Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories

Breakfast at Tiffany's, featuring Capote's most memorable character, Holly Golightly, is a breezy and captivating story with a perfect concoction of wit, dramatic confrontations, breathless innocence, and lost youth.  Lovely writing - I plan never to spoil it by seeing the movie!  The short stories in this volume were also quite wonderful....very evocative, often funny, and very touching.

Cold Days

"Cold Days", despite what you might expect from the name, is not a heartrending tale concerning furnace malfunctions, but, rather, is the 14th book in the fantasy series, "The Harry Dresden Files", a series which I have been reading for many years now, and have thoroughly enjoyed. And yes, you read that corrrectly: Jim Butcher has 14 books in the series, which beats out just about every other fantasy series I've known (except maybe for the Dragonlance chronicles, but since those are mass-produced by monkeys at typewriters, there is no comparison).

Like the other Dresden books, it was an extremely enjoyable mix of witty banter and fast-paced action, with a hint of mystery and obfuscation that made the big reveal at the book's denouement as enjoyable as laying out a full house in poker. Here, however, is when I am forced to stoop to criticism. Fans everywhere, be warned: Dresden, though it has held out for many years, has begun to reach the point of serialization.

What do I mean by this? Think James Bond: it's the exact same plot in a different country each time. Shark attacks are replaced by barfights, blondes are replaced by brunettes, and Sean Connery is replaced by Daniel Craig (though you can thank the lord that we'll always have the same Harry Dresden, assuming Jim Butcher doesn't die in a tragic automobile accident). The point is, Butcher has run out of new plot devices, and has been forced to reuse all his old characters without adding anything particularly shiny or new to any of them.

This does not mean I did not enjoy the book: in fact, it felt good to re-visit old themes, and appreciate how far things have come since the very first book. If you want a good read, this one is a winner, though reading the first 13 is beneficial (and, in fact, necessary). Just don't expect it to be full of fireworks as the previous books were.

Just finished The Mystery of Swordfish Reef and The Devil's Steps, two more Bony mysteries from Arthur Upfield. I enjoyed Swordfish Reef, but it was an indifferent mystery and was not so strong in the other elements that characterize the best Bony mysteries: delightful interactions between Bony and one or more women characters, and the presence of unusual, eccentric, or oddball "characters" that provide excellent seasoning to the main course. In this book, the main interest was several descriptions of swordfish fishing, which were fascinating and exciting.

The Devil's Steps, in contrast, was excellent! A tantalizing mystery, several interesting and unusual characters, a striking visual image (the Devil's Steps), and interesting interactions between Bony and the proprietress of Wideview Chalet. Bony is a guest at this luxury resort, investigating a man believed to be carrying secret German plans, when the man is killed. Bony must disentangle the efforts of three different groups seeking the same man and perhaps the same plans. Bony strikes up an alliance with Bisker, a rough, hard-drinking former bushman, working at the Chalet and also associates with a mysterious author who lives nearby - and whose feet are gigantic - and, possibly, responsible for the size-twelve Devil's Steps "burned into" the spacious lawn of the Chalet, but only revealed when the lawn is mowed! Lots of action, lots of suspense, amidst beautiful scenery and dangerous adversaries. Great read!

The Dirty Life

This excellent book is kind of a family chain-letter. First read, I think, by Jillian, who gave it to Marcia, who gave it to Karen, who gave it to Linda, who gave it to me! Who's next? Don't break the chain!

Kristin Kimball was an archetypal New York free-lance writer, pitching a story on the local organic food farm scene. She interviews the highly energetic and charismatic Mark, and before you know it, has abandoned her New York apartment, singles scene and budding writing career for a truer, close-to-the-earth life.

But wait! Farming, as Mark wants to do it, growing everything a small upstate NY community needs and selling to customers who would contract for a season's worth of produce, herbs, maple syrup, dairy products and meat, is crazy ambitious and exhausting! Kristin works so hard, she nearly forgets that she has trouble committing to a relationship, even to someone as solid, admirable, (and manic) as Mark. But plans for a farm-based wedding move ahead at breakneck speed, even though Mark and Kristin have no time to buy wedding clothes, fix up the barn, repair the house, find enough chairs, and prepare for guests. OK, no spoilers - you have to read it to find out how these dilemmas are resolved. And you should read it, because Kristin is a hell of a writer. The wonderfully lyrical descriptions of fields, flowers, horses, and home are kept in balance by the her superb ability to convey the crushing workload, heartaches, and pain of farming. Really a terrific read!

Bony Mysteries by Arthur Upfield

Just finished two more Bony mysteries by Arthur Upfield. The first, Bushranger of the Skies, is one of the best of the series: It starts quickly, with dramatic action. Bony is called to central Australia to investigate unsolved murders and, while approaching the settlement on foot, sees a police car bombed from a small but swift plane, and narrowly misses being bombed himself. The strong-willed owner of the station, called The MacPherson, by the local aborigines, stonewalls Bony's attempts to investigate. Despite The MacPherson's vehement and threatening opposition, Bony persists in his investigation and quickly identifies the perpetrator of the crimes. The exciting remainder of the story deals with the challenging task of apprehending this lunatic. This book is filled with memorable characters, such as Burning Water, a half-caste like Bony, and chief of the local tribe - handsome, intelligent, powerful, and light-hearted but fiercely loyal to The MacPherson. In fact, Burning Water is one embodiment of the underlying theme of the book, spelled out in an early conversation between Bony and The MacPherson's niece:

Niece: "What makes the world go round?"
"Money."
"No."
"Love?"
"No. I'll tell you. It's loyalty. Only the basest of us are not actuated by loyalty: loyalty to one's class, to one's people, to one's ideals."

Wonderful story!

Then I read Mr. Jelly's Business - even better than Bushranger! After quite a bit of drinking, a farmer jumps in his car to head home, passes his correct turn and runs up to the Number 1 Rabbit Fence, requiring him to back the car up to make a right turn...but he veers off into a ditch containing a large pipe, which traps the car. He is not hurt, so gets out of the car and.......vanishes. Days and then weeks go by. Has he "taken a bunk?" Or been murdered? The open country provides little cover for hiding a body. Bony takes a job working on the Rabbit Fence and systematically examines the ground, meets the man's wife and neighbors, and initiates investigations into the man's recent travels and financial situation. One neighbor is the very mysterious Mr. Jelly, who intermittently goes away for a few days, returning haggard but wealthier, and his charming and sensible daughter Lucy and her younger sister, the delightful Sunflower. This is an excellent mystery, and a compelling story with very emotional scenes between Bony and these daughters, and an extremely tense search that must be completed before the homeowners return. Outstanding!

City of Light - Lauren Belfer

City of Light was the debut novel of Lauren Belfer - who wrote Fierce Radiance, reviewed by Eileen previously. The book is kind of a cross between Edith Wharton in Buffalo and PD James! An interesting portrait of, and commentary on, wealthy upper class families in Buffalo in the early 1900's, with a fascinating account of the development of hydroelectric power using water bypassed from the Falls - which aroused passionate opposition from those who revered nature, worshipping the majesty and beauty of the Falls and opposing the forces for development. The main character, Miss Barret, Headmistress of a prestigious girls' academy, is a self-made and independent woman, living within these currents, but unaware of how they direct her life, until she becomes embroiled in a mysterious murder. Ms. Belfer's novels are rich in history and human interaction, powerfully emotional, and compelling. City of Light is not as polished as Fierce Radiance, but is a very worthwhile read - with a bonus for those of us who know Buffalo! For example, a whole chapter is devoted to Elbert Hubbard, the Leader of the Roycroft artists' commune. A hoot! He is depicted as a charming, savvy, and clear-eyed opportunist! Worth the price of admission.

The Dante Club is the first novel, a mystery, by Matthew Pearl, who developed it from a senior thesis completed while he was an undergrad at Harvard - quite a spectacular debut, featuring intimate and fascinating knowledge of Dante's Commedia and the "Club" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., James Russell Lowell and others - that first translated it into English. In a sharp parallel with current events, the story also explores the fate of veterans of the civil war, returning to civilized Boston after enduring unimaginable horrors on the battlefield. These subjects combine in a series of meticulous and grisly murders, carried out with fidelity to some of the punishments in The Inferno. Quite a good read!