Death at La Fenice piublished 1992 is the first book in Donna Leon's internationally acclaimed and bestselling Guido Brunetti mystery series. Commissario Brunetti is a Venetian detective and all of the novels in the series are set in present day Venice where he lives and works. As my friend Iris, who recommended Death at La Fenice said to me, the city of Venice becomes a character itself. I value Iris' opinion and she is right. Venice, the people, the politics, the food, the culture make this novel worth reading.
But ultimately any mystery series rises and falls on the lead detective. If we bond with the detective, private investigator etc we are going to want to follow him or her into book two, three, four in the series. People keep coming back to Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels because of Hercule Poirot and since there are currently 25 Guido Brunetti novels in the series and fans have yet to tire of him I would say Ms. Leon has done her job well.
As to why I became smitten with Commissario Brunetti it's hard to pinpoint. Above all Donna Leon is a talented writer. But also too many sleuths in mystery novels these days are loners, alcoholics, fighting with their ex-wives or their supervisor and the actual mystery can play second fiddle. Not so in Death at La Fenice. The mystery of who poisoned the famous conductor at the Venice Opera House remains front and center.
But as Commissario Brunetti walks around the city interviewing witnesses and suspects we get to learn a bit about him. Brunetti is happily married for seventeen years to his wife Paola a university professor. They have two teenage children. Brunetti is thoughtful, intelligent. He knows about philosophy, music, books. He has a cynical side partly due to his job as a police officer but also as Leon seems to say it's a trait he shares with everyone in Venice, a cynicism about the government, the church, the newspapers. He cares about his job and though he deals with crime and murder his home life is happy but he is not boring. And Ms. Leon takes care in creating the other characters who populate Death at La Fenice as well.
It's a great thing to find a new author who keeps you turning the pages. And even better to find a great new mystery series so that you will have books in reserve to look forward to when life gets stressful or you are feeling down. I suspect Detective Brunetti, the city of Venice and I will be spending alot of time together in the years to come. Thank you Iris! I highly recommend Death at La Fenice.
Saturday, November 04, 2017
Friday, November 03, 2017
From the Archives: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt first posted on 4/1/2016
"My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born. Instead they returned to Ireland when I was four, my brother Malachy three, the twins Oliver and Eugene, barely one and my sister Margaret dead and gone".
And so begins Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt's extraordinary memoir of his poverty stricken childhood from age four when his family moved to Limerick Ireland in the 1930's ending at age nineteen when he moved back to America. Angela's Ashes was a literary sensation when it was published in 1996, an international bestseller that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and now having read it I can certainly see why.
Some might say, well, do I really want to read a memoir about an author's impoverished childhood? Oh but you want to read this book. You want to read it because it's very funny as Frank McCourt tells us about his family, the neighbors, the goings on in the pubs, Catholic school etc. It's also tragic and very moving when you learn what the McCourt family endured. I was shocked about what poverty is really like and Frank McCourt is a gifted writer who tells his story from the mindset of how young Frank age four, seven, thirteen experienced what was going on around him.
Angela's Ashes caused a scandal in Limerick when it was published. Some felt it portrayed an unfair portrait of Limerick. I can see their point because every city and town particularly during the Great Depression had neighborhoods where people were living a hand to mouth existance. John Steinbeck's novel the Grapes of Wrath is one such example and of course there is widespread poverty today.
As for why the McCourt's were so poor? Alcoholism. Frank's father could not hold a job and if he did have a job he'd be drinking away his wages at the pubs. Frank McCourt said he waited so long tp publish his memoir because he couldn't do it while his mother was alive. and as I continued to read the book I had an evolving opinion of Angela McCourt, Frank's mother. She isn't the warmest of mothers. Their father drinking away is a much more amiable sort. Angela, understandably, is frazzled, worried, angry and very often in tears about the situation her family is in. However by the time the book ended and I realized by hook or by crook Angela kept the family together, despite all the heartache she experienced herself, I really admired her.
Frank McCourt would go on to write two more memoirs, Tis about what happened at age nineteen when he got to America and Teacher Man which recounts his thirty years as a school teacher in NYC. He passed away a few years ago but his masterpiece, Angela's Ashes, will be read and marvelled at one hundred years from now.
And so begins Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt's extraordinary memoir of his poverty stricken childhood from age four when his family moved to Limerick Ireland in the 1930's ending at age nineteen when he moved back to America. Angela's Ashes was a literary sensation when it was published in 1996, an international bestseller that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and now having read it I can certainly see why.
Some might say, well, do I really want to read a memoir about an author's impoverished childhood? Oh but you want to read this book. You want to read it because it's very funny as Frank McCourt tells us about his family, the neighbors, the goings on in the pubs, Catholic school etc. It's also tragic and very moving when you learn what the McCourt family endured. I was shocked about what poverty is really like and Frank McCourt is a gifted writer who tells his story from the mindset of how young Frank age four, seven, thirteen experienced what was going on around him.
Angela's Ashes caused a scandal in Limerick when it was published. Some felt it portrayed an unfair portrait of Limerick. I can see their point because every city and town particularly during the Great Depression had neighborhoods where people were living a hand to mouth existance. John Steinbeck's novel the Grapes of Wrath is one such example and of course there is widespread poverty today.
As for why the McCourt's were so poor? Alcoholism. Frank's father could not hold a job and if he did have a job he'd be drinking away his wages at the pubs. Frank McCourt said he waited so long tp publish his memoir because he couldn't do it while his mother was alive. and as I continued to read the book I had an evolving opinion of Angela McCourt, Frank's mother. She isn't the warmest of mothers. Their father drinking away is a much more amiable sort. Angela, understandably, is frazzled, worried, angry and very often in tears about the situation her family is in. However by the time the book ended and I realized by hook or by crook Angela kept the family together, despite all the heartache she experienced herself, I really admired her.
Frank McCourt would go on to write two more memoirs, Tis about what happened at age nineteen when he got to America and Teacher Man which recounts his thirty years as a school teacher in NYC. He passed away a few years ago but his masterpiece, Angela's Ashes, will be read and marvelled at one hundred years from now.
Thursday, November 02, 2017
From the Archives: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens first posted on 2/26/2016
When I began my book blog I wanted to include some of the great writers I had never read before and so book ten in my fifty book reading challenge is Great Expectatiins by Charles Dickens.
Great Expectations is narrated by Pip (Phillip Pirrup). The year is about 1860 and Pip is telling us about his younger days in the early 1800's. We learn about his life growing up an orphan in a small village in Kent raised by his sister and her kind hearted husband Joe Gargery. Thanks to an annonymous benefactor, Pip is able to leave his village and arrive in London with a generous allowance and aquire new friends, lodgings, culture etc. It's an opportunity to move to a higher station in life and Pip to quote the title of the book has great expectations.
Pip's tone though throughout the novel is tinged with melancholy and we sense early that this is a cautionary tale. Pip introduces us to other characters who influence his life for good or ill. The escaped convict Abel Magwitch, the reclusive spinster Miss Havisham, her adopted daughter Estella, Pip's best friend Herbert. As for Pip he makes mistakes but most of what happens to him in the novel is a byproduct of the bad choices and bad luck that have happened to others. The case of Miss Havisham for example who cannot forgive her fiance walking out on their wedding day 30 years ago. We see how the inability to move on can corrode one's own life but also the lives of everyone around you.
As for Pip he has tbe ability to forgive and still care for others. That is impressive. He would have reason for example to blame Miss Havisham for ruining his chance at happiness but he doesn't. Possibly Dickens is telling us that class and good character were inate in Pip all along. He didn't need to go to London to become a gentleman. He learned that from his brother-in-law who raised him.
Great Expectations has taken me a month to read and though I didn't leave ready to jump into another Dickens novel (at least not right away) I did leave with a curiousity about the man himself since many of Dickens' novels have an autobiographical aspect to them. Dickens wrote about the poor, being in debt, children, prisons, workhouses and he knew about all this first hand growing up. Critics regard him as the greatest novelist of the Victorian age and so now if anyone asks if I ever read Charles Dickens I can say, yes, I have read Great Expectations.
Great Expectations is narrated by Pip (Phillip Pirrup). The year is about 1860 and Pip is telling us about his younger days in the early 1800's. We learn about his life growing up an orphan in a small village in Kent raised by his sister and her kind hearted husband Joe Gargery. Thanks to an annonymous benefactor, Pip is able to leave his village and arrive in London with a generous allowance and aquire new friends, lodgings, culture etc. It's an opportunity to move to a higher station in life and Pip to quote the title of the book has great expectations.
Pip's tone though throughout the novel is tinged with melancholy and we sense early that this is a cautionary tale. Pip introduces us to other characters who influence his life for good or ill. The escaped convict Abel Magwitch, the reclusive spinster Miss Havisham, her adopted daughter Estella, Pip's best friend Herbert. As for Pip he makes mistakes but most of what happens to him in the novel is a byproduct of the bad choices and bad luck that have happened to others. The case of Miss Havisham for example who cannot forgive her fiance walking out on their wedding day 30 years ago. We see how the inability to move on can corrode one's own life but also the lives of everyone around you.
As for Pip he has tbe ability to forgive and still care for others. That is impressive. He would have reason for example to blame Miss Havisham for ruining his chance at happiness but he doesn't. Possibly Dickens is telling us that class and good character were inate in Pip all along. He didn't need to go to London to become a gentleman. He learned that from his brother-in-law who raised him.
Great Expectations has taken me a month to read and though I didn't leave ready to jump into another Dickens novel (at least not right away) I did leave with a curiousity about the man himself since many of Dickens' novels have an autobiographical aspect to them. Dickens wrote about the poor, being in debt, children, prisons, workhouses and he knew about all this first hand growing up. Critics regard him as the greatest novelist of the Victorian age and so now if anyone asks if I ever read Charles Dickens I can say, yes, I have read Great Expectations.
From the Archives: LIfe and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan first posted 1/31/2016
I am a hypochondriac which is why I found this book so meaningful when I read and reviewed it early last year The likeable young woman in this story Libby Miller is hit with devastating news regarding her health. How she first handles it might not be the best course of action but it rang true to me. Also her mother who passed away earlier in her life is a najor presence in this book. Despite the stage four diagnosis Libby is handed I thought how she makes her way through this story was inspiring and believable.
1/31/2016 -- It's a New Year and for me that means my doctor visits begin again. We all take them and people say better safe than sorry but I always see any doctor visit as cause for alarm. Hypochondriac that I am it might seem strange that I would decide to read Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan.
It's a contemporary novel in which the heroine Libby Miller is in her 30's and finds out she has a rare and deadly form of cancer. Her first thought is to go home and talk to her husband Tom who she has always relied on for support. He will know what to do. But before Libby can reveal her news, Tom has some suprising news of his own. Libby ends the narriage and decides not to tell Tom or anyone about her cancer diagnosis.
Libby also decides why bother with treatment when the odds don't look good? She watched her mother die from cancer when she was young. Why inflict that again on her father and brother? Why tell anyone? And so Libby sells her apartment, quits her job, withdraws her savings and moves to Vieques, a small island near Puerto Rico that her mother loved. As Libby says, "it was all going to be very eat pray die". The plan is to spend her remaining year walking on the beach, sipping pina coladas and visiting the places that meant so much to her Mom. Of course things don't work out the way Libby planned. The small plane she takes to Vieques for example is flown by a handsome Puerto Rican pilot who has been through health issues himself and meeting him is one of tbe joys of this novel.
Life and Other Near Death Experiences is not a depressing read despite the subject matter and some will say that's a problem. Libby narrates the novel in a funny tinged with sarcastic "and then this happened" way. But as the novel progresses the author Camille Pagan is able to convey some important lessons about not going it alone. People want to help. The ending though is too pollyanna and I wondered what people faced with serious illness might think of Libby's journey. The takeaway might be that it's important to go for doctor visits and treatment regardless of the fears you might have. You owe it to yourself to fight.
Finally Libby who begins the novel angry and panicked gradually evens out and becomes more reflective and though her mother is no longer alive you sense that she is still with Libby in spirit. I found libby a likeable, funny and strong character you will want to root for. Over 2000 people have reviewed Life and Other Near Death Experiences on Amazon and it's a book I recommend checking out.
1/31/2016 -- It's a New Year and for me that means my doctor visits begin again. We all take them and people say better safe than sorry but I always see any doctor visit as cause for alarm. Hypochondriac that I am it might seem strange that I would decide to read Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan.
It's a contemporary novel in which the heroine Libby Miller is in her 30's and finds out she has a rare and deadly form of cancer. Her first thought is to go home and talk to her husband Tom who she has always relied on for support. He will know what to do. But before Libby can reveal her news, Tom has some suprising news of his own. Libby ends the narriage and decides not to tell Tom or anyone about her cancer diagnosis.
Libby also decides why bother with treatment when the odds don't look good? She watched her mother die from cancer when she was young. Why inflict that again on her father and brother? Why tell anyone? And so Libby sells her apartment, quits her job, withdraws her savings and moves to Vieques, a small island near Puerto Rico that her mother loved. As Libby says, "it was all going to be very eat pray die". The plan is to spend her remaining year walking on the beach, sipping pina coladas and visiting the places that meant so much to her Mom. Of course things don't work out the way Libby planned. The small plane she takes to Vieques for example is flown by a handsome Puerto Rican pilot who has been through health issues himself and meeting him is one of tbe joys of this novel.
Life and Other Near Death Experiences is not a depressing read despite the subject matter and some will say that's a problem. Libby narrates the novel in a funny tinged with sarcastic "and then this happened" way. But as the novel progresses the author Camille Pagan is able to convey some important lessons about not going it alone. People want to help. The ending though is too pollyanna and I wondered what people faced with serious illness might think of Libby's journey. The takeaway might be that it's important to go for doctor visits and treatment regardless of the fears you might have. You owe it to yourself to fight.
Finally Libby who begins the novel angry and panicked gradually evens out and becomes more reflective and though her mother is no longer alive you sense that she is still with Libby in spirit. I found libby a likeable, funny and strong character you will want to root for. Over 2000 people have reviewed Life and Other Near Death Experiences on Amazon and it's a book I recommend checking out.
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
From the Archives: The Blooding by Joseph Wambaugh first posted 1/16/2016
In his book The Blooding bestselling author and former LA Detective Joseph Wambaugh tells the story of the rape and murder of two teenage girls in Leicester England in the 1980's. This case is historically significant because it's the first time DNA evidence was used in a police investigation. Prior to this point DNA was used to determine paternity but when the two girls in Leicester were killed three years apart 1983 and 1986. The British public wanted answers and the police had a sense that one man had committed both crimes.
Turns out nearby the murders, at Leicester University, Dr. Alec Jeffreys was developing what would turn out to be DNA profiling. Dr Jeffreys offered his services to the police and they sent out a dragnet asking men between the ages of late teens to middle age to come in for a blood test. Thousands of men had their blood drawn which raised civil liberties questions. But this blood test campaign was important not only for ruling out suspects but also catching the killer. As Joseph Wambaugh points out who didn't show up for the blood test became as big a clue as who did show up.
In the genre of True Crime, Joseph Wambaugh is top notch. In his many books he is able to paint a picture of the town where the crime occurs, the family, friends, suspects and the victims. Being a former detective Wambaugh is particularly good at explaining police work and the mindset of detectives and while I prefer another book Wambaugh wrote, Echoes of Darkness, The Blooding was a page turner particularly if you are a fan of shows like CSI and Forensic Files since The Blooding is where DNA solving crimes first got started.
Turns out nearby the murders, at Leicester University, Dr. Alec Jeffreys was developing what would turn out to be DNA profiling. Dr Jeffreys offered his services to the police and they sent out a dragnet asking men between the ages of late teens to middle age to come in for a blood test. Thousands of men had their blood drawn which raised civil liberties questions. But this blood test campaign was important not only for ruling out suspects but also catching the killer. As Joseph Wambaugh points out who didn't show up for the blood test became as big a clue as who did show up.
In the genre of True Crime, Joseph Wambaugh is top notch. In his many books he is able to paint a picture of the town where the crime occurs, the family, friends, suspects and the victims. Being a former detective Wambaugh is particularly good at explaining police work and the mindset of detectives and while I prefer another book Wambaugh wrote, Echoes of Darkness, The Blooding was a page turner particularly if you are a fan of shows like CSI and Forensic Files since The Blooding is where DNA solving crimes first got started.
From the Archives: Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick first posted 1/10/2016
This past Thanksgiving to get into the spirit of the Holidays I read Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, an award winning historian, who has written books on the American Revolution, Custer's Last Stand, the Sinking of the Whaleship Essex etc.
Philbrick's book Mayflower published in 2007 tells the story of the Puritans coming to America in 1620, Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts. He also takes the reader through the next 50 years of New England History culminating in King Phillip's War (1675-1678). It was a war between tbe descendants of the Mayflower Puritans and Native Americans who greeted them upon arrival. Philbrick points out that in the 50 years prior to the outbreak of war both sides had gotten along reasonably well and had worked out a contract that had kept the peace for half a century.
As Philbrick explains both sides needed each other. The Native American population in the Cape Cod area had been decimated in the years prior to 1620 by disease brought over by European explorers. The Puritans after departing ftom the Mayflower were also struck by disease. Of the 102 that sailed on the Mayflower only 53 were still alive by the following winter of 1621. Both sides had a great deal to teach each other about crops, shelter, hunting and medicine. And in the beginning both the Puritans and Native Americans had visionary leaders who kept the peace. But as the decades went on and more and more English settlers landed on the shores of New England grabbing land and unfairly compensating the Native American population, tempers began to mount.
Nathaniel Philbrick wonders in his book if things could have turned out differently and the tragedy of King Phillip's War averted? He does a very good job of detailing this period of American history including why the Puritans were willing to leave England risking their livelyhood and their lives. Mayflower shines a light on a period of US history not taught much in schools but should be.
Philbrick's book Mayflower published in 2007 tells the story of the Puritans coming to America in 1620, Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts. He also takes the reader through the next 50 years of New England History culminating in King Phillip's War (1675-1678). It was a war between tbe descendants of the Mayflower Puritans and Native Americans who greeted them upon arrival. Philbrick points out that in the 50 years prior to the outbreak of war both sides had gotten along reasonably well and had worked out a contract that had kept the peace for half a century.
As Philbrick explains both sides needed each other. The Native American population in the Cape Cod area had been decimated in the years prior to 1620 by disease brought over by European explorers. The Puritans after departing ftom the Mayflower were also struck by disease. Of the 102 that sailed on the Mayflower only 53 were still alive by the following winter of 1621. Both sides had a great deal to teach each other about crops, shelter, hunting and medicine. And in the beginning both the Puritans and Native Americans had visionary leaders who kept the peace. But as the decades went on and more and more English settlers landed on the shores of New England grabbing land and unfairly compensating the Native American population, tempers began to mount.
Nathaniel Philbrick wonders in his book if things could have turned out differently and the tragedy of King Phillip's War averted? He does a very good job of detailing this period of American history including why the Puritans were willing to leave England risking their livelyhood and their lives. Mayflower shines a light on a period of US history not taught much in schools but should be.
From the Archives: Temple by Robert Greenfield first posted 11/15/2015
Temple by Robert Greenfield published 1983 is a book I bought years ago and have been meaning to read for years but never quite got around to it but now with my book blog Reading Matters I have the push I needed.
When Temple begins the main character, Paulie Bindel, is living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his girlfriend Leslie. He has dropped out of graduate school and works nights at a bookstore for very little pay. He hates his job but the one thing Paulie does love is music. Going to a popular nightclub in Cambridge, The Charity Ward, for Paulie is akin to a religious experience. But when he discovers his beautiful girlfriend Leslie has been cheating on him there doesn't seem to be a reason to stay in Cambridge and so Paulie heads back to Brooklyn where he grew up.
Can you go home again and find answers regarding how you should live your life? That's one of the questions Temple asks, home not being just a geographical location but returning to your family, your neighborhood and your faith. Since Paulie is still young he is lucky. His parents, Marty and Esther Bindel are alive and in good health. Paulie though is somewhat dismissive of his parents. He has come back primarily to reconnect with his grandfather who he loves and who he is hoping will provide him with answers.
The novel is about Paulie's journey and he narrates some chapters. We also learn about other characters in the novel whose life revolves around Temple Ahavath Mizrach and the Brooklyn neighborhood. Paulie's grandfather a deeply religious Orthodox Jewish man and a Holocaust survivor. Paulie's father Morty who has worked hard to support his family and pay for Paulie's education. Paulie's mother Estner who stayed up nights with Paulie when he was a kid treating his asmtha. Rabbi Simeon Harkveldt spiritual leader of the Temple who worries how his congregation feels about him. The guys at the Post Office where Morty gets his son a job who spend their time drinking and fighting. The ladies at Toni's Beauty Salon where Esther gets her hair done and catches up on the gossip with her friends.
And actually it's the supporting characters in Temple that most interested me. Robert Greenfield does a masterful job telling us about their lives, hopes, fears. And as I learned more about them I found my attitude changing towards Paulie. He is bright or as his father says "too bright. That's always been his problem". And though Paulie is funny in a self-deprecating way, he's also judgemental about himself and others. Maybe if he could learn to cut himself some slack he could go easier on those around him.
Temple published in 1983 describes a different world than today but the lessons iin this novel about finding your place are timeless.
When Temple begins the main character, Paulie Bindel, is living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his girlfriend Leslie. He has dropped out of graduate school and works nights at a bookstore for very little pay. He hates his job but the one thing Paulie does love is music. Going to a popular nightclub in Cambridge, The Charity Ward, for Paulie is akin to a religious experience. But when he discovers his beautiful girlfriend Leslie has been cheating on him there doesn't seem to be a reason to stay in Cambridge and so Paulie heads back to Brooklyn where he grew up.
Can you go home again and find answers regarding how you should live your life? That's one of the questions Temple asks, home not being just a geographical location but returning to your family, your neighborhood and your faith. Since Paulie is still young he is lucky. His parents, Marty and Esther Bindel are alive and in good health. Paulie though is somewhat dismissive of his parents. He has come back primarily to reconnect with his grandfather who he loves and who he is hoping will provide him with answers.
The novel is about Paulie's journey and he narrates some chapters. We also learn about other characters in the novel whose life revolves around Temple Ahavath Mizrach and the Brooklyn neighborhood. Paulie's grandfather a deeply religious Orthodox Jewish man and a Holocaust survivor. Paulie's father Morty who has worked hard to support his family and pay for Paulie's education. Paulie's mother Estner who stayed up nights with Paulie when he was a kid treating his asmtha. Rabbi Simeon Harkveldt spiritual leader of the Temple who worries how his congregation feels about him. The guys at the Post Office where Morty gets his son a job who spend their time drinking and fighting. The ladies at Toni's Beauty Salon where Esther gets her hair done and catches up on the gossip with her friends.
And actually it's the supporting characters in Temple that most interested me. Robert Greenfield does a masterful job telling us about their lives, hopes, fears. And as I learned more about them I found my attitude changing towards Paulie. He is bright or as his father says "too bright. That's always been his problem". And though Paulie is funny in a self-deprecating way, he's also judgemental about himself and others. Maybe if he could learn to cut himself some slack he could go easier on those around him.
Temple published in 1983 describes a different world than today but the lessons iin this novel about finding your place are timeless.
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