Joycepa's 2009 reading, Part 4

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Joycepa's 2009 reading, Part 4

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1Joycepa
Aug. 13, 2009, 1:05 pm

OK, fresh page! :-)

2Joycepa
Bearbeitet: Aug. 13, 2009, 1:59 pm

Alone In The Crowd
Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

7th in the Chief Espinosa of the 12th Precinct in Rio de Janeiro series.

Garcia-Roza doesn’t just write outstanding police procedurals--most of his books are great psychological thrillers as well; in fact, I’m not aware of any other writer in the genre who combines the two aspects so well and so unusually. This one is no exception. An old woman dies a puzzling death that may or may not be an accident; the chief suspect is somehow vaguely related to other deaths that might or might not have been accidents. All this might or might not be coincidence. And yes, that’s the whole tenor of the book as Espinosa and his chief helpers, Inspector Ramiro and Detective Welber dig deeper and deeper into the past of Hugo Breno, a colorless bank teller. Soon, parts of Espinosa’s past infringe upon the present and he is hard put to tell if any of it is relevant or if he is fabricating a tale out of whole cloth.

Add to that a crisis with his lover of 10 years, and you have the usual intriguing, textured mystery that Garcia-Roza writes so well.

Normally, Rio--specifically the Copacabana and Peixoto districts--contribute quite a bit to the ambience of the novels, but not so much in this book. Although I have visited Brasil many times and have spent a good deal of time there, I have never been to Rio. To compensate for that this time, since so much of the action takes place in the Peixoto district where Espinosa lives, I went to Google maps and followed Espinosa and Breno around; I most likely pinpointed the three-story building where Espinosa lives! That little vicarious jaunt added a good deal to the enjoyment of the read.

An excellent addition to the series. Highly recommended for those who like their police procedurals off the beaten track.

3sjmccreary
Aug. 13, 2009, 9:16 pm

#2 *sticking fingers in ears* lalalalalalala! I can't hear you!

The last thing in the world I need right now is another great detective series! I think you've already gotten me started on 3 different ones (Russel & Holmes, Inspector Rutledge, and the Donna Leon books). At least I think they all came from you. Anyway, that's probably 2 dozen or more different books already lined up. Plus all the books from the series that I managed to find on my own without your help. And maybe I didn't really mean it when I said I wanted to start reading more international books. OK - that's all the fight I'm putting up. What is the name of the first book?

4Joycepa
Aug. 13, 2009, 10:32 pm

If there is one thing I love to see, it's people talking themselves into what they really want to do anyway! LOL

The Silence of the Rain, which in some ways is his most conventional, which isn't saying a lot!

5sjmccreary
Aug. 13, 2009, 10:46 pm

#4 Yeah, I know. I'm just a tower of jello when it comes to resisting temptation.

I checked the library catalog, and they have 6 books - missing #3 Southwesterly Wind. Enough for me to get started, anyway. Thanks for recommendation. I don't think you've steered me wrong yet.

6Joycepa
Bearbeitet: Aug. 13, 2009, 10:58 pm

Your library has the best ones, which are the later ones. Not that Southwesterly Wind isn't good--it is--but Pursuit and Blackout are terrific--but very off-beat, very.

7alcottacre
Aug. 14, 2009, 4:55 am

Well, my local library only has Pursuit, so I am going to check it out and see if I like it!

8Joycepa
Aug. 14, 2009, 6:15 am

#7: Stasia, it's the most unconventional of his books. I happen to like it a lot,but I'm not sure it's a good one to start the series. But, see what you think.

9Joycepa
Aug. 14, 2009, 7:15 am

Enemy of God
Bernard Cornwell

The 2nd in the Arthurian legend.

Taking up from the end of The Winter King, after Arthur’s astonishing victory at Lugg Vale, Enemy of God continues with Cornwell’s highly imaginative reconstruction of the Arthurian legend. Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur was romantically based more on his interpretation of the legends, setting them more in the 11th and 12th century. and giving them a “modern” (15th century) interpretation with chivalry, Knights of the Round Table, and all the trappings of medieval fantasy. 5th century reality--the reality of Arthur’s time--was quite different. No knights, no chivalry; Arthur’s ideas of a brotherhood of kings to throw the Saxons out of England were far ahead of his time and actually detrimental to the safety of the kingdom he handed over to Mordred. Cornwell continues to do a beautiful job with elements of the Mallory version; his account of the Round Table is extremely entertaining. Mallory’s Grail quest becomes something quite different and quite grippingly done in Cornwell’s hands; it’s one of the best parts of an outstanding book.

Christianity continues to come off looking like a bad idea, but again, Cornwell remains faithful to what is known of those times, and certainly the scenes he describes in england and Wales certainly occurred elsewhere in the world as well.

What is particularly good about this book is Cornwell’s continued deconstruction of Lancelot, and the “truth” behind the affair with Guinevere. Guinevere herself, as are just about all the important female characters in Cornwell’s books, is an intelligent, strong woman frustrated by the subservient role that even royal women had to play. One of Cornwell’s real contributions to the genre is the continued development of his characters. They are not stick figures who simply exist as an excuse for action, but complex and believable people who react believably to their experiences.

Cornwell continues to write the most fascinating historical action-adventure novels around, and his research is meticulous. The only quibble with the book is that there is no map; it’s a good idea to scan the one in The Winter King and print it out to use as a place reference.

But, other than that, it’s a terrific read. Highly recommended.

10alcottacre
Aug. 14, 2009, 7:56 am

#8: OK, I will. Thanks for the heads up though.

11Joycepa
Aug. 18, 2009, 12:12 pm

Portrait in Sepia
Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende has written a trilogy of novels that span the history of Chile from 1843 to the 1960s. The first one she wrote, House of the Spirits, was actually the last in the series. Then came, in order of publication, Daughter of Fortune, which was chronologically the first, and introduced a family that would become important in the rest of the story. In 2001, she published the linchpin book, Portrait in Sepia, which spans the period from 1862 to pre-World War I.

The hallmark of all these stories is the presence of strong women, all of whom defied the conventionality of the time and went on to do what they wanted with their lives. Although Portrait in Sepia is narrated by Aurora, the granddaughter of one of the characters who appears in Daughter of Fortune, the central character of the story is Paulina del Valle, an eccentric, imperious woman who is in incredibly sharp businesswoman, living in San Francisco at the story’s opening. Eventually, she and Aurora wind up in Chile, surviving two wars.

The history that forms the background against which the characters move is fascinating. Not only do we get the political and military history, but also the customs, attitudes and social mores of the various levels of Chilean society during that time.

But nothing compares with the characters that Allende draws, especially the women, both conventional and non-conventional. It is through their eyes that we learn what is occurring politically, through their eyes that we see the outcomes, through their eyes that we observe the movers and shakers of Chile.

Portrait in Sepia doesn’t have any magical realism in it, but it doesn’t need it--the events of the times are bizarre enough without any fabrication. And Allende can write.

I was born in the early morning, but in Chinatown the clocks obey no rules, and at that hour the market, the cart traffic, the woeful barking of caged dogs awaiting the butcher’s cleaver, were beginning to heat up.

Not only is she wonderfully descriptive, but powerfully imaginative, incorporating eccentric details into the story that leave you marveling.

Portrait in Sepia is worth reading if only for the history, but the central characters are unforgettable, and some of them will go on to their fates in House of the Spirits.

Highly recommended.

12alcottacre
Aug. 19, 2009, 1:47 am

I really am going to have to read some of Allende's fiction!

13Joycepa
Aug. 19, 2009, 8:18 am

Three Day Road
Joseph Boyden

War is ugly and always has been; people die and usually gruesomely. But there seems to be a general consensus that the most horror-filled war was The Great War, The War to End All Wars--World War I. Not before or since have armies been mired down in trenches, where it was possible to die from drowning in mud, never mind from bullets or artillery. Being static--unable to move, to have at least the illusion of dodging incoming artillery--did something to the psyches of the soldiers who fought in that war that wasn’t seen until Vietnam, and for different reasons.

Two young Cree Indian boys from northern Ontario enlist in the Canadian army and become part of the Southern Ontario Rifles, an outfit, that although fictional, mirrors the courage and horror of the Canadian participation in the war. In addition, being First Nation (as indigenous people are now known in Canada), Xavier Bird and his best friend, Elijah Whiskeyjack, have additional challenges. Each was marked by the events in which they participated.

But this is far more than a war story with an interesting twist. It is also the story of the Crees in the early 20th century, especially those who were “bush Indians”, refusing to accommodate to the white ways and living the traditional Cree way. And that we learn from Niska, a medicine woman, who leaves her home in the wilderness in her canoe to bring back her nephew Xavier, who has survived the war--but as a broken man addicted to opium. The story unfolds during the journey back to the wilderness.

Throughout is the theme of the windigo, a creature of evil that can spread like an infection. Niska’s father and Niska herself are windigo killers, those recognized by the tribes as having the power, which is a gift, of ridding the tribe of these humans turned into monsters. Windigos are made, not born, and therein lies a tale.

It is a remarkable story, profound. It is told in a circular fashion, through flashbacks that are not linear--to the days when Xavier and Eilijah were hunters as boys, to the war to Niska’s childhood to the present. The prose is spare, dispassionate, but the impact is searing.

This is a debut novel for Boyden, and an extremely powerful one. Highly recommended.

14alcottacre
Aug. 19, 2009, 10:09 am

I bought that one earlier this year based on Tad's recommendation. I need to locate it soon!

15Talbin
Aug. 24, 2009, 4:14 pm

Hi Joyce - I'm still alive, as are you!

Just wanted to let you know I ordered Death at La Fenice from the library today - I'll finally discover what all the fuss is about!

16laytonwoman3rd
Sept. 8, 2009, 6:22 pm

Much too quiet on this thread. You OK there, Joyce?

17MusicMom41
Sept. 29, 2009, 2:27 pm

Hope everything is okay with you, Joyce. I have emerged from my "fog" which plagued me for months--got it diagnosed and finally treated. I hope you have recovered from your broken bone!

Another detective series! I was bragging this week to a friend that being on LT has weened me away from reading so many mysteries and here you are--like the people who used to pass out free cigarettes just off campus of the high school! :-) I'll be checking to see if my library has The Silence of the Rain. I already have the second Donna Leon book--really like the first one--and the second Magdalen Nabb--ditto!

I need to read some Isabel Allende. The ones you describe sound really worthwhile--I'd like to learn about Chile, too. Should they be read in the order published or in chronological order?

Three Day Road also sounds irresistible. It's a good thing I only have 100 pages left for my 999 challenge! Otherwise I would have to boycott your thread! :-D

18TadAD
Bearbeitet: Sept. 29, 2009, 3:54 pm

>13 Joycepa:: Three Day Road was one of the first books I read this year and he instantly became one of my favorite authors. I read Born With a Tooth mid-year and loved it, though perhaps not quite as much as the first. Maybe simply the fact that it was a short story collection instead of a novel and I prefer the latter. Still, there were some wonderful gems of stories in there, including some ties to Three Day Road.

Through Black Spruce is my next-but-one read on the TBR pile.

19Talbin
Okt. 1, 2009, 5:03 pm

Joyce - I miss you, too! I hope you come back to check in once in awhile. I'm cruising through the Brunetti books - I'll be finishing Acqua Alta today or tomorrow.