(originally posted August 24, 2016)
The Armchair Squid turns seven years old today. It's time to hand out some hardware. And the Squiddy goes to...
Biggest Surprise: Calvin Trillin in Sleepless in Seattle
Calvin Trillin has been a star of my blog this year.
I featured his books three months in a row for the Cephalopod
Coffeehouse. Trillin writes about all kinds of things including a
recent book about the civil rights movement. He came to my attention
because of his food writing - absolutely delightful. The surprise came
when I saw him sitting at the dinner table in
Sleepless in Seattle! Apparently, he is friends with the film's director, Nora Ephron.
It
made for a funny family moment. My wife explained to our daughter,
"You know those books Daddy's been reading and giggling over? That's
the guy who wrote them."
Biggest Disappointment: Droid Episodes
I love R2-D2 and C-3PO.
Star Wars wouldn't be the same without them. They are an important link to
Hidden Fortress,
one of the most important films in the original's cinematic heritage.
They provide comic relief and they frequently drive the plot. Artoo has
been called a McGuffin but I don't think he quite qualifies as he
serves a clear, demonstrable purpose.
But
Clone Wars
stories involving the droids as central characters tend to be darn near
unwatchable. Marvel had a comic book series starring the droids back
in the day and those were also awful - not as bad as the
Ewoks
series but still embarrassing. Clear lesson: the droids are great for
the small work but let the organic beings bear the narrative heft.
Best Read, First-Time Category: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
I read a lot, or at least I aim to do so. However, I
rarely read anything that I immediately start recommending to everyone I
know. Such was the case for
Being Mortal, Dr. Gawande's
exploration of the choices we must make for ourselves and our loved ones
as we age and die. It's heavy reading to be sure but I appreciate the
book's frankness and compassion. So yes, you need to read it and get
all of your loved ones to read it, too.
Best Read, Re-Read Category: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
I first read
Julius Caesar in high school - 27
years ago, I believe. It was nice to read it again as an adult,
knowing more about life, politics and so forth.
Julius Caesar is
an unusual and clever story for the fact that it's never fully clear
who the good guy is. Plus the title character dies a lot earlier than
he usually does in a Shakespearean tragedy!
Best Comics Find: Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Don't
go thinking I don't remember book suggestions. I picked this one up
after my blogger pal Suze recommended it to me. I've read a lot of
graphic novels about history, including several about World War II in
general and the A-bomb in particular.
Trinity earns big points
for the clear explanation of the science of atomic energy, demonstrating
the effectiveness of the sequential art medium. I also admire the
book's attention to the reactions of the scientists once they learned
the full scope of their project and realized the unforeseen consequences
of using nuclear weapons.
Athlete of the Year: Seabiscuit
For the second year in a row, I choose a deceased
athlete from the 1930s. Seabiscuit was also a horse - an unconventional
choice, I'll admit. While
Sports Illustrated balked at choosing American Pharoah over Serena Williams - they were
very
wise to make that choice, by the way, and I'm ready to defend it
anytime - my equine star had few rivals on the blog this year. Harry
Potter was tempting, though he's only a fictional character and my post
about him didn't address his quidditch prowess.
Seabiscuit
(1933-47) was one of the great celebrities of the 1930s. More
recently, he has been the subject of a highly successful book and
movie. I read the former last September. Seabiscuit was a late
bloomer. I always have great sympathy for those. Author Laura
Hillenbrand did a wonderful job conveying the personality of the beast,
as well as those of his human attendants.
Best Family Adventure: Nova Scotia
I have come to realize an undeniable truth of my
adult life: I love Canada. I love its quiet, its friendliness, its
multilingualism, its beautiful, seemingly endless landscape, all of it.
This summer's big trip was Nova Scotia, the most populous maritime
province. We stayed in the Annapolis Royal area, not far from Digby, a
stretch of coast famous for its scallops and for historical
preservation. They have lobster club sandwiches there. What more does
one need? I truly did not want to go home from this trip.
