Bruno now has so many wounds, he must look like he is put together with thread. But that is getting ahead of myself.
Jihadists come to France to find tBruno now has so many wounds, he must look like he is put together with thread. But that is getting ahead of myself.
Jihadists come to France to find the Testament of Iftikhar, a document believed to express that Islam did not consider Jersualem to be important to their faith. It sounds suspicious, given what we know of history, but some people believed such a document existed. And they were willing to torture and kill to prevent it being found.
Bruno is in the midst of the action along with his sidekick for a fortnight, Amélie from Paris, all color, dark skin and gorgeous voice. But Amélie has eyes only for Yacov, the Israeli Parisian lawyer whose mother financed a scout camp in an earlier episode. And so it goes, the mysteries of attraction among the French.
As biographies go, this was beautifully written and utterly sympathetic to the unusual man who is Mitt Romney. A Republican from birth, Romney had so As biographies go, this was beautifully written and utterly sympathetic to the unusual man who is Mitt Romney. A Republican from birth, Romney had so many advantages, it is hard to find how/where he could have failed along the line. Handsome, wealthy, with a loving and disciplining family, Romney left home to begin his missionary work...in France. Already he is the golden boy.
But great privilege does not mean life is easy. It is not a truism to say that to whom much is given, much is expected. The challenges may just be bigger, harder. Romney was steady, though. He did not break in front of great challenges...and some notorious losses in politics. He just chose [was offered] other challenges that allowed him to use his talents where he succeeded, including saving the Salt Lake City Olympics from implosion after a corruption scandal threatened to sink it. And afterwards, being chosen as Republican governor in Democratic Massachusetts where he previewed the health care plan that would be rolled out nationally a few short years later.
A talented, fiscally conservative, work-across-the-aisle Republican recommended the auto industry deal with some hard lessons learned by families the world over and Democrats had a field day attacking him. Harry Reid, leader of the House for many years, could be termed a 'dirty fighter,' saving his best lies to sink members of the opposite party. It is hard to love politicians, and in these cases, very easy to hate the way they do not take the best lessons from either party and make them better.
Among the lessons Romney wants to pass on, chief among them may be not to sacrifice integrity at the altar of ambition. "It's not worth it." And I really don't think anyone can argue with that.
Researchers who have studied the effects of power on the brain have found that powerful people become more impulsive and less empathetic; "the neural processes that enables them to simulate others' experiences ceases to function." That did not happen to Mitt Romney. How do we know? Because we have seen the damaging effects of power and can tell the difference.
And I appreciate Romney's assessment of Biden's White House team--"if they'd reached out even once"--they were old hands for an old hand following an old playbook that wasn't producing the results they wanted but they didn't reach out to moderates to get them on board.
I never knew Oprah Winfrey was seriously considering a run for the White House--anything to stop the train wreck of another Trump presidency. She suggested a Romney-Winfrey ticket would spare us all that agony. That is an interesting idea, and it might have worked, but what a different landscape we'd be looking at now!...more
The abiding love some people have for automobiles is on display in this portion of the series. It deserves to be here because clearly France is all abThe abiding love some people have for automobiles is on display in this portion of the series. It deserves to be here because clearly France is all about 'la amour' and that comes in many colors and shapes, whether mechanical or not. I withhold a star in my rating merely because the ending was rushed and incomplete. Many mysteries are incomplete, but not quite to this extent. I always expect the 'thief who got away' to show up in a subsequent story, but so far, they never have.
A beautiful Bugatti, one of only four made in the history of the company, was lost during the war while traveling from a southern French city to a northern one. Many wondered where it had gone, and only at the end do we discover its fate.
In the meantime, Bruno takes a new lover (again!), and I am not going to tell you the outcome, but consider his record with women...
A young boy who is getting into trouble in town is taken in hand and becomes a hero! with untold skills that may one day make him rich in friends and family, if not in cash.
This was ably done and played to our love of gossip, even as we protest we care nothing for the lives of celebrities. In this, Bruno came dangerously This was ably done and played to our love of gossip, even as we protest we care nothing for the lives of celebrities. In this, Bruno came dangerously close to having his lifetime hero unveiled, but fortunately, he was spare that indignity.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman made ALL the men fall in love with her, even the usually resistant Bruno, and we enjoyed his pleasure in a night he would never forget. But then the central mystery of the death of a friend of 'The Patriarch' comes into focus and we let go of any illusions.
I think I may have an objection to Pamela, Bruno's one-time lover, who seems to have "set him free," for an uncertain future. ...more
This was a very successful part of the series, showing us the difference in the way the French deal with terrorist threats as compared to the AmericanThis was a very successful part of the series, showing us the difference in the way the French deal with terrorist threats as compared to the Americans. I really enjoyed the premise: an autistic boy who happened to have a particular skill with mathematics, electronics, etc is recruited to a Taliban cell in Afghanistan, unbeknownst to his parents. When he returns...he is already well known in the West by his nickname, "The Engineer."
An American consular attache who also happens to be an FBI agent, is seconded to St. Denis to debrief the returned boy/man. Yet another romantic entanglement for our busy Bruno... ...more
The Bruno novels are a glimpse into provincial life in France and for that, I am grateful. This particular novel about a resistance fighter, who alwayThe Bruno novels are a glimpse into provincial life in France and for that, I am grateful. This particular novel about a resistance fighter, who always suspected someone had made off with millions of francs from a bombed train, didn't hold together as well as others Walker has created. But it introduced some interesting and perplexing characters...an American academic who I am having a hard time assessing. I prefer, I think, a more clear cut view of their morality or culpability.
We had another foreign resident of St Denis introduced--a man who appeared to have ties to British intelligence who was burgled for his collection of household antiques, but which raised questions about the source of his interest in France......more
I am enjoying the every-day-ness of the Bruno mysteries. The Devil's Cave was particularly gruesome and sad with some unexplained family dynamics, butI am enjoying the every-day-ness of the Bruno mysteries. The Devil's Cave was particularly gruesome and sad with some unexplained family dynamics, but the dynastic range of family names in France was well on display. Some startling revelations make us question what we knew of some familiar characters, in a way that makes us dislike them a little, perhaps.
Lots to think about when it comes to choosing how we want to live, who to love and how puppies make life better. ...more
This was convoluted and I am quite sure I reviewed this already, but anyway, it propelled me to the next in the series. I am a sucker sometimes for caThis was convoluted and I am quite sure I reviewed this already, but anyway, it propelled me to the next in the series. I am a sucker sometimes for calm. And while there are some gruesome deaths detailed in the novels, somehow we can clearly see that Bruno has it all in hand....more
I thought I already reviewed this, but I do not see my review here. I first read this back in May or June of 2024 and have been racing through the resI thought I already reviewed this, but I do not see my review here. I first read this back in May or June of 2024 and have been racing through the rest since then. Food, policing, friends, the market, the daily life of a small French city near Périgord identifies the flavor. International friendships keep it from being too cruel or claustrophobic. Bruno is a humanist....more
Somehow this came up while I am reading through the series. The cave title that is part of the series can't be located in my library system...so, therSomehow this came up while I am reading through the series. The cave title that is part of the series can't be located in my library system...so, there.
Anyway, this was an interesting and daring way to present the material about caves in the Périgord. There are three timelines: one some 17,000 years ago, one during WWII, and one present day. A cave painting is found on a chip of rock and it has the art historians in a tizzy. It is an unusual and very beautiful example of a style found in France and Spain...but different.
There is the story of how the painting came to be, how the painting was discovered and then hidden for decades, and how it was uncovered again.
Walker managed to pull it off, but it was a close-run thing....more
Liking this series more and more. Can get involved enough that I do not feel I am wasting time. Love the French language everywhere, forcing me to GooLiking this series more and more. Can get involved enough that I do not feel I am wasting time. Love the French language everywhere, forcing me to Google pronunciations and meanings. This is also a complicated story of past terrorism in Europe...one that almost lost me several times. France's relationship to the Basque freedom movement, and the pan-European communist movements are at the forefront. Brutal, secretive, post-individual movements that have no pity.
Bruno once again puts his township at the center of his concerns and enjoys the company of his animals, lovers, hunting and drinking partners. ...more
Who woulda thought Black Diamond was not about skiing but instead about truffles? This mystery veered into danger territory when the author decided toWho woulda thought Black Diamond was not about skiing but instead about truffles? This mystery veered into danger territory when the author decided to talk about several threads at once, clearly not at ease with the Asian portion.
Market stall owners of Asian descent are set upon by Asians of different nationalities and the immigration/fakes/drugs issues that crop up are all thrown in for flavor. The complicated nature of the relationships threaten to overcome the slow pace of Saint Denis but somehow Bruno manages to come out on top once again.
The similarly complicated relationship between Pamela and Bruno presents choices I wouldn't make the way they do, I don't thin change that might be necessary. Wrenching change is offset by pleasant additions to the character list, like Hector....more
I skipped around a little. This is Book #13 in the series, published in 2020 and it has so much current events featured that it seemed especially timeI skipped around a little. This is Book #13 in the series, published in 2020 and it has so much current events featured that it seemed especially timely. The main action takes place at Chateau Rock which is owned by an aging British rock star. The musician's son is in love with a wealthy Russian who comes to the chateau to visit with her bodyguard and a friend, who happens to have Ukrainian family history.
One of the parts I liked best was Bruno's 1) involvement with Isabel, who works for French and European intelligence, but also 2) Balzac's mating story, his first encounter with the female of his species. Really quite involving, to one who's never been involved in such doings.
Very fast paced starting midway, but the rest is as wonderful and slow as one would hope a French village market would be... ...more
I just inhaled this--it was so good. Not used to reading novels these past few years, at first I found the chapters just slightly too long. But I soonI just inhaled this--it was so good. Not used to reading novels these past few years, at first I found the chapters just slightly too long. But I soon settled in and I just loved the characterizations, the language, the descriptions of heat, the language, the handcrafts of the main characters, the language, the immediate sense of danger one gets from a father returning home and from having a teenager in the house.
I should have kept her first book in the series because I wanted to go back and reread it, to enjoy it once again. I loved that one, too, and we don't absolutely need the first to understand the second, but one wants to enjoy the full span of it, the American settling in to a small Irish town. It is a little painful. French gets everything right in this, I thought...she pulls us this way and that and the end is a total surprise and unexpected, though we knew it wasn't working out the way the headlights were pointed.
It is unlikely that we have ever heard a history like this one about political leadership in America before, during and after WWII. The focus is intimIt is unlikely that we have ever heard a history like this one about political leadership in America before, during and after WWII. The focus is intimate and at the same time national: the author’s grandmother, Eunice Hunton Carter, was the most widely known Black Republican working as a deputy assistant district attorney in New York City during the second world war. She was instrumental in the conviction of Lucky Luciano of mob control of the prostitution racket in New York City in the 1930s.
Back when the history of Black Americans was still being ignored by the mainstream white press, Eunice Hunton Carter was blazing a path and creating her own weather. Eunice Carter was Black royalty, being the daughter of two leaders, William Alphaeus Hunton and Addie Waites Hunton, who were instrumental in the development of YMCA/YWCA and NAACP from the earliest days.
Her grandson, Stephen L. Carter, a lawyer and award-winning novelist, had plenty of material to use for this book because Eunice’s every move was covered by a mostly adoring Black press, first as a member of Harlem “sassiety” and especially after she ran for office [and lost]. Not winning public office left her open to accept another opportunity. A special prosecutor, Thomas E. Dewey, was appointed to try the mob in NYC court; he hired twenty lawyers. One was Eunice.
What so fascinates me is the way we get all turned around in party politics at this time. Democrats in New York were crooks, all part of Tammany Hall’s criminal coterie…and racist. Republicans were racist also, but at least made noise about giving opportunity to qualified Black Americans, for honoring those who fought in WWII and for ending discriminatory practices. Eunice never had all the opportunities her talents promised and was never paid what she was worth, but she was respected.
This book presents a look at 1940s and 50s history that we have never had the opportunity to read: what life was like for Black people, even well-educated and well-traveled Black people. The author tells of Governor Dewey running again and again for president with fervent and furious campaigning help by Eunice Carter, and finally, famously, losing to Truman.
The author is careful and generous with his grandmother’s memory. He picks out her many failures to advance–she was a striver and had a thirst for responsibility– and tries to be evenhanded with the reasons for those failures. There was plenty of blame to spread around: Eunice was charming and ‘regal’ is a word that is used by observers, but perhaps not as warm and ordinary as those who make friends easily. She was honored and admired.
Her own family life seemed a little like her own, growing up: the children were left to someone else. Schooling was distant, with limited opportunities to spend what we now call ‘quality time’ with parents. Eunice had a son, Lisle, Jr., who became an important federal appointee later, in the late 60s. Eunice was a Republican in a time when Democrats were in ascendancy. She never got her appointment to higher office in Washington, though she wouldn’t have said no if the opportunity called. ...more
This summer the Iranian government issued a postage stamp on the novelist Dowlatabadi’s 74th birthday commemorating his lifetime of work. Despite the This summer the Iranian government issued a postage stamp on the novelist Dowlatabadi’s 74th birthday commemorating his lifetime of work. Despite the regime’s professed respect for the art of the novelist, Dowlatabadi’s The Colonel is still not published in his own country. It was first published in Germany, where it was shortlisted for the 2009 Haus der Kulturen Berlin International Literary Award. After publication in Britain, the novel was longlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize and it won the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature based in Switzerland.
This novel was begun by Dowlatabadi in the 1980’s and periodically added to and amended until the author declared it ready for publication in 2008. It relates the story of a man, a military man of discipline and principles, who appears torn asunder by the change sweeping his country and his family in light of the 1979 revolution against the Shah which was the end of a 2,500-year history of monarchies. His wife is dead by his own hand for her adultery, and three of his children have been killed, two for their anti-Islamic tendencies, and one as a martyr for the cause of the new Islamic state under Khomeini. Two children remain, but the eldest son is sunk in an unresponsive nihilism as a result of the failure of the Communist faction he supported, and his daughter Farzaneh is married to an opportunist who shifts his allegiances with the changing political leadership.
One of Dowlatabadi’s great skills as a novelist is reputedly to use language in an earthy yet lyrical way. We cannot enjoy the original Persian, but we can see the straightforward way in which he draws his characters, exposing their weaknesses and failures while at the same time acknowledging that one could not have done differently.
"The colonel had always let his children find their own way in life...But now he could not help but wonder whether the dreadful fate that had overtaken every one of his children was in fact due to his laissez-faire approach. But no, this did not really provide the old man with an easy answer, either. He firmly believed that he had bequeathed to his children only the most natural of rights, namely the right to determine what they wanted to do with their lives...In the end, perhaps the colonel's wish that his children lead independent lives was a reaction on his part against a life which he felt had been imposed upon him. He felt that he had been short-changed by never having had the freedom to live his own life. This made him feel like some sort of cripple...At least one of you should look out for himself. It's not as though you were carrying the weight of all history on your shoulders! I'm not as strong as you think I am. That's what he really wanted to tell his children."
Dowlatabadi describes an interrogation session, torture, and what jail is like. He describes the total confusion and uncertainty among family members and the general populace for years after the revolution when the political winds shifted to and fro. He describes the agony of a parent who is despised by his children and who has to bury his tortured 14-year-old daughter on a rainy night without help from his family. He describes the guilt and desperation of educated and serious patriots who no longer believed in god or goodness as a result of what they have seen and how their understanding of their most basic rights as humans felt violated. Even though I have not had much opportunity to read Persian literature, there can be little doubt about how such an open and painful account of despair would be received by a sitting government.
"The colonel felt guilt, too--guilty for the very existence of his children, or lack of it, as the case may be."
Apparently the present government in Iran would be willing to publish this novel in Persian if the author would make some changes, which he has refused to do. And yet, for his other work which is widely hailed in Iran as unique and masterful, Dowlatabadi is respected and honored by the postage stamp in his honor.
"One would think that boys were born coy, but there lurks within them a dreadful, perverse force that can, in the blink of an eye, turn them into savage beasts, beasts that since the beginning of history have been easily drawn into committing the most appalling of crimes, just to prove themselves. They follow orders to the letter and call what they do acts of heroism. Can we blame them? What about us, the people who send these unformed lumps of soft putty out onto the street, where they fall into the arms of the first merchants of villainy they come across? And we just sit back and wait for them to be turned into rods to beat our own backs..."
This book is an important addition to the literature coming from the Middle East, and one hopes that one will never have read its like again. ...more
This is the stuff of nightmares, and David Grann will once again astonish readers with his ability to synthesize material from god-knows-where and preThis is the stuff of nightmares, and David Grann will once again astonish readers with his ability to synthesize material from god-knows-where and present what looks like a whole piece of sail. But...the winds and waters of south America sound so astounding they cannot be believed. Can you imagine what these folks went through? Nights I slept thinking of the pleasure of my soft bed, knowing I could not have endured...When the end of Grann's telling came, and I am showing the greatest restraint by not telling you what came after their shipwreck, I was open-mouthed at the conclusion.
I am not going to go through the details. The whole point of this book is details. Let me just say that when I heard of this book I naturally enough thought it was about a gamble. I would never have signed on with a ship called 'The Wager.' And I would have been right....more
Percival Everett is quite unlike anyone else. Just like the university course in this novel given by a professor named Percival Everett, this book is Percival Everett is quite unlike anyone else. Just like the university course in this novel given by a professor named Percival Everett, this book is nonsense. A black man who looks like Sidney Poitier is named Not Sidney Poitier, which leads to some absurdist conversations. Not Sidney is rich as Croesus, or rather, as rich as Ted Turner of CNN fame, which allows him to do pretty much whatever he wants. But what does he want?
As with all Percival Everett books, this is worth reading just to see where his mind is going...we can all see his mind is going, but if you want to know where, check this out.
And please. Go see the film American Fiction. It is the film version of Erasure. I am looking forward to seeing it next week....more
This book was originally published a decade ago but we can see from the reportage that so much of what is happening today in Jerusalem has been going This book was originally published a decade ago but we can see from the reportage that so much of what is happening today in Jerusalem has been going on much too long. Some of the same stuff we read about today with horror is in this book.
Delisle is a wonderful cartoonist who includes enough detail to make us feel as though we have a good portrait of a place. Trash and smells come through, gorgeous shiny domes of gold are clearly depicted. But Delisle has no axe to grind so he is almost the perfect cipher. He just draws what he sees and what he sees is breathtaking.
His wife is a doctor with Médicins San Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders and they work in conflict areas. Therefore, she works in Gaza so one may assume Delisle will have the viewpoint of "the oppressed." He never got to Gaza because of restrictions on his movement, so he concentrates his energies on Jerusalem. There is plenty to see there.
I highly recommend this book for insights gleaned while viewing a place from someone else's eyes. ...more
Do I really need to tell you to read this book? It is not dense, but it is uncomfortable-making. That is a good thing. If you ever dared say you werenDo I really need to tell you to read this book? It is not dense, but it is uncomfortable-making. That is a good thing. If you ever dared say you weren't sure what a microaggression is, you will have example after example of the kind of rubbish Black Americans have had to put up with, like, forever. It pains me, but you can bet it pains them a great deal more.
There is so much we need to learn about the lives of Black Americans, how they were, how they are. I recall thinking when I was a teen that we white people were not privy to the mysteries...there seemed no way to get that knowledge unless one lived together in one neighborhood. And we did not. Shame, in all senses of the word.
One paragraph hit me like a club:
As a measure of the enduring role of caste interests in American politics, the shadow of the Civil War seemed to hang over the 2008 election. It turned out that Obama carried every state that Abraham Lincoln had won in 1860, an election with an almost entirely white electorate but one that became a proxy for egalitarian sentiment and for the future of slavery and of the Republic. "The cultural divide of the Civil War on racial grounds," wrote the political scientist Patrick Fisher of Seton Hall University, "can thus still be considered to be influencing American political culture a century and a half later."
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