Review: "Ransom" By David Malouf

This is without a doubt one of the best books I've read in a while.  It was so damned good that I turned around and read it again as soon as I had finished reading it the first time.  It doesn't take long to read, at just over 200 pages, but it packs a big wallop.  Ransom, published in 2009, is Australian poet and author David Malouf's most recent offering after nearly ten years; and I have to say that it was well worth the wait.

Malouf's novel takes as its inspiration a series of events that occur near the end of Homer's The Iliad (my review of the Fagles translation of The Iliad can be found here), including the following:  the death of Achilles' friend Patroclus (Book 16), Achilles' killing of Hector (Book 22), the funeral of Patroclus (Book 23), and Priam's late-night visit to Achilles to beg for the return of his son's body (Book 24).  With little more than passing references in his novel, Malouf wisely leaves it to Homer to tell the story of the first three events, and instead focuses most of his book on the last--that of the Trojan King, Priam, and his efforts to claim his son's body from Achilles.  Homer's description of Priam's meeting with Achilles is, in my opinion, the most emotionally charged and powerful scene in the whole poem.  In his novel, Malouf, the poet/author, lyrically and tenderly delves into the psychology of the grieving warrior over the loss of his friend, and the grieving father and his efforts to retrieve the body of his slain son.  While this is surely one of the saddest stories I have read of late, at the same time the reader cannot help but be buoyed up by Malouf's beautiful portrayal of the innate sense of decency, goodness, and the inherent need for redemption that resides in each of us--even in the face of great adversity and tragedy.

My impression of the Trojan War comes from reading The Iliad, and largely seems to be nothing more than a game board set up on a table and surrounded by the pantheon of gods and goddesses who reached down and pushed playing pieces about; with one side gaining a brief advantage, and then the other.  The upshot was that for ten long years the war between the Achaeans and Trojans reeled back and forth across the Scamander Plain outside of the walls of Troy, and resulted in the bloody slaughter of hundreds, if not thousands, of Greeks and Trojans alike.  Reading The Iliad left me with the overwhelming feeling that it all seemed preordained, and that the story just had to play out as foretold.  What Malouf does so brilliantly in Ransom is to 'liberate' a portion of this epic tragic tale from the control of the gods and Fate, and gives the power of 'free choice' and decision-making to two of the primary protagonists--Priam and Achilles.

For ten days in a row, following the death of Hector in single-combat with Achilles, Priam and the Trojans have watched Achilles drag Hector's body behind his chariot around the funeral mound of his slain friend, Patroclus.  Finally, Priam can take it no longer, he must do something.  Late one night he has a vision of something "new" occurring.  He sees that he must go to Achilles, not as King of Troy, but as the father of a dead son, and appeal to him man-to-man for the body of his son.  He will ride to the Achaean camp without all of the trappings of his authority on an old and unadorned cart pulled by two mules with an old grey-haired Trojan country rustic as the cart-driver.

A goodly portion of this little novel is the story of the carter, Somax, and Priam and their journey out of the city and through the countryside to the Achaean camp.  The two old men begin to get to know one another, and slowly but surely develop a tremendous amount of empathy for one another.  After a few hours of slow plodding in the wagon, Somax stops at the bank of the river they have to ford and has the King wade out into the river just to feel the coolness of the water.  He feeds the King some of his daughter-in-law's simply-made buttermilk griddle cakes.  He tells the King about the loss of each of his children, and that all he has left is his daughter-in-law, his little four-year-old granddaughter, and his two mules ('Beauty' and 'Shock').  What Malouf has masterfully done in this part of the novel is to help the King reestablish his connection with his own humanity and the land around him.  It is precisely the preparation that he needs in order to be successful in his upcoming supplication to Achilles.

I don't want to say too much more about the meeting between Priam and Achilles, as it really is the climax of the novel, but suffice it to say that it is an emotionally riveting experience.  With tears in my eyes, I found myself almost holding my breath as the two men quietly talk in a dark corner of Achilles' tent in the middle of the night.  It is heart-wrenching stuff.  I do want to share just a bit of Malouf's beautiful writing of this intimate meeting too, especially these few words from Priam--

"'Achilles,' he says, his voice steady now, 'you know, as I do, what we men are.  We are mortals, not gods.  We die.  Death is in our nature.  Without that fee paid in advance, the world does not come to us.  That is the hard bargain life makes with us--with all of us, every one--and the condition we share.  And for that reason, if for no other, we should have pity for one another's losses.  For the sorrows that must come sooner or later to each one of us, in a world we enter only on mortal terms."

Upon reading this I suddenly realized that Malouf wants us to realize, just as Priam and Achilles have, that being Human, and therefore mortal, is better than being one of the Immortals.  Humans, with all of our warts and short-comings, have reasons to live and love, reasons to do the right things, and reasons to make our brief lives mean something that might be remembered through the ages, or even just for a few moments.  Homer, through The Iliad, makes us remember Achilles and King Priam, and Malouf's novel helps us better understand why we should.

I suppose that there is always the danger of trying to retell even a portion of a story that is so well-known as The Iliad.  I submit that Malouf has not run that risk here at all, and has not over-reached one-jot in telling this powerful story.  This compact novel, with its Homericly noble prose, is rich with pathos, emotion, empathy, compassion and humanity.  It is not the story of the gods and goddesses; no, it is the story of humans and human failings and feelings.  Most of all I think it is the story of the triumph of the human spirit even in the depths of despair and tragedy.  Priam takes a chance to retrieve his son and finds his humanity.  Achilles takes a chance by giving up his rage and finds his inner peace and redemption.  Nearly three-thousand years later we still weep for and admire both of these men for what they suffered and went through.  Malouf's superbly well-written Ransom poignantly and touchingly reinforces those feelings we harbor in our hearts, but may not have fully understood why.

I highly recommend this novel, and unhesitatingly award it five of five stars.  If you do read this novel at some point, and I sincerely hope you will, please consider going back and reviewing the books of The Iliad that I referenced in the opening paragraph.  When you finish reading David Malouf's Ransom, please drop me a note and let me know what you thought.

***

Reviews: Jean M. Auel's "Earth's Children" Series

If you are looking for something a little different in the way of historical fiction this summer, I have a suggestion. Check out Ms. Jean M. Auel's "Earth's Children" series of books. There are currently five volumes, with a sixth on the way (and potentially a seventh). These books are the bildungsroman of a young Cro-Magnon woman, named Ayla, who lives and travels across much of what is now eastern and western Europe some 30,000 years ago during the Ice Age.

In order, the series includes the following: The Clan of the Cave Bear, The Valley of the Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, and The Shelters of Stone. Collectively, it is an enthralling tale that causes you, more than once, to lean back and spend some time reflecting on our own human origins. While this probably can't be considered great literature, Ms. Auel's books all have well thought out plots and are well written. I just finished reading the entire series for the second time; and I enjoyed it even more this time around.

The first novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear, is particularly fascinating as this tells the story of how the little four- or five-year old Ayla, an orphaned anatomically modern human, is found by a clan of Neandertals in what is now the Crimean Peninsula. She spends the next six or seven years with the clan and becomes one of the clan's medicine women. Ms. Auel does an excellent job of portraying the type of life these archaic humans may have; and it was a harsh one. Ms. Auel is known for meticulously reviewing the latest anthropological and archaeological data as she writes her novels, and this attention to detail is clearly evident. She has carefully crafted a very plausible account of what life may have been like for a group of Neandertals living in a cave on the Crimean Peninsula near the Black Sea. Not only in this first volume, but in all of them, Ms. Auel spends a great deal of time carefully, and quite accurately, describing the ecology and environment of the regions where her characters are living or passing through. There is loads of really interesting information about Ice Age flora and fauna.

The next book is The Valley of Horses, and this is really two novels in one. On the one hand, it documents Ayla's trip north into the frozen Ukrainian Ice Age steppe country as she leaves the clan and sets out to find others like her. The other story told in the novel is the description of the journey of two young men, Jondalar, and his brother, Thonolan, as they travel from what is now western France across Ice Age Europe and ultimately ending up in Ayla's little valley. Ms. Auel has the young men meeting, and interacting with other small groups of humans and Neandertals during the course of their long journey. In the meantime, young Ayla is making some extraordinary discoveries on her own. As you might well imagine, there is a convergence of the two plot lines in the novel with interesting results.



The Mammoth Hunters is the third book in the "Earth's Children" series. This book is largely the tale of Ayla's and Jondalar's time with the 'Mamutoi' peoples (Mammoth hunters) of the Upper Paleolithic Ice-Age steppes of the Ukraine. While the plotting of this novel, in my opinion, did bog down a bit with the amount of time spent on the romantic triangle between Ayla, Jondalar, and Ranec, the dark-skinned Mamutoi ivory carver; I was at the same time amazed at the amount of anthropological and archaeological detail that Ms. Auel interpreted and utilized throughout.

There have been significant archaeological discoveries and research carried on associated with several very important Upper Paleolithic sites over the past thirty-years in this region of the Ukraine. Major early human ice-age settlements have been discovered and excavated at Sungir, Mezhirich, Mezin, and Kostenki. All of which indicate the presence of sophisticated peoples that lived in multi-family dwellings and actively hunted the large animals that occupied this incredibly harsh environment. Ms. Auel's novel really does provide a wonderful window into a time period so long past (approximately 30,000 years ago). Her careful attention to detail and historical accuracy is evident and impressive as one reads about how these peoples may have constructed their dwellings, hunted the large animals for meat, gathered plants for food and medicines, and exchanged goods and new ideas with other bands of humans. This novel gives us some valuable insights into a part of that vast rich human heritage during a period of time, so long ago, during the Ice Age in eastern Europe and western Russia.

The Plains of Passage is the fourth novel in the series, and is one of my favorites. This novel picks up with Ayla and Jondalar, Whinney, Racer, and Wolf all leaving the summer camp of the Mamutoi peoples and beginning the long journey back across the Ice Age steppes of the Ukraine to the delta of the 'Great Mother River' (Donau/Duna/Danube River), and thence across eastern Europe all the way back to Jondalar's Zelandonii peoples in what is now southwestern France. Along the way the travelers have all kinds of interesting adventures, with Ms. Auel doing a superb job of describing just how difficult a trip of this magnitude might have been some 30,000 years ago for two human beings.

As she always does, Ms. Auel brings significant archaeological and paleo-anthropological information into her narrative. For example, she has Jondalar being captured and held by a band of peoples known as the "S'Armunai." The fictional S'Armunai camp is actually based upon the Upper Paleolithic site, Dolni Vestonice, in what is now the Czech Republic. While a prisoner of the S'Armunai, Jondalar witnesses a bizarre and enigmatic burial of three young people in a single grave. This strange burial was actually excavated at Dolni Vestonice and archaeologists are still trying determine what the backstory might be. Ms. Auel offers a very plausible hypothesis. If you're interested, 'Google' "Dolni Vestonice triple burial," and you'll find lots of really fascinating information.

Along the trip Ayla and Jondalar have the opportunity to meet numerous bands of other Cro-Magnons, or anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) and also have several encounters with small bands of Neandertals (Homo sapiens neandertalensis). Ms. Auel uses these encounters to shed more light on the differences and similarities among these Ice Age inhabitants and their ways of life in different parts of prehistoric Europe and how they used the different natural resources in their regions. Interspersed throughout the novel is a very interesting portrayal of the mythologies and spiritual practices that may have been important to these peoples; at the apex of which is the notion that all life are considered to be the children of the "Earth Mother."

In some respects, this novel really reflects and represents the great journey of the human race 30,000 years ago during a period of profoundly difficult adversity because of the environmental conditions. Additionally, and somewhat sadly, it reflects the beginning of the end for the very long-lived archaic human species -- Neandertal -- as this amazing closely-related cousin of ours was destined to be completely extinct within the 5,000 years or so, after living on the planet for several hundred thousand years. It is worth reiterating that each of Ms. Auel's novels in the "Earth's Children" series are thought-provoking from the perspective of better understanding our own human origins; as well as just being wonderfully dramatic and entertaining historical fiction; and The Plains of Passage is no exception.


Well, we have now come up to the last book in the series, so far. The Shelters of Stone is entirely set in what is now southwestern France and the region occupied by Jondalar's peoples, the Zelandonii. Ayla and Jondalar have finally reached the end of their long journey, and can now become mated and finally settle down. In usual Jean Auel style, she has incorporated much of the state-of-the-art anthropological and archaeological data and evidence from the great cave dwellings that have been found in that area -- including the great Caves of Lasceaux, with the amazing art painted on the limestone walls inside the caverns. This book also goes into much greater detail about the potential social and cultural interactions that may have existed among the great number of human occupants of these huge cave dwellings. Just as it is today, it is difficult providing adequate food, water, and other necessities of life for a large number of people concentrated in a relatively small area. I really found her fictional depiction of spiritual awareness among these upper paleolithic peoples to be interesting. I can certainly see how Ice Age shamanism and spiritualism could have naturally evolved into the more organized religions that we see around us today. Frankly, I am not sure that there is a difference at all.

I think this series of books -- The Earth's Children series -- are important. This series has enabled all of us to enjoy a fictional, but fairly accurate, account of a small portion of the rich human heritage that we all share. Reading these books one cannot help but to stop and think about just what it was that allowed the human species to succeed and expand around the planet; whilst all of the other species in the genus Homo are now long extinct. Reading these books makes one ask the questions -- What is it that makes us uniquely human? When, why, and how were animals first domesticated? What role did modern humans play in the extinction of the Neandertals?

With recent advances in anthropology and genetics we are slowly beginning to answer some of these questions. For example, it is fairly certain that anatomically modern humans and Neandertals probably interacted. In fact, it was recently announced, upon the completion of the sequencing of the Neandertal genome, that humans from Europe and some parts of Asia have DNA of which 4-5% is unique to the DNA of the Neandertal genome. In other words, Neandertals still lives inside some of us today! So, it is quite likely that we did more than just sit around the fire and toast marshmallows. Geneticists are also looking at the mitochondrial DNA of dogs in an effort to determine approximately how long ago we began to domesticate them. Ms. Auel's books track right along with much of this research. Throughout the series, she has many Human-Neandertal encounters and interactions; she gives us some pretty reasonable hypotheses for how horses and dogs may have been domesticated and put to work; and she also does a wonderful job of developing scenarios associated with advances in tool-making and use, finding medicines and treating the sick or injured.

Read these books! First, they are fun. Second, I guarantee you'll learn a lot about yourself, your species, your planet, and the species that have lived before us. Finally, I think there are some important lessons for the future in here too. It is not entirely clear what the long-term ramifications of climate-change and global warming will be yet; but I am convinced that it may become a more difficult planet for humans to occupy and survive upon.

In closing, if this series is something you are interested in and you read, you might also be interested in two quite fascinating, and well-written non-fiction books.

Desolate Landscapes: Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe, by John Hoffecker, February 2002, The Rutgers Series in Human Evolution.

The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe, Edited by Kris Kerry, June 2004, University of California Press.

Reads & Reviews: September & October 2009

I am finally settled back in a groove back here in southern California after my long 3,000 mile photography road-trip in mid- to late-September. I realized that it is time to update the blog with all of the books I've read, I'm reading, and those in the queue. I found some great new stuff too.

1. Freedom & Necessity, by Emma Bull and Stephen Brust - This was a fabulous book; and I have no qualms recommending this at all. I really have to give it up to Emma Bull and Stephen Brust on this one. The epistolary style; comprised of correspondence, journal entries, and newspaper articles; works perfectly with the plot.

This is an exciting historical mystery set in 1849 in Victorian England. It is loaded with political intrigue, budding romances, murder and mayhem, and a healthy dose of Hegelian philosophy. In and amongst the very engaging fictional characters, Emma Bull and Stephen Brust have realistically inserted some well-known historical figures. The novel does an excellent job of educating the reader on the Chartist's movement that caused significant angst among members of Her Majesty's government, as well as in other European monarchies. One can tell that Bull and Brust did their homework in developing the plot; it just feels right and seems completely plausible. Finally, Susan Voight is one of the most likable, brilliant, and witty heroines I've encountered in a novel in a long, long time. She is a giant in this novel! I will definitely read this book again!

2. Beowulf, translation by Seamus Heaney - This was incredible! First of all, the story was told in the spare, sparse, and gritty language of Seamus Heaney's bilingual translation of the Anglo-Saxon original. Second, the plot of this elegiac poem was absolutely epic. The horror of Grendel and his Dam was palpable; and the heroism of Beowulf and his spear-fellows timeless. Finally, the ability to carefully study Heaney's translation, alliteration, and interpretation and then compare it to the Anglo-Saxon was almost surrealistic. It was an amazing experience to have the ability to look at and study the root language of modern English.

My younger brother recommended the Heaney translation to me, and now I know why. This has become a poem I intend to visit, and revisit, many, many times in the years to come. From the perspective of my personal enjoyment of poetry, reading Beowulf has been transformative. Reading Beowulf has led me to go back and reinvestigate the ancient Icelandic poetry of the Poetic Edda (or "Elder Edda"), including the Volsungasaga. From epics like Beowulf and the Poetic Edda, it is abundantly clear what a profound influence these early writings have had on the literature of the English language.

In conclusion, I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to actually sit down and read this beautiful poem. All I can say is "Bravo!" "Bravo!" to the original eighth or ninth century poet, and to Seamus Heaney for his beautiful relatively new presentation of this early treasure of the English language.

3. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, by J.R.R. Tolkien - As soon as I found this hardbound edition in the bookstore, I snapped it up. This 350-page book contains J.R.R. Tolkien's interpretation of two of the ancient epic poems from the Poetic Edda (or "Elder Edda") of the Icelandic peoples. Tolkien's son, Christopher has compiled and edited his father's work on the "Lay of the Volsungs" and the "Lay of Gudrun." This is earthy and spare poetry; rich in story and tradition; and provides a tangible connection to our ancestors and their mythology more than a thousand years ago.

This is a book to read, re-read, and study; and, I have to say, it somehow feels canonical, as "Beowulf" is considered to be. Christopher Tolkien's notes and comments on his father's work help place these poems in their proper context. Finally, I see that some of the ideas and concepts developed in Tolkien's fiction (e.g., The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion) are the direct result of his life-long fascination and study of the Poetic Edda. I highly recommend this book; it is real a treasure!

4. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville - This was an awesome book! First, Mieville elevates the sci-fi/steampunk genre to an entirely new plane of existence. It is almost as though Charles Dickens were writing with a view to the future. The characters in Perdido Street Station are some of the most amazing you'll encounter in fiction. The horror associated with the main plot of the novel is virtually beyond imagination, and is some of the most terrifying stuff I've ever read. I simply could not put this down once I started; even though there were times when I was absolutely scared spitless! This book may not be for everyone; but it has left an indelible mark on me. I look forward to reading the next two novels in this series of three set in the world of Bas-Lag. Somehow the energy of China Mieville's writing feels right for the time. This is some seriously good stuff!

5. Isis, by Douglas Clegg - A gripping, poignant, and truly macabre tale. The perfect read for late-October, or when you feel the need for something on the scary side. Douglas Clegg has given us a superb retelling of the Osiris and Isis myth, set in Cornwall during the Victorian Period. This is no tale for young children either; it is gritty, realistic, and terribly bittersweet, with moral lessons throughout. The scenes and plot remind me a bit of Poe, but the writing is superb and brings to mind Edith Wharton's ghost stories. This little novella is one to read aloud to family and friends while safely ensconced in a warm living room in front of the fire. The illustrations are beautiful and complement the plot exquisitely.

6. The Affinity Bridge, by George Mann - This was rollicking good fun to read! Is it great literature? No; but then it is not meant to be. It is a wonderful page-turner, with engaging characters, a superb mystery plot, and set in the interesting alternative world of a 'steampunk' Victorian London. This is the first in a series of three proposed mystery novels featuring Sir Maurice Newbury and his fetching assistant, Miss Veronica Hobbes. Fun stuff to read, and I look forward to reading the second in the series, "The Osiris Ritual."

7. The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves, by Stephen Hunt - In my humble opinion, don't waste your time (or money) on these two books. Here are my thoughts on the first two books in Stephen Hunt's 'steampunk' world.

"The Court of the Air" - I liked the cast of characters in this novel (there's a lot of 'em), and the plot was, at times, intriguing. I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but the novel never really fully engaged me. I read it with an eye toward simply finishing it, and moving on to something else. I was kind of hoping for an epic experience similar to Susanna Clarke's brilliant, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. In my opinion, this is not it. If your looking for some really serious steampunk, go directly (do not pass 'Go') to China Mieville's three-volume Bas-Lag series.

"The Kingdom Beyond the Waves" - A middling effort by author Stephen Hunt. I liked this even less than his debut novel, "The Court of the Air." While some of the characters were interesting, the plot really seemed overly contrived. Not too much else to say about this book. I think I'll take a pass on reading the third volume which has yet to be released in the U.S.

***

Here's what it is in the queue to be read in the very near future:

1. Christina Rossetti: A Literary Biography, by Jan Marsh - The author of several books on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood has written what is acknowledged to be the seminal biography of Christina Rossetti, one of my all-time favorite poets. I have been carefully reading and studying Christina's poetry contained within my copy of the Penguin Classics edition, Christina Rossetti: The Complete Poems. So, I am very much looking forward to reading this biography and going back through her beautiful poetry. If you're interested, I have several earlier blog posts here discussing Rossetti's poetry.

2. The Children's Book, by A.S. Byatt - This is the latest novel written by A.S. Byatt, one of my favorite modern authors. Byatt is the author of the Booker-award winning Possession. The Children's Book was also shortlisted for the 2009 Booker Award (won by Hilary Mantel for her novel, Wolf Hall, about Thomas Cromwell in the Tudor Court). Apparently, Byatt's novel spans a period of time from the late-Victorian period, through the Edwardian, and through the First World War; and follows several generations in two families in England. I am very much looking forward to reading this novel.

3. The Poetic Edda - The Poetic Edda or Elder Edda is the collection of ancient Icelandic alliterative poetry containing much of the mythology of the early Norse peoples. It is generally thought that this poetry was written late in the first millennium, and existed as an oral tradition. It is from these beautiful poems that J.R.R. Tolkien received much of his inspiration for many of the primary elements in his tales of Middle Earth. Additionally, the Poetic Edda was the source of inspiration and material for Richard Wagner's operas in the Ring Cycle. Having read Beowulf, I am very much looking forward to reading this collection of ancient Norse poetry.

4. Ice Land, by Betsy Tobin - In the same vein, this recent fantasy novel by Tobin incorporates a lot of the mythology from the Poetic Edda, described above. I have heard that this is a fun book that describes life in Iceland in the 700-800 A.D. time frame and involves the eruption of the great Icelandic volcano, Hekla.

5. The Faerie Queene, by Edmund Spenser - I have been derelict for most of my adult life for not having read this ageless epic poem. Harold Bloom said, "One is tempted to maintain that a reader who cannot apprehend Spenser's voice as being, at its best, the voice of poetry itself is not capable of reading adequately any poetry whatsoever." About the knights and ladies in The Faerie Queene, the great Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, felt that they were fastened "with allegorical nails to a big barn door of common sense, of merely practical virtue." Suffice it to say, that Spenser's The Faerie Queene is high on my teetering To-Be-Read pile.

6. The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova - I have heard nothing but wondrous things about the poetry of Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), is one of the best known Russian poets of the 20th century. She was also known as "The Queen of the Neva," and was a member of the "Acmeists" or "Guild of Poets." The Acmeists were a confederation of Russian poets that met in The Stray Dog Cafe in St. Petersburg in the early 1900s before the Russian Revolution. Akhmatova's poems range from short lyrical poetry to her long epic, Requiem, about the Stalinist purges. I have a feeling that I am going to enjoy her poetry immensely.

7. The Complete Poems of Emily Bronte - I have read several of Emily Bronte's beautiful poems; and I am now ready to embark on a wholesale reading and analysis of all of her poems. I read her single novel, Wuthering Heights; which I recognize for its Byronic and Gothic passion and intensity, but have always been profoundly unsettled by the horrifying dysfunction in the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff. Whilst Charlotte and Anne Bronte also wrote poetry, it is my opinion that Emily was, far and away, the better poet of the three sisters. Stay tuned, I'll let you know in a month or two.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this quick tour through the novels and poetry that I have sampled over the past six weeks or so. I'd also like to acknowledge and cite the use of biographical material from the on-line encyclopedia Wikipedia and from Dr. Harold Bloom's recent poetry anthology The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer through Robert Frost.

Finally, the photograph I have attached to this blog entry is entitled, "Golden Grasses" and is a photograph that I took in late fall 2008 on the flanks of Bear Mountain in the southern end of the Sierras here in California. Fall around here, while it can still be warm, is incredibly beautiful; especially in the Sierra foothills. Please feel free to click on the photograph for a much larger view.

***

Pymphomania!

Let's talk about the British author, Barbara Pym, for a bit. Ms. Pym is relatively unknown to most American readers; although there is a bit of a Pym-revival occurring now. Ms. Pym is sometimes casually referred to as "the modern Jane Austen." There is some truth, in my opinion, to that characterization. Most importantly though, Barbara Pym is a wonderful and engaging writer.

Barbara Pym was born in 1913, in Oswestry, Shropshire. She studied English at St. Hilda's College in Oxford. She served in the Royal Navy during World War II, and then worked at the International African Institute until her retirement. While working at the Institute, she helped to edit the Institute's scholarly journal Africa. She never married, and upon her retirement moved into a cottage in Oxfordshire that she shared with her younger sister, Hilary, until her death from breast cancer in 1980, at the age of 66.

Barbara Pym wrote twelve novels between the early-1940s and the late-1970s, with a notable publication hiatus between 1963 and 1977. Britain's well-known modernist poet, Philip Larkin (1922-1985), wrote in the Times Literary Supplement that Pym was "...the most underrated writer of the century." This prominent assessment proved to be a turning point in Pym's literary career, and her novel Quartet in Autumn was short-listed for a Booker Prize in 1977. Pym tended to write about single women living in quiet little villages or suburban communities. There also tends to be some connection to anthropology, or anthropologists, and the Church of England in her plots.

I currently have seven of Ms. Pym's twelve novels, and have read two of them, including: Some Tame Gazelle and Excellent Women. I plan to read her entire oeuvre over the next year or so. In fact, in early-September, my book group on Shelfari.com will be reading Pym's Some Tame Gazelle for a group read and discussion. Many of the group members have read all of Pym's novels and just love her work; so I am very much looking forward to the discussion.

Here is a list of Barbara Pym's novels, and the date written:

Crampton Hodnet (circa 1940)
Some Tame Gazelle (1950)*
Excellent Women (1952)*
Jane and Prudence (1953)
Less Than Angels (1955)*
A Glass of Blessings (1958)
No Fond Return (1961)*
An Unsuitable Attachment (1963)*
An Academic Question (1970-1972)
Quartet in Autumn (1977)
The Sweet Dove Died (1978)*
A Few Green Leaves (1980)*

*the volumes I currently own.

So, if you love good writing, and are looking for a new author to discover, I strongly recommend that you go find yourself a Barbara Pym novel. Maybe you will find yourself becoming a 'Pymphomaniac' too. Finally, I am attaching the website, for all-things Barbara Pym, maintained by her alma mater, St. Hilda's College, Oxford. Here's the link: www.barbara-pym.org

Thanks to my Shelfari friend, 'Lord Manleigh,' for the appellation, 'Pymphomania' and 'Pymphomaniac.' And thanks to Wikipedia for some of the background information on Ms. Pym.

Possession By A.S. Byatt & Some Musings on Poetry

By way of a bit of background, I should mention that I belong to two different on-line book groups. I guess they could both be best characterized as "Facebook," or social networking, for bibliophiles. I have an account with Shelfari.com and with Goodreads.com. They are both wonderful on-line book experiences; and allow members to join various discussion groups, based upon your literary interests. For example, on Goodreads I belong to a "Victorian Era" discussion group, and we are getting ready to do a group read and discussion of a "neo-Victorian" novel; and the book chosen by the group was A.S. Byatt's 1990 novel Possession: A Romance. I first read this novel shortly after it came out in 1990. The novel also won a prestigious Booker Award in 1990 (the British equivalent of the American Pulitzer Prize).

Possession is a beautiful novel, exquisitely plotted and written; and incorporates a substantial amount of Romantic and Victorian poetry. There's bits of Browning, Tennyson, Yeats, etc. scattered throughout. However, much of the poetry included in the novel is that written by Byatt herself, in the style of Alfred, Lord Tennyson or Robert Browning and Christina Rossetti. The poetry is critically important to the novel's dual plots too. All I can say is that it is all delightful to read!

Re-reading this novel has recently inspired me to pick up and begin reading selected poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, William Butler Yeats, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I am pretty familiar with all of the Romantic Era poets, having taken a course in college, years ago. I was not, however, particularly familiar with the work of the prominent Victorian Era poets; and all I can say is, "Wow!"

For example, Christina Rossetti was the sister of the famous pre-Raphaelite painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti; and she is simply a fabulous poet. A wonderful poem to start with is her longish famous narrative Goblin Market. Well worth some careful study, it is an epic poem that touches on feminism, sisterhood, and strong mythological and religious themes. Alfred, Lord Tennyson is probably familiar to most folks. He succeeded William Wordsworth as "Poet Laureate" for the United Kingdom, a post he held for 42 years until his death in 1892. Tennyson is probably best known for his book-length Arthurian epic poem, Idylls of the King. Also, I dearly love his beautiful poem, The Lady of Shalott; and who has not read The Charge of the Light Brigade?

In closing, if you've not read a truly beautiful romance novel lately; I strongly recommend A.S. Byatt's Possession. You might mix it up with a little bit of poetry too, just to make the experience even richer. Go find yourself a collection of Rossetti, Tennyson, or Yeats; make yourself a pot of tea, and settle back in your favorite chair and have some quiet time.