pA:11, v8.33 — Arts & Entertainment

Arts & Entertainment

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 16, 2014

MVNews this week: Page A:11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 16, 2014

Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown

SEAN’S SHAMELESS

REVIEWS:

THE UNLIKELY SPY by Daniel Silva

A wonderful WW 11 British spy thriller.“In wartime,”
Winston Churchill wrote, “truth is so precious that she
should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” For
Britain’s counterintelligence operations, Alfred Vicary
(a shrewd history professor who was badly wounded as a
behind-the-lines courier during WW I) is assigned early
in 1944 to MI-5 ‘s hush hush effort to mislead Hitler's
intelligence services concerning D-day's primary target.
The Nazis, however, have also chosen an unlikely agent:
Catherine Blake, a beautiful widow of a war hero, a hospital
volunteer-and a Nazi spy under direct orders from Hitler
to uncover the Allied plans for D-Day. Intrigue abounds!!!

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE: A NOVEL
by Anthony Doerr

From multiple award winning Doerr, this is a beautiful book about a blind French girl and a
German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of
World War II.Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History,
where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and
her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and
navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee
to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house
by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted
by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new
instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special
assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence,
Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and
Marie-Laure’s converge. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates
the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the
Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never
fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).

SOLDIER GIRLS: THE BATTLES OF THREE WOMEN AT HOME AND AT WAR
by Helen Thorpe

From another award-winning writer comes a groundbreaking account of three women deployed
to Afghanistan and Iraq, and how their military service affected their friendship, their personal
lives, and their families. America has been continuously at war since the fall of 2001. This has been
a matter of bitter political debate, of course, but what is uncontestable is that a sizeable percentage
of American soldiers sent overseas in this era have been women. Their experience in the American
military is quite different from that of men. Surrounded and far outnumbered by men, imbedded
in a male culture, looked upon as both alien and desirable, women have experiences of special
interest. Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on their paths to the military,
overseas to combat, and back home…and then overseas again for two of them. These women, who
are quite different , become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when
they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them
work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to
stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink too much, have illicit
affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when
the truck she is driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but her life may
never be the same again. Deeply reported, beautifully written, and powerfully moving, Soldier
Girls is truly groundbreaking.

By Sean Kayden

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

“Get Hurt,” the deeply personal new record from The Gaslight Anthem tries to be a departure from their previous albums. I’ve always been fond of the band’s sound, their homage to Springsteen, and raw resonance. Lead singer Brian Fallon’s new direction comes after the divorce from his wife of ten years. In an interview with Rolling Stone published May 23, 2014, Fallon described the album as “completely different than anything we had ever done before. Instead of going that extra step of just adding some organ or some background vocals, this time we actually really changed up a lot of the sounds.” While the directional change is present and the themes, lyrics, and structure of songs are different, you can still hear the raw intensity of their New Jersey rock and roll sound. Instead of wearing Springsteen on their sleeves, the band has splashes of U2, Tom Petty, and Pearl Jam sounds scattered throughout the record. “Get Hurt” is twelve tracks long and the deluxe edition reaching fifteen tracks (and an additional bonus track for exclusively for both iTunes and Best Buy). There’s quite a bit to be fond of here. Bonus material rarely excites, but The Gaslight Anthem is different. Maybe “Get Hurt” isn’t a game changer that was promised. However, it’s a notable step in the right direction for a band always striving to be better than who they were previously.

Fallon’s relentless pursuit of the perfect rock n’ roll record is ever so apparent. He hasn’t reached such heights, but every step he makes, progression is made in some way, shape, or form. “Stay Vicious” kicks off the record. It starts off like a hard rock track, reminiscent of grunge rock. The chorus softens up, which makes the song much better (and more in tune with the rest of the record). “1000 Years” has Kings Of Leon type of guitar riffs. It’s a solid tune that reflects upon Fallon’s own darkness. The sound is superb and I think it’s one of the best songs the band has ever created. “Get Hurt” begins very soft and it feels like Fallon is
talking right to his ex. Fallon is ceaseless with sharing his own personal pain, but that’s the point of the record. Coping with something unimaginable until it actually happens. Somehow, The Gaslight Anthem can take ominous lyrics and give them light with their terrific arrangements and song structure. “Underneath The Ground” is another ambitious tune. With this latest track, the band
is shedding old feathers and spreading their newfound wings. “Rollin’ and Tumblin” is yet another pure rock n’ roll track. It’s brimming with catchiness and honesty. Some of the arrangements remind me of Arctic Monkeys, which makes sense since the band was aided by one of their producers Mike Crossey. “Break Your Heart” is a lovely ballad that has a Tom Petty style to it. It’s a painful and fervent song that seems like a letter from Fallon to his ex-wife. After first listen, it may just break your own heart.

“Red Violins” seems to be the average track on the record. One that is in tune with the entire album, but can’t equally live up to such great promise as the rest. The same goes for “Selected Poems.” Not terrible songs by any means, however, the excitement just doesn’t exist. In the end, “Get Hurt” is a captivating, compelling record. It’s not perfect or as grand as perhaps Fallon thinks, but it’s damn close of being so. Some of the best songs of 2014 are on this record. Vehemently intimate, consistently ardent, and genuinely heartfelt, this ranks among the finest American rock albums of the year.

Key Tracks: “1000 Years,” “Underneath
the Ground,” “Stray Paper,” “Break Your
Heart” rade: 8.5 out of 10

We’d like to hear from you!

What’s on YOUR Mind?

On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra MadrePlayhouse

“THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES,” BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND ON SEPTEMBER 7

This nostalgic show features music, dance and comedy from the World War II era and later
armed conflicts (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq) in a tribute to Bob Hope and the USO shows. A Theatres of
Vision production.

“Thanks for the Memories.” A program of music, dance and comedy. At Sierra Madre Playhouse,
87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Ample free parking behind theatre. Sunday,
September 7, 2014 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $30. Seniors (65+) $25. Veterans $15. Children 12 and
under, $10. Reservations: (626) 355-4318. Online ticketing: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

“What a delight!”---Life in L.A.

“Delightful….May well perform forever.”---Theatre Spoken Here