Holiday Gift Suggestions

As I am sure my readers are aware, I like nothing better for the holidays than a nice stack of books.  I hope your holiday is not so busy you won’t have time for reading.  Here are some suggestions for yourself, or the reader in your life.

If you are looking for a good biography, I have one for you.  A couple of years ago, I reviewed Stacy Schiff’s magnificent biography of Cleopatra.  She has taken a new tack in Witches, a history of the Salem Witch trials.  Her ability to tell a story of the lives of these unfortunate individuals, murdered because of superstition, is unsurpassed.

Margaret Atwood’s latest novel, The Heart Goes Last is another jewel in her crown.  I would also recommend A Handmaid’s Tale and Cat’s Eye as must reads by this talented, award winning Canadian writer.

Lauren Groff’s latest work makes my list of suggestions. Fates and Furies is the story of a young couple married right out of college, who struggle to hold their marriage together.  An absorbing and interesting insight into strong relationships.

After reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, I could not resist her 2015 novel, Circling the Sun.  Paris is about the women in Hemingway’s life, and Circling the Sun, is a fictional account of the life of Beryl Markham.  For the real scoop on Beryl Markham, I cannot recommend any book higher than her own autobiography, West with the Night. She was an amazing woman who took on roles of aviator and horse trainer, occupations almost exclusively that of men at the time.

The Booker Prize winning author, John Banvile also has a new novel, The Blue Guitar.  I am really looking forward to this one.  He is one of my favorites, and I am nearly half through all of his novels.  Banville is a literary master who is sure to please.

While not for everyone, Jonathan Franzen is a writer’s writer, and working your way through his novels will not be a wasted effort.  His newest, Purity, has been getting great reviews, and you will hear about  it on Likely Stories soon.

The third and final volume of Autobiography of Mark Twain has finally been published.  Along with volumes one and two, we have a whopping 2,100+ pages of detailed information on one of the most fascinating and well-known figures in American literary history.

Finally, as we approach the last season of Downton Abbey, two books about this magnificent series have been published.  Downton Abbey: A Celebration by Jessica Fellows is a beautiful, detailed, and marvelous companion to the series loved by hundreds of millions around the world.  Her uncle, Lord Julian Fellowes, the author of Downton Abbey, has added a foreword.  Caution: the companion contains spoiler alerts for season six.  Jessica also wrote a slim volume, The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey, which has all the funny sayings of the characters.  Both are published by St. Martin’s Press.

All these books are easily available in time for wrapping and holiday cheer.  All merit 5 stars

--Chiron, 12/3/15

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be Paris, France. If I had a time machine, it would be set for Paris in the 20s. Paris between the World Wars has always fascinated me for the wonderful cast of writers and philosophers that hung out in the cafes, the museums, the French Quarter, the restaurants, and the boulevards.

Good fortune took me to Paris a number of times, and from the first, and every trip after, I read Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast – one of my favorite books. I loved the story of Papa struggling to establish himself as a writer, befriending Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and, of course, the proprietor of the famous bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. Ms Beach wrote her own version of all these characters.

The Paris Wife tells the fictionalized account of Hadley Richardson, Hemingway’s first wife. The story from her viewpoint goes into much more detail about the feud which developed between Hem and Gertrude, Hem and Anderson, and finally his break up with Hadley. The acknowledgments offers a list of the sources for her story, including biographies, letters, diaries, and all of Hemingway’s fiction. In a graduate class at Baylor, I read all these things, too, and came to a deeper understanding of Hemingway as a man as well as a writer. This novel adds to that understanding.

My impression of Hemingway was that of a drinker, brawler, and womanizer. True, he was always all these things, but McLain’s novel brings into focus another side of Hemingway – father, husband, lover, and friend. The novel puts a soft, feminine touch on Papa’s hard edges.

I especially liked the passages in which Hadley describes some of the great men and women she met. McClain writes, “We’d glimpsed Joyce a few times on the streets of Montparnasse, with his neatly combed hair and rimless glasses and shapeless coat, but we’d never heard him speak. ‘He does speak,’ Lewis [Galantière, writer and friend of Sherwood Anderson] insisted, ‘but only under duress.’ ‘Everyone says Ulysses is great,’ Ernest said. ‘I’ve read a few serialized chapters. It’s not what I’m used to, but you know, something important is happening in it just the same.’” (82) Hemingway recognized the great novel needs to be slowly and carefully consumed to experience all the tastes, smells, sounds, and textures of what many lists called the best novel of the 20th century.

A frequently quoted statement of Hemingway’s also found its way into the novel. He tells Hadley, “I want to write one true sentence. If I can write one sentence -- simple and true, every day, I’ll be satisfied” (81).

One horrific episode, in which Hadley’s character comes out, involves the loss of the briefcase with all of Hemingway’s work. Hadley is in a state of anguish for a long time, but Hemingway seems to take it in stride. Gertrude Stein tells him, “I think your losing everything has been a blessing. You needed to be free. To start over with nothing and make something truly new” (152). Gertrude played an important role in Hemingway’s development as a writer, and only his stubborn pride destroyed their relationship.

McLain has added to the myth, the lore, the beauty, the anguish, and the wonderful time of Paris in the 20s. The absorbing story of a romance, art, writing, and living in a time and place unlike any other, should appeal to all readers interested in the arts of reading and writing. Five stars

--Chiron, 9/5/11