Happy 125th Anniversary, NYTimes Book Review

The New York Times Book Review was born on Oct. 10, 1896. To kick off its yearlong 125th-anniversary celebration, the newspaper has compiled "25 Great Book Reviews from the Past 125 Years." Well worth reading in its own right, the compilation features quite a few LGBTQ authors, both as reviewers and subjects for book reviews; impressively, James Baldwin is there in both capacities. Not that any member of BookMen should be surprised, of course!  😎

"Tea and Sympathy"--The Movie

My thanks to Patrick Flynn for passing along this commentary from Turner Classic Movies about the making of the cinematic version of Robert Anderson's 1953 play, Tea and Sympathy, which a dozen of us  (stout and true...:-) discussed tonight. As this excerpt explains, the screenwriters made many changes, which helps explain why the film didn't come out until 1956.

"The final version differed from the play in that it removed the suggestion that Tom or Bill held any latent homosexual tendencies, and it did not include a scene in which Tom swims in the nude with a gay music teacher [David Harris]. In addition, the film adds a flashback framing structure, in which Tom returns to a school reunion and, after reminiscing about the past, reads the letter from Laura expressing her remorse at having slept with him, an act that destroyed her marriage. The play ends with Laura's famous line, 'Years from now, when you talk about this--and you will--be kind.' In the film, the line ends the flashback."

Michael Cunningham on Virginia Woolf

Almost precisely 21 years ago this week (Jan. 11, 2000), BookMen discussed Michael Cunningham's The Hours, his adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs. Dalloway. (I didn't join our group until the fall of 2000, so I'm sorry to say I missed out on that session.) In the Dec. 27 New York Times, Cunningham reflected on Woolf's novel, which he lauds as "revolutionary." As he observes, "Woolf was among the first writers to understand that there are no insignificant lives, only inadequate ways of looking at them." It's been a long time since I've read either novel, but Cunningham's inspiring essay has persuaded me that it's time for me to revisit them both.

BookMen will NOT meet tonight, Jan. 6

I've already notified members of the cancellation via e-mail, but just to close the loop: In light of the extraordinary chaos unfolding at the Capitol, we're not going to meet tonight to discuss Gilgamesh. Fortunately, Bill Malone is available to facilitate our discussion on March 17, so we'll move it to that date.

"How to Read 'Gilgamesh'"

It's a running joke among my friends that my collection of New Yorker magazines, going back many years, is in pristine condition--because I almost never finish an issue before the next one comes, and then the next....  So thank God for online archives! The Oct. 7, 2019, issue contains a Books column by Joan Acocella titled "How to Read Gilgamesh" in which she compares the Andrew George translation we'll be discussing on Jan. 6 with other editions and commentaries. I found it a very helpful overview of scholarship regarding this epic and commend it to you.