EUPHORIA by Lily King (fic)

This is a lightly veiled fictionalized account of a period in the life of the social anthropologist, Margaret Mead who achieved early fame for her "Coming of Age in Samoa." Mead wrote the book in 1928 and was wildly acclaimed until the latter 20th century when her popularity flamed out.  Lily King, a superb writer, has chosen to base her novel on a 1933 study trip Mead took with her husband Riu Fortune up the Sepik River in New Guinia.  "Euphoria" was chosen one of the Times 10 best books of 2014 and also won the Kirkus Prize that year.

King's stand in for Mead is Nell Stone, who like Mead, is coming off great fame for a book called, "The Children of Kirakira."  Her husband Fen, a Hemingway type of macho guy, is jealous of her popularity and hungry for a find of his own.  They meet up with an old acquaintance, Andrew Bankson, at a Christmas party after a failed field study with another tribe the two were living among. Bankson is the narrator of the story, who falls in love with Nell.  He is conducting his own study of the Kirakira tribe. Bankson is an interesting character himself, having lost two brothers, one in WWI and the other, unlucky in love, committed a well-publicized suicide in Piccadilly Square in London.

Bankson finds Nell and Fen a tribe seven hours  up the river from his station where they take up residence with the Tam people.  It proves a convenient spot for the three anthropologists to occasionally meet and exchange observations.  Before long, Bankson who lived such an isolated life, falls for Nell, and the love triangle steams up just as the King's descriptions of the steamy hot jungle feel realistically dangerous.

Bankson's memories of this trip are combined with musings in a diary of Nell's he possesses.  Things seem to be going well for the three as they combine their findings.  They believe they are making a breakthrough in the understanding of all humans by the study of the Sepik River tribes, thus the euphoria of the title, (or perhaps, equally, the euphoria, of love and sex).  Before long, however, things go horribly wrong as Fen's need for recognition leads him to a disaster that affects them all.

While King pulls from an incident in Mead's life, the book ends very differently than Mead's own life.  There is a lovely last paragraph in the novel, that I won't quote as it might be a spoiler. King has a way of writing that creates a sense of being in the moment for the reader and its moody spell keeps one in thrall even after the last page is read.  I greatly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to all readers; it would make for a lively book group discussion.

CITY ON FIRE by Garth Hallberg (fic)

"City on Fire" was met with great critical acclaim, and I raced to read it soon after it was published.  It is a massive book and was compared to a Dickens novel in several reviews.  I plunged into it with interest but about half way through I lost the fervor and only recently picked it up again to finish.  Hallberg is certainly a great talent and excellent writer.  At times the book seemed over-crafted, and there was so much going on with many characters and plot lines that I had to thumb back to refresh my memory.

Hallberg's city is the Manhattan of 1976 and "77 when all hell seems to have let loose.  He takes us to  the South Bronx, Hell's Kitchen, Alphbet City, and into the rich homes of the Upper East and West sides.  A murder in Central Park plays an important part in the plot.  Like the book, there was so very much going on in America's Bicentennial year that looking back one wonders how we ever got beyond it, and finally the great New York City blackout of '77 brings all the plot elements to a head, amidst rioting and an out of control fire.

Hallberg takes us back to a time without Internet or cell phones where life was fast moving, but unlike today, the characters could not be instantly connected, and the lack of communication reminds us how difficult it was for any one character or group to control events or plan outcomes.  The story centers around two generations, the older rich gentry of the city, personified by the patrician Hamilton-Sweeney family and the new wave punks, the "lost kids" followers of Nicky Chaos who ran an anarchist terrorist cell.  Bridging these two groups was William Stuart Althorp III, also known as Billy Three Sticks, who was a 33 year old heroin addict, heir of the Hamilton-Sweeney family; and, Samantha Cicciaro and Charlie Weisbarger, Long Island teens who are seduced by the city lights and disco night life.  These characters move back and forth throughout the story, as an aging detective and a journalist obsessed with the case, attempt to solve the murder. It comes as a surprise when the murderer is finally revealed.

The author who was not alive for these events does a good job of recreating the period and frantic chaos of the times.  While I respect his talent and writing, I did not enjoy the book as much as Rachel Kushner's "Flamethrowers" which covers the same period. I do recommend the the book, however, if you wish to be taken back to a confusing time before the city became what it is today, where wealthy foreigners are buying up property, and ordinary people have become tourists.

BEFORE THE WIND by Jim Lynch

This is a nice and easy summer read, bound to mainly appeal to sailors and wharf rats.  Lynch nails it with his knowledge of racing in Puget Sound with its quirky winds. He knows the lure of the beauty of older wooden boats and also the drawbacks of racing with larger fiberglass boats meant for cruising. He knows the thrill of being a kid in a Laser or graduating to a Star. Embedded in the sailboat vocabulary, is the story of Johannssens, a family obsessed with sailing and racing, three generations living under the same roof, with a heritage of naval architecture.

Josh, the narrator (named after Slocum, of course), loves old wooden boats and works in a boatyard, with no ambition beyond being around sailboats and water.  Father and Grandfather, known as the two Bobos, despite their constant bickering, see the expediency of building fast and lighter fiberglass boats.  The mother of the family lives in her own mathematical world, dreamy and somewhat spacey. The sister Ruby is an old soul, gifted in reading the wind and finding a breeze on the calmest of days.
Bernard, the older brother, is a hippie at heart and becomes involved in some shady pastimes.

The novel joins the family as they prepare in their individual ways, to do one last big, tough race. Here is where all their stories collide and bring the reader to the climax and bittersweet ending.

This is a novel sure to appeal to those who know boats, but it is not that technical so anyone can enjoy it on a breezy summer day.

THE INCARNATIONS by Susan Barker (fic)

Like her previous books, Barker sets her latest novel in Asia, this time China. "The Incarnations" was chosen as a 2015 Times notable book. Barker is a talented creative writer and unique story teller. Here she presents the reader with a series of loosely connected stories, each of which could stand on its own. The stories range over 15 centuries, and cover much of China's history.

The unifying factor of these stories is a Beijing taxi driver named Wang Jun; that is to say, in his life in contemporary China he is a taxi driver. He has a lovely wife and daughter whom he loves. Wang Jun was born into a life of promise, but circumstances were unkind to him. He suffered many adversities including a stint in an asylum.  Wang is being followed by an unseen person, the Watcher, who has shared Wang's many adventures through history and seems inseparable from him. Wang doesn't see the Watcher, but receives missives from him reminding him of previous lives. The identity of the Watcher is a mystery revealed at the end of the book.  These two characters live through Empires sometimes as men, sometimes as women; sometimes as lovers and others as enemies. They saw the Mongol invasion, the rise of Mao and communism. The witnessed the Tiananmen Square massacre and survived the massive Tangshan earthquake.

The Watcher tells Wang that in order to understand himself, he must understand who he was.  The past plays on the present that we all carry within ourselves. The author seems to be drawing a parallel between Wang's violent and sometimes cruel past with that of China's long history of strife.

There is much to reflect on in this unusual novel. It is not an easy read, nor a happy one. It is, however, a brilliant one. While I did not enjoy this insightful novel, I have reflected on it many times.   It explores the soul of a man and his country.

THE FIFTH QUEEN by Ford Maddox Ford (fic)

No need to review a book by Ford Maddox Ford as he is a master who never gets stale.  Having read his other work, most notably "The Good Soldier," I was curious when I came upon this reissued novel in the book store.  I had never heard of it.  There is a knowledgable introduction by A.S. Byatt and the more I read, the more I felt this was a good book to read in today's dramatic political climate.  Written between 1906 and 1908, it was originally published in three parts.  Ford fiddles with history.  The fifth queen is, of course, Katherine Howard, Henry V's fifth wife.  And we all know what that means--not long for this world!  It is pretty well accepted in today's world that Katherine Howard was a flirty, flighty, though well-educated young girl.  She had little supervision as a child and as a teen, her escapades could not stand close scrutiny.

Ford changes the character of Katherine and presents her as a devout Catholic who truly believed she could bring Henry and England back to the church and strengthen ties with Spain.  What this does is pit her against Cromwell, a master schemer and architect of Henry's England. Even a highly sophisticated and astute woman  (her cousin Anne Boleyn) would have little chance of survival in the  midst of court intrigues and jockeying for power in the Tudor court.  Poor Katherine, naive and the most beautiful of all Henry's wives, was somewhere between the ages of 15 and 18 when she was pushed forward by her Howard relatives to catch Henry's eye. (Though Ford doesn't bring this into the book). Mainly we see Katherine caught between the different court factions and men who were in love with her themselves.

There is an interesting meeting between the spy, Throckmorton, and Katherine where he advises Katherine to be mindful of the intriguing around her,  "It is folly to be too proud to fight the world with the world's weapons." Katherine's world was already in the past when she arrived at court.  Romanticism and chivalry were taken over by the pragmatism of Machiavellian Cromwell, ushering Henry and the country into a differ political paradigm.  In the end, both Cromwell and Katherine lose their heads, as alliances form and reform.

Ford presents Katherine as pure and unfailingly honest, a maker of her own destiny. She was open about her choices to those who betrayed her.  She insisted on taking responsibility for her beliefs and actions.  There is little mention of her Norfolk and Howard relatives using her as a pawn to destroy Cromwell.

Ford has given us a powerful study of the politics of the changing world of the late Middle Ages.  The book is written in colloquial language, much like reading Shakespeare.  As one reads, the rhythm of the language becomes natural.  Not everyone will want to read this lengthily novel which uses the language of the period.  It also requires a suspension of what we know of the historical Katherine Howard.  However, it is such a worthwhile read.  I highly recommend it to those who care to take the time and attention to give to this amazing feat of writing.

H IS FOR HAWK by Helen Macdonald (non-fic)

Helen Macdonald is a poet, historian, and falconer.  Her award winning memoir, including being on the "10 Best Books" list of the New York Times for 2015, is a psychological study of the deep emotional healing of the anguish the author felt in the year after her father died.  The book reads like an introspective diary of the road to recovery and the discovery of truths about herself and Mabel, her beloved goshawk. Interestingly, Macdonald's relationship with Mable is not so different than that of the two main characters in Szebo's book, "The Door,"which I also reviewed this month.

Macdonald entwines her story with that of T. H. White, the 20th century author of "The Once and Future King," the story of Camelot. White also tried to find salvation in the training of a goshawk.  Bullied at school and mentally abused by his parents, White grew up timid, scarred, and unsure of his sexual identity.  He ended up teaching in a British Public School for boys where disliking his job,he became cynical and most likely unpleasant to his students. Unlike Macdonald, he failed to fully understand either himself or the wildness of the hawk he attempted to train.

In the aftermath of her father's untimely death, Macdonald became intensely self-reflective. She lived in psychological isolation without close female friends even keeping her mother and sister at arm's length.  Since the time she was a child, Helen was interested in falconry and goshawks, the largest and most powerful of the Falcons.  She aspired to become an austringer and trainer of goshawks.  It seemed she and Mabel we're fated to be together.

While there were many many difficult moments with Mabel, who lived in the house with Macdonald, in the end Mabel, though a prisoner of sort, was Macdonald's liberator.  Macdonald wanted to identify and become Mabel, but in her journey she discovered that she was......"not the hawk, no matter how much I pared myself away, no matter how many times I lost myself in blood and leaves and fields.  I was the figure standing underneath the tree at nightfall, collar upturned against the damp, waiting patiently for the hawk to return."

And also: "In my time with Mabel I've learned how you feel more human once you have known, even in your imagination, what it is like to be not.  And I have learned, too, the danger that comes in mistaking the wildness we give a thing for the wildness that animate it."

Unlike, White's failed experience, Helen's and Mabel's is a success story.  Like Macdonald, the reader comes away with a respect for a wild creature and also a respect for Macdonald's understanding of her own limitations and those of her goshawk, Mabel.

If you love the wild side of nature, you are sure to enjoy this book.

NOONDAY by Pat Barker (fic)

Pat Barker is one of my favorite authors.  She writes of characters affected by war and its aftermath.  Her Regeneration Trilogy deals with WW1, shell shock and psychological scars in the wake of the war.  The first two books of her second trilogy were "Life Class" and the brilliant "Toby's Room," which I reviewed earlier.  "Noonday" is the final installment.

The action in this book largely takes place in London during the 1940 blitz, though it opens in the Brooke family's country home.  The main characters have all been met in the earlier books.  Elinor's and Toby's mother lies dying, with her family and a young war evacuee waiting for the end.  The family dynamics and stress are entwined with past memories.  As in the previous books, war is a catalyst for the art of Elinor, her now husband, Paul Tarrant, and the third member of the love triangle, Kit Neville who had been horribly maimed in the First World War.  Having met 30 years before at the Slade School for art, these three are now middle aged and facing another devastating and traumatizing war.

After the mother's death, the action moves to London where Elinor is a night ambulance driver and Paul and Kit are working on rescue squads, extricating people from burning and bombed buildings.  The description of war time London is the best part of the book.  Inevitably with daily air-raids the dropping of V-1 and V-2 bombs, Elinor's and Paul's home is hit.  Paul muses that it was: "...nothing like the fear he'd experienced in the trenches; though in one way it was worse: he was experiencing this fear in the safety of his own home, and that meant nowhere was safe."

This book is not as well-presented as the first two volumes of the trilogy.  However I became fond of these characters and wanted to know how their lives unfolded. There are places in the book that are disjointed, and an interesting character named Bertha Mason, a medium, who may or may not be a charlatan makes an appearance. But, it seems she was just thrown into the story and never takes hold. There is also some little mystery involving the boy evacuee who ran away from the country home, but his story is not well developed.  At any rate, I still enjoyed Barker's fine writing and descriptions. The book really should be read as a third installment; I don't feel it would stand alone well.  Barker's main characters deserve the reader to know their background history.  I highly recommend, "Life Class" and especially, "Toby's Room."