"White Noise" Thirty Years Later. Remembering 1984.

"It's about fear, death, and technology. A comedy, of course." DeLillo, 1984.

When Don DeLillo's 1984 novel White Noise won the National Book Award I bought and read it. Thirty years later I bought a copy in a library sale and have read it a second time. (The first copy was sacrificed at one of our dozen moves.)

Thirty years ago I was barely 30 and was not yet a mother. I had taken a course on Black Humor at Adrian College. So I am sure I understood the clever dark humor of the book, but little of the nuances of family life and parenting. And certainly I did not resonate to the fear of death that pervades the characters in the novel. 

The numerous references to American culture places the novel in a specific time, which thirty years later is a real time travel experience. Sansabelt slacks? Princess phones? Kids being driven to college in station wagons loaded with phonograph players and records?  1984 was an age of shopping malls and consumerism. Just this week a Detroit Free Press article covered the demise of the shopping malls. This was another time for sure. A time when the Middle Class was in it's hey-day, spending to create the American Dream.

It was also a time when people worried about the Cold War and Nuclear Winter, the end of the world as we know it. 

I was compelled to turn pages even when nothing really was happening, plot wise at least. The first section Waves and Radiation introduces the family. The husband, Professor Jack Gladney, has created a Hitler Center at the university, but agonizes over not being able to read German. His attractive third--or fourth wife depending if you label marrying the same woman twice one or two marriages--Babette reads tabloids to the blind and teaches the elderly proper posture. Kids of all ages, from previous and current marriages, perplex their folks as kids are wont to do. They are your typical American family. 

The second section The Airborne Toxic Event finds the family in crisis. An accident releases an airborne toxin into the air and the community is evacuated for nine days. Part Three, Dylarama, shows us how far Babette will go to escape her fear of dying. When Jack finds out her secret he waffles between wanting to follow her lead or turn to violence and vengeance.

The writing abounds with memorable lines.

"..the irony of human existence, that we are the highest form of life on earth and yet ineffably sad because we know what no other animal knows, that we must die."

"We have these deep and terribly lingering fears about ourselves and the people we love. Yet we walk around, talk to people, eat and drink. We manage to function."

Which recalled to mind Emily Dickinson's poem "I tie my hat....to keep my senses on" with its final lines "Therefore--we do life's labor--Though life's Reward--Be Done-- With Scrupulous exactness--to hold our senses-- on--"

Jack is asked, "Isn't death the boundary we need? Doesn't it give a precious texture to life, a sense of definition? You have to ask yourself whether anything you do in this life would have beauty and meaning without the knowledge you carry of a final line, a border or limit."

And his friend Murray tells him "That's what it all comes down to in the end...A person spends his life saying good-bye to other people How does he say good-bye to himself?"

All this death talk, so Woody Allen-ish, would become tedious and heavy if it were not for the comic insights that also abound. 

After the Airborne Toxic Event the community goes through drills to prepare for another such event. Just after a drill for an airborne toxic event  people notice a strange irritating order, a copper taste on the tongue. But the authorities are silent and the people avoid thinking or talking about what they experience. Finally it goes away. All that preparedness, and yet no one responds! This kind of irony pervades the novel

But wait, that just happened to me. We were celebrating our anniversary at a nice restaurant when the fire alarm went off. The diners all sat in their seats, sniffing the air and looking at the staff for orders. Everyone was placid, there was no sense of danger. The staff stood confused and silent. After a minute or so the owner came and told the staff to lead everyone outside. Some patrons left with wine glasses in their hands. We filed out in an orderly style and at a slow pace, and stood just outside the doorway eager to return to our meals. After some minutes we were told there was a water leak that set off the alarm. The fire department decided it was safe and everyone pushed back in to their meals. 

We did not get a discount or even a freebie.

I can only think that the lack of smoke or smoky odor kept us from taking the alarm seriously. Remember the fire drills held in school days? We did not learn a thing.

Towards the end of the novel Jack Gladney ends up in a hospital staffed by nuns. The nun attending him becomes irritated that he expects her to embody the faith that he himself lacks. She chides him. 

''Your dedication is a pretense?''[Jack asked]

''Our presence is a dedication,'' she responds. ''As belief shrinks from the world, people find it more necessary than ever that someone believe . . . Nuns in black. . . . Fools, children. We surrender our lives to make your non-belief possible."

The back cover blip from Jayne Anne Philips of the New York Times Book review says it all: "One of the most ironic, grimly funny voices to comment on life in present-day America..."

At least America in 1984.  

And what was going on in 1984?

President Reagen called it "Morning in America," referring to the rise of optimism American were feeling, especially in regards to financial security.
Early in December toxic gas released in Bhopol, India killed 2,000 and injured 150,000 people.
Crack hit the LA streets.
Mackintosh Apple computers were introduced.
The USSR, U.S., China, and even France were conducting nuclear tests. Lots of tests.
Saddam Hussein of Iraq of used poison gas against Iran and the Kurds.
The AIDS virus was identified.
The IRA bombed a British Hotel where Margaret Thatcher was staying.
Jet hijackings were going on.

There was famine in Ethiopia. And the Band Aid concert raised funds for the famine.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut was bombed.
The Space Shuttle was making flights.
Indira Ghandi was assassinated.
Exercise was a fad with its own fashions.

Stonewashed jeans were introduced. And Big Hair was big. So where the shoulder pads.

http://myyearoffabulous.com/2013/01/the-history-of-rock-and-roll-fashion-part-four/

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic went on sale as well as Transformer toys and we loved Cabbage Patch dolls.
Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen was released.
Ghostbusters and Sixteen Candles were released.



A heady mix of pervasive dread tempered by a healthy dose of feel good consumer delights. We got the novel we deserved.

Michigan 101: Rivers and Lakes

In the summer everyone goes to the water. In Michigan weekends are quiet because everyone has gone to their cabin or is camping, but you can bet they are at the water's edge.

 The escarpment that created Niagara Falls, near where I grew up, also creates falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some Michigan water scenes.

We moved into our retirement house on Tuesday. It is going to take a long time to settle in. I miss my quilt projects so much! But there are several months of hard work ahead first.

Crazy Handkerchiefs I Love

 I really love handkerchiefs with strong geometric designs. Here are some from my collection with circles, squares, lines and such.

 Cogs?

 This hanky had a paper pinned to it, showing it was likely from a handkerchief exchange.

 This one give me vertigo!

The next two handkerchiefs are by Erin O'Dell, a midcentury designer.

 Faith Austin did this unusual handkerchief, very unlike her typical designs.

 Ann McCann was another mid-century designer.

Lisette's List by Susan Vreeland: Art, WWII, and France

I have read most of Susan Vreeland's books since reading her first novel The Girl in Hyacinth Blue about Vermeer's painting "Girl With a Pearl Earring". My favorite book by Vreeland was The Forest Lover about Canadian artist Emily Carr who defied societal expectations to live with, so as to paint, the Northwest Coast Native Americans and their quickly vanishing culture. Vreeland's books always center around art.

Vreeland's previous novels were fictional accounts of specific artists. Her

Susan Vreeland

newest book's main character is an art lover, Lisette, a Parisian who grew up in an orphanage. The book begins in 1937 when Lisette's husband Andre' wants to return to his home town of  Roussillion in Provence to care for his elderly grandfather.

Grandfather Pascal was a framer of art. As a boy he worked in the local  ochre mines. Ochre was processed to make paint pigment for artists. Many 'starving artists' were unable to afford frames and paid Pascal in paintings. His collection grew to eight paintings by Cezanne, Pissarro, and Picasso. I happen to love the art of Pissarro and Cezanne.

Pascal tells Lisette the stories behind each artist's painting in his collection, an oral history that reveals information about the artist's life and work. Each painting includes ochre pigments.
WWII comes to France and Andre' enlists in the army. Before he leaves he hides the paintings to keep them safe. The Nazi regime considered modern art as 'decadent' and destroyed many paintings. Pascal dies and Lisette is left to fend for herself, learning the ways of country life in Provence.

Marc Chagall and his wife Bella live nearby for a time. As Jews they were seeking safety before immigration to America. Lisette befriends the couple and Marc gives Lisette a special painting.

After the war ends Lisette searches for the missing paintings for several years. To keep Lisette safe, Andre' did not tell her where the paintings were hidden.

Lisette's list consisted of things she wanted to accomplish, from finding her husband's grave to understanding art.

The village of Roussillion and the importance of ochre in the paintings is central to the book, with the paintings, which all used the ochre pigments, illustrating it's importance. The village is filled with interesting characters who Lisette comes to love.

Read Vreeland's article on her inspiration for the book, showing the ochre mines and pigments of Roussillion  here.

See a gallery of art from the book here.

Lisette's List
by Susan Vreeland
Random House
Publication: August 26, 2014
Pages: 432 | ISBN: 978-1-4000-6817-3

Two Old Chairs

Next Monday we move out of the parsonage and the next day move into our 'forever' home! Gary was recognized as a retired pastor by his conference of the United Methodist Church and also by the local church he has been serving. 42 years of service in an official capacity has ended.

We had a big sale this weekend and cleared out all our treasures. They found loving homes, which made me very happy. We had many antiques rescued and restored. We also had lots of rescued treasures that were shabby but comfy. Like the two brown chairs, shown below, that we bought for $10 each at a garage sale.

The chairs amid other things no longer with us

Our neighbor's mother had to give up her own house to move in with her daughter's family. Her treasures had to go. We looked at these chairs, 1984 chairs with a pineapple print on brown fabric, and she immediately ran to our side to tout their comfort. We bought them. She was so thrilled, and it was obviously not because she made a lot of money from their sale.

We loved those chairs! They were SO comfortable! We considered reupholstering them. It would cost $770 labor plus fabric. But our retirement home is a 1969 ranch, quite small, and we need small scale pieces. We had decided to decorate in Mid Century Modern.

We agonized over letting them go. We were selling the 1920s couch we upholstered in red velveteen, and the 1915 lamp with the silk beaded lamp shade. We were selling the treadle sewing machine with the Sphinx motifs. We even decided to part with the 1940s rocking horse that had served three generations of Bekofskes. But could we part with these shabby chairs?

We put the chairs in the sale and prayed that they did not sell. If they were still there at day's end, we'd assume it was 'meant to be' for us to keep them.

People flocked to the sale before we even had everything outside. Within an hour a man from a block away came. He has been restoring an 1898 house, intending to make it into a Bed and Breakfast. He needed old things for decor and for use.

His wife sat in the chairs! And they bought them right away. They were so comfortable, they said. They will be the third owners of these chairs, each owner won over by their comfort. They also bought the sewing machine, which will look lovely on display there.

We joked together that we'd have return and stay at their B&B to sit in those chairs again.

At day's end we were left with books, junk, and a Depression era berry bowl set. Everything had gone home with other people.

The silk beaded fringe lamp went for a fraction of what we paid for it at auction twenty years ago. But the woman loved it so, and her new (second marriage) husband was so sorry he could not afford it. We had enjoyed it for twenty years. It owed us nothing. They had $20. The lamp went home with them, the wife beaming with joy. There is a large migrant population in the county who work picking asparagus and fruit. They came looking for practical things, sprinklers and mops and towels. A gal loved the reverse painting on glass old window I painted a few years ago. I hardly expected anyone to care for it. I even sold oil paintings by Mom, my brother and myself. I tried giving away some small things, only to have quarters pressed into my hands. People are basically decent.

We made good money from the sale because we were selling nearly everything we had. We sold at give-a-way prices. People HUGGED me they were so happy. I was happy too, knowing that things I loved would give joy to another family.

So I learned the joy of letting go.

Our years in parsonages have included good times and bad times, loving and joyful people, and unhappy and sometimes mean people. It is time to let go of emotional baggage as we are letting go of the physical things we have carried. Trusting that we leave behind good memories, small tokens that will offer comfort like a comfortable old chair.