Tag: Fiction

Murder on a Kibbutz

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Gur, Batya. Murder on a Kibbutz: a Communal Case. Translated by Dalya Bilu. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991. Once again Gur fills her mystery with an overload of characters. This time I was armed with a notebook to keep everyone straight right from the beginning. Are you ready for this? Here is the cast of Murder on a Kibbutz:

  • Aaron Meroz – outsider, absorbed by kibbutz, divorced, has been gone from kibbutz for 22 years, returned 8 years ago for a funeral, grew up with Osnat, had a one night stand with her, left kibbutz to pursue law school but has remained a member of the Education Committee, has 2 children; got involved with Osnat (again) right before her death
  • Ahinoam – ?
  • Albert – Simcha’s disabled husband
  • Alex – in charge of work roster; former security
  • Ami – Michael Ohayon’s brother-in-law
  • Amit – Moish’s 2nd son
  • Andre Kestenbaum – medical examiner
  • Arik – Shula’s husband
  • Ariyeh Levy – Jerusalem Subdivision chief
  • Arnon – 7 years old, Aaron’s son
  • Asaf – ?
  • Avidor – author, organizer
  • Avigail – police; former registered nurse on kibbutz
  • Avishai – small child
  • Ben – ?
  • Benny – police
  • Ben Yaakof – butcher
  • Dr. Ben Zakkan – on vacation
  • Bezalel – friend of Srilke
  • Boaz – married to Tova
  • Bracha – patient in infirmary (mentioned twice)
  • Bruria – in charge of laundry
  • Chilik – ?
  • Commander Shmerling – Investigations Division officer
  • Dafna – Aaron’s ex-wife
  • Dana – ?
  • Danny Balilty – police
  • Dave – middle aged bachelor from Canada, volunteer; invented the cream made from cacti;
  • Deddie – ?
  • Ditza – Ilan T’s wife
  • Dvorka – Osnat’s mother-in-law
  • Dr. Gilboa – works at Barzilai hospital
  • Dr. Cassuto – toxicologist
  • Dr. Eli Reimer – away for 5 weeks for army reserve duty
  • Dr. Hildesheimer – character in previous novel
  • Dr. Hirsh – director of Institute of Pathological Medicine
  • Eitan Avidor – Avidor’s son; dead
  • Elhanan “JoJo” – kibbutz treasurer
  • Eli – police
  • Elka – former head of education committee
  • Elroi – police psychologist
  • Emanuel Shorer – head of Criminal Investigation Unit
  • Esther – Avigail’s aunt; nurse; dead
  • Estie – ?
  • Fanya – head of sewing (mentioned twice), concentration camp survivor, has 2 kids
  • Fela – Nira’s mother
  • Felix – elderly patient at infirmary; artist; has 4 children
  • Froike – ?
  • Gady – Felix’s second son; a whistler
  • Gila – Levy’s secretary
  • Golda – Moish’s housemother
  • Guta – Fanya’s sister, in charge of dairy, concentration camp survivor; always eats lunch late
  • Hadas – left kibbutz and is living in U.S.
  • Hannah Shpitzer – Zeev HaCohen’s 2nd wife, committed suicide
  • Havaleh – gossiper
  • Haviva – ?
  • Hayuta – ?
  • Herzl – ?
  • Hilik – examines the electrical cables for refrigeration
  • Ilan T – artist
  • Jacques – Michael Ohayon’s uncle (mother’s brother), dead
  • Jeannette Abukasi – ?
  • Kochava Strauss – sergeant
  • Krestenbaum – ?
  • Limor Malul – Simcha’s 13 years old daughter
  • Lotte – class housemother (mentioned many times)
  • Machluf Levy – police; has two kids
  • Matilda – kitchen manager; talker
  • Maya – old girlfriend of Michael Ohayon’s
  • Menucha – ?
  • Michael Ohayon* – member of Serious Crimes Unit
  • Mickey – ?
  • Miriam – Moish’s mother (dead)
  • Misha – secretary for a different kibbutz
  • Moshe “Moish” Ayal – kibbutz director
  • Mottie Malul – 12 year old, troubled son of Simcha
  • Nahari – ?
  • Nehama – Fanya’s daughter, moved away, married
  • Nire – Michael Ohayon’s ex-wife
  • Noga – ?
  • Nora – Felix’s wife
  • Oded – Yacheved’s son
  • Ohad/Ilan – Avigail’s affair
  • Osnat Harel* – has 4 children, was married to Yuvik, kibbutz secretary (reminded of that twice), needed privacy even as a child
  • Pazit – 10 years old, Aaron’s son
  • Rachela – 24 yr old
  • Rifka Maimoni (“Rickie”) – infirmary nurse
  • Rinat – Lotte’s daughter
  • Riva – nurse (mentioned twice); dead
  • Rella – in the poultry section
  • Rocheleh – ?
  • Ronit – asked for Valium
  • Ruthie – ?
  • Sarit – coordinator of the Special Investigation Team; nail biter, only other woman on police force
  • Shlomit – Osnat’s daughter
  • Shmiel – in the poultry section; friend of Srulke
  • Shula – Moish’s sister; work-roster organizer; had gastric flu
  • Simec – Guta’s husband
  • Simcha Malul – mother to Mottie, 5 other children (1 stillborn), 49 years old, grandmother, works in kibbutz infirmary
  • Srulke – Moish’s father, hates waste, dies
  • Tova – Zeev HaCohen’s daughter; married to Boaz
  • Tzilla – police
  • Uri – currently abroad
  • Uri – driver for Misha
  • Victor – ?
  • Yaela – rumored to be Felix’s daughter
  • Yaffa – ?
  • Yankele – Fanya’s son, violent, works in controversial cosmetics factory; Dave is his only friend
  • Yacheved – Oded’s mother
  • Yedidya – maintenance man; could be Yaela’s father
  • Yehuda – Dvorka’s “mate”; external secretary
  • Yehuda Nahari – Brigadier General; head of National Union for Serious Crimes Investigation (NUSCI)
  • Yoav – Osnat’s son; a soldier
  • Yocheved – ?
  • Yoel – artist
  • Yoopie – writes skits; in charge of gardening shed
  • Yoska – driver for Avigail
  • Yuval Ohayon – Michael Ohayon’s son
  • Yuvik – Osnat’s husband, Dvorka’s son (died in Lebanon war)
  • Yuzek – Nira’s father
  • Yvette – Michael Ohayon’s older sister
  • Zacharia – Fanya’s husband
  • Zahara – Felix’s daughter
  • Zeev HaCohen – tall, old, has a daughter
  • Zvika – working on a project for children
  • Zvikie – requested to take a course in London & was denied

(* = main character; ? = name was mentioned only once)

But, back to the plot. This time Michael Ohayon must solve a mysterious death on the kibbutz. The secretary for the commune was poisoned. Before Michael comes on the scene you learn that the 50 year old kibbutz has been going through some controversial changes. Meetings are now televised so that members can “attend” in their rooms. There is a new open-air theater. Outsiders are being hired to help in the infirmary & fields. What used to be plum fields are now for cacti grown for the cosmetic factory where many kibbutz members work. But, probably the biggest change is the one yet to come. There is talk of creating a separate house for the elderly members of the kibbutz. For years there has always been a sleeping house for children and a house for adults. The elderly have never been separated before. Osnat, the murder victim, was spearheading this change. As for Michael Ohayon, he is still the coffee addicted lonely investigator. Having broken up with Maya he now sets his romantic heart on a colleague. I have a feeling the next book is going to be very interesting. If I only I could keep the characters straight!

Reason read: to continue the series started in March in honor of it being the best time to visit Israel.

Favorite lines, “Fatal words that fester in the mind and can never be forgotten” (p 35) and “Ugly things were hidden under every word” (p 200).

Sentence that made me laugh out loud, “…stress makes rabbits seem dangerous” (p 217). Did anyone else think of Monty Python?
Author fact: Last time I reported Gur died in 2005. She was 57 and died from cancer.

Book trivia: This is the third Michael Ohayon mystery. I have a total of five on my reading list. Confessional: I read one out of order so I only have one more to read.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Crime is a Globetrotter: Israel” (p 61).

Lone Pilgrim

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Colwin, Laurie. The Lone Pilgrim. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1981. Reason read: June is National Short Story Month. There are thirteen stories within The Lone Pilgrim and they are as follows:

  1. The Lone Pilgrim – Children’s book illustrator Paula Price is the perfect house guest, a student of human conduct. Vicariously, she lives through her hosts. But really, all she is doing is looking for love. I found her constant questioning “that was love, wasn’t it?” endearing. Favorite line, “He had never so much as brushed my arm with his sleeve, and here we were locked in an embrace on an empty street” (p 14).
  2. The Boyish Lover – Jane and Cordy seem to be the perfect couple…until they get to know one another. Cordy comes from money but thinks Jane is too lavish. She lives paycheck to paycheck but knows how to live life to the fullest. It’s this difference of prosperity that drives them apart. Favorite line, “Love, in its initial stages, takes care of everything” (p 25). True.
  3. Sentimental Memory – Unidentified twice divorced woman runs away to Scotland to figure out her life. She’s only 31 so the idea of two fail marriages behind her is startling. In Scotland she meets a young Scottish student, home on holiday. He’s madly in love with an Italian girl. Without realizing it, he teaches her about the meaning of love. Best lines (for you who know me you’ll know why there are two): “The very least I could do was to catch up to myself” (p 43) and “I realized that there were times when the only appropriate response to Billy would have been to strangle him” (p 44).
  4. A Girl Skating – Bernadette Spaeth tells the creepy story of a famous poet/professor obsessed with her during her childhood and teen years. It’s an ominous story with slightly sinister statements like, “I was the child he loved best and there was no escaping him” (p 51) and “There was no way I could duck him” (p 54).
  5. An Old Fashioned Story – Everyone knows a priss like this, “Elizabeth’s friends came down with measles, chicken pox, and mumps, but Elizabeth considered Nelson her childhood disease” (p 60). Coming from a high-society culture Elizabeth Leopold was supposed to date only good boys (like Nelson; possibly only Nelson). She wanted anyone but Nelson.
  6. Intimacy – Martha Howard is a woman wrangling old emotions. William Sutherland had been a married man when he and Martha first had an affair. Now she’s the married woman. Is it cheating when William’s love came first? “For a moment they were simply lovers with a past between them” (p 89).
  7. Travel – Another story about relationships and marriage, “He knew if he wasn’t around I would step back and run my life as if he never walked into it” (p 96).
  8. Delia’s Father – Georgia Levy remembers her childhood friend’s seductive and exotic father and how she ends up kissing him. I had to wonder how much childhood innocence was really lost when Georgia skipped school that day. Best line, “Children are a tribe, and childhood is there tribal home” (p 116).
  9. A Mythological Subject – Interesting tale about a cousin who falls in love with a colleague. “Of all the terrible things in life, living with a divided heart is the most terrible for an honorable person” (p 127).
  10. St Anthony of the Desert – Another story about a relationship gone awry except this one has a very subtle twist. He’s separated and wants to give his wife another chance. She only mentions it once so if you aren’t paying attention you might miss it, “After all, no one knew I was married” (p 145). Best line from the story, “In ordinary times, devils are ordinary” (p 142).
  11. The Smile Beneath the Smile – Another story about a married individual having an affair with a single one. One pines away for the other. Favorite line, “If you live in a city, you cannot avoid inadvertently opening your life to strangers in public places” (p 154).
  12. The Achieve of, the Mastery of the Thing – a professor’s wife is having an affair with marijuana. Interesting tidbit: the title of the story comes from a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem. That’s cool.
  13. Family Happiness – Yet another story about a married individual (Polly) having an affair with a single one. This time there is the burden of a quirky family. Her love life consists of one man who makes her life normal while the other man makes her life natural. Polly’s boyfriend always gets her name right while her family is always nicknaming. Lines I liked, “The family doted on her, but no one paid much attention to her” (p 191) and “I like my mole-like life with you” (p 206).

There is a pattern to Colwin’s stories and a common theme. Family and relationships (and someone always running off to Paris).

Author fact: Colwin died of a heart attack at age 48.

Book trivia: “Lone Pilgrim” and “The Achieve of, the Mastery of the Thing” are Nancy Pearl’s favorite stories from Lone Pilgrim.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in two different chapters. First, “Food for Thought” (p 92) and again in simply, “Short Stories” (p 220). There are two points I have to make. Lone Pilgrim shouldn’t have been in “Food for Thought” and Pearl added an extra comma in the title of the short story “The Achieve of, the Mastery of the Thing.”

Ruby

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Bond, Cynthia. Ruby. London: Hogarth, 2015.

Reason read: this is an Early Review book from LibraryThing. Note: I was supposed to receive this back in January(?) I think. It actually came (overly packaged) in the mail on May 16th. I don’t know how I feel about reviewing a book that has first, already been published, then has been reviewed hundreds of times and also been selected for the “Oprah Book Club 2.0”. Seems a little been-there, done-that. But anyway…

Here’s what others are saying about Ruby: powerful, bittersweet, evil, angry, difficult, confusing, heavy. They also say the language is gorgeous. I would agree but I think it’s too much so. I found Bond’s writing style to be too lyrical, too lush. People speak in unnatural ways. Who says “she too stiff a tree”? It’s that otherwise beautiful perfume that someone wears a little too liberally; took a bath in it, as they say. I got a little weary of trees spying on people and clouds muttering.

Ruby, told from the perspective of several different characters (the crow was my favorite), is a violent and tragic story. How to otherwise describe Ruby? Everyone seems to be a little off kilter. There is black magic in the air. Celia has been taking care of her adult brother for so long they both have forgotten their proper familial hierarchy. He calls her mama. Ruby has been abused since she was five (warning: those abuses are spelled out in detail); everyone in town seems to be out for blood because everyone has a story.

Since this is already out and about I feel okay quoting from it. Here is a line that shouldn’t be missed, “Hope was a dangerous thing, something best squashed before it became contagious” (p 132). Made me think of Emily Dickinson’s “hope perches in the soul…”

Author fact: Ruby is Cynthia Bond’s first novel. She has spent time teaching writing to homeless and at-risk youth. That is beyond cool.

Book trivia: Ruby was selected by Oprah’s 2.0 Book Club (Oprah.com/bookclub). But, I said that already.

Drown

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Diaz, Junot. Drown. Read by Jonathan Davis. Westminster, MD: Books on Tape, 2007.

Here’s the thing. Anything you read by Diaz is going to feel like heavy drinking in a rough-around-the-edges bar; the kind of place where it’s too dark to see; where the soles of your shoes are sticky-stuck to the floor and there is the obsessively constant need to wipe your hands and mouth. Diaz has that conversational, lean in and listen way of talking that sounds slightly conspiratorial but always brutally honest. While the stories change direction and voice, the messages of culture, society, family, tradition and passion do not. Powerful characters are matched only by their fierce loves and tragic losses. Their triumphs and travesties are spilled across the page with a “so what?” wild abandon. It’s as if you are elbow to elbow with Diaz as he whispers to you lush stories from his childhood, his coming of age, his entire history. Every story is intensely personal. But, But! But, all the while you are aware that this bar, these stories – this is his turf and you are not safe without him there. You need him to keep talking.

Reason read: supposed to be read in honor of the Merengue Festival that takes place sometime in late July/early August but as a series of short stories, read in honor of June’s national short story status.

Book trivia: Here’s what kept me up at night – the story of the kid whose face was half chewed off by a pig. You meet his tormentors, children who don’t understand the need for him to wear a mask. But then later, you meet the poor child and it rattles you to the core.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Cavorting Through the Caribbean: Dominican Republic” (p 54).

June Buggy

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I said May was going to be a crazy month and I was right. I survived the half marathon at the beginning of the month and the 60 mile walk at the end of the month. I didn’t get to all of the books because I futzed around with so many non-list running books (silly me). But, here is the list such as it is:

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – (AB)
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
  35. Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
  37. Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – (ER)
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
  39. Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
  42. Broom of the System by David Wallace
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
  44. Little Follies by Eric Kraft
  45. Literary Murder by Batya Gur
  46. Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  48. Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
  49. Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (AB)
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser
  52. Fifties by David Halberstam (Apr – DNS)
  53. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
  54. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  55. ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
  56. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  57. Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
  58. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
  59. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur (Jun)
  60. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser
  61. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma
  62. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge
  63. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
  64. Jordan by E. Borgia (May – DNS)
  65. Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill (May – DNS)
  66. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  67. Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser (Jun/Apr)
  68. What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft (Jun/Feb)
  69. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (Jun)
  70. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (AB/Jun)
  71. Thirty-three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Jun)
  72. ADDED: Ruby by Cynthia Bond (ER)
  73. Millstone by Margaret Drabble (Jun)
  74. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  75. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  76. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft (Jul/Feb)
  77. Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill (Jul)
  78. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme (Jul)
  79. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc (Jul)
  80. Grifters by Jim Thompson (Jul)
  81. Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Jul)
  82. Snow Angels by James Thompson (Jul)
  83. Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill (Aug)
  84. ADDED: Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft (Aug/Feb)
  85. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser (Aug)
  86. Possession by AS Byatt (Aug)
  87. In the Footsteps of Ghanghis Khan by John DeFrancis (Aug)
  88. What Just Happened by James Gleick (Aug)
  89. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (Aug)
  90. ADDED: Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
  91. Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (Sep)
  92. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
  93. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
  94. Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep)
  95. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
  96. Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
  97. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  98. Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill (Oct)
  99. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  100. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  101. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  102. Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Collin Cotterill (Nov)
  103. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  104. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  105. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book

Flash for Freedom

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Flash for Freedom! New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972.

Reason read: to continue the series started in April (George MacDonald Fraser’s birth month).

If you are keeping track, this is the third installment of the Flashman papers “owned” by Mr. Paget Morrison. To recap the first two packets of papers (published in 1969 & 1970): Flashman has been expelled from Rugby School, served in the British army and survived a skirmish with Otto von Bismark. The third packet picks up in the year 1848 and seems to be initially edited by Flashman’s sister-in-law, Grizel de Rothchild as the swearwords are heavily edited and the sex is practically nonexistent (unheard of for our Harry, but don’t worry – it picks up!). This time Harry’s adventure focuses on a trip to America (Washington and New Orleans) where he meets Abraham Lincoln, gets caught up in the slave trade (with the underground railroad and as a salve runner), and par for the course, nearly loses his life several times over. Once again, it’s a woman who saves his bacon.

The more I read the Flashman series, the more I like Flashy’s humor. I can’t help it. When he called his mother-in-law a “Medusa-in-law” I giggled.

Author fact: I’m leaving off the author fact from here on out because I’ve already ready four Fraser books and there is only so much I can say about him. If something interesting pops up I’ll share on the next book.

Book trivia: The cover of Flash for Freedom is really odd.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “George MacDonald Fraser: Too Good To Miss” (p 93).

Cutting for Stone

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Verghese, Abraham. Cutting for Stone. Read by Sunil Malhotra. New York: Random House Audio, 2009.

Reason read: May 28th is National Derg Downfall Day in Ethiopia.

On LibraryThing alone there are nearly 400 reviews for this book (and that’s not counting the people who insisted on publishing the same review five times in a row for whatever reason). It’s almost as if there is nothing more insightful to be said about Cutting for Stone. What new spin can I put on an already fabulous and amazing book? Everything everyone else said is absolutely true. It’s lyrical in its language. It’s descriptively alluring. Vivid landscapes. Intriguing characters. The mix of true historical events (like the attempted coup on Emperor Selassie) is seamless and works well within the fiction.

What I missed (and wished there was more of) was Marion interacting with his brother. There is barely any dialogue between the two brothers while they are growing up. Shiva is always on the periphery of Marion’s telling. By the time of the betrayal I didn’t get the full scope of how devastating it was to Marion because the closeness of the twins was not fully emphasized throughout the story.

Edited to add my favorite line, “No blade can puncture the human heart like the well-chosen words of a spiteful son” (p 821).

Author fact: Verghese is also a physician which is why his medical terminology in Cutting for Stone is more technical and exacting. When I checked out his website (here) I found his views on the patient-physician relationship compelling.

Book trivia: Cutting for Stone is Verghese’s first novel. He’s a doctor AND a best selling author!

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Ethiopia, Or As We Used To Say, Abyssinia!” (p 80). As an aside, Pearl wanted to travel to Addis Ababa after reading Cutting for Stone – Verghese “brought the city alive” (p 80). Someone else said Verghese made her homesick for Addis Ababa and they’ve never been there. Huge compliments.

May Day

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May is going to be a crazy month. I have no idea why I have so many books scheduled for this month. Have I gone mad? I doubt I will get through nine, count ’em, nine books in 31 days but there you have it. This is the list. In other news May is was: a trip to Toronto & a half marathon; & will be a trip to Bolton and a 60 mile walk. I think I am crazy.

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – AB
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
  35. Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
  37. Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – ER
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
  39. Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
  42. Broom of the System by David Wallace
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
  44. Little Follies by Eric Kraft
  45. Literary Murder by Batya Gur
  46. ADDED: Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. ADDED: Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  48. Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
  49. Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder  (AB)
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser
  52. Fifties by David Halberstam (Apr – DNS)
  53. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
  54. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  55. ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
  56. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  57. ADDED: Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft (May/Feb)
  58. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
  59. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur (May)
  60. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser (May)
  61. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma (May)
  62. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge (May)
  63. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman (May)
  64. Jordan by E. Borgia (May)
  65. Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill (May)
  66. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (AB/May)
  67. Flash at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser (Jun/Apr)
  68. ADDED: What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft (Jun/Feb)
  69. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (Jun)
  70. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (Jun)
  71. Thirty-three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Jun)
  72. Millstone by Margaret Drabble (Jun)
  73. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  74. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  75. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft (Jul/Feb)
  76. Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill (Jul)
  77. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme (Jul)
  78. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc (Jul)
  79. Grifters by Jim Thompson (Jul)
  80. Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Jul)
  81. Snow Angels by James Thompson (Jul)
  82. Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill (Aug)
  83. ADDED: Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft (Aug/Feb)
  84. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser (Aug)
  85. Possession by AS Byatt (Aug)
  86. In the Footsteps of Ghanghis Khan by John DeFrancis (Aug)
  87. What Just Happened by James Gleick (Aug)
  88. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (Aug)
  89. ADDED: Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
  90. Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (Sep)
  91. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
  92. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
  93. Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep)
  94. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
  95. Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
  96. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  97. Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill (Oct)
  98. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  99. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  100. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  101. Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Collin Cotterill (Nov)
  102. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  103. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  104. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book

Literary Murder

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Gur, Batya. Literary Murder: a Critical Case. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.

We first met Michael Ohayon in The Saturday Morning Murder. Since then he has been promoted to Superintendent and his new case is the violent death of a famous poet, lecturer, critic and literature professor from Hebrew University. Curiously, at the same time, albeit miles away, another murder has taken place and this victim is also a member of the same department at the same university. Very interesting. What makes this case so interesting is that Ohayon must wrestle with the complexities of literary criticism, intellectual integrity, and ethics in a world of competitive academia. Everyone at the university becomes a suspect when the motive is simple envy.

One of the things that trips me up about Gur’s writing is the sheer number of characters she puts in her books. While many are well developed interesting characters many more of them are only mentioned once and never again. For some reason I decided to list them all (in alphabetically order):

  • Adiel – scholar
  • Adina Lipkin – faculty secretary
  • Agnon – poet
  • Aldandari – police
  • Anatoly Ferber – poet
  • Andre Sakarov
  • Ariyeh Levy – Major General Jerusalem Subdistrict commander
  • Ariyeh Klein – Medieval poetry professor previously on sabbatical at Columbia
  • Avidan – department investigations officer
  • Avigdor  – head of criminal identification division
  • Avraham Kalitzky – professor
  • Azariya – deputy recovering from back surgery
  • Becky Pomerantz – Uzi’s mother
  • Bialik – poet
  • Boris Zinger – Russian
  • Dana – daughter of Henry Wolf
  • Danny Balilty – intelligence officer
  • Davidov – Host of Book World
  • Dita Fuchs – professor; had an affair with Tirosh
  • Dovik – works in personnel
  • Eli Bahar – police medical examiner
  • Emanuel Shorer – Michael’s predecessor
  • Emuna Yaron – daughter of Agnon
  • Gilly – police spokesman
  • Guy – diving instructor
  • Dr Henry Wolf
  • Helena Radovensky – parent of Tirosh
  • Hirsh – pathologist worked with Michael 8 years
  • Hrabal – poet
  • Iddo Dudai – young, poet, murder victim
  • Illan Muallem – Ofakim police
  • Jan Schasky – parent of Tirosh
  • Kalman Aharonovitz
  • Malka “Mali” Arditi – Klein’s mistress
  • Manfred Herbst – condemned to a leper’s hospital
  • Manny Ezra
  • Meir Shatz – historian
  • Menucha Tishkin – teacher
  • Marom – president of the college
  • Max Lowenthal – lawyer/professor
  • Maya – Michael Ohayon’s girlfriend
  • Michael Ohayon – inspector
  • Motti – diving instructor
  • Natan Zach – poet
  • Nathan Yaron
  • Nechama Leibowitz – professor
  • Nira – Michael’s ex-wife
  • Noa – Uzi’s second wife
  • Ofra Klein
  • Perla Lindborg – Swedish biologist
  • Pnina – Crime Identification Division; forensics
  • Rabbi Sharabi
  • Racheli Luria – third year psychology undergraduate; secretary’s assistant
  • Raffi Alfandan- police
  • Raffi Weizer – Agnon archives
  • Rina – comes to comfort Ruth
  • Ruchama Shai – Tuvia’s wife, had an affair with Shaul
  • Ruth Dudai – Iddo’s wife
  • Sara Amir – frumpy professor
  • Schlomo Ibn Gabriol – poet
  • Shmaya – reporter
  • Shatz – police
  • Shaul Tirosh/Pavel Schasky – lecturer, poet, ladies man, murder victim
  • Shaul – crime scene investigator; married 10 years
  • Shaul Tchernichowsky – poet
  • Shulamith Zellermaier – older, popular lit and folklore professor
  • Tali Shatz – daughter of proefessor who supervised Ohayon’s MA
  • Tsippi Lev-Ari (Goldgraber) – Aharonivitz’s assistant
  • Tuvia Shai – married to Ruchama; professor
  • Tzesha – Racheli’s aunt
  • Tzilla Bahar- Eli’s wife & pregnant
  • Tzipporah – coworker of Ruchama
  • Uzi Rimon – Michael’s childhood friend
  • Yaakov Gafni – Tirosh’s favorite painter
  • Yael Eisenstein – wife of Tirosh (divorced 6 months later) teaching assistant
  • Yehezkiel – poet
  • Yehuda Halevi – poet
  • Youzek – ex-father-in-law
  • Yuval Ohayon – son of Michael Ohayon
  • Zvika – photographer, crime scene investigator

I’m sure I missed a few people here and there, but you see what I mean. It’s not enough for a crime scene photographer to pop in and out of a scene. He, too, must have a name and a story.
Reason read: to continue the Michael Ohayon series started in March.

Author fact: This Ohayon mystery must have been particularly close to Gur’s heart for she was a literary professor in Jerusalem (as of 1993).

Book trivia: This is book #2 in Gur’s series about Inspector Michael Ohayon.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Crime is a Globetrotter: Israel” (p 61).

Royal Flash

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Royal Flash: From the Flashman Papers, 1842-3 and 1847. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1970.

Even though I didn’t remember the plot of Flashman, the first book in Fraser’s series, one detail came rushing back to me immediately when I started Royal Flash – Harry Flashman is definitely not short on ego. He’s the same despicable cad he was in the first book. Within the first few pages of Royal Flash he describes himself as handsome, beloved, admired, and respected. And, like the first few pages of Flashman he winds up in the bed of a beautiful woman almost immediately. But, having said all that, he’s still a coward, albeit a clever one at that. He says brazenly, “The world was my oyster, and if it wasn’t my sword that had opened it, no one was any the wiser” (p 4). This time Flashy has got himself in deep. As payback for an earlier embarrassment Harry is forced to pretend he is Prince Carl Gustaf while the real royalty gets over a bout of the clap. Only, here’s the twist: he takes over for Carl on the eve of his wedding and has to marry the Irma, the frosty Duchess of Strackenz. He is assured the marriage is not binding due to his different religious faith (and the fact he is already married). True to Fraser style, all is not as it seems and Flashman finds himself in one pickle after another.

Couldn’t help myself lines I like, “Royalty – I have Bersonin’s solemn word for it – never claw at their arses to assist thought” (p 113).

Reason read: George MacDonald Fraser was born in the month of April.

Book trivia: this is the second book in the Flashman series. I read Flashman a long time ago (Oct 20, 2009) and had to review my blog to remember what I read.

Author fact: I have heard it said that Harry Flashman is George MacDonald Fraser in disguise. A womanizing coward? Yikes.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “George MacDonald Fraser: Too Good To Miss” (p 93).

Binding Spell

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Arthur, Elizabeth. Binding Spell. New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Binding Spell is another one of those stories where you feel like you have been lifted out of your little life and plopped down in the middle of someone else’s. A lot of someone elses, really. Felicity, Indiana is a community full of interesting characters and Binding Spell has the occasional long rambling commentary on religion and the nuclear arms threat, especially when the Russians come to town. Let me back up. Meet the community of Felicity: Ryland Guthrie is a hypochondriac furniture salesman. His brother Peale has been the county sheriff for all of five months. Ryland was married to April (divorced five years) and they have a son, Clayton. Peale married Amanda but sometimes forgets she’s his wife. Bailey and Howell Bourne are brother and sister. They lost their parents in a car accident. Bailey is twenty years old and a witch in training and Howell is married to Charlene. Ada Esterhaczy is Hungarian and a self proclaimed witch. Maggie, a counselor at Powell College, is her granddaughter. She also dabbles in witchcraft. Billy Bob Watson is the maintenance man at Powell. He likes to try to run over students with his tractor. Mitch Ketchum is a down and out desperate farmer in danger of losing his farm. Murrary Anderson artificially inseminates horses and has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Rosie. Dr. Richard Minot is a professor at Howell and has the hots for Maggie. Ryland starts dating Maggie. Peale has a thing for Bailey. Ada just wants her dog to mate with Ryland’s so that she can breed puppies. Then there are is the weather. Did you get all of that? Now enter the two Russians, come to visit Powell College. Howell, Billy Bob and Mitch hatch a plan to kidnap the Russians in order to save their farms. Thinking Ada will hate the Russians due to her Hungarian heritage they bring the captives to her farm. Only Ada is too busy cooking up love potions to bind certain couples (human and animal)…and that’s when things go a little crazy.

Lines I liked, “She was less trouble than her pet cat” (p 39) and “Now, as the pain – which might, admittedly, have been caused by that ice water he had drunk down so rapidly, with some ice shards inadvertently included – poked him tenderly in the side, he could not decide whether it was pancreatic cancer or Maggie’s being late” (p 217).

Reason read: April is National Dog Month

Author fact: Arthur wrote a memoir, Island Sojourn that is not on my list.

Book trivia: Binding Spell is Arthur’s third novel but the only one I’m reading for the Challenge.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Great Dogs in Fiction” (p 105). Chance is my favorite of the dogs.

Southern Mail

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Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. Southern Mail. Translated by Curtis Cate. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1971.

Previously published as Courrier Sad, Southern Mail introduces us to love and loneliness. Bernis is a pilot caught in a tragic love affair. It complicates his entire psyche until he is in the air, delivering the mail. Flying is his true passion but it’s also where he feels the loneliest. Woven throughout the slim volume Saint-Exupery reveals a philosophical beauty about landscapes (lots of references to the ocean) as well as the people. But, much like Night Flight the emphasis is on the timely deliverance of the mail. Nowhere is that more apparent than at the very end of the story. While the plane had crashed and the pilot was lost they still managed to salvage the mail and it, if not the pilot, arrived on safely.

Quotes that had to be quoted, “Tonight, in a moment of fleeting rapture, she would seek out this weak shoulder and bury her face in this weak refuge, like some wild wounded creature preparing to die” (p 54-55), “Yet so cruel was his loneliness that he needed her terribly” (p 74), and “His heart would have melted from sadness and joy” (p 103).

Reason read: to continue the series started in March.

Author fact: Saint-Exupery died when he was 44 years old.

Book trivia: This is another short one – only 120 pages long.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Flying High Above the Clouds” (p 90).

Little Follies

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Kraft, Eric. Little Follies: the Personal History, Adventure, Experiences and Observations of Peter Leroy (So Far). New York: Crown Publishers, 1992.

Little Follies takes us back to Peter Leroy’s memories of childhood, growing up in the 50s. Each chapter was previously a short story and put together they pay homage to a classic American boyhood. There are nine novellas in all: My Mother Takes a Tumble, Do Clams Bite?, Life on the Bolotomy, The Static of the Spheres (my favorite), The Fox and the Clam, The Girl with the White Fur Muff, Take the Long Way Home, Call Me Larry and The Young Tars. Every story is so honest you get the sense there is a little (or a lot) of Eric Kraft’s own childhood in each one. I chose Static of the Spheres as my favorite because everything about it is so nostalgic and true. There’s grandpa, determined to build his grandson a shortwave radio. His tenacious ambition doesn’t allow him to give up even when the entire project is threatened by a flood in the basement. Then there’s the grandson, determined to love this radio, even when all the finished product produces is static.

Favorite line, “I knew that I was up to my knees in a disaster” (p 184).

Reason read: to continue the series started in February in honor of Kraft’s birth month.

Author fact: This is a few years old, but Bomb Magazine has a great interview with Kraft here.

Book trivia: Little Follies includes illustrations.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Eric Kraft: Too Good To Miss” (p 140).

Silly Rabbit Comes Early

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Month five of the Challenge. I have made a decision. I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like this big long list with book titles crossed off. While the list of books finished looks impressive I’m not liking the overall concept. I will stick this list thing out for this year, but come December we’re doing something different. Don’t know what yet but definitely something different. Here are all the books for the year with the books for April in bold:

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. ADDED: A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. ADDED: Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. ADDED: Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. ADDED: Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. ADDED: Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. ADDED: The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. ADDED: In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. ADDED: The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. ADDED: Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. ADDED: Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. ADDED: Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – AB
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan (Mar)
  35. ADDED: Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. ADDED: Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft (Mar/Feb)
  37. ADDED: Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – ER (Feb /Mar)
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle (Mar)
  39. ADDED: Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur (Mar)
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe (Mar)
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose (Mar)
  42. Broom of the System (David Wallace (Mar)
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (Apr)
  44. ADDED: Little Follies by Eric Kraft (Apr/Feb)
  45. ADDED: Literary Murder by Batya Gur (Apr)
  46. ADDED: Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. ADDED: Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Mar)
  48. ADDED: Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery (Mar/Apr)
  49. ADDED: Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (Apr) AB
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson (Apr)
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser (Apr)
  52. Fifties by David Halberstam (Apr)
  53. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur (Apr)
  54. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  55. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  56. ADDED: Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft (May/Feb)
  57. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur (May)
  58. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser (May)
  59. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma (May)
  60. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge (May)
  61. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman (May)
  62. Jordan by E. Borgia (May)
  63. Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill (May)
  64. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (May)
  65. Flash at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser (May)
  66. ADDED: What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft (Jun/Feb)
  67. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (Jun)
  68. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (Jun)
  69. Thirty-three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Jun)
  70. Millstone by Margaret Drabble (Jun)
  71. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  72. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  73. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft (Jul/Feb)
  74. Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill (Jul)
  75. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme (Jul)
  76. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc (Jul)
  77. Grifters by Jim Thompson (Jul)
  78. Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Jul)
  79. Snow Angels by James Thompson (Jul)
  80. Ararchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill (Aug)
  81. ADDED: Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft (Aug/Feb)
  82. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser (Aug)
  83. Possession by AS Byatt (Aug)
  84. In the Footsteps of Ghanghis Khan by John DeFrancis (Aug)
  85. What Just Happened by James Gleick (Aug)
  86. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (Aug)
  87. ADDED: Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
  88. Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (Sep)
  89. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
  90. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
  91. Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep)
  92. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
  93. Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
  94. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  95. Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill (Oct)
  96. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  97. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  98. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  99. Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Collin Cotterill (Nov)
  100. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  101. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  102. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review

Night Flight

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Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. Night Flight. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. San Diego: Harvest/HBJ Book, 1932.

Reason read: March 1949: B-45 Tornado bomber sets speed record at 675 miles per hour.

One single night in time. This is the simple, subtle, yet tragically beautiful story of three mail planes coming into Buenos Aires from Chile, Patagonia and Paraguay. On the ground is director Monsieur Riviere whose chief worry is the mail getting to its destination on time. He is bulldog stubborn about it despite looming dangers. Meanwhile, in the air, one of the pilots, newlywed Fabien, faces danger when cyclone – fierce storms blow in from the Andes.

This is a subtle yet powerful second installment of the aviation trilogy which begins with Wind, Sand and Stars and ends with Southern Mail. SPOILER: While Fabien’s death is never clearly spelled out, death is almost certain when his airplane never arrives in Buenos Aires.

Line I liked: “He bent his mind toward the memory” (p 18).

Author fact: Saint-Exupery was a airmail pilot himself.

Book trivia: In some cases this would have been considered a short story as it is only 88 pages long.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Flying High Above the Clouds” (p 94).