Breaking the rules

I'm about to break the first two rules of book club, which are 1) you do not talk about book club and 2) you DO NOT talk about book club.

While book club isn't quite as, ummm, violent as fight club it does bring together folk of the same ilk. The ilk just happens to be reading instead of fighting. 

The Bibliobelles are a group of ladies (or should I say women?) that get together every few months to talk about, well, a book. The original group was formed in Toronto many years ago but when I first moved back to Montreal (before I left again and moved back a second time) I ran the idea of forming a book club by "the mamita," aka my mom, and we made it happen.

Over the years members have come and gone (with some going before they even ever came) but one thing has remained the same; the gender of book club members. We are all wo-men!

i think she's saying she's a woman

Since its inception, the Montreal chapter of the Bibliobelles has read, ummm, countless books including The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss and The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud, among many others. Most recently we read The Post-Office Girl, by Stefan Zweig (and translated by Joel Rotenberg) and met up at Alpenhaus to do what we do best; talk and eat.

A word to the wise. 

Should you want to try Alpenhaus (and you really should, because it's delicious) head to Groupon first. From the moment we walked in to the Swiss restaurant we were barraged with coupon-related questions... had we known (or been told) that Groupon coupons would have saved us mucho dinero, or das große Geld, we would have been sehr glücklich.

Seinfeld on reservations

But back to the book.

Zweig was widely considered one of the most popular writers during the years in between the two world wars and his works were translated accordingly. Despite this, I only stumbled upon him via Wes Anderson, director of The Grand Budapest Hotel, who credits the author with inspiring him for the movie.   

Gustave H, by the way, is Stefan Z

Because the hotel is so intrinsic to the book, and the movie, have a look at this featurette on its creation.

Exact and particular are two words that can describe both Zweig and Anderson. Zweig in his writing and Anderson in his visual aesthetic. 

The Post-Office Girl is divided into two very distinct parts and tells the story of Christine Hoflehner, a forlorn postal clerk in a small Austrian village who manages to escape her dreary life, for a short time, in an Alpine hotel (hence our visit to the Alpenhaus). The ending, which is very abrupt, suggests the book was never completed. Zweig, in fact, committed suicide along with his wife as part of a pact in 1942 and as such, probably never finished it.

In its final pages, The Post-Office Girl's Christine is torn between the past, the present and the meaninglessness of life as she is forced to decide on a plan that could end in her ultimate demise.

   

Wes, the Wilsons and (lest we forget) Kumar

I was introduced to the wonderful (and symmetrical) world of Wes Anderson in 1996 at the tender age of... uh, never mind.

I was lucky enough to interview him, along with the wonderful (and not so symmetrical) Wilson brothers, after the release of his (or should I say their?) first film Bottle Rocket.

I remember the day like it was yesterday.

I had seen the movie a few days earlier and really liked it. In fact, I remember thinking it was hilarious.

Anderson was an unknown director and the Wilsons (Luke and Owen) were nobodies (relatively speaking) so even though I was a little nervous about the interview, which I conducted for my illustrious university newspaper The Concordian, I wasn't completely overwrought by the fact that "Wes" was calling me from Los Angeles...

Fast forward to 2014.

I'm unknown - and a nobody (relatively speaking) - and if either Wes Anderson or the Wilson brothers called me I'd have a conniption.

But back to 1996.

I was at home, chillin' in my papasan, when the phone rang and I nonchalantly picked it up. After some brilliant small talk and a couple of insightful questions for Wes, Luke and Owen hopped on the line and I dazzled them with my journalistic cleverness.

That's how I remember it, at least.

Since then, they've all gone on to movie-making genius. I, on the other hand, have moved on from a papasan to an Ikea loveseat. 

Good times.

From The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited to Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson has created a series of brilliant, museum-worthy films with a distinctive visual and narrative style.

Not to mention symmetrical.

 
And then there's Kumar. Kumar is Kumar Valavhadas Pallana, an "Indian character actor and vaudevillian," who appeared in several of Anderson's films and, sadly, died in October 2013.  

 RIP kumar: actor, plate spinner, yogi

I couldn't tell you why, exactly, I love Wes Anderson's films so much. True, the actors he chooses are amazing, the music he selects is transporting and his aesthetic is simply incredible, but there's something more.

Like some strange coincidences...

The address of the family home in The Royal Tenenbaums was 111 Archer Avenue. The address of my store in Toronto was 111 Roncesvalles.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig. The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig was published by Pushkin Press. 

The name of my pop-up boutique was Pushk (short for Pushkin).

And then there's this... my all-time favourite movie scene ever!

by way of the green line bus

   

 

 

The wonderful world of Wes A.

I was lucky. When I was a university student, I had the great fortune of interviewing three then-unknown, rising stars: Owen C. Wilson, Luke Wilson and Wes Anderson. The occasion was the debut of their first feature film, Bottle Rocket. 
 

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 1996. I was living on Queen Mary Road, in Montreal, and they were living in Los Angeles. Suddenly, in the middle of the afternoon my phone rang and I - obviously - picked up.

"Hello?" I said timidly. "Hi, it's Wes, and Owen, on speakerphone."

Holy %$@&!

As the interview went on, I realized I, or they, were onto something big. "None of the actors in this film are well-known," said Anderson, "but some will be eventually."

No %$@& Sherlock. 

Wes, Owen and Luke are now, over 20 years later, very well-known indeed. Since Bottle Rocket, Anderson has made Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Hotel Chevalier, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel, to be released in 2014. The Wilson brothers have joined him on many of these, in addition to starring in their very own feature films. And let's not forget dear Mr. Kumar Pallana.       

What made me think of this interview, conducted so many moons ago, was my recent viewing of Moonrise Kingdom. Another peek into Anderson's fascinating mind, the movie features many of the images and themes present in his other films: maps, hand-drawn pictures, old movie-making equipment and, of course, children/adults that never grow up.

"It's like Charlie Brown's world," said Anderson back in 1996. "They always wear the same clothes and you never see their parents." The more things change the more they stay the same because the same can be said about Moonrise Kingdom.

After watching Anderson's latest, I had an irrepressible urge to watch my all-time favourite: The Royal Tenenbaums. Though I've watched it countless times, it makes me laugh, and cry, every time.

By way of the Green Line bus remains my favourite scene in a movie - like ever - and for me, is a visual and audio representation of true love. Gwyneth Paltrow acts the %$@& out of it without saying a word while the breeze in her hair speaks volumes.

Pure poetry.