A Hero Of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

Admittedly, I often skip reading book introductions, however, this one intrigued me since it focused on the fact that Lermontov is not at all well known outside of Russia. What a shame that is as I came to understand after traveling the Caucasus right beside Mikhail.

Reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales’ mastery at story telling, A Hero of Our Time manages to weave five distinct yet correlated stories into 160 captivating pages.

A nameless soldier traveling through the Caucasus Mountains in the early 1800’s picks up a discarded diary and reveals the adventures of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin.

Pechorin, ironically the book’s namesake, is actually an immoral and self-absorbed man. His approach to all situations is always for his benefit alone and he seems to lack empathy for others, even those he claims to care for.

Kidnapped by Pechorin, Bela, a Tatar, at first resists his affections but ultimately falls in love with him. Her initial instincts were spot on since Pechorin tires of her and she falls victim to another man who had hoped to first win her heart.

An old acquaintance of Pechorin, Grushnitsky is a pretentious and somewhat simple man. He unfortunately falls prey to Pechorin’s manipulations and finds himself in a duel he cannot win.

Quotes:

You see, there are, truly, people the likes of whom are fated to have all kinds of unusual things happen to them.

about his eyes I must say a few more words. First of all, they did not laugh when he did! Have you ever happened to notice this oddity in certain people? It is a sign of either evil ways or a profound and permanent misery.

He speaks rapidly and pretentiously; he’s one of those men who have elegant phrases at the ready for life’s every occasion, phrases that have nothig to do with anything beautiful and that are pompously draped in rare emotions, exalted passions, and exceptional sufferings. Producing an effect is their pleasure; romantic provincial ladies are mad about them. As they age, these men become either peaceful landowners or drunkards–sometimes both.

Where to meet such a fine writer as Mr. Lermontov would require serious thought. An outdoor meeting would seem most appropriate and I would need to contain my adoration in order to make the most of such an engagement.

My rating for A Hero of Our Time  is a 10 out of 10.

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Next up…Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance…

A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry Hines

This was not an easy read for me and rather, a disappointment. The vernacular was more distracting than inspiring and I can usually “hear” voices clearly while reading. I suppose, if I liked every book I read, I’d be considered dull.

Bullied by family, classmates and teachers, a young boy seeks purpose in a world that has already deemed him unworthy. Shunned by his fellow man, he seeks fulfillment training a kestrel he comes to love and respect.

Billy Casper has nothing going for him yet has no intention of ending up like his brother working in the mines or like his drunken mother who seeks comfort in the arms of her fellow bar patrons. As his work with his kestral evolves so does his determination and confidence to rise above his place in life.

Older brother to Billy, Jud Casper is mean and selfish. He accepts his lot in life and takes his frustrations out on his brother. Liquor and gambling are his coping mechanisms.

Mr. Farthing is the only teacher that sees Billy’s worth and encourages him to cotinue on his quest for self fulfillment. More of his character would have been very welcome, but was lacking.

The kestral hawk named Kes by Billy represents the strength, will and determination missing from his trainer. Their mutual respect is evident whenever they are together.

I would love to talk with Mr. Hines over a pint or a cuppa, but might need to lean on an urban dictionary. Perhaps we could discuss all of his works and his methods.

My rating for A Kestrel for a Knave  is a 6 out of 10.

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Next up, Mikhail Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time…

A Heart So White by Javier Marias

The opening line of A Heart So White is quite an attention grabber. Not wanting to give anything away, I’ll leave it unspoken.

It’s title refers to Shakespear’s MacBeth and the insinuation is that the eventual truth, once revealed, emphasizes the cowardice of the man behind the deed whose heart is white and bloodless.

Juan is the son of a successful art dealer who searches for the truth behind his aunt’s mysterious death and oscillates between wanting to and not wanting to know the truth. He is an interpreter working with diplomats who is newly wed and begins to question his father’s prior marriages as well as his own.

Father to Juan, Ranz is suave and very skilled at not addressing the elephant in the room. His demanding career is winding down giving him more time for introspection yet still uncomfortable with exposing his secret.

Luisa is Juan’s wife and also an interpreter who has a very strong bond with Ranz, perhaps due to her no nonsense demeanor. She urges Juan to seek the truth about his father and offers to act as intermediary when she recognizes his extreme discomfort with confronting his father.

A foreboding figure, Miriam is observed by Juan from a balcony in Cuba as she impatiently awaits her lover. When she realizes he is watching her, she mistakes him for another and unloads a diatribe upon him.

Quotes:

And I was impatient because I was aware that what I didn’t hear now I never would hear; there would be no instant replay, as there can be when you listen to a tape or watch a video and can press the rewind button, rather, any whisper not apprehended or understood there and then would be lost for ever.

in our morbid attempt to prevent time from ending, to cause what is over to return, we will be letting that other time slip past us as if it were not ours.

Listening is the most dangerous thing of all, listening means knowing, finding out about something and knowing what’s going on, our ears don’t have lids that can instincitvely close againts the words uttered, they can’t hide from what they sense they’re about to hear, it’s always too late.

I would have preferred not to know, although once you know about something, it’s difficult to know whether you wanted to know about it or would have preferred to remain in ignorance.

Would love meeting Mr. Marias and perhaps share my early dream of being a UN interpreter. Of course, I’d need to brush up my language skills, both English and Spanish. A glass of wine in Madrid would set the tone for a fine conversation.

My rating for A Heart So White is an 8 out of 10.

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Next up, Barry Hines’ A Kestrel for a Knave…

Persuasion by Jane Austen

I had attempted this read in 2016 and for some reason could not get through it. This time around, however, it was quite enjoyable. Not sure what made the difference, but it just goes to show that what you at one time might abhor, you may cherish in the future. I suppose the reverse may be true, but I will not continue to digress.

At the age of 19, Miss Anne Elliot is persuaded by a family friend to end her engagement to a man considered beneath her class. Fast forward 8 years of watching her vain father and sister dwell on what Anne now considers insignificant and has changed her view of the world.

Anne Elliot is quite good at reading people and appearing non judgmental in their presence, even, amongst close family members. She is still, however, loyal to family and class, to a fault at times.

Once considered unworthy of Miss Elliot, Captain Frederick Wentworth has become a self made man. Like Anne, he is a keen observer of people and his manners and considerations become appreciated by all those he has dealings with.

Anne’s sister Mary is now Mrs. Charles Musgrove and is quite the drama queen. She is Anne’s opposite in that she only sees the world and how it effects her directly.

Captain Benwick is a sensitive widower. While he confides in Anne, it is assumed they are a perfect match, but their relationship is truly one of friendship only.

Tea with Miss Austen would be lovely and I’d have to ask her why she closed Persuasion stating Anne agreed with Lady Russell’s interference with her engagement at age 19. Perhaps she needed to grow up in order to make such significant decisions. I’d then hope to discuss her creative process.

My rating for Persuasion is an 8 out of 10.

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Next up, Javiar Marias’ A Heart So White…

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano

I must admit that had I not read the lengthy 2666 first, I might not have been so eager to sink my teeth into The Savage Detectives. Reading this had the feel of stream of consciousness with a purpose as opposed to James Joyce’s ramblings. Bolano is such a magnificent storyteller and can manifest so many different voices that it’s a joy to turn over every page.

Set primarily in Mexico from the mid 1970’s to the mid 1990’s, its main focus is on two pedantic poets, Ulisses Lima and Arturo Belano, who coin themselves the Visceral Realists. As they search for the elusive Cesarea Tinajero, we are introduced to a plethora of characters found in Mexico City, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona and San Diego, to name a few.

Ulisses Lima is not seen by most in a positive light as hygiene is never foremost on his mind. He does not concern himself with other’s opinions at all and approaches life with his own objectives at heart that drive him to carry on without distraction.

Surely the author’s alter ego, Arturo Belano, is considered the more level headed Visceral poet, although not all would agree with that representation.

Joaquim Font is a wealthy Mexican who we become front seat witnesses to his mental and financial decline. Oblivious to other’s situations, his self-absorption becomes his downfall.

Luscious Skin is a bisexual man and the name alone makes him worthy of consideration. Reveling in the poets’ hedonistic ways, he is one of the lesser known visceral poets.

Meeting Mr. Bolano would be a dream come true. Perhaps we would sip some Mezcal as he would surely spin a tale or two or three and introduce me to some interesting characters he’d created.

My rating for The Savage Detectives is an 8 out of 10.

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Next up, …Jane Austen’s Persuasion…

A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham

Set in Ohio and New York in the 1970’s, two young teens form an unlikely friendship that eventually takes them down different paths but then reunites them to create a non traditional family.

Unfortunately, most of the characters were unlikable which made for difficult appreciation of the novel.

Bobby Morrow was, if not likable, then tolerable. Obsessed with music and not a very ambitious young man, the one thing he longed for was family. Losing his older brother, whom he idolized, followed by his mother’s suicide takes its toll and he gravitates to the Glover family to fill the familial void.

Friend, confidante and some time sexual partner to Bobby, Jonathan Glover never seemed to appreciate what he had. His cynicism and air of superiority kept most relationships at bay where he seemed to prefer them.

Jonathan’s New York roommate, Clare shares his cynical outlook of the world. When Bobby moves to New York, the three become a “family” with Clare playing the maternal role. When she becomes pregnant, they move to upstate New York to begin a new business and lifestyle. Clare’s selfishness, as predicted by Jonathan’s mother, eventually undoes the family dynamic.

Quotes:

We set my bags down, and stood through a moment of difficult silence. Over the years we’d lost our inevitability together; now we were like the relatives of two old friends who had died.

It was still the face of a man who believed human differences could be resolved by a pilgrimage to famous geological phenomena.

All mothers must experience such moments, when their grown children–who have seemed to depart irrevocably into their own personalities–suddenly reveal a strain of their father’s nature so pure and undiluted they might be the man himself, reborn, right down to the three-note cough that has punctuated the past forty-plus years.

Perhaps I’d travel to New Haven to meet with Mr. Cunningham. We could discuss our literary and musical interests and get into the craft of writing.

My rating for A Home at the End of the World  is a 6 out of 10.

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Next up, The Savage Detectives…

A Dry White Season by Andre Brink

Brink weaves a tale in such an interesting way, revealing the conclusion from the start, but his skill almost makes the reader forget what’s destined to happen.

Deciding to help his black gardner find his son who has disappeared after being arrested, a white schoolteacher unwittingly enters into a world he has no concept of. His actions have tragic consequences and his well meaning intentions lead to dire results.

Ben DuToit is an apolitical middle class married white man teaching in South Africa. His naivete and belief in the justice system is sorely tested when he continually runs up against a system built to suppress its black citizens with impunity.

Melanie Bruwer is a local reporter who has seen the ugly underbelly of society and joins Ben’s crusade. Her experience and his perseverance seem a sure thing. Their partnership leads to romance and they learn their intimacy has not been as private as they intended.

The colorful Stanley Makhaya is Ben’s polar opposite; cynical and cagey. All the while, however, insisting Ben is wasting his time going up against the Special Branch, yet driving him around and feeding him information to use in his investigation into very questionable deaths.

Professor Phil Bruwer is father to Melanie. His unkempt appearance while at first distracting, quickly becomes overlooked as his wisdom and generous nature prevail.

Quotes:

At the same time, there’s no denying that sometimes, in a sudden and unnerving way, one “recognises” a stranger as an equal, as an ally, as a companion, someone significant to oneself.

“I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately. How terrible it is to grow old without ever really having lived.”

“Don’t you think I know what it feels like? Waiting and waiting: as if life is an investment in a bank somewhere, a safe deposit which will be paid out to you one day, a fortune. And then you open your eyes and you discover that life is no more than the small change you’ve got in your back pocket today.”

“What I think, Dominee, is that once in one’s life, just once, one should have enough faith in something to risk everything for it.”

“There are only two kinds of madness one should guard against, Ben” he said calmly. “One is the belief that we can do everything. The other is the belief that we can do nothing.”

What a fantastic chat I’d have with Mr. Brink beginning with a discussion of banned books and how his compare to the current books banned in the US. I wonder how he survived to age 75 as a man who stood up for others. Such people are needed today!

My rating for A Dry White Season is a 9 out of 10.

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Next up, A Home at the End of the Road…

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

This was not a read I was looking forward to as I am not a fan of Science Fiction, but to my surprise, it was an eerily enjoyable book.

From the dawn of man to the development of nuclear weapons, Clarke skillfully details the beginning and end of civilization. The presence of the monolith from early civilization to the year 2001 becomes symbolic of how easily man is manipulated by artificial intelligence.

Moonwatcher is the leader of the man apes and has survived to the incomparable age of 25. His natural abilities and survival skills are enhanced by the monolith as he creates weapons with the natural materials found in his environment.

A stereotypical bureaucrat, Dr. Heywood Floyd is sent to the moon to investigate TMA-1; Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1 and its capabilities. His concern for his family and his career leaves him playing a balancing act with his conscience.

One of the astronauts sent to Saturn, David Bowman is very disciplined, yet unaware of the true purpose of his mission. His intuition leads him to a better understanding of his role and the eerily human side to HAL, the ship’s computer.

HAL keeps the ship running efficiently and requires no rest so can outperform any of the crew on board. His “humanity” is revealed when he realizes he can be stripped of his capabilities and resorts to malicious tactics to ensure his survival.

Quotes:

…there had been talk of radio-hypnosis from satellite transmitters, compulsion viruses, and blackmail by synthetic diseases for which they alone possessed the antidote.

The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.

But their tools would not be ax and gun and canoe and wagon; they would be nuclear power plant and plasma drive and hydroponic farm. The time was fast approaching when Earth, like all mothers, must say farewell to her children.

“What you are now looking at is the first evidence of intelligent life beyond the Earth.”

Sir Clarke was certainly a man way ahead of his time and I would love to chat with him about the current state of the planet. If he could so accurately predict its future decades ago, imagine what he could tell me about earth’s survival today. We could sip some tea and muse over the Space X failures and what NASA is secretly researching. AI be damned!

My rating for 2001: A Space Odyssey is an 8 out of 10.

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Next up, Andre Brink’s A Dry White Season…

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

An American joins the republic in the hills of Spain in 1937 and works with the guerrilleros who assist him in his mission to blow up a bridge controlled by the opposing Fascists.

The distinct personalities and mixed bag of the group hidden in a mountain cave become quite evident as they prepare for the order given to the young man from Montana.

Robert Jordan is a disciplined man with successful missions behind him. He is not prepared, however, for the personality clashes and the appeal of a woman with her own dark history.

A guerilla who has fallen into drunkenness, Pablo, has already surpassed Jordan in his self revelations, but is mistakenly seen as a hindrance by the others, including his acerbic wife, Pilar.

Acting as Jordan’s right hand man, Anselmo has all the characteristics most of the others lack; loyalty, trustworthiness, and integrity. He follows orders without question and without intent, acts as the exemplar for the entire group.

Raped by Fascists and rescued by Pilar, Maria is meek and fondly called “Rabbit” by Jordan. She slowly comes to her own as she falls in love with Jordan, hoping for a life free of conflict.

Pilar keeps the group grounded with her no nonsense approach and willingness to take part in all activities related to the mission. She acts as confidant to Jordan and Maria and isn’t afraid to lay it all bare.

Quotes:

No one could tell from the bodies of these wounded men he would leave in beds a the Palace, that they were Russians. Nothing proved a naked dead man was a Russian. Your nationality and your politics did not show when you were dead.

The uncertainty, the enlargement of the feeling of being uncertain, as when, through a misunderstanding of possible dates, one does not know whether the guests are really coming to a party…

Perhaps I could meet Hemingway for a drink or 5 and discuss his writing techniques and keen insight into the heart and soul of the people he has encountered over his life. I’d steer the conversation early and then let the liquor lead us where it may.

My rating for For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 7 out of 10.

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Next up, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey…

2666 by Roberto Bolano

Had no idea what to expect with this read, but was I ever so, so pleasantly delighted. When discovering exceptional authors, I typically have sincere intentions of reading all their works, however, that never seems to come to fruition. In this case, however, I feel I was blessed with five of Bolano’s masterpieces.

Essentially, 5 novels in one, Bolano’s intention was to release one per year to ensure his heir’s financial futures. This was communicated just days before his untimely death. His request, however, was reversed and 2666 was ultimately published as one voluminous novel which it was believed Bolano would have done had his health not taken the course it did.

The Part About the Critics

Searching for an elusive writer, four literary critics set out in search of the author they all idolize. Their efforts take them to several countries and eventually to Mexico, and the ubiquitous city locale of all 5 stories.

Liz Norton, one of the critics manages to maintain her independence while traveling with, and sleeping with, some of her fellow critics. She never fully reveals herself, which is likely part of her allure.

The Part Abut Amalfitano

A philosophy professor accepts a teaching post at the University of Santa Teresa and moves there with his grown daughter. As they settle in to the unappealing neighborhood with murmurings of young women being brutally murdered, hindsight makes a stranglehold on the professor.

Wife to Professor Amalfitano, Lola is a switchblade wielding woman who abandons her husband and 2-year-old daughter and travels to visit a poet institutionalized in a mental hospital.

The Part About Fate

An American journalist, with little sports coverage experience, is sent to Santa Teresa to cover a boxing match. He meets a local journalist who is investigating the local murders. The American wants to look into the murders, but his paper wants him to stay with the match and return home.

Quincy Williams, aka Oscar Fate is the reporter who has travelled from New York to Santa Teresa. He meets a local reporter who introduces him to several locals which piques his interest in the mysterious murders.

The Part About the Crimes

The ineptitude of the Santa Teresa police becomes evident as the murders of 112 women remains unsolved. Although a primary suspect has been identified, very little progress on the case is made.

Inspector Juan de Dios Martinez is in over his head and he knows it, but does not know how to move forward with the investigation.

The Part About Archimboldi

The elusive writer is finally revealed, but not to the critics and of course, there is a tie in to the Santa Teresa murders, but I shan’t give it away here.

It really all began with Hans Reiter who loved to dive to drown out the noise of life yet somehow, through a series of unusual events, turned to writing and maintained his enigmatic lifestyle.

Quotes:

The diseased, anyway, are more interesting than the healthy. The words of the diseased, even those who can manage only a murmur, carry more weight than those of the healthy.

Bolano is sheer genius and his ability to intertwine stories seamlessly is a true gift. Of course, I’d love to sit in a dark bar deep into Mexico and sip cold beer with the man and discuss his technique, but I imagine anything he’d have to say would be fascinating.

My rating for 2666 is a 10 out of 10.

Please share your own reviews or comments by using the Leave A Comment link below.

Next up, Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls…