WONDER

This is a guest review from Patricia Koelmel, an accomplished artist and contending writer:

Very few of us are comfortable in our skin 24/7 for one reason or another. Be it a bad hair day, a cold sore, a pimple. Well, what if every day was like that, only a million times worse?

Wonder is a 2012 work of fiction by R.J. Palacio (for children ages 8-12) that brilliantly tells the story of ten-year-old August (Auggie) Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. Born with a rare congenital disorder characterized by craniofacial deformities combined with an unnamed secondary syndrome, he is referred to as a “medical wonder” of sorts. (His parents and fifteen-year-old sister, Via, by the way, are normal-attractive even.)

Of his condition, Auggie prefers to say only this: “I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

Now, if you’re wondering what going out in public must be like for Auggie, let me put it this way. Halloween (even over Christmas) is his favorite holiday. “[Of Halloween, Auggie says] I get to wear a mask. I get to go around like every other kid with a mask and nobody thinks I look weird. Nobody takes a second look. Nobody notices me. Nobody knows me. I wish everyday could be Halloween.”

Pretty sad, eh? But be prepared to be uplifted, too. Heartwrenching can turn into heartwarming on a dime. This smart, savvy, funny kid will surprise and touch you in ways you will never expect.

Flawlessly told from alternating character POVs, the story follows Auggie as he navigates his way through the fifth grade in his first mainstream school experience. Homeschooled up until now, he is naturally petrified. But thanks to a loving, supportive family, Auggie somehow manages to bravely march on as he encounters stares, whispers, isolation, and bullies. On the flipside, there are also friendships and wondrous, new times to be had.

In her debut novel, Ms. Palacio has crafted an unforgettable story about a boy, as far from beautiful as it gets, with a spirit more beautiful than most. It is no wonder Wonder made it to the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller List. So, do I recommend this book? You bet I do! Not only to the children it was written for, but adults alike. Oh yeah, it’s that good.

Final words: Here’s to hoping that one day society will no longer react differently upon encountering someone with an appearance as unique as Auggie’s. I can’t help but be reminded of the “Cantina Scene” from the 1977 Star Wars film when some of the most bizarre-looking creatures are seen chatting among themselves, clearly oblivious to their dissimilarities. To this day, I remember thinking at the time: If only “our” world could be like that.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Rick O's blog compliments Patricia for that energized critique. I was thinking about reviewing other novels that dealt with deformities, like Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), or Christine Sparks’s Elephant Man, but it would ruin the flavor of her review. So why don’t we just go to “The Cantina”... have a drink and talk about it:

Picture is courtesy of WWW.Craveonline.com

The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere

John Chu’s Hugo Award (2014) winning short story is somewhat unusual. It seems that rain has decided to fall on anyone caught in a lie. Wow, would that straighten out politics, or what? Can you imagine the President fielding and answering questions at a press conference? Anyway, the rain could be a drizzle or a downpour to match the severity of the lie. How this phenomenon started or what caused it to begin in the first place doesn’t seem important to the populace in this Tor.com original story. It was tested and found to be safe distilled water. Enough said...what? There are a lot of unanswered questions about this occurrence, but apparently not important, since this story is about a Chinese/American man coming out of the closet.

Matt, the above mentioned gentleman, is in love with Gus, a large Adonis type man. One day Gus says to Matt, “You know.” Gus’s voice is surprisingly steady given how his teeth chatter. “Now that we know how we feel about each other, how about we solemnize the relationship? Make it official.” Matt says, “Lets visit my family this Christmas. The two of us.” Gus says, “Are you sure? I can wait years if that’s what you want.” I smell trouble, especially with all the downpours that that meeting can produce (I finally got to use Mieville’s that that sequence). When they arrive at Matt’s sister Michele’s mansion for the holiday, Michele senses trouble and takes Matt into her office and says, '“How dare you?” She slams the door behind her and I remind myself that I’m bigger than her now and it’d be harder for her to beat me up. “Are you trying to kill Mom and Dad?”'

The story gets interesting from here on because Matt’s parents (not speaking English since they retired) want a grandson to carry on the family’s name and bloodline. Michele’s husband Kevin’s parents only speak Cantonese and Mandarin. Will they understand? Will Matt chicken out and say nothing? And the big question is: will it drizzle or downpour on this home? I thought that this story was astute and well thought out. It reminded me of Karen Thompson Walker’s The Age of Miracles (see my review of 3/28/13). Both stories had amazing events happening to Earth, but the incidents took a backseat to the human interest part of the story. I do recommend this short story (and I mean short).

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: This award has been won by the heavyweights of science fiction: Larry Niven, Philip Jose Farmer, Poul Anderson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, John Varley, and Isaac Asimov. Is that some lineup or what? The problem is since these are short stories, they are mostly out of print. What I suggest is simple... try to buy these great writers in short story collections, such as:

The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke: The Star, Volume III (Arthur C. Clarke Collection: Short Stories Book 3) by Arthur C. Clarke. 

Amazon.com says of Clarke’s Hugo Short Story winner (1956), The Star: “In the title story of this outstanding collection, a group of cosmonauts discovers the remains of an advanced civilization in a remote star system-destroyed when their sun went supernova. They find that the civilization was very similar to Earth's-and that its people knew of their coming doom centuries before it occurred. What they find leads their chief astrophysicist-also a Jesuit priest-into a deep crisis of faith, sparked by a shocking revelation that has implications not just for history-but for religion."

"This collection of short stories demonstrates not only Clarke's technological imagination-but also a deep poetic sensibility that led him to ponder the philosophical and moral implications of technological advances. These stories demonstrate the range of his vision as an author-based on both our scientific potential and the deeper aspects of the human condition.”

THE BIOLOGY OF LUCK

The author sent me a copy of his novel to review:

The roots to Jacob M. Appel’s novel can be traced back to the eighth century BC. That is when Homer wrote his epic poem, The Odyssey. Now bear with me. In 1922, James Joyce, in an attempt to match the characters and happenings of Homer’s poem, published Ulysses. And in 2013, Appel publishedThe Biology of Luck. Okay, so what. Well, Joyce’s novel and Appel’s novel are both one day (in June) occurrence novels. Secondly, Joyce’s protagonist is Leopold Bloom and Appel’s is Larry Bloom. Thirdly, both novels are in big cities, Leopold walks the streets of Dublin and Larry walks the streets of NYC. Both characters meet some very strange people. So there you go, a little literature history. Jacob M. Appel, in a question and answer interview at the book’s end, admits that he paralleled parts of his novel after Homer’s and Joyce’s books. Also, I have read some minor criticism about Appel’s prose...too hard to understand. What? Try reading China Mieville’s neologisms without consulting a dictionary. Appel’s novel is written in an prestigious composition, very easy to understand without having to ‘google’ a word. I also thought the book within the book stratagem was very clever. Enough, lets get to the story.

Larry Bloom, a nondescript and balding NYC tour guide has written a novel about his dinner date, Starshine Hart, the most beautiful girl in the City (according to everybody in the novel). The story unfolds with Larry taking a group of Dutch visitors on a tour of the city after he visits the local post office. He meets his group at Grant’s Tomb where a protest is taking place. Larry hustles the group to their first destination. Meanwhile, we meet Starshine in the first chapter of the book Larry has written. She lives in a flat with her dingbat roommate, Eucalyptus, a scrimshaw artist with many cognitive problems. The reader finds out that Starshine has two main squeezes: Colby Parker, the heir to a lawn chair tycoon, and an aging former Weather Underground revolutionary, Jack Bascomb. I mentioned in the first paragraph that there were strange characters in this story but wait more to come. In the interim, the letter Larry picked up is from the publisher Stroop & Stone. He decides that he will open the letter at the dinner with Starshine to find out if his book was accepted and to express his undying love to her at the same time. Some big plans for a portly unappealing man wooing the most beautiful girl in NYC (some say in the world).

In the ensuing pages (Larry’s continued tour), and the emerging chapters (Starshine in Larry’s novel), we meet many strange exotic New Yorkers. Does this make any sense to you? If you read this delightful novel, it will. You will encounter: Bone, the one arm super of Starshine’s building who can fix or get anything done; Ziggy Borasch (great name), a failed writer and sometimes maniac philosopher; Kalkhazian, the opinionated Armenian florist; Snipe, Larry’s self-serving boss; Rita Blatt, the homely sexist reporter from The Downtown Rag; and, the annoying Dutch tourist, Willem van Huizen. Somehow, Jacob M. Appel harmonizes all these characters before the story ends. Then comes the ending, ah, the ending. Is it real time or just another chapter in Larry’s proposed novel? I read that many reviewers highly criticized the conclusion. I, for one, think that the ending was absolutely brilliant. The concept that life is fleeting and only takes one day for everything to revise has enthralled many authors into writing memorable novels. I believe this is one of those novels. I am impressed with all the innuendos that are left dangling throughout the novel. By the way, what’s Appel trying to tell us when he consistently mentions Walt Whitman and Herman Melville?  I’m not saying that this work challenges Homer or Joyce, but it is the perfect novel for your local book club discussions. I think that the hoi polloi will embrace this novel; therefore, I highly recommend this novel.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Lets talk about a few one day occurrence novels other than the ones I mentioned in the review. Among Aniya Wells' picks are:

Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf: “The fearless, essential author used one of her most beloved novels to bravely discuss issues relating to mental illness, feminism, human sexuality, existentialism and more. Centered on the Clarissa Dalloway of the title, the book starts with her pondering the decision to marry her husband rather than another man or the woman she loves. Meanwhile, World War I veteran Septimus Smith grappled against post-traumatic stress disorder and symptoms that many literary critics believe parallels the author’s painful battle with bipolar disorder and depression. The eponymous character serves as an outlet for Woolf’s feminist and bisexual leanings, while Smith’s gradual descent provides a scathing commentary on the ways medical professionals rush and marginalize their mentally ill patients. Many of the themes she explores continue to impact today’s society as well.”

Seize the Day (1956) by Saul Bellow: “Like many, many other memorable protagonists created by the incomparable Nobel Prize recipient Saul Bellow, Tommy Wilhelm faces down a particularly grim midlife crisis. Unemployed and isolated from his father, kids and wife — who won’t even grant him the courtesy of a divorce — he spirals into a writhing existential dilemma that only a master such as Bellow could compellingly portray. Set during the 1950s, an era when a clearly defined middle class began coalescing in the United States, Wilhelm’s struggles intend to parallel this shifting societal change. What makes the novel so impressive is how it effortlessly weaves in social commentary, interpersonal reflection and a realistic, appropriately emotional conclusion all within the events of one exceptionally crowded, deeply personal day.”

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K. Dick: “Even those who (unfortunately for them!) never picked up a Philip K. Dick, originally from Illinois, novel in their life still know some elements of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? thanks to Ridley Scott’s iconic film adaptation Blade Runner. As one can probably expect, the movie took some liberties with the original story, though both remain classics in their own right. Dick’s novel presents a day in the life of bounty hunter Rick Deckard, tasked with deactivating some incredibly advanced androids known as Replicants. As time marches on, the protagonist wrestles with some serious questions regarding the nature of life and sentience. With so many ridiculously human robots about, his assignment begins blurring lines between the organic and the technological — a phenomenon that inspires plenty of ethical opining both within and without the covers.”

How’s that for a three pack?

James Joyce on the cover of Time Magazine, 5/08/1939:

MR. MERCEDES

Slowly I turned (the pages?), step by step, inch by inch... Hey Abbott! Yes, at times this slow moving novel by the great Stephen King reminded me of the famous Abbott & Costello Niagara Falls sketch from their 1950’s television show. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a tad but not by much. Remember how exciting The Stand and It was? Well keep remembering. I think Mr. King is writing too many novels at the same time under too many different names. Slow down, you are still the best commercial author out there...oops, did I say that? Okay, I know that I’m being too tough on this author, but seriously, how many chances will I have to criticize one of my favorite authors? All right, the author does reclaim his credibility as the novel finally explodes with action and suspense starting on page 279 (what took you so long?) through the end of the book. During the first 278 pages, I really thought Stephen King lost his ability to provide the reader with apprehension and tension, thus my beginning paragraph rant. So what is the novel about?

A wacko named Brady Hartsfield (he is Hartfield on the inside cover jacket, no ‘s’ in the middle of his last name), who works as an I.T. Tech for a geek squad and as an ice cream man for Mr. Tastey, steals a Mercedes from a Mrs. Trelawney and decides to plow into a crowd of people lined up for a job fair. The results are eight dead and fifteen maimed. He later mentally tortures and convinces the super rich Mrs. Trelawney into believing that she left the keys in her Mercedes and is therefore responsible for all those deaths. She commits suicide. Meanwhile, Bill Hodges, a retired detective, who failed to solve the case (amongst two or three others) sits in his home watching T.V. pondering suicide. Wow, a lot of weak minded people, right? Anyway, one day Bill gets a letter from the wacko stating that he is the Mercedes killer. He wants Bill to contact him on the internet on a super secure site called The Blue Umbrella. This gets Bill out of his doldrums and after giving it some thought contacts Brady Hartsfield (or Hartfield-sorry it’s the editors fault) and types, “Seen a lot of false confessions in my time, but this one’s a dilly. I’m retired but not stupid. Withheld evidence proves you are not the Mercedes Killer. *uck off, *sshole.” Which prompts Brady to think to himself, “You fat *uck, he whispers, unaware that hot tears have begun to spill from his eyes. “You fat stupid useless *uck. It was me! It was me! It was me!” Now you are probably saying to yourself, “I thought you said that it was boring?” Well, believe it or not the story bogs down from here (page 151) until page 279. That’s a 128 pages of trying to keep my eyes open. 

Luckily, page 279 happens, and I wake up big time. Stephen King, you are a sly one. You took a three star novel and made it a four star novel in the last 158 pages. Two of the sidebar characters in the story, Holly Gibney, a twice institutionalized cousin, who has had ‘breaks with reality’, and Jerome Robinson, a grass mower and brilliant student, become big time contributors in pursuing this case. You probably noticed that I like to use a lot of commas and polysyndeton syntax. Anyway, the wacko decides to do one more mass killing. Now, if you have read Stephen King before, you know that the wacko (Brady) could succeed or not. It depends on the author’s mood at the book’s end. I thought this novel was going to ape King’s Lisey's Story, which started out boring and became even more monotonous. Mr. Mercedes wasn’t as good as the two Stephen King novels I mentioned in the first paragraph, or Thinner , one of my personal favorites, but outstanding none the less. One has to wonder how this author can crank out so many noteworthy novels, but he does. Based on the first 151 pages and the last 158, I must recommend this novel.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: Lets talk about my three favorite Stephen King novels mentioned in my review. First there is, The Stand: Goodreads.com says, “This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death."And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript. Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand Complete and Uncut includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.”

Next we have, It: Goodreads.com says, “The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by an eponymous being, which exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It" primarily appears in the form of a clown in order to attract its preferred prey of young children. The novel is told through narratives alternating between two time periods, and is largely told in the third-person omniscient mode. It deals with themes which would eventually become King staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma, and the ugliness lurking behind a façade of traditional small-town values.”

Now for my favorite, Thinner: Amazon.com says, “Billy Halleck, good husband, loving father, is both beneficiary and victim of the American Good Life: he has an expensive home, a nice family, and a rewarding career as a lawyer. But he is also fifty pounds overweight and, as his doctor keeps reminding him, heading into heart attack country. Then, in a moment of carelessness, Billy sideswipes an old gypsy woman as she is crossing the street—and her ancient father passes a bizarre and terrible judgment on him.“Thinner,” the old gypsy man whispers, and caresses his cheeks like a lover. Just one word…but six weeks later and ninety-three pounds lighter, Billy Halleck is more than worried. He’s terrified. And desperate enough for one last gamble…that will lead him to a nightmare showdown with the forces of evil melting his flesh away.”

Now for some Stephen King quotes:

From The Stand: “Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.” 
  
From It : “Maybe there aren't any such things as good friends or bad friends - maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when you're hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they're always worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth dying for too, if that's what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart.” 
  
From Thinner: “Food was becoming more abstract, more aestheticized and compartmentalized-- and indeed, after kaiseki, who can ever go back to Burger King, or even a well-made gourmet sandwich? Instead of food, I longed for other things to swell my body and buoy its lines--- lists of ancient queens, the grave and stately names for the forgotten regions of the sea, the imagined words for desire in hermetic languages; food, on the other hand, was leaving me increasingly unmoved.... I grew thinner and thinner, streamlined, my blood nourished by ever-slighter molecules, some kind of pale elongated light running the length of my body, nightmares detouring it in the most starved, and so-lightly blue-black-bruised, corners of my flesh. In this state of non-health, every step became a performance, each stride an act of contrition, a question and an answer.... On the once-dry, now-flowering branches of my skeletal limbs, the words sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch were being invisibly but indelibly written. I was a festival of new senses.”

Stephen King on the cover of Time Magazine:

PATRIARCH RUN

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

Benjamin Dancer writes a fast paced novel that rivals and apes Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity. Both main characters are government agents of some sort suffering from extreme memory loss. The author claims that this novel is part of The Father Trilogy (this being the third book), but this reviewer had to stretch his imagination to think that this novel had anything to do with being a father. I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy this expeditious page turner, because I did; however I did find some minor flaws, mostly involving gunfire that I’ll talk about later. I think authors that write espionage novels, such as Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger (1989) and Red Storm Rising (1986), make sure there isn’t any continuity errors, especially involving weapons. I’ve read and seen many films that suffered from this malady. Anyway, that being said, this novel almost takes your breathe away, and that is a good thing. I’m a big fan of short chapters and cliffhangers, and Benjamin Dancer specializes in both elements. I found the story a little provocative since the reader wants to know right away what Jack Erikson (our protagonist?) has stashed away and when he will remember where it is. Okay, enough said, how about the story?    

A bomb goes off on a vehicle procession in Washington, D.C., Jack Erikson finds himself wounded, handcuffed, bewildered, amnesiac and pursued by a man with an MP5 submachine gun. Somehow Jack escapes and finds his way to Colorado by instinct (why are other reviewers talking about West Texas?). He finds his son Billy, whom he hasn’t seen in ten years. Killers in black vehicles attack Jack and his son. The villains (are they?) die after an intense gun battle with Jack and Billy. Meanwhile, Jack’s wife Rachel is kidnapped. Who are these people, and what do they want? They seem to think that Rachel knows where Jack is (she hasn’t seen him in ten years) and where he has hidden what they want. Got it so far? Later we find out that Jack stole something from the Chinese and is now being chased by a hired group of Mexican Special Forces, an unnamed USA government agency and by Jack’s ex-boss, a slightly discombobulated Colonel. Billy gets separated from Jack and gets rescued by the authorities and turned over to Sheriff Regan, who is Rachel’s lover. While the Sheriff tries to get Billy to safety, they are attacked by the Mexicans. In a brutal gunfight, the Sheriff and the Mexicans die, while Billy escapes. Don’t think that I’m giving the plot away, because all of this occurs early in the novel. Now Jack tries to free his wife from the kidnappers. He still doesn’t know what’s going on. And I’m not sure who are the good guys or who are the bad guys. Anyway, Mr. Dancer, your writing is first-rate hiding the good, and the bad from the ugly (sounds like a movie).

I thought the novel should’ve had more flashbacks pertaining to Jack and Rachel’s initial encounters, which were interesting, in lieu of all that gunfire. Have faith in your prose; it’s very good. More background or flashbacks on the characters would have added more beef to the story. For instance, Rachel had a ten year relationship with the sheriff and the reader learns almost nothing about it. And what did the Colonel mean on page 262, when he said, "Your dad spent much of the last decade in a prison very few people have heard of." What I’m trying to say is the novel could’ve had a lot more meat on the bones. You had some great ideas, but didn’t follow up on them. These minor defects stopped this very good novel from being great. By the way, as an ex-Marine on a rifle and pistol team, I can tell you that it is impossible to shoot a paper plate at two hundred yards with a service revolver (page 88). I know my review sounds critical, but I did enjoy this novel, even though the war/terrorism genre is not my normal cup of tea. Could have it been better? Yes, but there aren’t that many Clancys, Flemings or le Carres out there. I highly recommend this thriller novel, especially to all the espionage fans.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: I wanted to talk about Benjamin Dancer’s first two books in his trilogy, In Sight of the Sun, and Fidelity, but couldn’t find anything about those books on Amazon, Goodreads, or the internet. I’ll have to email him to find out why. Therefore, lets talk about the two Tom Clancy novels I mentioned in the first paragraph:

Clear and Present Danger (1989): Goodreads says, “CIA man Jack Ryan, hero of Patriot Games, finds that he will probably never have a boring summer: The sudden and surprising assassination of three American officials in Colombia. Many people in many places, moving off on missions they all mistakenly thought they understood. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected finish lines were things that, once decided, were better left unseen. Tom Clancy's new thriller is based on America's war on drugs.”

Red Storm Rising (1986): Goodreads says, "Allah!"

“With that shrill cry, three Muslim terrorists blow up a key Soviet oil complex, creating a critical oil shortage that threatens the stability of the USSR.

To offer the effects of this disaster, members of the Politburo and the KGB devise a brilliant plan of diplomatic trickery - a sequence of events designed to pit the NATO allies against each other - a distraction calculated to enable the Soviets to seize all the oil in the Persian Gulf.

But as this spellbinding story of international intrigue and global politics nears its climax, the Soviets are faced with another prospect, one they hadn't planned on: a full-scale conflict in which nobody can win.”

I didn’t mention it before, but my favorite Clancy novel is The Hunt for Red October (1984): 

Goodreads says, "Here is the runaway bestseller that launched Tom Clancy's phenomenal career. A military thriller so gripping in its action and so convincing in its accuracy that the author was rumored to have been debriefed by the White House. Its theme: the greatest espionage coup in history. Its story: the chase for a top secret Russian missile sub. Lauded by the Washington Post as "breathlessly exciting." The Hunt for Red October remains a masterpiece of military fiction by one of the world's most popular authors, a man whose shockingly realistic scenarios continue to hold us in thrall. Somewhere under the Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision. The Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. And the most incredible chase in history is on…”

The Russian sub heading west:

Parsival or A Knight’s Tale

This is a guest review from Deron O:

I read Richard Monaco’s Parsival or A Knight’s Tale, the first of his Parsival series, many years ago as a teenager, not too long after its initial publication. Monaco's tale is based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's 13th century poem Parzival about Parzival, a knight of King Arthur, who quests for the Holy Grail. I had already read probably a dozen versions of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, such as Le Morte Darthur, Idylls of the King, and The Once and Future King. I was put off by Monaco's version because his was so, so unlike the others. It was raw, visceral, and chivalrous only in the loosest sense of the word. Yet something about his writing style stuck with me after all these years. 

When I learned that he’d written a new Parsival book, Lost Years: The Quest for Avalon, I had to read it. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that book begins at the very moment that this book ends. Because I enjoyed Lost Years, despite its flaws mostly due to poor editing, I located my old copy of Parsival that had since been boxed up and stored away in the basement and gave it a second read.

Parsival is the son of King Gahmuret, and after Gahmuret is slain in battle, Queen Herzelroyd vows to cloister her child from the world, to not raise him as a knight and king as is his birthright in an effort to prevent him from meeting the same fate as his father. Years later, in his teens, Parsival is completely innocent of the ways of the world, not even comprehending death.

One day, while in the woods, he encounters three of King Arthur’s knights, one being Galahad. Given their shiny armor and his mother’s description of God taking “the form of a man as bright as the sun”, Parsival confuses Galahad for God. Galahad quickly disabuses him of this notion. The knights mistake Parsival’s naivete for madness, and tiring of answering Parsival’s questions about knights and anxious to get on their way, one knight sarcastically tells the fool Parsival, “Go to King Arthur...perhaps he’ll make you a knight yourself and you’ll know all these things then.” So, like a child, inexpert at detecting sarcasm and trusting unquestionably the benevolence of others, he goes.

His mother is powerless to stop Parsival. Shortly after he leaves, distressed and distraught, she dies of a broken heart. The serfs Broaditch and Waleis are soon dispatched to bring Parsival back to take the throne. Their pursuit forms a second narrative thread of this story.

Parsival muddles along - aspiring to become the ideal knight, marrying, defending the kingdom from the evil Clinschor and his invaders from across the sea, and questing for the Holy Grail both physically and spiritually. For the most part, he fails. His innocence is often his undoing, most ironically in his physical quest for the Holy Grail. With each encounter, Parsival's innocence fades a bit more. He learns that the knights are not so chivalrous, and after taking part in a battle with King Arthur against Clinschor, he humorously concludes, “War...is stupid.”

In contrast, the lowborn Broaditch demonstrates, in his own way, the chivalry, heroism, and dedication that one would expect from Arthur’s knights. Broaditch and his companions are characters I didn’t think I’d care for much, rather wanting to get back to Parsival’s adventure; however, I found that to be untrue and enjoyed their tale just as much as Parsival’s.

The story moves along at a brisk pace. Chapters are short, often just a page or two. Monaco uses flashbacks and flash-forwards. While this could lead to problems following a story, I did not find that to be the case here. Occasionally, Monaco uses a stream of conscious style or sentence fragments that had me rereading some sections. I don’t mean that to be negative, just noting that the author sometime requires a little more of your attention. Overall, I enjoy Monaco’s writing style, and it is one reason why I decided to revisit his book.

This author and his work deserve more recognition. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the others in this series.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comments: The books in this series are: Parsival or A Knight's Tale; The Grail War; Final Quest; Blood and Dreams; Lost Years: The Quest for Avalon.

Both Parsival or a Knight's Tale and The Final Quest were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. 

There is very little information about Richard Monaco on the internet, but I was able to locate this interview.

Wolfram von Eschenbach's poem Parzival is also the basis for Richard Wagner's famous opera Parsifal. Wagner's opera Lohengrin was also inspired by that poem. Lohengrin is the son of Parzival.

Lohengrin figures important in Monaco's series. Lohengrin is a baby at the end of Parsival, and oddly, while Lost Years begins moments after the conclusion of Parsival, Lohengrin is magically a teenager. I recall Monaco explaining in the aforementioned interview that it was necessary for the plot, where Lohengrin plays a rebellious teen fighting to not walk in his father's footsteps.

the BOYS in the BOAT

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the Langer See. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream. Okay, I changed "stream" to "Langer See", but that’s the lake where our boys beat the heavily favored Germans in The Olympics of 1936. Take that, Hitler! Daniel James Brown wrote an interesting non-fiction book about the nine gold medalist from Seattle’s University of Washington (I’ll call it the U of W) rowing team, featuring the life of rower Joe Rantz. This book reminds me of Laura Hillenbrand’s book, Seabiscuit, an unlikely champion thoroughbred horse, who along with the rowers from Seattle, Washington gave the American people something to cheer about in the aftermath of the Great Depression. It’s hard to believe that the mostly overlooked rowing program at the U of W was able to beat well trained east coast Ivy league schools, Syracuse, Navy and two-time defending Olympic champion, California, for the 1936 National Championship and Olympic trials. It was gritty country boys from Seattle versus the elite programs of the east coast. And congratulations to the savvy Mr. Brown for making this true story read like a work of fiction.

The book opens in the fourth year of the Great Depression (1933) when one out of four able bodied workers was jobless. Herbert Hoover is out and FDR is in. The story recollects Joe Rantz’s distressing life: Joe’s mom passed away at a young age; his dad, Harry, freaks out and leaves Joe abandoned but comes back to marry a woman named Thula, who hates Joe and ultimately kicks Joe out of the family. Joe falls in love with a girl named Joyce and tries to survive on his own. Joe works many exhausting jobs to save enough money to attend the U of W. He tries out for the nine man rowing team headed by Freshman coach Tom Bolles and makes the squad along with others who have never rowed before. The Freshmen are a success and catch the eye of the programs head coach, Al Ulbrickson. In an intriguing sidebar story, we learn about the school’s builder of their racing shells, George Pocock. The ensuing years are up and down for Joe as he struggles to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. FDR also struggles to turn the USA’s economy around while facing political foes and two Dust Bowls that threaten the ecology and agriculture industry. I thought Mr. Brown did a yeoman’s job of blending the country's problems with Seattle’s difficulties.

Meanwhile the story jumps back and forth from Seattle to Berlin as Hitler gets ready to host the Olympics while his propaganda maestro, the diminutive Joseph Goebbels, attempts to spread perfumed fog across the globe: all is well in peaceful Germany and to paraphrase, “willkommen athletes of all races and countries.” (Really?) Hitler hires German architect Werner March to knock down the old Olympic stadium (the original was never used because of the WWI cancellation of the Olympic games) and build a state of art stadium, which is still in use today. At the same time, Hitler authorizes Leni Riefenstahl (Goebbels is in love with her?) to make a propaganda movie about his 1934 Nuremberg Rally. On page 142, we find that, “The film that would emerge from her labors, Triumph of the Will, would come to define the iconography of Nazi Germany. To this day it stands as a monument to the ability of propaganda to foster absolute power and to justify unfettered hatred.”

Needless to say, as the boys from the U of W varsity team rowed towards their goal of Olympic gold, it became obvious how they were doing it. On page 241, Mr. Brown tells us, “There was a straightforward reason for what was happening. The boys in the Clipper had been winnowed down by punishing competition, and in the winnowing a kind of common character had issued forth: they were all skilled, they were all tough, they were all fiercely determined, but they were also good-hearted. Every one of them had come from humble origins or been humbled by the ravages of the hard times in which they had grown up.” This is truly a feel good "turnaround of fortunes" story for nine young men and an nearly curmudgeon head coach. I’ve left out most of this historical story, especially all the ins and outs of rowing that I learned by reading this book (do you know what it means when the rowers have ‘the swing’?) Anyway, grab a copy of this bestseller and enjoy.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: I was curious if any of the “boys” were still alive. Sadly, the last member died in July 2009. The following is the story (originally published 7/24/2009) from the Seattle Times reporting the death of H. Roger Morris:

“The last surviving link to one of Seattle's greatest sports achievements has died.

H. Roger Morris, 94, who manned the bow position on the University of Washington crew that won the eight-oared gold medal at Adolph Hitler's 1936 Olympics in Berlin, died Wednesday at his home in Maple Valley.

Mr. Morris was the only remaining member of the crew, four of whom lived into their 90s. Bonded forever by their come-from-behind victory in the last Olympics before World War II wiped out the Games in 1940 and 1944, the rowers for many years had annual, informal reunions, one with families, the other for themselves only.

"I couldn't help but think, he was going to miss the reunion this year," said Bob Ernst, longtime rowing coach at Washington. "He was all by himself."

Ernst called Mr. Morris "a very humble guy, such a good guy. I don't think the gold medal ever became the focus of his life."

A daughter, Joan Mullen, said her father lived most of his years in the Seattle area. He earned a degree at Washington and became a mechanical engineer, specializing in dredging at Manson Construction.

Mr. Morris grew up in Fremont, attended Lincoln High School, and often walked to or from classes at the UW, his daughter said.

"Fremont was just plain poor then," she said, referring to the Depression era. "One year, he had an old Model-T [Ford] from his father that he was able to drive to school. Then his father needed it for someone who worked for him.

"He'd go to classes, go work out and then walk home. He said he got rides once in a while."

All the members of that Olympics-winning shell were from Western Washington, and none had rowed until going to the UW. Mullen recalls her father being pointed toward the sport by teammate Joe Rantz, who died at 93 in 2007.

The rowers had a phenomenal 1936 season, but had to raise money to help finance their trip. They joined Olympic teammates in New York on a steamship for the eight-day journey to Germany.

There, they conquered adversity. Hitler, three years before his invasion of Poland, was in the stands, and a deafening crowd of 25,000 chanted "Deutschland! Deutschland!" Meanwhile, stroke Don Hume of Olympia had become ill during the Games.

In the final, the Germans were placed in Lane 1 and the U.S. in Lane 6, where, coxswain Bob Moch told The Times in 2004, "the wind was blowing and the water was rough."

The Americans got a late start and because of the crowd noise, relied on Moch rapping against the boat for cadence.

Legend has grown that Hume had temporarily passed out, eyes closed, but snapped back to consciousness, something Hume disputed in a 1996 Times story.

Last at the 1,000-meter halfway mark, the boat overtook Germany and finally Italy in the last 10 strokes as Moch called for a furious strokes-per-minute rate that he estimated at 44.

"At the time, we weren't a major-league sports city," Ernst said. "We hadn't won a national championship in football or basketball. People identified with the university rowing team.

"They were as good as they could be in the era they got to do it."

Mullen said her father cut grass regularly on a rider mower at his Maple Valley ranch within a month of his death.

He was joined by his three children and most of his grandchildren at a restaurant for his 94th birthday only last week.

He rebuffed any suggestion of moving off his property, she said. "He'd say, 'That's fine,' Ms. Mullen recalled, " 'but I'm not leaving.' "

Mr. Morris is survived by two daughters, Mullen and Susan Hanshaw, and a son, James Morris, all living in the Seattle area; seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Monday at Maple Valley Presbyterian Church.”

Picture of the fabulous nine: