His & Hers

Having decided to spend some quality time with one of my dearest "childhood" friends, I made my way towards Echo Park to check out her new place. Marina had just moved in with her boyfriend so consider this my housewarming visit. While doing our usual monthly game of catch-up I couldn't help but notice all the books strewn about the living room. I picked up a book next to my chair. It's Steve Martin's (as in the actor) "The Pleasure of My Own Company". I had forgotten he wrote books, one of which is "Shop Girl", a movie I rather enjoyed. Marina has read "The Pleasure..." 4 times in the past year! She loves the book because it's about the life of a man who doesn't have much going on but in his what seems to be "small existence", every detail and action becomes very meaningful. What is even more interesting is that the protagonist has OCD so one really sees the heavy weight and meaning behind even one little step or moving around of papers on a desk. Those little actions bring on more than what one would expect. Marina says that even with his banalities he still manages to be successful in his own way and puts a twist to his debilitating mental condition.


Marina highly recommends it however she shy's away from doing so because she had recommended it to a friend and they didn't like it nor did they like "Shop Girl". "But if you enjoyed "Shop Girl" then maybe you will like this one..."

Marina and her boyfriend, Michael, started to have a conversation about Steve Martin. "I think he's a lonely man. You kind of sense it in his writing yet he seems like he would be a happy guy." Marina pauses at Michael's statement and follows it with her observation that "Perception is a funny thing. People may see you as being happy-go-lucky when in reality you are really alone, even if you're surrounded by alot of success and happiness."

Marina just finished another book - The Diary of Anne Frank. Marina had read the book in High School but finally got around to rereading it after she saw Michael reading his copy. "I just felt like I had to read it. Something inside me was drawn to the book so I just had to steal it away from him!" Upon reading the book this time around Marina felt that she and Anne Frank are kindred spirits. "First of all, we are both Geminis. And second of all, her diary writing mirrors my own journal writing. I would read passages and I'm immediately struck by a sense of connection. I can relate to her philosophies and outlook on life." There was a specific line that read something along the lines of "I want to go on living even after I am dead...I shall succeed in writing." Marina can totally relate to this and wants to capture everything in her writing. "Anne could only talk to her diary and at times I feel the same way." We started to talk about female authors and I referenced my beloved Virginia Woolf. Oddly enough Marina has never ready any works by Woolf (except maybe Mrs. Dalloway in our high school English class). However, after watching the movie "The Hours" Marina confesses to feeling very "Woolfian" at times. "There are moments when I feel like my skin is crawling and I need my own space, especially when I want to be creative."


The last book she's read was Twilight. Oh Stephenie Meyer, you got my friend too! Marina didn't really get into the books because they thought they were "elementary" and she found herself to be very bored. "I just couldn't take it!" Tying back to book crazes of our youth I asked what she liked reading growing up. Marina actually never enjoyed reading as a young child in Russia. It wasn't until she got to America that she fell in love with reading and the English language. "It was in my pre-teen/teen years that I finally got into Judy Blume!"


Michael was sitting close by, listening to our conversation and chiming in every now and then while fiddling with his bass guitar. What book comes to mind with him? Gabriel Garcia Marquez' 100 Years of Solitude. He recommends that if you read this book then you better read it quick - no pauses whatsoever! There are just so many names that you have to keep up in order to remember everything! Besides that little bit of advice Michael does think the book is well-written, with beautiful words and imagery. He loves Marquez for his fantastical stories. "They tell these stories as if they were normal, everyday occurrences - flying carpets and the like. I would compare this to the Bible with all the fantastical stories...you just can't storytelling like this anywhere!"

I moseyed on over to his bookshelf and perused it as I peruse people's medicine cabinets. He has alot of American Literature books strewn about (clearly the photo of his shelf below doesn't showcase much American Lit but trust me, it was all over the other shelves), a topic he plans on teaching to high schoolers once he gets his teaching credentials. Any books he'd recommend to lil' ol' me? Hemingway is Michael's man of the hour. "He is a realist, his stories are heartbreaking and true...". If he were to recommend any one of Hemingway's works he would say Farewell to Arms. "It's a classic and one of my favourites."


If he were to hand me 2 books to walk out with that evening Michael would hand be Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis (because it is full of life) and Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (because Michael is fascinated with the narrative of the novel), two books and movies I have yet to read/watch.