Q3-Q4 2015 Book List Update

See earlier posts for more books recommended by members of my book club and other friends. Click on the name of a book for a summary and/or comments.

The 2015 National Book Award Nominations: http://www.nationalbook.org/index.html

Trompe l'Oeil, Nancy Reisman
Vanessa and Her Sister, Priya Parmar
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
The Children Act, Ian McEwan
The Round House, Louise Erdrich
Reconstruction Updated Edition: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, Eric Foner
Crossing To Safety, Wallace Stegner
The Whites, Harry Brandt
Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert

Paris day 5: the Orangerie

Wednesday the 8th

After some rain last night, today was much cooler than it has been. We headed back down toward the Seine for our destination du jour, the Musée de l'Orangerie. The building was designed by Monet, expressly for the display of his gigantic Waterlily canvases (actually multiple canvases stitched together). Everyone knows that Impressionist paintings look very different from close up vs. far away, and that difference is even more dramatic with these huge works. Here's one of the few recognizable objects from close up -- duh, a water lily:

And here's one of the full canvases (Sunset) from about 15 feet away:

There's even more to the Orangerie than the Waterlilies -- a whole floor below full of other related paintings. I couldn't resist snapping Utrillo's "Eglise de Saint-Pierre" because we recognized it as the church on Montmartre where St. Denis stands holding his head, posted on Day 1:

Even the trash can in this museum had design attention:

We finally left the Orangerie and walked up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. The city seems to be preparing for a patriotic celebration next week (July 14 or something . . . oh wait, I know), with viewing stands and blocked-off groundling space:

 and finally, the Arc:

We end this trip with one cheerful word. Thanks for reading!

Paris day 4: the Musée d'Orsay

Tuesday the 7th

Time for another major museum! Today's destination was the Musée d'Orsay, the fabulous former train station that now houses lots of late 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and sculpture:

Like the Tate Modern, the building alone is worth the visit:

Unlike another major Paris museum that we managed to navigate largely by trial and error, the Orsay is smaller and less labyrinthine (not to mention well-signed), and it was easy to find exhibits of interest. One group of rooms featured Art Nouveau, a long-time favorite of mine, and I was thrilled to find additions to my chair collection (illustrated in the British Museum post). Here are the whimsical:

The more stern Northern European:

and the knobby recliner:

Of course the paintings were fun too. Here's a view of Westminster that we didn't catch when we were in London:

We finally headed out, crossed the Seine, and ambled to the Grand Palais, home of (among other things) the Palace of Discovery, a science museum. With demonstrations and signage only in French, it wasn't very accessible to us, except for an interactive "Playing With Light" room that did googly things with cameras, projections, and sensors in the floor. But Dan was impressed nonetheless; the caption on this photo should be "Wow, you can see that those French kings really knew their science."

All in all, a very good day.

Paris day 3: the Promenade Plantée

Monday the 6th

We have seen photos of the High Line in New York (an unused railway line turned into a walking path) and I wanted to try something similar in Paris -- the Promenade Plantée. It runs about 2.5 miles, from the Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes on the east side of the city. The first part is above ground, and only as wide as train tracks need to be:

with a nice view from time to time of the urban landscape:

Later, the path is at ground level, obviously following the railway cut, including some tunnels.

Then toward the end, it's simply a pleasant shady path connecting small parks and playgrounds. We were disappointed by the ending, as we had expected the opportunity to celebrate our arrival in the Bois de Vincennes. No such luck; there was just scruffy grass, an old train track, and a locked gate. Maybe we missed a turn. 

But we returned to the streets, had lunch, and went into the Bois, where plenty of people were enjoying the summer day. It's a huge park with a few roads (more than Hampstead Heath, fewer than Golden Gate Park) and all kinds of recreation, including the zoo and a lake with boat rentals:

We had a long walk, mostly in the (blessed) shade, and eventually emerged at the Chateau de Vincennes, with its impressive keep:

and a serious moat with the requisite drawbridge

And, after a long Metro ride to the opposite side of the city, thus ended a hot day en plein air. 

Paris day 2: the Louvre and more

Sunday the 5th

Though nobody of sound mind expects to "do" the Louvre, we set out in that direction, along with half the population of the world. Our Paris Museum Passes saved us some time just getting into the vastness of the museum, and with map in hand we started looking for Greek, Roman, and/or Etruscan antiquities, having enjoyed such artifacts in other places.

Hum. OK, how about any antiquities, since we couldn't make a useful correspondence between the map and the floors and rooms where we seemed to be. It came as a frustrating surprise to us, reasonably good way-finders that we are (especially Dan), that we -- like other groups we saw -- often pointed in opposite directions, neither of us confident of the way. Fortunately, we did not take each other's heads off; this is not me and the head is not Dan's:

Also fortunately, we did find some antiquities. I always like the works that seem as though they could have been created yesterday

and those that feel playful about the natural world

We found plenty of interesting rooms and displays, but it was all serendipitous, like walking in a city with zero street signs, while trying to find what's indicated on the map. Other museums have been more enjoyable. 

So we walked.  Sainte-Chapelle was as beautiful as we remembered

and again our Paris Museum Passes saved us some waiting in line. (Once you shell out for the Pass, you also don't waste time wondering if you "really want to see this.")

I had bought tickets for one of those inexpensive concerts largely aimed at tourists, performed by young musicians from conservatories, presented typically in churches. So we crossed the river and went uphill to find the church of Saint Ephrem, then on to the Pantheon for the hour or so before the concert. The building is huge

and the underground crypt goes on forever. I was pleased to find the tomb of Louis Braille. 

Earlier in the day, we had seen evidence (the sign says "parking prohibited except for . .") that Paris supports electric vehicles:

On the way home from the concert, we saw a car charging itself . . . 

It's a Tesla taxi. In your face, Uber!

Paris day 1: Montmartre

Saturday the 4th

Though Friday's flight from Barcelona was OK, getting into Paris from the airport was somewhat unpleasant, made more so by the heat and crowded train and metro. We eventually made it to our HomeExchange host's apartment, then went to the nearby mega-mall to do some food shopping. What a circus -- at the far end of a big complex of stores and movie theater, a gigantic supermarket with humongo grocery carts that cost one euro to use, and many many people who drive their carts no better than shoppers in Costco. Whew. 

On Saturday we set out with only one goal: Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur. We considered using free tickets from our host to take the cute little train up the hill -- reminiscent of Little Toot -- but we don't seem to be able to resist climbing stairs, so we walked. It was hot and very crowded, but an iconic sight is just that. 

All the streets around the back of the church were full of souvenir shops and crowded cafés, and a small church nearby provided a respite. Here's St. Denis, who was beheaded by the Romans, but managed to walk all the way up Montmartre despite the handicap:

We decided to walk home, so came down the hill and had a late lunch. This view is typical of the area: crowded with people and vehicles, and lined with shops and cafés:

(Shortly after this, only pedestrians and very skinny motorbikes could move, as a garbage truck blocked the street for about ten minutes as guys tossed a mountain of empty produce boxes and cardboard into it.)

We passed the Montmartre cemetary, which looked very calm in comparison to the busy street:

Barcelona doesn't have a monopoly on interesting buildings:

Finally, it's only funny (if at all) because it's in French:

Barcelona day 4: Sagrada Familia, more buildings

Thursday the 2nd

This is our third visit to Barcelona, and thus our third walk to the Sagrada Familia. Construction continues, in hopes of completing the church by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death.

Here's a Christmas tree in July, decorated with doves:

[disrespect alert] And these spires made us wonder if they surmount the Chapel of the Casa de Fruta:

Walking around Barcelona is fun just for the serious frivolity of the buildings. These eyeballs are especially great at night:

Here's an idea if you're thinking of redesigning your roofline and turret:

And a way to brighten up that corner bay window:

Finally, for your modern arts center, a great way to show off your chicken wire:

Barcelona day 3: Ciutadella and aquarium

Wednesday the 1st

Strolling once again in the heat, we headed for the Parc de la Ciutadella. It was once the Citadel, built by the Spanish to keep the Catalonians subdued, but most of that was later torn down. The park reminded me of similar spots in Seville and Madrid, big walkable paths under huge trees, very insulated from the big-city bustle. There are at least two flower/plant conservatory buildings, one of which maintains its tropical ambience by means of wooden slats:

The zoo is in the Ciutadella too. Here's one of its residents out for a walk:

We were sorry that the Geology Museum is currently closed, and we headed toward the port, where there's an Imax theater (no thanks; hurts my neck) and an aquarium. Though it's not a serious rival for the Academy of Sciences, it does have an interesting long passage (with slow-moving walkway) ~under the sea, where many fish and the occasional shark swim by:

After watching the abundant sealife and many many people, we went back along the water and up the Ramblas. Some really beautiful sailboats are in the harbor, and there are a few sailor sculptures in the water, just out there by themselves, that make me smile:

Finally, an indication of the unusual heat in Barcelona on Tuesday night, though I realize that other cities have it much worse:

Barcelona day 2: concert hall and 9/11 (1714)

Tuesday the 30th

On a previous trip, we had become enchanted by the Palau de Música Catalana, and we had to go back this time just to see the building again. I'll show you just a few examples of the incredible decoration of the concert hall.  Here's the upper level and the stained glass skylight:

Here's a detail of the mosaics in the ceiling:

There's a new staircase at the side of the building, and as you walk down you see in the stairwell the names of donors . . . printed on long tubes like organ pipes. I thought that was a nice touch:

Later in the day we went to the neighborhood called El Born, which has had its ups and downs over the years. A huge building that was once a market hall was slated for demolition, but after big demonstrations by local activists in 1977(?), it was made into  a community center instead. In addition to meeting rooms and workshop space, there are exhibits of various interesting topics; we saw long lists of books that had been banned for one reason or another (mostly dumb) throughout Europe in the 20th century.

The most impressive aspect of the building is its floor, which is being excavated and examined for its record of the neighborhood in the 18th century, before it was all paved over for the construction of the market hall:

September 11 is an important date. Surely you remember the 18th century War of the Spanish Succession --  on 9/11/1714 the forces of King Philip V finally crushed Catalonia, ending its independence. Along the walkway above the excavated floor, there are summaries and illustrations of Barcelona around that time. We always like historical museums, even when the story is sad for the locals.