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August 29, 2006
Books I Read During the Sweltering Heat and Afterwards
New Total: 96
The Tomb of the Golden Bird
by Elizabeth Peters
From Publishers Weekly: The absorbing 18th entry in MWA Grand Master Peters's bestselling Amelia Peabody series (after 2005's The Serpent on the Crown) centers on one of the great real-life discoveries in Egyptology—the opening of Tutankhamon's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Amelia's husband, Radcliffe Emerson (aka "the Father of Curses"), has been wooing Lord Carnavon and Howard Carter to let him excavate in the Valley of the Kings where they have digging rights, leading his competitors to think there must be something worth unearthing in the area. The eventual uncovering of King Tut's burial chamber and its magnificent contents attracts a host of museum curators, antiquities specialists, government officials, reporters and thieves. The arrival of Emerson's shady half-brother, Sethos, desperately ill and carrying a secret document, further complicates a plot involving attacks on the Emerson family, Middle East politics, conspiracies and love affairs. Once again Peters delivers an irresistible mix of archeology, action, humor and a mystery that only the redoubtable Amelia can solve.
My Review: After the doldrums of Empress Orchid, this was a breath of fresh Egyptian air. I *heart* the Emerson family and it makes me sad to know there are no more sequels waiting in my audiobook queue.
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Fury
by Salman Rushdie
From Publishers Weekly: The sea change has invigorated Rushdie. His new novel is very much an American book, a bitingly satiric, often wildly farcical picture of American society in the first years of the 21st century. The twice transplanted protagonist (Bombay born, Cambridge educated, now Manhattan resident) Prof. Malik Solanka is an unimaginably wealthy man, transformed from a philosophy professor into a BBC-TV star, then into the inventor of a wildly popular doll called Little Brain. Compelled to relinquish control of the doll when it metamorphoses into an industry, the furious Solanka flees London for an apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. His prose crackling with irony, Rushdie catches roiling undercurrents of incivility and inchoate anger: in cab drivers, moviegoers and sidewalk pedestrians; in ethnic antagonisms; in political confrontations; and in Solly himself, as he tries to surmount his guilt over having abandoned a loving wife and three-year-old son in England, and as he becomes involved with two new women. Rushdie's brilliantly observant portrait of "this money-mad burg" is mercilessly au courant, with references to George Gush and Al Bore, to Elian and Tony Soprano, and to "shawls made from the chin fluff of extinct mountain goats." The action is helter-skelter fast and refreshingly concise; this is a slender book for Rushdie, and his relatively narrow focus results in a crisper narrative; there are fewer puns and a deeper emotional involvement with his characters. Still, his tendency to go over the top leads to some incredulity for the reader; it's a bit much that short, unprepossessing Solly is a magnet for gorgeous, articulate women, who all tend to speak in the same didactic monologues. On the whole, however, readers will nod in acknowledgement of Rushdie's recognition that "the whole world was burning on a shorter fuse." Rushdie remains a master of satire that rings true with unsettling acuity and dark, comedic brilliance. Agent, Andrew Wylie. 8-city author tour. (Sept. 11)Forecast: Rushdie has never been so sharply observant of the American psyche and the contemporary scene, and thus so relevant to U.S. readers. His increasing visibility after the isolation of the fatwa years should create a buzz of interest in this novel.
My Review: I have never read anything by Rushdie, and truthfully speaking, had only vague notions of why he was an important writer. I can't recall specifically why I had chosen to read (or listen to, rather) Fury and halfway through the audiobook I was still wondering what the point was. Yes, he is witty-- perhaps even a master of satire, but lordy is the book short on coherent plot. It wends its way through incest, psychosis, feminism, September 11th repercussions, and religious intolerance before finally coalescing into a quite entertaining ditty of a story. While I wouldn't exactly recommend this book to my *normal* friends, it was worth the literary effort and made me want to go back and read his more famous works, especially The Satanic Verses.
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The Memory Keeper's Daughter
by Kim Edwards
From Publishers Weekly: Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion.
My Review: After rejecting this book for August's book club selection (and then being overruled), I have to admit that I was caught up in the story from the first page. Tearing through the book like it might vanish into thin air if I put it down, I nevertheless lost steam about halfway through the book. I wasn't sure exactly what changed until I read the Publishers Weekly review above, which hits the nail on the head: it's redundant. Examining the "handicapped daughter given away and believed dead except for the nurse who stole her away" story line from every angle made me truly feel for the characters, but still. By the end of the novel I was relieved to put the book down and step away into the friendlier, less conflicted reality of my own life.
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The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene
From Publishers Weekly: Greene and Elffers have created an heir to Machiavelli's Prince, espousing principles such as, everyone wants more power; emotions, including love, are detrimental; deceit and manipulation are life's paramount tools. Anyone striving for psychological health will be put off at the start, but the authors counter, saying "honesty is indeed a power strategy," and "genuinely innocent people may still be playing for power." Amoral or immoral, this compendium aims to guide those who embrace power as a ruthless game, and will entertain the rest. Elffers's layout (he is identified as the co-conceiver and designer in the press release) is stylish, with short epigrams set in red at the margins. Each law, with such allusive titles as "Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy," "Get Others to Do the Work for You, But Always Take the Credit," "Conceal Your Intentions," is demonstrated in four ways?using it correctly, failing to use it, key aspects of the law and when not to use it. Illustrations are drawn from the courts of modern and ancient Europe, Africa and Asia, and devious strategies culled from well-known personae: Machiavelli, Talleyrand, Bismarck, Catherine the Great, Mao, Kissinger, Haile Selassie, Lola Montes and various con artists of our century. These historical escapades make enjoyable reading, yet by the book's conclusion, some protagonists have appeared too many times and seem drained. Although gentler souls will find this book frightening, those whose moral compass is oriented solely to power will have a perfect vade mecum.
My Review: Fortunately, I'm not a *gentle soul* so this book was perfect for me. Yes, it got a teensy bit repetitive at times, but it was an eye opening look at the power dynamics of interpersonal relationships. In my life, there has been one big nemesis, and reading this book made me realize all the games that we played, the errors in judgment I made, and the ways I should deal with these situations in the future. Yes, dear reader, I even underlined the important parts. Beware crossing my path, and I will crush you completely.
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The Bowl Is Already Broken
by Mary Kay Zuravleff
From Booklist: Promise is having a bad summer. She is unexpectedly and uncomfortably pregnant with her third child. Her affable, activist husband smokes too much pot. Her house is falling apart. Her babysitter is trying to indoctrinate her already neurotic children. To top it all off, Promise has just been named acting director of the Museum of Asian Art, a museum the administration is trying to close. When her best friend, and fellow curator, breaks a porcelain bowl once owned by Thomas Jefferson, it may be the end of all of them, or their saving grace. This enjoyable novel touches on subjects from Asian art and philosophy to cancer and infertility. Although there are a few too many subplots involving characters the author doesn't have time to flesh out, Promise Whittaker is so realistically written she makes those around her look good.
My Review: I loved this book. Partly for its setting in Washington, D.C. (the driving directions were so realistic it could describe my route to the National Mall from Bethesda), partly for its rambling subplots (terrorists in the desert! priceless porcelain bowls broken! embezzlement for fertility treatments! pot-smoking husbands who delight in their fattening pregnant wives!), and partly for its philosophical message--I would recommend this for anyone needing a mix of Buddhist thought and chick lit, in the nicest possible combination.
