What Are You Reading

[Trenchfriend]

@Fading Fast
A lot of psychological and philosophical points.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@Fading Fast
After 110 pages, it's getting even better.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Young in Heart by I. A. R. Wylie first published in 1938


To enjoy the wonderfully charming The Young in Heart, a reader has to be open to a modern fable about a family of amoral grifters being exposed to kindness that has them questioning their way of life. It's a tale of goodness lighting the path.

It only works because the grifters aren't mean spirited, but morally adrift. Mom and pop – Sahib and Marmy – took to sca*mming when their marginal acting/vaudeville careers failed, but they realized their talents for creating characters and pretense could be employed in other ways.

Many years later, now with two children of marrying age – Richard and George Anne – the kids are trying to gold-dig their way to wealth, not only for themselves, but for the entire family. Their morals are suspect, but this is a family that sticks together.

We meet this perforce peripatetic crew when they've been "asked to leave" a town on the Riviera because Sahib has been card-sharking again – a thing all resort towns had to police. Leaving also upends Richard's possibly advantageous engagement to a rich, none-too-bright girl.

George Anne, too, had a marriage option – and to a wealthy man, Duncan McGrath – but this no-nonsense Scotsman told George Anne in no uncertain terms that he loved her but would not give a red cent to her family. George Anne, with a revealing excess of anger, rejected him.

Still, the forced trip is taken in stride by the family; they've been here before. Now on a train to England, a few deft moves later and they are ensconced in a first-class train compartment as guests of a wealthy elderly lady, Miss Ellen Fortune, happy to have the brood for company.

A few more moves and the homeless clan are houseguests of Miss Fortune, who usually feels forlorn in the mansion she only recently inherited from a boyfriend of her youth. The family believes they are winning, but Miss Fortune is thrilled for their company.

George Anne, the smartest and most rational of the crew, soon sees a bigger opportunity than just sca*mming room and board for a time, when she realizes how much "the old lady" likes the family. George Anne is thinking "heirs, wills, and permanent wealth."

Now "the game" is to convince "the old lady" that the family is what it claims to be – good people who've had some bad luck – hoping she'll want to "help" them when she departs this earth. It's an audacious plan, but the payoff could be huge and beats marrying for money.

To that end, Sahib and Richard half-heartedly look for jobs, while George Anne, and to some extent Marmy, act like normal, respectable women. Here's where some fable magic starts to work its way into the story.

You'll want to see it develop fresh, but getting a job, earning an honest paycheck, and paying one's bills can actually make a person feel better about oneself.

In one of those only-in-a-fable wonderful happenings, it turns out Sahib's gift for sca*mming also makes him a good, honest salesman. And Richard, once he tries it, enjoys the rigours of office work and engineering; enough to even enroll in night school to advance his career.

All doesn't go smoothly, though, as Miss Fortune might be kind hearted and gullible, but her sharp lawyer isn't. As always, when the legal machinations move to the clinches, a lot of twists happen.

The strength of Wylie's fun little book is not its ending or its estate-planning issues; the fun is its characters, and here Wylie shines. You'll enjoy the family, but it's really a story about the kids and really about George Anne.

Yes, you'll smile as Richard and Sahib realize that an honest living is not such a bad thing to earn. And you'll cheer along as sad Miss Fortune gets a late-in-life spirit lift from this kooky brood, but the real magic happens around George Anne.

There's an honesty about how hard it is for her to admit, even to herself, how dishonest she's been about her feelings for McGrath. Miss Ellen, having missed her one chance at true love – he's the one who willed her his estate decades later – tries to enlighten George Anne.

George Anne believes she's the most cold-blooded of the lot, but as the family improves and their estate opportunities wax and wane – and with Miss Ellen as a signpost – she begins to admit her true feelings somewhat and only to herself – the hardest step of all.

Will there be enough time? Will Miss Fortune's will get updated? Will it matter? Will Sahib and Richard "stick" at work? Will George Anne take the next step that honesty demands? Or will the window close and the family slip back into its old grifting ways?

What Wylie did was turn a story about a family of grifters into a tale of hope and redemption. For the reader, the fun is the spirit of the book and the insanity yet honesty of the characters. The tension hovers, though, as the family's improvements often wobble.

The novel The Young in Heart was first serialized in newspapers (normal for that era, The House of Mirth, one of the great novels of the 20th century, started life the same way ), then it was turned into a motion picture – and a good one, but with a different ending from the book.

The best path, as always, is to read the book first and then watch the movie, but it works in reverse, too, because the strength of Wylie's novel is not its story, climax, or literary prowess; its strength is its imagination, its joie de vivre, its belief in human redemption.

Its strength is its charm.


P.S. My comments on the equally charming movie here: #32,142

 

[Biff42]

I purchased a book called On Any Sunday 40, which is a book about the vintage clothing archive of its author, Andrea Ventura. I follow Andrea on Instagram. It's a beautiful book with a lot of history on the brands and styles.

I purchased it directly from Italy and did not have to pay tariffs for delivery in the US.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Finished Francois Mauriac - Le Noeud de vipères (1932).

Really good! A deep psychological study about the upcoming human relationship problems in the rising capitalism of the early 1800s. Selfishness, arrogance, mistrusting, hate, personal reckoning.

But the story got a late twist!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Now started Martin Andersen Nexö - "Ditte menneskebarn" (1920).

 

[Fading Fast]

Table for Two by Amor Towles, first published in 2024


Stories pour out of Amor Towles, author of several engaging novels, including the wonderful A Gentleman in Moscow. Here, in the omnibus Table for Two, Towles opens with several short stories before moving on to a novella, a sequel to his successful debut novel Rules of Civility.

One senses Towles has made a close study of fiction writing, as his short stories and novels are incredibly well-crafted tales that would make any creative writing professor proud. If there's a weakness – and it's a very minor one – sometimes his narratives end abruptly.

In his opening short stories, there's a touch of Fitzgerald's jaded look at the 1920s Jazz Age brought forward to New York in the 1990s when, like that prior period, money flowed freely, Wall Street soared, and culture broke loose from some of its traditional moorings.

All are worth reading, but two of the strongest are the one about a bookseller who ropes a young man into a crooked scheme to sell hard-to-find “signed” first editions, and the one about an arrogant Wall Streeter who bullies his way to shame and disappointment in the art world.

Look also for the outstanding one about the random travelers who find one another in an airport during a storm. One becomes the other's de facto AA sponsor because of a wife who can command actions through well-intentioned emotional blackmail all over the phone. She's fantastic.

The stories have a very 1990s era feel, which seems tame compared to our modern high-pitched, always-on anger. Who knows, had we had the social media tools then that we have now, the 1990s might have been just as angry, but we didn't, so it isn't – and it's refreshing.

Towles wraps up his omnibus with the novella Eve in Hollywood, which follows the life of one of the characters from his debut novel. Eve, physically and emotionally scarred by the end of that one, arrives a bit adrift in La-La Land, but becomes stronger under adversity.

Set in the 1930s, its plot – not so much its style – has a film noir feel. It is also just a wonderful trip through that golden age of Hollywood with characters like David O. Selznick stopping by and Olivia de Havilland playing a major role.

It's an engaging tale of blackmail, private investigators, Mickey Finns, vice cops, homicide cops, and studio "fixers" ensuring stars' reputations remain squeaky clean. Classic movie fans will particularly enjoy the romp through old Tinseltown.

Towles has let Eve rest since her exhausting outing in Hollywood, but one imagines the author is not finished with his early creation. Eve's still a young woman in the late 1930s; it would be wonderful to see what this smart girl does with herself in World War II and beyond.

Towles tells stories – smart, thoughtful, well-researched period stories. You can jump in with any of his books, but if you're new to him, start with his debut novel. If you've already read that one, Table for Two is a fun one to snack on before fully diving into another of his novels.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Martin Andersen Nexö - "Ditte menneskebarn" (1920) is comfortable to read and has nice short chapters!

 

[Trenchfriend]

After 70 pages getting better!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Finally stopped Martin Andersen Nexö - "Ditte menneskebarn" (1920), because my GDR-exemplar has indeed some unprinted pages over then next 120 pages! And also the story is much too slow.

 

[jchance]

The Dial, vol. 1-4 (1840-44). I’ve always been a big fan of Transcendentalists, especially Emerson and Thoreau. I’ve read most of their books, and I now finally have the time to dive into the Dial. I am about 200 pages into vol. 1 and love it so far. Very easy read. The writings are very much like Emerson’s. It’s one of those books I wish I’ve read it sooner.

 

[apabarn]

Emerson is one of those writers you can pick up anywhere and still get something out of. The Dial feels like the sort of thing you think you already know until you actually sit down and read it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Vintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday Anthology


If you buy Christmas story anthologies, you just have to accept that there will be overlap – a nickel for every copy of A Christmas Carol sitting on an anthology fan's shelf could make one rich – so it's really the "not famous" stories in the collection that matter most.

In Vintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday Anthology, you get some wonderful classics – the just-noted Dickens' favorite, 'Twas the Night before Christmas, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Gift of the Magi, which are fun to revisit – but you also get some outstanding less-famous stories.

William Dean Howells' Christmas Every Day is a charming lesson in appreciating special things in small doses, just as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Christmas: Or, the Good Fairy, published in 1850, reminds us that lamenting the excess of gift-giving versus helping the needy is not new.

You'll also find a couple of classics from L. Frank Baum proving that he was so much more than just the author of The Wizard of Oz, as well as Washington Irving's Old Christmas essays reminding us that Christmas traditions were always in need of "saving."

A lesser-known-but-engaging entry is Christmas: A Story by Zona Gale. Written in 1912, it, too, shows that lamenting the commercialization of Christmas is not new, but in a town whose one factory closed, economic hardship leads to a surprising decision: the town will skip Christmas.

A petition is circulated and voluntary signees agree not to celebrate Christmas – no gifts, no cards, no trees, no carols, no cut-out cookies. But when one of the advocates of the petition learns her six-year-old orphan nephew is coming to live with her, a fresh light rises in the east.

Gale's tale washes over you. Yes, it's obvious, but it's in a Christmas anthology. To that end, don't overlook the aforementioned classics like the Velveteen Rabbit as its timeless and touching story hits you anew each time you read it – the words are always the same, but you've changed.

As a child, you, perhaps, enjoy thinking about the toys in the story living in a parallel universe with hierarchies and human concerns; as an adult, you realize how much a special toy, like a stuffed animal, can mean to you. It's the same words, but a new story to an older you.

With Christmas anthologies, you look at the stories in the table of contents and make a call. If you're on the fence with Vintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday Anthology, go for it: you'll enjoy a few you probably don't know as well as revisiting some old favorites.

 

[Vfit]

I’m reading a fun novel involving a sharp dressed old man, Theo of Golden. Only 25% in, but a good story so far with lots of interesting characters.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Continuing Alberto Moravia - "Un'Altra Vita" (short stories, 1973).

 

[Trenchfriend]

It's still good!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Reread Balzac - "Le Chef-d'Oeuvre inconnu", Chapter 2 "Catherine Lescault" (1831).

 

[Harp]

Robert Marro's concise Malachi Martin; in the shadows of the Vatican; having paused Martin's
Windswept House to gain added authorial perspective. I wish this slim Jim was longer, but the book jacket
looks promising. Also, another go with Stanford Levinson's An Argument Open To All; reading The Federalist In the 21st Century. A facetious comparison to Pollock's Spinoza before another try with The Ethics but Levinson
reminds me of my Criminal Law prof who forced my transfer to another law school. Rounding up the bunch is The Dream of Reason; Western Philosophy from the Greeks to The Renaissance. Anthony Gottlieb, author.

Prevost-Leo XIV, hasn't proved easy papal read, so I started Austen Ivereigh's Francis bio, The Great Reformer,
to get some perspective on Prevost. Still elusive as mercury dropped atop a mirror. Dolan's ouster in New York rather surprised me considering he had championed Prevost's candidacy in Conclave. And Blase Cupich here in Chicago is still chaired.... A mixed bag, Leo is a puzzle.

 

[Fading Fast]

Christmas at Fairacre by Miss Read, first published in 1992


Christmas at Fairacre is one of a series of novels and short stories about English country life by Miss Read, the pen name of Dora Saint – a popular postwar novelist. These "simple" stories engage because of Read's perceptive observations and the quiet nuances of her characters.

They are also relaxing as they take you to an England now gone, but where a rural town was a reasonably self-contained unit; where people knew each others' families generationally; and where the train, radio, and newspaper, not the internet, connected you with the rest of the world.

The residents aren't backwards, they just made a conscious choice to stay in Fairacre or return after living for a time in a large city like London. Sometimes you have to get away to appreciate what you have – if what you have is ultimately what you want.

In the first tale, a single woman, Miriam Quinn, in her thirties and with a good job as the private secretary to a businessman, rents an "apartment" attached to an isolated rural house. The "apartment" was first built for an elderly relative who has since passed.

Ms. Quinn wants the quiet and isolation that she doesn't get in her "in town" apartment, which would be quite quiet and isolated for most people. For her first Christmas in her new home and with some time off, she plans to spend it, by choice, alone doing some redecorating.

In the classic tradition of "the best laid plans...," her brother, a married pastor with three young children, calls and asks her to come immediately and help run his household over Christmas because his wife has taken ill and it's a busy time for him for obvious reasons.

She's not thrilled to have her quiet Christmas interrupted, but she can't say no out of love and obligation, so off she goes to the chaos of her brother's household. With his wife in the hospital and two adolescent girls and a two-year-old boy, she's walking into a domestic storm.

If this was a Hallmark story, she'd come in, do a few nice things and everybody would be happy, but Read is smarter than that. Ms. Quinn has to clean the house, care for the children, make all the meals, and prepare the family for Christmas, while also visiting her sister-in-law in hospital.

The enjoyment is in the challenges that are real but not insurmountable. It's also in seeing a character like Ms. Quinn grow as her shorthand opinion of her sister-in-law changes after she walks a mile in her shoes. It's reality meets easy opinion, and reality wins.

Even better, there aren't wholesale changes – it's not that now Ms. Quinn wants marriage and a brood or can't wait to visit again – it's just that she leaves with her perspective changed and her mind open to more opportunities.

In the other major story, a war-widowed mother and her two daughters live with the mother's also widowed mother in a cottage in a small village. It's a home of all women and Read shows them as quite self-sufficient, but still missing their husbands and the help of a man in the house.

What is wonderfully not modern is that the women can admit to themselves that there are advantages to having men, but these are not weak women who can't fend for themselves. It's a nuance – or maybe reality is the better word – lost to our strident modern authors.

It is not, though, an intentionally political story at all. Instead, its plot is just the family preparing for Christmas – the girls are excited for presents and the treats – the mother and grandmother are equally excited to be giving the girls this Christmas, plus they like the treats too.

Then an offbeat event occurs that makes the title of this long short story, "The Christmas Mouse," a metaphor in a very real sense. You'll want to see it fresh, but Read does a good job of weaving in some Christmas charity without becoming treacly.

You don't come to Christmas at Fairacre for hard-hitting realism, but it's not Hallmark sentimentality either: there's an honesty and, often, grit sitting on or right below the surface of these pleasant stories. It's that slight edge, which is what makes them special.

They are also just a pleasant, easy Christmas-mood-setting read. Maybe Fairacre would drive you nuts in reality, but reading about it at night after a tumultuous day, makes it sound wonderful.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Just finished “Captain Blood” by Rafael Sabatini. Published in 1922.
If you are looking for swashbuckling adventure in the Caribbean during the golden age of piracy, look no further. This book is considered to be the classic title of the genre.
The story starts when Doctor Peter Blood finds himself giving medical help to a wounded rebel during some obscure uprising in England. Doctor Blood was not political in the least, he was only giving humanitarian aid. Nonetheless, he is convicted of treason and sentenced to slavery in Barbados. Soon enough, he finds an opportunity to steal a Spanish ship, thereby making his escape and becoming a pirate. He really wants to regain his good name and rejoin society, but it is not to be. Spain, England, and France are all fighting each other in the Caribbean and Captain Blood does not miss a chance to engage in maritime battles and capture lots of treasure. Significantly, he goes to some trouble not to attack English ships, although he is officially named as an escaped slave and a pirate.

Captain Blood is actually a complex character. Although forced into a life of piracy, he considers himself to be a gentleman and goes to great lengths to fight fairly and honorably. There is, of course, also a woman to be courted and Captain Blood has a thing or two to teach us jaded readers about chivalry. (My only complaint about Captain Blood is that he can be a bit arrogant at times. He is damned good and he knows it.)

In short, it’s a very fun and well written yarn with a solid storyline. The sea battles are epic and there is plenty of daring and bravery, cannon broadsides and swordplay. I wish I had read this when I was 16. I bought the “Penguin Classics” edition. Captain Blood is pretty much responsible for the entire “gentleman pirate” theme in fiction and cinema. Recommeded.

”Glorious… I never enjoyed a novel more than Captain Blood.” —-Norman Mailer.