September Booknotes

 

“Books are time travel and space travel and mood-altering drugs. They are mind-melds and telepathy and past-life regression." - Toni Jordan

Atomic Bomb Book Trifecta – These three books about nuclear war are not listed in alphabetical order but rather in chronological order. Beginning in 1914, with what many people believe is the genesis of the idea of atomic weapons, H.G. Wells’ The World Set Free. Like his other futurist science fiction, this is his prophetic vision of atomic war published before nuclear fission was discovered in late 1938. 

Then moving forward in time to 1940 – 1945, The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is an engrossing oral history of the development of the atomic bombs. Finally, Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War describes the experiences of the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki on that day and for the rest of their lives.

Fiction: Science Fiction

The World Set Free by H.G. Wells (published in 1914)

The World Set Free first spoke of the possibility of creating an atomic bomb. Prior to World War I, Wells predicted nuclear warfare years before official research began. He explains his vision of the chain reactions involved and the resulting radiation. Wells’ weapon has enormous destructive power and is dropped from airplanes wiping out everything for miles. He even used the term "atomic bombs."

“The atomic bomb flashed blinding scarlet in mid-air, and fell, a descending column of blaze eddying spirally in the midst of a whirlwind. Both the aeroplanes were tossed like shuttlecocks, hurled high and sideways … When he could look down again it was like looking down upon the crater of a small volcano. In the open garden before the Imperial castle a shuddering star of evil splendor spurted and poured up smoke and flame towards them like an accusation. They were too high to distinguish people clearly or mark the bomb’s effect upon the building until suddenly the facade tottered and crumbled before the flare as sugar dissolves in water.”

Wells goes on to describe the incredible political power mankind would obtain with the creation of nuclear weapons, but also the inevitable moral questions that would accompany the use of such weapons. This book may have been at least part of the original inspiration for the development of atomic weapons, as well as presenting many other ideas including a one-world government Wells called The World Republic, that will attempt to end all wars. While the League of Nations and United Nations have attempted to end all wars, war still exists. Meanwhile, atomic weapons are here to stay and could be used at any time.

“The power of destruction which had once been the ultimate privilege of government was now the only power left in the world--and it was everywhere.”- H.G. Wells

Nonfiction: History, World War II, Science, Atomic Warfare

TheDevil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff

Written by the author of The Only Plane in the Sky (an oral history of the September 11, 2001 attacks), The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is another excellent, “must-read” book! “Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the then-secret Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, capturing the scientific breakthroughs, military decisions, and profound ethical dilemmas that emerged from using nuclear weapons.”

 “The Atomic bomb is not an inhumane weapon. I think our best answer to anyone who doubts this is that we did not start the war, and if they don’t like the way we ended it, to remember who started it.” – General Groves

Most Americans are familiar with the movie Oppenheimer. This book goes into and way beyond his story. Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the United States, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers (Enola Gay and Bock’s Car), and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“It is not the scale of destruction that gave war a new dimension with the introduction of the atom bomb; what was new was the ease with which the weapon can be used … and therefore the terrible responsibility it would impose on the political and military leaders who would have to decide whether and when to use it.” - Rudolf Peierls

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world. If you want to grasp the full impact of the atomic bomb on history and the enduring questions it raises about using such destructive power, this is an essential read.  

The last quote in the book: “Albert Einstein: I do not know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth – rocks.”

Nonfiction: History, Atomic Warfare

Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard

“Most Americans still frame nuclear war as a terrifying potential event rather than a past actuality with historic and scientific value.”

In the late morning of August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the people of Nagasaki moved through another day of hunger and wartime routine. At 11:02 a.m. a brilliant flash illuminated the sky, followed by an explosion equal to 21,000 tons of TNT. With searing heat and an annihilating force that defies imagination, the blast tore through factories, shops, and homes, carrying unprecedented levels of radiation that penetrated the bodies of people and animals. Approximately 74,000 people were killed, and another 75,000 were wounded.

For much of the world, the United States’ 1945 atomic bombings of Japan represented an end to a long and costly global war. But for tens of thousands of survivors who barely escaped death beneath the mushroom cloud, their new lives as hibakusha (atomic bomb–affected people) had just begun.

Nagasaki takes us on the astonishing journeys of five survivors, all teenagers at the time of the bombing. We learn how they and hibakusha across the city navigate an uncertain future with painful, disfiguring injuries, acute and late-onset radiation-related illnesses, and haunting fears that they would pass on genetic disorders to their children and grandchildren. In a remarkable demonstration of human resilience, a small number of hibakusha made the very personal choice to speak out about their experiences, even as U.S. policies kept their suffering hidden in both in their own country and throughout the world. The survivors’ goal: To ensure that Nagasaki remains the last atomic-bombed city in history.

Not wanting to be drawn into the game of blame and counter-blame which still accompanies historical discussions about World War II, Southard brings the hibakusha stories to life through face-to-face interviews; photographic portraits from youth to old age; as well as family histories; media interviews; and official and private publications.

It took thousands of survivors’ accounts, movies, and books to counter the Holocaust denial. These five survivors perceive that the same counter-narrative is needed before the atom-bombed cities are lost in the “hole of history.” For them there is no enemy apart from war itself; they want to promote a 21st century which is based on compassion and sensitivity rather than self-destruction.

Related Booknotes: Quakers, Krishna, and ICBMs (May 2024)

Related Blog Post: They Thought the War Was On (Oct 2022)

Related Blog Post: Time Is Running Out … (Nov 2020)

Other books I read this month …

Nonfiction: Medicine, Science, Memoir

Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson

Last month I read Super Agers which was a digest of the most recent research into aging and health. This month I read Elderhood in which noted Harvard-trained geriatrician Louise Aronson uses stories from her quarter century of caring for patients, and draws from history, science, literature, popular culture, and her own life to “weave a vision of old age that's neither nightmare nor utopian fantasy--a vision full of joy, wonder, frustration, outrage, and hope about aging, medicine, and humanity itself.” It’s a book that tackles why aging must be understood and redefined and why the medical establishment’s usual goals of saving lives and curing disease are misplaced and ill-advised in many older patients.

Dr. Aronson makes many excellent points including these:

• There is a supremacy of bureaucracy over human decency and good medical care.

“Our insurance systems reimburse generously for chemotherapy but little for conversations of patient values and goals and wishes for end-of-life care, and nothing for the time a doctor spends figuring out how to get diapers and a commode for his patients with end-stage cancer.”

• Being “old” should not be classified as 65+. People in the Third Age of life (the young-old) have vast differences in health, activities and consumer roles. They are very distinct from the “old-old” who are truly infirm and dependent.

“There are six conditions participants in a recent study identified as worse than death: bowel and bladder incontinence, the inability to get out of bed, and needing around-the-clock care.”

• Pharmaceutical trials focus mostly on middle-aged, not elderly, targets. As a result, the side effects in the elderly are often minimized or glossed over entirely.
• It is easier for the elderly to get a cochlear implant than a hearing aid or laser treatments instead of eyeglasses. Yet a simple “fix” can do wonders by providing the elderly with a healthier, fully engaged life.

“The most fundamental consideration must be the moral one: Will we treat all human beings as human beings regardless of differences, or treat some as lesser beings? The unattainability of absolute equality is no excuse for the ruthlessness devaluation of individuals or social groups.”

• Successful aging is possible for those who do not perceive meaning in aging itself, but instead, perceive meaning in being themselves in old age. Adaptability and self-acceptance are key.

“Events are judged not on their entirety but on their moments of peak intensity and on their endings. And what is life but a long, messy, awful, wonderful event? Elderhood is life’s final act; what it looks like is up to us.”

Elderhood is for anyone who is aging – which is every human being! It is an empathetic look at a vital but often disparaged stage of life.

Nonfiction: Memoir, Literary Criticism

A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz

Initially this book looks like a literary criticism, and in a way it is. But it’s more of a memoir - a memoir that uses literary criticism as a vehicle for explaining the author’s moral and intellectual development during his young adulthood.

Deresiewicz, now a professor of English, introduces himself as an obnoxious grad student, superior, cocky, self-involved, and a hater of Jane Austen without ever having read her work. But then he’s required to read Emma for a class, and something happens to him. The story of the superior, cocky, and self-involved heroine allows him to see himself for the first time. He learns he doesn’t know everything and needs to pay attention to the little things in life.

He then goes on to read more of Jane Austen and discovers even more “life lessons.”

• Pride and Prejudice: “Making mistakes is the only way to grow up. Being right might get you a pat on the head, but being wrong can help you find out who you really are.”
• Northanger Abbey: “We can never reach the end of what’s inside us, never know the limit of our own potential.”
• Mansfield Park: “People’s stories are the most important thing they have, and paying attention to those stories is just about the most important thing you can do for them.”
• Persuasion: “A true friend points out your mistakes – even at the risk of losing your friendship.”
• Sense and Sensibility: “Of all Austen’s beliefs about love, the hardest one to accept was this: not everyone is capable of it.”

If you are a Jane Austen fan you may already believe everything worth knowing about life and love can be learned in a Janes Austen novel. Deresiewicz thinks so, too. He soundly reaffirms this opinion that the world would be a better place if everyone just paid attention and listened to Jane Austen.

I found this book to be an entertaining and at times moving book. By focusing on the "subtleties of everyday life" in Austen's work, Deresiewicz demonstrates the power of literature to help us evaluate our own lives.

Reading Across the Seas Book Club: Tunisia

A Tunisian Tale: A Modern Arabic Novel by Hassouna Mosbahi, Max Weiss (Translator)

This unconventional novel explores the darker side of modern Tunisian society.

A man spreads rumors about a widowed mother's moral character among the people of a slum on the outskirts of Tunis. The slum is filled with migrants who have come to the city from the rural villages in search of a better life. Hearing the rumors about his mother, her twenty-year-old son takes matters into his own hands and commits an unspeakable crime.

A Tunisian Tale is disturbing as it alternates between the unrepentant sociopath son as he sits on death row and his murdered mother in the afterlife. The son guides us through his juvenile exploits and twisted memories. He also retells a Tunisian fairy tale as if he was the “hero” in the tale and in real life. Meanwhile the murdered mother calmly gives an account of her interrupted life from beyond the grave.

This novel reminds me of Camus' The Stranger (which I read in May) which is also a “modern classic” about an unrepentant sociopath. However, A Tunisian Tale focuses on the Tunisian culture’s obsession with women’s “honor.” This is not an uplifting tale. It is a book about shameful behavior towards women. As the son says, “People in my country say that it’s better for a person to live as a rooster for just one day than to be a chicken for an entire year.”

I am left with this thought, "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame" – Oscar Wilde

Why Am I Getting the Finger?

 

During the last four months of weekly protesting, I have noticed that 99.99% of the people who yell obscenities at me or give me the finger are men. For three weeks straight, a man in a black BMW slowed down just to give me the finger. Why?

Obviously, these men have a First Amendment right to disagree with my Free Speech. I ignore them, but I still wonder why a grown man would give the finger to a “little old lady” holding a $1.50 sign from the used-to-be-dollar store? I wanted to understand so I began reading research (sources listed at the end). Here are a few reasons I discovered about why I am getting the finger.

Political or ideological opposition. A person may give the middle finger to show complete contempt for my cause, especially if they view my message as unreasonable, damaging, or counter to their own beliefs. By giving me the finger men can silently signal their strong disapproval and hostility toward me.

A sense of belittlement. A person might feel that my protest is a challenge to their way of life, authority, or sense of social order. The gesture is used to belittle me and my cause.

Emotional expression. The middle finger is a simple, nonverbal way to express strong emotions like rage, frustration, or displeasure. The anonymity of being in a car can make people feel emboldened to express these feelings without fear of direct confrontation.

But why so many men?  I had a theory but decided to see if there was any research on why so many men respond with aggressive words and gestures to protesters. I came across a theory called Precarious manhood (PM).

PM theory suggests that, unlike womanhood, manhood is not an automatic or permanent status. It must be actively achieved and publicly demonstrated. This theory also posits that because the status of being a "real man" is hard to earn and easy to lose, men may respond to threats to their masculinity with aggression. Research has connected these dynamics to voting behavior, support for aggressive policies, and political violence.

Research describes some elements of the precariousness of manhood. Here are a few:

Aggressive compensation: To reassert their masculine status, threatened men may engage in compensatory behaviors, including acts of aggression, dominance, or risk-taking. In the political arena, this can manifest as political aggression.

Political aggression: This is defined as the endorsement of political stances, policies, candidates, or strategies that signal strength, toughness, and force. Politics provides a socially acceptable and highly visible way for men to display their masculinity vicariously.

Reinforcing masculinity: Its use in a confrontation with a protesting group or single protester (me) may be a way of asserting dominance or toughness.

“Taken together, our findings support the notion that men who are likely to doubt their masculinity may support aggressive policies, politicians, and parties, possibly as a means of affirming their manhood,”

The studies' authors emphasize that their results do not suggest that precarious manhood is only relevant when it comes to aggressive policies or support for the political right. They propose that future research should consider whether PM shows itself among the political left.

In the meantime, I will “keep on keepin’ on” expressing my First Amendment rights knowing, for whatever reason, some man will most probably give me the finger. 

Sources:
DiMuccio SH, Knowles ED. Precarious Manhood Predicts Support for Aggressive Policies and Politicians. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2021 Jul;47(7):1169-1187. doi: 10.1177/0146167220963577. Epub 2020 Oct 13. PMID: 33048007.

Vandello, Joseph A., and Jennifer K. Bosson. “Hard Won and Easily Lost: A Review and Synthesis of Theory and Research on Precarious Manhood.” Psychology of Men & Masculinity, vol. 14, no. 2, Apr. 2013, pp. 101–113.

Wintemute, GJ, Velasquez, B, Robinson, S, Tomsich, EA, Wright, MA, Shev, A. “PREPRINT: The MAGA Movement and Political Violence in 2024.” Centers for Violence Prevention, 25 June 2025, cvp.ucdavis.edu/research/preprint-maga-movement-and-political-violence-2024. Accessed 21 Sept. 2025.

August Booknotes

 

“There are people who think that things that happen in fiction do not really happen. These people are wrong.” - Neil Gaiman

Fiction: Historical Fiction, Archeology

The Dig by John Preston

I decided to read this book because I am a fan of Time Team, a British archeology show. The show started in 1994 and ran for 20 seasons. Now Time Team is on YouTube and this spring they had a dig at the setting of this book, Sutton Hoo.

The 1939 Sutton Hoo dig is the greatest Anglo-Saxon discovery ever in Britain. Archeologists uncovered an Anglo-Saxon burial ship for a king, long turned to sand, containing jewels and helmets, coins and gold trinkets, silver bowls and implements. When it was discovered, the find redefined Britain’s Dark Ages because it documented human capability and development.

The Dig is fiction but everything of significance in the novel is factual; Preston does not make up names or alter facts. At the same time, he shows exactly why fiction can be more effective than non-fiction in telling such a story because he puts you there, seeing through the eyes of people who are as involved with their emotions as they were with their hands.

Edith Pretty, the owner of Sutton Hoo, hires Basil Brown, a self-taught archeologist, to dig the mounds her late husband believed contained buried archeology. As Basil Brown digs, artifacts are excavated. The local museum is brought in to examine the artifacts. Once their intrinsic value is realized, additional people from the national museum arrive to oversee the dig.

As the dig proceeds amidst mounting anxiety about the coming war with Germany, each discovery leads to jealousy and tension among the members of the dig team. Month after month of intense activity leads to situations where locals are pitted against outsiders, professional archeologists push amateurs, including Basil Brown, out of the dig and onto the spoil mounds. Rivalries flourish. 

Given my interest in archeology, I was initially frustrated by the characters’ lack of excitement when they found artifacts! Then I wondered, since this is fiction, if the author intended to convey a parallel theme between the excavation of frail artifacts and the excavation of the characters’ thoughts and feelings. There is Peggy Piggott, a graduate student married to her professor and brought to the dig during their rather strange honeymoon simply because she is “light enough” not to disturb the fragile site. As she digs and scrapes the soil, Peggy begins to wonder if her marriage is what she thought it was. As she excavates the site, she “excavates” her emotions about her marriage. Preston expertly invents an emotional life for each character which enriches their stories without ever contradicting the facts. He also has the sense to leave some loose ends, so that the characters’ stories do not overwhelm the real one – the epic Sutton Hoo dig.

Fiction: Psychological Suspense, Mystery

The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes (published in 1913)

Former house servants, Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, have used their lifesavings to purchase a house. It is a large house, and their plan is to retire and live off the rent they will charge to lodgers. However, things do not go to plan. Lodgers are few and inconsistent. Soon they are close to financial ruin when they are finally blessed with a wealthy lodger, Mr. Sleuth. He even pays them more than the going rate and for a whole month! Mr. Sleuth has some “quirky” behaviors, but he is undoubtedly a gentleman, which is what the couple were praying for as their former lodgers had been of the “lower class.”

Mrs. Bunting comes to know their lodger and his eccentric ways best, as she is the only one who Mr. Sleuth will allow to clean his room and bring meals for him. It appears that he has no relatives or friends, no one comes to visit him. Mr. Sleuth goes out at odd times of night and sleeps during the day. He reads the Bible aloud to himself, especially passages about the evilness of women. Mrs. Bunting doesn't mind his quirkiness, because Mr. Sleuth has paid for a month in advance and she knows he has more money for many more months’ rent to come. However, he is shy, which causes Mrs. Bunting to feel protective of him and, yet, at the same time, afraid of him.

Shortly after Mr. Sleuth’s arrival, several women are murdered. To the deepening horror of the Buntings, they slowly begin to suspect their lodger is the murderer, known as The Avenger.

A mound of circumstantial evidence begins to accumulate in the minds of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting. Each new revelation makes it clearer that their “angel of providence” paying them rent, might be a devil in disguise. A tug of war wages in their consciences between the specter of losing rental income and the fact that they may be sheltering a killer.

There is zero gore. The Lodger is a character study, a morality tale. It is brooding, melodramatic, and intense. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Nonfiction: Personal Finance, Self Help

No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity by Ashlee Piper

Publisher’s Description: “For nearly two years, Ashlee Piper challenged herself to buy nothing new. And in the process, she got out of debt, cut clutter, crushed her goals, and became healthier and happier than ever—all the things she’d always wanted to do but “never had time to” (because she was mindlessly scrolling, shopping, spending, and stressing). After a decade of fine-tuning, No New Things guides readers through the same revolutionarily simple challenge that has helped thousands of global participants find freedom and fulfillment in just thirty days.”

I am not sure why I chose this book! I think this was written for a young adult who is purchasing new, unnecessary things regularly. I am old and I already have more stuff than I need. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson is more “up my alley.”

However, since the author was a political strategist before she became a writer, I found Part 2: How Did We Get Here? to be the most interesting section of the book for me. Piper briefly discusses the history of marketing with an emphasis on how Americans shifted from citizens to consumers.  

“To be a good citizen, one must consume. And through it all, our attitude toward consumption was being reprogrammed from meeting needs to manufacturing mythic wants. As time goes on, this production-consumption loop continues to wield devasting impacts not only on our health, our wallets, and the perpetuation of inequities, but on our planet.”

As a professor of marketing and a former high-level political strategist, Piper describes the tremendous power of marketing. When done ethically, it can help change hearts and minds – think of public service ads. However, 99.9% of the marketing you’re exposed to daily is “designed to keep you feeling like you’ll never have or be enough.” Basically, making you feel less so you’ll buy more.

Piper goes on to describe “emotional puppeteering.” This can be seen as retailers push “must-have” items or social media influencers hawking things they deem “essential.” These marketing techniques blur the lines between actual needs and wants.

“The reality is you’re never just being sold a product; you’re being sold a dream – and that dream is usually whatever you wish you were or had more or less of.”

After reading Piper’s section on marketing, I was reminded of the most notorious political marketing, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control” by Newt Gingrich. It was a pamphlet written in 1990 to market Republican candidates. Gingrich’s marketing plan provided a relatively simple message that branded Republicans as the pro-family, law and order, common sense party of patriots, and Democrats as corrupt traitors who were anti-flag and anti-child. It didn’t matter whether there was any truth to the characterizations, it was marketing - propaganda.

After 35 years of listening to this divisive language it’s no wonder people now think in terms of “us” versus “them.” Like all marketing, this pamphlet and the political language it inspired was designed to keep you feeling like you’ll never have enough or be enough because of “them.”

Nonfiction: Medicine, Health, Science

Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity by Eric Topol

The author, Eric Topol, is an American cardiologist, scientist, and author. He is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, a professor of Molecular Medicine and Executive Vice-President at Scripps Research Institute, and a senior consultant at the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California.

Ninety-five percent of Americans over the age of sixty have at least one chronic disease and almost as many have two. Topol explains the power of the new approaches to the worst chronic killers—diabetes/obesity, heart disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration—and how treatments can begin long before middle age, and even long after.

This fact-dense book is an evidence-based digest of advances in medicine, science, and technology that directly affect our lifespans. Topol outlines the evidence of how these advances may change aging and provide possible paths forward for millions of people.

“It is not enough for a great nation to merely to have added new years to life – our objective must be to add new life to those years.” – John F. Kennedy

Here are just a few facts that intrigued me from Super Agers:

• Retina photographs can be used to predict the risk of heart attack and stroke. (I have a photo annually to track a “freckle” on my retina. I am going to ask about this at my next appointment!)
• I learned we have a glymphatic system in our brain. It functions like our lymphatic system in the rest of our body. While we sleep, the glymphatic system clears metabolic waste from our brains. Which is why sleep is essential for good health; seven hours each night is optimal.
• The HPV vaccine is excellent protection against cervical cancer! In Scotland 90% of teens/women (up to the age of 45) received the HPV vaccine. Then they monitored the outcome for 40,000 women who received the vaccine. How many cases of cervical cancer occurred in these 40,000 Scottish women? – 0 – zero. In the USA only 60 % of teens/women (up to the age of 45) have received the HPV vaccine. The American Cancer Society estimates for 2025 are 13,360 cases of cervical cancer with 4,320 deaths. Sad.
• Family history of Alzheimer’s disease is the most important factor for the disease. The genetic risk increases if there is a maternal history of memory impairment at any age. Walking matters! An extensive gene expression analysis of over 1,000 genes linked to Alzheimer’s identified “exercise as the top theoretical treatment.”

There is so much more detailed information in this book! Topol explains what we do and do not know (yet!) about aging. It is well worth reading for anyone interested in medical science and hopes for a healthy future.

Reading Across the Seas Book Club: International Fiction, Fantasy

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry (New Zealand)

Publisher’s Description: “For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can't quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob -- a young lawyer with a normal house, a normal fiancée, and an utterly normal life -- hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his life's duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world... and for once, it isn't Charley's doing.

There's someone else who shares his powers. It's up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them, before these characters tear apart the fabric of reality.”

This is a story of fictionalized characters being read to life. For fans of literature this may be just the book for them. However, it was just “okay” for me. I had a very difficult time getting into the story and then maintaining an interest in it. Between the characters, the writing style and the length, it was just not the novel for me. It eventually became a chore to read but it was for Book Club, so I pressed on. I think the following quote from the book is a good descriptive summary of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap.   

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t have too,” I said. “It’s a story.”

However, the overall premise of the plot was creative. Readers who enjoy magic and fantasy should enjoy this book, and they may also be inspired to delve deeper into the world of English Literature.

Fiction: Magical Realism

Weyward by Emilia Hart

 

Weyward follows three women through time, all of them related. In 1619 Altha is a healer who is on trial for witchcraft after a man was found trampled to death by cows. In the 1940s, Violet has an unfeeling, cold father who refuses to tell her about her deceased mother. In modern times, Kate is desperate to escape her abusive husband. These women are separated by time but not by blood, and all of them face the worst possible realities that their respective society can provide.

"Weyward, they called us, when we would not submit, would not bend to their will. But we learned to wear the name with pride"

This book deals with domestic violence and rape and is not a book for the faint-hearted as these incidents are realistically described. Every single man in this book was utterly horrible, except Kate’s deceased father. Each of the Weyward women’s experiences paints a polarizing black and white picture that men are awful and women are great. This supports the theme of women’s resilience throughout history, especially when dealing with a patriarchal society. However, the thematic impact was dulled by the fact that these women were also powerful witches.

“We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those that speak it, not those that it describes. A word that builds gallows and pyres, turns breathing women into corpses.”

The situations the characters faced were realistic but how they dealt with them was magical. Because key moments often revolved around acts of magic, the focus shifted from celebrating internal strength to showcasing extraordinary magical powers. It felt like the message was, "Women with magical powers are strong.” But what about “Women are strong”, period?

Weyward is well-written. The descriptions of nature are vivid, and the characters are believable. While it switches back and forth between each of the three storylines, the author has created a seamless tale across time. Ultimately, Weyward is about what women have experienced throughout history at the hands of abusive men and the impact of generational trauma.

Fiction: Classic American

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

One evening I watched an episode of “Dr. G: America’s Most Shocking Cases.” It told the story of author, Sherwood Anderson. He died an agonizing death after he unknowingly swallowed a martini olive toothpick. (He was known to be a heavy drinker!)  I realized that I had not read any of his books and it was time that I did!

Winesburg, Ohio is a book of short stories that begins with an old writer thinking of the people he has known throughout his life. Particularly entrenched in his mind are the “grotesques” of Winesburg, the small fictional town in Ohio in the 1890s. (There is a Winesburg in Ohio, but this story is based on Anderson’s experiences living in Clyde, Ohio.) In this small, seemingly inconsequential place there are many points of view. Anderson stories reveal a fascination with the thoughts and motivations hiding beneath the surface of Winesburg’s citizens.

One man George Willard, a reporter for the newspaper, is a frequent character in the stories. As Winesburg’s only reporter, he is a close observer who tries to record the affairs of the townspeople. His occupation gives him an air of importance that leads many people to confide in him.

Consequently, we learn about an array of interesting and unusual characters who all suffer from loneliness. Each person longs for meaningful human contact, whether from a friend or lover, to fill an aching gap in their lives. They all struggle from an inability to adequately voice their desires. Often this inability to express themselves verbally leads to significant, and sometimes harmful, physical expressions.  

Winesburg, Ohio is a dark and strange book.  While Anderson’s depiction of loneliness is often sad, it also has its touching moments. In this small town he beautifully shows that pain, longing, and uncertainty are unavoidable aspects of what it means to be human. I was left with the thought that we must love and cherish the one and only life we have.

July Booknotes

 

“A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” - William Styron

Fiction: Southern Gothic, Classic 

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

 

This book is listed as one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama. And there it was in one of the Little Free Libraries in our community! I took it.

The Bundren family lives in the back country of Mississippi during the 1920s. As Addie lies dying in her bed, she gazes out the window watching her oldest son construct her coffin. Soon the family must deal with the death of their wife and mother. Her husband, Anse, is probably the “laziest man ever” and, yet he is determined to fulfill Addie’s wish to be buried 40 miles away in her hometown of Jefferson.  Addie in her coffin is loaded into the back of a wagon. Then Anse, with his four sons, one daughter, two mules and a horse sets off for Jefferson on dirt roads. The trip wouldn’t be so bad except it’s the height of the summer heat. Plus, rainstorms have flooded the river and washed out all the bridges. Now the trip will take a week longer than expected due to detours.

Does this stop Anse or convince him to bury Addie closer to home? No, at each obstacle he insists they continue all the while taking advantage of the hard work of his children and neighbors. He makes a show of not accepting “charity” to the determent of his children. It is a nine-day journey of frequent hunger, danger, and discomfort. Then Addie’s body begins to decompose …

As I Lay Dying is a grotesque road trip with a rotting corpse told in the voices of the extremely dysfunctional and occasionally insane family members. It is a stream of consciousness narrative that drops us into scenes and scenarios without any explanation. It reminds me of Ulysses set in the South – only much shorter and I could make better sense of the narrative! 

One of the fascinating things about this novel is that it can be read either as a tragedy or as a black comedy. All the misfortunes that occur are made even more absurd by the book’s final five words. 

This book flew with me to Aspen.

Fiction: Mystery

The Black Loch by Peter May

Fin Macleod was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. After some years away from the island, Fin, a former policeman, finds himself returning to Lewis because his married son Fionnlagh has been accused of the murder of his 18-year-old mistress, Caitlin. Her body was found washed up on the beach. 

Fin and his partner Marsaili attempt to make sense of the accusations made against their son. As they re-acquaint themselves with people they have known decades earlier, events from their earlier lives come to the forefront. In fact, this mystery is really a mix of past and present events, tightly woven together to shape the mystery surrounding Caitlin’s death. There are a lot of dramatic incidents, tragedies, and secrets exposed.

I was intrigued by the native language on the Isle of Lewis. It is Gaelic and is spoken by around half of the population. Much of the land and surrounding sea are labelled in this strange tongue. Fortunately, there is a list of “Gaelic Pronunciations” at the back of the book.

The most appealing element of this mystery is its setting off the west coast of Scotland. Isle of Lewis is a land of wild mountains, immense white beaches, rugged coastlines and lunar landscapes. The weather can be extreme, and it is possibly one of the windiest places on earth. The author’s vivid description of the Isle of Lewis is wonderful! He captures the mystery and drama of this remote, wild, and treeless place so well I felt as if I were there!

Book Club – International Fiction: Mystery, Historical Fiction

The Flanders Panel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator, from Spanish)

Publisher’s Description: “While restoring a 15th-century painting which depicts a chess game between the Duke of Flanders and his knight, Julia, a young art expert, discovers a hidden inscription in the corner: Quis Necavit Equitem. Translation: Who killed the knight? Breaking the silence of five centuries, Julia's hunt for a Renaissance murderer leads her into a modern-day game of sin, betrayal, and death.”

“I would say that chess has more to do with the art of murder than it does with the art of war.”

The Flanders Panel combines historical background and a historical murder mystery with a modern murder mystery. Key to this novel is the 15th-century painting by a Flemish master. The painting depicts a chess game between the Duke of Flanders and one of his knights while the Duke’s wife looks on. We learn that the painting was painted after the Knight’s murder. Why?

NOTE: This painting was created for the publisher.
It does NOT historically exist - it is a work of fiction!

In modern times, Julia, while cleaning the painting, uncovers the 500-year-old painted-over message. She begins to wonder, “Who killed the knight?" 

The hidden message and the intrigue about the historical significance of The Flanders Panel make the estimated auction value of the painting skyrocket. Suddenly two murders are committed as someone else is apparently after the painting and willing to kill to get it. The unknown murderer is also a chess expert, who leaves a trail of clues as to his possible next moves to get the painting. If that isn’t enough intrigue, Julia is followed by an unknown person. Will she be the next victim? 

The Flanders Panel is a stylized murder mystery. The book is built around the theme "art is chess is life is art." I don’t play chess and perhaps that is why I skimmed over the parts where the characters attempt to solve the mystery through “reverse chess.” I felt like I needed a degree in art history and a US Chess Federation rating of Expert or higher to really understand what the characters were talking about sometimes!

Even with twenty-five pages of explanation at the end (always a bad sign), I still have no firm idea what motivated the villain to commit murder, but I have a greater appreciation for art and chess!

Fiction: Dystopia

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

“The first thing that happens at the end of the world is that we don’t know what is happening.”

What if women suddenly began to give birth to babies that emerged as some regressed, earlier form of human? And it isn’t just humans who are regressing, it is also plants and animals. Why? The novel does not explain but we learn about the effects of this de-evolution through the main character, Cedar Hawk Songmaker.

She is the adopted daughter of two liberal, idealistic parents in Minnesota. Cedar has just learned the identity of her biological mother, Mary Potts, who lives on the Ojibwe reservation. Coincidently, Cedar just discovered she's pregnant, and that news plus the vague hints in the media about the “changes” cause her to want to meet her biological mother. During her visit on the Ojibwe reservation, her adoptive parents arrive and advise Cedar to remember what they told her about survival techniques.

The rest of the novel is about how quickly things can disintegrate. When Cedar is roughly three months pregnant, America is a dangerous place for pregnant women to live. There is a mandated program, wherein all pregnant women must turn themselves in and live at a hospital until their babies are born. Cedar sees the ominous tones in this, so she hides out in her house, eventually discovered by the father of her baby, trying to avoid being arrested. There are also "womb volunteer" programs, in which fertile women can volunteer to carry the embryos from fertility clinics. Women lose all their rights; the government is dissolved and reformed to follow biblical laws. Women attempt to flee and go into hiding with the help of an “underground railroad.”

Obviously, this novel is compared to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. The overarching themes are the same, but the plots are very different. Despite so many people claiming that we don't need feminism anymore, these novels remind us how easy women, either biologically, socially, or politically, can lose their rights.

“I want to see the story. More than anything, I am frustrated by the fact that I’ll never know how things turn out.”

Overall, this was a beautifully written novel. But when I finished it, I felt disappointed. None of the narrative lines felt finished. For example, Cedar's baby, who one doctor has hinted is a normal, regular human being, is due to be born around Christmas. So, was her baby the new Christ child? Was he to be the “light of the world”?  Also, the foreshadowing, including the use of the name “Mary,” throughout the novel wasn’t fulfilled as I wished. Just another 100 pages may have settled my expectations. But then again, many good books often leave readers “on the edge” at their conclusion. This was well worth reading!

NOTE: The Great De-Evolution series by Chris Dietzel has a similar plot line. Humanity is slowly becoming extinct because all the babies are being born as "Blocks", which cannot move, communicate, or otherwise function like regular human beings. I read all the books and novellas in this series, and they are creepy good.

Nonfiction: Biography, Medical, Science

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

I picked As I Lay Dying from a Little Free Library in our community and read it during our flight to Aspen. There I was able to trade it in at an Aspen Little Free Library for this book, Mountains Beyond Mountains. I choose it because I read Everything Is Tuberculosis last month and this book is about a doctor who treats … tuberculosis.

Publisher’s Description: “At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most.

Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity"—a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners in Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.’s World Health Organization, and others in his quest to cure the world. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains": as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.”

Dr. Farmer explains that suffering is a human creation: interference with the natural state of things, by imposing structures and systems on everything, and creating disparities.  Then people devise ways to ease that suffering, but only for the people who contributed to the creation of that suffering in the first place! Yes, it is easy for us to feel frustrated and helpless in the face of such systems that claim, but fail, to benefit humanity.

But rather than wrapping ourselves in helplessness and frustration, we should believe, first and foremost, in the power of the individual to help others. With the power of a collective of like-minded individuals, we can enact even greater changes. Focusing personally on what is doable and essential empowers you and others to make the world a better place. One person CAN make a difference!

I read this book in Aspen and finished it on our flight home. Then I placed it in our community Little Free Library for someone else to read. And so, it goes … take a book, share a book.

Fiction: Horror, Mystery

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

In high school I read Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, and then read The Haunting of Hill House. I liked them both. This month, decades later, I was simply browsing in the public library when I came across another Shirley Jackson book, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Reminiscing about her writing, I checked it out and read it. 

The Blackwood sisters, 28-year-old Constance and 18-year-old Merricat, live in an old mansion on the outskirts of town. They are persecuted by the locals, who are convinced one of them is a murderer.  Their whole family, except for Constance and Merricat, was poisoned with arsenic six years ago. Their Uncle Julian was poisoned but survived as an invalid. Constance was tried and acquitted of the murders. Now the three survivors, and their black cat Jonas, are living together in the family’s old mansion.

“You will be wondering about that sugar bowl, I imagine. Is it still in use? You are wondering; has it been cleaned? You may very well ask; was it thoroughly washed?”

The story is told through the voice of Merricat. Because Uncle Julian is disabled and Constance suffers from agoraphobia, she must walk into the town twice a week for provisions. During her excursions, Merricat has many reasons beyond her better-than-thou upper-class upbringing to sneer at the townsfolk. In turn, they hate her and revile Constance for allegedly getting away with mass murder. Also, the townspeople hate her family for humiliating upsets caused by her snobbish and cruel father, and they take their disgust out with ridicule. Eventually the sisters take on a sort of legend for their reclusive behavior and disregard for the company of villagers.

The Blackwood sisters and Uncle Julian manage well in their reclusive lifestyle until long-lost cousin Charles arrives on their doorstep, barely concealing his interest in Constance and the Blackwood family estate. Merricat is not happy one bit about Charles entering their lives. And that’s when “things” begin to happen.

“I could wish him dead until he died. I could fasten him to a tree and keep him there until he grew into the trunk and bark grew over his mouth. I could bury him in the hole where my box of silver dollars had been so safe until he came; if he was under the ground I could walk over him, stamping my feet.”

The identity of the poisoner is easy to figure out after the first few pages. However, the main impetus of the story is not about the identity of the murderer. It is the psychological impact and the implications it has on the surviving family members. That is what gives it a real punch. This is one looney, creepy, and thoroughly bizarre story!