2024 #21 Master of Souls - Sister Fidelma #16 (Tremayne)

 

Master of Souls by Peter Tremayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I do recommend NOT studying the list of principal characters too closely before reading the book, although I don't know that it really spoiled much for me. This volume picks up after the events in The Leper's Bell, and the series as a whole seems to have more continuity now. Unfortunately, my own read of The Leper's Bell was a good long time ago, so I probably should have reread it...it isn't totally necessary, but I would have had a stronger connection to some of the characters, such as Gannica. I'll leave off too much plot description because it could very easily lead to spoilers, but the political strife between the Uí Fidgente and Cashel continues, despite the fragile peace under Donennach.

On the whole, the character development continues to mature. Tremayne uses Fidelma and Eadulf to show varying perspectives on Christianity--Fidelma is tolerant of the old ways, making space for "finding God in his own way" (203) in deference to the proud Pagan Gáeth. Eadulf, on the other hand, has the fervor of a young convert, and tends to be judgmental and one-dimensional in his thinking (occasionally).

I was particularly interested in some continuity of what seemed to be minutiae. Tremayne revisits a chant "Regem regnum rogamus in nostris sermonibus" which is sung in two languages to a "Gallic" chant melody, and this same song also appears in The Monk who Vanished, supposedly composed by one Colmán moccu Clusaif/mac Uí Clusaim who helped his people during the threat of the Yellow Plague. I was unable to find an actual historical person by this name, but my guess is that there is a model here for Tremayne. These little details, however, keep me coming back for more. I've started a list of concordances that I may turn into a wiki at some point.

The copyediting and editing is still not great, however (some library patron took to the copy I read with a pencil, thankfully). We also get unnecessary repetition, such as when we are told "Eadulf, who knew something of the healing arts..." (193) when that has already been on display earlier in the book. There does seem to be a little less repetition of Fidelma's status as a dalaigh, qualified to the level of anruth, and when she can sit in the presence of a king, etc. etc within a single volume now, so that is an improvement.

The development was slow in this one, but things get moving rather quickly once Fidelma, Conrí, and Eadulf set sail for an island. The details regarding the scriptorium and copying are interesting, and there are some more colorful characters including Slébéne, chief of the Corco Duibhne. I'm very glad that Conrí, who we first meet in Badger's Moon, I believe, seems to have a returning presence in the series. He is one of the more complex characters in the narrative of the Uí Fidgente.

Overall a really good installment and I'll looking forward to learning more as the political intrigue is bound to return.


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2024 #20: The Land of Milk and Honey (Zhang)

 

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a very beautiful and disturbing book. It is not dystopic in a clichéd sort of way and the writing is poetry. It is memoir (fictional, yes, but memoir all the same). It is speculative fiction. Eunice Wong's reading is perfection, with just the right amount of gravitas with an equanimity that helps us understand (hear her talk about it here). What is sensuous in food and in life becomes ethically blurry when most of the world is overtaken by a smog of debatable origin and the protagonist, a former cook, goes to work for a mysterious employer on a mountain in Italy, above the smog (and above the rules of living below, it would seem). Privilege is redefined and reframed, disguised as innovation.

The imagery and descriptive writing is phenomenal. Zhang is deliberate in linking language across the story: the "calculus of loss" becomes the "connoisseurship of loss"--a subtle juxtaposition spaced several chapters apart, easy to miss. Metaphors abound: "...as I would not serve bitter greens without the consolation of oil, I began to keep back my less palatable feelings..." The insights, too, are plentiful: "Across the years it is hard to make out this version of myself, so blinkered by ambition that she sprinted through thirty years without asking, why?"

It was a slower "read" for me than I anticipated, but there is, forgive me, much to chew upon.

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2024 #19 The Witch Elm (French)

 

The Witch Elm by Tana French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I came to this with unfair bias. My only previous experience with French's work was The Searcher, which I read in 2022, and I enjoyed. That is more of a traditional mystery, whereas this is more of a character study/novel (it does in fact say "a novel" on the front cover)? I also think I might have been better served by the print version as I found Paul Nugent's performance in the audiobook rather overwrought.

All that said, it doesn't help that the protagonist (and the vast majority of the characters) is just not that likeable. Toby is "always lucky" we are told, and he and his buddies, Sean and Declan, are hyper-masculine clichés, steeped in bro culture that is magnified in a seemingly endless scene at a pub between the three of them. Likewise, Toby's two closest cousins, Leon and Susannah, also don't have much going for them as characters. As read by Nugent, Leon is a whiny prat with a huge chip on his shoulder. In the case of this character, there is much in his backstory that makes him more sympathetic, but we don't get to any of that until much later in the book. The only two characters who seem to have any redeeming qualities are Uncle Hugo and Melissa (although I found Nugent's voicing of her to be absolutely cloying in places--California valley girl meets Irish damsel in distress).

As far as pacing goes, I feel that I must take responsibility for the fact that I was hoping for a more traditional mystery, and I was distracted in the first hour or so of listening because I kept trying to figure out a) why no one had died yet and b) who it was going to be. Well, someone does die, but it is actually a minor plot point by the time we start to understand that this book is an attempt to investigate the darkness of the human soul. There are a LOT of very lengthy trips down memory lane -- between the guys, between the cousins--not all of them necessary, lingering on boyish pranks and other foolish behavior. And LOTS of time sitting around getting drunk and wasted. I did end up appreciating what first seems to be Toby's luck coming to an end, as it was a well-crafted diversion (but not quite a diversion).

If you are looking for a more traditional whodunnit, this is not that. French's writing is descriptive and charged, enough for me to stick with it when I started to tire of everyone whining. Uncle Hugo's freelance work is interesting, and occasionally French peppers in some interesting historical tidbits and the like. A small point, but I was a bit surprised to hear Uncle Hugo quote Virgil as an example of the ancient *Greeks* believing that the witch elm stood at the gates of Hell. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but it was implied that Virgil was Greek.

I tried to evaluate it on its own merits rather than expectations I should not have had of the book. If you are a fan of French's mysteries, just understand that this is a very different creature. If you enjoy slow plots, psychological study, and an occasional plot twist, this might very well be a great book for you!

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2024 #18 Ysabel (Kay)

 

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is honestly a 3.5, maybe 3.75 for me. There's a lot to like here, including the 15 year old protagonist, Ned. Ned's dad is a famous photographer, and while "on location" in Provence, he meets Kate, an unusually forthright teenage girl with an encyclopedic knowledge/interest in history. After they both meet a creepy and curious presence in a cathedral, things start to develop rather quickly. Both Kate and Ned are NOT overwritten and therefore a lot more likeable than most teenage protagonists.

The plot? Well that gets a bit tough to follow in places. There's concerted effort to anchor the story in Celtic and Roman lore, and while the information is helpful and authentic, it sometimes presents itself as boring pontification. The author does well with characters who are neither good nor evil, but instead straddle some sort of invisible moral line that operates outside the sphere of normal life.

The book ended too quickly for me. I could have used a little less of the repartée between everyone at the pool and a bit more time with certain characters: in particular Ned's mother and aunt, as well as his phenomenal uncle. While she is the title character, Ysabel does not get a whole lot of air time, and it is frustrating at the end when all is revealed with a nice neat bow. I needed a bit more of "why" and "how", and I certainly did not see any reason for Melanie's behavior. I get that she was "under-the-influence" (as was Kate), but it felt like a rushed attempt at suggesting a coming of age story for Ned--not needed. We never do get the whole story about Aunt Kim, and that ends up being a tad frustrating.

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2024 #17 Run (Patchett)

 

Run by Ann Patchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While slow in places, this is a very beautiful book, reminiscent in ways of Agee's A Death in the Family--not in terms of the story, but in the way it reveals so many characters. I love that Patchett doesn't resort to chapters headed by the characters' names but just shifts seamlessly through the hearts and minds of the different family members.

Kenya will be on my list of all-time favorite characters. What a beautifully written young girl with an amazing spirit.

Also, so many layers of maternal onion! At the end, it all comes full circle. Without spoilers, it is managed in a way that normally I'd find trite, but instead I was in tears. Patchett often makes me cry. Her exploration of family dynamics is exceptional (see The Dutch House). I love that Run is about Kenya, but also about them all: running for office, Uncle Sullivan in the hospital telling Teddy to run, etc. There's also an undercurrent of the idea of penance, which in Patchett's hands transcends religion and seems to be part and parcel of our ability to participate in humanity.

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