Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509080144
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: G-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Jeanette Winterson. Knopf. $22.
The ability to face our own pain and identify with the suffering of others provides hope, symbolized by metaphors of light illuminating every chapter of this dark futuristic novel. As the characters flee their personal hells by train, "From a distance only the light is visible, a speeding gleaming horizontal angel, trumpet out on a hard bend. The note bells. The note bells the beauty of the stretching train that pulls the light in a long gold thread." The life of Handel, a physician who cannot heal himself, intertwines with Picasso, an artist who paints to heal herself; Sappho, the Greek poet who wrote in 600 B.C.; and Doll, a prostitute who satirizes sexual mores.
Like Winterson's four earlier award-winning British fictions, this poetic prose was not written for everyone, but for those fascinated by language and art.
- ELAINE LONG SCOTT
Home Front America: Popular Culture of the World War II Era.
By Robert Heide and John Gilman. Chronicle Books. $17.95 (trade paper).
Delivering what it promises in its subtitle, "Home Front America" portrays the happenings in our country during World War II with accuracy and eclat. In addition, it gives a mini-view of the war itself and the concerns of the millions of men and women in uniform by 1945. The text clearly depicts both the quotidian details and the major events of the time, and illustrations complement the narrative, creating a you-are-there sense of immediacy.
Robert Heide, who grew up in a small town in New Jersey, "idealistic to the extreme," saw himself and his friends as good guys helping the war effort by saving paper and fat, eating canned goods, and supporting President Franklin Roosevelt in the push for victory. Born in Hawaii in 1941, John Gilman has had to rely on other family members for details of the time. His father was an adventurous journalist, some of whose articles are quoted; therefore, his recollections too send out sparks about the stresses and pressures involved in just living through that era.
Photographs of both families combine with pictures of the flags flown in the homes of servicemen, posters, lists of popular films and songs, advertisements, pin-up girls, book jackets, and more to jog the memory of anyone old enough to remember or to intrigue budding historians.
Not since World War II has any catastrophe united us into one cohesive group in which our differences disappeared and our common interest dominated. To read, to look, and to recall or to learn about what was accomplished by joint effort proves exhilarating. What does not appear in this slick, sleek 130-page book is the horror of war, its dreadful toll of loss and suffering. That, however, is not its intent, which the authors clearly state as delineating the popular culture of the early 1940s. Their aim proves enough to make this a must-buy-must-give-must-keep memento of 50 years ago.
- LYNN ECKMAN
Wedding Night.
By Gary Devon. Simon and Schuster. $21.
This serviceable little thriller reads like it was written as a screenplay. The action is quick and visual; the characters are attractive, wealthy and mostly young; the plotting seems more complex than it really is. Hot young film actress Callie McKenna marries Malcolm Rhodes after a brief courtship. When Malcolm's father learns about the upcoming wedding, he dashes out to Calfornia to stop it. There's a nasty secret in the family's past - something involving a murder - and author Devon lets the details of it trickle out slowly. It's obvious early on, though, that either Malcolm or his father is not what he seems. But, which one is lying? What follows is a curiously paced chase that moves from a ritzy Southern California beach resort to San Francisco and points north.
Devon uses several Hitchcockian tricks to build suspense. Given the conventions of the genre, he plays fair with the reader. He tosses in the requisite amounts of violence and sex, and his prose is well suited to the streamlined plot. In short, there's nothing really wrong with "Wedding Night," but it's not nearly as intense and engrossing as Devon's superb 1990 novel, "Bad Desire."
- MIKE MAYO, Book page editor
Elaine Long Scott teaches at New River Community College.
Lynn Eckman retired recently from teaching at Roanoke College.
by CNB