by John Dunning
This is a book in a series by John Dunning about a Rare Book Seller, Cliff Janeway, who gets involved in solving mysteries related to rare books.
In this, the third in a series, Janeway meets an old woman who has a copy of a book by Richard Francis Burton which is inscribed to a person she claims is her grandfather. She claims that her grandfather was a friend of Burton's and had many of his books, but that the collection was "stolen" from her family by unscrupulous booksellers. On her death bed she tells him he can have the book provided he promises to try to track down the other books that were in her father's collection.The old woman dies, another innocent woman is murdered as Cliff and a couple of female friends travel to Carolina to try to find proof of the old woman's claims.
The book was interesting but I found the part where the old woman is supposedly recalling her grandfather's narrative of his travels with Burton in Carolina, while under hypnosis, a bit long-winded.
Many characters get involved with Janeway and his partners, some are quite violent. Janeway disrupts several people's lives in his quest for the truth.
Bibliography
Bios
Fawn Brodie. The Devil Drives, 1967
Edward Rice. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1990
Mary S. Lovell. A Rage to Live,
Fiction
Illya Troyanov. Collector of Worlds, 2010
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
by Allison Hoover Bartlett
This is a true story about an American man who is a compulsive rare book thief. The author has interviewed the thief. She also interviews rare book sellers including one person who had the voluntary position of Head of Security for the ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc. of America), who became obsessed with tracking down the thief and "bringing him to justice".
The story was interesting for the story of the thief and what fuelled his compulsion -- the need to be respected for his "class". He seemed to feel that it was okay to steal and hurt other people in order to try to create his collection. The author admits she had trouble trying to understand how his mind worked and how he rationalized his actions, for e.g. once he had sold an item he stole he no longer felt any responsibility regarding the theft.
The other part of the story, the bookseller's attempt to identify and capture the thief was also interesting as was the insight into the world or rare book sellers and collectors and what drives their passion. Thrre was also some discussion of some of the questionable operators and tactics utlilzed by less than honest people over the centuries.
It was interesting to read about why people can become so passionate about books and the different ways this passion is manifest. The author, like rare book collectors, is conviced of the physical appeal of a book to the reader/collector. However, current stats show that ebook sales are outstripping book sales so obviously not everyone, especially young people, are not as besotted with physical books -- is that something to be sad about? The author points out that many collectors don't even read the books they collect -- what's the point of that?? Just bragging rights? Flaunting your wealth? class? an investment? I would think that if I was collecting precious books I would want to be reading/savouring them. She also talks about the covers being the appeal factor. I agree with that, the one thing I don't like in ebooks is that you can't really appreciate the art of the covers. However, CD artwork replaced album covers and now i-tunes has totally eliminated covers.
I enjoyed the book, now I am off to read a mystery about a bookseller who investigates crimes re: rare books.
This is a true story about an American man who is a compulsive rare book thief. The author has interviewed the thief. She also interviews rare book sellers including one person who had the voluntary position of Head of Security for the ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc. of America), who became obsessed with tracking down the thief and "bringing him to justice".
The story was interesting for the story of the thief and what fuelled his compulsion -- the need to be respected for his "class". He seemed to feel that it was okay to steal and hurt other people in order to try to create his collection. The author admits she had trouble trying to understand how his mind worked and how he rationalized his actions, for e.g. once he had sold an item he stole he no longer felt any responsibility regarding the theft.
The other part of the story, the bookseller's attempt to identify and capture the thief was also interesting as was the insight into the world or rare book sellers and collectors and what drives their passion. Thrre was also some discussion of some of the questionable operators and tactics utlilzed by less than honest people over the centuries.
It was interesting to read about why people can become so passionate about books and the different ways this passion is manifest. The author, like rare book collectors, is conviced of the physical appeal of a book to the reader/collector. However, current stats show that ebook sales are outstripping book sales so obviously not everyone, especially young people, are not as besotted with physical books -- is that something to be sad about? The author points out that many collectors don't even read the books they collect -- what's the point of that?? Just bragging rights? Flaunting your wealth? class? an investment? I would think that if I was collecting precious books I would want to be reading/savouring them. She also talks about the covers being the appeal factor. I agree with that, the one thing I don't like in ebooks is that you can't really appreciate the art of the covers. However, CD artwork replaced album covers and now i-tunes has totally eliminated covers.
I enjoyed the book, now I am off to read a mystery about a bookseller who investigates crimes re: rare books.
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Half-Blood Blues
by Esi Edugyan
This book just won the Giller Prize for 2011. It was one of the Booker shortlist also. I have now read 5 of the 6 shortlisted Booker titles this year.
This was an interesting book. I am not sure I consider it brilliant or as good as some of the other books I read this year. It's competition in the Giller included Ondaatje's Cat's Table and the Sister Brothers. I was glad the Sister Brothers didn't win as I didn't think much of that book. I did enjoy the Cat's Table and think that in my opinion it was a more complex book than this one.
However, having said the above I think the book was interesting. It is about some black jazz musicians, some American, one German, who are trying to follow their passion, making music, during the start of WW II in Germany and then in Paris. One of the characters, a young boy, a trunpet player, is considered a protege. The narrator of the story, is a bass player, who is jealous of the talent of the young trumpet player and the affection of a woman, Delilah, for the young boy.
The book jumps between the 1930's and 1990's. In the 30's time period the group is trying to record their music but the war makes this difficult, they do manage to record some tracks and the main character is able to sneak out a copy to America where the young trumpet player is acknowledged asd a genius. The tragedy is that the young man was arrested and sent to a concentration camp.
In the 1990's segment of the story, the bass player is returning to Germany with one of the other musicians to attend a festival tribute to Hiero, the genius. The main character then hears that the young man may not have died in the war and he has to face his guilt for contributing to what occurred to the young trumpeter.
The book does a fabulous job of giving a sense of what life was like in Germany and Paris as there were fears of war and then when the war actually arrived in France. She portrays the tension and hysteria very well. She also explores racial issues. Blacks went to Europe because they were "more accepted" there than in America but with the coming war blacks and Jews became targets, but having somewhat lighter skin could allow you to be mistaken for mediterranean. When the band makes it to Paris, it is the fact tha Hiero is German that causes problems, not that he is black. At one point one of the men is attacked in a crowd because it is assumed he is a Sengalese solider (brought to France to fight for France) who had gone AWOL. Did the narrator sabotage the trumpeter's escape because he wanted to ensure the band was able to record, or was it his jealousy of the young man and his talent that caused his actions? If you have passion that drives you, can you just walk away from it? The book leaves a lot unexplained...
This book just won the Giller Prize for 2011. It was one of the Booker shortlist also. I have now read 5 of the 6 shortlisted Booker titles this year.
This was an interesting book. I am not sure I consider it brilliant or as good as some of the other books I read this year. It's competition in the Giller included Ondaatje's Cat's Table and the Sister Brothers. I was glad the Sister Brothers didn't win as I didn't think much of that book. I did enjoy the Cat's Table and think that in my opinion it was a more complex book than this one.
However, having said the above I think the book was interesting. It is about some black jazz musicians, some American, one German, who are trying to follow their passion, making music, during the start of WW II in Germany and then in Paris. One of the characters, a young boy, a trunpet player, is considered a protege. The narrator of the story, is a bass player, who is jealous of the talent of the young trumpet player and the affection of a woman, Delilah, for the young boy.
The book jumps between the 1930's and 1990's. In the 30's time period the group is trying to record their music but the war makes this difficult, they do manage to record some tracks and the main character is able to sneak out a copy to America where the young trumpet player is acknowledged asd a genius. The tragedy is that the young man was arrested and sent to a concentration camp.
In the 1990's segment of the story, the bass player is returning to Germany with one of the other musicians to attend a festival tribute to Hiero, the genius. The main character then hears that the young man may not have died in the war and he has to face his guilt for contributing to what occurred to the young trumpeter.
The book does a fabulous job of giving a sense of what life was like in Germany and Paris as there were fears of war and then when the war actually arrived in France. She portrays the tension and hysteria very well. She also explores racial issues. Blacks went to Europe because they were "more accepted" there than in America but with the coming war blacks and Jews became targets, but having somewhat lighter skin could allow you to be mistaken for mediterranean. When the band makes it to Paris, it is the fact tha Hiero is German that causes problems, not that he is black. At one point one of the men is attacked in a crowd because it is assumed he is a Sengalese solider (brought to France to fight for France) who had gone AWOL. Did the narrator sabotage the trumpeter's escape because he wanted to ensure the band was able to record, or was it his jealousy of the young man and his talent that caused his actions? If you have passion that drives you, can you just walk away from it? The book leaves a lot unexplained...
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Mendel's Dwarf
by Simon Mawer
This is the second book I have read by this author. The other was The Glass Room.
Both books were very interesting and very powerful but I found this book devastating. It is one of those books that punches you in the gut, you don't really want to think about it after you have finished it because it is too upsetting. I finished it a few days ago but couldn't face writing about it yet. I would read, and in fact look forward to rereading The Glass Room sometime but I don' think I would ever read this again.
The story is about a dwarf, who happens to be a descendant of Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics.
The dwarf, Dr. Benedict Lambert becomes a geneticist and is working on identifying the gene that causes dwarfism. The book covers the two lives, Benedict's and Mendel's and the affection each man has for a particular woman. Mendel's genius is not realized in his life time, Benedict's life is discounted because he is a dwarf. Benedict befriends a women (a Librarian) he met as a young boy and then meets again at the university where he is teaching. The woman is the victim of spousal abuse. When she leaves her husband temporarily he invites her to stay with him. At first she agrees because she thinks he is safe. She does not realize he has designs on her sexually. They end up having sex and she gets pregnant but she aborts the fetus because her husband is sterile and also because she fears having a dwarf child.
Later she returns to her husband (WHY????) After going to maritial counselling it is suggested that the marriage could be saved if she had a child as she seems to want one. She proposes fertilization to her husband and asks Benedict if he will donate his sperm and select an egg that does not have the dwarf gene so that she will have a healthy baby. Her husband is under the impression that the child is from his sperm.
When the child is born the mother has an aneurism and is in a coma. The father realizes that the child has brown eyes and neither he nor his wife have brown eyes but Benedict has brown eyes. He had thought Benedict was "safe"! He is outraged and does the unthinkable.
It is amazing how the author sneaks up the "truth" on you throughout the book, people discount Benedict as a sexual being, as a potential partner and unwanted mutant; but for circus families, a "normal" child is undesirable. Benedict feels so isolated, misunderstood and ignored, it is tragic. And ironically, he thought he was so wise, knowing all about genetics and finding the answer to dwarfism; and he and his lover thoght they could trick the husband, not realizing that genetics would come to "bite him" again.
This is the second book I have read by this author. The other was The Glass Room.
Both books were very interesting and very powerful but I found this book devastating. It is one of those books that punches you in the gut, you don't really want to think about it after you have finished it because it is too upsetting. I finished it a few days ago but couldn't face writing about it yet. I would read, and in fact look forward to rereading The Glass Room sometime but I don' think I would ever read this again.
The story is about a dwarf, who happens to be a descendant of Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics.
The dwarf, Dr. Benedict Lambert becomes a geneticist and is working on identifying the gene that causes dwarfism. The book covers the two lives, Benedict's and Mendel's and the affection each man has for a particular woman. Mendel's genius is not realized in his life time, Benedict's life is discounted because he is a dwarf. Benedict befriends a women (a Librarian) he met as a young boy and then meets again at the university where he is teaching. The woman is the victim of spousal abuse. When she leaves her husband temporarily he invites her to stay with him. At first she agrees because she thinks he is safe. She does not realize he has designs on her sexually. They end up having sex and she gets pregnant but she aborts the fetus because her husband is sterile and also because she fears having a dwarf child.
Later she returns to her husband (WHY????) After going to maritial counselling it is suggested that the marriage could be saved if she had a child as she seems to want one. She proposes fertilization to her husband and asks Benedict if he will donate his sperm and select an egg that does not have the dwarf gene so that she will have a healthy baby. Her husband is under the impression that the child is from his sperm.
When the child is born the mother has an aneurism and is in a coma. The father realizes that the child has brown eyes and neither he nor his wife have brown eyes but Benedict has brown eyes. He had thought Benedict was "safe"! He is outraged and does the unthinkable.
It is amazing how the author sneaks up the "truth" on you throughout the book, people discount Benedict as a sexual being, as a potential partner and unwanted mutant; but for circus families, a "normal" child is undesirable. Benedict feels so isolated, misunderstood and ignored, it is tragic. And ironically, he thought he was so wise, knowing all about genetics and finding the answer to dwarfism; and he and his lover thoght they could trick the husband, not realizing that genetics would come to "bite him" again.
Friday, 4 November 2011
The Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes
This book just won the Booker Prize for 2011. It was an interesting, thought provoking but also frustrating book.
The book starts off with a sixty something retired man remembering his life as a young man and his friendship with three other young men, one of whom (Adrian) was consdidered brilliant and expected to excel. The man also recalls a short, painful relationship he had around the same time with a girl named Veronica. She was very mean and critical of him and treated him very badly. Later on Adrian and Veronica let him know that they are in a relationship. After that, the man learns that Adrian has committed suicide, giving a philosophical reason for his decision -- life is a gift you have not asked for, if you don't want it you don't have to accept it...
The man is recalling times with his friends and victory and discusses memories and whether they can be trusted (accurate?). He talks about his very ordinary, boring life inlcuding his marriage and divorce and seems to be apologizing for being so boring and unadventurous.
Then the man receives a notice advising him that he has been bequeathed 500 pounds and Adrian's diary.
He receives the money but not the diary. When he contacts Veronica to try to get the diary she is rude to him and only sends him a photocopy of one page of the diary with a strange formula and which ends with words like If Anothy (the main character).... She also inlcudes a letter, which Tony cannot recall writing, which wishes Adrian and Veronica an unhappy relationship and a child..... and he advises Adrian to check with Veronica's mother...
This prompts Anthony/Tony to try to meet Veronica and she does meet with him but is very rude every time they meet. The last time she drives him to a location and we see her meet some mentally challenged adults her call her Veronica. Tony for some stupid reason, despite how she has treated him in the past and now, starts to imagine he and Veronica in a relationship -- this is totally ludicrous. Why can't this guy learn to stand up for himself and be angry when he is treated shoddily!
Tony comes to believe that his "curse" had come true and feels guilty and what had and then worse when he realizes that Veronica is the handicapped boy's sister not mother.
This was a very interesting story, it makes you think about things one has done in the past and friendships and shows that we often want to reconnect with people to check with them as to their memories of shared events (like the character in Ondaatje's Cat's Table). However, I don't believe the character needs to feel guilty for what happended between Adrian, Veronica and her mother. They were adults and are responsible for their own actions. Adrian, rather than being the brilliant philosopher and genius took the coward's way out.
This book just won the Booker Prize for 2011. It was an interesting, thought provoking but also frustrating book.
The book starts off with a sixty something retired man remembering his life as a young man and his friendship with three other young men, one of whom (Adrian) was consdidered brilliant and expected to excel. The man also recalls a short, painful relationship he had around the same time with a girl named Veronica. She was very mean and critical of him and treated him very badly. Later on Adrian and Veronica let him know that they are in a relationship. After that, the man learns that Adrian has committed suicide, giving a philosophical reason for his decision -- life is a gift you have not asked for, if you don't want it you don't have to accept it...
The man is recalling times with his friends and victory and discusses memories and whether they can be trusted (accurate?). He talks about his very ordinary, boring life inlcuding his marriage and divorce and seems to be apologizing for being so boring and unadventurous.
Then the man receives a notice advising him that he has been bequeathed 500 pounds and Adrian's diary.
He receives the money but not the diary. When he contacts Veronica to try to get the diary she is rude to him and only sends him a photocopy of one page of the diary with a strange formula and which ends with words like If Anothy (the main character).... She also inlcudes a letter, which Tony cannot recall writing, which wishes Adrian and Veronica an unhappy relationship and a child..... and he advises Adrian to check with Veronica's mother...
This prompts Anthony/Tony to try to meet Veronica and she does meet with him but is very rude every time they meet. The last time she drives him to a location and we see her meet some mentally challenged adults her call her Veronica. Tony for some stupid reason, despite how she has treated him in the past and now, starts to imagine he and Veronica in a relationship -- this is totally ludicrous. Why can't this guy learn to stand up for himself and be angry when he is treated shoddily!
Tony comes to believe that his "curse" had come true and feels guilty and what had and then worse when he realizes that Veronica is the handicapped boy's sister not mother.
This was a very interesting story, it makes you think about things one has done in the past and friendships and shows that we often want to reconnect with people to check with them as to their memories of shared events (like the character in Ondaatje's Cat's Table). However, I don't believe the character needs to feel guilty for what happended between Adrian, Veronica and her mother. They were adults and are responsible for their own actions. Adrian, rather than being the brilliant philosopher and genius took the coward's way out.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
The Cat's Table
by Michael Ondaatje
I have heard that people either love or hate Ondaatje. I am in the "love him" category to some degree. I loved The English Patient and I liked The Skin of the Lion, and I thought Anil's Ghost was okay.
I enjoyed this, his newest book, it had, on the one hand, a fascinating story of a young boy's 21 day trip from Sri Lanka to England, leaving behind the country he knew and loved to join a mother he was not sure he would even recognize.
The first part of the story describes the voyage and the cast of unusual characters on the ship. Michael the main character makes friends with two other boys his age and they explore the ship and engage in hijinks, one act of which proves deadly to one of the characters. The boys prowl around the ship exploring all its recesses and often hide out in the lifeboats. They have the opportunity to observe and overhear things from this post. Another part of the story involves a criminal, being transported on the ship and only allowed on deck at night.
The people the boys meet, the things they observe, and the tragedies that occur on the ship change the boys and also Michael's cousin, who is also a passenger on the ship. They move from boyhood rather abruptly as a result of their experiences but are also haunted by what occurred, however, the main character seems to dismiss the events for a good part of his life and only seems to realize their importance later in life. The book leaves a lot of the aspects of what happened on the ship unclear, for e.g. did the pigeon lady actually shoot the police officer and if so why? Did the prisoner and his daughter survive their leap into the water? Did the cousin kill the undercover officer or was she tricked into thinking she did?
The second aspect of the story involves looking back on things that happended in the past to try to understand how they made you the person you have become. Even small things, that seem insignificant at the time, can have an impact or later be recognized as turning points in one's life.
I appreciated the book both for the story of the voyage and also for raising the issues that sometimes we long to reconnect with people who have touched our lives, if only briefly, to confirm our understanding of events and that people can come to a better understanding of themselves through pondering moments and encounters in the past and the influence they have had.
I have heard that people either love or hate Ondaatje. I am in the "love him" category to some degree. I loved The English Patient and I liked The Skin of the Lion, and I thought Anil's Ghost was okay.
I enjoyed this, his newest book, it had, on the one hand, a fascinating story of a young boy's 21 day trip from Sri Lanka to England, leaving behind the country he knew and loved to join a mother he was not sure he would even recognize.
The first part of the story describes the voyage and the cast of unusual characters on the ship. Michael the main character makes friends with two other boys his age and they explore the ship and engage in hijinks, one act of which proves deadly to one of the characters. The boys prowl around the ship exploring all its recesses and often hide out in the lifeboats. They have the opportunity to observe and overhear things from this post. Another part of the story involves a criminal, being transported on the ship and only allowed on deck at night.
The people the boys meet, the things they observe, and the tragedies that occur on the ship change the boys and also Michael's cousin, who is also a passenger on the ship. They move from boyhood rather abruptly as a result of their experiences but are also haunted by what occurred, however, the main character seems to dismiss the events for a good part of his life and only seems to realize their importance later in life. The book leaves a lot of the aspects of what happened on the ship unclear, for e.g. did the pigeon lady actually shoot the police officer and if so why? Did the prisoner and his daughter survive their leap into the water? Did the cousin kill the undercover officer or was she tricked into thinking she did?
The second aspect of the story involves looking back on things that happended in the past to try to understand how they made you the person you have become. Even small things, that seem insignificant at the time, can have an impact or later be recognized as turning points in one's life.
I appreciated the book both for the story of the voyage and also for raising the issues that sometimes we long to reconnect with people who have touched our lives, if only briefly, to confirm our understanding of events and that people can come to a better understanding of themselves through pondering moments and encounters in the past and the influence they have had.
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