It's difficult to read Nick Turse's Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (#281). This isn't a textbook description of the war as cleaned up and sanitized by military or political apologists, nor is it a straight historical recounting of the events of the military campaign as chronicled elsewhere. Kill Anything That Moves instead tells the story of the deliberate war waged against the civilian population by the US military and its allies over a period of years, destroying homes and crops, devastating entire regions, and most tellingly, resulting in the maiming, torture and death of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, but glossed over as "collateral damage".
This is a history where the My Lai massacre was the rule, rather than the exception, and the emphasis was on the "body count". It didn't really matter whose body - man, woman or child, young or old - as long as the military unit's statistics looked good. What doesn't match up are the amount of weapons that should have been present if those slaughtered were truly Viet Cong; 600+ dead "VC", but only 9 weapons captured? The stories are truly appalling.
What's not surprising to me is the ease with which the military was able to quash any "atrocity" stories either at their source by threatening soldiers who became whistle blowers, or the amazing way that charges were dropped against soldiers who participated in these everyday outrages despite multiple eye-witness accounts. Dehumanization of the Vietnamese people themselves, the "kill anything that moves" atmosphere that prevailed from the highest levels of command, the misogyny that resulted in wholesale rape, and the impunity enjoyed by all ranks (except for the scapegoated Lieutenant William Calley who wasn't high enough up the food chain to escape some token punishment) created a war in which to me it is astonishing that any Vietnamese in some regions managed to survive at all.
And if you think things have changed in the military today, you haven't been reading the papers or watching the news. If the eye-popping rates of reported military rapes don't demonstrate that misogyny is alive and well today against our own "friendly" forces, can you imagine what that same attitude would be like unleashed against a defenseless population of unarmed women who were automatically labeled "the enemy"?
Kudos to Nick Turse for finding the proof in the National Archives that what the Vietnamese themselves reported to American Advisors on the scene, or what the whistle-blowers tried to stop by reporting on the actions of their fellow soldiers so far outside the Geneva Convention or Rules of Engagement that even they were disgusted. It was real, and probably only the tip of the iceberg. If only the newspapers and magazines (Newsweek deserves its own special badge of infamy for the cowardice it displayed at the time.) had had the courage to report the stories they were being given, perhaps many lives, both Vietnamese and American could have been saved. As for me, this book made me even more certain that protesting the war in the '60s and '70s was the right thing to do.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
Undead and Underwater
If you're thinking that Undead and Underwater (#280) is just another book about zombies having mortgage problems, you'd be wrong. Zombies are hardly mentioned at all in Mary Janice Davidson's latest collection of three novellas: vampires, mermaids, werewolves and a new superhero character are the subjects here.
Betsey Taylor, Queen of the Undead, appears in two of the stories. (Always good to know what's on Betsey's A List of shoes!) In one she teams up with Dr. Fredericka Bimm ("I don't WANT to be Queen of the Undersea Folk!!") to foil a dastardly plot to rid the world of mermaids. Some of the action takes place in one of my favorite spots, the New England Aquarium (NEA). Doing my student teaching there back in the '70s was one of the best jobs of my life and all the kudos Ms. Davidson gives the NEA are richly deserved. By all means go there if you're ever in Boston. Just don't expect to see any naked beauties swimming in the main Ocean tank. That's actually frowned upon. The crankiest mermaid on earth makes a great sparring partner with Queen Betsey, and you'll enjoy their repartee. ( It's not recommended that you consume food or drink while reading these stories lest you choke on crumbs from laughing, or expel liquid from your nose.)
In the other novella, she plays a minor role as Lara assumes the leadership of the Wyndham Werewolves on Cape Cod from her retiring Pack father, Michael. Someone's bound to challenge Lara, but that's not all that happens in this tale set in the not-so-distant future. Gotta love her brother Sean!
The third story introduces reluctant superhero Hailey Derry, the It Girl. Of course, I couldn't help but read Halle Berry every time I read Hailey's name, so that's exactly how I pictured her, although she does have a unique physical characteristic which I will leave you to discover on your own. The other problem I had with her alter ego was picturing her as Clara Bow, the silent screen star and original "It Girl". And no, I'm not actually THAT old! Hailey could be a lot of fun. I hope she makes another appearance in the future.
Paranormal equals pleasure in Ms. Davidson's amusing books. A great way to spend a couple of hours!
Betsey Taylor, Queen of the Undead, appears in two of the stories. (Always good to know what's on Betsey's A List of shoes!) In one she teams up with Dr. Fredericka Bimm ("I don't WANT to be Queen of the Undersea Folk!!") to foil a dastardly plot to rid the world of mermaids. Some of the action takes place in one of my favorite spots, the New England Aquarium (NEA). Doing my student teaching there back in the '70s was one of the best jobs of my life and all the kudos Ms. Davidson gives the NEA are richly deserved. By all means go there if you're ever in Boston. Just don't expect to see any naked beauties swimming in the main Ocean tank. That's actually frowned upon. The crankiest mermaid on earth makes a great sparring partner with Queen Betsey, and you'll enjoy their repartee. ( It's not recommended that you consume food or drink while reading these stories lest you choke on crumbs from laughing, or expel liquid from your nose.)
In the other novella, she plays a minor role as Lara assumes the leadership of the Wyndham Werewolves on Cape Cod from her retiring Pack father, Michael. Someone's bound to challenge Lara, but that's not all that happens in this tale set in the not-so-distant future. Gotta love her brother Sean!
The third story introduces reluctant superhero Hailey Derry, the It Girl. Of course, I couldn't help but read Halle Berry every time I read Hailey's name, so that's exactly how I pictured her, although she does have a unique physical characteristic which I will leave you to discover on your own. The other problem I had with her alter ego was picturing her as Clara Bow, the silent screen star and original "It Girl". And no, I'm not actually THAT old! Hailey could be a lot of fun. I hope she makes another appearance in the future.
Paranormal equals pleasure in Ms. Davidson's amusing books. A great way to spend a couple of hours!
Monday, April 1, 2013
The Chaperone
A friend lent me her copy of Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone (#279), so I read it. If you like historical fiction set in the Roaring 20s, you might enjoy it. It's not a time period that appeals to me particularly, and I can't say that The Chaperone does much to change my mind about the era.
Cora Carlisle is the eponymous chaperone to soon-to-be silent film star, Louise Brooks, when she accompanies the wild child Louise from their home in Wichita, Kansas to a fateful summer dance school in New York City with the famed Denishawn modern dance company.
Frankly, I expected there to be more about Louise Brooks in the story, but if you merely skim the Wikipedia entry on her, you'll learn everything this book reveals about her and much more besides. Enough so that you know exactly what the hidden emotions are in many of the conversations between Cora and Louise, neither of whom like each other. (Spoiler alert: if you prefer to be surprised by the revelations unfolding in the novel, don't look at the Wikipedia site until after you've read the book.) In fact, the most surprising thing I learned about Louise Brooks, whose iconic bob hair cut defined the look of the 20s, was that the photo on the cover of The Chaperone is actually an image of Louise, minus the famous bangs and the recognizable bob.
Cora herself didn't capture my imagination or my sympathy when she uses the opportunity to act as Louise's chaperone as a chance to explore the secrets from her past. Of course Cora has secrets. Otherwise there wouldn't be much point in writing a fictional story about her, would there? I absolutely did not buy Cora's contrived romance, nor the neatly tied up resolution to how she gets to bring home her lover permanently. Not for a moment. And after I stopped caring, I didn't need the remainder of the novel to recount the rest of her life right up until her deathbed many years later. (After she plays a significant role in Wichita's Civil Rights Movement, of course!)
But I think the thing that really bugged me the most about this book were the linguistic anachronisms that jumped out of the text and made me lose the thread of the narrative. Ms. Moriarty includes a bibliography of reference materials she used in preparing this book. Perhaps it would have been useful to consult some books about Catholicism and religious orders, or even to have spoken to someone who could remember the pre-Vatican II days to correct her errors, and perhaps paint a more balanced picture of the nuns depicted in this book. Yes, I knew scary nuns growing up, but Moriarity's Sister Delores is so far over the top as to be an offensive caricature.
But perhaps the low light of the entire book for me was the scene where Mary O'Dell corrects Cora on her pronunciation of the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Cora is angry and offended when Mrs. O'Dell blithely tells her what's wrong with her pronunciation, and spells out the "proper" way to say it. Oh, if only Mrs. O'Dell had done that, and not compounded the problem by attributing a three syllable pronunciation to the city's name. Tut, tut, Ms. Moriarty. Get your facts straight!
The Chaperone isn't a terrible book, but not one that I would recommend, either. As I said, if you're a fan of The Paris Wife or Z, this book may be of interest to you, otherwise, you might want to find something else in your pile of books to read.
Cora Carlisle is the eponymous chaperone to soon-to-be silent film star, Louise Brooks, when she accompanies the wild child Louise from their home in Wichita, Kansas to a fateful summer dance school in New York City with the famed Denishawn modern dance company.
Frankly, I expected there to be more about Louise Brooks in the story, but if you merely skim the Wikipedia entry on her, you'll learn everything this book reveals about her and much more besides. Enough so that you know exactly what the hidden emotions are in many of the conversations between Cora and Louise, neither of whom like each other. (Spoiler alert: if you prefer to be surprised by the revelations unfolding in the novel, don't look at the Wikipedia site until after you've read the book.) In fact, the most surprising thing I learned about Louise Brooks, whose iconic bob hair cut defined the look of the 20s, was that the photo on the cover of The Chaperone is actually an image of Louise, minus the famous bangs and the recognizable bob.
Cora herself didn't capture my imagination or my sympathy when she uses the opportunity to act as Louise's chaperone as a chance to explore the secrets from her past. Of course Cora has secrets. Otherwise there wouldn't be much point in writing a fictional story about her, would there? I absolutely did not buy Cora's contrived romance, nor the neatly tied up resolution to how she gets to bring home her lover permanently. Not for a moment. And after I stopped caring, I didn't need the remainder of the novel to recount the rest of her life right up until her deathbed many years later. (After she plays a significant role in Wichita's Civil Rights Movement, of course!)
But I think the thing that really bugged me the most about this book were the linguistic anachronisms that jumped out of the text and made me lose the thread of the narrative. Ms. Moriarty includes a bibliography of reference materials she used in preparing this book. Perhaps it would have been useful to consult some books about Catholicism and religious orders, or even to have spoken to someone who could remember the pre-Vatican II days to correct her errors, and perhaps paint a more balanced picture of the nuns depicted in this book. Yes, I knew scary nuns growing up, but Moriarity's Sister Delores is so far over the top as to be an offensive caricature.
But perhaps the low light of the entire book for me was the scene where Mary O'Dell corrects Cora on her pronunciation of the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Cora is angry and offended when Mrs. O'Dell blithely tells her what's wrong with her pronunciation, and spells out the "proper" way to say it. Oh, if only Mrs. O'Dell had done that, and not compounded the problem by attributing a three syllable pronunciation to the city's name. Tut, tut, Ms. Moriarty. Get your facts straight!
The Chaperone isn't a terrible book, but not one that I would recommend, either. As I said, if you're a fan of The Paris Wife or Z, this book may be of interest to you, otherwise, you might want to find something else in your pile of books to read.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Cutting for Stone
I never thought about reading Cutting for Stone (#278) by Abraham Verghese before my book club decided to read it. Everyone I mentioned it to was uniformly enthusiastic about this book, and after reading it myself, I can understand why.
This hefty novel is told chiefly from the viewpoint of Marion Stone, one of a pair of identical twin boys born to a British doctor and an Indian nun in Ethiopia in the 1950s. He tells the extraordinary story of his and his brother Shiva's birth in the tiny Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. With both parents gone (their mother has not survived the twins' birth, nor their surgeon father the emotional trauma) Marion and Shiva are raised by the rest of the staff at Missing. Both boys develop an interest in medicine though their approach to it is as different as night from day. But it is their attraction to their foster sister, Genet, that will cause a rift between Marion and Shiva and disrupt the entire household. Genet's involvement with the Eritrean Liberation Movement will force Marion to flee to America. When he applies for an internship at an underfunded, rundown New York City hospital in a bad neighborhood, he finds his calling. His interest in trauma surgery leads to a meeting he never expected to have. The past intrudes on Marion's future when that meeting leads to several others with powerful consequences.
This book does pack a powerful emotional wallop. I had to reach for the Kleenex several times while reading, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, because it means the characters are real enough to take on a life of their own, and you suffer and rejoice right along with them.
A caveat: Cutting for Stone was written by a physician. If you aren't a health care professional yourself, or if you've never taken a class in medical terminology you might want to lay your hands on a medical dictionary, or keep your electronic device nearby as you're reading so you can look up or Google some of the medical terms. Whoa! Way too much obstetrical detail for me in the first hundred or so pages...
This hefty novel is told chiefly from the viewpoint of Marion Stone, one of a pair of identical twin boys born to a British doctor and an Indian nun in Ethiopia in the 1950s. He tells the extraordinary story of his and his brother Shiva's birth in the tiny Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. With both parents gone (their mother has not survived the twins' birth, nor their surgeon father the emotional trauma) Marion and Shiva are raised by the rest of the staff at Missing. Both boys develop an interest in medicine though their approach to it is as different as night from day. But it is their attraction to their foster sister, Genet, that will cause a rift between Marion and Shiva and disrupt the entire household. Genet's involvement with the Eritrean Liberation Movement will force Marion to flee to America. When he applies for an internship at an underfunded, rundown New York City hospital in a bad neighborhood, he finds his calling. His interest in trauma surgery leads to a meeting he never expected to have. The past intrudes on Marion's future when that meeting leads to several others with powerful consequences.
This book does pack a powerful emotional wallop. I had to reach for the Kleenex several times while reading, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, because it means the characters are real enough to take on a life of their own, and you suffer and rejoice right along with them.
A caveat: Cutting for Stone was written by a physician. If you aren't a health care professional yourself, or if you've never taken a class in medical terminology you might want to lay your hands on a medical dictionary, or keep your electronic device nearby as you're reading so you can look up or Google some of the medical terms. Whoa! Way too much obstetrical detail for me in the first hundred or so pages...
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Holy Smoke; A Jerusalem Mystery
Holy Smoke (#277) by Frederick Ramsay is the second book in his Jerusalem Mystery trilogy. As you might guess from the title, it is a murder mystery set in the Temple in Jerusalem at a period of time familiar to many readers from the Bible's New Testament books. But that pesky country rabbi, Yeshua bar Josef, is only a peripheral character in this tale.
Gamaliel, the rabban, or rabbi of rabbis, in the Sanhedrin is caught up in the excitement and confusion when a cord leading under the veil which conceals the Holy of Holies is discovered by the youngest priest on duty. How did it come to be there? Caiaphas, the High Priest, is sure that some unknown person has dared to enter the Sanctuary where he has been struck down for his blasphemy. But the problem remains: how to extract the body without anyone else entering and defiling the sacred space. Gamaliel sends for his friend Loukas, the physician, who has offered him helpful and practical advice in the past to lend a hand. What they discover is that it was not the Hand of the Lord who struck down the victim, but an unknown assailant. When Gamaliel tries to investigate, he is warned off by the High Priest and Palace officials. If he and Loukas are not careful, they could become the next victims...
I really wanted to like this book. I found the cover blurb appealing, and the author, Frederick Ramsay, an Episcopal priest, certainly knows the time period. However, I found Gamaliel a little hard to take with his lectures to everyone he meets. (It is his job, after all, but still!). Loukas, the physician (yes, of course, that Luke!) comes off alternately as a competent medical man and a simpleton who is there simply as Gamaliel's foil. I might have been okay with either or both of these quibbles if it hadn't been for the miserable job done of editing this book. Didn't anyone at Poison Press proof this book before it went into publication? I found that the numerous typos, wrong and incorrect words and lack of punctuation slowed me down so much that it took as long to read this book (Actually, I stand corrected, it took me longer!) at 247 pages than it took me to read The Solitary House at 340 pages. There was certainly no surprise or neat twist to end this mystery. It just kind of petered out after Gamaliel repeats everything once more at the end with nothing new to add. My reaction to this book was a whole series of "Wait; what??!!!" Great idea for a plot; wish someone else had written it, and that someone with a lot more discernment had edited and published this. Well, I can consider Holy Smoke my Lenten penance.
Gamaliel, the rabban, or rabbi of rabbis, in the Sanhedrin is caught up in the excitement and confusion when a cord leading under the veil which conceals the Holy of Holies is discovered by the youngest priest on duty. How did it come to be there? Caiaphas, the High Priest, is sure that some unknown person has dared to enter the Sanctuary where he has been struck down for his blasphemy. But the problem remains: how to extract the body without anyone else entering and defiling the sacred space. Gamaliel sends for his friend Loukas, the physician, who has offered him helpful and practical advice in the past to lend a hand. What they discover is that it was not the Hand of the Lord who struck down the victim, but an unknown assailant. When Gamaliel tries to investigate, he is warned off by the High Priest and Palace officials. If he and Loukas are not careful, they could become the next victims...
I really wanted to like this book. I found the cover blurb appealing, and the author, Frederick Ramsay, an Episcopal priest, certainly knows the time period. However, I found Gamaliel a little hard to take with his lectures to everyone he meets. (It is his job, after all, but still!). Loukas, the physician (yes, of course, that Luke!) comes off alternately as a competent medical man and a simpleton who is there simply as Gamaliel's foil. I might have been okay with either or both of these quibbles if it hadn't been for the miserable job done of editing this book. Didn't anyone at Poison Press proof this book before it went into publication? I found that the numerous typos, wrong and incorrect words and lack of punctuation slowed me down so much that it took as long to read this book (Actually, I stand corrected, it took me longer!) at 247 pages than it took me to read The Solitary House at 340 pages. There was certainly no surprise or neat twist to end this mystery. It just kind of petered out after Gamaliel repeats everything once more at the end with nothing new to add. My reaction to this book was a whole series of "Wait; what??!!!" Great idea for a plot; wish someone else had written it, and that someone with a lot more discernment had edited and published this. Well, I can consider Holy Smoke my Lenten penance.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
The Solitary House
Just a few paragraphs into Lynn Shepherd's The Solitary House (#276) I was immersed in the sights, the sounds, the smells and the evil fog of 1850 London and I knew I was in for an exceptional story.
Charles Maddox is a young private investigator working on his latest case trying to trace the whereabouts of a young girl missing for sixteen years. His scant leads have all turned into a series of dead ends, so he is surprised and flattered to receive a summons to the office of Edward Tulkinghorn, one of London's most prominent and feared attorneys. One of Tulkinghorn's clients, a powerful financier, has received a series of anonymous and threatening letters. Charles' job will be to find the person responsible and furnish Tulkinghorn with his name, no more.
But Tulkinghorn has chosen the wrong man for the job; Charles manages to locate the author of these threatening letters with the help of his aging uncle, a revered Regency era "thief taker", but it also occurs to him to wonder why Tulkinghorn has bothered with such a mundane matter himself, and what proof of wrong-doing the letter writer has against Sir Julius Cremorne. Pursuit of the truth is everything to Charles, and the reason he lost his job with the police Detective unit. His great uncle Maddox during his lucid moments between attacks of dementia is able to help Charles in his search . As the layers within layers are revealed and witnesses disappear, Charles realizes that the stakes for finding the truth come with such a high price for all concerned he will have to choose his course wisely.
I've never been a fan of Charles Dickens, except for his A Tale of Two Cities, but after reading The Solitary House I'm going to have to read Bleak House, on which this book is based. If you're already a Dickens fan, you'll enjoy this book even more with its familiar characters and allusions.
The elder Maddox was featured in Ms. Shepherd's first novel, Murder at Mansfield Park, which I understand is written in the style of Jane Austen (Yes, I've already requested that from the library!). Charles Maddox will return in another book due out in 2013 called A Treacherous Likeness, also based on Dickens' work. I've found another "must read" author with Lynn Shepherd.
Charles Maddox is a young private investigator working on his latest case trying to trace the whereabouts of a young girl missing for sixteen years. His scant leads have all turned into a series of dead ends, so he is surprised and flattered to receive a summons to the office of Edward Tulkinghorn, one of London's most prominent and feared attorneys. One of Tulkinghorn's clients, a powerful financier, has received a series of anonymous and threatening letters. Charles' job will be to find the person responsible and furnish Tulkinghorn with his name, no more.
But Tulkinghorn has chosen the wrong man for the job; Charles manages to locate the author of these threatening letters with the help of his aging uncle, a revered Regency era "thief taker", but it also occurs to him to wonder why Tulkinghorn has bothered with such a mundane matter himself, and what proof of wrong-doing the letter writer has against Sir Julius Cremorne. Pursuit of the truth is everything to Charles, and the reason he lost his job with the police Detective unit. His great uncle Maddox during his lucid moments between attacks of dementia is able to help Charles in his search . As the layers within layers are revealed and witnesses disappear, Charles realizes that the stakes for finding the truth come with such a high price for all concerned he will have to choose his course wisely.
I've never been a fan of Charles Dickens, except for his A Tale of Two Cities, but after reading The Solitary House I'm going to have to read Bleak House, on which this book is based. If you're already a Dickens fan, you'll enjoy this book even more with its familiar characters and allusions.
The elder Maddox was featured in Ms. Shepherd's first novel, Murder at Mansfield Park, which I understand is written in the style of Jane Austen (Yes, I've already requested that from the library!). Charles Maddox will return in another book due out in 2013 called A Treacherous Likeness, also based on Dickens' work. I've found another "must read" author with Lynn Shepherd.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Before I Go To Sleep
What if every morning you woke up beside a stranger? And every morning he explains who he is, and who you are, and reminds you to look at the pictures around the mirror in the bathroom. But you don't even recognize the middle-aged person in the mirror looking back at you; you somehow expect to see a twenty-something woman. That stranger also tells you that each night the memories you make during that day will be erased as you sleep...
That's the premise behind S.J. Watson's psychological thriller Before I Go To Sleep (#275). Gradually we learn that Christine has been seeing a doctor who thinks he can help her with her memory problems. He has suggested that she writes what she learns each day in her journal as a way of capturing those elusive snippets of remembrance. But can she trust the doctor or the man who says he's her husband? Christine isn't sure as she rereads her previous journal entries. It's clear that someone is lying to her, but who? And for what purpose?
The story unfolds to the reader in small, tantalizing bites, just as it does to Christine. The question is, will Christine be able to put enough of the pieces together while she can still remember in order to protect herself from harm? I did some serious nail-biting as I read the conclusion of this story, with its neat twists at the end. Looking for something to keep you up at night? Before I Go To Sleep may be your answer.
That's the premise behind S.J. Watson's psychological thriller Before I Go To Sleep (#275). Gradually we learn that Christine has been seeing a doctor who thinks he can help her with her memory problems. He has suggested that she writes what she learns each day in her journal as a way of capturing those elusive snippets of remembrance. But can she trust the doctor or the man who says he's her husband? Christine isn't sure as she rereads her previous journal entries. It's clear that someone is lying to her, but who? And for what purpose?
The story unfolds to the reader in small, tantalizing bites, just as it does to Christine. The question is, will Christine be able to put enough of the pieces together while she can still remember in order to protect herself from harm? I did some serious nail-biting as I read the conclusion of this story, with its neat twists at the end. Looking for something to keep you up at night? Before I Go To Sleep may be your answer.
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