Theological, Cultural and Educational Reflections

Saul Bellow: Henderson the Rain King, p/b, London, Pan Books Ltd.,1959 (1962)  

Jewish author Saul Bellow sits high on the list of America’s finest writers.  Henderson the Rain King is an extraordinary roller coaster of a novel based around a wealthy Middle West playboy, highly decorated for his achievements in World War 11. Henderson is a man of unusual physical strength and heir to a very substantial income thanks to his hard working and highly sucessful father.  Henderson knows he should be doing better with his wealth and also knows he should be more faithful to his wife and children but struggles to succeed in either case.  On a whim he ends up in Africa and fortunately teams up with a faithful and honest African sidekick called Romilayu. 

Any attempt to summarise Henderson’s activities in remote parts of the African continent would defy any serious attempt. As usual with Bellow’s novels the heroes antics and activities are interlaced with philosophical thoughts and quotations from both well known and obscure philosophers and writers. I have to admit that there were times in this demanding novel that I was severely tempted to throw the novel away as a load of rubbish but being a determined novel finisher I stayed with it and have to admit that the clever finale made the book impossible to put down. 

I have the greatest respect for Saul Bellow’s writing. I would, however, put this novel further down the list than most of his novels.  4 stars.

Paul Lynch: Beyond the Sea: London, One World, 2019.  

Challenging story by well regarded Irish author Paul Lynch about two men, one an experienced fisherman and the other a volunteer, who venture out to sea against the advice of other fishermen due to the promise of very heavy seas. Inevitably their small craft is embroiled in a storm of fearful dimensions which drags them far away from land in any direction after their motor seizes. 

The remainder of the story describes their horrific battle with life and death as they drift mercilessly at the hands of a vast ocean with minimal food and water and with virtually no hope of rescue. The centre of the novel hinges on the relationship between Bolivar the experienced fisherman and Hector his untried assistant. 

This short novel keeps the reader alert with the very different character of the two protagonists creating an unstable and difficult relationship between the two men. Paul Lynch retains the reader’s interest with this tension between the two men and the reader becomes persuaded that no-one will survive this adventure.

One piece of philosophy stands out in the novel on page 163.  Bolivar remarks Man gives birth to his own problems. I see this now. The world has always been silent.

Although my wife found this narrative repetitive and boring I personally enjoyed the tension between the two men in their attempts to stay alive. I have to say this story did nothing to change my long held view that sailing around in the ocean is a very dangerous pastime indeed and one that in 75 years I have never tried! I am less persuaded that the world has always been silent.

4 stars.

Amor Towles: A Gentleman in Moscow: p/b, London, Windmill Books, 2016.  

Outstanding second novel from Towles who for over twenty years was an investment professional but now devotes himself entirely to writing. In a remarkable tour de force Towles tells the ‘history of  Moscow’ from pre-Revolutionary days to the elevation of Khrushchev in 1958. He has achieved this with an extraordinarily light touch because the central interest in the story is not the history of Russia but rather the invented complex life of Count Alexander Rostov, born in St Petersburg in 1889 and at the start of this novel narrowly escaping death by firing squad for the poetry he wrote. Instead Rostov is condemned to live permanently in a small apartment in the famous Metropol Hotel. 

Also living at the hotel at that time was an adventurous young child named Nina who has studied and flitted around every inch of the hotel and who became a partner in crime with Rostov as they formed an unlikely friendship and spying partnership. Eventually Nina goes off to school, grows up and marries and has a child  but the two meet again at the Metropol briefly because Nina’s husband has been condemned to five years hard labour in Eastern Russia. Nina appeals to Rostov to take care of five year old Sofia until she can find a place to live and support herself somewhere near her husband’s imprisonment. 

The second half of the narrative describes the challenges Rostov faces in supporting Sofia as she grows up at the same time as he has a significant role to play as chief of staff of the restaurant at the hotel, responsible for all major events. Towles weaves a magical story of the Count’s upbringing skills and his organisational skills whilst at the same time coping with the constantly changing and highly dangerous ever present enemies of his wealth and power. 

This is an exceptional novel in many ways. There is humour, sadness, danger and complexity of every sort in this narrative which runs at a pace impossible to put down, as one critic styled it “utterly mesmerising”.  I entirely agree.   5 stars and rising.

Books Read May 2024

Rachel Mead: The Art of Breaking Ice: A Novel, p/b, South Melbourne, Affirm Press, 2023

Exceptional story of Nel Law, the first Australian woman to travel to Antarctica, joining her husband Phil Law in 1960-61 initially as a stowaway. In 1965 Nel founded the Antarctic Wives and Kinfolk Association of Australia. 

Phil Law was a visionary Antarctic leader, Director of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) from 1949 to 1966. He established Mawson, Davis and Casey stations an lead expeditions that explored over 5000 kilometres of coastline and approximately 1,000,000 square miles of territory as well as establishing world-class scientific facilities in Antarctica. 

Nel Law was a talented Australian artist with a solo exhibition at the Leveson Street Gallery in Melbourne. Rachel Mead has access to Phillip Law’s papers which were donated to the Australian National Library including diaries, reports, press cuttings and scrapbooks including material about his wife and also Nel’s own diary.

Having said all this Rachael Mead reminds us that her novel is a fictional account of Nel’s first journey to Antarctica and the outline of Nel’s interactions with the various events and individuals in the novel is purely fictional.  The result is a thought provoking and entertaining novel which keeps the reader on edge constantly throughout. It is difficult to contemplate what it would be like for just one female working and painting amongst a team of some 300 men for over a year. Rachel Mead has given us an impressive account of what that first experience might have been for Nel Law.   5 stars. 

Saul Bellow: Herzog, p/b, Ringwood, Penguin, 1967 (1964)

Canadian/American Saul Bellow who died in 2005 was born of Russian Jewish parents. His many widely read novels have placed him in the highest order of American literature winning the Noble Prize and the Pulitzer along with many other literary awards. 

Bellow’s Herzog, about a world weary academic unhappily in love and with a penchant for writing, but never sending letters to a vast array of academics and writers alive and dead, is a remarkable novel, impossible to put down.

The erudition and intensity of Bellow’s writing challenges the reader to follow up his remarks made in several languages as well as feeling left behind by his knowledge of just about everything that matters about the world and human life. In Herzog the reader finds humour, sympathy, sadness, amazement, empathy, wisdom and so much more. This is a rare book I once read as a teenager and again now in my 70’s and enjoying it even more now than I did then. 

Herzog had many girl friends and two failed marriages and as the novel draws to a close he is perhaps getting ready to marry a third wife.  Saul Bellow ought to know about these things as he had five marriages himself!  Herzog is a novel to read far more than once because each time you read it a whole new set of ideas opens up.   5 stars. 

BOOKS READ MAY 2024

Tom Nancollas: Seashaken Houses: A Lighthouse History from Eddystone to Fastness: p/b, London, Penguin, 2018  

Dramatic history of several of the most famous British lighthouses, written by building conservationist Tom Nancollas. These histories contain some of the most horrific events of loss of life that could be found outside war zones or perhaps some of the appalling loss of life due to tidal  waves or massive floods. This highly detailed work has the potential to be boring to all but genuine lighthouse enthusiasts but Nancollas manages to surprise us with a series of unlikely events and a lively set of personalities. The interlude Blackwell is a highly technical chapter of the history of lighthouse development which most mere mortals will struggle with but engineering experts will love.

The lighthouses studied in detail are Eddystone near Plymouth, Bell Rock near arbroath Scotland, Haulbowline near Carlingford Lough Ireland, Perch Rock at the mouth of the River Mersey in Wirral,  Wolf Rock off Land’s End in Cornwall, Eddystone off Looe in Cornwall, Bishop Rock, 32 Miles of Lands End in Cornwall, and Fastnet off West Cork in Ireland. The final chapter is a plaintive call to make sure we never lose these beacons in the sea which have done so much to save the lives of so many. 

I struggled with this book initially, not being of a technical bent but gradually the horror of lives lost at sea and the remarkable achievements of those who managed to plant lighthouses in the middle of the ocean gradually took me over. The engineering, courage and determination of these men (and they seem to have been all men) is quite astonishing. Nancollas brings meticulous detail to his account and lightens the complexity with humour and insight.  4 stars.  

Trent Dalton: Boy Swallows Universe, p/b, Fourth Estate/Harper Collins, New South Wales, 2019. 

Australian journalist Trent Dalton’s breakthrough novel has been a sensation in Australian publishing earning plaudits galore in Australia and internationally. Set in south Queensland the story centres on the early and young adult life of Eli and August whose separated parents are both loving and caring but also deeply heroin addicted. The boys live originally with their mother and her lover Lyall in a run-down end of town and later with their father when their mother is jailed and Lyall is murdered.   Lyall cares for the two boys but also likes a drink and works for a major drug player resulting in his death. 

The novel describes their inevitably hectic journey into adult hood including their school days and their dreams. Their role model Slim has done many years for murder but does provide a balancing wisdom while he lives. Both boys have talent but their unsettled lifestyle leads them into deep waters, especially when they tangle with the legendary Brisbane drug dealer Titus Bros.  The writer’s emphasis is on Eli but his silent brother August also provides an unusual and wise support. Lyall eventually achieves his lifelong goal of becoming a journalist but his background and knowledge of the drug scene leads him into very deep waters at the same time as he falls in love with the much older journalist Caitlyn Spiers. 

This remarkable novel never stops to draw breath and leaves the reader constantly hungry  and finding it very difficult to put the book down. For a first novel it is a tour de force, constantly challenging and surprising the reader but also bringing a real depth of character as well as the reality of the impact of the drug scene sweeping many parts of Australia. It is a long time indeed since an Australian novel has made such an impact. 5 stars and rising.

William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury,Intro: Richard Hughes, p/b,  Ringwood, Penguin/Chatto & Windus, 1982 (1931). 

Traumatic account of the gradual falling apart of the American Compson family which included the very seriously disabled congenital Imbecile Benjy, now thirty years old, and still passionately devoted to his sister Caddy.  The family survives in a poverty stricken environment, with increasingly unwell adults, ineffectual and poorly treated negro servants and a defiant rebellious niece. In spite of their poverty the mother is devoted to and deeply influenced by their Pentecostal church.  Nevertheless the  father who regularly cheats on his boss and anyone else he can, has  amassed a fortune of $3000 which he has kept from the family.

There are two Quentins in this story, the first Quentin, a brother of the father, commits suicide at Harvard University and this complex story takes up the whole of chapter 2. The second Quentin is the rebellious niece who runs away from the family with her boyfriend and maybe or maybe not with the $3000, the final answer not being clear. 

Richard Hughes’ preliminary notes provide sufficient information to enable a determined reader to make their way through Faulkner’s complex narrative and I for one am glad to have read this story.  Every family and every individual has challenges, hard times, anger, defeat, love, acceptance and happiness and everything in between. Faulkner’s whimsical narrative is reminding us, if needed, that sound and fury are a part of all or our lives, and we all have our emotions, our wins and losses, our loves and failures at various times in our life on planet earth. The trick is to keep on keeping on!

Tony Payne: How to Walk into Church, p/b, Sydney, Matthiasmedia, 2015.

This little booklet is surprisingly full of good advice for practising Christians. It is written not so much for newcomers to a church because when you think about it, the first time you attend a particular church there can be a hundred different reasons for why you are there and just as many reasons why you might or might not continue to attend that church.

On the contrary this book is written for regular church attendees whether you are a weekly, fortnightly, monthly or yearly attendee.  As someone who has regularly attended church all of my life I found a surprising amount of good advice in Tony Payne’s little monograph. 

One key issue is the irregular attendee. That this is a major issue is very evident in many churches and let’s face it, irregular attendance springs from the set of priorities in our own life. If we are easily tempted to give church the flick, it’s because we prioritise other activities like sleeping in, having visitors, going away at the weekend, just doing other things on church day etc. Payne makes the point (p.37) that if we’re not there, we can’t love people, we can’t talk to them and encourage them, we can’t gather with them to listen and talk together, or simply genuinely share in their friendship and perhaps their challenges or problems.

A second key issue is Payne’s suggestion that we should prepare for church by using our brains, for example, by preparing the readings beforehand (p.41) but also being alert and ready to care for folk you know to be in need or having a hard time or who are shy or who simply need encouragement. Being alert to what is said also really shows that it is a rare service that doesn’t give you something to chew on about your own walk with God.

A third key issue is to come to church prayerfully. It stands to reason that if we we are already thinking negative thoughts when we first walk into church the experience is not going to improve! Again often it is what happens with interactions after church that counts whether in caring for new comers, good conversation during coffee after church, or simply being aware that a particular person is needy or is upset. 

The above are only three issues that stood out for me in this booklet but Payne has some very wise advice and useful suggestions and he has done it all in a book that takes about thirty minutes maximum to read! I warmly commend this book.

Primo Levi, If This is a Man, Trans. Stuart Woolf;  Introduction, Frederic Raphael; Etchings  by Jane Joseph, h/b, 7London, The Folio Society, 2000 (1947) 

Of the vast number of documents and stories about the horrific German death camps of the Second World War, the sparing simplicity and matter of fact horror of Italian Primo Levi’s account must rank with the most important and certainly one of the earliest detailed accounts of the Jewish horror. Other survivors have spent much longer in the death camps whereas Levi was interred in Auschwitz in the final year of World War 11 and lived through both the horror and also the exit of the camp and the eventual Russian rescue. Nevertheless Levi has left us a stern and clear description, not avoiding the horror but relentlessly depicting the endless freezing grind, the viciousness of the treatment, the short lifespan of virtually all the inmates, and the various techniques used by each interred man to seek survival. 

Levi was not a practising Jew and his outstanding knowledge of chemistry (top mark in the quantitative analysis examination at the Chemical Institute)  resulted in his eventual selection to work in the  Camp’s laboratories rather than continuing the heavy lifting work of most men working outside in freezing conditions over long days with minimal food and water.

The strengths of this Folio Society account  include Levi’s Afterword: The Author’s Answers to his Reader’s Questions. These include why he has no expressions of hate for his German oppressors and no desire for revenge; Did the Germans themselves know what was happening; and Why were there no large-scale revolts? Levi provides extensive and thoughtful answers to these and other key questions which are particularly helpful. In addition the extensive introduction by Frederick Raphael is very useful and the remarkable and chilling etchings by Jane Joseph leave a lasting impression on the reader.  As Frederick Raphael notes importantly, Hitler’s goal to destroy the Jews had nothing to do with the Second World War and it makes the existence of the events and the horror of the holocaust an experience beyond normal human comprehension.

Not many folk these days want to be reminded of the Holocaust and yet in an age of the Gaza and Ukraine wars perhaps it is the right time for this story to be told again and often. 

Review of David Nicholls: One Day, p/b, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 2024 (2009)

David Nicholls has written a remarkable and hugely popular novel of modern Western life. University graduates Emma and Dexter are good friends who never quite make it together until their mid thirties. Along the way their lives take very different turns with Emma finally reaching her goal of becoming a successful writer and Dexter’s life swinging between wild success and uncomfortable defeat. There is a great deal of alcohol and sex with other partners in between and as reviewer Nick Hornby accurately writes in his review, the novel is brilliant on the details of the last couple of decades of British cultural and political life.

Just when the reader thinks the couple are sorting things out and they are both about to live happily ever after a major crisis occurs which this reviewer will not spoil. Nicholls writes with assurance, energy and flair and with what appears to be a complete knowledge of the London nightlife scene.  The novel holds both characters firmly in the reader’s grasp and there is a sense in which you cannot put down the novel and must read on which I have not felt for a long time. The reader loves and hates both characters at various times and the reader also yearns for different outcomes.

There is more than a touch of the Thomas Hardy in this novel and indeed Hardy does get a mention at one point, but then so do many other authors. One Day simply forces the reader to go looking for books you haven’t read for a while or indeed have on your shelf but have never read!  As with Hardy’s books the reader inevitably gets deeply involved in the lives of both Dexter and Emma and also finds oneself reconsidering some decisions in one’s own life. I can think of very few novels which chain the reader to the book and refuse to let him or her put it down. I myself got up at 4.00am in the morning to finish reading this story because the book belonged to someone else and I was required to return. I have never read a book that cost me so much sleep!

Why am I reviewing this book for a Christian magazine?  I think I can honestly say that there is no better book for a clergy person or youth worker to read if they want to really come to grips with the pressures, desires, goals and lifestyle of the “average” young adult today. If, like me, you have been sheltered by a Christian upbringing, this book will shake your comfortable view of the world and force you to take seriously the true reality of the lifestyle of today’s 20’s to 35’s in Britain at least!

Herman Wouk: The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War 11,  p/b, New York, Back Bay Books, 2002 (1951).

Pulitzer Prize winning author Herman Wouk wrote twelve novels, three plays and two works of non-fiction in his long life (died 2019, age 103). He received the Pulitzer Prize for the The Caine Mutiny. The story was in turn made into a popular movie in 1954, produced by Stanley Kramer and starring such luminaries as Henry Bogart, Fred MacMurray and Van Johnson. The Caine Mutiny is a large novel, the paperback version running to 537 pages of relatively small print. 

The story thread line is based around reluctant World War 11 recruit Willie Keith and his on again off again night club singing girl friend Mae Wynn. After training Willie is signed up to the USS  Caine, a repainted WW1 mine-sweeper that has seen much better days. Added to this challenge the new Captain aboard was Captain Queeg, a stickler for detail and precision, but with a tendency to be so wrapped up in small detail that the important events and necessary actions tended to be overlooked.

As a result and inevitably, relations between Captain Queeg and the rest of the crew deteriorated fairly quickly. Queeg made some serious errors of judgment in his leadership which made senior officers doubt his ability under pressure and at  the same time Queeg spent an inordinate amount of time endeavouring to solve misdemeanours by crew members which were relatively insignificant and which were never finally solved at the time anyway.

The end result of this awkward leadership was that when a real disaster occurred, in this case a gale force typhoon, the Captain appeared to freeze under the pressure and was told by the Executive Officer Stephen Maryk to stand down. Captain Queeg did eventually and unwillingly stand down telling the leaders they would all be court-martialed.  Under Maryk’s leadership the ship was saved and also was able to rescue sailors from another ship which had been destroyed in the typhoon.

The final section of the book covers the official court-martial trial of Executive Officer Stephen Maryk. This was a complex argument and makes for fascinating reading with a clever lawyer able to prevent Maryk from the disgrace of a court martial.  The novel closes with the war over and Willie Keith still attempting to persuade Mae Wynn to marry him!

The Caine Mutiny is a powerfully written novel which maintains interest in spite of its length. Although fictional, the novel paints a powerful picture of the realities, challenges, fears and disasters of World War 11 sea warfare. Wouk’s knowledge of sea warfare is accurate and far-reaching.  This novel has stood the test of time and still attracts interest.  5 stars.

Stephen McAlpine: Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t, p/b, UK, The Good Book Company, 2023 (2021)

Stephen McAlpine has pastored a number of churches in Western Australia, blogs online regularly and has written two books on Christianity and culture including this one. In this book McAlpine analyses the trend in Australian and Western society media for Christians not just to be disregarded and generally ignored  but more directly to be regarded with hostility. He takes his introductory cue from the 1993 film Falling Down,  which stars  Michael Douglas  as William Foster, an average law-abiding guy who ends up unwittingly on the wrong side of the law.

McAlpine regards Christians in the West today as being in this very situation. Christianity, he argues, is no longer an option; it’s a problem! He notes that the number of those who reject the faith they held until their late teens has risen dramatically. In addition Christians can no longer assume a seat at the cultural table, that place having been given to others. McAlpine notes that we should not ignore society’s calling out of Christians. Our first question should be are they right to call us out?  On the other hand Jesus himself predicted that in the last days Christians will be condemned as evil. 

McAlpine notes that some key factors in this change include a global persecution of Christians across the world, the preferencing  of LGBTQI rights over religious freedom, the removal of Christian education in some Australian States and the fact that Christians were not active in the defence of cruel treatment toward homosexuals in earlier years. McAlpine quotes Mark Sayers: Our progressive culture seeks “the kingdom without the king!” McAlpine also notes that the individual is now enthroned in this new kingdom instead of family relationships of obligation. (p20)

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor calls this “the age of authenticity” and it is fast tracked by massive technological progress including instant digital technologies alongside an army of instagram influencers. New ideas are conceived, birthed and implemented at breathtaking speed. (p.22) Christian culture in the West has been eclipsed and attempts to be clever like the pub church and early missional leaders like Rob Bell have simply faded away. The result is that many were left feeling burnt out, seeing little return for their labours and church attendees in many places left for good. Individual autonomy and personal authenticity at any cost now provide the ultimate meaning in the self. 

Of course the Bible has prepared us to expect hostility as Christians. In Australia we have had a relatively peaceful time but no longer! The Apostle Peter taught us that there is a right way to suffer. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith …may result in praise.  (p.42) We must learn to expect cultural, legal and political pressure where only certain ideas are permitted. We need to learn that secularism is not neutral (p47) and that our culture now actively suppresses dissent. (p.55). McAlpine notes that it is not just Christians who are targeted, citing JK Rowling as an example. (p50). 

On the other hand McAlpine argues that playing the victim narrative is a dangerous game for Christians. We have freedom to worship, gather in public spaces and run vast Christian institutions. If anything, McAlpine argues, the church gained power in the West and then abused it. (p,68) He asks the question: has the church been aligned to power too closely?  (p.69). The answer seems to be ‘yes.  He suggests we should admit the reality of our failures and we often failed to speak up for the voiceless, powerless minorities. (p71). We should expect persecution since we follow a crucified Messiah (p72)…our hope is not in winning a culture war. Our hope is the One who has defeated our true enemies…Satan, sin and death. We have so much to offer our uncertain and confused inheritors of this age with their lack of meaning and purpose, loss of identity and the risk of never being forgiven.  (p75)  We need to decide not to be afraid (p76) for as St Paul writes: My grace is sufficient for you. (p.75)

McAlpine argues that it is self-denial not self-fulfilment that is the path to life..our true life is about finding life after this life ends! (P81)  Self-fulfilment by getting what we want now is the source of sin, Adam and Eve being the best examples! (p82) McAlpine suggests there is an absence of humble, godly churches, and that many harsh shepherds run the danger of being in love with this present age, quoting 2 Timothy 4:10. (p84) We must say no to both secular and sacred self-fulfilment. (p85) and Christians can mask their self-promotion as self-denial, (p86) McAlpine reminds us. He also suggests that Western culture is obsessed with sexuality because it has declared that our deepest truest most honest authentic self is discovered there but is it so? Living a life of self-denial is preferable and life-giving. (p90).  Cancel culture can be overcome by forgiveness. (p91) McAlpine reminds us that there is actually no such as atheism or not worshipping; the only choice we get is what to worship!  (p97) Expressive individualism says “You do you”! Christians must learn to do the opposite. (p99) McAlpine encourages us to commit to your church and fellowship; don’t keep looking for a better upgrade. (p100) Let everyday praise make its way into our everyday conversation. (p104). The church is a community of promised resurrection hope in a society terrified by death. (p105).  We can serve a world that scorns and rejects us. (106) Preference God’s people; proclaim God’s praises; promote God’s promises.(p108).

McAlpine writes we are citizens of another country (p126). There is little to be said for an angry fist-shaking Christianity that creates a gated community. (p128) Many a life, many a family, has been destroyed by a futile search for the authentic self. (p135) We gather as citizens of another city to serve others. (p135) We are called to live in both cities..we must ensure our own “city” is in order.(p136)

This is a book to read and re-read, perhaps in a study group. I warmly commend it.

Nicholas Shakespeare: Secrets of the Sea:

Nicholas Shakespeare is a World renowned English biographer, historian, writer and Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature. He has written a major history of Tasmania and in addition has published this non-historical Tasmanian love story, Secrets of the Sea. It tells the story of the relationship and eventual marriage between young Tasmanian farmer Alex and newcomer from Sydney, Merridy. The setting is the fictional Tasmanian village of Wellington Point. The marriage struggles due to the couples’ inability to have a baby alongside the significant differences in their character and attitudes..Alex the dedicated hardworking farmer and Merridy caught between a quiet Tasmanian village and the good life of Sydney along with a University degree. This complex relationships produces plenty of challenges including the entry of a former criminal trying to make a new start.

Shakespeare keeps the reader guessing to the very end which is dramatic indeed. Our book club uniformly disliked this novel, finding the story unlikely and awkwardly written. I quite enjoyed reading the novel but it is fair to say that Shakespeare is a better biographer and historian than a novelist.

Dante Aligerhi: The Divine Comedy, Trans. Clive James, London, Picador, 2013 (1308-1321).

Multi Talented Clive James (died 2019) has been the master of many literary skills. He was a newspaper critic, essayist, poet, song writer, memoirist, historian, travel writer and novelist, to name a few of his talents. Dante’s translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy in 2013 is surely his finest achievement.

The Divine Comedy, written by Dante in C14th Italy is a vast poetic panoply of the writer’s “history” of  Hell, Purgatory and Heaven in three extensive chapters and written in quatrains rather than Dante’s Italian terza rima style, (aba bcb cdc).  Attempting to re-create this rhyming style in English has proved very difficult for any poet and James’ version written in quatrains (stanzas of four lines) suits the English version far easier than other English attempts and has brought a whole new readership to The Divine Comedy. 

Of course when we read The Divine Comedy with its remarkable collection of Inhabitants in each of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, we are only getting Dante’s version of who should end up in each section of Dante’s version of the future life.  In addition, of course, Dante’s account finishes in the C14th. I am sure we could all think of persons from The C15th to the C21st who should be firmly placed in Hell including Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong.

I read Kenneth Mackenzie’s very fine 1978 Folio Version of The Divine Comedy on a long distance flight from Melbourne to London.  That was not a very good idea as I am sure most readers would agree.  I remember very little of that version!  Clive James’ exceptional achievement is, on the other hand, very readable and I am sure I will dip into again.  One thing I was surprised to see this time around was how little a distinction Dante made between historical figures and clearly non-historical figures.  I was not expecting such a combination. In addition of course, I realised how Italy and Greece centred Dante’s story is in spite of his various attempts to refer to folk from the further reaches of Europe.

What do we get by reading The Divine Comedy apart from feeling proud of ourselves? This time around I felt the genuine tension between good and evil; I felt far more deeply the intense love affair between Dante and Beatrice; the intricate friendship offered by the poet Virgil to Dante’s journey surprised me; and the inevitably strong referrals to events in Florence should not have surprised me but it did.

I recommend readers to The Divine Comedy in Clive James’ exceptional version. It will surprise and tantalise you and will make you think about your own version of what a glimpse of Heaven might be like, let alone a glimpse of Hell! 5 stars and rising.

Anton Chekhov: Uncle Vanya, Trans. Constance Garnett; Intro. A.B.McMillin, h/b, Geneva, Heron Books, 1899 (1969).  

A play in four acts which centres on a love triangle with no resolution and a climax leading very close to murder. The play builds from a peaceful set of relationships and close friends and moves with gradual then rapid steps to a very dangerous crisis which very nearly results in murder. 

Chekhov plays with the ennui which descends on a busy farm estate when the original and ageing well regarded professor and owner, Serebrayakov now remarried with a beautiful young wife (Yelena Andreyevna) descends on the estate to see out his dying days.The family life is complicated by the regular presence of Astrov, a doctor friend of the family who stays so often he has his own room and falls in love with the new bride.  the  Family members, especially Voynitsky, the son of the owner’s first wife,  who have been labouring for many years without any increase in their salary or conditions are outraged when the owner announces his intention to sell the property and use the income to go and live his last days in Finland. 

At this point the quietly moving narrative explodes into angry and climactic chaos before subsiding to a quiet and subdued finale.  This is vintage Chekhov where relationships can go in any direction and there is always a surprise.   5 stars. 

Anton Chekhov, The Sea-Gull, A “Comedy” in four acts, Trans Constance Garnett, Intro: A.B. McMilen

The Sea-gull is an entertaining play based on the excitement and challenges of drama and acting. The dominant figure of famous actress Irina Nikolayevna Arkadin  (Madame Tripley), deliberately dominates the stage and frequently and loudly proclaims her abilities and fame.

Her son Konstantin Treplev is a budding playwright and actor who is dominated noisily by his mother.  He has fallen in love with Nina,  the daughter of a wealthy land-owner who also likes to act and the two of them produce a play for performance in the family garden.  The play comes to an abrupt end due to loud and unhelpful comments from Madame Treplev.

The story wanders between the Madame Trepley’s amorous intentions with “a literary man” (Trigorin)  and Nina’s desire to be herself a great actress.  Nina’s career and her relationship with Treplev reach a dramatic climax with the sea-gull as a continuing omen throughout the play.

I would call this play a tragedy! In any case as always Chekhov holds our attention to the end. 5 stars. 

Review of Michael F. Bird: Religious Freedom in a Secular Age: A Christian Case for Liberty, Equality and Secular Government,  p/b, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Reflective, 2022.  

Australian Michael Bird is the Vice-Principal and a Lecturer at Ridley College Melbourne and the author and editor of over thirty books.  I venture to suggest that Religious Freedom in a Secular Age, may well be the most important of all of them.

No person of religious faith of whatever variety could fail to notice the eroding of religious freedoms in Australian life and especially in Victoria where the immediate past Premier, Daniel Andrews, was publicly and frequently scathing about Christian faith in particular. It is significant that Bird dedicates his book to agnostic politician Tim Wilson who has been an advocate for both religious liberty and LGBTQI rights in Australian politics. 

Michael Bird’s book of almost 200 pages  is a demanding read, punctuated as it is on every page with scholarly references to writers of many faiths and none. His work covers three main areas, the rise of Militant Secularism, the Defence of Religious Freedom against its Critics, and the important task of Christian apologetics based on the model of Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians. The book also has a useful afterword by American theologian Bruce Riley Ashford.

Michael Bird’s analysis will annoy some readers who believe he gives away too much to the critics of religion and equally he will annoy others who will argue that he fights for too much freedom for religious authors to put their case. Bird’s suggestions about what Christians should do about presenting the Gospel to the world are also demanding, not to say scary. Indeed Bird makes it very clear indeed that just turning up for church on Sunday followed by a quick chat and a coffee does not really cut it if we are serious about maintaining the importance of Christian faith in a secular Australia. 

I do not believe anyone could complete all of the assignments and suggestions Bird puts before us but if you read this book I can guarantee that your approach to communicating the importance of Christian faith in our largely non-Christian Australian environment will be permanently changed for the better.  I would have appreciated an index of topics and issues as Bird covers a large playing field. 5 stars and rising.  

Anto Chekhov. The Cherry Orchard

Anton Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard, Translated, Constance Garnett; Intro. A.B. McMillin,

h/b, Geneva, Heron Books, original frontispiece by Went Strauchmann, 1969 (1903).

Russian playwright  Anton Chekhov’s most popular play has a gay and happy feel which covers the sadness of the key figure in the narrative, Madame Ranevsky (Lyubov Andreyevna), the owner of the Cherry Orchard.  Lyubov has just returned from France to her failing estate in Russia, having  spent many years in a flawed relationship following her husband’s death through alcohol abuse. Lyubov had originally escaped from the Cherry Orchard property after the drowning of her son in the deep river alongside the Cherry Orchard. The merchant Lopahin, a friend of the family, works very hard to persuade Lyubov to sell the orchard to pay off their serious debts. 

Whilst all this sadness and negotiation takes place a whole happy merry go round of light hearted love affairs and romance dances across the stage with Lyubov’s 17 year old daughter Anya, her 24 year old adopted daughter Varya, Dunyasha the maid and Charlotta the Governess mixing things up with the eternal student Trofimov and Epiphodon a clerk. 

The pray draws to a climax with the selling of the Cherry Orchard for a vast sum thanks to the skills of Lopahin the merchant and we are left in the dark about the future of the romances. Chekhov’s skill in challenging the reader to worry about who should love who and what should be done with the cherry orchard keeps the audience alert and awake and highlights the skilled uncertainties and doubts that emerge from his earlier classic plays Uncle Vanya and The Seagull. 

Chekhov remains a star… his gifts lie in the play of uncertainties leaving the reader always on edge to find the usually uncertain finale. How will this outcome be received?  We will never know! 5 stars and rising.

Review of Albert Hourani: A History of the Arab Peoples: Intro and Afterword by Malise Ruthven, London, The Folio Society, 2009.

Hourani  went to Magdalen College, Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics and he became more and more absorbed in History, particularly the history of the Middle East. He travelled to Beirut, taught himself Arabic and studied under Qustantyn Zurich, a lecturer in Islamic History.  During the second World War Hourani worked as an analyst in these British Foreign Office’s Research Department and eventually followed Hamilton Gibb at the new Centre for Middle Eastern Studies Gibb had established after the war at St Antony’s College Oxford. 

In 1942 Hourani was offered a position in the office of the British minister in Cairo where he remained until 1945. He met some of the leading personalities of the day including Glubb Pasha, the British Officer who commanded the Bedouin Arab Legion in Transjordan and David Ben Gurion the Zionist leader who would become Israel’s first Prime Minister. Hourani eventually published books on Syria and Lebanon, Great Britain and the Arab World and Minorities in the Arab World.

Later Hourani joined the Arab Office in Jerusalem, an organisation aimed at countering Zionist propaganda by explaining the Arab case. Hourani returned to Oxford during the Arab-Israeli war where he remained until his retirement in 1984. Hourani’s earlier works include his History of the Arab Peoples and Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939. This current work was also influenced by French historian André Raymond and American Quaker historian Marshall Hodgson as well as the Arab savant and philosopher of history Ibn Khaaldin (1332-1406).

Hourani’s magnificent work covers vast tracts of Arab and Islamic issues including early Arabic life and learning, Muhammad’s call of Arabs in the early seventh century to a religious movement from Mecca, the impact on the Byzantines and Sasanians, the actual appearance of Islam, the hijra, Medina, The formation of an Islamic Empire and the formation of a vast Islamic society, the articulation of Islam,  Arab Muslim societies in the (C11th-C15th), the Arab Muslim world..states and dynasties, The land, countryside  and its use, the life of Arabic cities, their rulers, clients and dynasties, the ways of Islam, the culture of the ‘Ulama (religious scholars), divergent paths of thought..Islamic philosophers, the development of Shi’ism, the cultures of courts and people, the Ottoman Empire and its limits, Ottoman societies, the changing balance of power in the C18th, European power and reforming governments (1800-1860), European empires and dominant elites, the culture of Imperialism and Reform, The Climax of European power (1914-1939), life in the new cities, The end of the Empires (1939-1962), The second world war, Changing societies 1940s and 1950s, the climax of Arabism (1950s and 1960s), Arab Unity and Disunity since 1967, A Disturbance of Spirits since 1967.

Malise Ruthven’s Afterword 2009 covers the 1990 Iraqui invasion of Kuwait, Desert Storm and the liberation of Kuwait, the fall of Saddam Husayn, the American invasion and false nuclear weapons, the unification of the two Yemens, creation of the Palestinian National Authority, Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Assassination of Rabin by Jewish extremists, the Second Palestine intifada November 1995, Islamic attacks on New York  and Washington (over 3000 deaths) – Osama Bin Laden, the death of Arafat in 2004, Civil wars in Algeria in 1990s, new Shi’i strength in Iraq and Syria, and Lebanon.

It is difficult to comprehend the complexity of the Arabic peoples, the power of Islam,  and the interactions between the Arabic world and the West. Hourani’s work is an excellent place to start and his even, carefully selected analysis makes for straightforward reading and, as always, a desire for further information. This Folio presentation with its vast collection of coloured photographs is an absolute treat to read Of course while we read, we now also see the dreadful war between Hamas and Israel every day on our TV screens, reminding us that the tension between the West and the Arab/Islamist world is not going to go away in a hurry.  We will need a new Hourani to cover the next stage!  5 stars and rising. 

Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses: A Novel;  Henry Holt, New York, 1997 (1988). 

Complex high octane novel which almost cost Rushdie his life on three separate occasions and did cost the life of his Japanese translator. The attacks were due to the fatwa declared against Rushdie in February 1989 by the late Shia Muslim Iranian President the Ayaotollah Khomeini. The reason for the fatwa was that Khomeini believed that the novel contained blasphemous material about Islam and the prophet Muhammad. Although the President eventually distanced himself from the fatwa it has never been lifted.

Rushdie’s novel centres on two humans with angelic powers both of whom were the only survivors of a major aircraft explosion. The two characters were both Indian born but spent most of their lives after childhood as British citizens. Gibreel Farishta was an Indian superstar actor and allegedly the “good” angel. Saladin Chamcha also worked in the film industry in the technical area and was allegedly the “bad” angel. 

The novel centres on the lives and loves of these two characters including their personal interactions with each other. The novel paints a rather unhappy picture of the lives of Indian nationals trying to make a go of life in late C20th London alongside the historical material on Islam. 

Rushdie clearly has a wide grasp of Indian and British society and a far-reaching knowledge of English literature which he makes use of on a regular basis. There are passages in the novel which could almost be regarded as lists of things literary, social behaviour, gang behaviour and several other political, artistic and humorous happenings. These events are too numerous and complex for the reader to spend much time trying to sort out what is happening. I think Rushdie wants us to move on and generally just get the gist of each situation. Someone who has lived on the darker side of British Indian relations might have more clues about what is happening. 

I read and enjoyed Rushdie’s powerful prizewinning Midnight’s Children some years ago but I cannot recommend this novel. The high powered sexual imagery is, I believe, unnecessary for his purpose. Some of the complexity of his “lists” and crazy event images looks more like “see how much I know about literature, London’s underground and Indian behaviour in Britain”. The Islamic history is powerfully written and interesting in its own right but doesn’t seem to have any clear link with the rest of the narrative. There is an important story about religion hidden in this book but in my view Rushdie has wasted a good opportunity. 3 Stars. 

Review of A.J. Mackinnon: The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crowe, p/b, Melbourne, Black Inc.,  2009 

A.J. Mackinnon is a multi-talented school master, raconteur, world traveller, poet, mathematician , tin whistler, magician and courageous sailor.  The Jack de Crowe was a small dinghy Mackinnon sailed through most of the canals in England and then sailed single handed across the English Channel to France and on through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and all the way to the Black Sea.  This novel is the story of his adventures and is a remarkable read.

Mackinnon tells of back-breaking rowing, literally hundreds of locks, near shipwrecks and collisions, storms and pirates, generous hosts, hunger and near starvation, beautiful sites and unpleasant and dangerous muddy boat traps.  That’s just to name a few of the adventures in this novel.

Assisting him in these heroics come along a vast array of generous folk unknown to him who supply warm beds where needed, copious amounts of food and wine, helpful repair work after much damage to his boat from time to time and many other folk who simply came into his life or offered sage advice.

Mackinnon’s story is written with deep humour, but also demonstrates the frequent challenges to life and limb he endured through his determination to take such a journey unaided. For readers who love boats and understand the rigours and mechanics of dinghy sailing this book will provide a feast of interest and ingenuity. For those of us who like a good yarn there are stretches in the book which are quite technical and at times test the reader’s patience.  Nevertheless Mackinnon’s achievement is so amazingly breathtaking that the book is hard to put down in spite of the occasional technicalities.  5 stars. 

BOOKS READ DECEMBER 2023

Geraldine Brooks: Nine Parts of Desire:The Hidden World of Islamic Women, p/b, Sydney, Doubleday/Anchor Books,1994.

Geraldine Brooks’ extraordinary analysis of women in Islam was based on her six years as a Western reporter, under the most challenging of circumstances and during events of considerable danger. Now thirty six years later, some things in some countries have changed but this amazing story still provides an exceptional and closely informed insight into the mystery and the challenge of Islam in many countries around the world. Reading this narrative in 2003 at, the height of the Israel-Hamas war simply underlines the horror and trauma of wars of faith and nationality.  

 

The distortion of Islamic teaching resulting in genital mutilation of women including clitoridectomy and pre-wedding hymen replacement is difficult to read about as is the hunting down of writers including Nawal Saadawi and Farag Foda.  In addition the inequality between the freedoms of men and those of women in Islam is equally disturbing. On the other hand there are many attractions in the teaching of Islam which appeal to people of many nations, making Islam one of the most popular of all religious faiths.

Geraldine Brooks covers a range of issues including the importance of women being veiled in public, wedding regulations, changes from Muhammad’s original teaching, the many converts to Islam, women as Jihadist warriors, the complexity of Jordan’s King Hussein and his marriage to an American woman – Queen Lisa Halaby, Islamic radicalism, the risk of refusing the veil, the rape and torture of nations like the Kurds, the challenge of Islamic female athletes competing for the Olympics, Islamic dancers, and many other issues.

This is a disturbing and deeply challenging work from a person who has spent six years in the front line of Islamic and Western debate. 5 stars and rising

Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses: A Novel;  Henry Holt, New York, 1997 (1988). 

Complex high octane novel which almost costRushdie his life on three separate occasions and did cost the life of his Japanese translator. The attacks were due to the fatwa declared against Rushdie in February 1989 by the late Shia Muslim Iranian President the Ayaotollah Khomeini. The reason for the fatwa was that Khomeini believed that the novel contained blasphemous material about Islam and the prophet Muhammad. Although the President eventually distanced himself from the fatwa it has never been lifted.

Rushdie’s novel centres on two humans with angelic powers both of whom were the only survivors of a major aircraft explosion. The two characters were both Indian born but spent most of their lives after childhood as British citizens. Gibreel Farishta was an Indian superstar actor and allegedly the “good” angel. Saladin Chamcha also worked in the film industry in the technical area and was allegedly the “bad” angel. 

The novel centres on the lives and loves of these two characters including their personal interactions with each other. The novel paints a rather unhappy picture of the lives of Indian nationals trying to make a go of life in late C20th London alongside the historical material on Islam. 

Rushdie clearly has a wide grasp of Indian and British society and a far-reaching knowledge of English literature which he makes use of on a regular basis. There are passages in the novel which could almost be regarded as lists of things literary, social behaviour, gang behaviour and several other political, artistic and humorous happenings. These events are too numerous and complex for the reader to spend much time trying to sort out what is happening. I think Rushdie wants us to move on and generally just get the gist of each situation. Someone who has lived on the darker side of British Indian relations might have more clues about what is happening. 

I read and enjoyed Rushdie’s powerful prizewinning Midnight’s Children some years ago but I cannot recommend this novel. The high powered sexual imagery is, I believe, unnecessary for his purpose. Some of the complexity of his “lists” and crazy event images looks more like “see how much I know about literature, London’s underground and Indian behaviour in Britain”. The Islamic history is powerfully written and interesting in its own right but doesn’t seem to have any clear link with the rest of the narrative. There is an important story about religion hidden in this book but in my view Rushdie has wasted a good opportunity. 3 Stars.  

Alister McGrath: Richard Dawkins, C.S. Lewis and the Meaning of Life, p/b, London, SPCK, 2019

Alister McGrath is the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University and Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion. He has written a vast array of outstanding books on Christian Theology, Church History and the relationship between Christian Faith and Science. His output includes his monumental three volume A Scientific Theology, his Doctoral Thesis A History of the Doctrine of Justification, his outstanding must read Christianity’s Dangerous Idea on the Reformation, and his very helpful The Christian Theology Reader in which he provides substantial readings from every major theologian from Justin Martyr to the present day along with a thorough analysis of their key ideas and useful questions for study. 

Alongside these massive  theological tomes McGrath’s little (70 page) paperback on Dawkins, Lewis and the Meaning of Life seemed to me a bit trivial after some years of crunching through his heavyweight thought. On the contrary I found the four chapters of this little book demanding, thought provoking and at times unsettling. At the outset a reader might assume that McGrath would be very critical of Dawkins’ outspoken critique of Christian faith and very praiseworthy of Lewis’s well known and very popular Christian books. This is not the case as McGrath puts some tough questions and criticisms to both these writers and challenges the reader to think deeply about what we really do believe about our lives, their future and purpose and what is the meaning of our existence on this tiny planet hidden in the maelstrom of billions of other stars and planets. 

McGrath demonstrates that both writers are men of faith holding committed positions that cannot be proved right, but which they clearly regard as justified and reasonable. (p.19) McGrath also points out that both psychology and philosophy show that human beings have  a tendency to believe more than the evidence actually warrants. (pp38-40). McGrath challenges us to think through just how we can show our beliefs to be justified. Don’t read this book if you don’t like your Christian faith being challenged. Read the book if you want to consider deeply the meaning of your life and faith. 5 stars. 

Colson Whitehead: Harlem Shuffle, p/b, London, Fleet, 2022

Colson Whitehead is a popular American writer especially well known for his story of The Underground Railway involving black Americans escaping from Southern USA before the American Civil War. 

  Harlem Shuffle is a rollicking story of crime and criminality in Harlem New York.  Family man Ray Carney runs a highly successful furniture shop in Harlem but was not immune from accepting the odd bits and pieces of stolen property and moving them on at a profit.  Whitehead’s novel is in some respects a difficult read as the terminology is unique to an urban underground of criminality. I did find this material difficult at first but the reader gradually gets used to the language and style. 

Harlem Shuffle does not hide the brutality and easy death involved in the Harlem underground but also manages to inject a degree of humour into the narrative. The reader soon identifies with Carney given that the behaviour of some of his contacts is completely ruthless and outrageous.  The book is a hefty read and not for the faint-hearted. It certainly shines a light on a whole underground most of us know exists but have little interest in interrogating too deeply. In many ways it is quite a disturbing read.  4 stars

E. M. Blaiklock: The Authority and Relevance of the Bible in the Modern World: The Olivier Beguin Memorial Lecture 1975, p/b. Bible Society, Melbourne, 1975

Edward Musgrave Blaiklock lectured in Latin, Greek and Biblical History for 42 years at the University of Auckland and for 21 of those years he held the Chair of Classics. Having emigrated to New Zealand with his family when he was six years old. Blaiklock was highly regarded as one of Auckland’s greatest sons and became the first Public Orator of Auckland, a post he held for ten years. Writing under the name of Grammaticus for the Weekly News, the Sunday Herald and the New Zealand Herald for over forty years without missing an edition. His list of academic publications is vast and his knowledge of Latin, Greek, Biblical History and Archaeology has few peers. Blaiklock died in 1983  but his many academic works are still widely sort after. 

Blaiklock’s major essay The Authority and Relevance of the Bible in the Modern World was given in 1975 but its cutting analysis is still frequently sought after as are many of his books and articles including his Commentary on Acts and his works on The Century of the New Testament , The Male Characters of Euripides and Biblical Archaeology are widely sort after, fifty years after his death. Blaiklock’s writing, on the surface silky smooth and easy to read, amazes the reader with his depth of knowledge and his ability to make quite difficult concepts very accessible to the reader. Anyone who in the C21st is thinking that the Bible is completely irrelevant to our daily pre-occupations would I believe be forced to think again if they were to read this extraordinary essay.

It is rare to find an academic with the communication skills to maintain a post in a national daily for forty years at the same time being quite at ease with ancient history, Greek and Latin authors and an exceptional understanding of New Testament Greek and Ancient History. This remarkable piece of historical analysis is readily available online and will richly repay anyone who takes the time to read it, especially if they were previously an atheist!  5 stars.

James Graham Ballard: Empire of the Sun, p/b, London, Harper Collins, 1993 (1984)  

J G Ballard (Jim)  was a young child living in Shanghai with his parents when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour took place on 7 December 1941 (8 December 1941 in Shanghai because of the time difference across the Pacific Date Line). 

In the chaos of the Japanese entering the second world war on Germany’s side Jim was separated from his parents as all British citizens were immediately interned. Initially Jim survived by eating left over food and supplies from his family home and later by breaking into other homes in his area.  After various dangerous near misses and assaults Jim finally handed himself over to the Japanese and was interned for three years in the Lunghus Civilian Assembly Centre.

This compelling novel details his own privations almost starving to death alongside the chaos of the Japanese war machine mingled with China’s own internal battles led by tensions between Nationalist Chiang Kai Shek and the Chinese communist party. Ballard powerfully describes the starvation and methods of survival of those held in Japanese internment camps, the death marches, the profiteers and self sacrifice of missionaries and others who cared for others in the midst of their own misery and hunger. 

Ballard was eventually reunited with his parents and went on to become a copywriter and reporter before joining the RAF in Canada, later becoming a scientific journal editor and eventually a full time writer of over 22 books. Empire of the Sun was often set as a senior text in Australian secondary schools in the 1970s, introducing young Australians to the horrors of world war trauma.  It is a novel which leaves an indelible impression on the mind. 5 stars and rising.

Honore’ De Balzac: Lost Illusions: Trans & Intro Herbert J. Hunt, p/b, England, Penguin, 1987, (1837-43).

Balzac was a prolific C19th French author producing over ninety novels to which he gave the comprehensive term The Human Comedy. These extraordinary works included studies of French manners, philosophy, Parisian, military and country life in remarkable detail. 

Lost Illusions is a large novel in three parts consisting of the chaotic life of Lucien Chardon,  born of a plebeian father and an aristocratic mother, a poet who tries unsuccessfully  to make a name for himself in Paris. Lucien’s story is based to some extent on his knowledge of the writer Jules Sandeau. Alongside this hectic story Balzac includes Scenes of Parisian Life and Scenes of Provincial Life. The thread which ties this lengthy work together is the friendship between Lucien and provincial printer David Sechard.  Balzac wrote a second story about Lucien’s second attempt to make it in Parisian society encouraged by the mysterious Spanish ecclesiastic and diplomat ‘Carlos Herrera’.  This long sequel to Lost Illusions is entitled Splendour and Misery of Courtesans or in the Penguin translation, A Harlot High and Low. 

During my Year 12 French class many years ago I was supposed to have read Balzac’s Pere Goriot in French, which was not an achievement that went very well. As a result I have had a dread of reading Balzac ever since and I regret that I have not until now read Balzac in English. Herbert J. Hunt’s translation is superb and the trials, successes and deep trauma of Lucien’s life is indeed hard to put down. Lost Illusions is a genuine classic and in many turns one both feels for and hates the remarkable Lucien.  5 stars.

Christopher Marlowe: The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus: Ed. & Intro: Sylvan Barnet, p/b, New York, Signet Classic, 1969 (1616)

Christopher Marlowe tended to live on the wild side himself, Graduating from Cambridge,  working for the British Government in Europe intrigues and leading a lively life on the streets in Britain whilst producing some brilliant plays. He finally lost his life in a street fight at an eating house after a dispute over the bill. 

Editor Sylvan Barnet notes that The Historia von D. Iohan Fausten was published anonymously in German in 1587 and describes the career of a man who gave the devil his soul in exchange for twenty-four years of earthly power, and who at last after performing miraculous feats and low practical jokes, was carried of to Hell. She further notes that An English translation of this work was published in 1592 as The History of the damnable life, and deserured death of Doctor John Faustus, Newly imprinted, and in convenient places imperfect matter attended…and translated into English by P. F. Gent[leman]. Barnett considers that Marlowe based his play on this edition although an additional story from John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments has been added. Barnet’s 1969 edition contains additional essays on The Tragic Form by Richard B. Sewall, Five-Act Structure in Doctor Faustus by G.K. Hunter and other notes on whether or not Dr. Faustus is a Christian tragedy as well as the way the play was presented at Stratford-On-Avon in the early C17th.

Marlowe’s story is a rollicking yarn as Faustus gets tangled up in all sorts of outrageous events and actions including popes, emperors and anyone else who gets in his way.  He has 24 years to enjoy himself before Lucifer and his faithful sidekick Mephistopheles finally claim their victim. There are plenty of comic interludes in the play and indeed Dr Faustus causes significant havoc and fun wherever he travels.  Nevertheless the fateful ending is severe and grim indeed and one can imagine an early C17th audience feeling the horror of the sad and final act. 

Whilst Dr Faustus can be seen simply as a morality play it is also a real question whether Marlowe intended the play to challenge the stranglehold that Christian faith had in Europe until the gradual infusion of scientific investigations and translations of ancient texts  from the C13th onwards.  Thinkers like Roger Bacon and Robert Grosseteste and many others began to challenge the Christian world view. Such thinkers paved the way for the Renaissance and the genuine challenge to spiritual as opposed to scientific forms of analysis of human life, history and science.  There are certainly many direct anti-papal incidents on centre stage in Marlowe’s play. 

One thing is certain, the human mind will always be hungry to prolong life and to explore any possible golden key to the mystery of ongoing human life. 5 stars. 

Robert Shore: Andy Warhol, h/b, London, Laurence King Publishing, 2020

Journalist Robert Shore.

Andy Warhol

Journalist Robert Shore has produced a thorough and  masterful summary of the complex world of commercial artist, photographer and film maker Andy Warhol. Ward died in 1987 from complications after a successful gall bladder operation.

Warhol was born in Ruthenia in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Russia and Ukraine. His family migrated to the USA and he grew up in Pittsburgh in a Central European ghetto, regularly attending St John Chrysostom Church where they listened to services in Old Slavonic. His father was a construction worker often away from home and his mother was of European peasant stock, eccentric and superstitious and wearing peasant dress but also a talented singer and floral artist.

Warhol was a sickly child eventually contracting St Vitus Dance, a disorder of the Central Nervous System which left him with problems of trembling and shaking as well as a skin condition which made him look pale and blotchy.

He was addicted to the cinema and his childhood bedroom was surrounded by autographed photographs of Hollywood stars, especially Shirley Temple. At school Warhol’s drawing skills were soon spotted, earning him a free Saturday art training at the Carnegie  Institute each Saturday. He eventually enrolled at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and his talents spread to dance and window dressing eventually obtaining part time work in Pittsburgh where he became a connoisseur of fashion magazines and the printed page. 

From these raw beginnings Warhol developed into perhaps the most well known and highly skilled commercial artist of all time creating a vast Factory space in New York which attracted the edgy, rock and roll stars, the edgy artistics, the wayout, the far way out and the wacky with a strong emphasis on the creation of a homosexual community laced with vast quantities of every kind of drug and amphetamine use.

It was in this centre that the famous paintings of Campbells’ tomato soup cans and other icons were made.  It was also in this centre that Valerie Solanas walked out of the sixth floor into the factory and pulled the trigger of a .32 calibre automatic pistol, firing it twice at Warhol, felling him to the floor. Warhol was pronounced dead at the Columbus hospital but somehow managed to pull through. 

Warhol eventually drifted from commercial art becoming known worldwide for his offbeat, outrageous and frequently pornographic film work and his  photography of the rich and famous all over the world including a session with Mao Tse Tung!

In his later years he lived more quietly in a large house with intimate friends but his photographic and artwork still dominated the edgy scene from Hollywood to New York and overseas.  He died in 1968 in hospital after a successful operation removing his gall bladder. Robert Shore’s concise and clear analysis of every aspect of Warhol’s complex oeuvre along with 22 hard to find photographs of Warhol with the rich and famous is thorough, concise and clear. This is a very fine biography of one of the modern art world’s most complex superstars.