Author: gr4c5

I write. I read. I cook. I run. That's me, in a nutshell.

Time, Love, Memory

gr4c5Leave a comment

Weiner, Jonathan. Time, Love, Memory: a Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.

time, Love, Memory is Seymour Benzer’s story. While Charles Darwin was obsessed with finding the origins of species, Benzer was obsessed with figuring out the origins of behavior. He dedicated his research to finding out the riddle of both animal and human behavior. He wanted to dig deeper into the concepts of nature and nurture, knowing that life was a balance of both. The the diea of reading a book about genes, fruit flies and DNA sounds boring, don’t worry. Weiner’s style of writing adds a warm and humorous texture to the otherwise scientific plot.

Quotes I liked, “In the universe above and around us, physics opened new views of space and time; in the universe below and inside us, biology opened first glimpses of the foundation stones of experience: time, love, and memory” (p 6) and “While the rest of the congregation chanted and his father looked away, Seymour read Stern and Gerlach’s The Principles of Atomic Physics (p 36).”

Reason read: Seymour Benzer passed away in the month of November. This is read in his honor.

Author fact: Weiner is better known for his book, The Beak of the Finch. In fact, acclaim for Beak is on the back of Time, Love, Memory which makes me think Time, Love, Memory isn’t as good and shouldn’t be bothered with. I think that whenever I see praise for a book different from the one I am reading.

Book trivia: Time, Love, Memory has both illustrations and photographs scattered throughout the text. This is the way I prefer “artwork” to be showcased.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Jonathan Weiner: Too Good To Miss” (p 233).

Guardians

gr4c5Leave a comment

Kabaservice, Geoffrey. The Guardians: Kingman Brewster, His Circle, and the Rise of the Liberal Establishment. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 2004.

Kingman Brewster was the president of Yale University starting in 1963. He was a leader who wasn’t afraid of the civil unrest in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This quote sums up not only the title of the book, but Brewster’s position, “…Brewster and his friends thought of themselves as society’s guardians: modern leaders of the country’s institutions, who had national responsibilities and tried to take a national perspective” (p 11). Author Geoffrey Kabaservice takes us back to when it all began for Brewster and his circle of like-minded individuals; back when Brewster was a student at Yale. Kabaservice’s account is detailed not only in following the lives (politically and personal) of Brewster and his cronies but of the nation and its times, both politically and spiritually.

Confessional: I gave up on this after 200+ pages. The entire time I was reading it I obsessed about missing out on something more interesting to read. As a result, I wasn’t concentrating on anything on the page.

Reason read: Kingman Brewster died in November (11/8/88).

Author fact: Kabaservice is a Yale graduate. I suspect his interest in Kingman Brewster comes from personal experience.

Book trivia: Guardians has a small collection of photographs. My favorite is of Brewster, at age 21, testifying before Senate.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “A Little Left of Center” (p 148). Interesting tidbit: This so-called chapter, A Little Left of Center, mentions only two books.

Now Read This

gr4c5Leave a comment

Pearl, Nancy. Now Read this: a Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978 – 1998. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1999.

Reason read: November is the anniversary month of the Book Challenge. I’m reading Now Read This to celebrate that endeavor.

If I wasn’t already trying to read over 5,500 books I would attempt to read every book indexed in Now Read This. Here’s the thing about this guide (to Mainstream Fiction, 1978 – 1998), it’s not just a huge list of “you-oughtta-know” this author or this book. Pearl makes each recommended book inviting and, dare I say, intriguing. There is almost too much information to digest with each recommendation. Let’s start with the basics. Now Read This is broken out into four different chapters corresponding to four different appealing aspects of a book: setting, story, characters & language. Setting: if where the story takes place is important to the overall context of the plot, it is mentioned in this section. Story: if the plot is the main draw ,and not character development, for example, it is mentioned here. Characters: if the characters are people who move you in some way, are people you want to meet in real life, or stick in the memory banks long after the book is finished, the title is mentioned in this chapter. Language: if the language of the book is striking or moving, it is mentioned here. All entries have the following information. First the obvious: Author, title, publisher, date published, number of pages, and brief abstract of plot. Additional information includes the second appeal of the book. For example, a book with great characters can also have a key setting crucial to the story. Pearl also includes subject headings (now called tags in this day and age). Subjects can include what award the book has won, if it’s a first novel for the author, etc. You get the picture. Even more information includes whether or not Oprah chose it as a book for her club, (weird), and whether or not it would be a good for a general book club. Finally, the entry closes with a list of other books to try.

Author fact: Pearl went on to write a second guide to mainstream fiction that covers fiction from 1999 to 2001. I’ll be reading this one as well.

Book trivia: “More than 40 students received graduate school credit for reading” (p xi). Where was I when this book was being compiled?

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the acknowledgements (p xiv).

Ariadne Objective

gr4c5Leave a comment

Davis, Wes. The Ariadne Objective: the Underground War to Rescue Crete From the Nazis. New York: Crown, 2013

I used to shy away from stories (fact or fiction) about World War II simply because I didn’t want to give myself nightmares about the Nazis. Their methods of cruelty are legendary and are beyond comprehension. I am easily horrified by their torturous ways. Having said all that, I am glad I requested The Ariadne Objective. I am facing my fears head on and find that I am able to sleep at night. This particular book doesn’t delve into the violence.
The Ariadne Objective was a plot to infiltrate the island of Crete while it was under German occupation. Four unlikely soldiers are chosen as spies, as saboteurs, and ultimately as abductors, in an effort to thwart the Nazis and their maneuvers in Greece. Each intelligence officer brought a different specialty to the group. Patrick Leigh Fermor was a wanderer who loved to travel, John Pendlebury was an archaeologist, Xan Fielding and Sandy Rendel were both writers. What they all had in common was a knowledge of all things Greek. what follows is a true-to-life adventure story that will fascinate readers of all types and not just the history buffs.

Reason read: This was an early review for LibraryThing.

Author fact: Davis holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Princeton and is the editor of Anthology of Modern Irish Poetry.

Book trivia: Because this copy was an uncorrected proof it didn’t include the maps and eighteen pages of pictures.

Naked to the Waist

gr4c5Leave a comment

Dark, Alice Elliott. Naked to the Waist. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.

Naked to the Waist is a compilation of six short stories with the title story being the last. While each story varies from the next there are a few underlying themes common to them all. All include women who are in relationships not easily defined. The relationships that surround them are slightly domineering.

“Interior Studio” – Two artists struggling to make ends meet; told from the point of view of the painter wife with a dominant writer husband.

“The Good Listener” – a writing teacher gets caught in a love triangle that turns into a love square.

“Plans for Plants” – a couple is moving apart. They don’t know each other anymore.

“The Comfortable Apartment” – an abused wife has the opportunity to leave her husband thanks to her sister…but does she?

“Buddy” – for me, this one was the most disturbing. A man takes his girlfriend’s puppy while she is in France for a funeral. He never wanted her to get a dog, and that’s all I’ll say about that one.

“Naked to the Waist” – Lucy is torn between wanting her best friend, a homosexual, to want her and wanting to move on with her life.

Telling lines, “She threw herself into love as though she were diving under water in at attempt to make herself disappear from the surface of the planet” (p 20), “She was coiled coolly around his mind” (p 92), It shocked him to see her alone, and he realized it was the first time he had observed her out of the range of his influence” (p 162″, and “This was my cue to placate him with one of our private games, and I did” (p 131).

As an aside, adultery is a common theme in Dark’s stories. I found it striking that when two different characters in two different stories want to know how their partners are getting away with the affair they ask the same questions, “how are you managing this?”

Reason read: November is National Writing Month and I’m honoring the short story this month.

Author fact: Dark also wrote In the Gloaming and Think of England both of which are on my list.

Book trivia: Naked to the Waist is made up of six short stories and oddly enough was not available in my area. I had to request it from Bangor, Maine.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “A…Is For Alice” (p 1).

Bang the Drum Slowly

gr4c5Leave a comment

Harris, Mark. Bang the Drum Slowly. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003.

When we rejoin Henry Wiggen he is now married to Holly and she is three months pregnant. Henry has been in the big leagues for several years and sells insurance on the side. His friend and fellow ballplayer, Bruce Pearson, is dying of cancer. Henry’s life becomes a balance of baseball, family, and friendship as Bruce’s condition is kept a secret from the rest of the team. Henry (“Author” as he is called by his teammates because of his first book) grows up a great deal in this second book. When Bruce’s prostitute girlfriend wants Bruce to change his will Henry must step up to protect his friend. At the same time he becomes a father and a leader of the Mammoths.

After the fact: I can’t stand library books that have been marked up, even if the marking is all in pencil. Ugh.

Line I liked, “I used to pee away money like wine until I got wise to myself” (p 6). Just another example of how Henry grows during this time.

Reason read: October is World Series month for baseball (Yay Red Sox!) and Bang the Drum Slowly is a continuation of the story I started last month.

Author fact: Mark Harris added a new introduction to Bang the Drum Slowly. I think he felt he needed to apologize for the screenplay.

Book trivia: Here’s what it says on the title page: Bang the Drum Slowly by Henry W. Wiggen Certain of His Enthusiasms Restrained by Mark Harris. Interesting.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” (p 229).

What You Owe Me

gr4c5Leave a comment

Campbell, Bebe Moore. What You Owe Me. Read by Caroline Clay. New York: Recorded Books, 2001.

What You Owe Me begins in Los Angeles in 1945. Hosanna Clark is working as a hotel chambermaid when she meets Holocaust survivor, Gilda Rosenstein. Gilda and Hosanna become fast friends, bonded by their experiences with prejudice: Gilda for being a Jew and Hosanna for being African American. Once Gilda and Hosanna are bonded in friendship they embark on a business venture producing cosmetics for black women. Until suddenly, Gilda has disappeared taking every cent Hosanna put into the venture with her. This portion of the story is compact. The majority of the story focuses on these two women. Fast forward 40+ years. Hosanna is dead and Gilda is a successful business owner with a closet full of skeletons. This portion of the story is vast. Campbell sets out to juggle four or five different stories involving multiple relationships and families. There is a reason this book is over 500 pages long.

Reason read: October is breast cancer awareness month and even though Campbell did not pass away from breast cancer (she had a brain tumor), I decided to honor her all the same. Cancer is cancer is cancer in my book. Also,  Campbell died in November so I am allowing myself to keep this book longer than the month of October to honor her passing as well. Let’s face it, I needed the extra time to get through all 20 cds.

Author fact: Campbell won the NAACP Image Award.

Reader fact: Caroline Clay has appeared on “Law and Order.” As an aside, she can’t do accents like Russian very well!

Book Audio trivia: My copy of What You Owe Me was over 22 hours long because it also included an exclusive interview with Bebe Moore Campbell.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “African American Fiction: She Say” (p 12).

Burma Chronicles

gr4c5Leave a comment

DeLisle, Guy. Burma Chronicles. Translated by Helge Dascher. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2008.

There is so much packed into this 200+  travelogue about living in Burma. DeLisle’s wife Nadege is a French aid worker with Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) on assignment in Burma. Guy and infant son Louis travel with her and Guy spends his time teaching about comics, touring the country and writing about his observations. Burma Chronicles is Guy’s account of their time in Burma from every angle from weather to architecture to malaria and AIDS to politics.. From the very beginning there is subtle humor (just look at the square for mom, dad & son and their luggage on page 3), but at the same time he tackles the politics of the country (his infatuation with seeing Aung San Suu Kyi’s house is cute).

Favorite squares: page 8 (father and son sleeping – oh so cute).

Reason read: Aung San Suu Kyi was released in the month of November.

Author fact: DeLisle has his own very cute website here.

Book trivia: There is a lot going on in Burma Chronicles. My advice is to read it twice.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Comics with a Sense of Place” (p 68).

Thanks for November List

gr4c5Leave a comment

Here it is. The last six books to read for Year Seven! I have every confidence that I will be adding to this list just a little. As a matter of fact, at the time that I started this blog I only had four books on my November list. I don’t remember the last time I read only four books in a month. So, true to form I added two more.

  1. Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
  2. Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice
  3. Now Read This by Nancy Pearl
  4. Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner
  5. ADDED: Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris (to continue the Southpaw series)
  6. ADDED: Ariadne Objective by Wes Davis (Early Review book for LibraryThing)

FINISHED:

  1. Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
  2. Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
  3. Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
  4. Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
  5. Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
  6. Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. No, sorry – two years ago)
  7. Ariel by Sylvia Plath
  8. At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
  9. Author, Author by David Lodge (audio)
  10. Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
  11. Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
  12. Bellwether by Connie Willis
  13. Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist (audio)
  14. Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
  15. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
  16. Billy by Albert French
  17. Bit of Wit, A World of Wisdom by Yehoshua Kurland (Early Review book from LibraryThing)
  18. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
  19. Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
  20. Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
  21. Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
  22. Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
  23. Burning the Days by James Salter
  24. Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
  25. Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
  26. Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean by Jackson Galaxy
  27. Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
  28. Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
  29. Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
  30. City in the Sky by James Glanz
  31. City of Thieves by David Benioff
  32. Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
  33. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
  34. Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
  35. Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
  36. Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
  37. Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman
  38. Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
  39. Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
  40. Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
  41. Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
  42. The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
  43. Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
  44. Fanny by Edmund White
  45. Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
  46. Final Solution by Michael Chabon
  47. Fixer by Joe Sacco
  48. Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
  49. Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
  50. Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Zabat Katz
  51. Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
  52. Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
  53. Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
  54. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
  55. Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
  56. God: a biography by Jack Miles
  57. Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
  58. Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
  59. Good City edited by Emily Hiestand
  60. Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
  61. Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
  62. Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
  63. Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
  64. Her by Christa Parravani
  65. Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
  66. Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
  67. Home Before Dark by Susan Cheever
  68. House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
  69. Iliad by Homer
  70. Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
  71. Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
  72. Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
  73. Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
  74. ADDED: Keeping it Civil by Margaret Klaw (Early review book)
  75. Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
  76. Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
  77. Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
  78. The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
  79. Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou for the Early Review Program
  80. Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
  81. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
  82. Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
  83. Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
  84. Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
  85. Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
  86. Outbreak of Love by Martin Boyd
  87. Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
  88. Panther Soup by John Grimlette
  89. Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
  90. Patrimony: a true story by Philip Roth
  91. Pick-Up by Charles Willeford (part of Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s)
  92. Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
  93. Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
  94. Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
  95. Ready for a Brand New Beat by Mark Kurlansky
  96. Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes (part of Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s)
  97. Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
  98. Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
  99. Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
  100. Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
  101. Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham – did not finish
  102. Star Beast by Robert Heinlein
  103. Star Trap by Simon Brett
  104. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
  105. Suzy’s Case by Andy Siegel (as recommended)
  106. Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (Part of Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s)
  107. Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
  108. Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
  109. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
  110. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
  111. This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakawila for LibraryThing
  112. Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  113. True Crime: Real-Life Stories of Abduction, Addiction, Obsession, Murder, Grave-Robbing and More edited by Lee Gutkind (Early Review)
  114. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
  115. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
  116. Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
  117. What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell
  118. When Blackbirds Sing by Martin Boyd
  119. White Devil by John Webster
  120. Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
  121. Widow for One Year by John Irving
  122. Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
  123. Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
  124. Working Poor by David Shipler
  125. Year in Provence, a by Peter Mayle

POETRY COMPLETED:

  1. “Golden Angel Pancake House” by Campbell McGrath
  2. “Lepanto” by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
  3. “Listeners” by Walter De La Mare
  4. “Mandalay” by Rudard Kipling
  5. “Road and the End” by Carl Sandburg
  6. “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield
  7. “Winter” by Marie Ponsot
  8. “In My Craft or Sullen Art” by Dylan Thomas
  9. The Long Hill” by Sarah Teasdale
  10. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

SHORT STORIES COMPLETED:

  1. “Here’s a Little Something” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
  2. “Big Me” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
  3. “Servants of the Map” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servant of the Map)
  4. “The Cure” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servants of the Map)
  5. “In the Land of Men” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
  6. “Goodbye Midwest” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
  7. “Ado” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
  8. “At the Rialto” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
  9. “A Tiger-Killer is Hard To find” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
  10. “After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
  11. “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
  12. “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
  13. “A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
  14. “Watson and the Shark” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)

NEXT YEAR:

  1. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow
  2. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
  3. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin (as previously mentioned)

Real Cool Killers

gr4c5Leave a comment

Himes, Chester. The Real Cool Killers. Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s. New York: Library of America, 1999.

Ulysses Galen is shot dead for no apparent reason. Detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones need to figure out how a supposedly important white man wound up dead in Harlem. This story was a jumbled mess of contradictions. While there is over the top violence the cops are bumbling and almost slapstick. Coffin is suspended for killing a boy after being “perfumed.” He thought the boy was throwing acid in his face and overreacted. Digger’s main suspect in the shooting is a man they managed to handcuff before he was rescued by a gang of teenagers dressed as Arabs. You would think the police would watch for someone wearing cuffs when they search the neighborhood but they don’t think of it when they interview a man wearing huge gloves and a heavy overcoat. It gets even funnier when they don’t notice a man tied up in a sack in plain sight. They question it but accept its a bag of coal on a bed. As for the story itself, I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. No one is really as they seem.

The names in this story are pretty funny: Inky, Choo-Choo, Sheik, Camel Mouth and Bones are all members of the Real Cool Muslim gang.

Disclaimer – this story is loaded with violence. In the very first chapter a knife yielding man gets his arm chopped off and two people are shot dead. At one point two detectives are rolling around, wrestling & arguing. Their scuffle takes place over the body of one of the dead men. It seems almost slapstick.

Line I liked, “I marked this one down as D.O.E. That means dead on arrival – my arrival, not his” (p 763). A medical examiner with a sense of humor.

Reason read: October is National Crime Prevention month.

Author fact: Chester Grimes was familiar with crime. He was arrested twice for armed robbery when he was 19. Convicted of the crimes he was spent eight years in prison (paroled in 1936).

Book trivia: Real Cool Killers is part of a series featuring Detectives Gravedigger and Coffin.

BookLust Twist: The Real Cool Killers is in a True Crime compilation I am reading for the challenge. From Book Lust in the chapter called “Les Crimes Noir” (p 65).

Pick-Up

gr4c5Leave a comment

Willeford, Charles. Pick-Up. Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s. New York: Library of America, 1999.

Harry Jordan, 32, is a down-and-out alcoholic working as a counter man in a diner when he meets 33 year old Helen Meredith. There is an instant attraction. While Harry doesn’t relish the idea of being a drunk, he can spot one a mile away, and Helen is just his type. They soon strike up a pitiful relationship. Both are out of work, both have severed ties with family and friends. The only thing they have together is a love for the bottle. When Harry decides suicide is their only way out things go from bad to worst. Deep down, Harry is a decent man who feebly attempts to do the right thing and never succeeds.

Lines I liked, “Love is in what you do, not in what you say” (p 423), “you watch them overshadow you until you are nothing except a shadow within a shadow and then lost altogether in the unequal merger” (p 445) and “Tears in a bar are not unusual” (p 567).

Reason read: Pick-Up  is one of the stories in Crime Novels which I am reading in honor of National Crime Prevention week.

Author fact: Charles Willeford is a war hero of World War II. He received a Purple Heart.

Book trivia: Pick-Up was originally written in 1955. Willeford’s writing is so clean you can just picture the era perfectly.

BookLust Twist: from Crime Novels: American Noir listed in Book Lust in the chapter called “Les Crime Noir” (p 65).

Star Trap

gr4c5Leave a comment

Brett, Simon. Star Trap. Boston: G.K Hall & Co., 1999.

Something is going on with the musical production of Lumpkin! They have barely started rehearsals when things start to go wrong. The rehearsal pianist has a shooting accident and can’t play the piano. Then a main actor literally breaks a leg. Both of these incidents happen within the same week. Is it a coincidence? Actor/amateur detective Charles Paris is hired to find out. He conveniently takes the part left vacant by the actor with the broken leg so that he is able to get up close and personal to the drama (pun totally intended). Only, Charles shrugs off the rumors of sabotage as mere coincidences until he is directly affected. As soon as he opens his eyes to the possibility of sabatoge he starts noticing strange things really are happening – deliberately. Will he find out before opening night or will he be cut out of the script before the mystery is solved?

Be forewarned: Brett introduces a lot of names in the first few chapters (21 people and 14 places and 6 plays, television shows and/or songs). There’s a lot to take in and at first it is hard to decide which names, places and productions are really important.

Post script: somehow I ordered the large print version. This is funny because I was just told last month I should purchase “readers” (although my husband calls them “cheaters”). My optometrist assures me I don’t really need them yet. Riiight.

Quotes I like, “…he felt in need of a red-hot poker to burn out the rotten bits of his brain” (p 74) and “Charles felt a great swoop of despair, as if all of his worst opinions of himself were suddenly ratified, as if his thoughts that infected him at his lowest moods had suddenly been classified as gospel” (p 96).

Reason read: Brett’s birthday is in October

Author fact: Simon Brett has his own website. His biography page is really fun.

Book trivia: Charles Paris is a reoccurring character in Brett’s books. As far as I can tell you don’t need to read them in order of publication.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love A Mystery” (p 118).

Talented Mr. Ripley

gr4c5Leave a comment

Highsmith, Patricia.The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1999.

I think everyone has seen the 1999 movie, but here is a brief overview: Tom Ripley reminds me of Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello in the way he is able to manipulate any situation to his advantage. Tom comes from poverty and loneliness having grown up without parents. His formative years were shaped by an overbearing aunt who belittled him at every opportunity. Tom learned early on he would need to con his way through life in order to survive it. When the IRS begins to close on him concerning a check cashing scheme, Tom is approached with a business proposition by the wealthy father of an acquaintance he cannot refuse. The opportunity is simple: Mr. Greenleaf has hired Tom to travel to Italy to convince his son, Dickey, to come home. He pays all of Tom’s expenses for the trip including an allowance. Only, Dickey has no intentions of ever coming home. Realizing he has failed, he can longer be of use to Mr. Greenleaf and the money will soon dry up, Tom decides he needs a new angle – to steal Dickey’s identity. Tom is a strangely likeable character. Told from his point of view, you can’t help but root for him. He’s not a psychopath because he has the ability to imagine the suffering of others but he thinks nothing of killing someone if it is the only way to get out of a jam.

Quotes I took with me, “You go out of your way not to hurt people who’re in love with you, you know” (p 229), “If you wanted to be cheerful, or melancholic, or wistful, or thoughtful, or courteous, you simply had to act those things with every gesture” (p 321).
Reason read: October is National Crime Prevention month.

Book trivia: As mentioned before, The Talented Mr. Ripley has been made into a movie twice – once in 1960 & again in 1999.

Author fact: Patricia Highsmith was born an American but writes about Italy as if she lived there all her life. I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of Venice.

BookLust Twist: The Talented Mr. Ripley is in a True Crime compilation I am reading for the challenge. From Book Lust in the chapter called “Les Crimes Noir” (p 65).

Diary of a Mad Housewife

gr4c5Leave a comment

Kaufman, Sue. Diary of a Mad Housewife. New York: Random House, 1967.

Diary of a Mad Housewife is predictable and yet – not. Bettina Balser is a middle-class housewife and mother in New York City. She has two daughters, ages seven and nine and an up and coming lawyer for a husband. She thinks she is slowly going out of her mind until her husband plays it big in the stock market and moves up in his law firm. By all standards they are now rich. Suddenly, Bettina’s mental stability goes from questionable to outright mad. She thinks she has every phobia in the book. As the Balser family status changes life unravels even more for Bettina. Her husband Jonathan’s demands for only the finest everything has Bettina running around like his personal assistant, even in the bedroom. The only way Bettina can sort through her emotions, resentments and increasing mania is to start a journal. This diary is her release, the outpouring of everything.
In the end, and the end is somewhat predictable, Bettina comes to understand that every stability (mental health included) comes at a price and everyone is paying at some level.

Lines that really stood out, “I hated her until I had my head shrunk, at which time I learned to “understand” her and be tolerant – which simply means I learned how to think of her without getting overwrought or blind with rage” (p 21), “From a distance of about five and a half feet we warily watched each other breathe” (p  167), and “And I realized that there I was again, in for one of the worst phases of my new looniness – middle-of-the-night insomnia” (p 71).

Reason read: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is the time to celebrate strong women. And don’t let Bettina fool you. She is strong.

Author fact: Kaufman died when she was only 50 years old.

Book trivia:  Diary of a Mad Housewife was made into a movie in 1970 and nominated for an Oscar. Alice Cooper had a part in it.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “I Am Woman – Hear Me Roar” (p 120).

White Devil

gr4c5Leave a comment

Webster, John. The White Devil. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960.

I have to admit, anything written in the early 1600s is a chore to read. Especially if there isn’t a 19th or 20th century translation around. The White Devil was no exception to this belief. I found it tedious and tough. Three words: Bored. To. Tears. I’m sure the plot was racy in it’s day but I couldn’t get beyond the language. There is rumors of adultery, exile, fake deaths, corruption and family drama.

Reason read: with all of its revenge and corruption it should be perfect for Halloween. I wouldn’t know because I couldn’t finish it.

Author fact: John Webster was a contemporary of William Shakespeare. I have to wonder what their conversations would have sounded like. Competitive?

Book Play trivia: when this was first introduced to the English public it bombed. Webster blamed it on the weather because turnout was low. However, in more recent years it has been reintroduced and adapted.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror” (p 216). Pearl lumps The White Devil in the horror category but I wouldn’t know. It’s definitely a tragedy, but not I’m not sure about horror.