My Brilliant Friend

The first of Elena Ferrante's four novels, which constitute the Neapolitan Quartet.  This is a powerful coming-of-age story, telling of two young girls growing up in a poor neighborhood of Naples in the 1950's, whose lives are closely intertwined, as friends and rivals, each extraordinary.  Through much of the book, the title seems clearly to refer to Lila, who is strong, fiercely independent, highly intelligent and self-taught:

Lila, too, at a certain point had seemed very beautiful to me.  In general I was the pretty one, while she was skinny, like a salted anchovy, she gave off an odor of wildness, she had a long face, narrow at the temples, framed by two bands of smooth black hair. But when she decided to vanquish both Alfonso and Enzo, she had lighted up like a holy warrior. Her cheeks flushed, the sign of a flame released by every corner of her body, and for the first time I thought: Lila is prettier than I am.  So I was second in everything. I hoped that no one would ever realize it. 

But at times, "brilliant friend" seems to apply instead to the more scholarly, but sometimes timid Elena, as the frequently tense relationship between the two see-saws back and forth.  The events that occur in the book are seemingly ordinary but they are charged with an intensity that is compelling. 

The Cold Dish

I don't remember how I first heard about Tony Hillerman books, but I loved them and read every one.  Hillerman died in 2008, bringing an end to the fascinating and gentle series of mysteries set in the four corners region and featuring Lieutenant Leaphorn of the Navaho Tribal Police.  Later, by chance, I read somewhere that Hillerman had been inspired by Arthur Upfield's books, satisfying mysteries set in Australia and invariably solved through the patience, charm and relentless logic of half-British, half-aboriginal Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony).  I read all of these, but, alas, Upfield is also deceased.

Happily, on my recent flight back to Cincinnati from a Seattle visit, I chatted with a seatmate from Logan, Utah, who recommended the Walt Longmire series written by Craig Johnson!  As its title suggests, the book is about revenge ("a dish best served cold" -Les Liaisons Dangereuses) - Here I will omit spoilers and demi-spoilers, skipping all plot description, and just say that the story features the rugged landscape and weather of Wyoming, its tough and independent citizens, including the Cheyenne....and a generous dose of laugh-out-loud humor.  I loved it.  On to to Death Without Company, book #2 of more than a dozen in the series.

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing AND The Case of the Missing Servant

Tarquin Hall's mystery is light, comical and very entertaining.  Distinguished scientist and Guru Buster, Dr. Suresh Jha, receives a very specific death threat. The next morning, the committed rationalist attends his regular exercise/self-improvement group, the Rajpath Laughing Group, at a public park.

Suddenly, while Professor Pandey is telling a knock-knock joke that convulses the group members, a mist begins to form around their ankles and rises to their shins, and then higher.  The sky darkens, dogs bark, and then, appearing out of the mist, high above the ground, is the hideous face of Kali, the Indian goddess of time, creation, destruction and power, the destroyer of evil forces.  Facing Dr. Jha, she screams "You who have dared to insult me! You who have dared to mock my power!You will taste blood!", and thrusts a sword deep into his chest.

Kali

A video, taken by a passing French tourist, is broadcast on the all major news stations and the impossibility of any material explanation for these startling events convinces millions that Kali has miraculously appeared and wreaked vengeance on Dr. Jha.

Later that day, Most Private Investigator Vish Puri is visited by Inspector Singh, who asks for his help in investigating the circumstances of Dr. Jha's death.  Most Private Investigator Puri kicks into action, with frequent food breaks for his favorite Punjabi dishes; thanks to a glossary at the end of the book, this provides a valuable catalog of Indian snacks.

A very entertaining mystery, with a couple amusing side-plots, lots of colorful characters, and whimsical commentary on life in India - a quick and diverting read!

Just ran across another Vish Puri mystery on our library's Staff Picks shelf...once again, I thought the story was lively and very amusing - and I enjoyed The Case of the Missing Servant even more than the first one I read.  These are wonderful, light reads - highly recommended!

The Fifth Risk

Michael Lewis is extraordinarily talented - he's whip smart, a terrific story-teller, and has a great sense of humor.  His books are seemingly quite diverse - Liar's Poker and The Big Short are about Wall Street, Moneyball describes how data analysis revolutionized baseball, Blind Side explains why offensive left tackles were the second-highest paid position on a football team, The Undoing Project profiles two psychologists who overturned widely accepted theories about how the mind works - but a common thread is that these books generally deal with economic issues and how they impact society.  They're wonderful reads because Lewis has a gift for explaining difficult topics clearly, mainly by profiling key individuals through arresting or amusing anecdotes.

The book is inspiring in its portrayal of several very knowledgeable and intelligent governmental officials (in the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Agriculture, and the NOAA), who chose government out of a desire to help their country.  This idealistic commitment is contrasted with several accounts of the appallingly ignorant and selfish perspective of many Trump appointees during formation of the new Trump government.  Immediately after being elected, the President Elect is required by law to form a transition team.

The first time Donald Trump paid any attention to any of this was when he read about it in the newspaper.  The story revealed that Trump's very own transition team, led by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, had raised several million dollars to pay the staff.  The moment he saw it, Trump called Steve Bannon, the chief executive of his campaign......and told him to come immediately to his residence, many floors above. Bannon stepped off the elevator to find the governor of New Jersey seated on a sofa, being hollered at. Trump was apoplectic, actually yelling You're stealing my money! You're stealing my fucking money! What the fuck is this?? Seeing Bannon, Trump turned on him and screamed, Why are you letting him steal my fucking money? Bannon and Christie together set out to explain to Trump federal law........  To which Trump replied, Fuck the law. I don't give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money. Bannon and Christie tried to explain that Trump couldn't have both his money and a transition.  

Shut it down, said Trump.  Shut down the transition.  

Bannon asked Trump: "What do you think MorningJoe will say if you shut down your transition?" Bannon suggested MorningJoe would say it was because Trump didn't think he had any chance of being elected.  Trump stopped hollering.  For the first time, he seemed actually to have listened. "That makes sense," he said.

The cover and back of the book offer a hint as to its contents: careless removal of jenga pieces will cause the structure to collapse; in this book, the "structure" is the US government.   The title?  Well, a few months after the transition, when senior administrators in different departments were dismissed and/or ignored, Lewis interviewed many of them to find out what they would have told the incoming administrators about the issues currently facing the department. 

As an example, he spoke at some length with John MacWilliams, a super bright guy who had had an interesting and varied career: graduated from Stanford and Harvard Law School, worked for a law firm, then as an investment advisor for the energy sector at Goldman Sachs, wrote a novel, started and sold a private investment firm - and, at the request of MIT nuclear physicist Ernie Moniz, who had just been named Secretary of Energy, joined the DOE as their first-ever chief risk officer.  (McWilliams confessed that when he first joined DOE, he knew next to nothing about what it did - but dove in and eventually learned that about half its budget went to maintaining the nuclear arsenal and protecting America from nuclear threats.  Another quarter was devoted to cleaning up  contamination associated with production of nuclear weapons, and the remaining budget supported access and use of energy).

Lewis asked him how he would have briefed a new DOE appointee on the 5 greatest risks facing the DOE.  MacWilliams said Risk 1 was a nuclear weapons accident (A "Broken Arrow" incident).  He identified Risk 2 as North Korea ("The risk of mistakes being made and lots of people being killed is increasing dramatically.  It wouldn't necessarily be a nuclear weapon they might deliver. It could be sarin gas").  He suggested that Iran is "in the top 5" - at the time of writing, the deal with Iran had been concluded and "the serious risk in Iran wasn't that the Iranians would secretly acquire a weapon. It was that the president of the United States would not understand the nuclear scientists' reasoning about the unlikelihood of the Iranians' obtaining a weapon, and that he would have the United States back away foolishly from the deal." MacWilliams gave some past examples of Risk 4, which could be distilled down to the difficulty of imagining unexpected risks.  The Fifth Risk?  "Project Management," was all he said.

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

This month's bookclub book is Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. I really enjoyed this highly original bit of sci-fi, which covers the period just before, during, and after a massive plague that wipes out 99.9% of humanity. Although many characters are followed over the course of the novel, it revolves most closely around the experiences of a loosely connected band of individuals - a famous Shakespearean actor (Arthur Leander), a child actress he once befriended (Kirsten Raymonde), his graphic artist ex-wife (Miranda Carroll), his current actress wife (Elizabeth) and son (Tyler), his close friend (Clark Thompson), and a paparazzo-turned-paramedic (Jeevan Chaudhary) who used to stalk him.

Station Eleven is a highly sensitive portrayal of human character, in all its beauty, ugliness, vanity, and complexities, and a compelling envisioning of what our post-apocalyptic society might look like.

I especially enjoyed the scenes with Miranda, whose magnum opus is the eponymous comic book series, Station Eleven. Her art is described in vivid terms, and its themes of isolation, longing, and exploration prefigure and contextualize the novel's broader themes.

Definitely recommend!

Madonna in a Fur Coat - Sabahattin Ali

For July's bookclub, we read Sabahattin Ali's Madonna in a Fur Coat, a very interesting and enjoyable read, although a sorrowful one. Madeline recommended this book, after reading a piece on it in the New York Times ("A Once-Forgotten Novel Unites Turkish Readers in Troubled Times").

The novel's frame is a young man who becomes deeply interested in one of his colleagues, an older German/Turkish translator named Raif Effendi. Raif seems a perfect nebbish, always being berated by his superior and never raising a word of complaint. He piques the young man's interest one day, however, when he suddenly dashes off a quick sketch that brilliantly reveals his superior's brutish yet pathetically miserable ego. After that, the narrator becomes determined to understand the mysterious Raif, despite all obstacles.

The story is ultimately a love story, although a highly unusual one, due to the unexpected gender nonconformity of the protagonists. Raif is hobbled in 1920s society by his "girlish" innocence, and he falls madly in love with the titular "Madonna," a "mannishly" outspoken and independent painter woman he befriends. The two bond powerfully, but struggle to find a relationship that fits their needs.

Beautifully written and surprisingly poignant - would definitely recommend.

Astoria - Peter Stark

Our May bookclub book was Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival, by Peter Stark. Nate recommended this one, and I really enjoyed it!

Astoria is a remarkable true tale of ambition, wilderness exploration, and hardship, recounting John Jacob Astor's efforts to establish the first American outpost in the Pacific Northwest, as a means of building a hugely profitable global trading empire. Astor was a friend of Thomas Jefferson's, and undertook the mission with his support.

While Astor remained comfortably lodged at home in his mansion in New York, he sent two parties, an overland and an oversea party, to try to forge a path through the wilderness, and meet up in present-day Astoria, Oregon (about a 2 hour drive northeast of Portland, on the Columbia River and coast of the Pacific Ocean). The story covers the 3 years of their expedition, from 1810-1813.

Astor was an incredibly far-seeing and enterprising person, and he did his utmost to select the very best men and equipment for his missions. Even still, the journeys were incredibly brutal, owing in part to the roughness of the unknown terrain, physical hardship and starvation, and constant stress from fear of Native American attack, and in part due to interpersonal conflicts and ignorance among the party members themselves.

A fascinating story! Definitely recommend, especially for Pacific Northwest enthusiasts.