The Troll Garden (Willa Cather, 1905)

(131 pages)

Collection of early short stories by a favorite author.

Flavia and Her Artists - Flavia overestimates her connection to (and perhaps the value of) artists she hosts.

The Sculptor's Funeral - a Boston student accompanies the remains of his teacher (a famours sculptor) for burial back in rural Nebraska.  Unflattering portrayal of the locals.

The Garden Lodge - protagonist overcomes difficult upbringing, marries money, is very practical, runs into famous tenor - this makes her consider some things.

A Death in the Desert - protagonist has uncanny resemblance to his world-famous musician-brother; traveling west he encounters a dying woman who initially is interested in him because of that resemblance.

The Marriage of Phaedra - famous painting.

A Wagner Matinee - probably my favorite of this group - musician marries a mediocre guy who tries to make a living out on the frontier - no piano but a dugout instead - made me think about just how isolated those early pioneers were.

Paul's Case - protagonist is a daydreamer who can't continue in high school and way over-values the theater and the life he imagines is associated with it.  Goes from oppressive small town to NYC.

Walking the Woods and the Water (Nick Hunt, 2014)

(329 pages)

Author got the idea to replicate Patrick Leigh Fermor's 1930s walk as a young man "from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn".  I much enjoyed Fermor's books (discussions are here) and was quite curious to see how the author would handle things.  I think it worked!

good travel books - and this is one - are a really useful tool in reading about geography and history and culture.  both large-scale and (particularly!) micro-scale.  scenes throughout but especially compelling as he works his way east.  

Picking up the concerns of locals in relation to their neighbors - something that is thought about pretty much everywhere.  Unusual examples such as the concerns of Romanians v. Hungarians v. Bulgarians; and then onto Turkey.  Walkers can pick up lots of details. 

[something interesting - author is into Hungary (and out of what I'd call western Europe) by page 119 - the rest of the book is him working east.  Interesting perspective in that alone.  Hugeness of east.  other routes could have devoted a higher % to west but still.  Fermor's books like this as well - I appreciate opportunities to learn more about eastern Europe.]

Varying modes of hospitality encountered in so many local settings - this is super-interesting - in author's experience, the people got more hospitable as he moved east, while the dogs grew more unwelcoming.

Delightful, serendipitous encounters when in challenging circumstances.  

reflections on the act of walking.  how he felt like he had missed something whenever traveling in some other way.  in our small way in cities we visit - it feels the same

winter walk in Germany - so reminiscent of the Schubert song cycle

doesn't necessarily make it a better book than Fermor's - but it was written promptly after completion of the walk, so to that extent it's a more faithful portrayal of what was experienced.

the walk took place shortly after the financial crisis of 2008 so repercussions affected locations visited.  EU expansion into eastern countries especially tenuous at this stage; thugocracies in former Soviet satellites are troublesome.  But it's not a book about politics.

Relatable in that many of us can imagine extended walking tours.  But no way to do anything close to this - author was adept at sleeping out in a tent whenever needed, dealing with elements, relating to all sorts of hosts.  Seemed able to survive whatever local alcohol was featured for toasts (sometimes weed-accompanied).

A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles, 2016)

(462 pages)

Book club selection (via Chris; session held (via Zoom) July 18, 2021).

Count is so slick, so perfect, so all-knowing.  So a bit hard to relate to, at least through first half of the book.

(Though he does get educated occasionally - including by young version of Nina.)

Kind of reminds me of the lead character in "The Martian".  Incredible equanimity in the face of whatever.  No real suspense even in seemingly suspenseful situations - you know he's going to make it.

And while internal exile was awful - in so many ways I agree that he was lucky to have been exiled to the hotel.  Access to finest food & booze when ordinary citizens lived in poverty.  Free from military service (even at his age it likely would have been an issue).  Leading actress immediately (and then constantly) undressing for him.  It could have been Siberia or a firing squad.  Etc.

Picking on Montaigne huh?  Kind of unacceptable esp as author offers Montaigne-ish touches fairly regularly, musing on how one might live.  Note to Count:  don't read Montaigne straight through!  2010 halfway point.  By coincidence, had just finished the remainder. 

List of writers, poets seemed so odd given what happened to them . . . but later he does tell us how they went silent.  Bulgakov, Mandelstam, Akhmatova.  Kind of a greatest hits recitation, so many favorites.  Chekhov.  Chopin's E flat Nocturne!  That's the one!

Nina to Siberia - long history of spouses following exiles east - going back to tsarist times.  Incredible stories and yes many disappeared.

Long lines to view Stalin's body in '53.  Stalin's refusal to leave Moscow did seem to matter during '41 German offensive. But is Stalin's legacy really so complicated?  Constantly excusing butchery on the basis that Russia was a special case and Bolshevik's extreme measures were not optional - not buying it.

Perhaps just failing to align with my own views on the subject . . . I would have preferred for the author to be clearer about criticizing socialism in Russia (if that was his belief).  He describes the NYT's slavish-inexcusable fawning over Soviet system (so little has changed!); but veers toward repeating it. 

Though the Count's final moves are all about disenchantment with Soviet system - while remaining rooted in Russia.

A very good read.

The Complete Professor Challenger Stories (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I'm a big fan of The Lost World - recently re-read it because of connection to a book club selection.

Hadn't previously seen other Professor Challenger stories.  This volume was a birthday gift from Charlie . . . who had received it from Carol.

The Poison Belt - the earth passes through an area of space that threatens to wipe out human life.

The Land of Mist - this is just pretty weird - ACD was into the occult stuff (as was the case for many of his era).

The Disintegration Machine - short, just what it sounds like, the inventor is trying to sell it to a hostile foreign power.

When the World Screamed - Challenger leads a deep dig.

Generally the same characters as in The Lost World.  Bickering with Summerlee.  Lord John Roxton.  Malone.

Sword of Honor (Evelyn Waugh, 1952-1961)

(764 pages)

This is a trilogy:  Men at Arms; Officers and Gentlemen; and Unconditional Surrender.  Released in stages; it somewhat parallels the author's World War II experiences.

Enthusiastic reviews everywhere; yet (or perhaps because of this) initially I was a bit disappointed because I think I was expecting stirring descriptions of military actions.  It isn't that at all, but certainly that doesn't weaken the book.

Mostly it's about England and WWII and all the stuff that went on as folks tried to figure out how to approach an impossibly complex situation.

Protagonist is Guy Crouchback - a Catholic from a declining Brit aristocratic family; he lived on a family villa in Italy for quite a while after a failed marriage - so a bit of an outside observer of Britain though entirely a part of it. He's observing 1930s events in Europe and decides to try to enter the military even though he's pretty old.

Stories of training and the characters he meets. We get to know his family, and his ex-wife (who gets to know Trimmer).  Finally sent to Africa with his unit - participates in a minor battle in Dakar - he gets in some trouble there (bottle of whiskey to Apthorpe) but also gets under the patronage of a one-eyed old-timey general.  

Spends time in Crete - this is the closest to military action.  Then time in Yugoslavia - sorting out the difficulties there - trying to help individuals (his father's advice) but it tends to backfire in the mess there.

Muddles abound.  But I think that's pretty accurate in a war of this scale.

In the end, I liked this book a great deal.