A Giant Catch-Up: Robert B. Parker and the Night Circus (#2-4)

Well, I suppose this is what always happens...I neglect my blog for a period of time and then realize that I need to come up with something insightful to see about books I read months ago. Why do I continually do this to myself?

All the way back in January, I read Robert B. Parker's first novel, The Godwulf Manuscript. I came across it when I was reading the Amazon reviews for Painted Ladies last year; a couple of reviewers had praised it, but to be honest, I didn't think it was all that great. The Godwulf Manuscript and Painted Ladies tread the same basic ground -- a priceless work of art is stolen, college students are involved, Spenser continues with his search even after he's removed from the case -- and neither of them held all that many surprises. There's not a plot twist in either -- the person who seems guilty is, in fact, guilty.

I'm not going to mention the third book I read this year -- it was a biography that I read in the course of research for a project, and it wasn't terribly well-done. And besides, it's not relevant to these here discussions.

In February, despite my crazy job, I managed to read Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, which I  enjoyed and also sports a kickass cover. Morgenstern's debut novel is about two "magicians," Celia and Marco, who are pitted against each other in a contest by their teachers but don't initially know it -- the venue is the Cirque des Reves, a magical circus that moves from place to place unexpectedly, enchanting its patrons. There's a subplot about an ordinary boy named Bailey, who ends up befriending two twins who live in the circus, that really reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Stardust, I think because Bailey and Stardust's main character, Tristran, have the same sort of innocent hope.

I found the world of The Night Circus entrancing -- Morgenstern's descriptions are quite vivid, and her imaginings of the different kinds of magical exhibits Celia, especially, comes up with were incredibly creative. The plot was a little weaker, though. With this kind of a set-up, I expected a much more epic story, with greater stakes -- a life-or-death situation for the two contestants -- but it was never really like that, and nothing was ever terribly urgent. As Laura Miller wrote in Salon, "Plot is this novel’s flimsiest aspect, however, serving mostly as a pretext for presenting readers with a groaning board of imaginative treats," which I think sums up the novel well. But despite this, overall, I still enjoyed the time I spent inside the world of The Night Circus.

Painted Ladies: Alas, not Robert B. Parker's best (#31)

I've always enjoyed dipping into Robert B. Parker's crime novels - it's not usually my genre but I enjoy his humor, and over the years I've let the books find me. (Although I haven't read one since 2006; apparently the path can be long and twisty.) I noticed this one of the library's website and checked it out on a whim, intrigued by the premise - yet again - of an art mystery. It was kind of amazing how much this one mirrored Daniel Silva's The Rembrandt Affair, which I had read only two months before.

But I wasn't a big fan of Painted Ladies unfortunately - which seems disrespectful, considering that he died in January 2010 before this novel was published. (His last book, however, appears to be Sixkill.) Publishers Weekly called it "lackluster," which is an apt description. Painted Ladies was missing both Parker's usual zing and a complex and/or thrilling plot.

The plot centers around the death of art historian and professor Ashton Prince who Spenser agrees to protect during the recovery of a fictitious Dutch painting called "Lady with a Finch." But things go awry and Prince dies and the painting gets incinerated - which Spenser won't tolerate under his watch. So Spenser decides to figure it out, making it his own personal mission. And like the painting in The Rembrandt Affair, "Lady with a Finch" turns out to have a sordid history, having also been confiscated from a wealthy Dutch family during the Holocaust. (Even the families have similar names: Herzberg here and Herzfeld there.) In the present day, Spenser tries to charm - both successfully and unsuccessfully - a mother, daughter, and a mysterious art foundation.

But it never felt suspenseful; the links were just too easy. There was also one major inconsistency, which I was really surprised that the editor or copyeditor didn't catch: On p. 177, Winifred goes from being a certain someone's ex-girlfriend to being his ex-wife for the rest of the book. And while that seems minor, about 20 pages before, another character made a huge deal of the fact that they were never married, saying, "Fact is, for crissake, she was shacking up with some guy who had no intention of marrying her, and when she got knocked up, he left" (p. 152). It really stuck out to me.

So all in all, not my favorite of the four Robert B. Parker books that I've read. But as I was perusing the Amazon reviews (most people seemed to like Painted Ladies for sentimental reasons), I saw many mentions of his highly praised first novel The Godwulf Manuscript which I will add to my booklist for next year.

#12-15: Books in Review

I've hit a crisis point with my blog. In fact, with my life. I don't know what I'm doing with it, what I want to do with it, or why I'm doing it and the basic lack of traffic depresses me (not that I started this for the traffic, but, well, it's depressing anyway). So, on the blog-front, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue on. I need to reevaluate before I drown in this existential muck.

But since I haven't totally decided what to do, I thought I'd at least note the books I've read in the last month, even if the noting is only in brief:

#12: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
I had been considering teaching The Red Tent next year so I thought I would re-read the book and make sure it was what I remembered - which was fantastic. (This is one of the few books that I consistently recommend.) Based on just a few lines in the Bible, The Red Tent focuses on Dinah - the only daughter of Jacob - and her journey as she goes from beloved daughter to wife to widow and mother, and from Israel down into Egypt. It's an exceptional book but in the end, I realized, perhaps not the best choice for semi-innocent/awkward ninth graders. They will have to read The Joy Luck Club - another fantastic book about mothers/daughter and journeys - instead.

#13: Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas
I read about this book on Jezebel.com at least a year ago - at the same time I heard about Fashion Babylon - but it took me awhile to get around to it. This well-researched book is essentially about how, as fashion houses have moved from being owned by individual designers (often the company's namesake) to a few large companies, the shift in fashion has moved from quality and clothes to $$$. Thomas did an INCREDIBLE amount of research for this book, traveling to France to smell perfumes, Italy to visit designers, and China to visit factories (where a chunk of clothes are made, even if some houses rip out the labels and replace with "Made in Italy.") I was never one for spending thousands of dollars for a piece of clothing or a purse but if I was, I would certainly think again after reading this book. The only downside to Deluxe, really, was that it was published in 2007 - it's the kind of book that would benefit from an update. (And I'd totally read it again.)

#14: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
I had also been considering Highsmith's classic for a spot on my students' syllabus next year and wanted to re-read it to make sure it was what I thought it was. I hadn't read The Talented Mr. Ripley since spring 1996, the semester I took a law/jurisprudence class on murder at my liberal arts college.

Since my upcoming class is focused on the heroic journey (starting with The Odyssey), I thought The Talented Mr. Ripley might be a nice, end-of-the-year book to look at what happens when the hero - who is on a classic quest, like Odysseus or a Knight of the Round Table - turns out to be the villian. Because Tom Ripley is absolutely the villian - he is a poseur who convinces a man named Mr. Greenleaf to send him to Italy to convince his son, Dickie Greenleaf, a man-about-town of independent means, to come back to America. But then Tom decides he wants to lead the kind of life that Dickie has, and is willing to do anything to get it.

On my first reading, I don't think I really saw how much Tom's paranoia contributes to the out-of-control spiraling of events - how there's what Dickie says/does and then how there's what Tom says Dickie says/does...which are probably two completely different things. It reminded me quite a bit of Revolutionary Road, a book I appreciate more and more as time goes on, in how you can't be certainly what April has said and done because most of her speech/actions are relayed by someone else.

In (not-so) short, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a fascinating book - both in the plotting and in the icky feeling you have as the reader that you kinda, sorta want Tom to get away with it. (Apparently Ms. Highsmith herself was quite the unlikable character/sociopath - before the end of the year, I'm hoping to dive into Joan Schenkar's The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith.)

#15: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
I have been quite the good employee this June; I also managed to read my students' assigned summer reading book, Hurston's classic, which I never had to read myself in school. I really loved this book - I don't think it's perfect (and apparently Hurston wrote the entire thing during a seven-week working trip to Haiti) but it's a captivating story about one woman's quest for self-awareness. I think Hurston had roped in me in by page 10, when she sets 16-year-old Janie's awakening under a blossoming pear tree. "She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her." If you haven't read Their Eyes Were Watching God, run to the bookstore now! Really, it's incredible. I'll probably come back to this one in the fall, as I go over it with my students - there's so much more to say.


Alright, so there you have it. Even if I am conflicted about all things blog, I am mighty pleased to point out that I have reached Book 15 at the halfway point of the year! I think I might actually reach the finish line this year. :)

#11: The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre

Although it's been a couple of years since I've seen the excellent movie version of The Constant Gardener – starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz – I found that I couldn't get it out of my head as I read the novel.

The Constant Gardener is the story of married couple Justin and Tessa Quayle. Justin is a British diplomat posted to Nairobi and Tessa is his much-younger wife. At first glance, it appears that Justin is a passive guy with a passion for gardening who is seemingly oblivious as his wife takes on controversial aid work, and has an affair with a black Belgian doctor. But then, when Tessa is murdered, Justin embarks on a multi-continent search to ferret out a conspiracy that Tessa had apparently uncovered, and to find some justice for the both of them. (By the way, the murder thing – not a spoiler. You find out on page one.)

As a result of extraordinary movie bias, I don't feel like I can accurately judge the book. I didn't think it was as good as the movie – and Le Carre uses a decent amount of British slang, which I found to be annoying – but perhaps the book never had a proper shot. Since I'm feeling ambivalent about just about everything right now, I'll leave it at that.

#18: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown

I'd probably have to give The Lost Symbol - the biggest book release of the year - 2.5 stars. It wasn't awful, but it's also no match for The Da Vinci Code or my personal favorite, Angels & Demons. Simply put, it just wasn't as enthralling as the other two - there was never a point where I felt absolutely compelled to keep reading.

So, The Lost Symbol is the third Robert Langdon novel, with our hero being lured to the Capitol under false pretenses. When he gets there, he finds out he's not there to give a speech; instead, greeted by his friend's severed hand, he learns that he must uncover the Mason's long-buried Lost Word to appease a lone madman. Over the course of the night, Langdon teams up with the victim's sister, Katherine, and runs all over D.C. trying to solve the mystery and avoid the CIA.

Part of the problem, I think, is that The Lost Symbol doesn't stand on its own - its format is VERY similar to The Da Vinci Code and towards the end, there's some thematic overlap with Angels & Demons. It didn't totally feel like its own book, although I think he made a smart choice in this one by not attempting to deliver the secrets of the Masons. In The Da Vinci Code, he comes up with an answer for the modern location of the Holy Grail, which requires a large suspension of disbelief; here, instead, he manages to wrap up the book without having to make something up, to the book's benefit. (It's the same sort of choice that Junot Diaz makes in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, with the Mongoose's secret message.)

I also think, perhaps, that for me, the Freemasons are just not as compelling as the history of Christianity or science versus faith at the Vatican. I don't really know anything about the Masons or the conspiracy theories surrounding them, so I didn't really have any preconceived notions to be stripped of.

In the end, I did learn something about the Masons (and feel like there are some places in D.C. that I'd like to re-see). But more than anything, I learned - or rather, remembered - that wow, it's really easy to manipulate people. Obviously this is a work of fiction but I was struck time and time again by how the villian managed to fairly believable gain entrance to places simply by acting with confidence.

People generally give Dan Brown shit, but I like him. I don't think he's setting out to write great literature - his purpose seems to be to write a good thriller. And I think he accomplishes that for the most part here. It's not The Da Vinci Code, but that's probably an unrealistic standard to hold him too. (And hey, Dan, if you're feeling somewhat down about the mushy reviews, have a listen to Elizabeth Gilbert talk about the expectations that come with blockbuster success.) So I totally have to give Dan Brown props for poking fun of himself:

On page 355, he writes, “In a flash, Langdon understood the meaning of Galloway’s last request. Tell Peter this: The Masonic Pyramid has always kept her secret…sincerely. The words had seemed strange at the time, but now Langdon understood that Dean Galloway was sending Peter a code. Ironically, this same code had been a plot twist in a mediocre thriller Langdon had read years ago.”

The name of that mediocre thriller? Digital Fortress, Dan Brown's first book.

#9: The Sanctuary, Raymond Khoury

Supposedly Khoury's first novel, The Last Templar, was quite good, following a well-marked path to success laid out by The Da Vinci Code. But The Sanctuary? Not so much. This isn't a genre I particularly enjoy reading, but I feel like if I've taken the time to read a thriller, then the author ought to take the time to thrill me. Is it just me?

I'd say the main flaw is that the story is totally predictable. While I didn't have every detail exactly right, I had the main arc figured out from about page 20. It also lacked the strong historical story, which is what separated The Da Vinci Code from your run-of-the-mill paperback. There was a little something about alchemy, and how the quest to turn base metals into gold eventually led alchemists to try their hand at eternal life, but that's hardly got the heft of Jesus makin' whoopie with Mary Magdalene in a 2,000-year old conspiracy.

Ah, conspiracy. I thought I had learned something here about how the government can use our cell phones to spy on us by remotely turning on the microphone. Page 224 instructs us, "Most cell-phone users didn't realize that their phones weren't necessarily fully powered down, even if they were switched off. You just needed to set the alarm on your phone for a time when it's switched off and watch it light up to see that." I can't tell you how excited I was to learn that tidbit - I even told my brother. But guess what? I've just tried it, and it doesn't work. My phone didn't do anything. I'm both disappointed and relieved, but thank you Verizon Wireless for protecting my American right to privacy.

On one last, bitchy note that added some humor: The book jacket says that author Raymond Khoury is, "an acclaimed screenwriter and producer for both television and film." I know Dutton's got to sell the book, but that's not exactly true. According to IMDB, he's only worked on 3 shows, none of which I've heard of and none of which lasted terribly long. Sure, he's the screenwriter of the mini-series version of The Last Templar, but that's sort of a given, no?

#6: R is for Ricochet, Sue Grafton

Huh, looking over my previous blogs, I see that I forgot to blog this one. (Hopefully I haven't forgotten any others.) Well, it's been at least a month since I finished it and I don't remember it terribly well...Kinsey is hired by an older gentleman to pick up his daughter from jail and watch over her the first few days and help her readjust. Okay, now that I'm thinking about it, it's coming back.

Anyway, can't go wrong with Sue Grafton. This is the third or fourth one I've read in the series -- I don't seek them out, and instead read them when they come to me. (My dad gave me this one; I bought another one in a used bookstore on the tiny island of Paros, Greece; etc.) But they're always enjoyable, and isn't that what matters?

#5: Deception Point, Dan Brown

I like Dan Brown. I know this is an unpopular sentiment, but I think the man writes a good thriller. (Besides Digital Fortress, but I believe that was his first, so he deserves some leeway.) This was the only one I hadn't read, so I thought I'd finish up the oeuvre while notching a quickie.

Now, in some ways, it was a little too James Bond for me (or, as it would happen, Tomb Raider, which I watched at some point during my reading). There were a couple of sequences that I just couldn't buy...like when they're sitting on a calving glacier and manage to not only live, but get an SOS out. Please. I've been to Alaska, I've seen those things fall, and it ain't pretty. No one's surfing off one of those chunks of ice and living to tell the tale. Not protagonists Rachel Sexton and Michael Tolland and not 007 and Lara Croft.

But overall it was enjoyable, and I totally thought I had the bad guy figured out...only to be completely wrong. My favorite Dan Brown book remains Angels and Demons but that's okay, it's a tough one to beat. The only outstanding point remaining: When is The Solomon Key coming out?!? I've read that he has writer's block, and as a sufferer myself, I can't really blame him.

Next up: I tried to read two more erudite books, Abigail Thomas' Three-Dog Life and Anthony Doerr's Four Seasons in Rome, but couldn't get into either of them. I haven't given up entirely but since I've had jury duty this week, I've opted for a book that's easy to pick up and put down: Sue Grafton's R is for Ricochet. I think I've only read two of the others in the series; I find them enjoyable, but generally let the books find me. This one comes courtesy of my father.