The Writer's Life 1/10 - Light

Sue Monk Kidd scored critical and commercial success with her novel, The Secret Life of Bees. Published in 2003, it has sold six million copies in 35 countries. At last look the print version was ranked 3349th, the Kindle version 2105th at Amazon, remarkable for a book more than a decade old. She has written 12 overall, a blend of fiction and non. Among a recent donation was Firstlight, which I would categorized as spiritual. It is a collection of pieces, her views on life. She includes personal experiences that are touching. It is grounded in a firm belief in God. She says: “Everything is in God, and God is in everything.” If God exists, this would have to be true, and evil would have to be included. She describes sorrow but does not touch upon the heinous acts some humans perpetrate. I have no trouble believing the universe was created. After all, how can something so wondrous have come from nothing? However, I do not believe God intercedes in life on earth. He has left it up to us and moved on. Although prayer is a comfort to many, I believe it accomplishes nothing else. I do not mean to imply that Kidd is a phony. On the contrary, I sense she is an exemplary person, and I wish I believed as she and millions do. I simply don’t. That said, Firstlight is still a valuable read. My eyes glazed occasionally at the accounts. And it is wonderfully written in as unpretentious a prose as there ever was. 39 users at Amazon have rated it, forging to a consensus of 4.5 of ten. On a scale of five, I say 3.25.

Last night I watched Man of the West (1958), courtesy of Netflix. I saw it for the first time at the Loew’s Oriental in the early 60’s, when it was re-released on a double bill with Garden of Evil (1954), which is unavailable at Netflix. Man of the West must have been groundbreaking in its original release, as there is much sexual tension, which was rare back then. Of course, what goes on would seem rather tame to modern audiences used to explicitness. The film also lacks the constant action of today’s fare. It is mature. The cast is a movie buff’s dream: Gary Cooper, Julie London, equally successful as a singer or actress; Lee J. Cobb; the always genial Arthur O’Connell; Jack Lord, who would later do 281 episodes of Hawaii Five-0; John Dehner, who has 285 credits listed at IMDb; Royal Dano, who was a master at playing the down and out; and Robert J. Wilke, who has 300 credits, most as a villain, I’d guess. The film was directed by Anthony Mann, whose stature has grown through the years. Reginald Rose ( 12 Angry Men {1957}) adapted the screenplay from a novel by Will C. Brown, The Border Jumpers. I’d bet the film was a big influence on David Peoples screenplay for Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). 

The management of our co-op has placed tablets in the elevators and on the walls outside them on the ground floors of the complex. They show advertisements. I assume they receive payment, which I hope will place Atlantic Towers on solid footing and keep maintenance fees in check. I've had the feeling the place is a house of cards waiting to crumble.

Since the forecast for Monday and Tuesday is so bleak, I was sorely tempted to set up the floating book shop today, despite the frigid temperature. Common sense prevailed. I'll be back in action tomorrow.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/