Ms. Hen reviews Death in Venice

Death in Venice

Thomas Mann

Dover Publications

1912, 1995

Translated from the German by Stanley Appelbaum

Ms. Hen decided to read this because one of her rooster friends recommended it since the situation of the epidemic is similar to the one we are living in today. The book is very short, though it is dense, but it pulls the reader in. Ms. Hen had no trouble getting into this novella, and she read it quickly.

This book is about an aging writer, Gustav Aschenbach, who lives in Germany, but vacations in Venice occasionally. He goes to Venice because his summer residence is not prepared yet, and he spends time at a hotel near the beach and the city. He sees a teenage boy in the hotel, and becomes obsessed with his beauty. The situation is homoerotic, but the character does not attempt to do anything about his fixation. He watches the boy on the beach, and in the hotel while he is having meals with his family. Aschenbach observes the boy interacting with other boys on the beach, and is fascinated by the way he carries himself in the world.

A cholera epidemic hits Venice, but it is not in the Italian press. The German papers have printed articles about it, so the Germans leave the city.  Aschenbach learns the truth from an English shopkeeper that the cholera is deadly and a lot of people will die. He tells Aschenbach that the breath goes out of the victim's bodies and they turn black and perish. The Italian government doesn’t want the people to know because they don’t want to scare anyone. Parts of the city are deserted as Aschenbach wanders through the streets, and he fears for his life, but he does not want to leave Venice, because he does not want to lose sight of the boy.

This novella reminded Ms. Hen of other books she has read. The obvious relative is LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, about a couple that does not get together until the end of their lives during a cholera outbreak in South America. The feeling of obsession portrayed in the book also reminded her of LOLITA and THE COLLECTOR by John Fowles. DEATH IN VENICE displays a different type of fixation than the two previous novels, since Aschenbach’s attentions are innocent, and he does not act upon them.

There is one mention of a chicken, or a reference to a chicken, which Ms. Hen admires. Aschenbach is talking to himself, thinking of the boy, “ ‘Dumbfounded,’ he thought, ‘as dumbfounded as a fighting cock who drops his wings in fear during the fight. Truly, it’s the god who, when we view something lovely, quenches our courage in this way and humbles our proud mind so drastically.’ “ Ms. Hen realizes that this is not really the mention of a chicken, but she believes the cock that is referred to is put there for aesthetic purposes and decoration is speech, which Ms. Hen is partial to, especially when chickens are involved.

Ms. Hen liked this little book. She breezed through it one day, and it was a good distraction from the troubles of the world, though it relates to our problems today. She enjoyed the neurotic crazy obsession in this book, a feeling that doesn’t make any sense, but exists anyway. Some things don’t make sense, but we need to create order out of the randomness and sit and breathe the air to make sure it’s still there.

Ms. Hen reviews Parable of the Talents

Parable of the Talents

Octavia E. Butler

Hachette Book Group

1998

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she read PARABLE OF THE SOWER recently, and loved it, and she wanted to read some sci-fi that she knew would be worth it. She craves sci-fi in times like these, but she doesn’t have a lot on hand, and the library is closed. She doesn’t want to spend extra money buying books, since her house is stuffed with them, and they make a mess because she doesn’t have ample bookshelves, but she bought this book online because she thought she needed it in her life right now.

This novel is the sequel to the above-mentioned novel, and it told through the point of view of Ashe Verde, and the journals of her mother Lauren Oya Olamina, and small passages from Lauren’s husband and brother. It continues the story of Acorn, the community founded by Olamina, and her marriage to Bankole, and the people that help them learn about and grow her religion, Earthseed. Earthseed is a philosophy that Olamina created about how people should live. One of the main tenants is “God is Change.” Ms. Hen thinks that Earthseed has shades of Buddhism or Taoism. Olamina teaches that we, as a human species have to accept change and reach for the stars.

Acorn is a peaceful place where the members work and help each other build houses and grow food and take care of their children. Their place is threatened when President Jarrett comes into power, who is a Christian fundamentalist, and preaches that all other religions besides Christianity are cults, and are practiced by heathens. Acorn gets attacked by Christian America, and the members are put into electronic slave collars and they can’t move without being lashed by the collar. Other people are forced to join the area that was Acorn, and Olamina and her followers suffer under the hands of their captors.

Olamina is a strong character, and she doesn’t take garbage from anyone. She and her group manage to escape, and she makes her way to attempt to find her daughter. She is a person with a vision, and she wants Acorn and Earthseed to succeed. In this way, it seemed to Ms. Hen as if she has a touch of delusion to her, since nobody these days wants to start a religion. But this is a novel, and it does not take place in relevant contemporary times. People now who try to start religions are seen as psychopaths, and are usually locked up. 

Another unstable character in this novel is President Jarrett. He professes that he will “Make America Great Again,” which disturbed Ms. Hen. How did Ms. Butler know this ahead of time? This novel was published in 1998. Is this a common notion that a president would say this? Is it an idea that was floating around in the air, waiting to be spoken by someone in power? America was not great in days of old when there was not as much equality as there is now, but every educated person knows this.

Ms. Hen loved this novel. It’s feminine science fiction, which she admires. A lot of sci-fi is male, filled with fighting and violence, but this novel is about people working together to make the world a better place. We should also try to make society more livable and pleasant, to help see the future as something that is worth working towards, because today we need a vision for what is to come. Books like this assist developing hope.

Ms. Hen reviews Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

Farber & Farber

1954

Ms. Hen read this book years ago, but not when she was in school. She found a copy recently at a Little Free Library around the corner from where she lives in February, when she left the house on a regular basis. She almost didn’t pick it up that time, because she had read it before, and it’s a young adult novel, but she’s glad she did because she thinks it says a lot about the way she is living now, as well as much of the world.

(Ms. Hen got the idea to write a version of LORD OF THE FLIES about her living situation now, which she will not get into, but will save for when the idea ripens into a fully bloomed concept.)

This novel is about a large group of schoolboys who end up on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. Some boys are young, and some are between ten and twelve. The boys decide they have to try to be saved by having a fire burning continuously on top of the mountain on the island. They vote Ralph as their chief, and Piggy is a fat boy who wears glasses and has asthma, who becomes Ralph’s friend. Piggy lends his glasses to kept the fire alit.

The boys get along at first, but as time goes by, they start to fight. The hunters, led by Jack, want to hunt and eat meat all the time, while Ralph is primarily concerned with keeping the fire going for the smoke signal so they can be rescued. This novel is considered allegorical because the different characters represent different parts of society: Ralph is the leader, or the balance, Piggy, the intellectual, and the scientific side of things, and Jack is the savage or the wild one.

When Ms. Hen read LORD OF THE FLIES this time, after so many years, she realized that there are no women in this book at all. The boys reminisce about their mothers, and being at home, but no women play any roles. Ms. Hen wonders if the story would be the same if the children that landed on the island were all girls instead of boys. She tries to imagine what it would be like for a large group of young girls happened to end up in this situation, and she doesn’t know if it would turn out any differently. Girls can be nasty and cruel in their own ways, but chances are good that they would be able to work together and find a way to figure out how to get along. Ms. Hen likes to imagine that girls would be better in an emergency situation such as this, but she is not positive. Girls are not innately savage and violent as boys, so they might not have the gumption to hunt for food, but might cooperate dealing with problems better. Ms. Hen has no proof of this theory.

Ms. Hen liked this novel, though it lacks female characters. She imagined that all the boys would be disgustingly dirty and would smell at the end of the book, and she is right. It’s a perfect novel to read right now, with the situation in the world the way it is. There are people around the world who could be writing their own version of LORD OF THE FLIES, or if not, they are living it day to day.

Ms. Hen reviews Irish Fairy Tales

Irish Fairy Tales

James Stephens           

Fall River Press           

2008

Ms. Hen planned on reading this for St. Patrick’s Day, but she didn’t get around to it until after the holiday. She is honestly not a fan of fairy tales, but she found this book lying around her house, so she grabbed it, and decided to read it.

There is a common misconception that fairy tales are for children, but these tales are not meant for young eyes or ears. This book is dark and full of violence. Also, it contains large words that most children would not understand.

The book contains stories, which mostly surround the hero Fionn, the legendary warrior hunter, leader of the Fianna. He eats the Salmon of All Knowledge and afterward possesses knowledge of everything. When Ms. Hen read the part about him eating the salmon, it made her mouth water and she craved that type of fish.

A lot of these stories didn’t catch Ms. Hen’s attention because her mind is distracted at the moment by the problems of the world. But there was one, “The Birth of Bran,” which she liked because it is about a woman, Tuiren, who is magically turned into a dog by a jealous woman who was in love with Tuiren’s husband. Ms. Hen thinks that’s it’s charming what happens in the story, that the man who hates dogs starts to love dogs when Tuiren is in his possession.

This book does contain some charming elements, but it has more violence and degradation in it than charm. Ms. Hen has been reading and watching too many things with violence, and it has become tiresome to her. Also, the female characters in this collection are caricatures; they are either a beautiful woman or an old hag who is a witch. Ms. Hen realizes that these are old tales and have been passed down for generations, and in the times they were created women weren’t as respected or thought of as people who are complex or worthy of attention. She understands these are fairy tales, and are meant to teach a lesson, and entertain, but Ms. Hen can’t help but think what she thinks.

Some chickens appear in this book, which Ms. Hen appreciates. A stranger says to Fiachna Finn, “ 'Who could help laughing at a king hunkering on a branch and his army roosting around him like hens? ’” The stranger is trying to insult the king by saying his army is like hens. Ms. Hen doesn’t take kindly to people mocking hens, but she is a hen with a sense of humor, so she does find it funny.

Ms. Hen would have liked to read this at a different point in her life. She found it difficult to pay attention to this book because she has a lot on her mind. But even though she has problems with the characters and the stories, she believes these are a  part of her history that shouldn’t be brushed aside because she doesn’t enjoy it right now. Ms. Hen is an Irish hen, and she is proud of her heritage, because people should be proud of their history no matter where our ancestors hail from. Even though this is true, we are all inhabitants of this planet, and we live here together, and we should work to make the Earth better for everyone, not just people like ourselves.

Ms. Hen writes things

Ms. Hen was a hen in isolation, but her isolation is over.
Now she is in self-quarantine, the days she does not go to work.
Every day, she goes out for a breath of fresh air and listens to the birds and the wind.
Ms. Hen has written some things recently, which have been published, and she would like to share them with you.

"Hot Girls"
https://www.whlreview.com/no-14.4/fiction/ShannonOConnor.pdf

"Bullet Sandwich"
https://wordgathering.com/vol14/issue1/fiction/oconnor/

"Almost Forever"
https://365tomorrows.com/2020/03/07/almost-forever/

"Packing for the Post-Apocalyptic Journey"
https://365tomorrows.com/2020/03/22/packing-for-the-post-apocalyptic-journey/

Two of these stories are sci-fi stories, which Ms. Hen is excited about, since she has never published sci-fi before.

Ms. Hen says happy reading and writing and whatever you happen to be doing in the world.
Be safe.

S.O.

Ms. Hen reviews Nora Webster

Nora Webster

Colm Toibin

Scribner

2014

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she wanted to read an Irish book for St. Patrick’s Day. She started to read this years ago, but she does not remember when. She thinks that she read a lot of it, but she didn’t read the whole thing. She doesn’t remember why she stopped reading it, she thinks it might have been because it was not what she wanted at the time.

NORA WEBSTER is about a woman whose husband has just died, who has four children, and it’s about how she deals with her grief, and tries to get her life back together. The novel takes place in 1960s Ireland in a small town. Ms. Hen has never lived in a small town, but she knows in such places everyone knows everyone else’s business. She has always thought that it would be nice to know all the people who lived near her, but after reading this she thinks differently. All Nora’s neighbors are in her space, and she’s afraid to walk down the street wearing a new dress or hairstyle without everyone noticing and commenting on it. She wants to be her own person, but she is used to having her husband make all the decisions.

Nora is a woman of her time. If she lived in an era after this, she would have been a different person, but women in Ireland in this age were stuck in one place, and did not have opportunities to do much else. Nora joins a club called The Gramophone Society, where people get together to talk about music. She discovers she likes classical music, and buys a record player and several records. She also takes singing lessons, but attempts to hide these new activities from her family.

There are places in this novel where the character gets outside herself when she listens to music, and thinks about a life she could have had but didn’t. She is visiting her new friends from the Gramophone Society and they play a record of Beethoven, and Nora looks at the photo of the young woman on the cover and thinks, “As Dr. Radford put the record on, she thought how easy it might have been to have been someone else, that having the boys at home waiting for her, and the bed and the lamp beside the bed, and her work in the morning, were all sort of an accident. They were somehow less solid than the clear notes of the cello that came through the speakers.”

She thinks what everyone must think sometimes, that if the person could have lived a different life, would her life be better? Would she be happier? There’s no guarantee that she would be happier, but she doesn’t know. This is an example of the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” We all think other’s lives are so much better, but we never know for sure. She also thinks that music has come to stand for her fantasy life that she does not have, an alternate existence full of music, far away from the dullness of working in an office, and trying to find privacy in a town where everyone knows everything about her.

There are some brilliant flashes in this book, and it’s well written, but Ms. Hen found it was not quite right for her to read right now, similar to what she thought the first time she tried to read it. It’s a nice book, though there is a little edginess to it, now she craves edginess, danger and fear. She wants to live someone else’s fear instead of her own. She has a finite amount of books she can read, and since the libraries are closed, and she can’t leave her house, she has to read what she has in her pile.

Ms. Hen reviews two Irish films

The Young Offenders

Directed by Peter Foott

2016

Streaming on Netflix

The Hole in the Ground

Directed by Lee Cronin

2019

Streaming for free on Amazon Prime

Ms. Hen is a hen is isolation right now. She has a lot of time on her hands to watch movies and TV shows and read books and try to write and fill time. For St. Patrick’s Day, she didn’t have any corn beef and cabbage, and didn’t have any soda bread or scones, there was no beef stew, and no Guinness, but she did listen to some Irish music and read an Irish book, (which she will review later); she wore a green sweater and some shamrock earrings that lit up, and she decided to watch two Irish films.

The first film she watched was THE YOUNG OFFENDERS. It’s a comedy, and it’s exactly what Ms. Hen needed in these dark times. The film is about two high school boys, a couple of street thugs from Cork City who decide to go on a hunt for some bales of cocaine that washed up on the shore many kilometers away so they could sell it and become rich and escape their lives of poverty. They steal some bikes and go on an adventure. Ms. Hen’s favorite scene in this film is the one with the chickens, and it made her laugh out loud.  This film has subtitles, and she needed them because it was difficult for Ms. Hen to understand what the characters say. Ms. Hen recommends this for anyone who needs a good laugh, and she believes everyone does right now.

The second film she watched was THE HOLE IN THE GROUND, a horror film. Ms. Hen is a fan of scary movies and TV shows, but she didn’t think this movie was nearly scary enough. It’s about a woman and her son, and they move into a new house. There is a hole in the ground in the woods near where they live. The boy disappears and becomes a different person. Some people might think this is scary because the mother is afraid of her son, who is the monster, but Ms. Hen thought it was boring. It seemed to her like all the other horror films, with nothing original or colorful about it. Ms. Hen likes horror that will tell a different story, or show her something she has never seen before. There was nothing in this film that did that.

Ms. Hen would like to wish everyone a belated St. Patrick’s Day. She hopes everyone is doing well, and surviving. There is an Irish blessing that says, “If God sends you down a stony path, may He give you strong shoes.” We should all consider this right now. We need strong shoes for our journey.