Books Read September 2023

Henry James: The Ambassadors: h/b, London, Heron Books, 1968. [1902].  

American Henry James (1843 -1916) was the brother of highly regarded psychologist William James and his many novels focus on the machinations of the human mind and how individuals make decisions and lead their lives.

The Ambassadors is a story told completely through the lens of retired 60 something American literary editor named Strether. Having lost his wife and only son earlier in life, Strether has developed a strong relationship with the Company’s Managing Director Mrs Newsome and has agreed to travel to France to locate her son to persuade him to return to the USA to take up the management of the company. Mrs Newsome had developed a view that her son Chad had been misbehaving in France and needed her firm hand.  At the same time Strether has persuaded old friend and retired stick in the mud and quite famous lawyer Mr Waymarsh of Connecticut to accompany him.

Early in the narrative in England Strether meets up with attractive single lady Maria Gastrey who is based in Paris and becomes a wise and trusted friend on his journey and task to meet Chad and bring him back to the US.  Once Strether gets to Paris and finds Chad he quickly realises that Mrs Newsome’s fears about Chad have been misplaced. Chad has in fact developed a very successful career and some firm and helpful friendships including especially aristocratic Madame de Viannet and her beautiful daughter Jeanne. Madame de Viannet has played a major role in reordering Chad’s life and behaviour and turning him into a first class operator as well as a very elegant and agreeable young man. 

Strether’s support of Chad does not impress Mrs Newsome or Mr Waymarsh who “wakes up” in Paris  and joins the anti-Chad lobby. Mrs Newsome sends reinforcements in the form of married family members the Pococks who remain unpersuaded that Chad is a reformed character. Thus the scene is set for a complex series of events which lie at the heart of the novel, all seen through the thought process of Strether. Many surprises are in store for the reader! 

Our Book club members uniformly disliked this book (except me) and only three of them completed the novel!

Review of Simon Schama: Rembrandt’s Eyes: p/b, London, Penguin, 2000.  

Simon Schama is an amazing polymath and historian of art and European culture. Born in Britain of Jewish parents Schama’s particular expertise is in the history of the Jews but his detailed knowledge of Dutch French, British and American history also has few peers. He is extraordinarily erudite and his detailed wisdom and research has at least one commentator calling him a walking thesaurus. 

Rembrandt’s Eyes is a lavishly produced and exceptionally detailed account of the lives of two artists, Rubens and Rembrandt. It is a massive read of well over 700 pages with beautifully reproduced reproductions of all the major works of these two exceptional artists. Alongside their stories is the traumatic and tragic outworking of the C17th thirty years warfare between Catholic Spain and Protestant Netherlands with other European nations including Britain playing intermittent roles on both sides depending on where national gains can be made.

The constant destructive horror of Protestant/Catholic warfare in C17th Europe makes for profoundly disturbing reading alongside the desperate search of European Jews for a safe haven which is rarely long lasting. It is difficult to read of Catholic/Protestant division on the one hand and of equally bitter and hard fought divisions between Protestant denominations of various traditions and leaders and especially the punishments handed out to losers on both sides.

The lives of Rubens and Rembrandt also make for thought provoking reading with their exceptional and brilliant successes and the difficult and demanding requirements of their masters. Rubens finally ended his life with considerable power and wealth while Rembrandt ended his life in poverty whilst history will record him as perhaps the finest artist of them all. The name “Rembrandt’s Eyes” refers to Rembrandt’s exceptional and extraordinary care that he takes with the eyes of the figures he paints.

I have been profoundly moved by Schama’s analysis of this tragic time in Christian internecine theological development and equally I have been stunned by the complexity and demanding nature of the artistic enterprise. The exceptional gifts that artists bring to our senses and our world has the capacity to change the way we look at things and there is no doubt in my mind that the study of Art can richly deepen our understanding of Christian faith.  5 stars!

Ann Patchett: Tom Lake: p/b, New York, Bloomsbury, 2023.  

Eighth novel by well regarded American novelist Ann Patchett. The novel traces the two speed life of Lara, her husband and three daughters. Lara’s first love was drama at school and this lead her to the stage and eventually to a key role in a major Hollywood movie. In her drama and movie career Lara meets and falls in love with budding actor Peter Juke. After a tennis accident and her own sense that she was somewhat of a one trick pony, Lara leaves the film world for a series of less demanding careers until she meets and eventually marries former director and cherry picker Sam Nelson.  Between them they raise three girls and during lulls in the cherry picking the girls persuade their mother to tell them the story of her stardom and her marriage.

I have to own that I was reluctant to read this novel, having found her previous novel The Dutch House somewhat static and uneventful.  I was pleasantly surprised by the pace and energy of this novel and the surprising twists and turns of Lara’s life. I became keen to find out the ongoing story  and the novel had many surprises without requiring too much energy or challenge to read. 4 stars.