Trains and Lovers / Wintering

 Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith

Four strangers meet on a train traveling from Edinburgh to London, and after a few pleasantries begin to talk about the part trains have played in their lives and relationships.  

Andrew is a young Scot who tells them about viewing an old painting in which a train caught both his attention and that of his female colleague. David, a quiet American, sees two men saying good-bye at a station and remembers with sadness a long-ago love of his own.

Hugh, English, once disembarked at the wrong station, was instantly attracted to a complete stranger on the platform and invited her to have dinner with him that very evening. Kay, returning from a trip to her father's birthplace in Scotland, is herself Australian and tells them the story of her parents falling in love while running a railway siding in the Outback.

The stories are uneven in length, I think I'm remembering that correctly. Some of the travelers are more inclined to talk than others, though it isn't always clear if some of their words are directed at their seatmates or are simply their own private thoughts.  

Alexander McCall Smith is gifted at making ordinary things and people interesting and he does that well here. I've always enjoyed his writing and the authentic characters he creates. Trains and Lovers is a stand alone novel, but I think I'll get into one of his series before too long, maybe the Corduroy Mansions books.

Wintering by Katherine May

Wintering is a self-help book that encourages us to embrace our "winters", those times when difficulties disconnect us from our normal work/life busyness and leave us feeling on the outside of things. That's a positive goal, and I probably should have gotten more out of it than I did, but I just couldn't get into it. I found it repetitive in spots, and was bored when she overworked certain points. I pushed myself to finish it for book club, but didn't find much in the way of fresh insight or anything more in it than what we all learn from simply living. She can be funny and there are a few good stories in there, but it wasn't enough to save this one for me. 

The Bookshop on the Corner/Still Life/A Room of One's Own

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Coglan 

A young woman loses her library job in England, buys a van or maybe a bus...it wasn't quite clear which, in Scotland, fills it with books and starts her own mobile bookshop. I'm not sure why it's called The Bookshop on the Corner. I thought she might eventually sell the van and settle in a permanent location but that didn't happen. Maybe she parked the bus on a corner and I just missed that detail. Anyway, she rents an apartment from a grouchy farmer she can't stand and then - no surprise - falls in love with him and he with her. This is the third one I've tried from this author and I know they are very popular, but I haven't enjoyed any of them so this will probably be my last one.

Still Life by Louise Penney

The first in the Inspector Gamache series of novels set in the village of Three Pines, Quebec, this mystery is about the murder of a local artist, Jane Neal. Her recently accepted entry in an art show is about to reveal something one desperate person does not want known. 

Characters include Clara Morrow, a frazzled but sincere woman who was Jane's good friend, and Peter, her detached husband; Ben Hadley, Peter's best friend since childhood; Ruth Zardo, an abrasive woman who long ago interfered with and changed the course of Jane's life; Olivier and Gabri, the easy-going couple who run the local Bistro; the Croft family, all proficient in the use of bows and arrows, the weapon that killed Jane; Myrna Landers, former psychologist now bookshop owner; Yolande Fontaine, Jane's uptight, pretentious niece; Police Inspector Gamache, wise and experienced; and Agents Beauvoir and Nichol, the latter of whom is new to the job, arrogant, and dis-inclined to follow her superior's orders.

Several of the characters are suspected in turn and with a number of red herrings it doesn't become clear who the murderer is till near the end, though I'm sure some readers will figure it out sooner than I did. 

With so many characters, there are a lot of stories to tell and clues appear to be everywhere. I found each page needed my full attention in order not to miss anything. I'm not an avid mystery fan nor a fan of long series, but I like the layered plot and the complicated characters, as well as the easy, intelligent writing style, so I will look forward to seeing where the story goes in book two: A Fatal Grace (also published as Dead Cold).

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

I read this extended essay again and liked it even better this time around. It was interesting to also be reading at the same time another essay, Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin. In Woolf's essay she asks us to consider why all the great, celebrated composers and writers of the past were men, when surely there were women born with equal talent. She doesn't accept the ridiculous argument that women simply lacked the intelligence to do anything great, and argues that women have always been more than capable but have never been given the freedom to work. They only need what men have always had - time, space, and money of their own to hone their gifts. 

When I first read the Nochlin essay I thought it was going to be more or less a rehash of Woolf's but found it presents a number of fresh ideas to consider and is very much its own essay. I found her writing a bit heavier going than Woolf's but both essays are important and well worth reading. 

The Lamplighters and The Rule of Four

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

This is a quietly creepy mystery about three lighthouse keepers who simply vanish in 1972. When a relief boat arrives they find the lighthouse empty, locked from the inside, all the clocks set to 8:45, and the table set for a meal. The weather log-book records a storm when there had been none. 

The story moves back and forth from uneasy lighthouse scenes where relationships are strained among the keepers, to two decades later when the keeper's wives, still bearing the emotional scars of the disappearance and resulting questions and accusations, are interviewed by a writer trying to find out what really happened to the men that day. 

This book was hard to put down. The author is adept at creating unease - between the men, and later among their wives - and of bringing the setting to life almost as a character itself. Dangerous waters, conflicting personalities, secrets kept by the wives for years, the pristine condition of the empty lighthouse, and the cover up by the lighthouse keeper's employer all add up to a deliciously tense mystery, making me resent anything taking me away from the book.   

Loosely based on a similar actual event in Scotland in 1900, an inscription says the book is written "in respectful memory" of that event but that these characters and their lives are purely fiction.

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell

This is about a group of male friends and their adventures and misadventures in their senior year of college. One of them is writing his thesis on an ancient book called the Hypnerotomachia (a book that actually exists in the real world), a diary full of convoluted clues presumed to lead to a hidden treasure. It's all fun and excitement until someone is killed for what they know about the book and they begin to realize that continuing their quest will put them in serious danger. 

Though the mystery of the diary and the unraveling of the clues was compelling reading, I'm not a fan of boy's stories generally, and college seniors or not, these guys are still just boys in so many ways. I find their ill-considered escapades and bad decisions more tiring than entertaining. I want to yell at them - Life is too short...You'll want these years back some day...Don't sabotage your future! I'm probably too old, or have seen too many things go wrong, to be a good reader of adventure stories anymore, but it is an interesting literary mystery.   

The Curiosity

 The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan

Kate Philo is in the arctic on a research boat collecting specimens for a private lab in Boston, where scientist Erastus Carthage is trying to re-animate dead things flash frozen in the ice. So far they've worked only on tiny crustations, managing to bring them back to life for just a few minutes before they succumb again. 

When they discover the body of a larger creature in the ice they think they might have a a seal, instead it turns out to be the body of Judge Jeremiah Rice who has been frozen there for over 100 years. After a few mad-scientist-type tries, they manage to bring him back to life and he begins to adjust to a world he barely recognizes. When Kate develops feelings for him, he is caught between caring for her and grieving for his beloved wife and children who, to his mind, he has only just lost.

What I liked: 

- The story. It was unusual and interesting to see what the process and repurcussions of re-animation were.

- The questions it raised. As an individual with rights and freedoms, how much control should the lab or any other entity have over where a re-animated human goes and what he does? Is he a free human being or is he a lab experiment, some scientist's project? Is it right to subject a person to reanimation without their previous consent? Whose responsibility is it to provide for him? 

 

What I didn't like:

- The obnoxious news reporter assigned to the project who saw Kate only as a body he'd like to investigate further. He was an old, tired cliche.

- Carthage, the scientist in charge of the project. Also a cliche, evil all the way through, all the time. Quite mad,

- The treatment of protestors who chanted and carried banners outside the lab, angry that anyone but God should try to create life. I'd like to have seen their concerns - some of which were valid - addressed instead of simply portraying them as an angry mob of crazy people.

The story had potential, and I did enjoy the reading of it, but a couple of almost ridiculously stereotypical characters and the missed opportunity to honestly examine important issues kept it from being great. 

The Left Hand of Darkness

 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Wow. What a visionary, intricate world Le Guin has built in this sci-fi novel. Apparently it's what she's known for but this was my first time reading one of her books and I'm a little awe-struck. When I saw the blurb on the back, I was doubtful that it could be "as profuse and original in invention as The Lord Of The Rings (Michael Moorcock)", but now, I think it just might be.

It's a vast and detailed world written with such assuredness that you feel it must have always existed somewhere, and that you're getting only a tiny glimpse of it in this story - just a glance through a window as you fly by. I felt at the end that it somehow wasn't enough, that there must be a million more stories in this world to be told. I've since learned that others of her books are indeed set in the same universe, but on other planets and with different characters. I will have to try another one just to see where she takes it. Her imagination, and writing, are pretty amazing.

The story begins with Mr. Ai, a Terran (so a human, like us - I think?), watching a parade on the planet Gethen, also known as Winter because of it's being in a continual ice age. Mr. Ai, first name Genry, has come to Gethen as a representative of Ekumen, a political and trade alliance of far-flung planets, to persuade Gethen to join the alliance. He will meet with the King of Karhide first, and if he finds favor there it is hoped the other nations of Gethen will follow. With increasing political tensions among Karhide's leaders and a wildly unpredictable King, it won't be easy.

The Prime Minister, Estraven, recommends Ekumen to the King, who, believing it would threaten Gethen's independence, is angered by the idea and declares Estraven a traitor, banning him from Karhide and confiscating all he owns. Mr. Ai travels to neighbouring Orgoreyn to distance himself from the King, and there is captured and taken to a prison work camp where he is overworked and starved until Estraven manages to break him out. 

When Mr. Ai is strong enough they set out on a dangerous trek up and across mountains of snow and ice, planning to sneak back into Karhide. From there Mr. Ai will be able to radio his ship's crew - for whom 2 weeks have passed since he left them, while for him it's been 3 years - to bring the ship to Gethen, which will take another 17 days, Gethen time. 

Estraven's (my favourite character) point of view alternates with that of Mr. Ai, through whose curious eyes we learn about this new planet and its people. As a kind person who means well, he is frustrated when he blunders and offends people unintentionally, which happens fairly often.

That basic storyline is filled out with an impressive array of cultural, social, and political information about Gethen and its people, who are neither women nor men but have qualities, and the organs, of both. During kemmer, a time of sexual desire each person experiences for two or three days every month, they mate with other beings also in kemmer at that time. An individual can become either male or female during kemmer, possibly becoming pregnant or fathering a child. Some Gethenians have children they've birthed, as well as children they've fathered. It seems freakish at first reading, and I still don't completely understand it, but by the end of the book it seemed more normal.....sort of. 

An intriguing plot with credible, layered characters, exceptional world-building, articulate writing, and vivid descriptions make this one very good reading experience. 

An Object of Beauty

 An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Daniel Franks, art writer, narrates his story of Lacey Yeager, art lover, who begins her career with a job in the basement of Sotheby's auction house, then works her way up to dealer and gallery owner. 

Lacey is smart, beautiful, and ambitious. She wants to be one of the big players in the art world and will risk breaking the rules to achieve that end, no matter the possible consequences to herself or others. Not very likeable, she's...well...a lot.

Daniel is not in the story often, just enough to show us he's smitten with Lacey and doesn't stand a chance. We don't really get to know him as anything other than Lacey's rather sad friend who can't seem to win for losing. 

I found the narration odd. Daniel begins in the first person then veers into a third person viewpoint telling us about Lacey's life in detail. Things he couldn't possibly know - her thoughts, what she said on phone calls, and minute details of her sexual encounters with other men. Then he abruptly switches back to the first person making it feel creepy, as if he'd been standing in the corner watching.  

What drew me to the book was the artsy setting and Steve Martin's name. I knew him only as actor/comedian and was curious to see what kind of writer he is. I'd only been reading a few minutes when I knew I'd like it. He's smart and witty and great fun to read. These lines from the first page made me eager to read the rest.

"My goal, once I discovered that my artistic aspirations were not accompanied by artistic talent, was to learn to write about art with effortless clarity. This is not as easy as it sounds: whenever I attempted it, I found myself in a convoluted rhetorical tangle from which there was no exit."

What I liked best about this book was getting a glimpse at how the art business operates - the buying and selling, the wheeling and dealing as stock market ups and downs affected the trade. I love a book that takes me into a world I know nothing about and shows me how it works.

Writing...check, setting...check, characters.....no, they left me cold. Reading this book was a little like a visit to a gallery. I viewed the art (literally - there are reproductions throughout the novel), listened to people discussing it, and met a few of those people. But they all stayed very much just passing acquaintances, glossy characters who didn't want or need any response from me. Nevertheless, this was an entertaining dive into the art world with enjoyable writing, very much worth reading