The Secret Agent (Joseph Conrad, 1907)

246 pages.

Joseph Conrad remains a favorite author.  So skilled at making characters multi-dimensional - not cartoonish, not good/bad.

Discussion between Assistant Commissioner and Chief Inspector - so good at describing organizational behavior.  A good example of the multi-dimensional characterizations.

The anarchists.  Humans.  True believers more or less; for some it's more of a job.  I like the way he handles them here; perhaps liked it better in Conrad's "Under Western Eyes".

Great description of the types of personalities that gravitate toward the far left (pp 42-43 in the Penguin paperback).  (Of course I don't think that's a great place to end up, so perhaps that's why I like the description so much!)

Mr. Verloc.  His wife (Winnie), and her mother and brother (Stevie, poor thing).  Chief Inspector Heat - competent - made me think of the similar character/role in two Dickens novels (Our Mutual Friend and Bleak House).

A good read.  Even if I didn't love the wind-up.

Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen, 1811)

I liked it because I think Austen writes so very well.

But I think the plot was quite the weakest of her works that I've read so far.

Lots of implausible plot twists, and most of the characters were not very likeable.  Including darling Edward, who behaved like a child during most of the book.

Lead character:  Elinor.  She has "sense".

Willoughby - ugh.   The Steele sisters.  The Palmers.  The Middletons.  The Ferrars.

Marianne - all "sensibility" and thus not very sympathetic until the end of the book.  Colonel Brandon??

Boys in the Boat - 9 Americans and their Quest for Olympic Gold (Daniel Brown, 2014)

Book club selection (via POC; session held (via Zoom) September 6, 2021).

A glimpse of faraway Seattle (distant in time and geography) - useful.

A view of the Depression, the dust storms, the national mood.  Hoovervilles.  Genuine "hard times."  Useful context for the 1930s.  How the perception of "hard times" has evolved.

Many of the 1930s Washington stories resonated with stories we were hearing about the Depression when growing up in 1960s Iowa - vivid memories - and relatively fresh, the Depression didn't end until WWII.  (It would be like us today talking about events from late 1990s.)  They wouldn't have been surprised to hear of children in Washington working like adults, folks doing without, they were doing their version of the same.  Describes a hand-cranked cream separator.  Laying asphalt - classic summer job.  Making do.

Just before embarking for Berlin - author describes the 1936 heat wave as the rowers spend time in NYC.  EMG family always talked about that summer - crop wilted, dragging mattresses onto lawn to be able to sleep.  (At age 7, he thought it was an adventure.)

While in NYC hotel - author mentions the rowers meeting Joe Fortenberry (captain of Olympic basketball team) - Antiques Roadshow tells us he was credited with the first slam dunk, and with prompting a rule change to outlaw defensive goaltending.  Hitler required outdoor basketball - gold medal game was played in sand in a driving rainstorm.  Appraised his gold medal at $100-150k.

Pocock as a mystical figure - compares to who?  Horse whisperers.  Author says Pocock's grandfather worked on Stanley's Lady Alice!

History of rowing; how it doesn't start, but becomes, elite.  Development of shells.  This was interesting.

Got a little carried away at the end - Hitler watching the US overtake Germany as a harbinger of WWII outcome.  But OK.

A view of rowing as a sport of national interest - interesting and it was hard to believe - this is the early 1930s, not that long ago.  Boxing, baseball, horse racing, ? Then I see the movie "After Office Hours" on TMC - 1935 - in theater lobby, Clark Gable et al are discussing the races at Poughkeepsie!

Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy, 1891)

Tess's father (ne'er-do-well who married a kindred spirit) learns that he is a direct descendant of once-famous English noble family (the D'Urbervilles), now forgotten to all but a few folks who chase genealogy.

D'Urberville parvenu - nothing but trouble for the protagonist (Tess).

Angel Clare - in love with Tess, but troubled by her troubles.  Clergyman father.  Attempts to farm in Brazil after breaking several milkmaid hearts.

Hardy, as always, outstanding in observing the countryside, the manners of its inhabitants.

Discussing a May-Day walk by the village women - which succeeded the May Pole dance - "The banded ones were all dressed in white gowns - a gay survival from Old Style days, when cheerfulness and May-time were synonyms - days before the habit of taking long views had reduced emotions to a monotonous average." (p. 747)  I rather liked that passage.  And many others.

Blood and Thunder - Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West (Hampton Sides, 2006)

If you're interested in the American West, this book is well worth reading.

Helping put Mexican War, conquest of CA, Santa Fe Trail in context.   Kearney, Fremont, Benton - names I've often heard but lose track of.

Overlap with Lamy of Santa Fe.

AZ as pretty much just outback throughout this period - not very important to the story line.

Descriptions of first detailed surveys; names attached to places rather randomly, so many have stuck (unfortunate but not unusual).

First artist sketches of desert, canyons.  Initial difficulties in seeing beauty - which then was equated with productive land, or Hudson River School lushness.

Indian wars - not solvable.  Longstanding enmity with Mexicans and between tribes.  Lots of awful behavior but current criticism of this period probably would benefit from more reading.   

Bosque Redondo - I finally understand where it was, why such a disaster for the Navajos (and a few Apaches mixed in).

Chivington (Sand Creek massacre).

Kit Carson - incredible fiction around his life; the real story is even better.  Deep appreciation for multiple tribes (two Indian wives); but "did his duty" in terms of rounding up Navajos and others.

Canyon de Chelly, Canyon de Muerto.  Destruction of peach trees (which originated with the Spanish).

Subjugation of Native Americans in general - what a situation.  

The Troll Garden (Willa Cather, 1905)

(131 pages)

Collection of early short stories by a favorite author.

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

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

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

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

The Marriage of Phaedra - famous painting.

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

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

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

(329 pages)

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

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

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

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

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

Delightful, serendipitous encounters when in challenging circumstances.  

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

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

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

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

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

A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles, 2016)

(462 pages)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A very good read.

The Complete Professor Challenger Stories (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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

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

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

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

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

When the World Screamed - Challenger leads a deep dig.

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

Sword of Honor (Evelyn Waugh, 1952-1961)

(764 pages)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Complete Essays of Montaigne (Books II-III) (Michel de Montaigne) (completed 1588)

My approach to Montaigne's Essays seems pretty typical - read them in bits and pieces over an extended period of time. Otherwise: too much to absorb.

The Essays are divided into three Books - I posted on Book I and the first half of Book II back in 2010, now have completed all three Books (except for just skipping around in the lengthy Apology for Raymond Semond).   

There's too much content to attempt to usefully summarize. 

I see that I dogeared a bunch of the essay "on husbanding your will" - written later in the author's life so perhaps especially congenial to me?  The notion of "starting carefully" - be wary what you start and how you start it - much easier to manage at the early stage rather than later.  You initially own a project, and then eventually it owns you.

Lots of discussion about the value of getting to know oneself - a high-value pursuit, invest your energy here.  Don't worry so much about judging others!  Best part is you will start seeing how little you know, how often you are swayed by priors.

As I wrote in 2010 - (1) much seems obvious, yet it is written in a way that's fresh and useful; and (2) somehow readers always see themselves in Montaigne's writings (even readers coming from disparate viewpoints and widely differing points in history).  Nobody can quite figure out how he achieves this.

Pretty clear that it continues to be well worth working through these. 

Ship Fever: Stories (Andrea Barrett, 1996)

(256 pages)

Book club selection (via Emily; session held (via Zoom) May 23, 2021).  (Debbers, in Phoenix, joined from 706.)

Collection of short stories; science themes; I liked it.  Here are my discussion notes on the eight stories:

1 - Mendel & his nemesis; Tati & his nemesis; Richard the husband not very flattering portrayal; Euro assistant romanced by wife.  Tati had a letter from Mendel, it's given to Richard.  Unflattering portrayal of 70s students.

2 - Linnaeus - forgetful/slipping old man in sleigh, stops in house; recalls Apostles sent to the far reaches, so many with a bad ending (was this what happened?  I think yes.)  One shows up at the house.  Sounds like his immediate family wasn't very heartwarming.  

3 - littoral zone - a couple goes on a summer project, their marriages are broken.  not sure if this is finished, or if another story will come back to it?  Not very interesting.

4 - Rare Bird - Sarah Anne disappears with Mrs. Pearce.  Interested in whether swallows winter underwater.  Correspond with Linnaeus.  Brother's wife and child die, he goes to America; Sarah Anne's letters found later.

5 - Soroche - Zaga marries wealthy/older Joel, gets sick in Peru, widowed, loses $$.  Siblings unhappy with her, as are stepchildren.  Doctor that she meets in Peru makes a comparison - Fuegians who went back to England didn't fit in either place.  That's the interesting angle, even Willa Cather wrote about it.  

6 - Birds with No Feet - Alec tracks Wallace . . . who is way more successful.  Wallace publishes, gets sponsors, does an article about natural selection.  Alec travels cheap; excels at finding specimens; early batch lost in ship fire.  Alec eventually not comfortable "back home" - he "went native."  Gifted at finding stuff, not so much at coming up with any unifying theories.

7 - The Marburg Sisters - two messed-up kids, not interesting

8 - Ship Fever - longest - quite interesting - dr. who can't get traction goes to an island where Irish emigrants are quarantined; his childhood sweetheart volunteers (her husband is on the ground in Ireland writing articles); he hangs out with immigrant Nora.  Made this come alive in an interesting way.  Minor criticism - usual unthinking unflattering references to business, making a profit, wealthy folk.

Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov (Pevear and Volokhonsky, 2000)

(454 pages)

Chekhov as a master story writer - consistently wonderful here.

Some overlap with this recently-read collection, but not too much.  

The translators made a big splash originally, but seem to have fallen out of favor.  I have no way to judge.  Their translations are very readable, if that's worth anything.  Don't know how true to the tone of the original.

Wide variety of characters from so many walks of Russian life and from many geographic areas.

His ability set a scene; little descriptions of nature packed with so much; etc.

I'll be paging through this from time to time - a lot to absorb. 

Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future (James Shapiro, 2020)

(320 pages)

Book club selection (via Lon; session held (via Zoom) April 18, 2021).

Interesting; provoked a very good discussion; but I didn't like the book itself.  This fellow comes across as another unthinking member of the herd of reactionaries that formed in the wake of DJT's 2016 election - book written too soon thereafter to permit recovery or perspective.  (I'm not a Trump voter, but can make the minimal mental effort required to think about why the guy attracted a lot of votes - not happening in this book!)

Here were my conversation ntoes:

great book if you're looking for a display of the mindset of blue checkmark Twitter - otherwise meh.  

The discussion of Julius Caesar/Trump in the park - earnestly asserting the play was "not satiric" - genuine LOL.  Closes the book with same tortured apologia.  

on the day after DJT's election - oh no, we woke up to a divided nation!  (what if HRC had won?  clearly assumes no division!)

Seemingly without a trace of recognition, goes on (after discovering a divided country in Nov 2016) to describe in detail situations where the country could easily be considered far more divided.

• We had an actual Civil War

• 19th century New York - talk about immigrant stress - the numbers are astonishing - and it was Catholics, Jews, Irish, Eastern Europeans yuck

• Talk about income inequality - far worse in those days

the idea that reading the Bible and Shakespeare is essential to getting more out of art and literature - this book underscores - (Lincoln/Booth chapter, at least)

but this poor guy . . . jamming every word choice and analysis into Orthodox SJW Theology.

Ch 1 - Julius Caesar - authoritarianism very much in the eye of the beholder!

Ch 2 - Othello - I the author am more woke than JQA!

Ch 3 - Romeo & Juliet (U.S. Grant) - gee a military guy cross-dressing as a woman was questioned in those days - those narrow-minded white males, feeling threatened, I'm more woke than them.

Ch 4 - NYC Astor battles.  more interesting in terms of 19th century NY; unfortunately tried to convert it into a modern income inequality/class war tale

Ch 5 - Booth, Lincoln - interesting to think that Shakespeare influence may in large part result from nothing else on most bookshelves (Bible; Milton; Plutarch).  this was the most interesting of the chapters - not trying to make a social justice point.

Ch 6 - Caliban - back to SJW cant, this time immigration.  Smug descriptions of 19th century views; vague "inclusive" language - how would you like immigration to be handled? Open borders?  If not - what rules (and how to not be "racist" if use country boundaries in setting numbers)?  

Ch - Taming of the Shrew - huh?

Ch - Romeo & Juliet, Harvey W - huh?

Persuasion (Jane Austen, 1817)

(236 pages)

Austen's last completed novel; I see that it was published posthumously by her brother.

So she's a later-in-life writer.  The two main characters are a bit later-in-life also.  Anne Elliott was persuaded at a young age to not marry a Captain Wentworth - who had not then proven himself at sea. It turns out that being resolutely unpersuadeable isn't always a virtue.

Anne Elliott is part (a peripheral part) of a noble family quite a bit down on its finances.  Interactions with relatives in varying circumstances, including a seaside trip.

Wonderfully written, enjoyable.  I do feel that the characters tend to be rather black and white, but OK.