Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

2020 Keyword Challenge - May (Sky, Name, Blue, Book, Enchant, Is)
Newest Book on TBR

Thank you Mark Sullivan for introducing Pino Lella to the world! What an amazing story of courage set in Italy during WWII. Yet another area I knew little of during the war (How did I not know all that about Mussolini?).

At times it read like an action film, intertwined with a love story and the evils and horrors of the war; especially when your country, your town, your neighborhood IS the battlefield.

Goodreads: Based on the true story of a forgotten hero; the epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Quotes: "'Music. Wine. A cigar. The small luxuries of life are how we survive what the mind can't fathom.'"

"'...by opening our hearts, revealing our scars, we are made human and flawed and whole.'"

"...the earth did not know war,...nature would go on no matter what horror one man might inflict on another."

"'Life is change, constant change, and unless we are lucky enough to find comedy in it, change is nearly always a drama, if not a tragedy.'"

 Once We were Brothers  -  Ronald Balson
                   Historical Fiction

I have read a lot of H. F.  Most have moved me, many have saddened me, but this one brought me to tears.

Two young boys, one German, one Jewish brought up in the same loving Jewish home.  Then WWII  happened.
The story is told by Ben to his lawyer who helps Benn build a case against a very prominent man,  a man Ben suspects of being a former Nazi.

Goodreads:

The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.

Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc. Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser is convinced he is right and engages attorney Catherine Lockhart to bring Rosenzweig to justice. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's own family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has Solomon accused the right man?

Shakespeare's Sonnets (81-154)

Shakespeare Project 2020

Well, I had to leave Sir Patrick behind as he took a mini hiatus and I jumped ahead to finish up the sonnets (but I will go back and listen to his daily readings, because, well, that voice....)

So we continue with sonnets referencing the mysterious "fair youth" and rival poets and around 127 we are introduced to an equally mysterious "dark lady".

The most famous of this second half of the sonnets is 116 (you may recognize it as a wedding reading):

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error, and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Again, I won't reproduce each sonnet in its entirety, just some lines I enjoyed.

Sonnet 91

Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,

Some in their wealth, some in their body's force,

Some in their garments, though newfangled ill,

Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;

And every humor hath his adjunct pleasure,

Wherein it finds a joy above the rest.

Sonnet 94

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

Sonnet 104

To me, fair friend, you never can be old.

For as you were when first your eye I eyed,

Such seems your beauty still.

Sonnet 129

Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Is lust in action;...

Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;

Past reason hunted, and no sooner had,

Past reason hated as a swallowed bait

***

To shun the heaven that leads me to this hell.

Sonnet 137

Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes

That they behold and see not what they see?

They know what beauty is, see where it lies,

Yet what the best is take the worst to be.

Sonnet 138

When my love swears that she is made of truth

I do believe her though I know she lies,

***

Therefore I lie with her and she with me,

And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

Sonnet 147

My love is a fever, longing still

For that which longer nurseth the disease,

Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,

Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please.

And with that we bid the sonnets a fond adieu!

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

In my quest to read all of Shakespeare through the Shakespeare 2020 Project, I also want to tackle the Hogarth adaptations. This is a retelling of Othello! Interesting concept to take the adults and their themes of jealousy and betrayal and put them in a 1970's schoolyard.

The story reads very easily and for those that know Othello, the character comparisons were quick to ascertain. But, you don't need to know, read or see Othello to be able to read and understand this new story told by Chevalier.

Summary from Goodreads:
The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard, where kids fall in and out of love with each other before lunchtime, and practice a casual racism picked up from their parents and teachers. Peeking over the shoulders of four 11 year olds--Osei, Dee, Ian, and his reluctant "girlfriend" Mimi.

Arriving at his fifth school in as many years, diplomat's son Osei Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day--so he's lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can't stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players--teachers and pupils alike--will never be the same again.

Quotes: "Though he seemed willing to be asked questions, he was not asking her anything. But boys rarely did - they were better at talking than at listening,..."

"There was no choice, really. Is there ever between the darkness and the light? You walk toward the smile rather than the frown."

     Wild Land  -  Rebecca Hodge
                 Debut


Kat wants to spend a month alone at a remote cabin in the mountains to make some decisions  after her cancer returns.  Instead she is fighting for her life and that of 2 kids and 2 dogs.

It is about digging deep and being stronger that you know you are.
"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves".

I really enjoyed this book.

Goodreads:

She'll do anything to save them.
But what will she do to save herself?

When Kat Jamison retreats to the Blue Ridge Mountains, she's counting on peace and solitude to help her make a difficult decision. Her breast cancer has returned, but after the death of her husband, her will to fight is dampened. Now she has a choice to make: face yet another round of chemotherapy or surrender gracefully.

Self-reflection quickly proves impossible as her getaway is complicated by a pair of abandoned dogs and two friendly children staying nearby, Lily and Nirav. In no time at all, Kat's quiet seclusion is invaded by the happy confusion of children and pets.

But when lightning ignites a deadly wildfire, Kat's cabin is cut off from the rest of the camp, separating Lily and Nirav from their parents. Left with no choice, Kat, the children, and the dogs must flee on foot through the drought-stricken forest, away from the ravenous flames. As a frantic rescue mission is launched below the fire line, Kat drives the party deeper into the mountains, determined to save four innocent lives. But when the moment comes to save her own, Kat will have to decide just how hard she's willing to fight to survive--and what's worth living for.

A heart-pounding novel of bravery, sacrifice, and self-discovery, Wildland will keep you on the edge of your seat to the very last page

   The Bachelor Girl - Kim Van Alkemade
                 "V" author

New York City in the 1920's.  Historical fiction regarding the owner of the Yankees, a young girl trying to make it on her own ,  and the struggles of the gay man. 

I would have liked more  history of the Yankees owner or the mysterious girl who he left his vast fortune to.

Goodreads summary:

When the owner of the New York Yankees baseball team, Colonel Jacob Ruppert, takes Helen Winthrope, a young actress, under his wing, she thinks it’s because of his guilt over her father’s accidental death—and so does Albert Kramer, Ruppert’s handsome personal secretary. Helen and Albert develop a deepening bond the closer they become to Ruppert, an eccentric millionaire who demands their loyalty in return for his lavish generosity.

New York in the Jazz Age is filled with possibilities, especially for the young and single. Yet even as Helen embraces being a “bachelor girl”—a working woman living on her own terms—she finds herself falling in love with Albert, even after he confesses his darkest secret. When Ruppert dies, rumors swirl about his connection to Helen after the stunning revelation that he has left her the bulk of his fortune, which includes Yankee Stadium. But it is only when Ruppert’s own secrets are finally revealed that Helen and Albert will be forced to confront the truth about their relationship to him—and to each other.

Inspired by factual events that gripped New York City in its heyday, Bachelor Girl is a hidden history gem about family, identity, and love in all its shapes and colors.

Othello, the Moor of Venice

Shakespeare Project 2020

Othello reads like a suspense thriller! 

Othello starts out very diplomatic, sincere, in control:

(I.2)

Othello: "Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it

Without a prompter."

Until Iago manipulates him (as he does everyone). He is one of the worst villains ever created. Yet, he is disturbingly attractive, in a girl-loves-a-bad-boy kinda way.

(I.3) After Roderigo threatens to drown himself after seeing Othello and Desdemona together

Iago: "Come, be a man. Drown thyself? Drown cats and 

blind puppies."

(III.3) To Othello as he begins his manipulations.

Iago: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on."

Though Othello wishes Iago had not told him (falsely) about his wife's behaviors

(III.3)

Othello: "What sense had I in her stol'n hours of lust?

I saw't not, thought it not, it harm'd not me

I slept the next night well, fed well, was free and merry;...

He that is robb'd , not wanting what is stol'n

Let him not know't , and he's not robb'd at all."

Iago also manipulates poor Cassio into getting drunk and getting into a fight:

(II.3)

Cassio: "O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast

no name to be known by, let us call thee devil!"

Iago: "Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature if

it be well us'd; exclaim no more against it."

The Duke has some good advice for us all

(I.3)

Duke: "When remedies are past, the griefs are ended

By seeing the worst, which late on hopes depended.

To mourn a mischief that is past and gone

Is the next way to draw new mischief on."

Emilia is probably my favorite character:

(III.4)

Emilia: "Tis not a year or two shows us a man.

They are all but stomachs, and we all but food;

They eat us hungerly, and when they are full,

They belch us."

(V.1)

Emilia:"Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know

Their wives have sense like them; they see and smell,

And have their palates both for sweet and sour

As husbands have. What is it that they do

When they change us for others?...

And have not we affections,...as men have?

Then let them use us well; else let them know

The ills we do their ills instructs us so."

Even though you can foresee the ending, you keep hoping it will somehow end differently, but alas, it IS a  Shakespeare tragedy so, basically everybody dies.

Shakespeare's Sonnets (1-80)

Shakespeare Project 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic I had a unique opportunity to listen to Sir Patrick Stewart read Shakespeare's sonnets, as he has embarked on a  sonnet-a-day during the quarantine!

Ideally, that is how I should have be reading all the sonnets, as poetry is meant to be savored slowly not read all in one sitting or in a day or two.

Though poetry is not my strong suit. Shel Silverstein is by far my favorite poet, though I've read some Dickinson and I studied Adrienne Rich in college and in my younger years I actually wrote some poetry.

With that said, I did delve into Sonnets 1-80 which are mainly addressed to a "fair youth", the identity of which has been the subject of speculation among scholars for eons! There are also quite a few (1-17) called Procreation Sonnets that discuss the importance of having a child (as a happy, single, childless woman I took slight offense to these).

Of course we must start off with the most famous of Shakespeare's sonnets, No. 18:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall Death brag thou wand'reset in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives live to thee.

While I won't duplicate the entirety of each sonnet, I will pull out a few lines that I enjoyed and/or found meaningful

Sonnet 12:

And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense

Save breed, to brace him when he takes thee hence.

Sonnet 23:

O' learn to read what silent love hath writ.

To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

Sonnets 27 & 28 (Insomnia)

27

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,

The dear repose for limbs with travel tired,

But then begins a journey in my head

To work my mind when body's work's expired.

For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,

Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,

And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,

Looking on darkness which the blind do see;

***

Lo, thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,

For thee and for myself no quiet find.

28

***

When day's oppression is not eased by night,

But day by night and night by day oppressed;

And each, though enemies to ether's reign,

Do in consent shake hands to torture me,

The one by toil, the other to complain

How far I toil, still farther off from thee?

I tell the day to please him thou art bright

And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven;

So flatter I the swart complexioned night,

When sparkling stars twire not, thou [gild'st] the even.

But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,

And night doth nightly make grief's length seem stronger.

Sonnet 34:

Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day

And make me travel forth without my cloak,

To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,

Hiding thy brav'ry in their rotten smoke?

Sonnet 57:

So true a fool is love that in your will,

Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

Sonnet 77:

Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear,

Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste;

And now, we interrupt these sonnets for the tragedy of Othello!

The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare Project 2020

As with "Venus and Adonis", "The Rape of Lucrece" was written during the London plague in 1594. It was published a year after Venus and Adonis and is in line with WS's tragedies. This poem closely resembles the themes of rape and revenge in his first tragedy Titus Andronicus.

 The poem draws on the Roman story retold by Ovid and Livy (Roman poet and historian) of the Roman King's son, Tarquin, in 509 BCE who raped Lucretia, his friend Collatinus' chaste wife. Lucretia committed suicide after telling her husband of Tarquin's crime. A revolt against the royal family ensued in which they were banished and the Roman Republic was created.

The poem delves into disturbing themes and as readers we are placed in the heart of Tarquin's moral struggle between will and desire and subsequently in the abject terror of Lucrece's rape, followed by her heartbreaking anger, guilt and shame and her ultimate decision to take her life (in Roman times such suicide was honorable, but in Shakespeare's Elizabethan times it was a sin).

While Tarquin initially struggles with his desire and attraction to his friend's wife, he justifies his actions by blaming his friend, Collatine for praising her chastity and for Lucrece's own beauty in contrast to her virtue:

"Or why is Collatine the publisher

Of that rich jewel he should keep unknown

From thievish ears because it is his own?"

"When Virtue bragged, Beauty would blush for shame,

When Beauty boasted blushes, in despite

 Virtue would stain that o'er with silver white.

***

Argued by Beauty's red and Virtue's white

...This silent war of lilies and of roses."

Of course Lucrece was naive and Tarquin was a prince and a friend so she welcomed him into her home:

"And reverend welcome to her princely guest,

Whose inward ill no outward harm expressed."

Tarquin knows that:
"my disgression is so vile, so base..."
and there is no good outcome:

"What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?

A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.

Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week?

Or sells eternity to get a toy?

For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy?"

Yet, he justifies his desire:

"My will is strong, past reason's weak removing;...

Respect and reason, wait on wrinkled age!

...My part is youth...

Desire my pilot is, beauty my prize:

Then who fears sinking where such treasure lies?

As Tarquin goes at midnight to Lucrece's bedchamber, outside forces try to intervene and yet he dismisses them:

"Night-wand'ring weasles shriek to see him there,

They fright him, yet he still pursues his fear.

As each unwilling portal yields him way,

Through little vents and crannies of the place,

The wind wars with his torch to make him stay.

And blows the smoke of it into his face,

Extinguishing his conduct in this case.

But his hot heart, which fond desire doth scorch,

Puffs forth another wind that fires the torch."

He tries to pray, but only justifies his future act:

"Then Love and Fortune be my gods, my guide.

My will is backed with resolution:

Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried,

The blackest sin is cleared with absolution,

Against love's fire fear's frost hath dissolution.

The eye of heaven is out, and misty night

Covers the shame that follows sweet delight."

We feel Lucrece's terror:

"Imagine her as one in dead of night

From forth dull sleep by dreadful fancy waking,

That thinks she hath beheld some ghastly sprite,

Whose grim aspect sets every joint a-shaking - 

What terror 'tis! But she, in worser taking,

From sleep disturbed, heedfully doth view

The sight which makes supposed terror true."

Lucrece pleads with Tarquin to recognize his own vile act:

"Think but how vile a spectacle it were

To view thy present trespass in another

Men's faults do seldom to themselves appear:

Their own transgressions partially they smother

This guilt would seem death-worthy in thy brother..."

Afterward, Lucrece rails at Time, Opportunity and Night for allowing not only this to happen but all misfortunes:

"How come it then, vile Opportunity,...

The patient dies while the physician sleeps,

The orphan pines while the oppressor feeds.

Justice is feasting while the widow weeps,...

***

Misshapen Time, copesmate of ugly Night

Swift subtle post, carrier of grisly care...

Thou nursest all and murd'rest all that are.

***

Time's glory is to calm contending kings,

To unmask falsehood and bring truth to light,

To stamp the seal of time in aged things,

To wake the morn and sentinel the night,

To wrong the wronger till he render right....

***

O, this dread Night, wouldst thou one hour come back,

I could prevent this storm and shun thy wrack."

Lucrece knows that due to Tarquin being a Royal, this crime will not be overlooked:

"For greatest scandal waits on greatest state...

Poor grooms are sightless night, kings glorious day,

Gnats are unnoted wheresoe'er they fly,

But eagles gazed upon with every eye."

Lucrece sends for her husband, telling him in a letter only that she is grieving, but not telling him about the rape until she can tell him in person:

"With words, till action might become them better.

To see sad sights moves more than hear them told,

For then the eye interprets to the ear..."

As she awaits her husband and the promise of revenge, she grieves as time seems to stand still:

"Thus ebbs and flows the current of her sorrow,

And time doth weary time from her complaining,

She looks for night and then she longs for morrow,

And both she thinks too long with her remaining.

Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining

Though we be heavy yet it seldom sleeps,

And that they watch see time how slow it creeps."

A final note: Yet another line penned by the Bard, unbeknowst to me, as it became famous later from Dumas:

"That one for all or all for one we gage"