Astoria - John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire (Peter Stark, 2014)

Book club selection (via PJ; session held October 16, 2016).

Everyone seemed to enjoy this book a great deal, and find it useful; I certainly did.  PJ and I are pretty much obsessed with the little town of Astoria, and I wish I had read this backstory prior to our several visits.

The author covers a lot of ground, effectively.  Astor as German immigrant in New York; rising in the years following the Revolutionary War.  Making his way in various businesses, with emphasis on fur-trading and Manhattan real estate.  Lewis and Clark expedition returns; Jefferson (and others) anxious to see U.S. interests established in the Pacific northwest.  Astor conceives a grand scheme involving Astor-controlled ships circling from New York to Hawaii to the Pacific northwest to China to Europe and back to New York.  The Pacific northwest stop would involve picking up furs obtained via a network of Astor-controlled traders and inland posts.

To be established by sending a boat around Cape Horn, and an overland party across the entire U.S. (to pretty much follow the Lewis and Clark route, but Blackfoot animosity encouraged re-routing to an entirely new trail) (which in turn led to development of the Oregon Trail).

Astor's ideas were really ambitious, and came rather close to fruition.

Lots of elements I liked; here are a few -

--Descriptions of life on the sailing ship (the Tonquin) among the best I've seen - author had some personal experience on these boats and communicated well the small size, cramped quarters, inability of crew and passengers to find any space, personality clashes, length of trip, hygiene and diet challenges, etc.

--Descriptions of canoeing and voyageurs - best I've seen - boat size, capacity, rowing speed, amount of time, schedules - all this was better organized than I had imagined.  Portages up to 40 miles; carrying 180 pounds of pelts; etc.

--Missing spots on the map - just 200 years ago, in North America.

--Interactions with Native Americans.  The wealthy Native Americans in the Pacific northwest.  Incredibly helpful guide - in addition to invaluable services, she gives birth along the overland party's route.

--The travails of the overland party - enduring incredible challenges - those stories don't get old.

--Personalities of the various leaders selected by Astor.

--Early attempts to cross the Bar.

--Rivalry with British (and others to some extent).

--Establishing the town.

Ostend - Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, and the Summer Before the Dark (Volker Weidermann, 2014)

Book was well reviewed (and short).  Somewhat interesting items about important authors.

Main focus is on Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth (and their longstanding relationship).  Zweig had been at a resort on the Belgian seaside (then known as Ostend) when World War I broke out - interesting descriptions of the excitement, the sense of national unity in summer 1914 (reminded of the false, or at least ephemeral, feelings around 9-11 in this country back in 2001).  Zweig, Roth and others were back at the same resort during a summer in the 1930s - had been kicked out of Germany and banned from publishing there (their main business and financial lifeline) - because of Jewishness, and/or writings that didn't satisfy Nazi censors.  Spanish Civil War breaks out.

Zweig as cultured, successful, assimilated Viennese-based Jew; Roth as Galicia-based - this distinction seems to come up a lot.

Interesting stories at Ostend - but not all that interesting.  In a way it reminded me of this Hemingway novel - expat types struggling and carousing.

Zweig wrote this really fine novel (started working on it during the time period covered in this book) Roth was famous for this really fine novel; they run into Arthur Koestler (still enamored with Communism, so a bit before he wrote this book).

One of my favorite authors - certainly a famous expat in those days - did not show up at Ostend that summer, but apparently he was a regular topic of conversation, and at least one of his children did.

Parade's End (Ford Madox Ford, 1924-1928)

This is a remarkable book - worthy of the acclaim.  My only exposure had been the recent TV miniseries - which was entertaining enough - but per usual the book works differently, better.

Actually it's four separate novels; 906 pages in my edition:

--Some Do Not . . . (1924)
--No More Parades (1925)
--A Man Could Stand Up -- (1926)
--The Last Post (1928)

Large canvas in hands of skilled writer = fine results.

Something I found effective:  Ford varies his writing styles . . . sometimes it made me think of Joyce as in this, but Ford's method never struck me in the show-off way as it feels with Joyce.  Over a long book, Ford reveals details in unexpected ways that build interest, changes the tempo, creates empathy with lead characters.  You end up really wanting things to go well for them, which makes the ending quite tense.

Sylvia Tietjens - an amazing character - took skill to develop.

Author's ability to give glimpses of "what it felt like" in widely varying venues:

--WWI - especially from the perspective of folks (like Christopher Tietjens) not really designed to be there - death, shelling, bureaucracy
--Brit aristocracy
--Brit aristocracy in a changing time
--intensity and confusion of forming a romantic relationship in such difficult circumstances
--Brit bureaucracy
--the world of a younger son in Brit aristocracy
--even the world of folks working for the Tietjens family

Characters/threads
--Christopher Tietjens
--Valentine Wannop; her writer-mother
--Groby Great Tree
--MacMaster (Scottish non-aristocrat, makes good) and his wife
--Mark Tietjens
--England - London, countryside

The overall theme of course is "change" - many write about WWI this way - not sure any do it more effectively.

A thought on "change" during those years:  Thomas Hardy's striking book was written in 1895, and the relationship as described between Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead created a sensation  - compare to Christopher Tietjens and Valentine Wannop (or Mark Tietjens and Marie Leonie, for that matter).  Just one more area (if an incredibly important one) where things had changed, a lot, and quickly.

The Richest Man Who Ever Lived - The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger (Greg Steinmetz, 2015)

Generally interesting and worthwhile - but where was the editor?  Fugger lived an amazing life during amazing times - all this would have spoken for itself - but the author endlessly wrote in hyperbolic fashion (starting with the overwrought title).  (By comparison - this book discussing very much the same time period was enjoyable - and credible - in significant part because it was so matter-of-fact.  Let a good story tell itself!)

The author also occasionally descends into tropes-about-business - taking shots at "capitalism" here and there, when someone like Fugger generally was involved in pure-play "crony capitalism" - not at all the same thing.  Made most of his money by getting monopolies (often on metals) backed, of course, by state violence - this is not capitalism.  Sometimes he was involved in what I would consider capitalism (or what this author would refer to as "trade tested betterment,")

Great stories of Fugger's interactions or cause/effect relationships with all the big players in the last part of the 15th and first of 16th centuries - several Hapsburgs (his financing could swing Holy Roman Empire elections it seems); several popes; Francis I, Suleiman the Magnificent, Charles V.  Ferdinand and Isabella/Columbus; voyages of exploration; New World gold (and food); Henry VIII; Martin Luther (supposedly the aggressive ramping up of indulgence sales was prompted in significant part by the need to repay Fugger loans).  Finances spice trips with Portuguese (as discussed in this book); Venice still powerful but loss of overland spice trade monopoly was a factor in gradual loss of influence.  Hapsburgs rising from pretty much nothing, then in right place at right time (with right financier) via HRE elections, savvy marriages and New World discoveries.  Later in Fugger's life - peasant revolts in Germany; Luther becomes more conservative.

An early adopter of double-entry bookkeeping (learned from the Italians).

Author considers Fugger to have been a sincere practitioner of his religion notwithstanding tough business practices.  Puts up a housing complex for needy workers - ahead of his time here as well.

The years around 1500 were pretty amazing; endlessly interesting; this was a different perspective.

Curry - A Tale of Cooks & Conquerors (Lizzie Collingham, 2006)

Book club selection (via me; session held September 8, 2016).

I'm trying to form a baseline way of thinking about India; given complexity, will need many perspectives; thought this perspective might help; I think it did.  The author - British - pretty clearly did lots of research on "Indian" food.  She also provides useful historical context around culinary developments.  Did her British origins somehow disqualify her from writing this?  Seems not (and Rose and Dharma didn't think so).

As for the author's descriptions of Indian food - I have had virtually no exposure whatever to this cuisine - couldn't even really say what a "curry" was.  With so little background knowledge, the book's passages about food were interesting to me but rather mysterious - I read through them pretty cursorily.

As to actually eating the stuff - Dharma and Chris ordered and picked up a quite fine array of Indian foods from some restaurant up on Bell Road - I didn't really expect to care for it - wrong again, everything was really good and I'll happily repeat the experience.  There was a ton of food and very little remained at end-of-session, so it seems I wasn't the only one liked it. Also lassi, and Kingfisher beers (plus India pale ale courtesy PJr).

Really interesting and useful discussions about the factors affecting food in the area through the centuries.  Mughals; Persians; food items from the new world via Portugal; wide-ranging influence of British (including a vigorous marketing campaign that convinced Indians across the country to drink tea). Interesting stories about Brits posted to India; how they first used Indian ingredients, then focused on copying British fashion (and foods).  Longstanding tradition of vegetarianism; no beef or no pork depending on religion; castes; clean/unclean - complicated!  Mentioned Gandhi's struggles with food, as recounted in this so-interesting biography; mentioned how food vendors at train stations unwittingly reinforced Hindu/Muslim divisions (one of many factors however).

Good discussions of Indian food as served outside India - variances make their way back to India - items originating outside India become widely thought of as "Indian" food.  Syhletis - from Bangladesh area - operate incredibly high percentage of the "Indian" restaurants outside India (at least in Britain and US).

Very good reminder that one should use the term "authentic" with great humility when describing any of these dishes!  (Probably applies to dishes from other countries as well.)

India - so large geographically, such a large population, such a long history - seems that it tolerates invaders over the centuries - picks up things it finds useful, waits out the invaders, ends up changing them more than vice versa.