"Twelve 6-Line Poems"

over in Jackdaw's Nest.

OTC 9: "A Woman in Jerusalem" -- Israel

This is my 9th novel for the Orbis Terrarum 2009 Challenge.

A Woman in Jerusalem by A. B. Yehoshua, originally published in Hebrew in 2004, English translation by Hillel Halkin published in 2006.

Following a terrorist bombing in a market in Jerusalem, the body of one victim -- a woman in her late 40s -- is not claimed by anyone, nor are there any identifying papers found on her except for the stub of a paycheck from a large bakery. An article by a muckraking journalist takes the bakery to task for not having come forward to identify the victim nor to have assisted in locating her family nor even in burying her. Stung by these accusations, the elderly head of the bakery assigns his director of human resources to identify the woman, to make whatever arrangements are necessary for her burial, and to locate and compensate her family.

Although this introduction to the plot sounds as if it could easily lead to a grim, dark, pessimistic novel, in fact the work is much the opposite. While not exactly a comedy, it is filled with wry, surprisingly gentle humor as the unnamed human resources director tracks down the identify of the woman and untangles her complicated story, becoming more and more involved in her life as he does, and gaining some much-needed perspective into his own life in the process. There are pain and sorrow in the story as it unfolds, but there is also a deeply human compassion that serves to make the lives of the characters -- particularly that of an anonymous cleaning woman -- moving and meaningful. I highly recommend this book.

Just in Time for Halloween

Fungi from Yuggoth

Sonnets of the Midnight Hours

New in "Jackdaw's Nest"

"Twelve Short Canadian Poems."

OTC 8: "The Leopard" -- Italy

This is my 8th novel for the Orbis Terrarum 2009 Challenge.

The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, originally published in Italian in 1958, translation by Archibald Colquhoun published 1960.

This novel is considered one of the most important 20th century Italian novels. The story focuses on an aristocratic Sicilian family, the Salinas, which is in the process of decline during the mid-19th century, the period of the Risorgimento. During this time, Italy was emerging from its medieval form of numerous small, fragmented, and conflicting states dominated by feudal aristocracies often governed by foreign nations and instead becoming a single republican nation with a unified government with strong democratic views which led to the eventual disappearance of the aristocracy.

The central figure of the novel is Prince Fabrizio, head of the Salina family who thinks of himself as "The Leopard" which is the family crest. Fabrizio, though he recognizes that the family wealth has declined, still conducts himself for the most part as a titled and entitled member of the aristocracy and sees himself as just living up to the obligations of his position in society. In truth, he fails to understand how society is changing and that his family and his social class are the last decaying vestiges of a vanished world. He convinces himself that the only changes which are occurring are that older families are being replaced by newer, rising families and that the feudal class system itself will continue to exist, a view that brings him considerable comfort. It also afflicts him with a sense of inertia that prevents him, for instance, from accepting a position in the newly-formed Senate, a position which would have allowed him a voice in the new government and new society which are emerging from the ruins of the old.

In contrast to Fabrizio is his nephew Tancredi whose aristocratic inheritance is limited to a physically decayed palace and a title the value of which is disappearing. Recognizing the bankruptcy of the aristocracy, Tancredi throws himself in the tide of political reform, accepting various positions allied with the leading reformers which makes him an important political figure and marrying into a wealthy merchant family providing him with the financial resources to pursue his ambitions.

Over the course of the novel (which runs from 1860 through 1910), we watch the respective fortunes of the two men and their families. Lampedusa doesn't particularly seem to approve more of one over the other, although he does appear to regret the loss to society of what Fabrizio and his family could have contributed had they been more perceptive and more adaptable, as Tancredi proves to be. I would recommend this novel; it is a particularly good example of a novel which illustrates the kind of transformation that much of European society -- not just Italy -- underwent during the course of the 19th century, preparing the way for the even more drastic changes of brought about by the 20th century.

October Is

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Some Non-Fiction I've Enjoyed Recently

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami (originally published in Japanese in 2007; english translation by Philip Gabriel published 2008) -- A journal Murakami kept while preparing to run in the 2005 New York Marathon. Interesting in that it's both about running and writing, as he frequently talks about both similarities and interactions between his running and writing.

Serve It Forth by M. F. K. Fisher (1937) -- Fisher was one of the finest writers about food and eating of the past century, and this was her first book, a collection of essays (as almost all of her books were) originally published in 1937. Fascinating reading.

The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series -- and America's Heart -- During the Great Depression by John Heidenry (2007) -- The story of the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals team, focusing particularly, although not exclusively, on Dizzy Dean and the ups and downs of the '34 season -- including Dean's two personal strikes against the Cardinals -- a season culminating with the Cardinals defeating the Detroit Tigers in a fight-to-the-last-minute seven-game World Series. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry by Stephen Burt (2009) -- A collection of essays about over two dozen individual contemporary poets and how to approach their work, as well as more general introductory essays on how to approach reading contemporary poetry. I recommend it highly to anyone interested in current poetry.

A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin (2002) -- A good brief (~200 pages) introduction to the Constitutional Convention and the shaping of the Constitution.

Decision In Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 (1986) by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier -- A more detailed account of the convention and the process by which the Constitution was shaped.

(NOTE: I have also just obtained Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman (2009), an even more detailed and quite scholarly account of the Constitutional Convention; and Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack Rakove (1996), a study of the intellectual bases of the Constitution; I'm looking forward to reading both in the near future.)

James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski (2006) -- The story of Madison's efforts to insure the ratification of the Constitution despite serious opposition, especially that of Patrick Henry. Madison had originally opposed the idea of a Bill of Rights as part of the Constitution but came to realize that a promise to amend the Constitution with such a Bill would be the only way to secure the Constitution's ratification. But he found himself confronting extreme opposition -- orchestrated by Henry -- in being elected to the First Congress and faced a series of uphill battles in order to gain election so he could propose such a bill. I had no idea of the complex political situation that existed at the time, nor of the violent opposition to the Constitution as drafted that almost led to its failure to achieve ratification. For me, the story was remarkable; I have a far greater appreciation of what Madison and his allies went through to gain ratification than I ever had before.

Marking the Passage of the Equinox

Fifteen Autumn Poems over in The Jackdaw's Nest.

Shiny Things Over in Jackdaw's Nest

Twelve 12-Line Poems: Round 3.

Something New

An experiment: The Recipe Box.