Monthly Archives: June 2021

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Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine – A Book Review

Though Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine is one of the wackiest books that I’ve ever read, it has burrowed into my heart and will stay there for quite some time.

It won’t reside in my heart because it’s sentimental to me or because it imparted upon me some important life lesson. No, it’s special to me because it is so bold, so outlandish, so concise, and so awkwardly funny.

The story revolves around an unnamed and incredibly unreliable narrator who is in her early twenties. She’s decided to use the classic novel Treasure Island as her “how-to” guide in life. However, the book doesn’t really delve into Treasure Island as much as you might think.

Rather, we witness our narrator steamroll her way through life while mistreating her sister, mother, father, boyfriend, boss, friend, and former friend. She would fit right in among the characters of Seinfeld, but she would be the one without even a hint of self-awareness or morality.

As the book progresses, Sara Levine, the author, keeps upping the stakes in terms of ridiculousness. At times, Treasure Island!!! is laugh out loud funny, yet it never crosses over into the impossible. Absurd? Definitely. Unlikely? Maybe. Possible in real life? Yes!

Part of what makes Treasure Island!!! so charming is its brevity. This a short book–a novella. Truthfully, I don’t think I could spend more than 172 pages with this narrator; she would overstay her welcome. However, because it’s such a quick read, the narrator manages to worm her way into your heart before you can become totally disgusted by her antics.

I applaud Sara Levine for creating such a character. Despite all of her unlikable traits, the narrator is quite charismatic, and though the story is borderline ludicrous, it manages the balancing act well enough to be an enticing read.

As you can plainly see, I recommend Treasure Island!!! as your next read.

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Luca – A Movie Review

Quite honestly, when I sat down with my daughters to watch this movie, I had virtually no idea what it was about. We wanted to do a movie night, we all generally like Disney Pixar films, Luca was pretty new, and so we decided to go for it.

The animation immediately caught my attention–it is beautiful. This, of course, is in large part due to the scenery. Most of this movie takes place in brightly lit underwater locales, on a lush island, or in a quaint little town I assumed to be somewhere in Italy. Every scale, every pebble on the beach, every thread of clothing, every wave–it’s all exquisite.

I also loved the timelessness of the film. Other than the Vespa and a train, there is no real indication of a specific time period. I believe the Vespa arrived in 1949, if Google is to be trusted, and so that gives Luca a very wide range, which, to me, was very much part of its charm.

However, I have to admit that the story took a while to really catch my interest. Once the primary theme became evident, though, I found myself captivated. I won’t spoil the specific plot, but the movie ends up examining childhood friendships that take place in those early teen years. Those are the years when one is still a bit of a child, but also a bit of an adult, and friendships can be very complex as a result. I adored the complicated friendship between the three main characters, the loyalty they had to one another, and the difficulties each experienced as they had to ultimately walk their own path.

Of course, I’ve just made Luca sound far heavier than it actually is. Disney Pixar is notorious for inducing tears, but, in the case of Luca, if one does cry, it will be due to joy. To me, this is a feel-good movie celebrating everything that is good about friendship.

By the way, there’s some great voices in this film. Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan were inspired casting as Luca’s parents. The kids–Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Emma Berman–delivered the emotional and comedic beats quite well. Oh, and I challenge you to pinpoint Sacha Baron Cohen as you watch Luca. I couldn’t believe it when I saw his name in the credits!

I definitely recommend Luca as a fun, wholesome, funny movie for the whole family to enjoy.

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Range by David Epstein – A Book Review

While discussing our range of interests with friends, one of them recommended a book with that very name — Range by David Epstein. You may remember this author from his other, very popular book entitled The Sports Gene.

Subtitled Why Generalists Triumph In a Specialized World, Range offers many examples as to why it’s totally okay to find your path later in life and that specializing too early may actually prove to be an ultimate detriment. Epstein provides case after case of athletes, musicians, artists, scientists, and even inventors who benefitted from flitting from one interest to the next and how synthesizing all of those experiences proved a great advantage to them.

Epstein also discusses that when we become too specialized, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. A tight focus adhering to policy and routine can actually sometimes blind specialists to both potential problems and obvious solutions. Of course, Epstein celebrates those who are both specialists and generalists, but that’s not an easy feat for most people to accomplish due to time constraints.

As a parent, Range offered me quite a bit of solace. Epstein advocated for choice and play, especially among young people. He claims that driving children into a specialization, such as golf, can sometimes create the next Tiger Woods, but evidence suggest it is unlikely. For many different reasons, those kids become very good, but usually not exceptional.

I enjoyed some aspects of Range more than others. Like with similar books, the examples can sometimes feel overdone to me. However, I learned a lot from this book and I’m very glad that I read it. If you are interested in psychology, achievement, or specialization, I highly recommend you give it a look.

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The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of the Wild – A Few Thoughts

You may remember that I recently got back into video games. I started with The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. I then moved on to Super Mario Odyssey. After beating both of those games, I decided it was time to take on the one game that seems to be everyone’s favorite on the Switch – Breath Of the Wild.

I’ll admit that I was initially intimidated to play this game. I don’t have a ton of patience when it comes to video games, and I’d heard that Breath Of the Wild takes hours upon hours upon hours to learn, much less beat!

What I didn’t realize was that all that time spent learning the game would actually be an amazing experience. Breath Of the Wild teaches you how to play it incrementally and subtly to such a degree that you don’t even realize it is happening. You’ll go from having no idea what to do next to suddenly having an instinct for each new move you should make.

Be aware that the game is epic. You are freely roaming a landmass that – I’ve read – is equal to about 26 miles. However, as you’re walking through prairielands or following a forest trail or climbing a mountain, you’ll marvel at the sheer beauty of the graphics, the intricacy of the details, and the ease of gameplay.

Furthermore, this is not a button-masher game. You will learn strategy, and you’ll use that strategy. You have to find and cook food to restore health. You have to both buy and sell goods in order to replace supplies. You’ll even have to collect every weapon you can find because almost every single weapon you have will eventually break with prolonged use. I even bought and furnished a house in the game!

If you think you’re an impatient gamer, like I thought I was, do not be alarmed. Though that all may sound tedious, it’s absolutely quite fun.

Believe it or not, I actually beat the game. Of course, if you personally know me it will come as no surprise that I did so by total accident. I was simply exploring the area where the final challenge resided and suddenly found myself face to face with the supreme villain. I opted to just go for it, and, to my own surprise, managed to defeat him.

If you have a Nintendo Switch, I wholeheartedly recommend The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of the Wild. You will spend weeks – if not months – playing it, and you will love every minute.

P.S. I absolutely used the Internet to figure out some aspects of the game. The teenagers in my life told me there’s no shame in doing so. If you’re a causal gamer returning to the fold like me, use those tools the Internet provides.

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Mare Of Easttown – A Few Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoy listening to Chris and Andy from The Watch, and they immediately lauded Mare Of Easttown as soon as they could–before it even debuted, if I’m not mistaken. Because they were so excited for it, my wife and I made sure to catch it as soon as the first episode aired.

We were instantly hooked.

I promise not to spoil anything when I say that Mare Of Easttown is about a small town detective who is personally battling difficulties even as tragic events continue to unfold around her. There are two major mysteries to be solved in this series, which may or may not be connected, yet the show is more about Mare and her fellow Easttowners than anything. These are people who have grown up together, laughed together, cried together, lived together, and died together. The story drives relentlessly forward with the mystery plots, but it also gracefully takes the time to reveal nuggets of history among all of these characters. Yes, the show does indeed reveal the solution to both mysteries, but, perhaps more importantly, it offers a resolution for Mare and her fellow cast of characters.

Speaking of characters, everyone is superb on this show. Kate Winslet plays Mare as tough, plain, damaged, and charmingly unlikable. However, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, and Evan Peters also deliver expert performances. In fact, everyone–and I do mean EVERYONE–truly makes every piece of dialogue count. This is a show performed by talented professionals.

I won’t lie–Mare Of Easttown is sometimes hard to watch due to violence and gore, yet it never crosses the line. It never veers into the gratuitous, nor does it become blatantly distasteful. It is a show for grownups, though, so be advised.

Mare Of Easttown initially flirted with the Broadchurch method of making everyone seem like they could be guilty from episode to episode, but they relaxed that tendency as the show progressed. In fact, many viewers were probably surprised by how quickly things started wrapping up by episode five (of seven).

If you’re looking for a satisfying show that has real heart as well as an interesting story, I strongly recommend Mare Of Easttown on HBO. In fact, you can watch the first episode for free HERE.

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The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell

I didn’t know exactly what to expect from The Bomber Mafia. The title is a little misleading if you’re not an air warfare aficionado. However, I generally enjoy everything Malcolm Gladwell writes, so I thought it was worth trying out.

The Bomber Mafia proved a quick, informative, engaging read that not only entertained me, but also taught me quite a bit about precision bombing, napalm, aerial combat strategy, the end of WWII, and the history of bombers. I won’t spoil much, but The Bomber Mafia claims to delve into those men who wanted to make precision bombing the norm–to eradicate random bombing–in order to quicken wars and to spare innocent lives. Ironically enough, they were known as The Bomber Mafia.

Of course, the title is a bit misleading. The majority of the book focuses on the US deciding to use firebombs in Japan rather than precision bombing, and it dives deeply into those men who made that pivotal decision.

As a result, The Bomber Mafia feels a little erratic at times, perhaps even disjoined. Nonetheless, the book does not suffer as a result. Gladwell is such a fine, fluid writer and the substance of the book is so fascinating that all of the detours and side trips end up working well enough together to create a vastly captivating read.