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!

 

June Booknotes

 

"These works challenge us not just to understand but to engage, to debate, and to form our own reasoned conclusions. By reading hard books, we learn that truth is not always simple." – Alicia Williamson

Nonfiction: History, World War II

Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941by William L. Shirer

The author, William Shirer, also wrote the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. He began his career as a print journalist and was eventually recruited by the CBS radio network as one of its European correspondents. Shirer’s career transition happens at the same time as the rapid transition of public information and propaganda from print to radio which greatly impacted this moment in history.

Because he is an “embedded” reporter, Shirer witnesses the rise of Nazi Germany up close and personal. He watches Hitler and Chamberlain chatting on a balcony below his own before they negotiate the betrayal of Czechoslovakia. He reports directly outside the same Compiègne railroad car where Germany gets its revenge by forcing France’s surrender exactly where Germany had laid down its arms in 1918. Shirer even predicts the invasion of Poland as Hitler's next move while the French and British government officials hesitate to respond to Hitler’s threats. When he learns that Poland still has calvary on horseback and few airplanes, Shirer accurately predicts the dominance of air power covering a motorized blitzkrieg along country roads as the key to military success.

As a reporter, Shirer has access to some of the Nazi leaders. He grasps the subtle signals and mannerisms he observes in Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, Streicher, Generals Halder and Brauchitsch as well as the personal quirks and volatility of Hitler. Shirer makes quick and accurate assessments of almost every person he meets.

While he describes the German people as ambivalent and “dull”, it is important to remember that the only Germans who freely offered him their opinions were probably Nazis. Germans knew better than to utter any criticism of Hitler or Nazi ideology to a foreign reporter. If any such criticism was overheard, they would have been arrested by the Gestapo and would have landed in front of the “Volksgericht”, and from there they would have been shipped to the nearest concentration camp.

I have always wondered why Hitler did not invade England in the summer of 1940. Shirer’s account of events as they unfolded has given me a better understanding of Hitler’s indecision. Shirer goes on to explain his understanding of how the British strategy might unfold at the end of 1940 when it was the only country standing against Hitler. He understood how Hitler underestimated the character and will of the British people. Shirer also understood how important it was for Churchill to bring the might of the United States military into the European war.

At 600+ pages this is a lengthy book! However, since it is a diary, I could read one or several entries and put the book down and easily pick it up later. Reading a diary at the epicenter of world events is not technically an objective history. It is a subjective recording of personal events, experiences, and thoughts during intense historical events. Berlin Diary is Shirer’s real time narrative. Its pages are full of uncertainty, urgency, and illustrate a reporter’s drive to provide the most accurate information in an environment of hostility and censorship.  

I had a hard time putting Berlin Diary down without reading just one more captivating entry. Indeed, reading this 80-year-old diary brings an immediacy to the early stages of the war. Many things we see and hear today are echoes of the past!

Nonfiction: Science, Health, History

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

NOTE: Since my Great-Grandfather Marek Niemiec died from Tuberculosis, I wanted to learn more.

Publisher’s Description: “Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.
In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year.
In Everything is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.”

Green is not a doctor, and this is not a medical book. While there is medical information, I found the historical context and relevance to current times fascinating!  This is a heartfelt, researched, and humane book on a disease that still has a massive impact, even though we in the United States avert our eyes. The health disparities that Green spotlights are staggering.

This book is especially relevant in the context of the current massive cuts to development aid and medical research. And, as COVID demonstrated, diseases have no borders. Everything Is Tuberculosis leads me to believe we may be headed back to my Great-Grandfather’s time when there was no cure and no effective treatment for Tuberculosis.
“And so we have entered a strange era of human history: A preventable, curable infectious disease remains our deadliest. That's the world we are currently choosing.”

Nonfiction: History, Food
A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

NOTE: This was my “distraction” from current events this month!

A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. All were the dominant drinks of their times, influenced the course of history, and people are still drinking them today.
This was an interesting and unusual way to learn about history - drink-by-drink!
Starting with beer (Mesopotamia and Egypt); then moving on to: wine (Greece and Rome); distilled spirits, especially rum and whiskey (the Age of Exploration leading to the American battle for independence); coffee (and the rise of English coffeehouses and their impact upon commerce and triangular trade); tea (and British imperialism and empire building); and, finally, Coca-Cola (globalization and American consumerism).  

A History of the World in 6 Glasses views history from a Western point of view. It doesn’t consider the drinks of South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, nor much of Asia. For example, tea is considered only through the lens of the British empire. However, the formal Japanese tea service is arguably more interesting than a British tea party! 

Even as a Western history there's a large gap between wine production in the Roman empire and the distillation of rum in Barbados. This is more of a survey of history than a detailed one. Still, A History of the World in 6 Glasses provides plenty of interesting historical tidbits and is an enjoyable read.

Nonfiction: True Crime
Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town by Mirta Ojito

NOTE: I received this book from my friend, Linda. It was selected in 2015 by the Loudoun County (Virginia) Public School Social Sciences Department.

Publisher’s Description: “The true story of an immigrant's murder that turned a quaint village on the Long Island shore into ground zero in the war on immigration.

In November of 2008, Marcelo Lucero, a thirty-seven-year-old undocumented Ecuadorean immigrant, was brutally attacked and murdered by a group of teenagers as he walked the streets of Patchogue, a quiet Long Island town. The teenaged attackers were out "hunting for beaners," their slur for Latinos, and Lucero was to become another victim of the anti-immigration fever spreading in the United States. But in death, Lucero's name became a symbol of everything that was wrong with our broken immigration system: porous borders, lax law enforcement, and the rise of bigotry.”

Ojito, a journalist and professor, uses firsthand interviews to go beneath the veneer of a seemingly all-American town. This allows her to tell all sides of the story, creating a portrait of Patchogue as it was struggling with fear and hate. Crucially this includes retelling the history of the town which was populated by second and third generation Italian and Irish immigrants. Finally, Ojito describes its experience with increasing immigration in recent years. All of which resulted in the Patchogue 7, a group of teenagers, going “hunting for beaners” once a week.
So why did this community end up with a group of their teenagers going “hunting for beaners?” Ojito explains, "Jeff and his friends must have felt that their entertainment of hunting 'beaners' had the tacit and implicit approval of the adults in their world."

• These teens admitted to the police that they had a history of "hunting" immigrants. One of the Patchogue 7 said, "I don't go out doing this very often, maybe only once a week."
  
• Another said, "I have been involved in beatings like this before, but no one ever used a knife. We would just beat people up."
  
• The teen who did the stabbing, and ultimately killed Marcelo Lujero asked, "Is this going to be a problem for [my] wrestling season?"

What I appreciate most about this book is that Ojito digs deeper into the crime, into the people. The result is a book that explains what drives immigrants to come to our country, how they rebuild their lives here, and the effects on the communities they settle in. It's much more nuanced that the "true crime" label would lead you to believe.

Hunting Season was a difficult but necessary book to read given our current national campaign against immigrants. Like the people of Patchogue, daily we see the ease with which our government engages in inhumane, violent, and unconstitutional behavior with the tacit and implicit approval of their “base.” We are in a sorry state indeed when we deport children with cancer, a winery manager of twenty years, and a landscaper with three United States Marine sons – NONE have committed any criminal offences in our country. Yet, all the January 6 violent insurrectionists received their due process, were convicted as criminals, and then were pardoned by a felon?! How do these actions reflect our American values?  

 “Someday, the country will recognize the true cost of its war on illegal immigration. We don’t mean dollars, though those are being squandered by the billions. The true cost is to the national identity: the sense of who we are and what we value.”

Fiction: Drama

There Shall Be No Night by Robert E. Sherwood

NOTES: The title is taken from Revelation 22:5. Sherwood also wrote The Best Years of Our Lives.

There Shall Be No Night is a play published in 1940 and chronicles the impact of the Winter War on the Valkonen family in Finland. The Winter War was a conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland that lasted from November 30, 1939, to March 12, 1940. The Soviet Union invaded Finland after failing to negotiate border changes and the establishment of a Soviet base on Finnish territory.
The Valkonen family includes Kaarlo, a Nobel prize winning scientist, his American-born wife, Miranda, and their son, Erik, a college student. The play examines their reluctant acceptance of the looming invasion and their reactions after Finland is invaded. Both Kaarlo and Erik then must serve in the military while Miranda refuses to escape to the United States and chooses to stay in Finland to defend their home. The family experiences chaos, the physical and mental demands of war, and demonstrates how hardship can lead to courage.
“When life becomes too easy for people something changes in their character, something is lost. Americans now are too lucky.” – Kaatri, Erik’s Finnish girlfriend

Drawing on his own experiences as a war correspondent, Sherwood brings the war to life, He paints a powerful and poignant picture of the devastating impacts that war has on individuals and society – a cost we are still experiencing today. There Shall Be No Night won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but when it premiered, it was not well received!

There Shall Be No Night was picketed by the Theatre Arts Committee (TAC) as “anti-Soviet and pro-war.” The Daily World, the newspaper of the Communist Party USA, then went on to quote Brooks Atkinson, the drama critic of the New York Times, who called it “propaganda.”

Daily World New York, New York, NY, Sun, Jul 7, 1940, page 12

There Shall Be No Night is an example of a prophetic work that was deemed “propaganda” initially but then proven true as events unfolded. Indeed, the play was part of a broader political debate in the United States and elsewhere about intervening in the European war. Sherwood was vilified for writing such a thought-provoking play about war when most people wanted escapism. Originally a pacifist, Sherwood wrote the play to urge action against aggressors like Hitler which led to accusations that he was both a "war-monger" and a "capitalist stooge".

Artists of all kinds have used their work, including books, music, paintings, etc., to speak out about social and political issues. It is difficult to remember a time when artist-activists were not an integral part of America's arts landscape. Throughout its history American writers have used their work as “propaganda” for such causes as abolition (Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852), civil rights (A Raisin in the Sun, 1959), and female subjection (The Handmaid’s Tale, 1985). All these works (and more!) were met with criticism.

Like all human beings, artists have a right to free speech and expression. When they exercise their rights, they often receive a backlash from a public that wants only escapism and pleasure. If artists speak publicly on an issue not related to their work, they are basically told to “shut up and sit down”. Don’t people realize artists have First Amendment rights in all areas of their lives?

Elin Hilderbrand is an American best-selling author of "beach reads." 

There Shall Be No Night was not initially welcomed, and its author was attacked for daring to express his views in this play. Yet, it was prophetic and still has lessons for us today especially as war in Europe continues. Sherwood, through the Valkonen family, immerses us to such a degree in the Winter War, that not only do we know about war, but, most importantly, we feel the war. This drama has moral values. It can be read as a warning. And, finally, it can also be read as a simulation of events that are occurring right now in Europe.

May Booknotes

 

“We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Nonfiction: History, World War II

Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alex Kershaw

There are numerous stories of courage and self-sacrifice during the Nazi occupation of Paris during WWII, many of which have been forgotten or are unknown. This is one of them.

Sumner Jackson, an American physician and WWI veteran, his Swiss-born-naturalized-American wife, Toquette, and their son, Phillip, lived in Paris, where Dr. Jackson was head surgeon at the American Hospital. The Jacksons had the opportunity to leave Paris before the Nazis invaded but refused to do so. They realized that Sumner’s skills as a doctor and surgeon would be needed to treat the wounded and dying French soldiers.

Paris was occupied by the Nazis in June 1940. At that time, the United States was still neutral, and it appeared the American Hospital would be safe. Because of the Jackson’s love of Paris and France they decided to assist the French Resistance by hiding members of the resistance in the hospital to prevent their capture by the Nazis.

Their dangerous situation worsened when the Gestapo and the SS set up headquarters on Avenue Foch, practically next door to the Jackson’s apartment. Still, they continued to work with the Resistance. In December 1941, Hitler declared war on the United States, which made the Jacksons suspects.

Avenue of Spies is a record of what happened after Sumner, Toquette, and Phillip were arrested. They were political prisoners, were separated from one another, and suffered horribly in concentration camps. Their story is so disturbing it sounds like fiction. We know better, it is a history of the inhumane methods used by the Nazis when dealing with political opponents.

Avenue of Spies is difficult to read because it is about Americans as victims of Nazism. It describes what did and could happen when ordinary people resist fascism. Even today we can see how a “strongman” employs “revenge and retribution” against political rivals and ordinary people. I highly recommend this book.

Nonfiction: American History

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

Starting in his hometown, New Orleans, Smith leads us on a tour of monuments and landmarks-those that are honest about the past and some that are not. Smith traveled to Monticello, Whitney Planation, Angola Prison, Blandford Cemetery, Galveston Island, and New York City – which had the second-largest slave market in our country. (I did not know that!) Then he traveled to Goree Island, Senegal where Africans were loaded on ships for their trip into American slavery.

“How do you tell a story that had been told the wrong way for so long?”

The place I found most interesting was Smith’s experience at a Memorial Day ceremony in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia. After listening to the keynote speaker from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, he noted: “I was fascinated by the conciliatory equivocation of his tone, and his desire to … assimilate the memory of the Confederacy more fully into the US military … just as those who had fought in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. It did not seem to matter that they had fought AGAINST the United States.”

“History is the story of the past, using all available facts, nostalgia is a fantasy about the past using no facts … history is about what you need to know but nostalgia is what you want to hear.”

Many people Smith spoke with repeatedly insisted that the Civil War was not about slavery. Here are just a few historical facts from the secession documents which explain why states left the Union to form a separate nation, the Confederate States of America:

Mississippi: “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery.”

Louisiana: “The people of slaveholding States are bound together by the same necessity and determination to preserve African slavery.”

Texas: “The African race are rightfully held and regarded as inferior.”

Then there is the Constitution of the Confederate States, Article IV, Section 3: “The institution of slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected.”

How did a Son of the Confederate Veterans respond when asked to reckon with the fact that his ancestors fought a war to keep African Americans enslaved?  In short, he responded, “You’re asking me to agree that my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents were monsters.” Obviously accepting historical reality would mean the deterioration of a nostalgic story that has long been part of his, and many other family lineages, and the disintegration of who they believed themselves to be. Family stories can become embedded in our identities in ways we are not fully aware of. This is why it is important to differentiate between history based on reliable and authoritative sources and nostalgia based on stories we want to believe.

“Just because something is difficult to accept doesn’t mean you shouldn’t accept it. Just because someone tells you a story doesn’t make that story true.”

What I love about this book is that it is not only about our nation's history, but it is also a personal reflection of how history affects people’s lives. At each location Smith speaks to and interviews various people - tour guides, employees, or other visitors. He simply shows that history affects each one of us, including how our ancestors may influence what we do, say, and believe today. Smith also strongly encourages us not to ignore or 'forget' history we find upsetting or inconvenient, including our own family history. I am sure this book will win an award, it is excellent! 

Hugh Fraser ("Captain Hastings") Audiobooks – Read by my all-time favorite reader, Hugh Fraser. All Agatha Christie mysteries but NOT Poirot or Miss Marple.

The absolute best thing about these audiobooks is the reader, Hugh Fraser. I listened to these before bedtime and then slept soundly. The stories do involve murders… but his voice is so calming!

Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie

Luke Fitzwilliam, a military policeman recently returned from the far east, encounters an old lady on a train. She tells him she is off to Scotland Yard to try and stop yet another murder in her small village. Luke listens to her story but feels she is just an “old lady” and humors her with his attention. A few days later two news articles grabbed Luke’s attention. One reports the death of the old lady in a hit and run on a London street (before she gets to Scotland Yard). The other is a report of the death of a man she had mentioned. Luke begins to wonder if she was indeed telling the truth.

Luke decides he will investigate. A good friend introduces him to an acquaintance who happens to live in the same village as the old lady. Luke arrives with a cover story to explain his presence and begins to investigate.

There is a feisty girl involved, an unnecessary romance, and several grisly murders. Luke is quite easily led up several wrong paths until the murderer is finally unmasked. Not my favorite Christie mystery but with Hugh Fraser narrating the audiobook, I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless!

Spider’s Web adapted by Charles Osborne from a play by Agatha Christie

Clarissa, the wife of a Foreign Office diplomat, discovers a body in the drawing room of her house in Kent. Desperate to dispose of the body before her husband comes home with an important foreign politician, Clarissa persuades her three house guests to become accessories and accomplices. But things don’t go as planned. An unknown person has called the police to report the murder, and they arrive before the body is removed. The search for the murderer and the motive begins.

Clarissa is like a spider as she weaves webs of lies. Each time the police inspector sees through one of her lies, he persuades her to tell the truth. However, Clarissa then tells a different story each time.

One of the things I enjoy about Agatha Christie is her descriptions of people; she has a way of describing people in unflattering but amusing ways. Clarissa was initially humorous, but as the story progressed, I found her lying to be annoying. The ending was a surprise, which is probably due to the “spider’s web” of lies that preceded it!

The first part of the audiobook includes what sounds like “stage directions” – after all, this was originally written as a play. However, Hugh Fraser’s voice is so pleasant I didn’t mind listening to descriptions of the setting or characters. Once the plot was set in motion, he really breathed life into the characters.

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie

‘I like a good detective story.  But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that– years before sometimes– with all the causes and events that bring certain people to a certain place at a certain time on a certain day.”

That is exactly what I love about Towards Zero! Christie really sets the stage and takes her time before getting to the actual mystery portion of the story. It works well though because you are getting bits and pieces of relevant information about the characters along the way.

Publisher’s Description: “An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house...What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a house party gathers at Gull's Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It's all part of a carefully laid plan - for murder...”

Two thumbs up for Towards Zero!

Fiction: Essays, Humor

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Written 20 years ago, A Man Without a Country is a collection of humorous and angry essays about the state of the world with an emphasis on the United States. Vonnegut was 82 years old when he wrote this book. Two years later he was dead. This book may possibly be the closest thing to his memoir. It is filled with his unique perspective on the world and sharp wit. Vonnegut is interesting, down-to-earth, and funny as he goes on rants about America, people in general, and all the things he's seen during his life.

"But I am eighty-two. Thanks a lot, you dirty rats. The last thing I ever wanted was to be alive when the three most powerful people on the whole planet would be named Bush, Dick and Colon.”

Vonnegut wrote about the purpose of humor, as a way of dealing with anxiety and fear, and helping people better face these emotions, and the world. He held up Mark Twain as a fellow humorist who found a way to help people laugh through terrible times. Yet, he acknowledged that even Twain wrote angrily about things in this country he could not possibly laugh at.

Vonnegut's political hero was the socialist Eugene Debs. But he saw no real hope for thinkers such as Debs to save the world. He thought the rich, the corporations, and the politicians just don't care about kindness, compassion, or generosity. Given our current situation, I appreciate his bleak honesty.

“The biggest truth to face now – what is probably making me unfunny now for the remainder of my life – is that I don't think people give a damn whether the planet goes or not. It seems to me as if everyone is living as members of Alcoholics Anonymous do, day by day. And a few more days will be enough. I know of very few people who are dreaming of a world for their grandchildren.”

Like Twain and Einstein before him, Vonnegut had given up on humanity. In the end, he thought he had simply grown too grumpy to be funny anymore. Let me respectfully disagree, I smiled throughout most of this short book, laughed several times, and almost fell out of my chair at his explanation as to why he did not win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Fiction: French Literature

The Stranger by Albert Camus, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert

Publisher’s Description: “Published in 1942 by French author Albert Camus, The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its "100 Books of the Century" list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."

How the story begins: "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure."

Meursault, the main character, is a man without feelings and incapable of feeling remorse or indeed any emotion. Those deficiencies are evident at his mother’s death when he does not cry (not even when he is alone) and does not even seem upset. Later he agrees, without reservation, to write a letter for a friend. The letter is an invitation for his friend’s ex-girlfriend to come to his apartment so his friend can beat her up. He has no remorse for his role in the woman’s beating. His inability to feel any emotion is dramatically revealed when he shoots a stranger after an altercation on the beach. Five shots: first one, a pause, and then four more. The “four more” is what eventually gets him convicted.

“Since we're all going to die,’ it's obvious that when and how don't matter.”- Meursault

What is up with Meursault? Why doesn’t he “feel?” Maybe Meursault has Alexithymia. It is a personality condition characterized by the inability to identify and describe emotions in oneself. Individuals suffering from this dysfunction also find it difficult to distinguish and appreciate the feelings of others, which leads to a hopeless and meaningless life.

“What did other people's deaths or a mother's love matter to me; what did his God or the lives people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me.” - Mersault

Meursault is a stranger. A stranger to himself. A stranger to others. A stranger to life. A stranger to everything. So, what is the point of this novella? Should we contemplate the existence or absence of empathy in our lives?  Will this knowledge lead us to live a better life and to help others to do the same? Does Camus want us to avoid being “a stranger?” (I would answer, “Yes!”)

I found The Stranger to be a weird, yet thought-provoking novella. It is no wonder Camus won a Nobel Prize for Literature!

Right Thing, Right Now

 

“Let’s do what we can. Let’s be a small light in a dark world.” - Ryan Holiday

Nonfiction: Philosophy, Personal Development

Right Thing, Right Now: Justice in an Unjust World by Ryan Holiday

If you are looking for a book all about Stoicism, this is not it! The author, Ryan Holiday, is a writer and a marketer who promotes Stoicism. In Right Thing, Right Now he uses historical figures to support his assertion that “everything worth pursuing in life flows from a strong sense of justice - or one’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must begin with justice.” Holiday uses examples from the lives of Emily Davison, Thomas Clarkson, Harvey Milk, Martin Niemoller, Florence Nightingale, President Carter, and many more to illustrate his point.

Sometimes we may not be aware of injustice but what will we do when we are made aware? Are we willing to choose the right thing even if it means losing the “support” of others? Here is what President Truman did:

Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr., was a Black soldier who had just returned to the United States after fighting in World War II. On February 12, 1946, Woodard, still wearing his Army uniform, rode a Greyhound bus to return to his home in South Carolina. Woodard asked the white bus driver to stop the bus so that he could use the restroom. The bus driver reluctantly agreed, calling Woodard  “boy,” a derogatory term often used in the South to demean Black men. Woodard, who had served three years in the Pacific theater, responded, “I’m a man just like you.”

At the next town, the driver summoned the police. They removed Woodard from the bus and beat him. The police officers repeatedly and viciously poked him in his eyes, leaving him blind.

President Truman upon learning about the beating and blinding of Sergeant Isaac Woodard, Jr. said, “I had no idea it was as terrible as that. We’ve got to do something”

Two years later, in 1948, many Southern states walked out of the Democratic National Convention over Truman civil rights policies. He replied, “You can always get along without the support of people like that.”

Sergeant John Rice

Then, in 1950, Sergeant John Rice, a Native American World War II veteran, was killed in action in Korea. He was denied burial in Sioux City, Iowa due to his race. Truman was outraged and arranged for his burial with honors in Arlington cemetery and sent a plane for his family. Truman’s official statement read: “The President feels that the national appreciation of patriotic sacrifice should not be limited by race, color, or creed.”

“ … when I say all Americans, I mean ALL Americans.” – President Harry Truman

Joseph Kennedy, Sr.

What happens when we intentionally avoid choosing the “right thing?” … Joseph Kennedy, the father of President John Kennedy was the U.S ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1940, during the time of the rise of Hitler and Nazism. He was an isolationist, made false equivalencies, and argued with “whataboutisms.” He supported appeasement as Hitler invaded Austria, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, and France. During this time, he continued to discourage any potential aid from the United States to Britain, even as bombs were falling in London!

Joseph Kennedy wasn’t a secret Nazi, but he, like many men, wanted the problem NOT to be his. He was looking for a way NOT to care. To NOT get involved. To NOT have to risk anything.

In the end, his son, President John Kennedy was haunted by his father’s cowardice and his role in appeasing Hitler that led to World War II and the loss of his older brother who was killed in action. John Kennedy learned an important lesson from his father’s avoidance of the right thing!

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – President Kennedy

Pastor Martin Niemöller

If injustice doesn’t affect you, why bother to pursue justice for others? Will you wait to do the right thing only when the time is right for you?  … In the 1920s and early 1930s, Pastor Martin Niemöller, a German theologian and Lutheran pastor, sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radical right-wing political movements.

After Adolf Hitler’s interference in the Protestant Church, Niemöller then became an outspoken critic of Hitler. He was imprisoned in Nazi prisons and concentration camps during the last eight years of Nazi rule, where he nearly died.

After World War II, he was asked how he could have been so self-absorbed during the rise of Nazism, so silent when it mattered, Niemöller answered, “I am paying for that mistake now, and not me alone, but thousands of other persons like me.”  

He finally realized Germans had been complicit through their silence on the injustice perpetrated by the Nazis on "other" people  - it didn't "concern" them. Their silence resulted in the Nazi persecution, imprisonment, and murder of millions of people. He felt this was especially true of the leaders of the Protestant churches. Niemöller openly spoke about his own early complicity in Nazism and his eventual change of heart. His powerful words about guilt and responsibility still resonate today.

In addition to the fascinating stories of historical figures, Right Thing, Right Now offers you an opportunity to look at yourself. The author asks some tough questions which may lead you to believe that the circle of your life may be too narrow, your heart too cold, and your character too small to see the injustice in your community and in our world. But he then goes on to give you hope that you, too, can be "a small light in a dark world."

The right time for me to read this book was right now! It was particularly good to read as the dark cloud of radical right-wing political rhetoric and unconstitutional acts seems to be increasing without any end in sight. “Freedom is essential … but the most essential freedom is the freedom from fear. Our job is to fight to ensure justice prevails – that the vulnerable are protected and can live without fear. Because they are us and we are them”. Every one of us can be courageous in our daily lives by choosing to do the right thing, right now.

“The Stoics never claimed that living justly was easy, only that it was necessary. And that the alternative—sacrificing our principles for something lesser—was considered only by cowards and fools.”