Fagin the Thief: A Novel
by Allison Epstein
Fagin the Thief (1/15/2025)
Story retellings always seem to jump to the top of my To-Be-Read list and so it was that I leaped at the chance to read Allison Epstein's Fagin the Thief. The setting is still London's seedy underground and the plight of the poor and of abandoned orphans still as horrible and violent a in Dickens' original. Antisemitism is still rampant in Epstein's version and plays a major role in Fagin's development.
Fagin is still a thief and a liar and an opportunist, but Epstein provides a backstory which makes him a more sympathetic character than the original. He is only sixteen when he desperately makes a deal with God to save his mother's life, but she dies despite all his efforts, and he is forced to find his own way forward.
Dickens portrays the older Fagin as a procurer of the young and impoverished for his own welfare, but this Fagin is sought out by these young men who want to learn from him, and he takes them in knowing what their lives will be otherwise. Epstein doesn't sanitize Fagin's character; at times he is still morally despicable, but the entry of Nan, the daughter of the only friend he has ever known, gives Fagin, and the reader, another version of himself — different from the view that others have given him. Nan helps him believe that "he's a person, the same as all the rest."
His relationship with Bill Sikes is more complicated in Epstein's version. While Bill is serving two years in prison, Fagin tries to write a letter to him, but after several tries, gives up and throws it in the fire. He doesn't visit Bill, though Bill expects him, because he fears that he will be recognized there. It is Nan who knows, "clearly better than Bill does, that no one ought to count on Fagin to do anything that puts Fagin at risk. It's every man for himself, but Fagin for Fagin most of all."
Yet when Ned and Bullseye visit Fagin in prison, Ned is so angry he asks why he's defending Bill after all he's done. "You didn't know him, Ned.... He's just like me." Fagin tells him, "He was a wicked man who did the worst things that can be done, and if you believe in hell, he's there burning right now. He was shameful, small, selfish, cruel, vicious, and there's no forgiveness for that. But he was a man ... and my friend, and I loved him."
The humanity Epstein has imbued in each of these characters makes her novel a remarkable retelling - one of the best in my reading experience. I'm grateful to her and to Book Browse for giving me the opportunity to read and comment.
Bad Animals: A Novel
by Sarah Braunstein
A Thought-Provoking Read (1/15/2024)
In Bad Animals, Sarah Braunstein has written an immensely thought-provoking book. An epigram at the beginning of the novel seems to provide one of the underlying themes of the work. Maeve has been a librarian for fifteen productive years until she is "laid off," supposedly because of budget cuts, but she thinks an accusation from a young patron might have also been responsible. She "stews" over being let go, and like a caged animal, her thoughts go back and forth over the incident. Her life at the library consumed her days. She was writing to Harrison Riddles, her favorite author, in the hope that she could persuade him to come speak at the library. As she writes, she considers what she thinks might interest him, but when she begins to write about the things that interest her, the words start to flow. She writes that the library "soothed her, contained her," and now it was gone. Katrina, her co-worker, told her that Riddles had called asking for Maeve and had made arrangements to actually come to the library, He is going to write a book about Willie, one of the library's patrons, and asks her to help him with the book and his relationship with Willie. She "sensed that something was going to happen." Her Life Coach says that Maeve's a person who has always followed the rules and advises her to try breaking one. At Harry's house she decides she can "break a rule," and they begin an affair. At the same time, she cannot forget the girl who made the accusation that Maeve thinks caused her dismissal. Katrina says Libby was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Maeve does some research and finds there could be multiple reasons behind the behaviors that have targeted Libby and brought out the worse in her. Maeve desperately wants to help her. But how? And she desperately wants to tell her husband about the affair with Riddles. But how? In the end she finds the answer that has been foreshadowed throughout the book. Maeve was sometimes an exasperating character, Riddles was always a riddle, but Braunstein's portrayal of human behavior was enlightening. Highly recommended.
The Stone Home: A Novel
by Crystal Hana Kim
The Rehabilitation (12/3/2023)
Crystal Han Kim's novel, "The Stone Home," is a vivid expose of the state-sanctioned reformatory system of the 1980's in Korea. Claims that its goal is to rehabilitate and reform its citizens are strikingly similar to the claims for favoring Indian Boarding Schools in the United States. The novel alternates timelines between the 1980's and 2011. The story is told from the alternating perspective of two characters; Eunju, who has been taken from the streets with her mother, and Sangchul, who has been captured with his brother. The reader's attention is captured quickly in the opening pages of the novel as Eunju opens her front door to find a stranger with a knife that Eunju instantly recognizes in her hands. The young woman has been sent by her dying father to learn the story of her birth from Eunju, who seems not pleased at having been given this task. Eunju's story is very clear throughout her telling. Sangchul's, on the other hand, is sometimes confusing. We see some jealousy toward his brother and much guilt over the manner of his brother's death. These haunt him over the course of the novel and his paranoia over what he thinks he may or may not have done is hard to follow sometimes. Kim's prose is almost lyrical at times and her depiction of the reformatory system in Korea is violent and disturbing. I found the book quite enlightening about a period of history of was unaware.
Julia: A Novel
by Sandra Newman
A Julia Retelling (11/17/2023)
If a retelling of classic novels is in your wheelhouse, Sandra Newman's Julia will not disappoint. It begins simply enough, describing the initial meeting between Julia and Winston Smith, showing her at work in the Fiction department of the Ministry of Truth. While outwardly acting the ideal citizen of Big Brother's dystopian society, Julia hides her joyful sexuality behind the red sash of the Anti-Sex League, uses the Black Market to supplement her needs, and hides her laughter at the spectacle of the Two-Minute Hates while enthusiastically taking part. Flashbacks to Julia's childhood adds the depth and dimension to her character that effectively helps explain her ability to navigate through the Party's requirements, seemingly at will. Her sexual manipulation of the men from Truth is disturbing, especially as she cleverly schemes to provide the scenarios she believes the ever-present watchers will appreciate. The book is not for the faint of heart. Gruesome scenes of Julia's torture after her surprise arrest are described in vivid detail. The appearance of "Icy" Winters as an interesting way to enlighten Julia of the facts behind her arrest. Winter's tip about Room 101, "run out the clock," provides the key for her survival. The novel's end is in keeping with Orwell's version, but the bitter twist comes as a shock, although it is clear in retrospect that Newman's forewarning has been present all along. What a clever and revealing retelling!
Devil Makes Three: A Novel
by Ben Fountain
The Devil in Haitian Life (9/5/2023)
If the devastation caused by hurricanes and earthquakes or the political upheavals that have resulted in so much poverty and violence have stirred any empathy for the Haitian people, Devil Makes Three might be the book for you. The story begins as the 1991 coup to overthrow Aristide takes place. Almost overnight the country changes; massacres, bodies in the streets, a mayor killed and beheaded, and the beginning of major drug and arms trafficking. Some of Ben Fountain's characters you like, some you don't, and some you don't trust, but all are memorable.
American Matt Amaker and Haitian-Canadian Alix Variel are excited that their ScubaRave business is taking off, but coup leaders need their sturdy jetty for trafficking. The guys begin treasure hunting as a means to make money, but when word gets out that they might have found gold, they are arrested and jailed by Anti-gang leaders. They are moved to the Casernes jail near the palace. Eventually Alix's release is negotiated by the Canadian government, but Matt gets nothing from the American embassy and is forced to work for Colonel Concers, one of the coup leaders.
Shelly Graver, aka Audrey O'Donnell, aka a clandestine CIA agent, arrives at USAID and soon begins recruiting assets. One of those assets is the doctor of the local hospital. Misha Variel, Alix's sister, goes to work at Hospital Georges Laroque where her primary job is to gather patient records. Soon she suspects that Doctor Laroque is turning those records over to Shelly Graver. When she confronts him, he says that money from USAID is the only way the hospital stays open. She realizes USAID is about more than humanitarian aid and suspects that the records are going to be used as a hit list, especially as they include the political leanings of the patients.
The role Vodou plays in the story presents a very different picture than the one shown by American media. Here it is depicted as a vibrant part of the Haitian people's lives in a very believable way.
The degree of corruption the book reveals about American government officials, American politicians, and American businessmen is staggering. They are as much the villains in Devil Makes Three as the coup leaders. This is not a book for the fainthearted, but I found the character of the Haitian people compelling and the revelation of American involvement enlightening.
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