The Rule of the Clan (Mark S. Weiner, 2013)

Saw some favorable references, but this wasn't very interesting.  At least it was pretty short.

The author addresses the difference between traditional clan-based governance systems and the modern liberal state.  I think he's obviously correct in noting that the modern liberal state - with its emphasis on individual rights - can't function without a strong central government.  But he seems to fear that the government (U.S.) in its current iteration can't be scaled back without risk that we'll devolve into something more along the lines of a clan-based system.

Which is pretty ridiculous.  To surpass clan systems, the state does need to be strong - but primarily in matters such as protection of individual rights (property and otherwise), police force, military, etc.  And no doubt some involvement in infrastructure etc.  But the current U.S. system veers far toward usurping individual rights.  So that was kind of an off-target sideshow for the author.

Somewhat interesting discussions about clan systems in various setting - Scotland, Iceland, the middle east, etc.  Concepts of honor and shame.  Subjugation of the individual - especially if you happen to be female.  Why clan systems tend to work in the absence of a centralized state - participants obtain protection in an anarchic setting plus strong group identification - but at the expense of individual liberties.

An unexpected and completely immediate overlap with a just-read book:  as the author describes the transition from clan to state in Britain, who should he cite (at p. 147) but Edwin of Northumbria, a central figure in this piece of historical fiction.  The author discusses the role of religion in assisting the transition from clan to modern state (centralization) - also a theme in the linked work.  Big Religion and Big State work well together!

Author notes the tendency to glamorize those old-timey clan systems - the feeling of inclusiveness can seem attractive as the modern liberal state can leave folks feeling disconnected.  Yet in the end, folks with a choice tend to migrate out of clan-ism.

Clan systems aren't going away.  They are dramatically different than our (U.S.) society - which should make us humble when intervening in middle east situations.  But we seem to remain un-humble.

Isaac's Storm - A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History (Erik Larson, 1999)

Book club selection (via NOC).

Recounts a hurricane that devastated Galveston, Texas in 1900.  Story primarily built around the character of Isaac Cline, lead representative in Galveston of the federal government's still-young weather bureau.

A few thoughts:

1.  First part of the book did an interesting job of putting the storm in context.  Gave some basics on hurricane formation plus some history of the manner in which scientific understanding had advanced as to these matters.  I liked this.

2.  Author emphasized the limits of human knowledge of complex weather systems in 1900, and that much uncertainty remains to this day.  Seems relevant to everyone's favorite cause du jour (climate change, formerly known as global warming).

3.  Galveston as an up-and-coming city; economy based on port activities.  Topography seemed risky for flooding, but boosters and others convinced themselves otherwise.  Sounded a bit like the "rain follows the plow" rhetoric employed by Plains States boosters back in the day.

4.  Isaac not a terribly sympathetic character; some conflicts with his weatherman-brother (Joseph), etc.

5.  Author did a good job taking the reader to the scene of the hurricane and letting us imagine how that might have felt.  And the difficult scenes in the storm's aftermath.

6.  Still - as the author points out, source material was very scarce.  So there's an element of "winging it" here.

7.  Galveston didn't recover.  Houston bloomed with the oil industry.

8.  Weather forecasting bureaucracy was a mess - shockingly, key government workers seemed primarily interested in keeping their jobs and enlarging their personal prestige.  For example:  adamantly ignoring folks in Cuba who were pretty experienced in observing these kinds of stories.

Hild (Nicola Griffith, 2013)

Historical fiction - what I'd call a "romp".  Like this.  A category I rarely read.  But I quite enjoyed this, blew through it quite quickly at the gym.  Maybe I should spend more time with this genre?

The author somehow became aware of a figure from 7th-century Britain - St. Hilda of Whitby - limited information available, so the author decided to build a full tale around the scanty record.  I read that this now will become a three-part work.  This first novel covers Hild from her earliest memories (three years old) to her early 20s.  

Hild's mother (Breguswith) positions her as a seer - the "light of the world" - and Hild delivers.  Bright, perceptive, courageous - she becomes seer for her crafty uncle (Edwin of Northumbria) who is a minor king but rapidly consolidating power over larger territories.

Hild grows up with Cian; Begu becomes her "gemaecce" and Gwladus her accommodating body servant; Hild is increasingly adept at seeing patterns everywhere.  Also at cultivating information networks.  So she has better quality information than others, and superior skills at putting pieces together.  In short: highly valuable to someone like Edwin.

So did this give me some insights into 7th century Northumbria?  And if so, are they worth anything?  I think it's "yes" and "yes".  Author is not a historian, but seems to have done enough checking around such that the reader gets a feel for time/place (if only the author's version).  What became England was a bevy of shifting alliances - England was not unique.  Clan behavior.  The importance of trade.  Kings who travel from place to place within their domain(s) - lest allegiance of locals wanes.

Roman ruins.  Old gods - including Woden - giving way to Christianity.  But always with political overtones. Hild is baptized - but not out of any sense of piety.  Edwin believed church backing would help him increase and consolidate his power base (well, that has been a pretty typical strategy before and after the 7th century.)  Priests hanging around - from Ireland or coming over from mainland Europe.  Irish priest - Fursey - teaches Hild to read and write (on Edwin's orders); also emphasizes the value of literacy as the power struggles continue and become more sophisticated. 

I may well go on to read the next two novels if/as they become available.

If This is a Man (1947) | The Truce (1962) (Primo Levi)

Levi was an Italian Jew - a chemist - deported to Auschwitz.  Survived, and made it back home to Turin.  Felt a need to write down his experiences - not previously an author, but all this seemed to turn him into an effective writer indeed.

Much of the power here is that he was not writing for a commercial audience in 1947.  As this belatedly helped me understand, the "Holocaust" as a concept didn't exist - and wouldn't for many more years.  Levi simply recorded, without hatred, his vivid recollections of surviving in Auschwitz.  To help himself think it through; to record for others.  Spare, non-dramatic - and therefore excruciating.

Here in 2014, have we "heard it all before"?  Yes - but I'd say Levi's book - as a first-person account written very shortly after the war - is in a class by itself.  And worth reading no matter how much other material of this sort one has previously read.  His detailed descriptions of the markets going on in the camp (and involving townspeople) were new to me.  The dreaded "selections."  Cold, hungry, degraded.

Also interesting in respect of the camps:  the large number of countries represented among, and languages spoken by, the prisoners.  Levi encountered several Italians (and a few others) who were crucially helpful allies.

He was one of a handful of survivors out of the 500+ deportees in his group.  Survival aided in part by his skill set - as a chemist, he was assigned to a lab and avoided some of the harsh outdoor work as his second winter in the camp set in.  Also was lucky to be very ill at the time the Russians liberated the camps, as he was left behind in sick bay while the Nazis dealt with many of the other prisoners.

"If This is a Man" didn't find an audience for a number of years.  Levi wrote a number of books after it.  After "If This is a Man" caught on, he wrote a companion piece - "The Truce" - recounting his long journey from Auschwitz back to Turin.  The Russians were in charge of most of the trip, and his stories of the journey are consistently interesting.  It was the days of "displaced persons."  I particularly liked his description of how it felt to pass through Germany on his way back to Italy.

His story is truly amazing (the cliche actually applies here).  PJ recommendation.

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (Daniel Okrent, 2010)

This book was written in parallel with a much-promoted Ken Burns mini-series - though not directly used in it.  Burns bores me at this point - same style, too plodding, too formulaic.  But this book was generally informative and useful.  A few take-aways:

1.  Drinking was a problem in 19th century America - there seem to be stats to support this view.  So there was a long run-up to Prohibition.  A need for change, even if this approach was incredibly ill-advised.

2.  It's enormously difficult to amend the U.S. Constitution.  And it happened.  (Actually twice, including repeal.)

3.  The 16th amendment - permitting a federal income tax - was a key milestone in the movement toward passage of the 18th amendment (prohibition).  Feds relied heavily on alcohol excise taxes going back to the Whiskey Rebellion - therefore there could not be Prohibition without an alternative revenue source.  (And Big Gov itself could never have arisen without the federal income tax - a whole different story.)

4.  Interesting discussion of the pre-Prohibition urban saloon as intertwined with urban political machines.

5.  Germans controlled the big breweries - so WWI anti-German environment was exploited to obtain passage.

6.  Amazingly effective leadership - primarily Wayne B. Wheeler - ran the "dry" movement.  I had no idea of the extent of control by "drys" over elections - and therefore politicians - at all levels of government.

7.  Didn't know about the extent of the shipboard rum-running - fleets sitting just outside territorial waters.  Didn't know how much product gushed through Detroit.

8.  Didn't know about the effect on California's somewhat-young wine industry.  They pulled up most of their vines and replaced with cheap grapes - easy to ship, and it was legal for folks to buy grapes (and ferment at home).

9.  Beaulieu Vineyards controls the "sacramental wine" exception - ties to Catholic Church and rabbis - huge plus for them when Prohibition ends.  No need to pull up their vines - religious market was large, plus lots o' product leaked out to non-religious end-users.

10.  Many parallels to today's War on Drugs.  Law enforcement corruption, diversion of resources, over-aggressive enforcement, citizen scofflaws, etc.  Social changes, including changes in drinking patterns (probably especially by women).

11.  Booze cruises - in international waters - led to today's cruise ship industry ("trips to nowhere" didn't exist prior to Prohibition).

12.  Classic coalition of "Baptists and bootleggers" interested in preventing repeal of Prohibition.

13.  Author states there were 1,345 American brewers in 1915 - but only 31 were up and running within three months after return of legal beer.  Prohibition led to a market controlled by a few major players selling bland product - a situation which wasn't corrected for decades.

14.  Interesting overlap with immigration "reform" - with echoes for ongoing debates on the subject.  Immigration in Prohibition era involved unreliable/undesirable southern and eastern Europeans - many Catholics - considerable fear that demographics would lead to votes for "wet" politicians.  Along with other bigotry factors - this leads to passage of the 1924 immigration "reform" law and its annual quotas.  Sets an annual ceiling of 2% of immigrants already in the U.S. as reported in census data.  To achieve the goal of keeping out newcomers - pretty much openly discussed - the act looked back to the 1890 census - before the undesirables started showing up!  

Ah, the fine intentions of the Progressive movement . . .

This Side of Paradise (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1920)

Book club selection (via Lon?)

Fitzgerald's first novel.  Amory Blaine is handsome, smart, indulged.  Basically:  seems to not know how to be happy.

The story line traces through his upbringing with his eccentric mother, close friendship with a priest-friend of his mother's, several romances (none of which goes anywhere), adventures at Princeton, a WWI stint (no details provided), working at (and resigning from) an ad agency, poverty, heavy drinking (prohibition comes into play), tries to be a fall guy in NJ, etc.  Searching.

Fitzgerald does give the reader a feel for what the world may well have felt like at the WWI fault line.  Political, social, literary trends; rapid change.  And Fitzgerald is good with the language, though I thought a bit glib.

Amory wasn't a particularly likable character.  Having troubles, but not sympathetic.

The ambiguities here yielded worthwhile "book club" discussion.

Still don't know why Fitzgerald is considered so wonderful, though this was worth reading.

And:  still not a fan of his best-regarded work.

Bourgeois Dignity - Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World (Deirdre N. McCloskey, 2010)

At an overview level most of us are aware that our minds are packed with assumptions - many useful, many just plain wrong.  What turns out to be devilishly difficult:  identifying specific assumptions, why we hold them, why we wish to cling to them.  Especially incorrect assumptions.

I grew up with a pretty typical education.  Inundated during those school years, and thereafter, by mainstream news and information sources.  Also:  most folks with whom I interacted over the years mouthed the same standard narratives - listening to adult conversations while growing up, listening to adult conversations even today.  Result:  nonstop exposure to the standard narratives most of the country lives by.

That's where this book fits for me.  A highly useful discussion not only critiquing standard narratives within the book's scope, but explaining how those narratives came to be "standard," with some thoughts as to why so many are so invested in keeping them so.

McCloskey describes "the great fact" - that no one disputes - that virtually the entire planet lived on $3 per day (or worse) for millennia; that something happened in the Netherlands around 300 years ago - quickly copied and expanded shortly thereafter in England - that this something (or somethings) expanded wealth by at least a factor of 16 (much higher in the wealthiest countries).

As a result, lives are incredibly better in countries where this "something" took hold.  Not perfect.  But "incredibly better" is a pretty fine achievement.  Especially for the poor.  And no one with a shred of knowledge of history - and by that I mean no one - would ever "go back" to live in those allegedly good old pre-innovation days.

[Despite this:  constant disparagement of bourgeois values by the "clerisy":  intellectuals, artists (now including TV/movie types), aristocrats, journalists (not to mention politicians chasing votes from the mass of folks without enough knowledge or interest to think independently of the standard narratives).]

How we explain this "something" that fueled a growth explosion starting ~300 years ago goes such a long way to how we view public policy today.  McCloskey illuminates the basis for many of the standard anti-capitalist (including the "exploitation" hobby horse), anti-growth narratives - fashionable since 1848 (certainly pounded into my head during college and to this day) - this discussion opened up many new ideas for me.

[Interesting:  as wonderful a writer and economist as Marx was, the author explains how Marx was so often just plain wrong on the history (which of course weakens everything else).  In his defense, somewhat:  professional historians didn't really exist in 1848, so he didn't have much good information with which to work.  But the damage has been done in terms of persistent distortion via the clerisy-narrative, down to the present.]

Her own explanation of the primary driver in support of explosive growth:  a new respect, and language, became acceptable in relation to innovation (and innovators) in the Netherlands, then England, then many other places.  It's a compelling, thought-provoking idea.  Give dignity and freedom to the innovators:  and just watch what happens.  McCloskey traces the effect across geographies and timelines.

This book is part of a series; another equally valuable book by this author is discussed here.

Displaying the closing two paragraphs below (though they make much more sense for those that RTWT).

Under Western Eyes (Joseph Conrad, 1911)

Conrad remains one of my favorite authors; almost in the zone with Dostoevsky, Mann, Solzhenitsyn.

Had never heard of this book but recently saw a favorable review in WSJ.  Many overlaps with this book (published 39 years earlier, surprisingly enough - the themes endured in Russia).

Protagonist (Razumov) is a student in St. Petersburg unwittingly drawn into an assassination situation when the assassin (fellow student Haldin) shows up in Razumov's room shortly after the deed, seeking safety until he can make his escape.  Haldin ends up getting arrested and executed in pretty short order.

All this puts Razumov - getting attention from anarchists and police alike - in a very difficult situation; he seeks to cope throughout the story.

Razumov is the illegitimate son of Russian noble who has a small role in the tale; Razumov grew up without family and very much a loner; this plays into his handling of the situations he encounters.  Razumov had simply wanted to thrive in his schooling and get a decent job - this avenue was now completely closed.

Razumov is whisked out of Russia and into Switzerland shortly after the assassination.  Where he encounters the assassin's sister and mother - previously sent abroad by Haldin in anticipation of trouble for them should he succeed in the assassination.  These two quite naturally are most interested in what happened to Haldin (who was the shining star of the family).  Haldin's sister (Nathalie) is a strong character though inexperienced.  Razumov also encounters various Russian emigres, many involved in plotting against the government "back home" and anxious to employ both Razumov and Nathalie.

Conrad does a great job with this.  The story is told through the "Western eyes" of a middle-aged Englishman resident in Geneva who had come to know Haldin's sister (as her English teacher); he stays involved as things unfold and eventually has access to Razumov's diary.  The protagonist's struggles are really well done.

Conrad makes quite a lot of the inability of "Western eyes" to see/understand what was going on in Russia, and between Russians.  Not quite sure what to make of that.  Conrad was Polish - though moved to England and wrote in English - and had family experience with Tsarist-repression.  So there are several layers going on here.

Joseph and His Brothers (Thomas Mann; published in four volumes in 1933, 1934, 1936, 1943)

I'll repeat:  I'm a big fan of Thomas Mann.  So I knew I would take up this work - but was wondering - what's going on here?  1,500 pages to re-tell, or re-cast, Old Testament stories that Mann's reader-universe already knew intimately?

The introductory materials indicate that Mann saw this work as his magnus opus - but that clearly isn't anyone else's perception.  Too long for widespread readership.  Rocky start - he was already in exile before the first volume was published in his native (now-Nazi) Germany, making it unlikely that there would be any critical acclaim or wide distribution.  Etc.

Written over the course of 16 years - last volume written in "sunny California."

I love Mann's writing style - wordy, full of ideas, spinning out conversations and ideas in tremendous detail.  It works for me.

This book reminds me that Bible is full of foundation stories - marvelous, profound, human.

And it's pretty much common sense that Bible knowledge is useful if not indispensable in absorbing so many great works of Western culture (as discussed here).

Mann has a highly effective way of communicating how deep the past runs - how long folks have been living the foundation stories.  The opening sentences of the book:  "Deep is the well of the past.  Should we not call it bottomless?"

Interesting aspect - Mann describes Yahweh's covenant with Israel as a win-win - Abram (as he was then known) restlessly looking for an ur-God; on the other hand, God can't have a presence on earth without a people dedicated to Him.  Playing with the idea of a God with needs!

But the basic element here:  marvelous stories.  (And they're marvelous stories even before Mann expands them in his wonderful style.)  A sampling (not always in chronological order):

• Abram - the wanderer; the covenant.
• Abraham and Sarah - time in Egypt.  Ismael via slave girl.
• Isaak via Sarah - though she was too old.
• Abraham and Isaak; the sacrifice.
• Abraham's servant - Eliezer - sent on a long journey to find a wife for Isaak - but goes quickly, the earth leaps up to meet him!
• Isaak and Rebekah
• Esau (the hairy one) and Jacob
• Rebekah helps Jacob get Isaak's blessing
• Esau the unfavored older son - like Cain - echoes within Jacob's group of sons
• Jacob wrestles with the angel
• Rebekah sends Jacob far away to live with her brother Laban (so the tense situation with Esau might have a chance to settle down); she never sees her favorite again
• Jacob makes Laban wealthy, starting with finding a well for him; Laban distrustful and untrustworthy
• Laban sneaking in Leah (in place of Rachel) after Jacob works seven years to get Rachel
• Jacob and Rachel - after seven more years
• The 12 sons of Jacob; leading to the 12 tribes of Israel 
• Leah fertile; Rachel supplying only #11 (Joseph) and #12 (Benjamin) 
• Reuben - eldest; Simeon and Levi - warlike in this telling; Judah #4
• Four of the 12 sons born to Jacob by slave-girls (when nothing happening with Leah or Rachel)
• Jacob outwitting Laban the deceiver; starts the return to the homeland
• Rachel dying along the road after giving birth to Benjamin
• Jacob transferring favoritism from Rachel to Joseph (he had her eyes, after all); hard feelings among Joseph's bros
• Jacob the King of Flocks - the blessed one - everything he touches turns out well
• Jacob the trickster
• Jacob the mystic, the ascetic
• Jacob individually with the name "Israel"
• Joseph wheedles the coat of many colors out of Jacob (in this telling, it is a fantastic unisex gown of some sort that Laban had acquired for his daughter to wear at her wedding)
• Joseph in the pit; Joseph sold to passersby; bros telling Jacob that Joseph must have been killed by a wild beast
• Joseph sold into the house of Potiphar (powerful, wealthy courtier of Pharaoh) - quickly rises from bottom rung to chief steward
• Potiphar's wife finally notices Joseph, and how
• Potiphar's wife asks Potiphar to send Joseph away - this scene was brilliantly written; Potiphar demurs
• Joseph talks business with Potiphar's wife, too much
• Joseph - back to the pit; his "calm" jailer; Joseph correctly interprets dreams for two jailed members of Pharaoh's senior household staff
• Joseph called from prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams (after the professional interpreters failed) - foresees seven years of plenty, seven years of famine
• Pharaoh appoints Joseph as his chief steward; preparations for famine
• Joseph's brothers (without Benjamin) come to Egypt - the only place with grain - but don't recognize Joseph.  
• The reveal - on return trip - to the 11 bros only.
• Perhaps my very favorite part of the story:  how Jacob learns, after all these years, that Joseph is alive and well.  The role of the songs of Serah in gently breaking the news to much-aged Jacob that Joseph lives - just delightful.
• The name "Israel" now also refers to Jacob's family - Israel moves to Egypt at Joseph's behest.
• Judah - the lion - foreshadowing lineage to come - receives Jacob's blessing.  Not Joseph.
• Tamar - believes Jacob's stories, foresees Judah as receiving the blessing, inserts herself into the key lineage (marries two of Judah's sons in succession (both die quickly); then seduces Judah himself)
• Jacob buried back in the land of his ancestors - not Egypt.

Trust me:  there's lots more over the course of 1500 pages.  Just delightful.

Notes from Underground (Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1864)

Decided to read this book while reading this most interesting biography of Dostoevsky.  Short; just a bit over 100 pages in this edition.

Notes from Underground was written at a turning point in Dostoevsky's career.  His initial successes had dimmed; he had lived as an exiled convict.  The protagonist is a disaffected government worker who has gone underground, i.e. stepped out of normal society.  Bitter, unhappy, etc.  A type Dostoevsky is observing as Russia changes, also resonant with parts of the exile community.

Notes starts with a statement of the protagonist's philosophy - said to reflect closely the author's own views at this time - the paramount importance of free will, even if irrational or harmful to the individual exercising it - rejecting "the Utopian socialism to which he once owed allegiance" - which I understood to hold that human behavior can be happily engineered via experts employing reason.  Protagonist is bitter, cynical, observant to a point.  "I am a sick man" - famous opening line.

Second part of Notes is referred to as the Story of the Falling Sleet.  One aspect is a sad scene where the protagonist is utterly incapable of connecting with his school pals (I read this was based somewhat on the author's unhappy experience in military engineering school - orchestrated/forced by his father.)  More centrally:  he then meets up with Liza - the fallen woman - severely painful interactions.  Liza perhaps somewhat foreshadows Sonya (Crime and Punishment).  These scenes are wonderfully written - yes, painful.

The impoverished protagonist doesn't have a very satisfying relationship with his valet.

After Notes - pretty much a direct path to Crime and Punishment and enduring fame for the author (along with continuing personal challenges:  bio is must-read).

Dostoevsky = hard to beat.

The Siege (Helen Dunmore, 2001)

Novel is set in the amazing, horrific siege of Leningrad in World War II.  Father, daughter and much younger son (mother died in childbirth so son effectively is being raised by the daughter) try to survive through the siege (with a focus on the awful first winter); as that winter grinds on, they are joined in their flat by an aging, out-of-favor actress and a young doctor.

The story of the siege is told in detail in The 900 Days, a very wonderful book that is discussed here.

I'd strongly recommend reading The 900 Days, and it would be OK to skip this little volume.

Not that it's awful - at worst, it's an accessible way to get a feeling for the situation.  A somewhat more personal interpretation of how it might have felt on starvation rations in those freezing Leningrad apartments.  But that aspect also comes through pretty clearly in The 900 Days, accompanied by a description of the wider context that makes the individual survival stories even more compelling.

Cancer Ward (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1968)

Solzhenitsyn has a lot to say; he's certainly a favorite author.

***

But before talking a bit about the book I must note Solzhenitsyn's marvelous way of describing a problem I'm constantly but rather incoherently whining about - the incredibly negative effect of nonstop TV.  It's becoming increasingly stressful to enter a waiting room or airport lounge or gym or wherever - no escape.  Here is Solzhenitsyn discussing a character (Vadim) who felt the same way about radio in 1950s USSR (Vadim was a new patient entering the cancer ward and was carrying a small stack of books he wished to read there):

How well-said:  "The permanent mutter was . . . a theft of time, a diffusion and an entropy of the spirit, convenient and agreeable to the inert but intolerable to those with initiative."

***
Dust jacket reviews note comparisons with this book to The Magic Mountain (by another of my favorite authors).  The comparison makes some sense - setting is a medical facility with various patients fighting disease while serving as backdrop for multiple story lines, social commentary, etc.

Novel set in mid-1950s - time of big change in USSR - Stalin had died in '53, Khrushchev-led denunciation of previously-sacrosanct Papa Joe was happening.

Not really a linear story here, though a few characters are given prominence.  Various folks come in and out of the cancer ward; we don't really get to resolution on some number of them.  Which is fine (again, somewhat reminiscent of The Magic Mountain).

Novel starts with admission to the ward of a patient named Rusanov - party member spouting party lines; stress with his tumor is exacerbated by stress with changing political landscape, likely return of exiles he had denounced, etc.

Kostoglotov - main character, patient in the ward - had been in the camps - now on medical leave and getting something of a glimpse of "normal" life (at least to the extent anything seems normal to a patient in a cancer ward!)  Solzhenitsyn of course uses the camps and the lives of exiles as important topics in several of his works, and it's handled very effectively here - threaded throughout the work are illuminations of life for someone exiled "in perpetuity" in middle-of-nowhere Asia.  Author includes a few other characters exiled or living in the camps - interesting - even details about how they recognize each other in the cancer ward (or anywhere "outside").  Poignant tales of an elderly couple who were Kostoglotov's friends-in-exile.  The typically ridiculous bases for punishment.  The atmosphere of fear, denunciation, disappearances, arbitrariness.

Among the medical personnel - Vera Gangert ("Vega") - in a generation where so many of the men had been killed - not entirely sure how to take her - not a lot of detail but she had had a disappointing history with men (starting with her first/young love, killed in WWII) - she hits it off with Kostoglotov.  While simultaneously insisting he take a hormone therapy which likely ended his career as a man (as Solzhenitsyn explains it).  Vega was willing to have a non-physical relationship with Kostoglotov, but he never really warmed up to the idea.  Sad situation.  Also poor, ill Dontsova.  Zoya - very healthy.

At behest of Dyomka, Kostoglotov visits the zoo after his cancer ward discharge.  But finds that it can be difficult for someone from the camps to enjoy watching caged animals.

The Pianist (Wladyslaw Szpilman, 1945 (translation 1999))

Book club selection (via PJ).

Hadn't realized the quite-fine movie of the same name was based upon a book by the protagonist.  And it's interesting that - for once - the movie pretty much tracked the book.

Szpilman was a pianist for Polish Radio in the run-up to World War II; he was playing a Chopin Nocturne on the air when the Germans knocked out the station.  There followed the awful times for Warsaw Jewry (Polish situation described here, for example).  Establishment of Warsaw Ghetto; systematic reduction of the population; random violence; overcrowded conditions leading to illness, starvation, misery.  He recounts the scene in the train yard (also in the movie) where his father purchased a black market overpriced chocolate and cut it into six tiny pieces - the last family meal.

Very spare writing style, which I think was also very effective.  Hard to believe the author - with all the challenges simply to survive - was able to put this together in 1945.  It generally was suppressed for decades thereafter.

The friendly German is an interesting character - very helpful to have his diary extracts at the back of the book (also the epilogue).  Some discussion whether the diary extracts were somehow written after the fact, but I rather doubt it.  Still, would have been mighty dangerous for the diarist if his musings had fallen into the wrong hands.

Another reminder of the sorry opportunism of local populations - often crueler to the Jews than the Germans were (which is saying a lot).  The incredible risks taken by those willing to assist Jews.

Szpilman played the same Nocturne as the first broadcast on Polish Radio following expulsion of the Nazis.  Pretty amazing story.

Emma (Jane Austen, 1815)

Spotted this on the library shelf and - never having read Austen - decided why not?  There must be something going on  what with worldwide readership, numerous movies (in the only one I've seen Greer Garson really is quite excellent as Elizabeth Bennet).  Emma is fairly long - this version runs to 495 pages - but I'll say that it pretty much held my attention throughout.

Titular heroine is witty, smart, wealthy young woman who somewhat overrates herself - the flaws create some interest.  Austen provides a detailed look at folks in various stations of life in the village of Highbury - that element is pretty interesting.

Emma's dad is a kindly fuss budget (I can see myself making some of his observations about food).  Her sister and family live in London; her ex-governess (who functioned more as a dear friend than a useful guiding hand) lives in walking range with her new (somewhat older) husband; son of new husband creates interest around town.  Jane Fairfax.  Mrs., Miss Bates.  Elton marries an obnoxious wife after Emma rejects him.  Knightley.  Harriet Smith.  Etc.

Nothing about it was terribly compelling, yet I can see why Austen is credited with keen ++ observation powers, ability to re-create dialogue, sketch characters, etc.  I think it was worth my time.  And that it shall be the last Austen novel I read.

Into Thin Air - A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (Jon Krakauer, 1997)

Book club selection (via Zach).

Initially somewhat unenthused about this book.  The little I've thought about them, I mostly regarded Everest hikers as rather selfish thrill-seekers (selfish because of the high potential for adverse consequences to family members, Sherpas etc.)  But it turns out that the book was really quite good (though I don't think it changed my impression of the Everest hiker crowd).

The author was a pretty accomplished hiker and rock climber but had no high-elevation experience to speak of.  He finagled an assignment with Outdoor magazine to accompany an Everest expedition.  This was the 1990s, which we learn was the period when non-extraordinary climbers started being accepted on Everest climbs in far larger numbers than previously - if they could just come up with a significant cash payment and get through a fairly quick acclimatization program.  The author had in mind a story about commercialization, environmental harm, disruption to natives, etc.

But it happened that his climbing date (in May 1996) - and he did successfully make it to the top - was the date of a sudden storm which, coupled with human error, bad luck, etc., resulted in eight deaths.  Not surprisingly, this gave him the material for quite a tale.  And I liked how he presented it.  Generally spare style.

Some things that struck me (and made for some interesting conversation):

1.  If you've invested $65K plus expenses (in 1997 dollars) for likely your one shot at a lifetime dream:  folks can be reluctant to risk completing their ascent to help another hiker.

2.  Even if you're willing to abandon the ascent to help others in need:  how far can you go; how much do you risk your own safety (consequences for your loved ones, among other considerations) to help another hiker?

3.  And these hikers in need typically are complete strangers or, at most, someone you just met.  Each of whom was fully aware of, and accepted, the inherent dangers.  No doubt they signed pages of liability waivers.  Do they have a right to impose on others?

4.  Getting off that topic:  based on this reading, climbers doubtless are thrilled to make the top, but it seems like a pretty joyless enterprise overall.  Astonishing effects of high elevation - can't think straight, etc.

5.  Walking past oxygen canisters and other trash from prior expeditions; also a few frozen corpses.

6.  Quote from Japanese climber who walked past struggling Indian team members:  "We were too tired to help.  Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality."

7.  Beck Weathers:  wow.