The Silent Angel (Heinrich Boll, written 1950, published 1992)

Protagonist is a veteran German soldier - Hans Schnitzler - a hardened cynic who made going AWOL and forging papers into something of an art form in the waning days of WWII.  Setting is Cologne - in the very final days of the war, and the very first days of the postwar era.

Schnitzler searches for the widow of a comrade; has problems with her wealthy guardian.  He also runs into a widow who has just lost a baby; tries to learn how to form a relationship with her.  Schnitzler's wife also had died.  Gloomy enough - probably meaning it was realistic - such that the book supposedly was suppressed in Germany for over 40 years.

Characters struggle to cope in a new world presented to them in a thoroughly devastated city.  Where simply finding food is an adventure.  Schnitzler becomes expert at stealing coal off moving trains as a way to pay for food.  Finds a form of re-connection with the Catholic church.

Short, worthwhile.

The Coasts of Bohemia - A Czech History (Derek Sayer, 1998)

Since my wife is 3/4 Bohemian or Czech - with obvious implications for my children - it seems like a pretty good idea to learn something about this part of the world.  (For example:  where, exactly, is Bohemia?  Also:  why is a "bohemian" lifestyle associated in the first instance with artistic types residing in Paris?)

This book was interesting, and useful.  Title is a play on a line in Shakespeare - thought to be intentionally confusing about a non-existent Bohemian coastline.

Turns out that was typically is referred to as "Bohemia" roughly corresponds with the current Czech Republic; the Slovak part (to the east, and much slower to develop) was "Moravia."

Here's how I'd summarize things:

1.  This area of Europe generally slower to develop than Western Europe (let alone Mediterranean or Middle/Near East places).

2.  Sort of on the cusp of being Slavic - but fully integrated into Western Europe over time.  Until the Iron Curtain was lowered.

3.  Country peaked as an independent state in the 14th century - king named Charles (for whom the modern Charles Bridge is named).

4.  Jan Hus a big hero - anticipated the Reformation by less than 100 years.  Used in various ways over the centuries by myth-makers with varying agendas.

5.  Defenestration of Prague triggers 30 Years War (1618-1648).

6.  Prague generally getting bossed around by other countries over the centuries - primarily Austria.

7.  Czech language mostly for peasants - cultured types use German.  Limited vocabulary.

8.  Post-Napoleon - same considerations here as in so much of Europe (and elsewhere) (as discussed very effectively in this book) - nationalism and self-determinism and all sorts of other new - and generally counterproductive - ideas come to the fore.  As in so much of Europe - Czechs try to invent a long-term history to support territorial aspirations.  Folks in the villages would have been very surprised to learn how their very local customs were appropriated in support of defining (really, inventing) a national culture.

9.  Continuing Austrian/German domination.  Limited concessions to Czech-ness, whatever that meant.  Nazi abuse, quite nasty.  Richard Heydrich - we had recently seen a movie (Hangmen Also Die) in which Bertolt Brecht was involved (the only movie in which he was involved, we learned) - sadistic Nazi governor, incredible reprisals after Heydrich was assassinated.

10.  Ongoing efforts to develop Czech language, literature, etc.  Antipathy toward Germany; crescendos, not surprisingly, after WWII.

11.  The profound bizarreness of Communism.  Recent emergence.

Author discusses The Good Soldier Svejk.  And Kafka.

Before the Wall: Berlin Days (1946-1948) (George Clare, 1990)

A well-reviewed book, but I didn't find it very valuable.  At least it was a very quick read.  Author was a Viennese Jew whose parents were killed in the mayhem, thus with an interesting perspective on events in Berlin immediately following the end of WWII (he served as a translator and in various other capacities).

He addressed some of the practical problems with denazification - including the continuing need to run the country at a time when so much of the leadership could be viewed as tainted.  What a mess.

Also the shortages, and the politicking among the four occupying powers.  A pretty unique confluence of countries in a tight geography.

So the book was interesting, but not nearly as useful as this book, or this book, or especially this book.

Plagues and Peoples (William H. McNeill, 1976)

Relatively short, but quite interesting throughout.  I understand that McNeill's thinking was rather groundbreaking in the mid-70s; I've seen elements discussed in this recent (and useful) book.

His thesis:  that the role of disease has been under-appreciated when assessing historical trends.

Another main theme:  applying the notion that microscopic parasites - disease - optimize when achieving a sustainable balance with hosts.  A disease that kills off its hosts too vigorously isn't going to thrive.  When disease exposure occurs regularly among a sufficiently large population, the disease typically turns into a childhood disease - killing off some of the weak - while survivors are immune (good for microparasite and host alike).  Isolated populations are at great risk - when exposure to a new disease finally occurs, carnage among adults occurs - a much more grievous blow to the community.

It isn't so much that those themes are surprising (though that may have been the case to some extent when originally published) - the value is his application of the themes (admittedly speculative in plenty of cases) to various historical episodes.

The big example of course (also addressed at length in 1493) is the die-off in North America resulting from the Columbian Exchange.  But McNeill provides plenty of other interesting examples from around the world.

I like how he links the microparasites to what he refers to macroparasites - almost exclusively humans preying on other humans.  The same basic principle applies - if the conqueror is too savage - or demands too much in rent or taxes - the conquered population withers and isn't productive, to the conqueror's disadvantage.

Many times the macroparasites (armies) were the instrument via which microparasites were transmitted to isolated populations, to lethal effect.

More microparasites thrive in hot climates.

City-dwellers died off due to unsanitary conditions, but were less prone to die-off from diseases (large population, steady exposure to microparasites).

Shipping, caravans, armies spread diseases in olden times.  Widespread travel in 19th and 20th centuries results in fewer epidemics - most microparasites are distributed everywhere relatively quickly.

McNeill links illness-induced weakness to various conquests and power shifts.

Rise of modern medicine has put microparasites on the defensive and allowed unprecedent population surges (along with better agriculture, etc.)  McNeill expects the microparasites to keep adjusting.

Pre-Raphaelites - Victorian Art and Design (Tim Barringer, Jason Rosenfeld, Alison Smith (2012)

This book was put together for the exhibition we viewed with K on our delightful visit to DC back in May.  PJ knows I'm a sucker for art gallery books if I see an exhibition I particularly like, so she bought this for me.  Nice.

And I think it's one of the best of this genre I've seen. It's of course pretty large; lots of reproductions of works from the exhibition (as one would expect) that I look at regularly; the kicker is that the three authors do such an interesting job of putting the artists in context, explaining what they're doing, the evolution of the movement, etc.

Back to my current focus (idea cribbed from some article-writer) on the importance of the Bible and Shakespeare to so much of Western art, literature, etc.  The Pre-Raphaelites certainly loved the subject matter from those sources.

I know no way to capsulize what these artists were all about, but I do love the bright colors, the predominating subject matters, the sense that they were pushing for something "new" - not unusual for artists, but here in a manner somehow more interesting to me.

This is a great book to own, I will (continue to) page through it regularly.

To the End of the Land (David Grossman, 2010)

I've had this book on my list since seeing several very positive reviews back when it was published in 2010.  By happenstance, my reading of it coincided closely with two closely related works (described
here and here).  Which helped make this one more meaningful.

Ora is the lead character.  Her son (Ofer) is finishing up duty in Israeli military; to celebrate, they were planning a backpacking tour up north in Galilee (estranged husband Ilan and other son Adam are out of contact somewhere in South America).  But Ofer goes back into the military in relation to an initiative underway in response to Palestinian unrest.  Ora is freaked out, let's say, and decides that she can protect Ofer by getting out of her home, avoiding news, and becoming invisible to the military's "notifiers" that come around and tell families that their sons are dead.  Ora knows this is somewhat beyond irrational but does it anyway.  And she recruits a formerly close friend of both she and Ilan - Avram - who has some issues, let's say (mostly stemming from being tortured as an Egyptian POW during the 1973 war - a situation to which Ora and Ilan are connected).  Anyway off Ora and Avram go, with backpacks.

I very much liked quite a few elements of the story.  The first part - when Ora, Ilan and Avram are quarantined in a barely functioning hospital during the 1967 war - is really nicely done, imaginative.  The parts dealing with Ora's relationship with Arab chauffeur, Sami, are most interesting.  Those folks need one another, but the circumstances are unimaginable.  

I think the book also gives a glimpse of the overriding sense of precariousness that must be quite real in Israel - especially for the generation that went through the near-existential moments in 1967 and 1973.  How must it feel to live in a tiny country pinned against the sea, surrounded by much larger countries many of which have sworn to wipe you out?  And relying on America politicians?

Ora rides the bus when bombings are taking place - good description of the way people avoid looking at each other, clearly mistrustful.

The ending caught me by surprise.

Only criticism:  I think the author overdid it in shaping characters who seem to live so intensely that it is almost "too much," for want of a better description.  The book didn't need this, it was strong enough with less intensity of that nature.

Recommended.

The Pentateuch (oft ascribed to Moses)

Don't recall where I read it - someone commented that knowing the Bible and Shakespeare is essential to dealing with so much of Western art, literature, music, whatever.  This was a very useful comment, and one that I'm acting on.

We go to an art gallery - most recent would be the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition in DC and the Getty - what percentage of significant works are along these themes?  Our Choral Union performances often are based on Bible elements.  (Working on Schubert's setting of "Miriam's Song" this semester - guess what, it's right in the Pentateuch (Miriam is reveling in poor Pharaoh's continuing misfortunes).)  Literary references are endless (we were just discussing East of Eden the other day - where poor Cain was sent ("the land of Nod, east of Eden")).  So doesn't it obviously make sense to refresh on these sources?

(Also, I'm entirely unapologetic about having a "Western" mindset - I believe there is a difference, and that it matters.)

My Bible knowledge is pretty decent, but it's been awhile.  Shakespeare - not so much - so I'm working with a Harold Bloom book and so far have read Julius Caesar, Richard III, and Titus Andronicus (will post on each as I get to it).

Pure coincidence - but helpful and interesting - that I was reading this book about Jerusalem somewhat concurrently with the Pentateuch.

Reading the Bible in chunks.  The Pentateuch is, of course, the first five books of the Old Testament.  Full of wondrous stories.  I think it does offer some pretty accurate insights into human nature, and serves up some stories to explain it.  Original sin, for example.

Hadn't recalled how Yahweh definitely was a "jealous" God.  All this stuff intended to mark out the Jews as not just a nation, but a "chosen" people.  Leviticus - quite a set of rules.

The story of Joseph - and the move to Egypt and subsequent departure - gets a ton of space.  Pharaoh was stubborn indeed - you'd think he'd give up after being pelted with frogs, having his rivers turned to blood, getting blasted with hail - just for starters.

Moses taps on the rock two times - no Promised Land for him.  40 years in the desert - so that all the unfaithful folks would be dead before the nation was permitted to enter Canaan.

Adam and Eve.  Cain and Abel.  Noah.  Abraham.  Ishmael.  Isaac.  Jacob (Leah and Rachel) and Esau.  The 12 sons of Jacob - which became the 12 tribes.  Moses.  Aaron.  Balaam won't curse the Israelites.

Next: Joshua, Samuel, Kings, etc.

Jerusalem - The Biography (Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2011)

Book had received glowing reviews - and clearly deserved them.  This is one of the more helpful things I've read recently.  Bought it. Will use it for reference.

Author is a descendant of one of the leading Jewish families in Jerusalem (his great great uncle plays a prominent role).  Author - I hadn't heard of him previously - apparently he is known for writing popular histories.  But in his case this is a plus - as best I can tell, he's managed to write useful, balanced books that also are highly readable.

Jerusalem is a relatively small, remote town.  That somehow became ground zero for the three Abrahamic religions.  The history is simply unbelievable.

Hopefully any government official with any decision-making authority about sending Americans into this part of the world will have read this book carefully.  (And plenty of other materials.)  The issues run deep here in ways we cannot really fathom.

I like how he handles the Old Testament era - it's interesting how archaeology continues to confirm some of the Biblical figures (plenty others remain in myth-status).  David.  Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians.  Herod.  Paul of Tarsus - labeled "The Creator of Christianity" here - which is a pretty interesting thought.

Muhammad's seemingly tenuous connection to Jerusalem.  Turned into something big.  Crusaders.  Byzantines.  Richard the Lionhearted.  Saladin.  Ottomans, and periods of obscurity.

Napoleon's ill-fated Mideast tour spawns bestsellers and renewed Western interest.  Christian evangelicals - many in U.S. - see linkage to the last days.  Russians pour in.  Mark Twain.  WWI, Zionism.  1948.  1967.

Useful discussion how the Christians, Muslims and Jews all have so many sub-sects floating around, often at odds with each other.  The conflicts aren't just among the three major strands.

A city absolutely unlike any other.

The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller, 2012)

I liked this, and would recommend it.  But the reviewers were so enthusiastic that I think my expectations were set too high.

This is the story of Achilles - with the twist being
that it is told from the perspective of Patroclus (who was a significant character in the Iliad, but not that big a deal).

In this book, the boy Achilles selects Patroclus to be his special friend - an unlikely choice.  Achilles has a goddess-mother who doesn't care for Patroclus.  Achilles is fated to be the best warrior of his time, and there are some other unpromising prophecies about his future.

The two grow up together, including a couple years being trained by a centaur.  Patroclus and Achilles do turn out to be special friends.  Then comes the abduction of Helen and the Trojan War.

Quick read, creative approach, I liked the last couple chapters.

Hadn't realized that the story of Achilles' unprotected heel (targeted by archer Paris) was a later add-on (not part of the original Greek story).

Demons (Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1872)

I find that I like Dostoevsky more and more.  There is so much going on in this particular novel - I won't try to summarize the plot or characters - all that's available on wikipedia and elsewhere.  Characters are interesting, nuanced, surprising.  Might be my favorite work of his.

Mostly in this work, it seems Dostoevsky was looking around at a rapidly-changing Russia - behind the West in many ways and grappling with a raft of ideas originating from the West - and was able to see that utopia (or even simply "here's the path to fundamental change and improvement") is often promised by folks who turn out to be the most dangerous type of charlatan.  The pitch - as offered today but typically in a more disguised fashion - is that the promiser knows what is good for all, better than the "all" could ever figure out on their own.  Dostoevsky also saw that these proclaimers of extreme change, nihilism and the like can so easily end up as "demons" in the society.  All of this might sound obvious now - but certainly mustn't have seemed that way for change-promisers and their hearers in the 1860s and early 70s.

He also observed the futility of the responses of the conservative ruling classes and government authorities in dealing with the new ideas.  

I loved how he started with an epigraph (from St. Luke's Gospel) and then brought the 700-page novel back around to it via a glimmer of sad understanding by Stepan Trofimovich ("Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these.  So he gave them leave.  Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.")

Stepan's son is a key character - trying to organize a revolutionary cell.  Nikolai Stavrogin - enigmatic, cold, ultimately capable of experiencing guilt.

The discussions (most interesting) among the cell members and others go over many of the political philosophy ideas of the day.  And typically sound incredibly modern.  

With hindsight knowledge of how things turned out in Russia, it's pretty easy to call Dostoevsky more-than-prescient in this book.

A few others thoughts:

1.  Behaviors by some characters reminiscent of Turgenev's Bazarov.  I learned Dostoevsky thought very little of Turgenev, even caricatured him in this novel (via the writer Karmazinov).

2.  Stepan Trofimovich is perceptive:  "why is it that all these desperate socialists and communists are at the same time such incredible misers, acquirers, property-lovers, so much so that the more socialist a man is, the further he goes, the more he loves property?"

3.  His son is honest about these so-called people's revolutions:  "No, this democratic scum with its fivesomes [the cells were divided into groups of five] is a poor support; what we need is one splendid, monumental, despotic will, supported by something external and not accidental . . . then the fivesomes will also put their tails of obedience between their legs, and their obsequiousness will occasionally come in handy."  Lenin, Stalin, Castro et al would heartily concur.

4.  Very touching moment when Shatov's wife returned, and he borrows tea from Kirillov.

5.  The overriding mindset of too many of these social engineering types (who profess that goal while simply seeking power):  "We alone will remain, having destined ourselves beforehand to assume power:  we shall rally the smart ones to ourselves, and ride on the backs of the fools . . . This generation must be re-educated to make it worthy of freedom."  Exactly the discussion from this Communist-era novel.  

Birthday gift from Nedda and Paul Jr.  A good one.

Between Man and Beast - An Unlikely Explorer, The Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm (Monte Reel, 2013)

Easy read, not terribly enlightening.  Biographical regarding Paul du Chaillu - something of an outsider with West African/French roots, then spent some time in the U.S.  Got the idea of forming an expedition into west Africa - his old stomping grounds in Gabon - with primary purpose (if undisclosed) of bringing back gorilla skins.  Gorilla largely unknown at this time - 1856 - (author says du Chaillu encountered "lowland" gorillas; the "mountain" gorillas of Diane Fossey fame weren't known to whites until around 1900).

His timing overlapped precisely with the finalization and publication of  Darwin's "Origin of Species" and accompanying debates.  He was an amateur explorer - though apparently brave and effective - with a gift for recounting tales.  And tales about gorillas couldn't have fit better with the debates about evolution, man compared to apes, etc.  He was accepted and sponsored by some of the big names in the Royal Geographical Society (England) - panned by plenty of others.

The "Gorilla Quadrille" - oh wow.

One of my main reasons for reading this is a desire to get a better handle on Victorian England - it had some value in this regard.  For example, it explained Charles Mudie's lending library and its effect on novelists - even the big names modified their approach to fit his demands.

I've read plenty of other books about African exploration that were more interesting, however.  Not particularly recommended.

The Winter of our Discontent (John Steinbeck, 1961)

This was a recommendation from CPG, who has been going through various Steinbeck novels.  I liked it - it's one of Steinbeck's later works, and I think it was rather complicated and interesting.  Definitely worth reading.

I had gotten a bit tired of Steinbeck - found him a bit preachy, negative - but need to re-think that.  East of Eden certainly was a good work.

This book included a taste of Steinbeck's judgmental side - looking askance at American society entering the '60s with a streak of materialism; and Steinbeck does love to find bad behavior in business persons.  I think he, like plenty of others, mistakenly believes in some mythical time when we were free of materialism (whatever that means).  The way I wrote that sentence makes it obvious how I feel - every modern society has its pressures.

And I recognize there are plenty of instances where business persons cut corners - for all sorts of reasons.  But I do not think it's rampant, certainly not in my experience.

Anyway - the protagonist resides in a New England village; has a dual heritage (Pilgrim/pirate); lost the family money and is struggling as a grocery clerk; sees opportunity to improve his financial lot.  But this involves a series of unpleasant decisions involving his employer, his childhood friend, his buddy who works at the bank, etc.  And his high school aged son turns out to be a corner-cutter.

The book is titled after the opening line in Richard III, so that's pretty neat.

Darkness at Noon (Arthur Koestler, 1940)

I liked this quite a bit.  Koestler was Hungarian but lived in various countries; this was published in English while he lived in England.  He was familiar with the Soviet system and had spent some time in a Franco prison in Spain in the 1930s.

The novel is set in an unnamed country, but it's obviously Russia - with reference to 1930s show trials.  Protagonist is Rubashov - a hero of the early Bolshevik days.  But now "No. 1" - meaning Stalin - is purging the old guard, the military, the intellectuals, etc. - welcome to 1930s USSR.

Rubashov communicates with the next-door prisoner (a Czarist officer) via a tapping system known to all the prisoners.  Brief communication with other prisoners on occasional walks in the yard.  Rubashov is interrogated by an old comrade from the early days; then later by a young, cold, Stalin-raised officer.

Very interesting discussions about power, Communism, the endless tropes about "the ends justify the means" and the fiction of the supposedly well-intentioned smart folk looking out for the masses who don't know what they really want.  Like a big progressive state in so many ways, only somewhat cruder.  Same fawning press, however.  Ugh.

Rubashov discusses Crime and Punishment with the second interrogator; needless to say, Dosteovsky fell out of favor with the Communists (Raskelnikov was on the right track, but wavered).  Part of the discussion here reminded me much of Demons, which I happened to be reading concurrently.

Much worth reading but - maybe because I read those other works earlier - it didn't seem to have quite as much punch as the Solzhenitsyn works (such as this).

Johann Sebastian Bach - Life and Work (Martin Geck, 2000) (translated 2006)

Bach seems impossible.  How could he produce so much high-quality art?

I rather like this reviewer's take on this question:  "Consider: A professionally competent 18th-century burgher raised a very large family, came and went as a busy and productive musical technician, associated himself for nearly three decades with a church in Leipzig whose school of 55 boys he taught music while also training a choir. He provided his employers with the cantatas they required for Sundays and feast days and was active in the civic musical collegium. He traveled, though sparingly, and spent tedious hours copying out his own material. He was disputatious about a lot of things but was finally submissive to the requisite councilors, dukes and princes. When the end came, he left behind, in the city of 32,000 souls, a huge family, an indigent widow and a library of compositions which would ordain him as the greatest musical artist who ever lived."

So what happened here?  The author provides all sorts of interesting information, but I guess there's no figuring out how Bach did it.  Bach was anything but the lonely-genius-artist - he was an engaged family man with a demanding day job.

As I get older, I spend more and more time with Bach's music.  And I'm pretty sure the greatest concert I've ever attended was  this presentation of the B minor mass).  (Interesting to read that Beethoven bought his own copy of this work a century after it was written.)

The last portion of the book focused on technical details - for me, sort of like reading a foreign language - I just don't anything about composition or theory.

I'm pretty sure I need to attend a Bach concert at this church in Leipzig.

Two and Three-Part Inventions
Well-Tempered Clavier
French Suites
Goldberg Variations
The Musical Offering
The Art of Fugue
Cantatas, Motets, etc. (thankful for youtube access)
Brandenburg Concerto
St. Matthew Passion
St. John Passion
B minor Mass
Etc.
Etc.

A Time to Keep Silence (Patrick Leigh Fermor, release date 2007)

Fermor's two unique "travel" books are quite justifiably highly-regarded (discussed here and here).  So I bought them - probably will haul them along if we ever actually visit those areas in Europe.

This book is entirely different - I bought it because it was essentially a throw-in with the other two.

Short, interesting, but less interesting to me than the other two works.  Not sure how it came about, but Fermor settled into the Abbey of St. Wandrille as a place to take a break, do some writing, whatever.  Good discussion of the history of the place; interesting discussion of the process of transitioning into monastic life (even if only as a guest), and then back into the "real" world.

Later, he stays at a Trappist monastery - incredibly austere.  Finally, he visits a rock monastery in Cappadocia - no longer occupied - literally hewn from stone way back when.

He is respectful of these versions of what just seems to be an incredibly odd life; also knows that he is an outsider not really capable of knowing "what it's really like."

Short easy read, so worthwhile.