Where They're Too Beautiful to Care

The Ivory Mischief by Arthur Meeker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'd never heard of this novel when I picked it up in a library bookstore. I just liked the looks of the hardcover--that was what sold me.

It's a great novel. It took me some time to read, but I loved it, and I am struggling to explain to myself what exactly held my attention so long. The genre isn't exactly my thing--straightforward historical novel, leaning more literary than popular, though it apparently was very successful in its day, that being the early 1940s.

Set mostly in France in the late 1600s, it is the story of two beautiful, rich sisters, Magdelon and Cateau. Cateau is the clever one, Magdelon the sweet one; Cateau has more beauty and more lovers, and is more adept in society; Magdelon makes a better marriage and has children and grandchildren, a family life her sister never achieves. But despite their differences, they remain close and live lives more similar than different. Both spend decades in the public eye, wearing the most expensive clothes, taking lovers almost without discretion. Both behave throughout the years of their youth and beauty as if nothing will ever change and the world will always be at their feet. But the novel follows them through their fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties, and we see them desperate and afraid for their souls when everything has been taken from them except each other (and Cateau's money, which they both live on).

Much of the novel is about their earlier years and their brilliant careers as fashion leaders, invited to dances and parties and dinners almost every day of the week. The men in their lives come and go, off to war each year, sometimes not to return. Cateau especially seems to have everything anyone could want, but even rich beauties are not immune to grief and loss. Nor is she or her sister immune to befriending the wrong people, or being too flagrant in their disregard for decorum, and both spend years in hiding, if not repentance, until their fortunes brighten once more.

And all of this is true. The novel is fiction, filled with scenes and events and dialogue that is invented, but the people (I don't say characters) were real, and lived these very lives, rising and falling in public esteem, in wealth, in fortune, as found in letters and other documents from the times. In a real sense, this is their joint biography, if somewhat embroidered. And so the ending, which leads us to their passing months apart in their eighties, is more than usually poignant. It's like we knew them as very young women, right around twenty, with all of their lives ahead of them, and fast-forwarded (well, through about 700 pages) to gray hair, failing memory, and anonymity. I found it very touching.

Maybe every tenth or twentieth book I concern myself with prose. It's not one of my cares, usually. But when it's striking, as it is in this novel, I become aware of how much I approve of it. A dull story with brilliant prose means no more to me than a lovingly-painted image of garbage (I don't know; that might be cool, after all...) but an engaging, lively, stimulating novel with amazing prose is fantastic. Meeker uses a lot of ellipses and em-dashes and parentheses, a style I actually vibe with, and I find it adds to rather than detracts from comprehension. Maybe it's just me. Here's a taste literally at random, from page 340:

At thirty-eight--an age at which most of her contemporaries were grandmothers--the Comtesse d'Olonne [Cateau] was still a beautiful young woman. Her outline was as slender and graceful as ever; her eyes were as blue, her curls quite as yellow--or very nearly: Cateau had lately fancied that they were losing something of their new-minted glitter and had experimented, in spite of La Martin's vigorous protests, with various blond powders, none of which, fortunately, had done any lasting damage. Her complexion, too, had retained its pure ivory pallor [the ivory of the title, btw], so that even from as close a point of vantage as her own dressing-table mirror Madame d'Olonne appeared to be the same white-and-gold idol that had been the admiration of Paris for two decades.

Is it more a novel of manners? Maybe so. It reads like many 19th Century novels, for sure. It's beautifully done, whatever category we want to put it in, and I would love it if more people knew about it. And it makes me wonder how many such novels are waiting in bookstores and basements that cry out to be read, like this one did.

Highly recommended.

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Where Robert Langdon Follows Some Artsy Clues

Inferno by Dan Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I always like Dan Brown books. He knows how to write a thriller that keeps you guessing and takes you all over the world. For me, that's fun. 4 stars.

Ever since the Da Vinci Code, he's been the target of haters, and I don't get it. If I don't like an author, they disappear from my life. But people will hate-read his books and then bang on about how badly written they are or how they hate the tropes he uses, whatever. And a lot of Catholics seem to think, still, that he's trying to take down their religion, and he gets accused of anti-Catholic bias because of it. It's a fundamental misreading of fiction. We *know* this is a made-up story, and we aren't confused by that. Rome is real; Robert Langdon is not. Conspiracy theories make for fun stories, where wild ideas that are *theoretically* possible are strung into a great "what if?" and we all take a ride.

That's what we do here. Nobody thinks this is journalism. Nobody's picking on you or attacking you.

Final word on that sermon--if it's not fun, don't read it. So many other good books to read. Skip this one.

I had forgotten how quickly he drags you from chapter to chapter, from scene to scene, whisking the reader into a confusing state of chases, riddles, exotic locales, and literature coming to life. It's a great mix, and most of the time it works well. Bestsellers are about movement and excitement and action, about big ideas splashing across wide landscapes, and that's what we get in this novel. One of the best things about his writing is that he has a great formula. One of the worst things is that sometimes you get tired of the formula. For me, that's why this is a great 4-star book but I couldn't go to five.

My favorite stuff is the travel. I've not been many places in Europe, but I've been to Florence, and it's amazing to see all of the things behind the scenes, or in the attics, or under the stones. That's a big part of his formula. There's also Venice, with all kinds of behind the scenes looks at St. Marks. then there's Istanbul, which gets a similar treatment. Robert and his allies are trying to stop someone from doing a thing that will be real bad, and hints and clues have them hopping from one city to the next, always a little late... but--all together now--that's the formula.

He also gives us the brand names of everything the professionals use--what kind of helicopter, what kind of laser pointer, what kind of boat--and I actually dig that. It's super easy to lampoon, especially if you read it in your head in a Leslie Nielsen kind of voice, but despite that I still like it, and he knows it lends a kind of competence to his characters, as if they know they are using the very best equipment because they are professionals. It works for me.

What I'm tired of are the twists, the reversals. He's the enemy! No, he's on your side. They're attacking me! No, they're trying to save you from someone else. A little of that goes a long way, and Dan Brown does it relentlessly. This hurts my appreciation for the story, because I'm one of those "found family" kind of readers; I love team-ups, people coming together to save the world. I hate having to retcon all of my understanding of the novel to this point by believing the good guys have been the bad guys and the bad guys were the good guys. It makes me feel like I need to go back and reread everything in the light of the new evidence. It's dramatic, but I hate it.

That disagreement aside, I really enjoyed reading the book. It was fun to pick up over and over again instead of other books I'm reading that are less compelling, and it never felt like work the way some novels do. So I give him credit--he writes stuff I like to read.

From my brother Jon's collection. Still thinking of you, brother.

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A Dark Mystery in a Dark Time

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very entertaining book and series. I've been reading it all out of order--you find what you find at used book stores--but that doesn't affect it much. The stories all work on their own.

This is the first, and yet it feels like there was another book before this where the characters were born. (Seems like there was more than just back-story behind this, as if there's a missing first book in the series didn't catch on. I don't know. Doesn't really matter.) In any case, the main character and her friends--she's a doctor from Salerno, working with a Jewish doctor and a Muslim man--set out for England to solve a long series of murders that are being blamed on the Jewish population of Cambridge.

This is the 1100's. None of them are well-received in England, but especially not a woman trying to practice medicine. Not done. So they have to pretend that Adelia is an assistant to the men, although she is the one with all the crucial skills to solve such cases.

The mystery here is compelling and horrifying, not to mention scary and disturbing and horrible, and the plotting is strong. Also, the world it's placed in, the world of 12th Century England under the much-maligned King Henry II (who is a great character here), is vividly recreated. (I just realized there's a map in the front that I really could have been using all along. Sheesh.) Good mystery, good history, good characters--there's a lot to like. And while I like the main character and appreciate what she brings to the story, I find her hard to really like. I'm not sure why. She just always seems a contrarian who makes it hard for anyone to talk to her. If there's any sweetness in Adelia, it isn't clear on the page. I can't figure out quite what the author is going for with her, but it may be a cultural difference between us that makes it hard for me to connect.

But I like the book and I'm cheering for the main character, even if I'd never want to chat with her in real life. If you want someone to catch your murderer, though, she's a good choice.

Recommended.

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Where Dan Models True Scholarship

The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues by Daniel McClellan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is such a great book. Highly recommended. And not just for people interested in the Bible or the history of religion--but definitely for those guys, as well.

Dan is one of the best things to happen to the world during COVID. He has a wide web presence, but I know him from TikTok, and he's amazing over there. Everything he brings to this wide discussion on social media is present in this book, which is why I love it.

First of all, the topics here--whether god lies in the Bible, whether he had a wife in the Bible, what the Bible "says" about abortion or rape or Satan, and so on--are interesting to many of us. Even non-religious people are affected by the beliefs people hold on these topics, by the arguments they make about them, by the policies they support or oppose based on these beliefs. And for someone raised in a religious tradition, discovering that many things I thought were so were not so, actually--well, that's like finding a secret room in your attic or something. Surprising. Exciting. Strange. And Dan nails these topics, presenting amazing evidence from a wide variety of sources to support his positions.

But when you get down to it, the central theme of his writing is always "Data over Dogma," and that controls everything he puts out. It's not just "prove your point with better examples than the other guy;" it's more like "amend your belief to correspond to what is demonstrated by scholarship, whether or not it matches what you were raised to believe." Combined with that, he shows great restraint in his rhetoric, very rarely employing sarcasm or negativity even when *ahem* we all feel like he could. That is because, I think, he deeply believes in the worth of persons--even people he absolutely disagrees with. And in all his videos and writing, at every step, he demonstrates the way we might move forward in our divided culture if we agreed to interact in a more elevated, careful way. Showing respect to people he disagrees with is a powerful example. Standing with the disenfranchised and marginalized instead of the entrenched powers when the data is ambiguous is another. Taking care in his language to avoid offense is another. Dan doesn't want the conversation derailed by unkindness or anger. People come after him, but he doesn't take the bait emotionally.

Instead, he writes a great book.

There are surprising, fun things in this book. There is a ton of amazing research (from many people) and the best modern scholarship, all centered on exciting questions that I wanted answers to. All of that makes it worth reading, without doubt. The content is fantastic. But the example he sets here (and in regular life) is probably the bigger reason to look at this book. This is how academics should work. This is how we should talk to each other. This is how we incorporate new information into our lives, even if it contradicts things we always believed.

Highly recommended.

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Where Jane Stares Down Byron

Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron by Stephanie Barron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I still agree with 15-years-ago me--this is a very good book. 5 stars.

In this one, Jane and her recently-widowed brother are visiting Brighton for a little cheering up time, and on the way they rescue a young woman who is tied up in a coach, being taking north. Turns out, she's being abducted by Lord Byron. (This is fiction, though anything was possible with Byron.) When she's restored to her family, we learn that her dad's a jerk, blaming the poor kid for the actions of a pretty bad guy. This and that happens (visits and dances, that kind of thing), then the young woman is killed, drowned, and her body is discovered in Byron's bed.

You know that's gotta mean Byron didn't do it--but he really feels like the kind of guy who would. Various friends impose on Jane to help clear his name, despite her feelings about the guy. As always, Jane will search for the truth, whatever direction that takes her. Lots of bad guys to choose from here, including the Prince Regent and several people around him. Very salacious.

Caro Lamb is an important character in this one, the young woman who loved Byron to distraction, and she's wild, but super interesting. In fact, this whole novel is a bit wilder, a bit darker, a bit seamier, than earlier ones, even though all of them have had danger and bad guys and way more discussion of sex or sex crimes than you would ever find in Jane Austen's own novels. We are 200 years on, of course, so I think it's good. Realer. Rougher. Jane is undaunted, though even she is a little put off by Caro Lamb's "frankness" about bedroom topics.

Great plotting, great writing, wonderful characters. (I've still got a huge crush on our heroine. However, I fear she would call the literary version of me respectable and immediately forget me. Alas.) These novels are all fun to read, and this is one of my favorites.

Recommended. :)

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Where Achilles Loses It

The Iliad Translated by Samuel Butler by Homer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(As always, I'm ranking this work of literature by how much I enjoyed reading it, how much fun it was, how interesting I found it. I am not gauging it's worth--I don't know how to do that. Not gonna try.)

My review of the Iliad: I liked it some. It's okay.

I don't remember if I've read it all the way through before, though I've definitely read big chunks at different times. I got this new hardcover version of an old (1898) translation as a gift, and though I may still read one of the new translations sometime, I decided to start here.

I thought it was not too bad--speaking both of the original work and the English translation. My least favorite part of the translation was that he used the names of the Roman gods instead of Greek--Jove, not Zeus; Minerva, not Athena; Juno, not Hera; and so on. Apollo was still Apollo.

I kinda forgot how narrow the story was. This takes us from Achilles deciding not to fight anymore to Hector's funeral (sorry! Spoilers!). The origins of the war and the first 9 years are skipped over; the end of the war isn't reached. What we do have is a lot of fighting and arguing, and naming of men as they die and which gruesome way it comes to them.

The parts I found most interesting were the places where they talked about the allies that came from this region or that city, on both sides of the war, and when they referred to towns and cities taken by the Achaeans before reaching Troy and the events of those campaigns. (The woman Briseis was was taken as a prize of war in one of those earlier fights, as were many slaves and treasures.) To be honest, it's this background stuff and the everyday life of the region I'm most interested in, like how much they knew about other lands, how much they traded with neighbors, what languages were spoken nearby, how the societies were set up, things like that, and in the midst of this war story we get some clues.

As far as storytelling and modern expectations, where we look for tension and a conflict that the main character tries to work through, where they succeed or fail on their merits, the Iliad is disappointing. This is largely due to the years separating them from us, and part of the issue is that they have different literary expectations. For example, it's clear that a lot of the background would be well-known to ancient listeners long before they heard any of the Iliad. Many of the characters that we barely get to know or know only by name could be heroes in other stories that Homer's audiences already loved, like Spiderman showing up in an Avengers movie. We don't have their background knowledge, so any pleasure we should have taken from that name-dropping goes whoosh over my head. And back then they might have been cool with all of the Olympian meddling going on, but I hated that. The gods move people around, deciding who wins today and who wins tomorrow, who lives and dies, so that striving makes no difference. Intention, bravery, effort all become pointless as far as storytelling goes if the gods are deciding everything. In a way, the story that matters is just what falls in the cracks between the interventions of the gods.

Priam begging Achilles to return his son's body to him is the most human and entertaining (IMO) part of the story. Even this was preordained, but at least their conversation is in their own words, and it's very dramatic and sad. That scene was probably the most similar to modern literature you could find in the whole epic, and it was the one that worked best for me.

I found things to entertain me in this, and some parts of it are straight up engaging on their own. Lots of it is less fun, tbh, but anybody picking up an ancient piece of literature expects that.

My recommendation? If you think you might want to read this, look for one of the new translations. You may enjoy it.

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Where the Haunting Takes a Turn

Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was pretty good. 3.5 feels closer to how I experienced it. Mostly fun enough and clever enough to read a little each day, though I didn't connect with it emotionally as much as other readers did.

It's a brisk read with some likable characters, and I was especially curious about the mystery of it--how could this Ghost of Christmas Past character be so drawn to and connected to this modern woman? What was in his past or hers that made this haunting go down a path so different from the ghost in the Dickens version? They have some kind of fate thing going on, and their trips first to her past and then to his seem to be teasing something big, something cool, and I was very curious.

There is an answer of sorts, but it was a little underbaked. How the afterlife/haunting-for-a-purpose thing works is not really sorted out. It's mostly skipped over, taking us to the ending. We got the resolution I wanted--this is a romance, after all, and a happily-ever-after is required--but I would have liked there to be a little better explanation for why it worked. Why did this couple get a chance that (seemingly) no other couple have ever enjoyed?

It's quite a sexy book, and I can see that being a plus for some readers, maybe even the main draw, and probably a deal-breaker for others; for me it was--fine. It was fine. Not remarkably different from the fantasies and science fiction novels and historical mysteries that are my usual fare. A touch more explicit, though, if I'm honest. I'm curious what level of spiciness more experienced readers of romance would consider this...

Overall--a pleasant enough read with agreeable characters and nice resolution.

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