Victory Song - A Reader Writes

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

I loved this first novel by Helen Simonson called, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. 

Despite any other claims, it's a love story.  Love of country, love of family history, love of wife/partner, love of son, love of brother.  Love even of neighbors who are, in fact, not lovable at all.  Major Pettigrew is charming - not just because he's of the old, English aristocracy - hunkering down (some might suggest "moldering") in a small country village and hanging on to his family pedigree while all others around him are abandoning his ways for more abrupt language, relationships and modern habits. He's charming because he's witty, self-effacing and kind, and because he's genuinely confused and troubled by what he sees as a degradation of society. You know, "himself as final steward" and all that British tradition stuff that we Americans love to feel superior about!

His only brother's death is quite a shock to the 68-year-old widower, and yet he doesn't hesitate to acknowledge the opportunity this presents to reunite a pair of two classic Churchill guns left to the brothers by their father.  The father's dying wish was that while he left one gun to each brother, the two guns should be brought back together for the following generation, and the good Major has every intention of following his father's dying instruction. That such instruction leaves the Major with the much coveted pair is *of course not* part of his urgency.  His intentions are most noble and selfless.

Unfortunately, his horrid sister-in-law (the brother's widow) and even his own son see things differently. The pair of guns is worth $100,000 pounds or more, and it takes all of the Major's wit and charm to maneuver around his relatives "base desire" to sell immediately.   His daydreams of going on a shoot with the two guns causing an appropriate sensation are some of the cleverest parts of the book.

In the midst of al this, the typical village gossip, prejudice and silliness parade about, creating frictions and drama.  And, very unlikely as it is, the Major also falls in love with a most unsuitable partner - Mrs. Ali, the village shopkeeper and a recent widow -- someone whose very presence in the town challenges his status of aristocracy.  She is, after all, not just a shopkeeper but also Pakistani.  When challenged to make a call, he laments that "I don't know how to be other than the man I am." 

This moment of lament is literally a Cinderella story.  Mrs. Ali runs from him at a dance put on by the golf club, dashing down the stairs in obligation to her own family and running from the small minded actions of the Major's upper crust neighbors.  He must decide in a moment to follow her -- and thus follow his heart and his own moral code -- or to stay at the dance and maintain decorum amid the assembled "polite" company.  

Do not despair, gentle reader:  He makes up for his choice of tradition at the dance by later tracking down the love interest and making the decision to play his hand for love.  The chase, rescue and subsequent seduction of Mrs. Ali is a wonderful twist.  The Major is, after all, a very unlikely James Bond sort of hero.  Still, he pulls it off with panache. 

The whole story is quirky and rambling, and many of the characters (including the Major's son) act quite ridiculous.  Several are true heros/heroines and made me cheer out loud for their interests.  But the one word that describes how I felt at the end is "lovely."  This is a lovely story.  With a wonderful message and subtle lesson.  I really enjoyed it.  At the close of the last chapter, I went back immediately to the beginning and read the first 100 pages again.  

If you like a story to have flawed, human characters who tackle life with grit and good humor, then this is a story for you.

Check out Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - which I'm recommending as "last week of summer beach reading" to everyone!

Passing Through "The Passage"

I just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin.  I was SO disappointed.

 

It was gripping – and spooky (it’s a vampire book but totally not for kids).  The story was LONG and detailed.   I loved that it was told from various points of view.  He's got the science of story telling down.  The use of time delay was curious and added to the story's power - some of it was a view back to the time period (about 2014 or so) when the vampires were "hatched" (called "virals" because when they take you in, you become a vampire too). Of course it was a dastardly plot by the US Army to create super-human soldiers that went sadly and horribly wrong.  Now the vampires have basically killed or infected everyone in North America -- except for a small Colony of humans (we are not sure if there are other colonies until well in to the story). Some of it was in the primary moment of the action - about 100 years after the virals hatch.  The opening bits were foretelling the story - and give some interesting grounding for a few main characters.  Some was a look back to history from a thousand years later.  So we know that humans continue to survive, which is nice, but honestly, you'd never know why or how from reading this novel.

 

So the science of it was there - there's a strong plot, a narrative, good characters.  He slips in things like book-lovers and a scene of movie Dracula.   Very clever.  There is some magic in it (I'm a fan of magic.  Cronin's has a bit of God as Guide spirituality mixed with it, but not too overt.)  Yet the art of storytelling is really about telling the story - I want to know how things come about, why the characters interact, and I want some sort of logical conclusion to the story. Not every detail wrapped up in a bow like a cheap romance, but at least some sort of reason to end the novel where it ends.

 

So while Cronin does a nice job of including some details to the story that make the characters alive and human, the story telling doesn't seem to have a strong purpose. It's like the story never finds purchase amid the gruesome vampire actions and the human colony's colossal struggle for survival.  Instead, the end of the book reads like the end of just another chapter. I found myself puzzled as to why there wasn't more.

 

Cronin left so many things unanswered and sort of vague. I was incredibly disappointed. It was either a completely undisguised play for a sequel or it just made sense in his head and not mine.

 

For the spookiness factor alone, I would urge caution. I had to put it aside and not read it before bed if I wanted to sleep at all. 

It's gotten great reviews and Cronin is being celebrated.  But I don't recommend it to anyone but the curious or avid genre fanatics.  Just not a satisfying story. 

Check out the Amazon reviews of The Passage, by Justin Cronin.

The Master Butchers Singing Club

Think about how music connects us - to each other, and to places and events and communities.  This is the underlying glue that ties together - but does not necessarily bind -- all the various characters of Louise Erdrich's novel, The Master Butchers Singing Club.

It begins as Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his small hometown in Germany, having survived WW1.  He marries the pregnant wife of his dead soldier buddy and eventually emigrates and settles in North Dakota, having carried a suitcase full of sausages and his butcher's knives across the sea.  His powerful physical strength is balanced with a soft, full tenor voice.  He starts a local singing club, just as his father had done with the other butchers back in Germany.  Their bonding is a key part of the story of the town, and music has a forward theme throughout the story, which is told in alternating patterns in the voices of several characters.

Other characters are introduced - some from the old country, some from the new small town - and all with hopes, dreams, fears and things they wish to hide.  The tale is epic, if somewhat disjointed, and in the end, I am left feeling somewhat battered.  There is much joy and beauty - the result of hard work and a non-demonstrative, rather practical, yet deeply felt loves.  There is not a lot of dialog - the story unfolds mostly through industry, action and individual reflection.  There is also much sadness and despair.  Love that is freely given, but not unconditionally. 

Fidelis is a kind, upstanding, strong man.  He loves his wife and children.  He is a master butcher, and takes pride in his work.  He is also private and carries the burden of war and loss.  I just read this whole novel about him and his clan, and I feel I have not met him.  Much of the story is told from the view of his eventual wife Delphine -- she we get to know, but she is also driven by loss and misery of her own, and
I am saddened by the fact that she never really gets to experience unbridled joy. 

Through all this, there are moments tender, hilarious escapades and impressive devotion.  These characters are intense and exhausting to be around.

I think I liked it. I wanted to know the end of the story.  But I leave it feeling somewhat dissatisfied.  Somehow the inputs don't quite seem to equal the outputs.  Then again, no one seems terribly unhappy, either.  Perhaps I wanted more for these kind and good people than they wanted themselves.  Perhaps I live in a time and with so many opportunities that I can't appreciate their acceptance of mere survival.

If you like a novel that is sweeping, epic even, you will enjoy following the trajectory of this family. 

The Master Butchers Singing Club, by Louise Erdrich.

The Help - Worth Reading In Hardback!

I confess that I rarely read fiction in hardcover (exception- the entire Harry Potter series!)  I just have so many great books to read that I figure I can always wait and see if it gets a hearty welcome.  Similarly, I rarely see a Broadway show until I can guage if it's for New Yorkers or tourists.  (I am still really a tourist here, after just six years in the Big City (as my neice calls it), but like to think I have New Yorker cultural tastes!)

The Help, a new novel out in hardback by Kathryn Stockett, is an exception. I recommend it immediately! 

The characters are so intense and so succulent that you won't want to put this book down. Even the really bitchy socialite that runs the women's league with a disgusting and iron hand is deliciously written. I read it in one big gulp and then when back to page one and read it again, more slowly, and savored it.  The writing is easy and simple, but extremely powerful. 

Stockett tells a story of the black maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's.  That might sound trite at first, but the characters quickly come to life and you see through their eyes how hardened and cruel prejudice turns into self-protecting egotism.  In a way, it seems these attitudes become logical, pleasant even, to those who practice them.

I also love that the maids are keeping the whole town running - the white homes and parties as well as the black homes and church fairs, too.  How typical that the most under privileged women of a community are the ones we can't do without!

I read this book with such engagement and joy that several times I clapped my hands - much to the surprise and amusement of people sitting next to me in a cafe.  "That must be one heck of a book," the gentleman at the next table says with raised eyebrows, while his wife gives me a look of pure annoyance.  I was glad in this case to have the pleasant company of my book!

Don't get me wrong - this is not a book about a happy situation. Not everyone gets what they deserve - although finally, at the end, the nasty one gets hers. (Thank goodness.)

It's a story of struggle and self fulfillment and lack of opportunity and frustration and battles against the establishment.  It's also incredibly human and warm and inspiring.  Under similar pressure and lack of support, I wonder if I would do half as well as the maids.  Probably not.

Thanks to my friend Gene who told me about this book while we were wandering in a cool bookstore in Brooklyn. If you are in a book club - read this one soon!

Get The Help, but Kathryn Stockett.

Living the Life in a Book

My sister and I both read Annie Barrows' Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society earlier this year and loved it.  It's a great book - written in letters, easy to follow, touchingly presented and historical.  I hadn't realized that Guernsey - part of England's Channel Islands - was occupied by the Nazi's in WW2.  The characters are wonderful and the multi dimensional love stories are very engaging.  Turns out that what connects all these people, across miles, time and nationality is one woman, Elizabeth, who has incredible spirit, courage, beauty and kindness of heart.  A great story.

Usually, I read a book, love it, blog about it, tell five friends and then buy it for a few people.  Wendy, my sister, outdid me here.  She convinced me that we really should GO to Guernsey.

She was inspired by the book, but her conviction was solidified when she was on holiday in Antigua this past winter and met a family from Guernsey.  Those people were very nice and said, as we all often do on holiday, "Oh yes, come visit."  That is a very dangerous thing to say to a Miller sister.

We showed up in October.

I had said to her, "Are you sure you want to go to Guernsey?  I mean, what do we do there?  Look at cows?  Read books?  Walk in meadows?"

Wendy was undaunted.  Turns out that Guernsey is lovely.   The cows are plentiful and gentle.  (And brown.) Wendy's new friends were incredibly kind to us, and had us over to dinner twice plus drove us around the island and helped us find the best ice cream - made from Guernsey cow milk, of course! Delicious.  The butter is also pretty amazing.

The island is rough - which makes for beautiful cliff walks.  We did a lot of that. We also ate good seafood, explored museums, rode our bikes around the small country roads (and I mean small as in narrow - two cars can not pass on many of them, so there is a bit of backing up).   They have their own currency and tax laws, so if you want to keep your money there, they welcome that.

I love it when you visit a place and the locals give you a flavor for whatever makes them most proud.  In this case, I heard a few of them tell me, "Oh, we don't belong to England. England belongs to us!"

The story is that way back in the day, when the Gaul commander later known to us as William the Conqueror came over to attack England, the Channel Islands were part of Gaul. Yes, this was 1165 or whatever.  The army stopped at the islands to rest/refuel, and picked up a few local Guernsey-an soldiers.  Thus, the Guernsey people were among the conquering army.   They win.  Get it?

A friend who is British and lives in London hears this story and says, "Huh.  You know this was all a long time ago?  Clearly they are part of England now."

Talk about local pride ;)

Even if you don't actually go to the Channel Islands, I recommend reading Barrows' Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Slow Man

We take so much for granted, especially when we are most blessed.  Our health, of course.  And friendships.  And taking time to listen, and understand. 

Perhaps this is why Slow Man by Nobel-winning author J. M. Coetzee is so compelling.  It's about Paul Rayment, a 60ish, independent, fit man in Australia who is hit by a young driver while riding his bike. He loses a leg, but also loses his sense of self.  His life is uprooted, of course, and he loses his independence.  He did not have many friends or close associates before the accident, but his life was a routine, and a comfortable one.

He loss of the leg shakes him.  He begins to look inside and likes not very much what he sees.  He falls in love with his (married) nurse - an honest and understandable transference - and then becomes rather intertwined with her family and her history.   It's painful to watch him struggle in this situation - especially after he clumsily blurts out his feelings. 

A novelist enters his life at random, and she possesses and uncanny (and almost mystical) ability to read him and force him to address the loose ends of his life.  She is, quite frankly, spooky, and there are moments where I can't believe he puts up with her or gives her the power to guide his life.  But then again, he lost his leg and his faith in himself.  He's lost.  Stumbling both physically and emotionally.

His hobby of collecting old sepia photographs of the Australian bush pioneers becomes a metaphor for his new life.   These are old, weathered recordings of hard lives.  He is fascinated and repelled by the  seriousness of the faces, the dirt and grime.  The camaraderie of the men.  The exhaustion of the mothers.  The photos are a record of history, part of what makes us moderns what we are.  And yet, they are strangers - both in name and family.  We are connected, but not familiar.  The young people Paul encounters encourage him to join the world - a modern world.  He resists this with a discomfort born of the pain of not being able to make all the choices.  "An accident?"  he says at one point.  "What is an accident but something we wish we had control over."

Later, the strange, other-worldly novelist says to Paul (on page 182):

"You cannot love by an act of will, Paul.  We have to learn.  That is why souls descend from their realm on high and submit to being born again: so that, as they grow up in our company, they can lead us along the hard road of loving.  From the beginning you have glimpsed  something angelic in Drago, and I am sure you are not wrong. Drago has remained in touch with his origins longer than most children. Overcome your disappointment, your irritation. Learn from Drago while you can.  One of these  days the last wisps of glory that trail behind him will vanish into the air, and he will simply be one of us."

Paul responds to this bit of wisdom with skepticism.  But she believes what she is saying.  Her confidence in this as truth makes him question his lack of faith.

Do we all have angels among us?  Surely this is true - or perhaps it is just humans around us who occasionally offer angelic acts.  Either way, Coetzee's philosophical novel lets us dream that we would rise to a  big life challenge in a way that is more decisive and rational than poor Paul Rayment.  That instead of succumbing to the hole that the missing leg makes in his life, that he will rise up - be an inspiration. 

Paul is no inspiration, to us nor himself.  And yet, his questions are the questions of the ages.  Of us all.  And that is what makes a great story. 

I found the combination of humanity and aspiration in this short novel quite intriguing. Disturbing in some ways, but always engaging. 

Love Approached Via Different Paths (& Philosophies)

I read two widely acclaimed books from my long "Catch up on these great ones" reading list, and they both turned out to be wonderful love stories. Who knew?!  But wow, they could not have been more different.

I read Great Expectations a few weeks ago, and then just finished A Farewell to Arms this past weekend.  Talk about all over the spectrum!

I loved Great Expectations for the humor, humanity and strangeness.  Dickens was brilliant.  Apparently, he wrote this quickly, in a frantic attempt to keep his weekly newspaper alive, so it was given to the public in chapter installments. He told his editor, "I think I have a great idea for a story."   Clearly he was given to understatement.

What a wonderful way to enjoy a book. I know The New York Times tried to have a serial novel in the magazine a few times, but I confess I never got into the stories they picked.  I believe The Scotman of Edinborough still publishes the 44 Scotland Street series from Alexander McCall Smith, which I love in the book form.   Enough people back in the day loved Great Expectations because it saved the  newspaper, and put Dickens back in the black, at least for a few more years.

My heart went up and down with Pip's as he grows older, world-wiser, more mature - and just plain nicer as a person, too.  I hoped he would find his love at the end; that she would wait for him.  He's certainly true enough, despite his silly boyish behaviors.  But of course, you really don't think he's got a chance until the last chapter.  Bravo, Pip. 

I realize that I had been missing references to "A mess that would make Miss Havisham comfortable" and "Scented hands of a barrister" all these years.  They always just went over my head, and now I realize they were literary!  Doh.  Glad I finally caught up with this classic.  Plus, I read it in a beautifully bound edition with gold leaf and fine paper.  That really does make a difference.  Just the heft of it in my hands, the whisper of the page turns and the cool, soft cover make you feel you are reading the words of a master.  That it is Dickens surely helps, too ;)

I have never been a big Hemingway fan, and was not sure what to expect from A Farewell to Arms.  It's incredibly sad.  He always claimed it was semi-autobiographical, so perhaps the underlying theme is a personal philosophy of Hemingway:  That the good and brave die young, the rest of us suffer longer and then get it in the end, but no one is ever really happy anyway, so don't aim for it, you will just be disappointed.

The lyrical, conversational tone is actually quite easy to get into, even though the first two chapters are so vague I felt like I was joining a conversation already in progress. Took me a while to catch up and get it.  I suppose all Hemingway characters are stoic.  I liked Lt. Henry, he was clever, resourceful and thoughtful.  But wow, talk about keeping your emotions in check!    Even his lover, Catharine, is reserved and low key.  They have a beautiful and completely blissful, committed relationship that is just barely grounded in any sustainable reality.  Hemingway sets them up for the big fall at the end.  As she lies dying in the last chapter, she says simply, "I'm sorry to leave you.  It's really a dirty trick."

Two very different books.  Which is part of the reason I love books so much - there are so many ways to tell the tale - love story or otherwise.

Sherlock in Love

I loved Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife and so eagerly picked up her novel, Sherlock in Love. She does the same thing in each novel - takes a small, one time reference in the master work and builds a whole story around it.  For example, for Ahab's Wife, there is a mention by Melville in Moby Dick of Ahab having left a wife behind.  For Sherlock in Love, she builds on a reference in Doyle's stories about Sherlock's Stradivarius violin being of particular value to him, because of the passion he felt for the person who left it to him.

The Sherlock novel is quite adventurous and compelling. Some of the style is stilted, as no one could replicate Doyle's fabulous style and wit.  But Naslund does a compassionate portrait of Dr. Watson, now older, but no less an elegant gentleman and ladies-man as ever.  Post-humunous Holmes still insults him, and he takes it with his usual good humor and respect for the man's genius.  So in that sense, the joy of a great Sherlock Holmes novel is somewhat retained. There is certainly many a fog-covered evening in London to help set the stage for a mystery.

But what Naslund adds to the canvas is no less wonderful. She gives a new eloquence and understanding to the human side of both Watson and the remembered Holmes, who lives through his diary and Watson's notes from their past adventures.  As the title suggests, it's a love story, but as befits a classic Holmes story, it's convoluted and multi-dimensional and includes layers of mystery and intrigue.  I had my suspicions about "who dun it" - and was right - but that in no way impeded my enjoyment of watching the story unfold at rapid speed.

I recommend Sherlock in Love to any Holmes fan, or any fan of a great twist in the tale.

My Maiden Voyage with the Dame of Mysteries

I spooked myself this week reading Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.  

Have you ever read her novels? I have not.  I saw it in the used book store on last Sunday and thought I would treat myself.  Not much of a mystery reader, I thought simply that it would be a nice diversion from the usual fare. Oh, foolish me!

I was pleasantly surprised!  I loved it.  It was engaging and fast paced and totally provocative – and a bit spooky. I almost had trouble falling asleep on Tuesday – thinking about a dead man stabbed 12 times on a train.  Every bonk and boop of the radiator gave me a stir! 

That is what I call a good mystery, eh? It stays with you. Heart thumping, mind racing, and ego deflating when you find out that I totally didn’t get all the clues…. What a story!

I found myself re-reading the last section three times – you know the part, where the detective stands up, clears his throat, wraps up the solution neatly and grabs the wrist of the killer before he/she can escape.  It took me three readings to really get it –he was highlighting things that I had forgotten as I read along, rapt in the story and missing clues right and left.  I was even aware of this as I read – telling myself, Pay attention to details here, Missy.  You will be able to suspect the right person!  But of course, I didn’t get it right at all.  It was a real twist in the tale.  And a unique kind of justice that I liked very much.  Good job, Agatha.

Always the glutton  when it comes to new authors I discover, after a bit of a search through the used mysteries (funny, there are no Christie's to be found, people must like to keep them!) I found Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective this weekend at my favorite (and, sadly, the last independent one on the Upper West Side!) bookstore.    It was one of the best $4 I ever spent, even though the binding is falling apart.  It's a collection of short stories of a gentleman who is quite banal and bland, but after having spent a long career compiling statistics for the government, he claims he can diagnose and cure most common human ills.   In fact, he's less a detective than a nice man who wants to help people with their problems.  He advertises in a national publication for anyone who is unhappy to visit him.

Isn't that a wonderful premise!  Dame Christie is brilliant.

So a wife finds out that a secret to marital bliss is to hold the memory of passion, even if there was no passion itself.  And two young people fall in love over the exploration of a mysterious and exciting "treasure."  And of course, there are a few murders to be solved and diamond thieves to be ensnared. Throughout,Mr. Parker Pyneis quite wonderful.  Most of his "clients" find interesting things happening to them, but don't always connect them back to Mr. Parker Pyne.  Although I'm just starting to get into Christie's voluminous works, I believe that Mr. Parker Pyne was an early character and some of his staff turn up in later novels, sometimes as more important players.

I'm excited to keep this journey going!  What Christie novels do you recommend for this beginner?

44 Scotland Street - a Series

The art of the Dicken- and Austin-inspired serial novel - where an installation appears each week in some worhty publication - has been reinvigorated by Alexander McCall Smith in the Daily Scotsman of Edinburgh over the past five years.  I am so delighted!

The result is the 44 Scotland Street Series - now in four volumes.  The title series is the first book, then Espresso Tales, Love over Scotland and the latest, The World According to Bertie.

My friend Deb and I have been sharing these books since the first volume was published in book form. I love them.  Because they appear in the newspaper each week, every chapter is written in 500 words or so, and has to contain its own mini-plot, in addition to being part of the whole. The result is that things move pretty slowly, but that is sometimes a nice pace. These books are like having conversations with a friend - sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking, sometimes brilliant, often banal.  But they are comforting, and the characters are likable (or if not, wonderfully distasteful!) and real.  Oh, to be a neighbor at 44 Scotland Street~  To laugh and love and think big thoughts along with the cast of these books.

I saw McCall Smith speak at the Cooper Union here in New York last year and he really did show up in a kilt.  He's totally charming and funny.  Writing serial novels is hard, and yet, it's all he does.  He is masterful at character creation and development. Many times we finish a novel and wonder, what happens next?  Especially when the character lives with me for a few days or weeks.  With McCall Smith's work, the novels are written to be continued.  So he takes his sweet time exploring tangents and building side stories - all of which contribute to the overall breadth and depth of the tale.

I devoured The World According to Bertie. If you've read any of these novels, don't you think it's funny that Bertie has miraculously stayed six years old while others around him celebrate year after year?  And in the end, poor Bertie remains stuck in the prison of his mother's making.  That woman is so arrogant and dis-illusionsed she makes my skin crawl - but at the same time she's so annoyingly hilarious that you hope she stays in the stories forever!  Poor Bertie!

I'm sending this down to Deb and look forward to laughing over some of the scenes with her when she's had a chance to read it.  These books make great plane reading, too. I was finishing it on my way to Charlotte this week and laughed out loud so often that the flight attendant asked me for the title so she could get it, too!  Good job.

Thank you thank you Alexander McCall Smith!  His website is here, and you can buy the book here.  Start at the beginning with 44 Scotland Street if you can.