Review of the Day: Brazzeville Beach

William Boyd won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his mesmerizing novel Brazzaville Beach.

Narrator Hope Clearwater sets out to explain why she is living on the edge of Africa, in a dead-end scrap of a village called Brazzaville Beach. Her story is two-fold: what happened to her marriage in England that drove her to Africa in the first place, and what happened at the chimpanzee research preserve afterward.

Hope had married a math genius, and then wrestled with jealousy of his monomania when her own career took time to get traction. The story has a classic X-shaped structure, with her life and career improving while her husband's falls apart.

The second story about the chimpanzees is more exciting and less theoretical. Hope discovers a violent division in the chimpanzee tribe, but must fight her boss – a world authority on chimpanzee behavior – to expose the truth. The resolution is a little subdued given the action leading up to it, but it is still an absorbing tale.

Both stories are fascinating, although they never really tie together thematically. Other than both involving science and both leading to Hope's further independence, there isn't a lot of connection between the two narratives. But Boyd knows how to tell a story and this novel is no exception. Worth the read.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this, or any other William Boyd book, listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

I read this as one of my James Tait Black Memorial Prize picks for the 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, Challenge.  William Boyd is one of my favorites.

A Bibliophile Pilgrimage

It has long been a book-loving dream of mine to visit the famous Bibliothek at the Benedictine Abbey in Metten, Germany.

I first saw the library featured in a coffee table book called The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World.  Not only was there a chapter on the Metten library, but it was beautiful enough to warrant the picture on the back cover.

But what really captured my fancy was that the Metten library is part of the same "Kloster" that houses the school several of my cousins attended.  My paternal grandfather grew up in Bavaria, in a tiny village near the little village of Metten, both outside the small city of Deggendorf.  That corner of Bavaria is thick with cousins of varying degree.

When I went to one cousin's graduation in 2002, I was disappointed that the Bibliothek was not open for some reason.  I was determined to see it when I was in Bavaria last week.  It took a couple of tries, due to my inadequate German and the Kloster's inadequate signage, but Hubby and I made it to the tour Saturday morning.

Wow!

Really, wow!

Don't turn me in to the elderly woman who lead our tour, but I surreptitiously took some forbidden photos.  No flash -- I'm not a total scofflaw.  But I was not going to pass up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

 

 

Teaser Tuesday: The Hidden Target

Section One was not dead -- after America, he'd be back to give it life again -- but it was badly mangled.  Last week, it had been the most effective operational unit of the People's Revolutionary Force for Direct Action.

-- The Hidden Target by Helen MacInnes.

I have a stack of Helen MacInnes books and always enjoy them.  This is a later one, published in 1980, and involves "a new undercover counter-terrorist network" and "a deadly game playing across thee continents." 

It was a little dense to start with, but now that the players are in place and the adventure has begun, it is rolling right along.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

The Bluestocking Guide is hosting in June. Please visit her wonderful blog,which is jam-packed with reviews, essays, and other bookish features. 

I added a few books to my list of Bavaria books:

Travellers Bavaria Including Munich, published by Thomas Cook.



MapGuide: Munich, published by Knopf.

Favorite Author: Helen MacInnes

Helen MacInnes (1907 - 1985) was born and educated in Scotland, and moved to America with her husband in 1937. She started writing spy novels in WWII and is best known for her Cold War thrillers, usually involving reluctant amateurs caught up in international adventures.

I love them because the protagonists are always smart, competent, and classy. The heroes are gentlemen, usually with an intellectual bent, and the women are all very intelligent, but can outrun bad guys even in high heels.

Those I have read are in red; those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

Almost all are out of print, but readily available. In publication order:

Above Suspicion (1939)

Assignment in Brittany (1942)

While Still We Live (aka The Unconquerable) (1944)

Horizon (1945)

Friends and Lovers (1947)

Rest and be Thankful (1949)

Neither Five Nor Three (1951)

I and My True Love (1953)

Pray for a Brave Heart (1955)

North from Rome (1958)

Decision at Delphi (1960)

The Venetian Affair (1963)

The Double Image (1965)

The Salzburg Connection (1968)

Message from Malaga (1971)

The Snare of the Hunter (1974)

Agent in Place (1976)

Prelude to Terror (1978)

The Hidden Target (1980)

Cloak of Darkness (1982)

Ride a Pale Horse (1984)

NOTES

Last updated on January 3, 2013.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Grand Cru

Having barely wet his lips with the dark red wine, Henri Lamarque balanced the fragile wine glass lightly but firmly in his fingers, truly as if it were a chalice, swirling the precious stuff, airing it, studying its color and viscosity, or "legs" if the term is permitted.

-- Grand Cru by Barney Leason.

I am still on my light reading jag, devouring mysteries non stop.  This Sonoma wine adventure is right up my alley right now.

It may be even more fluffy than what I have in mind, but my husband grew up in Sonoma County and worked at wineries in college, so that connection may be enough to hold my attention.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Hidden Target

The church lay in the heart of the city.

-- The Hidden Target by Helen MacInnes.

I always love her books.  Everyone is dashing and debonair, the women wear dresses and high-heeled pumps but can still can outrun bad guys, and the stories are a little racy with some European flair.  

This one involves "a new undercover counter-terrorist network" and "a deadly game playing across thee continents." It was published in 1980, so won't have the kitschy, Mid-Century charm of her earlier books.But I'm sure I will still love it.

Teaser Tuesday: Marrying the Mistress

"You can't write her off as a gold-digger or a marriage-wrecker or a legal groupie or a sex bomb.  You can't write Dad off, either, as a classic male menopause victim wanting to reassure himself that he could still double the world's population if he wanted to."

-- Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope.

These are the comments of one of the Judge's children when discussing their father's announcement that he is going to marry his long-time lawyer girlfriend.  Unfortunately, he's still married to their mother. 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Happy Memorial Day!

Opening Sentence of the Day: The James Joyce Murder

James Joyce's Ulysses, as almost everybody knows by now, is a long book recounting life in Dublin on a single day: June 16, 1904.

 -- The James Joyce Murder by Amanda Cross.  This is the second in her series featuring English professor Kate Fansler. I haven't read the first one yet, so I am breaking with my usual rule of reading a series in order. I feel so wild.

I think I am really going to like this one. It was published in 1967, so satisfies my recent yearning for vintage mysteries (even if it is past the 1960 cut-off date for the Vintage Mystery Challenge), it has a literary theme (even if I have mixed feelings about Joyce after tackling Finnigans Wake), and it takes place in the Berkshires. 

Opening Sentence of the Day: Marrying the Mistress

 

"It would be advisable," the court official said to the security guard, "just to keep the laddie up here for half an hour."

-- Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope.

I've never read any of her books and am looking forward to this one as pure guilty pleasure. A perfect weekend book. It is about a judge who does, in fact, decide to marry his mistress. And she's a lawyer to boot. Well, well.

Review of the Day: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

It is hard to review a book that I so horribly misinterpreted that I ruined it for myself.

Shirley Jackson's dark masterpiece, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, is a physiologically chilling little novel about the remnants of the Blackwood family, living in their mansion, ostracized by the villagers in their small New England town.

The completely unreliable (unhinged) narrator is 18-year-old Mary Katherine, known as Merricat, who floats around acting like a spooky 12-year-old while her older, long-suffering sister Constance spends her days cooking, putting up preserves, caring for their ill uncle, and otherwise tending the house she is too agoraphobic to leave. Meanwhile, poor demented old Uncle Julian obsesses over his memorialization of the day, six years earlier, when most of the family died.

This is a terrifically creepy book; not scary, but a real psychological study of family madness.

Unfortunately – and this is not a spoiler – I thought it was about ghosts. I thought that Marricat, or maybe all three of the Blackwells – were ghosts and that this was a ghost story. So when people came to visit them, or Merricat went into town, I pondered whether the people could really see them, or just the things they moved around, or just what was going on.

I was completely wrong. The Blackwells aren't ghosts. This isn't a ghost story. I have no idea where I got such a notion. But because I was looking at the story through such a distorting prism, I missed the opportunity to experience the book as it was intended. Drat!

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This is on Erica Jong's list of Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women.

Opening Sentence: Knockdown

Mrs. Kerry Sanders looked like no Angel of Death.

-- Knockdown by Dick Francis.

I am on a real Francis jag, but kept avoiding this one because the cover on my copy was off-puttingly cheesy.I'm glad I got over that, because the story is particularly good.

Teaser Tuesday: Brazzeville Beach

Then, in the distance, I heard more hooting and barking.  The other chimps hooted in response.

-- Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd.

This is a great book about a "primate researcher" in Africa.  I am completely sucked in, just like with every Boyd book I've read.

I am reading this as one of my James Tait Black Memorial Prize picks for the 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, Challenge.  William Boyd is one of my favorites.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

MariReads is hosting in May. Please visit her wonderful blog, where even the banner picture will inspire you to read a good book.

I got two books in my mailbox last week, both review copies. This is bad for my Guilt List, but good for my reading enjoyment.



The First day of the Rest of My Life by Cathy Lamb.

Lamb has something like eight books already and this one coming out in July, but I have not read any of them yet. I am fortunate to get a review copy and look forward to reading a new-to-me author.




Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan.

This is the second in a mystery series set, so far, in Ann Arbor, Michigan and featuring David Loogan.

I loved the first one, Bad Things Happen (reviewed here) and can't wait to dive into this one.  I've recommended the BTH to about 12 people who were just looking for something good to read.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Chatham School Affair

My father had a favorite line.

-- The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook.

This won the Edgar Award in 1997. It takes place in a small town on Cape Cod and looks like it is going ot be really good.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Brazzaville Beach

I never really warmed to Clovis -- he was far too stupid to inspire real affection -- but he always claimed a corner of my heart, largely, I suppose, because of the way he instinctively and unconsciously cupped his genitals whenever he was alarmed or nervous.

-- Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd.

I started this one about a year ago, but never got past the first page, despite that attention-grabbing opener.

I am reading this as one of my James Tait Black Memorial Prize picks for the 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, Challenge.  William Boyd is one of my favorites.

What's With the Skimpy Content?

There have been a lot of "Opening Sentence" posts here on Rose City Reader lately. 

My excuse is that I have been so hectic at work and with a landscaping redo at home that I haven't had time to review any books. I blame child abusers and poodle trees.

When I get crazy busy like this, I don't have the attention span for heavy books. I keep reading because it relaxes me, but I've been reading mysteries, chick lit, and other lighter stuff that I read for entertainment. I don't need anything thought-provoking right now -- the point is to let my brain calm down, not rev up!

So I am going through books very quickly, hence all the Opening Sentence posts, but not reviewing or otherwise posting with much substance.  Please bear with me for a while.

Review of the Day: Clouds of Witness

Clouds of Witness is Dorothy L. Sayers' second Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, following Whose Body? In the first, Lord Peter had sprung full-grown from the mind of Sayers, a cross, she said, between Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster. His backstory included success as an amateur detective in cracking several high-profile crimes. His involvement in solving the murder of an unidentified man found in a bathtub was clever, but somewhat formulaic.

Sayers hit her stride in Clouds. Lord Peter and the other characters are formed more fully and the plot is more intricate, making for a far more satisfying story.

When the fiancé of Lord Peter's sister is found shot dead at a weekend house party, Lord Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver is arrested for murder. Lord Peter, assisted by his intrepid valet Bunter and his police officer buddy, Charles Parker, eventually unravel the mystery, but only after a series of near-misses and nail-biters involving gun-toting Socialists, a violent and jealous husband, a harrowing trans-Atlantic flight, and quicksand. The airplane adventure alone must have given Lord Peter James Bond-like status when the book was first published in 1926.

With her mix of intricate plotting, humor, and style, it is no mystery why Sayers and her hero Lord Peter have remained popular through the decades.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you woudl like your review of this or any other Dorothy L. Sayers book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This is one of my choices for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge.  hosted by My Reader's Block.

I am reading Sayers' Lord Peter series in order. I look forward to reading them all. 

Teaser Tuesday: Locations

I do not much like the songs of Edith Piaf, the boulevards of Baron Haussman, the furniture of Louis XIV, the sound of Gertrude Stein, the vainglory of Napoleon or the conceit of Charles de Gaulle.  I distrust, at one level, people who turn ideas into movements; at another, ideas themselves too pressingly articulated.

-- Locations by Jan Morris.

This is Morris explaining the "insular prejudices" that limit her visits to Paris. It is an example of what makes her travel writing so very, very good -- an extraordinary gift of analysis and observation and a willingness to express blunt opinions.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

MariReads is hosting in May. Please visit her wonderful blog, where even the banner picture will inspire you to read a good book.

I only got one book last week, but it looks like a good one.  This came from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program:

The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley.  It sounds like it is a British version of Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clare Furguson's series -- a female Episcopalian (Church of England) priest in a small town.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Meet me in Venice

Ana Yuan, a plain young woman in a summery blue dress and sandals, never felt even a hint of danger when she boarded the double-decker train from Shanghai to Suzhou on the borders of the Tailhu Lake.

-- Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler.

I recently read Alder's Invitation to Provence and enjoyed it for the pure entertainment of it. This one caught my eye because I had just put together my list of Venice books.

It is light and fluffy, but that is just what I need right now.

Opening Sentence of the Day: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood.

-- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. This is a crazy weird book. Very funny in a creepy way.

This is on Erica Jong's list of Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Locations

It is a truism that the world grows smaller, and a truism especially obvious to anyone like me, who earns a living by perpetual wandering and writing.

-- Locations by Jan Morris.

Her book on Venice, The World of Venice: Revised Edition, is my favorite armchair travel book of all times.  Oxford was also quite good.

This, instead of Morris's usual exhaustive analysis of one city, is a collection of pieces about 13 separate places.  Her unrivaled eye for detail and willingness to render judgment make each essay a treat.

Teaser Tuesday: The Master Butcher's Singing Club

After a few days of shock and strangeness, days in which people in Argus could talk of nothing else and strained after each detail, explanations stalled.  Just as Roy predicted, Clarisse had disappeared.

-- The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich. How's that for a tease!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

MariReads is hosting in May. Please visit her wonderful blog, where even the banner picture will inspire you to read a good book.

I hit a couple of library sale shelves when I was out and about last week, snagging an Anthony Powell I've been searching for, filling in some of my books lists, and finding some new mysteries to try:

Afternoon Men by Anthony Powell. His Dance to the Music of Time is my favorite "book" if you can call a 12-volume series one book. I've been looking for this non-Dance book for quite a while.




Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James (the 6th Adam Dalgliesh mystery; mine has a different cover than the one below).



Death in Holy Orders by P. D. James (the 11th Adam Dalgliesh mystery).



Hangman's Holiday (1933) by Dorothy L. Sayers (published in 1933; short stories, 4 with Lord Peter Wimsey).



Rough Country by John Sandford (a new one for me; I know nothing about it or the author).



Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason (another new one for me; part of a series set in Reykjavik, Iceland).

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!