Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Emma, Jane Austen


I picked up Emma because I was hankering for Austen and I hadn't read it since I was a YA, or thereabouts. I remember that I hadn't liked it enormously at the time - Emma makes a lot of painful mistakes; Mr. Knightly seemed very remote, critical, and unromantic - but the book absolutely grabbed me by the heart this time.

I don't know what it was: perhaps because I'm in a position of trying (imperfectly) to educate young ladies, or because I'm more alive to my own errors, or because I've come to appreciate Mr. Knightly's character in a different light. Austen's books, to me, are all exquisite morality studies (in fine pencil, with very delicate shades of grays), in which characters' ridiculousness, often ugliness, are exposed, which almost always, transparently, trace back to raw egoism.

I think Emma is remarkable partly because of Miss Bates, who is described as being silly and tiresome, and yet with a sweetness of heart which the narrator calls out as making her worth of respect, whereas most of Austen's overtly comic characters are simply ridiculous. There is a tremendous contrast between Miss Bates' repetitive, disconnected effusions, and the horrible pretension and hypocrisy of Mrs. Elton. I also love the contrast between Frank Churchill and Mr. Knightly, where Frank, who enters the scene as a dashing, romantic hero, is revealed to be selfish, occasionally malicious, and immature. Mr. Darcy will probably always be the best of Austen's heroes, but I admire Mr. Knightly more because unlike Mr. Darcy he is generous enough to dance when he does not want to dance.

After finishing the book, I watched my way through all the film versions, and this time, discovered the BBC Masterpiece Classic 2009 mini-series with Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller. Sandy Welch, who has adapted a number of period dramas, plays fast and loose at times with the original, but this version absolutely captures the core of the story in a way none of the other versions do. If you haven't seen it, I highly, highly recommend it (available on Netflix). Garai engages and knocks it out of the park. Miller's Mr. Knightly bears a strong resemblance to his Sherlock in Elementary: careful, observant, concerned with truth and right.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Dry Bones in the Valley, Tom Bouman

Very beautifully written - the descriptive passages, ranging from natural beauty to the sordid dwellings, were haunting. Terrific mystery with several nice, unexpected twists. Just overall a brilliant book. I'm looking forward to reading the second in Bouman's series!

Later: My only regret, the more I think about it, is that I wish the case had been tied to the land rights. The nephew would have been a fantastically unexpected villain.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

The Calling, Inger Ash Wolfe

Recently read "The Night Bell," which I loved so much I'm starting over at the beginning with the first book in the Hazel Micallef series. The villain drives the book here - completely creepy and fascinating, unforgettable. Detectives Micallef and Wingate are smart and wryly funny and have appealing fissures of rawness. Can't wait to read the next book!

Saturday, January 13, 2018

A Brilliant Death, Robin Yocum

Fantastic book. The historical setting--1970s Brilliant, Ohio--is 9/10ths of what makes this coming-of-age/murder-investigation story a terrific read. Yocum is a former crime & investigative reporter, and I particularly enjoyed the paper trail-aspect of the case. A really great washed-up detective, Tornik, pops in and out of the story - I would have liked to see more of him - but the main plot belongs to Mitchell and Travis, a likeable team of teenage buddies trading barbs and snappy dialogue as they reconstruct the cold case of Travis' missing mother.