Ramblin' with Roger

Book review: Mona’s Eyes

“Schlesser’s passion for art is evident.”

My wife gave me the novel Mona’s Eyes by the French art historian Thomas Schlesser for Christmas 2025. A few months later, I asked her why. She thought it sounded interesting; I had not heard of it, honestly. Then, I was obliged to do a book review.

Mona, a ten-year-old schoolgirl – yes, she was named for the da Vinci piece – suddenly experiences a bout of inexplicable blindness. While the episode was temporary, her terrified parents took her to a physician.

The doctor’s examination found no physical cause of the event, so he recommended that Mona see a psychiatrist. Mona’s maternal grandfather, Henry, volunteered for the task. However, the art lover and expert eshewed taking her to the shrink. Instead, Henry takes Mona to various Parisian museums, hoping to help her appreciate the beauty of art, especially if she should become permanently blind.

Every Wednesday for a year, the pair visit a single masterpiece in one of three famed Parisian museums. Mona learns how each artist’s work shaped the world around them, with grandfather and grandchild engaging in what I’d considered a Socratic dialogue.

My initial difficulty with the book was figuring out how to approach the text. After the 20-page introduction, each six-to-eight-page chapter was a, for lack of a better word, a triptych. Part one is a narrative about Mona’s day, usually at school, at her dad’s shop, at the doctor’s office, or at home. The second part is, more or less, a page describing the artwork visited. Finally, the duologue between Mona and Henry.

Seeking an approach

I wondered: should I stop reading and look at the artwork to see how well the description matched? After contemplating looking at the pieces, I opted against it because I thought it would interfere with the flow.

I was very interested in the critical response to “Les Yeux de Mona”/ “Mona’s Eyes.” While it was a #1 bestseller on many lists, I found a lot of backlash against it.

One reviewer called it “an art history book that plays dress up as a novel… It’s too didactic to be entertaining as a story, and the art and discussions around the art are overpowering the plot, flimsy as it is.

“I feel that the plot was an excuse for Schlesser to showcase his knowledge about art… ending with an anticlimactic conclusion.” The ending was a bit predictable.

“What I liked. The concept of the book was enjoyable – short chapters, each focused on a specific piece of art, with Mona and her grandfather analyzing and drawing life lessons from them. Schlesser’s passion for art is evident. The way he describes the paintings and sculptures is vivid and really makes one see, with the mind’s eyes, what most of them look like in real life. The book also includes photographs of the artworks, allowing readers to reference and study them in (more or less) detail after reading the descriptions.

“The art and history lover in me also rejoiced at the trivia that Henry inserts into the conversations – bits and pieces about various artistic movements, about the lives of the artists, and connections between the various artworks in the novel.”

I totally agreed with the positive elements described.

OTOH

The complaints, and there were many, include “the plot felt forced and filled with insignificant details that did nothing to move the story along.” I was less bothered by this than some. Sure, there are threads in Mona’s school life that weren’t resolved. Nor was I bothered by Mona’s preternatural wisdom, if only because I bought into the mystical reason why.

The fact that Henry and Mona were lying to Mona’s parents for nearly a year was addressed, albeit obliquely.

I did have problems, though Mona’s dad was almost certainly an alcoholic, which he seemed to almost magically overcome when some tchotchkes he found at the curiosity shop sold; there’s a backstory about those pieces. And his new project suddenly brightened his outlook. In many ways, Mona’s parents were ciphers.

Here’s a piece from a Reddit feed titled, “Mona’s Eyes” is an outrageously repetitive art history book disguised as fiction (my manifesto).” A key paragraph: “Chapter after chapter after chapter. Don’t believe me? Read it. I can’t take it anymore. The fact that I’m expected to recommend this art history textbook disguised in clumsy fiction drag to innocent customers is crazy. Every time I do, I feel like I’m spitting in their food and picking their pocket.” Barnes & Noble selected the tome as Book of the Year.

Split decision

I’ve never seen so many one-star reviews with DNF (did not finish). I usually think that a one-star review without finishing the book is unfair, but I get it in this case.

Ultimately, I’m glad I read the book for the discussion of the art, which helped me see it in a fresh way. Incidentally, there is The Mona’s Eyes Reader’s Companion: Week by Week Guide to All 52 Artworks, Life Lessons & Discussion Questions by Claire Beaumont

But Mona’s Eyes is probably not a great NOVEL.

This is the basis of my oral book review at the Albany Public Library on Tuesday, April 14.

Sunday Stealing: Meme Schmeme – Part 2

friends

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Cheri is a blogger from the beautiful state of Georgia who didn’t often participate in memes but stole this one because “for whatever crazy reason” it appealed to her. We did Part 1 back in October. Now let’s do Part 2.

Meme Schmeme – Part 2

Complete the thought:

I LOVE TO have enough time in a day to do a little of this, a little of that. It is usually tied to playing CDs. I’ll write a blog post for one album, then wash the dishes and straighten up for another, then work on library stuff and bill paying for another. I might take a nap, or watch recorded television. As my late buddy Dustbury used to say, we are magpies, attracted to the next shiny thing.

Some recent albums played: Wildflowers – Tom Petty (Honey Bee); Robbie Robertson, eponymous (Somewhere Down The Crazy River); Guero – Beck (E-Pro); Surf’s Up – Beach Boys (Feel Flows)

I SOMETIMES will read three or four newspapers in a row because I get behind. There are usually stories, especially local ones, that I had missed online. And I like to read the funnies; yes, I could read them online, but that’s less fun.

I FEAR the loss of balance of power at the federal level of the United States. Congress took steps to push back against the executive branch’s unfettered war powers, then folded. “The high court’s decision to strip Haitians and Syrians of their protections from deportation had immediate ripple effects for immigrants and their employers.” And know that the Haitian aspect is racist – “they’re eating their cats.”

So far away

I MISS having friends around to talk with regularly. My besties are in Austin, Boston, and the Mid-Hudson. Or deceased. There is the telephone, I suppose.

I CRAVE a Porterhouse steak. It’s been years. Decades?

I CHERISH quality time with the kid, who’s all grown up. Every once in a while, she’ll let on that I didn’t totally wreck her growing up, including when we went out to dinner this past Wednesday.

I AM IMPATIENT WHEN I muck up something. I made an appointment to meet someone from a national library at my local library at 10 a.m. But because of my ongoing allergies/cold/flu, I went back to bed after breakfast and didn’t wake up again until 10:45. I am really annoyed with myself.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

#1 pop hits for 1 week in 1966

also, the Cash Box and Record World #1s

Here are the #1 pop hits for 1 week in 1966. These were on the Billboard charts, which is the usual standard I’ve been using.

BTW, here’s a clue from the Wednesday, March 25, 2026 episode of JEOPARDY in the category 2 “B” (each reply should have two letter B’s); it was the Daily Double, in the $1,000 slot. “The first issue of this magazine in 1894 was focused on advertising; music came later. ” The then eight-day champion Jamie Ding missed it, answering “Bubble,” and lost $1,000. But he won his ninth game anyway.

Lightnin’ Strikes – Lou Christie

These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ – Nancy Sinatra

Good Lovin’ – The Young Rascals. I did not know this was a cover until years later; I have this on a greatest hits LP.

Strangers In The Night – Frank Sinatra; also #1 for seven weeks AC

Sunshine Superman – Donovan. The Leitch songs I owned on a GH LP.

96 Tears – ? and the Mysterians

Last Train To Clarksville – the Monkees. I received a Monkees GH album for Christmas in 1980. But I didn’t know about its anti-war message until fairly recently.

Poor Side of Town – Johnny Rivers

Good Vibrations – the Beach Boys. I bought the Smiley Smile LP, largely for this song.

Lydster: Hampshire college graduation

“people who care deeply about the world”

17 mph Our Hampshire College graduation journey started with my sister Leslie flying overnight (Th/Fri from San Diego to Albany. Then, on the morning of Saturday, May 16, my wife drove the three of us to the Amherst-area college.

The first task was to get the tickets in order to sit under the tented area. They were in the daughter’s mailbox. Unfortunately, it involved operating a combination lock that I, Leslie, and a random woman I asked were unable to open. Fortunately, the college postmaster COULD and did. And we did need them because demand soared after news of the college’s closure.

In fact, Hampshire memorabilia became a hot commodity. The campus store was selling out of almost everything related to the college. (That included items such as this road sign, not for sale, that someone – not my daughter- purloined.)

I ran into a guy named Nate Wardlaw. He was the tenor soloist in my church choir a few years back. Moreover, he was my daughter’s music teacher for sixth grade. He and I asked essentially the same question: “What are YOU doing here?” His sister was graduating from the college; she and my daughter were not acquainted.

The daughter wanted to wear the kente cloth I own. During the procession from wherever, I handed it off to her.

The apparel for the processional was… eclectic doesn’t begin to describe it. Graduates wore robes of various colors or no robes at all. One outfit looked like a potato sack.

Crossing the stage

You can see the whole ceremony here, though you could skip the first 20 minutes. The awarding of diplomas starts at about 2:08.00.

OPENING OF THE CEREMONY: Mike Purcell, Campus Safety and Wellbeing Assistant, wearing an iconic plush frog hat

WELCOME: Jose Fuentes 05F, Chair of the Board of Trustees

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Javiera Benavente, Assistant Dean of Collaborative and Community Engaged Learning

CELEBRATORY ADDRESS: Jennifer Chrisler, President. A recurring theme of the talks was balancing the joy people felt at the students’ accomplishments with the reality that this would be the last spring college commencement at Hampshire. She saw the class as “people who care deeply about the world” and who are “willing to engage with it honestly, even when it is difficult.”

STUDENT MODERATOR: Tenzin Jobe 22F

STAFF TOAST: Mike Purcell, Campus Safety and Wellbeing Assistant. This, like most speeches, was quite entertaining. He led everyone in a chorus of Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name.”

FACULTY TOAST: Noah Romero, Assistant Professor of Native American
and Indigenous Studies

STUDENT ADDRESS: Samara Ternoir 22F. My daughter was pleased and surprised to be name-checked (at 1:24.00) for her Div III project by Samara, whom she did not know well.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: J Finley 00F, Associate Professor of Africana Studies,
Pomona College, Claremont, California. A very good address. She noted that Hampshire was “in [her] bones,” remarking that she figured to deliver a standard commencement speech and then wound up being “the voiceover in a Ken Burns documentary.” Burns is one of the college’s most famous alumni.

ALUMNI TOAST: Harrison Blum 01F

CONFERRAL OF DEGREES: Jennifer Chrisler, President and Gary Hawkins, Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean of Faculty

CLOSING OF THE CEREMONY

Afterwards

The daughter had a bunch of people to see after she graduated, including folks her mother and I met in April. Finally, we went out to eat at a Central American restaurant we have been to a few times.

Then to get her stuff, starting with her art supplies from the art building; we had to contact campus security because the structure was locked. Then to her dwelling to load two cars, my daughter’s and my wife’s, to the gills.

Carol drove Leslie back to Albany via the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90). Meanwhile, my daughter took the backroads, including US Route 20, in part because she had her bicycle on a trailer hitch.

At some point in rural Massachusetts, we saw an accident far ahead of us. A woman who was directing traffic sent us on a detour that took us a couple of miles on a gravel road, then onto a narrow dirt road where a pickup truck went off the road to let us get by, then back onto a rough but paved surface.

By the time we got home, Carol had taken Leslie to her hotel. We didn’t unload until the following afternoon,m with the exception of the bicycle.

Assume a lot of maudlin parental pride shared here. I’m not sure how much nostalgia she would feel if her college wasn’t closing in December 2026. As it is, she seems to be experiencing a bit of what I of…IDK. It’s not premature nostalgia because, even as she achieves her goal, there won’t be a Hampshire College to come back to in 20, 10, 5, or even 1 year.

The 2025-2026 Cap Rep/Proctors season

Theater!

Capital Rep I’ve been really bad about chronicling the 2025-2026 Cap Rep/Proctors season. Part of it is that there is often little time from seeing the production to the end of the run. The other factor is that when I see a play or musical I don’t love, it’s harder for me to write.

But now that the season is largely over, I’ll take a shot. Know that we had season tickets only for Capital Rep, but that comes with a crossover ticket to Proctors. And we went to one other Proctors show.

Becky Nurse of Salem, September 27, 2025, at 2:00 PM, Cap Rep. I liked the IDEA of Sara Ruhl’s exploration of history, literature, and feminism in juxtaposition with the Salem witch trials.

Becky (Brenny Campbell) gives a lecture to a school group at the Salem Museum of Witchcraft, but she can’t stick with the script and gets fired by her boss, Shelby (Briana Gibson Reeves).

She ends up visiting a witch (Kathy McCafferty) or hanging out at the local bar with her high school boyfriend Bob (James Joseph O’Neill), in each case, seeking advice. Meanwhile, Becky’s daughter Gail (Alexandra Szeto-Joe) is just getting out of rehab.

My wife and I liked the second act far more than the first, which was mired by too many scene changes that wrecked the flow. Act 2 was more mystical, metaphysical, and fascinating.

A killer show

Murder for Two: Holiday Edition on November 29, 2025, at 2:00 PM, Cap Rep. An eclectic group of characters arrives at an old New England mansion for the surprise birthday party of a celebrated novelist. But the novelist is killed! Who done it?

An eager young policeman (Anthony Norman) is tasked with solving the crime. He interviews the dozen guests (ALL played by Joe Kinosian, who wrote the music a decade and a half ago).

From Steve Barnes’ review in the Times Union: “Directed at The Rep by Scott Weinstein… ‘Murder for Two’ speeds along. Mayhem increases as the show progresses — kudos to set designer Czerton Lim and the production team for pulling off multiple special effects — and showcases Kinosian’s strengths in giving each of his dozen characters a distinct physicality and voice: An imperious angle of the head and an outstretched leg signal a ballerina’s presence, the writer’s niece flirts with the officer by peppering him with questions, the kids walk on their knees and wear the same hat differently.”

I thought it was hysterical. My wife liked it well enough.

Archduke on March 14, 2026, at 2:00 PM, Cap Rep. I wrote about this. Thumbs up.

Former royal?

Dodi & Diana on April 25, 2026, at 2:00 PM, Cap Rep. A married couple, Jason (Shaun Anthony) and Samira (Jessica Damouni), together for about a decade, spend three days alone in a Paris hotel room. This is based on the advice of Jason’s astrologer, who believes them to be “the astrological doubles of Diana Spencer and Dodi Fayed.”

We had to agree with Steve Barnes’ review: “Strong work from the actors, designers, and director cannot fully redeem a script that is at times tedious and/or exasperating in ‘Dodi & Diana,’ a play that’s neither as sexy nor provocative as author Kareem Fahmy seems to intend.”

Near the end, they do, sort of, become the title characters, but that was confusing as well.

Billy Shakes, shaken

& Juliet on May 1, 2026, at 7 PM, Proctors. My wife was given a ticket for the “What If Juliet Didn’t Die” jukebox musical. So I bought one, but we were not seated together.

The audience reaction, particularly in the front rows of the theater, was instantly engaged. By contrast, the guy sitting next to me hardly reacted at all until the second act.

Will Shakespeare (CJ Elder) thinks he has a big hit on his hands with Romeo and Juliet. But his wife, Anne Hathaway (Crystal Kellogg), thinks the ending is terrible. She suggests that he could rewrite it? Might she help him?

The saved Juliet (Fabiola Caraballo Quijada) decides that maybe killing herself over a boy she knew for “four days — almost” isn’t very smart. Since her parents decide that Juliet should “hie thee to a nunnery,” Juliet runs away with her nurse, Angelique (Kathryn Allison), and reinvents herself.

I liked it pretty well, particularly as the pieces started to fall into place.

Also, a book and a movie

The Outsiders, May 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM, Proctors. No, I never read S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age tale or its 1983 film adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola.

The story is narrated by 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis (Nolan White). Ponyboy gets jumped by a group of Socs (think frat boys) for seeing “Cool Hand Luke” at the movie theater on their side of town. We meet the Greasers: his big brothers, Darrel, forced to work after the Curtises’ parents died in a car crash, and high school dropout Sodapop; prankster Two-Bit; Johnny Cade, who is brutalized by his father when the abuse isn’t dumped on his mother; and Dallas, who has a police record to prove it.

There is also Ace, who my wife rightly notes was analogous to Anybodys in ‘West Side Story,’ but no particular function beyond being the token girl Greaser. In fact, there were a few WSS tropes, which didn’t bother me.

At the drive-in, Ponyboy meets Cherry, the red-headed girlfriend of the Socs’ de facto leader Bob. Cherry and Ponyboy bond over their shared love of sunsets, but this connection ticks off Bob.

Telling more seems unnecessary. It was a very good production.

Last up this season, Mystic Pizza.