This book is part of Vintage’s Hogarth Shakespeare Project, in which a group of prominent authors have reimagined various Shakespeare’s plays and characters and placed them in our contemporary world. Some of the the other authors in the series are Jo Nesbo, Gillian Flynn Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, Edward St. Aubyn and a number of other equally talented writers.
Vinegar Girl is a take off on “The Taming of the Shrew.” One would imagine this would be a difficult one as relationships between men and women are very different in our modern world. Or, are they? In Anne Tyler’s capable hands, it would seem not so.
Tyler sets her story in Baltimore in a small neighborhood not far from Johns Hopkins where Louis Battista, an eccentric biologist, has his laboratory. Louis is working on some kind of breakthrough project, and he is about to lose his top research assistant, a Russian named Pyotr, because his visa has run out.
To say the Battista family is eccentric is putting it mildly. His elder daughter, Katherine, is a 29 year old elementary teacher, who freely admits she finds children irritating. The younger daughter, Bunny, an augmentative 15 year old has decided to become a vegan. They all inhabit separate planets, circling around each other in a household that is out of control. The house is messy and unkempt with papers and books everywhere. Katherine prepares one giant meal on the weekend that lasts the week. It is always the same meal, called meat mash. In desperation to keep his assistant, Louis has an idea. You have probably guessed what this idea is—marry off Katherine to Pyotr. But not so fast, Katherine is cranky, somewhat odd, outspoken and certainly not interested in saving her father’s job by marrying man who to her seems unconventional and slightly strange, not to mention his choice of clothes. On the other hand, the Battista household is so crazy that marriage could be the way out.
Luckily for the reader Anne Tyler has written a hilarious story peopled with oddballs. Every little detail lends itself to the plot of the story, and she is able to stay true to Shakespeare’s comedy by writing a book that is fun, clever, light-hearted and enjoyable.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut (fiction)
I wouldn’t dare to review a book by the great Kurt Vonnegut, but if you are a Vonnegut fan and have not read this book (his third novel), you should give it a try. It is different than his other books. Or maybe I shouldn’t say that, as each of Vonnegut’s books are highly imaginative and individual, though each deals with a moral conundrum.
The story opens with an introduction by the author who states that he has been asked to edit the memoir of one, Howard Campbell, Jr. (this, of course, is also part of the fiction). Vonnegut says in the introduction, “This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
We meet Howard Campbell as he awaits trial as a war criminal, in prison in Jerusalem. He is guarded by an 18 year old with whom he has struck up a friendship, and thus we gradually learn his story. Campbell is an unassuming fellow, a playwright living in Germany, married to an actress, Helga, whom he adores. Helga is the daughter of the Berlin Chief of Police. The U.S. Secret Service, the OSS, decides that Campbell, because of his connections, is the perfect person to pass on information to them. After he is recruited, he begins working with Nazi radio, broadcasting propaganda, moving in high German political circles, and passing on information to the Americans, most that he isn’t privy to. As the Allied and Russian troops push into Berlin, Campbell’s wife disappears and is presumed dead.
We next meet Campbell 15 years later, living in Greenwich Village. He leads a quiet, non-political life. His chief friend is an artist living in the same building, who we later learn is working for the KGB. It seems that both the Russians and the Israelis are interested in finding him. Campbell seems to be a naif in the midst of a slapstick operation to capture him. The operation is mixed in with a kooky group of American Nazis, called the Iron Guards, who regard Campbell as a great hero, and arrive on the scene ready to lionize him. The characters in this group are satirically hysterical.
Meanwhile, Campbell can’t seem to make contact with the officer who recruited him, and he is suffering from the weight of the responsibly for sending Jews to their death through his propaganda. What good is the information he helped the Americans with, if evil was caused by his actions? This is his moral conundrum. He makes the decision to surrender to the Israelis. The absurdity of his situation haunts him as he languishes in jail, baring his soul to his young jailer.
I read somewhere that this book was only issued in paperback, and turned out quickly as Vonnegut needed money for his growing family. I think the book is a gem, and even these many years later, is filled with food for thought.
The story opens with an introduction by the author who states that he has been asked to edit the memoir of one, Howard Campbell, Jr. (this, of course, is also part of the fiction). Vonnegut says in the introduction, “This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
We meet Howard Campbell as he awaits trial as a war criminal, in prison in Jerusalem. He is guarded by an 18 year old with whom he has struck up a friendship, and thus we gradually learn his story. Campbell is an unassuming fellow, a playwright living in Germany, married to an actress, Helga, whom he adores. Helga is the daughter of the Berlin Chief of Police. The U.S. Secret Service, the OSS, decides that Campbell, because of his connections, is the perfect person to pass on information to them. After he is recruited, he begins working with Nazi radio, broadcasting propaganda, moving in high German political circles, and passing on information to the Americans, most that he isn’t privy to. As the Allied and Russian troops push into Berlin, Campbell’s wife disappears and is presumed dead.
We next meet Campbell 15 years later, living in Greenwich Village. He leads a quiet, non-political life. His chief friend is an artist living in the same building, who we later learn is working for the KGB. It seems that both the Russians and the Israelis are interested in finding him. Campbell seems to be a naif in the midst of a slapstick operation to capture him. The operation is mixed in with a kooky group of American Nazis, called the Iron Guards, who regard Campbell as a great hero, and arrive on the scene ready to lionize him. The characters in this group are satirically hysterical.
Meanwhile, Campbell can’t seem to make contact with the officer who recruited him, and he is suffering from the weight of the responsibly for sending Jews to their death through his propaganda. What good is the information he helped the Americans with, if evil was caused by his actions? This is his moral conundrum. He makes the decision to surrender to the Israelis. The absurdity of his situation haunts him as he languishes in jail, baring his soul to his young jailer.
I read somewhere that this book was only issued in paperback, and turned out quickly as Vonnegut needed money for his growing family. I think the book is a gem, and even these many years later, is filled with food for thought.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
A LEGACY OF SPIES by John Le Carre (fiction)
I am a faithful fan of John Le Carre’s writing and was excited to learn he had another book out. I can hardly believe that at 86, he is still turning out such brilliantly written novels. If you haven’t read him before, this is not the book to start with. Rather, it is last in a long line of espionage stories beginning with “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” with the unlikely-looking master spy, George Smiley, who brought us through the Cold War era right up to present day.
George Smiley has a relatively small roll in this current book, but nevertheless, he is there behind the wings still mentoring Peter Guillam, the narrator, now like Smiley, an old man. Guillam, long retired from the British Secret Service, has been commanded to London from his farm in Brittany to answer for irregularities in an old 1960s operation, known as Operation Windfall, in what was then East Berlin. It seems that the children of two members of the Service, who lost their lives when trying to cross over the Berlin Wall, are threatening to bring the matter before Parliament. Smiley has gone underground, and it is left to Guillam to sift through the murky past, digging up old dossiers and finding comrades, many of whom have passed on. Memories are stirred up, most involving Alec Leamas, the covert spy who was working to find out information in the files of the dreaded East German Stasi.
Le Carre’s books don’t have a lot of fireworks and torture scenes as many thrillers do, rather they are filled with the dark angst of the characters who work in dangerous situations, often moles and double agents, who must come to grips with the shady business they are in. Le Carre is a master at creating suspense in a quiet way that is more bone chilling than any action packed movie you might see.
If you are a fan, you will not be disappointed in this latest book. I highly recommend it for those readers already familiar with the many brilliantly written books by Le Carre. I hope it is not the last we have heard of George Smiley.
George Smiley has a relatively small roll in this current book, but nevertheless, he is there behind the wings still mentoring Peter Guillam, the narrator, now like Smiley, an old man. Guillam, long retired from the British Secret Service, has been commanded to London from his farm in Brittany to answer for irregularities in an old 1960s operation, known as Operation Windfall, in what was then East Berlin. It seems that the children of two members of the Service, who lost their lives when trying to cross over the Berlin Wall, are threatening to bring the matter before Parliament. Smiley has gone underground, and it is left to Guillam to sift through the murky past, digging up old dossiers and finding comrades, many of whom have passed on. Memories are stirred up, most involving Alec Leamas, the covert spy who was working to find out information in the files of the dreaded East German Stasi.
Le Carre’s books don’t have a lot of fireworks and torture scenes as many thrillers do, rather they are filled with the dark angst of the characters who work in dangerous situations, often moles and double agents, who must come to grips with the shady business they are in. Le Carre is a master at creating suspense in a quiet way that is more bone chilling than any action packed movie you might see.
If you are a fan, you will not be disappointed in this latest book. I highly recommend it for those readers already familiar with the many brilliantly written books by Le Carre. I hope it is not the last we have heard of George Smiley.
Saturday, January 6, 2018
THE BONESETTERS DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (fiction)
This is an older book by Amy Tan who has become one of our most popular authors. Having read a couple of her books, I find that they tend to follow a pattern which has been very satisfying for her readers. What she does very well is present Chinese culture in Chinese/American families. This usually means there is a tyrannical older mother or grandmother and younger members of the family who having been born here are trying to live like young Americans, following popular American culture. What is not so good is that the books have familiar plots that have become somewhat tired.
Having said that, if you are a fan of Amy Tan, you are sure to enjoy this book. Ruth is a first generation Chinese/American living in California who is ghostwriter for a publishing company of self-help books. She lives with her partner who has two pre-teen daughters who sit around rolling their eyes and appearing bored. The most interesting character in the novel is LuLing, Ruth’s immigrant mother. LuLing is cranky, probably in early stage Alzheimers, and very much attached to her Chinese culture and superstitions. The book is at its most engaging when it turns to the past and LuLing’s life in a rural mountain village. She lived through the Japanese invasion and the Chinese Civil War. Her mentor was a maimed woman whom she called “Precious Auntie,” whose own story plays an important part in the novel. LuLing was sent to an orphanage run by missionaries when the war came to her village. There is a mystery in LuLing’s past which accounts for her anger and discontent, and as her dementia seems to intensify, Ruth begins to unravel the secret of her mother’s past.
Tan writes well and parts of this books are enjoyable. The chapters dealing with modern day conflicts were less satisfying to me.
Having said that, if you are a fan of Amy Tan, you are sure to enjoy this book. Ruth is a first generation Chinese/American living in California who is ghostwriter for a publishing company of self-help books. She lives with her partner who has two pre-teen daughters who sit around rolling their eyes and appearing bored. The most interesting character in the novel is LuLing, Ruth’s immigrant mother. LuLing is cranky, probably in early stage Alzheimers, and very much attached to her Chinese culture and superstitions. The book is at its most engaging when it turns to the past and LuLing’s life in a rural mountain village. She lived through the Japanese invasion and the Chinese Civil War. Her mentor was a maimed woman whom she called “Precious Auntie,” whose own story plays an important part in the novel. LuLing was sent to an orphanage run by missionaries when the war came to her village. There is a mystery in LuLing’s past which accounts for her anger and discontent, and as her dementia seems to intensify, Ruth begins to unravel the secret of her mother’s past.
Tan writes well and parts of this books are enjoyable. The chapters dealing with modern day conflicts were less satisfying to me.
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