agents of innocence

Next up in the World Book Tour: Agents of Innocence by David Ignatius.

While the setting (Beirut, 1969-83) is not in the path of the book tour's westerly migration, it was sitting on the coffee table, so figured I'd give it a go. I was hoping for 3 parts Looming Tower, 2 parts Ludlum, given the author's experience in the Middle East, but it more like 4 parts Diet Coke, one part Jim Beam. Flat, no kick. (My favorite: "He was picking the soft doughy bread out of the middle of a hard roll. It was one of the Director's eccentricities, the taste for soft bread from inside hard rolls." Huh?)

The premise is an Arabic speaking, idealistic young CIA man comes to Beirut as the city descends into a cycle of violence and civil war. It is the end of the 'Paris of the Middle East,' and the beginning of car bombing, Fatah, and the age of extremists. Along the way, we meet some paper thin characters, stereotypes, and cute aphorisms.

The author's final opinion is delivered by Fuad, a burned out Palestinian who has been happily working for the CIA: America's innocent idealism is disarming and contagious, but without the self-preserving weapons built up in the societal DNA in the Middle East, everybody gets dead.

Today, twenty years after this book was written, I don't think anyone in the world could sincerely posit that U.S. foreign policy is based on ideals. The book gave me a wave of nostalgia, not for Ignatius' Beirut, but for a U.S. that could be perceived as a well-intentioned actor on the world stage.

magnum p.i.

Watched the Magnum p.i. pilot tonight, thanks to the wonder of netflix. On one hand, media has made incredible advances--we can now order delivered to our door just about any movie or tv show. On the other hand, we can use this technology to watch magnum p.i. whenever. In french, if necessary. Or to put it another way--on one hand, I am psyched that I could finally witness the genesis of a classic TV series which I was too young to see, and understand the establishment of the characters and some of the back story in a nerdy, trivial pursuit 80s edition kinda way, on the other hand, I feel like I just ate a whole cheesecake.

FYI, in 1980, a Ferrari 308 GTS cost $60,000 and you could not only carry a loaded .45 in the airport, you could shoot someone there without much fuss. If there is additional valuable information in next episode, I'll be sure to let you know.

True story--I learned french by watching Hawaii 5-0.

teika

For those of you who know ann-marie and aldis, they have a new addition: Teika, which means legend or myth in Latvian (I'm told).  Pronounced like "I'd love to TAKE A nap, but I'm the father of a newborn.' 

IHoP next?

The Denny's in Ballard just got historic preservation status last week. It's tough to venerate Googie architecture because it is inherently weird to attribute the same level of value to something meant to be enjoyed at 40 mph in a car. Like the SR-99 Viaduct.

Meanwhile in our neck of the woods, the Shoremont Apartment building down on Alki is about to be torn down in favor of a series of glass and brick mod townhouses. Old isn't historic and new isn't necessarily better.

For centuries, the Ise Shrine in Japan has been torn down and rebuilt exactly, every twenty years. Maybe that's the gold standard--if we cared enough to rebuild a structure, it is a cultural treasure.

Although, since there are plans to rebuild the Viaduct exactly the same.....

swashbuckling bunnies and paella

We traveled to some friends for Easter dinner and an afternoon entertaining their 3 year old, Lilja. She dresses entirely in pink, prefers pink food. Tutus are de rigeur. Regardless of what I tell her, she knows that bunny rabbits do not typically carry cutlasses or wear helmets.

So she has most of the world figured out already (big props to her parents!).

papillon

Papillon. That was the missing book in the list for 2008.

Funny, because we just rented the movie with Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen. McQueen was great-- a lot of squinting, bug eating, vacant staring, shuffling. Hoffman's character Dega was a film creation and didn't feature as largely in the book, which struck me as a combination of actor hubris and the Hollywood's debased impulse to reduce narrative complexity to create a buddy picture. At least, they didn't cut the trip to the leper colony.

Far fetched as Charriere's description of the events of his life in captivity, especially how everyone naturally wanted to help a murderer escape, the relationship between Papillon and Dega was more of a reach. But if you were in a brutal prison for fourteen years, you might have a soft spot for a fellow survivor.

Speaking of brutal prisons, survivors and vacant staring, I got a notice of my upcoming 20 year high school reunion today.

first weekend of spring

Did you celebrate?

I did. I celebrated by doing next to nothing. I got up early and watched Newcastle v. Fulham (2/0), and Everton v West Ham (1/1). We were blessed with the first sunny, dry weekend day today, here in Seattle, so I took the opportunity to mow the lawn. It was embarrassing, especially since our neighbor prides herself on her putting green next door. Then a fabulous, cool nap. Geez, I sound like I'm sixty. But I'm always suspicious of people who are go, go, go every weekend.

Otherwise, I set up the Weber for the first BBQ of the year, and maybe we'll have a fire later. As I put on the steaks, a burst of sizzle, and Spring is here.

world tour

This year's reading goal is 25 books. Last year was around 20, but with a more measured approach, this year I'm on pace. Ms. 8 has suggested a theme based on the books I have already read: WORLD TOUR.

I'll post a map with pins for each book when I have a chance, but so far, I am moving westerly across space and time.

I started the new year with Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, The Summons (Grisham), The Caine Mutiny (Wouk), the Naked and the Dead (Mailer) and there's one more slipping my mind (hence the raison d'etre of this blog). Now that I've traveled to the South Pacific, I'm stranded, looking for the next book, based in SE Asia. That part of the world I know very little about--history, literature, personalities. Time for a real trip, at least to the book store.

Suggestions are welcome!