Songs with “sail” in the title.

Tune in Saturday October 19th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

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“Intermezzo”: https://t.ly/PviP_

Don’t run out and buy this book without reading the below!

Sometimes people see a headline and they take that as a ringing endorsement. This is a little more complicated.

In case you don’t know, Sally Rooney is the hot new Irish writer.

Well, not so new anymore. Her first book came out in 2017.

But really it was her second novel that broke her big time, “Normal People.” You may have seen the series on Hulu, which got rave reviews, it’s got a 91% critics rating and a 92% audience rating on RottenTomatoes. My inbox continues to field messages from people advising I watch it. I tried, I gave it about ten minutes, but I had to stop, because the series did not comport with the book, which was excellent. I recommend “Normal People” without reservation, go for it.

In the wake of “Normal People” I went back and read Rooney’s debut, “Conversations with Friends,” and the follow-up, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” which was also made into a Hulu series.

And those three novels are of a stripe. At least to the degree I can remember. Recent graduate books, twentysomething books, “Intermezzo” is something different.

So I was on a plane deciding what to read next, and after a couple of sentences I wasn’t in the mood for “Intermezzo,” not that that’s a put-down, it’s just that certain books are for certain times, they hit you in a certain way.

So I started “All This and More,” which has a fascinating construction, you make your own way, there are choices and you continue or jump forward in the book. And it’s highly readable, but I was wondering if it was highbrow enough. It’s 474 pages long, and my Kindle told me it would take in excess of twelve hours to read and…

Yes. I like soul-fulfilling books. Not lowbrow. Forget genre fiction…romance, crime, mystery… Occasionally crime and mystery hit me, but usually there’s a twist at the end and it’s unsatisfying.

And then there’s Kristin Hannah’s latest, “The Women,” which has not left the best seller list since it came out. I was so disappointed, I loved Hannah’s book about Alaska, “The Great Alone,” and I wholeheartedly recommend it. “The Women” was highly readable, yet at times skin deep and predictable, and when the Vietnam sequence was over… Let’s just say I didn’t find it to be empty calories, but close. But if you’re someone who likes to get involved in a story, especially if you’re a woman, this might be what you’re looking for. (And don’t call me sexist, I’ve yet to find a man who has read “The Women,” and every woman I’ve talked to about it loved it.)

And I gave up on Rachel Kushner’s “Creation Lake.” There was too much philosophizing by this character about the past, and not much happening, and then a friend sent me a scathing review, which said pretty much this, and I stopped twenty percent in. Primarily because the book wasn’t calling out to me, which meant I was scrolling social media too much instead of reading, I need a book that is the main attraction, so I’m not distracted.

But on the next day, on another flight, I decided to give the new Rooney book a chance. And I’ll say it was off-putting. As in it was dense. Paragraphs can take up a full page. And…

Perspective and timing can change in the middle of said paragraph. Meaning “Intermezzo” is not an easy read. Not as hard as “Ulysses,” but far from a breeze.

And that’s something that comes out in “Intermezzo,” the writing tradition of Ireland, and the drinking culture. You don’t have to be rich to be a star in Ireland, if you’re a talented, respected writer. And people are constantly going to the bar, not only for the drink, but the conversation. I miss those days, mostly nights in college, not that I want to imbibe, but arguing with the concepts, I’m always up for that.

But just when I was about to put “Intermezzo” down…

I got hooked on the insight.

Let me give you the outline, I don’t think it will ruin your reading experience whatsoever.

The father of Peter and Ivan dies of cancer. How do they cope in the aftermath, how does it affect their love relations, how does it affect their relations with each other.

In other words, there’s a lot of real life.

Rooney is throwing the long ball, trying to take a great leap forward, and although I won’t say she’s completely successful, she delivers what the music used to, the aforementioned insight.

You’re not going to know which way the wind blows by listening to today’s music. You’re not going to go deep into the emotions of a person in today’s music. It’s all surface. But in “Intermezzo”…

Do you hate yourself so much that you contemplate suicide?

Even if you’re never close to taking your life, are you ever consumed with self-loathing?

Do you think you can never be loved, because you’ve been an outsider all your life, never mind wearing braces today? But you still have desires, you still have crushes.

Can you not cope without Ativan or Xanax or… You’d be surprised how many people take these drugs to get by. They’re prescribed for anxiety. And they are extremely habituating, take them for a week or two and…good luck getting off.

And what are the dynamics of the family, is child father to the man?

And what’s it like being a member of a broken home, with your mother seemingly more enamored of her new, adopted family than her blood relatives.

Endless feelings are exposed. Endless questions confronted. Just like in regular life. We’re making decisions all the time, are they the right ones? And sometimes you’re convinced you’re right and you’re wrong. And are people to be trusted? And what looks like it won’t work on the surface…can it?

And not everybody is a star, not everybody is setting the world on fire. There are many people, anonymous to the world at large, earning a living. Where’s the meaning for them, for you?

So I continued to plow through “Intermezzo,” I gave up on “All This and More,” and I’m not sure I’m going to go back to it, since Libby has fed me more enticing books.

And I hate to admit it was somewhat of a slog. You’re reading a paragraph, which is nearly endless, and then you question whether you just tuned out for a second or if you missed something and you have to reread to figure out the perspective, the speaker, the tense…and this is frustrating.

Which is why I do not wholeheartedly recommend “Intermezzo.”

And the weird thing about these follow-ups by highly regarded writers is the reviews are excellent, effervescent, and you start to read and…you wonder if you’re the only one who feels the way you do, that it’s not that good, not that readable. Ultimately you have to trust yourself, but sometimes you continue reading because of the critical raves.

I really couldn’t believe “Intermezzo” was the book everybody was loving. It was far different from what came before. Once again, it was far from a simple read. Didn’t anybody else notice this?

Now there’s some brilliant insight in the book, and I want to quote a few words:

“She tries to extract from him some valuably hurtful information and he tries to conceal from her any aspect of his life in which he suspects she might gain a foothold.”

This was the last forty years of conversation with my mother. She probed, she wanted to know what was going on, and when I told her, she turned it back on me, and it felt so bad. Amazing how much power mothers have over children.

Which brings me to:

“Can the deep childhood impulse to trust one’s mother, to agree with her against oneself, ever be wrestled down by the comparatively thin force of reasoned argument?”

My mother didn’t dress like an adolescent, but she was the straw that stirred the drink, the driver of the social scene, and an expert on popular culture. And then I went to college and…

I learned she didn’t know everything. And on my first visit home, it didn’t take long to lock horns. You see my mother was not one to back down, to say she was wrong, assuming she was invested. On trivial stuff, sure, but if she cared…she was right and you were wrong, and she didn’t like you questioning her viewpoint. Which ultimately led to my first quote from the book, me withholding.

“But when I’m talking to you—I guess, to be honest, you seem kind of interested. And then I probably get carried away a little bit, wanting to tell you things.”

Something happened to me in the early nineties. I could no longer tell my story. I’d like to tell you I’ve recovered from that… I used to be effusive, in this way my mother’s son. But then…

I found out most people weren’t interested anyway. I’d be speaking on the phone and they’d be clapping the cupboard doors, talking to someone else, why go on? And then there are the people who tell a long story and you can’t really interrupt, so you surrender. Furthermore, if you are quiet, you learn so much, people will tell you anything if you ask them questions…

But, if you’re interested, if you seem to truly care, and I get that signal, you can’t shut me up. I’ll tell you details of my life, give you the history of skiing or computing, but…

If I see even a hint of distraction, I never get to this spot, I never amp up, I never marinate in the story, I stop.

“exhausted satisfaction after swimming”

That’s it! I’ve never seen it described so well. Our Little League coach told us not to go in the water the day of a game, because it would tire us out.

And just last week I had an amazing idea I was going to lay down on the computer but then we all went to the beach and when I got back, all I could do was lay on the bed, useless, but happy.

“Did you ever try to play a game with a child, and they start laying all their toys out exactly where they want them. And they’re making up all these rules, and they get annoyed if you don’t follow along. That’s you. That’s actually how you treat people.”

It’s the first part of this passage that wowed me. Because I’ve lived this numerous times and never discussed it with anyone, never mind seeing it written down. There’s a certain age where kids do this, before their imagination is killed by schooling, it’s amazing to watch. As for the latter part, the behavior of the character…I know too many people like this. Who insist you live in their world by their rules.

So that’s just a taste of “Intermezzo.”

Why am I writing about it?

First and foremost because it’s such a hot book. I wanted to give you my take. I don’t want you running out and buying it and expecting “Normal People.”

But I also wanted to convey that Rooney is getting to the essence, which is too often overlooked in popular art. They want to make it palatable. We’ve heard all the stories, about movie and TV executives wanting to change things, sometimes the heart of the story, because they think the general public won’t approve. And today’s music is about removing the edge, at the same time believing the edge is still there! The more you compromise, the more you lose the edge. The vision is important, the vision is key. Film and television are collaborative arts, music is not. And when it is…you get product, you have commerce, but you don’t affect and change lives, which is the true power of artistic endeavors.

Think about that… If you’re not going to change someone’s life, make them identify, feel so not alone, why are you even starting? Why do you think people are going to want to hear your tunes? And changing someone’s life can be just a riff, or it can be lyrics, but sans this…

Which is why Berklee students don’t dominate the charts. Because you can guide people a little, but artists are more born than made. It comes from perspective. You see things a little bit differently. You’re driven to express your viewpoint. Which is why you rarely find a football captain or head cheerleader making a world-shaking record. They don’t need it. They’ve already got what the artists want, to be understood, and even more, included.

And there was some interview with Sally Rooney in the “New York Times” that drove headlines elsewhere and made it look like Rooney had an edge and I…ultimately gave up reading it.

Everything Rooney has to say is in her books. You don’t get Bob Dylan explaining his work. That’s part of the essence, the listener dives in, analyzes and makes it their own.

But you’ve got to feed the starmaking machinery in the popular culture…

So I have no idea who Sally Rooney really is. And I don’t have a need to find out. But you don’t lay all this down if you’re not an observer, if you’re going through life with blinders, willy-nilly, from one interaction to another, never thinking about it.

A life of contemplation…

Most people say it doesn’t pay.

But that’s really what life is all about, contemplation, trying to make sense of your life and the world.

And a good artist guides you.

Once again, pick up “Intermezzo” at your peril. Sometimes I recommend slam dunks, this is not one. You’ve got to dedicate yourself, put in the time. And I won’t say the ending is so satisfying, but that’s a very small part of the book.

But before that…

Rooney rings the bell of life.

What more can you ask for?

Not much.

Scroll down to “Fandom Subletter” and click on “Listen Now”: https://themoth.org/radio-hour/lo-and-behold

I’m burned out on politics. And I don’t think I’m the only one. They keep on talking about Trump and Harris, writing reams of copy, and I’m not sure any of it moves the needle. As a matter of fact, many people I know have already voted, never mind the fact that I can’t find a single undecided voter.

Not that I can find a non-news podcast that intrigues me, that I’m addicted to. I can’t listen to Kara Swisher kiss ass and claim to know everybody in tech anymore. And true crime…been there, done that.

So I pulled up the Moth.

Not that every story has a satisfying ending. But it’s reality, humanity, and it roots me in what really counts, life.

And I’m listening to this episode and there’s a fascinating story about a fortysomething woman adopted from Korea as a child who ultimately finds out not only does she have a whole findable family in Korea, she’s got a twin sister! Pretty intriguing, since my significant other is a twin.

And then the next story starts and…

It’s all about fake #1s. About an article that states the BTS Army makes their favorite act’s albums go straight to the top of the chart even though most people are not fans and don’t even know the music.

And this guy talking, Paul Chin, tweets to the writer of this article, saying every #1 is manipulated and then…

The BTS Army adopts him, supports him.

Chin is a wannabe artist. Scratch that, he’s an artist who wants to give up his day job. He’s trying one more time, and if he doesn’t succeed, he’ll give up his music career.

And…

This is the power of social media. This is why you weigh in. Because you never know when you’ll get lucky.

This episode does not load quickly, but ultimately it will load. Or you can pull up the episode in your podcast player of choice, it’s entitled “Lo and Behold,” and was published on 10/15/24.

It’ll make you think. Make you feel warm inside.

And educate you all in the same process. 

Okay, it’s all right for America to invade Iraq on false pretenses and kill up to a million people, but when Israel responds to an attack and there are tens of thousands of collateral deaths they’re a pariah.

Actually, how many people really died?

Well, you can go to the Wikipedia page “Casualties of the Iraq War”: https://t.ly/wM8Os and see the count varies from 151,000 violent deaths to the aforementioned million. As for how many civilians have actually been killed in Gaza? The figure proffered has been done so by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, and the number is 41,802 Palestinians as of October 4th: https://t.ly/lG0mx Is that an accurate count? How many of these people were civilians and how many soldiers? And let’s not forget fighting an enemy based in tunnels is very different from what was going on in Iraq.

But those damn Jews.

This is a great example not to listen to conventional wisdom, not to cower and cave to pressures from the ignorant and those with a different agenda.

Is Netanyahu staving off a jail sentence? Possibly, but that’s got nothing to do with the war in Gaza. It’s just another way of undercutting the Israelis/Jews, who are now conflated into one, just try being a run-of-the-mill Jew on a college campus, good luck.

So what are all those pro-Palestinian protesters going to say now? Are they going to double-down and defend Sinwar? Well, I didn’t hear these same people or their forebears upset with the U.S. for taking out Osama bin Laden.

All we’ve been hearing for a year is the Israelis must pull back, that the war in Gaza is unwinnable, that you can’t eliminate Hamas and there is too much collateral damage. But when wars are waged elsewhere, there’s silence. What’s the difference? These are JEWS!

It’s in the news every day. This antisemitic attack, that one. Here in the U.S! And if Jews are different from Zionists, if there’s a line between them as so many say, what accounts for this uptick, no this tsunami of antisemitism?

This is me. This is you, the rest of the Jews. This has got nothing to do with Democrat or Republican, Harris or Trump. This is living in these United States today. We may not have a different skin color, but we control the media, the weather, we have space lasers… We are the enemy. People hate us. We are the other.

And we’re supposed to kowtow to the pretenses, the beliefs, the instructions, the demands of the mainstream.

That’s what we’ve been hearing for our entire lives, we are LOUD-MOUTHED JEWS! We’ve got to shut up, be quiet. They don’t want to destroy the culture of the Italians or the African-Americans or seemingly any other ethnic group, but Jews are constantly told to conform.

And when we try to, and so many of us do, it doesn’t work anyway.

Antisemitism creeps to the highest levels. Good luck getting into certain country clubs, certain organizations. Oh, they have a token Jew, a token female, a token Black to get the government off their back, but believe me, they hate the Jews, they want nothing to do with them.

So, Israel fights for a year and gets the head guy, the mastermind, that’s how long it took. The same guy who wanted an endless war until Israel disappeared, that’s what the River to the Sea means.

And if just a little bit of Hamas was left, they would consider it a victory. And Israel is just supposed to lay down arms? When Hamas used all this aid to build tunnels as opposed to feed the people? And do you think these fighters are stupid? They intentionally built strongholds beneath hospitals and homes, knowing that the world would freak out if Israel retaliated. Have you read about all the homes in Lebanon where arms are stored? Yup, imagine having some missiles in your living room, that’s not a fantasy in Lebanon.

So despite all the pressure, from the governments, from the media, Israel stayed the course. Because that’s what it takes to win, to achieve victory. Everything worth doing is hard. But, once again, the Jews are hamstrung, they should not be allowed to fight, not even with one hand behind their back.

And all the propaganda put out by Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran is believed without analysis, whereas everything the Israelis do is pored over in detail, delineated and decried.

So what do you say now?

That’s what I want to know, what do all those pro-Palestinian people say now?

But look at how rich Israel is!

Do you think money grows on trees? Are they not entitled to the fruit of their labor?

But look at how much money the U.S. gives Israel!

Sans Iran Hamas and Hezbollah are out of business.

It’s a double standard I tell you.

They want us to retreat to what once was. With our own clubs, our own universities, our own communities. They want us quiet and out of the way. They don’t want to be replaced by us, isn’t that what they said in Charlottesville?

I’m not going to sit here and tell you I approve of everything Israel does. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I approve of everything every Jew does. Unfortunately, we’ve got bad actors amongst our tribe, however much it pains us.

But thank god we’ve also got people who stand up for what is right.

For the past twenty years especially, we’ve been subjected to this pro-Palestinian nonsense. Israel bad, Palestinians good. To the point where even Jews are parroting this b.s., for fear of being ostracized, excluded.

Am I saying there are no good Palestinians?

OF COURSE NOT!

Am I going to sit here and tell you the West Bank is a paradise?

NO!

But it’s not black and white. It’s complicated. And the bottom line is the Palestinians don’t want to leave the Israelis alone. If you think if Israel pulled out of Gaza and the West Bank there would be no problems… You don’t know that Israel already pulled out of Gaza…and look what happened!

Do I have sympathy for the injured, the dead, the collateral damage?

Yes. But this is war. And Hamas attacked first. Broke a ceasefire.

But all we keep hearing is Israel must bend over backwards.

And by writing this I cement my place on the wrong side of the fence. By speaking up I am excoriated. Don’t I know this is not the leftist position? Well, is that how it is, a litmus test? You must be pro-Palestinian to be a Democrat?

And if you think the Republicans care about Israel and the Jews…if they do so at all, it’s only because the land is the birth of Christianity.

No, we’re alone. Condemned by all.

Not the only outside group, but hated for millennia. Hell, we were on the land first and we’re still not entitled to it. They just gave beach property back to Blacks in Southern California, but the Jews aren’t entitled to their homeland.

And my e-mail tells me not to equate Blacks with Jews. But all I can say to this is… What did Ye have to say about the Jews? And he’s not the only one!

Don’t bring up false equivalencies to try and make me blink and shut up. All my life I’ve been the other. I brought salami on rye bread to a construction site and they made fun of me. I could list a litany of misdeeds, mistrust, put-downs…but all I’m told is to STFU!

Yes, I’m happy today. Not only because Sinwar was taken down, but because this war is now closer to ending. This is what it took. Nothing short of this was going to work. And let’s not forget, the Israelis coughed up Sinwar and 1,026 other Palestinians in exchange for just one Jew back in 2011. That’s how the game works. Or maybe you could just say that Israel values life more than Hamas, is not willing to sacrifice it willy-nilly.

Am I going to defend everything Netanyahu and the Israelis have done?

OF COURSE NOT!

But I’m not going to defend everything the U.S. had done either.

And if we Jews don’t stand up for our identities, our truth, it will be run right over and snuffed out, we will become even bigger pariahs. In a world where the truth is elusive. Where even a hurricane is subject to conspiracy theories, what chance do the hated Jews have to be accepted at face value, to be given the benefit of the doubt?

NOT MUCH!

I don’t want more than you’ve got. I just want the same. And I know this will never be. But if you expect me to lay down and take it, to be quiet, to go with the flow…

YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING!