Books 11-15 plus One Extra

I use to watch a show on PBS called Connections. It was hosted by James Burke and showed the interconnections between a past historical event to a modern invention or technology. I just am fascinated by the logic of a gives us b and b gives us c and c led to d. Simplicity in a complex world. I see it all the time within my own life, and now that I started to read a variety of books, I see it in how stories are developed or instigated. A similar concept to Connections is the Bacon number, based on the actor Kevin Bacon and his connection to other actors. For example:

Kevin Bacon was in Lonely Hearts with Laura Dern who was in Novocaine with John Travolta, thus the Bacon number for Travolta is 2

There is a fun website called "The Oracle of Bacon" which allows you to put in any two actors and find the connection. For fun, I tried Buster Keaton and Danny DeVito. Silent film star to short guy on Taxi. Amazingly, they have a number of 2:

Buster Keaton was in San Diego I Love You with Clarence Muse who was in Car Wash with DeVito

Connections, I think I like because it is very mathematical (or maybe somewhat statistical). But I wander off track, here are the latest books I have read in my quest to read some great literature with a few notes about each.

#11 One Hundred Years of Solitude

Written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Nobel Prize winner for literature. It tells the multi-generational story (seven I think) of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the town of Macondo, a fictitious town in the country of Colombia. It was written in Spanish in 1967. I had some problems with the names of the characters repeating thinking it was the Spanish, but I realized that confusion was intended to show that history repeats itself. Jose has two sons named Jose Arcadio and Aureliano, and these names are used over and over again. Even Aureliano, a Colonel in the wars, fathers 17 boys by 17 different women. All are named Aureliano. Confusing, but I got through it. I loved the book very much. When a novel is written about seven generations of a family, you can imagine all the connections that entails. Add some ghosts and prostitutes and soldiers, what a story!

#12 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Written by Mark Twain, this book was a follow-up to his book on Tom Sawyer. First published in the US in 1885, it is a wonderful tale of exactly what the title says, the adventures of the main character, as told by Huck Finn. Early on Huck leaves his home to leave an abusive drunken father. People think he is dead so slave Jim leaves too, being a great friend to Huck. They meet up on the Mississippi River and the adventures begin. The language is in the vernacular of the time, which can cause some problems while reading, but I was happy that the brain adapts. This story has a load of connections between people and the large river they all live on. There are also a few shady characters. I knew the story but did not remember reading the book. I am sure glad I read it.

What was funny was I had to go the the juvenile section of the Melbourne Public Library to get the book. I was hoping I did not appear as a pedophile. The ladies were very helpful in finding the book but the younger one kept having problems with the author's name, "how do you spell it? " T-W-A-I-N. Aka Samuel Clemens. I guess she did not have to read it in High School...

#13 Grapes of Wrath

Written by John Steinbeck, another winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is an American realist novel  published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California along with thousands of other "Okies" seeking jobs, land, dignity, and a future. On the road and in California, there are many connections between people and their situations. They are not wanted in California so must ban together to survive. The book does not have an ending. I guess that shows that the problems just keep continuing for some folks. Sad, but a wonderful and easy read.

A celebrated Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was released in 1940. Most of the things I knew about the story was from that movie but I didn't think I ever watched the whole thing. BTW, Henry Fonda has a Bacon number of 2.

Henry Fonda was in Yours, Mine & Ours with Tim Matheson who was in Animal House with Bacon

In Animal House, Bacon was the pledge being paddled who says "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

#14 Slaughterhouse Five

Written by Kurt Vonnegut, it's full title is Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death. It is a science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1969. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years to his time as an American soldier during World War II, to the postwar years, with Billy occasionally traveling through time itself. The text centers on Billy's capture by the German Army and his survival of the Allied firebombing of Dresden as a prisoner-of-war, an experience which Vonnegut himself lived through as an American serviceman. Although fiction, the book actually uses a few quotes from Vonnegut and he he lets the reader know it was him, the author, who said it.

Having time travel, of course there are many connections made through the time-jumping. The narrator begins the story by describing his connection to the firebombing of Dresden and his reasons for writing Slaughterhouse-Five.

A 1972 movie was made with Michael Sacks playing Billy Pilgrim, and has a Bacon Number of 2:

Michael Sacks was in Slaughterhouse-Five with Kevin Conway was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon

#15 Pride and Prejudice

Written by Jane Austen in 1813, it was her second novel. This was high on most lists of great novels but I moved it down to 15 because I assumed I would not like it. I was right, I did not like it but I loved it! Surprised by the connection to our modern world in that people assume so much not knowing all the facts. I do not think I would have survived the era but I would have been a professor of Mathematics and not visit the estates of the rich. Manners are important in the story and class differences play into the plot. Even the main character, Elizabeth Bennett, goes by other names including Eliza and Lizzy, and I never did figure if this was because of the standing between the people. Family called her Lizzy, familiar friends called her Eliza, and Elizabeth was used when it was formal. I guess I was trying to create some connections.

Keira Knightley played Eliza in a 2005 movie and she has a Bacon number of 2. I guess I need to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith's  in March 2009. It takes Austen's work and mashes it up with zombie hordes, cannibalism, ninja and ultra-violent mayhem. Now those are some weird connections.

Extra Book:  Big Sky

Written by Kate Atkinson in 2019. At the library, I was looking at the books using large print and recognized the author's name. I have and own three books by Atkinson called Life after Life, A God in Ruins, and Transcription. These three books are connected to World War II and the first two are about the Todd Family. I am glad I read this book, Big Sky,  because it introduced me to a character name Jackson Brodie who happens to star in four previous books. The first was called Case Histories which was turned into a BBC television adaptation starring Jason Isaacs as Brodie. You may remember him as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. BTW, Isaacs has a Bacon number of 2.