Saturday 18 February 2012

Northern Exposure: Letters From Cecily by Ellis Weiner

Pages - 218
Published in 1992 by Mandarin Paperbacks

Dear Mom, 
Thanks for the pastrami. I know how inconvenient it is for you to schlep all the way down to Katz's from midtown. I mean I know you were in the City anyway for that matinee, but still. (If, God forbid, you ever visit me hear- AND DON'T. YOU'D HATE IT.GUARANTEED. - there's a guy you can discuss musicals with. He's an ex-astronaut, which means he's the opposite of Jewish. But you have Gigi in common. 


Goodreads Summary
CBS TV's Northern Exposure is a hit nationwide--and now, following the success of Pocket's Twin Peaks books, comes Letters from Cicely. It is a candid and insightful look into the world of Cicely, Alaska, where life borders on the eccentric and comforts are scarce. Features personal and private correspondence between the quirky cast of characters from the show. 
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If you used to love watching Northern Exposure then you will really enjoy this book. Written in epistolary format, you get to read all the letters the familiar residents send out to their families and friends around the world. For two months, the letter writing increased dramatically when the town found themselves continually awake for three months. No tiredness or need for sleep at all; every day running 24 without the hint of a yawn, creating extra time to do all the things they ever wanted to do. 

At first the residents enjoy their extra hours awake, but as time progresses they become like caged rats, all arguing and completely fed up with the sight of each other. 

Now I have spent the last couple of days since finishing this book trying to establish whether the events described in this book are actually possible and I can honestly say I haven't been able to discover the truth.  If anyone can enlighten me about sun spots and how they affect us, I would be really happy to discuss them.

One of the letters fascinated me, as it was written to Steve Jobs. Now bear in mind this book was written in 1992, it was astonishing to read about Steve Job's intention for computers and tablets (better known as Ipads now) to be an integral part of family life. I find it astounding to look at the present to see how his idea became reality. 

I enjoyed reading the book, it was lovely to see the character's true natures shining through in their letters. In my head, I could hear them reading the letters aloud. It really was nostalgic, to step back into the 90's and visit with such familiar faces.  My only niggle was that I had to keep looking at the end of each letter to find out who had written it. 

For me, this was truly a comfort read that took me back to a series I used to really love watching. For any big Northern Exposure fans, I highly recommend this book. It will have you reaching for the DVD's of the series to watch them all over again. 


3 comments:

  1. I really liked the show, but it was so long ago and I can't remember anything now :/

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  2. oh how cool, I used to watch both those shows. This sounds great.

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  3. I had no idea that there was a book related to the show. It was one of my favorite shows when it was on. I watched a few episodes last year via Netflix and was sad that they weren't quite as magical as I remembered, but still charming.

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