Music: Thou in Me Dwelling, and I with Thee One

Arrangement and vocals by Michael Card.

Book Review: A Wreath for Rivera, by Ngaio Marsh

My dear friend Sky recommended Ngaio Marsh to me a number of years ago. I'm sad to say that it's taken this long for me to find even one copy of a book by this acclaimed mystery writer. As I wandered through my local used bookstore, I was delighted to stumble across A Wreath for Rivera. And I was even more delighted when I actually read it.

Marsh has been compared to Agatha Christie, and there are definite similarities (with the exception that Marsh is a better writer). In particular, Marsh can be described as a master of creating colorful characters. For starters, this story has the very vibrant nobleman Lord Pastern and Baggott, known throughout England for his eccentric behavior. This is a man who has embraced virtually everything, from setting up a nudist colony to becoming a jazz drummer. In fact, Lord Pastern's latest project is the jazz band that he has invited into his home. The band is composed of some fairly sketchy characters, including the cocaine-addicted conductor to the very oily accordion player Carlos Rivera. Lord Pastern's wife despises his bizarre antics but puts up with them with the true stiff upper lip. She does have one serious objection to the band, though: her daughter Felicite (the French spelling, since Lady Pastern is French) is enamored of Carlos. And she's thinking of marrying him. And the entire family is horrified.

The action centers around the night the band will perform at the Metronome club. They have planned an exciting conclusion, in which Lord Pastern -- as he wraps up his drum solo -- will fire blanks at Rivera, who will then pretend to die. (I'm still not sure why they wanted to do this, but I think it has something to do with the song they were playing and the overall kookiness of this group.) With this kind of set-up, the inevitable occurs. The gun goes off; Rivera falls; and it is later discovered that he is dead. But the twist is that Rivera doesn't die from a gunshot wound. He dies from some kind of spear or knife wound, and the police suspect that it might have been driven into the barrel of the gun to be propelled into his chest when the gun was fired. It's a strange kind of crime, and the mystery proves to be full of all kinds of tangles that obscure the real killer and the real crime. Fortunately, Inspector Roderick Alleyn is on the case, and he helps to make sense of the confusion. As far as mysteries go, this one is a blast.

Alas, it looks like Marsh's books are not easy to come by, no matter what. But I can promise you that this introduction to her mysteries is enough to keep me on the hunt. So, if you find one, grab it and go for it. You won't be sorry.

Year of publication: 1949
Number of pages: 336

Book Review: The Case for Books, by Robert Darnton

This is an excellent example of a book that is promising in title and disappointing in substance. Perhaps my disappointment is one of high expectations and not having those expectations fulfilled. For the record: this isn't a bad book, by any means. The author is a distinguished scholar and is currently the head of Harvard's library system. What is more, the writing indicates that he is a thoughtful academic with extensive knowledge and excellent skills of analysis and reasoning.

The real problem is that this book doesn't exactly have a point. Granted, it's more of a collection of essays than a linear argument, but even the essays don't clearly pull together to reflect the title of the book. Part of me wonders if this book wasn't Dr Darnton's way of publishing a group of essays that had been sitting around for some time and that all had something to do with books. In fact, he mentions before several essays that the original essay is several decades old and that he reviewed and revised it for the book. There's nothing really wrong with doing this, per se, but at times I felt as though Dr Darnton just wanted an excuse to publish otherwise mediocre scholarly essays.

The book isn't a complete loss, of course. Dr Darnton makes some excellent arguments for the continuity of print books alongside the advent of electronic books. I just wish the argument had been more coherent. This might be more of my problem than the book's, but I didn't really enjoy this particular tome, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a great discussion of the conflict between print literature and e-books.

Year of publication: 2009
Number of pages: 240

Music: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1

Extraordinary.

Poetry Study: Profuse Strains of Unpremeditated Art

I was reading Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark," the other day and was struck by the last few stanzas:

We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Yet, if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear,
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.

Better than all measures
Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books are found,
Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know;
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow,
The world should listen then, as I am listening now.

Prayer Request

This one isn't for me but rather for one of my students. As the details were given to me in private, I can't be specific. In short, this student has received devastating health news about her child, and she has requested prayer. So, I'm sending a quiet request out to all prayer warriors for this student and her family.

Quizzes

Okay, so Carrie tempted me to do these quizzes.

You Are Fantasy / Sci Fi

You have an amazing imagination, and in your mind, all things are possible. You are open minded, and you find the future exciting. You crave novelty and progress. Compared to most people, you are quirky and even a bit eccentric. You have some wacky ideas. And while you may be a bit off the wall, there's no denying how insightful and creative you are.

What Kind of Book Are You?

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

Also, it would seem that I'm an Electic Reader:

You read for entertainment but also to expand your mind. You're open to new ideas and new writers, and are not wedded to a particular genre or limited range of authors.

I question the truth of the latter, since I feel as though my reviews seem fairly "wedded to a particularly genre or limited range of authors."

I declined to complete the "Which L.M. Montgomery character are you?" quiz, because I saw the word "utensils" (as in "writing utensils") spelled "eutensils" on one of the quiz questions. How am I supposed to take that seriously?

It Made My Day...Dwell in Possibility Edition

There's a great website called It Made My Day, where people can post experiences that gave them a smile. Here's mine:

This afternoon, we drove to Frankenmuth to walk around and meander through our favorite shops there. We saw a couple with a fully grown St. Bernard (which was genuinely huge), and there were four Japanese tourists taking photographs of and with it. I almost took a picture of the Japanese tourists taking the picture of the dog. It was great.

Book Review: The Murder Room, by P.D. James

Sadly, the local branch of my library has a limited supply of mysteries by P.D. James, but at least this one was in stock. I'm increasingly impressed by James's work, even more so after I viewed the film versions. In all truth, I don't know that the film versions are all that good as films, but they do convey the complexity of storyline that James creates in her mysteries.

The Murder Room is no different, although I did feel that it isn't necessarily her best story. It is worth reading, however, and especially for fans of James. The story revolves around the fictional Dupayne Museum, a private museum located in Hampstead Heath with a collection that focuses on the years between WWI and WWII. The founder of the museum, Max Dupayne, left the trust of it to his three children, and as the story opens the siblings are in the process of trying to decide whether or not to renew the lease on the museum and thus keep it going. Marcus and Caroline Dupayne are in support of the venture, while their brother Neville opposes it. The siblings hold a meeting; Neville puts his foot down and refuses to sign the lease (and the signatures of all siblings are required in order to renew the lease); and the situation remains at a standstill.

And then Neville is doused with gasoline and set on fire in his car one night, thereby ending his objection to the lease and giving his siblings the opportunity to continue the museum.

This might sound like a simple solution, but circumstances and sibling love indicate immediately that Marcus and Caroline are not responsible for their brother's death, nor would they have wished such an ending on him or anyone else. This does not mean that they don't have their own secrets that play into the story, but Inspector Adam Dalgliesh (who is featured in this story) eliminates them as suspects rather quickly. That leaves a variety of other suspects who had either an interest in the museum or a professional grievance against Neville, who is a psychiatrist by profession.

In the days that follow, Dalgliesh must weed through the details and lies that he encounters and locate the one who has committed this ghastly crime. The mystery genre tends to be one of problem > solution, as in this is a genre in which a problem is stated (i.e., a crime) and a solution must be found (i.e., the crime is solved). This does not mean that the solution is altogether satisfying, and James's novels tend to leave the reader with the feeling that discovering the murderer makes life feel a little less satisfying, even when justice is served. This isn't to say that the reader sympathizes much with the character who has committed the murder (and in this story I don't think the murderer is portrayed as being terribly sympathetic) but that realizing such evil exists and that someone is willing to perpetrate such a crime shows just how corrupt the world really can be.

This being said, I do recommend The Murder Room, if only because it is a mystery by P.D James and because her writing is always excellent -- even when she isn't necessarily at her best.

Year of publication: 2004
Number of pages: 432

Poetry Study: Eastern Exiles and Purple Moats

Don't think too hard about it.

That's the beauty of Emily Dickinson. I told my students recently that understanding her poetry is like looking at the stars when the sky isn't all that dark. If you look directly at them, you often can't see the light anymore, but if you turn your head and look out of your periphery the light becomes visible again. With Dickinson, I tend to think that she makes the most sense when you don't look directly into her poetry for the meaning but instead turn and tilt your head a little and just let the meaning appear to you.

It's not a perfect analogy by any means, but it's the only way I can think of describing it.

The lonesome for they know not What —
The Eastern Exiles — be —
Who strayed beyond the Amber line
Some madder Holiday —

And ever since — the purple Moat
They strive to climb — in vain —
As Birds — that tumble from the clouds
Do fumble at the strain —

The Blessed Ether — taught them —
Some Transatlantic Morn —
When Heaven — was too common — to miss —
Too sure — to dote upon!

Source

Music: Finlandia

Just something to enjoy.

Book Review: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, by Umberto Eco

I liked this book. Well, I think I liked it. I didn't not like it, so that has to mean something.

Liking it and understanding it, however, are very different things, I've discovered. This story is either highly complex or so simplistic that I missed its point. A part of me wonders if Umberto Eco just came up with the idea and decided to go with it because it was somewhat fun and fairly original. If nothing else, it's kind of a good time, so I enjoyed reading it even if I didn't really get it.

In summary, Yambo is a sixty-something rare art dealer from Milan who wakes up one day in the hospital only to discover that he's lost his memory. (From what exactly I never quite figured out. A fall? Perhaps. A stroke? Possibly, if that's medically possible. The how of the memory loss isn't too important, but it did leave me a little mystified.) With this memory loss, however, has come a strange side effect: he has no idea who he is, who is family is, what his life has been like, and so forth, but he can remember vast passages from various works of literature. As a plot summary, this actually seems really interesting, and this is the reason I pulled the book off the library shelf. I was hoping for the story to turn into a beautifully layered rediscovery for Yambo of his life through the pages of literature -- who he is through how he relates to characters he appreciates and stories and poems that have affected him. It sort of starts in this direction, but then it wanders a little.

The book is actually divided into three parts. In Part 1, Yambo has had his episode, lost his memory, and found out he has a whole life he knows nothing about. A few important themes start popping up, including the entire concept of memory (much of which Yambo has blocked out, due to some unhappy childhood and early youth experiences). Another theme becomes that of fog, which is highly appropriate given Yambo's condition. (It turns out that prior to his episode he was actually an eager collector of literature on fog -- and fog becomes quite literal later in the story as he begins rediscovering his memory.) The final theme is that of women, as Yambo starts fresh with taking stock of the women that surround him: his wife Paola, his daughters (who don't really do much, so I've forgotten their names), and his very lovely bookstore assistant Sibilla. Yambo finds the challenge of sorting through all of the memory loss a bit challenging, so his wife recommends a stay at his childhood home in Solara.

Part 2 of the book centers around Solara and what Yambo learns while he is there. For me, this was simultaneously the best and the worst part of the story. It is as though Eco decided to rediscover his own childhood memories and experiences by taking the reader through Yambo's attic. For starters, Yambo is Italian and grew up under Mussolini. So, his attic is filled to the brim with a variety of things that meant absolutely nothing to me: music, comic books, candy and cigarette tins, propaganda paperwork, and so forth. Great fun for someone that is familiar with all of this but altogether a little confusing for me. Eco more or less inundates the reader with this material, but I suppose the reader is in good company, because in truth Yambo doesn't have any real connection to these things either. He knows that they're a part of his past, but he can't remember that past. (I suspect, though, that he has more fun going through the junk than the reader does.) The only time it gets interesting is when Yambo finds out that he was apparently in love with a young lady during his teen years (ironically named Sibilla) and that he had hoped to find her again one day. After a phone call to his best friend, he learns that just before his initial episode he had discovered something startling and tragic about this early love of his life.

In Part 3, Yambo has another episode, apparently precipitated by his realization that his grandfather (also a rare book dealer) owned an original Folio of Shakespeare's plays. This in itself is an odd moment, because Part 2 ends with the event, and Part 3 opens with Yambo in his new foggy state -- so I just assumed there was a connection. Maybe not. Difficult to say for sure. Anyway, Part 3 continues with Yambo's memories coming back to him while he seems to be semi-conscious. Basically, what happens is all of that ephemera from Part 2 becomes relevant and clicks into place, and all of the little bits and pieces from his life that he had been collecting in Parts 1 and 2 become a clearly woven story. But then it gets kind of weird again and lost me toward the end as Yambo starts hallucinating and begins creating a new story of moving past the fog into the light. And you can pretty much guess what happens from there. No spoilers intended, but the ending isn't surprising.

So, there you go. An interesting, if slightly bizarre book. I'm an Eco fan, but I don't know if I'd call it one of his best. I guess it depends on how much of an Eco fan the reader is and how the reader rates his different books. For me, this one wasn't an essential read, although it was an enjoyable one. I'd say go for it if you're game for something a bit different, but skip it if you want a more traditional storyline. As a quick word of warning, don't try to pick it up unless you have fairly long periods of time to devote to reading it. There's too much happening, and it can be easy to lose the flow of the plot. This is the type of book that requires a couple of hours in each sitting.

Year of publication: 2005
Number of pages: 480

Music: Chaminade

Exquisite.