Noah’s Compass

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by Anne Tyler, audio book narrated by Arthur Morey, 2009, Random House Inc.

This is the story of a sixty-year-old man, Liam, who has lost one wife, is divorced from another, and has just lost his job as a first grade teacher in a private elementary school.  He decides to retire and move to an apartment in another part of town.

Liam grasps for one last chance for love and meaning in his life.

The story is a bit of a downer and the main characters and his family are disfunctional.  The narrator seems to capture all of this fairly well.  The end result is not particularly satisfying.  two stars

The Piano Teacher

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by Janice Y. K. Lee, audio book narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, 2009, Penguin Audio

This is a well-written novel, although it drags a bit in places.  The authors knowledge of Hong Kong and the events that occurred in and after World War II provides a great deal of authenticity to her writing.  The narration is well done.

3 1/2 stars

Founding Brothers, The Revolutionary Generation

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by Joseph J. Ellis, audio book narrated by Nelson Runger, 2000  by Joseph J. Ellis, 2001 by Recorded Books, LLC

I enjoyed this book very much.  Ellis provides a picture of the revolutionary era and five of the primary figures: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.  He manages to inject some life into each of these individuals, some of whom died over two hundred years ago.  Ellis also provides great insight as to how we got to where we are today, especially when he describes the beginning of the political parties and partisan politics.  It is interesting to note the degree of partisanship that arose very quickly once George Washington stepped out of the public life.  Some of the accusations and character assassination that occurred between the Republicans (Jefferson’s party) and the Federalists (John Adams’ party) goes even further than what we are experiencing today.  According to Ellis, some of Jefferson’s and Madison’s actions during the presidency of John Adams even bordered on treason.

The othe subject on which Ellis sheds a great deal of light is the Constitution and what it actually contains.  The one question which was not fully resolved, according to Ellis, is the exact extent of the power of the national government versus the states.  According to many conservatives, the Constitution explicity reserves all powers to the states which are not specifically given to the federal government.  From the very start, however, this subject was argued, most eloquently by Adams, who favored a strong central government, and Jefferson, who argued that the power should be retained by the people in the form of states powere.  So it seems that even the individuals who were most involved in the writing of the original docuement did not agree on this subject.

The book flows very well and Ellis presents a great deal of new insight into the minds and personalities of these individuals. four stars

The Tenderness of Wolves

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by Stef Penney, 2006, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, New York

This book is an interesting read.  The structure is a bit unusual in that it is a series of chapters, each dealing with a particular character (although only the main character’s story, Mrs. Ross’s, is told in the first person).  There are multiple plots and subplots that take place, the primary plot being a murder and its effects on the various characters.  The setting of the book is the Canadian wilderness in the 1860’s.

Despite all the good aspects of the book, it suffers greatly from a lack of pace.  The lyrical and descriptive style with which it is written makes it difficult to maintain any degree of suspense which is a usual ingredient in any well-written murder mystery.  One would not expect the book to be a thriller, but it could definitely use a bit of juicing up. 3 1/2 stars

The Path Between the Seas, The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914

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by David McCullough, 1977, Simon and Schuster, New York

This is a fabulous book.  Although it is somewhat detailed and requires a bit of fortitude to read it through, the book chronicles one of the greatest American accomplishments ever.  The story begins with the efforts of the French and Ferdinand de Lesseps (the builder of the Suez Canal) and their failure and ends with the opening of the canal in August of 1914.  McCullough writes a great deal about the background and personal characteristics of the individuals involved; the reader can readily detect the attributes of each individual that contributed to either success or failure.

One of the more interesting facets of the story was the lessening and, in some cases, the elimination of various diseases in the Canal Zone.  This was an absolute prerequisite to the success of the Americans.  The discovery that yellow fever and malaria was caused by mosquitoes at the time was a key element.  Even though the discovery was well documented in the medical journals, however, there were quite a number of individuals who discounted the theory and continued to believe these diseases were caused by “bad air”.  We have significant parallels today in our society who are quick to discount scientific theory in such areas as climate change and evolution.

Another interesting area was the extent of the changes in technology in a very short period of time that would have made the building of the canal all but impossible even ten years earlier.  The development of electricity and steel metalurgy in those ten years was signfiicant.  At about the time the locks were being built the first factories in the U.S. were being electrified.  The advances in technology that were employed in the design of the canal were remarkable.As we are planning to take a cruise to Panama next winter, the reading of this book will provide a great deal of insight.   The book was very readable and interesting to me. 4 1/2 stars

Dr. Finlay’s Casebook Omnibus

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by A. J. Cronin, 2010, Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, Scotland (from Dr. Finlay of Tannochbrae published in 1978 and Adventures of a Black Bag, first published in 1943 and revised in 1969) 

I picked this book up in a little shop in Tarbert, a little village on Loch Fyne in Scotland while on vacation there.  I like to buy at least one book that I think will give me a bit of insight into the culture of the place I am visiting.  I didn’t know much about A. J. Cronin but my friends in Scotland quickly informed me that Dr. Finlay was the subject of a very popular BBC television show.  I subsequently found out that Cronin was initially a physician but wrote his first novel while convalescing on Loch Fyne.

When I was a youngster I read a book that my father had called Leaves from a Surgeon’s Casebook, written in 1938 by James Harpole.  Harpole was a doctor who, when he was cleaning out his office files as he was retiring, came across his old casebook from when he was first starting his practice.  He picked up the casebook and started reading it and immediately became aware of how much the medical profession had progressed over the years of his practice.  His book focused on how differently he would have treated many of those patients he could not save in the early years of his practice.

When I picked up Dr. Finlay’s Casebook, I thought I would get a little bit of the same as Harpole’s book.  It was, however, much more like James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, being more about the characters than any medical revelations.  I was surprised a bit, however, that Cronin’s characters were so direct in their speech (maybe one characteristic of the Scots).  There were many times when Dr. Finlay let his patients and some of his would-be lady loves have a piece of his mind, sometimes putting Dr. Finlay in a somewhat unfavorable light.  As to whether the book gave me much insight into the culture of rural Scotland, I suppose that it did that a bit also.

All in all, it was a fun an enjoyable read and may lead me to read some of Cronin’s heavier works. 3 stars

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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by Stieg Larsson, translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland, audio book read by Simon Vance, 2008, Books on Tape, Westminster, MD

I listened to this on my MP3 player while travelling in Scotland.  This book, in my opinion, is nothing to special.  The character of Lisbeth Salenger is a bit too made-up and not all that believable.  The story was interesting but seemed to drag a bit in places.  It was somewhat enjoyable to listen to, but I’m not sure that I would get into his other two books that feature her character. 3 stars

Shutter Island

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by Dennis Lehane, 2003, HarperCollins Publishers, NY

I heard great things about this book, but it was just okay in my opinion.  The plot definately has a twist at the end, however.  The movie would lack its punch if you have read the book because you already know the answer.

 3 stars

The Secret Scripture

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by Sebastian Barry, audio book read by Wanda McCaddon, 2008 by Blackstone Audio, Inc. (checked out from the Collier County Library)

I pickup up this audio book at the library to listen to on our annual trip back to Rhode Island.  On the case was a statement that it had been nominated as a finalist for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.  The story was about a person, Roseanne McNulty, who was committed to a mental hospital in Ireland and had written a secret memoir of her life. It takes place in Skibbereen, Ireland, a place where my wife’s ancestors apparently came from, so it was interesting to learn a bit about the area and the folks who lived there.

The plot sounded pretty interesting and the fact that it had been nominated for the Man Booker Prize recommended it well.  Unfortunately, the story unfolds at a snail’s pace.  Her life was pretty interesting and how she came to be committed to a mental institution was also of interest.  The author, however, seems to have a knack for making an otherwise compelling story pretty boring.  The final twist in the story is fairly predictable early on so the final “surprise” can be described by the current vernacular phrase, “not so much”.  After plodding through the first four or five CD’s, the story picked up a bit, but not enough to redeem it.

On the plus side, the writing is great and the two main characters are portrayed very well. The narrator is also excellent.

I hope the Man Booker prize folks can find material a bit more compelling to choose from going forward.2 1/2 stars

Great Expectations

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by Charles Dickens, first published 1860-1861, Audio Book narrated by Frederick Davidson, 1993, Blackstone Audio, Inc. (checked out from the Collier County Library and downloaded to my Sansa Clip mp3 player)

I hadn’t read much of Charles Dickens other than A Tale of Two Cities back in ninth grade.  I didn’t much like my last experience as I didn’t have any knowledge of the circumstances (I didn’t even know that a French Revolution had occurred back then).  In addition, this was a chance to test my new mp3 player with a download from the local library.

The mp3 player worked fine.  I also had a painting project in the house (what’s new), so this gave me a great opportunity to listen.  In regard to the book, I think it was a much better experience listening because the narrator managed to capture a lot of the personalities with his voice.  Dickens has a good feel for certain types of individuals.  There are those who are just full of themselves, those who are humble, and those who are basically evil among others.  The story is basically about a young boy who grew up under poor circumstances who wants to become a gentleman.  He makes many choices, many of which cause him considerable misery.

Dickens has a great understanding of the brutality of growing up poor in 19th century England.  Also, in some of the passages, he demonstrates an appreciation for the fine line between consciousness and unconciousness as one drifts off to sleep.  These two aspects reminded me a great deal of A Christmas Carol.

The audiobook includes two endings, the first of which was one that was rewritten to make it much happier.  The second ending, which was actually the first one he wrote, is much more tragic.

My only criticism of the book is that Dickens seemed to lose his way a bit toward the end.  There are some passages that are drawn out much longer than necessary.  The book was originally written as a magazine series, so Dickens probably had a certain amount of space to fill for each episode.

Listening to this book was altogether a good experience. 3 1/2 stars