Joycepa's 2009 reading

I've decided to move over here as I need to relax a little about what I'm reading when. Also, the Secret Love of My Life, Brix, is over here, and I just follow him around wherever he goes.

As an intro: I'm (nearly) 72 years old, an ex-pat living in a rural area in the country of Panamá. I have a doctorate in chemistry but other loves that have persisted through my life no matter what I did for a living are reading and gardening/farming. Another great passion of my life is the US Civil War--I'm not an expert but I suppose I qualify as what is called a"buff", if only in enthusiasm.

I suppose that's good enough.

Hi, Joyce! Even though Brix is napping on a blanket that he dragged onto a pillow on the couch (it can never be too comfortable for him), he is telepathically sending you Valentine's Day wishes.

That guy is a total heart-breaker. That he can even begin to compete with Fred for my affection tells you just what a successful little flirt he is! Fred would be jealous but Fred is eating right now and in the end he knows who gets to sleep on the pillow next to my head at night! :-)

Just so your many fans don't lose your previous entries for 2009, and all the stimulating discussions that have occurred there, I give this link to Joyce's 75 Book Challenge Thread, which is now closed for business.

Hi Joyce!!!!!!!
How nice to see you here!
:-))

If you thought you could lose me, Joyce, you're wrong--I found you right off the bat. Maybe it had something to do with the announcement and link you made . . .

Heavens, but you so clever, Charlie! :-)

Hah! Thought you could lose me, did you? I am following you to the ends of the earth (well, kind of) . . .

We'll all meet with you over here--are we having a party? Happy Valentines Day! :-)

A party certainly sounds great, at this point--been out watering all morning!

Good to see everyone over here!

Now for business:

Plenty Of Blame To Go Around
Eric J. Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi

Many historians and much popular historical fiction blame Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg on Jeb Stuart’s absence, gone on a raid around the rear of the Army of the Potomac, leaving Lee without vital intelligence of the whereabouts of the Union forces until the battle was inadvertently started on July 1. The raid has been condemned as a joy ride, an attempt on Stuart’s part to refurbish his image after being caught by surprise at Brandy Station on June 9 and defeated at Upperville a short time later. Stuart was condemned in the Confederate army for his absence, starting on July 2, when Colonel Charles Taylor, Lee’s military secretary, was furious enough to want him shot. Stuart had his defenders; the controversy that started while the battle was still going on, has continued to the present day.

Wittenberg and Petruzzi have very carefully and thoroughly researched Stuart’s ride, unearthing heretofore unknown sources (including one that caused the publisher, Savas Beatie, to literally stop the presses so that it could be incorporated into the book) to present a very well written, very thorough, very balanced examination of, not only Stuart’s ride, but also of Lee’s and Longstreet’s orders, which are at the heart of the controversy. he question really boiled down to: did Stuart obey his orders or did he gake unwarranted liberties with the discretion given him, ignore the good of the Army and set out on a joy ride to bolster a bruised vanity?

The book is extremely well written. It covers the skirmishes and two major battles, at Hanover and Hunterstown, that Stuart’s cavalry fought. It follows Stuart’s ride with enormous attention to fascinating detail, not just of the tactics involved but also of the very real, usually ignored problems of maintaining both men and horses in the field. I’m not a horse person, so I have only a vague idea of what is involved in maintaing the animals. The authors do a great service in pointing out just what was involved. Given the problems, the controversial capture and retention of the Union wagon train takes on a different light.

One of the chapters that was extremely interesting to me personally was that describing Stuart’s shelling of the Army barracks at Carlisle, PA, since I received my undergraduate degree at Dickinson College. The chapter is no better than others, but I enjoyed it more for obvious reasons. That said, it’s a dramatic story that I wish I had known at the time I was a student!

The last chapters are devoted to a thorough discussion of the controversy, with liberal quotations from both sides in the Confederate army and extensive discussions from historians, both those immediately after the Civil War and modern ones. The conclusion: as the title indicates, there is plenty of blame to go around. Yes, Stuart holds responsibility for making several tactical errors, but Lee--whom no one wanted to criticize for the Confederate defeat does as well, as does Jubal Early, Beverley Robertson (a cavalry commander in Stuart’s division) and Marshall himself. In retrospect, this seems logical; it’s a rare occurrence when a single action is the only cause of a major event as complicated as was the Battle of Gettysburg.

The book is blessed with not only adequate but downright lovely maps, clearly showing routes and troop disposition. There is one particularly fine map showing Stuart’s routes: the one he did take, the one he was supposed to take, and the suggested alternative, which accompanies text clearly examining the pros and cons of each one.

There are four Appendices: Appendix A gives the roster of Stuart’s command; Appendix B gives the Orders of Battle for the engagements Stuart fought; Appendix C gives the complete text of Stuart’s official report; and Appendix D is a Driving Tour of Stuart’s ride to Gettysburg.

A word about the last-named Appendix: it seems to be de rigueur these days to include walking/driving tours in books on Civil War battles. This one seems particularly well-done, with extensive directions and plenty of photographs to go along with the text. How valuable it is in enhancing the knowledge or appreciation of Stuart’s ride is impossible to tell without having done it. Still, it’s there for those with the interest in doing so.

This is a very fine addition to the literature on the Battle of Gettysburg. Highly recommended.

Well, look what the cat dragged in. Nice to see you here, Joyce!
Starred ya ... (you can't hide)

Darn! There goes my whole plan to be anonymous! LOL

Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis. DONE!! FINISHED!! And mostly having retained my sanity!!!

I haven't read such a terrible book in a long, long time. How in Hades did this hack get a Pulitzer for it? The only thing I can think of is that no American published that year except Lewis.

Yes, I know it was supposed to be one of those damn-the-dull-provincial -Americans of every socio-economic class. Wonderful--but the characters are at best stereotypes and usually stick figures who are completely unbelievable and too much of the book--pages and pages of it--is ranting and raving by the purists or else gawd-awful speeches by those we're supposed to detest--you know, doctors who only care for their fees, businessmen for money, society types their frvoloity--and no one understands the Pure Man of Science.

BALLS! There is no such thing and never was. I speak as one who spent nearly 40 years as a scientist and I know. Martin Arrowsmith makes you want to vomit copiously and Gottlieb, the wonderfully pure fanatic, is the stereotype of the high-minded Jew who cares nothing but for his work, lives in a garret and is generally unpleasant because he scorns the common inferior people--meaning just about every other scientist except a few in Europe--who aren't fit to dirty up his lab with their presence.

From time to time, Lewis caught me by total surprise with an occasional truly funny scene. He portrayed to a T Arrowsmith's Midwestern in-laws and their hysterically funny dialogue at the dinner table. There was actually one interesting scene in the whole book, showing the beginnings and propagation of a bubonic plague outbreak on a fictional West Indies Island. It says volumes for the book that I was hoping to find out that Lewis had died in it.

Through out the suffering, I thought of Deborah and Tracy who had the principles to throw books they hated against walls, or in Tracy's case, not do so and thereby restrain herself from causing a transatlantic airplane crash whose origin would have been trashy literature. Me? I'm a cheapskate, and when I was tempted to follow in their noble paths, I did restrain, only out of consideration for the obscene amount of money I have to pay to get the damned book into the country in the first place.

Ack! Gag! Back to the cleansing exercise of reading about the slaughter of thousands on Civil War battlefields. So much more inspiring.

EtA: And oh dear me, how could I forget--in my edition there was an afterword by that paragon of literary integrity, E.L. Doctorow. I didn't bother reading it. After all, what could someone, who made the egregious error of having Beauregard lose the Battle of Atlanta rather than Hood and didn't have the class to post an afterword that there was no recorded attempt on Sherman's life, have to say that could be trusted? Probably stole it from some poor sophomore English major's term paper in Turkistan.

Now, Joyce--you shouldn't pull your punches! How do you REALLY feel about Arrowsmith? :-D

I guess it's safe to take that one off my "must read" list?

#14. I agree. Joyce has an irritating habit of waffling in her emotionless reviews.

#13. Only kidding, Joyce--I don't want to end up on the same list with E.L. This has to be one of the most entertaining reviews I've read.

As far as the book, I thought it was about a fellow who makes arrows, and I get plenty of that from Cornwell.

I always have a hard time with books I don't like because tastes are so different. I hate the book but can't make any judgement as to how others will think about it.

I had never read one of Lewis' novels before Arrowsmith (and believe me, will never read another). I only did it because I'm reading the Pulitzer winners for fiction in chronological order, mostly. Up until Arrowsmith, I have been very pleasantly satisfied. I'll continue to read the Pulitzer winners, because one bad book does not a judgement make, and I've now read and enjoyed authors whom I might never have read otherwise.

But Lewis? Yes, I know, he wrote Babbitt--I don't care, I won't risk precious shipping money on Lewis again.

So you might consider reading it--who knows, you might like it. Of course, I'll never talk to you again......

Ah, Charlie, if only it had been about someone who made arrows and was engaged in the honest and forthright business of killing other human beings! I probably would have loved it.

I can tell I've got to stop beating around the bush.

Joyce - I've also managed to find you here in your new home. Just wanted to let you know that I finished Worst Hard Time this afternoon. As you said last month when you read it, it is very powerful, very moving. My only real complaint, as a Kansas girl, is that there are no Kansans represented in the personal stories. The largest part of the "Dust Bowl" region was situated in our state, and he coudn't find even one family's story to tell? Despite that, I am very glad I read the book, and I'm glad I let you influence me to do it sooner rather than later.

Sandy: do you know, I never noticed that there were no Kansans in the book? Hmm--I wonder why. When I get a chance, I'm going to track Egan down and ask him via whatever Website he maintains. I read--and enjoy--his columns in the NY Times whenever they appear, and he sounds like someone of whom you could ask a question like that.

If you get a response from him, I hope you'll share it. I'd be interested in hearing his explanation. I wondered if he didn't start out intending to focus on that "no man's land" region in the Okla panhandle. Everyone seemed to be clustered near there, except the one family in Nebraska which really came across as an afterthought, not showing up until the last third of the book. Thanks, again, for the recommendation.

I don't think I've ever read "BALLS!" in a book review before. Have this image of Mr. Lewis on a wildly spinning board, his clothing neatly holding him there with about fifty long bladed knives embedded deep into the wood. Brava, Joyce!

Well, tiffin, IMO you still haven't because I don't consider this a review. Just my own very personal reaction.

No one can even begin to imagine how revolting I find this elevation of Science and Scientists to some lofty moral height. While there certainly was more integrity than there has been for quite some time--ever since Watson stole the Nobel Prize from Rosalind Frank--no such idealism has ever existed, not in the US anyway.

What really had me frothing at the mouth was the passages where Lewis has Arrowsmith--surely one of the most boring and pretentious protagonists in literature--and Gottlieb carrying on about how science is so much better than religion because science is based on objectivity and pure reason and a whole bunch of other manure. It instantly reminded me of a time about 15 years ago when I was still in the field and subscribed to a Women In Science list on the Internet. One day, a number of them--Californians as I recall--really got their backs up about the superstitions in religion and how they were atheists and really glad they were in science which was so objective, etc, etc. And then went on to discuss the fact that they had "sacrificed" animals for some research.

Excuse me? Isn't there just a teeny bit of inconsistency here? Haven't we just made a religion out of science? Of course, every time I pointed out things like that, I lost a lot more acquaintances (not having many friends, I didn't have a lot to lose).

Science is one way of looking at reality. So is fiction. So is religion. So is politics. So is business. All are valid in their own realms.

re #22 Yes! Joyce, you are exactly right. You've hit on one of my biggest problems with my fellow scientists, but you put it much more clearly than I can. Science is a religion to many, but heaven forbid you point that out to them.

Arrowsmith is going to the Don't Read pile. Thanks for the warning.

babbit is pretty tiresome & preachy too - and that's remembering it from high school umpteen years ago.

The worst hard times IS a brilliant mash up of physical/cultural geography, oral & social histories of the people who were truly left/stayed behind and the environment they created/mutilated in the American midwest.

OK, for a total change of pace: Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Vol 1 by Grady McWhiney. I read this book faster than I might have simply because when I couldn't stand another word of Arrowsmith, I would read this one for a long stretch.

Bragg was one of the most vilified generals in either army. By the winter of 1863/1864, he was universally condemned in the Confederacy for incompetence. Only that very strange man, Jefferson Davis, held him in any regard.

This book of a two-volume history really is a biography, from his earliest years, through West Point, his performance in the Mexican War, and his taking field command in the Civil War in Tennessee. McWhiney presents a really balanced view of Bragg, who, if the evidence is to be believed, didn't do all that bad a job up through Murfreesborou/Stone's River. But Bragg was a real problem--impatient, intolerant, critical. He was a strict disciplinarian in the Napoleonic War mold--had no problem with enforcing the death penalty for not only desertion both other crimes. The Tenneseeans in his army hated him. A good example is Sam Watkins who wrote Co. Aytch.

An interesting book, which has adequate maps--until, of course, teh Big One--the battle of Murfreesboro where, for reasons known only to God and perhaps the author, he did up a map with solid black showing the positions of units of both armies without designation of which was Union and which was Confederate with no unit designations. only a few Confederate brigades are marked diferently. Keeps he reader awake and alert, trying to figure out who was who unless you had some prior knowledge (which I did--bless Shelby Foote forever!) of the battle.

all in all a worthwhile read, really, for a much more even-handed view of Bragg than is normally given in history. Good details about use of horse artillery in the Mexican War.

Another one to add to Continent TBR. Luckily, my local library has that one, although they do not have the second volume.

I've started Vol 2, which was written by McWhiney's grad student. McWhiney published Vol 1 in 1969; vol 2 was published in 1991. Does make me itch to get a 3-volume series by Peter Cozzens on some of the big battles in that area.

I found 3 by Cozzens at my local library. Are these the ones you are talking about?: No Better Place to Die, The Shipwreck of Their Hopes and This Terrible Sound.

Yes, those are the ones. Cozzens is quite a respected historian. The three books concentrate on the three biggest and most important battles in Tennessee: Tone's River/Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, and Chicamauga. I've had them on my wish list for some time, but swore up and down that I would get no more Civil War books until I started reading down the ones I already have. THEN I went and bought Gideon Welle's 3-volume diaries! Which ought to arrive here any day.

But I've read quite a few now, and feel justified in getting more. Just put in a huge order to Amazon yesterday, so have to wait until next month, but they are on the list for March.

I am going to have to get those 3 then, too. I am not telling my husband, though.

Be fun to kind of read them together, wouldn't it? :-) But you'll have to wait about 6 weeks for me! I'm going to have to recover from ransoming, at our courier service's office here, the books I just bought. I should be out with my begging bowl in about two weeks.

I will have to get copies of all 3 of them in-house, too, so 6 weeks should be fine for me to start. Let me know when you have your copies. Should I donate to the begging bowl?

Oh, you'll know when--you'll hear the piteous and pitiful cries from Southeast of the Border.

Well, I have ordered copies for myself, so I will let you know when I get them. Once I hear the groaning from the South, I know it will be time to start on them.

joycepa, could you please copy your introduction over to the introduction thread at some point (and perhaps mention the kinds of books you like to read)? I only ask because the group is getting larger and it helps others here decide whether your reading might be one they wish to follow.

#35: Will do, avaland.

>36 Joycepa: thank you. If you haven't met, chrisharpe is a naturalist in Venezuela. . .

My husband & I spent a few days in Chatanooga visiting the local battlefields. It seems in every one, B.Bragg's name appeared in some kind of bad decision. (This was when Jimmy Carter was president, a long time ago.) I had some Bruce Catton books & we looked up Mr.Catton's opinion of the battles. He isn't the type to lay blame, but his opinion of Bragg was also incompetent. We toured the "Battle above the Clouds." That was neat. I remember reading a book called The Rock of Chicamauga which was a fictionalized account, but B. Bragg doesn't come out too well, either. In his History of Morgan's cavalry Basil Duke, who tries to be polite, can't help dissing B. Bragg. The Orphan Brigade, a history of the 2nd. Kentucky where my relatives served also was not happy with Gen. B.
What my husband couldn't understand was why Fort Bragg was named after Braxton B. Was it because his incompetence helped the Union cause so much that they decided to honor him?

Your trip sounds great!

Murfreesboro was bad, but Bragg's real problems came after, with Chattanooga and then Missionary Ridge. Actually Chickamauga was a Bragg victory! He just didn't follow it up but then neither did a lot of Civil War generals, the most famous one being Meade.

McWhiney makes two points: 1) Bragg's real talents--as a trainer of troops and an administrator--were wasted by the Confederacy. He simply was not someone who had any aptitude at leading large numbers of troops in an independent command.

2) Comparing Lee's invasion of Maryland with Bragg's invasion of Kentucky gets really interesting. Lee was defeated at Antietam (where McClellan did not follow up), with really terrible losses. He retreated back to Virginia having accomplished nothing.

Bragg was not really defeated in Kentucky, and his losses were nowhere near as bad as lee's. not only that, he was forced to withdraw because of lack of cooperation from other Confederate commanders. But Lee was Lee--and Bragg was that nasty man who shot deserters. So--Lee's invasion was "unsuccessful" while Bragg's was a "defeat" and a "retreat". In actuality, Bragg performed better than Lee, but by that time, Lee was getting to be beyond mortal criticism.

OK, taking some precious time out to explain why, while I’ll be posting here from time to time, I really won’t be doing much else. My problem is time. Ironically, lat year, when I thought I was going to really start a finca or small farm here, I warned all and sundry that my free time would vanish. Well for many reasons that didn’t happen. But I hadn’t really noticed that little by little over the past year, I’ve put in sizable areas of fruits and veggies--and they are work. We’re smack in the middle of “summer”--our dry season, and the pineapples in particular need watering, since they’re shallow-rooted bromeliads. We now have two stalks of bananas hanging out side our “laundry" room, with a third ripening on the “tree”. I’m at war with a particular type of bird, who just loves tomatoes--right now, it’s bird 8, Joyce 4, and that ratio has to end. Other things.

So, until our rains at least start again in 6 or so weeks, I’m up to my neck in work that is best done during the morning hours before it gets too hot.

When I look at how I’ve neglected my friends here, I’m ashamed--I’ve been behaving far more like an American than I have a Panamanian, and these people are Panamanians.

I’ve been here 5 years, and am still not fluent in Spanish, which is a flat-out disgrace. If I had been the same amount of time in Brasil, I’d be chattering like a monkey in idiomatic Portuguese. Truth is, I don’t like Spanish as a language while Portuguese is my soul language. Spanish is the harshest-sounding of the Romance-languages, while Portuguese,as far as I’m concerned, ranks right up there next to French in beauty. Well, it’s just tough that I’ve got to speak Spanish here--and I need to be better than just adequate. So--time in each day reading Spanish, in the newspapers and in what books I have. My main problem is vocabulary.

I also do my best to maintain a blog that does not have a large following but does have the reputation of giving out accurate information about how to live here if you’re a foreigner.

And that’s just the obvious stuff. I won’t talk about the everyday living in a third world country where, for example, it’s just not as easy to obtain parts for equipment as it is in a first-world country. Or the fact that, despite my not living in the US or owning property, I am still liable to pay US taxes even though I don't get one single benefit from them. Of course, since I DON'T live in the US, I will not get a stimulus check or any tax rebate because it's to stimulate the US economy. The fairness of the tax system really lives you breathless with wonder.

So--if you don’t see me on your threads, it’s because I’m lurking at best. I’ve had to cut out a whole lot of “nice-to-have-but-not-essential” to make way for other priorities. Around about the end of March or middle of April, things should ease up, and I should be back shooting off my mouth. And I'll be posting and checking on this thread from time to time as I finish books.

OK, taking some precious time out to explain why, while I’ll be posting here from time to time, I really won’t be doing much else. My problem is time. Ironically, lat year, when I thought I was going to really start a finca or small farm here, I warned all and sundry that my free time would vanish. Well for many reasons that didn’t happen. But I hadn’t really noticed that little by little over the past year, I’ve put in sizable areas of fruits and veggies--and they are work. We’re smack in the middle of “summer”--our dry season, and the pineapples in particular need watering, since they’re shallow-rooted bromeliads. We now have two stalks of bananas hanging out side our “laundry" room, with a third ripening on the “tree”. I’m at war with a particular type of bird, who just loves tomatoes--right now, it’s bird 8, Joyce 4, and that ratio has to end. Other things.

So, until our rains at least start again in 6 or so weeks, I’m up to my neck in work that is best done during the morning hours before it gets too hot.

When I look at how I’ve neglected my friends here, I’m ashamed--I’ve been behaving far more like an American than I have a Panamanian, and these people are Panamanians.

I’ve been here 5 years, and am still not fluent in Spanish, which is a flat-out disgrace. If I had been the same amount of time in Brasil, I’d be chattering like a monkey in idiomatic Portuguese. Truth is, I don’t like Spanish as a language while Portuguese is my soul language. Spanish is the harshest-sounding of the Romance-languages, while Portuguese,as far as I’m concerned, ranks right up there next to French in beauty. Well, it’s just tough that I’ve got to speak Spanish here--and I need to be better than just adequate. So--time in each day reading Spanish, in the newspapers and in what books I have. My main problem is vocabulary.

I also do my best to maintain a blog that does not have a large following but does have the reputation of giving out accurate information about how to live here if you’re a foreigner.

And that’s just the obvious stuff. I won’t talk about the everyday living in a third world country where, for example, it’s just not as easy to obtain parts for equipment as it is in a first-world country. Or the fact that, despite my not living in the US or owning property, I am still liable to pay US taxes even though I don't get one single benefit from them. Of course, since I DON'T live in the US, I will not get a stimulus check or any tax rebate because it's to stimulate the US economy. The fairness of the tax system really leaves you breathless with wonder.

So--if you don’t see me on your threads, it’s because I’m lurking at best. I’ve had to cut out a whole lot of “nice-to-have-but-not-essential” to make way for other priorities. Around about the end of March or middle of April, things should ease up, and I should be back shooting off my mouth. And I'll be posting and checking on this thread from time to time as I finish books.

Joyce, sometimes you just have to cut bait and run. It's allowed. I saw a Portuguese fada singer, Mariza, in Toronto last year. Whoaaa - that gal sang from her feet and her guts. If you ever get the chance to see her....
ETA: www.mariza.com

I'll be the same once April hits and I begin to garden. I think as long as we send up a flare now and then, we're "good to go", as the kids say.

Joyce - I'll miss you, but I understand. When you can, though, just keep us posted on the books you read, even if it's only a few sentences. I'll just have to pester you more on your blog. :-)

>41 Joycepa:: The fairness of the tax system really lives you breathless with wonder.


I've come to the conclusion that the right to tax just automatically creates a mindset of "who can we suck some money out of that can't complain?" Anything they can get you to pay is something that someone in the US doesn't have to pay.

It's not just the U.S. We have a cabin up in Canada that's out in the boonies. Up until a few years ago, these types of places were in Unorganized Townships, which meant that there was no town and taxes were $200 a year, mostly for keeping up whatever provincial roads ran through the area. They decided to do away with that designation and incorporate all these entities into the nearest real town. Result: taxes jumped to $4000 in one year. Services we get:

* Police: will respond within 24 hours to the report of a break-in.
* Fire: cannot respond due to distance.
* Ambulance: we're free to pay for a private ambulance or helicopter, otherwise, no.
* Garbage: cannot pick up due to distance, but we are free to drive the bags of garbage 45 minutes and put them in an (always full) dumpster.
* Utilities: none.
* Roads: same as before.
* etc.

But, would we give up the cabin? No. So, we just accept it as the way the world works.

#41: Good luck beating back the bird at your tomatoes. I fully understand RL taking precedence over LT. Ok, well, maybe I don't, lol.

Let me know if and when you get Peter Cozzens books in and we can start reading whenever your real life allows.

I will miss seeing you early mornings, though.

#42 tiffin: I've never heard fada because in Brasil, they are pretty much focused on Afro-Brasilian music--samba, folk music like forró, especially where I used to hang out. Also, continental Portuguese, I understand, is differently spoken than Brasilian Portuguese; the latter is spoken more rhythmically and is not so gutteral as continental Portugese. The pronunciation difference and many of the words come from the influence of Yorubá; there are many East African words in the language and the rhythms of the speech are far more due to African languages. Since I've never heard continental Portuguese, I can only go on what I've been told and have read. But I'd love to hear the continental style--any Portuguese! And I will check out Mariza.

#43 Talbin: Oh, the book stuff will keep coming! And I'll be glad to see you any time on the blog, which right now is turning into a mini-gardening/farming blog. I'll be able to update last year's rain data and get January's tomorrow when we visit our friends in the pueblo. I couldn't believe it--a few hours after I go ahead an make my dramatic announcement here, who calls but our friends saying they're sure we don't remember them anymore? We were ecstatic. I've been dying for a chance to talk politics with them. Tomorrow I'm going to ask Maritza for permission to post about her brother, who was murdered by Noriega's thugs. Noriega was from right around here, and there's a noriegista--a woman--running for president in the coming election.

#44 TaDAD: We don't pay personal taxes--yet--but we pay other taxes, and the services here are probably slightly better than what you get. I've had nearly a full year's worth of trouble with the IRS, thanks to them not believing that I lived in Panamá--the story is too long to go into. My CPA, who is in the US, finally got me out of it. The fine for filing late--I did not--was $100, and she advised me to pay it. Naturally, since a principle was involved, I did not, and we wound up beating it down to $22, thanks to a mistake she/I actually made on estimated tax. Mary had a terrible time--she sent copies of her passport showing her visa here and her permanent status, pages of her passport showing her visits to and return from the US. 6 months or so ago they said they'd get back to her in 45 days. Guess what. She never heard back.

I accept up to a point the way the world works but after that, it's a fight.

#45 Stasia: The birds are a holy terror--a tomato was eaten while I was nearby, attending to some other things! This morning I'm headed out to buy shade cloth for my potting shed and that particular raised bed. But at least we're getting our bananas without problems--so much so that we're going to have to start giving some away, soon!

The Cozzen books are sitting in my Amazon shopping cart, waiting for another 3 weeks.

OK, for books: I've finished Volume 2 of the Brag biography, which was fascinating, really. One of the things that always comes up is the incompetency of the Union generals in the Army of the Potomac before Meade. There were actually any number of good commanders, but the leadership was hamstrung either by the Union's equivalent of Bragg--McClellan, although he was utterly loved by his men for good reason--or real dummies like Burnsides. Too many were political appointees. Lee got rid of his by transferring them. This biography details some of the real incompetents in a critical Confederate army in the west. Also Confederate generals seems to have taken backbiting, conniving, and jockeying for position to a high art.

As I note in the review below, there is some utterly fascinating material in Bragg's later career.

Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Vol. 2
Judith Lee Hallock

Volume 2 of the biography of General Braxton Bragg starts after Bragg’s withdrawal from Tullahoma, Tennessee, to Chattanooga. Hallock describes in detail the most famous of Bragg’s battles--the victory at Chickamauga, where his old friend,George Thomas of the Union Army earned his sobriquet “The Rock of Chickamauga”--and his worst defeat--the loss of Missionary Ridge to Grant through an even-handed fate, since it was Thomas’ troops who broke the Confederate center.

Bragg was relieved of command shortly after and appointed as Jefferson Davis’ military advisor, in Richmond. Hallock is absolutely fascinating as she details Bragg’s performance in this post--it brought out both the best in his capabilities of administrator and organizer and the worst in his personality. One Richmond diarist called him “this element of discord, acrimony, and confusion.” Bragg seemed incapable of getting along with any of his colleagues. another ection describes that the lull in the two attacks on Fort Pickens, North Carolina, where he was in charge of the defenses “allowed Bragg an opportunity to indulge himself in his favorite pastimes--griping and carping”. It seemed as if Bragg never lost an opportunity to make an enemy, and he had plenty of opportunities. Vindictiveness just rounded out Bragg’s congenial disposition.

It is this failure in interpersonal relationships--vital if a commander is to get the best out of his subordinates--that turned much of the public and many of the Confederate officers against him, and contributed to a reputation for incompetence that was more than he deserved. But Bragg was a nasty piece of work, and most of his problems were self-created.

Hallock’s book is an eye-opener in the way she reveals the animosities and back-biting that permeated the Confederate high commands. She also is unsparing of Longstreet who, according to her viewpoint, failed at Lookout Mountain and whose active conspiring against Brag was unethical. Her description of Bragg’s contribution to and in the fatal removal of Joseph Johnston from the command of the Army of Tennessee and the subsequent appointment of Hood, who jockeyed shamelessly for the command, is revelatory; Bragg, who prided himself on his integrity, behaved like an ordinary sleazy county politician, pandering to Davis in the latter’s desire to get rid of Johnston; Bragg lied through his teeth later about his participation in a betrayal of a man who had stood up for Bragg when Bragg was under fire.

Hallock follows Bragg through the last days of the Confederacy and to the end of his life. True to form, he was unable to hold any position for very long in the post-war era due to his inability to co-exist at least neutrally with anyone in authority or his colleagues as well.

Hallock’s last chapter sums up Brag’s strength and weaknesses and how they contributed both to further the Confederate cause and to its defeat. She also makes some extrapolations of Bragg’s character to the Southern population in general. But what is the most interesting part in this chapter is her discussion of Bragg’s health. It was notoriously poor and probably psychosomatic, brought on by the stresses of responsibility and overwork. But the medical treatments of the day were horrific; Bragg practically lived on mercury compounds, widely prescribed by Southern doctors as a way to counteract what they termed was the “torpid” lives of Southern males. Calumel--mercury--was quite well accepted as a remedy in the mid-19th century. Today, of course, we know it’s debilitating effects. Not only that, but according to Hallock, opium was quite widely used as a tranquilizer and some of Bragg’s described behavior could very well have been due to an “opium fog:” According to Hallock--and she cites quite a few sources, the South had the highest rate of opium addiction in the country and possibly one of the highest in the world. It’s a fascinating conjecture.

Hallock’s writing is very engaging, very clear, and her attention to detail leads you right into the life of this unpleasant yet highly important Confederate general. The few maps the book has are adequate for the text and the story.

While Volume 2 can stand on its own, but is enhanced by reading Volume 1 by Grady McWhiney first. All in all, a very well written, very informative and even absorbing book.

> 46 Fado is considered the best expression of the Portuguese soul, and is linked to saudade (no equivalent word in english, but the closest is nostalgia), hence its melancholic tunes.

Info in english is quite scant, i could only find the following but these provide a fairly good introduction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fado
http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~fado/eng/index-eng.html
http://fado.com/

Do check out the Mariza site that tiffin mentioned. It's impossible not to to love her once you've heard her. She is the most internationally-acclaimed of the new generation of fadistas. And by the way, she sings in Continental Portuguese -- so there, u have a sample of how it differs from the Brazilian Portuguese. I would also recommend a very good group called Madredeus, they sing a modern version of fado but which retains its essential elements. The singer, Teresa Salgueiro, has a gem of a voice. If you're interested, here's something i found in youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z1l3Mop0_A&feature=related

Indeed Continental Portuguese is spoken differently from the the Brazilian Portuguese, it is very guttural. I find the former easier to understand though, i've never gotten used to the latter's singsong quality. Also i find the Portuguese spoken by those from Africa (the former colonies) easier to understand than those from Brazil.

Here's an interesting link that compares the two, and gives sample texts read in both ways.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/portuguese.htm

There u are, joyce. I look forward to when you start learning the language. It is more difficult to learn than Spanish (i have some facility in that language too so i can make a comparison) -- the verbs are infinitely more tricky, but it is certainly more beautiful than Spanish so it's worth the extra effort. Wikepedia says that of all Romance languages, it has preserved more verbal inflections from classical Latin. Do you know that the Portuguese understand Spanish without any problem, but not the other way around? It's funny to observe this with Spanish tourists in Portugal. To my delight, there is a cross between Portuguese and Spanish -- it is called Galego, spoken in the Northwestern part of Spain. The first time I heard it was in the theater, and there i discovered my what you call "soul language." Though it uses Portuguese words, Galego has none of the impossible Portuguese guttural pronunciations. You've got to hear that one.

#47 deebee1. Thanks for the information on fado and the references. I'll most definitely check them out.

I'm well aware that Brasilians for example, can understand Spanish much better than the rest of the continent can understand Portuguese. Also, thanks to a splendid textbook I had for Portuguese (I taught myself the language), I learned about the patterns in Portuguese that I then could apply to Spanish. My first year here, we built a house, where I was the general contractor. i knew no Spanish, and at that time, almost no one here spoke English. Before we moved, I picked up a textbook (a bad one) of Spanish and learned the vital irregular verbs that you have to have--was ecstatic when I learned the grammar was nearly identical--I just had to learn a few verb endings for conjugations. I also learned, thanks to a patient contractor, the words for various items, such as I-beams (cariolas), screws (tornillos) and other exotica, since I bought every nail, every screw, every cement block and bag of cement that went into this house.

When I would go to the construction supply places, I would do my best in Spanish, but when I didn't know a word in Spanish I would mentally close my eyes, pray, and use the Portuguese word. 50% of the time, I got by; the other 50% of the time we all got by with a lot of hand waving and diagram-drawing!

The worst problem I had was with pronunciation, since "r' is treated VERY differently in Portguese and in Spanish. But I over came that and now I have to remember how to pronounce the Portuguese!

Fortunately, there are patterns in Portuguese that can be carried over to Spanish, and that helped enormously.

I should say that I learned the language the cold turkey way; I had a rudimentary knowledge when I went to Brasil but my first trip, after one week, I stayed with a poor Brasilian family who spoke no English. Talk about sink or swim! The experience was hilarious and at times unpleasant, but invaluable. Then I moved out to the campo, and felt like I was learning another language thanks to the dialect. THEN I moved to the sertão and had to learn still another dialect! It was quite a challenge at 60.

I've heard a lot of sertão (interior of Brasil) folk songs, and let me tell you, they are practically chants out of Africa! I met a Tanzanian missionary nun who spoke Swahili for me--and the speech rhythms are very, very close. To me, it's not sing-song at all, but a sensuous rhtyhm that perfectly matches the racial makeup of Brasilians, who msotly are a mixture of indigenous peoples, Caucasian, and Africans. Where I went, the racial makeup leaned far more heavily towards the African-Brasilian, since the slave trade centered in Bahia, which was just south of where I spent most of my time. I was an anomaly, believe me.

While I used to read Folha de São Paolo almost every day, I've gotten out of the habit, but will re-start here soon--my facility in Portuguese is deteriorating, since I haven't been there in some time, and I don't like it.

For music--I'm no fan of Brasilian samba, but the best of Brasilian/African synthesis can be seen in the soundtrack for Orfeu Negro, the 1959 Black Orpheus. I also really like Marisa Monte--I have several of her albums. Other than that, I have tapes I recorded at political rallies, churches and other gatherings, and Brasilian friends gave me copies of music tapes as well. It's music that will never make it to any album.

Oh yes--I was in for Lula's first election, in 2002. There is quite a scurrilous photo taken by one of my friends that does show me dancing in the streets that night with my friends, all of whom were poor, all of whom were leftists, a beer (Brahma--there is no other even if it is out of Rio) in my hand! It was the greatest party I have ever been to; the only thing that comes close is the celebrations I saw last year when Obama was elected.

But as the Bush years went on, it got more and more difficult personally to visit, even with people who knew my political leanings. This in a country that is incredibly tolerant and accepting of almost any kind of behavior.

Tenho saudades do Brasil, believe me, but I'm better off here, and Panama is my real home. I have probably a thousand photos; I'm (much too slowly) working on a blog that will be a showcase for these photos and for my memories.

Thanks again for all the URLs; I will definitely check them out.

Now to business. Yes, I am reading something else besides Civil War stuff, but wanted to read this book so I could wind up what I had been reading about Bragg. What a mistake! Book was terrible.

I am reading Carol O'Connell's Judas Child as comic relief from the Civil War. i am NOT a fan of her Mallory series, probably the only one on LT who really dislikes Mallory. But this book is not bad.

Here's the review of the Civil War book:

General James Longstreet in the West: A Monumental Failure
Judith Lee Hallock

This very short (84 pages of text, 134 pages with Organizational Charts, Indices) book, which would have been much more honestly presented as a monograph, purports to recount Longstreet’s performance at Chickamauga, the Battle of Lookout Mountain (or part of it) and the engagements in the Knoxville campaign.

I say “purports”, because it is clear that Hallock has her long knives sharpened and out for Longstreet. If we believe her version of the story, Longstreet was simply lucky at Chickamauga (partly true) and was bumbling, incompetent, lazy, careless, add your own denigrating adjective. Her insistence that Longstreet was a failure in the Tennessee theater and that this was representative of his lack of talent and imagination as a commander is disturbing, because she makes statements in the course of the text tyhat are not backed up. I don’t know for whom this series (because this book is part of a series on Civil War commanders) is meant but if this book is an example it is an odd one. There are no reference notes, none--no citations to some of her more startling statements. The most bizarre is that Longstreet, just before Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg, took himself off for a nap and left the order to start the charge up to Porter Alexander, his chief of artillery!

I have checked three reference sources that I have, including Alexander’s own memoirs; nowhere does this story of Longstreet taking a nap come up. Alexander and another source both state that Longstreet was sitting on a fence rail just before the attack and that Longstreet himself agreed to the start of the charge. It is well known that before the charge, Longstreet did try to put the responsibility on Alexander, but the latter, no fool, saw the trap and deftly returned the ball to Longstreet’s court. Longstreet himself gave the order.

The statement occurs on p. 23; after that, I reserved judgment on anything derogatory that Hallock had to say. It does seem to be true that Longstreet failed in his one and only experience at independent command, but that in itself does not stamp him as incompetent. it just simply is a fact that there are plenty of people who serve very well as second-in-command--whether in the military or a business or in a department--who simply are not capable of overall leadership. That doesn’t negate their usefulness as subordinates.

Longstreet’s corps was the finest in the Confederate Army--hard-hitting. Longstreet was not without fault--he was one of an innumerable horde of Confederate commanders who were ambitious, quarrelsome, and not easy to get along with. From Gettysburg on, Longstreet found himself at the center of the controversy as to who lost that battle, since no one would ever dream of blaming Lee. After the war, Longstreet was hated because he became a Republican and accepted a position from his good friend, President Ulysses Grant. He was considered a traitor and vilified. His reputation underwent a rebirth with the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Killer Angels; the movie “Gettysburg” did a great deal for Longstreet due to the incredibly sympathetic portrayal by Tom Beringer. It’s well to remember not to confuse the two.

This book is too one-sided, caught out in who knows what petty, spiteful and apparently untrue anecdote about Longstreet at Gettysburg to generate much faith in an account that cites no sources.

In addition, the maps are puzzling--they are almost relevant but not quite. It’s as if the cartographer never saw the text that he was illustrating. Plus, there is no distance scale on the maps--you’re left wondering just how distant important places were from each other.

This is a bad book. Period.

Joyce, I'm waiting for your reaction to Judas Child. I've never read any Carol O'Connell and she was recommended to me when I decided on a mysteries category for the 999 challenge. This person (wish I could remember who) liked the Mallery series, but admitted that they get off to a slow start, so I thought I'd read Judas Child, since it is a stand alone, and is evidently just as good as any of the Mallery books.

Loved your story about Brazil and learning Portuguese and Spanish.

Joyce, I wish you'd write a book. I could read your posts forever.

#51: I completely agree!!

I'm hoping to find some time soon to get back to my Brasilian blog--get it launched.

In getting carried away by talk of languages I forgot to mention Brasilian culture--particularly movies. They have a small but one of the world's best film industries. There are truly fantastic Brasilian movies-I wrote a whole post on my Panamanian blog on my favorites. By the way, if any of you are interested in seeing two utterly incredible performances by women, do check out "The House of Sand" which was produced 4-5 years ago, something like that. It stars Brasil's grande dame actress, Fernanda Montenegro and her daughter Fernanda Torres in a total tour de force--five female roles played by these 2 women. If you can, get the DVD that has the Special Feature that talks about how the movie was made. It's in Portuguese with English or French subtitle option. I always turn off the subtitles and just revel in the sounds of Portuguese.

Another absolutely terrific movie that was made about 10 years ago, starring Fernanda Montenegro, is "Central Station", which is not to be missed if you want to get even just a little taste of Northeast Brasilian culture.

Let me stop my monologue now and just direct you to the post in my blog that I wrote last year about some of these movies.

Tiffin and Stasia, you're quite kind. Maybe some day I'll get that Brasilian blog going and can share my memories of my experiences--almost none of which were tourist ones. Thsose trips, particularly the first one, were life-changing for me. I discovered why I'd never felt comfortable in the US--it's because I really belong in a Latin American culture. I also saw things that gave me nightmares for years and determined a course of action I kept to for 5 years--raising money to drill a well for a small village in the sertão. Once you've seen animals dying of drought-induced starvation--and I got so I could predict which ones would be dead by the next day--once you've heard babies crying from hunger because they've had nothing to eat all day but a half bottle of water in which has been mixed some rice husks--kids with bellies swollen from worms because they're playing in sewage ditches--it tends to have an effect.

But I have many, many good memories as well.

Too much time here as usual. Later!

I do rave on about other things and forget--Sandy, I'm about 2/3 of the way through Judas Child and like it much better than the Mallory series, although I repeat, I'm just about alone in my dislike of that series. For me, it's better. My problem with O'Connell stems from her protagonists. I hated the Mallory series because the people in it were so weird--as if she deliberately set out to create a set of freaks for her book. IMO, she succeeded so well that I gave up on the series in disgust. Judas Child is much,much better but still has a touch of that. I'm not finished, but I can say that the plot so far is excellent, a real gripper.

I really do think that there's a distinct, discernible difference in that way women write in this genre as opposed to men. I enjoy both perspectives--don't value one over the other. But O'Connell comes the closest to male writing style that I've seen with female writers so far. Whether true or not, she reminds me of Michael Connelly.

This is what I get for loudly proclaiming that I'm not going to post here for a while--three in one morning. Oh well.

Carnaval starts this weekend. HEre, where I live, it's really not much in the way of show--more like 5 days of nonstop dancing and drinking. Panam City has a much, much better one, Im told, but it's too far away. The country does tend to shut down for this time, however--we have to stock up on certain things today.

However--I'm going to post here teh URLs for two of Brasil's top newspapers, Folha de São Paolo, from São Paol, obviously, and O Globo from Rio, because the Carnaval parades will be starting tomorrow, I think, and the publications will have unbelievable pictures online. I have yet to attend Crnaval, and if I did, it would probably be in either Olinda or Manaus--both Rio and São Paolo are extremely dangerous cities although the government is promising to put X number of Brasilian Army soldiers in the streets. Plus, aficionados among my Brasilian friends say that Olinda has the best Carnaval. Manaus would be much closer for me--just 2.5 hours from Panama City, and I was able to find pictures of its Carnaval last year. I like Manaus and the Amazon River basin--have spent my last 3 trips there.

So check it out starting Saturday, I would think--maybe Sunday--i don't remember the schedule.

I've just checked the parade schedule on Folha--the blocos (samba schools) will start parading in São Paolo and no doubt Rio at 11:15 pm Friday night (2 hours ahead of EST), so the pictures will be in the papers online Saturday morning. There will be galleries of them, and they will be worth while spending the time to look through all of them. Brasilian creativity is incredible; it is a nation of poets, artists and musicians.

It should be noted that these samba schools start preparing for next year's Carnaval the day after their school parades--it's very serious stuff. Also, the rules are absolutely rigid in the way things have to be done and how the schools are judged. It isn't just a question of throwing a couple of floats up there with some bands and dancers.

If you get to see the 1999 remake of Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro)which is simply called "Orfeu", then you get an idea of what's involved, because the Orfeu of that movie is a program director for a bloco and of course, a dancer.

If you're going to look at pictures of Carnaval, be sure to go to O Globo as well as Folha. The two Carnavais are very different. Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo are old, old rivals, in this as in their beers (Rio wins hands down there, as far as I'm concerned).

Joyce - One of my husband's best friends does international teaching, and spent 4 years in Sao Paolo. However, like you said, Sao Paolo is a dangerous city, especially for los gringos. Bill's friend Rod and his wife Karen also have two little girls, so they tended not to venture out into the city very often at all. Any trips they took were outside of Sao Paolo, either to the countryside or to another city. It's too bad, because I know they ended up not really liking Brasil as compared to the other countries they've taught in (Costa Rica, Taiwan, Czech Republic and now England). In fact, although we never went to see them, if it was discussed they advised us not to visit them in Sao Paolo - they would meet us somewhere else. I think what really spooked them is that someone they knew was kidnapped and ransomed. They got him back right away - the kidnappers thought the police were nearby and ran - but it really made a deep, deep impression.

Joyce, this thread is so rich in information I can't take it all in. I'm going to set aside some time over the weekend to read all your Civil War posts, and make some notes for my future reading. I have a biography of Longstreet that I haven't read yet. I picked it up in Knoxville last summer, I think at the recommendation of one of the docent ladies at Bleak House (who are understandably a bit biased). General James Longstreet; The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier -- are you familiar with it, or do you have an opinion on the author's objectivity? I see the lone LT review of the book mentions that the author "defends" Longstreet.

laytonwoman3rd

Thanks so much for the link to Bleak House! I recently read Confederates in the Attic and I'm really interested now in all these "shrines" to the civil War in the South!

I'm also interested to know Joyce's opinion of the Longstreet biography by Jeffry D. Wert. I have another book by him on my 999 CW list which I haven't read yet. I have enough books to fill out my category for this year, but I'm still on the lookout for others because I know I will continue to read about it for several years--the subject seems inexhaustible!

Visiting the tower at Bleak House was a very eerie, moving experience. It's a small space, and the past was very real in there. I have to get myself a copy of Confederates in the Attic.

I highly recommend Confederates if you want to get an idea of how the effects of the war are still lingering in our society--especially in the South. Besides, it's just a "good read!"

Tracy: I visited São Paolo once, in 1998, my first visit to Brasil. I spent two weeks there, staying with missionary Irish priests in a poor parish. I was advised not to speak English--that although my Portuguese was, shall we say, very basic, bands of thieves would hang about hotels, for instance, pick up on anyone speaking English, and then very sophisticatedly rob them, working in pairs. His cousin, who had come to visit him, had been robbed in this fashion shortly before I arrived. In the northeast, my height and coloring clearly mark me as a non-Brasilian, but in the south, where there is a large population of descendants of Italian, German and other European immigrants (as well as an entire town of descendants of ex-Confederates who immigrated after the Civil War), and given the way I usually dress, I can more easily pass for Brasilian (although not when I walk--no foreigner can duplicate the total unconscious sensuality of a Brasilian female). But I felt able to move about the area easily, alone, and I did.

The only time in Brasil I was really worried about my safety was during that visit, when an Irish priest took me to one of the oldest favelas in São Paolo. We walked all through, and since Jimmy was quite popular and I was with him, I got to see quite a bit. But as we were returning, somehow he and I got separated--he wound up ahead of me. Suddenly, I was surrounded by very tall, well dressed and frowning young men in, I would say, in their 20s. One, arms crossed and a rather nasty facial scowl, asked me what I thought of Brasil. I said I was just a visitor but I loved the people--all of which was true. fortunately I could speak Portuguese well enough for that much!

Well, the sun came out--he uncrossed his arms, and a huge Brasilian smile appeared on his face. Everyone else relaxed. He patted my shoulder, then put his hand under my arm very politely, and led me to where Jimmy, totally unaware of what had passed, was talking with some other people. He waved goodby and then sauntered back to his group. When I told Jimmy what happened, he first looked alarmed and then broke out laughing and said that I'd done a good job. I shook for 10 minutes. God watches over insane 60 year old women.

In the past 4-5 years, things have become infinitely worse in both São Paolo and Rio. I go everywhere in the country by myself, but I refuse to go to those two cities because I don't know any Brasilians there and it is outright dangerous to be there without being with a resident, IMO. Drug gangs have taken over both cities; it wasn't all that long ago when a gang terrorized the center of Rio, shooting up city hall as well as the central police station--the city was shut down for 24 hours. São Paolo has had terrible problems as well, especially in the prisons. Brasil drug problem is second only to the US. The police are for the most part useless, because especially in rio they are poorly trained and corrupt. The 1999 version of Black Orpheus makes that pretty clear. The famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema are overrun with thieves who specialize in robbing tourists. Even the other beaches are becoming unsafe if you don't know how to survive there.

Those two cities are not totally representative of Brasil, although there are other areas that are just as dangerous. Where I go--in the northeast and the Amazon region--I'm associated with the Catholic missionaries there and thus am really quite safe. In fact, I even get privileges--in 2005, when I was in Tefé, I was waived through the airport security with a smile because I was with the bishop (whom you would never know was a bishop, since they dress like either poor parish priests out of a bad Italian movie or look like down-at-the-heels store clerks). But there are areas that I know to avoid especially at night when no one is safe.

It's a beautiful country and I love the people, BUT.... you do have to know what you're doing and speaking Portuguese is essential.

Linda and Carolyn: If you look at my Civil War library, you'll see that I'm short on biographies, opting much more for memoirs. I have no idea about the book you two have mentioned except that it is by Wert and he is a most respected historian. My understanding is that he takes the stance that Longstreet was the finest commander in the Confederate Army. He had to have been good simply because Lee got rid of the incompetents--transferred them elsewhere--and Longstreet had been with Lee ever since Lee took over after Seven Pines--3 years. I would think that it's probably good. if you like it, let me know and I'll get it for myself! :-)

It must be something in my genetic makeup, but I simply do not like Carol O'Connell's books. I know I'm just about alone in this.

Judas Child
Carol O’Connell

Two 10 year old girls are missing in a small village in New York days before Christmas, and the fear is that a serial pedophile/killer has kidnapped the two girls. It is a brutal reminder for Detective Rouge Kendall, whose twin sister was kidnapped and then murdered 15 years before to the day. Supposedly, her killer was apprehended. Btu the convicted man, a priest, is in prison, and no one has any idea what has happened to the two girls.

That is the bare premise of an absolutely terrific plot, a gripping, tension-packed page-turner. But, as always with a Carol O’Connell novel in this genre, I run up against the way O’Connell creates her main characters and the resulting plot stratagems connected with them.

I dislike O’Connell’s very popular Mallory series, because in them I feel she has created set of freak protagonists who simply are not believable. In addition, Mallory is claimed to be what O’Connell never demonstrates but simply tells us--a sociopath; I was extremely annoyed with this particular weakness in the books. Also, in the plots, O’Connell has her characters show leaps of deduction that simply do not make sense to me. I always feel as if somehow I’ve missed something, some vital link; It makes me feel as if I need to reread sections of the book to see what I missed.

Unfortunately, she does some of the same in Judas Child. Kendall is not well-drawn; for one thing, he is too freakish--too calm, too possessed of insight that seems unreal because it comes out of nowhere. Same is true of some of the other characters--they simply know too much or guess too much from events and observations that seem to skimpy to lead to these conclusions.

However, the two girls are very well done, the best characters in the book, as is the dog that plays such a crucial role. These and the plot kept me reading the book, even over the annoyance of O’Connell’s nearly supernaturally-intelligent protagonist.

With the exceptions noted, the book is extremely well written; the twist is excellent and well done.

A stand-alone book, I think that this will delight fans of O’Connell’s Mallory series and probably more. But for me, my annoyance with some of O’Connell’s plot stratagems means that this will be the last one of her novels I will read.

they simply know too much or guess too much from events and observations that seem too skimpy to lead to these conclusions.

This is the same reason I don't watch television: even the most complex plots are "solved" in 38 minutes (60 minutes less advertising time).

I've started rereading Donna Leon's spectacular police procedural series set in Venice, Italy. I've had her latest book for quite a while, but waited until I had the chance to do the whole series again from the beginning before I read it.

A great many people know about Leon; except for one book, which is a really bad one, her series is among the best because of her great characters, who develop over time, and the way she writes about Venice. Also, she has a terrific, wry sense of humor that has you laughing out loud at times.

Death At La Fenice
Donna Leon

First in the Commisario Guido Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.

At La Fenice, Venice’s renowned opera house, the curtain is ready to go up for the final act of Verdi’s La Traviata. Everyone is ready and waiting, but the conductor, the world famous Helmut Wellauer, doesn’t appear--because he is dead, of cyanide poisoning, in his dressing room.

Enter Commisario (Chief Inspector) Guido Brunetti, a compassionate, idealistic but realistic Venetian. Aspects of the case puzzle him; he follows up seemingly trivial facts to uncover a past that leads directly to Wellauer’s death.

The beauty of Leon’s books is not the plots, which are very good but nothing really outstanding. Her strengths are in her characters. Brunetti, his wife Paola, their two teenage children Chiara and Raffi, are brilliantly realized. Other recurring characters, such as Vice-Questura Patta, are also memorable; Patta, in the tradition of Racer in the Ricahrd Jury series of Martha Grimes, is unforgettable, and his meetings with Brunetti are hysterically funny. Even the minor characters who appear just once add heft to the book; their authenticity is resounding.

In addition, Leon, who has lived in Venice many years, writes lovingly and in detail of the city. One of the fun activities I indulged myself in during this reread was to follow Brunetti through Venice’s streets and into its establishments via GoogleEarth maps of the city. The locales are real as are establishments such as Biancat’s San Polo florist shop. There are photos of buildings in the areas which just adds to the enjoyment, even if it does mean reading while sitting in front of a computer--well worth it!

Last but not least is Leon’s wry humor, which at times is exquisite; there were many times when I still, after 4 or 5 rereads of this superb book, laughed out loud, and one passage had me in tears of laughter--again.

The resolution of the plot is different, certainly, and casts further insights into Brunetti’s character.

A superb book in an excellent series. Highly recommended.

Joyce - I already had Death at La Fenice on my wishlist - it seems you've raved about this series before. ;-) But what I think was genius was following the action on Google Earth. I must say, I never even thought of doing that - what a great idea!

BTW - I'm about 200 pages into Sunne in Splendour and loving it. I've still got a long way to go, but my guess is that you'll love this one, too. I'll keep you posted.

Tracy: My raves are quite predictable and yes, repetitive! :-) The only reason why I even wrote a review instead of just mentioning it is that when I first joined LT, I rated a bunch of books and was not writing reviews at that time. Evidently Death at La Fenice was one of them. I intend to continue writing reviews until I catch up. but inevitably, I'll be repeating myself, for Leon's strengths, as far as I'm concerned, are exactly what I've mentioned. Her characterization of the Vice, Patta, is sheer genius; Racer, of Richard Jury fame, is very English while Patta is pure Italian. And they carry her on in all but one of her books.

About the only thing she doesn't have is the equivalent of Cyril the Cat (in the Richard Jury series). But then she has Patta, and Patta more than makes up for Cyril.

For those who have laptops, following by GoogleEarth should be more comfortable than sitting at a table the way I ahve to. But it's worth it. I just keep the map of Venice up in a window, type in the latest location, and away we go! I've pinpointed Brunetti's home, the location of his father-in-law's palazzo, the Questura, Teatro La Fenice (easy), and other locations, since I'm now nearly through with the second book. What's fun is to locate some of the bars that Brunetti (read Leon) favors, such as Do Mori--there's actually a photo of the front on the GoogleEarth map.

And you can do more than just the map. I've gone to an Italian site from GoogleEarth and actually gotten the aerial photos! Now there's a kick!

I've just ordered the last in the Henry II trilogy, Devil's Brood, and have Sunne in Splendour on my March order list.

Death in a Strange Country
Donna Leon

2nd in th Commisario Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.

Awakened early in the morning by a phone call reporting a body found in a canal, Brunetti discovers that the victim is a young American soldier stationed at the US Army post in Vicenza, just north of Venice. The young man has been murdered, and at first glance, it appears to be a mugging gone wrong. But Brunetti is not convinced of the easy explanation, and sets out to uncover the real story.

Establishing the identity of the soldier is easy, trying to understand much less so. In his investigation, Brunetti comes in contact with the lover of the young man, an American doctor--a pediatrician--on the psot. She is clearly firghtened but refuses to cooperat more than superficially with Brunetti.

Upsetting Patta with is investigation (and Patta is easily upset with most things), Brunetti is told to stop hounding the poor Americans and get on to a case of a robbery of the palazzo of a rich Milanese businessman. But rather than ease Patta’s social anxieties, it does appear that the businessman engineered the robbery to solve an irritating cash flow.

Brunetti’s investigations of both of these cases lead him into a complex web of complicity on the part of the US Army the Italian government, and the Mafia in a case that exposes him to great personal danger.

The resolution of the plot, in order to be realistic, is not satisfying; Leon has resisted the temptation to wrap things up tidily. This, in my opinion, contributes powerfully to the story and to the believability of Leon’s characters and city.

All of Donna Leon’s strengths are present in this fine installment: strong characterizations; good plotting; engaging descriptions of Venice; wry humor. Following Brunetti about Venice by means of GoogleEarth maps was again highly rewarding, contributing mightily to my enjoyment of the story.

Another excellent installment in a superb series. Highly recommended.

The Donna Leon books sound wonderful - Death at la Fenice is already on hold at the library and should be here tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

You're going to love it, Sandy--she is top drawer. Except for one book, but that's down the line--#10 or 11. My favorite comes up soon.

My local library had Death at la Fenice, so I am going to give it a try. I almost hope I hate it, because that is the only book of Leon's they have :(

I hate to tell you this, Stasia, but if you like the genre at all, then I'm afraid you're in for a good many interlibrary loans!

Rats.

AND just to make things worse.....

Dressed For Death
Donna Leon

3rd in the Commisario Brunetti series set in Venice.

In a field in Mestre, a small city just to the west of Venice on the mainland, in a field used by the most desperate type of prostitutes, a worker in an abbatoir discovers the body of a middle-aged man dressed in a cheap red dress and red shoes. His face has been smashed in, making him virtually unidentifiable.

Because it’s August, and Mestre’s Questura is understaffed due to holdiays and other misfortunes, Patta decides to “lend” Brunetti to the Mestre force to investigate the crime. Not that there’s much doubt in anyone’s mind what happened--something “gone wrong” in a transaction by the most despised of prostitutes, transvestites. Brunetti, who was supposed to go on the family’s annual vacation in the mountains, instead sees Paola, Chiara, and Raffi off at the train station, and returns to a hot, humid Venice--and Mestre--for this distasteful investigation. Before too long, Brunetti is less than convinced of the apparent motive for the murder; the investigation takes him further into the world of transvestite prostitution and those of the moneyed class in Venice who use their services.

In most of her books, Leon uses some social issue as a background for her plots, illuminating the less than pleasant aspects of Italian life--in this case, transvestites and the attitudes felt by most Italians towards them, attitudes that in many cases are utterly hypocritical. She does a good job of this without ever becoming preachy, letting the characters speak for themselves and showcase the situation. While I don’t think that Leon does as good a job on the same subject as Magdalen Nabb in her Marshal Guarnaccia series (The Marshal’s Own Case), it’s still a glimpse into that world.

Because Paola and the teenagers are off on vacation, this book does not have their strong contributions to the series, but that is more than made up for by the introduction of one of Leon’s great characters, the ineffable Signorina Elettra Zorzi. Nominally secretary to Patta, the pompous Vice Questore, Elettra in her debut appearance gives ample notice of the serene, sophisticated, highly talented computer hijacker role which she will expand in future books. The book is worth reading if just for the relish of her appearance. Patta plays an unusually large role in this book in a surprising way. We’re getting used to some of the more minor ones now, such as Sgt. Vianelli and his always off-stage wife Nadia who has found a second career as amateur investigator; all the minor characters lend strength to the series.

All in all, an excellent story, with the usual good plotting, fine writing, and strong characters. Highly recommended.

I think I am going to have to cease and desist from reading your thread, Joyce. I know you are just rubbing it in, lol.

Got that one right, Stasia! *snicker*

Hah! I found someone on EBay who had 10 of them listed, so I bought them . . .

Death at La Fenice
Death in a Strange Country
Death and Judgment
Acqua Alta
A Sea of Troubles
Doctored Evidence
Quietly in Their Sleep
Through a Glass, Darkly
Suffer the Little Children
Blood From a Stone

That should at least get me started!

Stasia, I'm really sorry to tell you, but Through A Glass Darkly is a terrible book. I should have mentioned it by name when I kept saying "all but one". I swear that she did not write that book--that some ambitious 10 year old who is a Donna Leon wannabee wrote it. It's awful, compared to her others. She's always been a fan of opera, and this book is dedicated to Cecilia Bartoli, who is one of the premier mezzo-sopranos; it also mentions that Leon wrote the libretto for some comic opera or another. I think she got so involved in doing this other music stuff that she just put out an inferior book. I almost stopped following the series after I read that one, really afraid that like so many others, she'd fizzled out in a series. Fortunately, her next books are very good but it's a measure of how bad that one was that I'm still sort of worried about the latest, which I've had for a while, The Girl of his Dreams.

Normally I would never dream of suggesting this, but I'm going to ask if you can somehow cancel the order on Through a Glass, Darkly--IMO, it's a bad book.

#79: Unfortunately, I bought them as a lot of 10, so I cannot cancel that one. If I do not care for it once I have it, I will get rid of it. I have a used book store that I can trade it in or I am now on PBS so I can use that. Thanks for letting me know, though.

I'm sorry, Stasia--I should have mentioned the book by name. However, in that lot, you do have my favorite, Acqua Alta; the denouement of that plot is terrifying. Blood From A Stone is also excellent. Friends in High Places, which won her several awards, is also among her best. But they're all good--except that one.

No big deal.

How are the tomato plants doing? Are you winning the war or are the birds?

Saturday, Darío (our part-time handyman/gardener and full-time friend) and I managed to put up 50% shade cloth over the raised bed that contains the tomatoes, and I shook my fist at the birds hanging out in the trees and yelled, in Spanish, "I win!!"

I went out several times yesterday just to gloat over the view of my ripening tomatoes. But after watering for four hours in the morning, that's all I did. It was really hot here, with unusually high winds for this time in February. I read most of the day while the dogs resembled rag dolls, all sacked out in various poses, snoozing their way through the heat. You get a really good idea of the utility of siesta--sleep away the highest heat of the day. But that's not common here--work starts very early in the morning, around 6:30, and ends at 3. I usually work from about 6:15 to 10 or 11.

I am glad to hear that you won the war! I hope you raise some of the most beautiful tomatoes ever.

I have 7 gorgeous tomatoes in various shades of red-orange ripening unmolested right now! :-)

Woo Hoo!

*slobber* Oh! Excuse me. It's tasteless plastic tomato season in this part of the world...

Joyce, great to see that Acqua Alta is your favourite - I mooched it last year when I had lots of points because of reading good things about Donna Leon on here. Up to the top of the mountain it goes (well, nearly to the top...some snow and rocks to clear away first.)

I'm laughing about your tomatoes and bet you have less trouble ripening them than we do in Wellington. It's the height of summer and about 20 degrees (C - 68 F) today. We have a couple of hundred but they're not going red very fast... but we had 3 black krims at the weekend! YUM! Have you seen this tomato book? The Heirloom Tomato (huh, don't know how to show the cover but it's beautiful). I bought it for my husband last week.

Sitting in three feet of snow with -9C temps and the wind from the North, while reading about people's tomatoes ripening is cruel. I think you people with tomatoes should have more sensitivity for your frozen friends. Pass the golf balls (tomatoes in Canada in the winter), lw3.

I could post you one but it might freeze when the plane lands...

Just think warm thought this way, Cushla. My right nostril froze while walking the dog today. Good old windchill factor. I'm actually enjoying hearing about your tomatoes as it gives this gardener hope.

I could only grow a few varieties of heirloom tomatoes in western Washington because the growing season was so short--when they would ripen, my favorites were Prudens Purple and Brandywine. I used to grow a variety of hybrids that would ripen in the short season. I tried heirlooms here my first year and they immediately gave in to some form of disease--heaven knows what--after the first tomato--possibly early blight. I switched to varieties whose seeds I wouldn't even let in the house in the US--Beefsteak and Big Boys, because of the multiple disease resistance. They work better, much better, although I'm still learning how to grow tomatoes here--fertilizer needs are greater, and I'm handicapped in having to use commercial fertilizer--synthetic--rather than the slow-release organic I used to use until our composting/worm bin system really starts producing. The tomatoes that we buy here range from very good to excellent, and I think are from mostly two different varieties, open pollinated, I'm sure, that grow here. I haven't had a really top notch one recently, so I haven't tried to germinate any plants.

Right now I have two plants of cantaloupe growing--very slowly--from temperate zone varieties. I've just germinated cantaloupe and a type of watermelon called sandia here from fruit we bought, and the difference just in the seedlings is quite dramatic. all producers here, whether large or small (and they are predominantly small), used open-pollinated varieties--hybrids are unheard of. so I'm going to see what I can do along those lines.

It is NOT easy to grow things in the tropics--when you get down to it, the climate is harsh this close to the equator, and pests and diseases far, far more abundant than in the temperate zone. But I'm learning. right now I have eggplants--which do well here--tomatillos--which should thrive--ready to go into the ground in a few days, and have germinated collards, more tomatoes, and English cucumbers (trying the latter out for the first time here). Our winds are finally dying down, weeks after normal, so it should get easier for the plants. The shade cloth protects from the wind and it really is true that the tomatoes are doing better under the shade cloth--it gets very hot here in the afternoon at this time of the year, with April being the hottest month. After that the rains start, and we get cloud cover in the afternoon that brings the temperatures down.

I can't grow much because I only have two long raised beds. The soil here is extraordinarily poor. We have only patches here and there of anything like decent soil, and they won't support the usual veggies. Instead, I have pineapples and papayas growing in widely-spaced spots; I hope to slowly increase the number in that area of the place. Right now, we're being overrun with bananas!

Yesterday's high: 86 degrees F, but our humidity varied from 50% to over 90% depending on the wind direction. Lately, humidity during the day when the winds are from a northerly direction, varies from 20-25%, while at night, when the wind comes from the south, it goes to 90-100%. Yesterday the wind was all over the map during the afternoon, and the combination of temperature and humidity made it uncomfortable.

Another cruel post from the Sadist in the South.

This review is out of order--I'm still working on the one for Death and Judgement:

Acqua Alta
Donna Leon

5th in the Commisario Brunetti series, set in Venice Italy.

It’s winter in Venice, and the seasonal rains bring with them the threat of flooding, or acqua alta--high water. After waking during the night to the sirens announcing the threat, the next morning Brunetti discovers by accident that a friend, Brett Lynch, has been savagely beaten as a warning to avoid meeting with the director of the museum located in the Ducal Palace; 5 years previously, Brett had supervised an exhibition of priceless ancient Chinese ceramics at the museum and had returned to talk with the Director, Semenzato. Then Semenzato is murdered as well. Brunetti’s investigation leads to a wealthy Sicilian who has recently purchased and restored a palazzo not far from where Brunetti himself lives; La Capra is also a lover of classical music and a collector of ceramics.

This is one of the best of the series, my personal favorite, as it has a fast-paced plot and the denouement, aided by the skillful employment of the rains and flooding, is the most terrifying in all of Leon’s books; it literally becomes a page-turner, which is rare in this series which depends on strong writing, local ambience, and outstanding characterizations for its strength. The story reunites Brunetti with two fine characters from the first book, Death at La Fenice, the American archeologist Lynch and her diva lover, the soprano Flavia Petrellis; the latter takes a far more prominent role in this book than she did in the first and adds greatly to the strength of the plot.

As in every book, Leon does not rest just on the local color of Venice (following the action through the neighborhoods of Venice on GoogleEarth is really fun), but also weaves in seamlessly the social and political situations in the city, providing an excellent view of Italian life.

An superb installment in the series. Highly recommended.

OK, just finished this before walking the dogs:

Death and Judgement
Donna Leon

4th in the Commisario Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.

A prominent lawyer is murdered, execution-style, on the train coming home to Venice from Padova. In the midst of the ever-growing corruption scandals in the Italian government, a very successful accountant from Padova, connected with the Ministry of Health, appears to have committed suicide; everyone assumes that this is in connection with the scandals involving the Ministry but the Padova police have evidence that it was really murder. Finally the lawyer’s brother-in-law is murdered. Though Brunetti is convinced that all three deaths are related, but the only connection he has is a phone number of a sleazy bar in Mestre, a town just outside of Venice on the mainland.

Leon has described this book as her angriest, and it is easy to see why. She nearly always illuminates some social injustice or ugly facet of Italian or Venetian life in her books, and this one involves the world-wide trade in women for the purposes of prostitution. To go further would be to give away the plot; in itself, it’s a very good police procedural, but Leon uses the story to bring out truly horrifying facts about the extent of this slave trade. Yet, she is so skillful a writer that it never sounds preachy, but unfolds from Brunetti’s investigation.

As is typical of Leon’s books, her characterizations are the best part, especially true in this book of the one-timers. Brunetti and his family--especially his 14 year old daughter Chiara in this book--continue to deepen and therefore continue to engage the reader’s interest in this very real (and very Italian) family. Leon’s love for Venice, always shining out through Brunetti, is obvious, no matter how grim the political or social picture is; the city enchants.

Another excellent member of the series. Highly recommended.

I cannot wait to get the Donna Leon books in - they sound very good!

Just got the e-mail from the library that the one I requested is in. Tuesday is my regular library day, so I'll have it in my hands before bedtime!

Darn, my last post didn't "take".

If you can, do try to follow the action with Google maps and GoogleEarth. When I first started using them, I started with the maps and then would toggle over to the satellite picture. Now I almost exclusively use GoogleEarth, but since the first books are the ones that most closely describe how Brunetti gets around the (small) city, I'd recommend the map/satellite toggle. The only problem with that is that you cannot change the directional orientation on the satellite pictures. When they were taken, the sun was in such a position that the shadows cast weird distortions over some of the buildings, such as St. Mark's Basilica. When you do GoogleEarth, change the direction 180 degrees so that you are facing south, and the shadows no longer interfere.

There was only one time when I didn't get a street, and I still think it may be because it's named differently in Google than in the book. sometiems you have to play around with the names a bit: XXII Marzo can be found by using Marzo 22, for example.

The big attractions like St. mark's and other famous landmarks (La Fenice) are prominently marked on the maps and satellite images. You can key in names of wine bars and ice cream places such as Do Mori and Nico's and get their location! Sometimes there's a photo as well.

The first book has the Brunettis apartment on the calle--street--just south of Calle Tiepolo, while from the 3rd book on, suddenly the apartment is in Calle Tiepolo itself. This is marked prominently on the maps and Google Earth--it's just west and south of the Rialto bridge in the San Polo area. I think I read somewhere that Leon lives in that district.

It is just so much fun to follow the action this way! I swear that at this point I could find my way around Venice better than I could my nearest town here, David!

Have a lot of fun with these books.

ETA: For those who do want to use GoogleEArth or the map, here's the exact location of Brett Lynch's apartment in Cannaregio: Calle dello Squero Vecchio. It's actually marked on GoogleEarth. Go the the west--left-- over the bridge and turn left (south) at the first corner, and you'll be on her street.

What a cool idea! Thanks, Joyce.

That is a very cool idea, Joyce. I've been known to read with an atlas to follow roads and landmarks like rivers and lakes, but never thought about using Google.

The Death of Faith
Donna Leon

6th in the Commisario Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.

Maria Testa--the former Suor Immaculata who Brunetti recognizes as one of the aides in the nursing home in which his Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother resides--appears in his office one morning, deeply disturbed by what she feels is an unusual number of deaths in another nursing home to which she has been recently assigned. She does not have any real proof--just the instinctive conviction that some of these people should not have died. Also, she is troubled by what may have been inappropriate bequests in their wills by these now-dead individuals to the nursing home or the order of nuns to which she formerly belonged.

Brunetti, not convinced, decides to look into the matter, by contacting and interviewing the heirs in as bland and unassuming manner as possible so as not to seem to be accusing either the heirs or the Catholic church of wrongdoing. In the meantime, religion and the Church seems to have invaded his personal life as well, since Chiara, his 14 year old daughter whose academic record is otherwise perfect, has brought home a less than satisfactory grade in religious education. Her brother Raffaele tells the family that it is the priest, Padre Luciano, who is the problem and suggests that the priest may hove behaved inappropriately with some of the young girls in the parish.

With these two links to the Catholic Church, Brunetti begins his investigation of Maria Testa’s worries, while Paola fulminates against the clergy.

The Death of Faith is the most character-driven book in the series. The book starts out slowly with the interviews of the heirs and probably could have been shortened. But in doing so, we would have lost Leon’s exquisite ability to portray Venetians and Venetian society. Even though it takes nearly half the book to really swing into the plot, the descriptions of the heirs are gems of literary portraiture. Also, Brunetti’s mother-in-law, the Contessa Falier, makes a rare solo appearance and surprises everyone, including Brunetti, with the kind of woman she truly is. It is masterful writing on Leon’s part; while it might have been more proper in a novel about Venetian society than in a police procedural, all these characters studies do contribute to the plot and are utterly absorbing in what they tell us about Venice today.

After this deceptively slow start, the plot moves quickly and becomes more complex. There is a satisfying amount of action, and the denouements--both of them--are very well done. But this is Italy and in particular Venice, which means that they are Italian solutions and resolutions, not American or British ones, that “things” happen at an angle, not straightforwardly. As such, they may not be entirely satisfying but they are entirely Italian.

Highly recommended.

Wow, you're really on a roll with these. I picked up the first book in the series from the library last evening, but I also got 6 other great-looking books, so I'm not sure how quickly I will get to it. It looks short, so that will move it up the line faster.

I'm simply rereading the series so that I can get to the latest one. I'm only doing reviews of those for which I have not done so.

Joyce, there are some Leons on the way here and it's all because of you and your bananas. Can't wait!

#103: LOL. I just wish I could ship everyone some bananas! We are being overrun here. A freezer full of banana bread and we have barely touched our second bunch with the third on the way. It's kind of frightening.

Leon is worth the wait. Personally, I think that Magdalen Nabb, who is practically unknown, is the better writer but that may just be personal taste. But her protagonist, Marshal Guarnaccia, a Sicilian who is stationed with the Florence carabinieri, is wonderful--very different from Brunetti, but no less an engaging character. Nabb, who was English but who had lived in florence for over 30 years, had a very different style from Leon, who was born in New Jersey, and that, too, makes the two series very interesting because different.

I'm really looking forward to using GoogleEarth when I begin rereading that series!

Hi Joyce,

Another Leon/Brunetti fan here. I'm only about as far into the series as you are, and really enjoying them. Glad to hear that the Nabb/Guarnaccia books are even better. A friend recently passed along the first in the series, Death of an Englishman. With the addition of your recommendation, I'll move it up higher in the TBR pile. Sadly, I read that Nabb died a couple of years ago.

A Noble Radiance
Donna Leon

7th in the Commisario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

In a small village out in the countryside of the Veneto, a farmer ploughing a filed opens a shallow grave that contains the decomposed body of a young man, kidnapped two years before. Scion to one of the oldest noble families of Venice, the recovery of his body--and evidence of murder--reopens the case, with Brunetti at the head of the investigation. There are too many questions that did not get asked in the original investigation, and Brunetti decides to dig deeper into the history of the family.

This is one of Leon’s more straightforward police procedurals, although she doesn’t miss the opportunity to use yet another social concern as an integral part of the plot. Sgt. Vianello continues to play an increasingly important role in the series; Signorina Elettra is, of course, by now well entrenched with her bright spring-like clothing, her dazzling flowers, and her laudable capacity and enthusiasm for criminal activity, namely hacking into any banking or government computer system at will “with a little help from my friends” all over the world.

The ending is Italian--and tragic.

Intriguingly, this is the first installment where the title is a play on words involving the plot.

Not the strongest entry in the series, it is still an excellent read. Recommended.

>104 Joycepa:: crime fiction set in Florence? How have I not found this before?? Thanks so much for the tip, Joyce - I've been itching to read some Florentine stuff lately.

#105: Either in 2007 or 2008, can't remember--Nabb died of a second stroke. She was only 60. Her last book is the best of the entire lot and you just want to cry, because she kept getting better, and better, and better. She has been compared to Simenon, who was a fan of hers, actually. I haven't read enough of the Maigret series to make any kind of informed opinion, but I can at least see the similarities in the understated style.

I have all but one of the series, which hasn't been reprinted yet, and the used book price starts at something like $80--means I'll wait!

Death of an Englishman introduces Guarnaccia. Each succeeding book gives him a bigger role. It's as if she didn't decided to make him the main protagonist until after she got started on the series.

#107: I have no idea in the world why Nabb is so little known. Everyone knows about Leon; few seem to have ever heard of Nabb.

Oh, and lest I miss an opportunity no matter how tenuous the connection, to promote Andrea Camilleri and the Inspecotr Montalbano series--if you haven't read them, you've missed a real treat. First one is The Shape of Water. Camilleri is a Sicilian and writes basically about his home area in Sicily-near the fictional Montelusa which is really Agrigento in more or less SW Sicily. Camilleri is a terrific writer and is blessed by an absolutely superb translator.

Also, the series is so popular in Europe that it was filmed, made into a series for TV. The cast is perfect, the acting incredibly good, and the opening credit shots, as you come in over the southwestern coast of Sicily, are enough to make you decide to move there instantly if not sooner. The photography is just stunning. I have the first 3 seasons, and have pre-ordered the 4th, from Australia.

Moving right along:

Fatal Remedies
Donna Leon

An early morning phone call from the Questura summons Brunetti to complete the arrest, for vandalism, of--Paola, his wife. She’s thrown a rock through the window of a travel agency, protesting its knowing complicity in sex tourism to third world countries, where children are prostituted to pederasts. While in sympathy with her rage, Paola has broken the law and put Brunetti in a lose-lose situation; not only is he in a massive argument with Paula, he is put on administrative leave by Vice-Questore Patta because he refuses to either deceive his wife or make deals for her, insisting the she and she alone has to decide whether and how to settle. The whole thing becomes a media circus, a nightmare for the family.

Then the owner of the travel agency is murdered, and Patta conveniently forgets that he has suspended Brunetti, giving him the case.

This is one of the best in the series. Leon has taken yet another social issue--sex tourism in third world countries--and has woven an incredible discussion of the different views of the morality of action by means of the very real argument between Brunetti and Paola. There is absolutely nothing forced or preachy or phony about it, and it works like a charm, not only to illuminate the issue but to give incredible depth and intensity to the story. The plot itself is one of her best; there is an unusual amount of action in it, since Leon prefers to write character-driven, real-life stories in a small Italian city that is relatively crime-free. But the action is there, and it’s a page-turner. The denouement is very well done, and is a surprise, a satisfying one.

By this time, if you’re a fan of Leon’s books, you know what to expect in terms of her solid recurring characters, the authenticity of the ambience of Venice, and the way she weaves her plots.

One of the strongest in the series--highly recommended.

Since you're on a roll with marinara sauce, I've done some research for you.

Donna Leon's The Girl of His Dreams will be released in paper on April 9.

Donna Leon's About Face will be released in hardcover on April 9.

And this book will be released on April 9:

Walks Through Venice

Hey, Charlie!

I already have The Girl of His Dreams, and that's why I'm rereading the series--getting ready to read that one. Didn't know about About Face so-I guess I'll just have to pre-order it! I've been buying her books in hardback for a while, though regretted it with Through a Glass, Darkly.

After reading the promo, think I'll pass on Walks Through Venice. I doubt I'll ever get there, and I'm having enough fun with GoogleEarth.

BUT I just pre-ordered About Face, learned that Camilleri has another book out, August Heat, so I added that to my already overburdened shopping cart, as well as pre-ordered the one Magdalen Nabb I don't have, The Marshal At The Villa Torrini, which will be reprinted fairly soon.

So, thanks for the info! Of course, why I should thank you when I've just loaded myself down with more credit card debt is a mystery! All your fault, Charlie--you KNOW I don't have any self-discipline!

I guess I should replace 'researcher' with 'enabler', huh?

Darn tootin', honey! With friends like you, who needs the IRS to send me into poverty!?

Friends in High Places
Donna Leon

9th in the Commisario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

Brunetti receives a visitor from the Officio Castato, the Registration Office, that controls permits and titles to all property in Venice. The visitor, Franco Rossi, tells a totally panicked Brunetti that because there is no record of the renovations that constitute his apartment to the building, the best he can hope for is a huge fine but the possibility exists that the apartment will be torn down.

Later, Brunetti receives a phone call from Rossi, clearly uneasy, who wants to talk with him in person. But before Brunetti can make the meeting, Rossi dies in a fall from a third floor window. It seems like an accident, but Brunetti, having witnessed the terror on Rossi’s face when confronted with heights, believes that Rossi has been murdered.

The main protagonist in this book is Italian corruption, specifically the way it plays out in Venice. In all her books, Leon is unsparing in her criticism of corruption in all dealings that Venetians have with officialdom; this is nowhere more true than in real estate, and she at least mentions it from time to time in other books. But this is a close look at a major way that illegal money flows into the hands of corrupt officials.

There is a subplot involving Patta that is very well done, showing yet another way that the justice system is corrupted and efforts by law enforcement officials frustrated.

The end of the book, which is the climax, not usual for Leon, is hair-raising.

As usual, the comprimario characters, such as Paola, Signorina Elettra, and Sgt. Vianello make large contributions to the strength of the plot.

Another excellent installment. Highly recommended.

Boy, you're reading and reviewing your heart out this week.

And that's all I'm saying.

My, my--just a tad bit cautious there, Charlie! :-)

They're easy reads, I read fast, and I'm son going to take a minor break, anyway, to finish up another book. It's just that they're so good--i really get caught up in them and read too late at night!

I had no idea that you sleep. And BTW, what the hell time zone are you in?

We're always Eastern Standard--no Daylight Savings 9 degrees north of the equator. All the difference we ever see is about a half hour in sunrise/sunset. For example, sunrise right now is about 6:15 give or take. By June, it'll be around 5:45 am. Sunset always extends the daylight hours first, then sunrise.

Unfortunately, I find I have to sleep, an annoying inconvenience! :-)

Wow, I totally lost you and now I find you here. I undoubtedly missed your post about your move off the 75 book thread. Glad to have located you again (I hope you weren't hiding!). =)

Jill: Nah, just casting about to find a new batch of victims! :-)

Last Donne leon for a bit, since I'm back in northern Virginia in the middle of the Battle of the Wilderness.

A Sea of Troubles
Donna Leon

10th in the Commisario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

Pellestrina is a small village that sits on a strip of land on the southwest edge of the Venice lagoon; it is under the jurisdiction of Venice. In the middle of the night, two clam fishermen are murdered, and their boat set afire and sunk. Because the pellestrinotti are clannish and settle their own affairs, Brunetti and Sgt. Vianello have no luck getting any information from the villagers. Signorina Elettra, offers to go undercover in the village; she visits her cousin there every year, and insists that no one will know who she is or notice her. Brunetti, despite qualms whose origins he does not wish to investigate too closely, reluctantly agrees.

Leon crafts a very different story here, one that is more like a thriller than a police procedural. Some of her usual themes surface: environmental damage, this time to the fishing industry; the ever-present corruption in the Italian government. But the big news is that Signorina Elettra takes center stage as a protagonist, and she is a good one. The story is a little slow to get off the ground, but the climax, a real page-turner, more than makes up for it, taking place during a life-threatening storm. While Leon’s signature use of Venice as a background for her stories is not present in this book, the plot is good enough to get along without it. And the pellestrinotti are interesting enough in their own right.

Another excellent installment in the series. Highly recommended.

#122: What are you reading on the Battle of the Wilderness?

Gordon Rhea's book, The Battle of the Wilderness, which is quite good except for a tendency towards cutsie language at times. Right now, I'm mid-morning on May 5, as Meade and Grant both continue to be deluded about the whereabouts of Lee's main force, and Warren has just run into Ewell's corps on the Orange Turnpike.

The cutsie language would drive me nuts in a nonfiction book. It is probably just as well that none of my local libraries has it!

It's not too bad--he just has a tendency to descend into the somewhat conventional melodramatic language that would be more appropriate to the 19th century. Given so many other really outstanding writers, you do notice it, but his research seems solid and his narrative is excellent.

Joyce

The Battle of the Wilderness by Gordon Rhea. I'll stick a review in here later when I get the chance to do the review! But it's outstanding. No general history can do this complicated two day battle justice.

#127: I've ordered a copy so that I can read it for myself. Thanks for the recommendation.

>127 Joycepa: Ah, there you are, Joyce. I've missed you! and look forward to the review.

I've been pretty frantic here, Tracy, trying to keep plants going through the hard, hard weather we're having--if you've seen my latest blog post, you know about some of the things I've been doing.

The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864
Gordon C. Rhea

“Forest fires raged; ammunition trains exploded; the dead were roasted in the conflagration; the wounded, roused by its hot breath, dragged themselves along, with their torn and mangled limbs, in the mad energy of despair, to escape the ravages of the flames; and every bush seemed hung with shreds of blood-stained clothing. It seemed as though Christian men had turned to fiends, and hell had usurped the place of earth.” E. Porter Alexander

“It was awful. This is the real thing.” A Vermont soldier.

Although Antietam was the single bloodiest day in the U.S Civil War, and at Gettysburg casualties amounted to more than 56,000, no other battle was as nightmarish as the Battle of the Wilderness. A its name implies, the Wilderness was a dense mass of woods and nearly impenetrable undergrowth, though which only a few roads passed.
It was the first time that Lee and Grant had met and it presaged the casualty lists to come.

Actually, it really was two battles, and sometimes three that were fought simultaneously along two of the roads: The Orange Turnpike Road and the Orange Plank Road. For two days, the Confederate and Union armies struggled to dislodge each other at these two main positions, fighting in conditions in which visibility was limited in most cases to a few yards ahead (described by a Union solder as “invisible fighting invisibles”), where entire regiments were broken up by the massed thickets, and no one could be sure of where they were or where they were going. Survivors inevitably compared it to some version of Hell.

Because of the terrain and the separate engagements, the battle was a complex one, so much so that inevitably general histories of the Civil War limit themselves to descriptions of the Wilderness, a few remarks about the battles along the roads and the ensuing carnage, along with graphic descriptions from survivors of wounded men being burned to death in the fires that raged around the locales of some of the worst fighting. There is simply no room in a general history to do more than that.

In The Battle of the Wilderness, Rhea does an outstanding job of describing and explaining the fighting in all its aspects: why Meade chose to halt in the Wilderness, how the two armies met almost accidentally along the two roads, the suicidal charges on both sides, and the terrible losses inflicted by both armies on each other, the blundering of troops through thickets, swamps and swales, and the mistakes made by both Grant and Lee and various subordinates on both sides.

The maps are excellent; the only lack is sufficient maps of the morning of May 6th--the reader has to page back 50 pages or so to two maps that show the positions of the armies and the geography of the general area. But overall, the maps, both in quantity and quality, are among the best I’ve seen in military histories of the war.

The only fault the book has in my opinion is the prose. Many years ago, a writer told me that there were two aspects to any author’s work: technique--the actual writing itself--and the ability to tell a story--narrative style. While Rhea’s writing is mostly very good, at times he descends into cutsiness, such as armies being “lost in the leafy expanse,” cannon “belching”, and troops “tumbling back” in retreat. I really became bored with Rhea calling Longstreet the War Horse; once is sufficient, twice is already annoying, and half a dozen times is enough to grit teeth.

But he more than makes up for it in his narrative style, which is superb; Rhea can really tell a story. He’s a master at detail but written in such a way that the reader does not become bogged down. Like just about all modern historians of the war, he quotes copiously from memoirs, diaries, letters of all soldiers from Mead and various Confederate and Union generals down to the common soldiers of both armies. In most accounts, these add human interest if nothing else; Rhea does a superb job of using these personal records in order to illuminate the action as well. It makes for an absorbing story. Rhea also does an excellent job of summarizing and analyzing, presenting reasons for choosing sides in the inevitable controversies and failures in commands on both sides.

For those who really want to fully understand this complex and deadly battle, The Battle of the Wilderness is a must read. Highly recommended.

#131: I cannot wait to get my copy of it! Thanks for the great review.

I must get this book, too. My husband's great-grandfather was taken prisoner on the first day of this battle.

I actually was getting caught up on the 75ers group and was reading your thread. Sorry to see you go but I'm glad that you left a link on where you can be found.
Have you read the book Great Maps of the Civil War?http://www.librarything.com/work/1039520/book/26192455

It's very interesting and I recall reading that you had to find some maps in order to enhance some of the books that you were reading.

#133: He probably was one of the lucky ones--he lived,anyway. Which prison did he get sent to? Libby, in Richmond? Did he get exchanged? I know that Andersonville got set up around this time, but not exactly when.

#134: I haven't ever come across that book of maps. I have the Official Atlas which is interesting but not helpful if you want to follow a battle in detail. The best books had abstract sort of maps that show you troop position at least down to the brigade level and many times regimental level, depending on the battle. I personally find I can't just take a verbal description and get a good idea of what happened--I really need the maps. So many books have very poor ones; the best authors have at least an adequate number to be able to follow the action. That's why in a review I make such a poitn about the quantity and quality of the maps. They're important.

Wilful Behavior
Donna Leon

11th in the Commissario Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.

A young woman, one of Paola’s students, approaches Paola after class with an odd question: since Paola’s husband is a policeman, the student wants to know if there is any legal process by which a person who has already died can be declared innocent of a crime for which he was convicted and sentenced. Paola dutifully asks Guido; he, of course, can not answer so vague a question. Claudia, the young student, visits Brunetti at the Questura and gives him more details, enough so that Brunetti is intrigued, and begins privately inquiring about Claudia’s grandfather; Brunetti discovers that the grandfather was an antiquarian who is believed to have acquired priceless art treasures during the war from desperate people, mostly Jews, who sold them for a pittance in order to escape Europe. Before Brunetti can learn much more, Claudia is found murdered.

Leon almost always includes as an integral part of her plots some social issue, which she uses extremely well as a device to give added interest to the story and to illuminate a societal condition. The disappearance of art collections, both into the hands of the Nazis and into private ones as well, is a phenomenon that has reverberations to this day, as heirs of the original owners try to recover art works that were either stolen or coerced from their relatives during World War II. In addition, Leon gives glimpses, through Brunetti’s and Paola’s family histories, of some of the horrors of the Italian participation in World War II and the current national amnesia on the subject. It’s an absorbing matrix for the plot.

By this time, Leon’s fans are well acquainted with her recurring characters, who are the strongest elements of the books. Particularly well done is Brunetti’s family--Paola and his teen-age children, Raffi and Chiara. There is a particularly hilarious scene at the dinner table when the kids make the mistake of asking for cell phones. Vianello has finally received his promotion to Inspector, and Brunetti’s father-in-law, Count Falier, has another of his trade mark appearances.

The plot is very good and the writing is strong. It does take a little time to get the story going, but after that it’s absorbing if not a page-turner. “Justice” is served Italian style at the end; there is no such thing as a clean resolution in modern Venice.

While the book is not among Leon’s best installments in the series, it is still well worth reading if only for the history. Highly recommended.

On the subject of Civil War prisons, my great-great granduncle was captured at the Second Battle of Reams Station in August 1864. According to the 1890 records, he was sent to Richmond first then to Belle Isle in Virginia. However, I think something is wrong there because, according to the encyclopedia, Belle Isle closed at the end of 1863 and all its inmates were transferred to Andersonville. Since he was paroled at N.E. Ferry in NC and there is a mention of Salisbury, NC in a letter by a family member, I need to poke around and find out what prisons were around there at that time.

#137: I think the whole subject of Civil War prisons is one of those untold stories, with the exception of Andersonville. Libby Prison in Richmond gets mentioned very often as a real horror. One of those areas where I'd lie to get some information. Got to scout around for books. If you come across anything that looks interesting, please do let me know.

>138 Joycepa:: Yes. Uncle Samuel was unwounded in battle, but was an invalid after the war. That says something. He went on to become a school teacher because it was a job he could do without moving around.

I've heard some references that Northern prisons were not a huge amount better. It would be interesting to find a good book on the subject. I'll let you know if I encounter one.

#139: The Northern prisons were not good, as I understand it, but the main references you read to Northern being as bad as the Southern ones (they weren't) are from former Confederates like Porter Alexander who makes that bald statement in defense of how Northern prisoners were treated. There was nothing in the North to even remotely compare with Andersonville. Partially the Southern treatment was much worse than the Northern prisons simply because the South had no food by 1864--Lee's armies nearly starved during the last 6 months of the war--while the Union at least fed its prisoners.

I have read references to some of the Northern prisons being in hulks anchored in NY harbor. But that's it--I know nothing further than that.

TaDAD: I've found two books, one of which I've just ordered:

While In The Hands Of The Enemy: Military Prisons Of The Civil WarDimensions of the
by Charles W. Sanders

Life and Death in Civil War Prisons: The Parallel Torments of Corporal John Wesly Minnich, C.S.A. and Sergeant Warren Lee Goss, U.S.A.
by J Michael Martinez (I've ordered this one).

So much for what I had read previously. According to the first book, which is too expensive for me to buy right now but looks the more interesting of the two, there was a deliberate policy of maltreatment of prisoners by both governments and both presidents were aware of it and refused to intervene.

I'm on the track of yet another one.

ETA: Ok, so I went to Amazon, shut my eyes, and bought While in the Hands of the Enemy.

I can't believe that I, of all people, actually went ahead and uncritically swallowed the official line about Civil War prisons. I should have known better. Especially making excuses for the South, which showed such genius for rewriting history after the war. But all governments lie and the Union one, it appears, was no better.

Hmmm. MY great-great uncle was John Brown. Maternal grandfather's mother was Ann Brown. Only eighth of my family that was even IN the US at the time of the civil war--all others were Irish and German immigrants in the 1880s.

#142: Of course, we all know just how unusual if not unique the name John Brown is! *really LOL!* But seriously, was your great-great uncle THE John Brown?

Seriously, yes, he was. My grandfather never knew him, of course--but his mother's uncle was THE John Brown.

>141 Joycepa:: I ordered it also. I seriously need to stop buying books; the budget simply can't handle it.

I'll try to fit it in somewhere this year; it should be fascinating reading. I've got Battle Cry of Freedom to go first on the Civil War topic, but maybe after that.

I've been working on the family stuff a bit off and on and found this picture the other day. It's an uncle of mine (different one) who fought at the Siege of Petersburg. In April 1864, a small show came to the area where they were camped. He and his buddies put on costumes and got their pictures taken to send home. This one went to his sister, my great-great grandmother. I think it's pretty funny: Yankee foot soldier as Turkish pasha! :-)

#144: Wow! That's quite a branch to have in the family tree!

#145: Tell me about the budget crisis! I canceled the immediate order and put it in the queue for next month's order.

As for your picture, it's marvelous! One of the real blessings was the number of photographers--not just Mathew Brady but others as well--who followed the Union armies around. Thanks to them, there is quite a photographic record. Your picture is priceless! Do you have any others?

>146 Joycepa:: I have a few of pictures from that general time period but, so far, none of the Civil War...just portrait type stuff. I keep hoping I'll come into contact with some other branch of the family who will say, "Oh yes, we have a number of pictures." We found a picture of great-great-great grandma that way...a third party said, "Hey, are you related to the Gettigs in Center Co., PA?" and put me in touch with a distant cousin who just happened to have a picture on the wall with a name on the back, but she didn't know who that name "belonged" to.

I treasure this stuff.

#147: >I treasure this stuff

Wow, ronin!
Amen, Tad (re needing to rein the book buying for a bit).
And another "absolutely".

The things that happen in your threads, Joyce, honestly!

#149: Like, mass confessions of impending bankruptcy due to unrestrained book lust? :-)

*grin* among other things...

Moving through the series relentlessly so that I can get to the unread, last book I have before her latest arrives here:

Uniform Justice
Donna Leon

12th in the Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

A young student is found hanging from the ceiling of a bathroom in the military academy of San Martino. It is an apparent suicide. To complicate matters, however, the dead boy is the son of a former politician who rose to fame in Italy for his unimpeachable honesty in investigating corruption in Venetian health services. Brunetti, put off by the hostile attitudes of both Comandante and students at the Academy and tales of arrogance and assumptions of entitlement among the students and their mostly military parents, begins his own investigation--which leads him to the belief that Young Moro did not commit suicide.

Thus begins one of Leon’s darkest books. It’s a classic Brunetti police procedural, which means that the plot unfolds slowly and relentlessly to a typical Leon--and Italian--denouement. The difference in this book from her others, which are unsparing in criticism of the farce of justice in the Venetian system, is that it is so stark, so devoid of hope, so grim in its portrayal of the grip the military has on Italian life.

It’s an excellent installment, with Leon’s usual strengths--her characters and sense of humor. She never ceases in developing her main characters--Brunetti, his wife Paola, and to a lesser extent, his children and the recurring members of the Questura, such as that incomparably brilliant computer hacker, Signorina Elettra, the prima dona of illegal entry into the computer systems of international banking and government records. She’s even corrupted Vianello, to whom she’s promised her own quite adequate computer system because, thanks to Vice-Questore Patta’s complaint about office expenses, to save money, she’s buying the most up-to-date equipment possible. Brunetti’s description of her logic as Jesuitical hardly does her credit.

There’s the usual comic relief in scenes between Paola and and her teenage children; Leon captures this family perfectly, and I always wind up wishing, as does Brunetti, that I had had the nerve to raise my own children in a similar manner.

This is not a pleasant story but it’s a good one, and extremely well written. Highly recommended.

I found the usual synchronicity between Art and my life in this book, reading it while a discussion occurred on Charlie's thread about the way the US military treats its PTSD veterans.

This has been a fascinating discussion of prisons. I did a large research project on Andersonville in graduate school (including a trip to visit the historical landmark), and it was downright awful. But so were the prisons in the North. I think you're right about the food, Joyce.

Wonderful historical pictures too. My great-great grandfather was in the Union Army - I should really brush up on his details.

Do you have any pictures, Jill?

No pics, unfortunately. Wish I had some though!

We live close to Sandusky Bay where the former Johnson's Island POW for Southern Officers used to be. There is a cemetery & the NPC has taken it over. When we first moved here (1950;s) there were a few summer cottages & lots of poison-ivy covered woods. A developer from Cleveland bought most if the island & my husband John, a WW2 vet. got permission to take his metal locater & dig around the brush for relics. John always had this fascination with the Island, he & his friends used to walk over on the ice. When he was in the Battle of the Bulge & they were cut off, he dug for apples frozen in the snow & remembered the Island.

Until the causeway was built he would go back & forth on our rowboat with an out-board motor. As the kids got big enough they would go over with him, but after I got poison ivy that landed me in the hospital I stayed behind. When I started working at the library in town, I brought back reference books to identify the relics. John mounted them in cases & began to display them in Civil war shows. He also gave talks to groups & read all kinds of CW books. There were articles about him in CW magazines. There was a group that came every year from Kent State U. & John would guide them around. They would stop at our house to see the display.

Later the island was sold to Super-developers who put up no-trespassing signs & then made arrangements with a Professor from Tiffin who charged people for the priviledge of digging with him.
Local "Buffs" started a museum in Marblehead-just open in summer- &John had a display there. When John passed, the Civil War stuff went to Kathy, our youngest daughter who was interested in the War & traveled with her Dad (sometimes I went) to Gettysberg, Vicksberg, Chattanooga & when we visited relatives in Atlanta they took us around. Kathy was in the Army for a while & she reads all the CW books I pass along to her. She also takes the display to local shows, tho not out of state yet. She lives near Toledo where she works & most of the display is in a bank safety deposit box.

It seems strange for our kids to say they grew up in northern OH with the civil War in their backyard, but they all can tell anyone all about Johnson's Island.

Kathy knows how to do pictures on the computer. If anyone is interested, she will post some stuff.

I am interested! I have been following the discussion (fascinating stuff) with interest. My husband has relatives who fought for the Confederacy, and my family has relatives who fought for the Union. I do not know if anyone ended up in one of the infamous prisons, though.

I'd also like to see your pictures. I haven't done my geneology to see which ancestors were in the war - I'm only aware of one who was in a Michigan regiment.

Marian, if Kathy can post them on one of the sites like Flick or equivalent, it would be terrific. Then, if you could give us the link from here, anyone interested could go look at them.

In fact, she might be interested in doing some sort of Web site herself with all this info--not just pictures but all the knowledge your family has. If she has any interest whatsoever but wants help,have her contact me here and we can figure something out--I would be delighted to help out with a project like that.

Jill, do you have any pictures from your Andersonville project?

ETA: You know, we might want to do a Web site where people from LT who have family memoirs or oral histories could post about their ancestors and their participation in the war. Wouldn't that be cool or what?

As I say, I would be happy to help out.

Sadly, my pics from the Andersonville project are gone (back in the days before digital cameras), but I hope to go back there one day with my kids. It's about a six-hour drive from my house and south Georgia is just lovely.

>134 cal8769: Joyce, I must look at the records we have at home. It was his second capture, and as I recall (trusting my memory is hazardous, at best), he was a prisoner for six months or more, and was paroled at the end of 1864 at Charleston, SC. I believe the first time he was captured he was almost immediately exchanged -- don't recall where that occurred. Someone was supposedly in Libby Prison, but I think that may have been his brother.

>137 TadAD: My own great grandfather was wounded at Reams Station, and lost his leg. I have his pension records...he fathered an 8th son after he returned from the war, and he lived a long time.

There was a Union prison at Elmira, New York

#161. And to think that I was born and grew up not far from Elmira and never knew there had been a prison there. How sad. Unlike you and the other folks on this topic, no one on either side of my family ever kept genealogical records--nothing exists before WWI.

Nonetheless, I am appalled and shocked by the Civil War prisons. Trite, perhaps, but there is nothing else I can add.

I spent some time yesterday doing a bit of research on prisons. Elimira was nicknamed "Helmira", it was so bad. Worst one on the Union side seems to have been Camp Douglas in Chicago. There's actually quite a bit of information about the prisons but like anything else, you gotta watch out for bias. Best book so far that I can come up with is While In The Hands of the Enemy. Next month's book buy for me.

ETA: Linda, the relative who was paroled at the end of 1864 was really lucky because i was in late summer, I think, that both sides stopped paroling and exchanging prisoners. There are now several reasons given. The most common one, the one you always read about, is that when Lee refused to treat black Union soldiers the same as white ones--parole and exchange--Grant refused to parole and exchange any more Southern soldiers. another reason that ha come up is that it was due to hardening attitudes about the war and that Grant in particular realized that it was hurting the Union far more than the South--the south would be deprived of soldiers that it needed more than the Union did. I have a feeling that it was a combination. Something else that cropped up is that it was a deliberate decision on the part of both governments to mistreat prisoners in revenge for what was perceived the other side was doing. I read something about Stanton ordering rations to be cut by 20% when word got to him that the south was starving Union prisoners. That last sentence is an oversimplification of what I read but you get the idea.

OK to completely change pace and since this is my thread, I can write what I like:

Today I went out and bought tires for the truck, getting a really good deal at one particular place--where I could examine the tires and check out the date of manufacture. My brother last year sent me a video done by CBS or something like that about not buying tires that have been made more than 4-5 years before date of purchase--they deteriorate and can cause blowouts and of course accidents. all tires have a manufacturing date stamped on the side (if you're lucky, the side facing you--if not, you get to crawl under the vehicle) that looks something like this "0708" That means that the tire was manufactured in the 7th week of 2008.

Thought I'd pass this along as a public service while I remember since possibly by tomorrow I'll have forgotten I even bought my own tires. Mine were manufactured "0707" and "0907", well within the time frame. The video showed places around the US like Sears and Goodyear dealers where the dates were 6 years, 7 years and even older. so check the dates.

Joyce,

Coming out of lurking mode for a moment, and totally apropos of nothing except your interest in the Civil War, I thought I would give you this link to a Chicago book store that I just found out about from another group, but have not had a chance to visit: http://www.alincolnbookshop.com/

The web site says the shop focuses on all things about Lincoln and the Civil War.

Thanks, Lisa. I'll check it out because there are some specialized, kind of obscure books I want, and they may have them.

Joyce, I've edited #161 above to reflect that my husband's ggrandfather , J.R., was paroled at Charleston, SC, rather than Charlottesville, VA. Checked his pension records, and he was first wounded and taken prisoner at James River on June 30, 1862. He was held at Richmond, VA, and in hospital at Savage Station. He was paroled on July 22nd. I don't know what his wound was. Possibly he was in Libby Prison part of that time, but I understand Libby was only for officers, and J. R. was not an officer, to my knowledge. His second capture was as stated in No. 161 above. His brother, Frank, was an officer, and Frank's biography in H. C. Bradsby's History of Luzerne County says he was confined to Libby Prison for six weeks. I have his pension records too, and they don't mention Libby--they say he was captured in Prince Wm. Co., VA on Sept. 4, 1862, and held at Camp Parole in Annapolis, MD until September 24th. All a bit hard to pin down.

Linda: sounds to me like J.R. was in the hospital and then got "exchanged" as they called it, after the parole. Never heard of Camp parole, but then there's a ton of administrative stuff that I've never read about.

Lisa: I have done a preliminary check on the bookstore, and I am flabbergasted that you can buy CDs of the Official War Records!! for both sides!! There are also some other books that really look great, but I read the prices and just laugh and laugh....

Camp Parole

#169: Linda, from the write-up, it sounds like Frank was lucky he was just there a few weeks--

Joyce, I, too, laughed at some of the prices. I think the web site might be a teaser, though. When I have a bit of time on a weekend, I will stop in and have a look around and let you know if there is anything there that is not priced in the stratosphere. Maybe it is the kind of place better visited in its "bricks and mortar" incarnation.

Lisa, that would be absolutely terrific! I'll post on your profile the names of two or three books--maybe you can ask if they have them. But there's no rush on my part (given the need to recuperate from my most recent order)--just be great to know that there's a source somewhere. If they don't cost a small treasure, I can always contact the store and have them ship to my Miami address.

What a treat, though, to be able to browse in a store like that! Maybe you can give us all a report of what the place is like. What fun!

#172: Joyce, was your most recent order the Cozzens books? I know they did not come cheap.

Yes--plus a whole bunch of others. The credit card hurt is more or less long-distance, since I do an automatic pay every month from my US bank account and the pain is therefore somewhat subdued. It's when I pick them up in David and I have to fork over the cash that's the killer. I have a few MarketPlace books coming, but I'm cutting down even on those because of how I get soaked for single books (a minimum of $6/book). It is actually cheaper for me to order 8 or 10 at a time because then I wind up paying much less per book than for single books, as far as shipping costs are concerned. Also, when I can, I order from Better World Books because they will ship directly here to Potrerillos, but it's a juggling act of usually higher prices through them vs what I think I'll save in shipping.

So, all in all, I'm down to one order a month and then spend the next weeks bracing myself for the shock of pick-up.

I do carry on. Seems that it's a genetic necessity to whine about these things every 6 weeks or so. If living costs weren't so cheap here overall, I'd never be able to afford it.

Plus I've got to get my act together and order another bookcase. I have a few more urgent projects around here that have to be done within the next 6 weeks or so, and then I can think about dickering with the cabinet maker. Then figure out how I'm going to get it to the house.

Hmmm, have him build it at the house? Then you do not have to figure out how to get it there :)

#175: Would that I could!

For all library lovers: check this out!

Doctored Evidence
Donna Leon

13th in the Commissario Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.

An old woman is found battered to death in her apartment by her doctor who is making his weekly visit. Brunetti’s nemesis, Lieutenant Scarpa, becomes convinced that the killer is a romanian woman who was a live-in housekeeper for the old woman, and who has disappeared. Her papers turn out to be forgeries, and Scarpa faxes a copy of her photo to the border police. Confronted by the police, she attempts to escape and accidentally falls into the path of an oncoming train, dying instantly. Scarpa considers the case not worth pursuing.

But within a short time, a woman, Signora Grismondi, who was a neighbor of the victim, comes forth with a very different story--of having seen the victim alive as she accompanied the Romanian woman to the train station. Brunetti rescues her from Lieutenant Scarpa; believing her story, Brunetti and Vianello pursue an investigation for the real killer.

This is another fine installment in the series, with all the standard Leon strengths, especially characterization. Brunetti’s private life--his relationships with his children and especially his wife, Paola--is woven seamlessly into the story, providing a great deal of the humor and relief of tension in Brunetti’s increasingly bleak professional life. Signorina Elettra continues to dazzle, and Lieutenant Scarpa is an excellent villain.

In recent books, food has become even more important, with more brief descriptions of Brunetti’s favorite dishes, to the point where I wish some of the recipes were printed in an appendix!

While, unusually, the plot does not revolve around or concern a major social issue, it’s still absorbing--an excellent police procedural that could only have taken place in Venice. Highly recommended.

#177: I am beyond jealous! (what's beyond jealous? there has to be a word for it)

Aren't they absolutely stunning photos, Stasia? Imagine being forced to borrow books from one of those places because that's your only local library!

#180: My jaw would be on the floor. I would never check anything out - I would just walk around in a state of awe!

Oh my God, amazing site + pictures!! Thanks for the link!

#179: slaveringly lustfully avaricious? What a way to plan out a journey, around those beautiful libraries of the world. I would just stand there and inhale: eau de old books.

I get the feeling that few, if any, of these libraries carries the latest James Patterson or Nora Roberts.

#179. I think it's spelled eau de olde books.

Blood From A Stone
Donna Leon

#14 in the Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

Illegal street vendors have long been a fixture in Venice’s Campo San Stefano. Over the years, different ethnic groups have sold various wares; in recent years, Africans have made up the ranks of the ambulanti, who usually sell imitation Gucci and other name brand handbags and similar merchandise. So when one is murdered, just before the Christmas holidays, in what is clearly a professional-style killing, Brunetti is surprised. Who would want to murder a vu cumprá, as they are known locally?

Brunetti’s investigation runs into one blind alley after another, as the near-impossibility of penetrating a closed community cuts him off from needed information. Then, in a search of the victim’s room, Brunetti finds millions of euros worth of uncut diamonds. His investigation takes an unexpected turn when his superior,Vice-Questore Patta, seriously warns him off the investigation, implying that it represents danger for Brunetti himself.

This is one of Leon’s strongest entries, with fine writing and her superb characterizations, again particularly of Brunetti’s family. She uses Chiara in particular to illuminate the kind of unconscious, thoughtless racism that exists at all levels of society, showing up even in a family as enlightened as Brunetti’s, with a strong mother possessed of a radical social conscience.

This book was written before the movie Blood Diamond, but has the same theme--the sale of illegally obtained diamonds for arms. The denouement is so dark that one is left, along with Brunetti, with feelings of rage and despair at the lengths to which governments--any government--will go to stay in power and to accumulate wealth for its richest citizens. International borders mean nothing, ideals mean nothing--all that matters is money.

Leon tells an absorbing but very grim story, an excellent police procedural that is in addition both an illumination of and a protest against that modern evil. Highly recommended.

Joyce--I've been lurking for quite a while ---I'm in the process of listening to Blood from a Stone--a wonderful rendition by David Colacci..he does a gorgeous Italian accent and is able to vary the inflections for the Venezian dialects and the more formal Italian. I had never read Ms. Leon before, but thanks to your recommendations, I'm on the 3rd one...I love good police procedurals that don't get too gory, and where the characters have some real humanity. Preserve me from ditzy unemployed who decide to become PI's!! Thanks so much for steering us to this series. It's a definite winner.

#186: TT1st: I had no idea that Leon's books were on audio! Of course, I never bother to look because I have the series, but still--I'd love to hear some idea of veneziano. Leon makes such a point of it in her books.

When you're relentlessly reading through a series so that you can get to the last one, it's hard to write reviews that say something different. Her strengths are what they are. So I try to point out which character(s) are prominent, say something about the issues she so superbly makes a part of her story. But yes, basically, she does very, very fine police procedurals.

No, I haven't reread this worthless book, but here's the review because I'm on the one just after it.

Through A Glass, Darkly
Donna Leon

#15 in the Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

As any serious reader of Leon’s knows, she is a great fan of opera; there’s always an appropriate quote from one of Mozart’s opera’s at the beginning of every book. And an operatic soprano has figured in two of her books.

But she may have let her love of opera interfere with this particular book, which is a disaster.

She dedicates it to Cecilia Bartoli, who is one of the world’s premier mezzo-sopranos. The short author bio for this book says that she is “the author of the libretto for Dona Gallina, a comic opera set in a chicken coop.”

Perhaps she spent too much time on the opera libretto and contracted out Through A Glass Darkly to an 8 year old Donna Leon wannabee with mediocre writing talents.

To me, a long-time fan of Leon, this book is so bad that it is impossible for me to believe that she wrote it. The plot is mediocre, barely believable, and that’s the best thing about the book. The writing is worse and her greatest strengths through the middle and later installments, her characterizations especially of Brunetti’s family, are non-existent. You would never recognize Paola, Brunetti’s wife, who is one of the strongest characters in the series. She’s a stick figure in this one, as is just about everyone else.

I was so shocked when I read this book that I wondered if Leon had joined the ranks--and they are legion--of those crime writers who have lost it. There’s an entire thread in the Mystery/Thriller group that talks about this sad fact. The one who comes to mind instantly, of course, is Patricia Cornwell. But there are many others.

However, I can say as a preview, that her next book, which I bought and read with great trepidation, shows her almost back to form.

Personally, I think a likely scenario is that due to her involvement in the chicken coop libretto, she submitted to her publishers what is basically a rough draft and, given her popularity, they decided to publish it anyway, hoping that no one would notice, and that the book could slide by until the next one--after Leon had indulged herself writing about Dona Hen. But you can only get away with that one time.

If I were Cecilia Bartoli, I’d be embarrassed to have this piece of trash dedicated to me. Avoid like the plague.

There you go again with the wishy-washingness. I think you should state your opinions clearly and forcefully.

You know, Charlie, my brother said exactly the same thing last week.

cackledy cackle

Now that, Tui, is clear and forceful.

And as a matter of fact, after rereading my brother's email, I'm certain that Charlie and Al are communicating--how else to explain nearly identical wording? They live in the same area, you know. This simple explanation fits all the facts--therefore..

ETA: actually I think the verb from "communicating" should be replaced with "colluding".

We neither communicate nor collude. It's merely a male thing, in that we all think alike—if, in fact, we think at all.

That's scary, Charlie, really scary.

#188. Your wishy-washy, cackledy cackle review made the Hot List. Well done from your really scary friend.

Um-Hmm. Yes, 2 votes--must have been a slow day. Perhaps I should ask whether out of the sheer perversity of your gender you voted twice? Or did you get my brother, in a moment of male solidarity/madness, in on the act?

For your info, LT will not let one vote more than once. And unless people have their Hot List thingy set to 10, one will only see one review.

And no, I am not in cahoots with your brother. If I tripped over him, fell down, and broke my face, I wouldn't know him from Adam. The only thing I have in common with him, like all males, is thinking with testoserone instead of our brains.

#197: I was the one who cast the 2nd vote, and I am neither male, nor colluding with Charlie Brain.

OK, OK--ganged up on as usual!

The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864
Gordon C. Rhea

The 2nd in a series about Grant’s 1864 overland campaign.

In the Confederate (trenches), dead men lay on the ground and floated in pools of water, crimsoned with blood. The wounded sprawled in every attitude of pain. A soldier in the 1st South Carolina recollected that “in stooping or squatting to load, the mud, blood, and brains mingled, would reach up to my waist, and my head and face were spotted with the horrid paint.”

The Union fared no better.

In many places, the corpses had been “chopped into hash by the bullets, and appear(ed) more like piles of jelly than the distinguishable forms of life".

This description was of the fighting on the Confederate side of the salient known in popular histories of the Civil War as the Mule Shoe. It was a bulge in Lee’s lines that was the weakest point in his very formidable entrenchments. When Hancock’s 2nd Corps charged the salient on May 12, the last and most terrible day of 5 days of butchery, the salient was the scene of some of the most terrible fighting of the war. One particular angle of the salient was so lethal for both sides that it was named “Bloody Angle.” The fighting there was 20 continuous hours of Hell. “Gettysburg”, wrote a soldier from the Iron Brigade, “is a skirmish compared to this fight.”

That was Bloody Angle. But it was preceded by 5 days of carnage.

Much has been made about the omniscience of Lee, how he always knew what his enemy was going to do, his faultless performance in battles--Lee the God. The fact was that Lee the aristocrat made mistakes, plenty of them, and at times was outfoxed by the store clerk from Galena, IL, the quiet, ungod-like Grant. This was one such occasion. After the battle of the Wilderness, Lee was confident that Grant would attack again, while Grant made preparations to slip the entire Union Army between the Confederates and Richmond, forcing Lee out from the Wilderness into the open where the Union Army’s superior in numbers and artillery would make a difference. Even when Lee was informed that the Union Army was on the move, he believed, until the two armies actually met, that Grant was retreating towards Fredericksburg. By sheer accident, a part of the Confederate 1st Corps, led by General Anderson (Longstreet had been severely wounded in the Wilderness by his own men) arrive at a crossroads near the hamlet of Spotsylvania Court House literally minutes before the advance elements of Warren’s Union 5th Corps.

In one of his most serious mistakes, Grant agreed to Sheridan’s request to take the entire Union cavalry off to fight Stuart, leaving Grant without his intelligence force, which was to cost thousands in Union casualties. Stuart did indeed meet Sheridan, at Yellow Tavern--and was killed. That, however, was not a knock-out blow for the Confederate cavalry, since there were two nearly as capable commanders ready to take over--Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of the Confederate commander-in-chief. It was a diversion, and cost far more than it accomplished in terms of Union lives.

Rhea tells a gripping, sickening story--of mistakes, of suicidal charges on both sides, of the incredible bravery of the ordinary soldier, and most particularly, of what war is really like. In this book, Rhea’s prose does improve over his previous one, although the verbs “to gloat”, “to boast”, “to concede”, “to tumble back” are vastly overworked. The maps are superb, allowing the reader to follow the action at the brigade level and sometimes at the regimental level quite easily. There are times when the Order of Battle, given in the Appendix, comes in handy; because of the large numbers of names of commanders, especially on the Union side, it’s sometimes difficult to remember which unit belonged to what division or even corps. The battle was not complex--too often it was merely Grant insisting on hurling troops piecemeal against impregnable defenses--but Rhea tells the story in a straightforward way, using as in his previous book excerpts from letters, diaries, Official Records, and other sources to illuminate his points.

This is an excellent military history of a terrible battle. Highly recommended.

#200: Well, ganged up on in a good way anyway :)

I will have to get the next book of Rhea's you have recommended after I finish the first one. You just have to stop recommending so many good books!

I've ordered the last two in the series, about the race to the North Anna, and what should be a grim one, Cold Harbor. Grant had his good points but frontal assaults against strong entrenchments wasn't one of them.

Cold Harbor will be grim. Not looking forward to that one.

Suffer The Little Children
Donna Leon

# 16 in the Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

Brunetti receives a middle-of-the-night phone call that brings him to the hospital bed of a pediatrician, who has been assaulted by--the Carabinieri. Dr. Pedrolli and his wife have illegally adopted a baby, and the 18 month old biy has been taken from them, to be placed in an orphanage.

In an unrelated event, the establishment of a pharmacist who is under investigation by Vianello for potential fraud is broken into and totally trashed; no robbery, but an act of rage.

These two separate events come together in the end in a typically Venetian--therefore, tragic--denouement, in a story that is highly unsual for Leon. At first glance, it might seem that she is going to use the issue of illegal adoptions as her theme, but that turns out not to be the case. Instead, the book is a police procedural of sorts--where nothing is as it seems and the crimes for which people are under investigation never really are committed. In a real deviation from her norm, she does not even bring in that everyday facet of Venetian/Italian life, rampant corruption.

With one of her major strengths--the ability to incorporate a social issue into her plots--is missing, this is still a good story. After her disaster of Through A Glass, Darkly, this feels like a transition book, as Leon works her way back to her normal storytelling. She has returned to her forté--characterization--and the Brunetti, Paola, Signorina Elettra, and Vianello that we knew before the previous book have returned. So has Venice.

While not as strong as some previous entires, this is still an excellent read, and a major relief, to know that Leon has not gone the way of so many other crime/mystery writers and lost her touch. Highly recommended.

I've finished with the Leon retrospective. This book was the reason for the reread. It's been sitting on my shelves for a while, waiting for the time when I could have the pleasure of rereading the series so I'd be all caught up on Brunetti and his life. Her latest is due out towards the end of April.

As you'll see, this is a very different book,and makes me wonder where she's really heading with the series.

The Girl of His Dreams
Donna Leon

#17 in the Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice, Italy.

The story opens on the funeral of Brunetti’s mother, at last released from the madness of dementia. Giving the blessing at the graveside is an old boyhood acquaintance of Bruneti and his brother, Sergio, Padre Antonin Scallon. In the days after the funeral, runetti receives a visit from Padre Antonin at the Questura. Antonin has a request--that Brunetti look into the activities of a fringe preacher, a Brother Leonardo, who, Antonin fears, is running a religious scam to which a friend of Antonin’s seems vulnerable. In response, Bruntetti, Paola, Vionello and his wife Nadia, decide to investigate undercover.

While on this purely personal investigation, Brunetti and Vianello recover from the Grand Canal the body of a 10 year old girl who turns out to be one of the Rom, as the Gypsies are now to be called in the latest sensitivity edicts from the Italian government in general, and Patta in particular. The girl is in possession of what are clearly stolen goods. Brunetti and Vianello carry out the investigation, which seems straightforward, but the girl’s death haunts Brunetti.

This latest of her published books--#18 will be released in April--continues and strengthens a change in Leon’s writing that she seems to have started with the previous book, Suffer the Little Children. Up until that time, Leon wrote (with one glaring exception) outstanding but very straightforward police procedurals. Whether as part of the plot or the way she wove daily Venetian life into her stories, there were themes that always stood out, the most prominent of which was the omnipresent government corruption that penetrates every aspect of Venetian life. She almost always incorporated some theme of social justice into her plots as well.

In this book, even more than Suffer the Little Children, all that is practically nonexistent. The only theme she can say to bring out, and that briefly, is the Mafia, who were brought back into power by the US after World War II to counteract “international Communism,” in another move of monumental stupidity on the part of the US. But that makes just a brief appearance and is a sidelight.

In almost all of her books, the excomunitari--illegal immigrants--are present to some degree or another and even form the matrix of some of her plots. Here, the Rom and their culture are integral to the story.

There are two aspects to this book that are really striking. One is the frustration and despair that Brunetti and Vianello feel in trying to carry out their jobs decently. Given that Leon is writing realistically about Venice, that has always been an undercurrent, but in this book i is very pronounced. You wonder how Brunetti can continue.

The other aspect is that Leon, starting with her previous book and continuing very strongly in this one, has moved away from an easily classifiable genre--police procedural--into what is for her uncharted territory--a more ambiguous, much more subtle story in which she seems to be taking on more profound questions than her usual ones of corruption, environmental crimes, and the like. Now she seems to be trying to examine not just the impact on society but where Venetian society itself is heading. The result is far more of a literary endeavor than it is a crime story. Indeed, crime is the least important element in the book.

In one of her books, Brunetti, an atheist, reflects that while he does not agree at all with the Catholic Church and dislikes the power it wields, he is afraid of what would replace it should Christianity just simply die out. Since I have had exactly the same reaction, it struck me strongly at the time; I was reminded of that brief segment while reading this book.

The Girl of His Dreams has all of the standard Leon strengths; in particular her wry sense of humor is back, which had been missing from some of her previous works. While Paola plays a part, she and the family are not so prominent in this book as in some others. Instead Vianello is given his biggest role; he has clearly become a friend and not just a highly valued colleague.

There really is no denouement to the story--but the end is perfect.

A major and ambitious striking out from the kind of story that won her international fame in the crime genre, this is a far more serious, more thought-provoking book. Highly recommended.

I cannot wait to get to that one. Of course, it would help if I finished the first book in the series and then the rest in between, lol.

It's really fascinating, Stasia, because she's venturing into "real" literature. When you think about it, she has the skills, especially characterization and dialogue, and a great, wry sense of humor. so there's no reason that, after living in Venice for 25 years, she shouldn't go a step further. Suffer The Little Children, as I remarked in my review of it, was an odd book for her, and it isn't one of her best, but it does look like her first attempt, an experiment, and it's certainly a good book. This one, though, is much stronger.

And soon I'm going to prove that I actually read something else beside Donna Leon and Civil War books! I'm expecting the Cozzens books within the week, so I don't want to tie myself up with any long reads, so I'm contenting myself with, for example, Boris Akunin's The Turkish Gambit, which is light-weight fun. I'll probably read some other short books before the I pick up the Cozzens books--we won't go to David until late in the week, and maybe not even until Saturday.

I'm plowing through the Introduction--all 53 pages of it!--in the first volume of Gideon Welles' (Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy) diary. It's slow going--written by someone by the name of John t. Morse--but it's fascinating. the diaries were published in 1909 by one of Welles' sons, Edgar, so the attitudes and opinions of Morse reflect those of his day.

There's probably no room in any review for any lengthy critique of an Introduction, so I may as well say some things here (even though I'm not finished with it).

Lincoln: by 1909, there was the same appreciation for Lincoln's greatness that there is today. But Morse, much closer to historical events, talks a great deal about how ordinary Lincoln seemed at the time. In fact, he makes a big deal of Lincoln merely being the boss o much more famous, more dazzling, as it were, personalities than himself--he was just chief among equals, in a way. Morse talks about how Lincoln could be found many times just lounging in Stanton's office--he spent a great deal of time at the War Department, waiting for news.

Other personalities: Seward: in Team of Rivals, Goodwin makes a strong favorable case for Seward, the Secretary of State. Morse is nowhere near so complimentary. Chase: everyone, it seems, knew what a slimeball Chase was. Stanton: nasty-tempered, hard worker, dictatorial. Another reputation that has seemed to survive a hundred years. I'm really looking forward to reading the diaries, because Morse mentions Stanton trying to get control of the Navy, insisting that naval commanders be put under the orders of the army commanders in the field instead of joint ventures. Morse is clearly amused about the fact that Welles resisted and Lincoln backed him up.

another major aspect; Welles served until 1869. The first volume covers 1861-1864, the Lincoln years. The others cover through Johnson and Reconstruction. I've just finished the section where Morse talks about the fact that historians have had a field day with the war but no one wants to write about Reconstruction a dreary and nasty piece of US history. Even now, I've had a difficult time finding good general books about Reconstruction; I have one on my shelf and only one so far.

So--relief from Donna Leon until nearly may, when I get her latest, and a continuing reading in Civil War literature. Plus it looks like our rains are about to start, which will begin to relieve me of the burden of trying to bring plants and trees through this very unusual drought season.

I read a couple of Akunin's books last year and really liked them. Unfortunately, my local library only had a couple because I would really have liked to read them all, and have not yet tracked the rest of them down. One of the ones I did not read was The Turkish Gambit, so you will have to post the review when you are done.

Which book on the Reconstruction do you already have?

The book I do have is by Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution. I have no idea how good it is, just that it seems to be a sort of standard that is not a textbook. There's another--it may be by McPherson but I'm not sure--but its meant as a textbook (that doesn't bother me) and it's really expensive (that does). Before I spend nearly a month's book budget on that one book, I want to have some (less expensive) idea of what the era is about and what to look for next.

However, I have Welles' diaries and I'd like to get started on George Templeton Strong's diaries, too, although that will be a definitely long-term project. So I'm sure I'll fit in other Civil War and related books as well.

But dig out your Cozzens books, Stasia! You have less than a week to unearth them! :-)

Kenneth Stampp has a book on the Reconstruction. I do not know how good it is (I have only read one of his), but if you are interested in it, I will try and track down a copy for you.

I will look for my Cozzens books this week for sure!

BTW - Did you get your 'wish list' together yet?

Several people have very kindly offered to look out for books of special interest to me, and I'm just going to list memoirs or diaries by two: Andrew A. Humphreys, who was Meade's chief of staff and whose memoirs are quoted extensively by Rhea; ditto for Theodore Lyman, one of Meade's aides. I became interested in Welles' diaries thanks to Team of Rivals; the PBS series on the Civil War put me on to George Templeton Strong. Now Rhea has me interested in these memoirs.

Original sources, such as these, can be every bit as fascinating as books by historians.

I haven't run across the Stampp book. Let me look it up and see what I think about it.

Be kind of exciting to read the Cozzens books together won't it? :-) Can't wait!

#211: This will be the third such 'together' reading I have done this year: Linda (alaskabookworm) and I did Drood together and Carolyn (MusicMom41) and I have been doing fantasy/science fiction reading together. I have enjoyed the experiences immensely and I do not expect to feel any differently about this one. I am looking forward to it with great anticipation!

It should be fun. I noticed that you've added Rhea's Battle of the Wilderness (be aware--I keep track of you!). I think you'll like that book despite some of his overworked verbs. It's really outstanding history.

Out to walk the dogs and start watering.

Uh oh, got to watch what I put in my library - 'Big Sister' is watching :)

Have a great day!

I have Battle of the Wilderness sitting here looking at me--borrowed it from the library. And I can still hear George Plimpton's voice narrating George Templeton Strong's diary in Ken Burns' Civil War documentary.

#215: Yes, yes--Plimpton! I swear that was 3/4 of the reason why I bought the memoirs! However, it's a 4 volume set, and only the third volume covers the War--the diaries go from 1835-1875.

But he sounded like such an interesting person that I decided to get the whole set rather than just the third volume.

I hope you all "enjoy" Battle of the Wilderness. "Enjoy" is not the right word, but it is a gripping history. Nothing you've read, either in McPherson or even Ol' Shelby, prepares you for what the Wilderness was really like.

And the next volume is just as good! Perhaps better.

We're fortunate to live in such times as have produced scholars the like of McPherson, Foote, Rhea, and Cozzens, just to name a few. And Pfanz and Coddington (earlier). What a real thrill history is!

You may enjoy reading Strong's obituary from the NY Times, Joyce. I don't think you have to subscribe to get the whole thing. I'm pretty sure I wasn't logged in when I accessed it.

When I checked Battle of the Wilderness out of the library, the woman who waited on me commented on it, saying she had read it several years ago. So we got into a discussion of the family connection, and she said "Your husband is lucky to be alive!" I had never thought of it that way, but she's right.

#217: Fascinating obituary! Evidently he was considered a music critic as well, which ties in with the Philharmonic position.

Given that your husband's ancestor was a prisoner during Spotsylvania and probably Cold Harbor, I'd say that was right. he was lucky--he survived.

#209. I have Reconstruction and Redemption in the South unfortunately I haven't read it so I can't say for sure how good it is. My father read it and thought it was good enough to pass on, so that's a half way endorsement.

#219: Seems to me I've run across that title, too, when I was looking for books on the topic.

Just a quick note:

I want to thank those of you who have offered to track down books for me, especially Lisa Curcio and Stasia, and Jill, who sends me care packages of books from time to time. Your researches have surprised me--I didn't think that some types of things had been published, and am grateful for your tracking these books down. And Jill--I'll get to Perryville sometime within the next 6 months!

I can also say that the Welles diary is absolutely fascinating. I'm reading now an account by Welles of he early days just before Sumpter, and his accounts of Cabinet meetings. He was an excellent writer, very accessible to modern day readers, and it gives me goose bumps to read what he wrote--it's like being in the meetings with them all, and listening to Lincoln make his decisions.

I don't know if these books are available easily in public libraries--I rather doubt it--but for those of you who like memoirs and are interested in the war but not so much military history, I highly recommend these diaries based on what I've read so far.

#221: I am lucky in that I have 2 college libraries nearby and at least one of them has Welles' diaries available. Thanks for the recommendation. I hope to get to the diaries in the near future.

Stasia, if you can, get the 1909/1911 publication that has Morse's Introduction. It's well worth reading, because Morse talks about, among other things, how Welles really disliked Seward, and that becomes instantly obvious on the first page of the diaries. It's a very nice, very useful background.

#223: The Grayson College library has that version - all 3 volumes. Thanks for letting me know.

I'm really anxious to start reading about Reconstruction, because in that Introduction, as you'll see, Morse talks about what he feels was the huge error o universal suffrage for the freed slaves. At first I thought this was a reprise of the very common attitude--Lincoln had it until 1864--that African Americans were inferior or else children who needed to be guided. Morse goes on to say that it would have been better to have some sort of "fitness" test. BUT he also goes on to deplore how many whites were really undeserving of the vote, selling their votes, and caries on some about the problem of immigrants (read Irish at that time) as well.

So I thought oh well, our little black brothers and sisters attitude. But then I read somewhere that just about exactly at this time--1909--W.E.B. DuBois started writing about the failures of Reconstruction! No one could call DuBois a Step 'N Fetchit character! Seems as if there were two camps and Morse sounds, if I understood what little I read correctly, as if he belonged to the DuBois camp.

But that's the extent of what I know--a couple of lines somewhere and I can't remember where. Got to read more, got to read DuBois' earlier works. The libretto for Porgy and Bess is not quite enough! LOL

#225: Have you read DuBois The Souls of Black Folk? I read it the for the first time and was surprised at how timely it still is, 80 years after it was written.

Did you get a chance to look at Stampp's book on the Reconstruction? Let me know if you want me to track down a copy for you.

I haven't read the DuBois book, and I have just put it on my To Buy list for next month.

On the Stampp book--I did, and I'm going to hold off on it until I read the Foner book. Thanks, Stasia.

I think that you're going to really like the Welles diaries.

ETA: I should say, I put it on my To Buy list after I read your recommendation!! :-) Got to give credit where credit is due.

Joyce,

Now the Welles diaries sound like my "cup of tea"! and, the Chicago Public Library has the 1911 edition in multiple copies--in the closed stacks. They also have a 1960 edition, so I will just make due with that one, but I might make the time to have a look at the 1911 to read the introduction.

Lisa, I have been thinking of you as I've been reading further. I agree--I think it is your cup of tea.

OK--the first "chapter" is not really in diary form per se. According to perhaps his son, it was written some years later. It is, however, a first-hand account of everything up until August, 1862.

It is amazing reading. One thing that caught my attention instantly is when Welles wrote about how Lincoln tried everything possibly not to alienate the south, before Sumter, especially Virginia.

One generalization you always read is that slavery was dying out in the Upper South, including Virginia, and that it was only thriving in the Cotton South. Again, one of those once-only times when I read that Virginia may not have used slaves on plantations much, but they were the suppliers of slaves to the Cotton South, ever since the slave trade from Africa had been abolished.

There's only one interpretation of that--Virginia bred slaves like livestock.

Welles talks about this horrendous "industry" in this section--about the fact that Virginians made more money from selling slaves south than they did from tobacco or cotton. He also talks, in abhorrence, about those who were slave traders--calling them violent men who, because of their profits, were very pro-secession and carried more reasonable men along. OUtside of the one or two sentences I'd read before, somewhere, this is the only place where I've seen this discussed in some length. There is this horrible, crashing silence about it in general.

It is an eye-opener, a real eye-opener.

The Introduction is 53 pages long, Lisa, and does not read swiftly, but will be well worth the time you take to read it.

This diary is gold.

ETA: I should add that I first became interested in the diaries while reading Goodwin's Team of Rivals. She quotes from Welles' diaries extensively. I had read about him before--he was a prominent member of the Cabinet--and maybe one or two quotes in other histories, but I think every chapter in Goodwin has at least one quote and some more than that from Welles.

The Turkish Gambit
Boris Akunin

2nd in the Erast Fandorin series.

Set during the Russo-Turkish War, this installment features not so much Fandorin himself, but a “modern” (1877 style) liberated Russian woman, 22 year old Varvara Andreevna Suvorova, an emancipated Muscovite (kissing a woman’s hands is so 18th century), who is following the Russian army to Bulgaria in order to be reunited with her grass husband, Pyotr. A guide leaves her stranded at an inn, stealing her horse and her money, an emancipated damsel in distress. And who should come to the rescue but Erast Fandorin, a mysterious creature indeed.

Whne last we saw Fandorin in The Winter Queen, he was in Moscow having barely survived the bomb blast that killed his lovely young wife. Now older (21) and wiser, he is clearly someone of consequence to the Russian Intelligence Service. Varya becomes his secretary, and shares in his task--to find out the traitor who is informing the Turkish Army about Russian plans. The story is told from Varya's point of view.

Akunin supposedly has set himself the task of writing in a different mystery subgenre with each of his books. I am nowhere near so informed as to be able to tell what The Winter Queen was, except that it was quite picaresque and featured Fandorin blundering around Europe, accidentally discovering plots (the Tom Jones of the apprentice police procedural set). This one is clearly the international spy thriller, and it succeeds quite well in a light-hearted but very satisfying way.

Don’t expect deep character development or serious detection; this is a piece of Turkish delight, rather sophisticated fluff, and it’s obvious that Akunin enjoyed himself immensely writing it. Highly recommended.

#227: I hope you do get a chance to read Dubois' book. Let me know what you think of it.

I finished Death at La Fenice Monday and enjoyed it thoroughly. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

The Serpent’s Tale
Ariana Franklin

2nd in the Adelia Aguilar of Salerno series.

After more or less accidentally been successful in delivering a baby, Adelia is visited by one of her favorite people--Prior Geoffrey--whose thankless task is to escort the rebellious pathologist to a meeting with the Bishop of St. Albans--better known to Adelia as Rowley Picot, her former lover and father of her daughter, Allie. The meeting is contentious, since Picot is insistent that Adelia accompany him to determine what she can about the death of Henry II’s favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford. Adelia is unwilling is an understatement; she is persuaded, however, by the specter of civil war in England between Henry and his queen, Eleanor. So, She, Picot, Gylthra, her companion and helper, the ever-faithful Mansur, and an evil-smelling dog named Ward accompany Picot and a few men to Rosalind’s tower near Woodstock, with a stop and the discovery of a murder along the way at Godstock Abbey.

Not quite so long nor so strong as Mistress of the Art of Death, this sequel is still an excellent read. Franklin has done her research well, and the period comes alive for her characters. The plot is a good one; Eleanor of Aquitaine plays a major and interesting role.

Franklin’s fortés are her descriptive prose, her characterizations, and her very keen ear for dialogue. She also knows how to keep a story moving while providing plenty of interest for fans of the medieval period along the way. The denouement is an exciting page turner.

Franklin provides a 4-page historical note at the end, explaining where she took liberties and why.

Highly recommended.

Joyce, re: 229 and 232

Please stop! I am crying "uncle"!

I happened to pick up a copy of Team of Rivals at Costco a couple of weeks ago, but had put in generally on the TBR pile. Now I am going to have to get into it just as soon as I finish My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams. I had been planning to go to Mornings on Horseback for my next history/biography read.

And then, on top of it, you recommend another historical mystery/fiction author to look for.

Lisa:

How do you like My Dearest Friend so far? I've been wondering whether or not to get it.

Ariana Franklin is REALLY good. You'll love Mistress of the Art of Death, her first.

ETA: Oh, and let me say that given your predilection for social and/or political history, you're going to be fascinated with Team of Rivals. I think it's one of those books--if you're into history at all--that is hard to put down--keeps you up far beyond your bedtime, reading!

I continue to be enthralled by Welles' diary. When you have some idea of the general history of the war, and you start reading an insider's diary, it's amazing what you pick up. Actually, if you intend to read Welles at all, reading Team of Rivals first is a good idea, because then you'll have the background to really enjoy Welles' view. I had not realized before just what a cabal there was to get rid of McClellan in Lincoln's Cabinet; you don't get a very nice picture o Chase from Goodwin, and you can see why, after reading Welles.

You also get an insider's view of the pettiness of high commands, whether Navy or Army.

I'm also reading Clockers and Sacred Games but sometimes it's hard to put Welles away.

I am really enjoying My Dearest Friend, and I am almost finished with it. I will review it since I think it is worth the review. It would not be as enjoyable, however, without first having read John Adams or a similar book, just as you say it is best to read Team of Rivals before reading Welles. Since My Dearest Friend is simply a select collection of the correspondence between John and Abigail with the barest comments from the editors, reading it without context would not be as interesting or as enlightening.

And I am going to be looking for your review on Sacred Games. For some reason I do not know, I love stories set in India. The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott is a particular favorite.

Thanks for the advice--will add John Adams.

A Suitable Boy was absolutely terrific. I have on tap A Fine Balance and The God of Small Things. Seems to me that there's another book set in India lurking in my recent past, but can't remember which one.

I've just started Sacred Games--maybe 25 pages or so. Too soon to tell how it's going to develop. I decided to read that as well as Clockers because I think Clockers is going to be a depressing read.

Oh Joyce! You've done it again! Added more"must read" books when my TBR is overflowing. I bought {Mistess of the art of death & The worst hard. time from A1 books. I have bookcases in every room except the bathroom & that has magazines.
The people that came to check the place & where to install the ramp for my walker kept looking around & a lady said "Someone must do a lot of reading." I just looked at the cat & nodded.
In your post about Welles you talked about VA & its "industry" of sending slaves to the cotton states. In his book The confessions of Nat Turner William Styron goes into a lot of detail about that & it is sort of an underlying theme. It's been years since I've read it, but it's one of those books you never forget.

Marian: I have some vague memory of having read The Confessions of Nat Turner when it came out, but that's decades ago--and if I did read it, I cant remember it. Which may mean I only MEANT to read it and never did. Another book to look into!

Given your environmental interests, I think you'll really like The Worst Hard Time. Egan is a very good writer.

I'm getting desperate for bookcase space myself. I'm at the books-piled-on-cabinets stage. I've got to get to our cabinet maker and order a huge new book case that hopefully will do me for a year--hopefully.

Great cat you have--quite a literary one! :-) I have 2 dogs like that.

What's the word from your daughter about putting photos up?

#253, Lisa: I suddenly remembered The Raj Quartet--only because of the reviews I'd read years and years ago. I've just ordered it. It's going to be shipped directly here, so it'll take at least 3 weeks.

Also, I remembered the name of the book set in India that I'd read that was so good--by J.T.Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur--excellent. His two other books in that trilogy--The Troubles and The Singapore Grip are also superb.

Continuing on my India focus, I also have The White Tiger sitting on a shelf, waiting, waiting, waiting.....

Joyce, it's been many years since I read The Raj Quartet but I loved it, and you can also get (but maybe not in Panama) the excellent BBC series from Netflix. I'm also a big fan J. G. Farrell and thought Troubles was better than The Siege of Krishnapur, and that The Singapore Grip was the weakest. However, I may read Singapore again now that I've read more of the history of WW II in Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945.

Will be interested to hear what you think of The White Tiger -- I had very mixed feelings about it.

I missed that you were reading or had read Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. For a look at contemporary Mumbai, in all its vigor and messiness, I highly recommend it. I found it very ambitions, a little flawed, and quite compelling.

Rebecca: I, too, thought Troubles was the best of the three. However, I really liked The Singapore Grip because of--as I'm sure must come as a tremendous surprise--my fascination with military history. While I thought that Troubles was the best-written book of the three, I found The Singapore Grip really absorbing.

I may be able to buy the BBC series. I really have to look into Netflix, because I have a US address to which they can send it. If there is no time limit--and I'm under the impression that there isn't one--I can have the videos shipped there, and if a package is under 5 lbs, I can rather easily have it sent back to the US from here--things have gotten easier in the past few years.

It'll be a while before I get to The White Tiger. Sacred Games is a big book, I'm trying to get through Welles' diary volume I before Saturday when Stasia and I start our US Civil War/Tennessee section reading marathon! :-)

The BBC series of The Raj Quartet is superb. I saw it many, many years ago and it still haunts me. I believe the series was titled, "The Jewel in the Crown" (which is the title of just one of the books). The books are also quite good.

I'll be reading The White Tiger soon and The Siege of Krishnapur sometime this year. I s'pose I should add A Suitable Boy to my TBR; I do like literature about India.

The continuing reading saga:

I'm still racing through Gideon Welles' diary, still fascinated.

I'm finding both Clockers and Sacred Games much slower going--neither book really grabs me. I'm abut 100 pages more or less into each, trying to finish at least one chapter a day. At that rate, I'll be a month with Clockers. I'm disappointed, so far, in Sacred Games--ruined, I think, by A Suitable Boy, which grabbed me from the beginning and never let go. Still, it's early. I'm at the point where the "plot", as far as the crime goes, has just really started to get off the ground. Thankfully, Chandra has included a glossary of Indian words and phrases that is of enormous help. But it does slow me down to look them up.

Joyce, There is definitely no time limit for Netflix. They are making a ton of money off me because DVDs languish in my home for weeks before I watch them. As for Sacred Games, I did find it took a while to get into it because there are just so man characters and it's difficult to see how they all fit together. Then there were parts around the middle where I just thought that what Vikram Chandra was trying to do wasn't working. But in the end I admired him and the book for attempting such a hugely broad perspective on Mumbai.

REbecca--is there, then, a fee based on how long you have them? Because it will take a minimum of two weeks to get to me and then three weeks to get back--that's just transportation, without counting whatever time it takes for me to watch them. So I'm looking at 6 weeks, probably. If the fee is too high (given I'm going to have to pay transportation fees from Miami and then Customs duty), I'm probably better off buying them.

I'm by no means ready to give up on Sacred Games, but it's been slow going in the beginning. Not too worried about the number of characters--just that the story is taking a while to get off the ground.

*butts into conversation that doesn't belong to her*

Netflix charges you a flat fee per month based on how many DVDs you want to have out at a time (I think the price range is something like $4.99 for one at a time through $49.99 for eight at a time--though it's been a long time since I looked at the options). There are no additional fees keyed to how long you keep them. It's a great deal if you watch the movies that come to you relatively quickly. There's no late fees, but if you end up keeping the discs for a long time, the average price you are paying per disc starts to go up. (If I go through 9 discs in a month at $18 per month, each one costs me $2 to rent. If I only go through 3 discs in a month at $18 per month, each one costs me $6 to rent.)

#246: Thanks for the info! Butt in any time you please! :-)

OK, that says to me that I'm far better off buying the DVDs--I just do not watch that many movies. And I'm always bucking shipping and Customs costs. Not worth it.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions and information!

Another lurker chiming in: I just checked Netflix...they do not ship 'overseas' unless you are in an American Possession, so the discussion appears to be a moot point. OTOH, you have whetted my interest, and we have put the Raj Quartet series in our Netflix queue. Our kids gave us the subscription for Christmas, and although we watch very few movies, we have found it wonderful for getting old (and usually BBC) TV series. Hubbie & I generally 'meet' in the TV room for a quiet cuppa and watch an episode together at least three times a week. It's almost like a date! We even ignore the phones.

BTW joyce...thanks so much for turning me onto Donna Leon. I enjoy reading your thread, altho I don't post too often. Would rather wait to have something to say than clog up with tiddles.

#248: TuTu--I have a US mail service address, in Miami. It's where all my US mail--and even overseas--is delivered. For example, I buy some DVDs from Austraila--they don't ship to Panama but no problem--they ship to the US and then it comes to me here.

We used to watch a lot of DVDs when we were in the US, but don't anymore. Not really sure why.

Oh heavens, feel free to chime in whenever and about whatever! :-)

ETA: And no problem about Donna Leon! Let me do my best--put in a real plug--for Magdalen Nabb's series on Marshal Guarnaccia, set in Florence. Very different--I think overall Nabb is (was) the better writer, and Guarnaccia a very different protagonist.

#249 Uncle! Joyce, the last thing I need is another "better" series. I've still got the first Donna Leon on my tbr stack - it's next in line (so, maybe this weekend). I can't wait until I am retired, too, and can read for hours every day if I want to.

Oh, just wait until you're retired!! There is this universal delusion that you have all this time--HAH!! Wait--you'll see!

You are getting too much enjoyment out of spoiling my fantasy, aren't you?

#251: you are singing to the choir here, Joyce. I don't know where the days go now or how I ever found the time to work (or the energy).

#252, Sandy: Absolutely! :-)

#253, Tiffin: Here I have a different set of challenges than I did in the US but it all means the same thing--"retirement" is a joke! Just means you do all that work for free. LOL

My neighbor,who is Scots, and I really get into it about "retirement" and how these are supposed to be our "golden years"--we wind up laughing ourselves silly over the whole idea.

#254 The only time I find myself laughing silly with someone is when I run into a certain retirement-aged man. He still works part-time and we have some of the same clients and see each other occasionally. The last time I saw him, we ended up in stitches talking about appliance shopping (my dishwasher had just gone out). The 3 of us (he and I and our mutual client) had just about ironed out plans to go on a group pub crawl/appliance shopping trip when he finally left. No one who still works for a living has that much fun every day. You can't make me believe that retirement isn't worth it. And it isn't nice of you to try! :-)

Good grief! I don't mean to say that retirement isn't worth it! I probably added 20 years to my life the day I decided to take early retirement from Boeing. It's just that what I do is basically of my own choosing, even if I don't like it very much (try having a barrel of fun up on top of a 12 ft aluminum stepladder, washing ceilings of mold and sealing joints with silicone). And I scream about how much time I put in maintaining this place--but I love it (not the maintenance, the place)--the just-before-dawn walks with the dogs around the perimeter, listening to the birds wake up, enjoying the bougainvillea, the nance trees, my pineapple plantation, the citrus trees, all of it--it's worth it.

But it does eat up time.

It does sound wonderful - I only hope that (when it gets here) my retirement will be as full of life as yours seems to be (stepladders included)

I'm sure it will be, Sandy--just don't expect oodles of "free" time! :-) It used to be a real joke where I lived in the US--the hardest person to find was a retiree because he/she was always out doing something! Many of the people I knew volunteered for various really worthwhile activities, such as tutoring middle school kids with reading or math, community projects, things like that--they were always on the go--and happy.

Me, I have frequent periods of time that I almost take for granted now when I live in sheer joy--the beauty of this area, the dogs (even when I'm cleaning up after our Old One who at 14 is a lot of work) and cats, the quiet, the very Latin bustle of David, men going to work on horseback (our skilled handyman and his helper), watching a vulture tease the dogs, the flock of cattle egrets going to work in the morning and returning in late afternoon, the crazy call of the cocalecas (the Chiriqui variant of the gray-necked wood rail to the birders among you), going to our favorite fruit and vegetable kiosko and seeing the mangos come in and buying tamales for our lunch on Saturday, early morning at the mercado publico as the vendors are setting up--the rewards of retirement are stupendous--I just do it a little differently from others. (Not everyone wants to do it in Spanish! :-)

#249 Joyce

"Let me do my best--put in a real plug--for Magdalen Nabb's series on Marshal Guarnaccia, set in Florence. Very different--I think overall Nabb is (was) the better writer, and Guarnaccia a very different protagonist."

Joyce, I don't think this is the first "plug" you've put in for this series. I went to the library today to pick up a couple of requests that had (finally!) come in and one of them was a mystery by Magdalen Nabb. I wondered why I had requested it because I had no idea what it was about! I didn't bring it up here to our "other" house for the weekend but it will be waiting for me when I get home Monday. At least now I know why I requested it! :-D

#259: No, it isn't the first--from time to time, I push her books because they are so good and she is still practically unknown. When you look at the number of people on LT who have Leon in their catalogues as compared to Nabb, Leon is something like 10 times more popular. Many people rave about the Aurelio Zen series; it's good but in my opinion, nowhere near the quality of Nabb's series.

So, about every 3-4 months, on different threads, I push her yet again! She, like Leon, lived in Florence for many,many years; Leon has been in Venice for 25 years, Nabb in Florence for over 30 before she died 2 years ago. The terrible pity washer books just kept getting better and better; her last one, which was published after her death, was terrific.

The series starts off with Death of an Englishman, which introduces Guarnaccia. One of her best is the 4th, I think--The Marshal's Own Case. It's extremely interesting to me that both Leon and Nabb made the transvestite prostitute underculture subjects of one of their books. Leon did a good job Dressed for Death, but Nabb's The Marshal's Own Case was superior by far.

My local library has a few of the Nabb books, so I am going to give yet another series a try due to your recommendation, Joyce. I hope you feel appropriately guilty :)

Smug is the operative word, Stasia, smug. :-)

I really enjoy promoting good writers. Can't remember what thread it was last year, I think, but I went on a campaign for Robertson Davies, a Canadian writer, whom I have always thought underappreciated.

Hey, Stasia--get ready--I stayed up entirely too late last night reading Welles, and am almost finished with Vol 1. So I'm looking forward to getting the Cozzens books tomorrow.

#262: I am ready, willing, and gung ho!

I read Fifth Business and The Manticore by Robertson Davies last year, but need to get to the third book in the trilogy. The Manticore was disappointing to me and so I have put off reading the last book. I will get to it eventually, though.

As I have not been to bed yet and it is almost 6am, I better head that way. Have a great one, Joyce!

Joyce, started my first Donna Leon last night and have gulped down the first 100 pages before Morpheus carted me off. Oh yes, this is good mystery writing and I love how Venice itself is so integral to the whole story. I feel like I'm there. So thank you.

re #262: Davies is definitely not underappreciated here in Canada. He used to be the editor for our local paper; I had a nodding acquaintance with him as a high school lass passing him daily on the way to school while he was walking to work at the paper. When I had to lecture on Fifth Business many years later, I felt a tremendous warmth in giving him to the first year students, urging them to read the rest of the Deptford series. Have you read his Samuel Marchbanks writings? Very wry and funny.

#264: Ah, tui, you're the one who met him! When I was writing the above post, I was trying to remember who was the one who met him going back to school. Ho, I haven't read the Marchbank writings--clean forgot about them. Will go right now and see if I can put them on my Amazon wish list.

As I say, I periodically go on campaign for certain writers.

Delighted to have been instrumental in the making of another Leon fan. She's very, very good. As I've mentioned before, if you can, try to follow some of the locations on Google Maps or GoogleEarth. If you're reading the first one, you can get a great view of La Fenice on GoogleEarth. And St. Mark's and all the other places.

ETA: Done! Not only the Marchbank Papers but also the Salterton Trilogy. On the list.

I'm reviewing Volume 1 of Welles' diary here. Since LT lists it as one set of three volumes, I'll have to do a condensed version for all three volumes when I'm finished. But here's Volume 1.

The Diary of Gideon Welles, Volume 1

Welles was the Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinets of both Lincoln and Andrew Johnson; he was an insider, an eye-witness to the most dramatic events and decisions at the highest level of government in two critical periods of U.S. history: the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. His diary, in three volumes, spans the years 1861-1869. Volume 1 covers 1861 through March 1864.

Welles started his diary, which constitutes the first chapter, with a recap of events from March 6, 1861 (two days after Lincoln’s inauguration) through the first week in August, 1862. Each chapter thereafter is a day-by-day account, usually one chapter per month, although sometimes a chapter will cover two months. According to his son Edgar, and by his own account, Welles would betake himself to his study at the end of the day and there write in his diary. He was an excellent writer; while there are obvious differences in some usages in English, there is nothing in his style or language to impede even a casual reader 150 years later. He was a careful and keen observer, as is clear from the diary.

Welles was from Connecticut--not the Connecticut we know today which is more or less a bedroom community of New York City, but a Connecticut that was definitely New England in heritage. Welles comes across as a stern, upright not to say righteous person, with a rigid sense of ethics in a corrupt age made more corrupt by war, who would rather die than take a bribe or be moved by personal considerations. There is a series of prtraits throughout the book of different important personages; fortunately, we’re spared the usual ones of Lincoln, Grant, andLee, for example. Instead, the frontispiece is a marvelous portrait of Welles--full white beard, dignified and looking every inch the New england patriarch that he was. Other portraits--of Seward, Sumner, Admiral Foote, and a priceless one of Halleck, whom Welles obviously loathed, are worth in themselves reading the book.

The diary is from the beginning an absolutely absorbing work. Reading the first chapter, even though it is a summary of the first year and a half, gave me chills; it is as if I were right there, with Welles, Stanton, Chase, Seward and Lincoln himself, a party to the drama, anguish, and decisions of the darkest days of the war. This sense of being an eye witness to momentous events carries through the entire book. BUT what makes it even more fascinating is the perspective; Gettysburg, for example, is not given anywhere near as much importance in the entire government and the country as is the fall of Vicksburg.

One striking aspect that recurs constantly is the lack of communications. At that time, all news was sent by telegraph, and the Army controlled the telegraph. Getting news from the front where battles were being fought was a chancy thing, dependent on whether the wires were up (both sides loved to send raiding parties of cavalry to cut telegraph wires, among other things) and on whether or not the commander wanted to send back information, as well as how he presented that information. It is amazing, in this day, to read about Lincoln and Stanton hanging around the War Office, which is where the telegraphed news from the front came in, waiting, sometimes vainly, for news from the fighting.

For the most part, Welles tries to be objective, but when he is not, it is actually pretty funny. For example, he writes of many times when one Cabinet member or another, or some Senator, would rush in with news and opinions, lamenting the fact that if this were true or such and such were to happen, the country would surely fall and all would be lost. With remarkable insight, Welles almost always dismissed such fears as being groundles, and he was always right. BUT let it come to one of HIS hobby horses, it’s a different story. The best example is his reaction to Salmon Chase, Secreatry of the Treasury, and his decision to print paper money--greenbacks--as a way of paying for the war (does this sound a bit familiar today?). Welles was extremely distressed--lamented that the departure from specie (hard currency such as gold and silver) to irredeemable paperbacks would be the death knell of the country, carrying on, totally unconsciously, in exactly the same way Seward did when he was certain that England would declare war over a minor event. It makes for very funny reading.

Welles, being the philosophical descendant, if nothing else, of the Puritans, was fairly judgmental about ordinary human foibles in the officers and politicians he encountered--and he was devastating in his denouncement of a few. From the beginning, it’s clear that one of the objects of his indignation and disapproval is Seward. History has been much kinder to Seward (after he got over his delusion that he was smarter than Lincoln) than Welles; to listen to Welles, Seward was completely unfit for his position and actually endangered the United States by his actions out of ignorance. Halleck he dismisses with contempt; there he has history on his side. The portrait of Halleck shows the man perfectly, I think. However, Welles ran the Navy Department, so he comments most often on Naval officers. His comments about the characters and behavior of major players such as Farragut, Dahlgren, Foote, Porter, and DuPont are fascinating, since he mostly portrays them as selfish out of ambition, and, with a few exceptions, without the qualities needed in wartime conditions, being too conditioned by peace.

Because of his position, Welles wrote a great deal about maritime affairs, not just the navy but also incidents with England over ships seized and in particular, seizure of mail. Almost nothing comes through in the general histories about these affairs, and it’s interesting to read Welles’ description of his confrontations with Seward

To continue with the theme that nothing really changes, Welles suffered from the hindrance of the Chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, Senator John Hale. According to Welles, Hale, in revenge for Welles refusing to award contract patronage to him, did everything in his power to discredit the Navy in general and Welles in particular ( I thought a lot about Tim Geithner while reading these sections). Much of what you read is duplicated in kind if not in detail in today’s world. History has judged that the ironclads, which were called monitors after the first Union design, made a critical difference in the war, especially on the Mississippi. But Welles was under constant attack from critics who felt that the ironclads were a failure.

Welles’ diary was one of Goodwin’s main sources of information in writing Team of Rivals, and it’s easy to see why. This is an absorbing, at times gripping account from one man’s point of view of the major events in a critical period of U.S.History.

Highly recommended.

#266: Definitely getting that from the library as soon as I can, although it may be a while since I already have 90 out.

Oh, that's nothing, I'm sure, Stasia, given that you read 15-20 a night!

The politics and the laments about printing money date from the beginning of the country, of course. "Plus ça change . . ." and all that.

The Chicago Public Library seems to have lost the only volume they had available for circulation, although all three of the 1911 are in the closed stacks. In looking for these books at ABE and Amazon, I found that there is a new printing available of the first volume with the Morse introduction for the every day low price of about $42.

I guess I am going to start saving my pennies to get at least the first volume since I don't have enough time during library hours to sit there and read!

#269: I don't believe it! A new printing? I bought a set of used books from Better World, I think, for something like $130! But they are in great condition, hardbacks, with gilt edges, and the aroma of old books that is just heaven. So I suppose I can't complain (even though I probably will).

All I really remember about money is Hamilton. I can't remember exactly what all the uproar about him was, but I know he was considered the Devil incarnate by some. And that he died in a duel with someone.

Oh, and Lisa, I thought you'd like to know--in the Preface to Peter Cozzens' book about the battle of Stone's River, he specifically thanks the owner, by name, of the Abraham Lincoln Book Store in Chicago for helping the book through to publication!

well Joyce ---if you got the whole set for 130, and one volume is going to be 42, you still got a good price

The printing is being done by a company called Kessinger Publishing. According to the web site http://www.kessinger.net/index.php
they reprint rare, scarce and out of print books. They only have the first volume of the Welles diary. I don't think it will be as nice as your used books, but it will be readable!

I read somewhere on the web site of the Abraham Lincoln Book Store that they help to get published writers of books about Lincoln and the Civil War. It apparently is quite an institution.

Yes, Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury and was an avid supporter of the creation of a national bank and a strong central goverment. It was Aaron Burr who shot him in the duel. If you decide to embark on biographies of founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is very detailed and very good. As was true of so many of his contemporaries, Hamilton was neither as bad as his detractors would have us believe nor as good as his supporters assert. I think what we were taught in history classes about these men probably was influenced by politics at the time we were learning. We are fortunate today to have access to such good and diverse writing.

#271: tutu, I never, EVER miss the chance to complain, not ever. Surely you've noticed.

I think my first hit was "new" vs "used", plus the math escaped me at the time. I think it's best to avoid all passages where I whine about costs of anything connected with books. I've decided that I've turned into a cheapskate penny pincher in my old age. Plus in case you haven't noticed, it doesn't stop from buying them, does it. *sigh*

#272: Ah, right, Burr. Now I remember.

I also think a nation, like a person, has to put some years on before it can distance itself sufficiently from its beginnings to be able to sort out myth from fact. And acquire a certain amount of sophistication.

But I agree whole-heartedly about access to wonderful historians who also write well. We are indeed blessed in that way.

I'll keep the Hamilton book in mind. I never have had much interest in that era because of overkill at school when I was growing up. In American History, we never even made it to the Civil War, even through high school. Only once did I ever have a class that almost made it to WWI. I wound up hating the colonial era, the Revolutionary War, and the Founding of The Republic--bored me to tears. Still tends to.

Joyce, I just ate up your review of Welles' diary. What I know about all of this wouldn't fill a thimble but I feel like I'm learning every time I read along...all playing out in my head with The Band as background music.

#274: But heavens, Tui, you're Canadian! Why should you know any of this? And even for U.S. history, this is getting pretty specialized. I had known about Welles--anyone who has done any serious reading about the U.S. Civil War knows about him because he was an excellent Secretary of the Navy. but I was really unaware of his diary until a few months ago, when I read Team of Rivals.

Something else I've been meaning to comment on: I'm asked to recommend a good one-volume history of the US Civil War, and I automatically recommend McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. And it's truly excellent, because it give the political and social context of the war. But so is Team of Rivals. If you want a good slant on personalities as well as an overview of the war, that's a good book to read.

One thing I have been promising myself is that I would pick up a good history of Canada. English history is glamorous, so everyone knows about at least some of it. But countries who've always had the sense to stay out of civil wars get shorted in the general knowledge department. Do you have any recommendations, Tui, for a good overall book on Canadian history or even a good book on some part of it? I have no objections to reading about a specific period, no matter what era, because I find then that it leads me on to other things, and I enjoy that sort of pathway. Modern Canadian history has been beckoning lately, since I've been talking with Canadians here about the recent elections.

ETA: I've always thought that the Trudeau era looked interesting. Some of the Canadians I knew back then used to get quite incensed over his policies, but I never knew enough to really understand the issues.

Can I join in Joyce's request for recommendations about Canadian history? (not really hijacking your thread, Joyce; just expanding a bit) I just finished Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather, which reignited my interest in French Canadian history. My mothers family on her father's side arrived in Quebec in the 1600s. On her mother's side, we don't really know. In more recent time, my husband's great-uncle settled in and was mayor of La Chine, having come from the Midi-Pyrenees in the early 1900s.

Now returning you to your regularly scheduled thread. Thank you!

Folks, please don't worry about "hijacking" this thread. I find the most useful information (and lame jokes) when people add their bit, whatever it is. so hijack away.

Yes, yes--French Canadian history--which ought to provide nicely background for the whole separatist movement in Canada, also interesting modern history.

Wow, Lisa, that's some impressive family history!

Canadian History...hmmm...well, Pierre Berton is our éminence grise in this regard and is very readable:
Flames Across the Border about the war of 1812
The National Dream and The Last Spike, his railway books, the importance of the railway in building what was to become Canada
The Promised Land: Settling the West 1896-1914 - about the settlers who arrived after the railway was built
"For the Love of History" - a collection of essays by Canada's best historians, edited by Pierre Berton
etc., etc. - he wrote quite a few books
These are interestingly written and would give you a start. For Pierre Trudeau, his own memoir was a bit disappointing but the recent biography by English was ok:
Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliot by John English but this is only the first volume of what one presumes will be a set. Trudeau (68-84) was the one Prime Minister of my time who clearly wanted to distance Canada from the fiscal and foreign policies of our neighbour to the south. Besides, we had our own problems like the Front de libération du Québec at the time, so keeping our country tied together was a major issue during his time in office. I liked him - an intellectual Prime Minister, what a concept! The world of business didn't like him as much because his fiscal policies were viewed as "anti American". I think he and Carter got along ok but I don't think he liked Reagan or Reaganomics.

Lisa, French Canadian history is harder. First of all, with history being written by the victors, the history of the French Canadians was just a chapter in the history books of my youth, and then only dealt with les courriers de bois, a handful of explorers like Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, or a few unfortunate priests who got separated from their hair by the local indigenous population. The victory of Wolfe over Montcalm was mentioned, of course. I am certain there will be different and more recent versions, likely in French, but they aren't part of my reading experience (I'm not a history buff per se). I will fire off an email or two to some friends who teach this area at the university. So answer pending! However, I can say that the city of Lachine is all one word here, if that is what you meant by La Chine? There were also different waves of French settlement, depending on the era. It sounds as though your ancestors came out before the battle on the Plains of Abraham, so were likely part of the French king's plan to settle Québec to send back resources (e.g., furs) for the French crown (as opposed to the waves of settlers who came after the revolution in France in 1789).

Sorry this was so long!

Many thanks for the interesting post! And no, it wasn't too long.

I'm going to check out Berton. Could you also supply references for the separatist movement?

The Canadians I knew who weren't fond of Trudeau said that he was suppressing civil liberties in order to deal with the separatist movement. At least that's what I remember--they certainly weren't upset about any distancing from the US!

Joyce, that's a can of worms, that topic. There are those who would have damned him if he hadn't acted really firmly and those who damned him because he did. A diplomat had been kidnapped and killed. It was an incredibly explosive and fraught situation. I can remember feeling like it just needed one stray spark and a conflagration would consume us all. All I can say is that I'm glad it didn't - whether because he invoked the War Measures Act or not, I'm not qualified to say. I'll get some resources on the FLQ for you.

Tui, Yes, I meant Lachine, which I understand is now a borough of Montreal. And I cannot find the geneaology sent to me by one of my cousins, so I am not sure exactly when they arrived. As I am looking at your response, I am wondering if my memory is incorrect and they arrived around the time of the revolution. I am going to find that stuff!

I will appreciate any help your friends might give. I can read French (slowly, with a dictionary), so it would not be terrible if there is nothing available in English. I read English much faster, however!

Joyce, one of my hobbies that takes too much time is genealogy. My husband's grandparents on his father's side came to the U.S. at the time the uncle went to Canada. We actually found his grandmother's family in France and visited one of her nephews and his family two years ago. Have not had much luck with and do not currently have time to try to find his grandfather's French ancestry. Also did quite a lot on my Italian side (my father), but it has all come to a halt. Someday . . . .

#280: That's what I mean when I say that I didn't know enough about the issues. The Canadians I knew were pretty far left, so maybe that had something to do with it. But I would REALLY appreciate any links you can send my way. The whole issue interests me a lot because Canada, unlike a whole bunch of countries, managed to avoid a civil war, and that takes some doing.

#281: I'm one of those in the minority who has no interest in genealogy. I know the origins of both sides of my family for about 3 generations. But Mary, who is something like 5th generation born in the US, has done a quite a bit of research, and she and her then 90 year old mother did visit some cousins she had dredged up in Arkansas, I think--but evidently it was quite a nostalgic reunion. It's really ironic--I'm Italian and have almost no living relatives and Mary is WASP to the core and I think needs a spread sheet to keep track of all the living relatives never mind dead ones! Does make me laugh! :-)

Chiming in on Pierre Berton - the only book of his that I have read is Arctic Grail and it was done in a very readable style even though the book is lengthy. If his style is like that in his Canada books, they are worth looking for.

In re Gideon Welles:

The Kessinger web site linked to Amazon for the reprint of the 1911 edition of Volume I had a price of just over $34.00 with free shipping. Having already been conditioned to a price of over $41.00, I decided that was such a good deal that I had to buy it! (Amazing how I can justify book purchases.) It arrived yesterday via UPS within two days of ordering, and the shipping was free. Of course, I had to start reading immediately, and I am so glad I got this one with the Morse introduction. Have not finished the introduction, but I find myself smiling with every paragraph.

Also, this is actually a digital reproduction of a book with some, but not many, marks that were clearly made by whoever owned the original book. If anyone is looking for an out of print book, I would check this Kessinger web site to see if they have one they are reproducing.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation, Joyce. I will read it alongside Team of Rivals since I have started it, and the diary is just going to be too interesting to wait.

When I finally make it over to the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop I am going to check into the second two volumes.

Congratulations on your Welles indulgence! Believe me--BELIEVE ME--I understand about being able to justify book purchases, which is why I'm constantly broke.

I'm actually a little envious that you're reading the two books at the same time; IMO, that's the perfect way to enjoy them and get the most out of both of them. I wish I'd been able to do the same.

Morse is really good, isn't he? :-)

Just a progress note: Stasia and I have finished No Better Place To Die and I've finished Chaim Potok's In the Beginning Reviews of both are coming; I'm horrendously busy at the moment. But we had measurable rain yesterday--all of 0.2" but rain! Hopefully we'll be back to "normal" before long. But it also means that a major roof sealing project has to be done NOW. So, not like there's any rest in sight.

I'm also almost half-way through with Sacred Games and it certainly has picked up! The way Chandra has structured the book is intriguing.

I also received yesterday the other two books in Rhea's chronicle of Grant and Lee's overland battles during spring of 1864; I read the Introduction on the way home from David--no, no don't worry, Mary was driving--and it's excellent.

In The Beginning
Chaim Potok

Young David Lurie’s life is dominated by accidents in which he is both an unwitting participant and helpless victim. When bringing him home from the hospital, him mother tripped on the front steps to their apartment and fell, with the infant David in her arms; the left side of his face and his nose hit the pavement. A doctor’s examination showed nothing wrong, but unseen was damage to the nasal septum; as a result of this accident, David spent his childhood constantly ill, and grew up fragile. Trying to protect his baby brother’s carriage from the unwelcome attentions of a neighbor’s dog, David shooed the dog away--who promptly ran into the street, was hit by a car, and killed. The dog’s owner blamed David. On his tricycle, he accidentally ran over the hand of an anti-Semitic neighborhood bully,who harassed and frightened David for years. The Great Depression nearly destroyed his father, a man of action who had fought in the Polish Army in World War I, and dedicated his life to bringing Jews out of Europe into the U.S.

But the greatest accident of all was the Holocaust. No one--not David, not his grim father, not his uncle nor any of his friends--can even begin to imagine the mentality that would bring about such a catastrophe. As a result, anything German became taboo.

For David, who, although in fragile health, is a genius, this presents major difficulties. He has become interested in studying the Bible, not just the Torah, which is bad enough in his Orthodox Jewish community; it means reading questionable sources--Jews who, in Orthodox thought, are more like goy. Worst of all, it means reading German scholars; even if they are Jewish, David is surrounded by hostility from members of his yeshiva. David, aided by the greatest Talmudic scholar alive, is forced to choose between the heritage he loves and his passion for learning and understanding.

Chaim Potok, in his finest books, always writes about the conflict between the secular world and that of Orthodox Jewry. He writes about it with the most obvious love for his Orthodox heritage, but with enormous empathy for those in conflict. Whatever the resolution, it isn’t easy for his protagonist and always comes at great cost.

Potock not only is a master storyteller, but he is also a superb writer. Outside of a few words that anyone of my generation heard while growing up on the East Coast of the U.S., I have never heard Yiddish spoken. Potok narrates his main story line and conversations with short, simple declarative sentences that have a sort of sing-song (the best way I can describe it) rhythm; I have no doubt that it imitates spoken Yiddish.

But David is someone who loves nature, finds comfort in the zoo and the parks. When Potok describes these scenes and David’s reactions, his prose becomes lyrical; his sentences are complex and filled with the wonder and delight that David feels when he feeds the zoo’s billy goat or is walking along a path in the park to a picnic area. David also dreams, and many are nightmares; then the prose is composed of long run-on sentences, clauses strung together by the conjunction “and” and darkly stunning in their descriptive power.

Potok moves easily with the skill of a master writer among these three styles, weaving a story that is both moving and thought-provoking. His stories are never simple, but they do reveal a world that is mostly hidden from the gentile view, one that is never filled by stereotypical characters but by real people who come from a revered and precious tradition and who must make their way in a secular world. In sum, a powerful book, beautifully written. Highly recommended.

Very nice review, Joyce. I don't feel up for this book now, but will keep it in mind for another time.

Ahhh I haven't read Potok in a long time. I think I will have to take him up again.

#289: It had been decades since I last read any of his books. Recently, I bought The Chosen and The Promise; In the Beginning is just the latest as I slowly re-acquire these books.

I took me a long time to review this one because I wasn't sure how to approach the review. Normally I don't like telling so much of the plot, but in this case, I felt I had to in order to talk about what struck me the most. Potok always writes about this basic conflict; his best, as far as I'm concerned, is My Name is Asher Lev. The denouement of that story is absolutely stunning. I can't remember when I first read it, but it has stayed with me vividly for probably around 30 years.

His stories all have the same basic background, but I never tire of reading them because of the way he writes. He is (was) such an excellent writer.

I still have to buy the Asher Lev books. Some month in the future.

I've only read his My Name is Asher Lev, back in the early 70s, so I'm putting him on the future list.

I thought I had read all of Potok, but I don't recall even knowing about In the Beginning. Time to revisit him, I think.

I read My Name is Asher Lev, In the Beginning and The Chosen a long time ago and then sort of forgot about Potok even though I liked them (particularly My Name is Asher Lev). Then I found a copy of The Book of Lights in a box from my mom's. I haven't gotten around to reading it, yet, but maybe I'll get back into his books since he's got a bunch more out now.

I remember reading lots of Chaim Potok many years ago. I got started on him and read everything I could find. It's been quite a while, but I don't think I ever came across In the Beginning and The Book of Lights --maybe they were written later. I, too, will have to see if I can find the Potok books I haven't read yet. He's a wonderful writer -- and I think, under appreciated, except on LT of course! :-)

The chosen was published in 1967; In the Beginning in 1975. I've not read The Book of lights, but plan on doing so. I've always wanted to read his history of the Jewish people, Wanderings.

The Chosen was published in 1967; In the Beginning in 1975. I've not read The Book of Lights, but plan on doing so. I've always wanted to read his history of the Jewish people, Wanderings.

I have never read anything by Chaim Potok, so he is a completely new author to me. I've already checked and my local library has In the Beginning, so I will start there!

*Warning! Lame joke ahead! Read at your own risk!*

Nothing like starting at the beginning, Stasia!

That was worse than lame!

It's really terrible to be afflicted with the love of lame jokes as I am, really terrible. One needs compassion for my condition.

I just realized that I have Potok's Wanderings in my library, given to me by a friend some years ago. I think I'll move it up in my nonfiction TBR pile, based on this discussion.

#301: Please do let us know how you like it--I've been interested in that book for a long, long time--forgot about it, of course, for years--and now would really like to get an opinion on it.

I didn't even know about Wanderings...thanks for the tip-off, Joyce. I'll have to be looking for that now.

That will make two valuable opinions. :-)

In the interests of faster loading, I've started a sequel.

I'll continue to monitor this, but new posts will be put on the new thread.

Hey Joyce, I finally posted a brief recap of my Gettysburg trip on my thread.