Pharoah Sanders, RIP

One of the paths leading from Coltrane, not explored by enough great musicians, was taken by Sanders, who then continued beyond with some fellow travelers.

Hilary Mantel, RIP

She wrote two of my all-time favorite novels– specifically, the first two in the Cromwell trilogy. The third installment was, for me at least, a disappointment, but she was clearly still at the peak of her formidable powers as a novelist when it appeared in 2020. 

What makes a great novel? Storytelling, of course. Storytelling is sometimes reduced to plot or, to be fancier, narrative drive. But at least as important is worldbuilding. That term is most often applied to science fiction and fantasy, but it is equally relevant to any good fiction. You the reader must be dropped into a new place and reside there. That place might be a 25th-Century asteroid belt, 1970s Oakland, or 16th-Century England. If you are not transported to an amazing place you have never been, it is not great storytelling. 

Plus: great characters. Real, flawed, heroic humans. Nobody should be (only) a monster or a caricature. Cromwell, More, Boleyn.

Plus: a theme that makes you think about things. 

Plus: Poetry, music. Sentences you want to read over and over again, just to hear them in your mind's ear.

She had it all, in abundance, and died way too young.

Two more from NYRB Classics

On the scale from meh to wow, both a little closer to meh... 

Sleepless Nights
Elizabeth Hardwick

A critic's critic and editor's editor, she must also have been a writer's writer, which may have something to do with my inability to get very far into this artfully written novel/memoir before... well... overcoming my own sleeplessness! 

A Way of Life, Like Any Other 
Darcy O'Brien

This is a somewhat dated Hollywood coming-of-age story. It's quite amusing in parts, but for me it didn't add up to much more than a diversion.

A High Wind in Jamaica

I had started to read Richard Hughes's acclaimed 1929 novel a couple of times before, and it failed to take hold. This time was different. I could barely put it down. Exquisitely written, by turns funny, exciting, and quite deeply disturbing. Several children are kidnapped (maybe?) by pirates... adventure on the high seas and all that. The novel has been compared with Lord of the Flies in terms of its cynical depiction of children's a/im/morality, but Jamaica is ten times more subtle and well-written than what I remember of that book. The protagonist, ten-year-old Emily, is a character for the ages. As for her a/im/morality, along with that of the other kids and all the grownups around them... well, read it and judge for yourself. 

Bullet Train

Kotaro Isaka's thriller, first published in Japan in 2010, is, as the cliche goes, a wild ride. It's also now appearing at a theatre near you, to mixed reviews. Haven't seen the movie, but I can recommend the book, which I devoured in about one day. It is exciting, funny, and very well translated by Sam Malissa. Our assassin/hero is Nanao– also known as Ladybug– who suffers from terrible luck, but somehow keeps getting rehired because, all things considered, he's damn good at what he does. Our 14-year-old villain is The Prince, and he is convincingly evil. Aside from Ladybug, the favorite character of every parent of a certain age is bound to be Lemon, another thug who happens to have encyclopedic knowledge of all matters Thomas the Tank Engine.

As for the film (unseen), I have to say that casting Brad Pitt as Ladybug is not half bad, although I tend to think of Brad as more the lucky bumbler than the unlucky master. Anyway, if you find yourself on a long train (or plane) ride, the book would be a great way to pass the time. And yes, there is a snake.

Gooseberries!

Seems late in the season to me. In Sam McDonald County Park. It's named for Sam McDonald. 

The late-summer color palette...

... in Foothills Park. Poison oak, buckeyes, and elderberries.

Fiction catch-up

Just so's I don't forget, some other novels I have read recently. .. 

The Netanhayus
Joshua Cohen

Very much in Rothian mode, from its academic satire to its farcical set-pieces and mix of fictional and historical characters– not to mention its engagement with Jewish identity and assimilation. Yes, it is about those Netanyahus: Bibi is here, but just as a kid; the main Netanyahu is Bibi's dad Benzion, and the (based-on-a-true) story recounts incidents surrounding his effort to land an academic position in the United States circa 1960. The novel veers from slapstick to Netanyahu's wide-ranging and shall we say unconventional lectures on Jewish history. It's a dark comedy with nary a shred of sympathy for the Netanyahu family's behavior and views, but more than a hint of admiration for their crass, chaotic energy.

The Mountain Lion 
Jean Stafford

A disturbing novel about two siblings coming of age; it begins as an idyll and ends as... well, I won't give it away, although I feel that the climax is telegraphed a bit too much. Still, a very good read. 

The Topeka School
Ben Lerner

Therapy
David Lodge

Eat the Document
Dana Spiotta

What Hetty Did
J.L. Carr

I found these four were worth reading "at the margin," as we economists like to say, but don't go out of your way.