I’m happy to introduce myself, world! Gratefully, and with excitement, I am the new Beaufort Books intern. And like the others before me, I will be blogging for your enjoyment.
I feel that for you to really get to know me, you’ll have to get acquainted with some of the things swirling in my head at the moment. I tend to get obsessed with a book, or author, or movie, or TV show, or play, and tell everyone I can about them, until a new obsession finds its way into my hands. At the moment, there are a few sharing the spotlight.
First, I recently read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. The book is exquisite. She writes as if she is painting a canvas in your head, so after just a few strokes, your mind is filled with a gigantic mural. Set in the 1920’s, the book is a historically accurate picture of a traveling circus moving through the Depression. The history, combined with the passion and drama, makes the book impossible to put down. I especially love the main character Jacob’s relationship with the animals of the circus, and the elephant Rosie in particular. Gruen gives Rosie such heart and personality that she is possibly my favorite character of the book. I won’t tell you any more because you have to read it for yourself. But please read it. Seriously.
Second, to continue the theme of animals in literature, I read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stern. Be prepared with a tissue when reading this book, especially if you have or ever have had a dog. The book is written from the perspective of Enzo, a wise terrier who takes his role as protector of the family seriously. The book flies by, but every moment is worth it. Stern manages to personify every thing that every person has ever wished to be true of their loyal family pet in Enzo, creating the sweetest character I have met in a long time.
Third, my new obsession is the production of Capsule 33, created and performed by Thaddeus Phillips at The Barrow Street Theatre in the West Village. (You should know now that I love theater almost as much as I love books, so theater opinions are bound to creep in.) The show was unique and completely ingenious. Thaddeus Phillips created a set that is one hundred percent self-sustaining for a show that discusses society’s lack of imagination and general laziness in conserving what the earth has to offer. The show is set in the Nagakin capsule tower in Tokyo that is scheduled to implode, but Milo Dikanovic and his rubber ducky Fumio refuse to leave. The show is profoundly human while stuck in an isolated, mechanical world. Between Phillips’s unbelievable performance and the set’s ability to twist and turn into anything imaginable, you are almost afraid to blink for fear of missing something. And you’ll leave with new tidbits of information after learning about Nikola Tesla, listening to philosophy and history, and being re-introduced to some of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches in a tangible new way.
That’s all for now, but stay tuned for more to come!
Tags: 1920's, Barrow Street Theatre, Capsule 33, circus, dogs, garth stern, sara gruen, thaddeus phillips, Theater