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Pastorale

Perhaps it is the seasonal shift that is affecting me. We're still in the early days of spring with winds blowing chill, but sunshine warm enough to cause the hyacinth to bloom in the side garden patch. Spring refreshes the spirit after the winter and I see now that pastoral fiction does the same.   

If you've not encountered it elsewhere, Lark Rise to Candleford is the work of Flora Thompson, originally published as three separate books between 1938 and 1943. In 1945, the three titles were combined into a single volume and that combined edition has survived through the decades (more here), having recently been adapted to television with great success for the BBC for two successive seasons and an upcoming third. 

The book tells of the childhood of Laura Timmins in a small rural community 19 miles outside of Oxford. Using that fictional device, Thompson is actually describing her own upbringing in the agricultural hamlet up through her adolescence, leaving school at the age of 13 to work in the village post office. The stories -- in most instances, brief anecdotes -- emphasize the prevalent cultural attitude of the time -- a willingness to accept life as it comes and the virtue of welcoming both the hard work and small pleasures that make up the ordinary day. 

An extract may be helpful here to give the flavor of the writing: Yet even out of these unpromising materials, in a room which was kitchen, living-room, nursery, and wash-house combined, some women would contrive to make a pleasant, attractive-looking home. A well-whitened hearth, a home-made rag rug in bright colours and a few geraniums on the window sill would cost nothing and yet make a great difference to the general effect. Others despised these finishing touches. What was the good of breaking your back pegging rugs for the children to mess up when an old sack thrown down would serve the same purpose, they said. As to flowers in pots, they didn't hold with the nasty, messy things. But they did, at least, believe in cleaning up their houses once a day for public opinion demanded that of them. There were plenty of bare, comfortless homes in the hamlet but there was not one really dirty one. (page 89)

It's a different way of thinking. One might be poor by external social standards and yet one might still preserve a certain dignity, unlike much of the current thinking which would appear to only endow individuals with value if they have a conspicuous level of consumption of material goods.

Flora Thompson offers us a wonderful reading experience, even if one suspects that some of the true dreariness of those lives has been left out of the narrative. There is an unmistakable tone of respect throughout the book for the cultural values of the time, despite our perception of limited opportunity, and I think I enjoyed it particularly for that reason. Just as with the return of spring, Lark Rise to Candleford causes one to throw off the grimness of the modern economic winter and instead feel a re-born sense of pride, energy, and practical renewal. 

The book is published by David Godine in the US (see catalog entry).

Read This Now!

Incredibly wonderful analysis of what book reviews should encompass!

Eifelheim [Review]

Title: Eifelheim   

Author: Michael Flynn (author's live journal)

Copyright: 2006, Tor Books, New York

Genre: Science Fiction

Length: 312 pages

Summary: This is a braided tale of time and space. Flynn takes us back to the culture of 14th century Rhineland Germany, a period of technological shifts and venture into the sciences. He introduces a foreign (or, as this is science fiction novel, alien) culture into the village of Oberhochwold. This culture contrasts sharply with the medieval culture because its governing values are more closely related to the modern sensibilities (mechanistically, scientifically oriented rather than theological). That tale is juxtaposed with the experience of a trio of modern-day researchers who are investigating issues tied to both time and space. The stories intertwine, but the tale of primary interest is the first contact story between the medieval priest, Father Dietrich, his parish, and the Krenk.

Flynn draws a parallel between the encounter of historians grappling with an ancient culture of centuries past with that of a science fiction "first contact" between space alien and mankind. The conflicts presented in scientific concepts and spiritual beliefs are intriguing because each side understands and explains the world differently. Father Dietrich, in a world that has only the most shallow grasp of mechanics, energy and disease, must communicate his rational understanding of how the world operates (temporal and eternal) to a highly advanced race of beings with a far more sophisticated understanding of how the world operates. While Dietrich is challenged to incorporate the aliens into his belief structure, the aliens are faced with technological, physical and ultimately spiritual challenges. When both sides are faced with an unreasoning challenge to survival (bubonic plague), which belief structure emerges as being correct? This is what *good* science fiction does -- it explores assumptions and ideas -- and it is not surprising that this novel was nominated for a Hugo Award. (It lost against Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge.)

Pacing is slow until the last quarter of the novel; the long build-up introduces a variety of questions relevant to the final outcome of the story. Flynn's use of language is not particularly lyrical, as one might expect of a trained mathematician and statistician. There is an extensive list of historical names and dates that play into the development of the theme as well as a complex set of fictional characters that one must keep straight. The characterization, however, is quite robust. These characters have flaws and temperament and behavioral quirks.

The author demands intellectual engagement by the reader because Eifelheim is neither a frothy space opera nor is it a bastardized medieval fantasy. There are lengthy passages of theology as well as physics. However, the story's conflict is primarily revealed in human capacity for understanding as well as a stubborn failure to understand. That extends not just to the inter-species relationships but the human relationships as well. Dietrich has a ward, his primary familial relationship, and that relationship is tested as is his primary professional relationship with a mendicant Franciscan, Father Joachim.  

Extract:  "There was no cadence to the voice," he decided, "or rather its cadence was mechanical, without rhetorical flourishes. It lacked scorn, amusement, emphasis,...hesitation. It said 'Many thanks' with all the feeling of a shuttlecock flying across a loom."

"I see," said Manfred, and Dietrich raised a finger post.

"And that was another convincing point. You and I understand that by 'see' you signified something other than a direct impression on the sense of sight. As Buridan said, there is more to the meaning of an utterance than the precise words uttered. But the Heinzelmannchen did not understand figures. Once it learned that the 'tongue' is a part of the body, it became confused when I referred to the 'German tongue'. It did not comprehend metonymy."

"That's Greek to me," Manfred said.

"What I mean, my lord, is that I think...I think they may not know poetry."

(page 76 of the hardcover)

For more, there is a limited preview on Google Books.

Also relevant: This novel was written as an offshoot of a novella originally written and published in 1986. The modern portions of this braided tale are taken from that novella, which was also nominated for a Hugo. Fans of James Blish's A Case of Conscience or Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow may find this to be of equal interest. Religious belief systems are accorded respect in this narrative  as having equal footing as scientific knowledge in constructing an understanding of how we traverse this world and our lives (again, that theme of temporal vs. eternal). This is a challenging read, but well worth the time it takes to get through it.  

Spam & Eggs [Review]

Title: Spam & Eggs: A Johnny DeNovo Mystery 

Author: Andrew Kent [official web site]

Copyright: 2009

Length: 256 pages

Genre: Mystery (Hard-Boiled)

Summary: Johnny DeNovo, ultra-cool and world famous detective, gets spam in his email box. Well, who doesn't? And why would such a mundane occurrence trigger an investigation? As with all great detectives, such as Sherlock Holmes or Philip Marlowe, when between cases, Johnny is bored. It is due to this lack of significant brain stimulation that he notices some peculiarities in his spam messages and sets out to make sense of the problem. Supported by both his beautiful publicity agent, Mona Landau, and his techno-geek friend, Tucker Thiesen, Johnny follows clues that take him from his Boston condo to the rolling hills of Virginia's horse country as well as to the side streets and art galleries of Paris. 

Andrew Kent successfully delivers in this debut both an interesting sleuth as well as a cyber-crime that surprises and challenges the thoughtful reader. Most interestingly, he articulates the back-of-the-mind processes that permit a detective to understand what it is that has taken place in a crime, both in terms of the actual behavior as well as misdirected perception of behavior which allows the criminal to believe his or her acts have gone unnoticed. Just as Miss Marple would solve a crime by thinking of some seemingly unrelated occurrence in her village of St. Mary Mead, Johnny Denovo is a sleuth who toys mentally with metaphors,allowing useful connections to surface in his thinking and succeed in his public persona.   

Pacing is good and the laughs are not infrequent. DeNovo may be a sly send-up of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe character, but there is sufficient action of the sort that Chandler would applaud. The setting is modern-day and all of the technology is futuristic. Normally, this would not be a formula that I would find engaging (preferring as I do a good cozy Miss Marple) but Kent has mastered the technique of ending chapters in ways that induce one to keep turning pages. About half-way through the novel, I was sure I had figured out the identity of the mole who keeps Johnny DeNovo under close watch, but I was charmed when I realized that I was thoroughly mistaken in my conclusion. The book avoids predictability, in part because of the running themes that deepen the story. Kent touches on the nature of metaphors, self-presentation in both a physical and virtual sense, the nature of detection, and the brain processes necessarily employed in solving puzzles. Recommended.

Extract: The site linked to above has excerpts from chapters one and three, but I've bulleted a gem or two here worth noting.

• It wasn't good for weapons to become metaphors for security.
  
• Choice and chance separated people only very faintly, yet gazing across the divides made people seem very different.
  
• ...he always thought he sensed behaviors changing as the light faded, as if criminality, identity and possibility emerged as illumination dimmed. 
• ...savoring the touch of chaos he'd injected 

Also Relevant: This book is self-published. Like many readers and many acquisition librarians, I would tend to consider such a statement immediate cause for dismissal if not outright disdain. Do not make that mistake. Kent writes a satisfying, literate, and neatly executed tale of detection.  There is a balance in Spam & Eggs between the logical structure of the mystery form chosen by the author, and the nuances of perception and misdirection caused by the reader's tendency to make assumptions (in much the same way that a detective is required to do in the course of his work).  Indeed, the title itself playfully draws on words and symbols which percolate throughout the material. This book didn't have to be self-published because the author had reason to fear  the wash-wring-press of traditional editorial work. The book is self-published because the author chose to experiment with new mechanisms for distribution and there is a world of difference in the experience. Spam & Eggs isn't perfect; there were one or two annoying questions that occurred to me by the end, but the questions were more niggling slips rather than significant gaps in the narrative.

The book is worth your notice and your time. Personally, I look forward to the next title in the Johnny Denovo series, The Green Monster.

The American Patriot's Almanac [Review]

Title: The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America

Author: William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb

Copyright: 2008, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee

Length: 515 pages

Genre: Reference (U.S. History)

Summary: This is a useful single-volume reference, created with the intent of fostering awareness of and pride in the historical heritage of the United States. Each day of the year (with the exception of leap years, there being no entry for Feb 29) has a primary entry running about 4-5 paragraphs in length and a series of bulleted items (American History on Parade) that are single sentence entries of other events associated with the date. In between the pages for a specific month may be inserted full text primary documents (the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, etc.) or lighter offerings such as 100 All-American Movies. In the same vein, the text of patriotic poems and songs, including works by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Philip Sousa, George M. Cohen and Walt Whitman punctuate the volume. (I missed the inclusion of Whittier's patriotic - albeit sentimental - poem about Barbara Frietchie, but as it turns out, there is no historical basis for that particular incident.) The seven pages following the month of November contain a section entitled Prayers for the American People, including one credited as being said daily by Harry S. Truman. Except for the afore-mentioned primary historical documents, vocabulary is not particularly challenging and sentence structure tends to be relatively simple. The target audience for this book (based on the reading level of the material offered) would appear to be students third-grade and up. Certainly, the book might readily sit on a classroom or family library shelf and get significant use.

Extract: At the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin, at age eighty-one the oldest delegate, had noticed that the back of George Washington's chair was decorated with the image of a sun. At the convention's end, Franklin commented, " I have often and often in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun."

Also Relevant: I spent some time with this book, knowing that one of the authors, William J. Bennett, tends to the conservative end of politics and fearing that it would reflect exclusionary attitudes in terms of gender, creed, etc. There was less of a problem than I had anticipated, but the presentation is not without its bias. My particular examination focused on the inclusion of notable women (where I might personally claim some better-than-average expertise). Obvious historical female entities were included: Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Helen Keller. Such women are safe role models. Abigail was mother of a large family, kept the home farm operating while her spouse was politically active in public service, and remained devoted to her husband during those long absences. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first American-born saint and founder of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female to receive a medical degree in the U.S. is also allowed her place as is educator and civil rights leader, Mary McLeod Bethune . My difficulty is that, as near as I can determine, no achievements of women past 1960 are cited in the text. One does wonder about the missing Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, the Nobel-prize winning physicist, or about the missing Sally Ride, first American woman in space. Teacher Christa McAuliffe gets a brief mention in the context of the Challenger space shuttle accident, but otherwise references to modern women are few if not entirely missing from this text.

Similarly, my other nitpicking criticism of the text has to do with what may or may not be included in each of the bulleted items in the "American History on Parade" feature. Some percentage of these were simply included for their peculiarity or oddity. For example, the Almanac notes that on November 21, 1984, "millions of TV viewers" tuned in to learn who shot J.R. Similarly, the feature for May 20 notes the name of the first cab driver ticketed for speeding in the city of New York. In both instances, one has to wonder how such inclusion furthers the author's intent of instilling pride in the country. Television and speeding can't be considered worthy cultural hallmarks, can they?

But I admit that this is the kind of generally educational book that would have entertained me at the age of nine or ten. Just enough of a good story to stick in the memory, delivered without too many caveats or specificity. One can only hope that parents and teachers who purchase it don't allow it to be the *only* historical reference made available.

The Chronological Study Bible [Review]

Title: The Chronological Study Bible [Official Marketing Site]

Copyright: 2008, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; ISBN 9780718020682

Length: 1,670 pages (includes 220 pages of study aids, index, concordance, etc.)

Genre: Religious Belief

Summary: The theory behind this particular presentation of the Bible is to offer readers the experience of following the Biblical narrative according to the chronological order of those events as described in the canonical texts (as opposed to offering the complete text of the books of the Bible in the traditional canonical order or the historical dating of the manuscripts themselves). The publisher, Thomas Nelson, believes that this approach satisfies a need felt by modern readers. To use their words, "To understand the Bible, the reader must understand something of the history to which the Bible refers. At the same time, though, that historical background is not readily apparent from the order of the books in the Bible itself." The introduction goes on to explain how the contributors to the Chronological Study Bible went about their re-arrangement of Biblical materials in the interests of helping the modern reader put this material into the proper context as well as the challenges such an attempt faced.

In practical terms, this means that this edition of the Bible is creatively laid out, with the Book of Esther appearing between the ninth chapter of I Chronicles (history) and the fourth chapter of Ezra (one of the minor prophets). Such a presentation permits the reader to understand that the attitudes expressed in the two books Ezra and Esther represented the attitudes of two different populations -- one body of Jews that were still in exile, under the control of foreign kings, and a different body of Jews who had in fact been returned. There is not a single two-page spread in this beautiful four-color volume that doesn't offer some kind of background tool to the reader. Some are descriptive tidbits pertaining to arts and culture, some are historical time capsules or timelines, some are images (including maps, photos, and recognized masterpieces of art.). On that basis alone, this book seems worth the price.

It's important to realize that this is not a formal work intended for Biblical scholars but one intended for the lay person who wants a better sense of the historical background of the histories, prophetic writings and literature which represent the Scriptures. This order of this presentation is not intended as a ultimately authoritative rendition, but rather more of a "best guess" useful to those who want to improve their understanding of Biblical times without undertaking college courses on Biblical archaeology, ancient social structures, or Greek translation.

Extract: This Bible is the NKJV (New King James Version). This means that the familiar lines of Verse 4 of the 23rd Psalm are rendered as follows: Yea, though I walk through the Valley of Death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. The main change in that verse is the replacement of Thou and Thy with the more familiar usage of You and Your.

Also Relevant: This is a useful reference tool. Despite publisher forethought in supplying a 28-page Reading Plan for the book, I doubt to some extent the likelihood of anyone sitting down and using this for the purposes of reading the Bible straight through. The size and weight of the tome would make it just too overwhelming. That said, I do think it would be an excellent reference to have on hand when trying to read a particular book of the Bible (say, Jeremiah or Lamentations) set in an historical period that even relatively educated lay readers might find to be obscure. Pulling it from the shelf and seeing that a set of advisors have put the five great poems that comprise Lamentations in the middle of Jeremiah and just before a bit of history from 2 Kings provides the reader with some semblance of orientation in the real world.

If I have any grumbles, they are minor ones. It's hard to navigate the very useful set of indexes and concordances in the back of the book; notched pages might have helped with that even if it meant that the price of the book went up. To offset this lack, I will note that the publisher offered visual clues by shading pages in color across the ten different divisions. It works but only to a limited extent. At the very least, a few ribbon bookmarks would have been useful for navigational support but I gather that those are only supplied with the more expensive leather-bound edition.

There is another quibble. The ten divisions that I referenced above correspond to nine bible epochs that Nelson has offered as a governing structure to their chronology (the tenth division contains the indexes, etc.). I wouldn't mind, but I can't quite fathom how who came up with those "bible epochs". They don't seem to correspond to any other historical divisions that I could find through an admittedly short-and-shallow search. Not being a biblical scholar, I can't speak to the validity of the divisions; only that the prefatory material doesn't explain how the contributors to this version of the Bible developed those divisions.

Bibles represent an interesting challenge in the publishing environment. Every October, Publishers Weekly offers up an article or two about the current status of this specific niche - see for example, this one or this one. There's also a fairly insightful overview in this 2006 article in The New Yorker Magazine. And it must be said that The Chronological Study Bible has had its fair share of critical attacks (although I gather such criticism is largely grounded in the more conservative attitudes; see this as one example)

Still, in all, I think this is a remarkable product. I will keep this on my reference shelf with the expectation that family members will find it useful.

The Man in the Picture [Review]

Title: The Man in the Picture

Author: Susan Hill

Copyright: 2007 (Published in the U.S., 2008, Overlook Press, Woodstock, NY; ISBN: 978-1-59020-091-9)

Genre: Gothic

Length: 145 pages

Summary: A modern scholar of medieval literature visits his old tutor at Cambridge University, the Chaucerian scholar Theo Parmitter. Seated before a fire, with the lamplight low, in Parmitter's college rooms, Oliver is told the tale behind a painting that has been in Parmitter's rooms for some time. The painting shows a scene of revelers at a Carnivale Masque by the Grand Canal in Venice. It is the history of the painting that forms a tale within a tale, deliciously macabre and eliciting a delicate shiver. There are elements of frustrated love and unending imprisonment in this very short, highly enjoyable literary ghost story.

Extract: 'I do not know what I expected to find,' he said, after sipping his whiskey. 'I had no preconceived ideas of the place called Hawdon or of this Countess. If I had...You think mine is a strange story, Oliver. But my story is nothing, it is merely a prelude to the story told me by an extraordinary old woman.'

Also relevant: This was a quick read as I got through it in less than a week of commuting to and from my office. You may remember that I had a tremendous liking for Hill's other work, The Woman in Black, which is similarly gothic in tone. The Man In The Picture offers masks, crowds, cold hatred and shadows, prisoners being taken into custody and a delightful sense of unease. You still have a week before Halloween. This one is worth ordering from Amazon now so as to have it in hand, to read as you wait by the front door for mysterious figures seeking treats on the 31st. Excellently done.

A Season of Splendor [Review]

Title: A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York

Author: Greg King

Copyright: 2009, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken NJ. ISBN 9780470185698

Genre: History

Length: 508 pages including 50 pages of notes, bibliography and index. (PDF excerpts available on this page)

Summary: Between roughly 1870 and the outbreak of the first World War, the class structure of American society was dominated by Caroline Astor and her famous four hundred. Motivated by a certain idealism, author Greg King suggests that Caroline Astor thought to "endow American society with tradition and a sense of noblesse oblige...imposing on them a sense of responsibility to establish taste for the enrichment of the nation as a whole". In an attempt to position American wealth and breeding on a par with that found in major European capitals, Caroline Astor forged a new understanding of social rank which bridged old New York Knickerbocker society and that of the industrial nouveau riche. King embarks on a thoroughly footnoted tour of the various elements that were used to display that breeding -- clothing, architecture, jewelry, transportation, etc. He notes that the real excesses of the Gilded Age were spawned during the latter half of that time period, by those possessed of more wealth than intellect. The spectrum of excess and extravagance is breathtaking, even as one recognizes that, over time, the wealth of these families has been distributed throughout the country to modern museums and philanthropic organizations. King offers detail that both exemplifies and illuminates the Gilded Age. This book both educates and entertains, making it a worthwhile and fascinating read. The New York Social Diary found it to be equally worthwhile during a recent October weekend in New York.

Extract: A few of the older, socially secure, and traditionally minded hostesses still clung to the soirees common in the first years of the Gilded Age. Soirees were considered exceptionally difficult affairs to manage; they existed in a separate category and could not stray into hte territory reserved for a dinner or a ball, yet had to offer both entertainment and substantial refreshment. Held in the early evening, a soiree was generally artistic in nature, focusig on a literary reading, a chorale, or a small concert, often accompanied by a small buffet supper. Such an entertainment called for both foresight and diplomacy. In an era of increasingly opulent parties, a quiet circle listening to arias or somber chamber music offered little excitement, and there were few potential guest unlikely to be bored by such proceedings. Eventually, given the problems presented, most ladies abandoned the soiree entirely. (page 343)

Also relevant: Let's face it. The elegance of the gilded age is fascinating. I loved to watch the series, America's Castles, on A&E a few years ago as much because it gave me a glimpse into another way of life as because of the introduction to the architecture. While it isn't unheard of to encounter debutante balls in this day and age, such events have nowhere near the economic significance that they had for young women a hundred years ago. Back then, a young woman's introduction to society was the starting gate to a wealthy marriage and lifelong financial security, regardless of compatibility. The extract selected above gives a sense of how carefully social events were scheduled and orchestrated. One had to display a level of cultural taste and understanding while avoiding boring one's guests. Greg King does a spectacular job of conveying all of this to a modern reader.

So successful is he in covering this period that I find myself going on a reading binge of related titles. Wharton's The House of Mirth is on the top of one TBR pile and a coffee table book with photos of the famous 'four hundred' is en route from a used book store even as you read this. My lifestyle doesn't support any need for a parure of diamonds or other precious gems, but the documentation of a social environment that insisted upon such a set (tiara, matching necklace, earrings, and brooch) as a wedding or anniversary gift set me all agog with vicarious enjoyment. A Season of Splendor is a surprisingly engaging read.

Bonus link: I feel confident in saying that Caroline Astor is likely twirling in her grave at being included in this particular list of top twenty socialites of all time.

Today's Tidbit

Fantastic essay about how important our reading is in adolescence. Truly worthwhile!