January, 2021--"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” (R.M. Rilke)

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January, 2021--"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” (R.M. Rilke)

1CliffBurns
Jan 1, 2021, 2:08 pm

Begin the new year with a door-stopper history tome or take a break from the heavy stuff with literary science fiction...

What to do, what to do.

2CliffBurns
Jan 2, 2021, 2:06 pm

Halfway through N.K. Jemsin's THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS.

Thrilling storytelling and enviable imagination but a bit labyrinthine at times, which slows the plot down considerably in some sections.

A fun read, a welcome diversion from being stuck inside as my hip heals.

3CliffBurns
Jan 5, 2021, 9:08 pm

Finished THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS.

My comments in #2 still stand--this could have been a faster, tighter book. Of course, I've felt the same way about certain Iain M. Banks novels.

Sometimes world-building can get a bit out of hand, to the detriment of the narrative. I'm with Alastair Reynolds--no need to overdue the backdrop, just build a few creaky sets and let the characters take over from there.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/05/if-the-aliens-lay-eggs-how-does-th...

Three and a half out of 5 stars.

4BookConcierge
Jan 6, 2021, 7:50 pm


Simon the Fiddler – Paulette Jiles
Digital audiobook performed by Grover Gardner
4****

Simon Boudlin made a brief first appearance in Jiles’ The News Of the World. In this work, he is the focus of the story. Set in Texas at the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the reconstruction period, Jiles follows Simon and his band of iterant musicians as they try to stay alive and out of trouble, and as Simon tries to win the heart of Doris, an indentured immigrant Irish lass, who works as governess for the family of a Union officer.

I love the way Jiles crafts these stories. While the plot focuses on the characters and their reactions to events happening around them, the atmosphere is enhanced by her descriptions of the landscape, the food, and culture of the times.

Simon is a marvelous character. Intelligent, quick witted, resourceful, determined and head-over-heels in love with the charming Doris. Their path is not an easy one and there were times when I feared for their safety and, even, their lives. Still, I was cheering him on in his quest to win her heart and establish their future success.

The supporting cast is equally memorable. Damon Lessing, whom Simon meets when they are conscripted into the Army and assigned to the “band,” is a piper. Patrick O’Hehir is the drummer boy who is the youngest among them. And Doroteo Navarro, a Tejano guitar player, who has some experience as a fisherman and is therefore invaluable to at least one leg of their journey. Together they form a good team, supporting one another and surviving a number of altercations and dangers.

Jiles manages to put me right into the heart of this landscape and time in history. Of course, I’m sure it helps that this is the territory in which I grew up, and I’m very familiar with many of the locations she uses, but I think her writing makes the images equally vivid for those who have never experienced this landscape.

Grover Gardner does a fantastic job of voicing the audio book. I felt as if I were listening to an old-timer recall adventures of his youth. His somewhat gravelly voice is that of an older character, but he was still believable, even when interpreting the female characters.

5CliffBurns
Jan 8, 2021, 2:46 pm

Reading Jane Mayer's DARK MONEY--it makes one despair of ever effecting real change in America.

Clearly, the uber-rich have the entire system gamed and have no intention of relinquishing their tenacious grip on the levers of power.

6CliffBurns
Jan 13, 2021, 12:17 am

Finished DARK MONEY.

My God, it made for grim reading and Mayer doesn't leave the reader with any reassurances that the situation shows any signs of improvement.

Democracy is threatened, the oligarchs are consolidating their power.

Sorry, my American friends, Biden is but a tepid interlude, the shit storm is coming.

7mejix
Editado: Jan 15, 2021, 6:35 pm

I'm about 3/4 of the way into Moby Dick. At this point it seems that Melville has given up on the plot. He'd rather talk about whales.

8CliffBurns
Jan 15, 2021, 7:25 pm

You think it's the worst sea-related novel ever...until you read Peter Benchley's JAWS.

9mejix
Jan 17, 2021, 12:03 pm

>8 CliffBurns:
Hehehe
I think it's a fascinating mess, though the fascination is wearing thin by now.

10CliffBurns
Jan 17, 2021, 2:30 pm

GERMANY: FROM REVOLUTION TO COUNTER-REVOLUTION by Rob Sewell.

Excellent, condensed overview of events in Germany from 1917-23, when the Leftists in Germany were finally crushed. This revolutionary near-miss fascinates me, posing one of the great "What ifs" of history.

Recommended.

11CliffBurns
Editado: Jan 17, 2021, 10:42 pm

Finished FEAR: TALES OF TERROR AND SUSPENSE, selected by Roald Dahl.

In his introduction, Dahl indicates the 14 tales in the collection are the very best ghost stories he could find (and he looked through hundreds).

I found the gruel rather thin, the scares not in evidence. Why no M.R. James story or something by Bradbury?

About as spooky as a box of animal crackers.

Avoid.

12CliffBurns
Jan 20, 2021, 5:41 pm

Barry Hannah's short story collection AIRSHIPS.

Originally published in the mid-1980s. It seems dated to me, the longer tales meandering, lacking focus. Several tales set in the Civil War era and they were among the strongest.

13CliffBurns
Jan 21, 2021, 8:33 pm

THE COMMANDANT, a series of short monologues derived from a document Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, prepared as he was awaiting trial in Poland after World War II.

Chilling, to say the least.

14CliffBurns
Jan 24, 2021, 1:59 pm

THE COLD WAR: A NEW HISTORY by John Lewis Gaddis.

Gaddis is supposed to be one of the deans of Cold War scholarship but I found this tome too USA-centric and there's this assumption all the way through that while the Soviets represented evil and tyranny, the USA are the good guys. Tell that to the people of Chile, Guatemala, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iran, etc. etc. In terms of foreign policy the Americans all too frequently lie down with pigs and come up smelling of shit and offal.

This book is an o-kay introduction to the subject but, y'know, caveat emptor.

15BookConcierge
Jan 28, 2021, 6:40 pm


Under the Mercy Trees – Heather Newton
3.5***

From the book jacket Thirty years ago, Martin Owenby came to New York City with dreams of becoming a writer. Now his existence revolves around cheap Scotch and weekend flings with equally damaged men. When he learns that his older brother, Leon, has gone missing, he must return to the Owenby farm in Solace Fork, North Carolina, to assist in the search. But that means facing a past filled with regrets, the family that never understood him, the girl whose heart he broke, and the best friend who has faithfully kept the home fires burning.

My reactions:
Oh, what a tangled web we weave… I’m not sure what I was thinking, even from reading the book jacket, but this was quite a bit darker than I expected. There are so many things going on, so many “secrets” (most of which are known to family and even the rest of the residents of this small town), so many betrayals. We have people consumed by alcohol (and/or drugs), mean-spirited control freaks, unfaithful spouses, guilty consciences, mental (and physical) illness and abject loneliness that comes with keeping all that bottled up. I’m exhausted by the effort required by these characters to hide so much and still co-exist in such tight quarters.

Martin is such a broken man, whose early promise has never been realized. I cannot help but think of the analogy of a basket of crabs … you don’t need a cover because if any one of the crabs tries to crawl out, the others will just drag it back into the basket. In this case it is Martin’s family situation, his loyalty to his mother, his guilt for leaving her, his shame for being who he is, a gay man in a time and place that will not tolerate such “aberration and sin.” He is so broken that he cannot even accept the love of his two loyal friends from high school – Liza and Hodge – who still love him for who he is despite his efforts to run from them.

And Martin’s sister, Ivy, is a marvelous character. Gifted (or cursed) with an ability to see and communicate with ghosts, she’s discounted by the townspeople and her family as insane and/or stupid. She is virtually invisible, mostly because no one wants to see her. As a result she’s a great observer and keeper of secrets.

As for the mystery of Martin’s missing older brother … Newton surprised me with several of the plot twists.

This is her only novel. I wish there were more for me to read.

16CliffBurns
Jan 28, 2021, 9:10 pm

THE COLD MILLIONS by Jess Walter.

Looking for an intelligent, well-written page-turner? This book could be the one for you.

Depicting labor strife in the American Northwest during the early part of the 20th century. Diverse cast of characters and a cracking good plot.

Recommended.

17BookConcierge
Jan 29, 2021, 11:39 pm


Elevation – Stephen King
Digital audiobook read by the author
4****

Scott Carey is losing weight, and he confides in his old friend, a retired physician about his unusual symptoms. Divorced, he’s living with just his cat. He’s started a bit of a feud with two new neighbors – Deirdre McComb and her wife Missy Donaldson – because their dogs “leave presents” on his lawn. But it seems that other people in their small town of Castle Rock, Maine, have a problem with the women because they are lesbians. When Scott overhears some derogatory remarks about the women’s new restaurant, he comes to their defense.

This was a delightful novella with an unusual plot device, but that focuses on human kindness and respect. King gives us a lesson on what it means to be a good neighbor, and how to support one another despite our differences. I like the way that they slowly come to know one another and resolve their conflicts. The ending of Scott’s tale is poignant and heartfelt.

The edition I had also included a bonus short story – “Laurie” – about a widower whose sister gives him a puppy and how he begins to slowly make his way back to the living as a result. Unlike most of King’s work, rather than set this one in Maine, it takes place in the Florida. It has nothing to do with horror or science fiction, though grief and natural predators can be horrific. It reminds me how well King writes his characters; how he reveals their strengths and flaws through their actions.

King reads the audio version himself. He’s not a trained voice artist, but he certainly knows what he wants to say, and he does a respectable job of the narration.

18CliffBurns
Jan 30, 2021, 11:25 pm

FOURTH OF JULY CREEK by Smith Sanderson.

Set in 1980s Montana, a social worker attempts to solve all the family horrors in the huge jurisdiction he has been allotted.

Superb for the first 3/4, then it regresses into a retelling of the Randy Weaver story. Unfortunate.

But a commendable, if depressing, view of the plight of the lower classes.

19mykl-s
Jan 31, 2021, 1:03 am

>7 mejix: The Ceteology chapter of Moby Dick has a reputation of being the most skipped chapter in American fiction. I skimmed it by, thinking it was old information and we know more and better things about whales now than was known then, even though it may be deep with meaning related to the remainder of Moby Dick.
I read the final chapter of the novel in the 1980s, when drug by out-of-town visitors to Sea World, and not-watching the Orcas perform, happy to see that, in Melville at least, the whale won.