What I've been reading lately

I've just finished The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo (he wrote the Snowman, currently on the bestsellers list). I've also just finished She Got Up Off the Couch and Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana which does feature heroic acts although that may seem improbable. Yes, I admit, I found the title irresistible.

I'm currently reading Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner. I've just finished the chapter called Roy and I'm sorry that Roy departs at the end of the chapter -- it's hard to believe that subsequent chapters can top that one.

And, before I forget -- before finishing The Devil's Star I read A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love, Friendship, and the Things Really Matter, by William Deresiewicz. I can't say enough about this book - I loved it!

I've read all six of Austen's novels and Persuasion, my favorite, twice. Reading this book, I learned so many things about the novels and about their appeal.

Loosely speaking, it's a memoir. Deresiewicz tells the story of his youth, using it as a frame to discuss the novels. This permits him to give real-life examples of ideas and themes presented in Austen's novels and to show Austen's genius lies in using her skill as a storyteller to answer: how should we live? An example is his discussion of Anne's situation in Persuasion; her family does not value her but she eventually finds a sense of family in a circle of friends that includes Navy friends of the man she was once persuaded not to marry, Captain Wentworth.

And, I almost forgot, I read Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists. That's a book that has earned its popularity - it's very well written, entertaining, and a fast and easy read. And - it's set in Rome. I'd forgotten how attractive I find a novel set in Rome, and I'm happy to report that this novel deserves its own post as well.

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

I had long been wanting to read something by Dennis Lehane (I'd heard him speak about his work as a social worker in Boston on NPR as part of the publicity for the Clint Eastwood-directed Mystic River, based on Lehane's novel of the same name), and something or things that he said moved me and I made a mental note that I wanted to read Lehane sometime. Moonlight Mile is on the bestseller lists now, and I’m sure that prompted me to be interested in this novel.

I chose this novel because it was the first in a series and I think it’s generally better to read the first book in the series first. Well, now I have.

Did anyone else read this novel?

I found the first four chapters or so a bit of a slog. Perhaps that’s a rookie finding his footing: I think this was Lehane’s first novel. In fact, I accidentally skipped a few pages in what I think was the fourth chapter and when I realized I had, I said to myself, "That's okay. It was boring, anyway." I thought his portrait of the Irish pols was utterly cliched and somehow unengaging. If his point was that these old-time politicians acted like they were members of a street gang, I got his point.

However, there were some other things I liked very much about this novel. I liked the portrait of the two black sisters; his attempts to both understand and manipulate them remind me of some things I have experienced. Because this is new to me, in the larger context of my life, I admire Lehane for bringing it to life on the page: the hopelessness, the wariness and lack of trust.

Lehane's portraits of Patrick and his feelings about Angie, his work partner and obsession interest, seem weaker to me, probably just because I did not find them as engaging. But, I did find Angie to be a strong and complicated character, and found something in her complicated relationship with her husband rang very true. Patrick loves Angie but is unable to woo her. That makes their relationship a kind of platonic office romance, but Patrick thinks of it constantly and I think his obsession exhausts him.

Somehow, “A Drink Before the War,” was a title that initially made me think of espionage. When you come to the scene in the novel from which that phrase is taken, you’ll see how very far it is from menace disguised by good manners.

I think one could get swept up in the staggering rising action as the novel draws to a close and miss that it raises some very troubling questions. I see that there are themes in Lehane’s work and I admire his attempt to grapple with questions and issues I find too overwhelming to contemplate for very long.

One other point I'd like to make: right now I'm reading Jo Nesbo's "The Devil's Star." It's set in Norway and the detectives in it look to America for information about the patterns and behaviors of serial killers. I find myself thinking about the violence in The Reliable Wife and in this novel and find myself wondering, is violence among us, even within the family, the natural consequence of unbearable pressures?

6/13/2018

I think if you liked this book, you would probably also like The Whites by Richard Price (writing as Harry Brandt) and Brighton by Michael Harvey. When people ask me what kind of book I like, I never know what to say, but I think this is the kind of book I like: urban setting with sharply drawn characters.