The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak

The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The rhythm of Andrew Krivak's writing forces his readers to slow down. The Sojourn pulled me in and kept me turning the pages because its subject matter and setting are fascinating. But I had to work to read it. Here's an example of a typical sentence pulled from about halfway through the novel:

But among the Austrian and German troops we fell in with that autumn in Kobarid, we felt the camaraderie of skill and demeanor, and so began to believe again in the possibility of victory in that war, after having lost so many battles, a victory we would soon find out, that was being mapped out in the mountains above the plateau the generals had conceded to their enemy in order to save themselves and their imperial army.

I might enjoy sentences such as this if they were used in moderation, but Krivak rarely breaks his rhythm with shorter phrases.

The novel follows the life of Jozef Vinich, who was born in Colorado but raised in Austria-Hungry. He and his adopted brother, learn to shoot with great skill because they are hunters from an early age. When World War 1 begins, their skills as sharpshooters are highly valued. The scenes from the battles and from long marches in harsh environments bring a very clear picture of a struggle to survive, but Krivak also shows the guilt surviving can bring.

I said that I had ceased to think of life or death because it seemed that I was destined to serve out the sentence of one for having delivered so well the sentence of the other, and that I saw the dead every night before I went to sleep as though they were still alive and standing before me.

The Sojourn is not a book to curl up with on a rainy day. But for readers who enjoy history and who like to work at what they read, it's a good one.


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The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chris Bohjalian refers to the Armenian Genocide as “the slaughter you know next to nothing about.” This horrific event involved the mass murder of Armenians living in what is now Turkey. In my case Bohjalian's statement was true until I read his wonderful novel, The Sandcastle Girls. Here is a quote from Wikipedia about the Armenian Genocide:

It took place during and after World War 1 and was implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and forced labor, and the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches to the Syrian Desert. The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million.

The Sandcastle Girls bounces back and forth between the period when World War 1 was  in its early stages and the present time. It is about Laura Petrosian, a novelist, who is shown an old photograph of a woman who suffered through the Genocide and who shared Laura's last name. This picture starts Laura's effort to learn more about the history of her ancestors. The portions of the book that take place during the early twentieth century tell us about Laura's grandmother, Elizabeth Endicott, as she arrives in Syria with her father. They are on a humanitarian mission to help the victims. The first day Elizabeth is in Syria she sees surviving women from one of the marches.

These women are completely naked, bare from their feet to the long drapes of matted black hair. And it is the hair, long and straight though filthy and impossibly tangled, that causes her to understand that these woman are white – at least they were once – and they are, in fact, not old at all, Many might be her age or even a little younger. All are beyond modesty, beyond caring. Their skin has been seared black by the sun or stained by the soil in which they have slept or, in some cases, by great yawning scabs and wounds that are open and festering and, even at this distance, malodorous.

The novel views the genocide from a short distance. We hear about the massacres of the Armenian men, but we don't see them. And Elizabeth is in Syria, so the women she sees are the survivors. Along the way many of the women were raped and some were slaughtered for fun, but we find out about those crimes through second hand stories or the recollections of characters such as Nevart, an Armenian woman who has taken on the care of Hatoun, a young, silent, orphan girl.

Bohjalian's book is not only about genocide. The story also covers other, smaller aspects of the characters' lives. Elizabeth falls in love with an Armenian she meets and he also falls for her, but he never loses the love he feels for his wife and his child although they have been taken from him. In the present time we feel Laura's need to find out more about her family and to use that knowledge to better understand her own life.

The Sandcastle Girls is a novel about the importance of remembering our history, especially the bad parts. But it is also a book about hope and love and surviving.


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Company of Liars by Karen Maitland

Company Of Liars by Karen Maitland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Company of Liars has the subtitle a novel of the plague.  It makes me wonder if the person who designed the cover ever read the book. It takes place in 1348 as the plague has started to overwhelm England, but the plague is only one of a number of reasons why nine outcasts have taken to the road. The disease has changed the landscape through which these travelers wander, but it is not the cause of their suffering. Fourteenth century England had plenty of other reasons why it was a hard time and place to live.

The story is told by an old character who is known to the readers as Camelot, a profession rather than a name.

I am, after all, a camelot, a peddler, a hawker of hopes and crossed fingers, of piecrust promises and gilded stories. And believe me, there are plenty who will buy such things. I sell faith in a bottle: the water of the Jordan drawn from the very spot where the Dove descended, the bones of the innocents slaughtered in Bethlehem, and the shards of the lamps carried by the wise virgins.

Camelot, who is clearly a seller of lies, is joined by eight others. These include Zophiel, a magician who owns the cart and horse they are using and who has a number of boxes with unknown contents, Osmond and Adela, a young couple who are expecting a child, Rodrigo and Jofre, an Italian musician and his apprentice, Pleasance, a midwife, and Cygnus, a storyteller who has a swan's wing in place of one of his arms.  All of these people have secrets they do not want to reveal. But they also have brought another traveler with them: Narigorm, a young, pale skinned, white haired girl who is a mystic and who has very little use for liars.

This novel has strong characters and an excellent feel for life during the fourteenth century, which is the aspect I found most interesting. But there was more to it than that. Karen Maitland handled the subjects of human sexuality, gender identification, and bigotry in interesting and sometimes surprising ways. She also mixed mysticism and reality in ways that made me think.


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Heresy by S. J. Parris

Heresy by S.J. Parris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heresy is a historical novel that follows a period in the life of Giordano Bruno, an ex-monk who has developed a reputation as a philosopher and gained status through his relationship with King Henri III of France. This book covers a time he spent at Oxford in England. He's been brought to the university to debate with the head of the school, Rector Underhill. But while Bruno is at Oxford a number of brutal murders occur and he is recruited by Underhill to look into the crimes.

The book is interesting because it covers the period in English history after the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, but does not look at that time through the point of view of the monarchy. Instead it focuses on how the conflict between the two churches affects the students and faculty at Oxford. There's violence, deception, and quite a few compromised values.

The problem with putting historical characters in a fictional environment is that the author has to develop personalities for the characters while remaining true to the real people. In this case, the characters suffer because they lack strong emotions. Everyone in the book, with the exception of Bruno and his well-connected friend, Philip Sydney, seems to be one dimensional and self-serving. This was a time when people believed that choosing the wrong side would be the same as denying God. Yet there was little passion shown in their choices. The rector has a beautiful daughter named Sophia whom everyone wants to protect, but the only romantic relationship is talked about rather than shown and also lacks passion.

The decisions the characters make often seem abrupt and without rationalization. There's a gate keeper who helps Bruno without any explanation as to why he's decided to trust a stranger over the people he knows and works for. And Rector Underhill's decision to ask Bruno to investigate the crimes also seems out of the blue.

Yet, despite the issues I mentioned, I enjoyed the novel. The subject matter is fascinating and the mystery works well. It's a good read for people who enjoy historical fiction.

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A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Clash of Kings is the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series that began with A Game of Thrones. The book has a number of interrelated plots that follow various characters. It takes awhile to get going, but once it does there's plenty of excitement.

I found the story line around Arya (A ten year old tomboy who uses the innocence of her age to her advantage.), Theon (The son of a lord who was kept and raised by another lord and now is trying to prove his loyalty.), and Tyrion (A dwarf who realizes he needs to out-think others for his victories, but also demonstrates great bravery) to be the most interesting. The chapters covering Davos (A former smuggler who now fights for one of the brothers of the dead king.) and Daenerys (The last in the line of the family that once ruled the seven kingdoms, who dreams of winning back that throne for her heirs) also had some great moments. But I was disappointed in the plots covering Jon (A soldier who has sworn to spend his life protecting the seven kingdoms from the evil creatures in the north.), Sansa (The more traditional sister of Arya, who counted on the men in her life and has been disappointed.), and Catelyn (The mother of, among others, the current Lord of the North, Arya, and Sansa and who travels around the kingdoms trying to work for peace while protecting her family.).

These complex stories refer to each other and will probably come together eventually, but they didn't in this book. This is my principle complaint, A Clash of Kings doesn't resolve any plot lines. Instead it adds more. For some readers this is unimportant. But, although some lingering plot lines can draw the readers back, each book in a series should have its own beginning, middle and end. A Clash of Kings doesn't stand well on its own.

The world George R. R. Martin has created is a mixture of dark magical creatures with flawed humans in a setting that could pass for England during the time of King Arthur. His attention to detail is unsurpassed and all his characters have unique, fully developed personalities. I could feel what every character felt and understand all their actions, whether selfish, kind, or a mixture of both.

I've started the HBO series Game of Thrones, but I'm only halfway through the first season. I want to read before I watch, although I do think the series is exciting and faithful to the book.

Although I had some issues with this book and don't believe it is as good as the first book in the series, I'm still rating it with five stars. Because what is great about it far exceeds the few problems.

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Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ethan Frome is a book I should have read years ago. Since I didn't, I had an opportunity to look at a classic with fresh eyes and I enjoyed it. The Age of Innocence is the only other Edith Wharton book I've read. Both are extremely well written. Ethan Frome was published in 1911.

Ethan Frome is structured as a tale told by a man who has been sent into Starkfield, Massachusetts to supervise work on a “power-house,” but he has been stuck in town longer than he expected due to a carpenters' strike. There's a powerful winter storm in the area and Ethan Frome is recommended as someone who has a horse drawn sleigh and can take the narrator to the home where he's been staying for a small price. When the storm becomes too much for travel, Ethan invites the man to stay overnight at his farm. This is where the narrator learns enough about him to tell his story.

Years earlier, Ethan lived with two women, his wife, Zeena and her younger cousin, Mattie. Mattie had fallen on hard times. Her father had died leaving almost no money for his family. Mattie's mother was not capable of supporting herself and her daughter. She died from the stress, leaving Mattie alone. Zeena took her cousin in because Mattie had nowhere else to go and because Mattie was cheap labor. She cooked and cleaned for room and board. She also took an interest in Ethan.

The novel concentrates on the relationship between Ethan and Mattie, but his relationship with his wife is more important. He's attracted to Mattie because she's young, pretty, and vivacious, but also because Zeena is the opposite. Zeena seems to feel she's been let down by her husband's inability to make more than a substance living and responds to her situation by constantly complaining about her health. While she seems to be reaching for attention from Ethan, her hypochondria and controlling personality push Ethan toward Mattie.

Good novels get into the heads of the characters. Edith Wharton is excellent at letting her readers feel by concentrating on the little things.

He had always been more sensitive than the people about him to the appeal of natural beauty. His unfinished studies had given form to this sensibility and even in his unhappiest moments field and sky spoke to him with a deep and powerful persuasion. But hitherto the emotion had remained in him as a silent ache, veiling with sadness the beauty that evoked it. He did not even know whether any one else in the world felt as he did, or whether he was the sole victim of this mournful privilege. Then he learned that one other spirit had trembled with the same touch of wonder: that at his side, living under his roof and eating his bread, was a creature to whom he could say: “That's Orion down yonder the big fellow to the right is Aldebaran, and the bunch of little ones – like bees swarming – they're the Pleiades...”

Anyone who hasn't read this novel, should give it a try. It's a beautifully written experience.

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The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Snowman is intense and gripping. Although parts of the story are unbelievable, Jo Nesbø's writing keeps the suspense alive. At times it is a difficult book to put down, which is the best compliment I can give to a crime novel. However, just as in action films such as Die Hard or The Eraser, plausibility takes a backseat to tension.

The Snowman is the first Harry Hole mystery I've read. It's neither the first in the series nor the last, but it stands on its own. It tells enough background to allow a new reader to understand the character relationships without slowing the book down. Harry holds back on his emotions. He's drawn to Rakel, his ex, but understands how his need to solve crimes will always get in the way of his relationship with her. He's more open with her son, Oleg, who responds well to him. But that isn't enough. Another person in his life is Katrine Bratt, a young police woman who also works on the snowman case. I expected the relationship between those two to be different from how it turned out.

The plot seemed to come to an end a couple of times during the book, but there were still many pages to go through and so the story turned out different than what was expected. That's good, although a little overdone. Yet the psychological reasons that point to each of the suspects are rationalized well, so the reader doesn't feel cheated at the end.

Another aspect of Nesbø's writing I like is his attention to small details that don't appear to advance the plot, but establish what life is like in Norway. For example there's a shop owner in the story who sells African art. The shop exists because government grants are available for this type of store, so the fact that there are few customers doesn't make any difference. The setting is also interesting. The cold of Norway suits the cold relationships between the characters.


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