Michael Gagarin and Douglas MacDowell, translators:
Antiphon and Andocides
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Jane Austen:
The Complete Works
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Barbara Kingsolver:
The Poisonwood Bible
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John Buchan:
The House of Four Winds
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Melville Davisson Post:
The Uncle Abner Mysteries
Mike Ashley, ed.:
The Mammoth Book of Locked-Room Mysteries
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Eric Flint:
Mother of Demons
1 August 2001
July was a moderate reading month. I brought three volumes on my vacation and read decent chunks of two.
Antiphon and Andocides, translated by Michael Gagarin and Douglas MacDowell. I remember when UT Press's previous humanities editor was polling classicists about the usefulness of new translations of the works of Greek orators; this is the first volume in that series. I've finally gotten around to reading some of it. Very readable, and quite interesting. I don't have any real background in classical studies, so much of the information on ancient Greek legal systems was completely new to me.
The Complete Works of Jane Austen, one book I'd want to bring along to a desert island. I reread Mansfield Park, Northhanger Abbey, Persuasion, and a small chunk of Emma. Mansfield Park is rapidly becoming my favorite Austen novel. Emma is probably my least favorite, and Northhanger second least, though this is rather like saying that the liqueur-filled Leonidas chocolates are my least favorites. The more I read these books, and the more I understand the culture they come from, the greater pleasure they give me. Austen's wit is so subtle, and yet so precise. The characters are utterly human. Rating: from Really Good to Fabulous!
I also brought Jo Ann Kay McNamara's Sisters in Arms along, a history of Catholic nuns. The initial chapters didn't grab me; I'll have to try it again later.
One other book: My mom had a copy of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and recommended it as one she'd really enjoyed. I tried it and found it quite good. The African setting is fascinating (and reminds me that one of these days I do need to clamp down my stomach and read King Leopold's Ghost). The characters' voices are distinct, although occasionally I felt like the youngest child in particular was slipping out of register. Kingsolver's larger theme, comparing white/European oppression of Africa with male oppression of women, didn't do much for me, and I'm not that crazy about the whole women-deal-with-oppressive-father/husband storyline, but nonetheless, it was worthwhile. (Come to think of it, Mom said that my sister-in-law Sarah recommended it to her. Obviously I'll have to get Sarah to recommend books to me more often....)
Back home, I started randomly grabbing a few books from Jan's collection of mysteries.
John Buchan, The House of Four Winds: Adventure in a small fictional European country -- rather reminescent of Prisoner of Zenda, as far as the "what" of the plot goes. The tone is entirely different, however, as you realize when Jaikie meets up with the man on the elephant.....
It was a humorous book, with lots of wild coincidences that worked in the story context, and a beautiful scheme to reinstate the exiled monarch. The characters make references to past events in the two prequels, Huntingtower and Castle Gay, but the book is perfectly understandable to folks like me who haven't read said prequels. The only thing I found somewhat tedious was the political discussion -- at various times, the characters praise the glories and energies of Youth, and laud how Youth will transform the aged political system into something vibrant and beautiful. This Gen-X member isn't impressed. Overall, though, it's a fun book.
Melville Davisson Post, The Uncle Abner Mysteries. A collection of mysteries centering on Abner, a Calvinist farmer in 1840s and 1850s Virginia, who solves mysteries with reason and, he would say, divine assistance. The mysteries themselves are generally quite interesting.
The Mammoth Book of Locked Room Mysteries, edited by Mike Ashley. Ashley seems to be a prolific editor of themed mystery collections. As with the other collections of his that I've read, some of these stories are excellent and some, well, not so.
In the non-mystery realm, I read Mother of Demons by Eric Flint. It's definitely well worth reading. I wasn't crazy about the plot; most of the characters while entertaining aren't very deep; and the ending -- well, it doesn't completely leave things hanging, but it read more like the ending of Book 1 of Series than as the ending of Standalone Novel. But the worldbuilding, and particularly the biology of the aliens, were excellent. And Flint is a good storyteller; as I said, I wasn't crazy about the plot, and yet I kept turning pages. Gotta figure out how he did that....