DieFledermaus in 2013

Currently Reading

Wild Swans - Jung Chang

Last Tales - Isak Dinesen

The Messiah of Stockholm - Cynthia Ozick

Summary of 2012

Total books read: 115
Fiction: 74 (64.3%)
Nonfiction: 41 (35.7%)

Best NF percentage ever - need to keep doing what I was doing

Female authors: 54 (47%)
Male authors: 61 (53%)

Country of origin (fiction)

U.K. - 15
U.S. - 8
France - 8
Czech - 5
Russia - 5
Italy - 4
Japan - 4
Brazil - 3
Germany - 2
Ireland - 2
Serbia - 2
One each from - Albania, Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Canada, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden

Need to read more non U.S./non European fiction

Authors with more than one book read - 3 by Irene Nemirovsky and Leo Perutz, 2 each by Colin Meloy, Dubravka Ugresic, Hanne Blank, Junichiro Tanizaki, Anne Applebaum, Simon Sebag Montefiore

Best books -

Fiction-
Death and the Dervish - Mesa Selimovic
The Rising Tide - M.J. Farrell
The Doll - Boleslaw Prus
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
The Case of Comrade Tulayev - Victor Serge
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
All Our Worldly Goods - Irene Nemirovsky
The Master of the Day of Judgment - Leo Perutz
Varieties of Exile - Mavis Gallant

Nonfiction-
Gulag - Anne Applebaum
The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire - Amanda Foreman
The Means of Reproduction - Michelle Goldberg
28 Artists and 2 Saints - Joan Acocella
Apollo's Angels - Jennifer Homans

2012 was a good reading year for me. This will probably sound odd but it was the year where I realized I really like reading nonfiction. Before, I always tried to read more nonfic, but it was more something that I should do and sometimes I cheated by reading things like essays by Kundera, which are pretty similar to his novels. Getting good recs on CR and LT helped, as did a number of smaller themes I started and also the availability of library ebooks - don't have to buy any new books and no waiting.

CR and LT were a strong influence on my reading. It ranged from reading books I had never heard of before after seeing a review on someone's thread (Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca, reviewd on deebee's thread, Apollo's Angels, reviewed by japaul) to deciding to read a book I'd seen before based on reviews (Just Kids - Rebecca said very positive things, Child 44 - a review from Poquette) to shifting some books on the TBR to the top of the pile (some Japanese books based on the number of people reading Japanese authors, Memoirs of an anti-Semite). I'm also wondering if LT gets credit for authors/books I first discovered on the site - learned about Perutz on LT, for example.

I really need to read more non-American/non-European fiction. I think I did better in 2011. I like to do free-range reading but this year will try to be better about participating in the Reading Globally Theme Reads. Also - participating in the Read Mo Yan group.

I'll probably end up shifting a lot of books around based on other group/author reads osmosis. I like jumping on book bandwagons. Otherwise, I'll stick to some of my interests from last year - crows, Soviet history, women's studies/sexuality, Pagels and Campbell-type religion and mythology, classical music and opera. Also, whatever catches my interest.

I'm also planning to keep a wishlist on my thread as my Excel wishlist is rather messy and all over the place.

I'm leading the Central/Eastern European Reading Globally Theme for the first quarter - everyone should come over and check it out (although it sounds like a lot of group members already have done so)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/146033

January -

1.) The Absolute at Large - Karel Capek
2.) Our Circus Presents - Lucian Dan Teodorovici
3.) The Door - Magda Szabo
4.) Martin Rivas - Alberto Blest Gana
5.) Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage - Kenneth Silverman
6.) Nadirs - Herta Muller
7.) The Polish Complex - Tadeusz Konwicki
8.) Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman

February -

9.) Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories - Giovanni Verga
10.) Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
11.) A History of Opera - Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker

March -

12.) A History of Celibacy - Elizabeth Abbott
13.) Adam, Eve and the Serpent - Elaine Pagels

April -

nope

May -

14.) Birth of an Opera - Michael Rose
15.) Life Form - Amelie Nothomb
16.) Fear - Stefan Zweig
17.) Burning Secret - Zweig
18.) French Leave - Anna Gavalda
19.) In a Lonely Place - Dorothy Hughes
20.) Portrait of the Writer as a Domesticated Animal - Lydie Salvayre
21.) An Accident in August - Laurence Cosse
22.) The Blind Owl - Sadiq Hidayat
23.) The Unknown Masterpiece - Honore de Balzac
24) The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin - Masha Gessen
25.) In Red - Magdalena Tulli
26.) Journey to the Past - Stefan Zweig
27.) The Rings of Saturn - W.G. Sebald

June -

28.) Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa
29.) Death as a Side Effect - Ana Maria Shua
30.) I Do and I Don't - Jeanine Basinger
31.) Full House - M.J. Farrell
32.) Madamoiselle de Maupin - Theophile Gautier
33.) War with the Newts - Karel Capek
34.) Ru - Kim Thuy
35.) The Jokers - Albert Cossery
36.) The New York Stories of Edith Wharton - Edith Wharton

July -

37.) Nada - Carmen Laforet
38.) Jezebel - Irene Nemirovsky
39.) Two Murders in my Double Life - Josef Skvorecky
40.) Diary of a Mad Old Man - Junichiro Tanizaki
41.) The Betrothed - Alessandro Manzoni
42.) Journey into the Whirlwind - Eugenia Ginzburg
43.) Kornel Esti - Dezso Kosztolanyi
44.) Last Tales - Isak Dinesen
45.) Confusion : the private papers of Privy Councillor R. von D. - Stefan Zweig
46.) Translation is a Love Affair - Jacques Poulin
47.) The Finno-Ugrian Vampire - Noemi Szeci
48.) The Whisperers - Orlando Figes
49.) The Messiah of Stockholm - Cynthia Ozick

Wishlist

1.) Opium and Other Stories - Geza Csath, Steven's review - dark and disturbing stories, Hungarian, Writers from the other europe - not at p library, either used or u library
2.) Religion and the Decline of Magic - Keith Thomas, dmsteyn's reviw, magisterial history of magic in 16th/17th c England - re - witch trials class?, from the 1970's
3.) A Train in Winter - Caroline Moorehead, review by labfs, history of women in French Resistance, depressing
4.) The Black Count - Tom Reiss - rebecca review, addictive bio of Dumas father, inspiration for MOnte Cristo, get as lib ebook
5.) The Procedure - Harry Mulisch, deebee review, about the golem and Prague, and everything, less dense than Discovery of Heaven
6.) The Song of Everlasting Sorrow - Wang Anyi, Steven review, changes in Shanghai from the 40's to the 80's, through a female POV
7.) Transit - Anna Seghers - Rebecca review, Marseilles during the war, a la Casablanca, NYRB
8.) Economix - Michael Goodwin - bragan review, very clear history of econ, with pictures
9.) Surrender on Demand - Varian Fry - Rebecca review, history of American who helped artists, writers, others escape occupied France from Marseille
10.) The Man Who Walked Through Walls - Marcel Ayme - fantastical short stories, wanderingstar review
11.) Captain of the Steppe - Oleg Pavlov - absurd satire of prison camp and potatoes, SassyLassy review

DieF--I added many volumes to my wishlist from your reading last year, and I expect to do the same this year. :)

>6 arubabookwoman: - Glad to be contributing to pile growth! My lists got a little out of control last year what with all the great reviews around here.

post#1 says currently reading I kinda like that.

I plan on reading The New Jim Crow in February for a Social Justice Theme read I'm hosting on my blog. I'm glad to see so many people loved it! :)

>8 baswood: - "Currently reading or else on LibraryThing" would also be accurate.

>9 The_Hibernator: - Sounds interesting - what other books are you planning to read for your theme? I'm always glad to see other people reading The New Jim Crow - a very insightful and important book, though also very depressing.

I absolutely agree about The New Jim Crow; it was one of top reads of last year, although it made me ashamed of my country.

I just wanted to note that you have done an absolutely amazing job of organizing the Central/Eastern European Reading Globally Theme, DieF. I plan to participate but am not yet quite organized. So much information to take in!

Hi DieFledermaus - I've just found your thread and can see you're going to be adding things to my wish list...

I came looking for you to say exactly what Linda said above. I used your notes on Polish authors to go through the Wellington library catalogue and see what they hold, and got 4 books out of the central stack yesterday. I suspect none of them have seen the world outside the library for 30 years! So thank you very much. First up is Ashes and Diamonds.

>11 rebeccanyc: - Very shameful, yes. A friend of mine told me she was assigned the book for a college class - she also seemed a bit depressed after reading it but I'm glad it's being read.

>12 Linda92007:, 13 - Thanks Linda and cushla. Will look for you guys over on the RG thread. I originally planned something a little bit more elaborate - was going to have pictures from various 20th c. artists and pictures of food (I have a small dumpling obsession) and links to music from some composers - but the thread was getting unwieldy. Ashes and Diamonds is on the pile - hoping to get to that one in the next couple of months.

I really liked Ashes and Diamonds. The movie is pretty good too, but only deals with the main thread of the novel and leaves a lot out.

Your list of books (as well as the other background information you put together) is amazing. I hope I can read a few of them this year.

>15 rebeccanyc: - Your review of Ashes and Diamonds was extremely helpful - that was one of the reasons I bought it, besides the theme read. Did you think that any of the changes in the movie were made because of the period in which it was filmed? (Was that the one Anne Applebaum referred to in Iron Curtain? About lighting the candles and how everyone who saw it would have known what it was referring to? I don't have the book - went back to the library)

>16 arubabookwoman: - Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful. Will look forward to seeing what you're reading.

Got a mini-haul of books -

The Finno-Ugrian Vampire by Noemi Szeci (planning to read this for the RG theme read)

Life Form - Amelie Nothomb

Portrait of the Writer as a Domesticated Animal - Lydie Salvayre

The Eyes of Lira Kazan - Eva Joly

French Leave - Anna Gavalda

Hut of Fallen Persimmons - Adriana Lisboa

With the Animals - Noelle Revaz

Vertical Motion - Can Xue

Death as a Side Effect - Ana Maria Shua

The Astral Plane: stories of Cuba, the southwest and beyond - Teresa Dovalpage

An Accident in August - Laurence Cosse

#17. Yes, that's the book in which they lit the glasses (not candles, and don't remember exactly how they did it). And yes, they could have left out some of the threads of the story because of the time period in which it was filmed (i.e., there were a lot of nuances in the book, and the movie was much more black and white), but it could also have been from the necessities of making a two-hour movie. The book was really about how people make choices in impossible situations, and of course different people make different choices and then try to live with the consequences or squeeze their way into different choices, and for the communist rulers there could only be one acceptable choice.

#18 Great haul, and many authors/titles I'd never heard of. I'll be interested in what you think of Vertical Motion, as I put it down without finishing it.

All women authors, even nicer!

That's a mini haul?! I'm tempted to get my hands on Hut of Fallen Persimmons for the title alone.

I'm hoping to get over to RG this year, thoroughly inspired by your work for the first quarter.

Thanks for the info Rebecca.

I can't take credit for the interesting selection - that would be due to avaland.

>21 letterpress: - Heh heh. I guess that's a good-sized haul lately - been trying not to buy as much. I used to order big piles of sale books from Powells, Book Culture and Symposium. Also, library book sales.

Hope to see you over on the RG thread!

The Absolute at Large by Karel Čapek
Finished 1/3/13

In The Absolute at Large, a machine releases an invisible, spiritual power as a byproduct, leading to religious frenzy and global war, but somehow Čapek maintains a frenetic, comic tone as well as a loose, almost metafictional structure. He sometimes narrates the battles with a succinct journalist’s eye, then moves on to a chapter describing the myths surrounding the new Napoleon of France, then checks in with some villagers concerned with the price of food. It’s not quite cinematic cuts or a panoramic view of society, but rather Čapek deciding he’s going to be wonderfully weird and do what he wants (in fact he mentions this, saying he’s just following his preferences and checking in with carousel operators and dredge dwellers). The narrator often intrudes, in one instance apologizing for the unlucky thirteenth chapter.

Čapek wrote the novel in 1920 and it is set in the future, in 1943. Some things he predicted accurately – the development of atomic power – but others aren’t, as Russia is again a tsarist country. G.H. Bondy, a petty, greedy(but still rather amusing) industrialist, sees an advertisement for a new invention and, recognizing the inventor, goes to meet his old employee Marek. Marek is eager to give Bondy his Karburator and soon it’s revealed why – the machine, which destroys matter completely, releases a powerful spiritual force or the “Absolute”. Based on both the atomic theory of the day as well as philosophy which, in short, says God is in everything, the novel takes these ideas to the extreme. The released Absolute makes those around it blissfully pious and generous and also works miracles. Bondy is all too eager to make use of the Karburator and soon they are being sold around the world. Old atheist Marek and Bondy, who only worships money, make efforts to avoid Absolute contamination and Čapek checks in with them from time to time, but others try to harness the Absolute for their own purposes or fall under its spell.

The discussions of the Absolute and its devastating effects are filled with comedic bits – Bondy wonders whether they can negotiate with the Absolute, the bishop denounces the Absolute as a fraud but then later decides that the Church has to get in on it, one chapter is devoted wholly to the delivering of a telegram, there’s a ridiculous analysis of a ridiculous prophecy. Čapek has some obvious targets - religious hypocrisy, ridiculous extremism - but also depicts some more convoluted negative effects of the Absolute – the miracles performed include factories constantly being run with no human input, leading to enormous quantities of material. However, what with the owners and workers either off preaching or giving away everything, there’s no distribution and there are huge shortages of the materials. The religious parts sometimes read as if they were written by an old atheist like Marek but Čapek’s warm humanism fills every page. In the end, his characters sigh about how “people are always getting back just where they used to be” and bemoan how “Everyone believes in his own superior God, but he doesn’t believe in another man, or credit him with believing in something good…Everyone has the best of feelings towards mankind in general, but not towards the individual man. We’ll kill men, but we want to save mankind.”

The Absolute at Large sounds great; the metafictional aspects sound amusing and the whole concept is really interesting. Great review!

Sounds fascinating, but probably not my cup of tea.

23 - Great review. I'm not sure it's for me either but it sounds intriguing.

I loved Capek's War with the Newts but haven't explored his other writings yet. The Absolute at Large will go on the wishlist.

Great review of The Absolute at Large another uncovered gem? I am tempted.

>24 LisaMorr: - Thanks Lisa - I did think the concept sounded interesting when I picked it up (though mostly because it was by Capek) but the development of the plot was a lot looser and weirder that I thought it would be. I liked that as I am fond of metafiction.

>25 rebeccanyc:, 26 - Thanks - it is definitely a bizarre work.

>27 StevenTX: - I haven't read War with the Newts yet but it is on the pile and I'm planning to read it for the RG theme read. The Absolute at Large was his first novel so it will be interesting to see how it compares to the later War with the Newts. The other Capek works that I read were either stories, plays or his travel writing.

>28 baswood: - I do in general think Capek's works should be better known - seems like people are familiar with War of the Newts, maybe R.U.R. but nothing else. It will be be very different from Patrick White though!

Our Circus Presents by Lucian Dan Teodorovici
Finished 1/6/13

Every morning, the narrator of the book climbs out onto the ledge outside his window and hopes that the urge to jump will overtake him. So far it hasn’t. Besides that, his life is empty and meaningless. He has a couple friends who are also obsessed with suicide. He waits for the telephone to ring. He treats his ex-girlfriend poorly and often thinks about women when he’s not thinking of suicide, but in a demeaning way. But one day he sees another man about to commit suicide, hauls him to the hospital and finds his life changed. All sorts of bizarre events occur over the next few days – his new friend and failed suicide moves in, they fight with railway workers, encounter several prostitutes, are questioned by the police and run into numerous angry, irritating, aimless neighbors, fellow would-be suicides, and strangers.

The translation is smooth and very readable. There is plenty of black humor and some horrible but funny set-pieces – the best one has the narrator’s friend, another man who obsesses over suicide, calling him up to come over to watch him drink himself to death. This morbid situation turns even bleaker but in a darkly funny manner. However, there are plenty of aimless bits and most of the characters are fairly irritating. The narrator’s desire for suicide – or lack of desire – isn’t explored too much. He seems to have adolescent fantasies and is annoyed when his also-suicidal friends marry or get good jobs or move on. The narrator has a rather sexist outlook on life – one could attribute it to him instead of the author, but it was still unpleasant to read. The female characters are pretty much prostitutes or older women whose desire is seen by the narrator as pathetic. Despite that, he relates at length several sexual episodes that end with him being humiliated. The book ends with a darkly ironic turn which is also an appropriate whimper. Interesting, but not a must-read.

Congratulations on being the first to review Our Circus Presents Is it one to read just before you commit suicide?

Sounds like I can skip this one!

Excellent reviews of Our Circus Presents and The Absolute at Large, DieF.

>31 baswood: LOL!

Great reviews of of some wacky books. I'm not tempted to read it, but I'm happy to read about The Absolute at Large. Quite a interesting sounding book.

>31 baswood: - Hmmmmm...I'd say no because it's not a book that's so depressing that suicide sounds good but it's not going to make you think life is worth living. I suppose someone might get irritated with all the suicide posers and want to go ahead with it to prove they can do it right?

>32 rebeccanyc: - Yeah, the book would have been interesting with some issues but the sexism really irritated me especially as it's a fairly short book.

>33 kidzdoc:, 34 - Thanks! I guess it is a bit of a weird start to the year.

Not much to say right now, but wanted to let you know I'm lurking...

Curious to see what you think about The door by Magda Szabó. I enjoyed reading your reviews on works by Čapek; I may pick up some of his.

>36 labfs39: - Glad to see you over here!

>37 edwinbcn: - I did quite like it - I'd read more by her but there doesn't seem to be much else available. Review is below. I hope you enjoy Capek - I've liked everything of his that I've read so far and am planning to read War with the Newts sometime in the next couple months.

The Door by Magda Szabó
Finished 1/10/13

Describing The Door as the story of a friendship between a writer and her housekeeper in no way conveys the baroque, almost Gothic, intensity of the novel. This is mostly due to the housekeeper, Emerence, who, from the moment the narrator meets her, is clearly seen to be no quiet domestic. She has a superhuman competence and strength, a set of religiously firm beliefs (though not actual religious beliefs, which she mocks), and a mysterious past, symbolized by her door, which is closed to all comers. Emerence combines many stereotypes of the old woman – crazy cat lady, judgmental and moralizing, almost out of a folktale – but these traits are often tweaked and she is her own person, an idiosyncratic force of nature. The relationship spans 20+ years and initially it is cool – Emerence rejects the narrator’s desire for a superficial niceness and polite small talk. However, after the narrator’s husband becomes seriously ill and the couple takes in a dog, Viola (Emerence’s name for the male dog), the two women become closer. Even then there are steps forward and back, misunderstandings, occasional bizarre out-of-proportion behavior from Emerence, and angry tiffs and fits of pique. Gradually, Emerence’s secrets are revealed, but usually in an understated, realistic way and there are still some lingering doubts in the narrator’s mind as to whether they are the truth –

“She gave none of us the full picture of herself. Once among the dead, she must have enjoyed a quiet smile at our expense as we struggled to work out the full story, as each of us tried to match his own allotted pieces of information with those granted to the others. At least three vital facts went with her to the grave, and it must have been a source of satisfaction to her to look back and see that we still didn’t have a full account of her actions, and never would.”

The narrator, called by her name, Magda, only at one critical moment, is clearly a semi-autobiographical portrait of the author. Events in the life of the narrator echo Szabó’s biography – a writer, was banned from publishing under the Communist government, won a major Hungarian award. However, the history of Hungary in the 20th c. is only lightly alluded to – likely because of Emerence’s firm rejection of all sorts of prattling politicians, whatever government is in charge, do-gooders and the religious, lawyers and doctors, and meddling bureaucrats. In the opening chapter, the narrator describes her recurring nightmare after Emerence’s death – a death for which she blames herself. In the end, her betrayal of Emerence is not related to Emerence’s actions under the Nazis and Communists, her fraught family history, or her unsuccessful love but something altogether more ordinary.

The book is also an indictment of the narrator who, for all her concern with niceness and friendship and her later guilt, shame and anger, can’t act at crucial moments or guess how her actions – or lack of action – will lead to disaster. Perhaps she unwittingly fulfills Emerence’s judgment of writers being useless and indeed Emerence’s criticism of the narrator – that she is petty, hypocritical, dense and often more concerned with appearances than meaning – hits home. The narrator is operating in the everyday rushed world of work, dentists, and deadlines while Emerence is in another one entirely. The author nicely conveys this mismatch by showing the narrator’s side of the story and her interpretations – which many would agree with – as well as clearly conveying Emerence’s take on events. Her writing sharply depicts the narrator’s changing feelings towards her housekeeper as well as the odd world of Emerence. A very involving book. However, one would hope for the author’s sake that rather more of it was fiction than autobiographical.

Picked up some more books today -

Ru - Kim Thuy
In a Lonely Place - Dorothy Hughes
The Museum of Abandoned Secrets - Oksana Zabuzhko

All of which are LT related - either picked them up based on reviews here or for the RG theme read

Also received a late Christmas present -

In Red - Magdalena Tulli
Kornel Esti - Dezso Kosztolanyi
The Fortress - Mesa Selimovic

Two will work for the RG read

Excellent review of The Door, DieF. Your review also does a great job of conveying the almost Gothic intensity of the novel. I will look for it.

Great review and nice group of new books. I'm probably going to read Kornel Esti soon, maybe even start it tody.

41> Ditto!

Glad to see the Capek review, I've been meaning to read him since my days reading Asimov. Pamelad was reading Capek sometime in the last year or two (which also caught my attention).

You're welcome. It was nice to clear out some space.

Great review of The Door Dief

Fascinating review of The Door, DieF; I've added it to my wish list.

Adding The Door to the wishlist and resolving to get back to reading Hordubal, which is not SF, but, as all the Capek books I've read do, shows his warm, human sympathy. You're a great source of Eastern and Central European writers, Diefl, so I'm off to check out your reading globally thread.

Thanks - Linda, Rebecca, Lisa, Avaland, Bas, kidzdoc and pamelad.

avaland and pamelad - Hope you two get around to reading some Capek this year. I'd like to read everything in the Catbird Press Capek series but I usually rely on serendipitously finding books and copies seem a little scarce.

For a book you didn't like, that's a very enticing review. Sounds intense.

>Your review also reminds me that I have the 3rd book in David Herter's trilogy yet to read. The 2nd book featured both Karel and his brother in starring roles.

>49 dchaikin: - I did end up liking The Door even though some parts of it were a bit horrible. Good writing and very addictive.

>50 avaland: - Yes, I need to get the second one since I like the first one and I'd be very interested in reading about the Capek brothers. Hopefully sometime this year.

Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage by Kenneth Silverman
Finished 1/17/13

John Cage is notorious for composing 4'33'', a silent piece, but his long career involved many compositional innovations and phases as well as a long-standing interest in other arts – dance, visual arts, writing. Silverman’s traditional biography (there are various others focusing on his philosophy or 4'33'') is a good read, nicely captures the many sides of Cage and creates an involving portrait of the New York School of artists that included Cage, his longtime partner Merce Cunningham, artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and composers Earle Brown, Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff.

Cage led a peripatetic early life – moving frequently with his family, dropping out of college and running off to Europe, constantly looking for work. His interest in music developed early on but he was also interested in other subjects – literature, architecture, visual arts. Arnold Schoenberg was one of his first teachers. Cage had had several homosexual relationships but married Xenia Kashevaroff and she often participated in his concerts. They spent the Depression teaching, but Cage used his experiences in composing some of his earliest avant-garde music – percussion-heavy pieces. Silverman gives detailed descriptions of his concerts – what weird instruments were used, who played what, comments from the press – and certainly makes his performance sound like fun. Cage made a number of famous and influential friends – Lou Harrison, Mark Tobey, Morris Graves. Sometimes the celebrity-chasing aspect of it comes through but Silverman also shows that Cage befriended many before they found fame. He started composing for the prepared piano, another Cage specialty. The strings would be altered by attaching variable objects which would give it an odd, changing sound.

Cage and Xenia moved to Chicago and New York, where Cage would be based for much of the rest of his life. They had some connections and patrons – mainly Peggy Guggenheim. Cage composed music for dancers and started a friendship with Merce Cunningham. It eventually turned into an affair and he left Xenia for Cunningham. Their relationship would have its ups and downs but it lasted until Cage’s death in 1992. The pair had many productive collaborations – Cage composing pieces for Cunningham’s dances. Cage became interested in Eastern music and philosophy – his friend Gita Sarabhai taught him about Indian music, he threw himself into Zen Buddhism after hearing Daisetz Suzuki lecture and started using the I Ching random methods to compose his pieces. His chance methods would soon define his music as well as various aspects of his life (Cunningham used them when choreographing, Cage used the I Ching when making etchings and watercolors). Cage and Cunningham had to constantly try to get engagements and employment and toured the U.S. and eventually Europe. They taught at Black Mountain College and Cage would have various professorships over his lifetime.

The New York School started with the friendships of Cage, Cunningham and other artists. Christian Wolff was Cage’s protégée, Mort Feldman was a friend and Earle Brown, another composer, befriended the group while his wife Carolyn was one of the dancers in Cunningham’s company. Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, friends and lovers, also joined the group and Rauschenberg would do the designs for Cunningham’s performances. However, there were also many conflicts among the group which Silverman nicely charts. Cage had many long-lasting friendships with other composers – Harrison, Virgil Thomson, Pierre Boulez – but also many fights and falling outs. He developed a calm Zen indifference towards the critics and jeering audiences but could become emotional and angry towards his friends. Many of the fights were over artistic matters or what he took as public criticism from his friends.

On tours in Europe, Cage promoted his friends’ works and had his own performed by David Tudor, a gifted pianist and longtime collaborator. Sometimes Cage would also perform – reading random pieces of his lectures at while Tudor played the piano. He developed an interest in electronic music, tape splicing, the sounds of random radios and everyday noise and finally the silent piece. He moved to the Stony Point commune and developed a passion for mushrooms which would be another lifelong interest. Cage frequently went mushroom hunting, participated in the mycological society, answered difficult mushroom-related questions on an Italian game show (as well as playing his music) and collected many rare books, which he later donated to a university. Another innovation was indeterminacy – players could decide what notes or how long to play or the order would be chosen at random which meant that each playing of the piece would be different. However, Cage was not one for improvisation – he disliked jazz – and he wanted his pieces to be practiced. A piece performed by the New York Philharmonic angered Cage when the players were allowed to improvised and just played music that they knew.

Cage was always seeking new ideas. In the 60’s, he became an advocate of progressive politics and tried to incorporate those ideas into his work. Silverman gives a nice summary of his influences and beliefs. The author also seems to have a special interest in Cage’s writing – he spends some time describing Cage’s published works, collections and musical manuscripts and his relationship with his publisher. Interesting stuff. As he became famous and well-regarded, Cage had less concerns about making money to survive but was frequently fundraising for his concerts, Cunningham’s tours or other causes. Silverman discusses the varied origins of the “Happenings” that occurred around New York at the time and describes some of Cage’s events – many sounded like a lot of fun. (Although the concerts where Cage stood on stage and made various syllable sounds might have been too much.) One such concert was the HPSCHD, a piece for seven harpsichords, tape players, a slide show and various other things that Cage composed using an early computer. Another was the crazy Europeras, Cage’s computer-randomized mashup of multiple operas, performed with ever-changing costume, settings, lighting and actions.

Other passions would include Thoreau, James Joyce, rocks, chess, etching and watercolors and mesostics. His mesostics were like acrostics but with a capitalized letter in the middle of the phrase. Cage wrote and published many, sent them to friends, and used them for his music. He had never much cared for harmony but reevaluated later in life. With everyone jumping on the electronic music bandwagon, Cage started composing piano pieces again – extremely difficult ones. Cage had many health problems. He found that a strict macrobiotic diet helped clear some of them and soon developed a love of cooking macrobiotic food, taking it with him when he travelled. He and Cunningham moved to New York. Cage, as the old man of American avant-garde music, had many opportunities and invitations. However, some of his friends and former friends died and he had remaining health issues. There was some strain in his relationship as Cunningham frequently travelled with his company and, while Cage used to go with them, he now had his own commitments at home. Cage continued composing, performing and organizing in 1992. There were many celebrations planned for his 80th birthday but he died on August 11th.

Last year, I read another biography of Cage, The Roaring Silence by David Revill. The Silverman is clearly the better book. Revill was extremely thin on the personal information – he gives no indication of what Cage’s relationships with Xenia or Cunningham were like, for example. Silverman does a better job giving the artistic context, describing the New York School and Cage’s involvement with other movements, for example. He also has much better descriptions of performances, Cage’s music in general, and the people in Cage’s life. Revill, for some reason, spends considerably more time describing Cage’s early life. His main focus is Cage’s philosophy, which is fine, but he does it in a rather off-putting way – getting too into the jargon and providing some arrogant-sounding arguments.

Very interesting review of the Cage biography. He sounds like an interesting man, and I enjoyed reading about his involvement in the New York art scene. When you reviewed the other bio, I might have mentioned an exhibit at a Hunter College gallery that was called "The Cage Effect" and involved contemporary art (I use the term in its broadest sense) that reflected Cage's approach to music. An artist I know had a piece in the exhibit, which is how I came to see it. Unfortunately, the Hunter College web site didn't archive its section on the exhibit, but here is a link to an article about it.

Fabulous review about a fascinating man, DieF. I'll be on the lookout for Begin Again on my next bookstore trip.

Great review of Begin Again, DieF, which does sound fascinating. Silverman's biography of Edgar Allen Poe also looks very interesting. And the library has both of them!

I enjoyed your excellent review of Begin Again: A biography of John Cage. It would seem to be a straight forward biography of a man whose life was anything but straight forward. Obviously the book to read if you want to know more about John Cage.

>53 rebeccanyc: - Rebecca, I remember you mentioned the exhibit when I read the other Cage book but that's a different article. I liked the pictures and Cage probably would have approved of many of the pieces. He might have wanted them all to be in one big space instead of different rooms though.

There were several performances of Cage's work around here for his centenary - he taught at Cornish College of the Arts and that was where he first met Cunningham. I didn't get a chance to go to any of them though as the timing was never good. I think a performance of his pieces would be really fun.

>54 kidzdoc:, 55 - Thanks kidzdoc and LInda - didn't think a biography of John Cage would have a huge audience as he is definitely....odd but he had a very interesting life and glad to have piqued your interest.

>56 baswood: - That's a good description of the book - "a straight forward biography of a man whose life was anything but straight forward". There were a couple other books published about Cage in the last year or so but I think they were about his philosophy or 4'33''. I probably won't be looking for them now but was glad to have read a better Cage bio.

Martín Rivas by Alberto Blest Gana
Finished 1/14/13

Alberto Blest Gana was born in 1830, the son of a father from Ireland and a mother from the Chilean landed bourgeois. His father helped modernize the medical establishment in Chile and two brothers dabbled in politics and also were writers. Blest Gana is well-known in Chile for his many novels – they are considered classics and read in schools. He was influenced by a number of 19th c. French novelists – Balzac, Sand, Stendhal – and was in France for a diplomatic position during the revolts of 1848 and 1871. Some of his earliest novels were set in France; later ones took place in Chile.

Martín Rivas is one of his best-known novels. The title character is a poor but principled provincial who comes to Santiago after the death of his father. He’s taken in by a business partner of his father, Don Dámaso, a wealthy and rather dim flip-flopping politician. Don Dámaso interacts with a number of other airheaded rich conservatives – political discussions set the stage early on but then only appear later in the book. The majority of the plot is taken up by the romantic entanglements, affairs and triangles of Martín, Don Dámaso’s beautiful but spoiled daughter Leonor and his foppish, stupid son Agustín, their sweet and demure cousin Matilde, Martín’s noble friend Rafael San Luis and two girls from a not-quite-aristocratic family, Adelaida and Edelmira. Martín, unsurprisingly, loves Leonor but her wealth and beauty (as well as her being the daughter of his benefactor) put her out of his reach. While trying to fight his feelings, Martín helps his friends with their romantic woes and there are a number of melodramatic twists and turns.

All the melodrama makes the books a pretty addictive read. However, many of the characters are somewhat thin – Agustín, for example, is a ridiculous dandy who is always dropping French words and talking about Paris, though it is repeatedly noted that his French is poor. Don Dámaso’s longstanding inability to make up his mind and general ineffectualness is also satirized and his wife is a useless woman who is more concerned with her dog than anything else. Still, Blest Gana may make fun of the family but he does not treat them harshly and since the admirable Martín cares about them, there must be something there. The ending sort of demonstrates this. The prose was somewhat flat though this could be the translation. Even if some of the characters were one-note, the relationship and class issues are interesting.

The two lower-class girls are sympathetically portrayed and the usual story of upper-class men seducing and forgetting those types of women is shown in a strongly negative light. The author notes that in Chilean society, unlike in Europe, it was possible for the newly wealthy to be accepted in politics and the best society. There are several comparisons made between Leonor/Matilde and Adelaida/Edelmira – including several instances of being in love with the same person – and they could easily have been in each others’ places. Adelaida and Edelmira’s mother and brother are violent and vulgar but Don Dámaso and his buffoonish friends also support violence, they just want it carried out by the state. Matilde’s father, like the mother and brother of the girls, is also controlling and expects her to marry who he says. Martín is an another example of class fluidity. Though the current members of the ruling class are stupid and silly, Martín’s ascent – which combines the hardworking dedication of a poor boy from the countryside, an outsider’s self-awareness, the political passion and liberalism of San Luis and the elegance and wealth of Don Dámaso’s family – suggests improvement. Some issues with characters and prose, but an interesting and fast read for anyone with an interest in the period or lesser-known 19th c. literature.

Excellent review of Martin Rivas, DieF. It is interesting to learn something of 19th century literature from South America.

Great review of Martín Rivas, DieF. I'll have to keep this book and its author in mind when it comes time for the South American literature quarterly theme in the Reading Globally group.

Enjoyed your review - an author I've never heard of, from a place/period I've never thought about before.

Thanks Linda, kidzdoc and dchaikin. I'm hoping to get to more books from South American authors in anticipation of the Reading Globally theme read - also for reading more non-American/non-European lit.

Have been busy with work stuff lately but I've finished -

Nadirs by Herta Muller (super depressing)
The Polish Complex by Tadeusz Konwicki
and Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman

Need to review them

I completely agree with you about Nadirs, DieF; I used the phrase "unremitting despair" when I reviewed it three years ago. Has Müller ever written anything that doesn't induce the reader to jump off a nearby cliff?

Nadirs...phew...relentless. Good thing it's short.

Oh, I'll be interested in what you think of The Polish Complex. I have that on the TBR.

>63 kidzdoc: - The Land of Green Plums was also unrelentingly bleak and I have The Passport and The Appointment so will find out about those two though I'm predicting - depressing. The many reviews of The Hunger Angel also made that one sound like a nonstop depression-fest.

>64 dchaikin: - Very relentless - though I did find when reading Nadirs that I got into a rhythm but it's not a book that I could take on the bus or anything.

>65 rebeccanyc: - I though The Polish Complex was pretty good - similar to A Minor Apocalypse in mixing the grim, grey atmosphere of Communist Warsaw with various flights of fancy, both in the prose and the plot.

Nadirs by Herta Müller
Finished 1/21/13

Nadirs is a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories depicting life in a German-speaking Romanian community. Müller’s flat, succinct style is enhanced by her vivid, at times graphic, descriptions of people and places and occasional bouts of surrealism. The title story is very powerful but pretty much every story is extremely bleak and depressing. “Nadirs” takes that to new highs (lows?) as every glimmer of hope or pleasure or beauty is paired with violent or unpleasant imagery. For example, the narrator recalls the fun she has playing with a toy mouse, but it comes just after a section describing in graphic detail how their cats would dismember and eat mice. Pumpkin carving brings to mind her father’s death. Any descriptions of nature are juxtaposed with images of rot, decay and death. The story ostensibly describes the narrator’s childhood in a Banat Romanian village but there are some subtle criticisms of the Communist regime – describing how common death is in the cities and the overall mood of hopelessness.

Most of the other stories are short and also describe village life. Besides “Nadirs”, the best ones are those with flights of surrealism – “The Funeral Sermon” which describes the narrator’s father’s funeral heightened by its unreality, “About German Mustaches and Hair Parts” – about a friend who returns to the village and finds it unrecognizable, and “Workday” which seems to be a flat, straightforward depiction of a day but everything is completely off. I found Müller’s short and flat style, at times a listing of events or descriptions, to be rather hypnotic but could easily see how many would find it off-putting. Also, the extreme grimness and bleak mood makes it hard to recommend – it might be one more admirable than likeable.

Nadirs sounds bleak, but I don't have a problem with bleak. Would you recommend this one, or The Hunger Angel to a first time reader?

I agree that Muller's short and flat style can be hypnotic, but I also find it very effective as it evokes very well the rigid, terse atmosphere of the story, and life-draining mood. I've only read The Land of Green Plums, but I'm willing to try Nadirs.

That is a very good review of Nadirs, you mention several things that I missed while reading it.

Haven't read The Land of Green Plums, but I have read The Hunger Angel and The Passport. Both are bleak...but not in the same unrelentingly way that Nadirs is.

#68 Dewald - I wouldn't start with The Hunger Angel...because I didn't really like it...although I appreciate its importance. As I see it, Muller's work often has a very personal side to it that I think makes it especially powerful. But The Hunger Angel is about someone from a different time...

Nice review of Nadirs, DieF. I agree with Dan's comment, as I also found it to be relentlessly bleak and depressing.

Thanks to all for the comments.

>68 dmsteyn: - I haven't read The Hunger Angel but I want to get it to add to the Müller pile. I think I'd recommend The Land of Green Plums over Nadirs even though Nadirs is considerably shorter. If you just read one Müller, it might be good to read her best-known work and, like dchaikin and kidzdoc, I found Nadirs unrelentingly bleak while The Land of Green Plums was just pretty depressing.

>69 deebee1: - I do find Müller's prose to be very effective and even the unending grimness of Nadirs didn't turn me off her work.

>70 dchaikin: - Glad to hear that The Passport and The Hunger Angel aren't Nadirs-level bleak though I'd read them even if they were. There's something about Müller's prose, that's for sure.

>71 kidzdoc: - Thanks kidzdoc.

Does anyone have an opinion on the relative bleakness of The Appointment?

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Finished 2/4/13

I wanted to read this book because of Hayao Miyazaki’s wonderful animated film. The movie hews close to the book for about the first third but then diverges. Both are delightful entertainments and I’d recommend either one for a quick, fun read/movie. Sophie Hatter knows that nothing special or extraordinary will happen to her as she’s the oldest of three sisters – and everyone knows that only youngest daughters are destined for exciting things. Her life at the hat shop is tiring and dull but not miserable. However, one day a nasty customer, the feared Witch of the Waste, transforms Sophie into an old woman.

Sophie quickly leaves her small town and finds refuge in the floating castle of the wizard Howl, reputed around town to be an evil monster who eats the hearts of young girls. She soon learns that Howl is not the monster rumor made him out to be though one has to look hard to find his good qualities as he is a vain, self-involved, cowardly hypochondriac and drama queen. He is also a master at slithering out of obligations and running away. It took me a while to warm up to Howl but he was quite entertaining. Sophie is caught up in a number of conflicts – problems with her sisters back at home, trying to solve her curse as well as the curse on Calcifer, the castle fire demon, the romantic problems of Howl and Michael, his assistant, and Howl’s efforts to escape both the Witch of the Waste and the king, who wants to rope him into employment. Sophie, relieved from her shyness by her now-advanced age, sets to work handling the problems with a new directness and fervor though she makes a number of mistakes on the way. Sometimes the plot, which features many characters in disguise or swapping bodies or as something other than what they appear, can get confusing but the whole thing is highly addictive and the messy, frantic, makeshift life of Howl, Sophie and Michael is great fun and a nice contrast the more magical aspects.

I've heard good things about Diana Wynne Jones and Howl's Moving Castle, so thanks for the positive review.

And the movie is lovely. It's so different from the book, but just as good.

I enjoyed your review of Nadirs, DieF and have moved it up my wishlist. It is difficult to imagine that it is more bleak than the The Hunger Angel, which I thought was very powerful. I also have The Appointment and The Passport waiting to be read. I completely agree with you that her writing is very effective - even poetic.

>74 dmsteyn: - It's a lot of fun, hope you get around to it. I pretty much read the whole book in one sitting.

>75 RidgewayGirl: - Yes, his movies are very stunning visually. Hard to find anything comparable in American animated films though admittedly I'm not a film buff. Sometimes I think it's a good thing when a movie takes liberties with the book - if it's just a plodding recreation, why even see it?

>76 Linda92007: - I'll be interested to hear what you think Linda - about the relative bleakness. I'll have to read the other two books soon for comparison.

Review of A History of Opera went a little long. Only posting half right now. My overall opinion can be found in the first two paragraphs if people don't want to read a summary and commentary on, well, the history of opera.

A History of Opera by Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker
Finished 2/10/13

Abbate and Parker’s history of opera is a very smoothly-written, interesting and nuanced book with one major flaw. The book describes the development of opera from its start in the late 1500s to the present day. In the wide-ranging introduction, the authors raise a number of issues that will frequently appear – the difference between spoken and sung words, how performance practice alters an opera, the difference between the plot-character and the music-character (e.g., dying characters singing on for a long time), and the changing experience of seeing an opera. They often refine or refute common-knowledge ideas of operatic history (the influence of the Florentine Camerata, Gluck’s importance, Verdi’s political involvement). The merits of many once-popular, now-forgotten operas and genres (e.g., French grand opera) are discussed as well as the durability of traditions and forms. There’s a lot about just how odd and bizarre the whole enterprise is – constant tensions between words and music, tradition and innovation, singers and composers and audiences, and the recurring idea through history that opera is too messy or out-of-line and must be reformed. Musical examples are given but particular passages are not provided as in many books, and it’s more about the history and the operas in context (how audiences reacted, what was novel and what influenced the composers) instead of a list of periods, composers, and operas. The authors include a number of quotes criticizing influential, popular and now-acclaimed operas which was a lot of fun to read.

There are certainly some small quibbles with various interpretations and, in the sections organized by theme, some operas seem shoved in. Occasionally some musical analyses go on a little long but are usually interesting to read. However, the main problem with the book is the poor and paltry treatment of contemporary opera. As the authors’ opinion is that it’s a dead art form, this is not surprising but their cursory look and dismissive attitude at the present-day weakens their argument and comes as an unhappy development after their open attitude towards all the operatic foibles of the past. From the introduction, where they hint at this conclusion, one imagines that they will have some suggestions for the present but they abruptly conclude after dismissing half a century of composers.

The start of opera is presented as more diffuse and less definitive than the usual accounts – which often have the Camerata, an intellectual group based in Florence, theorizing about what Greek performances were like, then composers going out and composing. The varied precursors of opera are familiar, but the authors provide a good summary. Although the book is a little light on early examples – only the great Claudio Monteverdi’s works are analyzed in detail – and the French section seemed rather short, it’s a nuanced summary. In the early days of opera, the competing schools were the French and the Italian, not the more familiar Italian-vs-German debates in the 19th c. The decades after the birth of opera also produced a number of oddities and experiments as the new form spread through Italy and to the German territories. Various quotes from intellectuals and philosophers calling for reform are found throughout the book and soon after the spread of opera, reforms led to opera seria.

As opera gained in popularity, singers became highly-paid professionals (the myths and paranoia surround the castrati get examined) and the set style of opera seria emerged. This genre moved away from the through-composed recitar cantando style seen in Monteverdi to the harpsichord-accompanied recitativo secco (exposition) and more elaborate arias, with the da capo aria – an ABA form with elaborate ornamentation on the repeat section – becoming de rigueur. Opera seria also had a number of standard elements – historical/exotic subjects, happy endings with the good rewarded and the bad punished or reformed, poetic librettos, spectacular productions, and large portions where the audience gossiped, ate, slept or crowd-watched. As opera seria was Very Serious, the comedic elements, which had often been incongruously juxtaposed with the solemn in the early years, migrated away to the silly, popular opera buffa – the genre whose main target was often the conventions of opera itself. The coverage of operas from this era is still a little thin but the section on Handel provides a good overview of the London operatic milieu of the time. There are occasional mentions of modern-day practices – the current baroque opera revival – and these never seem forced.

Reform opera is generally attributed to Christoph Willibald Gluck, who railed against the conventions of opera seria and composed his own operas in a declamatory style like Monteverdi, with Greek subjects, plenty of chorus and none of what he thought was the excess of opera seria. Gluck was extremely influential, but the authors note that his cries for reform, like many others, had a strong anti-Italian bias and that the Italians cheerfully went on valuing highly ornamented singing, as the Rossinian model, which held for decades, would show. Mozart is often categorized as a proponent of reform opera. However, he went back and forth as is shown. One or both of the authors clearly has a strong affection for his operas as the analysis of his life, environment, and operas went on and sometimes it seemed that whole sections were in place just to discuss more Mozart. However, the look at speaking vs music in various theatrical forms is clearly related to what comes after. Also, the musical analysis is almost always related to the topic at hand and set in the historical context. For example, the much-praised opening duet between Figaro and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro is contrasted with what the same scene would look like in opera seria – though the wonderful characterization is also noted. The high-flying crazy coloratura aria of the evil Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte is contrasted to the more modest and declamatory music of the good characters – some reform influence there.

After a detour to the German Romantic operas, Beethoven’s Fidelio and Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz – nicely set in context, but what was with the Fidelio-bashing? – the history moves to Italy. The chapters on Gioachino Rossini and his influence are among the best. The book sets out the Rossini model, its strengths and limitations, how Rossini did not so much break tradition as provide some of the best examples of it and also how he could adapt his model for different situations – the needs of a particular opera or the changes when he composed a French grand opera. Vincenzo Bellini and Gaetano Donizetti tend to get lumped in with Rossini as Italian bel canto composers but by contrasting Bellini and Donizetti to the Rossini model, the authors do a terrific job of differentiating between them. The Rossini model provided a set structure for the arias and ensemble movements - the slower, lyrical cantabile followed by a change in mood or a surprising event, leading to the faster ornamented concluding cabaletta. Along the way, other topics related to the period are covered – the decline of the castrati with the corresponding rise of the tenor, specific singers who shaped Rossini’s operas and the importance of performance practice, and – a more modern concern, perhaps – the occasional feeling of dissonance a watcher might have from hearing the bright cascades of Rossini’s music describing an extremely unpleasant scene. Bellini and Donizetti mostly stuck to the Rossini form but added increasingly dramatic and dissonant music, more declamatory sections and used ornamentation more exclusively for the female characters. Most of the operas covered are standard – Norma? check – Lucia? check (some great history and modern ideas on the famous mad scene)…but then there are some weird ones, from the lesser-known (Il pirata) to the huh? (Parisina??).

Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, the two titans of 19th c. Italian and German opera, are contrasted in two sections each on their lives and operas. The overall conclusion of Verdi seems to be that he was essentially conservative – brilliant and effective in altering the Rossini model, but mostly a follower, especially later in life. The authors also deny ideas of his political importance and role in the Risorgimento – the chorus from Nabucco, “Va, pensiero”, became an unofficial anthem much later and they attribute misconceptions to late 19th c. and later Fascist propaganda. However, the French and Italian influence on Wagner is described at length as well though his radical, noisy music and other operatic advances - his use of new instruments, writing his own librettos, demanding a dark theater for his operas - also get much coverage. Verdi’s advancements are described through the musical analysis of his operas Ernani, Macbeth and especially Rigoletto. The availability of talented singers also spurred him to write extremely difficult music. Later in life, his operas were stylistically varied from the mashup of styles in La Forza del destino and Un Ballo in maschera, the conventional form and exoticism of Aida, the French grand opera Don Carlos and the two Shakespeare-inspired masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff. The latter two were often seen as Verdi succumbing to Wagnerism or his response against it. There is extensive analysis of Wagner’s operas – the authors have some obvious favorites, especially Tristan, I never minded them going off on that one – as well as his life. One has to mention his leitmotifs - little musical themes - in any musical analysis but his various - and, to the authors, not always successful - depictions of love are also described.

The two strands of French opera, grand opéra and opéra comique, are given a sympathetic treatment. Grand opéra is one genre that hasn’t seen a revival like bel canto or baroque opera. Certain ones have survived, mostly due to their composers – Verdi’s Don Carlos, Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and Wagner’s Tannhäuser. French grand opéra would be a lavish affair, a five-act, French language serious opera usually about warring religions/nations with giant choruses, a ballet and spectacular scenery and effects. The conditions for these enormous productions are described and the international character – both of composers and in the mishmash of styles in the operas – is seen as tolerant and inclusive relative to later nationalism. The most famous product from grand opéra was Charles Gounod’s reworked Faust, which would go on to be an enormous success and make frequent literary appearances. In the chapter on opéra comique – it had to have spoken dialogue, though plots could be varied adventures or fluffy fun – the authors defend the merely frivolous and entertaining. Most of the popular hits from this genre are forgotten but opéra comique did produce one opera – an atypical one – that everyone knows – Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Bizet’s orchestration and delineation of the characters is praised but attention is also paid to his extensive use of “real song” – parts of the opera that would have been actually sung in life – and its importance - Carmen’s singing and dancing is part of her allure. The long and successful afterlife of Carmen is compared with another popular at the time, now forgotten opera – Ambrose Thomas’ Mignon.

Interesting to read about the history of opera; as I'm sure I've mentioned, I grew up in an opera-hating family, so this is all new to me.

Interesting and comprehensive review, DieF.

their cursory look and dismissive attitude at the present-day weakens their argument and comes as an unhappy development after their open attitude towards all the operatic foibles of the past.

I was ready to put this book on my Amazon wishlist even before I got to your second paragraph, possibly to give to my husband who likes opera, but then I got to the above line. Should I, should I not? Hmm. In any case, do the authors explain at least why they think this way?

Would this work though as a good source for all the operatic foibles of the past if combined with a decent book at the present?

Wonderful and knowledgeable review of A History of Opera. This definitely seems like one for my bookshelves, although I note your comments about the weakness of some sections.

Great review of A History of Opera, DieF.

>79 rebeccanyc: - Rebecca, my family isn't anti-opera but I think they're still a bit puzzled by how much I love it. There was an idea when I was growing up that Classical Music along with Museums and Reading was a Good Thing, but who has the time? They have been good sports and have gone to operas with me on trips - I think they liked the Puccinis though my sister occasionally still complains about that time I took her to see Shostakovich's The Nose.

>80 deebee1:-82 - Even with the paltry treatment of contemporary opera, I still think this is a good book to read. It would make a good general history of opera for someone with no prior knowledge but an opera lover would definitely learn a lot. A lot of books on opera are somewhat list-y (of periods, composers, operas) or highly specialized (by topic, or written by musicologists). Also, the writing in this one flows really well and sounds more like curious experts than the dry or professor-type tone in some other books I've read.

I think this would be good if supplemented by a more thorough 20th c. book. The operatic foibles described were pretty interesting - and at times amusing, like their mention of the simplified arrangements of operatic music made for amateur performances at home (when the upper/middle class would generally be able to play and sing)

"One patient bibliographer has unearthed over 400 separate publications that serve up extracts of La traviata for amateur consumption. There's even a version of the entire opera for solo clarinet, a daunting prospect for that slow Sunday evening in the parlour."

That made me laugh.

Some more about my issues with the last chapters below

>83 kidzdoc: - Thanks, kidzdoc.

Part II of my review for A History of Opera

After Verdi and Wagner, the operas of the late 19th c. are shoved together in a section on realism and noise. It seems a bit of a grab-bag – the Russian operas that they had to include because they’re the ones people know (Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Tchaikovsky’s Yevgeny Onegin), the French Jules Massenet, verismo and Giacomo Puccini. To their credit, the analysis of the operas is good and relates to the topic at hand. They also manage to convey how weird both the portrayals of everyday, unexalted topics and the techniques for ‘realistic’ sounds would have been at the time. The dissonant bells and background music of Boris and the domestic topic and also background music in Onegin are cited. Massenet and Puccini both adapted the novel Manon Lescaut for an opera - the overall unpleasant subject matter, Massenet’s focus on small domestic items and Puccini’s further reductions in ensemble singing fit the theme of the chapter. The authors contrast the realism and domestic focus of La bohème to Wagner and note the accusations of ‘noise’ that were thrown at Puccini as well as his seamlessly integrated ensembles and arias

Even more weirdness would start out the 20th century - Richard Strauss’ demented, noisy Salome and Elektra, Arnold Schoenberg’s demented, freely atonal Erwartung, Claude Debussy’s quiet, expressive and gorgeous Pelléas et Mélisande, with a weird Symbolist plot, and the also weird, ambiguous Bluebeard’s Castle, by Béla Bartók, a short and claustrophobic but harshly dramatic piece. The conceptions of these pieces (Wagnerism was hard to escape at this time), their reception, and their dramatic breaks with the past are covered. The authors have a clear fondness for many of the pieces – had to go listen to some of them while reading it. Not agonizing about Wagner were Leoš Janáček, the great Czech composer who based his idiosyncratic style on folk music (mainly in his opera Jenůfa) and the melody of speech, and Puccini, who incorporated many of the latest techniques into his operas but continued on with his usual melodic, concise style.

The modern style (and, it is hinted, the decline of opera) would start when operas tended towards pastiches and parodies or turned atonal. Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier tends to provoke opposite reactions and the authors do touch on some of what irritates its critics. They set the opera in the context of Strauss’ life and work but tend to analyze - instead of just the music - the references to the past, the musical jokes, the made-up history. Still, they, like many others, can’t help but praise his lush, nostalgic music. Ariadne auf Naxos is examined through a similar lens. However, both operas, whatever the pastiches or borrowed elements, really are enjoyable even if you know nothing about Le Nozze di Figaro or opera seria. Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, based on Hogarth’s illustrations and part of his neo-classical phase, is also included. The other strand of modernism would be serialist operas - instead of the free atonalism of Schoenberg’s early period, music based on his 12-tone system. Alban Berg’s Lulu and Wozzeck are the best examples, and they also look back to the past in their use of older musical forms - fugue, passacaglia - to structure the scenes.

Often the history of opera is seen as a progression towards greater declamatory styles. The last section on speech in 20th c. opera has some clearly relevant styles - the German Sprechstimme (the sung speech associated with atonalism), the Zeitoper movement during the Weimar Republic (with The Threepenny Opera being a well-known example), Janáček’s speech-melody. Some of the composers and operas feel out of place here though it’s interesting to read about them. Strauss’ late Capriccio is in his tonal, melodic style, but the subject of the opera is words vs music. The Russians are quickly summarized though the famous trashing of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk (in an article known to reflect Stalin’s views) is examined at length.

The final section does a quick description of movies and opera (there had been some about this previously - very interesting) then goes on to quickly summarize the operatic decline - decreased funding, limited repertory, no good new operas. Only Benjamin Britten is praised and examined at any length. There’s admiration for a couple new works such as György Ligeti’s bizarre grab-bag apocalyptic comedy pastiche Le Grande Macabre but everything else has problems.

All atonal operas are bad - or maybe not because the Schoenberg and Bergs were praised. Or maybe only long atonal operas? So a 1-2 hr one should be fine but maybe not because audiences don’t like atonal music, whatever the length? One of the few contemporary successes that they cite - Nixon in China - is subtly criticized for being too accessible and John Adams’ work in general is hinted to be all the same. The current trend of high-concept productions is only briefly mentioned though one could infer that the authors don’t much care for them based on their attitude throughout the book. However, given that they explained at length all the messy ways operas were put together and the less-than-involved audiences, the scolding that the current age faces feels odd. There are certainly some relevant points - one being that in the past, you had to produce a lot of forgettable operas to get one Faust or Carmen. But then the authors say that more funding and subsidies isn’t the answer. As funding situations are very different from country to country, it would be interesting to hear a bit about this in the past or present but it never comes up. They also mention that if operas aren’t successes in a relatively short time, they never will be. I was really thinking I should go back and check the receptions for the ones they covered - how long did it take some of them (often with disastrous premieres) to become successes? The authors are British and American; many of the productions they mention are from The Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden. I couldn’t help but think that they were only surveying the present from the American/British point of view and that the situation might be different in France, Italy and Germany, the countries of most importance for, well, the whole book. The last chapter is irritating but the majority of the book is well-written, extremely readable and nuanced and informative. Read this book, but have a shaker of salt ready for the last chapters.

Just popping in to catch up. Interesting comments on the Müller. Seems I still have one of hers around here yet to read, and The Hunger Angel sits on my wishlist.

I just went by my Barny Noble wishlists to add A History of Opera and found that I had already added it to my Waiting-for-the-paperback wishlist back in December. I have a feeling that I won't get to it anytime soon. I am glad to have your detailed review here.

Robert

Interesting review.

Strangely enough, while I love going to the symphony and go several times a month, I have no desire to go to the opera other than to dress up and look pretty. Perhaps though it's because I haven't yet seen a very grand opera with fabulous singers. The operas I've seen have always been quite mediocre. I'm sure with my opera-loving boyfriend though, I will have plenty of chances to try and immerse myself into the opera world. I do love a good movie about the opera, however: Farewell my Concubine, Amadeus, Farinelli.

>86 avaland: - Thanks for stopping by, avaland. I picked up The Hunger Angel recently so can cross that off the wishlist. (also bought - The Death of Mr. Baltisberger by Bohumil Hrabal and Family Sayings by Natalia Ginzburg.

>87 Mr.Durick: - Glad it was helpful Mr. Durick.

>88 lilisin: - I think a lot of my friends like to come to the opera in part because of the dressing up and looking pretty. It's also a fun social thing (we do dinner or drinks) and it seems like they've mostly enjoyed the operas (well, Tristan was a little long....and Schopenhauer-y). I hope that you find an opera that you really enjoy!

The Polish Complex by Tadeusz Konwicki
Finished 1/21/13

In The Polish Complex, Konwicki mixes the surreal and fantastic with grey Communist Warsaw and the result in an involving, melancholy, odd read. The main plot follows an author named Konwicki who is standing in line at a jewelry store on Christmas Eve. It becomes increasingly clear that the delivery to the store is never going to happen but the group in line finds it hard to leave. There’s a lot of aimless conversations – about the characters’ dull lives, plans that might never happen – that occasionally turn charged. Konwicki as well as a couple of the others allude to their time as Polish partisans during WWII. The surreal elements are often set out in separate stream-of-consciousness thoughts of the narrator, a flashback to the past or a letter but they also enter the main story. There’s some ambiguity about the author’s relation to some of the other characters – was one of the other line-dwellers assigned to kill him? Is the shopgirl his guardian angel?

The setting of a line and the dully grey background would be a recognizably Communist one. Everyone is waiting for something besides the jewelry shipment – for a trip that is talked about but might never come, for the supposed happy Communist future that no one believes in anymore, for Polish independence in the 19th c and for the end of an anonymous regime in a letter to Konwicki. Sometimes the talk can get a little pointless but Konwicki mixes the gloom with some fantastic inventions. The narrator occasionally thinks about role of the writer, the fate of nations and moves out all the way to the indifferent spinning earth in his long, elaborate stream-of-consciousness head monologues, a change of pace in both prose style and scope from the main plot. He has one extended story of a leader of the failed Polish rebellion in 1863 which is compared to the Polish partisans. I wasn’t sure if the author was basing this on a real character and was unfamiliar with the history of that time but the story was involving anyway. Another sideplot is the letter to Konwicki by a Polish friend now living in an unnamed country. His friend bemoans the sad state of their government, which clamps down on freedom and forces everyone to publicly state their love of the party. The friend sadly compares his life to the freedom that he assumes is in Poland, a bit of roundabout criticism by the author.

Interesting review of The Polish Complex, which I hope to read in the not-too-distant future. Lines have certainly led to a lot of Communist fiction, including most notably, for me, Sorokin's The Queue.

Good review of The Polish Complex. I have a Polish friend, but she never talks about politics or the "bad old days". This makes me think of Waiting for Godot, probably the most famous story of expectations unmet.

Howl's Moving Castle was one of my very favourite books when I was younger and I am pretty sure I had a crush on Howl. (I was very disappointed when the film made him a blond, although perhaps he was in the book too and I was misremembering). Thanks for reminding me about it and I'm glad to know that it holds up!

Excellent review of The Polish Complex, DieF.

Thanks also for the very informative summaries of A History of Opera. Despite my love of classical music, I have never been to an opera and wasn't much interested until I attended a seminar last Fall that drew me in. The speaker was very knowledgeable and extremely funny. But I think what really did it was realizing the obvious - that operas are about both music and story. I am now anxious to attend one live, perhaps this summer at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown.

I really enjoyed your part review of A History of Opera, well done. This is all new info to me, I haven't the first clue about Opera.

Go see one live, Dan.

Robert

>95 dchaikin: Have to agree with >96 Mr.Durick:. I grew up in a house filled with opera on a weekly basis, and music appreciation classes in school had a very heavy emphasis on opera. I listened and learned, but did not appreciate. Then I saw a live version of Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades and suddenly it made sense.

>91 rebeccanyc: - Rebecca, I'd be interested to hear what you think of The Polish Complex. The Queue certainly sounds intriguing and it's an NYRB but I think I'll read the Ice Trilogy (or Olga Grushin's The Line) first.

>92 dmsteyn: - I could see that about someone who had lived in Poland during that time. I wonder if that would make them more or less likely to read something by authors like Konwicki.

>93 wandering_star: - Howl was listed as a blond but not a natural one - that was just part of the magic cosmetics. In the ebook I read, they had an interview with the author and she mentioned that a number of readers had crushes on Howl. But as an adult, I was thinking - manchild with issues - RUN!

>94 Linda92007: - Thanks Linda. I hope you find a good opera to go see - I'd love to go to Glimmerglass or some of the east coast summer festivals. Usually just opt to stay west and go to Santa Fe. I don't think it's exactly obvious - I took one of my coworkers to see Carmen and she told me afterward that she was surprised that it was so "plotted". Of course the other stereotype is operas being over- and ridiculously-plotted but either way it seems to be that the plot is just there to hang a couple arias on. Glad that they emphasized both music and story in your seminar.

>95 dchaikin: - Thanks, and I agree with Mr. Durick and SassyLassy about seeing a live opera if you have any interest. Seeing it live (or at least from the Met broadcasts) made me change my mind for a number of operas where I thought I didn't love the music.

>97 SassyLassy: - Interesting, I usually hear of people who love the opera listing either 1.) having grown up hearing it and learning about it or 2.) having an experience where they saw an opera, then it was love. Sounds like you had both and that 1.) didn't do it for you but 2.) worked.

Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman
Finished 1/28/13

Reitman’s look at the history of Scientology provides a good background and fills in the more sensationalized version of the story to make it, if possible, even more disturbing. Actually, the “Xenu the galactic overlord” part isn’t even the craziest or worst thing described. Reitman tries to be balanced by discussing some of the positives about Scientology and noting that much of her information comes from former and disgruntled members of the church. She also describes the appeal of many aspects of the church (at least initially for some) as well as the charisma and attraction of its founder. However, it’s difficult to be balanced as the history of L. Ron Hubbard is very spotty and can be easily contrasted to the overly positive portrait of him in the religion. His successor, David Miscavige, comes of as extremely controlling and creepy. Even so, much of the negative culture associated with Scientology – extreme litigiousness, ill-treatment of members, a constant push for profit – started with Hubbard.

The first parts of the book focus on Hubbard’s life. Some of the episodes that have been subsequently blown out of proportion, like his military service, are examined in detail. The picture that comes through is one of a charismatic and ambitious con man. Hubbard’s career as a churn-it-out sci-fi writer later led to the publication of Dianetics, a self-help book with some elements that now sound, frankly, crazy but that Reitman puts in context of a number of flourishing self-help ideas, religions and cults. Some of the creepy (or unintentionally hilarious) bits are quotes taken from Hubbard’s writing – for example, his assertion that the average woman had multiple self-induced abortions or the trauma caused by an incident known as “The Clam”. Dianetics made Hubbard briefly rich but he was unable to control the practice. This experience would make him extremely controlling with all the Scientology branches and tech as well as litigious. Dianetics set forth the reason for people’s problems – past traumas that had to be worked through and cleared in auditing sessions, which had to be paid for, of course. After the Dianetics fad ended, Hubbard came back with Dianetics plus – Scientology. Many of the ideas were the similar but the notorious E-meter was used and various sci-fi aspects filtered into the new movement. People had to pay to be audited, pay to set up a branch of Scientology, pay part of the money they received from auditing, pay for the tech, and so on.

The evolution of the church from one stocked by 60’s idealists to a tightly controlled, hierarchical structure under the increasingly paranoid Hubbard is mostly related by a high up ex-member. It would have been nice to have multiple sources for this but Reitman did note that she had cross-checked as much as she could and interviewed a wide range of people. Later, describing the elite Sea Org and Hubbard’s Messengers, Reitman has stories from multiple Scientologists. Sometimes the organization of the church could be confusing as there were so many branches and acronyms and titles. Hubbard was quite paranoid but there was opposition to the church – both from people concerned about its cult-like aspects and the government, as Scientologists did things like harass the IRS and break into government buildings. The description of the controlling behavior by Hubbard and others certainly sounds like a cult. Hubbard continually moved around, trying to find a base for Scientology, at times running it from a ship that was always on the move. In his later years, he was almost a caricature of a wealthy, crazy recluse. One of his most trusted underlings was the ambitious David Miscavige.

After Hubbard’s death, Miscavige moved quickly to take power, rolling over his rivals and expelling anyone who opposed him. He continued Hubbard’s policy of harsh retaliation against ‘enemies’ and used lawsuits and harassment. He also tried to increase Scientology’s reach with various campaigns – new marketing efforts, outreach to celebrities, charities and good works. The church also made a hard push to be granted tax-exempt status and Reitman’s opinion seems to be that it was a mistake and a response to the harassment of the IRS.

The more recent history of Scientology is told through the personal stories of several famous and ordinary people – Lisa McPherson, a longtime devoted Scientologist who died under mysterious circumstances and whose death led to a criminal investigation, celebrities like John Travolta and Tom Cruise, and defectors high up in the organization as well as some who grew up in the church and are still Scientologists. Through the McPherson story, Reitman describes the development of Clearwater – the Florida town that became a Scientologist base, with tensions between the locals and the church. McPherson’s story also illustrates the high cost (social and financial) of her rise in the church as well as the tight-knit but controlling community.

Cruise and Travolta have been ridiculed for their involvement with the church but Reitman’s description of how Miscavige and the church chased and pressured celebrities is a bit creepy. Miscavige comes off even worse in the stories of former high-ranking Scientologists – he lounged in luxury while the staff worked around the clock for meager pay, he was paranoid and had poor managerial skills, and he became violent and cruel which set off another round of purges and defections. The Scientology community is shown in a good and bad light from two women, one of whom left the church and strained her relationship with the family. The other woman remained in the church but went to college and is shown as poised, intelligent and clear-eyed about the good and bad aspects of Scientology. With the instant connection and anonymity of the internet, many of the secrets of Scientology have been leaked. It has also allowed former Scientologists to connect. There’s not much of a religion outside the official church, but Reitman shows the start of some Scientologists outside of Scientology. Very interesting and detailed portrait of a secretive religion. The author tries hard to be balanced, but the book will probably make you Google map your nearest Church of Scientology and resolve to avoid it.

Hah! - good point. Maybe I should read it again and see whether my adult response is any different.

Great review of Inside Scientology, DieF. I didn't know much about this cult, so I was quite surprised to read how wacky their beliefs are (Xenu the galactic overlord???).

And, yes, I did find out where the nearest Church of Scientology branch is located. It's not exactly around the corner, but it's close enough.

Extremists of any kind are more than a bit scary aren't they. Very interesting.

I suppose many of us need to "belong to something" and it's interesting to read about cults/religions that have the power to attract people. Not for me though.

Disturbing.

Interesting to learn more about scientology, which always seemed creepy to me. And as for Sorokin, Ice Trilogy is remarkable, while The Queue is merely interesting and clever. Haven't read the Grushin, because I felt I read everything I needed to read about queues in the Sorokin.

>100 wandering_star: - Ha ha - it was a good adult read and I eventually came around to liking Howl, but still - issues!

>101 kidzdoc: - A lot of my knowledge about Scientology came from a South Park episode and they had the Xenu bit, but I checked out the Wikipedia page as well. Reading a whole book made their beliefs seem even weirder. Even the earlier Dianetics was pretty....odd. I guess you could look at any religion to point out crazy or nonsensical bits, but this one was created fairly recently.

In the book they mentioned that there was a Seattle Church of Scientology so of course I had to look it up. My first thought was something along the lines of, ugh, that's near where I get pastries and Thai food and go to the opera.

>102 NanaCC: - Yup, especially aggressive, wealthy, litigious ones.

>103 baswood: - Yeah, there's usually something there to attract people and I thought the author did a good job of conveying that (the self-help ideas, Hubbard's charisma).

>104 dchaikin: - Very. Good read though. For more disturbing, I'm in line for another Scientology book, Going Clear.

>105 rebeccanyc: - Scientology always seemed creepy to me also. I feel a little bad about that - probably some 'Americans have to be tolerant of all religions!' ideas - but reading the book reinforced that opinion.

I checked out The Queue in the bookstore and it looked like it was all unquoted dialogue - how did the reading go for that?

For more disturbing Scientology stuff -

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/10/katie-holmes-divorce-scientology

A Vanity Fair article from last year - more creepy stuff about Tom Cruise's relationships. There wasn't too much overlap with the Reitman book

Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories by Giovanni Verga
Finished 2/4/13

Verga’s work is associated with the realism of the late 19th century and most of his stories depict the simple and harsh life of Sicilian peasants. This collection is named for his story Cavalleria Rusticana, mostly known in the English-speaking world for Mascagni’s opera of the same name. The actual story (the opera was based on Verga’s dramatic adaptation) is quite short, a quick tale of adultery and violence. These often appear in Verga’s other stories, along with poverty and privation. A couple stories betray Verga’s familiarity with upper class life – “Picturesque Lives” has its narrator reminiscing about visiting a small village with an unnamed woman, “How, when and why” is about an affair amongst the wealthy.

Most of the stories are fairly involving but the more memorable ones tend to be the extended narratives – the early “Nedda”, about a farm laborer considered poor even by comparison to the other girls, whose brief happiness is destroyed by conventional morality, “Jeli the Shepherd”, a leisurely depiction of the life of a good-natured and poor shepherd who never forgets his childhood sweetheart but who meets a bad ending, and “Rosso Malpelo” which follows a nasty, unhappy miner who also comes to a bad end. Of the shorter stories, “The She-Wolf” – an intense depiction of a voracious man-eater – and the feverish “Wolf-hunt” – another one about adultery – were probably the most memorable. As is often mentioned, Verga succeeds in giving his poor characters dignity without, for the most part, romanticizing or sentimentalizing their plight.

And a couple bits from the opera -

the famous Intermezzo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MqTvfXIzug

though I really like the overture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idquyGAKyL0

and randomly related to Scientology - "Tom Cruise Crazy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J9KRZ0PnAs

DieF, I just picked up Going Clear, so I read your review of Reitman's book with interest. I wonder what new material this recent publication has that has not been covered already by Reitman, aside from perhaps additional testimonies? Looking forward to your thoughts, when you get to it.

Thanks for the wonderful morning musical interlude, this is one of my favourite pieces.

While the Intermezzo is known to so many through Godfather III, which I do remember it in, not so many remember that Scorsese also used it in Raging Bull for the opening sequence. The beautiful music and the lone fighter dressed as either a priest or death, take your pick, give no indication of the violence to come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N4uXfnH2aA

I suspect this book is in one of my TBR piles, so I will look for it and probably find many other treasures instead.

The scientology book also looks fascinating.

>108 deebee1: - I was wondering that also - Reitman's book is just a couple of years old. I think both authors wrote shorter magazine exposes of Scientology. It seems like Wright might have more of a focus on Hollywood and celebrities, though Reitman didn't stint on that part.

>109 SassyLassy: - That's a nice opening sequence - very graceful - you don't see those as much anymore. I have actually not seen any of the Godfather movies or Raging Bull, but I knew that the Intermezzo was in Godfather III. Didn't know about Raging Bull.

One of Scorsese's more recent films, Shutter Island, had a soundtrack with music from a lot of modern, dissonant, weird composers - Gyorgy Ligeti, John Cage, Mort Feldman. Also didn't see that movie but I read an article about it and was impressed because it doesn't seem too common.

A History of Celibacy by Elizabeth Abbott
Finished 3/7/13

Abbott’s survey of celibacy throughout the ages and across the globe is a feminist take on the ways that celibacy has empowered some and crushed others. The first few chapters look at the celibacy from the Greeks and Romans through early and later Christianity. The book does tend to focus rather more on the West, but the author clearly made an effort to look at other cultures and religions. After a chapter examining other major religions, the book divides its look at celibacy by topic – celibacy to preserve semen, empower women, as a duty, for a cause, coerced etc. The last chapter picks up the more linear historical look at the 20th century. It’s a survey so sometimes there’s jumping around and each individual section is short – it would be easy to find more in-depth information about, for example, Elizabeth I and Florence Nightingale. However, the analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of celibacy is good and the nuanced situating of various forms of celibacy in context makes the book well worth reading.

Abbott is at her best in her vivid descriptions of the lives of strong, unconventional women – early Christians (real or apocryphal) who could be reformed prostitutes, desert-dwelling virgins or rebellious daughters; the Beguines, a loose spiritual community of women who did good deeds; Catherine of Siena – her extravagant asceticism gave her a power she could never have had in a conventional life but is also somewhat disturbing; powerful virgin priestesses – the Roman vestal virgins and the Incan acllas; Joan of Arc and the Crow warrior Woman Chief; artistic women in Boston marriages. For women who voluntarily chose to become celibate, the rewards could be immense – equal or superior status to men, control of their bodies and future, freedom from drudgery and childbirth. But of course many women were forced to remain chaste in some way – forced into a convent, victims of the double standard in multiple ways. Men who chose to be celibate often saw women as, at best, a distraction and at worst a sinful inferior being. Abbott is clearly writing from a feminist perspective. For the most part, she seems sympathetic to or at least gives a very good description of the power of the draw of celibacy. However, it is clear that patriarchal society and the church hierarchy are often the villains in her summaries. She notes “I seek spirituality in my religion, Christianity, but exploring its roots as I researched this book left me instead struggling to retain my religious faith.” Her contempt in some of the sections – on the role of Hindu widows, Chinese foot binding, female genital mutilation, American slaveholders and 19th c. English attitudes towards prostitution – comes through.

This being a history of celibacy, there are some queasily memorable bits – Abbott’s description of actual chastity belts, the horrifying-sounding impotence tests in pre-Revolutionary France, the multiple methods of castration that were described. Overall very interesting.

DieF - Nice review of Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories. Apparently the list of classical authors that I have not heard of or read is inexhaustible.

Very interesting discussion of celibacy. I can see the attraction for women who don't want to have to deal with male power and childbearing/childrearing (this, in fact, was one of the interesting aspects of The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner, which is about a 14th century nunnery and was one of my favorite reads last year). It is so foreign to me, and I suspect to all modern women who can choose to marry or not, have children or not, without having to be celibate.

Interesting about History of Celibacy. I'm curious whether the book was mostly about female celibacy, or whether it was just that the stories that most caught your attention were about women.

Great reviews of the Scientology and Celibacy books. Interesting topics, both.

>112 Linda92007: -Thanks Linda. There are always new authors to discover on everyone's threads. Although it doesn't seem as though the 19th/early 20th c. classic Italian authors have as high a profile as, say, Russian or French authors.

>113 rebeccanyc: - It is definitely a foreign idea today, but I think the author did a good job of illustrating the temptations of a celibate life for a woman of that period. I'd like to read THe Corner that Held them - some of the ones set in convents have a defininte anti-Catholic bias - e.g. The Monk, The Nun, Melmoth - but that one sounded a bit more balanced.

>114 dchaikin: - There was definitely a lot about male celibacy - lots on the church fathers, priests and the whole chapter on semen conservation. I think the stories on women were more what caught my attention and went with Abbott's feminist take on the subject.

>115 avaland: - Thanks - I'm hoping to do some more reading about both - well, maybe not specifically celibacy. At least another book by Abbott.

I'm on a work trip and have limited internet access - wont' be around much until next week. I'll have to catch up with everyone's threads soon.

I'm back from my work trip. It was pretty busy so didn't have too much time to read but finished half of The Good Soldier Svejk. Also halfway through War with the Newts and am reading Adam, Eve and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels and trying to finish Wild Swans which I've been reading for awhile now. I'm caught up on my reviews (mostly because haven't been finishing books) but need to catch up on everyone's threads.

How did you like The good soldier Svejk? I've started it but found it too dull to commit myself to it.

Welcome back! Hope to see you around soon. Looking forward to your reviews.

Scientology and celibacy - hmmm now if we could just get them together.

Back after a longer than expected hiatus. Didn't get much reading done last month due to life/work stuff but have started again. I'll have to catch up on everyone's threads but having some Internet probs recently

Glad to see you back! And glad you'll have more time for reading! And hope your internet problems are resolved sooner rather than later.

My internet problem got resolved sooner rather than later. Going to start catching up on some threads.

I finished Adam, Eve and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels in March and need to review it.

Didn't finish anything in April but did some reading.

In May so far I've finished and need to review -

The Birth of an Opera - Michael Rose
Life Form - Amelie Nothomb
Fear - Stefan Zweig
Burning Secret - Zweig
French Leave - Anna Gavalda
In a Lonely Place - Dorothy Hughes
Portrait of a writer as a domesticated animal - Lydia Salvayre

Eight books waiting to be reviewed does not exactly sound like not having read much, DieF. Good to see you back!

Looks like you read a few short ones.
Interested to see what you think of the Zweig and Nothomb. Zweig is my favorite author (hence making him a featured author in my Author Theme Reads group) and I like reading a new Nothomb once a year.

>124 Linda92007: - Eight books, but all short ones!

>125 lilisin: - Liked both the Zweigs and the Nothomb. I read both Zweigs in one day, then wanted more but didn't have any. I read a review of his work that mentioned one of his books called "Compulsion" then went on to say that it could be the title of almost any of his works - also works for the feeling I get reading his stuff.

French Leave by Anna Gavalda
Finished 5/8/13

French Leave examines the lives of a group of quirky siblings - Garance, Lola, Simon, and Vincent. It’s told from the first person POV of Garance as she catches a ride with Simon and his wife to a family wedding. At first, it’s a lot of fun with sparkling, silly dialogue though a lot comes at the expense of Carine, Simon’s nagging, shrewish wife. The mishaps pile up as Garance, Simon and Carine make a detour to pick up Lola and the hints of their sad former lives contrast to the cheerful present. The three siblings decide to make a break for it at the wedding and go visit their also-quirky brother Vincent who is working as a chateau tour guide.As the story goes on, there’s perhaps too much adorable-family-quirkiness contrasted to Carine’s stuffy brood and later it gets too sentimental. Fun, but not too memorable.

In a Lonely Place by Dorothy Hughes
Finished 5/9/13

The terrifically tense and well-written In a Lonely Place has a suitably twisty premise - serial rapist/killer Dix Steele is best friends with one of the cops hunting him down - but is more about the relationships and life of a disturbingly normal man. Hughes’ prose is appropriately terse and hardboiled, with the occasional gleaming descriptive sentence. She expertly characterizes Dix, littering his thoughts with casual and glaring examples of misogyny, and makes staying in his head a claustrophobic experience. As the story is more about Dix’s relationship with his old war friend, Brub Nicolai, Brub’s wife Sylvia and Dix’s new girlfriend Laurel - as well as plenty of concrete things like eating, drinking (lots), and the murders - Dix’s psychological state would seem to take a backseat to the plot which makes Hughes’ portrayal of postwar male loneliness, inadequacy, entitlement and rage all the more impressive. The Los Angeles setting is also vividly described. The introduction (in my copy, by the Feminist Press) is very helpful and highlights some of the subtle twists Hughes makes on standard noir tropes.

I loved In a Lonely Place too! Have you read The Expendable Man? I read it first and it's even better -- I couldn't put it down!

I have not read anything by Dorothy Hughes, but these sound like they would be good vacation reads.

She is a master at creating tension and that's why they're hard to put down. But they, especially The Expendable Man, explore serious ideas too.

I'm going to have to check out In a Lonely Place. Never would have without your review.

A few years ago I read a collection of stories by Anna Gavalda. "Fun but not too memorable" is a good description of that book as well.

In a Lonely Place has been on my wishlist since rebeccanyc's review. I just bumped it back up tot he top.

Nice to see you posting again Dief. I am also going to get me a Dorothy Hughes novel.

>129 rebeccanyc: - Yup, I read The Expendable Man first....not-so-coincidentally after reading your review of it. Also not-so-coincidentally picked up In a Lonely Place after your review. Both of them were great, but it sounds like maybe they were the two best of her books. I remember you weren't as enthusiastic about the third Hughes you read.

>130 Linda92007: - Linda, both of them are definitely page-turners. Like Rebecca was saying, very tense even when the characters are just doing things like driving around or eating in restaurants. In The Expendable Man, you never knew when some people or cops would pop up or a new plot twist would occur while for In a Lonely Place much of the tension came from seeing a serial killer interact with the world and wondering how much everyone else suspected.

>132 mkboylan: - Glad to hear it - there are so many books I wouldn't have come across without the reviews here. Rebecca's reviews made me want to read both Hughes books.

>133 StevenTX: - I might read another Gavalda, it was fun and it was just the subject that sometimes irritated me. A good one to read to get back into reading. Hope you get to In a Lonely Place soon.

>134 baswood: - Glad to be back! Either The Expendable Man or In a Lonely Place would be great to start with.

Portrait of the Writer as a Domesticated Animal by Lydie Salvayre
Finished 5/11/13

This book is a gleefully over-the-top satire of a megalomaniacal capitalist, Tobold the Hamburger King. It’s presented as the thoughts of the writer who has been assigned to write Tobold’s autobiography - someone resembling Salvayre. She amusingly records Tobold’s rampant greed, bloodthirsty and paranoid competitiveness and his obsession with the Free Market (as well as his obsession with besting both Bill Gates and Ronald, his hate of the week). His capitalist fixation has reached the point of near-religion and he spews blasphemies, insults and obscenities, which he then instructs the narrator to take down. Tobold’s extremes are contrasted to the narrator’s depression and self-doubt as she begins enjoying the rich life and constantly tries to rationalize her involvement with Tobold. He’s the opposite of her formerly spartan socialist inclinations and she finds herself, to her irritation, going along with him and weakly accepting his arguments. Tobold has surrounded himself with weak and terrorized yes-men and is married to a saintly forgiving woman; the author ends up joining them in automatically agreeing with Tobold and occasionally comforting his paranoid terrors and tantrums. Tobold comes in for a fall but the ending is appropriate and funny. Quite entertaining and amusing.

An Accident in August by Laurence Cosse
Finished 5/21/13

Louise Origan, an ordinary French cafe worker with a live-in boyfriend, has a normal life until one evening when a fast-moving car collides with hers and crashes. She panics and flees the scene, at every moment wondering whether she should call the police and reveal her involvement. She’s still trying to work up the courage to turn herself in when she turns on the news the next day and learns that the occupants of the car that hit her were Princess Diana, her driver Henri Paul, and Dodi al Fayad, now deceased. Lou is determined to avoid the publicity and shame that would come with a confession so she attempts to act normal and cover her tracks.

Cosse’s book has a nice tension, flows well and pulls off a satisfying ending (at several points I was wondering if she’d be able to do that) as well as some surprises. I did feel a little disconnected from Lou’s predicament, perhaps because there’s not much about her character - usually just her reacting to situations. She’s not a horrible selfish person, just someone caught up in extraordinary circumstances. That’s clearly the point of the book but it ends up being mostly about Lou repressing her emotions, obsessing about the news, alienating her boyfriend Yvon and then mostly managing the logistics of her situation as it grows increasingly complicated. Lou’s fear of exposure comes across but it’s not so overwhelming that you don’t wonder about some of her actions - one in particular about ⅔ of the way through. A quick read though and I’d consider another of the author’s books.

135. Thanks, and right. I was not as impressed by The Blackbirder, but it was still a great read, if a little outlandish. I would definitely read more Hughes if I could find it because she knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat!

137. I read Cosse's A Novel Bookstore and definitely had mixed feelings about it.

I would also read more Hughes if I could find anything by her readily available - have checked bookstores when I've been there but nothing so far.

A Novel Bookstore was the other Cosse that I was considering - the concept sounded like fun and very meta.

The Unknown Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac
Finished 5/22/13

The two stories included in this edition by NYRB complement each other very well - both feature intense, obsessive artists who skirt the line between genius and madness. There’s something of a rambling style, where the focus is initially on a character who meets the artist, and hints of melodrama, as in both stories women are sacrificed to the madness of the artist. In some ways this structure is reminiscent of a couple of the other Balzac works that I read - melodramatic plots, too-good women, rambling trips with other characters before getting to the main plot, characters with all sorts of burning obsessions. But the other ones I read tended to examine society and relationships - people were obsessed with money, love or status. Here, both characters are obsessed with art. The background issues pale in comparison with their overly exuberant passions. Balzac’s depiction of the possible craziness of the artist is masterfully done. It’s also interesting to speculate what inspired him as well as compare the art described to contemporary painting and music.

In The Unknown Masterpiece, we follow Nicolas Poussin circa 17th c. as he goes to meet the court painter Porbus. Both were real people but they can’t compare - as characters or artists - to Frenhofer, an old artist who Poussin meets at Porbus’ studio. Frenhofer monologues about the lack of a lifelike spark in Porbus’ painting and proceeds to touch it up, bringing the picture to life - to the amazement of Poussin and Porbus. Poussin is impressed and is impatient to see Frenhofer’s magnum opus, a portrait that he has worked on for years and won’t display. He tries to tempt Frenhofer with his mistress Gillette, driving a wedge between the couple, but soon learns that though Frenhofer may be a genius, he is definitely crazy.

Gambara is similar - rich Italian nobleman Andrea Marcosini encounters Gambara, a penniless composer, and his selfless wife Marianna; Gambara creates beautiful music but also has a horribly dissonant opera that he has labored over for years. Gambara is also prone to passionate speeches on music. Some of it is odd - his speculation on the science of music - and some probably won’t be generally appealing as it goes on longer thatn The Unknown Masterpiece (I like opera and therefore didn’t mind Gambara’s blow-by-blow account of first his unperformed masterpiece Muhammad, then Meyerbeer’s then-popular-now-forgotten opera Robert le Diable but that may bore some readers). However, Gambara’s obsession dominates the book, even though some of the plot is devoted to Andrea’s and Marianna’s reactions to the artist.

Frenhofer and Gambara are both quintessential Romantic artists but the descriptions of their masterpieces, which show them to be deluded to the other characters, mark them as avant-garde modernists to contemporary readers. Picasso was inspired by the description of Frenhofer and his portrait sounds like nothing so much as an all-but abstract painting. Gambara’s music is unpleasantly harsh - but piles of musical masterpieces were originally dismissed as dissonant garbage. Did wonder if it was just a chromatic late-Romantic sound or full-on atonal. Both artists are working from an intense personal inspiration after years of work and sacrifice. Their obsession has possibly reached the point of madness and both are isolated and dismissed. Their madness today, though, would fit an artistic stereotype and their art would get a shrug.

The Blind Owl by Sadiq Hidayat
Finished 5/21/13

The Blind Owl is a gorgeously written opium nightmare. The plot is circular and surreal and much of this slim book is taken up by the narrator’s claustrophobic musings on death and decay. Although it is divided into two parts - a present and a past - everything feels timeless and like something half-remembered out of a dream. The narrator overtly sets out to tell th story as one that is unbelievable and painful. He lives alone and paints pen cases for a living - always the same picture of an old man, a beautiful girl and a stream. One day, while retrieving something from a closet, he sees this picture come to life through a hole in the wall. But he can’t find the man or the girl outside and even the hole in his closet has disappeared. The narrator is tormented and frantically searches for this image - until one day the girl turns up at his doorstep. His story devolves into one of death, possession, and guilt and ends in a highly symbolic journey.

In the second half the narrator has jumped in time but still the same elements appear - the girl, the old man laughing, the same buildings and places and situations. Here, the narrator is an invalid with a scornful, unfaithful wife. But he’s still isolated, alienated and fixated on death. Events occur in a dreamlike and fateful manner. Claustrophobic, repetitive and nightmarish but undeniably well-written.

The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald
Finished 5/28/13

W.G. Sebald wrote strikingly odd and original books which mix fact and fiction, the sweep of history and the smallest of subjects, with a tone at once distant and intimate. The Rings of Saturn is a perfect example of this and if it’s not quite perfect, that’s only in comparison to The Emigrants - which for me is a hard book to top. The plot is supposedly centered around the author/narrator’s walking tour on the east coast of England but it’s really about anything and everything. Anything and everything, however, is, in the end, all about death and decay. The title is seen in a quote at the beginning, noting that the rings of Saturn are made up of fragments from a former destroyed moon. In his travels, the narrator recreates whole cities, buildings, industries, species, individuals and memories in his mind - describing the history and bringing the past to life, then following his subject to its inevitable downfall. While the book might have less appeal than Austerlitz or The Emigrants, as it is considerably more diffuse, it’s still another fantastic Sebald.

Sebald’s prose is wonderful as usual, somehow catching, in a few sentences or paragraphs (though his paragraphs do tend to go on), the essence of his subject. There are a couple touchstones that he returns to in the book - Thomas Browne and Borges. Browne is an excellent choice as he studied and wrote on a number of odd, diverse subjects - much like Sebald in this book - but his Urn Burial, a 1658 treatise on death rites, is especially relevant. Borges’ multiple invented worlds in Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius - and the overall metafictional concept - are also appropriate. As the narrator walks along the coast, some of the things he muses on are concretely related to the walk, others are thoughts that are only tangentially related.

Some of the varied topics include - Somerleyton, the formerly opulent country estate in Lowestoft; the history of herring fishing; George Le Strange, an odd local landowner; the WWI massacre of Serbs, Bosnians and Jews at the Jasenovac camp; Joseph Conrad and his meeting with Roger Casement, an advocate of the native people of Congo and the Irish but executed as a traitor; Edward FitzGerald’s lonely life; a former love of the memoirist Vicomte de Chateaubriand; the history of the European silk business. Despite this diversity, Sebald always makes you interested and somehow, despite the overt distance created by his narrative method, gets into the heads and thoughts of many of the characters who pass through the book.

Very interesting reviews and varied reading, as usual! I was particularly interested to read about the Balzac stories since I've only read his lengthy tomes. I've always wondered about Sebald, and have never read anything by him; the Casement you mention is the protagonist of The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa (he ended up sort of collaborating with the Germans on the theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but if Vargas Llosa is right the biggest strike against him was that he was gay).

Wonderful reviews, DieF. The Rings of Saturn sounds particularly fascinating.

I love The Rings Of Saturn so if The Emigrants is even better, I must get to it quickly!

There is an odd further twist to the story of Somerleyton, which has been restored and opened as a tourist attraction, wedding/conference venue etc. It was very odd to visit it and recognise some of the features from the photos in The Rings Of Saturn where it was a symbol of decay and decline.

Well I want to read all three of those books you have reviewed Dief. Especially the Balzac, where one of my Favourite painters Nicolas Poussin puts in an appearance.

Sebald is such a great writer. I also think The Emigrants is his finest.

>143 rebeccanyc: - I recently finished Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and picked up The Feast of the Goat (The War at the End of the World is on the pile) so I'd be interested in any others by him. Casement's life did sound pretty dramatic and Sebald talked a little about how his homosexuality was used against him.

I'd recommend any of Sebald's novels - I started with Austerlitz and that got me hooked though The Emigrants is definitely my favorite. I had some reservations about On the Natural History of Destruction, his nonfiction essays, but it still had his wonderful prose and made me interested in reading random books.

>144 Linda92007: - Thanks Linda - Sebald's books are definitely different.

>145 wandering_star: - That's so interesting that you have actually been to Somerleyton - Sebald did give the impression of towns in decline and alienated people so it would be a contrast. I'm not at all familiar with the area and since his books do blend fact and fiction, I looked up a lot of the places and people on Wikipedia or Google Maps. Did you visit any of the other places in the book?

The book really made me think I need to get Browne's Urn Burial (had been meaning to after reading dmsteyn's review).

>146 baswood: - Glad to hear it - they were all very good books! Not sure how true-to-life Poussin was though.

>147 Rise: - Yes, Sebald's one of my favorites. I'm a bit sad that I finished all four of his novels though I'm planning to read some of his nonfiction.

Posting a link to the Glyndebourne production of R. Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos which will be up until August 31st -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jun/04/glyndebourne-2013-ariadne-...

I like to proselytize about operagoing and also need a reminder so I remember to watch it. This one doesn't sound like it's too far on the crazy scale but I haven't seen it yet.

I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies by Jeanine Basinger
Finished 6/9/13

I Do and I Don’t is an examination of the “marriage movie” from the silent era to contemporary films. It’s very readable and the analysis of individual films is good but sometimes the organization is all over the place and - there is A LOT of summarizing the individual movies. I was hoping the author would provide more social context but she mentions that’s not her purpose in the introduction. Also, there is some skipping around timewise (mainly in the first half of the “studio era” section). The author almost always refers to the actors instead of the characters in her summaries - which could get a little confusing and also didn’t make much sense - it’s a summary so it’s about what Mrs. Smith and Frank are doing not Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracey. I guess if it was a particular piece of acting, she should mention it but otherwise it was rather irritating. It was interesting to read how Hollywood sold marriages, the change in emphasis on marriage movies over the years, and Basinger’s analysis of various film messages.

The first section covers the silent era and it’s a quick read, with a description of different films and the two types of marriage movies - entertaining comedy or tragic cautionary tale. Basinger repeatedly stresses the two-faced attitude Hollywood had towards marriage - almost always affirming it, but, as happy marriages are boring, only showing conflicted marriages. Love is much more important than money, but films unabashedly showed the good life - fancy houses, the wife in furs, the couple drinking and partying in nightclubs. Cautionary tales would warn against cheating wives and husbands, all while portraying the excitement of adultery.

This continued into the studio era, the subject of the second section, but this one is considerably less organized. The first part of the second section is rather meandering and movies from the contemporary era - 1960-2000 - wander in. Sometimes there are random digressions about actors or television. The main point in this section is Hollywood showing more realistic depictions of marriage but stopping short of allowing the marriage to end. In some films, the problems seem overwhelming and the couple very unhappy, but then a tacked on happy ending occurs. The divorce film started to appear - even though it would open with a couple planning to get a divorce, the story of their marriage would be replayed and they would decide to reconcile at the end. Then Basinger moves to a listing of the main problems of the marriage movie which does give the book more organization though random digressions still creep in. She lists money, adultery, in-laws/children, incompatibility, class, addiction and murder as the main conflicts found in the marriage movie. Again, the analysis of individual films is fairly interesting. The book takes on a more linear, less wandering structure when looking at the situations of the marriage movie - starting with WWII patriotic films dealing with women whose husbands are away at war, moving to the low-key, cheaper films after the war and then moving on to marriage films incorporating topical issues into the plot. Basinger finds that television could do a more in-depth portrayal of marriage (e.g., I Love Lucy).

The last section also maintains the streamlined organization, and, although the author is pessimistic about the future of the marriage movie, is a good read. In the contemporary era, fewer and fewer films specifically about marriage were made - some would look at the effect of the sexual revolution on marriage, others would take a feminist view, but overall there was not as much interest in the subject. In the few movies that did appear, a more cynical tone was taken towards the institution, with the couples in some cases literally destroying each other (The War of the Roses, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and the movies ending on an open note in others, leaving audiences pessimistic about the couple’s chances. Basinger still finds good examples on TV - she is especially taken by Friday Night Lights - and notes the increasing trend of movies focused on the wedding instead of the marriage. Overall an interesting book and mainly a fast read - lots of rambling, probably because the author was very into her subject, but it gets better in the last half of the book.

Enjoyed your review of I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in Movies I would have thought that there are a huge number of movies to analyse. You could almost start with your own viewpoint and pick the movies to suit your thesis. Thanks for the review: this ones not for me.

What Barry said!

#148 Did you visit any of the other places in the book? Yes, I live not too far from that part of the world so have been to several of the places. Some remain as Sebald describes them - for example, the remnants of the submerged town of Dunwich, or the Sailor's Reading Room in Southwold (although Southwold itself is now an extremely chichi town full of boutiques and delis catering for well-heeled Londoners up for the weekend).

There was a film which came out last year based on the book, which revisits those places, although I haven't seen it.

>150 DieFledermaus: I Do and I Don't sounds like a fun book.

Just catching your great reviews on Sebald and Balzac among others. Rise also had wonderful review on Sebald sometime earlier this year. Sounds like a fascinating author.

>151 baswood:, 152 - Thanks - I did also wonder about that but the author seemed to have a fairly narrow description of the "marriage movie" - she spent several paragraphs describing movies that didn't fit.

>153 wandering_star: - Very cool that you were able to do that! It must be interesting to see all the changes. Sounds like that is one way to make a movie of Sebald's books - otherwise I imagine they would be difficult to film.

>154 avidmom: - It was fairly entertaining to read about all the forgotten marriage movies and the author's take on contemporary movies but I think the book would be more for a film buff - I was thinking of it more from the cultural-view-of-marriage angle.

>155 dchaikin: - Thanks dchaikin - Sebald is definitely fascinating and I'll have to check to Rise's review.

Death as a Side Effect by Ana Maria Shua
Finished 6/3/13

This book is set in a vaguely futuristic Argentina, where the gap between the rich and the poor is larger than ever, the police are useless so private security systems deal with crime and protecting the public and companies, and old people are required to enter retirement homes which never want to let them go. Shua handles this nicely by focusing on the main character and his problems. Ernesto is writing to his former lover, who abandoned him for another man, even though he knows she’ll never read his words. The prose flows very well even when describing horrible and violent scenes. Ernesto describes his unhappy but not miserable life and eventually starts to focus on his father’s illness, surgery and confinement in the Convalescent Home.

Initially, Ernesto is working as a scriptwriter for a vastly wealthy, capricious, feckless director though his real job is as a makeup artist. He has a short-lived and dispassionate affair with his father’s nurse and also befriends a neighbor who is violently attacked. Eventually, his worries about his parents dominate his life - his mother has a case of advanced dementia and his father, after a surgery, is also confined in a Home. Ernesto’s father is a raging monster but the author is able to create a temporarily sympathetic portrait of him in the Home. Patients go into Homes but never come out and Ernesto starts to think that maybe he’ll have to do something desperate to get his father out. His plans don’t turn out the way anyone might expect. Besides the skillfully smooth writing, the book also creates an interesting portrait of an all-too-realistic dystopia.

Ru by Kim Thuy
Finished 6/20/13

Ru is a lyrical exploration of the experience of a Vietnamese girl who flees with her family to Malaysia, then Canada. She grows up, marries and has two children, and eventually returns to Vietnam. The narrator - a semi-portrait of the author - tells her stories in a series of short vignettes that move back and forth in time. The prose is crystalline and evocative - the central idea and strong images found in each vignette matter more than a linear plot. However, connections frequently appear - between the past and present, between disparate cultures, between strangers and friends and enemies. Because of the structure, sometimes it’s a bit hard to place characters and keep all the relationships straight but this contributes to the idea of everything being ephemeral, which occurs frequently throughout the book. - the family’s solid life in Vietnam is shattered and from then on their living conditions are temporary and strange. As the narrator grows up she sees everything in this light - possessions, lovers, her identity. Her relationship with her sons weighs her down for better or worse.

More opera from Glyndeborne - a 2009 performance of Falstaff, Verdi's take on The Merry Wives of Windsor + bits of Henry IV

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2013/jun/20/glyndebourne-falstaff-verdi-pa...

Books that still need to be reviewed -

Adam, Eve and the Serpent - Elaine Pagels
The Birth of an Opera - Michael Rose
Life Form - Amelie Nothomb
Fear - Stefan Zweig
Burning Secret - Stefan Zweig
The Man Without a Face - Masha Gessen
In Red - Magdalena Tulli
Journey into the Past - Stefan Zweig
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa
Full House - M.J. Farrell
Mademoiselle de Maupin - Theophile Gautier
War with the Newts - Karel Capek

157 - Sounds interesting and would be a new area for me.
and as for 158 - "lyrical exploration" what could be better?

Nice review of Death as a Side Effect and it does sound like an all-too-realistic dystopia.

>160 mkboylan: - Admittedly I haven't read too many Argentine dystopias either - mostly metafiction/magic realism. Agree about 158.

>161 baswood: - Thanks bas.

Adam, Eve and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels
Finished 3/21/13

In The Simpsons, Ned Flanders, the annoying goody-goody neighbor, notes at one point that he’s tried to be a good Christian by following the Bible – even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff! Similarly, the great poet William Blake comments – “Both read the Bible day and night; but you read black where I read white!” Pagels illustrates some of this in her book Adam, Eve and the Serpent – wildly different interpretations of passages from Genesis, the fight over the meaning of Jesus’ and Paul’s sayings, the early message of Christianity as a religion of moral freedom vs Augustine’s view of the world as unavoidably sinful. Although ostensibly the subject is the story of Adam and Even and how it was interpreted, the title doesn’t seem entirely correct as there’s a lot about the history of the early Christians who were persecuted under the Romans. However, the overall point is to examine the various interpretations of the Genesis story during the first centuries of Christianity and how Augustine’s reading came to be the dominant interpretation even today. Sometimes the structure was a little rambling. Although Pagels is great at making close interpretation of Biblical passages and writings of various Christians and pagans very interesting, her discussion of straight history and feuds of different Christian sects was somewhat dry. I’m also unfamiliar with modern views of Augustine so didn’t have too much to compare this to. Still, even her tangents are interesting and I’d be happy to read Pagels rambling on about the whole Bible.

The first chapter looks at Jesus’ radical message and how later gospels and interpreters tried to soften it. Talk of marriage as indissoluble was contradictory to the customs of the Romans and the Jews, where promiscuity (for men), divorce and multiple wives were common. His message to his followers to leave their families was also an uncomfortable one. Paul’s sayings, which also were included in the New Testament, promoted an ascetic message of celibacy and renunciation. Pagels identifies books that today are no longer believed to have been written by Paul and finds a less harsh, pro-family message in them. The interpretations of early Christians pitted the message of asceticism against one of family, marriage and children, with both sides pointing to their analyses of Genesis. Pagels does a good job conveying how weird Jesus’ sayings would have been and describing the profusion of views and arguments. This section certainly was interesting and set up the rest of the book but mentions of Genesis were fleeting.

Next, she analyzes how Christians portrayed their religion when they were a persecuted minority – as a religion of freedom, equality and justice. Her choice of quotes is again enlightening but sometimes I wondered if the people that were described were real or apocryphal. In many cases, it was probably irrelevant – the message of brave Christian martyrs calmly sticking to their beliefs was the important one. Pagels clearly finds Marcus Aurelius a fascinating and admirable character; as in The Origin of Satan, she spends several paragraphs ruminating on his life. It’s not a tangent as his sense of duty is contrasted to the Christians’ but it does seem to be a running theme, as is the examination of the gnostic interpretations of the Genesis story. Some of them are out-and-out bizarre, many take an allegorical or psychological view of the story and some are almost close to Adam & Eve fanfiction. The split between the Gnostics and more orthodox Christians was another fight in the battle over who controlled the interpretation of Christianity.
A chapter on the emphasis on virginity and chastity also seems to be a bit off topic, but relates to how Christians differentiated themselves from the Romans and Jews and also used it as a measure of moral superiority.

The last two chapters examine how Augustine came to define the Genesis story for years to come. Earlier, Pagels emphasizes how Christians defined their religion of one of freedom and justice – citing the Adam story as one of the moral freedom that every person had. As Christianity became a widespread religion, infighting between Christians – rather than Christians defining themselves against other societies – became a source of conflict. John Chrysostom’s interpretations continue the idea of Christianity as a source of freedom and the Genesis story as one of a moral choice but that contrasted with the reality of the religion as the large, corrupt state religion. He believed the earlier Christian view of human nature as one that could choose good and that baptism washed away previous sins. Augustine’s interpretation is compared to that of Chrysostom and is largely negative about human nature in general. The Adam and Eve story to him was one of original sin that forever corrupted mankind. While earlier Christians had deplored the compulsion and violence used by the Romans, Augustine later came to approve of those methods. Pagels’ section on his conflict with Julian has quotes from both that rather make Augustine look bad. Pagels somehow makes theological debates very interesting but oddly the pages of straight history were dry and uninvolving. There were tangents but I didn’t mind them. Another good Pagels.

Very interesting reviews, and I do mean to get back to the one Pagels I own. And a very interesting list of the books you still have to review. I'm especially looking forward to your review of the Zwiegs, only one of which I've read, and the Tulli. You've been a busy reader!

163 what a fascinating story. I enjoyed your excellent review. I think I'd like to read this one.

That's a great review of Adam, Eve and the Serpent, DieF. I have not read anything by Pagels and the discussion of the early Christians as a persecuted minority does interest me, having recently read Sienkiewicz's fictionalized version. Death as a Side Effect, Ru and your upcoming reviews also sound interesting!

You've been doing some really interesting reading and great reviews as usual. The Pagels book sounds really interesting in a political/philosophical sense. I like the idea of taking it up to Augustine, given the influence he has had on later thinkers. Another book to look for.

>164 rebeccanyc: - Thanks Rebecca - I think I remember your Pagels was Revelations? That one definitely looked interesting but it's not on m pile yet. I had a mini-Zwieg binge and was going around checking various Seattle bookstores for his stuff. What with Pushkin and NYRB and a lot of short stories and novellas it's a bit hard to keep all his stuff straight.

>165 mkboylan: - Thanks - it was an interesting read, I'm always impressed with how Pagels makes analysis of Biblical passages interesting.

>166 Linda92007: - Thanks Linda - I have more Pagels on the pile but I think I'd also like to read some books by other authors about that time period. I know you were ambivalent about Quo Vadis but sometimes reading fictional accounts is a good inspiration to seek out nonfiction.

>166 Linda92007: - Thanks Sassy, Augustine has been portrayed negatively in a couple books I've read lately, though I know some people who read and liked his Confessions. I did wonder how Pagels' conclusions about Augustine compared to other modern interpretations.

The Birth of an Opera by Michael Rose
Finished 5/2/13

In the preface to this book, Michael Rose quickly lays out how his is different from piles of other books about opera – not a history, not a musical analysis, but instead descriptions of the conception and creation of individual operas from primary source accounts. For the most part, he succeeds quite nicely, fleshing out familiar stories (the celebrated da Ponte-Mozart partnership, the initial anger over Rossini’s Barbiere which dared to come after the popular Paisiello adaptation, Wagner’s adulterous love driving his Tristan und Isolde) as well as some lesser known ones. As would be expected, some sections are better than others and Rose does make his opinions known in subtle and obvious ways. Overall though it is a very interesting read. However, the selections hew very closely to the standard repertoire. Rose has some explanations – claiming that the period from post-Monteverdi to Gluck had plenty of operas but not much written material and that 20th century operas were hampered by translation issues and copyright problems. I can buy that it would have been difficult to do later operas but the piece on Monteverdi’s Poppea didn’t have a lot of direct material and Rose did a nice job on that one so I wondered if it might be timidity or disinterest in the older period instead.

All the sections are interesting and they all have a different tone – though Beethoven’s gloomy obsessing over Fidelio, his only opera, did make that one a bit of a dull read. The first person POVs also get across the personalities of the composers and librettists – Gluck comes off as passionate but a little crazy, Verdi is a very grumpy and touchy old man who eventually gets into Otello, and the section on Ariadne auf Naxos is pretty much an involving dialogue between the erudite, high-intentioned Hugo von Hofmannthal and the more laissez-faire Richard Strauss. It’s fun to read all the composer’s reactions to each others’ works – in the latter half of the 19th c., everyone has an opinion of Wagner (Tchaikovsky on Wagner: {Wagner} is gifted with genius, but it has wrecked itself upon its own tendencies…For I cannot call that music which consists of kaleidoscopic, shifting musical phrases which follow one another without a break and never come to a close, never give you the least chance to grasp a musical form”).

The documents and the close progression of a single opera also bring to life some well-known stories. Debussy and Maurice Maeterlinck, who wrote the Symbolist drama Pelleas et Melisande that Debussy set to music pretty much straight, had a famous falling-out when Debussy refused to cast Maeterlinck’s mistress Georgette Leblanc as Melisande and opted for Mary Garden instead. Rose has various accounts of the almost literal blows and the long bitter feud, as Maeterlinck publicly repudiated Debussy’s version and refused to see it (later he would admit when he heard Garden that no one could have done it as well as she did). I knew that there was a large time gap between the early masterpiece (L’Orfeo) of Monteverdi, the first operatic genius, and his later works but Rose really emphasized the change in fashion, history and Monteverdi’s status when he composed L’incoronazione di Poppea. Puccini was rather notorious for being hard to please with a subject and libretto; Rose includes all the frustration of his librettists and his many aborted starts and delays on a variety of projects before he settled on his last opera Turandot.

Taken together, the sections also emphasize how messy the business of operamaking was - Gluck’s Alceste had two versions – the French and Italian; Beethoven worked and reworked Fidelio over the years (resulting in multiple overtures and the tonally incongruent first act); Berlioz’s Les Troyens had a tortured performance history before sinking forgotten for years; Ariadne started out with a completely different conception in mind; Turandot was unfinished at the time of Puccini’s death. A very involving book and a departure from the usual operatic histories. There are summaries of the operas at the back of the book for readers unfamiliar with the stories but it would probably help to be interested in the subject – for illumination on well-known stories, as mentioned above, and also so that when the author makes an aside such as one about how Zerbinetta’s aria in Ariadne was actually cut and simplified from the original version, the reader lets out the appropriate WTF??

Monteverdi, L’incoronazione di Poppea; Gluck, Alceste; Mozart, Idomeneo; Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro; Beethoven, Fidelio; Rossini, Il Barbiere di Siviglia; Berlioz, Les Troyens; Wagner, Tristan und Isolde; Bizet, Carmen; Tchiakovsky, Eugene Onegin; Verdi, Otello; Debussy, Pelleas et Melisande; Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos; Puccini, Turandot; Berg, Wozzeck

Semi-related

Beautiful opera houses

Not specifically an opera house but this theater in Barcelona is gorgeous

Fear by Stefan Zweig
Finished 5/7/13

In this short, addictive novella, Zweig stays in the head of a woman who learns that her adultery has been discovered. It’s a rather claustrophobic place. Irene Wagner has a comfortable life with a considerate husband and adored children. She falls into an affair with a pianist, but one day as she is leaving his place, she is confronted by a woman who starts to blackmail her. The rest of the book is mostly concerned with Irene's inner torment, as she tries to act normal but ends up refusing to go out, alienating her husband and contemplating suicide. She starts to wonder if she knows her husband, a celebrated prosecutor, at all – she has no idea how he’d react to the news. There are some plot twists but the most powerful part is Zweig's depiction of a woman's fear and desperation. It’s a quick story but very intense and Zweig is skilled at portrayed Irene’s psychological state.

i enjoyed Fear too, and yes my Pagels is Revelations. Good memory!

Excellent review of The Birth of an Opera by Michael Rose and the list of operas discussed is very useful.

Thanks for both review And pics!

>172 rebeccanyc: - I'll have to check to see if that one is in paperback now, I definitely want to read it.

>173 baswood: - Thanks bas

>174 mkboylan: - Glad you liked them - the theater certainly is beautiful.

The Jokers by Albert Cossery
Finished 6/25/13

While this book had an engaging writing style and an interesting premise, there were way too many sexist comments/characters for such a short book. The intro, which I read after finishing, mentioned Cossery’s contempt for women which unfortunately came through in his writing. The main plot – a group of disillusioned and intelligent opponents of the current government protest by excessively praising the governor – is fun at first but I felt more time should be spent on that instead of all the random relationships. It also peters out at the end in a rather abrupt manner.

The four conspirators are a varied lot – Karim, a formerly passionate dissident who has now embraced irony and satire; Heykal, the laid-back and aristocratic leader; Omar, a cheerily vulgar criminal millionaire; and Urfy, a nervous teacher distracted by his mother’s descent into dementia. Heykal annoyed me as he seemed to be almost too-perfect – not that he didn’t have problems, but everyone looked up to him and acted like he was the only person worth knowing. The descriptions of their plot to anonymously hang posters with over-the-top praise of the governor, send in fatuously glowing letters to the newspaper and propose funding a statue of the governor are interesting but various side characters get in the way.

A dilettante trying to get an in with Heykal, a former associate of Karim’s and obviously the governor are shown in a negative light but every female character is a sexist stereotype. Karim’s attitude toward prostitutes that he uses is pretty disgusting and a girl from a good family who Heykal uses for information is shown throwing herself at him while he criticizes her for thinking only of love instead of politics. Another, frankly creepy scene has Heykal checking out an 8-year-old girl. Urfy’s mother – a self-sacrificing woman in the past, it is implied – is mainly there to let Heykal muse on how madness is the ultimate freedom and the “crazy old woman” also fits with stereotypical glimpses of other old women as nagging and ugly. Unfortunately, all the sexism and the distractions from the main plot meant that I enjoyed the book less and less as it went on.

The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
Finished 6/26/13

The stories in this collection all show the hand of a master – the vivid and nuanced prose, the sharp descriptions of setting, characters and the social milieu. Sometimes I read short story collections rather fitfully, but with this one, I read large chunks at a time like a novel. Wharton draws you in almost immediately with her strong writing. The stories move from her very early ones to the late masterpiece “Roman Fever” and it is interesting to see the progression. Some of the stories have awkward time or plot shifts and there is a tendency to rely on predictable or melodramatic twists. However, they are all worth reading for the superb writing and depictions of places and people.

As in her best known novels, Wharton often depicts the cloistered world of Old New York – a bygone time and place based on family, reputation and repression. Wharton’s life influenced many of the stories. Her husband, Teddy Wharton, was much older than her and eventually became chronically ill – this is reflected in the nightmarish “A Journey”, about a woman who is taking her terminally ill husband back home. The claustrophobic train ride soon become intolerable and the woman’s feverish musings are well-done. Two other subjects that personally affected Wharton show up frequently – the struggles of the artist (especially the conflict between staying true to art vs. selling out) and divorce. Some of the stories show social catastrophes and covertly vicious triumphs, again as in her well-known novels, but a number of the stories have a semi-comic tone. However, two of the best are the excruciatingly painful gems “The Dilettante” and “Autres Temps…”. There are also a number of sympathetic depictions of older women, even in the early stories – the very first one, “Mrs. Manstey’s View”, shows one such woman, forgotten by the world but still able to enjoy what she has.

Some of the stories about divorce (and artists) had comic touches – “The Other Two” has a man married to a twice-divorced woman thrown into the company of her two exes. This story doesn’t suggest he’s made a horrible mistake – instead, it ends on a note of bemused acceptance. Divorce was an institution that changed over the course of Wharton’s lifetime, from an unmentionable horror to something that was almost acceptable. “Autres Temps…” shows this, as a woman who was shunned after her divorce rushes to the aid of her newly divorced daughter only to find that the times have changed. In this one, the author skillfully portrays the painful life of a pariah from society. Divorce became more common, but some were even farther out – “The Reckoning” has a divorced woman as an advocate for free love but she soon regrets it. This one fell a little flat – the woman’s relationship was too generally described. Some divorces left the woman alone and shamed, as in “Autres Temps…” but “The Long Run” looks at the other side – a man who chose not to break up the marriage of the woman he loved. His ending can hardly be envied.

The divorced or married woman who became another man’s mistress is also an unenviable role – illustrated in “The Dilettante” and “Diagnosis”. The main character in “Diagnosis” is proud of the fact that he has remained free and unmarried while still receiving emotional support from his divorced mistress. He has vague plans to marry some young innocent thing someday but these are disrupted by a diagnosis of a terminal illness. The same sort of character is “The Dilettante” but it becomes clear that his former relationship with his mistress was almost one of emotional abuse. He gets some comeuppance but from this tangled situation there are really no winners.

Even outwardly happy marriages get the side-eye from Wharton. The seemingly solid marriage at the center of “The Quicksand” is a contrast to a quarrelling pair of lovers but the truth about the marriage is considerably darker. The great “Roman Fever” compares two solid marriages, both acceptable to good New York society. The whole story is a conversation between the two widows on a comfortable terrace in Rome, but both end up reevaluating their lives. Wharton’s depiction is also a perfect example of “frenemies”. “Pomegranate Seed” starts out looking like the other stories – the second wife starts to suspect her happiness with her husband is only on the surface when he starts receiving some mysterious letters – but ends up in a completely different place.

Is The Jokers the first book by Cossery you read? I read it third, and I felt I was getting a little tired of him by the time I read it, but i really liked the first two books I read by him, Proud Beggars and The Colors of Infamy. They do get to be sort of the same after a while, and he certainly didn't like women much, but I did find them entertaining for a while.

And this is a good reminder that I really have to read Wharton sometime!

Great review of The New York Stories of Edith Wharton, DieF. And like Rebecca, it reminds me that I have been meaning to read more of her work. I loved Ethan Frome.

Nice review of The New York Stories, a work I have somewhere.

Great review of The New York Stories of Edith Wharton. That one goes straight on to the must read list.

I'm currently reading The Age of Innocence. The only other Wharton I've read is The House of Mirth. I have a "Works of.." on my kindle. Most of the stories you mention are listed. I think I have some great reading to dig into.

Nice review of The New York Stories of Edith Wharton. Like everyone else I have to read her and I'm not sure why I haven't to date.

Rebecca - yes, this was the first Cossery I've read. There were certainly appealing things about the book - the writing and the main plot - but the sexism/plot ratio was too much for me, especially for such a recently published book.

>179 Linda92007:-183 - Thanks! Reading the stories did make me want to read more Wharton. I've read the best-known novels (The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, The Custom of the Country) but am thinking I could branch out. She does have quite a few more and I'd like to read more of her stories.

Two Murders in My Double Life by Josef Skvorecky
Finished 7/2/13

This book, Skvorecky’s first in English, is a fast enough read and half of the story was fairly compelling. The other half, the campus murder mystery, felt a bit distant and unreal. There were also some quirks that I didn’t feel worked and some language usage that bothered me. The narrator – maybe an alternate-Danny Smiricky – is a Czech ex-pat who teaches at Edenvale College in Toronto and is married to Sidonia, a former singer who publishes banned Czech works. He is also a mystery writer and teaches a class on that subject. When the husband of an Edenvale professor is murdered, the narrator ponders whodunit with his student, a police sergeant investigating the case. At the same time, Sidonia is listed as a StB collaborator (Czech secret police) and tries to clear her name.

The Sidonia storyline was much more interesting than the murder investigation. How she came to be listed – and the narrator’s involvement – is just one example of the accommodation and uncertainty under the Czech Communist regime. The narrator also relates other stories of ordinary people forced to collaborate and how little the actual collaboration could be. The murky ambiguity of those days is contrasted to the fiery rhetoric surrounding the list and the multiple hypocrisies on display. Sidonia initiates a lawsuit but it becomes clear that she might never be able to prove her innocence when the accusation is a moving target. One of the slightly annoying quirks in this half is the appearance of unnamed characters obviously based on real people – the Czech “playwright president” and the female writer from the GDR revealed to be a Stasi collaborator. Also weird is the absence of diacritics and some Anglicization (?) of names – the Vltava is called the Moldau.

The murder mystery has name weirdness also – a lot of the characters have literary names – the murder victim is Raymond Hammett, the sergeant is Dorothy Sayers, a professor is named James F. Cooper and so on. Sayers and the narrator treat the murder almost as a thought exercise and the college atmosphere didn’t really seem to reflect that a murder had taken place. The narrator’s casual sexism was also rather irritating. It was interesting enough to read and the exploration of post-Communist guilt and innocence felt realistic and sadly muddled but overall didn’t compare to the glorious grab-bag The Engineer of Human Souls.

Interesting review. I really need to read The Engineer of Human Souls, which has been languishing on my TBR for years, don't I?

What a shame the book wasn't better because it sounds like there were some interesting ideas.

Rebecca - that is a good one. Skvorecky might be one of those authors who needs a large canvas (or a chunky book) to work on - the others I have by him are all considerably longer that Two Murders in My Double Life.

>187 mkboylan: - Yeah, some of the quirks didn't work for me, but I noticed that the other reviewer of the book liked the murder storyline but not the Czech part, so it's possible other people wouldn't be as bothered.

Nada by Carmen Laforet
Finished 7/1/13

Nada is a wonderfully atmospheric coming-of-age story set in post-war Barcelona. The narrator, Andrea, comes to Barcelona from a small town, excited and eager to experience the big city. Instead, she finds a claustrophobic and decaying house with feuding, violent relatives, all with their own secrets. She eventually tries to break away from the family but has mixed success with friendship and romance. Andrea also finds that it is harder than she thinks to get away from the family. Well-written and involving, a sharp portrait of both a horribly dysfunctional family and the awkwardness of being 18.

Andrea only has a few happy memories of the family before the war but the truth turns out to be much different. Her uncle Juan is violent and unpredictable. He is married to Gloria, a flashily attractive woman looked down upon by Andrea’s uptight and controlling aunt Angustias and her manipulative but charismatic uncle Roman. Andrea’s grandmother tries to help her and the others in small ways but also seems a little not-all-there. The decaying, stifling house is vividly portrayed and comes to be a symbol of the family’s attempt to hold on to their faded gentility. The first half mostly deals with Andrea’s nervous attempts to negotiate living with such unhappy people. There are many hidden conflicts and past bad blood, some of which are revealed, but in a way that Andrea can’t be certain of the truth. Later, she forms a fast friendship with the happy, beautiful, well-off Ena and falls in with a group of pseudo-bohemians. The mistakes and quirks of youth – Andrea wanders the city at night, goes on a date with a creeper, and, when she gets control of her money, spends it all on luxuries, making hunger a constant companion – feel realistic. Overall a good, if somewhat claustrophobic read.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa
Finished 6/3/13

Mario Vargas Llosa’s semi-autobiographical portrait of young Mario, a would-be writer, is terrifically funny and entertaining. It has an almost metafictional structure that at times reminded me of Calvino. Mario, the narrator, is bored with law school and works at a radio station writing news copy to pay the bills. His life becomes more exciting with the arrival of two new people – his Aunt Julia (his uncle’s sister-in-law – no blood relation) and Pedro Camacho, the much-in-demand writer of radio soap operas. Mario is at first a bit put off Aunt Julia but soon they start a relationship. He befriends the odd Pedro Camacho, whose quirks and crazy work schedule begin to cause havoc in the radio station. Well-written and wonderfully entertaining.

The contrast between the two stories works well – a romance with his aunt should be scandalous and crazy (incest!) but it actually plays out as a low-key, affectionate relationship until the end, when things get a little frantic. Pedro Camacho writes dramas, but merely works at a radio station. However, this storyline incorporates all sorts of weirdness. The chapters alternate – one about Mario’s life, one a story from Pedro Camacho. His stories always end on cliffhangers, then move on to another one (I like odd structures like this - If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler is a favorite). They aren’t just trashy romances but gothic, labyrinthine tales. The narratives eventually start to bleed into one another and become confused. At work, Pedro Camacho has odd habits, some ridiculous quirks and turns the recording studio into a rigidly disciplined, fantastical production. The writing and story were so good that I never minded reading about the ordinary interaction - Mario bantering with his coworkers or strategizing with his cousin and best friend. Highly recommended.

Those Sound Different And Interesting. (Weird New Keyboard Sorry)

Nada sounds interesting, and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is one of the few MVLs I haven't read, although I have owned it for decades. Will have to get to it, as I'm such an MVL fan.

Great reviews, DieF! I thoroughly enjoyed Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, and liked The Jokers somewhat less. I haven't read Nada yet, so I'm glad that you felt positively about it.

Excellent reviews of Nada and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

>191 mkboylan: - Agree - and hope you get the new keyboard sorted out.

>192 rebeccanyc: - I really enjoyed Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and bought Feast of the Goat while I was reading it. I also have War at the End of the World on the pile but was thinking I'd read them for the Reading Globally theme later in the year. I also wanted to read the one about Casement that you mentioned upthread since I thought his life sounded very interesting.

>193 kidzdoc: & 194 - Thanks! There were a couple reviews around the group of Nada and they were all positive - one of the reasons I bumped it up on the list.

The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Finished 7/9/13

The Betrothed – the great 19th c. Italian historical novel – is a thoroughly entertaining and wonderfully detailed story. The main plot follows two young lovers, Lucia and Renzo, who are prevented from marrying by the despotic local nobleman, Don Rodrigo. However, the genius of the piece is in Manzoni’s lovingly described and lengthy portraits of the side characters, his epic depictions of historical events in the 1620’s and the nicely done background setting of an unjust society. The omniscient narrator presents the story as his modernization of a true tale and this gives rise to some comic bits – like the opening forward, which starts out old-fashioned, pompous and flowery before the narrator cuts it off and says he’ll tell the story in straightforward language. Sometimes the descriptions of political wrangling gets a little dense (and I wished my copy, by Penguin, had more notes) but overall this is a fantastic read.

Lucia and Renzo are simple peasants, happily engaged and living in a small village near the town of Lecco. Renzo has a promising job, Lucia’s mother likes him – everything seems fine until the parish priest, Don Abbondio, is threatened to prevent him from marrying them. Renzo and Lucia stay pretty much the same throughout the book and are simple characters – Lucia is often found crying, fainting and praying and Renzo is frequently hot-headed and naïve. The other characters are more interesting however – one being Don Abbondio. He’s a coward who is mostly concerned with his own self-preservation. In a book full of conversions, with many portraits of benevolent religious figures, he remains a rather unsympathetic one. However, Manzoni spends many pages describing his inner conflicts and fears, with some occasional guilt and shame. He also sets Don Abbondio’s self-interest against the customs of the day, where the rich and powerful could get their way and could punish those who opposed them with impunity. Others counsel death before a failure of duty or courage but Don Abbondio is all-too-human in his fear. I enjoyed reading about him, despite his extreme cowardice and his being a major impediment to the couple’s happiness.

Don Rodrigo seems like he would be a stock evil aristocrat but Manzoni uses his character to explore the oppressive laws and customs of the time. Near the beginning of the book, he notes that the edicts, which were meant to curb extrajudicial violence, only ended up oppressing the poor. The laws never applied to powerful noblemen or the violent bravoes that they would hire to get their way. An example of this occurs when Renzo goes to a lawyer with his complaint that Don Rodrigo blocked his marriage to Lucia. The lawyer, thinking Renzo was the one who broke the law, is sympathetic at first but when he learns that Renzo is speaking of Don Rodrigo, the lawyer kicks him out and refuses to listen to him. Don Rodrigo avidly pursues Lucia but not out of love or lust – he barely even thinks of her as an object. Instead, he’s afraid to lose face in front of his peers by not getting what he wants (he has a bet with his cousin over Lucia) and also has an “eh, why not?” attitude when sending his posse out to harass her. His somewhat uninvolved attitude and the ease with which he ruins Lucia and Renzo’s lives illustrate the plight of the poor. Even when powerful but good people help them, it is still an example of the dependence of the lower classes.

The other characters who Renzo and Lucia meet are interesting as well – the formerly fiery, now repentant Father Cristoforo; the bitter and ambivalent nun Gertrude; the aristocratic criminal who is so powerful and feared that he’s called the Unnamed in the book; the saintly archbishop Federigo Borromeo. The last three are based on actual historical characters and their backstories are involving. They all play a role in Renzo and Lucia’s case but also are actors in the historical events that intrude. Renzo gets involved in the bread riots in Milan and Manzoni has descriptions of the famine that hit the city soon after. Their village also suffers from the passing German army and finally, the plague that decimated Milan and the surrounding countryside affects many of the characters and the outcome of the book. Highly recommended.

195 I liked Feast of the Goat but it isn't one of my favorites; I had mixed feelings about The Dream of the Celt, the "Casement one." War at the End of the World is probably my all-time favorite, and I also loved Conversation in the Cathedral, Death in the Andes, The Green House, and the fabulously entertaining Captain Pantoja and the Special Service. I still have a few, in addition to Aunt Julia, on my TBR.

I had never heard of Mazoni, so I'm glad to be introduced to him and what sounds like a fun book.

Great review of The Betrothed. I've had it in my TBR for two summers now without knowing much about it. Time to change that.

The Betrothed sounds excellent, great review Dief, Definitely one for the wish list

The Betrothed is one of my all-time favorites, and its depiction of the plague in Milan is said to be historically highly accurate. It's a shame Manzoni didn't write more prose fiction.

With DieF, bas and Steven chiming in like that, I definitely have to read it!

>197 rebeccanyc: - Rebecca, I'll have to check out your reivews for the MVL books - I picked up ones that I'd heard of or were the most popular. Good to get your ranking list though - hadn't heard of Captain Pantoja and the Special Service.

>197 rebeccanyc:, 198, 201 - The Betrothed was definitely fun - I was a bit surprised at how readable it was. I could read huge chunks when I had the time. SL - hope you get to it soon!

>199 baswood: - I was thinking about you when they got into all the politicking - as in - there are probably people who have a much better handle of the history of the time. It was a great book even with that for me.

>200 StevenTX: - Interesting - the plague sections were certainly compelling and reminded me a bit of Defoe. Agree that it's a shame he didn't write more

Journey into the Whirlwind by Evgenia Ginzburg
Finished 7/11/13

Evgenia Ginzburg’s harrowing memoir of her experience in Soviet prisons and camps during the 1930’s is a powerful and compelling read. She relates the story of her arrest, trial, life in a series of prisons culminating in two years of (supposedly) solitary confinement in Yaroslavl, then her transport to some of the most notorious camps of the Gulag – Magaden, Kolyma. The prose is clear and vivid and the book is, for such an unpleasant subject, highly readable and engrossing. Ginzburg’s quick portraits of the interrogators and jailers as well as her fellow prisoners are sharply drawn. She highlights the absurdity and brutality of the system, but there are occasional flashes of happiness and laughter as well as small and large generosities that often prove life-saving. Ginzburg repeatedly finds strength and comfort in literature and poetry as well. Highly recommended and a must-read for anyone interested in the topic.

Ginzburg was an academic living in the provincial town of Kazan with a highly-placed husband, two sons and a happy family. After the assassination of Kirov, another professor was accused of forming a counterrevolutionary unit and Ginzburg was swept up in the circle of arrests. She was sentenced to ten years of solitary imprisonment but ended up serving 18 in prisons and camps of the Gulag. She covers the years leading up to her arrest and the first few years in the system in Journey Into the Whirlwind, the first part of her memoir.

She often had good luck as she notes throughout the book – one would have to in order to survive – but initially, she was fortunate in several ways. Suspicion fell on her before 1937 – the notorious year of the Great Terror – so she never solely blamed Yezhov, the head of the NKVD, and was disillusioned early on with Stalin. She would see some who still believed in him while eking out a life of misery in the camps. Still, she had some hope for the system –

“Even now – we asked ourselves – after all that has happened to us, would we vote for any other than the Soviet system, which seemed as much a part of us as our hearts and as natural to us as breathing? Everything I had in the world – the thousands of books I had read, memories of my youth, the very endurance which was now keeping me from going under – all this had been give me by the Soviet system, and the revolution which had transformed my world when I was a child. How exciting life had been and how gloriously everything had begun! What in God’s name had happened to us all?”

Her case was closed before new regulations allowed for torture so she was spared that experience during her interrogation. In her first prison in Kazan, Ginzburg had a caring and kind cellmate so she would later try to act in a similar manner. The atmosphere in several holding prisons was congenial and Ginzburg describes a wide variety of imprisoned women. There are the German and Italian Communists who fled Hitler and Mussolini and make her feel ashamed of the way they were treated by the Soviets; the experienced prisoners/Bolshevik boogeymen, the Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, who are kind but concerned about associating with the enemy; the cheerful “babblers” – women who told a joke about Stalin, know what they did and are lucky to “only” be serving 5 years; and the Communists who still believe they were only mistakenly arrested and are disgusted by the other women. Ginzburg describes many examples of people who receive their comeuppance – people who betrayed her, her interrogators, members of the NKVD. Though she describes a couple instances where she spitefully lashes out, in the end these are just murky and unhappy examples of a system cannibalizing its people.

Ginzburg clearly analyzes the people and policies during her trip through the meatgrinder and eventually lands in a solitary cell for two years. She was lucky to get a cellmate due to overcrowding and together they learn all sorts of strategies to communicate in the prison, flout regulations and try to make each grey day bearable. Her prison experience is a marked contrast to life in the camps and several women that she meets wonder which is worse. One lengthy chapter describes the hellish transport to the northern camps. Many of the women are happy to have company after years of solitary but the horrific conditions are vividly portrayed. Ginzburg also describes the fate of the women in parenthetical asides – a mixed lot, with most dying, a couple surviving and some becoming hardened oppressors. She notes names, families and backstories of her cellmates and fellow prisoners and it is clear that part of her intent is to share their lives as well.

Ginzburg and other politicals were looked down on by the common criminals and those with lighter sentences. In the camps, they were put on some of the worst jobs – felling trees. Ginzburg and her partner struggled to fulfill their norms and she compares them unfavorably to the efficient peasant Christian women, to whom such work seemed easy. However, her academic skills did come in use. Her knowledge of several languages enabled her to comfort some who didn’t speak Russian but also allowed her to bond with other inmates, which proved important in several instances. Books and poetry give her a distraction (they were allowed to read in solitary), some choice phrases to describe her situations, and occasionally a shield against despair.

“Poetry, at least, they could not take away from me! They had taken my dress, my shoes and stockings, and my comb, they had left me half naked and freezing, but this was not in their power to take away, it was and remained mine.”

“Then there was a shrill cry of despair; it continued for a long while on the same note, and stopped abruptly…I prayed, as Pushkin once did, ‘Please God, may I not go mad! Rather grant me prison, poverty, or death.’ The first sign of approaching madness must surely be the urge to scream like that on a single continuous note. I must conquer it and preserve the balance of my mind by giving it something to do. So I began again to recite verses to myself. I composed more of my own and said them over and over so as not to forget them, and above all not to hear that awful cry.”

One great story has Ginzburg entertaining the transport train with her recitals from memory. Unfortunately, one of the guards heard her and believed they had a contraband book hidden. The guard furiously demands they hand it over and the women can’t convince him – until Ginzburg ends up reciting the whole Eugene Onegin from memory for him. “As I went on reciting, I kept my eyes fixed on the two guards. The Brigand at first wore a threatening expression: she’d get stuck in a minute, and then he’d show her! This gave place by degrees to astonishment, almost friendly curiosity, and finally ill-concealed delight.”

Well-written, powerful and very readable – next need to get the second half of her memoir.

That sounds like an extremely powerful book, DieF, one that I don't think I'm quite up to at the moment.

Another journey through the Gulags, but this one sounds good, enjoyed your review.

Great review of Journey into the Whirlwind, DieF.

Well-written, powerful and very readable review also! Interesting info.

Journey into the Whirlwind sounds very powerful as Rebecca said. I am going to put it on my wishlist so that I don't forget to look for it.

Catching up with some wonderful reviews, DieF. The Betrothed and Journey into the Whirlwind have gone directly onto my wishlist.

>204 rebeccanyc:- 209 - Thanks! - it was a very good and surprisingly fast read - also very powerful as some have mentioned. Definitely one to read with a non-depressing book.

Jezebel by Irene Nemirovsky
Finished 7/2/13

The opening of this books is something of an infodump – a woman, Gladys Eysenach, is accused of murdering her young lover and her life story is related in a large chunk. The rest of the book goes back and covers her life up to that point, giving the reader a different view of the dispassionately related events. I thought that the in-depth look at Gladys would be more sympathetic than the judge’s description, which showed her to be a shallow, hedonistic woman. However, Nemirovsky’s portrayal of her is even more shallow and hedonistic, along with a side of creepy. The story is mostly told from Gladys’ POV and it can be a bit uncomfortable reading all her thoughts. It is all effectively done though, and the book is a penetrating and very readable depiction of a horrible person.

Gladys’ story starts when she is a young woman first realizing the power of her beauty. Her unhappy childhood up to that point prevented her from thinking about such things, but her cousin takes her out into society and she soon learns how attractive she is. Nemirovsky portrays Gladys’ life after that in a series of quick and effective scenes, summarizing several affairs and her marriage to Richard Eysenach. Richard is one of the few people who Gladys really cares about, and she thinks fondly of him for years after his death. However, there are hints that even that relationship is memorable mostly due to Gladys’ narcissism and obsession with youth. It seemed based on strict gender division – Richard was concerned with money and power, Gladys with looking good and being amenable – and Richard pretty much treated Gladys as a spoiled, pretty child. He also died before he could ever see her grow old.

Soon enough, Gladys starts lying about her age but her daughter, Marie-Therese, is evidence. Her relationship with her daughter is horribly selfish, competitive and disturbing. It becomes clear that she has no true friends – only women that she competes with and sees as rivals. Men are only seen as lovers or admirers. As she ages, she still remains beautiful but is no longer so stunning that men stop on the street or only pay attention to her, facts which cause Gladys to panic. Despite being extremely self-involved and narcissistic, she absolutely needs people to provide her with admiration, love and something to be compared (favorably) to. The war and other disruptions in the early decades of the 20th century give Gladys excuses to shed her social circle various times and lie about her age. Her obsession with her age prevents her from getting close to anyone and affects her relationship with the murdered man, Bernard Martin, which is also quite disturbing and unhealthy.

Gladys is not a character that anyone can like and I always felt some separation from her even though the book was mainly from her POV. It is certainly hard to sympathize with someone who thinks this –
“Yes, there was music, poetry, books…but she knew very well that those things were only useful to be more seductive, because even the most beautiful face can look tired, unattractive in a moment of boredom or fatigue; but to her, as for most women, such things meant nothing, they didn’t really affect her. A few passionate, melancholy lines or poetry, some beautiful, lyrical words: they were just offerings to a man, for him alone, and when the man was gone, nothing remained.”
However, Nemirovsky did a very good job getting into her head and clearly delineating her obsessions. Nemirovsky is probably as famous for her life as for her works and one part of her life that appeared in her books is the selfish and narcissistic mother. The introduction notes that her mother refused to take in Nemirovsky’s orphaned daughters after she and her husband died at Auschwitz and instead suggested they be taken to an orphanage. Obviously the author could have known nothing about this but it creates a horrible parallel to this book. One can readily imagine Gladys Eysenach doing such a thing as well.

Infodump. Thanks - just the description I was needing for my current read!
Brilliant!

Terrific review. It's amazing how those books with such unsympathetic characters can hold us when they're written by the right author. I'll have to look for this.

Infodump is a great term.

>212 mkboylan:, 213 - Heh. I think it's a common criticism of sci-fi novels. I've definitely seen it used before.

Been busy with weird work hours and some RL stuff but I have been reading.

Recently read, need to review -

The Messiah of Stockholm - Cynthia Ozick
The Whisperers - Orlando Figes
The Finno-Ugrian Vampire - Noemi Szeci
Translation is a Love Affair - Jacques Poulin
Confusion : the private papers of Privy Councillor R. von D. - Stefan Zweig
Last Tales - Isak Dinesen
Kornel Esti - Dezso Kosztolanyi

Still need to review -

Diary of a Mad Old Man - Junichiro Tanizaki
War with the Newts - Karel Capek
Mademoiselle de Maupin - Theophile Gautier
Full House - M.J. Farrell
Journey into the Past - Zweig
In Red - Magdalena Tulli
The Man Without a Face - Masha Gessen
Burning Secret - Zweig
Life Form - Amelie Nothomb

Also need to catch up on everyone's threads.

Oo! So many reviews I am looking forward to reading! Particularly the Zweig, Nothomb, and Tanizaki. I love to see what others think of the authors I like.

Great reading as usual! I look forward to your reviews, of the books I've read (Translation Is a Love Affair, Kornel Esti, In Red, Burning Secret), books on my TBR (War with the Newts), and of course the other books which may well end up on my TBR!

Hope work and RL sort themselves out.

>215 lilisin: - I do love all three of those authors. The latest Tanizaki wasn't my favorite but I was still inspired to go out and get more.

>216 rebeccanyc: - Thanks! Translation is a Love Affair disappointed a bit but the others were all very good.

Translation is a Love Affair by Jacques Poulin
Finished 7/30/13

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace for it. I thought it would be a fun, quirky mystery with cats and translation and it started out that way, but there were a number of irritating or jarring elements. The narrator, Marine, is a peripatetic young woman with dreams of being a translator. She accidentally meets a respected French-Canadian writer and starts translating his work, staying at a quiet chalet with her cat Chaloupe. A stray cat comes around and Marine finds a note on the cat’s collar. She and Monsieur Waterman, the writer, try to discover who abandoned the cat and why.

The writing was quirky and low-key at first, quite suitable for the material. But there’s some meandering in the plot – a lot of descriptions of scenery. I enjoyed reading about the cats and Marine’s thoughts on translation. Her relationship with the author is interesting at first but after a while there’s a weird sexual undercurrent which seemed inappropriate – mostly Marine denying there’s anything between them while describing how she goes around half-naked when he’s there and occasionally watching him while he’s half-dressed. Later, serious subjects are broached but they seemed at odds with the previous light tone. I also found the end a bit unbelievable. A mixed bag for me.

Confusion : the private papers of Privy Councillor R. von D. by Stefan Zweig
Finished 7/27/13

This is another fantastic Zweig. A respected, successful professor looks back on the relationship that both made him and scarred him. He recalls his youth, first as a dissipated young man, then as a dedicated student who revered his literature professor, a moody but passionate man with a disapproving, changeable wife. The book is a highly addictive read and as usual, Zweig has excellent, intense depictions of varying psychological states. The central secret will probably be easy for modern readers to guess but it is still a powerful story.

The narrator, Roland, first relates his hedonistic days as a student at a large university in Berlin. After being discovered by his father, he shamefacedly transfers to a smaller school in a provincial town. Roland was never a very dedicated student. However, when he walks in on his English professor giving a fiery, passionate lecture, he is swept away and delves into the material, transforming into a model student. The professor comes to act as a mentor to him and Roland spends more and more time at his professor’s apartment. He is also introduced to the professor’s wife, a cool and self-effacing woman. Strangely, when Roland meets her in public, she is cheerful and gregarious, seemingly a different person. When Roland decides to help his professor complete his unfinished magnum opus, the fragile relations between the three of them come crashing down.

The literal translation of the original title is something like “Emotional Maelstrom” and this could fit almost any of Zwieg’s novels. Zweig does an amazingly good job of conveying the intensity of the characters’ feelings even when he does some telling instead of showing. However, the English title, Confusion, is also apt – the narrator is frequently uncertain about the thoughts and intentions of the professor and his wife. All the characters have two versions of their selves that are seen throughout the book and there are a number of scenes that have someone “catching” another character in a different mode. Roland’s father walks in on him with a girl, a moment of shame and discovery as well as the start of the actual plot. The narrator switches between thoughtless hedonist and dedicated student but remembering people observing him as the former is a source of embarrassment. The professor also has a double life. Roland catches him as an enthusiastic molder of minds and is inspired. Later, though, he reverts back to an old and tired man going through the motions of teaching. As they get closer, the professor is alternately a kind mentor or cold and insulting. His wife is caught in public by Roland in another confusion scene. This duality clearly leads up to the denouement and there is a related motif of observation and voyeurism. The frequent idea of someone watching becomes oppressive and the climactic scene takes place in the dark. In addition, the whole story is Roland’s memory of the past and it becomes obvious that he has preserved the confusing doubling of his youth – a point made clear in the last sentences.

The Finno-Ugrian Vampire by Noemi Szecsi
Finished 7/31/13

Jerne is supposed to be a vampire – her grandmother is one, after all – but unfortunately she is still living and has no desire to suck someone’s blood. These are both seen as failures by her grandmother, a beautiful, charismatic woman who is always going on about the attractive men that she feeds on or her past encounters with celebrities like Oscar Wilde or Franz Liszt. Jerne would rather be an artist – she has dreams of writing a children’s book. To avoid suspicion, she works for a small publisher – her exacting boss is the oddly named Norma-Elektra – and hopes to have her own work published there. She is baffled by Norma-Elektra’s husband and partner, Jermak – is he a garden-variety sexually-harassing creeper or a vampire? Jerne also reconnects with a childhood friend, Somi, who is now fronting a rising band.

Jerne notes in the beginning that she is dead but is remembering life before death in the first part. The second half looks at her afterlife. The first half of the books is a fun, quirky read. It’s an engaging and funny story – the mix of the supernatural and mundane is handled well and though some random stuff happens, the characters’ calm reaction makes the reader accept it as well. The setting is Budapest and occasionally Jerne muses on Hungarian history and culture. I picked up a couple references but some of it probably passed me by. It was enjoyable reading about the odd characters and funny bits like Jerne’s children’s book featuring a rabbit named Initiative and her habit of swearing using the names of French authors and philosophers. The second half of the book was less compelling though. Jerne’s new romantic interest - her Hungarian teacher O - and her Uncle Oscar were not as interesting as her vivacious and entertaining grandmother and the malevolent, ambiguous Jermak. In this part, Jerne works for a vegetarian restaurant – a humorous concept but I missed the bits about publishing. Occasional promising plots – Jerne feels uncomfortable with love and is stalked by a creature called Childeater – go by too quickly. A fun enough read and certainly an odd entry in the vampire genre.

Interesting review of the Zweig. I also really loved that one. So much that I ranked it in the top few of Zweig's works.

Great to catch up on your reviews Dief. Confusion: the private papers of Councillor R. von D. by Stefan Zweig sounds a bit special.

i had mixed feelings about Translation Is a Love Affair too, but I enjoyed the writing. I was unfamiliar with the Zwieg, but it sounds intriguing, and I love the title of the vampire book, probably not one for me, though.

Excellent review of Confusion: The Private Papers of Councillor R. von D., DieF. I have yet to read anything by Zweig, although I have long intended to and he is prominent on my wishlist.

lilsin - thanks - I agree, it was definitely a great Zweig.

Rebecca - I thought the writing was good so might try Mr. Blue since I wanted to read that one as well. You'll definitely have to read this Zweig - it's an NYRB!

Linda, bas - I highly encourage any Zweig-reading. I don't think there's a book of his that I would NOT recommend (at least of the ones I've read so far.)

War with the Newts by Karel Capek
Finished 6/20/13

Before (or after?) he initiated a worldwide apocalyptic war in The Absolute at Large, G.H. Bondy also contributed to the rise of intelligent newts which would have similarly disastrous results. War with the Newts compares to the earlier book in other ways as well – both examine the world undergoing extreme upheavals, through quick-cut scenes of ordinary people and a journalistic eye, resulting in novels with a fairly unconventional structure. (He also used this structure by necessity in some of his plays – the famous R.U.R, where a robot rebellion was shown through the discussion of his characters, and The White Plague, where the effects of a horrible pandemic were shown by quick cuts to multiple people at all levels of society.) The Absolute at Large was written after the tumult of WWI and describes another pan-European conflict. War with the Newts, published in 1936, shows the newly discovered intelligent newt race as both an oppressed group and aggressors bent on expanding their dominion, reflecting the rising nationalist, fascist and far-right movements in the 1930’s. This might make it seem as if both would be pretty depressing reads but they are quite entertaining and occasionally comical. Čapek’s warm humanistic outlook fills the pages but War with the Newts is a considerably darker book.

War with the Newts opens with Captain van Toch discovering the “devils” living near a small island off the coast of Sumatra – a race of large, intelligent newts. He takes a liking to them and arms them to help ward off predators. The captain comes to think of
them as his children and finds that they are easily trained to retrieve pearls. Back in Czechoslovakia, van Toch starts a business enterprise with G.H. Bondy. Bondy also appeared in The Absolute at Large and is supposed to be the money-obsessed entrepreneur who sets off the chaos. However, in both books I couldn’t help liking him as he seems more stuck in his role and thinks sentimentally of the captain out having adventures and caring for his newts. Mr. Povondra, Bondy’s doorman, is the one who lets van Toch present his business arrangement to Bondy and for years afterwards thinks of his role in the spread of the newts. Povondra is Čapek’s Czech everyman and periodically the author checks in with him. Povondra also amasses a collection of articles and papers about the newts which make up a good portion of the book.

van Toch’s intervention results in a massive newt expansion and they start showing up far from their native island. Čapek describes several encounters between newts and other sailors or vacationing people. With Bondy’s help, the world is introduced to the newts and there are scientists analyzing them or zookeepers making new discoveries. Newts are used for underwater projects or manual labor instead of just pearl fishing. Povondra’s cuttings are fun to read and add a nice verisimilitude to the story of the newts, as well cataloging their spread over the years. They also cover a variety of issues related to newt-human relations. One issue, for example, is whether newts have a soul and Čapek provides amusing quotes from famous people (Toscanini – I have never seen a Newt, but I am convinced that creatures which have no music do not have a soul either. G.B. Shaw – They certainly have no soul. In this they resemble man.). The treatment of worker newts is another problem, and a newts-rights movement springs up, much like the movement for any other oppressed group. Some call for education or regulation and the lives of a couple exceptional “model” token newts are described. Human workers also have issues with competition and employer unfairness and push for protectionist laws. As in The Absolute at Large, Čapek is able to cover the opinions and thoughts of a wide range of society using this journalistic method. It’s also very interesting to read. The horrible treatment of the newts – for example, the illegal newt trade, which involves brutally capturing wild newts, or vicious attacks on worker newts – bears comparison to plenty of historical atrocities.

The third section is the one that actually covers the war. Descriptions of fighting, however, are related in a similar reporting fashion, the same style as in The Absolute. Čapek narrates the actions of various governments or the thoughts of ordinary people. It is entirely appropriate that he ends with Mr. Povondra. The Absolute at Large also had a global war/apocalypse but the ending was almost back to normal, with ordinary characters sighing over the foibles of humanity. The later novel ends on both a depressing note and a final, questioning, open chapter. Readers might think that the ending is a cop-out but I thought it was a fitting end to this odd, metafictional work. Čapek, in fact, did not live to see all the atrocities perpetuated by the Nazis (nor would he have fared well under the Communists, given that he wrote an essay titled “Why I Am Not a Communist” where one of his reasons is “because I am on the side of the poor.”) In light of what would come, the last perplexed, uncertain chapter is entirely appropriate.

Very interesting review of War with the Newts. I've been meaning to read Capek ever since I got two of his books as a gift (Tales from Two Pockets and an omnibus, Three Novels: Hordubal, Meteor, An Ordinary Life, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Great review of War with the Newts, DieF. Another previously unknown author to explore!

Having never heard of Capek I stumbled across and bought one of his books at Tattered Cover this week because the title caught my eye: Believe in People. I think I am in for a treat.

Interesting; I liked Translation Is a Love Affair more than you did, and you liked Confusion more than I did.

Fabulous review of War with the Newts!

Rebecca - hope you get a chance to get to Capek sometime soon. Tales from Two Pockets would be a good non-depressing read and went pretty fast for me. I want to get the three novel omnibus but haven't seen it yet in any of the stores around here.

Thanks, Linda and mk. Capek is really fun and his work is pretty varied. MK - I haven't heard of that one, it looks like a collection of a lot of different pieces. I'd definitely be interested in your opinion of the book.

Thanks kidzdoc - it is always interesting to see what different people thought of books you liked. I think I remember you really enjoyed Mister Blue? I was still thinking I'd give that a try.

Kornel Esti by Dezso Kosztolanyi
Finished 7/15/13

Kornel Esti is a light, whimsical book with excellent writing. The narrator decides one day to contact his old childhood friend Kornel Esti, a troublemaker portrayed almost as the narrator’s alter ego/id/doppelganger. A writer, the narrator agrees to set down Kornel Esti’s numerous stories. Some of the facts in various stories contradict other stories and others fly off into the realm of the fanciful. I was hoping there would be more about Kornel Esti as the narrator’s double, but after the first chapter the focus is pretty much all on Esti. Still, this didn’t detract from this odd but enjoyable book. Many of the stories are almost surreal or magic realist and I preferred those to the more realistic ones but they were all vividly written.

The book opens with an irresistible line –

“I had passed the midpoint of my life, when one windy day in spring, I remembered Kornel Esti.”

then moves to the relationship between the narrator and Esti. They were childhood friends, with Esti spurring the narrator on to mischief, and were so inseparable that people had trouble telling them apart. This continued into adulthood, as the narrator was often mistaken for Esti and angry letters and torrents of abuse meant for Esti were directed at him. This sly setup continues as the narrator agrees to write Esti’s memoirs. Both are writers and there is some debate over who will be the author of the piece.

After this, there are several realistic stories of Esti’s youth. They are written with a nice attention to detail and vividly capture Esti’s feelings – his misery and alienation on first going to school as a child, the excitement and uncertainty of a train trip to Italy, his wonderful and hardscrabble life as a young bohemian artist. However, I missed the more overt and metafictional weirdness of the first story. Some odd ones start to appear though – an early one has Esti and the narrator travelling to the town where everyone tells the truth, giving a bleak portrait of people and places but never raising expectations.

The next set of stories tended to be more fanciful and I found them more to my taste. In one, Esti has come into a large inheritance but having money will interfere with his image as a proper poet. He tries to get rid of it surreptitiously which leads to all sorts of complications. Another funny story has Esti attempting to carry on a conversation with a train guard who only speaks Bulgarian while only knowing a couple phrases in the language. Fun and even a bit tense. Esti describes the world’s best hotel in another vignette bordering on the fanciful. One of the best is the long description of a respected German intellectual, the president of numerous cultural, political and scientific associations. He was notorious for sleeping through every lecture, seminar and conference and his sleep is not only familiar and expected, but even exalted. The author includes all sorts of analyses of the president’s sleep, reaching an amusing feverish defense of the nobility of his actions.

Some of the later stories are again more realistic, if absurdist, and deal with Esti’s interactions with friends and moochers. The crazy ones were definitely the best. Overall, the prose was quite good and all the stories were very readable, with some wonderful standouts.

Great review of Kornel Esti, DieF. It was already on my wish list after Rebecca reviewed it, so I'll look for it soon.

You're right, I did like Mister Blue.

DieF, you're encouraging me to move Capek up on my mental TBR, although I've mostly been in the mood for easy-to-read uncomplicated story-telling lately. Glad you enjoyed Kornel Esti.

I have got War with the Newts on order. I hope to get to it soon, encouraged by your review.

Terrific review of Kornel Esti and Capek's War with the newts.

Catching from June and some 17 or so reviews, too many to mentioned specifics, but I enjoyed your always intelligent and informative reviews. Fascinated most, maybe, by Zweig's Confusion, Journey into the Whirlwind and the book by Pagels.

>233 kidzdoc: - Thanks kidzdoc, I hope you enjoy Kornel Esti.

>234 rebeccanyc: - Rebecca I thought Tales from Two Pockets was a pretty quick read - Capek has a casual, fairly straightforward style. Although it is easier to get into novels sometimes.

>235 baswood: - Glad to hear that, it is a great book and will fit in well with your classic sci-fi theme.

>236 dchaikin: - Thanks for the very nice compliments! Always good to hear that people find my reviews helpful.

Have been away for a bit, this time I didn't get much reading done. I have about 5 books that I'm reading but not finishing right now. Work has been pretty busy (and there were a couple days with a broken air conditioner that were pretty rage-inducing) and I've also been making various slightly crazy attempts to get tickets to the Ring Cycle and seeing said operas. They'll be over next week so I'll probably be back then.

Nice to see you back, DieF. Sorry about the AC and good luck with the Ring Cycle!

Hi DieF! I've not caught up yet, but I thought I would skip down and tell you how much I am enjoying your thread. I got totally sidetracked by the Scientology stuff and read the article you mentioned and some other stuff. Very strange. I have a hard time understanding how people can actually believe in it. I guess I'm not a good candidate.

I read a couple of Herta Muller books, not Nadirs, and decided that that was enough. I could appreciate but not enjoy her books.

Did you go to the SPL book sale today? I didn't. It's usually too crowded for me. I did, however, go to the small but good Shoreline Public Library sale.

Yea! I caught up! Sorry some of my comments refer to ancient posts.

I read Lydie Salvayre's book In the Company of Ghosts which I found good, but difficult. Certainly not entertaining and amusing like you describe Portrait of the Writer as a Domesticated Animal. They may have in common a rather unreliable narrator and nonobjective perspective.

I liked The Novel Bookstore and its premise quite a bit, until I reached the end. The last part seemed so bizarrely out of place, that I was quite put off. In fact, it sounds vaguely like the beginning of the Cossé book you read. Weird.

I had Austerlitz on my TBR pile next to my chair, but put it back on the shelf when the pile got too high. It sounds as though I should pull it back out and actually read it!

You read such an interesting mix of nonfiction. I am sadly lagging in that area this year.

I need to read Zweig...

I actually had The Jokers in my hands the other day. I'm glad I put it down. From the sounds of your review, I don't think I would have liked it.

Two Murders in My Double Life sounds similar to his Miss Silver's Past, which I read earlier this year. The murder mystery seemed like it was stuck on to an otherwise typical piece of East European literature. Since Škvorecký was working in Czech publishing before emigrating, I guess it's not a surprise that both books are set, at least partially, in that world. Sounds like I should read Engineer of Human Souls.

... and Mario Vargas Llosa

I too enjoyed Journey into the Whirlwind, which I think of as a feminist Gulag Archipelago. I have been looking for the sequel for years, but I may have to break down and special order it.

I'm sorry you didn't like Translation is a Love Affair more. I think his writing is delicious. I hope you like Mister Blue more. It has a bit more plot.

Loved your review of War with Newts. I only have a Czech copy, which I have no hopes of being able to read now. I should pick up an English translation. I like the clean look of Čapek's books republished by Catbird Press. Makes me want to own the set.

Although I liked Skylark, I don't know if I'm in a hurry to run out and get Kornél Esti. As always I love your reviews, though!

Looking forward to your return. You've read several books lately which I'm interested in, and I look forward to your comments. Isn't this weather conducive to reading?

Hi DieF, I hope all is well in your world, and I'll keep an eye out for a 2014 thread. I hope you come back to LT!

Yes, I was just thinking about you the other day and realizing that I hadn't seen a review from you in a while. Hope all is well and you'll be joining us for Club Read 2014!

I was too (or three)! (Partly because the other day someone mentioned she was going to see Die Fledermaus, and I realized I hadn't "seen" you around in a while.)