Phyllis

My Great Books book club discussed Jaroslav Hasek's classic “The Good Solder Svejk” during the March 31, 2018. To be more specific, we discussed the first section, “Behind the Lines,” which is a little over 200 pages.

For many reasons, I was really happy to be exposed to this book. First, I'm half Czech and my 100% Czech grandmother would have been ecstatic to know that I was reading a Czech book (in translation, of course). Second, this book club read Joseph Heller's “Catch-22” in November 2017; Joseph Heller mentioned that “Svejk” was a major influence on “Catch.” Having read “Catch-22” several times, it's pretty cool to read the worked that sparked Heller's imagination. Third, the book is a RIOT and one that never came up in high school or college. Fourth, one of my great grandfathers or great-great grandfathers served in the Austrian army, deserted, and ended up imprisoned in a castle, so there's some parts to this story that smack of real life.

We begin “Svejk” in the middle of the story with no back story about Sjevk's life. How old is he? Where was he born? Who are his family? Has he ever been married or had children? He seems to be a free-floating will-o-the-wisp who floats from one scrape to another without too many cares. Perhaps, he is also a statement about what happens to conscriptable men in occupied countries; even if you have a family or obligations, you can be pulled up for service or imprisonment at any time. What Svejk can and does do is worry about his own neck, which is often in quite a bit of trouble. And that's what you do when you're in an occupied country and in wartime, both of which apply to Svejk.

Yet, Sjevk's nearly magical ability to give people what they want, appear idiotic, provide alcohol, or to distract/charm his abusers/accusers with random stories gets him out of disaster after disaster. Was he truly an idiot? I think not - he was probably the smartest man in the book. From the Austrian's perspective, all Czechs were criminals, malingerers, and/or servants. So, one simply has to accept the nonsense of bureacracy and work around it as best as one can.

Below are the discussions questions another book club member put together:

1. Why do you think Svejk's personality, background, age, marital history, family are never
described?
2. Does Svejk seem mentally impaired? Literate? Is he a malingerer?
3. Svejk follows orders directly and literally, although his speech is heavily ironic. What is the
outcome?
4. In the first scene how does Svejk, as Everyman, view the origin of the war? What is the
author's belief about why wars begin? What unanswerable questions does he pose? Does he
reveal any firm political opinions?
5. Svejk undergoes various interrogations. What do these scenes reveal about the Austrian
government's pre-war social policies?
6. In his portrayal of Chaplain Katz, what view does Hasek present of the Catholic church and
the Church's role in sending men to war? Why does the author give such a long description of
the preparation for the Drumhead Mass?
7. Do we, in the U.S., have a contemporary satirical writer such as Hasek? How would Hasek
have written about our current political climate? What would be an equivalent period in
American history?
8. What other literary or cinematic works came to mind as you read Sveik?
9. The narrator's voice has been criticized, and offense taken by nearly every political and
religious group. What parts of the book did you find offensive? Which seemed the most wellwritten?
10. Lt. Lukas was a real person; the author's company commander. How does he differ from the
other officers?
11. What are your thoughts about the bureaucratic doublespeak used by the characters? How
would you compare it to Orwell? To current political language?
12. Who were your favorite characters and why?

My Great Books Book Club is reading the original “Pride and Prejudice” for June 2018' discussion. Since I'm leading the discussion, I decided to mix in several adaptations (in an very non Great Books way) to consider additional perspectives on Jane Austen's classic novel.

While I applaud Marvel's support of bringing classic works to unfamiliar audiences, I found this iteration very strange.

Let's begin with the cover art, which I immediately liked, both from the cute magazine presentation to the charming style. But, one opens the book to find illustrations that appear to be depicting 90s soap opera denizens with excessive makeup, who might be wearing robes and definitely not hairstyles of 1812ish. I am not familiar with the artists's other work, but this output does not match the content. However, should the characters be dressed in period dress if the intent is to attract new fans?

Which brings me to the narrative. We are brought some of the book's greatest hits. Some other reviewers felt there was too much text, which could be the case compared to traditional comics. It's a tricky proposition to attempt to retain some of Austen's fine writing and keep words to a minimum. Would it have been better to rephrase the narrative blocks to more updated language? It would be interesting to hear the reaction of someone who had never read the source novel and is a comic book fan.

Like the 2005 Keira Knightley film adaptation, this version moved too quickly to establish Elizabeth and Darcy's release of their prides and prejudices and fall in love.

Ultimately, I cannot recommend picking up this version, but appreciate the attempt.

I watched the movie back in the 90s when a friend and I were having a Paul Newman marathon (as one does). And I remember loving it! At that point, our English class had read and analyzed Williams' “The Glass Menagerie, which I adored, and I'd watched a few other movie adaptations of Williams “Streetcar” and “Baby Doll.”

So, it may have been my insistence that we read a play for the May 2024 Great Books meeting that lead to selecting “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” This time around, I found the movie and the play far less alluring. In fact, the characters seem overly histrionic, unbelievable, and spew ridiculously long speeches. Some of the short back and forth barbs were quite good, though.

If you have watched the 1958 movie version, you'll notice that some of Act II moves to the end of the movie. Some of the interchanges between Big Daddy and Brick were the most effective and believable conversations as both men faced turning points in their lives.

Lastly, the stage directions seemed overly specific and almost annoying (or at least I'd find them annoying if I was the director).

Sometimes I ought to leave well enough alone as t it s read tarnished my view of the play.

I came across E. M. Forster's novella, “The Machine Stops,” while looking for short titles my library could offer to help achieve my 2020 reading goal.

“A Room With A View” is in my top 50 books and was published in 1908, one year before “The Machine Stops.” In 1910, Forster published “Howard's End.” This novella, one of a future time and which humanity is generally isolated physically, while being connected via something like the Internet, lives underground after prior generations had contaminated the planet's upper surface. Forster's vision of the world in this book is all-too-familiar to those of us in pandemic 2020.

A major theme in this forward-looking work is humanism. Humans become reliant on and then deify The Machine, going so far as to forget that The Machine was created by man and eventually stops because man has forgotten how to tend to it. At its heart, characters like Kuno, who question single-/close-minded worship and who value personal connections, are the heroes.

It was very interesting to read this book not long after H. G. Wells' “The Time Machine;” some of the themes around colonialism, class, and humanism up here and both books, although in different ways.

If you were a cop and your first love is found after you saunter back into your old neighborhood after staying away for 22 years, how reliable would you be? And wouldn't you use your powers to find out what happened?

Tana French has a wonderful grasp on language and the cadences that everyday people use. Whether they're using an Irish brogue characteristic of a tenement neighborhood or they're cops copping it up to other cops, these sound like real people. There are unseen layers behind every pair of eyes because Ms. French understands that you don't underestimate anyone. Ever. And you keep looking behind every layer to
get to the source.

This compendium of essays is a really helpful supplement to “Beowulf,” which my Great Books book club read for the November 2020 meeting. The introduction did a nice job of explaining the culture and history of “Beowulf,” including why one the the English language's literary treasures was set in Scandinavia and Denmark. The material included is suitable for school-age youth and for adults like me reading classics without the guidance of a teacher.

Two of my favorite yoga teachers selected this book as a companion to a March 2018 yoga retreat, with s focus each day on the yamas and niyamas during meditation and yoga practice.

While I've learned about the yamas & niyamas in previous classes, I liked the immersion into two of them each day. There are many thought-provoking ideas in this book that can benefit anyone, not just yogis.

Currently, I'm doing some research into naturopathy to determine whether it may help me manage certain health issues more effectively than traditional, Western medicine. I skimmed this book, which is easy to do if you skip to the bits about your blood type after reading the introduction.

The introductory material is rather skimpy and may have been more convincing if there was simply more of it. Recent studies have debunked the blood type diet's effectiveness, but I have found useful tools in various diet plans that can be used in an overarching, customized approach to eating. However, I didn't find anything in this book that was not better-presented in other books.

Generally, reducing processed foods should help you to lose weight. But, it's entirely possible to follow this blood type diet and have issues. For example, I'm allergic to walnuts and receive an itchy rash any time walnuts sneak into tasty things like carrot cake. Yet, walnuts are listed as super beneficial.

Also, this approach dos not take into account the impact on hormone balance. It is recommended, for example, that my blood type acquire the bulk of protein intake from soy and soy products. Soy has been linked to increased estrogen levels, which may not be useful for all people who have a certain blood type throughout all phases of life.

As another reviewer commented, there is no information about whether certain preparation techniques, cooking methods, food/herb combinations, etc. best support the diet plan. Ah, well, on to the next!

I've just finished reading this for a book club, and was rather disappointed.

The idea of compiling various literary hoaxes is a good one, but the author's approach and organizational style made this book hard not to put down. Each of the vignettes were too short and written in such a way as to have little connection with the others in each section. For example, the Shakespeare hoax by William Ireland was better told in “Banvard's Folly.”

I also hoped that the author might reveal more about her inspiration for writing this book or might tie it up in a conclusion, but no such luck.

I was also bothered by the lack of both an index and a list of references at the end; wouldn't it be appropriate to mention sources in a book about literary hoaxes?

This is a comment on the audio book version only. It is terrible; the narrator sounds like a computer and may have ruined another audio book for me. At this point, I cannot comment on the content.

“The Checklist Manifesto” is a quick read that just about anyone can enjoy, whether you're in school, working, or retired. As an accountant, I always do better when I have a checklist or I forget about little things.

Dang, Ron Rash can write! These hard scrabble stories are filled with people facing hardships and bad vs. worse choices in a land not filled with plenty, but American as all get out.

Short stories are difficult, in my opinion. The author must economize, must build suspense and weave tapestries in a handful of pages, leaving you with an incomplete arc that somehow leaves your belly full. At around 200 pages, this collection does just that.

One hallmark of a great writer is an ear for how people speak, and Mr. Rash does an excellent job of that. For ten years, I lived about an hour from Asheville in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the pages of “Burning Bright” contained voices I've heard.

All of the stories are worth a gander, but my favorites are “Hard Times” (a real doozy), “The Corpse Bird” (I found superstition far more rampant in the South than in Yankeekland), “Lincolnites,” and the superlative “The Woman Who Believed in Jaguars.” I hate to say too much about each one because you ought to just read it.

A solid 2.6 rating on the 7th Maisie Dobbs installment.

In my opinion, this is the least enjoyable book in the series to date. I didn't find the mystery very compelling, and I guessed much of the outcome early on. Even the ending, which should've been rather harrowing as it affects one of the series' ongoing characters felt rather flat.

It's been a while since I've read one of these books, but it seems like the author is over explaining some of the day today activities to fill pages. (I can certainly understand add an explanation for customs that we no longer follow, but that didn't seem to be the case here).

Will I continue with the series? Sure, but I probably will stay with the audiobook versions to satisfy my completist self. My mom also love this series until around this point in the story.

“Starling House” is the best gothic noveI I have read in a long time. Which feels funny to say because the main action of the book is set in current times and my brain assumes gothic novels should be set in the distant past, full of rotting castles and maidens fair.

The book is packed with rich, loamy writing that was a pleasure to dive into like a pile of autumn leaves. The characters are well-drawn; more than that, their voices breathe through the page.

Despite the dark and horrific events of the novel, there's quite a bit of humor woven throughout. Many of the characters made me laugh out loud, which was totally unexpected.

Some reviewers have complained about the ending, but I liked the idea of deciding to recognize and conquer fear as the solution. That some ghosts are our own creation.

Now onto tropes.

Sometimes, you think certain tropes in literature are just annoying and not for you. Right before reading “ Starling House,” I read Abby Jimenez's “Just for the Summer.” Although the books come from different genres, they do have similarities. Alternating points of view between two main characters who develop a love interest. A seemingly independent and strong female main character who doesn't like help, but needs it. A male main character who goes out of his way to support and help the female main character. Orphans who think they have little to no extended family. Found family.

“Just for the Summer” was intensely stupid and hit the reader over the head with psychobabble and performative trauma unpacking. The characters in “Sterling House“ are introduced to the reader as carrying a heavy load, but they're don't whine about it; they fight. The found family in JFTS is family because the author says so. Whereas the relationships in SH feel real and solid and never come off as overly perfect.

So, maybe what I'm saying is that tropes work just fine in a skillful author's hands. An earlier book of Alix Harrow's has been on my to-read list for awhile, so I'll be moving that up in priority.

A friend, who I believe has pretty good taste in and similar taste to mine in books, recommended this memoir as a recent favorite. Because it's a busy time at work, I decided to check out the audiobook version from library.

After getting through about 25% of the book, I decided to return it because this really isn't the kind of story I feel like reading right now. I do appreciate the author being open about her struggles with addiction and the changes in her life that led to her going to prison. The end up just not being for me! Or maybe not me at this time.

In which we are introduced to Jeeves and Bertie (when Bertie was a Mannering-Phipps!). This first installment of the twittishly hilarious Bertie and the great, all-knowing Jeeves and the adventure of extricating Gussie from foolish decisions. Quite a romp!

Overall, meh. A few of the characters have a spark of life (only a skosh), but others are light pencil sketches. The plot is a bit dull, what with a country estate, interactions with the gentry, and a ho-hum twist. There were several points at which the detective and The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple would dismiss another character as a suspect because they were likable. Really? I skimmed the next book or two in the series and found the same flaws flitting through the first installment in the series. Daisy Dalrymple cannot hope to compete with Maisie Dobbs and a P. G. Wodehouse/Agatha Christie mash up this isn't.

This book is a nice overview of the Black Hills and Badlands sites and attractions. Many travel guides are organized geographically; this one groups places to see by theme, such as all caverns in one chapter.

The book was a nice way to get an overview of the area with overwhelming the reader. I would suggest adding a Lonely Planet or similar guidebook if you want more detail, walking maps, or more background about each place.

What an unmitigated mess!

While I appreciate that “Under the Dome” is a response to 8 years of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (in which the unqualified run the country in an opaque and corrupt way, driven by various conservative values), I do feel that a commentary on this period in American history could have been done better. Just the concept of a mysterious dome crashing down on a small town leaves all kinds of options open for a truly engrossing story. Yet, we have the town leaders acting a way they'd be unlikely to act until the dome's tenure lasted more than a day!

None of the characters were interesting, especially not the snotty head of the town newspaper, who I find it highly unlikely would address a US General the way she did when it meant getting her story out. And why were we to believe that she and Barbie would suddenly fall in love and start getting it on when the breathable air in the dome was eking away?

Frankly, by the time we learn that alien children are using the dome as a game, I just didn't care. “Under the Dome” is right down there with Stephen King's earlier “Tommyknockers,” which is the book that made me stop reading his work for years after being a die-hard fan. It wasn't until the more recent “11/22/63,” which I think is his best work, that I starting getting back into his work. So, I'm glad I listened to the audiobook version of this novel while working so that I didn't waste my time on physically reading this doorstop when I could have been reading something better.

This book really disappointed me. The premise sounded interesting, but ended up being a story which began as a magazine feature and should have stayed that way. I'm an accountant, so credit card fraud is probably a little more interesting to me than the average person. However, having heard the setup a few times, the repetitious, goodness-me reporting of subsequent thefts became dull.

Also, the author tried to make herself a character. Her attempt to try on rare book collecting could have been substituted with interviews with rare book collectors. Even worse was that the author didn't bother checking into her legal responsibilities until late in the game. Frankly, the inclusion of unnecessary episodes, such as the “ride-along” to Brick Row Books, the visit to his parents house and look into Gilkey's closet packed with likely more rare, stolen books without alerting the authorities, and her embarrassment at possibly meeting friends when she's out in public with Gilkey eroded Bartlett's journalistic integrity and the story itself. Why didn't the author interview Gilkey's father?

The look into the ABA was somewhat interesting, as was the section describing catching Gilkey, but was otherwise less than stellar.

To come

My only regret about “The Moonstone” is that I didn't read it sooner! I purposely savored this book over a recent vacation instead of rushing through it.

As the first detective novel in the English language, it set the rules for thousands upon thousands of novels, movies, and TV series for over 150 years (and counting).

I really have enjoyed the author's Maisie Dobbs series, and not just because she has the same last name as I do!

However, this foray into a new series just wasn't clicking for me. I found the main character kind of boring and the story not that exciting either and ended up, stopping about a third of the way through.

This is a great anthology of Chicago poems covering decades interspersed with artwork evoking the spirit of the poems.

My local public library plus two neighboring libraries selected “Bandit Queens” for the 2025 One Book, One Community selection. I even received a free physical copy as part of the program kick-off.

I absolutely loved this book! Parini Shroff takes us from the drudgery of day-to-day life to the humorous heckling between frenemies in a microphone group to the intricacies of the cast system in India to feckless husbands plus so many other places. At the beginning, we meet several of the main characters, who seemed like throwaways. But as the story develops, we really get to know them and they become much more fleshed out.

It's so hard to write a review and not give away the plot, some of which I wouldn't see coming before we took a left or right turn. Basically, buckle up! At some point, I plan to read this book again because it was that good.