Book by the Beach Book Club - International Fiction: (Romania)
Ciuleandra by Liviu Rebreanu, Gabi Regh (Translator)
NOTE: Ciuleandra is the first book made into a movie with sound in Romanian (1930).
The story begins with Puiu murdering his young wife. Then his father, Polycarp Faranga, a well-respected judge, discovers what has happened and takes charge. After informing the chief of police of the crime, he arranges for Puiu to be taken to a sanatorium, where he will be kept and ‘observed’ for some time, before being found unable to stand trial due to temporary insanity. However, these plans hit a couple of snags. The first is the absence of the friendly doctor he expected to be at the sanatorium. And the second is the growing suspicion that there’s more to the idea of Puiu’s madness than just a cover-up story…
Most of the book is set in the sanatorium. Puiu is technically a “prisoner”, but, because he is rich, he is treated like a respected guest. He’s allowed daily visits, a police guard/servant, newspapers, and good food. What the heck? He is a self-confessed murderer and yet he receives comfortable treatment!!!
Soon Puiu’s seemingly easy life soon becomes far more unsettling. Left to his own devices, and plenty of time to reflect on his actions, Puiu begins to wonder if there really is something wrong with him.
Ciuleandra is a slow-burning story of a man consumed by his own conscience. Rebreanu has created an ingenious form of punishment for his sins.
Nonfiction: Memoir
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
Eddie Jaku was born Abraham Jakubowicz in Germany in 1920. In World War Two, Jaku was imprisoned by the fascist Nazi government in Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps and was a slave laborer. In 1945, he was sent on a 'death march' but escaped. Finally, he was rescued by Allied soldiers. In 1950 he moved to Australia. In 2013 Jaku was awarded the Order of Australia medal (OAM) in recognition of his tireless work to benefit the Australian Jewish community. Jaku died in 2021 at age 101.
NOTE: Jaku presented a 12-minute TED talk when he was 99 years old.
“MY DEAR NEW FRIEND” – these are his opening words. They speak volumes to the character of this man.
Jaku wrote this memoir when he was 100 years old. Born a German Jew, he survived the entirety of the Holocaust as a slave laborer in concentration camps. He endured 28 degrees below zero temperatures with no blanket, no coat, rough, wooden shoes, and unimaginable starvation. The surroundings, the nauseating stench of decaying human life and the moral choices of people living in fear is told through Jaku’s eyes – the eyes of a survivor.
“If enough people had stood up then, on Kristallnacht, and said, ‘Enough! What are you doing? What is wrong with you?’ then the course of history would have been different. But they did not. They were scared. They were weak. And their weakness allowed them to be manipulated into hatred.”
Raised by a loving family, Jaku’s parents did not survive the Holocaust but their choices for their son made a great difference. When Jews were kicked out of German schools, Jaku’s father, who fought in the German army during World War I, obtained false (Christian) identity papers for his son so he would receive an education. Jaku’s college degree in mechanical engineering then saved him from the gas chambers as the Nazis recognized his “value” as a slave in their armament factories.
I know Jaku probably doesn’t tell half of the horrors he experienced and even his sons didn't know what he went through until many decades later. But he eventually came to a time in his life when he could tell his story. “It took many years to realize that as long as I still held fear and pain in my heart, I would not truly be free.”
There is so much to learn from his story and his attitude. Jaku’s story encourages me to hopeful.
“It is never too late to be kind, polite, and a loving human being … Your efforts today will affect people you will never know. It is your choice whether that effect is positive or negative. You can choose every day, every minute, to act in a way that may uplift a stranger, or else drag them down. The choice is easy. And it is yours to make.”
Nonfiction: History, Politics, Sociology
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them and Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason F. Stanley - an author of five books, Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and an honorary professor at the Kyiv School of Economics.
Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics--the language and beliefs that separate people into an "us" and a "them."
He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics:
- which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation's past;
- propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves;
- anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts;
- law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals;
- and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare.
These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership.”
If you think you haven’t heard fascist rhetoric in our country think again. Trump’s inflammatory language puts him a world apart from any major-party nominee in modern American memory. And it’s getting worse. His speeches echo fascist rhetoric. Trump’s rhetoric is part of his effort to re-educate Americans to see violence as justified, patriotic, and even morally righteous.
Trump and his advisors took exception to being called out for deploying fascist rhetoric, resorting to threats that simply strengthened the case against them. As the Washington Post reported, Trump’s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung had this to say about those (like me) who make such comparisons: “their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.”
“Some people think he’s trolling, but we know that the worst regimes in history, people also thought they were joking. It wouldn’t be fascism without that feature.”
If you’re politically aware and want to be better educated generally about fascism, I recommend this book… which led me to read –
Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.
NOTE: *As a Floridian, I have first-hand knowledge of Governor DeSantis’s “don’t say gay,” and “war on woke” policies. He has used an appeal to “freedom” to punish critics, wage a war on LBGTQ people, misrepresent the history of slavery, and impose a new version of McCarthyism on higher education. I read this book to deepen my understanding of how fascism is rooted in educational systems.
Erasing History is a fast paced and engaging crash course on how far right politics erase critical parts of history to benefit themselves and create a very narrow view of our past. They erase all other perspectives of history except for the one they choose. They object to the historical perspectives of anyone else because they (Far-right, Christian Nationalist Americans) believe that any perspective other theirs is trying “to make students ashamed of their own history.”
** Personal Note: History relates events and how people responded to them in the past. Feelings like “being ashamed” are just that, feelings. How you choose to respond to facts is up to you. I choose to learn from the past to avoid mistakes and build on successes. History holds shame only for those who refuse to learn from it.
There are five major themes in fascist education:
- National greatness
- National purity
- National innocence
- Strict gender roles
- Vilification of the left
Using different examples of educational systems in history like Nazi Germany; England's colonial schools in Kenya; and Russian schools, Stanley then puts them into perspective with Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, MAGA, and Putin. He also provides a clear understanding of what fascists movements do to education and why. It's scary, and it's happening right now all over the world. If we elect fascists, we have only ourselves and our ignorance of history to blame.
“Fascist politics invokes a pure mythic past tragically destroyed. Depending on how the nation is defined, the mythic past may be religiously pure, racially pure, culturally pure, or all of the above.”
As I read these two books, I wondered who else is reading them. Obviously, I read them, and I assume other curious readers will read them as well. But the people who ought to be confronted with Stanley’s arguments and his historical analysis will never read these books (and may try to get them banned!) because they are not interested in widening their perspective. Critical thinking and a shared understanding of history’s role is abhorrent to fascists. Their goal is to control people through manipulation, disinformation, and fear of the "Other.” Without an education that encourages reading and research on all perspectives of history, we are doomed to repeat the worst aspects.
Nonfiction: Psychology, Sociology, Politics
The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family by Jesselyn Cook
In 2021, 15 percent of Americans agreed that the government, media, and financial institutions were controlled by Satan worshipping pedophiles. By 2023 that number was 25 percent. QAnon like many cults starts out for many as a journey to self-actualization through collective action. People want to feel a part of something important. Who wouldn’t want to save kids from being sex trafficked through a D.C. pizza parlor? Never mind that the story is totally fake, they believe anyway.
QAnon is a Right-wing cult that also believes:
- Princess Diana is still alive.
- John F Kennedy Jr is still alive and he's going to be Trump's Vice President.
- The online retailer Wayfair is selling furniture with missing children locked inside.
QAnon like other cults ruins lives and rips families apart. In The Quiet Damage lives of five families QAnon left devastated are explored.
Cook treats each of these stories and families with incredible care and empathy; each person's backstory is lovingly captured, their personalities, passions, and accomplishments fleshed out. The QAnon believers range in location, age, and race but there are a number of common themes and situations - a jarring emotional or physical shock; feelings of loneliness or abandonment; the isolation and fear caused by the COVID-19 pandemic - that highlight just how alluring the QAnon movement was to them. The emotional, mental, and physical toll this had on the loved ones around these individuals was heart-wrenching and devastating; for some families, there was no resolution.
EXCELLENT BOOK! This is an eye-opening book. I really felt for the families affected by QAnon and found their stories captivating. The only thing that would have made this book better is keeping each family’s story as a single, complete section. Instead, the author broke them into multiple sections which sometimes made it hard to keep them straight. The Quiet Damage is not a scholarly review of research about cults but is rather the real-life experiences of people who lived and are living with the impacts of this cult. I highly recommend this book!
Nonfiction: Biography
Running with Raven: The Amazing Story of One Man, His Passion, and the Community He Inspired by Laura Lee Huttenbach
NOTE: *You must watch this Runner’s World video (4 ½ minutes) to understand why he is so amazing!
I first learned about Raven during the COVID pandemic when he received special dispensation to run on Miami beach when it was closed. Why? Because Robert "Raven" Kraft made a New Year's Resolution in 1975 to run eight miles every day on Miami Beach. And thanks to Miami’s mayor, he hasn't missed a day, since!
Raven is quirky. He runs wearing a black rubber glove and black clothing. He reminds me of Johnny Cash, and he looks like he walked off a 1970s film set, perhaps a movie like “Billy Jack”. While young, Raven was “fast” but now age, spinal stenosis, and scoliosis have stooped his posture but his dedication to running, albeit at a slow pace, has not wavered.
Raven is so human, and humane. He encourages people to run with him and keeps detailed lists of everyone who completes an eight-mile run with him. If you complete the eight-mile run, you get a nickname. He is incredibly accepting and kind to all people, including the homeless and street people of Miami.
Initially Raven ran alone or with just a couple of people, then his streak started getting media attention. Now a few thousand people have run with him. Running with Raven includes biographical sketches of several runners, and they describe how their relationship with Raven has impacted their lives. Raven is a unique, positive force in the world simply by running and being.
The writing in Running with Raven isn’t outstanding, but his story is truly heart-warming. It is people like Raven that remind me that hope, peace, and kindness still exist.
Fiction: Mystery (DI Winter Meadows series)
The Silent Quarry by Cheryl Rees-Price
DI Winter Meadows has returned to the village where thirty
years earlier the murder of one girl and the serious injuries of a second girl
proved a devastating event for a small village.
Winter went to school with both girls and had a crush on Gwen, the girl who
survived. Gwen had no memories of what happened that day, and the person
responsible was never found.
Gwen, now married with two adolescent children, began having flashbacks to the
day of the murder. Nothing consistent, a brief image at best, but the
possibility of further memories may put her life at risk. Winter Meadows
re-opens the case, hoping to discover who killed Bethan and attacked Gwen. Several
suspects are unhappy about further investigation into the case and may not want
Gwen to remember.
I was interested in this one because of the Welsh setting and because it is the first in the DI Winter Meadows series. It was “okay.” But much of the dialogue of the Inspector and the other police officers, particularly during the formal interviews, just didn't seem credible. The basic plot was part police procedural and part romance, I am not into romance. While the writing was good, I'm not anxious to read any more by this author.
Instead, I read four more from my current favorite, DCI Evan Warlow in the Black Beacons series. I am addicted to this series!
Nonfiction: Psychology, Sociology, Mental Health, Crime
The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout
The author asks, “Why have a conscience?” She argues that being truly human entails having one and warns us about the four percent of people who are sociopaths. This is a chilling book. I have met people who fit her description. One need not be a serial killer to be a sociopath. One needs only to be immune to caring about the humanity of others.
“Sociopathy is the inability to process emotional experience, including love and caring, except when such experience can be calculated as a coldly intellectual task.”
Sociopaths usually exhibit the following:
- lack of - guilt, remorse, empathy, conscience
- inability to form emotional attachments to others
- constant lying and unreliability
- using people easily
- chronic boredom
- ignoring social norms
- inability to accept responsibility
- devoting themselves to winning, “domination for the sake of domination”
- desire for pity. - “I am sure that if the devil existed, he would want us to feel very sorry for him.”
The desire for pity was the behavior that stood out most clearly. It reminded me of an abusive husband who, after hitting his wife, puts his head in his hands, cries, and begs for “help” to stop being abusive. (!?) His wife feels pity for him because of his seemingly contrite behavior, so she does not hold him accountable for his actions and he hits her again, again, and again in the future. Her husband is a sociopath.
“If … you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to 100 percent that you are dealing with a sociopath.”
What if you suspect there is a sociopath in your life? The author recommends “The Rule of Three:” “When considering a new relationship of any kind, practice the Rule of Threes regarding the claims and promises a person makes, and the responsibilities he or she has. Make the Rule of Threes your personal policy.
One lie, one broken promise, or a single neglected responsibility may be a misunderstanding. Two may involve a serious mistake. But three says you’re dealing with a liar, and deceit is the linchpin of conscienceless behavior. Cut your losses and get out as soon as you can.”
Audiobook Fiction: Realistic, Contemporary, Mystery
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
“What does anyone’s life mean?”
Publisher’s Description: “It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known - unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them—reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.”
“Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.”
This isn’t a romance! In fact, Tell Me Everything covers some dark and difficult ground including death and suicide. But the homey, yet realistic, narration drew me into the story and the lives of the characters. I listened intently to their stories even though many of them were heartbreaking and tragic. Strout writes in a such way that I was lifted out of that darkness into a new realization of what it means to be loved, to be remembered, and to have your life recorded.
I adored this book!
