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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2018)
DECEMBER 27, 2018 // 3 SCRATCHPAD A year of reading in 2018, but of the essential books, the ones that made me a better, wiser, more informed person. And that is always positive. Here they are, in no par- ticular order. By ERICK BENGEL COAST WEEKEND A fter I compiled my short list of book rec- ommendations from a year of reading, a colleague pointed out that I chose some mightily depressing books. Yeah, maybe. I am drawn to the ugly side of humanity, perhaps so that I’m not sur- prised when it shows its face. This isn’t a list of the most uplifting books I read “Mink River” (2010) by Brian Doyle — fiction When I interviewed Brian Doyle via email about the craft of writing some years ago, his response was witty, coast INSIDE THIS ISSUE weekend arts & entertainment touching, thrillingly eloquent and generous of spirit. That describes his debut novel about an imaginary Or- egon coastal town populated with characters impossible not to identify with. Doyle is an acrobat with language, pulling off aston- ishing stylistic feats without ever appearing to show off. His familiar setting is imbued with magical realism that is sometimes subtle (e.g., a character who can sense COAST WEEKEND EDITOR ERICK BENGEL CONTRIBUTORS DWIGHT CASWELL DAVID CAMPICHE R.J. MARX ON THE COVER Denny Holmes, Kim Angelis, Arline LaMear, Eddie Park See story on Page 8 THE ARTS 4 Grant awards 7 Close to Home 8 County Cultural Coalition funds local organizations COASTAL LIFE FEATURE New Year’s People Locals reflect on their lives, look ahead to 2019 FURTHER ENJOYMENT CROSSWORD ...............................6 SEE + DO ............................. 10, 11 CW MARKETPLACE.......... 15, 16 New items for publication consideration must be submitted by 10 a.m. Tuesday, one week and two days before publication. TO SUBMIT AN ITEM Feasting on Venetian food, Oriental art in Eugene MUSIC CALENDAR ....................5 To advertise in Coast Weekend, call 503-325-3211 or contact your local sales representative. © 2018 COAST WEEKEND Find it all online! CoastWeekend.com features full calendar listings, keyword search and easy sharing on social media. Phone: 503.325.3211 Ext. 217 or 800.781.3211 Fax: 503.325.6573 E-mail: editor@coastweekend.com Address: P.O.Box 210 • 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 97103 Coast Weekend is published every Thursday by the EO Media Group, all rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent of the publisher. Coast Weekend appears weekly in The Daily Astorian and the Chinook Observer. creatures suffering in his vicinity) and sometimes not (e.g., a talking crow). If there is a main vein of empathy in the universe, it surely ran through Doyle’s pen (he died in 2017). With “Mink River” he is less con- cerned with plot and more with the daily dilemma of living in tension between our noble nature and darkest de- mons. He tells his story with a glowing yet unsentimental fascination toward the human animal. By the way, those emails? I printed out and stuffed them into my copy of “Mink River,” in case I should find myself in need of a literary spirit guide. “The Remains of the Day” (1989) and “Never Let Me Go” (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro — fiction In voice and milieu, two books could hardly seem more different. But look deeper. “The Remains of the Day” is about an English butler working at a distinguished estate as World War II draws near. During his career, his attention is entirely on his duties — running the house- hold, managing the staff, pleasing his lord, maintaining his professional dignity. Then, years later, the butler gradually, reluctantly realizes that the employer to whom he gave his life and gifts — for whose sake he sacrificed opportunities for love and fulfillment, even perhaps his moral compass — may not have been worth serving. His lord’s wasted life is, by extension, his own. “Never Let Me Go” fol- lows a group of children from THOMAS ROTT PHOTO Features Editor Erick Bengel. a peculiar boarding school through young adulthood, all while they know — but never seem to fully absorb — that their futures don’t belong to them. They, too, are duty-bound to follow the life laid out for them, marching like docile lambs to their fate. Both books by Ka- zuo Ishiguro are about well-meaning people so habituated to a form of psychological imprisonment that they can’t see, much less meaningfully resist, a system of evil that uses them as means to a twisted end. “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” (2016) by J.D. Vance — nonfiction An intelligent, tightly written memoir about a guy, born into an Appalachian family, who defied the odds by (1) not becoming a help- less drug addict and (2) grad- uating from Yale and forging a stable, happy adulthood. The book is one man’s success story and also the recognition of a tragedy that didn’t come to pass, but very well could have. Vance is fortunate to have been partly raised by grandparents who may have been hillbillies but were sophisticated enough to believe in his poten- tial. Vance, however, still struggles with the rage and residual anxieties born of a hardscrabble upbringing. Critics pegged “Hillbilly Elegy” as a must-read for anyone looking to under- stand the build-up of anger and grievances that plague red-state America, and may have fueled untold voters during the 2016 presidential election. It’s easy to see how, with horizons so narrow — with nothing but opioids, poverty and Mountain Dew mouth to look forward to — some people might show little investment in a political establishment that appears not to take their plight seri- ously. Vance is a proud God- bless-America-style patriot — and a sharp, sympathetic, cleared-eyed voice for his culture. “The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy” (2018) by Greg Miller — nonfiction Of the many books from 2018 that try to reckon with Continued on Page 16
