October Surprises (2018)--Readings and meditations on good books

Starting this month with my usual backlog, a teetering TBR pile...yet I'm still being drawn toward gritty, tense thrillers. Must be something to do with autumn...

Finished Douglas Preston's THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD.

Diverting non-fic account of a scientific expedition to a remote area of Honduras where modern technology has revealed a vast city once existed. Preston is part of that group because of the writing he'd done for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Numerous members of the party came down with a rare tropical illness and that made for some interesting reading.

All in all, however, I found Preston's writing pedestrian and dull--the man's a literary hack and the fact that he's working for a publication like NG shows how much that Murdoch-owned magazine is willing to dumb itself down to gain readers.

I've just finished reading one of the acclaimed classic accounts of the mountaineering life, Heinrich Harrer's The White Spider. It has the immediacy that comes from someone who experienced the North Face of the Eiger at first hand, and who had a lifetime of commitment to the mountains. At the same time, Harrer sidesteps his early connections with the Nazis (I suspect that for him, it was just a single-minded matter of getting close to whoever could best facilitate him spending his time climbing mountains rather than doing anything else) and his views on the fraternal nature of mountaineers are very specifically that: fraternal in every sense of the word.

But the main issue with the book is that it is well overdue some serious revision. It was written in 1959, with some additional chapters bolted on in 1965. Although the 2005 paperback edition I read has a modern, graphics-savvy cover and some biographical stuff tacked on the end, once inside you are wading through a 1959 book, with stilted Austrian German translated into equally stilted English. The packaging is pure 1959, with poor graphics and a limited selection of muddy monochrome photographs. A book this important to those who love high places deserves better presentation.

The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir – Jennifer Ryan
Digital audiobook performed by Gabrielle Glaster, Laura Kirman, Imogen Wilde, Adjoa Andoh, Tom Clegg, and Mike Grady.
3.5*** (rounded up)

Among the many novels about World War II, this one stands out for its focus on the women left behind. Set in an English village, where most of the men are off to the fight, and the women have stepped up to the task of keeping things going, Ryan gives us a rich cast of characters, some of whom are not what they seem.

It begins when the vicar decides to suspend the choir; after all you can’t have a choir with no male voices. Not so fast! The women decide that they WILL sing and even enter the choir competition, bringing joy and recognition to their village.

But taking charge of the choir is only a small way in which the women of Chilbury rise to the occasion. The novel is told by a series of diary entries and letters. Ryan changes narrators with each chapter, giving the reader different perspectives on what is happening in and around Chilbury. The residents experience intrigue, subterfuge, family drama, young love, criminal activity, death and fierce loyalty. I was engaged and interested from beginning to end, and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with these ladies!

The audiobook is narrated by a cast of talented voice artists. I’m not certain who voiced which character, but they were all marvelous, really bringing the residents of Chilbury to life. A bonus for this listener is the choral music; oh, how I loved hearing snippets of the choir’s performances. On the strength of the audio performance I’m rounding up to 4 stars.

The Quality of Mercy by Katayoun Medhat is a really great new mystery series, pretty dark, set in Milagro, NM, reminds me of Tony Hillerman.

Exit West – Mohsin Hamid
Audiobook narrated by the author.
4.5****

From the book jacket: In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through.

My reactions:
What an inventive and interesting way of telling a tale that examines issues of immigration, war, and love. Hamid uses a framework of a political unrest, where outsiders are quickly blamed for all that goes wrong. It’s uncomfortably recognizable and plausible, making this reader squirm more than a little during certain scenes.

The novel also has a mystical / ethereal quality. The movement from place to place without conventional modes of transportation is one aspect of this. But I think the intensity of the relationship between Nadia and Saeed is what really gives the novel’s settings this “other worldly” sense.

The human connection between the central characters is at times palpable. I recognized their dilemma – the inescapable pull of their mutual attraction vs the belief and fielty to religious or social restrictions. And once they’ve taken that step through the first door, who have they but one another? How can they find their way in this strange land? Whom can they trust if not each other? Can they overlook their own differences to join together against the situations they face?

Hamid narrates the audiobook himself. He does a marvelous job, really bringing the characters and situations to life.

Educated: A Memoir – Tara Westover
Book on CD performed by Julia Whelan
5*****

In this memoir, Westover recalls her childhood and personal journey to become an educated, independent woman. Raised on the family’s land in a small community in Idaho, she had little to no formal education. Her father held strong beliefs about religion, the government, the education system, and his family. Tara’s mother was an herbalist and became a midwife at her husband’s insistence. They family preserved food, stockpiled water, fuel, guns and ammunition all in the belief that someday the authorities would come for them. Tara and her siblings learned to read from religious texts, and enough math to help their father in his construction business. In addition, one brother had violent tendencies, and parents who were in complete denial about the danger he posed to his siblings (and himself).

It’s amazing that Westover survived some of the episodes she relates; it’s a testament to her inner strength and determination that she managed to prosper, getting not only a college degree at Brigham Young University, but pursuing graduate studies at Cambridge and Harvard. Her story is fascinating, compelling and inspiring, but there are scenes that left me shaking my head or cringing in fear.

Julia Whelan does a marvelous job of voicing the audiobook. She made me believe that I was listening to a someone tell her own story.

OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE, Michael Azerrad's anecdote-filled tome about the American punk music scene, 1981-1991.

Some of my favorites are here, including the Replacements and Husker Du. Gory, harrowing stories of the road, getting ripped off by clubs, assaulted by rednecks.

What a life.

Recommended.

Finished BADASSES, a book about the legendary Oakland Raiders football clubs during the 70s. Quite a cast of characters and misfits and author Peter Richmond brings it all together nicely.

Ah, the good old days...

Your reading is taking a nostalgic turn lately, Cliff. Must be seasonal...

I think your point is valid.

I am as transparent as an anorexic ghost...

The Cider House Rules– John Irving
Digital audiobook performed by Grover Gardner
4****

From the book jacket: Irving’s sixth novel is set in rural Maine, in the first half of the 20th century. It tells the story of Dr Wilbur Larch – saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St Cloud’s, ether addict and abortionist. It is also the story of Dr Larch’s favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.

My reactions
I love Irving’s writing, and don’t know why this one languished on my TBR for so long. I saw the movie back when it first came out (1999), but never read the book. The movie left out a lot and compressed the timeline.

The span of the novel is about 70 years, taking Dr Larch from a young man to his death in his 90s. Much changes in the world, and yet his little corner of the world sees little difference. Pregnant women come to give birth, their children coming into the care of the orphanage, with every effort made to place them in loving families. Other women come seeking an end to their pregnancies, and Dr Larch accommodates them with compassion and skill.

What I really like about the novel is how the characters are portrayed. The reader gets a clear idea of how Dr Larch came to his decision to perform abortions, the social and moral responsibility he felt he owed the women (and girls) who came to him for help. The reader also clearly understands why Homer makes a different decision, how he struggles to love this man who is like a father to him, once he makes that decision. And the reader watches the painful separation that all parents face when they send their offspring out into the world to make their own way. How a parent’s hopes and dreams may not always be embraced by that child.

Grover Gardner does a fine job narrating the audiobook. He sets a good pace and manages to differentiate the many characters.

Just finished THE WORLD AS IT IS, Ben Rhodes' memoir of his years in the White House under President Obama.

Not too compelling but an interesting insight into an administration that started with high hopes but foundered in the face of reality (and realpolitik).

Currently reading Irma Voth.

BEARSKIN, a likable new thriller by James McLaughlin.

Man with a past gets job working for a remote wilderness refuge. Past catches up with him with the expected violent results.

Took awhile to really get going, too leisurely with language and pacing for a thriller.

Still, a decent time waster.

Before We Were Yours – Lisa Wingate
Digital audio performed by Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber.
3.5***

A chance encounter with an elderly woman in a nursing home leads Avery Stafford to investigate her family’s history. What she uncovers is a shock to her. This historical novel is based on a shameful episode in Tennessee history, when babies were sold for profit and powerful people looked the other way.

Told with a dual time line – Rill’s story told in Depression-era Memphis, and Avery’s search for her family history in contemporary South Carolina – the novel gives the reader a sense of the trauma these families suffered at the hands of the greedy Georgia Tann. Her baby-snatching-and-selling operation, which she ran for nearly three decades, wreaked havoc on intact families. Though Tann died in 1950, avoiding criminal prosecution, powerful friends (and co-conspirators?) in the legislature successfully sealed all records until 1995.

The story is fascinating, though I saw the reveal coming a mile away. I could easily have done without the Avery-Elliot-Trent triangle, and instead just read about Rill and her siblings and how they survived their abduction and adoption.

This is a popular book-club selection and two of my F2F groups are discussing it this fall and winter. The first meeting was this week, just a few days after I finished reading it. Most gave it 4 or 5 stars. While I think the emotional impact of the story might merit a higher rating, I didn’t think the writing was anything special. And I felt that many of the characters were straight out of central casting. Still the story captured my attention and kept me engaged throughout.

The audiobook is performed by two talented voice artists: Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber. They do a fine job of narrating, breathing life into these characters. I particularly liked the chapters told from Rill’s perspective, though I’m sorry to say I’m not certain which of these artists voiced those.

Just finished a collection of Etty Hillesum's letters, as well as Chigozie Obioma's latest, An Orchestra of Minorities. (The Christian Century should have my review of the latter of it up at some point!) I'm going slowly through Fruit of the Month, by Abby Frucht, and it may be eroding some of my interest in humanity, although I'm not sure that reaction makes any sense at all.

>17 KatrinkaV: looking forward to your review of Orchestra of Minorities. Can you post a link when it's up?

Will do, Anna!

I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
Digital audio narrated by Scott Brick
4****

I’ve never been a great fan of science fiction but this book has been on my tbr for ages. The thread that weaves the chapters together is Susan Calvin, PhD – a specialist in “Robopsychology.” At the age of 75, she is retiring from U.S. Robots and being interviewed by a journalist about her life-long work. She tells the stories of the advance (and decline?) of robotics.

What fascinates me about this is that it was written in 1948 and is STILL set in the future. Although Asimov’s imagination outpaced the reality of robotics as we know it today, he grappled with many of the same issues we have faced and are still facing. In Asimov’s world the scientists who first developed these tools to help humanity could not help but “improve” them beyond being mere worker-machines. And hence the Three Rules: 1) A robot must not harm a human being; 2) A robot must obey human orders; and 3) A robot must protect its own existence … but only if doing so does not violate rules 1 and 2.

As the narrator relates Dr Calvin’s fifty years of experiences in the field, the reader gets a sense of the slippery slope humanity has embarked on by relying more and more on these highly intelligent machines. It’s fascinating, frightening, thrilling and thought-provoking.

Scott Brick does a fine job narrating the audiobook. He set a good pace and was chillingly non-emotional when voicing the intelligent robots (especially the politician).

Asimov is one of my favourite SF writers. His original Foundation trilogy is similarly engaging.

No need to track down the movie version of "I Robot" starring Will Smith, there's hardly any overlap with the book.

Just wrapped up Leonard Cohen's final book of poetry, THE FLAME.

Poems, song lyrics and excerpts from his meticulous notebooks (kept right to the end).

I love the incantatory nature of many of his poems and songs, like he's an apocalyptic rabbi, chanting us to our doom.

Lenny goes out in style...and a rare book of poetry that managed to crack our Canadian bestseller list.

Recommended.

>22 CliffBurns: I found out last year that one of his songs (Alexandra Leaving) was based on a Cavafy poem (The God Abandons Antony). He was a true poet before all else and with regard to the Nobel - he wuz robbed.

I have arranged a very simple version of "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye" for the harp. We are huge fans, particularly of his songs that were arranged and performed by Judy Collins. When my husband had a heart attack and was in the hospital several years ago I got him the Book of Longing. Beautiful poetry. I will look for this one.

One of my faves by Cohen is "Show Me the Place" from his 2012 album "Old Ideas".

Love, love, LOVE that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCtoVoE5Mm4