From Auntie Anne, aka Anne (Fairbanks) Bohlke:
Since I’m suggesting this book club, I’ll go first. I’m doing ok psychologically in the current situation, most of the time; but I’m having trouble concentrating. So I’m savoring less demanding literature that I’ve read before. I’m reading—rereading—John Sanford’s Prey novels, featuring detective Lucas Davenport. I admit it. These are mass-market, only semi-“worthwhile”* novels. But Sanford puts together a good plot (so important, Aristotle tells us), brings memorable characters to life, gives them dialogue that’s fun to read, and constructs a world where good triumphs, sort of, over evil. It’s mainly reading to escape, but putting myself into these characters’ shoes helps me to be empathetic, I think.
When I crave more intellectual fare, I grab a Dorothy Sayers mystery. A Lord Peter Wimsey novel. Strong Poison, Clouds of Witness, The Nine Tailors. Escape reading again, but this time with genteel British characters from an earlier era, the 1930s; in contrast to middle-American Lucas Davenport in the contemporary United States. Sayers constructs characters to whom she gives delightful, witty dialogue. Her narrators are witty as well. The downside of her novels is the casual, dreadful prejudice and snobbery that lurks at the edges. Her novels are products of their time, including attitudes that today make us gasp in horror. These days I enjoy Sayers’ language and the wit, and I yell at her characters when they reveal upper-crust bigotry. This yelling is cathartic, which alleviates cabin fever, and maybe helps me to be a better person.
I recommend both Sanford and Sayers, with these cautions: Sanford’s villains are grotesques. Sanford’s crime descriptions (brief but necessarily vivid) might offend some readers. Sayers’s writing sometimes sounds old-fashioned. The prejudices are infuriating.
Enough about my reading. Too much about my reading. What about yours (you don’t need to go on and on like I did)? What are you reading? Do you recommend it?
I can’t wait to find out!
When I crave more intellectual fare, I grab a Dorothy Sayers mystery. A Lord Peter Wimsey novel. Strong Poison, Clouds of Witness, The Nine Tailors. Escape reading again, but this time with genteel British characters from an earlier era, the 1930s; in contrast to middle-American Lucas Davenport in the contemporary United States. Sayers constructs characters to whom she gives delightful, witty dialogue. Her narrators are witty as well. The downside of her novels is the casual, dreadful prejudice and snobbery that lurks at the edges. Her novels are products of their time, including attitudes that today make us gasp in horror. These days I enjoy Sayers’ language and the wit, and I yell at her characters when they reveal upper-crust bigotry. This yelling is cathartic, which alleviates cabin fever, and maybe helps me to be a better person.
I recommend both Sanford and Sayers, with these cautions: Sanford’s villains are grotesques. Sanford’s crime descriptions (brief but necessarily vivid) might offend some readers. Sayers’s writing sometimes sounds old-fashioned. The prejudices are infuriating.
Enough about my reading. Too much about my reading. What about yours (you don’t need to go on and on like I did)? What are you reading? Do you recommend it?
I can’t wait to find out!