first wife who he was told was a prostitute, which was a lie told him by Jamie and Tywin (which is why Tyrion killed Tywin in the first place.)