LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by GEORGE SAUNDERS (2017)

If you are like me, the first thing that came to mind when you read the title of this book was where or what in the heck is the bardo? This is not explained anywhere in the novel itself, but the dust jacket tells us that, according to Tibetan tradition, the bardo is a transitional state following death, similar to purgatory. Those readers with book copies missing the jacket just have to Google it to find out, I guess.

Saunders uses as his jumping off place for the novel the historical fact that Abraham Lincoln several times visited the crypt of his son Willie, who died less than a year after the beginning of the Civil War. The President's deep grief is touchingly depicted, along with his awareness that other parents are likewise afflicted as their sons die in bloody battles. However, Lincoln's part of the novel is by no means the primary focus. Rather, the main of the book concerns the spirits of the dead in the cemetery who are not yet willing to "pass over," so to speak. The life stories of this large cast of ghostly characters are gradually revealed through their conversations. Some display behavior that is bizarre; some are quarrelsome; some have tragic histories. The overall tone is humorous, strangely enough.

This is a very clever book. If you ask me, it is too clever. I generally dislike novels which seem to be written solely to display the cleverness of the author. George Saunders is a critic's darling right now, and this book has received glowing reviews. It has already been longlisted for England's Booker Prize and is being mentioned as a Pulitzer contender. I can't agree. I was entertained, but to me the novel lacks substance.

BLOOD MUSIC by GREG BEAR (1985)

I should have read reviews of this science fiction book before I bought it instead of just seeing that it was a favorite of the sci-fi crowd. It is of the hard science branch of the genre, and as such was not very understandable to my non-scientific mind. Its subject is bioscience -- "thinking" cells that can restructure DNA. I don't know whether any of this is even remotely possible. At any rate, as the story goes, a scientist injects such cells in his own body, and soon finds that they have multiplied and are taking over and changing him in drastic ways. Some escape through his sweat and infect others when he shakes hands with people. Before you know it, all of North America is infected!

The writing is pretty clunky, the events are highly unlikely, and Bear provides little character development. The ending, which comes abruptly, surprisingly veers into the metaphysical.

I wasted my time by reading this, but it was only an afternoon, so that's not too bad. I know there are much better examples out there of science fiction which is based on actual science. I would not recommend this one.

THE NORTH WATER by IAN McGUIRE (2016)

A quote from The New York Times which is printed on the back cover of this brilliant novel says, "The North Water feels like the result of an encounter between Joseph Conrad and Cormac McCarthy in some run-down port as they offer each other a long, sour nod of recognition." That neatly sums up the impact and contents of this dark and violent story of a whaling ship in the hunting waters of the Arctic Circle, except that perhaps Herman Melville happens by as well.

Central to the plot is the confrontation between Patrick Sumner, an opium addicted doctor who has been dismissed from the army in disgrace, and Henry Drax, a rapist, sodomite, and murderer, who kills casually and without remorse. This is not, however, a parable about good and evil. Rather it is a picture of universal corruption, which differs only in degree from man to man. Headed by their ship captain, who has secretly colluded with the ship owner to sink the vessel for the insurance money, the rest of the crew, save for one mystical prophet and one young innocent victim, display themselves as connivers and savages. None are without sin.

The North Water is graphically violent, but it is saved from being just a pornographic blood-fest by the extraordinary quality of the writing. Every word seems to be carefully chosen to further the overall impact and theme. I was particularly struck by McGuire's use of details about smells to heighten the sense of human corruption.

It would seem to be contradictory to classify a book as harsh, brutal, and beautiful, but that is what this book is. I would highly recommend it, but it will not please everybody, just as Cormac McCarthy does not please everybody.


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The North Water was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.

THE NIGHTINGALE by KRISTIN HANNAH (2015)

Kristin Hannah is quite a story teller. Her tale of two sisters in France when it is overwhelmed by the Nazis moves along at breakneck speed and is always interesting and suspenseful. The older sister, Vianne, who is married with a child, wants to keep a low profile and endure quietly, trusting that the enemy will eventually be overcome by others. The younger sister, Isabelle, wants to fight in any way that she can to aid in the cause of freedom. Vianne stays in her home village, where she is forced to house a German officer and must make one hard decision after another to keep her family safe. Isabelle goes to Paris, where she becomes an important cog is the Resistance, leading downed airmen from England and America across mountains to safety in Spain.

The only problem with this novel is that it is too melodramatic and overly sentimental, causing it to read somewhat like a young adult novel. In fact, I am going to pass it along to my teenage granddaughters. It does highlight an aspect of history worth examining: the plight of the French people in determining how to react to an enemy occupation.

FREE FALL by WILLIAM GOLDING (1959)

Free Fall is a novel about choices -- or maybe about the fact that we have no choices, that our adult lives are in free fall, outside our control, determined by earlier events and interactions with others. Golding's protagonist, Sammy Mountjoy, examines his life while held in solitary darkness by the Germans as a prisoner of war, trying to determine the exact point at which he lost his free will and became helpless to control his life. Sammy's reminiscences begin in his early childhood, with life with his alcoholic mother, and continue through his school days, early adulthood, and success as a respected artist.

Be warned. This is a dark, dark book. After reading almost all of Golding's novels, I conclude that he must have been a deeply unhappy man, haunted by inner demons. Of all those books of his that I have read, this one reflects despondence most starkly.

This is a short review because the plot is of secondary importance, and it is difficult for me to articulate the more philosophical content. Suffice it to say it seems to me that in my own life, one choice did lead to a succession of events beyond my control, many of them regretful. We all want to believe that we control our own destiny (or as some believe, God completely controls it), but perhaps we are mistaken either way. Perhaps we are in free fall.

HIS BLOODY PROJECT by GRAEME MACRAE BURNET (2016)

This mystery/historical novel which takes place in Scotland in 1869 reverts to the popular style of many books written in that period -- it attempts to convince the reader that it is a true story. It purports to be the found written confession of a young man accused of a brutal triple murder. Also included are transcripts from his trial and newspaper accounts. The author, Graeme Macrae Burnet, adds more verisimilitude by giving the protagonist the last name of Macrae, saying that he is an ancestor.

The question is not who committed the murder, as young Macrae readily admits his guilt, but why. As it turns out, Macrae is not the most reliable of narrators. His account of events leading up to the crime and of the crime itself do not always agree with the evidence given at the trial.

I am surprised that this novel was a short-listed finalist for England's 2016 Booker Prize. While it is cleverly written, it seems slight to me.

A PERFECT SPY by JOHN LE CARRE' (1986)

Despite its title, this outstanding novel is not primarily a typical action-packed spy thriller. Rather it is a psychological examination of how the childhood and later life experiences shaped the protagonist, Msgnus Pym, into a man perfectly suited to be a highly successful spy -- one who is capable of compartmentalizing his life according to the role he is playing, one who is able to charm and please all people, one who can rationalize and self-justify his betrayal of those who trust him. The title might as well have been "A Perfect Psychopath," because the character traits are much the same.

As the story begins, Magnus Pym has disappeared and M16 (the British equivalent of the CIA) is frantic to find him. If he has been compromised, his whole network of spies and informants must be warned to go into hiding. The American intelligence people are also alarmed, because they have begun to suspect him as a double agent and he knows some of their secrets. His wife is worried because she loves him. As it turns out, Magnus has holed up in his own private safe house and is writing his life story in a letter to his son Tom and his M16 mentor, Jack Brotherhood. The bulk of the novel is his account of growing up motherless as the son of a charming con man who alternately lavished attention on him or abandoned him.

This is an extraordinary novel, on many levels. I have never read a more effective portrayal of how the survival traits developed because of childhood trauma can adversely affect a person. I have seldom read a more well written book. It is subtle, always showing rather than telling. And it is highly suspenseful, despite its lack of James Bond-type derring-do.

Interestingly, in the introduction to the novel the author says that he based the father of the protagonist on his own father. Since the character attempts to exorcise his inner demons by writing, and since Le Carre' was himself once a member of M16 who turned to writing, one can only assume that his character's psyche is a reflection of his own.

I highly recommend this book, even to those who do not ordinarily read in the spy genre.