Buffoons, Drunkards, Germans, Dwarfs and Similar Vulgarities

A Reader's Respite knows well enough that the vast majority of readers out there would most certainly not be interested in the book we are currently reading, The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy.  Heck, the dry presentation of material from historian Peter Burke has been enough to put us to sleep on several occasions and into a coma at least once (it only lasted for three days...we woke up).

That said, we are determined to slog through this academic snooze-fest and dig out the few gems buried within.  We'll save you the trouble of reading this one yourselves and just give you the gem here....

Consider, if you will, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Last Supper.

There is, however, another painting originally titled The Last Supper, this one by artist Veronese, a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci.

When an Index of Prohibited Images was considered in Renassiance Italy in response to the somewhat shocking realism now popular in artwork, Veronese was promptly summoned before the Inquisition of Venice to explain exactly why his interpretation of the Last Supper included "buffoons, drunkards, Germans, dwarfs and similar vulgarities."

Indeed.

Truth be told, A Reader's Respite is inclined to prefer the version that includes buffoons, drunkards, Germans, dwarfs and similar vulgarities.  That is, after all, how we like our books.

Review: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Jacqueline Kelly's debut young adult novel, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, accomplished a remarkable feat...it became a Newberry Honor Book in 2010, the year following its release.  Not bad for a first novel, right?  We probably shouldn't be surprised.  Jacqueline Kelly is the poster-child for overachievement.  Not only did she attend medical school and work in that field for many years, she then decided to try her hand at law and attended law school, as well.  After working as a lawyer for some time, she decided that writing novels would be an interesting change and (of course) her debut wins a Newberry.

It's tempting to hate her, isn't it?

But after reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, A Reader's Respite simply can't hate her.  The book is too well-written.  Set in a small Texas town in 1899, Calpurnia Tate is our eleven year old protagonist who, as the only daughter amidst six brothers in her well-to-do family, struggles daily to find a sense of self in her world.

It's only natural with six brothers that Calpurnia would, much to her hassled mother's dismay, grow up with tomboy tendencies.  But now that her teen years are quickly approaching, Calpurnia's mother has decided the time has  arrived to turn her daughter into a proper, turn-of-the-century young woman.  This, you can imagine, wreaks havoc with our young heroine's plans to become a celebrated naturalist in honor of her personal hero,  Mr. Charles Darwin.

Callie's only real ally is her reclusive Grandfather, a man everyone else in the family goes to great lengths to avoid, but a man who has taken a shine to his only granddaughter, recognizing and encouraging her curiosity in the world around her.  Callie is full of amusing observations and opinions about life as a young girl in rural Texas.  Thankfully, the author has taken care to ensure that Callie, as an eleven year old, remains true to an eleven year old.  No adult voice coming from a child here.  Thank goodness.

It should be noted that the similarities to Alan Bradley's heroine Flavia de Luce are startling.  Both are eleven years old.  Both have a charming interest in science (Flavia is obsessed with chemistry, Calpurnia a naturalist).  Both are largely misunderstood by their families who largely ignore them.  Both books were published within a year of each other and both of authors have Canadian roots, which just goes to show how much talent comes from north of the border.

Unlike Bradley's books, Calpurnia isn't part of a series.  It's a charming, solo novel that is aimed towards young adults, but like most really good novels of the genre, provide much more enjoyment for the not-so-young-adult audience.  At 350 pages and too-large margins, this is a quick read and the perfect book to pick up from the library on a winter day.  (That's where we picked up our copy!)

Our Public Service Announcement

My fellow Americans:

Downton Abby.  Season 2.  Sunday.  PBS Masterpiece Theater.

You're welcome.

Never thought we'd say this but.....

...but A Reader's Respite really needs to watch a story on a screen every once in a while.  We haven't watched television since the first season of Downton Abby ended.  We've seen one movie in the past year (J. Edgar....meh....and really, who didn't know that J. Edgar liked girl clothes?).  One would think that there was nothing worth while to be seen on a screen...and we know that's just not true.

In our quest to read the existing books on our shelves in 2012, we're also determined to actually watch some of the screen adaptations of the books we'll be reading.  First, we'll have to play a little catch-up, though.  Last year, we started re-reading the entire Harry Potter series with the intent of watching the movie following each book.  You wouldn't think that would prove a difficult task, given that we own each of the Harry Potter movies in DVD.  Yet there they all sit...still in their shrink-wrap on their pathetic, little DVD shelf.  A Reader's Respite really needs to get on the ball with this if we ever want to see the two finale movies.  At the rate we're going, we'll be so old we'll have to use the handy close-captioning features of the DVDs.

Another movie/book combo?  Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons.  We have the book on our shelf and the movie on our DVR.  The movie didn't get the best reviews, but it's a fun incentive to read the book, something we've been meaning to do for years.

Since we bravely signed up for the Game of Thrones reading challenge, we want to follow it up and watch the HBO Series.  After all, we should do something to justify the HBO subscription that we've had for two years and never once watched.  Never. Once.

War Horse is an obvious choice.  We just really, really want to see this movie.  A Reader's Respite just finished reading the book and, believe it or not, it wasn't all that great.  But this is one of those books that is going to make a fabulous movie. 

Another World War I book and movie combo we're going to tackle is Sebastian Japrisot's A Very Long Engagement.  We bought this book a few years ago and....wait for it....here it comes....never got around to reading it (surprise!).  The story of a wheelchair-bound young woman searching for her fiance who was left to die on the battlefield, the movie almost looks more compelling than the book.

And we'd be remiss if we left out the upcoming (May 2012) airing of the BBC's production of Great Expectations.  Before you even ask, NO, A Reader's Respite has not ever read this classic by Charles Dickens (*hanging head in shame*).  May is really right around the corner, though, so we're thinking about watching the movie first, then tackling the book.  Is that breaking a cardinal rule of the Bibliophile's Honor Handbook?

Any other book/movie combos that we really shouldn't miss?  Let us know!