Rosemary,The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson

It took me a couple of days, and a few post rewrites to finally figure out what was giving me pause about this book.

It's actually not about Rosemary.

Oh sure, her name and picture is on the title, and she is mentioned throughout the book, and there are events and memories that involve her, but it's never about her. 

It's impeccably researched, but the problem is that there isn't much about Rosemary's internal thoughts and experiences. Of course there isn't, because she undergoes a lobotomy in her early 20s and spends the next decades of her life hidden away. As well, before that, Joe and Rose do everything in their power to cover up Rosemary's shortcomings, and keep her letters under lock and key.

So instead, Larson uses Rosemary to promote her viewpoints. Instead of the book being about Rosemary (seriously, couldn't you have made up something in a fictionalized account?), it's about how The Kennedy's real triumph is through the passing of various state and federal disability legislation that promoted and protected disability rights.

If you are an able-bodied person that doesn't encounter those with disabilities in their daily life, this may be an eye opening book for you. However, I am very familiar with the disability narrative, because not only do I have a masters in special education, I am also a part of the tribe. (Though John Nagle and I declared a sub-tribe for just us two).

John Nagle and I clearly do have matching overalls. But Larson didn't tell me anything knew, and she went over at length to which I practiced my eye rolling skills.

Finally, the tone of the book was just... condescending? I write that with a question mark because I can't really put a finger on it. One moment she's lauding Rose for caring for Rosemary, the next minute she's chastising the Kennedys for believing in eugenics, and finally, she's showing the readers the horrors of institutions! It felt like she was all over the place, trying to put a place for each letter she read as well as put in her own thoughts and feelings.

Overall, this book blew. I'm sure there are better books out there and ones that treat Rosemary as a person instead of a mantel that the Kennedys had to carry.

Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty by Karl Shaw

I came across this book like I do so many others, randomly. A teacher was retiring at the end of the school year and he was giving away books by the dozens. I took a few other ones, and on my second trip there, I found this book, with a picture of Queen Victoria with a crown that is too big on her head.

Even though it was a free book, I wasn't sure if I should pick it up or not. I love history, and I love reading about history.... when the writer is good. It's so easy for history to become boring and bogged down with what actually happened, instead of letting the story unfold naturally. Sure, history is a recount, but also, people were involved and as I get older, I realize just how crazy people are. Anyway, I bit the bullet and took the book home, and then moved the book when I bought my house. 

And boy, I am glad I did. Usually books that I am not really into takes me a few weeks (even a month) to get through, and I was finished this book in a few nights. The tone and attitude of the book is pretty judgemental and catty, which is fun when you get into the mindset of a typical teenage girl (or boy). I imagined being invited into a conversation while drinking in a mysterious pub or bar by someone who experienced first hand these ridiculous people and these ridiculous people happen to be famous Monarchs, all related to the British royal family. 

The book is fun and silly if one disregards the tone towards mental illness. It's very obvious the book was written over 15 years ago, because along with mental illness (and the sequential jokes), Shaw also discusses homosexual and transgender royals and likens them to pedophiles or sexually deranged. I can see what he was trying to do: poke fun of the idea of a royal family and question why they have all this power and money when really, they are just as fucked up as the rest of us! However, as I was reading goodreads, a lot of people felt that he was poking fun of serious mental issues. I also felt as a person reading this book in 2015, he was seriously dated in how he portrayed homosexuals and transgender people. 

Another issue that many reviewers had of the book, which I also have a problem with, is the lack of footnotes. There was a bibliography in the back, but I would have loved to see where he got his information and his research on the topic. There was also a few complaints about how incomplete his stories about certain monarchs, like George VI and George III and reducing their reigns to stories about their madness. 

Finally, Shaw ribbed about the rampant inbreeding and ugliness of the royal families across Europe, which made me laugh because the propaganda machine and stereotype of beautiful ladies and gentlemen with refined tastes and loads of money is just that, assumptions. Many royal families were obsessed with keeping the royal line pure, but in doing that, their gene pool became more shallow. I also didn't realize that the Kaiser Wilheim I, Czar Nicholas II and King George V were all first cousins. What I also didn't know was that the current British royal family is exclusively German, and changed their names to Windsor in response to anti-german sentiment during WWI. King George V, though Shaw ripped into him as a classless man, was a man who modernized the royal family and refined their duties for the present day. 

 This book could use the benefit of a rewrite for more modern times, but I would also love to see an update on the selection of Princess Diana when she was to marry Prince Charles. Shaw ripped into him earlier in the book, but was decidedly mum when it came to the progression of the current British royal family. I can only say that Diana passed only just a few years before this book came out, and the grief felt by the world was probably why Shaw didn't write about her. 

If you like a book that treats history like juicy gossip, then give this book a whirl. However, take it with a grain of salt. There is a lot of bits about madmen, homosexuals and sexual depravity, all in the same sentence. Take it as you will. 

Which is better? Book Thief

I read The Book Thief last year. I don't remember how I acquired the book but I remembered that it was a great, big deal. I think BAE got me a copy of the book from Perry Hall? Or was it from the Independence's book closet? Anyway, I read the book last summer and a few days ago, I finally got around to watching the movie.

Man, oh man, I liked both the book and the movie. However, goodreads reviews always makes me second guess myself. Some of the reviews aligned with my opinions on the book, was that it was very good, albeit, dense. However, some of the reviews rip the book apart, which makes me think, 'oh, do I not have good taste? Am I not critical enough of books?'

But you know what? Sometimes we read for entertainment. Not every book we read has to enhance our lives for the better, or make us think of how to improve the world. Also, we don't have to constantly criticize whether the book will move the world or whether it makes the reader aware of what is out there. When people put themselves under that kind of pressure to change themselves or to change their universe, not only are they burned out, but nothing ever gets done. You don't change your life because every little thing you could change isn't enough... and if you want to improve the world, every little thing you do is also not good enough.

Anyway, I liked the book. I was confused in the beginning with the character of Death and the omniscient 3rd person perspective. Or was it 1st person when he was speaking? I honestly don't remember and I gave the book back wherever I borrowed it from. The Book Thief is marketed as a young adult book, but honestly... I don't see how. It's a dense book with colorful prose and a plethora of metaphors and other literary devices, some quite sophisticated. If it is, then I'm not sharp of a reader I perceived myself to be!

Back to "The Book Thief" movie. Like I said before, I liked both the book and the movie, and the movie goes well as a companion to the book. What I noticed about the movie was that they took scenes and events from the book and lifted them off the page. The introduction with Death and the death of her younger brother is exactly how I pictured it. She picks up The Grave Digger Handbook and starts her journey as a book stealer.

The movie was very well casted. They chose superb actors and actresses as well as the children to play Liesel and Rudy. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson's performances as Hans and Rosa actually gave context to how much Liesel meant to them in the book. In the book, Hans was very reserved and his love for his foster daughter came out in very subtle ways which needed to be translated for the screen. Rosa was a very difficult character to play and she nailed it. Everyone's on screen chemistry was excellent.

Now, the downsides to The Book Thief movie. The character of Death, which starts off as a narrator but turns into more of a character as the book goes on, is lost in the movie. His monologues are cut down to practically one liners. He has stirring lines at the end of the movie as he wraps up Liesel's story, but he doesn't really amount to anything other than a narrator.

The Book Thief book is also much more complex (which is why I'm still befuddled to why it's considered young adult) with much more events occurring in Nazi Germany with Liesel and Rudy, Max, the Hubermanns, Nazis and the Steiners. I completely missed that the father enlisted so that Rudy didn't have to be part of the Nazi Youth leadership because it seemed to be a 5 second scene. The movie alluded that Hans was not in favor of the Nazis, but the book really goes into Hans history and then how his actions lead to him getting drafted. There were also many other characters in the book that the movie did not cast, which characterized Nazi Germany as much more multifaceted than it did in the movie.

The movie largely focused on Liesel's story, but in the book there was Rudy's story, the Steiners, Max, the Hubermanns, and the mayor and his wife and through those stories showed the spectrum of living under a tyrannical government.

Overall, I highly recommend reading the book and watching the movie. They are both great stand alones, and one doesn't have to choose to either read or watch. I would recommend that students who read the book should also watch the movie in order to better understand the plot and Nazi era Germany. I agree with most of what the movie cut and adapted the premise of the book wonderfully.

Moving and the Current Book Stack

So, Bae and I are in the process of buying a house! Yay!  Along with everything else (paperwork, inspections, etc.) we also have to pack (boo, hiss). As a self diagnosing hoarder (I'm not really, but you never know when you need something), moving is a good thing for me. I get to go through my stuff and envision myself moving it. If it's worth the moving part, it stays. If not, then it definitely goes.

Which brings me to books. When I was younger, I dreamt about having a library. The library in Disney's Beauty and The Beast? Yeah, I definitely didn't care for the love story. I wanted those BOOKS! When I lived at home, I started collecting books, because well, I wanted to start my own library! This proved to be a terrible idea when I moved out, because I had to actually move all of those books. In those 6 years, I've had to move 5 times; almost every single year since I moved out.

Things have definitely been donated, trashed and given away. As BAE and I stare down the prospect of moving into a permanent home (5 years, anyway) with the idea of adult things like nicer furniture and durable picture frames, we're going to have to be ruthless about what we choose to get rid of versus what we keep.

And that includes books.

BAE is an English teacher, and we have so many doubles of the same books. As I was going through my books today, I realized that there were 2 copies of Schindler's List. I knew about Corrections and Catch-22, but Schindler's List was news to me. So, that's an issue.

Before going to the gym, I perused my shelves to donate books to goodwill. Some of them were easy; older books, books I didn't really enjoy and books that were given to me by people I rather not remember. However, embarrassingly enough, I stumbled across MANY books that I actually bought but never read. Some of them I simply stuck on my shelf and forgot about, and others.... I think there was a point in my life where I bought books because I thought I should buy them... and it would make me look smart to have them on my shelf.

I apologize to anyone and everyone that ever helped me move. You moved books that I bought that I thought made me look smart.

So, I have about a month before I move. There are definitely books I know I will read. However, those books that I completely forgot about and never read, I plucked them off my shelf and put them in my book stack. I bought them, so I am GOING to read them.

Look at that enormous stack of books. That is such a weird mix of books. I have some history, some manga (Korean Manga, mind you), some classic literature, some unknown fantasy and finally... religion. Man, my religion minor really paid off... because now I am reading those books. 

Ok! Off we go!