Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1866)

I hadn't ever read this famous work.  I can see why it's so well-regarded.  I was positively nervous throughout the entire book (well, except perhaps during the entertaining passage when Luzhin's erstwhile friend serves as a caricature for liberal/progressive thought that rings as true today as it must have in 1866).

This book (and this book) had interesting discussions about Romanticism, including the idea of the man-above-history; how Napoleon was despised for his actions yet revered for his "above history" status.  In "Crime and Punishment," the protagonist (Raskolnikov) compares himself to Napoleon, and (in an overwrought mental state) commits a crime in an unsuccessful effort to prove to himself that he merits the comparison.  (That being said, this book isn't categorized as "Romantic" literature, at least as I think of it, both on timing and content.)

I suppose the main feature of the book - and what made it stand out at the time - is the compelling descriptions of what was going on in Raskolnikov's head.   And others, the viewpoint shifts around sometimes.

I particularly liked that Dostoyevsky developed so many characters so well.  Sonya's drunkard father's description of the path that led to Sonya's profession is just heartbreaking.  The trials of the drunkard's well-born wife, at odds with the German landlady.  Raskolnikov's sister and mother, who come to St. Petersburg.  Luzhin, who wishes to marry Raskolnikov's sister but is a smug fool.  The lecherous Svidrigaïlov, who follows Raskolnikov's sister to St. Petersburg and plays a surprisingly large role in the story.  Raskolnikov's colleague (Razumikhin); the police detective (Porfiry); etc.

This afternoon I took a 30-minute break to finish the book, I simply couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

It was written early in Dostoyevsky's career.  In installments for magazine serialization - odd to think that so many important novels were presented in that manner.

Three Comrades - A Novel of Germany Between the Wars (Erich Maria Remarque, 1936)

Remarque is renowned, for good reason, for "All Quiet on the Western Front."  This is a much different work.  The dust jacket suggests that it focuses on three young men in the difficult times in Germany in 1928, with storm troopers swaggering in the streets as the Weimar Republic totters; one of the three falls in love. 

But the book reads much differently.  I liked it very much.

Remarque used a spare writing style to great advantage in All Quiet.  Same approach here.  He says a lot (almost 500 pages) but I think leaves a lot unsaid; leads the reader to fill in his or her own thoughts and feelings.

The description of Robert's love affair with Patricia Hallman is really well done; not necessarily what I'd expect from someone I incorrectly considered to be a military writer.  He captures the uncertainty, jealousy, companionship, wondrous-ness, etc.  As good a description as any I've read.

Robert has two close buddies from WWI:  Lenz and Koster.  They work in an auto shop and race around in "Karl."  They drink together, and look out for each other above all else.  Plenty of other characters are developed (Ferdinand the painter; Alfons, the restaurant keeper; Gustav the cab driver; the owner and working girls at the bar where Robert sometimes plays piano; the various folks in Robert's boarding house; etc.)

These three comrades survived WWI when so many of their buddies didn't; now live in an economy where acquiring any level of security or wealth is hopeless; mostly as a result of the war but also because of the postwar situation, they very much lived in the moment (with Patricia having a particular reason for doing so); it made me think about this continual balancing act, perhaps we/I focus too much on the long term in comparison.

Remarque was a big deal; was married many years to Paulette Goddard.  I had no idea Hollywood did a movie based on this (starring Robert Taylor); I liked the book so much I'm afraid to look at the movie (which could easily be mawkish).

The Fate of Africa (Martin Meredith, 2005)

I blew through this pretty quickly.  It was interesting - just intensely repetitive in terms of outcome.  The awful stories across Africa since the days of independence vary greatly by country, don't seem to vary much in terms of moving backwards.

The author pretty much just recounted the stories.  I was hoping for more analysis or explanation, and maybe even a little reason to hope that things might be getting better.  But no.  I guess it's useful to absorb some of the factual background as a starting point.

The author reports that most African countries have a lower per capita  income than in 1980 and, in some cases in 1960.

Aid workers, government workers, government cronies are the only folks that generate steady income or wealth.

This made me think about a few things:

1.  My sense is that the "bourgeois virtues" - as discussed so interestingly in this book - are almost entirely absent in Africa.  I don't know much about Africa but would guess that there wasn't a reason to develop them.  Absent the bourgeois virtues - how is wealth going to be generated there?

2.  Governments ran things in Africa - private sector basically absent.  For the most part, funds and resources have been allocated for personal and political purposes much moreso than for sound business or economic purposes.

3.  The United States and plenty of other countries are currently debating how many (more) $$ to turn over to governments - do we continue the trajectory?  Resources run through governments inevitably are allocated through politics and access.  We can talk all day about how different our situation is from Africa's, and capitalism's imperfect allocations.  But still.

There are so many awful African occurrences noted in this book.  To list a few:  Ethiopia/Mengistu/Biafra/famine. Rwanda/Burundi.  Somalia.  AIDs.  Mobutu.  Mugabe.  Sudanese civil war.  Islamist parties.  South Africa. Rhodesia.  One-party states.  Big Men rule.  Corruption, diversion of aid.  Angola.  I had forgotten how Cold War politics led to Cuba, USSR and US, among others, intervening in pointless episodes.  Ugh.