To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf, 1927)

This book is centered around the Ramsey family - Mrs. Ramsey, Mr. Ramsey, eight children; also their several visitors during a stay at their summer home.

I liked it a lot.

Three segments.  In the first, we meet the characters. They are staying at the summer home (a bit shabby). Very little direct dialogue or action, mostly we're seeing how they interact and feel about each other. Mrs. Ramsey seems to be the primary focus. She tells younger son (James) that they can visit the lighthouse (nearby, offshore) the following day, but Mr. Ramsey says the weather will prevent this. References to this continue. I particularly like the dinner scene - so well done - bouncing around the characters as they see, feel, process; no direct quotes - takes place after we've gotten to know most of the characters quite a bit. Effective.

Second segment - short, there is a passage of ~10 years.  Mrs. Ramsey passes away, two of the children die; WWI happens.

Third segment - after years without visiting, some or all of the surviving Ramseys and guests stay at the summer home.  Lily Briscoe - an artist - works on a painting abandoned during the prior visit, and reflects on Mrs. Ramsey in particular.  James and Cam (a sister) travel with Mr. Ramsey toward the lighthouse.  Both are resentful about their relationship with their father, but are thinking about it.

Victory City (Salman Rushdie, 2023)

A really interesting idea - to do a fictional version of the rise and fall of Vijayanagar (major city in southern India, now amazing ruins (and an increasingly popular tourist site) named as Hampi.  This occurred over a 300-year arc from early 14th century to early 17th century.

Rushdie relied in part on Sewell's book (linked here) - Sewell was a British civil servant who pulled together various sources, including Portuguese chroniclers.    

Central character is Pampa Kampana - a goddess enters her as a result of an early trauma - she essentially founds the city (from seeds) and tracks its rise and fall across various kings.

Whether for storytelling purposes or a nod to current trends, Rushdie uses mostly all females for the central characters (other than the kings).  

Much fantasy, but some elements that track Vijayanagar history - particularly in the last part of the story.  Portuguese traders show up; Portugal gains power along the west coast (though not significant to Vijayanagar's outcome). Author uses Rama Raya's name as final king; Rama Raya sowing discord among Islamic sultanates to the north which defers pressure from that direction, then they figure it out and attack; he uses the name "Talikota" as the decisive battle. 

Yo-yo swings between religious tolerance and cultural/artistic freedom, or not, in author's description of Victory City's history.

Rushdie describes the ideal state in a way that just sounds like Utopia (unfortunately).

Pampa Kampana's last act is to write down the entire history of her creation in verse.  The power of words.

Overall, I liked this.

The Rural Life (Verlyn Klinkenborg, 2003)

This is a collection of essays that were published elsewhere - broken up into monthly segments.

I liked it well enough, but it turns out that most of the stories are set on the author's farm in upstate New York.  (He grew up in Iowa and has memories there that overlap with mine, but very little of that in this book. Unfortunately.)

Mostly this helps remind one to be attentive to one's surroundings - he does a great job with that.

The Anarchy (William Dalrymple, 2019)

I liked this but it had several annoying aspects, per below.

Faculty-lounge style word choices and denigration of "corporation" and "profit". Then within a few pages he's reciting, apparently entirely un-self-aware, how the corporation started off with tremendous risk, limited resources, and big losses in the early going.

And recites how the Mughals swept into India - but with none of the loaded-negative word choices - apparently that form of conquest or imperialism or "colonialism" was just fine?  If a force structured as an imperial dynasty sweeps in and brutally takes, that's somehow different from a force partially structured in corporate form?

Makes a big deal about "corporate" contributions or bribes to MPs - of course that's bad, but we're talking about an era where large-scale bribery was common across governmental forms (still is!) 

The usual "I hate the west" formula.

Which is not to say the East India Company, or Britain writ large, didn't do plenty of nasty things.  I just get tired of the differing treatment from so many current historians.

But the overall story here is good enough to overlook all this.  Yes the EIC screwed up many things even where intentions weren't terrible, and it was good that Britain took over.  Even if that didn't end the problems.

Useful discussions of key players - Robert Clive; Wellington; Warren Hastings.

Military success was not inevitable.  Somewhat like Mexico or Peru - there were local forces willing to work with the Europeans.  Significant competition from the French.