LETTER TO STRONGHEART, ERROL MORRIS, AND WERNER HERZOG

I was watching an interview of Errol Morris and Werner Herzog together on some program, or perhaps together on stage in an academic setting, and Errol mentioned to Werner a book titled LETTERS TO STRONGHEART as a masterpiece in writing. I felt Werner dismissed Errol's recommendation a bit, but knowing how quirky and extremely intelligent Morris is I went ahead and looked this title up. Alas, the book was available to check out of my local library branch across the street so I hurried on over to get it. Glad I did.

Strongheart is a famous Hollywood celebrity. He was the first of the television dog stars. A precursor to Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, and the like. The fellow who wrote STRONGHEART was not the dog's trainer but his companion, the person the dog lived with. When the dog finally died John Allen Boone began writing letters to his beloved companion. The book follows the writer as he travels all over the world and writes letter to Strongheart explaining what he has seen and how Strongheart was always present in his thoughts and experiences. It was an interesting book but it grew tiresome for me about midway through. I wondered how the writer could maintain my interest for three hundred pages and he could not. Many times in these circumstances I will put whatever book down and return it to the library. But something stopped me from doing this. Errol Morris did. If this book had been recommended by Werner Herzog I would have quit on it pages ago. I know Werner Herzog. Hit and miss sort of guy. Puts enough work out there that something has to be good some time. But Errol Morris is genuinely weird. Not made-up weird like Herzog. Only the voice of Werner Herzog is interesting enough to take you through an entirely bad film. And sometimes the voice is frosting on the cake as in GRIZZLY MAN , one of Herzog's greatest works. But Errol Morris ordered all in listening distance to read this book. He called it a masterpiece. Problem is, I did not realize that ever. The masterpiece part. But it was a good book and well worth the time it took to read it.

Another piece of art that Errol suggested as one of the top five films of all-time was the 40's film Sullivan's Travels. A complete flop for me so I doubted my better judgment not quite to the halfway mark in plowing through this STRONGHEART title.

One interesting point about STRONGHEART is in the author's travels to Japan and China. The book was written in 1940 and about five years prior to the United States raining hell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the advent of the atomic bomb. The author talked about how enlightened the Japanese were and how peaceful and loving the country was in 1940. Another footnote to all this reading is it feels odd to read a book like STRONGHEART at the same time I am reading a book about the same bombing of Hiroshima titled BLACK RAIN by Ibuse Masuji. Frightening, and more reality than one can stomach in a day to be sure. The violence the Japanese inflicted on the USA and the violence given back in spades is remarkable. Reading STRONGHEART suggests inadvertently that this violence against each country could have been avoided somehow except for the fact that the book STRONGHEART is probably made-up. The fellow probably never even traveled to Japan. But it is striking how bizarre the reading is when put into historical perspective.  I made it to the end, and you should too.