The Language of Secrets
by Ausma Zehanat Khan
Disappointing but still worth reading (12/3/2015)
I was strongly drawn to reading this novel because of the centrality of Muslem characters and the way they would concretely illuminate the two faces of Islam in the modern world. And the character focus turns out to be very well done -- up to a point. As to the two key police detectives, Esa Khattack and his partner Rachel, we get to understand each of them but especially Esa in terms of his inner tensions as he faces hostility and suspicion from a superior officer. On the other hand, the characters that are committed to terrorism and to luring young people to their cause are presented as objects more than subjects in this novel. That is, we never really get to know them in terms of their own subjective ideas and motives. The key contribution that a novel can make to greater understanding of the world is this element of subjectivity -- entering the mind of a character. In this novel, this is true of Esa but not of Hassan, the terrorist. Thus, the novel's focus on character is a strong feature that is incompletely realized. The book is also a thriller and, as evaluated from that perspective, it has some effective plotting that, unfortunately, leads to a final scene that I found not only trite but lacking in credibility. Despite my disappointment in these respects, I judge the novel as still worth reading -- certainly not just average although not outstanding.
Frank & Ava: In Love and War
by John Brady
A disappointing reading experience (8/4/2015)
The question I asked myself as I was reading this book was: Is this book necessary? Does it add anything significant and insightful about the relationship between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner? My answer is "no" and there are quite a few reasons for this negative assessment. Here are a few:
First, two fine biographies appeared in recent years. Sinatra: The Voice (2011) by James Kaplan is the first of a planned two-volume biography that greatly adds to understanding of Sinatra as a singer devoted to his craft. Ava Gardner: "Love in Nothing" (2007) by Lee Server is widely regarded as one of the best Hollywood star biographies ever published. Both books are extremely well-written. This book is in an entirely different class in terms of quality.
Second, there are a great many other books about these two people or about Hollywood of their era. I suppose for newcomers to these two people, there is something to learn from this book and maybe that is the intended readership. But I would still point such a newcomer to other books.
Third, the book is largely an ill-organized compilation of quotations from earlier books with occasional quotes from interviews with living acquaintances of the two. It may be this latter "access," however limited the revelations, gives the book whatever originality it has. But the main impression is the opposite.
As disappointing as this book was for me, yet it reminded me of something to look forward to: Kaplan's second volume, Sinatra: The Chairman, to be published later this year. I also plan to watch some of Ava's movies to renew my appreciation of her beautiful screen presence. If the Hollywood studios had respected her for more than her beauty, they would have nurtured her latent talents and then perhaps, just perhaps, she could have been a contender.
Trust No One: A Thriller
by Paul Cleave
Original but disappointing (6/9/2015)
I began this book with high anticipation, drawn into it by its intriguing and highly original idea for a crime novel about a writer with dementia who creates a diary-like journal addressed to his future self.
However, I found the book disappointing as "a thriller," its subtitle. "Mystery" might have been more appropriate. The story plodded along at a slow pace and the journal feature eventually became tiresome. I don't think the novel succeeds in eliciting any emotional connection to its lead character. Nor do we get to know any other character except from the uncertain viewpoint of one character, the crime novelist who is confused about everything until the end when he suddenly seems to have insight into what is happening. So reading the novel was a mixed experience. Readers who appreciate an original conception for a crime novel might give it a try even if I can't be enthusiastic about that recommendation.
Whispering Shadows
by Jan-Philipp Sendker
A Literary Novel of Crime and Detection in China Today (1/12/2015)
The events in this story take place in contemporary China but they reverberate with the social and personal consequences of the worst aspects of the Cultural Revolution that began in the mid-1960s and concluded after Chairman Mao's death nearly a decade later. The author's background as a reporter in China serves him well in conveying a sense of authenticity in describing various aspects of life in Hong Kong and mainland China. For instance, the well-known extensive corruption that permeates present-day Chinese society is a key aspect of the story. Just as importantly, the reader learns about some of the horrific aspects of the earlier era through the anguished interior thoughts of a certain key Chinese character, a detective. This interiority of perspective, varying among the key characters, also enables the author to explore the problem of trust in these circumstances as well as the moral dilemmas some characters confront. In these ways, the novelist strives for literary quality as he embeds its story of crime and detection in the context of contemporary Chinese social and psychological characteristics.
However, this fusion of literary and thriller elements is not entirely successful. There is little suspense or mystery in the plot. Some of the situations and especially the conversations feel contrived and lacking in credibility. And the leading American character (Paul Leibovitz), described as having extensive experience in China, sometimes seems to think and behave in ways inconsistent with this background. I didn't know whether this was a complexity of the character intended by the author or a lapse in novelistic skill. Indeed, for me the Chinese detective and his nemesis, a leading and dangerously bright mogul, were each better understood as characters than were any of the Americans in this story. Whether the expert rendition of the Chinese context and characters outweighs these limitations and flaws will be a judgment each reader makes. However, readers looking for insights into the people of contemporary China, especially those old enough to have participated in the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, are likely to appreciate this novel despite what I see as its weaknesses.
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