Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Beautiful Ruins Makes A Great Summer Read



Life is a blatant act of imagination..... So says a character from Jess Walter's book Beautiful Ruins, our selection for our July 9th Face to Face meeting of CapRadio Reads at the Captial Public Radio Studios.

Dee Moray arrives, as if directly from the sea, to the Hotel Adequate View.  This scene near the opening of the book, evokes a cinematic feeling that will carry us through till the end.  In April 1962, Dee Moray, an actress from the film Cleopatra, which is being shot in Rome, arrives in Porto Vergogna, somewhere on the Italian Coast. Pasquale Tursi, owner of the "Hotel Adequate View" is there to greet her, and falls instantly in love , and "would remain in love with her for the rest of his life". How schmaltzy this COULD be, but isn't.  We do however, start to wonder what the title, Beautiful Ruins, is really referring to.  We immediately move to the present in the second chapter, meeting Michael Deane,  Claire and more of Walter's unique characters.  We know they are all tied together and, as if it were a movie, can't break away to go buy popcorn until we know how and why.  This novel is reminding me of seeing "Cleopatra" in New York at Radio City Music Hall with my Aunt.....I HAd to buy the program to read all about it.  Now I have the scoop on what was happening backstage.
Hope you are enjoying the book and I look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Please look at our brand new new website too.  Our address is www.capradio.org/books.  
As always, thanks for reading.



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