Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Book Review

As I opened Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling my first reaction was that it’s a really heavy book. The target audience for Harry Potter has grown up during the years since he was first introduced while I’ve grown old during the same period. A book this size hurts my arthritic old hands, making it difficult sometimes to keep reading. As I’ve watched Harry Potter grow up, it seems that I’ve been growing old. Nevertheless, from beginning to end, this series has managed to hold my interest. The other morning, as I wept my way towards the very satisfying completion of this huge undertaking, I found myself truly sorry to have reached the ending. It’s hard to say much more for such a long work.

The book contains a great deal of exposition. As Harry hides from Valdemort and his Death Eaters waiting for something to happen, characters show up to tell him what’s happening. Here Ms. Rowling defies one element of fine writing by telling rather than showing. As her action sequences are still as strong as ever, and the characterizations of Ron and Hermione remain consistent, it seems strange she had difficulty getting out and having these characters do something. Another overused device is the nearly endless series of articles in The Daily Prophet by news hen Reeta Skeeter. This character has moved from being a rather amusing and nasty witch to a place of adding too heavily padded exposition. It takes this book several hundred pages to get untracked. After an early very effective battle and escape sequence freeing Ron, Hermione, and Harry to complete their quest, the book bogs down for a rather long period in which the past is reprised and the future set up.

Any reasonably literate reader will find recognizable themes and antecedents in the Harry Potter series. The tales of Arthur, Frodo’s quest for the ring, the world’s search for a Savior – these elements of our collective memory resonate throughout the Potter books. Ideas of sin, redemption, forgiveness, good and evil, and the search for finding a balance in our lives run through these texts and are presented in a way that allows adults to enjoy them and young people to soak them up and luxuriate in them. While some have said and written that the existence of a favored group of people who can use magic to affect the world is un-religious or anti-religious, I cannot see this. What I see is a set of characters who must deal with pride, arrogance, doubt, innocence, wisdom, and ambition and all the other human characteristics we must balance to lead useful and fulfilling lives. By creating a magical world in which the rights of the less favored and weaker are exploited by powerful and cruel beings who seek to dominate through the misuse of power, Rowling has provided readers with a huge amount to chew on. The message of overcoming evil through selfless love comes through loud and clear. These books can be read as political screeds, but that, too, would be a mistake. The Harry Potter books are not populated by Nazis, fascists, communists, liberals, or conservatives. Within their pages live characters who struggle with their own baser instincts as well as the evil around them.

In this final Potter book, Rowling has tied up all the loose ends and answered questions that have arisen throughout the course of the stories. I particularly liked her final explication of Snapes’ story. As friends have seen me pull out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, they’ve said things like, “I’ve heard rumors that Harry dies at the end,” and looked at me for a cue or clue to the way this book turns out. Well it really doesn’t matter, as the book itself triumphs. Even if you’re merely a Muggle, like me, the book will work its magic on you and on generations of young readers into the future.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is published by Scholastic Books in the US, and has a price of $34.99 which is being pretty deeply discounted at this time. Current price at Amazon is $ 8.94.

Erin Gibson LaClair Band

For the past three years, Christmas has not begun for me as the stores stock for the shopping season, or as we begin to purchase gifts, or even as lights spring up in the snow covered New England countryside. The event sparking off my own relighting of the Christmas spirit is a small concert sponsored by the Kiwanis Club in Ellenburg, NY. Here, Erin Gibson LaClair teaches second grade in Northern Adirondack Central School and gives a Christmas concert with one of the bluegrass world’s greatest backup bands, her brothers Eric and Leigh Gibson with their band mate Mike Barber on bass. We drove across snow covered Vermont, cutting through the mountains on I-89 and then ignored the GPS’s oft repeated orders to take the ferry to Plattsburgh, preferring to drive through the Lake Champlain Islands and to cross the lake at Rouses Point. From there it’s only a short stint to Ellenburg, a dot on the map a couple of miles south of the Canadian border. This part of the world is less than thriving, and the cold and snow don’t cover the costs of the dead agricultural economy which once existed in New York. Road signs pointing north lead to towns with French names in nearby Quebec.
As we entered the high school, we were greeted by elves wearing red hats and seasonal sweaters, now familiar faces to us as we were here for the third consecutive year. The stage was dressed with snowmen, red packages, and other seasonal decorations. The Gibson’s took the stage to the enthusiastic applause of the audience and kicked off the show with “Christmas is A’comin’.” It took no time at all to sink into the pleasure of hearing the familiar close harmony of the Gibson brothers enhanced by a lovely third voice perfectly complementing theirs. Erin Gibson LaClair, her hair darker than we’ve become accustomed to, has a lovely clear, clean voice which blends perfectly with her bothers, as only sibling vocal chords can. In addition to mostly secular seasonal fare, she selected songs by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Gordon Lightfoot, and others. She also sang “The Lighthouse” and, from their new album “Gone Home,” both of which she has recorded with her brothers. Particularly in “Gone Home” where she sang harmony, the closeness of their voices and her marvelous harmonies shone through. Her voice is clean and pure, her delivery unaffected, and her stage patter developing, enhanced by her brothers’ teasing. While Erin has chosen work and family over professional performing, it is easy to hope a Gibson Family album lies not too far on the horizon. The chilly outside world evaporated in the warmth of this family’s presentation. Eric’s eleven year old son Kelly made his surprise stage debut on the mandolin, ably playing “Whiskey before Breakfast” when Leigh fortuitously broke a string.

There was an interesting moment early in the second set that attests to the growing national stature of the Gibson Brothers. At such events the sponsoring organization often supplements the ticket sale receipts by sponsoring raffles, including a 50/50 drawing. Hilda Danforth, president of the Kiwanis, introduced this portion with a story. It seems that Kiwanis’ national dues enable the organization to purchase inexpensive event insurance. When Hilda called the national office in Indiana, she spoke with a woman who asked, “Is this insurance for Mel or the Brothers.” On hearing that it was, indeed, for the brothers, she joyfully told Hilda how much she loves their music, so much so, in fact, that each year she and her husband take part of their annual vacation to attend a Gibson Brothers performance.

Late in the second set, Eric and Leigh excused their sister, whose voice has not developed the endurance strengthened by daily performance, to perform a couple of their own songs. Their new CD, called “Iron and Diamonds” will be released by Sugar Hill in March or April. They chose to share two new songs from the upcoming disk. “Angry Man” looks at how much stays the same in troubled times when people are looking for something new. The song is clearly not political in a partisan sense, speaking instead to the general aura of disappointment and unease people feel in some of the directions taken being taken by our society and their feeling of powerlessness in being unable to affect the directions we take. The singer says, “I’ve been sittin’ here for a long time thinkin’ that the world would change. I’m older now but it’s still the same. Must we all fight ‘till kingdom come? I’m an angry man, am I the only one?” It also talks about the singer’s disappointment in himself at his own sense of paralysis. At the same time the song expresses hope rather than despair, a characteristic of Gibson songs.

“Iron and Diamonds,” the title track of the new CD, is a love song to the miners of Lyon Mountain. Lyon Mountain, up into the sixties, was a center of northern New York’s iron mining heritage. Men drawn from immigrant groups as well as long time inhabitants have enriched America through their toil in the dangerous and exhausting work of the deep miner, emerging only on Sunday for church and their afternoon baseball game. Adirondack sports, especially baseball and soccer, are notoriously hard fought, and the miners of Lyon Mountain won more than their share of games. The song pays tribute to their strength and dignity, as well as the importance of the game’s giving them an outlet for expression and freedom. “They dug into America, down a hole deep, dark and cruel…with pride and dignity…in the bleachers and the batter’s box, the miners could be free…A life of iron and diamonds was all the miners knew.” This sneak preview of these two great songs, with their haunting sounds can only make a listener salivate for the new CD and its seven new Gibson Brothers songs. The concert concluded with Erin returning for a lovely rendition of “Silent Night” and their encore, “Gone Home,” also from the new album, a traditional gospel piece.

We drove south into the looming Adirondack Mountains filled with the sense of having heard some of the best giving their best to the home town crowd. Does it get much better than this?

Candi's Pickin' Party

The winter solstice may be nearly two weeks away, but winter has seriously arrived in New England. Temperatures over the last few nights have been in single digits, the ski areas are open, and there’s natural snow on the ground almost everywhere. We headed up to Weston, VT for Candi Sawyer’s Pickin’ Party held at the Weston Rod & Gun Club. We drove through the lovely tourist town of Weston where the Vermont Country Store is located. As we drove past the store a horse-drawn wagon pulled by a large dapple gray and carrying a load of tourists stopped to let traffic pass. We pulled into the parking lot, already nearly full of cars with licenses from New York and New Hampshire as well as plenty from Vermont. Inside we greeted Candi, smiling as always, and spied a bunch of folks we hadn’t seen since the Jenny Brook Family Festival last June. It was like a family reunion. Even our son Alex managed to come over for an hour or so with the two grands, Anna and Luke, for an hour or so. While he’s only beginning to get into bluegrass music, he particularly commented on the strong sense of community he found in the group.

At the front a sound system was set up and several people were pickin’ and singin’ while most of the rest listened and ate. There was corn chowder, dogs and burgers, American Chop Suey (you figure it out), drinks, and brownies. A couple of gallon jars held money for the 50/50 and a couple of other raffles. People gladly paid the $5.00 admission fee. After all, the event gave us all a chance to get together, hear or make some good music, and support this delightful small festival held each June at the Weston Recreation Park just north of town.

Candi has been involved in bluegrass music since she was small. Her grandfather promoted bluegrass concerts at the Weston Playhouse for many years. She’s married to Seth Sawyer, a talented singer/songwriter, and together they’ve promoted the Jenny Brook Family festival for six years. The seventh edition, to be held from June 26 – 29, 2008 has a great lineup planned, but folks want to get together to pick a little sooner than that. Candi also publishes the Bluegrass Guide, a comprehensive presentation of all the bluegrass events in New England and large parts of New York for every summer. Candi’s story and the story of Jenny Brook have become an intertwined experience of courage, commitment, and perseverance that make the festival an even richer experience, extending it well beyond the high quality of the music offered there. You see, a few years ago Candi was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which has steadily weakened her body, making it difficult for her to walk, but has never eroded her optimistic and sunny spirit. Their son Mathew has had to undergo a series of surgeries to repair a congenital back malformation which is both painful and debilitating. That’s all a good deal for even the most courageous family to face. It also turns the festival into an event that in many ways has a spiritual component transcending the music itself and making the festival into a celebration of the Sawyer family’s strength as well as the power of bluegrass music to affect the spirit. But this whole experience is in no way maudlin, and Jenny Brook provides four great days of fun, fine music, and good fellowship. Candi’s parents and grandparents were there, too. The family environment permeated this day.

The music at the Pickin’ Party consisted mostly of local folks playing classic country songs and some pretty good bluegrass, but the quality of the music wasn’t the real reason for this get-together. Rather, the chance to be together as the days shorten and the snows come made it a fine day. Seth Sawyer led a group singing some of his own bluegrass songs ably abetted by Steve Hennig on banjo. Seth’s voice is one of the purist in bluegrass, filled with plaintive undertones and creating the high lonesome sound without ever becoming harsh. His love song to Candi, Green Mountain Girl, deserves much wider play. Steve’s inventive arpeggios on his Stelling provide marvelous backup as well as enjoyable solos. Brian Jiguere of the Cabin Fever Band played lots of guitar, some mandolin, and contributed his very fine voice to the afternoon. He sang the bands new song “Stone Soldier” to great effect. This song, about the statue of a Confederate soldier standing in a southern town square who cries one tear on the anniversary of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox is most affecting.

Perhaps the best part of this afternoon, as we look forward to a long, hard winter, was seeing the happy faces of people who love music joining together to turn this small building into a center for making music and sharing a good time. What else is bluegrass about?

In the end, it's all about the people and the music.

Eric Gibson on XM Radio

Eric Gibson spent something over an hour on Kyle Cantrell’s Tuesday afternoon show from the Country Music Hall of Fame on XM Radio’s Bluegrass Junction today. Since the interview was well publicized on the Bluegrass Blog as well as through the Boston Bluegrass Union mailing list NEBG, it may have had a pretty good audience. The program featured lots of music as well as a thoughtful and interesting chat between Kyle and Eric, with the Gibson Brothers’ bass man Mike Barber participating also. The Gibsons were in Nashville to complete mixing for their new CD, which will be released in March or April. While no cuts from the new CD, to be called “Miners and Diamonds” were played, Eric sketched out much of the background for some of the twelve new songs, seven written by the Gibsons, as well as talked about their approach to making music.

A little more than an hour into the afternoon’s music, Kyle played an older Gibson Brothers song, “Alone with You” from Long Way Back Home album of 2004, and then introduced Eric Gibson and Mike Barber. They chatted about the length of time since the Gibson’s last album “Red Letter Day” had been released in January 2006. Eric commented about the importance they place in not going into the studio until they feel quite confident they have put together material that is not only strong but fully representative of the kind of music they want. In the case of the new CD, titled “Iron and Diamonds,” seven of the twelve songs were written by the Gibsons themselves. He particularly spoke about the support they have from their record company Sugar Hill. He said, “The label’s been great to us. They told us to feel free to produce our own records. We’ve found a way to do it our own way and it seems to work.

Sam Smith – Kyle asked whether Sam Smith had been recorded earlier. “It was on one of our early CD with Hay Holler records, but Leigh wrote it and he was never happy with it. When we made Red Letter Day we went back to an old timey sound, slowed it down, and made it sound the way Leigh really wanted it.” The discussion segued to the band. Eric mentioned mandolinist Rick Hayes and fiddler Clayton Campbell and noted that the band has been together as a unit for three years. He’s very pleased that the entire new disk was recorded by the touring band with the addition of Jr. Barber on Dobro, and early member and important influence on the band as well as being Mike’s dad, and Erin, the Gibson’s sister. The closeness helped the brothers to create a disk capturing the immediacy and excitement of their stage performances. For this recording Eric and Leigh decided to record their famous duet singing live, face-to-face using a special microphone designed for such a purpose. “It’s not often that studio work makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck the way a song does on stage when it’s really on. The songs on this album do that,” says Mike Barber. Since each of the Gibson’s past three albums reached #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited charts, that’s pretty high praise. Kyle asked whether the new recording approach helped keep a sense of on stage spontaneity. “I think so…real live music, kept real,” Eric responded.

The conversation then moved towards the Gibson’s roots in the country north of the Adirondacks along the Canadian border where they had grown up on a dairy farm. Although their early influences were in classic country music, they discovered bluegrass when their guitar teacher gave them the Flatt and Scruggs Carnegie Hall concert. Kyle talked about the maple syrup Eric had brought to the studio and then quickly uttered a disclaimer about any influence it might have on studio appearances or, for sure, air time. There’s clearly no payola at XM. They talked about the amount of rural country there is in New York State and Eric particularly mentioned his enjoyment of the annual Labor Day weekend festival at Thomas Point Beach in Maine.

Eric spoke with passion and enthusiasm about the title song for the album, “Iron and Diamonds,” telling how the miners in Lyon Mt., NY came out of the mines and played baseball on the weekends, giving them a chance to play the tough, hard baseball they were noted for. Town baseball in the North Country was a central part of the culture through the middle half of the twentieth century. The great Dodger pitcher Johnny Padres came from nearby Mineville. Eric’s love of regional culture and appreciation for the tough men who mined for iron until the mines closed in the early sixties came through clearly. His enthusiasm for the new recording and appreciation for the subjects of their songs comes through in everything they say about their work as well as in their recordings and performances.

The interview offered truly interesting insights into the creative process of the Gibson Brothers. Eric, whose writing in the Gibson Brothers web site also provides thoughtful views inside the working and thinking of a top musician, came across as smart, creative, and delightful…just like the man we know.

The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin

THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THIS BOOK WILL BE NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF 2007 IN THE DECEMBER 9TH ISSUE OF THE BOOK REVIEW.
From time to time a book comes along that sheds light on big questions about “how things work.” The Brethren by Bob Woodward, written in 1979, pried open the doors on the Supreme Court to shed light on the Burger court and how it operated. The Nine, by New Yorker writer and CNN correspondent Jeffrey Toobin, does the same service in depicting the issues and personalities on the Court as it has moved from the relative liberalism of the 1990’s into the present generation of conservatism under the leadership of George W. Bush and his appointees Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel A. Alito. In taking on this challenge, Toobin has provided a fascinating glimpse behind the usually closed doors of the Court into the tensions and differences existing between and among the justices that work to clarify or muddy the world we live in.

Toobin places Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the center of the Supreme Court’s decisions during much of her tenure on the Court, citing her almost unerring ear for the center of the country’s mood rather than the high quality of her judicial reasoning. Thus she managed to hold together much of Roe v. Wade in the face of right wing pressure to overturn this insult to evangelical Christians and other conservative religious groups. Later she deeply regretted her position in Bush v. Gore as the Republican Party she so loved moved further rightward and further away from the Constitution in response the President Bush’s drive to battle against what he characterized as “the war on terror” and the errors of “activist” judges.

Toobin’s usually measured prose and careful discussion of the issues, as one might expect of a media personality educated at Harvard Law School, describe the movement of the Supreme Court from a generally liberal understanding of a changing Constitution responsive to changes in the country toward a much more restrictive and conservative view of the document as the nation’s mood moved further to the right. Of particular interest is Toobin’s discussion of how movement conservatives, those committed to radically moving the Supreme Court towards the right to achieve their goals regarding extending executive power, increasing the acceptance of religion in public discourse, ending racial preferences, speeding executions, and achieving their highest priority, ending legalized abortions by overturning Roe v. Wade. These changes were initiated during the Reagan administration, forwarded by the efforts of The Federalist Society, a group of conservative law professors at major law schools, and kept alive in right wing circles by two unlikely proponents Jay Sekulow of Jews for Jesus and Manuel Miranda (It’s not possible to invent a more ironic name for a major player in the move to the right!) who developed a vast computer-based mailing list to energize the conservative base. These goals of the far right were achieved with the elevation of John Roberts and Samuel A. Alito to the Supreme Court, creating a consistent 5-4 majority and quickly overturning many actions of previous courts, some having precedents going back over 100 years.

Whenever the secrecy of the Supreme Court is penetrated, court watchers enjoy speculating as to which justices made themselves available to the author. In the case of The Nine it isn’t too difficult to guess. It appears that Sandra Day O’Connor, feeling betrayed by the president her vote assured election in Bush v. Gore, speaks out as do, apparently, Justices Breyer and Kennedy. It’s also pretty clear that Scalia and Thomas had little to say to Toobin. Nevertheless, Toobin’s book is filled with insights into how the background and development of each justice has contributed to their court contributions, formal and informal. Other players, like Alberto Gonzales and Harriet Miers also are carefully, if briefly, considered. Altogether, the picture of smart people with big egos placed on a stage where their every word counts is both enlightening and concerning.

Perhaps the greatest attraction of this important book is Toobin’s marvelous skill as a story teller. His narrative is well structured, beginning and ending with a scene on the steps of the Supreme Court. His portraits paint the picture of a court claiming to represent the will of the Founding Fathers in their writing of the Constitution while reflecting the ebb and flow of politics in America. The Court stands as a lagging indicator, because justices appointed for life often outlive the national mood that led to their installation. The triumph of George W. Bush may lie in the longevity of his two appointments to the Supreme Court, but only time, as with so much concerning the Court, will tell.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin, Doubleday, 2007 costs $27.95 at bookstores everywhere.

Meet Dr. Tom Bibey

According to the “About Me” section of his weblog, Dr. Tom Bibey is a retired physician and semi-professional bluegrass musician. I’ve never heard him play the mandolin, but I can tell you he’s a heckuva writer. He tells stories about his adventures in bluegrass music with his band Neuse River and the assorted characters he picks with at The Bomb Shelter, a well hidden retreat for pickers. He also writes about his medical practice, exploring the ways in which his experiences impact both his life and music. Strangely, most of his medical posts can be found in the archive as “Philosophy.” I suppose Hippocrates was a philosopher, too, although he’s credited with turning medicine from philosophy into a profession. Maybe we’d be better off if more physicians were more philosophical. Anyway, Dr. Bibey is both and that’s part of what makes his weblog both fun and enticing. The other part is his cast of characters, including himself. Dr. B casts an affectionate and appraising eye on his fellow musicians, who include Moose Dooley, Darrell, and the Warbler. The story of Neuse River’s first trip to Merlefest, very early in the history of that great festival is a classic. It’s also a road trip I wish I’d been on. Another great story explores what happens when a newcomer to The Bomb Shelter isn’t well attuned to the nuances of this particular jam. How many of us have found ourselves in trouble by not having our ear open to local etiquette?

Early in the history of his blog, Dr. Bibey makes this invitation: “If you know any bluegrass stories I need to document for posterity, please comment. Now that I am retired, I view the documentation of the people’s music, and the exploits of memorable characters in bluegrass as one of my final missions on this earth.” I’ve taken his invitation up and sent him a couple of stories. I have no idea how he’ll use them. You can contact him through the comments section of his blog at the end of each entry.

The world of bluegrass is a small, welcoming, and wonderous community of people from a variety of backgrounds and abilities. Dr, Bibey brings sharp eyes and ears to his efforts as well as a warm humane world view leavened with humor. His writing is unusual in today’s literary world because it is almost without a hint of sarcasm or irony, just gentle humor. No known picture of Dr. Bibey can be found on the net or in my picture files.