"Dans la nuit Mozambique" by Laurent Gaude *****

• En Francais
• French author
• Originally published in 2007
• "Sang Negrier":
• Dedication:  "Je sais tout ce que mes livres te doivent."
• A slave ship captain is haunted by a night of savagery
• Je n'etais pas seule cette nuit-la; et je sais que le plaisir de la sauvagerie, nous l'avons tous partage."
• "Elles sont si etranges qu'elles font perdre la raison a ceux qui en sont temoins mais ils ne les inventent pasparce qu'ils sont fous, ils sont fous de les avoir vues."
• "Gramercy Park Hotel":
• Dedication:  "Aux amis de ma generation qui n'ont pas voulu vivre plus loin."
• A bittersweet reunion of spirits in the location of their recognition of love, haunted by love
• "Le Colonel Barbaque":
• Dedication:  "Que la terre te soit douce et legere."
• A man haunted by his acts of savagery during war
• "Dans la nuit Mozambique":
• Dedication: "Ami du toujours, avec qui j'ai ete si souvent au Mozambique, le temps d'une soiree."
• The characters and the reader are left longing for more of Mozambique
• A storyteller's story within a story
• Review: I love this collection of short stories.  The first three share themes of being haunted by past acts, of shame, of living with the consequences of one's actions.  The fourth story, "Dans la nuit Mozambique", shares these themes but is pointed directly at the consumer of tales, stories, and this collection itself.  The reader is left hanging, the characters are left hanging, and it winds up with an incredibly poignant moment.  Absolutely wonderful.  My only disappointment is that I do not believe it is available in an English translation, so that I would be able to share it with non-French speaking friends!

"Evelina" by Frances Burney *****

• Summer Sub Club read with Beth
• Originally published in 1778
• English author
• Author's Preface:
• p.10..."The heroine of these memoirs, young, artless, and inexperienced, is   'No faultless Monster, that the World ne'er saw,' but the offspring of Nature, and of Nature in her simplest attire."
• p.10..."To avoid what is common, without adopting what is unnatural, must limit the ambition of the vulgar herd of authors.....I yet presume not to attempt pursuing the same ground which they have tracked; whence though they ma have cleared the weeds, they have also culled the flowers, and though they have rendered the path plain, they have left it barren." 
• Vocabulary:
• flummering:  to flatter
• megrims:  whim, fancy, fad
• Court Calendar bigot:  lives by listing of people's royal ranking
• toad-eater:  derogatory term for person earning their living as a companion....(hence the word toadying?)
• Quotes:
• p.23..."...much is to be expected from emulation, where nothing is to be feared from envy."
• p.23..."...folly has ever sought alliance with beauty."
• p.83..."Generosity without delicacy, like wit without judgement, generally give as much pain as pleasure."
• p.166..."Remember, my dear Evelina, nothing is so delicate as the reputation of a woman: it is, at once, the most beautiful and most brittle of human things."
• p.275..."I don't know what the devil a woman lives for after thirty: she is only in other folks' way."
• Review:   Delightful, satirical, melodramatic, comical....all of these adjectives accurately describe Frances Burney's feminine 18th century coming of age tale.  Our protagonist, the naive, pure Evelina enters the brash, hypocritical, backstabbing, and often dangerous society world after a very sheltered childhood.  The plot unfolds via correspondence between characters and moves rapidly between settings, plot twists, appalling behavior and satirical commentary of the social mores of the time.  Wonderful read.  It's one of those during which 400 pages fly by!

"Natural Histories" by Guadalupe Nettel *****

• Short Stories
• Mexican author
• Originally published in 2013
• Epigraphs:
• "All animals know what it is they need, except for man." - Pliny the Elder
• "Man belongs to an animal species that when injured can become particularly ferocious" - Gao Xingjian
• "The Marriage of Red Fish":
• Siamese fighting fish parallel a marriage
• "Fish are perhaps the only domestic animals that don't make noise.  But they taught me that screams can be silent."
• "Compared to a river or even a small pond, an aquarium, no matter how large, is a space too small for beings dissatisfied and inclined towards unhappiness, such as Betta splendens. Some people have similar minds.  There is not enough space therein for happy thoughts or lovely versions of reality."
• "War In The Trash Cans":
• Cockroaches fascinate a lonely young child
• "Nothing like a family secret to strengthen unity between its members."

• "Felina":
• a cat parallels a sad woman's pregnancy

• "Fungus":
• a fungus parallels a love affair
• "Loves are often born unforeseen, of spontaneous conception."
• "Any parasite, as harmless as it may be, has the uncontrollable need to spread.  It is important to limit it, or else it will invade us entirely."
• "In his life, I am an infallible ghost he can summon.  In mine, he is a free spirit that sometimes appears."

•  "The Snake from Beijin":
• a poisonous snake parallels a man's loss of his lover
• "Dad himself told me that in China the snake is a symbol of healing and the continuation of life.  In the spring it sheds its skin and it is as if it's been reborn.  Adult children fulfill this same function.  They ensure the continuation of the story that began with their parents."

•  Review:  It is always a delight to come across a unique literary concept.  Guadalupe Nettel, a Mexican author, has written a small collection of fascinating stories in which each protagonist's life crisis is paralleled by another living creature.  Imagine having your life crisis compared to that of a poisonous Chinese viper, a Siamese fighting fish, cockroaches, a cat, or even a toe fungus.  I told you the stories are unique! Nettel's prose is taut and engaging.  I would recommend this collection for anyone who enjoys thinking outside the box, or can at least tolerate it!

"As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From The Making of The Princess Bride" by Cary Elwes *****

• Originally published in 2014

• Non-Fiction

• Audiobook

• English author
• Review:   If you are a fan of the film, "The Princess Bride", you must listen to this fabulous book.  Cary Elwes, who played the dashing Wesley, is the narrator.  The book is full of behind the scenes antics, anxieties,and incredible interviews with all who were involved.  Hurry!
  

"Indiana" by George Sand ****

• Book Club selection for February 2015
• French author
• Originally published in 1832
• Debut novel
• Characters:
• Indiana Delmare....protagonist
• M. Delmare...Indiana's husband
• Sir Ralph....dear friend from childhood
• Raymon de Ramiere...Indiana's love, loved the chase
• Introduction by the author:
• "I wrote at the age when one writes instinctively and when reflection serves only to confirm our natural tendencies."
• "I did not expect so much honour, and think I owe these critics the thanks that the hare addressed to the frogs when, on seeing their alarm, he imagined he was entitled to think himself a warlike thunderbolt."
• Preface to the 1832 edition:
• "He knows too well that we live in a time of moral decline, when human reason needs a curtain to soften the overbright light which dazzles it."
• "Perhaps you will do him justice if you agree that he has shown you the misery of the person who wants to free himself from legitimate restraint, the utter distress of the heart that rebels against its destiny's decrees."
• "He will repeat that, feeling too inexperienced to compose a philosophical treatise on how to cope with life, he has limited himself to writing "Indiana", a story of the human heart with its weaknesses its violent feelings, its rights, its wrongs, its good, and its bad."
• "She is woman, the weak creature who is given the task of portraying passions, represses, or if you prefer, suppressed by the law.  She is desire at grips with necessity; she is love dashing her blind head against all the obstacles of civilization."
• "For what a writer should fear most in the world is the alienation from his works of the trust of men of goodwill, the arousal of baneful sympathies in embittered souls, the poisoning of the already acutely painful wounds that the social yoke inflicts on the impatient and rebellious."
• "Perhaps the whole of the storyteller's art consists of interesting in their own stories the guilty whom he wants t reclaim, the wretched whom he wants to cure."...men?
• Preface to the 1842 edition:
• "...still seeking a solution to this insoluble problem:  how to reconcile the happiness and dignity of individuals oppressed by that same society without modifying society itself."
• "It is the cause of half the human race, it is that of the whole human race; for the distress of women entails that of men, as the distress of the slave entails that of the master, and I have tried to demonstrate this in "Indiana".
• But that the mission in itself is divine and sacred, no one can deny, unless he is an atheist as regards progress, unless he is an enemy of truth, a blasphemer of the future, and an unworthy child of France. Liberty of thought, liberty to write and speak, sacred conquest of the human spirit!  What are the petty sufferings and the fleeting cares occasioned by your errors and abuses compared to the infinite blessings you bring to the world?"
• Quotes:
• p.23..."It's not the first time I've noticed how much more power words have than ideas, particularly in France."...?
• p.40..."...self-esteem is, in love, what self-interest is in friendship."...huh?
• p.89..."It was military camp life that had raised brutality to a principle with him."...M. Delmare...and others today
• p.93..."He even made up a character for himself different from his real one so as to attract the Colonel's trust."...Raymon...ironic...just a bit
• p.98..."A Frenchwoman, someone used to society life, would not have lost her head in such a delicate situation."...commentary on the Creole status
• p.98..."Nothing was so humiliating for him as to be reproached for his crime by the woman who had been his innocent accomplice, nothing so bitter as to see Noun mourned by her rival."...Raymon
• p.101..."It was not the first time that Raymon saw a woman take love seriously, although, fortunately for society, such cases are rare; but he knew that promises of love are not binding on a man's honour, again fortunately for society."
• p. 113..."Men, above all when they are in love, want, in their naive self-satisfaction, to protect women's weakness rather than admire their courage."
• p.121..."It is very unwise to introduce politics into families as a pastime."....no kidding
• p.156..."She was cruel out of virtue as he was kind out of weakness; she had too much patience, he did not have enough; she had too much patience, he did not have enough; she had the failings of her virtues but he had the virtues of his failings."
• p.157..."All that territory belongs to the small town inhabitant; you have no right to set foot in it,"..too true
• p.192...."Woman is naturally foolish"...."...men...exercise absolute dominion over the minds of women.  Flattery is the yoke which makes those ardent, frivolous heads bow so low."
• p.213..."Those who don't make too much use of their sensibility sometimes rediscover it safe and unimpaired when it is called for."...Captain Random
• p.238..."...sorrow rivets the chains of our lives instead f breaking them."...Indiana and Ralph
• p.240..."An uprght heart cannot deceive a man who questions it with sincerity."
• Notes:
• Revolution occurred as she came to reality...Raymon's marriage
• Review:  This an interesting novel.  While, if you occasionally enjoy a good melodrama, this is a good selection, I found it inconsistent at times. The protagonist is a classically ethereal beauty who is downtrodden by her husband, who is in love with a scoundrel, and who is beloved by a strong and selfless male friend.  Nothing unusual there.  Stormy, passionate moments define the entire story until the heavens open and provide a peaceful, idyllic ending.  Nothing unusual there either.  I think the strangeness of the story is that the author published this novel under a male pseudonym, and engages in the uncommon habit of addressing the reader, as a man observing female behavior.  I found myself thinking of Shakespeare's "play within a play".  Clearly the author was working through the natural character of women, if there is such a thing.  See what you think by the idyllic end!

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. ***

●  Stewart Place Book Club selection

●  Originally published in 2006

●  US author

●  Setting:  1964 , Ohio
●  Characters:  David & Nora, and Paul....Caroline and Phoebe....David's sister, June, who died young of heart failure
●  The era...hide disabled
●  Would a father really lie about such a thing?
●  Living with lies
●  Why would Caroline write to David
●  Social context:  Kent State shootings
●  Nora....drinks, grieves, suicidal
●  Bree....Nora's sister......freer tha Nora
●  Howard....affair at the beach
●  Rosemary....pregnant girl in Paul's house
●  Paul lied about his name, about Phoebe....trying to protect with lies backfires
●  Memory keeper,,,, name of camera. ?...Paul trying to capture time
●  Started dragging when Rosemary arrives, Brie gets cancer....like author trying to fill in yearsbefore getting to denouement
●  good historical perspective on Down's Syndrome
●  good treatment of grief process and its impact on families

●  Review:  Set between 1964 and 1989, between Lexington, KY and Pittsburgh, PA, this story is about the futility of trying to control life.  The reader is witness to the outcomes set in motion after the birth of twins on a snowy night by a man who wanted to protect himself and his family, albeit by lying.  As tends to be true, one lie begets another, and the game is on.  The storyline was interesting.  The characters were interesting.  The writing was fair.  The story dragged quite a bit in the middle, otherwise this novel may have merited 4 stars.  The author's treatment of issues surrounding grief and the evolution of attitudes and options for folks with Down's Syndrome were handled very well.  I hope this author works on her pacing a bit in the next novel.

"The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics" by Daniel James Brown *****

• Non-Fiction
• US author
• Stewart Place Book Club Selection
• Originally published in 2013
• Names:
• Joe Rantz.....abandoned by family
• George Pohock.....shell builder and philosopher
• Vocabulary:
• swing:  achievement of perfect spiritual and physical synchrony
• repechage:  (in cycling and rowing) a last-chance qualifying heat in which therunners-up in earlier heats race each other, with the winner advancingto the finals.
• Epigraph: 
•  "It's a great art, is rowing,it's the finest art there is.  It's a symphony of motion.  An when you're rowing well, why it's nearing perfection.  And when you near perfection, you're touching the Divine.  It touches the you of yous,  Which is your soul."--Pohock
• "{But I desire and I long every day to go home and to look upon the day of my return....for already I have suffered and labored at so many things on the waves,)...Homer
• Quotes:
• p.1--Well, there must be some beauty which ordinary men can't see, but extraordinary men do."...Pocock..."In a sport like this--hard work, not much glory, but still popular in every century
• p.37..."The trick was to recognize a good thing when you saw it, no matter how odd or worthless it might at first appear, no matter who else might just walk away and leave it behind."
• p.39..."Competitive rowing is an undertaking of extraordinary beauty preceded by brutal punishment."
• p.40..."It is not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it's a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you."
• p.46..."......if you wanted to keep her on an even keel, you had to part your hair in the middle and divide your chewing tobacco evenly between your cheeks."...re: one of the old style shells
• p.48..."And he came to understand how those almost mystical bonds of trust and affection, if nurtured correctly, might lift a crew above the ordinary sphere, transport it to a place where nine boys somehow became one thing---a thing that could not quite be defined,, a thing that was so in tune with the water and the earth and the sky above that, as they rowed, effort was replaced with ecstasy.  It was a rare thing, a sacred thing, a thing devoutly to be hoped for........George Pocock had quietly become its high priest."
• p.53....."The enemy, of course, is resistance of the water, as you have to displace the amount of water equal to the weight of men and equipment, but that very water is what supports you and that very enemy is your friend.  So is life:  the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them."
• p.87..."They were state-of-the-art, so elegant 
• streamlined that people liked to say they seemed to bee in motion while still on the racks."...Pocock's boats
• p.173..."A boat is a sensitive thing, an eight-oared shell, and if it isn't let go free, it doesn't work for you."
• p.177..."Rowing is, in a number of ways, a sport of fundamental paradoxes."
• p.178..."Rowing is like a beautiful duck.  On the surface it is all grace, but underneath the bastard's paddling like mad!"...favorite quote
• p.275..."Therein lies the secret of successful crews:  Their 'swing', that fourth dimension of rowing, which can only be appreciated by an oarsman who has rowed in a swinging crew, where the run is uncanny and the work of propelling he shell a delight."...Pocock
• p.308..."Mr. Brundage...has reached his destination, the Utopia of sportsmanship and good-will, where Nazi beer and Jewish blood flow freely--where Hitler made root torment and persecute the living dead...For two months the dead will be buried.  But with the conclusion of the Olympics in September, their graves will be desecrated...and dead men once more will walk the streets of Germany."...NY Times editorial
• p.343..."Men as fit as you, when your everyday strength is gone, can draw on a mysterious reservoir of power far greater.  Then t is that you can reach for the stars.  That is the way champions are made"...Pocock
• p.357..."Harmony, balance, and rhythm.  They're the three things that stay with you your whole life.  Without them civilization is out of whack."...Pocock
• Notes:
• Inspired by conversation between the author and one of the participants
• Incredible the way Joe Rant coped with abandonment...thank goodness for Joyce
• I would love to ride in one of the rail observation cars that ran alongside the race
• the parallel events in Germany were juxtaposed perfectly
• "pull your own weight"...originated in rowing?
• abandonment of self to team
• Yoo Hoo Girls....funny name
• loved it when Pocock christened the Olympic shell with sauerkraut juice "to get it used to Germany"
• Joe Louis v. Max Schmeling....Aryan v. Negro
• Team visit to Hyde Park was wonderful
• Bobby Moch, coxswain, finding out he was Jewish....incredible
• Nazi re-creation of Berlin as a veritable movie set was incredible
• I like it when the American crew responded with "Heil Roosevelt"
• Hugh Laurie, actor, crewed at Oxford
• Awful moment at start of gold medal race when starter spoke in french
• a mere 28 miles of actual racing, yet 4000+ mile training amongst them
• Review: You know that feeling of wishing a really wonderful story would just go on and on?  Well I have never felt that way about a work of non-fiction until now.  This is absolutely fantastic!  The story itself has all the elements of drama, suspense, and memorable characters, set against the historical backdrop of the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and the rise of Nazi Germany.  However, I believe that the crowning achievement here is the writing.  Brown is able to wax philosophical and poetic without sounding the least bit artificial.  His ability to pain the context of the national and international within which these young men rose to such glory is truly impressive.  He interweaves personal biographical details with multiple social perspectives. I new the outcome of the gold medal race, yet found myself holding my breath, in part because I felt like I knew the crew members personally by the end of the book. I could hardly put the book down. Outstanding!