Go, Went, Gone (Jenny Erpenbeck, 2017)

320 pages

Book club selection (via Zach; session held 17 March 2019).

Newly retired university professor (Richard) - lives alone - spots a group of African asylum-seekers in a Berlin park, and gets involved.

I liked it - author's main goal seems to be humanizing refugees at a time when that isn't always happening.  But she idealizes them a bit as uniformly thoughtful, gentle work-seekers; doesn't explain why they are all working-age men, etc.

Richard lives on a lake and there is a subplot about a person drowning there, an unrecovered body.  I guess it relates to these folks crossing the Mediterranean, too often unsuccessfully.

Richard and his wife (now dead) didn't have a very good relationship, not quite sure how that fit the tale.

Author threads in the East Berlin - West Berlin border, crossings, etc.  Which is an interesting comparison though I don't know that it leads us anywhere.

Some useful points about arbitrary borders, movements of peoples - but nothing much on all the hard questions - what policy should countries be adopting to deal with immigration?  Including what types of special provisions for legitimate asylum seekers?  How to think of sufferers in countries not adjacent to the Mediterranean or other borders - do they count?  How much to help these folks relative to domestic downtrodden in each country?

And:  how many folks can a country, or a given community within a country, absorb without losing the common culture that does underpin communities?  Throughout the book the author is citing things that are distinctively German (or Western or Christian) - Bach, Oedipus, Sundays of Advent, Christmas, Goethe, etc.  Universal human shared values run deeper yes, but the localized stuff is still important.  Often pointed out (not in this book) how Westerners altered cultures they encountered, but . . .

All of this seems much more difficult in Europe than in the US - we are protected by oceans from most random arrivals, don't have as many international borders, have lots of history absorbing immigrants, etc.

The Lost World (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1912)

(178 pages)

Of course the Sherlock Holmes books are quite excellent.  I had rather forgotten about this book - one of just a few by Sir ACD featuring "Professor Challenger" - was reminded of it as our little book club read this book, to which "The Lost World" owes its setting and plenty of plot elements and details.

It's purely a romp; a tale; thoroughly enjoyable.  Four Londoners explore a lost world.

Heinrich Schliemann was considered a bit of a wrecker for his approach in excavating Troy, but he had nothing on these high-spirited fellows. 

Perhaps my favorite scenes are those taking place at the Royal Geographic Society just before and just after the expedition.

Sir ACD can write!

Memoirs (Ulysses S. Grant, published 1885)

(780 pages)

Another book that I had never quite gotten to, despite repeatedly seeing recommendations.  Well worth reading.  Interesting that he came to write this in times of financial trouble (and eventually poor health) well after serving as president.  Of course not a professional writer - but much enjoyed his straightforward style.

Early portion regarding his selection to West Point and his challenges there.  Serves in Mexican War (and is bluntly critical of it); here he is exposed to many folks who he'll serve with or against in the Civil War.  Also doing quartermaster stuff which I suspect was very helpful down the line.  Transferred to the west coast in 1850s and the discussions of San Francisco (financial challenges sound familiar - boom-town cooks getting paid more than high ranking officers) and Oregon were interesting.

He was truly a nobody in military terms - basically out of the army when Civil War breaks out - took on some minor tasks for the army coming out of Illinois and had some value because of education and Mexican experience.

Consistent success leads to a larger role in the West.  Most of my Civil War reading has been weighted toward the war in the east - so it was interesting to read more about the west.  His discussion of the Vicksburg campaign was interesting - gives a sense of the challenges and risks of attacking an entrenched enemy while dealing with rivers, tributaries, flooding.  Great accomplishment that easily could have turned out badly.

As successes continue he takes over Army of the Potomac; the difficulties finishing off the Army of Northern Virginia take the war into 1865.  Grant as the relentless pursuer - Lincoln liked this after a string of too-cautious leaders - constantly calling for immediate pursuit if the enemy line is broken (this part sounded like Napoleon).  Appomattox and Lee's surrender. 

Discussions of interactions with Lincoln.  Candid assessments of many of the generals - Sherman and Sheridan his favorites, he also much liked David Porter (admiral key to Vicksburg and some subsequent campaigns).

He often quotes from orders issued during campaigns - the brevity and clarity is striking - these were handwritten often at night, often when the situation wasn't clear.  Impressive.

Yes it's autobiographical and sometimes you can sense when he's providing details intended to respond to criticism that had surfaced along the way.  But that's OK.

Recommended.