THE ROAD TO GOD

The author sent me an autographed copy of his novel to review:

When I first got a hold of this novel, I thought it was going to be one of those Holy Roller publications. Then when I got into the book, I thought that this novel was heading for the road to perdition. But it’s really a mixture of these two predominant religious/anti-religious pathways. In my opinion, Anthony Rhine wrote a credible story balancing the inner happenings of a large Christian Church (not sure what denomination but most likely Protestant), and the mystery of afterlife. This book didn’t seem like it would work, but it did in a far-reaching way. The novel held my interest for all of the 346 pages. I’m not sure I can compare this novel with another since the subject matter is so diverse. As a sidebar to the story, the reader is also educated on the differences between Scientology (all eight dynamics), Buddhism, Mormonism, and Hinduism from page 222 through page 241. So what is this story about? Okay, it’s time for a synopsis.    

Our protagonist and narrator is Daniel Bolton. Dan has an unusual trait passed onto him by his mother. He can talk to the dead (mentally) right after they die, normally between four to ten days after passing. The dead are always in a dark transition room waiting to see the light. He has learned bits and pieces of information from them over the years. It seems that the light is called concatenus, which is a place where all spirits go to be linked together and share the intelligence with the whole (God?). Some of the dead get reincarnated instead of going back into the light. Dan is not sure about the people who are going to hell since he has never talked to one. On page 84, Dan states, “You see, enough chats with spirits in transition have given me small glimpses into what awaits us beyond this earthly world, and I have been able to piece those glimpses together to get a sense of where we are going.”

After High School, Dan gets a job with the Elizabeth Community Church as an actor in a play being performed at the church. The Pastor, Greg Woolfe, is a vile, bigoted man married to Violet Black, a cold, offensive assistant to the pastor (these are the road to perdition people). Somehow Dan prospers at the church and keeps moving up the ladder until he is on equal footing with Violet. Greg sends both of them to the seminary for gratis with the stipulation that they have to stay with the church until he retires. Greg and Violet have many poisonous foul mouthed arguments throughout the novel. Then Dan has a one-night stand with Violet (very bad move). Subsequently, Dan falls in love with a teenage actress, Melissa, acting in one of their plays at the church. He now has the obnoxious Violet Black as a enemy for life. The affair with Melissa is also going to cause grief for Dan in the future.

What I liked about the novel was the way the author switched back and forth from the church activities to Dan’s talks with the dead. Most notable was Dan’s discussion with a dead man named Chen. Apparently, they were speaking Mandarin. They had a long talk while Chen was in the dark transition room. On page 246, Chen says, “I can tell you this: I was right  to live a good life. I was right to believe that I would one day be where I am now and I was right that I  would eventually go back to where I am to go back to.” “Concatenus?” I (Dan) wanted to say it again, seeking further confirmation. “Daniel, that is only a word” (answers Chen). This is some good stuff. So what I am wondering is this: Does the author believe in the afterlife that he describes in this titillating story? Well, maybe he will post a comment on this review and reveal his thoughts. Listen, I only gave you tidbits of what this novel is about, there is much more woe ahead for our hero Dan in the ensuing pages. I highly recommend this enlightening novel, so go out and buy your own copy.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: Having previously read Mitch Albom’s The First Phone Call from Heaven: A Novel and Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven (both reviewed on my blog), this is the third novel that I have read recently dealing with the afterlife. I’m not sure if it is because I’m getting old or just coincidence. There are two more novels dealing with the afterlife that I want to read:

Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones . goodreads.com says: "My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

The second book is Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven . goodreads.com says: “Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination, but an answer.”

“In heaven, five people explain your life to you. Some you knew, others may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"

Is this what the transition room from Anthony Rhine’s novel looks like?

THE HOTEL on PLACE VENDOME

This was a marvelous read that dealt with the occupation of Paris (1940-1944), but more so with the occupants of the Hotel Ritz. The blood and guts were there, but somewhat muffled since the main focus was on the exotic residents of the famous hotel (opened in 1898). Tilar J. Mazzeo is part of that new group of authors that write non-fiction, but make it read like a novel. It was executed with skill and efficiency with almost every chapter ending in a cliffhanger. The book actually has a cast of characters, which I found accommodating considering all those French and German names. I’m dumbfounded that Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre were not regulars at the hotel (joking). But guess who comes to the Ritz for an extended stay at the end of the occupation? Casablanca’s Ingrid Bergman, who surprisingly falls in love with another sometime resident, Robert Capa, the famous American war photographer. I realize some reviewers object to what I found intriguing, but that’s why there are “different strokes for different folks” (I love my idioms). Mazzeo’s narration made for a intoxicating (by the way, champagne was the drink of choice) and credible romp through those turbulent years, backed by twenty three pages of notes and ten pages of selected bibliography. One tries to guess who is the spy, double agent, collaborator, or member of the French resistance amongst the hotel staff and inhabitants throughout this stimulating book. Wow, enough said for the opening paragraph.

On June 14 1940, 300,000 germans occupy Paris, while the great (ha) Charles de Gaulle heads out of town. Also leaving ahead of the German invasion are the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, yes the same Edward VIII who abdicated the throne of England for twice divorced Wallis Simpson. Luckily, Winston Churchill sent them in exile to Bermuda till the war’s end (the ex-King was thought to be sympathetic to Hitler). Ernest Hemingway and his artsy group were also long time frequent residents who vacated. Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring moved into a sprawling suite taking up an entire floor. On page nineteen, we find out that…”one half of the Hotel Ritz was an exclusive retreat for German private indulgence, on the rue Cambon side of the ancient palace and in the bars and restaurant the hotel remained open to the public.” After the Germans take over the Ritz, Mazzeo gives the reader some background on the hotel from 1898 till the German arrival. I found these chapters very interesting, especially the part where the artist and intellectuals out maneuvered the noble traditionalist (the privileged) for dominance of the bars and rooms. Also provided was the reason for the two sides clashing... the famous Alfred Dreyfus (a framed Jewish artillery officer) treason trial. I also enjoyed the story of Marcel Proust, a social climber, who wrote one of France’s great books, In Search of Lost Time , which was written in seven parts between 1913-1927.

Once the Germans take over the Hotel Ritz, we find out that Herr Goring is a morphine addict.  A German doctor from Cologne supposedly had a “wonder cure” and “There in the Hotel Ritz, the doctor would come to submerge Goring in a tub of water, give him injections, then submerge him again, for hours and hours,” the staff remembered. “We had to bring the professor piles of towels and lots of food, because the procedure made Goring ravenous.” On page fifty one, we find out…”That the previous occupant of Goring's suite was a certain Laura Mae Corrigan, the widow of a midwestern steel industrialist...Her monthly income in the summer of 1940 was $800,000.” Corrigan sold many treasures to the Reichsmarschall and Adolf Hitler. “She cashed out-some said she sold out-to the Nazis.” This is one of many chapters containing the escapades of the residents of the hotel. Another sidebar to this book is the battle of wits between journalists Ernest Hemingway, Robert Capa, Martha Gellhorn, and Mary Welsh to be the first to land on Normandy Beach during the allied invasion in August 1944. Their sexual affairs are another story in this rousing book. Previously, I hinted to you that this book was filled with juicy information, am I right so far? Meanwhile, Frank Meier, the longtime bartender at the Ritz is passing information along to the French Resistance. The Germans didn’t know he was Jewish. And surprisingly, the plot to kill Hitler (Operation Valkyrie) was hatched at the grand Hotel Ritz.

The poop hits the fan when Hitler orders General Dietrich Von Choltitz into Paris in August 1944 to plunder all the treasures and artwork and then upon leaving... burn Paris to the ground! Do you remember that famous film Is Paris Burning? Believe it or not, I only touched on a few chapters of this exciting book. To get the rest of the scoop, get your own copy, but read slowly because you are not going to want this book to end. I highly recommend this book, but not to those World War II aficionados who only want the facts involving the strategy and results of the war. You will not find that in this book.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: It seems to me that Tilar J. Mazzeo’s book is sort of “a one of the kind.” I mean all the books that I have researched are about the history, cuisine, or cocktails of the hotel. The following are some that are noteworthy by rakuten.com :

The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris by Colin Peter & Ueta Field: “A nostalgic collection of more than fifty popular drink recipes celebrates the celebrity histories of such classic cocktails as the Sidecar, Dry Martini, and Bloody Mary, pairing each recipe with related cultural commentary and additional advice on mixing and glass selection.A nostalgic collection of more than fifty popular drink recipes celebrates the celebrity histories of such classic cocktails as the Sidecar, Dry Martini, and Bloody Mary, pairing each recipe with related cultural commentary and additional advice on mixing and glass selection. 15,000 first printing.” “A bartender from Paris's Ritz bar presents his recipes for 50 cocktails--some of them highly unusual Ritz specialties--that the bar has served to such luminaries as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Noel Coward, and many more. He also includes the history of that world, and of the drinks that kept it going.”

Ritz Paris: Haute Cuisine by Michel/Mesplede Roth: “This celebration of the grand culinary tradition at the Ritz Paris features inspirational stories of three great men and is completed with sixty recipes.   At the age of thirteen, the young sommelier Cesar Ritz was summarily dismissed by his employer who told him he lacked the flair and talent to succeed in the hospitality business. Of course, Ritz went on to become one of history’s greatest hoteliers, creating the Ritz in Paris and its world-renowned restaurant L’Espadon with the help of renowned chef Auguste Escoffier. Both Escoffier and Ritz loved simplicity, but perfection reigned in their finest of dining rooms.”

The Artistry Of Mixing Drinks by Frank Meier: “A complete reproduction of the Vintage Cocktail Book bestseller "The Artistry Of Mixing Drinks" written by Frank Meier (RITZ Bar, Paris), originally published 1934. "Frank Meier's book enables one to enjoy at home or elsewhere the various drinks which he has made and served to a world-wide clientele. His many friends and admirers will welcome his work, which gives the secret formulas. Once more, even though absent, they will have those delicious drinks which Frank alone can serve." Dedicated to all cocktail lovers and bartenders.”

Picture of the Hotel Ritz:

THE MARTIAN

What would you do if you were presumed dead and left stranded for 549 sol days (that’s an Earth day plus 39 minutes) on the planet Mars? Well, that’s the premise of this fresh new novel. It was an exhilarating story, although way too technical (for me) and somewhat predictable, but nonetheless well worth reading. Astronaut Mark Watney is injured and caught in a windstorm when Earth cancels the Mars mission because the MAV (Mars ascent vehicle) is about to tip over from the furious 175 kph winds. Wow, is that a tough situation, or what? The crew is leaving for Earth without you and the next mission to Mars is four years away. At least in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), Crusoe had his sidekick, Friday, to mingle with. And in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2002), Pi had a Royal Bengal Tiger to share his 227 days at sea with. Can two consecutive sentences end in the same preposition? Probably not, but I write with Cormac McCarthy’s rules.

Anyway, I found the story difficult without a companion for Watney on Mars. What’s left is his scientific effort to stay alive and bore the reader with empirical evidence. I must admit that this is not my strong suit. I don’t understand how to make oxygen, water, or make dirt to plant potatoes on Mars. I struggled through many pages of this without the action and exploits that I expected. Maybe the story needed a Dan Simmons innuendo type allusion. Yet... I did like the book! With the MAV leaving to dock with the ship Hermes (which is orbiting Mars) and then take the crew back to Earth, Watney knows he is in big trouble. Since the crew doesn’t know that all communications on Mars have been destroyed by the storm, and coupled with the fact that Watney’s bio-monitor computer readout indicates that he is dead (they don’t know it’s broken), they leave. On page seven, Watney thinks to himself, “So that’s the situation. I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Hermes or Earth. Everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m in a Hab designed to last thirty-one days.”

After Mark settles in, he decides to find Pathfinder (from the 1997 mission) and the rover, Sojourner, so he can acquire it’s radio and communicate with Earth. In the meantime, Satellites orbiting Mars send pictures back to NASA indicating that Watney is still alive. Watney gets to Pathfinder and finally communicates with NASA on sol day 97. The next 251 pages are much better in the excitement category, as NASA tries to figure out how to get Watney back, and as you can imagine, many things go wrong on Earth and Mars (finally). I realize that this novel had to be demanding to write since it’s not really science fiction. And I knew that we weren’t going to meet eerie green Martians, but still I expected a wee bit more calamity and intrigue. The postulation of the novel was so grand. I was hooked on the first sentence on page one…”I’m pretty much f***ed.” That’s as close as I can quote, if I want Amazon to okay this review. All in all, I have to recommend this novel by Andy Weir.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: According to theguardian, besides the above mentioned novels, The following are excellent “marooned in literature” novels:

Lord of the Flies by William Golding: “ William Golding’s first novel describes the ghastly fate that befalls a group of British schoolboys when they are stranded on a desert island (Golding was a prep-school teacher when he wrote it). At first, the boys set about creating an ordered society, with the good-natured Ralph as chief. But a dissident faction emerges and seizes power. Ralph, together with his myopic sidekick Piggy, wants the group to concentrate on getting rescued; the other lot just want to hunt. The boys' descent into savagery symbolises mankind's innate capacity for evil.”

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet  by David Mitchell :
“The twice Booker-shortlisted writer's new novel (out next month) is set in 1799 on the tiny island of Dejima, a Dutch trading concession off Nagasaki. The book follows Jacob de Zoet, a young clerk who becomes stranded when war between the English and the Dutch breaks out. It's a detailed, richly imagined tale thoughtfully examining clashing cultures. Dejima was the notoriously repressive Sho dynasty's one point of contact with the outside world and Mitchell shows how it became a portal for western ideas to be smuggled into Japan.”

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss :
“Inspired by the teachings of John-Jacques Rousseau, this 1812 novel is the wholesome saga of a family's 10-year sojourn on a deserted island. When the Robinsons' boat is shipwrecked, things look bleak, but the island is blessed with a cornucopia of natural resources and the brave family survives and builds a successful colony. Incredibly, the worst thing that happens is that their donkey gets eaten by a boa constrictor. When help eventually arrives, some of the Robinsons decide to stay put in their tropical paradise.”

Concrete Island  by JG Ballard :
“Ballard's 1974 updating of Robinson Crusoe sees rich young architect Robert Maitland, marooned not in some far-off place but on a traffic island under three converging motorways outside London after his Jaguar crashes over a parapet. Unable to climb up the embankment to safety, Maitland finds himself imprisoned and the novel becomes a record of his struggle to survive using only what he finds in his car. Ballard suggests that Maitland's imprisonment is as much psychological as physical; it's weird, gripping stuff.”

I thought one of the better movies was 20th Century Fox’s Cast Away (2000), starring Tom Hanks as a FedEx employee stranded on an Island in the South Pacific with nobody but his buddy Wilson, who was a Wilson volleyball.

The Sojourner Rover:

A Young Man in the Wild Blue Yonder

The publisher sent me a copy to read and review:

David K. Hayward writes a epistolary non-fiction work that reads like a scrapbook your neighbor would show to you. It is sprinkled with photos, sketches, cartoons and diary entries. World War II never seemed so pleasant. I mean that as a compliment. The war was there, but the blood and guts were not...great job Mr. Hayward. I recently read Adam Makos’s  A Higher Call , which was a more violent look at the war in the skies, albeit equally entertaining. In the introduction, Mr. Hayward explains why a 91-year old veteran of World War II would write a book. “The answer? Most of the writing has been done. It was a matter of putting the pieces together, like a jigsaw puzzle.” He is a man of his word, the book follows his three and a half years and fifty three missions in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations during World War II. Also patched throughout the book are his exploits during his down time and the details of his many reunions with the 22nd Bomb Squadron.

Mr. Hayward explains on page 121 what his job entailed…”I must emphasize that the mission of the B-25 medium bomber in the China-Burma-India Theater was not to attack population centers but rather non-civilian targets such as bridges, airfields, and ships used by the enemy to move it’s supplies.” Those missions are peppered throughout the book along with his stateside training with the many different bombers and fighters of the times. Surprising to me was the amount of young pilots that were killed during these non-combat training exercises. After Hayward’s 53 missions, he was assigned to Bolling Field in the District of Columbia. Until the war’s end, Lt. Hayward test flew aircraft recently repaired, flew mail to General George C. Marshall, flew ‘missing man’ formations during ceremonies, and co-piloted for the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, on internal missions. While this book was far from exciting, it does give the reader an ‘eyewitness account’ of how it was to be a participant of the war.

Hayward touches on the famous Doolittle bombing of Tokyo and Yokohama that began about four months after Japan’s December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. Sixteen B25 Mitchells were launched from the USS Hornet in a mostly propaganda attack of Japan. On their return most of the U.S. bombers crashed or ditched before they reached the airfields in China. The prose and the book's tendencies seemed to me like ‘the man on the street’ was telling the story, which I think makes Hayward’s story somewhat charming. I know Mr. Hayward isn’t a noteworthy writer, but he kept me entertained. I think eyewitness accounts are invaluable to historians. I’m amazed that a man of 91 put his first book together... what took you so long? What’s next Lt. Hayward? I do recommend this “yeoman’s work”, by the way, no pun intended, Hayward’s brother served in the U.S. Navy during the war.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: My all time favorite Army Air Force movie is Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo , which I  alluded to in the Doolittle paragraph. Wikipedia states: “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 American war film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the true story of the Doolittle Raid, America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan four months after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Mervyn LeRoy directed Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and Sam Zimbalist produced the film. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo was based on the 1943 book of the same name, written by Captain Ted W. Lawson, a pilot who participated in the raid. In both the book and the film, Lawson gives an eyewitness account of the training, the mission, and the aftermath as experienced by his crew and others who flew the mission on April 18, 1942. Lawson piloted "The Ruptured Duck", the seventh of 16 B-25s to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo stars Van Johnson as Lawson, Phyllis Thaxter as his wife Ellen, Robert Walker as Corporal David Thatcher, Robert Mitchum as Lieutenant Bob Gray and Spencer Tracy as Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, the man who planned and led the raid. The film is noted for its accurate depiction of the historical details of the raid, as well as its use of actual wartime footage of the bombers in some flying scenes."