Cousin Bette (Honore de Balzac, 1846)

Balzac is one of those authors that I've never read despite constantly running into references. Supposedly both Proust and Henry James studied his works carefully.

I mostly read this novel on the flights to and from DC.

"Cousin Bette" is one of his later works, and is part of his magnus opus - "La Comédie humaine" - a group of 100 or so works iwth some recurring characters, etc.

He's clearly another great observer of human nature. Seemed to be writing also for a popular audience; snappy dialogue, quicker pace than some of the other things I've been looking at lately.

I read that Balzac's father wanted him to be a lawyer, but that he wasn't very good at handling structure of any kind. He did have some training and I believe practiced a few years. This definitely shows up in his writing. He brought to life the economic concerns of the characters in more detail and with more accuracy than others I've read. Apparently 19th century economic considerations were more similar to current than I would have thought.

One reason I like reading stuff from France in this era is the overlapping political epochs; he was born in the Napoleonic days, this was written during the July monarchy. Apparently Balzac did support a lot of the old structures.

Plot line: Cousin Bette is jealous of her relatives based on not liking how she was treated as a child, and joins up with a top flight courtesan to pursue revenges.

Hortense marries a Pole, and Balzac is funny with what would now be politically incorrect observations about the courage and senselessness of the Poles, how this contributed to their various partitions, etc. (show a Pole a precipice and he will throw himself over . . ."

James Taylor and his Band of Legends

A last-minute event - Patricia, Paul Jr., Nedda and I went to see James Taylor (who was touring with his modestly titled "Band of Legends") at the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix on Saturday night (August 2).

Per usual for touring folks, they were promoting a new album. They played a few items from that in the beginning of the concert. In general, the band was quite good. But the crowd (certainly including us) was there only to hear JT work from his catalog of familiar items primarily from the 1970s.

Some observations:

1. The guy's voice has survived remarkably well for being at age 60. Certainly in comparison to some of his contemporaries that really shouldn't be touring anymore (or at least confine themselves to out of the way casinos).

2. He did enough of the old stuff so that everyone left satisfied. There was a portion of the second set where he did "Walking Man," "Sweet Baby James," and "Fire and Rain" in close order. Nice.

3. I had not heard the story behind "Sweet Baby James" before, it was written for a nephew of his that was named "James" (duh) while he was off doing whatever in Europe. So he recounted coming back to the US and trying to write something. Some funny lines about the "the little varmint" and his effort to come up with songs, e.g. "All quiet in the bunkhouse" (a rejected title).

4. His stage presence is wonderful. Connected very well with the audience. Stuck around signing autographs, posing for photos, talking through the entire intermission. He's funny, has a great way of talking. He more or less works his way around stories, often getting there indirectly, permitting audience members to fill in their own ideas. Told some of the traditional jokes (and openly identified them as such), including how the electric guitar was an improvement over the "steam-powered guitar" and the "horse-drawn guitar" etc.

5. They did four encores. Nice.

6. He sang "Oh what a beautiful morning". Unexpected. We all thought of EMG.

7. Normally I don't much care for his blues stuff, but in a live venue it worked really well. They did a slower-tempo version of "Steamroller" plus some other stuff.

8. Had a funny bit about how he and Carole King worked up "You've Got a Friend" in a nightclub that - well, it was probably a bit of a stretch to call it a nightclub; if a building could be a ditch, that's what it was . . . that he didn't know that the song would end up being something he performed every night for the rest of his life . . . but this was better than folks who had hits like "The Monster Mash."

9. The band members really did add a lot. I often find the brass sections annoying in these groups, but they were restrained and very musical. The main drummer was a Phoenix guy that is pretty talented, though I never much care for the whole drummer routine. There was another drummer doing Latin stuff, he was interesting to listen to. Etc.

10. To take a stab at describing why his stuff works - I think the word is bittersweet. Somehow the combination of his unique voice, the lyrics, the chord movements underneath the held notes - it still sounds great after 35+ years, and I think his stuff is aging really well. He can communicate the poignancy of the fleeting happinesses . . . has figured out that the fleeting nature is what creates the intensity . . .

Livingstone (Tim Jeal, 1973)

Livingstone is another one of those folks whose story - if presented by a writer of fiction - would be considered too unrealistic to have much merit.

Not much point in recounting details of his life here, but I would recommend reading the basic information via this link.

I was particularly struck by the odds that the guy overcame to gain an education. His father worked in the mills, and Livingstone worked there as a child - 6a to 8p. The entire family (mom, dad, five children) lived in a 14 x 10 foot room with two bed recesses. And he taught himself enough Latin, botany, theology and math to get into medical school by the age of 23.

Livingstone eventually figured out that missionary work in China was a ticket out; he had an urge to explore early on. Ended up in South Africa (the first Opium War broke out and cut off China opportunities) under the thumb of a domineering older missionary. Eventually focused far more on exploring than on being a missionary, though his PR back home depended on emphasizing the missionary work. Later switched to anti-slavery rather than missionary as a cover for his explorations. Spent lots of time looking for the source of the Nile but ended up on the wrong track. It appears that he was willing to be less than forthright about risk of disease and local conflict, ending up bringing folks over to Africa that were not prepared for conditions and there were plenty of casualties.

The toughness that permitted him to escape the mills turned him into a pretty heartless, insensitive type; he functioned far better with native workers than with Europeans. Unbelievable ability to travel under impossible conditions, fight off malaria, etc.

I never get tired of reading materials on the 19th century explorers of Africa - the ultimate intersection of completely different cultures.

Later on of course was the famous meeting with Henry Stanley: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Followed by his death in Africa, and the unbelievable return of his body to England. Project Gutenberg has an e-book of his last journals which is located here - this is very much worth perusing if you want a sense of what he was going through.

Incredible popularity in England and beyond, well explained in the article linked above.

The map shows his wanderings; some in search of the Nile, others for waterways that would bring commerce into the interior. Amazing that they were still unable to find the Nile source well into the second half of the 19th century.

Jeal writes well and has just published a new work on Stanley, which is on the list.

Voices of Silence - The Alternative Book of First World War Poetry (compiled by Vivian Noakes, 2006)

I picked this book up for two reasons - I'm always interested in World War I material, and in general I need to get a better handle on poetry (there's so much going on there, and I just don't get it).

[By the way, I just watched a 1927 silent film, "Wings", starring Clara Bow. This showed a couple Americans who became aviators in WWI and vied for a girl. The flight sequences were amazingly good (how did they do this over 80 years ago?), and the overall picture really worked. And who knew, it was the very first film to win an Oscar for "Best Picture." And also launched Gary Cooper's career. Anyway, this WWI movie has nothing to do with this book, but is summarized nicely here, and also here. I was interested because I have to believe a WWI film-maker in 1927 would have a different take than folks coming along much later. Loved the scenes of the WWI-era tanks, etc.]

This book probably was better suited to the first aim. I guess there is a canon (with some variation of content) of WWI poetry that is recognized as the most significant; this book was an effort to pick up musings of the common soldier.

It is interesting to get the perspective of these folks; if nothing else, it is fascinating that writing poetry was a common pursuit among a wide variety of soldiers in those days. I don't think one would find much poetry coming out of today's troops stationed in Iraq, for instance.

I only made it about 2/3 through. Well worth it as an alternative view of the proceedings. You get the sense that no one knew what to make of the brave(?) new world of modern warfare, it just didn't match up to anyone's expectations of the glory of battle.

Word Freak (World of Competitive Scrabble Players) (Stefan Fatsis, 2001)

The author occasionally wrote for the the Wall Street Journal, which is where I saw a review of this book. I was interested because we play Scrabble around here occasionally - mostly Patrick, Nicole and Patricia, me occasionally. But I tend to slow down the games.

Anyway, the book was interesting, but not really worth reading all the way through. So I was skimming chunks. The world of competitive Scrabble is sort of an adults version of the spelling bee world. It seems like most of the world class players are pretty weird, or maybe the author just played up that aspect.

It was a bit depressing - almost to the point of making you want to swear off the game - to read descriptions of strategy, rack configurations, and the words these folks can find. Whatever they're doing, it bears little resemblance to the game I play.

The Red and the Black (Stendhal, 1830)

This book was a good fit for some of the French stuff I've been reading in the last couple months (the Verdun book, Remembrance of Things Past (except Proust gave away an important plot element when he mentions this book), the Christmas truce book, etc.)

It filled in some of the gap between the Napoleonic era and the 1830 restoration. This was a time of big change in France to say the least; the Revolution and Napoleon had thrown apart most of the traditions and folks with widely varying agendas were moving to fill the gaps, find a new Napoleon, restore the monarchy and the traditional role of the church, emphasize the secular, revive the revolution, or whatever.

The book is referred to as the first psychological novel, at least in this description. Somebody at Newsweek listed it as one of the five most important novels, I guess because it was considered pretty far ahead of its time. I had never heard of the book or its author, but in poking around you do get the sense that it is widely known and admired.

Anyway, the book focuses on Julian Sorel - an uneducated but bookish boy from the provinces who, through a series of events, becomes a tutor (and falls in love with the youngish mother of his pupils), is educated in a seminary, takes a job with an aristocrat (and falls in love again, sort of).

Sorel's amazing memory (featuring passages in Latin) is a key to his access to various positions.

The book is lamenting the materialism that the author saw taking over France as the older institutions weakened; he also isn't impressed with provincialism, or Paris (and society matters) for that matter.

Very much worth reading. Even if some of the passages about his two romances get a bit repetitive here and there.

[I read this book at the gym about a month ago but didn't get around to posting, plus am still trying to catch up from the "placeholder" entries below.]

The Road to Verdun (Ian Ousby, 2002)

I found this book extremely interesting. But then again, I never get tired of reading World War I items. Thoughts:

1. It's not easy for me to keep halfway straight the changes in the French government from Napoleonic through 1848 through Sedan in 1870 and beyond. While I'm not interested in keeping the details straightened out, this book did give a useful overview. It helps the lead-in to WWI make more sense. Good description of nationalism as it was understood then; conservatives; monarchists (though no real hope of further restoration of the monarchy); Bonapartist thinking; socialist (even Communist) thinkers; Catholics; remnants of Jansenist thinking; etc. Lots of discussions of folks developing theories of the French nation, drawing distinctions from the Germans (with special dislike of the Prussians). Interesting that Alsace-Lorraine (including Verdun) was in Charlemagne's middle kingdom, which was the historical borderground between what became France and the smaller entities that Bismarck put together following 1870.

2. The Sedan disaster of 1870 was probably a bigger deal for the French than I was thinking, leading to the Alsace-Lorraine question and all sorts of consequences. Including fear of combined Germany.

3. Poor preparedness by the French; diversion of attention to the planned Somme offensive; rise of Petain; fall of Joffre; German plans to use Verdun to "bleed France white;" role of Crown Prince in directing German attack (but not quite enough resources to pull it off). Attack starts February 1916; German high-water mark in June 1916; slow pushback, with some of Germany's initial gains not retaken until three days before the armistice.

4. Discussions of the battle and the sacred or mystical aspect it took on. The "voie de sacree" - sacred road linking the Verdun salient to France and the efforts to keep it open. The death-like appearance of the soldiers who were being relieved; the nervousness of the incoming soldiers. The shocking casualties. What the soldiers put up with, partly resulting from the difficulty of properly disposing of the thousands and thousands of corpses.

5. Links to other things recently read: The author mentioned Goethe's visit to Verdun in an earlier war. In "Remembrance of Things Past," Proust speaks fairly often of people having neurasthenic symptoms; this author states that Proust's father was the author of a treatise on the topic (a precursor to analyses of combat fatigue etc. "The Red and the Black" - this picks up with a discussion of governments etc. following 1830. The book also has discussion of the Dreyfus case, which was a major topic in the salons in Proust's book.

Etc. I liked it.

We saw Wall-E

Hadn't been to the theater for awhile but we decided to go see a well-reviewed Pixar movie - Wall-E - back on June 29. It was a well-done, cutesy animated movie, and fun to go (Patricia, Chris, Paul Jr., Nedda, me). It was neat how they used music from "Hello Dolly", etc. The chase scenes were tiresome.

One of the more entertaining aspects was being at a Sunday afternoon showing with a theater full of little kids. We haven't been in that environment for years.

Passport to Europe

We (Patricia, Chris, Paul Jr., Mary Beth and me) toured this exhibit on Father's Day (June 15). An ex-governor of Puerto Rico (Luis Ferre, biography can be found here) put together a collection of European artworks now housed in the Museu de Arte de Ponce (info about the museum can be found here). I believe the works were available for touring due to renovations at the museum in Ponce.

We enjoyed it. Something of an unfocused mix across multiple countries and time periods. But always delightful to wander through. The Louvre picture included here was nice (also an interesting story; the woman in the center of the picture had died before the artist - pretty clearly interested in her - did the painting). Lots of Biblical themes, with great interest among the artists in folks like Delilah, Susannah, Lot and his daughters, etc. We also liked the Temptation of St. Jerome (lots of versions around, this was by somebody named Tenniers) (discussion of Flaubert's book here).

Then we looked over a photo exhibit that was ok. Wandered into some sort of twinkling light display in the modern art display, plus there was a flat rock on which were projected little figures walking. Not quite sure what to make of these things.

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Forgot to mention above: The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse (Gregg Easterbrook, 2004)

Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce (Stanley Weintraub, 2001)

I always liked this story, but didn't know very much about it. We rented a recent movie on the topic (mentioned here) and I thought it was very nice, but suspected it was way too dressed up for film-making purposes compared to what more likely was happening on the ground.

But after reading this book it turns out pretty much all the elements shown in the movie were based upon actual events. (The one exception was the female love interest that the film-maker threw into the story.) There were impromptu soccer games in no man's land. Burial of dead. Singing back and forth between the trenches. And yes, the Crown Prince brought a German opera star out (Kirchoff), and he did perform in the trenches. Etc.

Overall - the bottoms-up truce was not likely to stop the war as some overstate. But it clearly was a widespread phenomenon in some sectors of the line.

What a story. Flooded trenches finally froze right as Christmas arrived. The German soldiers were much more into the Christmas celebration than French or British (which the author says was consistent with how things were celebrated those days). German authorities arranged for thousands of small trees to be sent to the front. The Germans started lighting the trees and singing carols; some called across no mans land. Many Germans apparently knew at least some English, having worked in Britain before the war.

This led to meetings, gift exchanges, shared cigars and meals. The famous German pickle helmet was the most popular souvenir. There were impromptu soccer matches and group photos. Gift boxes had been received from the English royal family or the Kaiser, so there was plenty of material to barter.

This of course made the senior officers very unhappy. Censorship wasn't nearly as effective at this stage, so word quickly got out via letters home.

In some areas, each side would fire shots deliberately overhead - aiming too high - when the officers happened by. Then the fraternizing would resume. This dragged on for several days.

When you think about it - and without looking to make some kind of general antiwar statement - you had a pretty typical scenario where all these suckers were lined up trying to kill one another at the behest of the ruling classes. Some wars are pretty clearly necessary (obvious example = taking out a Hitler). In all wars, to get the suckers fired up to fight, the ruling class has to put out a bunch of propaganda. No doubt there were plenty of incidents, but the main propaganda against the Germans was the stories - often deliberately exaggerated - about abuses in occupied Belgium. The consistent reaction of the French and British participants in the "truce" was surprise that the Germans were actually normal human beings. This of course was considered a dangerous idea by the higher-ups - the suckers in the line might lose the proper zeal for killing.

An interesting observation were the differences within units of the German army - the Saxon units often expressed dislike for the ruling Prussians, as well as affinity for their Anglo-Saxon opponents.

The story just strikes me as very powerful. All the war rhetoric sounded pretty ridiculous to these folks as they stood there sharing cigars, looking at each other's family photos, and inviting each other to visit after the war. The ordinary guys on both sides of the line were farmers, tradesmen, etc. - the usual cannon fodder. Men who had a lot in common.

Anyway, after a few days they had to turn around and start killing each other again. Except for the units who were transfered away from the area due to doubts (stemming from their participation in the Christmas truce) about their reliability as killers.

Danwen Jian (Violin) Walter Cosand (Piano) (Katzen Hall, February 10, 2008)

It was a beautiful Sunday here in Phoenix, sunny and upper 70s. Patricia and I hiked in the Phoenix mountain preserve (40th street trailhead), then went to this faculty recital down at ASU.

We enjoyed it a bunch. There were four works on the program - a sonata by Schubert, two 20th century American works (Lukas Foss and Russell Bennett), and a sonata (No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108) by Brahms. The opening piece (Schubert) was the least interesting (or maybe our performers (or we audience members) were just getting warmed up). The 20th century pieces were delightful; I always have low expectations for these things and should know better by now. There were parts that were very pretty; some elements of swing or jazz; etc. And we always like Brahms it seems; his piece asked a lot of the pianist (not surprisingly).

I like watching the violinist play. It's interesting to see all the ways they can make sound come out of the violin.

Then to Roaring Fork where they feature a ridiculously cheap and good happy hour menu, plus the bartender comp'd a round. Get the green chile pork stew. What a deal.

Love, Life, Goethe (John Armstrong, 2006)

I liked this book on several levels. The author lays out a biography of (Johann Wolfgang von) Goethe; he also purports to discuss Goethe's viewpoints on various (though I wasn't sure sometimes if it was the author's viewpoints or Goethe's). And he even spent a couple pages trying to explain how to pronounce Goethe's name. Claims there is no "r" sound.

I picked this book for several reasons. First, I'm going through some biographies of artists and authors for a different take on history (per recent posts on biographies of Goya, Tolstoy, etc.) . Second, I continually run into English, French, and Russian historical materials . . . not nearly so much German (and I should be interested in that part of the world). Third, I continually run into Goethe references (or his buddy Schiller) in connection with classical music, including things we perform in Choral Union that were set to music by Beethoven or Schubert. Fourth, I occasionally see brief references to Goethe - not flattering - in connection with the Nazis (though not sure the relevance given he was dead 100 years before the party emerged).

Goethe was a contemporary of Goya. Spent time with Beethoven. Was around (though young) at the time of the American Revolution; closely followed events surrounding the French Revolution. He was around for most of the reaction to the French Revolution and Napoleon that in turn led to the revolutions of 1848 (16 years after he died).

This kind of book does help with thinking about German history. Unlike the national governments that had been in place for centuries in France and England (or the good old fashioned autocracy in Russia), this part of the world featured things like the "free city" of Frankfurt (where Goethe grew up), the tiny duchy of Weimar (where he was able to participate in civil administration in addition to providing celebrity and intellectual weight), the militarism and increasing importance of Prussia (where for example the duke of Weimar went to get involved in the military). Many small states during this period of run-up to Bismarck.

Goethe doesn't fit the stereotype of the impractical, unhappy, struggling artist. He comes across as secure, happy, practical, prosperous. He loved the classics and spent lots of time in Italy. He hit the jackpot as a commercial success in his early 20s with "The Sorrows of Young Werther." His most famous work is "The Damnation of Faust," though I understand it is pretty difficult reading. Anyway, "Werther" made him famous throughout Europe and assured his financial and celebrity status for the rest of his life - though it seems he did far, far more than rest on his laurels.

Goethe is thought of as one of the last generalists - he sought to make a contribution in multiple fields, including a treatise on color and optics where he (thoughtfully but unsuccessfully) challenged Newton As this author describes it, the various branches of science were deepening so rapidly that no one even tried to contribute in multiple areas (as had been common earlier, think Descartes).

Goethe met all kinds of interesting folks - partly because he was a heavyweight that had gained celebrity early in life, and then ended up living into his early 80s. Had an interesting encounter with Napoleon. Spent time with Beethoven, including a famous scene, though probably allegorical, where he bowed to royalty but Beethoven didn't remove his cap. Best buddies with Schiller. Etc. (This kind of book helps set different historical events and figures in context, knit them together; useful.)

I keep seeing references to the "Sturm and Drang" movement. Goethe and Schiller were associated with this, though both moved away. Goethe's hit novel (Werther) is considered an early spark for the movement (though this author thinks Goethe's message was that Werther was on the wrong track). Sturm and Drang is described here. I think of it as a stormy, passionate, notion of an individual soul or consciousness that runs deeper than intellect . . . you start to see the action/reaction movements in history, as these folks were reacting to the rationalism - and overbroad claims of what it could achieve - led by folks like Voltaire in the 18th century.

Goethe and Schiller moved away from this, but the trend was building with elements appearing in Romanticism, Neitzsche, Wagner . . . into the nationalism that became so important in 20th century (and was foolishly fed by folks like Woodrow Wilson); and yes, even to Hitler. (None of this of course traveled in a straight line.) Goethe would have run away from anything resembling Nazism; he emphasized looking for practical happiness, never slavish devotion to causes or ideologies.

In fact the basic outlook as described is very close to how I think on any number of topics . . . you could read this and get a pretty good window on my thought process in many areas.

Read at the gym.

Atonement (January 27, 2008)

Patricia and I went to see a movie in the theater for the first time in over six months. We've been enjoying our Netflix rentals; that system really works well for us.

We ended up liking this movie quite a bit. The music was a bonus.

Basic premise: older daughter of upper class British family experiences an incident - pretty much harmless - out near the fountain with the son of one of the kitchen staff (though the son was Cambridge educated and headed to medical school if I remember correctly); the incident was observed from afar by the younger daughter and misinterpreted. This led to pretty much catastrophic consequences. And a need for "atonement" on a couple levels.

The story started during the years leading up to World War II; the male lead ends up going to war; is separated from his unit and becomes part of the evacuation scene at Dunkirk. The director did a 5+ minute tracking shot there which worked well.

The younger sister is played by three different actresses at different stages in her life and becomes quite the interesting character. We liked the finish. The "atonement" concept plays through quite effectively.

Then we had a decent meal at the "Elephant Bar" near the Scottsdale 101 theater, so that was unexpectedly nice.

Doctor Zhivago (Boris Pasternak, 1956)

I recently read quite a bit of praise for this novel in the 50th anniversary of its publication, and had meant to read it ever since. (Publication came after the book was smuggled out of the Soviet Union in 1956; it was not printed there until 1988).

I guess the political problem was that the book elevated concern about individual development over sacrifice to the "state," whatever that meant from time to time. I read that Pasternak declined the Nobel prize for this book after the Soviet government requested that the committee not award it to him (which it did).

There also is a famous movie (and title song). I've not seen it and would like to, though from what I read the book is way better.

I read so much Russian stuff, but very little that explores what things were like in the years during and after the revolution, particularly away from the major cities. This story begins well before the revolution, then follows the major characters through events in Moscow, then to Zhivago's wife's patrimony in Siberia, and then back to Moscow.

One of the things that happens in the book is that the author explores a situation where someone is in love - seemingly genuinely - with two women, for different reasons. (Goethe works this theme a couple times also, as I'm learning.) I don't get this idea. Many of the scenes are in the army camp in Siberia (reds v whites); all the events that occurred in the early years after the fall of the tsar and ascension of the communists.

Zhivago was a doctor but also the author's voice for exploring the meaning of art and beauty. All this is most interesting (and probably way more interesting to me now than it would have been 10 years ago). Zhivago is principled and idealistic in a world that descended ever deeper into violence and opportunism. In addition to medical skill, he did drawings, poetry, stories.

Zhivago was not impressed by the revolutionaries; his attitude here also reminded me of Goethe's attitude toward the zealots that sprung up in the years surrounding the French revolution, and later in opposition to the reactionaries that took over the various German states once Bonaparte had been controlled. Zhivago views the folks that pushed the communist agenda - understood many to be drawn toward unsettled situations, seizers of opportunities, not serious; yet there was an element of legitimate desire for change and improvement. No doubt this attitude toward communist orthodoxy made Pasternak unpopular.

My only criticism, and it is very slight - lots of characters, some seem to just disappear, others pop in all sorts of coincidences. Authors of course do this or interesting stories couldn't develop, but this seemed a bit much at times.

Very much worth reading.

Read in the gym.