On My Bedside Table – No 4
The luxury of having a tablet beside your bed and access to a vast collection of movies, surely qualifies The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to feature in this blog.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, an anthology containing six short fills, all occurring in the 19th century, post-Civil War. It did not receive much attention neither did it perform well upon release (not everyone’s cup of tea I guess) but it scored 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and to me, that counts. It is a western comedy with a twist – a harsh critique on the American Dream – toxic masculinity and western ideals, dark and humorous. The moral of the story? Social ideals akin by the western culture don’t matter in the end when death comes knocking, pointing to the uselessness of all. Like Buster Scruggs discovered, you can’t be a top dog forever.
The endings to all six chapters are choking – apart from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, there also are:
- Near Algodones
- Meal Ticket
- All Gold Canyon
- The Gal who got rattles, and
- The Mortal remain
Yes, it is about death – all six, but still very relevant in today’s times and it makes one think.
Probably a strange choice, but it is on my bedside table nevertheless. It’s a big, heavy book providing much pleasure to the viewer, especially if you are into gardening, cooking, reading, eating and some other habits.
Many of you that have visited Babylontorin, will agree, it is a magnificent garden farm – obviously with a huge, carefully chosen staff, all masters in their own crafts, be it gardening, cooking, drying, whatever. And although not all of us have access to time and resources to this extend, the book however, remains fascinating. Ignoring the fact that they have several culinary experts, the recipes and idees they share are not only appetising, fresh (in more than one sense) but inspiring. It all seems so simple, yet so clever. They are generous in sharing recipes, approaches, new ideas.
If you haven’t been, this book is a great alternative and might keep you occupied for some time. Did I mention splendid outlay and superb photography? And although I don’t regard food as art (now, don’t get me wrong here) but this book and the compilation thereof is truly a work of art and fascinating.
Some reviews / overviews regard the book a story of Mothers and Daughters – hardly. It is so very much more. I thought the author having a good understanding about the complexity of relationships, the issues, the pleasures, the drives. Are the young not coached in casual hatred by the old? Think about it – what do we talk about in life? But there is also the misplaced or lack of loyalties and misunderstandings of children, fuelling hatred. More often than not, it derives one from pleasures and intimacies that could have been.
And then the myths…. childhood fears harboured for a very long time, which might develop into an obsession, like Old Mother, the world’s largest pike, or so Framboise believed. And when a river snake bit her friend, who died after a week, she embarked on a mission with serious dedication to eradicate all the water adders.
Framboise reflects on the year she had been a 9-year-old child, and resented her mother for many reasons, mostly not justified. When her mother passed, her brother inherited the farm, her sister, the mother’s riches and she Framboise got her mother’s recipe book and diary. Her mother had been an incredible cook, hard worker and raised her 3 children. Framboise embarked on a journey, eventually getting to know who her mother really was, her sacrifices, her yearnings – she marked certain life events with recipes, notes in the sideline, scribbles… Framboise bought the farm from her brother Cassis, who had no interest in the farm and through hard work and dedication, she built up the farm. When she returned to the farm, she had hoped to be anonymous, because of their past. She became a top cook, and gained a good name through her cooking – will her secret be discovered?
The author succeeds in introducing her characters in a short but complete way. She developed a complex plot and writes in a strong narrative. There are mentions of mouthwatering recipes, some merely scribbles.
Striking title – it encourages one to pick up and read further. Whatever the main character has done, sounds serious, maybe sensational. Some might be familiar with the author Lee Israel. She was especially known to be a skilled biographer and had been listed as a New York No 1 best seller, which later she said was not such a great achievement and that it only entailed a short mention somewhere in the paper.
This is an autobiography – cynical, brutal honesty, well researched content and humorous. In her own words, she never knew anything but “up” in her career. She had never been rejected, declined or ignored by publishers. She earned well, lived well and drank well, having no reason to believe that life could get anything but better. She had no experience of failure.
Good times do not last forever now, does it? So often it happens that one’s successes or acknowledgements, and recognitions become the one thing a person clings to, losing confidence in oneself, refusing to venture further, especially if it means a change of direction. What amazed me, is that everyone seemed to want to have their biography written – a desperate one last attempt to be know, to be immortal?
She had the traits of an excellent biographer, studying her subject intensively, habits, mannerism, weaknesses. Her methodology was impressive. Despite her brilliance as researcher and writer, Lee became fully dependant on liquor and soon were in dire straits, not being able to feed or tend to her beloved cat. She conceived an astonishing literary scheme that for some time had fooled many experts, creating hundreds of autographs with a flourish and sold them as memorabilia to dealers across the country. She got caught and suffered consequences. However, Lee remarked that these letters were amongst her best work, and I concur. She did extensive research, had a vast knowledge of her subjects. She could be mean, but she could be very funny! In 2018 the movie “Can you ever forgive me” was released and well received.
Her apology? “I betrayed some people whom I had grown to like, with whom I’d make jokes and broke bread. And in doing so, I joined to my dismay the great global souk, a marketplace of bad company and bad faith.”
A foreign movie dealing with the complexities of human emotions, pain and empathy. It was awarded an Oscar back in 2012, in short, magnificent, exceptional and humanist as defined by another critic. The movie remains relevant, and more so in today’s current climate. Daily we must deal with emotions, uncomfortable situations, and often seemingly impossible circumstances. Whatever provokes it, a child’s anger towards a parent, justified or not, loss, injustice, lack of humanity. We think we know how to deal with such, but do we? Are we equipped? And careful of the unexpected reaction, onslaught – it might catch you unawares.