REVIEWS BY SUKEY HOWARD
So many books, so little time. Here's a reminder that literary listening is a wonderful way to keep up with the best in new fiction. I think it's fair to say that Alice Munro is one of the best short-story writers working today. And I also think it's fair to say that short stories lend themselves naturally to audio presentation; their shorter length often matches the time we have to hear them, letting us listen for subtleties of style and nuances of language. The eight stories in her new collection,
Runaway, with gentle, eloquent narration by Kymberly Dakin, well deserve that kind of close attention. They center on women, Canadian women, of very different ages and circumstances, yet their very particular situations—exploring roads taken and not taken, emotions understood and misunderstood—resonate no matter your nationality or gender. Not a word is wasted, nor a moment of your time.
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It takes a village
John Updike is one of my favorite writers and, I think, one of the finest chroniclers of the marital morals and malfunctions of the last 50 years. Couples (which I have to admit I read over 30 years ago, long before audio books were a part of everyday life) still stands as a brilliant evocation of sex, love and adultery as practiced by the upper-middle-class inhabitants of a small New England town during the '60s.
Villages, Updike's 21st novel, expertly read by Edward Herrmann, returns to a similar town of tony WASPs, charting the career—sexual and professional—of one of its septuagenarian citizens, Owen Mackenzie. And charting his never-ending adoration of women, from the first fumblings in the front seat of a car in rural Pennsylvania, where Owen (and Updike) grew up, through his marriages and many infidelities with all their steamy secrets and potential scandal. This is Updike country and he's the best guide to it.
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A Wolfe at the door
I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe's third novel, may not have gotten the raves that his first two did, but it's still Wolfe and it still fascinates, keeping you locked into the story from start to finish and changing the way you see our world. Add Dylan Baker's unswervingly satisfying portrayal of all the characters, their many regional accents and singular styles of late adolescent attitude, and you have 31 hours of entertainment—and insight. Charlotte Simmons, a scholarship student from a hamlet in the North Carolina mountains, arrives at Dupont (think Duke) University without a clue, an academic achiever as innocent as the proverbial lamb on the way to slaughter. As you find out how she fares in the charged halls of coed dorms and debauched, predatory frat parties, you'll get a devastating Wolfian view of campus sex, campus speak and campus survival. It may make many of us worry about those multi-thousand dollar tuitions we're shelling out.
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On a very different note
Classical music is one of the joys of life, a wonderful part of our civilization that none should miss. Now there's a lively, enlightening introduction for the whole family to share.
The Story of Classical Music, written by Darren Henley and narrated by the effervescent Marin Alsop, a leading American conductor, spans 1,200 years of musical development from medieval chants through the glories of Beethoven symphonies and Wagnerian operas to the new sounds of the 21st century. There are portraits of more than 90 composers accompanied by their most famous music, and fascinating accounts of technical and stylistic changes. An interactive CD-ROM demonstrates orchestral instruments, how music is written and much more. Truly a learn-while-you-listen experience.
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