Live and Let Die

If you're a fan of fun books and are looking for something well
written as a change of pace, try the 2008 reprints of the James
Bond Classics.
I found this book at the Good Will, so it cost me a buck.
Of course, I was attracted by the lurid cover.
While the language is not politically correct, the prose is tight
and fun as hell.
If you find these in the wild, buy one or two and treat yourself
to a night or two in the 1950's world of spy versus spy and sexy fun time.

Orwell's Nose: A Pathological Biography

John Sutherland

Reaktion Press 2016

‘but it was shot through by a sharper reek of sweat, which -one knew this at the first sniff, though it was hard to say how -was the sweat of some person not present at the moment.’

This book is a Quirky and Snarky Treat!

It is not like any other biography you will ever read, or likely will ever read. And, that is a great thing! Mr. Sutherland has managed to write an unforgettable picture of an unforgettable writer. Sutherland, who has permanently lost his sense of smell, examines Orwell's life tangentially; through his descriptions of the fascinating world around him.

Eric Blair (aka George Orwell) was an incredibly fascinating person, and unlike

most writers, he lived the lives that he wrote about.

'four frightful words...The lower-classes smell'-the Road to Wigan Pier

It turns out, after reading this book, you will never read him the same again. Oh what a sense of smell! Here are some examples:

'Poverty is spiritual halitosis'

"Communism" draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, "Nature Cure" quack, pacifist, and feminist in England.'

I have read about half of Orwell’s books, and I'm working my way through the rest, and I must say that I hardly knew ye, Mr. Blair.

'Their[Burmese Women] slender flanks and pointed breasts... the odour of spices that clung to their satiny skins.

If Mr. Sutherland writes more biographies like this gem, say on Marx or Conrad, I'm in.

'The hallway smelt of smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats.'

[Victory Gin] 'It gave off a sickly, oily smell, as of Chinese rice-spirit.'

So many quotes, so little space. What I can say is that if you've only read 1984 and Animal Farm, you are missing out. If I could I would suggest 'Why I write', it's short and is all kinds of fantastic.

Socialism, at least in this island, does not smell any longer of revolution and the overthrow of tyrants; it smells of crankishness, machine-worship, and the stupid cult of Russia. Unless you can remove that smell, and very rapidly, Fascism may win.

Buy Orwell's Nose Here

The Hampdenshire Wonder

J  .D. Beresford 1911

Eyre & Spottiswoode

In an effort to ‘touch the roots of Science Fiction’, our book club is reading as many of the Pre-Golden Age classics as we can reasonably stomach. This might be a noble, but vain effort. But dammit, we’re going to try. I know you are anxiously awaiting my review of ‘Herland’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

According to the ‘Anatomy of Wonder’, which is an amazing reference for science fiction fans, this odd tale is the origin of the Superman Myth. Wikipedia gives him a hat-tip for creating the wunderkind. I’m not sold on this, certainly the New Testament may have something to say about this.

The book opens on a train where the narrator encounters a strange babe in the arms of his mother. To put it bluntly, the lad has a huge head and crazy eyes.

“I thought the child was a freak; an abnormality: and such things disgust me."

Anyone who meet the eyes of this “Very Remarkable Child” is entranced and shaken. The only person who is immune to his gaze is the ‘Harrison idiot’  (his term), a man who was born with an overlarge head as well.

The narrator, whom I would label an unreliable one, then disappears for  a few years while the lad grows into a creepy toddler. There is nothing truly remarkable about his parents other than his father, Ginger, is a cricket wunderkind. For some odd reason, the author spends 23 pages of the book describing in minute detail the accomplishments of Ginger and the ins and outs of cricket bowling (pitching). This was for the most part incomprehensible.

If you are interested in pre golden age science fiction, read this book. What I can say is that I was initially unimpressed. Upon reflection, I would say my feelings are mixed.

I will tell you that the epilog is the best part. I kept thinking throughout the book that this would have been much better if Lovecraft would have written it.                                                              

Ghost Songs

Regina McBride

Tin House Books

2016

“I am subject to enchantments.”

I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for writing an honest review.

Regina sees the ghosts of her father, and other more terrible things, after he and her mother both commit suicide.

“They’re horrific, these things”... “Not like the strange, gentle ghost of my father.”

The author traces her early life through short vignettes of joy and heartbreak.

It reveals a grim portrait of a second generation Irish immigrant family. They must deal with the disappointment and guilt of losing the American Dream. The family moves to a place that is totally alien to their temperament, and they then turn toward bitterness and madness.

Having been raised Roman Catholic, I understand Catholic guilt, it is a powerful and terrible thing. It stays with you your whole life.

[suicide]”Anyone who does such a thing removes himself from the grace of God”

I initially had some difficulty following the story as she jumps back and forth through the first twenty years of her life. We see her triumphs, happiness and her family's slow decent into madness. But, the style becomes a jarring Kaleidoscope of memories that draws you in.

I read the first part when I first received the ARC. I really wanted to find out how her parents died. But, I put it down, to finish a biograph of George Orwell.

When I picked it back up I was immediately sucked back in. I finished all but the last five pages in one evening.

I became interested in this woman’s life, entranced and concerned. While we don’t see a moment where all is resolved, that’s why this is a memoir, and not fiction. I would certainly recommend this book to someone who enjoys memoirs, and even those willing to try.

Perhaps a quote that I read sums up my feelings on memoirs, “None of it happened and all of it’s true”

I enjoyed this book very much!

You can purchase a copy here or here.

I Accuse

I Accuse
Irving Werstein
1967 Julian Messner. Pub

I purchased this older book from a library sale, it had come
from a high school library donation box. Unfortunately it did not
have a dust cover. I learned that after getting it home that no one had ever
checked it out... Since 1967.

That's forty nine years. I know this because that's how damned old I am. How many teenagers browsed past this slim tome during those years? Sad, it was, in it's limited scope, a very interesting read.
As a reader of history had heard tangentially heard of the Dreyfus case. But,
had no idea of the details.
Apparently it was, the most important legal proceedings in the history of France.
Well, I was curious.
To summarize, a Jewish artillery officer was falsely accused of selling military secrets to the Germans. At the time, France's Army had been disgraced and the entire country was languishing in an economic crisis, the blame was placed of course on the Jews.
This poor man who's only sin was to be a tad focused on his career, not
particularly gregarious, and, oh yeah, he was Jewish. He was framed, drummed
out of the Army by a Kangaroo court, and sentenced to life on Devil's Island.
DEVILS ISLAND for Christ's Sake! This telling of the story was entertaining,

and read like a spy novel. I really sympathized with Dreyfus and couldn't wait
to find out what happened. It does have a fairly happy ending though. Had I
been born in France I would have known the story. I finished the 189 pages
in a day, and enjoyed it immensely. This book is no longer in print.
It had an index, but no troublesome footnotes and such. Now, when I go back
and finish Barbara Tuchman's 'Proud Tower' I will know what she was
referring to. Let me know if you want to borrow it or buy a copy here.

Essays Old and New

Falling in love is the one illogical adventure, the one thing of which we are tempted to think as  supernatural, in our trite and reasonable world. -Robert Louis Stevenson

Essays Old and New
Harcourt, Brace 1957

'Essay' is a somewhat broad term meaning ' a short personal writing on one

subject'. This could apply to many forms of media that we consume today.
Magazine articles and Blogs are some examples. I run across essay
collections frequently in my travels. What I enjoy most about them are that
they are short, cover a wide arrays of subjects and you get to discover new
to you writers. When in doubt, check out the table of contents.
I can't remember for sure where I got this one but it contains essays by:
Francis Bacon
Washington Irving
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mark Twain
Robert Louis Stevenson (on Falling in Love)
Winston Churchill
Elmer Davis
William Faulkner (Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech)

Occasionally I will find a collection of essays by a single author who's other writings I am familiar
with. The most recent finds include:
E. B. White, Joseph Heller, Denise Levertov, Isaac Asimov, Aldous Huxley, Barbara Tuchman, Kurt Vonnegut, and Ayn Rand.
If I could, I would recommend that you read one essay, put the book aside and read or do something else for a bit. Like a book of poetry, I think an essay collection by a single author loses a bit if you read it straight through. Enjoy!

  

Why Read Lovecraft?

"The most merciful thing in the world... is the inability of the human mind to correlate
all its contents."

It's 2016, why should we still read Lovecraft?
To be certain, some of his beliefs should make you cringe. But, you could say that about most of his contemporary's.
I've been reading a lot of Orwell and Conrad of late. Hey, they had wrong opinions about people who's skin was not the same color as theirs as well. Should we just chuck their books into the trash as well?
H.P. Lovecraft could tell a scary story better than anyone else. His prose is evocative and imaginative. And, most importantly he is responsible for an entire genre of amazing spine-tingling terror, Cosmic Horror

We are all just tiny bugs in this Universe, the unknowable can squash us anytime it wants to. Pay no attention to the sky and the dreams that come from the depths. Anything you learn will just drive you insane.
I hope that he has found the peace in the beyond that he did not have
in life.