Aaah - opening a book by Grafton is like sinking into a comfy chair with your feet up. I love Grafton and her newest book is up to and beyond her best. It employs a device - going back and forth between the present and the past in alternating chapters - that can be confusing and/or annoying. In this case there may be a feeling of confusion/disorientation at first - but it becomes more and more interesting as the book progresses. I finished it with a feeling of sadness - for both the innocent and the guilty - an almost unheard of reaction to the 'bad guys' in any book.
There are only five more letters in the alphabet. What in the world will she do with 'X'? A crime takes place within Xerox? A murderer who plays the xylophone? (I'm getting goofy here). And what about when the series finishes with 'Z'? Will the author stop writing and rest on her laurels and her bank account? If so, she will be sorely missed.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Books waiting to be reviewed:
I've been back on a mystery reading spree - a respite from some of the 'heavy lifting' reading I've been doing. For pure relaxation, there's nothing like a good mystery by a favorite author. I've read "Borderline" by Nevada Barr and "U is for Undertow" by Sue Grafton and they are in line for review and I'm reading "The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest" now. I'm always skeptical of 'best sellers' but the latter has grabbed me by the throat and won't let go!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Lives Like Loaded Guns by Lyndall Gordon
Until I read this book, I knew virtually nothing about Emily Dickinson other than the fact that she was a reclusive, 19th century poet whose work was highly acclaimed. Now - thanks to Gordon - I know a lot more.
Like most biographers of long dead subjects - especially one so reclusive - there is much supposition and detective work involved in the biography. Curiosity aroused by the book led me to research Dickinson on Wikipedia where I found a very lengthy essay about her life and poetry. Much of it correlated with Gordon’s work, naming people & incidences familiar from the book.
Some salient facts: Emily Dickinson was plagued by unnamed periods of ill health throughout her life. Gordon makes a good case for epilepsy - which would have qualified as a reason for her mysterious withdrawal from society, especially if the seizures became more frequent. Her family largely recognized her genius early on and did not discourage her. I suppose poetry was deemed a satisfactory pursuit for a genteel Victorian lady.
It is about half way through the book, after Emily’s death, that things take a dramatic and quite lurid turn. It seems that the entire family 'took a viper to its bosom' in the lovely form of one Mable Loomis Todd, who proceeded to seduce the entire family with her charm and finally – literally – seduce Emily's brother. The feud between the brother’s wife and children and her brother and his mistress and her family was long and bitter and its effects proceeded well into the twentieth century. What is amazing is that Emily’s work survived. It had been parceled out into caches in the custody of the various warring factions - some of it unavailable until decades after her death. I would assume that only the hope of great financial rewards kept it from destruction. Most of the poems that did come to light were heavily edited to conform to prevailing notions of proper form and the poet’s intentions were circumvented till much later editions published from the original copies. This would have been a formidable project since the poet wrote her poems on any scraps of paper she happened to pick up. Only a few had any form of organization.
Gordon’s scholarly treatment and research are thorough but two things make it a bit of a dense ‘read’. In the early portions of the book, the author seemed to frequently lapse into language that would be used by educated mid-19th century women. Perhaps she experienced what I call the ‘Immersion Syndrome’. It may have been a total immersion in the era that inspired the author’s language, particularly since she often quotes lines from Dickinson's poems and letters. Toward the end of the book, the account of the machinations of the many various competing factions seeking control of Dickinson’s papers tends to become repetitious. Certainly, by its nature, it was complicated - many different groups and personalities were involved.
As an account of the manners and mores of the era and in its account of Emily Dickinson’s life, I found the book interesting and thought provoking and would recommend Lives Like Loaded Guns.
Like most biographers of long dead subjects - especially one so reclusive - there is much supposition and detective work involved in the biography. Curiosity aroused by the book led me to research Dickinson on Wikipedia where I found a very lengthy essay about her life and poetry. Much of it correlated with Gordon’s work, naming people & incidences familiar from the book.
Some salient facts: Emily Dickinson was plagued by unnamed periods of ill health throughout her life. Gordon makes a good case for epilepsy - which would have qualified as a reason for her mysterious withdrawal from society, especially if the seizures became more frequent. Her family largely recognized her genius early on and did not discourage her. I suppose poetry was deemed a satisfactory pursuit for a genteel Victorian lady.
It is about half way through the book, after Emily’s death, that things take a dramatic and quite lurid turn. It seems that the entire family 'took a viper to its bosom' in the lovely form of one Mable Loomis Todd, who proceeded to seduce the entire family with her charm and finally – literally – seduce Emily's brother. The feud between the brother’s wife and children and her brother and his mistress and her family was long and bitter and its effects proceeded well into the twentieth century. What is amazing is that Emily’s work survived. It had been parceled out into caches in the custody of the various warring factions - some of it unavailable until decades after her death. I would assume that only the hope of great financial rewards kept it from destruction. Most of the poems that did come to light were heavily edited to conform to prevailing notions of proper form and the poet’s intentions were circumvented till much later editions published from the original copies. This would have been a formidable project since the poet wrote her poems on any scraps of paper she happened to pick up. Only a few had any form of organization.
Gordon’s scholarly treatment and research are thorough but two things make it a bit of a dense ‘read’. In the early portions of the book, the author seemed to frequently lapse into language that would be used by educated mid-19th century women. Perhaps she experienced what I call the ‘Immersion Syndrome’. It may have been a total immersion in the era that inspired the author’s language, particularly since she often quotes lines from Dickinson's poems and letters. Toward the end of the book, the account of the machinations of the many various competing factions seeking control of Dickinson’s papers tends to become repetitious. Certainly, by its nature, it was complicated - many different groups and personalities were involved.
As an account of the manners and mores of the era and in its account of Emily Dickinson’s life, I found the book interesting and thought provoking and would recommend Lives Like Loaded Guns.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Another Book Christmas!
For me: Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff; Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris; Lives Like Loaded Guns - Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds...
For Dwight: Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre & Atlantic by Simon Winchester
Plus of course - gift cards for Barnes & Noble that haven't been used yet! Whee....!
I have started Loaded Guns & will soon be discussing it here.
For Dwight: Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre & Atlantic by Simon Winchester
Plus of course - gift cards for Barnes & Noble that haven't been used yet! Whee....!
I have started Loaded Guns & will soon be discussing it here.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Ah - nothing can replace the bookstore - not even the internet in all its depth and breadth. Book stores smell good; the choices are endless, the arrangements enticing. It's like being part of a private club. Especially enticing are the bargain book tables.
At any rate, that's how I came upon this wonderful book; buy two - get one free. (Yes, I admit I'm a sucker for that selling ploy). I saw a book by a favorite author, picked up another that sounded interesting and chose this as the distant third. I'm interested in history and am acquainted with the basic facts about Theodore Roosevelt, but not his post-presidency South American exploration.
His journey on the River of Doubt was unbelievably harrowing. It was ill planned in the first place, undertaken during the rainy season and the only experienced explorers were the South American officer in charge and the 'camaradas' - or porters. Roosevelt's immediate party was composed of his son Kermit and various friends and associates who were completely unprepared for the hardships they would face.
Who knew the book would be a real 'page turner'. The author describes the environs, the dangers, the hardships of the jungle and river in great detail: man-eating fish, poisonous snakes and irritable natives armed with poison tipped arrows, to name a few - plus the ever present danger of drowning in the numerous rapids and waterfalls they encountered and even - a murder. It is amazing that most of the men survived and only with the most heroic effort. Roosevelt survived but his health was broken. He never regained his former vigor.
At any rate, that's how I came upon this wonderful book; buy two - get one free. (Yes, I admit I'm a sucker for that selling ploy). I saw a book by a favorite author, picked up another that sounded interesting and chose this as the distant third. I'm interested in history and am acquainted with the basic facts about Theodore Roosevelt, but not his post-presidency South American exploration.
His journey on the River of Doubt was unbelievably harrowing. It was ill planned in the first place, undertaken during the rainy season and the only experienced explorers were the South American officer in charge and the 'camaradas' - or porters. Roosevelt's immediate party was composed of his son Kermit and various friends and associates who were completely unprepared for the hardships they would face.
Who knew the book would be a real 'page turner'. The author describes the environs, the dangers, the hardships of the jungle and river in great detail: man-eating fish, poisonous snakes and irritable natives armed with poison tipped arrows, to name a few - plus the ever present danger of drowning in the numerous rapids and waterfalls they encountered and even - a murder. It is amazing that most of the men survived and only with the most heroic effort. Roosevelt survived but his health was broken. He never regained his former vigor.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
On Procrastination...
They called Ronald Reagan 'the great communicator. I am 'the great procrastinator. I've read many books since my last entry here - so many I've made a list. One of the more recent is....
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
No - it's not about werewolves nor is it a Gothic novel. This book won the 2009 Man Booker award and has had great critical praise. Neither factor attracted me. It was the subject matter - the reign of King Henry the VIII of England. Actually, the book is about Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Cardinal Wolsey who had the bad luck of dealing with Henry in his quest for a 'proper' annulment from Queen Katherine.
In the front of the book are several pages of formidable family trees of Brit royalty. After that 'royal' start, the book opens with bang - a graphic scene of Thomas Cromwell as a boy, being beaten by his drunken father. After that brief 'section I' - we are picked up at the start of Section II and set down in the English court some 30 or more years later. What happened in the interim is mentioned only in vague terms with no explanation of how the son of an drunken blacksmith wound up in the corridors of power.
It helps to have some knowledge and understanding of the era and since I've read reams - biographies, novels - about the reigns of Henry and his daughter Elizabeth, I had an advantage. I know the Boleyns; the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk referred to are familiar - their intrigues and aspirations. The English court of the era was pretty messy. The clergy also were very powerful and rich, plotting with the best (or worst) of the court.
All this makes the plot sound dense and inaccessible - but it's not. The reader will sort of 'live' in Cromwell's head. The sense of 'being there' - of eavesdropping - is strong. The prose is quite poetic and that's nice but I read for content. The beauty of a well turned phrase is a bonus. One 'nit' to pick. Mantel is a bit obscure when she identifies people who are conversing. I was thrown off balance any number of times by the fact that, in conversations, she uses the word 'he' instead of the speaker's name. There were times when I didn't know who was saying what and had to come to a screeching halt while I backtracked to identify the speaker.
By the way, the 'Wolf Hall' of the title is only alluded to - it is apparently the 'lair' of the Seymours, one of whom becomes the wife of Henry VIII, following Anne Boleyn. I've read that a sequel to this book is in the works in which I would guess that Wolf Hall becomes more prominent.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
No - it's not about werewolves nor is it a Gothic novel. This book won the 2009 Man Booker award and has had great critical praise. Neither factor attracted me. It was the subject matter - the reign of King Henry the VIII of England. Actually, the book is about Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Cardinal Wolsey who had the bad luck of dealing with Henry in his quest for a 'proper' annulment from Queen Katherine.
In the front of the book are several pages of formidable family trees of Brit royalty. After that 'royal' start, the book opens with bang - a graphic scene of Thomas Cromwell as a boy, being beaten by his drunken father. After that brief 'section I' - we are picked up at the start of Section II and set down in the English court some 30 or more years later. What happened in the interim is mentioned only in vague terms with no explanation of how the son of an drunken blacksmith wound up in the corridors of power.
It helps to have some knowledge and understanding of the era and since I've read reams - biographies, novels - about the reigns of Henry and his daughter Elizabeth, I had an advantage. I know the Boleyns; the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk referred to are familiar - their intrigues and aspirations. The English court of the era was pretty messy. The clergy also were very powerful and rich, plotting with the best (or worst) of the court.
All this makes the plot sound dense and inaccessible - but it's not. The reader will sort of 'live' in Cromwell's head. The sense of 'being there' - of eavesdropping - is strong. The prose is quite poetic and that's nice but I read for content. The beauty of a well turned phrase is a bonus. One 'nit' to pick. Mantel is a bit obscure when she identifies people who are conversing. I was thrown off balance any number of times by the fact that, in conversations, she uses the word 'he' instead of the speaker's name. There were times when I didn't know who was saying what and had to come to a screeching halt while I backtracked to identify the speaker.
By the way, the 'Wolf Hall' of the title is only alluded to - it is apparently the 'lair' of the Seymours, one of whom becomes the wife of Henry VIII, following Anne Boleyn. I've read that a sequel to this book is in the works in which I would guess that Wolf Hall becomes more prominent.
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