Two Words, One Answer.
Rachel Wood
 Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson $18.00 The book is a collection of Rachel Carson's discovered writing, but it isn't a simple collection of her essays. Thanks to the excellent editor, Linda Lear, all of the 31 essays are well organized in four parts, and each one begins with an editor's preamble that explains background, Carson's motivation, and other useful information for the specific essay. With those preambles and essays, I had a feeling as if I were reading Rachel Carson's biography as well. With her unique combination, a biologist with literary talent, Rachel Carson turned her deep love for nature to the marvelous essays that would be very valuable for human being as a part of nature. The same editor, Linda Lear, wrote Carson's biography (Rachel Carson : Witness for Nature), which I read a couple of months ago and found excellent. It also became one of my highly recommending books.  The Life Before Her Eyes $19.98 The Life Before Her Eyes is a treasure. Based on a novel by Laura Kasischke, it stars Uma Thurman as Diana "Dee" McFee, a teacher in a small New England town. Diana is married and has a daughter who shows signs of being as unmanageable as she, herself, was as a teen. We get to see exactly how wild she was in flashbacks, with the marvelous Evan Rachel Wood perfect as the young Diana. (Wood as the young Thurman? Brilliant and inspired casting). We get to see the shape of her life then in order to compare it to her life as an adult. And we also get to see the horrible tragedy that haunts her as an adult and threatens her happiness, and even her sanity. The story is powerfully moving, adapted to the screen by Emil Stern. The alternation between the past and present is graceful, and both actresses give amazing performances of real depth and feeling, without veering into melodrama. Director Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog) and cinematographer Pawe Edelman provide lyrical visuals full of lovely everyday images potent, but not over-stuffed, with symbolism. The Life Before Her Eyes is a wise film with a lot to say about life, the things we hold sacred, who we are at the best and worst of times, and the impact a few moments can have on eternity. |
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