"Harriet Beecher Stowe" Book Review

Harriet Beecher Stowe by Suzanne M. Coil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The engrossing story of the imaginative and extraordinarily intelligent author of the American classic Uncle Tom's Cabin and more than 30 other books.

No one's body of work represents the phrase, "The pen is mightier than the sword" more than Harriet Beecher Stowe. When she met President Lincoln in 1862, he allegedly said to her, "So you're the little lady who wrote the book that made this great war."

Ms. Stowe is a fascinating person and has an even more interesting family that I did not know had been famous in her time. It's odd to read about her almost puritanical life and realize that she existed at the same time as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. In fact, she loved Lord Byron, but she hadn't yet started writing before he died.

I had read Uncle Tom's Cabin a few years ago while in college. It was a great book and I'm glad to have finally read about the author. I hadn't realized she was so prolific and that she had written other books and many articles.

She was a pretty strong person in her family as well. She wasn't always the bread winner, or at least not until her book sold. But she held the family together and was the smarter than her husband at times.

It sort of annoyed me that people slandered her after she described Lord Byron as the loathsome creature he was. She had become friends with his widow, and when her friend died some people said foul things about her, so in retaliation and also to spread the truth around, she wrote articles describing the kinds of things he had done or that it wasn't her friends he acted that way. Last year, I had read a short biography about Byron and he is a terrible person and I would go so far as to say that he was probably a sociopath. But enough about that....

While this is a short biography, about 200 pages long or so, I would say that it was just long enough to maintain my interest, but any longer and it would have been fairly boring. It was written with a young audience in mind. It has a pretty decent selection of pictures of the author and her family. While I wouldn't read more about her, I would certainly read more of her work. I would also read about her siblings, especially Henry Ward Beecher, a preacher who stood for equal rights for woman and the abolishment of slavery.

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4 out of 5 Beecher preachers.

Musical Review: "Elisabeth: Das Musical Live aus dem Theater an der Wien"

Picture taken from here.

"Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW), with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I. It has been translated into seven languages and seen by over ten million spectators worldwide, making it the most successful German-language musical of all time.

"The musical tells the story of Elisabeth ("Sisi") played by the amazing Maya Hakvoort, the Empress of Austria, from her engagement and marriage in 1854 to her murder in 1898 at the hands of the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni (Serkan Kaya), through the lens of her growing obsession with Death (Máté Kamarás) as her marriage and her empire crumble around her at the turn of the century.

"The show opens in the 'nightly world of the dead and the dreamers', where Luigi Lucheni is being interrogated by a Judge as to why he has murdered the Empress Elisabeth. Lucheni claims that he did no more than what Elisabeth herself wanted, since all her life Elisabeth has been in love with Death himself - and vice versa. As his witnesses, Lucheni brings back the dead aristocracy of the bygone era and takes us to the past, where he serves as a sarcastic narrator of the events that lead to the transformation of the sweet and innocent Sisi to the revered and infamous Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Hungary, and her decline through later years until her assassination." (Source here.)

Maya Hakvoort as Elisabeth and Mate Kamaras as Der Tod/Death.
Picture found here.

Now, it would seem that I have given away the plot, but if you're a fan of European history, specifically the royal houses, then you might already know of the 'romantically' tragic circumstances of the Empress Elisabeth. I should also note that while this musical is not very well known to people in the United States, and other English-speaking countries, I assume, it has been staged in Germany, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and South Korea. As such, it is the most popular musical to come out of Germany. I'm sure it will be translated eventually, though the symbolism used in the musical might need some toning down before it hits up the American audience, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Michael Shawn Lewis
as Raoul.
You're welcome.
Picture found here.

The only reason I found out about this musical is because I have an odd fascination with Michael Shawn Lewis, I saw him onstage as Raoul in "The Phantom of the Opera" in 2005 and he is the most handsome man I have ever seen in person. Anyway, he played the Kaiser, Elisabeth's husband, Franz Joseph I, on the stage in Essen, Germany in 2001. You can see some of that performance here and here. And as an added bonus, here he is playing Rudolf in another charity performance of some sort; he's kind of too tall for that part, but still, gotta love those leather pants! 

(From L to R) Andre Bauer,
Maya Hakvoort, and Mate Kamaras.
Picture found here.

Onto the DVD:

The story was already very compelling, but Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay did a masterful job interpreting the history and bringing it to life on the stage. What I liked most was that the characters weren't stick thin portrayals of the real people. They made mistakes, they weren't aware of things and they were very emotional, which I loved. Elisabeth could've easily been just a poor victim of some horrible mental abuse at the hands of her mother-in-law and, to a lesser extent, her foolish husband. But no, they had it so that you knew that she had some flaws. Mind you, they were minor faults in comparison to what she ended up dealing with.

An example of the set:
a picture frame that the
actress steps out of.
Picture found here.

The sets and costumes are absolutely gorgeous! Reinhard Heinrich was in charge of the wonderful costumes and Erich Dorfinger was responsible for the sumptuous set designs. I loved the dream world quality to everything.

Now, I don't know much of the story, I've never read about Empress Elisabeth (which I will remedy as soon as possible), but I have read that the Kaiser did in fact love his wife and that shows. But he was in thrall to his mother to such an extent as to let her hurt Sisi. That seems pretty stupid of him, (Spoiler alert) especially since she keeps leaving because of it and he doesn't seem to change his behavior after that. It's a shame he lost so many of his relatives, helped start World War I, and created the foundation for a future Nazi party. It makes me question whether I'm even supposed to like this character, because I do feel very sorry for him. André Bauer played him very well with this certain amount of detached sentiment. 

Serkan Kaya as Luigi Lucheni.
Picture found here.

The narrator, Luigi Lucheni, played by Serkan Kaya, was amazing! I expected not to like him and he was so funny and I connected with him in a way that I couldn't connect with the royals. Another stand out was Johann Ebert who played the young version of Crown Prince Rudolf and he was so cute and adorable! Also, an awesome performer for such a young thing. 

Máté Kamarás was fantastic as Der Tod, or the personification of Death. He has such an unusual voice and an incredible stage presence. Cold but sexy, too. 

The music is nothing short of amazing! So many great songs: 'Der Letzte Tanz', 'Ich Gehor Nur Mir', 'Elisabeths Schlafzimmer', 'Nichts, Nichts, Gar Nichts', 'Der Schatten Werden Langer', 'Eine Terrasse Bei Cap Martin', and 'An Deck Der Sinkenden Welt'.

If I had one criticism to this dvd, it would be that every time a scene ended, they would cut away to the audience and every time I felt like it was taking me out of the performance a little bit. And I found that annoying. Don't break the spell damnit!

This gets 5 out of 5 tragic comedy masks!

I totally recommend this DVD if you enjoy musicals and don't mind just watching and listening to a foreign language because there weren't any subtitle options. The music is fantastic and a feast for the eyes. I hope that one day this is translated into English so I can understand it a bit more clearly. I would like to get a copy of the performance that happened in Essen, Germany in 2001, so I can see my man, as well as Pia Douwes and Jesper Tyden! But until I can scrounge one up, this one is perfect.

UPDATE: If you wanted to watch the whole show, with English subtitles no less, go here.

"Sutton" Book Review

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Willie Sutton was born in the squalid Irish slums of Brooklyn, in the first year of the twentieth century, and came of age at a time when banks were out of control. If they weren't failing outright, causing countless Americans to lose their jobs and homes, they were being propped up with emergency bailouts. Trapped in a cycle of panics, depressions and soaring unemployment, Sutton saw only one way out, only one way to win the girl of his dreams.

"So began the career of America's most successful bank robber. Over three decades Sutton became so good at breaking into banks, and such a master at breaking out of prisons, police called him one of the most dangerous men in New York, and the FBI put him on its first-ever Most Wanted List.

"But the public rooted for Sutton. He never fired a shot, after all, and his victims were merely those bloodsucking banks. When he was finally caught for good in 1952, crowds surrounded the jail and chanted his name.

"Blending vast research with vivid imagination, Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer brings Willie Sutton blazing back to life. In Moehringer's retelling, it was more than poverty or rage at society that drove Sutton. It was one unforgettable woman. In all Sutton's crimes and confinements, his first love (and first accomplice) was never far from his thoughts. And when Sutton finally walked free - a surprise pardon on Christmas Eve, 1969 - he immediately set out to find her.

"Poignant, comic, fast-paced and fact-studded, Sutton tells a story of economic pain that feels eerily modern, while unfolding a story of doomed love that is forever timeless."(overview via Barnes and Noble)

This is a beautifully written fictionalized biography of William Francis Sutton, a notorious figure known for his charm and nonviolent bank robberies and jewel heists. Though not as well known today as a few of his colleagues, Capone and Dillinger just to name a few, he was one of the most sought after criminals of his time. But also a sort of folk hero, like Robin Hood.

A product of his environment, the banks owned much while people starved and lived on the streets thereby developing a heavy dislike for the rich, he's also charismatic and highly intelligent, escaping prison multiple times and reading the great literary classics and becoming an avid gardener while stuck inside.

It was interesting to meet all of the real-life characters that made up his friends and associates. I would love to read a biography of that lawyer, Samuel Untermyer, he sounds absolutely fascinating.

I felt so bad for Sutton at times, though he was so intelligent and planned his crimes so well, his accomplices would usually screw something up or turn out to be a rat. He couldn't catch a break half of the time. And that had to be one of the worst cases of police brutality I have ever read.

Probably one of the better books I've read all year, I really enjoyed it and hope to read more from the author.

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"The Men Who Built America" Review So Far

(From L to R) Adam Jonas Segaller as Andrew Carnegie, Tim Getman as John D. Rockefeller,
??? as Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Eric Rolland as J. P. Morgan.

"John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan rose from obscurity and in the process built modern America. Their names hang on street signs, are etched into buildings and are a part of the fabric of history. These men created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries. Their paths crossed repeatedly as they elected presidents, set economic policies and influenced major events of the 50 most formative years this country has ever known. From the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War I, they led the way.

"Using state of the art computer generated imagery that incorporates 12 million historical negatives, many made available for the first time by the Library of Congress, this series will bring back to life the world they knew and the one they created. The event series will show how these men took a failed experiment in democracy and created the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. We see how their historic achievements came to create the America of today." (Source below.)

In this blog entry I would like to talk about my favorite channel, the History Channel's, new television series: "The Men Who Built America".

Adam Jonas Sellagar as
Andrew Carnegie.

It is a fascinating account of a few of the richest men in America's history, shaping this country as we now know it. It begins roughly 1865, after the assassination of President Lincoln and weaves its way through the industrial age. The narrator even starts the series by stating, “For the first time in the country’s short existence the man most capable of leading America is not a politician.” First the railroad, then oil, then steel shape this country into a global superpower.

Eric Rolland as J. P. Rolland.

It includes the personal history and business practices of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Scott, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, George Westinghouse, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. Next week, though not on Tuesday but on Sunday at 8 p.m., they shall be introducing Henry Ford, who revolutionized the moving assembly line to create his famously inexpensive 'horseless carriage'.

The man I am most impressed with so far is Morgan, though he is the most ruthless. Although Rockefeller might have him beat, as he nearly single-handedly started the Great Depression by capsizing the railroad industry. They all strike out against their competitors, usually each other, before buying the smaller companies out and they are absolutely horrible to their workers. Though there is something to admire in their tenacity.

The program also shows how the robber barons of yore have compelling similarities to the businessmen of today. They interview the likes of Donald Trump, Steve Wozniak, Mark Cuban, Alan Greenspan, and Jack Welch, amongst others, discussing business practices and how businessmen think and act. They also interview such historians as H. W. Brands, David Nasaw, and Jill Jones.

??? as Henry Ford.

So far I'm enjoying it immensely. The costumes and music is very well done. What little acting there is, is great; they made nearly all the actors look exactly like the tycoons. I can't wait until next week's episode and marathon where I can re-watch the men at their work. The main thing though is how the government will have to step in when the industrialists treat their workers worse than pack-mules. How I wish that would happen more often today.

Sources: http://www.history.com/shows/men-who-built-america/articles/about-men-who-built-america and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167393/fullcredits#cast.

"Byron in Love" Book Review

Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life by Edna O'Brien
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"From one of our greatest novelists comes this luminous portrait of the world’s first literary rock star. 

"Acclaimed biographer of James Joyce, Edna O’Brien has written an intimate biography that suits her fiery and charismatic subject. She follows Byron from the dissipations of Regency London to the wilds of Albania and the Socratic pleasures of Greece and Turkey, culminating in his meteoric rise to fame at the age of twenty-four on the publication of Childe Harold. With her prismatic eye and novelistic style, O’Brien eerily captures the spirit of the man and creates an indelible portrait of Byron that explodes the Romantic myth. From his escapades with John Edleston, the fourteen-year-old Cambridge choir boy, to those with a galaxy of women that included his half-sister, his wife of one year, and the Italian countess who forsook her satyr-like husband for “the peer of England and its greatest poet,” Byron scandalized the world and inspires “Byronmania” to this day. Byron, as brilliantly rendered by O’Brien, is the poet as rebel, imaginative and lawless, and defiantly immortal."

This was an interesting and brief biography. I grabbed it because I have a huge interest in this part of time: authors and the very important people in general are awesome.

I found that I don't like Byron the man at all. He was cowardly, abusive, incestuous, uncaring and unfeeling. He only realized what he should have done with a lot of the people in his life after they died, which makes it look like he really didn't care anyway.

The writer, Edna O'Brien, was kind of annoyingly snobbish with her unexplained French and Italian statements and the way she wrote wasn't very enjoyable. She kept changing tense which was informative at first and then became confusing because I couldn't remember what year it was supposed to be that he was in Italy then Greece. I would've liked more information, but I knew from just looking at the size of the book that there wouldn't be much. She doesn't list any sources at all, which annoys me to no end. Maybe she should just stick with writing fiction.

Ms. O'Brien obviously loved and admired Byron, but after reading this I cannot completely understand why. The only things from him that were any good, were his poetry, which I haven't read so I can't judge it, and his daughter Ada Lovelace (what a beautiful name), one of the first computer programmers I have ever heard of. In fact, "the computer language Ada, created on behalf of the United States Department of Defense, was named after Ada Lovelace. The reference manual for the language was approved on 10 December 1980, and the Department of Defense Military Standard for the language, "MIL-STD-1815", was given the number of the year of her birth. Since 1998, the British Computer Society has awarded a medal in her name[68] and in 2008 initiated an annual competition for women students of computer science." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Love...)

Interesting man, but if I ever read about him again, I'm going to get a better researched and more informed book about him.

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