Killing Johnny Fry- by Walter Mosley

While I admire the range of Walter Mosley’s imagination, given his forays not only into the mystery/detective genre via the Easy Rawlins series, but also his efforts in science fiction and explorations of the nature of good and evil (The Man in My Basement) I cannot say that I enjoyed his latest work which can’t be labeled anything other than pornographic. While I am no prude, I really didn’t think the novel’s graphic nature was justified by what I took to be its theme.

The novel revolves around Cordell Carmel, a middle-aged black New Yorker who one day discovers his long-time girlfriend having torrid sex in her apartment with a white man, Johnny Fry. Unseen, Cordell leaves, but the impact of this experience is life-changing. Not only does the formerly mild Cordell want to kill Johnny, but the realization of his own ignorance and inadequacies leads him into a series of sexual escapade with numerous women, to what ultimate end I really don’t know.

Perhaps this novel is meant to serve as some kind of allegory, because neither Cordell’s remarkable, but heretofore unknown sexual abilities, nor the conflict’s resolution were even remotely credible. After completing the book, one is left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction, not unlike the way Cordell seems to feel despite his many conquests.

This disappointing experience notwithstanding, I will continue to look forward to anything written by Mr. Mosley. I admire his refusal to be defined by one genre; his willingness to take chances suggests someone who is still growing as a writer, someone who will probably continue to explore for the rest of his career. Could a reader ask for anything more?

A Love Supreme – by Kent Nussey

The title of this novel, taken from one of the seminal works of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, a god in the jazz world, is perhaps a clue to the writer’s intent. For anyone immersed in jazz as a listener, as I have been for the last 8 or 9 years, there is always the problem of how to explain its attraction to non-enthusiasts. Like other forms of music, there is a barrier presented by language which prevents an easy articulation of what that world holds.

Omar Snow, the novel’s protagonist, is presented as a man who has given up most of the material comforts of life to write a book that, on the surface, is a musical biography of three jazz giants: the idiosyncratic pianist, Thelonius Monk, the mercurial bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus, and the mystical and ineffable John Coltrane. While the first two thirds of the book proceed relatively smoothly, Omar’s problems begin as he works on the Coltrane segment. He becomes obsessed with trying to convey in words the essentially indescribable: Coltrane’s musical vision. In his own way, Omar is trying to do in prose what Coltrane did in his music: capture and convey a world beyond the quotidian one that we know, a world where light, God and harmony exist, a world to which we can aspire but never fully achieve.

During this journey, Omar meets Carrie, a beautiful but unhappy actress neighbor with whom he seems to have little in common but to whom he is drawn; while the relationship never develops into a sexual one, Omar is convinced that he has a role to play in her life, although that role is never clearly defined. In reading the novel, I couldn’t help but feel that his inability to articulate the nature of his relationship with the actress is somehow a parallel to the problems he is having in describing the visionary nature of Coltrane’s music.

Ultimately, it is difficult to assess whether or not the novel is a success. As a jazz enthusiast, I found it for the most part compelling, but I’m not sure that a person for whom this music is passé or inaccessible would necessarily appreciate it as much

The Assault on Reason – Al Gore

Having just completed Al Gore’s The Assault on Reason, I have to confess to being profoundly disturbed. If his thesis is to be accepted, the greatest threat to the foundations of American society comes not from some shadowy terrorist organization but something much closer to home: the American government itself. It is an assertion that deserves to be taken seriously.

Drawing upon the beginnings of the American Constitution, Gore tells us that the Founders placed a heavy reliance on two interrelated notions: reason and a well-informed citizenry. These, plus the checks and balances implicit in the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial), were believed to provide the greatest chances of survival for this new experiment in democracy. However, under the current Bush-Cheney Administration, Gore suggests that these safeguards are failing

In an obviously well-researched effort, the author takes us through a variety of means whereby that administration sidesteps, circumvents, ignores or otherwise contemns the constitutional strictures on the executive branch. Were this a work of fiction, the reader would find the narrative implausible. Sadly, what Al Gore conveys is all too real.

This tale of administrative malfeasance has many facets: there is an indifferent legislative body more intent on raising money to get reelected than debating in Congress; there are the machinations of George Bush and Dick Cheney to reward their friends while at the same time ensuring that the average citizen is ill-served; there is the manipulation of people’s fears as opposed to appealing to their reason; all are grim reminders of what happens when people take their government for granted. Whether Gore examines the sinister repealing of pollution laws or the insidious misinformation put out about climate change, the reader quickly realizes that unless citizens promptly re-engage in the democratic process, there is little hope for the future of America’s grand experiment.

He does, however, end the book on a note of real hope. Although the historical notion of the marketplace of ideas, where people shared information and communicated with government in a meaningful way no longer exists, Gore suggests that a new infrastructure has arisen and is evolving whereby that marketplace might once again thrive. It is called the Internet. He points out the current egalitarian nature of the Web, whereby anyone with an opinion can form a group and invite others of like mind to join, whether it is a blog, a community forum, or a national meeting place. Its advantage is the absence of geographical or travel obstacles to forming or joining such groups, meaning that they are open to everyone. The potential to be once again well-informed and active is there, although I think the author downplays the difficulties inherent in having such a cornucopia of choice. How, for example, doe one separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff? Nonetheless, his underlying point is sound, namely that citizens now have a means to begin reinserting themselves in the democratic process in a meaningful way.

This is a book that has implications for all democratic governments and therefore should be widely read. As a Canadian, I couldn’t help but think of my own government under Stephen Harper which has, for example, severely restricted the flow of information about our troops’ mission in Afghanistan; facts that were previously widely available are no longer so, the justification being ‘national security issues,’ but more likely is a response to widespread criticism of the mission amongst Canadians.

A good first step on the journey to becoming an informed citizen who can work toward a renewed democracy is the reading of The Assault on Reason; it is a book alternately disheartening, inspiring, informative and provocative. At no time is it boring.

Teacher Man – Frank McCourt

Although I read it shortly after it was published and so forget many of the details, Frank McCourt’s third installment of his memoirs, Teacher Man, left a lasting impression on me.

Having taught for 30 years in public education in New York City, McCourt speaks with an authority that demands attention. His uncompromising portrait of what happens in the classroom, and the regular interference perpetrated by administrators, are experiences that any teacher will readily identify with. However, this book is intended for a much larger audience.

Members of the general public will benefit from and enjoy this book because it offers a demystification of education. Replacing the kinds of propaganda that school boards and education officials are inclined to disseminate (you know what I mean, platitudes like ” No Child Left Behind” “Every Child will Succeed” etc. etc. ad nauseam) McCourt succeeds in showing that yes, sometimes there are moments of magic, but mostly progress is slow and hard won, so much of it dependent not on the teacher, but the students themselves. While the tone of the book is anything but self-pitying, he makes it clear to his readers that the life of a teacher is just plain hard work.

Those who see the profession as a series of undeserved perks will not likely be swayed from their biases, but anyone with an open mind will derive much from this memoir. Even as a retired educator, Frank McCourt has much to teach us.

Author Recommendation - Robert Sawyer

Although never an ardent fan of science fiction, finding much of it too concerned with technological bafflegab, I have long been an enthusiast of Canadian writer Robert Sawyer. He writes in the tradition of the best science-fiction, using speculative science as an opportunity to explore aspects of human nature and human society. Reading this author is like reading meditations on the human condition.

A cursory look at a few of his books is perhaps the best way to illustrate this.

The Terminal Experiment: published in 1990, its premise is the development of artificial intelligence that essentially duplicates the human personality, communicating through a computer. The following critical excerpt captures much of its spirit:
SF Site: "Robert J. Sawyer won the Nebula Award with this novel, and I would have voted for it. There is so much of interest in this book — artificial intelligence, a good murder mystery, a nicely realized near-future, and, as I've come to expect from Sawyer's novels, thought-provoking philosophy. This is science fiction at its most thought provoking. The exploration of ideas and their implications is fundamental for good hard SF. Sawyer definitely succeeds in that exploration here, but then goes a step farther, making it personal and therefore even more meaningful."

Since then, Sawyer has published a host of other thought-provoking works, including what is known as the Neanderthal series: Hominids; Humans; Hybrids. In these books, the author is able to explore such issues as religious beliefs, how far society is willing to go for safety and security, and, of course, the ever present reality of human treachery.

His latest, Rollback, is, despite its premise of SETI communications with an alien race, more of an examination of human love and loyalty. Set in 2048, the novel centers on an extraordinarily expensive procedure to restore youth and vitality. Normally available only to the wealthiest of people, it is offered to a scientist who originally deciphered an alien message some 38 years previous. A new message has been received, and it is hoped that by extending her life, the scientist will be able to decipher the new message, send a reply, and still be living when the next message is received. The 87 year old scientist, Sarah, insists that she will undergo the procedure only if her husband of 60 years, Don, is also given the opportunity. This is agreed upon, but unfortunately, the aging reversal only succeeds with Don. How do two people adjust to vastly altered life circumstances? Is love truly the tie that binds? These and other issues are deftly explored by the author, giving the reader much to ponder.

If you’ve never been a science fiction reader, I encourage you to give Sawyer a try. I doubt that you will be disappointed.

For more about the author, visit the following link:
http://www.sfwriter.com/

Author Recommendation – Ishmael Beah

My next selection marks a foray into the world of non-fiction, but it is a world as horrendous as any that can be found in the darkest of fiction. Yet upon completion of the book, the reader realizes that he or she has made a journey to redemption alongside the author.

Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, is a victim of war-torn Sierra Leone, the country depicted in the film Blood Diamond. Now a young man of 26, this very bright, articulate and talented writer effectively conveys the horror of his experiences as a boy soldier, conscripted into the army at the age of 13 to fight the rebels, although the bloody, inhumane behaviour of each side makes them virtually impossible to distinguish.

An apparently happy and sensitive boy before both the loss of his family and the conscription, Beah is quickly transformed into something barely recognizable as human. Through the deadening effects of drugs and a yearning for a renewed sense of family, both readily provided by the army, he becomes a conscienceless killer, dispatching people not only in the relatively impersonal context of the battlefield, but also in the more immediate environment of open air interrogation of captured rebels. At no time in the book does Beah seek to minimize the atrocities he was involved in, although there is much that he chooses not to dwell upon, I suspect out of respect for his readers’ sensibilities. It is enough to say that the innocence and the humanity of the boy are lost.

But if this were all there was to Beah’s story, it would be unrelentingly bleak. Thanks to fate, God, or just pain luck, he is rescued, against his will, from a life that surely would have ended soon. Taken by UNICEF to a rehabilitation camp, Beah begins the long struggle to reintegrate into a normal existence. The second part of the book takes an uncompromising look at the difficulties this entailed for the boy soldier and his peers, who for a long time resist the most determined efforts to restore their humanity; their anger at having been taken from their ‘family,’ the army, is made palpable through the author’s prose.

I cannot recommend this book too highly. Most of us, myself included, would be hard pressed to even find Sierra Leone on a map, much less say with honesty that we spend any of our waking moments worrying about the plight of child soldiers in the world. Ishmael Beah humanizes the things that we may, in passing, read about in the newspaper over coffee. But his book accomplishes so much more. We are also invited to witness the restoration of his soul, an arduous process, but one that cannot help but remind us that even in the seemingly lost cases of the world, redemption can be attained.

As Beah himself has said, “It is very easy for a person to lose his humanity, and very difficult to get it back.” Difficult yes, but not impossible, as A Long Way Gone amply demonstrates.

Author Recommendation #4 – Walter Mosley

A couple of years ago I borrowed a DVD from the library entitled Devil in a Blue Dress, a 1995 film starring Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle. Although not an entirely successful movie, it led me to Walter Mosley, upon whose novel the movie is based.

Written in 1990, the book was the first in what has become known as the Easy Rawlins series. Mosley, a black author, sets this series in Los Angeles, beginning the story of his black protagonist, Easy, just after World War 11 and thus far, after 10 books, carrying through to 1966.

The books are much more than well-crafted mysteries, bringing to readers a character that, while sympathetic, has been molded to accept the realities of the racism of the time. It is with a somewhat weary cynicism, even fatalism, that Easy frequently agrees to help members of the white community, including the police, knowing from the outset that he will be the one to pay the price should something go wrong in his investigations.

Complementing his often complicated life is a host of interesting secondary characters:

His longtime friend Mouse, essentially a psychopath who, the reader senses, would not hesitate to dispatch Easy were he to violate the loyalty he expects from him;

Etta Mae, Mouse’s wife and the woman that Easy has loved for many years;

Jackson Blue, a man of genius I.Q. who wastes much of his life on dangerous petty scams;

Mofass, Easy’s front man for his real estate holdings

Jesus and Feather, Easy’s adopted children

These, and others, help to draw us in and to understand the character and the world of Easy Rawlins. We quickly learn that it is a world in which issues and morality, unlike the racial divide, are never black and white. Mosley frequently challenges his readers with an ambiguity that never allows us to forget that these novels are much more than crime fiction. Lucky for us.

http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/mosley_walter.html

Author Recommendation #3 – James Lee Burke

My third summer reading selection, James Lee Burke and his Dave Robicheaux series, is by far the darkest. As an author, Burke has all of the attributes of both Colin Dexter and Michael Connelly, but his explorations of character, informed by questions of good and evil and the pursuit of redemption, often make for some very dark excursions into the human condition.

Like Dexter and Connelly’s protagonists, Dave ages throughout the series; while originally a member of the New Orleans Police Department, for most of the novels he has been a detective in New Iberia Parish. His longtime friend and former partner, Cleetus Purcell, appears in most of the series, and while the latter is capable of some truly shocking and violent behaviour, his excesses are, in most ways, no greater than those of Robicheaux, something that Dave never seems to realize. Their kindred natures make it clear why their friendship has endured for so long.

There have been many losses and much pain in Dave’s life over the years. I have frequently thought his behaviour to be masochistic; he often brings trouble to himself and his family when it can so easily be avoided. However, I now realize he is partly motivated by an unquenchable thirst for justice, the achievement of which, I suspect, offers the hope of redemption for this deeply flawed character. Never are we more aware of the duality of human nature than when we experience Robicheaux’s character and world.

As with my other selections, I strongly advise that you read the novels sequentially in order to truly understand the character. I will give away only a few specific details by revealing that some of Dave’s spiritual and psychological problems stem from the fact that his mother abandoned him when he was young; in fact, she is the subject of one of the later books; as well, frequent references to experiences in Vietnam suggest that tragic misadventure as another source of his malaise. And then there is his ongoing battle with alcoholism, surely not unrelated to the aforementioned factors.

If you are looking for a mildly diverting reading experience, James Lee Burke will not provide it. In many ways, his themes and his writing approach literary status. Despite being a popular writer, he is not afraid to deal with some harsh truths that many of us may wish never to confront.

If you are interested in pursuing this author, please visit the following website for a bibliography of his work: http://www.jamesleeburke.com/bibliography.html

You won’t be disappointed with the work of James Lee Burke, but you may be profoundly disturbed by it.

Author Recommendation #2

My next pick is American writer Michael Connelly. A former crime reporter for the L.A. Times, Connelly brings real authority to his writing about a netherworld that few of us, fortunately, will ever have contact with. Although he has written novels outside of the series, it is the Harry Bosch storylines where Connelly’s strengths are most apparent.

Like Colin Dexter’s creation, Inspector Morse, Harry Bosch is a man who ages as the series progresses, even to the point where he takes early retirement only to find, after about 3 years, that life as a private citizen does not afford the grim satisfactions to be derived from solving homicides. He therefore returns to the force and, as of his latest literary outing, is still going strong.

In addition to the strengths I praised in Colin Dexter’s work (please see earlier posting), two more aspects make Connelly’s creation particularly strong for me: first, Harry has a deep sense of and yearning for justice, the genesis of which we learn over several novels, and second, in the pursuit of that justice, he often has to run afoul of his superiors who, more times than not, are depicted as rather craven political creatures, more concerned about the optics than the truth, forsaking principle for expedience, not unlike the ‘bosses’ I encountered during my career in teaching. His sympathies, I think, are always with the underdog, and almost all homicide victims are underdogs to Harry, since they can no longer speak for themselves; Bosch embraces the detective’s credo that he now must speak for them, giving them one final show of respect by demonstrating that their lives had meaning by solving the circumstances of their deaths.

In his pursuit of justice Harry, like Inspector Morse, emerges as a flawed but very human character. He also frequently has to pay a high price for his ideals. I hope you enjoy his development as much as I have over the years.

If you are interested, please visit the following website that offers a Connelly bibliography: http://www.authorsontheweb.com/features/lists/li-connelly-michael.asp

Author Recommendation #1

A number of the recommendations that I’ll be making in the days ahead pertain to police procedurals and mysteries. The best of the genre offer intellectual challenge, well constructed plots, excellent characterization, and, in the case of an ongoing series, the opportunity for the reader to develop a real affection for the authors’ protagonists.

My first selection is Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse series. Some of you may be familiar with the character through the films carried by PBS over the years. Although the film series is very good, with the late actor John Thaw very well cast as Morse, the books are superior, in the way that books always seem to be.

First recommended to me by Murray, an old teaching colleague, I was immediately captivated by the character of Morse whose first name, by the way, we only ascertain in the final book of the series, The Remorseful Day. (I won’t spoil it for you.)

Irascible, given to overindulgence in alcohol, and often both condescending and insulting to his subordinate Lewis, Morse would, with the avid mind of a crossword puzzle addict, relentlessly piece the clues together, often to only find that he was completely wrong! Rest assured, however, that he would ultimately solve the case.

Colin Dexter achieved a type of character that is uncommon in my reading experience. First, as the years went by, Morse aged, unlike some of the seemingly eternal sleuths of popular fiction. As he aged, I think both his loneliness and estrangement from normal human relationships deepened. My suspicion was that his knowledge of human nature, derived from his many years as a police inspector, made it impossible for him to ever have a lasting relationship with a woman. In fact, his only friend throughout the entire series seemed to be the much abused Lewis who, with unfailing affection for his boss, would put up not only with Morse’s temperament, but also his seemingly endless capacity for sticking Lewis with the bar tab, (“I’m sorry Lewis, I seem to have forgotten my wallet. Do you mind?”) even though the latter only ever seemed to drink orange juice.

So Inspector Morse, this very flawed, and therefore very human character, was someone I would greet as an old friend every second summer, as per Colin Dexter’s output. Sadly, it was after about 14 novels that he decided to end the series. It truly was a remorseful day.

Below I have included a link to a Colin Dexter website, which lists the books in publication sequence. I strongly suggest that you start with the first novel, and work your way through them. You have many reading pleasures awaiting you.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/colin-dexter/

The Purpose of this Book Blog

Welcome to my book blog, dedicated to everyone for whom life would have little meaning without access to the written word. As a retired English teacher and lifelong avid reader, my literary interests straddle the world of both the popular and what is considered the more ‘serious’ writer. My posts will, I hope, reflect a variety of interests and tastes, and I look forward to hearing from readers on their reading experiences, as well as their reactions to some of my recommendations.

Let us begin.