The Coral Thief, by Rebecca Stott (2010)
The Coral Thief is a historical novel that is set in France during the end of Napoleonic era. The story begins as the narrator, Daniel Connor, was a young man traveling from Edinburgh to Paris to study comparative anatomy with the great Professor George Cuvier at the Jardin des Plantes. Napoleon, too, was traveling, but he was on his way to exile on Sainte Helena.
Paris is no longer the intellectual hotbed it was under the Emperor Napoleon. The city has become a military base for the Allied forces, who are trying to regain their art and scientific specimens. The city is in chaos and rumors abound that Napoleon’s armies are hiding in the catacombs beneath the city awaiting the moment for a comeback and attack.
Paris was filled with foreigners and items stolen from the Napoleonic conquests, including fossils and scientific specimens, were being hidden from prying eyes. On his trek to Paris, Daniel met up with a beautiful, but older fellow passenger who stole the fossils and scientific papers he was to present to Cuvier. Thus, begins Daniel’s descent into the mysterious world of post-Napoleonic France.
Once Daniel discovered that his possessions were stolen, he was forced to choose between seeking recovery on his own, or employing the services of Jagot, a former thief and current Head of Police. He steps out on his own and finds his mysterious traveling companion, Lucienne, whom he learns was a countess who managed to escape death during the French Revolution. She was also a brilliant scientist, which is one reason she took Daniel’s papers.
The Coral Thief seeks to combine the beginning of scientific theories, which ultimately lead to our modern theory of evolution, with a mystery-thriller. Some of the peripheral characters are based on real people of the time. The scientific debates presented in the book were the hot topics of the day.
The Coral Thief was an interesting book, but I was not totally enamored by the author’s style of writing. I will probably not seek out her other works.
Read: September 10, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Books Set in the United States
The Four Ms. Bradwells, by Meg Waite Clayton (2011)
I really wanted to like The Four Ms. Bradwells and, in fact, the book started off very promising. Somewhere along the line, however, the novel lost its momentum for me.
The Four Ms. Bradwells is the story about four women who became close friends while in law school during the early 1980s. The story line jumps from their law school days to the present day, where each woman, now in middle age, has been blessed with a successful career. The novel opens at the Senate confirmation hearings where Betts (Elsbieta Zhukovski) has been nominated to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The other three women are there to provide moral support. During the course of the Senate hearings, questions are asked about a mysterious death that occurred during their law school days. The prepared answer is unsatisfying and may derail Betts chance for approval to the Supreme Court.
The women decide to escape the public eye by spending the weekend on an island in Chesapeake Bay that is owned by the Ginger Conrad’s family. It is the same island where the death occurred nearly 30 years earlier. Was it really a suicide, or was it something more malicious?
The title of the novel, The Four Ms. Bradfords, comes from an actual old Supreme Court case, Bradford v. Illinois (83 US 130), in which one Myra Bradwell had been denied admission to the Illinois Bar in 1869 merely because she was female. Over a century later, women were allowed admission to the Bar, but in the 1980s women were still hassled for being in law school (I know from personal experience).
Each chapter is told through the voice of one of the four friends ~ Mia, Laney, the African-American, Betts, the Polish-American, and Ginger, the blue-blood. Each of the women have faced and overcome discrimination during their careers. Some of these fights are ones still faced by women in the workforce.
Unfortunately, as the author begins to expound on the travails of each of the women, I felt as though the story was contrived. All social issues facing women, from death, divorce, affairs, raising children, etc., seemed to befall these women.
The character of Max, the poor, but intellectual and caring architect living on Conrad’s island, seemed to be included solely to portray a “good” man. Not all men are evil and out to destroy a successful woman.
The climatic ending was also a disappointment. By the time I finished the book, I really didn’t care about how or why the death from the women’s law school days had occurred.
Read: September 6, 2011
I really wanted to like The Four Ms. Bradwells and, in fact, the book started off very promising. Somewhere along the line, however, the novel lost its momentum for me.
The Four Ms. Bradwells is the story about four women who became close friends while in law school during the early 1980s. The story line jumps from their law school days to the present day, where each woman, now in middle age, has been blessed with a successful career. The novel opens at the Senate confirmation hearings where Betts (Elsbieta Zhukovski) has been nominated to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The other three women are there to provide moral support. During the course of the Senate hearings, questions are asked about a mysterious death that occurred during their law school days. The prepared answer is unsatisfying and may derail Betts chance for approval to the Supreme Court.
The women decide to escape the public eye by spending the weekend on an island in Chesapeake Bay that is owned by the Ginger Conrad’s family. It is the same island where the death occurred nearly 30 years earlier. Was it really a suicide, or was it something more malicious?
The title of the novel, The Four Ms. Bradfords, comes from an actual old Supreme Court case, Bradford v. Illinois (83 US 130), in which one Myra Bradwell had been denied admission to the Illinois Bar in 1869 merely because she was female. Over a century later, women were allowed admission to the Bar, but in the 1980s women were still hassled for being in law school (I know from personal experience).
Each chapter is told through the voice of one of the four friends ~ Mia, Laney, the African-American, Betts, the Polish-American, and Ginger, the blue-blood. Each of the women have faced and overcome discrimination during their careers. Some of these fights are ones still faced by women in the workforce.
Unfortunately, as the author begins to expound on the travails of each of the women, I felt as though the story was contrived. All social issues facing women, from death, divorce, affairs, raising children, etc., seemed to befall these women.
The character of Max, the poor, but intellectual and caring architect living on Conrad’s island, seemed to be included solely to portray a “good” man. Not all men are evil and out to destroy a successful woman.
The climatic ending was also a disappointment. By the time I finished the book, I really didn’t care about how or why the death from the women’s law school days had occurred.
Read: September 6, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Books Set in Europe: Germany
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, by Erik Larson (2011)
In the Garden of Beasts takes the reader to Berlin, as Hitler, then Chancellor of Germany, began to consolidate his power. The title of the book, which is oddly apt for this dark period of German history, comes from the name of Berlin’s main park, which is called Tiergarten, which literally means the Garden of Beasts.
The book follows William Dodd, the newly appointed United States Ambassador to Germany, and his promiscuous 25-year-old daughter, Martha, during the course of their stay in Berlin.
When the German ambassadorship became vacant, no one the top tier, experienced diplomats in the political circles wanted the position. Seasoned diplomats could sense trouble was brewing in Germany. Dodd was approaching retirement as a history professor from the University of Chicago. It was his dream to complete a scholarly book, and he felt that being in German might afford him time to work on this project. Furthermore, he had studied in Germany as a young man and decided that this opportunity would be good for his entire family, which included his wife and two grown children.
The Dodds arrive in Germany before the world sees Hitler as the beast he will become. Many prominent Americans and Europeans admired him at this time. Others were more fearful, but couldn’t imagine that Hitler and his cronies could remain in power.
Dodd was unsuited for the ambassadorship. He tried to perform his duties while knowing that his scholarship was being brushed aside. In addition, the pay was relatively low and the expense account was almost non-existent. Most diplomats had their own source of income to support the lavish parties they were expected to throw. Dodd, however, was of modest means, and attempted to stay within the meager expense granted to him by the US government.
Martha Dodd, however, was enchanted by Germany. She was a free-spirit divorcée with several affairs behind her, including one with the American poet, Carl Sandburg. She quickly fell in line with young men belonging to the Nazi party. As the ambassador’s daughter, doors were opened to her and she quickly entered into the inner circle of the Nazi party. She partied with top Nazi officials, including Himmler and Goebbels. She also became intimate with the original commander of the Gestapo, the married Rudolf Diehls. She was casual about the politics that was surrounding her.
She found it amusing when her father allowed a Jewish family to live, hidden on the top floor of their Berlin residence. Finally, at the Night of the Long Knives, when Hitler arrested and murdered his rivals as well as some of his moderate supporters, the Dodds could no longer look away. Even Martha realized that the Germany scene she had so much enjoyed, had an evil core.
Larson scoured many sources for the writing of this book, including the diaries of William and Martha Dodd. It is a fascinating and horrifying slice of history.
Read: August 8, 2011
In the Garden of Beasts takes the reader to Berlin, as Hitler, then Chancellor of Germany, began to consolidate his power. The title of the book, which is oddly apt for this dark period of German history, comes from the name of Berlin’s main park, which is called Tiergarten, which literally means the Garden of Beasts.
The book follows William Dodd, the newly appointed United States Ambassador to Germany, and his promiscuous 25-year-old daughter, Martha, during the course of their stay in Berlin.
When the German ambassadorship became vacant, no one the top tier, experienced diplomats in the political circles wanted the position. Seasoned diplomats could sense trouble was brewing in Germany. Dodd was approaching retirement as a history professor from the University of Chicago. It was his dream to complete a scholarly book, and he felt that being in German might afford him time to work on this project. Furthermore, he had studied in Germany as a young man and decided that this opportunity would be good for his entire family, which included his wife and two grown children.
The Dodds arrive in Germany before the world sees Hitler as the beast he will become. Many prominent Americans and Europeans admired him at this time. Others were more fearful, but couldn’t imagine that Hitler and his cronies could remain in power.
Dodd was unsuited for the ambassadorship. He tried to perform his duties while knowing that his scholarship was being brushed aside. In addition, the pay was relatively low and the expense account was almost non-existent. Most diplomats had their own source of income to support the lavish parties they were expected to throw. Dodd, however, was of modest means, and attempted to stay within the meager expense granted to him by the US government.
Martha Dodd, however, was enchanted by Germany. She was a free-spirit divorcée with several affairs behind her, including one with the American poet, Carl Sandburg. She quickly fell in line with young men belonging to the Nazi party. As the ambassador’s daughter, doors were opened to her and she quickly entered into the inner circle of the Nazi party. She partied with top Nazi officials, including Himmler and Goebbels. She also became intimate with the original commander of the Gestapo, the married Rudolf Diehls. She was casual about the politics that was surrounding her.
She found it amusing when her father allowed a Jewish family to live, hidden on the top floor of their Berlin residence. Finally, at the Night of the Long Knives, when Hitler arrested and murdered his rivals as well as some of his moderate supporters, the Dodds could no longer look away. Even Martha realized that the Germany scene she had so much enjoyed, had an evil core.
Larson scoured many sources for the writing of this book, including the diaries of William and Martha Dodd. It is a fascinating and horrifying slice of history.
Read: August 8, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Books Set in the United States: Boston, MA
The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane (2008)
Read: July 4, 2011
Read: July 4, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Books Set in the Middle East: Iraq
Sweet Dates in Basra, by Jessica Jiji (2010)
Sweet Dates in Basra is a story of Iraq during and after World War II. The story takes place when Jews and Muslims more or less got along. The story follows young Kathmiya, who is a young “Marsh Arab.” When she reaches the ripe old age of 13, her thoughts begin to turn to marriage. After all, that is the age most young Muslim women in her community are married.
Instead, Kathmiya is sent into the city of Basra, where she becomes a maid in a Jewish household. Each weekend, Kathmiya returns to her humble home in the marsh and begs her family to find her a husband. Even though she is sent to several matchmakers, no viable husband find his way into her life. Her mother remains very mysterious about finding her young daughter a husband, hinting that there is some long family secret that is preventing Kathmiya from procuring a husband.
One day, while working as a domestic in Basra, she meets Shafiq, a young Jewish boy. Shafiq happens to be the brother of Kathmiya’s mistress. Shafiq and Kathmiya are both immediately smitten with each other, but are worlds apart and can only briefly speak to each other.
Shafiq’s best friend is Omar, his Muslim next door neighbor. Omar and Shafiq are best of friends who consider themselves brothers because as infants, each mother had nursed each child.
The ideology of World War II touches Iraq. The Iraqi’s are opposed to the British because of the oil interests. Politics in Iraq shift, making it dangerous to be a Jew. Shafiq’s family tries to emphasize their strong ties to Iraqi nationalism. One of Shafiq’s brother is a strong anti-Zionist, whose actions emphasize his love of his country. Ironically, he is arrested and beaten for on other reason than being a Jew.
Early on in the story, Shafiq and Omar encounter a man who had killed his daughter in an “honor” killing because she had had sexual relations before her marriage. This hints at what might happen if Shafiq and Kathmiya ever got together, since Jews and Muslims, while might live next to each other, would not marry.
This novel shows how individuals can look beyond religion and tradition and live in peace. The dynamics of groups, however, work differently. Shafiq and his brothers are denied entrance to the Iraqi University merely for being Jewish. The family realizes that it must leave the country in order to survive.
Sweet Dates in Basra was based, in part, on the author’s family. It is a good novel that sheds a bit light on a period of history that is largely unknown to Westerners.
Read: June 5, 2011
Sweet Dates in Basra is a story of Iraq during and after World War II. The story takes place when Jews and Muslims more or less got along. The story follows young Kathmiya, who is a young “Marsh Arab.” When she reaches the ripe old age of 13, her thoughts begin to turn to marriage. After all, that is the age most young Muslim women in her community are married.
Instead, Kathmiya is sent into the city of Basra, where she becomes a maid in a Jewish household. Each weekend, Kathmiya returns to her humble home in the marsh and begs her family to find her a husband. Even though she is sent to several matchmakers, no viable husband find his way into her life. Her mother remains very mysterious about finding her young daughter a husband, hinting that there is some long family secret that is preventing Kathmiya from procuring a husband.
One day, while working as a domestic in Basra, she meets Shafiq, a young Jewish boy. Shafiq happens to be the brother of Kathmiya’s mistress. Shafiq and Kathmiya are both immediately smitten with each other, but are worlds apart and can only briefly speak to each other.
Shafiq’s best friend is Omar, his Muslim next door neighbor. Omar and Shafiq are best of friends who consider themselves brothers because as infants, each mother had nursed each child.
The ideology of World War II touches Iraq. The Iraqi’s are opposed to the British because of the oil interests. Politics in Iraq shift, making it dangerous to be a Jew. Shafiq’s family tries to emphasize their strong ties to Iraqi nationalism. One of Shafiq’s brother is a strong anti-Zionist, whose actions emphasize his love of his country. Ironically, he is arrested and beaten for on other reason than being a Jew.
Early on in the story, Shafiq and Omar encounter a man who had killed his daughter in an “honor” killing because she had had sexual relations before her marriage. This hints at what might happen if Shafiq and Kathmiya ever got together, since Jews and Muslims, while might live next to each other, would not marry.
This novel shows how individuals can look beyond religion and tradition and live in peace. The dynamics of groups, however, work differently. Shafiq and his brothers are denied entrance to the Iraqi University merely for being Jewish. The family realizes that it must leave the country in order to survive.
Sweet Dates in Basra was based, in part, on the author’s family. It is a good novel that sheds a bit light on a period of history that is largely unknown to Westerners.
Read: June 5, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Books Set in the United States: Washington State
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford (2009).
Read: June 3, 2011
Read: June 3, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Books Set in the Middle East: Israel
Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, by Dan Senor and Saul Singer (2009)
Read: May 25, 2011
Read: May 25, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Books Set in the Middle East: Turkey and Syria
The Gendarme, by Mark T. Mustian (2010)
Read: May 13, 2011
Read: May 13, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Books Set in Turkey: Istanbul
The Oracle of Stamboul, by Michael David Lukas (2011)
Read: April 11, 2011
Read: April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Books Set in a Global Environment
The Eichmann Trial, by Deborah E. Lipstadt (2011)
Read: April 2, 2011
Read: April 2, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Books Set in the United States: Utah
Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer (2004)
Read: March 19, 2011
Read: March 19, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Books Set In the United States
I am America (And So Can You), by Stephen Colbert (2007)
Read: March 12, 2011
Read: March 12, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Books Set in Europe: England
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson (2010)
Read: March 8, 2011
Read: March 8, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Books set in the United States: Kansas
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (1966)
Read: February 19, 2011
Read: February 19, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Books Set in a Global Environment
The Billionaire's Vinegar, by Benjamin Wallace
Read: February 2, 2011 (Second Reading)
Read: February 2, 2011 (Second Reading)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Books Set in the United States: Maryland
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010)
Read: January 30, 2011
Read: January 30, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Books Set in Europe: London, England
The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson (2010)
I get it. The Finkler Question is satire; it's a comedy about anti-Semitism. It has won all sorts of accolades and awards. It is the recipient of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. I just didn't find the novel all that amusing.
The novel follows Julian Treslove, a sad-sack man without meaning in his life. He has never married and is unable to sustain any long-term relationships. He has acknowledged two sons, both with different mothers. Treslove becomes intrigued by his two Jewish and widowed friends, the elderly Libor Sevcik and Samuel Finkler. Samuel Finkler is the first Jew Treslove has ever known. He, therefore, has turned Finkler into his own euphemism for "Jew"; hence the title is really "The Jewish Question." Treslove feels that calling Jews "Finklers" instead takes away the "stigma" of being Jewish.
The Finkler Question is about the stereotypical Jewish angst and anxiety. A part of Treslove wants to become a Jew. At a Seder dinner with Libor and Finkler, Treslove meets Hephzibah, a zaftig woman with whom he soon moves in with. He begins to obsess about his uncircumcised condition. Treslove's obsessive racism becomes tiring. Finkler, himself, decides to begin a movement he calls ASHamed Jews, which is nothing more that another stereotype self-hating Jew.
I found The Finkler Question to perpetuate an offensive stereotyping of Jews. While there are some humous sections of the novel, as a whole, I did not find it amusing.
Read: January 15, 2011
I get it. The Finkler Question is satire; it's a comedy about anti-Semitism. It has won all sorts of accolades and awards. It is the recipient of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. I just didn't find the novel all that amusing.
The novel follows Julian Treslove, a sad-sack man without meaning in his life. He has never married and is unable to sustain any long-term relationships. He has acknowledged two sons, both with different mothers. Treslove becomes intrigued by his two Jewish and widowed friends, the elderly Libor Sevcik and Samuel Finkler. Samuel Finkler is the first Jew Treslove has ever known. He, therefore, has turned Finkler into his own euphemism for "Jew"; hence the title is really "The Jewish Question." Treslove feels that calling Jews "Finklers" instead takes away the "stigma" of being Jewish.
The Finkler Question is about the stereotypical Jewish angst and anxiety. A part of Treslove wants to become a Jew. At a Seder dinner with Libor and Finkler, Treslove meets Hephzibah, a zaftig woman with whom he soon moves in with. He begins to obsess about his uncircumcised condition. Treslove's obsessive racism becomes tiring. Finkler, himself, decides to begin a movement he calls ASHamed Jews, which is nothing more that another stereotype self-hating Jew.
I found The Finkler Question to perpetuate an offensive stereotyping of Jews. While there are some humous sections of the novel, as a whole, I did not find it amusing.
Read: January 15, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Books Set in the Caribbean: Cuba
Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy, by Carlos Eire (2003)
Shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1962, Operation Petro Pan airlifted 14,000 children from Cuba. Their parents were to follow them soon after. Carlos Eire, along with his older brother, were two of the children in Pedro Pan. Carlos was 12 years old. It was several years before his mother was able to leave Cuba and join her sons. His father never left his beloved Cuba.
Until that day when he suddenly found himself alone in Miami, he was a child of privilege. His father was a wealthy Cuban judge. His family was among the elite. His father was convinced that he was Louis XVI in a past life and that his wife was Marie Antoinette. He and his brother ran around Havana terrorizing lizards by various means of boyhood antics.
In January 1959, Batista was removed from power and replaced by a young Fidel Castro. Life had changed overnight. Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire were heard on a regular basis.
Waiting for Snow in Havana is Eire's childhood's memories of a simpler time ~ a time when a young boy could be a young boy with no cares in the world. Eire remembers life with his eccentric father. He recalls the boy his father brings into the family house and adopts, the boy whose main objective is to terrorize Eire. He recalls his father's collection of porcelain figurines. His father's love for his collections was so strong, that he chose to remain in Cuba rather than follow his family to America.
Eire recently wrote a sequel, Learning to Die in Miami, which picks up with his memories of his early life and struggles in America. I look forward to reading it.
Carlos Eire is currently a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University. I would love to have the opportunity to take a class with him.
Read: January 12, 2011
Shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1962, Operation Petro Pan airlifted 14,000 children from Cuba. Their parents were to follow them soon after. Carlos Eire, along with his older brother, were two of the children in Pedro Pan. Carlos was 12 years old. It was several years before his mother was able to leave Cuba and join her sons. His father never left his beloved Cuba.
Until that day when he suddenly found himself alone in Miami, he was a child of privilege. His father was a wealthy Cuban judge. His family was among the elite. His father was convinced that he was Louis XVI in a past life and that his wife was Marie Antoinette. He and his brother ran around Havana terrorizing lizards by various means of boyhood antics.
In January 1959, Batista was removed from power and replaced by a young Fidel Castro. Life had changed overnight. Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire were heard on a regular basis.
Waiting for Snow in Havana is Eire's childhood's memories of a simpler time ~ a time when a young boy could be a young boy with no cares in the world. Eire remembers life with his eccentric father. He recalls the boy his father brings into the family house and adopts, the boy whose main objective is to terrorize Eire. He recalls his father's collection of porcelain figurines. His father's love for his collections was so strong, that he chose to remain in Cuba rather than follow his family to America.
Eire recently wrote a sequel, Learning to Die in Miami, which picks up with his memories of his early life and struggles in America. I look forward to reading it.
Carlos Eire is currently a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University. I would love to have the opportunity to take a class with him.
Read: January 12, 2011
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