Where Simonini Crimes Through Life

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Umberto Eco has brilliantly assembled the story of a (mostly-true) series of frauds, deceptions, forgeries, and violent crimes that, together, tell us a lot about European society, about prejudice, about hate, and all of that ugliness comes together to make a tedious and difficult novel. I struggled through it, and I was really trying to like it. It's like a finely crafted symphony so full of intentional dissonance and unpleasant themes that the only pleasures are intellectual--like, why did the composer do that? Where is this going? Will there be any resolution at all? Can I go home now?

IMO: this is 5-level brilliance and maybe 2-level enjoyment. I gave it a 3. That will satisfy no one.

I mean, it is seriously an incredible achievement. That's not irony. The amount of complexity, first of all, in the story itself is pretty impressive, and clearly based on massive amounts of research. Parts of the novel deal with Italy's efforts at unification under a republican government, with our despicable MC working with various partisan groups to achieve certain political/military ends, mostly by forging documents that others use to sway public opinion. Much of the rest is in France, dealing with changing governments and international affairs of the late 19th century, with the MC working with spies and intelligence officers in creating false documents and lurid propaganda of many types--anti-catholic, anti-Masonic (full of demonic and satanic stories invented out of whole cloth and turned into bestsellers), and especially antisemitic material of many types. That includes the famous Dreyfus affair. So many characters, so many social movements, so many details. It's a lot.

And the organization of the story is wild. Most of it is told like two people writing letters, but the two people are living in the same house and never see one another and are actually writing in the same diary. Both have lapses in their memory and are trying to piece together what is happening. Of course, it's just what you think is happening--that's not much of a spoiler. But it makes following the story very tricky, enough that the author put a chart in the back to help you make sense of who is doing what and what part of the character's history is being dealt with. It's more than one can easily absorb in a single read-through, in my opinion. As a reader, you're wondering about the point of the double perspective; what does the author want us to make of all this? What, beyond the themes of hatred and prejudice and deception, does this format tell us? I have ideas; I don't have much confidence in the answers. But it's interesting, I suppose--intellectually, again.

It's just such a drag to read, though. I knew it was about the creation of the blood-libel fake book called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," and I was curious about how that happened and how it was exposed. That's in the book, in pieces here and there, but really it's about one man's long career as a forger, along with all his crimes and his racism, his antisemitism and misogyny. Nothing good happens. Nothing fun. Nothing enjoyable. No kindness. No humanity. No love. The reader has nothing to root for or look forward to, nothing to nod over, nothing to applaud except maybe the very last page. (That's not snark. There is one event hinted at at the very end, and that is the only sort of good thing in the book.)

I'm sure it's useful, for most of us, to think deeply about these matters, about intentional acts of social sabotage, looking at the methods by which unscrupulous people sway public opinion, the way they stoke the flames of hate with lies, and how they poison society. But it's like a long soak in a sewer. Maybe it helps to really internalize that smell to learn firsthand how bad it is, but I kinda already knew.

Like I say, this is a brilliant book, in a way, but the amount of enjoyment found in the hours I spent reading this (over many weeks, widely spaced out) was almost nothing. I am glad to have read it, but it's too much like eating your spinach.

People read for different reasons--you may find much more to enjoy than I did.

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Where Rodrigue and Chimène are Caught Between Honor and Love

Le Cid (06) by Corneille [Mass Market Paperback (2006)] by Corneile
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First thing I've read by this 17th century french playwright. I liked it more than I thought I would.

For good or bad, Corneille follows the old rule about the three unities--time, place, and action--and it helps to know he's doing that on purpose. There is pretty much just the main plot here; the subplots (if you can even call them that) are just branchings. Rodrigue (later El Cid) loves Chimène, and she loves him back, but her father insulted his elderly father. He has to challenge the man on his father's behalf, and kills Chimène's father. Now she still wants Rodrigue, still loves him, but she must demand justice for her father.

At the same time, Don Sancho loves her as well, and the Infanta loves Rodrigue. Those little complications are barely a blip in the plot. Almost everything is just the two lovers. (Unity of action.)

The story plays out quickly, with the insult, the duel, and a Moorish invasion driven back all in a day or so. (Unity of time.)

And almost the whole story occurs in Chimène's house or the palace. (Unity of place.)

These restrictions make the story a bit simple, in some ways, so that I was wishing for a real subplot, like you see so often in Shakespeare. But it also makes it more straightforward for a reader like me, reading it in translation in a whole 'nother country 400 years later. The conversations are sorta redundant, going over the same arguments about what justice and honor and love demand, but that is required by the conventions of the time, and I think it works fine even now. Of course, what I'm missing is the poetry that it was all clothed in, even though I think the translator did very well. Perhaps for Corneille's original audiences, the music of the language was a big draw. In English translation, I liked it well enough, and I'm just as glad the translator didn't put too much in rhyming couplets, though he couldn't entirely resist.

All in all--it's entertaining enough to read for no particular reason, but it's also interesting for its themes. In a society that regards honor highly, in the type of society where a son will kill the man who insulted his father and everyone nods like that makes sense, is there room for love? Can love be more important or even as important as honor? Poor Chimène loves Rodrigue and surely understands why he had to fight (and kill) her father, and she still wants to marry him--a feeling she is trying to suppress and keep secret--but honor demands she call for his death. Something has got to give.

Pretty interesting. Recommended for readers of drama.

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Where Marcelle Has the Wrong Boyfriend

The Miller of Angibault by George Sand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like George Sand, and this is a very readable, pleasant novel, though it's probably more like a 3.5 to me.

The main character, Marcelle, is likable, and I'm rooting for her; and the title character, the miller, is pretty cool--though they don't end up together. And that's kinda the problem. Marcelle, a rich noblewoman who lost her husband and is finding their finances in a shambles, is in love with a man, Lemor, who despises money, like a good socialist (apparently) and she still has too much of it. He's so annoying and foolish and unbelievable that I thought sure the author would reveal that to Marcelle, but nope. She still likes him to the end. The notion that he couldn't marry her because she was too well off is just so... well, it's stupid. Just stupid. He's an idiot. The two of them are happier that all their money in the world burns up (oops--that's a spoiler) in a fire than if they'd been able to use it for anything at all.

Who thinks like this? Can you give some to charities and put some in an account for when your child grows up? Help out your neighbors, maybe? Can't you think of anything positive to do with money? Do you think it's the *money's* fault that France's upper class are out of touch?

Despite that annoying aspect to the story, it's mostly pretty entertaining, a decent read, with several other interesting and strange characters. Marcelle is inspecting her remaining property, trying to figure out a new life as a regular, semi-poor person, and because she's so kind she makes lots of good friends who look out for her. I enjoyed that aspect.

I felt 3.5 about the whole novel, but I like the author and want to do her a solid--so it's a 4 from me, dawg.

Modestly recommended.

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Where Mademoiselle Faces Impossible Choices

Count Hannibal: A Romance of the Court of France by Stanley J. Weyman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a historical romance (in the older sense) set in France during the Huguenot purges, written right around 1900. I found it very entertaining and engaging, as well as thought-provoking--in part because I can't agree with almost anyone in the novel. But I still liked them, sort of.

Count Hannibal--Monsieur de Tavannes, or just Tavannes, mostly--is veteran of many foreign wars, a devout Catholic, a servant of the crown, and a real bastard. In real life, he took a leading role in the murder of Huguenots in 1572, a crime probably instigated by Catherine de' Medici rather than her son the king, but enthusiastically endorsed by most noblemen in the north and most of the Catholic lower classes. However, he saves mademoiselle de Vrillac, a beautiful Huguenot woman he's been kinda hitting on, in a gross way, despite the fact that a she's intended for M. Tignonville. That man is not too brave, and in the moment his betrothed needs him most, when the mob is surging throughout Paris, looking for Huguenots, he's trying to find the woman he hopes will be his mistress. (She won't. She despises him.) Murderous Count Hannibal, though, protects her and her household from the crowd, and eventually Tignonville as well, but will continue to do so only if she marries him. If she remains principled, it means not just her death, but all those others, including Tignonville. Not much of a choice. It's the worst kind of extortion, though it's presented like a kind of mercy.

Her choice in that moment, and her even more crucial choice in the last few pages of the novel, are the center of plot. There's lots of travel across France and secret messages and ambushes and intrigue, very readable stuff, but the real story is the moral and ethical struggle of this one poor woman and the choices she has to make in the midst of incredible cruelty, mayhem, chaos, and murder. How can anyone be a good person, an ethical person, in a place and time where the rules of society are so perverse? Also, how black can the marks against you be before your redemption is impossible?

The one virtue that seems to be universally admired and adhered to is the sanctity of giving your word. The only exception I can think of in the novel is a moment of exceptionally high stakes--is it permissible to break your word to save half a city? I think the answer the book arrives at is yes, though it's a tussle.

There's a lot to think about, but it's hard to discuss it without giving up every spoiler. It's an old book and not many people are reading it, but if you like Dumas, you probably would like this, so I don't want to ruin it for those people.

Recommended.

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Where Thomas Fights the Battle of Crecy

Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very well constructed historical novel set in the time of war. I liked almost everything here.

This is the third novel by Cornwell I have read, and I'll admit it took me this long to adapt to his rhythm, to learn how to follow his prose. I liked but didn't love his writing at first, finding it quite a chore to follow what was important and not focus on the rest. I didn't feel like I was working as hard this time.

Set during the 100 Years War, taking place mostly in France, it tells about Thomas, a young English man in a band of archers. Much of the story is about fighting smaller battles, looting, tearing up the countryside, coming into conflict with fighters on both sides of the war, but it ends with full retelling of the Battle of Crecy. (I didn't realize until recently that I conflated Crecy and Agincourt, constantly thinking I knew something about one that turned out to be true about the other. Much clearer in my head now.) :) It's very well done. Cornwell has a knack for telling a story from two perspectives: a narrow, personal one, and a larger, bird's-eye one. Most of the big battle is told from Thomas's perspective, but we see how the whole thing unfolds. It reminds me of Waterloo as recounted in Les Miserables, and though it's not as extensive as that one--thank god--it is still a massive set piece that the whole novel is building to.

Thomas has other goals besides just surviving. He is searching for a relic stolen from his home town, and also wants to get revenge against the man who killed his father. He has also fallen in love with a French woman he protected, so he wants to take care of her as well as her family. These goals are sometimes conflicting, and added to that is the personal enmity of an English nobleman who hates Thomas.

Cornwell handles all of these conflicts, twisting them together, letting the pace increase from beginning to end, keeping all of them in mind. It's well done, very entertaining, and I enjoyed it. His careful scholarship regarding Medieval fighting as well as history in general give the whole thing genuine verisimilitude (which I apparently can't spell but can appreciate). The ending works well, and though a lot is lost, because this is a violent story, we are still left with a sense of hope and a hint of happiness.

Recommended for readers of history, especially military history.

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Where the French and English Really Hated Each Other

1356 by Bernard Cornwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an exciting, thoroughly believable fictionalized account of the famous battle at Poitiers in 1356, the year named in the title. Bernard Cornwell is legendary for his careful research and period details, and he does not fail us here. Besides being a well-crafted work of historical fiction, though, it is plenty of fun, with lots of crossover for (say) a reader of fantasy.

The book threw me for a loop at first. I was well into it, scratching my head, wondering why the backstory was so dense, why the author was being so sparse with his exposition, feeling like I was missing something, playing catchup all the time. Then I looked into it and discovered this is the 4th book in a series. That's not on me, believe it or not--that's entirely on the publishers. There is no indication anywhere on the cover, in the blurb, or anywhere else that three novels precede this one, or that this is part of the "Grail Quest" series. The other books aren't printed on a page near the beginning with a "be sure to look for these titles" warning. That's annoying.

But I got through it, figuring it out well enough, and bought the other three novels to read out of order. At least I already know some of the characters that survive books 1-3, because they're present in book 4...

Anyway, it's a story set in the 100 Years War, with characters that include a greedy cardinal who wants to be pope, some brutal lords, and a bunch of regular-guy soldiers. The cardinal and his conspirators are looking for the sword Peter used in the Garden of Gethsemane to strike off a Roman soldier's ear, a relic supposed to be buried somewhere in France (though we learn in the notes at the back that the sword is believed to be in Poland, which Cornwell clearly thinks is not the actually case but is too polite to say so). Part of the story is about people searching out the sword, part is about Thomas and others protecting a couple women from brutal men, and the rest is about an outnumbered English/Gascon army trying to retreat or survive an unwanted battle near Poitiers.

The final battle is the best part, and the movement of armies in this part is surprisingly comprehensible--nicely done, Mr. Cornwell. That made up for some frustration early in the novel, when it seemed that the author started every scene so cold that it took paragraphs or pages to understand where we were and what we were doing. I wouldn't mind a little more exposition throughout, a little more context for whatever is happening, but that just isn't his style.

That's alright. A bit of struggle in the middle is well-rewarded by the end. I gave this 4 stars, but if there were half-points it'd be 4.5 from me.

Next I'll see how it all started, how it happened that Thomas ended up in France with a company of mercenaries. Should be good.

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Where the Lady and the Painter Fall in Love

Antonia by George Sand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my introduction to George Sand, and I enjoyed it very much. I bought a small collection of 1898 Sand novels that started their life in a public library in Nebraska (last checked out in 1975--the card is still in it), and they are somewhat fragile but still hanging in there. I have six more such novels waiting for me, and that feels like riches.

This is the story of the Countess d'Estrelle--Julie--a widowed woman left in debt by her husband, who is facing all kinds of pressure by her friends in high society to live a certain way while being threatened by her creditors. Her father-in-law's second wife is in both categories, and she is a pure villain who will not lift a finger to help her with the debts her stepson left her with. Everyone is so invested in Julie's marrying some rich aristocrat, including her friends, that they bring every kind of pressure to bear against her. M. Antoine, her solicitor's rich old uncle, buys up her debt to use it against her, mostly to make her marry him, though he loves no one and doesn't seem to want anything from her except her humility. He works with her cruel mother-in-law at one point to force her to do what they both want.

This is complicated by a love story. A young painter who lives on the property beside Julie's home, adjacent to her garden, is in love with her. His mother (also a widow, also left in debt by her husband, and also from an aristocratic background) becomes friends with her and visits her in her garden, but the young man--Julien--cannot be friendly with the widow and visit the garden because he is a man and like his father is working class. Still, he sees her in the garden sometimes through the blinds in the room where he paints, and inevitably they meet and really fall in love. It's a very nice love story, in parts.

But wow, the conspiracies against them... The rich old man, the solicitor's uncle, is also Julien's uncle, and he suspects they are in love and he will do anything to keep them apart. In the end, he arranges matters so that Julien and his mother will be supported in the nice home they used to live in and Julie will have her debts paid and be allowed to keep her home (hotel in the novel), as long as they don't meet again and never try to marry. If either breaks the agreement, all lose and end in poverty. Nobody wants to be responsible for ruining the lives of the others, especially hurting Julien's old mother, so they agree to it.

If this were the end, I would kinda hate it, but it's not a horrible sad ending (spoiler--sorry). Ultimately, the rotten old uncle gives in when both Julien's mother and Countess d'Estrelle, independently, kneel for him to ask his pardon for ridiculous imagined slights. Once he has that, he's willing to let everyone have a happy life. Yay!

I haven't researched this, but since it takes place just before the French Revolution, it feels like M. Antoine is deliberately made to represent the wealthy bourgeoisie who resent the old (often debt-ridden) nobility and want to take them down a peg--I'm as good as you!--but I don't know if the author wants it read as allegory. For certain, the ridiculous belief, so deeply held it was encoded into law, that the nobility were not to marry someone from the low classes, that they were innately different, innately superior to them, is mocked here. (I think that's awesome.) Julie and Julien are the best characters in the story, both of them selfless and virtuous, and they deserve each other.

The story is not very long, which I like, but it also has very few characters, which is less fun. Most scenes include only two people, sometimes three; there are no balls or parties in the story, and except one scene with maybe five characters meeting up it feels very lonely. I wonder if it could be staged as a play... Actually, yeah, it would be pretty simple to do that. Maybe it started that way. Hmmmm.

Despite missing the sights and sounds of dinners or big social events (as we might find in Jane Austen, I mean), I enjoyed this a lot, and I'm eager to see what the other novels on my shelf turn out to be like.

Recommended for readers of 19th century novels.

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Where Admirable Crichton Is an Understatement

The Novels of Willlam Harrison Ainsworth, Vol. 16: Crichton, Volume 1 by William Harrison Ainsworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A year ago, I'd never heard of William Harrison Ainsworth. But that's a shame. He's an excellent 19th Century writer of historical romance, worthy of being mentioned alongside Dumas and Scott, and surely should be read by some of those authors' many fans. He's definitely got his own voice and manner, so it's not a slam dunk, but I find his books very entertaining.

This is the story of a brilliant Scotsman at the French court in 1579. It begins with Crichton facing and defeating the scholars at the University of Paris in debate. The historical Crichton supposedly spoke and wrote fluently in 12 languages, and this as a very young man, even a teen. The University proclaims him thereafter The Admirable Crichton.

But he was more than an impressive scholar; he was also the leading champion at the joust *and* Marguerite of Valois's lover (at some time before her husband, Henry of Navarre, became Henry IV of France). He was a devout Catholic, almost fanatic, putting him at odds with some of the protestant characters in the story, but as a gentleman and man of honor, he treats all with respect and fairness.

The villain of the story is Catherine de Medici, along with her astrologer, while her son the king, Henry III, falls somewhere in the middle. He's pretty villainous, TBH, but sometimes shows an honorable side. His mother has no good side at all.

From the moment Crichton emerges from the debate, he's involved in one intrigue or another, in one battle or another, saving one desperate young woman or another. He protects Marguerite, though he is ready to be done with the affair; he works to rescue Esclairmonde, a beautiful new mystery at court, who is an unwitting part of some scheme by Catherine de Medici and desired by the relentless king; and he fights to save the life of a young Italian singer who is fleeing from a nobleman of Gonzaga. At different times in the novel, he becomes the defender and champion of many other men and women.

The story is ambitious and complex, full of intrigues and plans put together in a moment and falling apart almost as quickly. It's a lot to follow, but not ridiculously so, though I'm sure a misunderstood the significance of many overheard details and bluffs and betrayals. Still, there is a lot of action to make the intrigues plainer, and if I missed something here and there I'm sure it doesn't matter that much.

The author's language is elevated and leans toward the scholarly, though it is still vigorous and active, and close to the language you find in a Scott novel. He likes to throw in songs and poetry as much as Tolkien ever did, generally to good effect (though I'm not a fan of the frequent Latin and French quotes that are not translated) and the author's erudition is most evident in these examples and his classical allusions. He might have been writing for a more educated class than I represent, but I've gotta admit I still really enjoyed it.

There are plenty of courtly scenes filled with dialogue, and people sneaking around to overhear plotting, but there's also lotsa action here--men looking for and finding trouble in pubs, and rowdies talking shit on campus until a riot breaks out, and bravos looking to assassinate the king, and knights jousting for a cheering public, and on and on. I find the combination of scholarly language and violent, mean, insulting behavior an entertaining mix, and I feel like his books should be more widely read. Bearing in mind all the usual caveats that go with literature of that era, this is a fun book and might well require a second reading someday.

Recommended.

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Where I Continue my Dumas Education

Queen Margot, or Marguerite de Valois by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dumas just jumps in. You've gotta be ready.

I didn't know who anybody was, and I didn't know much about Huguenots in France, or really any of the court, so the beginning was a little tough. But before long I got my feet under me, and after that it read like any of the D'Artagnan romances. Nobody is quite as cool as D'Artagnan here, but there are a lot of interesting characters just the same. And lots of plotting and sneaking around the Louvre.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, though parts of it were very disturbing. I'm not 100% certain that Dumas meant for me to be upset; the matter-of-fact way that the King of France ordered the murder of France's protestants (referring to the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre) and the way so many main characters joined in like it was a weekend outing was horrifying. Innocents are used terribly in the novel, and it *feels* like Dumas meant us to see it as a judgment on the monarchy, but I dunno. I'm not sure he saw it as morally indefensible as I did. I wish I could ask him...

The light-hearted affairs here amused me. Nobody is happily married. Everyone at court is in love with someone besides their spouses, and they go to great lengths to see each other or exchange notes. It gets terribly serious by the end, but in the middle it seems like nobody's gonna actually get caught sleeping around. It feels pretty comical until it becomes tragic.

In many ways, I found the emotional life of the characters to be foreign: friends become bitter enemies in a heartbeat, then friends once more [spoiler! sorry...]; innocents are sacrificed without any sign of remorse; horrific crimes forgiven and never referred to; characters risk serious consequences to embark on affairs with men or women they barely know; everyone lies and often gets caught without the least embarrassment; heartfelt religious convictions are fought for then renounced with little drama; and alliances are made and unmade without any deep soul-searching. I guess all of these matters of life-or-death are treated lightly by the characters in a life is cheap so eat drink and be merry kind of way, and it was like watching enigmatic courtiers in a fairy kingdom.

It was all very odd, and I liked it.

The prose is the same ornate but breezy style familiar to readers of Three Musketeers or Count of Monte Cristo, and the plot is an engaging combination of fact and fiction. Dumas readers will find a lot to enjoy in this novel, and if they're like me they'll learn a bunch of new names from history.

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Where the Story's Too Damn Real, but I Like It

The Spanish Doctor by Matt Cohen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a hard book, a painful book, but a good one. Well written. Affecting. Not what I expected, frankly, but that's on me.

This is the story of a Jewish man in 14th Century Spain who becomes a successful doctor, much in demand, but finds that doesn't protect him from his enemies. As much as anything, it is a biography, following him across Europe and across the decades of his life. But in a broader sense, it is the story of the violence against Jews at that time in Spain and France and Italy and elsewhere in Europe, and the intolerable choice they were given--convert, giving up your identity, or face extermination at the hands of the mob, which was fully supported by the church. And, if you convert, be ready to be hated and attacked anyway.

There was one more choice: move away, losing everything, but still face the same violence in another country, sooner or later.

It is suffocating and horrifying to read about Avram Halevi and how he tried to navigate a world that hated him from birth. Before birth, really, as he was conceived when a Christian rioter raped his mother. This theme continued throughout. There were no right choices for him or for his people. There was no "Just leave us alone" option. There was no hiding. There was only murder and destruction, followed by the survivors rebuilding and moving on.

This novel is more literary than I expected; I took it for more of a genre novel, historical fiction with a triumphant hero sort of thing, but it's not that. As a result, the pacing is different than I looked for, the story and conflict broader. But I liked it, despite my scant appreciation, usually, for literary novels. The writing is spectacular, the canvas is wide, the history is engrossing, and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

Some of it is ugly. Some is brutal. Some is tragic. But some is beautiful and even hopeful. I'm gonna hold on to those bits.

Recommended, especially for those who lean toward literary fiction.

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I Finally Learn Who Roland Was

Swords of Anjou by Mario Andrew Pei
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an older book--1953--but it's written in the style of much older books, romances such as those Don Quixote would have read, and I enjoyed it.

It is the story, more or less, of Roland from The Song of Roland. Charlemagne and his army are leaving Spain after forcing Zaragoza to surrender, and as they reach the passes through the Pyrenees, the defeated army attacks the rearguard and kills them all, including the famous Roland. The main army returns and defeats Zaragoza once more. The author adds characters from other tales and invents a few more to add love stories and subplots, making them the main characters in the story, following a tradition (according to the author in the historical note at the end) of retelling the Roland story with embellishments and a change of focus. I like that kind of invention and retelling; I enjoy the many forms of Sherlock and Wizard of Oz and Robin Hood and Cinderella; I think that's a fun way to renew a story, and I think it works here.

The author keeps his characters true to the times, which sometimes is annoying. The misogyny and narrow-mindedness and religious bigotry of middle age men is wearisome. That's not his fault--people were horrible, then as now--but 2019 me wants them to learn a lesson. Alas.

It is a fun story, though, if we can overlook our heroes' painful flaws. They also have admirable strengths. The courage and loyalty on display here are as impressive as the chauvinism is disappointing. It is inspiring to see men (and women, in some cases) sacrifice everything for a principle. After seven years, I want to go home, but I will fight on. I will give up the love of my life to serve my nation. The reader has to wonder--would I be able to sacrifice so much for a vow I made, for a principle I believe in?

I dunno.

So--problematic characters seem to reflect problematic times, not a problematic author. But YMMV. I liked the book, the story, the history.

Recommended.

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Where Alexandre Dumas writes everybody under the table

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was many years ago that I read The Three Musketeers, and was surprised that I liked it so much. Then years later I read The Count of Monte Cristo, and was surprised that I liked it so much. Now it's been several more years, and following the rule of three... you know where this is going.

The copy I read was an old hardcover my wife found for me for Christmas, and she insisted she didn't spend much at all (which is perfect). Turns out, it was a beautiful edition, with a handful of pictures, from probably 1896 (hard to be sure) and it's in great shape. What a pleasure to read such a novel in such a nice edition!

Dumas can tell an adventure story, and I am not the first to say so. He sketches main characters with a few words, hardly bothers with introducing the minor characters beyond a name, and gets right to the action, which carries the reader for about 900 breezy pages. Many authors aren't half as engaging over a fraction as many pages, and you just have to applaud Dumas. It doesn't matter much if you know the history or the issues; the story reads fine without bothering too much about exactly who is who or why they're fighting. (Well, I did look up Mazarin and Charles I and other historical figures you find here, but I don't think it made any real difference in understanding or pleasure in reading. Didn't hurt, anyway.)

The endlessly inventive D'Artagnan is a wonderful character, and so is the highly ethical Athos, and the simple but loyal Porthos. I found Aramis less sympathetic, but still enjoyed the interplay between the four men, along with a few of their allies. They are reunited, and you cheer, and hope they have a great adventure; then they find themselves on different sides of events, and it's a worry; but of course they find a way to become brothers again, and the reader cheers once more. If I accidentally learned a little about France and European events of the 17th Century, that's a bonus, because this is an action novel, and it just keeps moving.

I recommend Dumas's novels to those who are interested in historical fiction but haven't taken the plunge. Ebooks are free to try, but I find holding the novel, especially an old copy, feels better, and makes the experience richer. Like so much, though, including every word here, that is just my opinion, and others may disagree.

As for me--I'm looking for the third book. It's supposed to be much larger, and always published in separate volumes, one of which is The Man in the Iron Mask.

Sounds perfect.

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A Historical Murder Mystery Education. It's That Good.

A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a wonderful job the author has done with this novel. I'm as impressed as I am entertained.

Set in the time of Henry II, during the procession escorting his daughter Joan to Sicily to marry King William II, this is a historical murder mystery adventure that succeeds on every level. The science and the history are carefully researched and adhered to; the setting, in terms of both landscape and society, is well-drawn and richly developed; the characters are interesting, round, and believable, with motivations that matter; and the plot is complex, realistic, and engaging. I enjoyed the thematic elements, too. The main character's reflection on the misogyny and the anti-scientific effects of religion are on point, but they are also realistic for the setting, coming from a woman raised in a pluralistic Sicily that was accepting of multiple faiths and open to female physicians. When she saw the door closing on such liberal attitudes, from Cathar southern France to increasingly-Catholic Sicily, it is genuinely affecting. We are made spectators to a loss of freedom that endured for hundreds of years.

I was most impressed with the pacing, which is not something I necessarily pay attention to. In fact, I usually only notice pacing if it's uneven or if the novel has long dry patches. That is not what I saw here. Not a chapter, not a scene, not a single conversation dragged or made itself unwelcome. There is no second-act flagging, no filler. Nor did any part feel rushed or abrupt. The reader is tugged along with the action and dialogue so smoothly, so effortlessly, with every passage so expertly crafted to engage the reader, that any pacing flaws are conspicuous by their absence. Excellent writing, and perhaps more to the point, excellent editing.

Very nice. I cared about the characters, I enjoyed the story, I liked learning about the time period, and I connected with the themes. Great job. Excellent novel.

Recommended, of course.

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