I know, I know: I'm late.
Lot of writing in Gutiland, alas — but also lot of reading!
First off, gracias to everyone who was able to make it for our first Zoom gathering, where Macarthur genius comadre (and Guti's Fookin' Book Club member!) Natalia Molina talked with us about her great book, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community. Those of you who missed it? I forgot to press the Record button — OOPS.
It was awesome to meet people I know and don't, all united in reading. And ustedes aren't just reading the books I assigned — not even! Next week, I'm going to send off the list compiled by Comadre Connie of what everyone said is a favorite book of theirs — not a single repeat.
But now, the next book we'll be reading. But first, some music to reveal what we're reading:
Did all of you just grow a soul patch, like I did? OY VEY...
But, YES: We're reading about about the sinking of the Titanic. THE book about the sinking of the Titanic, Walter Lord's 1955 book A Night to Remember.
HWUT.
I saw James Cameron's version once, unlike my friends Gabby and Ceci, who saw it around 30 times. I've never particularly sought out Titanic info. But after reading Garrison Keilor's The Writer's Almanac entry on Lord's birthday way too many times over the years, I finally decided to buy A Night to Remember a few months ago.
Masterpiece. Powerful, gut-wrenching, brisk, humorous — and there's an unlikely Latino angle I shall reveal when we talk about it! Read it in one day — like, four hours. I couldn't put it down. You don't even have to know anything about the Titanic besides the fact it sank and Kate hogged up the plank and let poor Leo die to enjoy this book.
Twenty-eight years after the film's release, the sinking of the Titanic remains talked about by Americans. The OceanGate fiasco. Its continued degradation so deep down in the Atlantic. The New York Times did a story last month about how kids especially love to study it. I'll leave it to Lord (via Keillor) to explain what is it about the Titanic that continues to entrance so many:
The appeal seems universal. To social historians it is a microcosm of the early 1900s. To nautical enthusiasts it is the ultimate shipwreck. To students of human nature it is an endlessly fascinating laboratory. For lovers of nostalgia it has the allure of yesterday. For daydreamers it has all those might-have-beens.
So, buy the book from LibroMobile if you're in Southern California, or from Bookshop if you're too far from SanTana— a sale there will also help LibroMobile, one of the precious few Chicana-run bookstores in the U.S. and one of just two Latino-owned bookstores in all of O.C. Do NOT buy it from the Amazon beast, or I'll bury you in copies of the Left Behind series.
We'll gather June 28 at 11 a.m. on Zoom to discuss A Night to Remember. It's a fast, easy read — just 182 pages — so get to it. More emails to come, including our longform journalism pick for the month.
Gracias for your patience. I'll try to do better, after 37 more columnas I need to do...YIKES!
In décimas,
Gustavo Arellano
