CLASS OF '88 (MADISON) HIGH SCHOOL REUNION!!!

Then....

Now....

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

Coffee House Chit Chat...

What am I Reading?

I am currently reading two books simultaneously (alternating chapters nightly): The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and Dogs of Humana (a compilation of dog stories by various Humana employees).

After listening to Gretchen’s podcast, “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” for the last several years and having her book, The Happiness Project sitting on my shelf for at least that long too, I thought it was finally time to bring it down and dust if off. So far I am enjoying it and have been highlighting various anecdotes and advice here and there. Each chapter is a month relating Gretchen’s experiences when she first started her happiness project.

I came across a short article about Dogs of Humana on Humana’s internal website back in February when I first started. Since the book was rather inexpensive ($4 for the Kindle version), and I’m a dog lover, I bought it but hadn’t started reading it until now. Although the book could do with some more editing (for grammar and stupidity in my former coworker’s words), the sentiment is there and it’s nice that so many employees were willing to share a slice of their personal life with the public at large.

What am I Listening to?

I still listen to Gretchen’s podcast, “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” as well as her sister, Liz’ podcast called, “Happier in Hollywood.” This is how I learn the terminology and inner workings of the TV industry from Liz, a writer and producer working in Hollywood (currently on the Disney lot in the office rumored to formerly belong to the big cheese himself, Walt).

I’ve also dipped in and out of “GrownUpLand” and “Desert Island Discs,” both BBC Radio 4 podcasts.

What am I Watching? (all on Netflix)

I’m still watching “Orange is the New Black” (season 3 now I think), “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” (with Jerry Seinfeld and a different guest every episode), “The Great British Bake-off” (almost the semi-finals!), “Somebody Feed Phil” (season 2 I think), “Extraordinary Homes” (hosted by Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin, both of the BBC),* and “Amazing Interiors.” Of course not all in one sitting (rather, on rotation). I also still enjoy “The Gilmore Girls,” but have been taking a hiatus from it since the Fourth of July (more down to lack of time than anything else). 

*https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/93464121/new-zealand-properties-star-in-british-tv-series-about-extraordinary-homes

Movie Review: "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society"

Last night my husband and I were perusing the movie selection on Netflix and came across this movie which I hadn’t realized was made for Netflix (so not sure if it will also be at the theaters or not, but it was playing in Switzerland as of early August).

Having just finished reading the book for the second time, I was more than ready to stream the film and eager to see how closely the book and movie would resemble each other.

For those who aren’t familiar with the plot, the story starts just after WWII in London where a young, successful journalist and author receives a mysterious letter from someone who was in possession of a book she once owned (hence, her name and address were inscribed on the inside cover). This leads to an ongoing exchange of letters – the mysterious stranger being a resident of the island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands and part of the British Commonwealth which was occupied by the Nazis during the war. Eventually Juliet (the journalist and author) becomes so curious about the island and its residents that she decides to visit the island.

This is where the book and the movie part ways because the next hour and a half changes a few details here and there to craft a more tidy Hollywood-style plot: (Engaged) Girl meets Boy (Pig Farmer); Girl eventually falls in love with Boy (Pig Farmer); Girl dumps fiancée and proposes to Boy (Pig Farmer). That’s about it in a nutshell. Oh yeah – there’s also a subplot about one of the residents of the island who was much respected and revered by all who died a martyr in a German concentration camp after being sent there for helping one of the escaped slaves (Todts) on the island.

Sorry for spoiling the plot, but you’d be better off reading the book since that is far more interesting than the movie. The movie, as such, is a good film, but I found the adaptation completely changed the point of view of the book, and was condensed in such a way as to hurry up and tell the story in two hours, when really a mini-series would have been more appropriate.

“Downton Abbey” fans will probably enjoy the film since the cast is like a Who’s Who of the Crawley households. Lily James (cousin Rose) plays Juliet; Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley) plays Amelia; Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot) plays Juliet’s publisher, Sidney, and Jessica Brown Findlay (Sybil Crawley) played Elizabeth. Although I don’t think any of the actors did a bad job, I don’t think I would have cast many of the above in the roles they played, with the possible exception of Matthew Goode. He played a perfectly acceptable Sydney, and I suppose Jessica Brown Findlay was decent as Elizabeth.

Here’s an excerpt from what Slate.com had to say about the film:

“Guernsey’s screenplay quickly abandons the book’s letter-writing premise for the sake of getting Juliet to the island as soon as possible and trims down the society to just a few members. The result is a less-complete picture of Guernsey under occupation and more of a mystery, with the missing Elizabeth’s fate at the center of it. The love triangle is brought to the forefront, too. In fact, the most interesting deviation from the source material involves Mark, who in the novel is little more than a Big American Obstacle to Juliet and Dawsey’s inevitable romance. Here, he’s wisely given a larger role and shaped into a far more sympathetic character, one who actually aids Juliet on her mission and whose worst crime is giving Juliet an engagement ring so enormous she’s embarrassed to be seen wearing it. 

That’s not to say that Guernsey, a movie in which the bad guys are Nazis and the good guys talk very solemnly about the sanctity of literature, holds any mind-blowing revelations in store. Though Mark is the most compelling vertex on the love triangle, he’s still the James Marsden to Dawsey’s Ryan Gosling, and it’s never really in doubt which of them Juliet will end up with. Still, there’s something reassuring about a movie as conventional as Guernsey. Unlike the meager potato peel pie of its title, which is cobbled together from the only rations available to the islanders, the movie is comfort food through and through, as wholesome and predictable as a Sunday roast and as sickly sweet as sticky toffee pudding.”

So there you have it- read the book and/or stream the film. Take your pick. You know what my recommendation is.