Great Harry - Carrolly Erickson

Another tremendous biography by Ms. Erickson. Like Bloody Mary, Great Harry is a vibrant, engaging portrait of life in 1500s England, both the intrigue and lavish splendor of the court, and the violence, ignorance, and squalor of the poor. Ms. Erickson is a master storyteller - King Henry VIII is convincing portrayed as a highly intelligent and ambitious (though flawed) ruler, who is here shown in all his facets and stages - charismatic, handsome, idealistic and beloved in his youth, irascible, peevish, and self-important in his old age, always majestic and awe-inspiring. Hundreds upon hundreds of contemporary quotes are seamlessly woven into this tale, giving it a very rich and authentic flavor of the period and of "Great Harry," as he was called by his adoring subjects in the early years of his reign. A brilliant work, and I can't wait to read more Erickson!

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

In contrast to The Prince and the Pauper, this gorgeous Folio Society Edition is Twain at his most critical, sarcastic and mordant.  The title suggests a romance or comic adventure - the tack taken by the gauzy 1949 movie starring Bing Crosby - but from the very beginning, though wildly funny in places, this is a fierce critique of human nature and society.  And the illustrations, by David Hughes, are perfectly married to this dark text.

Twain wrote the sweet and simple Prince and the Pauper in 1881, followed by Huck Finn - not so sweet or simple - and then Connecticut Yankee in 1889.  While Prince and the Pauper celebrates human mercy, Connecticut Yankee emphasizes

The truth was, the nation as a body was in the world for one object, and one only: to grovel before king and Church and noble; to slave for them, sweat blood for them, starve that they might be fed, work that they might play, drink misery to the dregs that they might be happy, go naked that they might wear silks and jewels, pay taxes that they might be spared paying them, be familiar all their lives with the degrading language and postures of adulation that they might walk in pride and think themselves the gods of this world.  And for all this, the thanks they got were cuffs and contempt; and so poor-spirited were they that they took even this sort of attention as an honor.

There is much humor - some sly (The chapter titled Morgan le Fey starts, "If knights errant were to be believed, not all castles were desirable places to seek hospitality in.") and some uproarious:

It was a very fine show.  In a gallery a band with cymbals, horns, harps, and other horrors, opened the proceedings with what seemed to be the crude first-draft or original agony of the wail known to later centuries as 'In the Sweet By and By'.  It was new, and ought to have been rehearsed a little more.  For some reason or other the queen had the composer hanged after dinner.

But the foundation of the book is the brutal and callous treatment of poor or powerless people by the lords and Church.  Some of these episodes are heart-rending.  And, without spoilers, the conclusion of the book is that in general, men are powerfully molded by society, making it nearly impossible to reform the oppressor or free the oppressed.

This is a powerful and wonderful book, simply but beautifully written, portraying, with love, sympathy, humor and horror, the full range of human behavior.