"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Emma (Jane Austen, 1815)

Spotted this on the library shelf and - never having read Austen - decided why not?  There must be something going on  what with worldwide readership, numerous movies (in the only one I've seen Greer Garson really is quite excellent as Elizabeth Bennet).  Emma is fairly long - this version runs to 495 pages - but I'll say that it pretty much held my attention throughout.

Titular heroine is witty, smart, wealthy young woman who somewhat overrates herself - the flaws create some interest.  Austen provides a detailed look at folks in various stations of life in the village of Highbury - that element is pretty interesting.

Emma's dad is a kindly fuss budget (I can see myself making some of his observations about food).  Her sister and family live in London; her ex-governess (who functioned more as a dear friend than a useful guiding hand) lives in walking range with her new (somewhat older) husband; son of new husband creates interest around town.  Jane Fairfax.  Mrs., Miss Bates.  Elton marries an obnoxious wife after Emma rejects him.  Knightley.  Harriet Smith.  Etc.

Nothing about it was terribly compelling, yet I can see why Austen is credited with keen ++ observation powers, ability to re-create dialogue, sketch characters, etc.  I think it was worth my time.  And that it shall be the last Austen novel I read.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Into Thin Air - A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (Jon Krakauer, 1997)

Book club selection (via Zach).

Initially somewhat unenthused about this book.  The little I've thought about them, I mostly regarded Everest hikers as rather selfish thrill-seekers (selfish because of the high potential for adverse consequences to family members, Sherpas etc.)  But it turns out that the book was really quite good (though I don't think it changed my impression of the Everest hiker crowd).

The author was a pretty accomplished hiker and rock climber but had no high-elevation experience to speak of.  He finagled an assignment with Outdoor magazine to accompany an Everest expedition.  This was the 1990s, which we learn was the period when non-extraordinary climbers started being accepted on Everest climbs in far larger numbers than previously - if they could just come up with a significant cash payment and get through a fairly quick acclimatization program.  The author had in mind a story about commercialization, environmental harm, disruption to natives, etc.

But it happened that his climbing date (in May 1996) - and he did successfully make it to the top - was the date of a sudden storm which, coupled with human error, bad luck, etc., resulted in eight deaths.  Not surprisingly, this gave him the material for quite a tale.  And I liked how he presented it.  Generally spare style.

Some things that struck me (and made for some interesting conversation):

1.  If you've invested $65K plus expenses (in 1997 dollars) for likely your one shot at a lifetime dream:  folks can be reluctant to risk completing their ascent to help another hiker.

2.  Even if you're willing to abandon the ascent to help others in need:  how far can you go; how much do you risk your own safety (consequences for your loved ones, among other considerations) to help another hiker?

3.  And these hikers in need typically are complete strangers or, at most, someone you just met.  Each of whom was fully aware of, and accepted, the inherent dangers.  No doubt they signed pages of liability waivers.  Do they have a right to impose on others?

4.  Getting off that topic:  based on this reading, climbers doubtless are thrilled to make the top, but it seems like a pretty joyless enterprise overall.  Astonishing effects of high elevation - can't think straight, etc.

5.  Walking past oxygen canisters and other trash from prior expeditions; also a few frozen corpses.

6.  Quote from Japanese climber who walked past struggling Indian team members:  "We were too tired to help.  Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality."

7.  Beck Weathers:  wow.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

An Officer and a Spy (Robert Harris, 2013)

The Dreyfus Affair is endlessly interesting.

I like how the author sets up the context, going back to France's 1870 defeat in the Franco-Prussian war (discussed here, for example), followed immediately by German unification (discussed here, for example).  But he could have gone back further - France perceived itself, more or less accurately, as a unified kingdom going back to the Merovingians, or Carolingians, or however one wants to define it.  Always superior to the German hodge podge.  Until 1870.  Which made these developments all the more distressing to France.

So guess who gets blamed for Germany's late 19th century ascent - in a preview of 1920s-1930s German method (or a throwback to so many situations involving hard economic times or whatever over the centuries) - it's of course those Jewish backstabbers at work, like always.  (Today we call them the 1%ers in a more-than-occasionally analogous setting.)

The strands of anti-Semitism running through French society ran deep, and certainly were not unique to France.  What happened here helps us understand how so many local populations in WWII - with Nazi prodding, or perhaps just being opportunistic - were more cruel to the local Jewish populations than even the Nazis.  (And perhaps helps understand 21st century behaviors - though with the wipe-out of Jews in large swathes of Europe, much of that action takes place in the Middle East (or via Middle Eastern emigrants in European cities).)

Also interesting to think of the manner in which institutions curl up in a defensive posture - a mixture of legitimate concerns and self-interest (to be honest, though, I think we'd have to say the latter motivation typically predominates, heavily).  Government institutions have so much power that their defensive capabilities are pretty frightening.  Secret trials, hiding behind national security considerations, refusal to follow laws and procedures imposed on the rest of society (basic email retention, for a current example), cynically whipping up impressionable citizen-suckers - all the nonsense that goes on to this day, and won't ever stop.

The author chose to tell the story via a novel - and it's interesting throughout, well worth reading, goes by quickly.  Though I would like to know why the novel format was chosen.  The story is sufficiently compelling in its own right and - because the author tells us that he hews very closely to the facts - I was regularly left wondering what was real, and what was added for sake of the novel.  But that's a minor concern that does not detract from the overall worthiness of his effort.

Told through the eyes of Picquart.  Himself from Strasbourg area - bombed by Germany in 1870 with modern efficiency - similar to what happened there courtesy of Allies in World War II as discussed here.  Dreyfus an Alsatian also, which made him an easier target.  Interesting how these pieces fit together.

Role of Emile Zola - PJ and I rather enjoyed watching this movie version of his bio, which I had not realized won an Academy Award for Best Picture.  Rare for a bio, but Paul Muni is pretty talented.

Dreyfus affair captivated French public opinion for a very long time, including many discussions here.

Recommended.

Sunday, June 01, 2014

The Childhood of Jesus (J.M. Coetzee, 2013)

Unquestionably the worst book I've read in a very long time.  Selected because of positive reviews from a couple websites I trust, and because I'm making a bit of an effort to read more current fiction.  (But will revisit whether that effort is worthwhile.)

(Maybe reviewers give the author some slack because he's a Nobel Prize winner?  But we know that award doesn't correlate with much of anything, right?)

Some kid (David) on a boat full of emigrants loses his identity paperwork when a storm hits; an older fella (Simon) on the boat takes custody of him.  They land in "Novilla" - some weird place where no one cares about much of anything and they all lose contact with the past.  There is a shadowy government that takes care of everyone's basic needs.  The search for David's mother takes a weird turn.  Simon isn't happy in this lifeless place.  David is pretty bright and has trouble in school.

Various allusions to possible divinity of young David (and in case the reader is obtuse, the author hits you over the head as to this issue with the title).  But none of this works, either.

Would never have finished except it only took three sessions in the gym, and I incorrectly assumed something interesting might happen.  Ugh.