Friday, November 22, 2024

WHEN the TREES SAY NOTHING

Thomas Merton. WHEN the TREES SAY NOTHING. Kathleen Deignan, Ed. Sorin, 2003.

I must have found this book on my impromptu trip to Seattle last fall. A beautiful cover, small volume with "good hand", and I've turned to it in this time of confusion and fear associated with American politics. I note that Merton documented an incident when the monastery where he lived in Kentucky was being circled by a military helicopter. I read this as a nod to the conspiracy theory that Merton was assassinated by US government agents while he was attending a conference in Asia, because of his vocal anti-Vietnam War position. But this is not part of this book. These are excerpts from his personal journals, observations of the natural world, and the gratitude he felt and the pleasure he gained by being able to have solitary time to write. 





IN the COMPANY of CHEERFUL LADIES.

Alexander McCall Smith. IN the COMPANY of CHEERFUL LADIES. 

Another ladies' meet up book club selection (from the FVRL collection). I have read one or two earlier titles in this series. Cosy. I always wonder what the people of Botswana think about them as this idea of creating characters and stories about people from other cultures has been debated here in Canada for many years. I really identified with Mma Prescious Ramo... the head of the detective agency, and her personal challenges--intervening in a young person's bad decisions, coping with a violent ex, solving mysteries the boring way (phone calls) and the wise way, by using her intuition and her contacts and her understanding of motivation and her ability to select talented employees. 

Another part of my enjoyment is my recent immersion in Africa-set stories. My reading had been limited: CRY, the BELOVED COUNTRY, HEART of DARKNESS, OUT of AFRICA, and Maya Angelou's account of an unfortunate marriage to an Egyptian man. And M.G. Vassanji's The IN-BETWEEN WORLD of VIKRAM LALL. Oh yes, SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL. More recently, I enjoyed Prince Harry's account  in SPARE of the solace he has found in the natural environment and press-free world, and in Trevor Noah's wonderful memoir BORN A CRIME. This is another perspective. Female. Entrepreneur. Working Class, with points of connection--pumpkins, shebeens, co-workers, crime, and finding suitable partners.



Sunday, November 10, 2024

The STATEMENT

Brian Moore. The STATEMENT. Plume, 1996.

Found at the hospital book sale. Hunting Nazi Collaborators in France in  May, 1989. Explores reasons why the church gave asylum to PB, one specific wartime murderer of Jews, twice commuted, then re-charged with crimes against humanity. Explores corruption in church, police, and military.




The GREY WOLF

 Louise Penny. The GREY WOLF. Minotaur, 2024 Borrowed from a friend who had borrowed it from the library. No due date, making reading it so...