Recent Reading: Fiction

Death Comes For The Archbishop by Willa Cather

A novel I'd been aware of for many years, but had never read.  Wonderfully written; evocative, and moving.  Set in New Mexico in the thirty five years after the American conquest in 1846, it tells the story of two childhood friends from the remote Auvergne region of France who enter the priesthood to become Catholic missionaries in Ohio, and are then assigned to Santa Fe where one becomes bishop (later archbishop) and the other his vicar.

The two main characters are based on real people, the French born first archbishop of Santa Fe and his vicar.

Cather's vivid descriptions of the landscape and of the peoples, Mexican and Indian, are beautifully drawn but not overdone.  There is a spareness to her writing.  Weaving in and out of the book, which consists of a series of episodes over the decades, are historical figures like Kit Carson and the Navajo Eusabio.  

At the heart of the book is the friendship and faith of the two priests.  Opposites physically and temperamentally, they complement each other and they recognize the value in their differences. Though their friendship is deep it is their faith that towers above all and provides the ultimate meaning for their lives.

I'll read it again.

Standing In The Shadows by Peter Robinson

The 28th book in the DCI Banks series set in Yorkshire.  I've greatly enjoyed this series (though the BBC telly version was badly miscast).  It had an odd start.  Though I enjoyed the plot and setting in the initial three or four novels, the writing was mediocre.  I don't know what happened (writing lessons?) but all of a sudden, from one book to the next, it improved dramatically.  Standing In The Shadows is one of his best, a body uncovered during an archaeological dig leads to the investigation of a murder 40 years ago.  Sadly, I was startled to see the author note at the end starting "Peter Robinson was  . . ." resulting in a quick internet search to find out he passed away last fall.

Gods Of Deception by David Adams Cleveland

I caught the author on CSPAN Book TV, and was impressed by the depth of his knowledge about the Alger Hiss - Whittaker Chambers spy case, which is the topic of his book.  It is a novel regarding the Hiss trial, its back history, and the lingering impacts on the family of one of the Hiss defense lawyers, who later becomes a Federal judge.  While the research is impressive, the book is much too long, overwritten, with too much uninteresting plot regarding the family.  While there is speculation regarding Soviet activities and American spies that I don't agree with, the bottom line is accurate; Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy; Whittaker Chambers an American hero.  The book did lead me to additional reading of the literature regarding the Soviet spy rings of the 1930s and 40s and the revelations from the Venona intercepts and from that brief period in the early 1990s when some of the Soviet archives became available.

Falling Sky by Harry Sidebottom

The most recent entry in the Warrior of Rome series, featuring the daring Ballista, sent to Rome as a young barbarian captive who gains favor with the emperors and marries into the aristocracy.  I love this series and pretty much everything Sidebottom writes on Rome, whether fiction or fact.  This one is set in Gaul during the third century when that province, along with Britain and Spain, have split from Rome and set up their own empire.

The Expendable Man by Dorothy B Hughes

Hughes is a little remembered literary critic, poet, and novelist whose career spanned from the 1930s into the 1970s.  Three of her novels were made into film noirs, most famously, In A Lonely Place, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame (it's worth a viewing).  The Expendable Man, published in 1963, was never made into a film.  One of the TCM hosts, from whom I learned about the book, remarked that both then and now it could never be made into a movie.  After reading I know why, but to mention the two aspects would prematurely divulge key plot points.  I found the opening quarter of the book creepy and strangely written but later understood why and it became more engaging. Glad I stayed with it.

And on deck . . .

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

I saw the Coen Brothers movie when it came out in 2007.  As I've written (see Friendo), I admired the film but never wanted to see it again.  Same for Cormac McCarthy; twenty years ago I read Blood Meridian, a stunning reading experience, but never wanted to read another book of his.  However, I've recently listened to some commentary on the book and movie, which I found intriguing, so I've braced myself to read the book and rewatch the movie.

On a lighter note, I'm awaiting the August release of the latest entry in the Bruno, Chief of Police series by Martin Walker, set in the Dordogne region of France.