How DO You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

day 14 - a non-fiction book

Again, I am not exactly sure how to interpret this subject.  I am not sure where I am supposed to go with it. And again, I will put my own interpretation on it, and I take it to mean a discussion of a non-fiction book I enjoy.

I have many books on the life and reign of Tsar Nicholas II and I enjoy reading them, exploring the history, especially one that is a collection of letters between Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, detailing their love affair in their own words.  For theirs was a true-love match, and that always seems rare in royal marriages.  And while I enjoy the books, and enjoy discussing the subjects, it is a rather esoteric topic and not one easily discussed with most people.  So I will save my discussions of Imperial Russia for a more appropriate audience and will instead talk about a more approachable book.

And given the recent 45th Anniversary of The Sound of Music, why not discuss one of my favorite autobiographies --The Story of the Trapp Family Singers?  The movie is big and sweeping, with great singable songs, and a love affair between Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, evil villains in the form of the Nazis and unlikely heroes in the nuns.  The movie is great.  The book is better.

It's a memoir told by Maria Augusta Trapp.  It goes into more detail than the movie and in the end is a better love story than the movie.  The book begins with Maria's time in the convent and ends when the family has immigrated to Vermont.  It's not a current bestseller, and I doubt it would be, even with the movie connection, but that does not mean it is not worth reading, and it does have a place of honor in my library.  This is one of the lovely situations where it is not an either/or regarding the book and the movie.  The movie works as a companion to the book, while the book is more in-depth than the movie.  Parts are the same and parts are different.  Both are enjoyable.  It is one of my favorite biographies and I will read it again and again and again, the same way I see the movie over and over and over.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Maria Augusta Trapp -- curl up with a classic.