Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

I was bemused when I read the title of this book. Am I the only person old enough to remember the move 'Lifeboat' (1944, directed by Alfred Hitchcock; adapted from a story by John Steinbeck)? Look it up on Wikipedia. Note this line: "The film … follows the lifeboat inhabitants as they attempt to organize their rations, set a course for Bermuda and coexist as they try to survive. The characters start out being good-natured, cooperative, and optimistic about rescue. However, they descend into desperation, dehydration, and frustration with each other." Exactly the course of events in this book. 

I read on. In the book, rescue is followed by a trial of the principal character and two others for murder. That differs from the movie.  There is a hint of a backstory which I thought sounded more interesting than the story I was reading. The novel has been praised for the quality of the writing and several critics have spoken of not being able to 'put it down'. It seemed disconnected to me. My assessment is certainly influenced by having seen the movie but I did not find this 'Lifeboat' at all compelling.

Catherine the Great by Robert Massie

Unless one has studied Russian history, all many of us know about Catherine is that she was a powerful ruler with  a prodigious libido. This book brings her to life - and it's a real page turner!

She came to Russia at the age of 14 and was promptly married to the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter. The purpose was to beget an heir to the throne - promptly. That did not materialize. Peter, who was a real piece of work, did not touch his bride for 17 years. Those years were a period during which she was subjected to much humiliation and disrespect by her strange, child-like husband and his mother, the Empress Elizabeth. Catherine finally was seduced by a courtier and produced a son, Paul - who promptly was accepted as heir to the throne. Elizabeth, happy with an heir at last, then channeled her energy into jealousy of the young couple and especially of Catherine.

When Elizabeth died, the unpopular Peter III ruled very briefly before forces loyal to Catherine rebelled and crowned Catherine as empress. Shortly thereafter, Peter was killed, apparently by overzealous supporters of the new empress. Massie seems to absolve her of any involvement.

Catherine was great. She was highly intelligent and during her long years left to herself, she had read voluminously and made contact with Voltaire, Diderot and many western philosophers and men of letters. Influenced by their culture, she brought Russia into contact with the rest of Europe during a period called The Enlightenment. She was responsible for collecting the fabulous art in Russian museums. She cared about her people and attempted to reform the serfdom system. In this, she was circumvented by the nobility who considered the serfs their property. Practicality induced her to drop the issue or lose her supporters (her 'base' so to speak). Through successful wars and alliances, she vastly increased the land holding of Russia and made it a power to be reckoned with.
Footnote: The serfs of Russia were freed two years before our slaves were freed.

Catherine did have several children by different lovers - or 'favorites' as they were called, a practice almost universal in all the ruling houses of Europe and England, most of whom were male. It always has amused me to reflect that, given the pyramid effect of genealogy, we all are descended from royalty! Think about it....

Ruminations on A Painted House by John Grisham

Did you ever read this book? It's quite unlike Grisham's usual work. I read it some years ago and it made quite an impression. So much so that I wonder now if I actually saw it adapted for TV - or am remembering the vivid picture he painted.

It's based on his youth but I found that hard to believe - it's so evocative of what we know about The Depression years. Grisham was born in 1955. Then I remembered an account of a Thanksgiving my husband, Dwight, spent when he was stationed in Texas during the Korean War. It was about 1951.

The men had a four day pass and, of course, no money or time to get home. A fellow airman lived in Oklahoma and invited Dwight and two others to come home with him for the holiday. They accepted gratefully.

"Home" was a one room house. Curtains partitioned it to make 'rooms'. The foursome were warmly received and the family shared their Thanksgiving dinner with their guests.

Remembering this - it was 1951 - it becomes quite believable that Grisham had the childhood he wrote about in Arkansas.

5 Stars - "The Girl...

...With The Dragon Tattoo"
...Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest"
...Who Played With Fire"

By now, most of you are familiar with Swedish author Steig Larssen's best selling trilogy and his sudden and untimely death after completing the three books. I've read all three and they certainly are what is termed 'a good read'. The main characters are well defined and intriguing, the plots are original, as is the location. "I couldn't put it down" certainly applies.

The 'bad guys' range from corrupt bureaucrats to deranged psychopaths - sometimes embodied in one person. The descriptions of perpetrated violence are harrowing compared to the average crime novel in which the leading character takes a beating that would disable a person for weeks but immediately gets up with a 'few aches and pains'. Not so in these books.

The only thing that bothered me were the many characters named in the book- often with names so similar that it was easy to mix up the characters. And the street names. When a character travels around Stockholm or the countryside on foot or in a car, every street, highway and alley enroute is named - and believe me - nothing as simple as 'Elm St.' A minor kvetch to be sure.

It's sad that there will be no more books by Larssen.

It should be stated that I am hugely interested in English history (as well as American History) and am delighted with books like Carolly Erickson's "Royal Panopoly: Brief Lives of The English Monarchs". Indeed they were generally brief, in fact - as well as in the accounts in this book.

As an account of every day life, it is fascinating. Their lives were colorful, if brief - and through much of English history it's evident that even minimal intelligence was not a prerequisite to ruling. War was constant, the masses led miserable lives. When a king was dethroned - it was seldom with dignity. Many met ghastly deaths at the hands of their own courtiers. The kings had so many bastard children by various mistresses that we all have to be descended from princes, as well as peasants. Sounds grim but it makes fascinating reading.

The pace is so fast that's it's hard to keep track of 'who's on first' but to trace the history of a country through such a span of time, starting with William the Conqueror, demands brevity

"the fiddler in the subway" by Gene Weingarten

I recently read "the fiddler in the subway" by Gene Weingarten (the lack of caps is his idea). Weingarten is a humor columnist for The Washington Post and has snagged two Pulitzers for his columns.

The title column rose from his speculation of what would happen if a world class violinist - Joshua Bell - was in a Washington subway station, playing. Would anyone notice? They did not. While there is a wry humor in his writing - there is something else - something touching. He writes about his stay on a small, isolated island just off the coast of Alaska. In the Bering Sea, it is closer to Siberia than Alaska. The native people there live without any promise of the future and smuggled alcohol is a constant source of woe. Yet they persist.

Another essay deals with his assignment to find a town that could truly be called 'the armpit of America'. Butte Mountain, Nevada won hands down according to Weingarten's research. (Interestingly, that town was one of the places where Jeannette Walls and her nomad family of "The Glass Castle", alighted for a brief period). He captures the feel of such dead end places perfectly with humor - and empathy.

Getting back to that violin player. Many years ago we visited Washington DC, spending several consecutive days on The Mall. Each day when we headed for the subway to take us back to our hotel, a tall black man stood at the entrance, playing his classical violin. On the last day, I halted my husband, said 'wait a minute', hauled a $5 bill out of my wallet, placed it in his violin case and said 'thank you'. He nodded and said the same thing to me...

It surely is a 'different kind' of book but one that held my attention.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I couldn't put this book down but it was a bit like watching a train wreck from which you can’t look away! It traces the strange story of a family of six that moves around the country aimlessly while the persistently jobless, alcoholic father promises them a great future in a fabulous house that he will one day build.

He 'skedaddles' every time they have unpaid bills or a brush with the authorities, and they often wind up sleeping in the car or on the ground or in shelters scrounged from whatever is available - but the family continues to love and believe in him. Both parents are highly intelligent and encourage inquiring minds in the children and independence to the point of endangering them. Until the children get older and begin to question their life style, they maintain unquestioning loyalty and love for these two eccentrics.

The author seems to keep an emotional distance in her account - especially when she recounts her father’s attempt to set her up as a sexual decoy for his bar room gambling when she was a teenager. Her reaction was not shock or anger but rather… annoyance. In the beginning of the book, the author states that it was her husband who convinced her that she should write the story of her background. My guess is that the only way she could do this was with a certain detachment - by putting space between the remembered facts and the emotions that must have been engendered.

Whatever - she’s tells a wicked good story! You keep reading to see what happens next! I highly recommend it.