September 2007 Archives
Sod's law in operation as far as the timing of reading this Harry Bosch novel goes.... I'd already picked up that The Poet tells a key event in Harry's life and career but I'd not been able to find it at the library, and it turns out that The Narrows is, in effect, a sequel to The Poet. Anyway, The Poet will make interesting reading when I do lay my hands on a copy.
The key players are the serial killer known as The Poet, ex cop private eye Bosch and FBI agent Rachel Walling. As the FBI investigate a mass grave in the Nevada desert, Bosch and Walling are lured, by separate means and with differing motivations, towards the same spot - but the climax takes place back in Harry's LA heartland.
Again, another book it's taken me years to pick up, principally because for a long time I thought - incorrectly - that the author was Lord Byron, the 18th century poet. My mistake, my loss.
The Road to Oxiana is an account by Robert Byron, a distant descendant, of his travels through the Middle East to Central Asia in 1933/1934 - close enough in time to Empire for the Great Game still be living memory, and for the key geopolitical units to include Persia and Sinkiang.
Whilst Byron's privileged background means that his accounts of the people he meets is coloured by the social norms of the time (which isn't always bad - there are some fantastic encounters with Governors and Ambassadors), he did get to see and explore some amazing locations and architectural gems that are now either lost or out of reach. That said, I see that Wild Frontiers are running trips to Afghanistan, so perhaps, one day, I too will get to visit Herat.
There are wonderful photos too, some of places I have been lucky enough to visit and it's fascinating to see what has changed in the intervening 80 years, for example in Soltaniyeh Yazd and Isfahan.
For accounts of travels in the region in the last 20th/early 21st century, read:
* Shadow of the Silk Road - Colin Thubron
* The Carpet Wars - Christopher Kremmer
* The Places in Between - Rory Stewart
* Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran - Christiane Bird
Amazon.co.uk link: The Road to Oxiana - Robert Byron
A jump forward in time (and sequence) from Death in La Fenice, Uniform Justice deals with the apparent suicide of a young soldier at Venice's prestigious military school. The story reveals the lives and morals of the privileged families who control the army, politics and Venetian society, and the disdain most - but, importantly, not all - have for law and the police, good government and the proletariat.
Amazon.co.uk link: Uniform Justice - Donna Leon
Leon's Brunetti books in Order
I'd chanced upon this, the first Brunetti novel, on my most recent trip to the library, which meant I was able to read it as we travelled through France and northern Italy to Jess and Mike's wedding in Milan.
The plot concerns the murder of Helmut Wellauer, a world famous, albeit rather unpleasant, conductor, in the middle of a performance in Venice's La Fenice opera theatre. Commissario Brunetti's investigations reveal a multitude of motives and suspects, but the truth turns out to be both simpler (in fact) and more complex (in motivation) than first appears.
Amazon.co.uk link: Death in La Fenice - Donna Leon
Leon's Brunetti books in Order
Jed Rubenfeld brings together psychology, sociology and sleuthing in this highly readable murder-mystery.
The plot is set in New York in the early part of the 20th century, when money, power and social standing were all still controlled of the upper classes dynasties. However tradition is under threat as the cityscape and more egalitarian society we know today start to emerge.
The main cast comprise Sigmund Freud and acolytes, on their first visit to the United States and at a key time in the acceptance of Freud's theories on psychoanalysis. Their arrival coincides with the sexually-motivated murder of a beautiful young socialite and within days there is a second attack in a similar vein.
Despite the erudition, it's not a literary masterpiece - more CSI meets Cracker in an Edith Wharton setting - but a good read nevertheless.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld
David Malouf tells the story of one Australian man, Digger Keen, and the people in his life.
Digger's story starts with his mother's arrival from England at the start of the 20th century. Having established a home and a store at Keen's Crossing, children follow, but only Digger and his elder, "simple" sister Jenny survive to adulthood.
Digger's experiences as a soldier and prisoner of war in Malaya and Thailand introduce us to the tales' other key character, Vic Curran - a chap of conflicting characteristics whose life post war bring wealth and happiness, albeit built on slightly dodgy foundations. Having formed during their harsh PoW experience, and not always understood by either of them, the mateship between these two men is strong enough to endure the passing decades and the divergent paths their lives take.
It is a long novel, and the pace is slow - but this slow motion journey allows you to see and appreciate so much more about the characters and the times, places and events they live through. I loved every minute of it.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Great World - David Malouf