No man's street by Beverley Nichols
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was the first of five mystery novels by the author, who was much more at home writing books about gardening.
The book was a study of contrasts. I adored the language:
"a little man of some sixty summers, with a round face, a high forehead, and a gentle mouth -- a little man whose eyes blinked at the world through thick-lensed, horn-rimmed glasses."
or:"Bates, an enormous young policeman, of shining and rubicund aspect ..." Can't you just picture that policeman?!
But then there's a bit too much French thrown in for my tastes (I don't speak it or read it); it was quite the done thing at the time the book was written (1954), but seems artificial and rather silly today.
And the plot. Oh woe, the plot! It became convoluted and unhappy, and the revealed mechanism of murder forced and unbelievable.
Not my happiest of books, but I do so like the language!
The Man in the Moss by Phil Rickman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
"Though dead for two millennia, he remains perfectly preserved in black peat. The Man in the Moss is one of the most fascinating finds of the century.
But, for the isolated Pennine community of Bridelow, his removal is a sinister sign. A danger to the ancient spiritual tradition maintained, curiously, by the Mothers' Union.
In the weeks approaching Samhain -- the Celtic feast of the dead -- tragedy strikes again and again in Bridelow. Scottish folk singer Moira Cairns and American film producer Mungo Macbeth discover their Celtic roots are deeper and darker than they imagined. And, as fundamentalist zealots of both Christian and satanic persuasions challenge an older, gentler faith, the village faces a natural disaster unknown since the reign of Henry VIII."~~back cover
Well, I liked it, and then again I didn't. Interesting premise, interesting subject. But the methodology overrode the assets: this is one of those books that delights in keeping you guessing about what's going on, who's who, etc. by having each chapter be about a totally different person, place and/or thing. It's not until about the middle of the book (& it's a thick one at 594 pages) that the plot begins to formulate itself.
And then there are all the mysteries -- why did this happen? And how did it relate to that? And how will this person's actions help or hinder the growing menace? Why is the heroine so much in demand by the forces of evil? etc.
I think it could have been done better.
Living In The Woods In A Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley by Sybil Rosen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949-1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." When Merle Haggard first encountered the tune in 1987, he called it "the best country song I've heard in fifteen years."
Capturing the exuberance of their fleeting idyll in a tree house in the Georgia woods during the countercultural 1970s, the author offers a firsthand witnessing of Foley's transformation from reticent hippie musician to the enigmatic singer/songwriter who would live and die by his own rules. While Foley's performances have been released since 1999, his songs have also be covered by Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and John Prine.
In a work that is part-memoir, part-biography, the author struggles to finally come to terms with Foley's myth and her role in its creation. Her tracing of his impact on her navigates a lovers' roadmap along the permeable boundary between life and death. A must-read for all Blaze Foley and Texas music fans, as well as romantics of all ages, Living in the Woods in a Tree is an honest and compassionate portrait of the troubled artist and his reluctant muse."
~~front flap
I couldn't wait to dive into this book! I'm a huge Blaze Foley fan -- he's one of the best singer/songwriters we've ever had, in my opinion. His songs run through my head almost daily, in their simplicity, with his gravelly voice and acerbic wit.
The first part of the book was ... well, not what I expected. "Oh no," I thought, "it's just going to be about this woman and how they loved each other -- sticky sweet and self-aggrandizing." I almost stopped reading it.
I'm so glad I didn't! This is the delineation, from the inside out, of two people who love each other but are unable to hang on through the rough times, are unable finally to make the commitment to each other and to their relationship. They want to, they struggle to, but their flawed characters bar them from being able to take that final leap of faith. And so each turns away into their own lives.
It's a compelling story. I couldn't put it down, even though I could see the train wreck coming (possibly because my own train wreck looked quite a bit like theirs.) Yes, it's sad. Yes, I cried. But it's not maudlin, or self-pitying, or an emotional sink hole. It's just a recollection of what happened, guesses about why it happened, and wisps of dreams about what might have been.
I think you'll enjoy it immensely.
Kitchen Tables: & Other Midlife Musings by Niela EliasonMy rating: 2 of 5 stars"Niela Eliason worked for many years as a registered nurse ... She returned to college at midlife, receiving a BA in English in 1980. She then began writing, starting with a letter to the editor. Now a freelance writer, she has written an essay column for the St. Petersburg Times for ten years. She has been writing her 'Fiftysomething' and 'Sixtysomething' columns since 1990."
This book is obviously a sampling of those fiftysomething & sixtysomething essays. I didn't much care for the book in the first part of it. The essays, which follow a common theme of how women cope by depending on each other and being more resilient that men, etc., seemed banal to me, and not particularly insightful either. I almost put the book down as one of those books that aren't worth reading, in the all too short time I have left for reading. But it's a slim volume, and so I soldiered on.
Gradually the focus shifted from our salad days, with parenting and introspection survival through middle age and its accompanying resurgence of us as people with lives and talents of our own, to that often uncharted territory just past middle age. "Am I Old Yet?" which starts "I don't know how we know when we're old." and goes on to laud the joys of moving from middle age towards true old age: "I enjoy being old more than I enjoyed being a teenager. I know who I am now, I'm more sure of myself and have more fun."
The book turned around for me when I reached the chapter entitled "How To Know When You're An Oldie" wherein she talks about one of my favorite publications: The Oldie magazine published in London. It's a grand & glorious magazine: "properly attacks young people--or at least youthfulness. The cover sports a triangular road sign that was once used by the British Department of Transport until they were forced to drop it because it was thought to be offensive to older people. Now graduated to the magazine, the red triangle encloses a drawing of two doddering oldies, one with a cane. At last we have a magazine that isn't unrelentingly cheerful. Old fogies, after all, are allowed to grouse a little."
The remainder of the book explores the realities & vicissitudes of growing older, and some of the joys inherent in the process as well. Oldies of immense courage, oldies who know what they want from their declining years and set out to get it. And although it's not one of my favorite reads, I'm glad I read it through after all.
A Journal of Ramblings Through the High Sierras of California by the "University Excursion Party by Joseph Le Conte
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
"The Sierra Nevada was the scene of the first meeting, in August, 1870, of two men whose names and memories will forever linger in these mountains -- John Muir and Joseph LeConte. It was LeConte's first summer in the Sierra, and Muir conducted him and his party over the route which he himself had traced out for the first time only a year before."
~~Ralph S. Kuykendall
I was so disappointed in this book! I thought it would be a vivid description of Yosemite, and John Muir -- be filled with conversations between the two men, talk about the development that had taken place in Yosemite, etc.
But no. It was a journal, and recorded how far they traveled each day, what they ate, how the chores were on a rota, etc. There was some description of the various falls in Yosemite, and of Mirror Lake (as it was). There certainly were paeans to sunsets & sunrises & the majestic scenery (not well described but very much appreciated.) But overall, it was a pretty dry & boring recording of the statistics of the trip: what trails they took, how steep they were, how many days it took to get from this place to that place. Absolutely no description or information on the Native Americans they encountered, which was particularly frustrating to me as an archaeologist and anthropologist.
And frustrating that so little was said about John Muir.
Impossible Things by Connie Willis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Here are eleven of Connie Willis' finest stories, surprising tales in which the impossible becomes real, the real becomes impossible, and strangeness lurks at every turn.
The end of the world comes not with a ban but a series of whimpers over many years in 'The Last of the Winnebagos.'
The terror of pain and dying gives birth to a startling truth about the nature of the stars, a principle known as the 'Schwarzschild Radius.'
In 'Space Pogrom,' an outrageous colony in outer space becomes the setting for a screwball comedy of bizarre complications, mistaken identitied, far-too-friendly aliens -- and even true love.
A distraught woman obsessed with the past learns that the simplest choices can lead to madness and death in 'Chance.'
In 'Jack,' the streets of London at the height of the Blitz bring out the courage and cowardice in humans ... and in creatures of the night."
Classic, vintage Connie Willis! Acerbic, witty, pungent -- she's a unique talent and one that never fails to send me howling with laughter, thinking about the world from a different slant. This book of short stories was no exception -- it's a gem, and be sure to make a nice cup of tea before you start -- you won't want to put it down.
A House Unlocked by Penelope Lively
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Penelope Lively takes us on a journey of her familial country house in England and as her narrative moves from room to room, from object to object, she paints a moving portrait of an era of rapid change -- and of the family that changed with the times. As she charts the course of the domestic tensions of class and community among her relatives, she brings to life the effects of the horrors of the Russian Revolution and the Holocaust through portraits of the refugees who came to live with them. A fascinating, intimate social history of its times, A House Unlocked is an eloquent meditation on place and time, memory and history, and above all a tribute to the meaning of home."
~~from the back cover
I am rather at a loss to add anything to the above review. This is a brilliant book -- the author has the certain gift of easy navigation between now and the past, and the ability to bring objects and memories to vivid life with an economy of words and phrases. Coupled with her unerring sense of how an ordinary household object or piece of furniture is connected by gossamer threads to the social issues of the time, and the struggle to come to terms with the enormous changes thrust upon them by both the World Wars, the author's fond memories blend with her clear-eyed assessment of a once and future house and family.
I found it fascinating, compelling, entertaining -- everything a good book should be.
