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  1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497</id><updated>2024-10-06T22:32:58.497-05:00</updated><category term="Crime fiction"/><category term="international crime fiction"/><category term="fiction"/><category term="Arturo Perez-Reverte"/><category term="China"/><category term="Malcolm Bradbury"/><category term="Nick Hornby"/><category term="Qiu Xiaolong"/><category term="Henning Mankell"/><category term="Philip Kerr"/><category term="Robert Littell"/><category term="Spain"/><category term="thriller"/><category term="Australia"/><category term="CIA"/><category term="David Lodge"/><category term="Dennis Lehane"/><category term="Green Chemistry"/><category term="Magdalen Nabb"/><category term="Mexico"/><category term="Music"/><category term="Police Procedural"/><category term="Robert Wilson"/><category term="Sweden"/><category term="environment"/><category term="Believer"/><category term="Books"/><category term="Cara Black"/><category term="EPA"/><category term="Eliot Pattison"/><category term="Michael Connelly"/><category term="Murder"/><category term="Science"/><category term="T. S. Eliot"/><category term="The Flanders Panel"/><category term="Thomas Perry"/><category term="author interview"/><category term="comments"/><category term="literature"/><category term="A Corpse in the Koryo"/><category term="A Drink Before the War"/><category term="Australian crime fiction"/><category term="Boston"/><category term="Chinese poetry"/><category term="Cultural Revolution"/><category term="Devil&#39;s Corner"/><category term="Dylan"/><category term="Edgar Award"/><category term="Espionage"/><category term="Euro Crime"/><category term="Gary Disher"/><category term="Hampstead Heath"/><category term="India"/><category term="Italy"/><category term="John le Carré"/><category term="Jonathan Lethem"/><category term="Labor Day"/><category term="Lawrence Durrell"/><category term="Mao"/><category term="Nightlife"/><category term="North Korea"/><category term="P. D. James"/><category term="Patricia Carlon"/><category term="Powell&#39;s Bookstore"/><category term="Rates of Exchange"/><category term="Richard Ford"/><category term="Ross Thomas"/><category term="SOHO crime"/><category term="Sandra Tsing Loh"/><category term="Science and Society"/><category term="Shanghai"/><category term="Shobhan Bantwal"/><category term="South Boston"/><category term="Squidoo.com"/><category term="Stephen L. Carter"/><category term="Taj Mahal"/><category term="The Amateur"/><category term="The Blind Man of Seville"/><category term="The Dowry Bride"/><category term="The Eight"/><category term="The Forbidden Daughter"/><category term="The Murder Room"/><category term="The Skull Mantra"/><category term="The Ultimate Good Luck"/><category term="The Wire"/><category term="Victorian Society"/><category term="Wilkie Collins"/><category term="World War Two"/><category term="alternative energy"/><category term="blogging"/><category term="blogs"/><category term="chess"/><category term="contemporary fiction"/><category term="interviews"/><category term="murder mystery"/><category term="mystery"/><category term="politics"/><category term="race relations"/><category term="reading preference"/><category term="review"/><category term="squidoo group"/><category term="A Case of Two Cities"/><category term="A German Requiem"/><category term="A Philosophical Investigation"/><category term="A Romance of Many Dimensions"/><category term="Absolute Friends"/><category term="Adam Dalgleish"/><category term="Aimee Leduc"/><category term="Alan Furst"/><category term="Alaska"/><category term="Amir Valle"/><category term="Ancient Rome"/><category term="Anthropologists"/><category term="Anton Chekhov"/><category term="Bashkin"/><category term="Batya Gur"/><category term="Beowulf"/><category term="Berlin Game"/><category term="Berlin Noir"/><category term="Bernard Samson"/><category term="BlogCarnival"/><category term="BlogRush"/><category term="Blonde Faith"/><category term="BookBitch"/><category term="Bookwitch"/><category term="Borges"/><category term="Buckaroo Banzai"/><category term="Canada"/><category term="Care2.com"/><category term="Carlos Fuentes"/><category term="Catherine the Great"/><category term="Central Intelligence Agency"/><category term="Charlestown"/><category term="Charlotte Jay"/><category term="Chemistry"/><category term="Chemistry Books"/><category term="Chinaman&#39;s Chance"/><category term="Chinatown"/><category term="Christian madmen"/><category term="Cicero"/><category term="Colin Cottrell"/><category term="Collen McCullough"/><category term="Cuba"/><category term="Cuban Author"/><category term="Cuban Exile"/><category term="Cut Short"/><category term="Czechoslovakia"/><category term="D K Gaston"/><category term="Dance for the Dead"/><category term="Daphne Du Maurier"/><category term="Dark Matter"/><category term="Darkness Take My Hand"/><category term="Dave Van Ronk"/><category term="David Hajdu"/><category term="David Simon"/><category term="Death of a Red Heroine"/><category term="Descartes"/><category term="Diderot"/><category term="Djinn"/><category term="Dorchester"/><category term="Dr. Criminale"/><category term="Dracula"/><category term="Earth Hour"/><category term="Easy Rawlins"/><category term="Edgar Allan Poe"/><category term="Eric Stone"/><category term="Errors and Omissions"/><category term="Ezra Pound"/><category term="Fairy Tale"/><category term="Faye Kellerman"/><category term="Fever Pitch"/><category term="Flatland"/><category term="Flatterland"/><category term="Florence"/><category term="Friend of the Devil"/><category term="G. Cabrera Infante"/><category term="Gennaro"/><category term="Geometry"/><category term="George Pelacanos"/><category term="Gerald du Maurier"/><category term="Gone Baby Gone"/><category term="Gothic novel"/><category term="Graham Greene"/><category term="Grateful Dead"/><category term="Greek Tragedy"/><category term="Green"/><category term="Green Chemistry Resource Exchange"/><category term="Greil Marcus"/><category term="Harry Bosch"/><category term="Harry Palmer"/><category term="Henry James"/><category term="High Fidelity"/><category term="Homicide"/><category term="Human Rights"/><category term="Ian Rankin"/><category term="Imperium"/><category term="Inspector Chen"/><category term="Inspector Falcon"/><category term="Inspector Rebus"/><category term="Islamic terrorists"/><category term="J. M. Barrie"/><category term="James Church"/><category term="Jane Austen"/><category term="Jane Whitfield"/><category term="Jared Diamond"/><category term="John Rebus"/><category term="John Straley"/><category term="Karen Fossum"/><category term="Karim Ali"/><category term="Kate Aktinson"/><category term="Katherine Neville"/><category term="Kenzie"/><category term="Knopf"/><category term="Knut Henkel"/><category term="L. Durrell"/><category term="L.A. Starks"/><category term="Laos"/><category term="Lawrence Block"/><category term="Left Bank Books"/><category term="Leigh Russell"/><category term="Len Deighton"/><category term="Lisa Scottoline"/><category term="Lofoten Islands"/><category term="London"/><category term="Madrid"/><category term="March Violets"/><category term="Marguerite Duras"/><category term="Martin Amis"/><category term="Martin Cruz Smith"/><category term="Mathematics"/><category term="Matthew Scudder"/><category term="Michael Malone"/><category term="Minette Walters"/><category term="Morocco"/><category term="NPR"/><category term="NY Times Review of Books"/><category term="Nabokov"/><category term="Nearly nothing but novels"/><category term="New England White"/><category term="New Yorker"/><category term="Norway"/><category term="Norwegian"/><category term="Oaxaca"/><category term="On Off"/><category term="Oxford American"/><category term="P.E.N."/><category term="Paco Ignacio Taibo II"/><category term="Palace Council"/><category term="Pancho Villa"/><category term="Papua New Guinea"/><category term="Paris"/><category term="Patricia Cornwell"/><category term="Paul Goldstein"/><category term="Peter Decker"/><category term="Peter Pan"/><category term="Philosophy"/><category term="Portugal"/><category term="Prague"/><category term="Queen of the South"/><category term="RSS feed"/><category term="Rebecca Pawel"/><category term="Reproductive Freedom"/><category term="Richard Russo"/><category term="Rina Lazarus"/><category term="Robbe-Grillet"/><category term="Robert Harris"/><category term="Robert P. Baird"/><category term="Roman Catholic terrorists"/><category term="Russia"/><category term="SOHO Press"/><category term="Scotland"/><category term="Seville"/><category term="Soul Circus"/><category term="South America"/><category term="Southie"/><category term="Spanish"/><category term="St. Louis"/><category term="Stalin&#39;s Ghost"/><category term="Suzanne Berne"/><category term="Svengali"/><category term="Sweden and Nazi Germany"/><category term="Sylvia Plath"/><category term="Terrorism"/><category term="The Annotated Flatland"/><category term="The Butcher&#39;s Boy"/><category term="The Club Dumas"/><category term="The Death of Artemio Cruz"/><category term="The Delectable Mountains"/><category term="The Emperor of Ocean Park"/><category term="The Fencing Master"/><category term="The Ghost"/><category term="The Handmaid&#39;s Tale"/><category term="The Hidden Assassins"/><category term="The Hydra Head"/><category term="The Marshall and the Murderer"/><category term="The Moonstone"/><category term="The Nautical Chart"/><category term="The Pale Criminal"/><category term="The Return of the Dancing Master"/><category term="The Seville Communion"/><category term="The Shadow of the Shadow"/><category term="The Thorn Birds"/><category term="The Unquiet Night"/><category term="The Wasteland"/><category term="The Woman in White"/><category term="Thelonius Monk"/><category term="Tiananmen Square"/><category term="Tibet"/><category term="To The Hermitage"/><category term="Tourette Syndrome"/><category term="Trilby"/><category term="Val Wake"/><category term="Vanishing Act"/><category term="Veteran"/><category term="Vietnam"/><category term="Voltaire"/><category term="Walter Mosley"/><category term="Washington D.C."/><category term="West Africa"/><category term="White Bird Black Bird"/><category term="WilliamGibson"/><category term="Women&#39;s Rights"/><category term="Yellowknife"/><category term="Zapotec"/><category term="a carnival of bookworms"/><category term="art restoration"/><category term="bashkin001"/><category term="bestseller"/><category term="biofuels"/><category term="blog"/><category term="blog action day"/><category term="bloggingzoom"/><category term="book reviews"/><category term="carnival of the criminal minds"/><category term="chaos theory"/><category term="chemrat"/><category term="chess puzzle"/><category term="children&#39;s books"/><category term="ciphers"/><category term="classical themes"/><category term="classics"/><category term="combat"/><category term="conservation"/><category term="copyright"/><category term="corrido"/><category term="corruption"/><category term="creative commons"/><category term="crimespace"/><category term="cryptography"/><category term="detective story"/><category term="digg"/><category term="dissent"/><category term="editing"/><category term="employment law"/><category term="energy exploitation"/><category term="free discussion"/><category term="free speech"/><category term="gather.com"/><category term="green living"/><category term="guitars"/><category term="historical fiction"/><category term="hit man"/><category term="illegal drugs"/><category term="indigenous people"/><category term="labor struggles"/><category term="law"/><category term="lens"/><category term="license"/><category term="life in translation"/><category term="military corruption"/><category term="music in literature"/><category term="n-dimensions"/><category term="narco-corrido"/><category term="native rights"/><category term="novel"/><category term="open source"/><category term="performance art"/><category term="piano"/><category term="poetry"/><category term="proofreading"/><category term="publishing"/><category term="racism"/><category term="radio"/><category term="religious fanatics"/><category term="resources for bloggers"/><category term="revenge"/><category term="rural Sweden"/><category term="science fiction"/><category term="scrutiny"/><category term="serial killer"/><category term="skinheads"/><category term="small airplanes"/><category term="social networking"/><category term="spy story"/><category term="squidoo"/><category term="squidoo lens"/><category term="teenage reading"/><category term="translation"/><category term="twitter"/><category term="uber.com"/><category term="unionization"/><category term="war crimes"/><category term="women detectives"/><category term="young adult books"/><title type='text'>Nearly nothing but novels: book reviews of fiction and crime fiction</title><subtitle type='html'>My reviews of fiction, including crime fiction. I showcase authors and books that deserve attention.  For international fiction, I provide links and images to help transport the reader to the scene. All feedback is welcome. &#xa;&#xa;People seem to have trouble finding the comment button: just click on the word &quot;comments&quot; found right above &quot;Share This,&quot; at the bottom of each article.  Then you can add your own remarks.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>82</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-7995313200472944466</id><published>2018-02-20T18:42:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2018-02-20T18:54:44.295-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Arcadia by Iain Pears- my review on Goodreads.com</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25822102-arcadia&quot; style=&quot;float: left; padding-right: 20px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Arcadia&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469960479m/25822102.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25822102-arcadia&quot;&gt;Arcadia&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9833.Iain_Pears&quot;&gt;Iain Pears&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  2. My rating: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2300523417&quot;&gt;5 of 5 stars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  3. &lt;br /&gt;
  4. Wow, or woe, my first entry here in nine years! I have been busy (with scientific research).&lt;br /&gt;
  5. &lt;br /&gt;
  6. &lt;br /&gt;
  7. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/19435401-james-bashkin&quot;&gt;View all my reviews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  8. &lt;div&gt;
  9. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  10. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/7995313200472944466/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2018/02/arcadia-by-iain-pears-my-review-on.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7995313200472944466'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7995313200472944466'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2018/02/arcadia-by-iain-pears-my-review-on.html' title='Arcadia by Iain Pears- my review on Goodreads.com'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-7883421187578858112</id><published>2009-09-27T22:54:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-27T22:55:29.261-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Canada"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="energy exploitation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="indigenous people"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="native rights"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Val Wake"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="White Bird Black Bird"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Yellowknife"/><title type='text'>White Bird Black Bird, Epic Novel of the Rights of Native Canadians vs. the Development of  Oil and Gas Resources</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439203458?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1439203458&quot;&gt;White Bird Black Bird&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img class=&quot; hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv&quot; src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1439203458&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; was written by Val Wake, the Australian-born journalist who worked for many years in Canada and England before returning to his native land.  Wake worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/home.asp&quot;&gt;CBC&lt;/a&gt; ) from 1969-73, the time when a nascent &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people&quot;&gt;native rights&lt;/a&gt; movement ran head-on into oil and gas development, big business and government policies.  Wake&#39;s fictionalized account of the conflicts comes directly from his personal experience as the broadcast reporter who covered this story on location for the CBC, doing so by traveling from his base in Yellowknife throughout the Arctic regions of Canada.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While the rights of indigenous peoples have now been established to some extent in various countries, this was not the case during the tumultuous, initial development of energy resources in the Canadian north.  In fact, it was only in 2007 that the United Nations adopted its &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp&quot;&gt;Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wake tells his story from the perspective of fictional journalist Warren Pritchard and provides the kind of details that give his fiction true credibility.  For such an important story in a relatively unknown time and place, we are lucky to have Val Wake&#39;s insider knowledge as the basis of his book.  I&#39;m sure that Wake&#39;s time as an information officer for the British government added insight into the relationship between government and big business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Those with an interest in human rights, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/studyguides/indigenous.html&quot;&gt;the rights of indigenous peoples&lt;/a&gt;, the politics and business of exploiting energy resources, or one of the little-known stories of North American development, will see that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439203458?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1439203458&quot;&gt;White Bird Black Bird&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img class=&quot; hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv&quot; src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1439203458&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; provides the goods.  The novel also offers a rich and exciting read for fiction lovers everywhere. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439203458?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1439203458&quot;&gt;White Bird Black Bird&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img class=&quot; hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv hzkruqgtjidsaifdeybv&quot; src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1439203458&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; is available at amazon.com.  I hope to follow up this brief post with an author interview accomplished by email.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/7883421187578858112/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/09/white-bird-black-bird-epic-novel-of.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7883421187578858112'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7883421187578858112'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/09/white-bird-black-bird-epic-novel-of.html' title='White Bird Black Bird, Epic Novel of the Rights of Native Canadians vs. the Development of  Oil and Gas Resources'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-6497402350458742383</id><published>2009-09-19T13:30:00.016-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-21T00:13:00.603-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Dance for the Dead"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Florence"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="hit man"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Italy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Jane Whitfield"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Lawrence Block"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Magdalen Nabb"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Nightlife"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Butcher&#39;s Boy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Marshall and the Murderer"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thomas Perry"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Vanishing Act"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="World War Two"/><title type='text'>Magdalen Nabb and Thomas Perry: mystery-thriller writers from different worlds</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569472971?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1569472971&quot;&gt;The Marshal and the Murderer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=1569472971&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border:none !important; margin:0px !important;&quot; /&gt; by the late Magdalen Nabb is &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/10/books-im-reading-and-thinking-about.html&quot;&gt;another&lt;/a&gt; foray into Florence and its nearby villages under the watchful eye of the ever-delightful and self-deprecating Marshall Guarnaccia. However, the events that transpire are not nearly as pleasant as the portly Marshall himself.  In this episode, the murder of a foreign student leads Guarnaccia to a small town to assist the local authorities, or authority, as it turns out.  There is the possibility of a turf war between the investigators, but after a few awkward moments along the way, they end up being a rather good-natured team.   Food is a great common denominator for these Italian men, but it is their different backgrounds that end up providing crucial, complementary insights into the crime.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, the mystery can&#39;t be solved at all without intimate knowledge of the closed-in, rather inbred village and its history, a history not readily yielded to outsiders.  Guarnaccia contributes his usual insights, but remains somewhat mystified about how he actually helped the investigation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The events that created a dangerous and volatile environment in the village date to before and during World War II.  The terrible past meets the murderous present when the life of a young Swiss pottery student is taken violently.  The village where the crime takes place is devoted largely to making clay pots and similar products, mostly for purely commercial rather than artistic reasons.  There is at least one artist present, however, and he was the victim&#39;s teacher.   Though quite elderly, he is as lecherous as he is brusque, and he falls under suspicion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The villagers themselves make assumptions about the murder based on what happened in town 60 years earlier, during the war, and try their hand at vigilante justice.  However, the Marshall and his new colleague are not convinced that the villagers understand who the real criminal is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The story provides a view of how the war divided Italy, and how deeply those divisions might still run in some places. What is the protocol for interacting with the children of fascists and Nazi sympathizers in the aftermath of such a deadly war: must the parents&#39; sins be carried on the shoulders of their children?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We see alliances and hatreds that formed in an isolated, working class village over its long history, a history written as much by the distance of modern highways as by the war itself. We experience first-hand accounts of the complex and terrible interactions between the Germans and Italians in latter stages of World War II.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Be sure to read this wonderfully-plotted mystery from the pen of a master- it is recommended to all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812967739?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0812967739&quot;&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0812967739&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also recently read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812967739?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0812967739&quot;&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0812967739&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; by Thomas Perry. This is a good thriller, though forgive me if I find it hard to empathize with a mob hit man as protagonist. Yes, that goes for Lawrence Block&#39;s work, also: I much prefer Block&#39;s mysteries such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380763621?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0380763621&quot;&gt;In the Midst of Death (from the Matthew Scudder series)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0380763621&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038072541X?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=038072541X&quot;&gt;Hit Man (one of the John Keller Mysteries)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=038072541X&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The new paperback edition of &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy&lt;/span&gt; has a laudatory introduction by one of &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/quick-listing-of-authors-to-check-out.html&quot;&gt;my favorite authors&lt;/a&gt;, Michael Connelly (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316154970?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0316154970&quot;&gt;The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0316154970&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;), and seems to be a favorite of many readers and reviewers, but I&#39;m a bit less enthusiastic in my support.&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy&lt;/span&gt; follows a female Department of Justice investigator who tries to tie a set of suspicious deaths together, and the man who has done the killing.  While law enforcement is trying to sort through the seemingly disconnected crimes, or apparent accidents, the clever killer makes a mistake with his mob employers, and becomes their next target. The hit man doesn&#39;t take this well, to say the least, and his field of view becomes a dangerous place for all involved.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At the end of a hard month or so of hard and harrowing work, both the hit man and the insightful Justice Department analyst, Elizabeth Waring, earn much needed vacations...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While I found the first few Jane Whitfield novels by Perry (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804114250?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0804114250&quot;&gt;Dance for the Dead&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0804114250&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804113874?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0804113874&quot;&gt;Vanishing Act&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0804113874&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;) to be more compelling than &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy&lt;/span&gt;, I do enjoy reading about women with good aim, excellent survival and crime solving skills, and good hearts.  Ms. Waring is highly capable and well worth following, but she is no force of nature the way Jane Whitfield is. &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy &lt;/span&gt;offers more sardonic pleasure than flat-out exhilaration.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thomas Perry has written a number of novels with unusual characters, and I recommend most of them to fans of crime fiction (the later Whitfield novels seemed to me to have lost their way). I reviewed the crime thriller &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345496000?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0345496000&quot;&gt;Nightlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0345496000&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/12/nightlife-thrilling-crime-fiction-by.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;: it is about another of Perry&#39;s strong female protagonists named Catherine Hobbes.  Memory tells me that &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Nightlife &lt;/span&gt;has more hard-core violence and suspense than &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Butcher&#39;s Boy,&lt;/span&gt; and it lacks the dark humor hidden in Ms. Waring&#39;s world; &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Nightlife &lt;/span&gt;receives the stronger recommendation from me, especially for readers who can enjoy its rougher edges, but both these books deserve your time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/mystery&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;mystery&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/crime%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;crime fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/thomas%20perry&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;thomas perry&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/magdalen%20nabb&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;magdalen nabb&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/lawrence%20block&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;lawrence block&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/detective&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;detective&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/police%20procedural&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;police procedural&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/book%20reviews&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;book reviews&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/hit%20man&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;hit man&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/nightlife&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;nightlife&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20butcher%27s%20boy&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the butcher&#39;s boy&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/matthew%20scudder&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;matthew scudder&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/jane%20whitfield&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;jane whitfield&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/6497402350458742383/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/09/magdalen-nab-and-thomas-perry-mystery.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/6497402350458742383'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/6497402350458742383'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/09/magdalen-nab-and-thomas-perry-mystery.html' title='Magdalen Nabb and Thomas Perry: mystery-thriller writers from different worlds'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-8427204805486254574</id><published>2009-08-23T22:58:00.016-05:00</published><updated>2009-08-28T00:27:05.435-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Palace Council"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="race relations"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Stephen L. Carter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="thriller"/><title type='text'>Palace Council by Stephen L. Carter</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307385965?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0307385965&quot;&gt;Palace Council (Vintage Contemporaries)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0307385965&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This wonderful novel is Stephen L. Carter’s third thriller.   It is a captivating mystery story that I absolutely loved, which has enough conspiracies on all sides to, among other things, reanimate J. Edgar Hoover without putting a foot wrong.  &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Palace Council&lt;/span&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fentity%2FStephen-L.-Carter%2FB000AQ4O7O%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dntt%255Fathr%255Fdp%255Fpel%255F1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&quot;&gt;Stephen L. Carter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; is a fictional account, mixed in with a lot of historical facts, of race relations and national politics from before JFK to the end of the Nixon era. Of course, this time period encompasses the Vietnam War, and we have occasion to drop in on the Southeast Asian conflict for some object lessons.  The author describes roles played by fictional and real power brokers, by fictional and real African American influences and by, again, both fictional and real African American experiences in shaping the country&#39;s political landscapes and affecting the outcomes of elections, political movements and individual lives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Through the eyes of its many major and minor characters, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Palace Council&lt;/span&gt; both embraces and confronts student and Afro-centrist extremism.  The story encompasses many layers of scheming on all sides of the political spectrum, and within or between families, and it explores links and breaks between African American characters and conservative, centrist and liberal representatives of the Caucasian majority.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;The author successfully turns history that we think we know into a thriller by the addition of fictional elements that will show many of us a part of America that we have little knowledge of (no matter what our family or racial backgrounds may be). A lot of ground is covered, from personal and family loyalty and Civil Rights to the bizarre personality of Richard M. Nixon. This is the stuff of great conflicts!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;As part of a thread that connects murder with history, Palace Council offers a fascinating picture of Harlem as it undergoes an unfortunate though hardly unique dismantling, starting out as the major center of African American culture and power, and ending up as a broken down neighborhood populated by the ghosts of greatness past and those who were left behind when most of the educated and wealthy headed for the suburbs (or more attractive waterfront property). That&#39;s not to say that no great minds remain in Harlem, they are undoubtedly born frequently, but we watch as the once stratified and often regal neighborhoods in Harlem cease being magnets or oases for intellectual and artistic development in African American culture, at least from perspectives that lean toward the conservative definition of what culture is... so, ignoring, say, Hip-Hop, though credit for that really goes to The Bronx, I guess; see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312425791?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0312425791&quot;&gt;Can&#39;t Stop Won&#39;t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0312425791&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Along the way, we enjoy excellent, gripping writing, clever plots and subplots, and a cast of characters that is simply fascinating. Adding to the pleasure, threads of the plot link &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Palace Council&lt;/span&gt; to Carter&#39;s first two novels:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375712917?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0375712917&quot;&gt;New England White&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0375712917&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375712925?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0375712925&quot;&gt;The Emperor of Ocean Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0375712925&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Both of these earlier novels are also a pleasure to read. &lt;span style=&quot;&quot;&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-recently-read-books-and-brief.html&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;New England White&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, for example, which &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-recently-read-books-and-brief.html&quot;&gt;I already reviewed briefly&lt;/a&gt;, is an outstanding thriller that manages to present us with convincing murder mysteries and behavioral mysteries while it addresses race relations and racial politics at local (village), elite academic and national levels.  &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;I can&#39;t say that the novel &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Palace Council&lt;/span&gt; is perfect, but it is darned close, and my quibbles aren&#39;t worth mentioning: it is an epic &quot;must read&quot; that will thrill,  delight, sadden, and involve the reader as all great stories do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  James K. Bashkin, Nearlynothingbutnovels, &lt;a href=&quot;http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/&quot; rel=&quot;license&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Creative Commons License&quot; style=&quot;border-width: 0pt;&quot; src=&quot;http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/88x31.png&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Note that an early, draft version of this book review appears on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Palace-Council/Stephen-L-Carter/e/9780307385963/?itm=1&quot;&gt;Barnes &amp;amp; Noble Website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/stephen%20l.%20carter&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;stephen l. carter&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/palace%20council&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;palace council&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/thriller&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;thriller&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/murder%20mystery&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;murder mystery&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/political%20intrigue&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;political intrigue&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/historical%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;historical fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/jfk&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;jfk&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/richard%20m.%20nixon&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;richard m. nixon&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/harlem&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;harlem&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/vietnam&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;vietnam&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fbi&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fbi&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/8427204805486254574/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/08/palace-council-by-stephen-l-carter.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/8427204805486254574'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/8427204805486254574'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/08/palace-council-by-stephen-l-carter.html' title='Palace Council by Stephen L. Carter'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-915395689411360232</id><published>2009-04-12T10:12:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-12T10:26:59.752-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Cut Short"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Leigh Russell"/><title type='text'>See the Blog Crime Fiction by Author Leigh Russell</title><content type='html'>Author Leigh Russell of the U.K. is having technical issues with certain web-based book stores (see the comment on the previous post).  Please look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://leighrussell.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;Leigh&#39;s blog&lt;/a&gt; for more information about the new novel &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Cut Short&lt;/span&gt;, featuring detective inspector (DI) Geraldine Steel.   The blog also has a schedule of author appearances and book signings.  Pre-order the book from amazon here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1842432710?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1842432710&quot;&gt;Cut Short (DI Geraldine Steel, No. 1)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1842432710&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/915395689411360232/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/04/see-blog-crime-fiction-by-author-leigh.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/915395689411360232'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/915395689411360232'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/04/see-blog-crime-fiction-by-author-leigh.html' title='See the Blog Crime Fiction by Author Leigh Russell'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-5144408078282773894</id><published>2009-03-08T12:00:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2009-03-08T12:34:49.836-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Australia"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Australian crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Colin Cottrell"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Laos"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Magdalen Nabb"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Michael Connelly"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Patricia Carlon"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rebecca Pawel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Spain"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thomas Perry"/><title type='text'>Detective Fiction Set in Laos, Australia and Spain</title><content type='html'>In keeping with my recent, brief remarks about the books I&#39;ve been reading, some gems from SOHO press are presented here.  My reviewing is far behind my reading, so there&#39;s still plenty more to come.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156947429X?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=156947429X&quot;&gt;Thirty-Three Teeth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=156947429X&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;by Colin Cottrell.   One doesn&#39;t normally expect to end up in the &quot;recently liberated&quot; Communist Laos of 1977, especially in the company of a very elderly doctor who serves as national coroner.  However, what a delight Dr. Paiboun is- he takes us on a journey through the ancient and semi-modern traditions of a country trying to establish a &quot;proper&quot; Communist bureaucracy... what an ambition to have... but the ambition is not shared by the good doctor or most of his friends and acquaintances.  The book stays away from overt politics for the most part, though there is reference to a Washington delegation that demands access to American MIA&#39;s, in spite of continued insistence that there never were U.S. troops in or over Laos.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;An important character in Cottrell&#39;s novel is Nurse Dtui, whom her boss thinks highly of, but who is consistently underestimated by everyone except her mother.  The combination of Paiboun and Dtui, both independent, one old and the other young, ends up being formidable.  Add traditional Laotian spirits into the mix as Cottrell did, and a rich, unusual story results.  The wonderful journey is far more important than the satisfying conclusion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569472467?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1569472467&quot;&gt;Death by Demonstration&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1569472467&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;by Patricia Carlon is not the masterpiece that I found her novel &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569472130?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1569472130&quot;&gt;The Unquiet Night&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1569472130&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; to be (see my review of that great thriller &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/must-read-thrillermurder-mystery-by.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).   &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Death by Demonstration&lt;/span&gt; seems dated in its treatment of &quot;naive&quot; student protesters and in its rather blind respect for government authority, a respect that one would be hard-pressed to find these days in most places I&#39;m familiar with.  The story itself does involve an excellent mystery, a clever detective, and a cast of rogues, bystanders and victims who are not all what they appear to be.  Carlon writes well,  as usual, and reading for the words, paragraphs and characters is satisfying.  Things droop only when the misplaced moralizing pops up in the text; it is quite organic to the story, but very much in the wrong, as we know now (in my opinion).  A product of its time, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Death by Demonstration&lt;/span&gt; is recommended with only minor reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569473447?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1569473447&quot;&gt;Death of a Nationalist (Soho Crime)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=1569473447&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;by Rebecca Pawel.  This is a remarkably emotional story (it was, for me, anyway).   Pawel&#39;s novel is about a fascist soldier/member of the guardia civil in Spain, and takes place immediately after the conclusion of Franco&#39;s takeover.  Sergeant Tejada is a committed fascist, a believer, who is stationed in Madrid after taking part in some of the war&#39;s most terrible battles.  He dispenses the fascist version of justice swiftly and without remorse, calmly shooting a woman dead for her suspected role in the murder of a fellow officer.  However, Tejada is not a fool (in every way), and he doggedly, even creatively, continues his investigation of the murder, in part because the victim was a close friend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The trail of evidence leads to the black market and provides some disturbing and seemingly out of character revelations about Tejada&#39;s former comrade-in-arms.  As things progress,  Tejada surprises even himself by developing an admiration for some enemies of the state.    There is no middle ground, of course, and the parallels between Franco and recent US administrations are disturbing: you are either on their side or you are not a patriot. Of course, in post-war Spain, the punishment for dissent was brutal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This terrific first novel recreates  Spain in the aftermath of civil war and describes the deprivations of regular citizens who suffered through food shortages, purges and burgeoning totalitarianism.  &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Death of a Nationalist&lt;/span&gt; is a remarkable story of a character development that occurs against all odds, as the truth keeps showing its inconvenient self through the investigative work of the diligent and dogged Sergeant.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/5144408078282773894/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/03/detective-fiction-set-in-laos-australia.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5144408078282773894'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5144408078282773894'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2009/03/detective-fiction-set-in-laos-australia.html' title='Detective Fiction Set in Laos, Australia and Spain'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-8759977004376328413</id><published>2008-11-17T01:02:00.028-06:00</published><updated>2009-03-08T13:25:42.113-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Ancient Rome"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Chinaman&#39;s Chance"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Cicero"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Imperium"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Martin Cruz Smith"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="New England White"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Robert Harris"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Ross Thomas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Stalin&#39;s Ghost"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Stephen L. Carter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Emperor of Ocean Park"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Ghost"/><title type='text'>More recently-read books and brief comments</title><content type='html'>Other books I&#39;ve recently read.... with hit-and-run commentary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FStalins-Ghost-Arkady-Renko-Novel%2Fdp%2F0743276736%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1227492881%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Stalin&#39;s Ghost&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; by Martin Cruz Smith- very good, if not one of the best of Renko&#39;s investigations.  Contemporary Moscow, new Russian elections, post-Chernobyl citizens, and detailed references to the war in Chechnya.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FImperium-Novel-Ancient-Robert-Harris%2Fdp%2F074326603X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1227493188%26sr%3D1-7&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;by Robert Harris- I enjoyed this, but kept waiting for another shoe to drop.  There were no staggering revelations for me, and we learn that much of Cicero&#39;s life was mundane, though that in itself is somewhat staggering to realize. It is a rich book, nonetheless, and I am richer for having read it.  Some of the parallels between Roman politics and today&#39;s world are disturbing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGhost-Robert-Harris%2Fdp%2F1416551824%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1227493188%26sr%3D1-3&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Ghost&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;by Robert Harris- A fine read, with a suitably cynical view of modern politics.  A great draw for those who love conspiracies, real or imagined.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FChinamans-Chance-Ross-Thomas%2Fdp%2F0312334141%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1227493480%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Chinaman&#39;s Chance&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; by Ross Thomas- A brilliant and bitingly satirical novel that is uproariously funny, while also treating some deadly serious issues from our not-so-distant historical past.  Tremendous balance and taste are complemented by the best characters one could hope for (including my favorite con men).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FNew-England-White-Vintage-Contemporaries%2Fdp%2F0375712917%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1227493579%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;New England White&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; by Stephen L. Carter- His second novel, after the outstanding book,  &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FEmperor-Ocean-Park-Stephen-Carter%2Fdp%2F0307279936%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1227493579%26sr%3D1-2&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Emperor of Ocean Park,&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; gives us another terrific thriller with a convoluted, engaging, generation-spanning plot.  We also enjoy some serious suspense, and a lot of racial and political context.  Don&#39;t put it down (you&#39;ll soon be unable to)!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/8759977004376328413/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-recently-read-books-and-brief.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/8759977004376328413'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/8759977004376328413'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-recently-read-books-and-brief.html' title='More recently-read books and brief comments'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-7772065061373563729</id><published>2008-11-15T12:57:00.005-06:00</published><updated>2008-11-15T14:43:17.015-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Arturo Perez-Reverte"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Eliot Pattison"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Jared Diamond"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="John le Carré"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philip Kerr"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Robert Littell"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="WilliamGibson"/><title type='text'>For the love of language (and politics), plus comments on a few of the latest books I&#39;ve read</title><content type='html'>I find myself compelled to point out that Sarah &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_0&quot;&gt;Palin&lt;/span&gt; is suffering from &quot;Aleutians of grandeur.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;**************************************************************************************************************&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just finished a few books sent to me by my brother, lent by friends, and some that I even purchased (that should make the authors happy, though if they only knew how many books I have, they might forgive my current quasi-moratorium on buying more). These recently-read books include &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Hitler&#39;s Peace&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Hitler&#39;s Peace&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Philip Kerr&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Philip Kerr&lt;/a&gt;, which was not as engaging as his most engaging books, and at times seemed awkward or forced, but was compelling, nonetheless, and ultimately both illuminating and intriguing.  OK, that doesn&#39;t sound like a ringing endorsement, but remember that this is &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/search?q=Kerr&quot;&gt;a favorite author of mine&lt;/a&gt; who reaches the highest standards in most of his books, if not quite in every case.  However, I encourage you to read &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Hitler&#39;s Peace&lt;/span&gt;, both for the excitement and for the window on a fascinating time in history.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prior to that, a selection of what I read includes &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; asin=&quot;014311266X&quot;&gt;Vicious Circle&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Robert Littell&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Robert &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_1&quot;&gt;Littell&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Mayor of Lexington Avenue&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Mayor of Lexington Avenue&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;James Shehan&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;James &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_2&quot;&gt;Shehan&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, much of &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Collapse&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Collapse&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Jared Diamond&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Jared Diamond&lt;/a&gt; (still reading it), and the single volume containing the novels &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Fatherland Enigma&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Fatherland&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Enigma&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Robert Harris&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Robert Harris&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are a few additional recent reads: &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Water Touching Stone&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Water Touching Stone&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Eliot Pattison&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Eliot &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_3&quot;&gt;Pattison&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (excellent), &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Spook Country&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Spook Country&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;William Gibson&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;William Gibson&lt;/a&gt; (judged by the highest standards, very good), and &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Painter of Battles: A Novel&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Painter of Battles: A Novel&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Arturo Perez-Reverte&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Arturo Perez-&lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_4&quot;&gt;Reverte&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (see below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Collapse &lt;/span&gt;is a fascinating book that can be read in bits and pieces, or straight through. I&#39;m still filling in the parts I skipped over, aided in my journey by never using a bookmark and continually starting up in random places (a Dadaist approach, perhaps, but don&#39;t you feel the Dadaists need a little more attention now and then?). &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Collapse &lt;/span&gt;offers a lot of hope while also documenting many monumental failures of societies throughout history; it comes from the author of the highly touted &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Guns, Germs and Steel&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Guns, Germs and Steel&lt;/a&gt;, also touted (and toted) by my high school age son. I haven&#39;t read &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Guns, Germs ...&lt;/span&gt; yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The other books I listed are all very good or better, though &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Mayor of Lexington Avenue&lt;/span&gt; is excellent for 95% of the book, and just OK for the other 5% (don&#39;t hold me to the numbers, these are impressionistic statistics, if there are such a thing). Still, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Mayor of...&lt;/span&gt; is quite an amazing first novel, with outstanding characters, plot and setting that stretch over two generations, from the poor to the rich and powerful, and from New York to a Florida backwater. I think that if the author had grappled with one less issue or subplot, the book would have remained uniformly outstanding. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although I&#39;ve read all of &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_5&quot;&gt;Littell&#39;s&lt;/span&gt; other books except one, I had made a conscious decision not to read &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Vicious Circle&lt;/span&gt;. I felt the same way when &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Little Drummer Girl&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Little Drummer Girl&lt;/a&gt; by le &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_6&quot;&gt;Carre&lt;/span&gt;&#39; came out- at the time that I just couldn&#39;t handle the subject matter (the Middle East conflict) as &quot;entertainment,&quot; though, of course, the book is far deeper than that comment implies. I know this because, after about ten years, I broke down and read &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;John le Carre&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;John &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_7&quot;&gt;le&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_8&quot;&gt;Carre&#39;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; take on a part of the Middle East conflict, and was glad I did, and, after my brother sent me &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Vicious Circle &lt;/span&gt;I broke down again and read it as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_9&quot;&gt;Littell&lt;/span&gt; writes so well that I found myself laughing out loud in the middle of very tense scenes. As always, his wonderful language and characters are brilliantly crafted. Still, Israeli and Palestinian people and their many issues are not an easy thing to read about, especially when they are kidnapping, murdering, torturing and negotiating for peace (simultaneously, if not all by the same individuals). I felt that &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_10&quot;&gt;Littell&lt;/span&gt; was extremely balanced in his treatment of all sides, and the book is gripping from start to end. Unfortunately, I cried a lot more than I laughed, but that comes with the territory in this case.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The novels by Robert Harris left me a bit flat, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Enigma &lt;/span&gt;more so than &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Fatherland&lt;/span&gt;. I have to say that the premise of &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Fatherland &lt;/span&gt;is very clever and brilliantly executed, and was used to build up a remarkable, alternative universe, though one where the truth will out. The premise is that Germany won WW2 and, among many other consequences, no &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_11&quot;&gt;GI&#39;s&lt;/span&gt; liberated any concentration camps. The storyline itself isn&#39;t quite as strong as other aspects of the book, though it serves as a good thriller with chilling revelations. &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Enigma &lt;/span&gt;perhaps simply wasn&#39;t the book I was expecting- I kept looking for that book on each page and coming up empty. It is definitely worth reading, however, and is another WW2 thriller, with an associated murder mystery.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Painter of Battles&lt;/span&gt; by Perez-&lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_12&quot;&gt;Reverte&lt;/span&gt; is an unusual book.  It is by far the shortest book by the author, as far as I know, but it took me an unusually long time to read.  There are a lot of pithy sentences and analyses of paintings and warfare, from ancient to modern.  Not that this is a textbook by any means; it is a psychological thriller, and the tension can reach high levels, but it&#39;s also a no-holds-barred examination of modern morality, warfare and societies.  The language demands an attention to detail that I could not always provide (say at the end of a long day) and I wasn&#39;t always alert enough to grasp the point, though I rarely have this problem with books (or with the books I choose to read, in any event).  I&#39;m not sure I&#39;m erudite enough to grasp all of this novel, either.  My knowledge of art history is fairly spotty- I&#39;ve seen a lot but haven&#39;t studied it, so I tend to forget the details.  Nevertheless, the stories within the novel are well worth reading since they are based on real events, more or less, events that were highly significant to the participants and some of their observers, but were probably given little thought by most other people.   As with quantum physics, we see here that the observer changes the &quot;experiment&quot; or experience, and here the consequences can be tragic.  I&#39;d label this short novel a &quot;must read&quot;!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That&#39;s it for my capsule summaries and other comments of the day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;© 2008 James K. &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_13&quot;&gt;Bashkin&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/7772065061373563729/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/11/for-love-of-language-and-politics-plus.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7772065061373563729'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7772065061373563729'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/11/for-love-of-language-and-politics-plus.html' title='For the love of language (and politics), plus comments on a few of the latest books I&#39;ve read'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-1493959839657163213</id><published>2008-10-15T03:07:00.024-05:00</published><updated>2008-10-15T14:02:23.456-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="India"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Shobhan Bantwal"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Dowry Bride"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Forbidden Daughter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="thriller"/><title type='text'>An Interview with Author Shobhan Bantwal</title><content type='html'>Today I have the pleasure of publishing an interview with &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Shobhan Bantwal&lt;/span&gt;, author of &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDowry-Bride-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220316%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-2&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Dowry Bride&lt;/a&gt;.  Readers will not be surprised to find me fascinated by a culturally-aware thriller that describes unfamiliar customs- thankfully unfamiliar in this case (see &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/interview-with-popular-author-qiu.html&quot;&gt;Qiu Xiaolong&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;for related examples from China).  After some background material on &lt;span&gt;Shobhan&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;and her latest novel, I&#39;ll dive into the interview, and then close with an excerpt from &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;b style=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b style=&quot;&quot;&gt;Summary of &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;When a young widow refuses to comply with her in-laws&#39; dictate to abort her unborn child, will her rebellion turn out to be the greatest mistake of her life, or a blessing in disguise? This is the story of one mother’s valiant fight to protect her daughters in a society that often frowns on female children, and the only man who will help her in her battle when the stakes become impossibly high. &lt;a style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/a&gt; is woven around the hot-button social issue of vanishing girl children in contemporary India, where gender-based abortions and female infanticide continue to be practiced in some areas despite laws to ban the practices.&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;About Shobhan Bantwal&lt;/span&gt; –Shobhan Bantwal is the author of &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDowry-Bride-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220316%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-2&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Dowry Bride&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/a&gt;. Both novels are set in India and released by Kensington Publishing Corp. Shobhan’s short story titled &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Where the Lotus Grows &lt;/span&gt;is scheduled for publication in an anthology in spring 2009 and the proceeds will be donated by the publisher, Freya’s Bower, to a battered women’s shelter.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;As a freelance writer, Shobhan frequently writes columns for India Abroad. Since 2002, Shobhan’s articles and short stories have also appeared in a variety of other publications including The Writer magazine, Little India, U.S. 1, Desi Journal, India Currents, Overseas Indian, New Woman India, Kanara Saraswat and Sulekha. Her short stories have won honors and awards in fiction contests sponsored by Writer’s Digest, New York Stories and New Woman magazines.&lt;/p&gt;  For more information about Shobhan Bantwal’s virtual tour, visit: &lt;a href=&quot;http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/09/forbidden-daughter-by-shobhan-bantwal.html&quot;&gt;http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/09/forbidden-daughter-by-shobhan-bantwal.html&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;p&gt;The &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Forbidden Daughter&lt;/span&gt; can be ordered at: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can visit Shobhan Bantwal at her website – &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shobhanbantwal.com/&quot;&gt;www.shobhanbantwal.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Nearly Nothing but Novels: the Interview with Shobhan Bantwal&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NearlyNothingbutNovels&lt;/span&gt;: How do you try to manage the balance between political statement and artistic vision in your writing?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Shobhan Bantwal&lt;/span&gt;: When I first took up creative writing, I had no idea that I would develop an interest in political-social issues and use them as a platform for my stories. I was contemplating various themes, and dowry abuse in India seemed like an interesting topic, with just enough controversy and substance to form the crux of a dramatic tale with romantic elements. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, as I started to do some preliminary research into the deeply-entrenched dowry system and the use and abuse of it in Indian society, I was both shocked enough and curious enough to decide to make it my main theme.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;To answer your question, I find myself teetering on a high-wire when I make my political statements the central motifs of my books and at the same time attempt to entertain my readers with good, page-turning stories. As long as I remain focused on the fact that I write “fiction” and my writing is not a scholarly treatise on the social-political issues, I am able to factor them into my stories, and to my satisfaction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: Do your female protagonists represent an idealized vision of women who may develop in India, given time and circumstances, or are they characters who are truly part of today’s Indian society in significant numbers?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: My female protagonists are my vision of the ideal Indian woman—strong yet flexible, shy yet bold when necessary, kind yet selfish enough to protect what is hers, astute yet possessing an innocent and naïve quality that makes readers find her likeable enough to root for her. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, in present-day India’s environment of higher education and emancipation, there are such women in abundance. They are the trailblazers ones who are brave enough to break away from meaningless traditions and forge a new path for other women to follow.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;One such example is a young woman named Nisha Sharma, who in 2003 became so disgruntled by her future in-laws’ unreasonable demands of dowry from her parents that she rebelled against tradition and had the groom and his family arrested in the marriage hall, in the presence of the wedding guests. She became an instant hero, not only in India, but in many parts of the world where women are allowed little freedom to speak their minds. There are plenty of Nisha Sharmas in India today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: What kind of real freedom of expression does Indian society provide to artists, especially women?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: Despite being very 21&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; Century in technology, fashion, and culture (to some degree) freedom of expression to artists is still rather restricted. Although those restrictions are imposed on both sexes, in the male-dominated atmosphere of Indian society, it is the women who face more harsh criticism of artistic expression than men. A woman painter who portrays nudism is likely to face censure from the moral police more than a man. A woman writer who features controversy or supposedly “puts ultra-modern ideas” in women’s minds is sure to provoke conservative folks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A number of instances, where certain movies and books have been banned in India, and a beauty pageant that was disrupted by picketers because it debased Indian women are examples of how there is no true freedom of expression in certain arenas. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Again, there are a few women who are rebellious enough to break the mold and start a new trend in every form of artistic expression.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: How serious is the Indian central government about reforms that challenge traditional values in favor of human rights?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: The Indian government is very serious about protecting human rights. For years, legislation to ban dowry, gender-selective abortion, and discrimination against females in the workplace has been enacted progressively by the government. And yet, the number of cases that are tried is very few, and the ones where justice is served are even fewer. One of the reasons for this is a weak judicial system bogged down by bureaucratic rules. The other reason is raging corruption in the law enforcement community, where the police and other departments are willing to look the other way even in cases of blatant abuse.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: What are the personal repercussions of your powerful stance in favor of women’s rights?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: Being an Indian-American writer whose books are published in North America only, not too many copies of them have reached India yet. My readers are primarily non-South Asian, which means not many censorious folks have had a chance to read my books. To that end, personal repercussions have been minimal (to date). Nonetheless, as more of my books reach readers outside the U.S. and Canada, the potential for personal attacks is likely to increase. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, I have to admit that a handful of Indian-Americans have sent me some scathing comments. They are critical of my portrayal of the darker elements of Indian culture and supposedly distorting the magnitude of certain practices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: How do you place the issue of women’s rights in terms of the other injustices and tragedies that beset the various cultural and religious groups in India, both within themselves and against each other?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: In most cultures, injustices and the resulting tragedies are often interrelated. Women’s rights violations are a direct result of conservative beliefs that stem from lack of knowledge and education, which comes from poverty and lack of resources, which in turn hinges on overpopulation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To this day, many Indians believe the woman is at fault if she produces female children, when science clearly states otherwise. In male-dominated societies like India, girls are looked upon as a liability whereas boys are assets, future bread-winners, leaders and caretakers of the elderly. However, with more education and forward thinking, the tide is slowly turning, leaving hope for women to rise to the level of males. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The more serious issue in the 21&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; Century appears to be not so much social evils as religion, which has taken on a new and intimidating stance. Whereas Indian society in the past was secular and tolerant of all religions, today the Hindus and Muslims are warring with each other more frequently. This could lead to unforeseen and more virulent socio-political problems, especially for children and families of mixed marriages.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: Given an understandable resistance to outside influence by any cultural group or country, what would you have the international community do, if anything, to improve women’s rights and combat social injustice in India?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: The U.N. and human rights organizations around the world are capable of penetrating the walls of resistance in conservative cultures to some extent. If enough publicity is given to the types of topics I write about, these organizations could do more research into the subjects and offer assistance to the victims. These worldwide organizations have the size, the budget, and the clout to delve past the barriers erected by cultural and religious groups in any part of the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; One of the reasons I write about socio-political topics is to bring awareness to them amongst people who have no knowledge of them. My readers often thank me for making them aware of something they had never heard of.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: What are the most obvious effects on Indian society brought about by current improvements in the standard of living, at least for some?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: With the IT industry’s boom since the Y2K revolution started in the late 1990s, India’s middle class has seen a phenomenal growth in its standard of living. But the secondary and more promising effect is the proliferation of education. In an effort to fill the multitude of high-tech jobs in a growing global market, both men and women have enrolled in technology courses and acquired advanced degrees. As a result, more young women are now in high-income jobs similar to those once held by men. This type of economic independence has also spawned social and political independence for women.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;: At the same time that Indians increasingly embrace and benefit financially from what we might inaccurately call “Western” technology, including science and engineering, is there any evidence of a shift towards Western values? Or, perhaps, is this technology viewed as an indigenous Indian development, carrying with it no foreign connotation or influence?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;SB&lt;/span&gt;: With the influence of Western technology there has been a gradual shift towards Western culture. Pubs or bars have mushroomed in large cities in India, allowing the younger generation to socialize in places where once there was no place other than home to go to after work. Bollywood movies now have more Western themes with the characters wearing Western clothes and vacationing in Europe and the U.S. They eat and drink non-Indian foods and drinks, they dance in swank clubs, drive imported automobiles, and the Hindi dialogue is generously sprinkled with English words, especially Americanisms.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, the picture is not all positive. Drugs, alcohol, and excessive spending on luxuries are some of the problems that are being experienced in India in recent years.&lt;/p&gt;  Thank you for hosting me on your popular blog. Additional information about my writing, recipes, photos, and events is available on my website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shobhanbantwal.com/&quot;&gt;www.shobhanbantwal.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NNBN&lt;/span&gt;- and thanks to Shobhan for being kind enough to answer my questions!  Now from her latest novel:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b style=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;b style=&quot;&quot;&gt;Prologue for &lt;i style=&quot;&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter &lt;/i&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;Oh, Lord, I beg of you.&lt;br /&gt;I fall at your feet time and again.&lt;br /&gt;In my next incarnation, don&#39;t give me a daughter;&lt;br /&gt;Give me hell instead . . .&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Folk Song from the State of Uttar Pradesh, India&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;“Your child will come at the harvest full moon,” the old man said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jolted out of her dark, melancholic thoughts, Isha Tilak looked up, and stared in astonishment at the man who had uttered the startling words. He was obviously addressing her, because there was no one else in the immediate vicinity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His strange remark captured her attention, thrusting aside her private musings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It is called Kojagari Purnima. It is the night when Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance, descends from her heavenly abode to bless her devotees,” he added, stroking his luxuriant salt-and-pepper beard that more than compensated for the total absence of hair on his large, misshapen head.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He was supposedly a sadhu—a sage or holy man. He was certainly dressed for the part in his faded saffron robe—typical garb for Hindu holy men. Perhaps because she continued to wear a baffled look, he smiled. The simple motion transformed and softened his austere face, creating deeper furrows in his gaunt cheeks. “Yours will be a female child who will bring light and abundance to the people around her.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She shook herself out of her stunned silence. It took her a moment to comprehend his words. Then natural curiosity took over, prompting her to goad him, test him. “How do you know my child will be a girl?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He ignored her question. Instead he said, “Your daughter comes as a gift from Lakshmi, so she will enjoy prosperity and many comforts in her life, and, being generous, she will share them with others.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“But my in-laws think she’s a curse,” Isha informed him, the bitterness in her voice hard to conceal and the despondency in her tear-swollen eyes a testimony to her despair. “In fact, they have forbidden me to have this child.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I know,” he said, with a thoughtful nod. “I am also aware that there is something which some evil doctors use to eliminate female children before they are born. It is one of the many scourges of kaliyug. Modern society.”&lt;/blockquote&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/1493959839657163213/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/10/interview-with-author-shobhan-bantwal.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/1493959839657163213'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/1493959839657163213'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/10/interview-with-author-shobhan-bantwal.html' title='An Interview with Author Shobhan Bantwal'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-2292923058568206828</id><published>2008-10-10T14:22:00.008-05:00</published><updated>2008-10-10T16:24:28.280-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="contemporary fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Human Rights"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="India"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Reproductive Freedom"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Shobhan Bantwal"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Dowry Bride"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Forbidden Daughter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="thriller"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Women&#39;s Rights"/><title type='text'>Coming October 16: An Interview with Author Shobhan Bantwal</title><content type='html'>As part of Shobhan Bantwal&#39;s BlogTour to support her latest novel, I will be interviewing and hosting Ms. Bantwal on October 16.  Please feel free to send in questions of your own, ahead of time, so the author can respond.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ms Bantwal&#39;s latest novel is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FForbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220308%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, and, like her first novel, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDowry-Bride-Shobhan-Bantwal%2Fdp%2F0758220316%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1223667297%26sr%3D8-2&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Dowry Bride&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, this story addresses the rights and roles of women in India, in a dramatic setting.  From the book jacket:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;&quot;  &gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;&quot;  &gt;&lt;span&gt;When a young widow refuses to  comply with her in-laws&#39; dictate to abort her unborn child, will her rebellion  turn out to be the greatest mistake of her life, or a blessing in disguise? This  is the story of one mother&#39;s valiant fight to protect her daughters in a society  that often frowns on female children, and the only man who will help her in her  battle when the stakes become impossibly high.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;If you are like me, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Forbidden Daughter&lt;/span&gt; will provide you with a thrilling and excellent read and an entirely new take reproductive freedom, not to mention the role of physicians in society.  I hope you will join us!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;James K. Bashkin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/shobhan%20bantwal&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;shobhan bantwal&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20forbidden%20daughter&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the forbidden daughter&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20dowry%20bride&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the dowry bride&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/india&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;india&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/women%27s%20rights&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;women&#39;s rights&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/human%20rights&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;human rights&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/medical%20ethics&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;medical ethics&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/thriller&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;thriller&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/reproductive%20freedom&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;reproductive freedom&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/2292923058568206828/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/10/coming-october-16-interview-with-author.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/2292923058568206828'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/2292923058568206828'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/10/coming-october-16-interview-with-author.html' title='Coming October 16: An Interview with Author Shobhan Bantwal'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-3948951615349475412</id><published>2008-07-04T20:34:00.012-05:00</published><updated>2009-03-12T00:58:14.005-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bashkin"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bashkin001"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blogging"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bloggingzoom"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blogs"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Care2.com"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="chemrat"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="digg"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gather.com"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Michael Malone"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Nearly nothing but novels"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Squidoo.com"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Delectable Mountains"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="twitter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="uber.com"/><title type='text'>Novels I&#39;m reading, blogs I&#39;m writing</title><content type='html'>Note: Edited 3/12/09&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have started a few more websites and blogs, which is one reason I have fallen so far behind in my reviews. The fiction related sites are:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/nearlynothingbutnovels&quot;&gt;http://www.squidoo.com/nearlynothingbutnovels&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/groups/crimefictiongroup&quot;&gt;http://www.squidoo.com/groups/crimefictiongroup&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/crimefiction&quot;&gt;http://www.squidoo.com/crimefiction&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, there are the environmental sites that I&#39;ve been spending a lot of time on:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://my.care2.com/chemrat1&quot;&gt;care2.com as chemrat1&lt;/a&gt;  (This site is great but has overwhelmed me with requests and email)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/solarpowerlens&quot;&gt;http://www.squidoo.com/solarpowerlens&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/groups/Sustainability&quot;&gt;http://www.squidoo.com/groups/Sustainability&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A site on playing guitar for kids to adults (music, videos, players, lessons. gear):&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/GuitarsByReallySlowHand&quot;&gt;http://www.squidoo.com/GuitarsByReallySlowHand&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See also my latest websites, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/guitarwomen&quot;&gt;Women Guitar Players&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/PentaxDSLRs&quot;&gt;Pentax Digital Photography&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A couple of general purpose sites that have writing and photography:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gather.com/viewArticles.jsp?memberId=467519&amp;amp;nav=MyGather&quot;&gt;Articles on Gather.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gather.com/viewImages.jsp?memberId=467519&amp;amp;nav=MyGather&quot;&gt;Photos on Gather.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Please note that uber.com is now defunct, so that blog is gone, and I don&#39;t use twitter any  more&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://digg.com/users/chemrat&quot;&gt;Digg.com as chemrat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bloggingzoom.com/&quot;&gt;Bloggingzoom.com&lt;/a&gt; (username chemrat)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is almost the full extent of my e-publishing under my own name, bashkin001 and chemrat. I welcome you feedback on any and all of these sites, and you&#39;ll see from the squidoo sites that I am continuing to read a lot of fiction. I have one review partially written and am currently reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDelectable-Mountains-Michael-Malone%2Fdp%2F1402200064%3Fie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1215224609%26sr%3D11-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Delectable Mountains&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; by the delightful Michael Malone.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/3948951615349475412/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/07/novels-im-reading-blogs-im-writing.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/3948951615349475412'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/3948951615349475412'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/07/novels-im-reading-blogs-im-writing.html' title='Novels I&#39;m reading, blogs I&#39;m writing'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-7539308864815545423</id><published>2008-05-15T22:33:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-15T22:38:28.391-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Bloggers Unite for Human Rights</title><content type='html'>Amnesty International and BlogCatalog are promoting today, May 15, 2008, as a day for bloggers to speak out on human rights.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just wrote what I felt, inspired in part by Daniel Schorr&#39;s call to action on Myanmar, heard on May 14, 2008 on National Public Radio (NPR), and also inspired by the very mission of Amnesty International.  The post can be found on my other blog, &lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;Chemistry for a sustainable world&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/bloggers-unite-for-human-rights/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A book review is in progress!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/7539308864815545423/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/05/bloggers-unite-for-human-rights.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7539308864815545423'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/7539308864815545423'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/05/bloggers-unite-for-human-rights.html' title='Bloggers Unite for Human Rights'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-8623630500687682682</id><published>2008-04-14T02:40:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-04-14T02:49:41.311-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="author interview"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="book reviews"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="China"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Cultural Revolution"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Malcolm Bradbury"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Mao"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Qiu Xiaolong"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rates of Exchange"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Shanghai"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Tiananmen Square"/><title type='text'>Interview with Popular Author Qiu Xiaolong- Part 3</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-author-qiu-xiaolong.html&quot;&gt;What a long over-due post&lt;/a&gt;...  Of course, I had to read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dmozilla-20%26index%3Dblended%26link%255Fcode%3Dqs%26field-keywords%3DQiu%2520Xiaolong%26sourceid%3DMozilla-search&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;A Case of Two Cities&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/a&gt;and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRed-Mandarin-Dress-Inspector-Novel%2Fdp%2F0312371071%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1206150720%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; immediately, so that derailed my timing in the most enjoyable way, but, as will be clear to some, &lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;writing about the environment &lt;/a&gt;has occupied my spare time of late.  Because of the delay in writing this down, I have had to paraphrase much more than I would have liked.  Hence, the scarcity of quotation marks.  The link for part 2 of this interview is given above (long overdue ...), and&lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-qiu-xiaolong-part-1.html&quot;&gt; part 1 of the interview with Qiu Xiaolong is found here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, on to the wonderful Mr. Qiu Xiaolong and the end of our discussion.  I asked him about how Russian cultural and literary influence had fared through the Cultural Revolution, and he related that this, too, had ultimately been rejected: the earlier importance of Tolstoy, Pushkin and Dostoevsky was wiped away  by Mao&#39;s insistence on what I would characterize as nothing but the most trivial written language.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the subject of language, we then addressed translation: the translation of Qiu&#39;s novels from English into his native Chinese.  This turns out to have been a nightmare.  When starting out, Qiu was shocked and powerless over what the official Chinese translators did to his work.  First, the books were not allowed to take place in Shanghai, where they are set, &quot;because such crimes could never take place in a real Chinese city.&quot;   Apparently China has no murders, officially.  It is a wonder that they need any police.   So, the books are set in a fictional, anonymous city, H_, which is absurd for any number of reasons, not the least of which being that the details of Shanghai itself make the city another character in the novels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The title of the second Inspector Chen novel, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLoyal-Character-Dancer-Qiu-Xiaolong%2Fdp%2F1569473412%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1205544419%26sr%3D8-5&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;A Loyal Character Dancer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, was also unacceptable to Chinese officials.  Qiu explained their dilemma without  irony: a loyal character dancer existed only during the Cultural Revolution. This combination of words and concept didn&#39;t exist before the period of upheaval, and didn&#39;t exist afterwards!  How can words just disappear?*  They can because the new National slogan is &quot;Look forward to the future&quot;, which apparently sounds almost identical to &quot;Look forward to the money.&quot;  Nobody wants to think back to the Cultural Revolution, to dwell in the past.  In addition to appearing and disappearing during the Cultural Revolution, loyal character dancers were the ONLY dancers allowed at that time, so the connotations of the language are disturbing, but they also communicate the truth, a commodity that lost its value long ago in China.  Now, of course, Mr. Qiu is fully-established as an internationally successful, professional writer and in great demand. He has had to leave his teaching post, even though he loves teaching, because the time and travel demands of his writing career are simply too great.  Now, Qiu is in a position to say &quot;No&quot; in no uncertain terms: his books will be translated, unaltered, into Chinese, or they will not be published in China at all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I mentioned that one of my scientific collaborators gave an invited lecture in Beijing last fall, and I was appalled to see the brochure advertising a great site-seeing tour for all cheerful tourists to visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/special_report/1999/09/99/china_50/tiananmen.htm&quot;&gt;Tiananmen Square&lt;/a&gt;.  I associate the Square with army tanks, student protesters and atrocities committed by the Chinese soldiers against their nation&#39;s children.  Mr. Qiu pointed out my naiveté kindly but firmly, making it clear that my CNN-driven impression of the Square carried little of the even more-exceptionally serious resonance that native Chinese would feel: it is a place of much more history and significance than my memory had conjured up.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm&quot;&gt;Tiananmen&lt;/a&gt; Square is the location where Mao first announced the Cultural Revolution, accompanied by his Red Guard.   It is also the location of Mao&#39;s memorial hall with its crystal coffin, and far more.  It still wouldn&#39;t be my choice of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm&quot;&gt;a tourist destination&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As part of his general address to the group at Barnes and Noble, Qiu told the story of his father&#39;s humiliation and persecution under the Cultural Revolution, and how Qiu himself, as a young boy, had to write the confessions for his hospitalized, frail parent.  This was his introduction to writing.  I chose not to ask him any further about it.  I must say that Qiu&#39;s composure, with a lack of irony or bitterness, while discussing these experiences was remarkable.  I was in tears, listening.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After reading comments on the web this weekend by people who are determined to blame someone or something for problems that have no clear cause, it is hard to reconcile our attitudes of entitlement in the USA with the joy for life and ability to survive and flourish exhibited by Qiu under the most trying circumstances.  The good news is that we have the freedom to feel that selfish entitlement, if we choose, and hire a lawyer to act accordingly, with no repercussions from a totalitarian State.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think a cautionary note is in order, however.  Anyone who has watched the erosion of civil liberties in the United States might wonder just how close to totalitarianism the current (2008) regime has brought us.  It is hard to know much about the horrors of our torture program in the US or the real story of who is in Guantanamo Bay&#39;s Prison and why they are there, but the recent novel &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FMission-Song-John-Carre%2Fdp%2F0316016756%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1208156947%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Mission Song&lt;/span&gt; by John Le Carre&#39;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, is a brilliant and chilling glimpse of how the totalitarian State is alive and well for many who live on the margins of citizenship in Britain.  Don&#39;t forget what this could signify for the US, especially given the &quot;special relationship&quot; that we enjoy with Great Britain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We also touched on the subject of freedom in China when discussing crime fiction.  Apparently there is now a type of crime fiction springing up in China, along the lines of the Western noir genre, that serves a useful, political and anti-corruption role.  However, in these Chinese stories, there is never any mystery, because the crimes are always solved by a Communist Party cadre who uncovers the problem without the need for investigation.  In China, all crime is political.  I would call this &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Case of the Ghost in the Party Machine&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I haven&#39;t yet given myself the pleasure of reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mysteryreaders.org/athomeqiu.html&quot;&gt;Cara Black&#39;s interview of Qiu&lt;/a&gt;, but you may find pertinent information about Qiu&#39;s childhood and later life there.  Qiu spoke of &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/search?q=cara+black&quot;&gt;Cara Black&lt;/a&gt;&#39;s hospitality, which I too have enjoyed, if only by email, discussing her novels and crime fiction in general.  Ms. Black has written some of my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.carablack.com/&quot;&gt;favorite detective fiction, all set in Paris&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition to adjusting to a new schedule of publication deadlines and countless public appearances, it was good to hear that Qiu still has some time for poetry.  I was able to pick up a few signed copies of his original verse and translations of Chinese poetry, and I look forward to reading them.  I can say for now that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRed-Mandarin-Dress-Inspector-Novel%2Fdp%2F0312371071%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1206150720%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is an outstanding novel, and somewhat of a departure in style.  It is a tighter, more compact tale than we have seen before from Qiu, in part because Detective Yu is able to keep the investigation charging hard even while Inspector Chen Cao is struggling with his love of literature, academics and poetry and the resulting conflict with his investigative responsibility.  A full review of the book will appear on this site.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am grateful to Mr. Qiu Xiaolong for his kindness and time, for permission to interview him and to take and publish photographs of him and his work, and for his wonderful work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*If you want more examples of how politics affect language, I strongly recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRates-Exchange-Malcolm-Bradbury%2Fdp%2F0394532686%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1208156351%26sr%3D1-2&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Rates of Exchange&lt;/span&gt; by Malcolm Bradbury&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.  It is an uproariously hilarious book, but not funny at all on some levels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/author%20interview&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;author interview&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/crime%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;crime fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/qiu%20xiaolong&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;qiu xiaolong&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/a%20case%20of%20two%20cities&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;a case of two cities&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/red%20mandarin%20dress&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;red mandarin dress&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/a%20loyal%20character%20dancer&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;a loyal character dancer&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/tiananmen%20square&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;tiananmen square&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20cultural%20revolution&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the cultural revolution&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/civil%20liberties&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;civil liberties&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/totalitarian%20state&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;totalitarian state&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/crime%20and%20politics&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;crime and politics&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/china&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;china&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/translation&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;translation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/politics%20of%20language&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;politics of language&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/malcolm%20bradbury&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;malcolm bradbury&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/rates%20of%20exchange&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;rates of exchange&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/8623630500687682682/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/interview-with-popular-author-qiu.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/8623630500687682682'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/8623630500687682682'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/interview-with-popular-author-qiu.html' title='Interview with Popular Author Qiu Xiaolong- Part 3'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-4064430956236807190</id><published>2008-04-13T23:12:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-04-14T01:51:01.760-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blogging"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blogs"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lens"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="resources for bloggers"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="squidoo"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="squidoo group"/><title type='text'>crime fiction on Squidoo</title><content type='html'>Crime fiction is reviewed and discussed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/crimefiction&quot;&gt;on my new Squidoo lens&lt;/a&gt;, with polls and opportunities for reader input.  Music is recommended to accompany reading books by various crime authors (typically the music listened to by their protagonists).  Links to this and other blogs are provided.  Author interviews have started to appear.  There is also a new Squidoo group I just started called &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/groups/crimefictiongroup&quot;&gt;What&#39;s A Little Murder Among Friends?&lt;/a&gt;, designed for people to add their own crime fiction lenses.  Join in!  Membership in squidoo.com is free, and can be used for fun, profit or charity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For those who don&#39;t know, Squidoo lenses are a web device for focusing attention on any subject that interests you.  Squidoo groups are simply groups of lenses: people can join your group or you can add other people&#39;s lenses that interest you.  You can add RSS feeds from blogs, books from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fbooks-used-books-textbooks%2Fb%3Fie%3DUTF8%26node%3D283155%26pf%5Frd%5Fp%3D328655101%26pf%5Frd%5Fs%3Dleft-nav-1%26pf%5Frd%5Ft%3D101%26pf%5Frd%5Fi%3D507846%26pf%5Frd%5Fm%3DATVPDKIKX0DER%26pf%5Frd%5Fr%3D0QDV1JNZASQ8FP309YW5&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, and music from iTunes.  Lenses featured on &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;What&#39;s a Little Murder...&lt;/span&gt; include author- and genre-specific sites built up by dedicated fans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For those who don&#39;t care about this kind of information for bloggers, don&#39;t worry, there won&#39;t be much.  If I knew more, I might have avoided posting the same story to this blog twice (see below).  Undoubtedly, Angels fear to tread in the bloggosphere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/crimefiction&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://digg.com/arts_culture/crime_fiction_on_Squidoo&quot;&gt;digg story&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/4064430956236807190/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/crime-fiction-on-squidoo_13.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/4064430956236807190'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/4064430956236807190'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/crime-fiction-on-squidoo_13.html' title='crime fiction on Squidoo'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-5138289734466122009</id><published>2008-04-13T06:23:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-04-14T01:54:46.091-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="social networking"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="squidoo group"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="squidoo lens"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Squidoo.com"/><title type='text'>crime fiction on Squidoo Redux</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/crimefiction&quot;&gt;Crime fiction is reviewed and discussed on this new lens&lt;/a&gt;, with polls and comment boxes for reader input.  Music is recommended to accompany reading the work specific authors (typically the music that their characters listen to).  Links to book blogs are provided.  Author interviews have started to appear on the blogs and will make it to the lens.  There is also a new Squidoo group, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/groups/crimefictiongroup&quot;&gt;What&#39;s a Little Murder Among Friends&lt;/a&gt;, for people to add their own crime fiction Squidoo lenses and comments.  Join in!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squidoo.com/crimefiction&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://digg.com/arts_culture/crime_fiction_on_Squidoo&quot;&gt;digg story&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/5138289734466122009/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/crime-fiction-on-squidoo.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5138289734466122009'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5138289734466122009'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/04/crime-fiction-on-squidoo.html' title='crime fiction on Squidoo Redux'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-5902354279437904628</id><published>2008-03-28T13:29:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-03-28T13:38:37.745-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="alternative energy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="conservation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Earth Hour"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="environment"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Green"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="green living"/><title type='text'>Earth Hour, March 29, 8-9 pm local time</title><content type='html'>I know I&#39;m way behind- I have to finish writing up the interview with Qiu Xiaolong, review Red Mandarin Dress and a bunch more terrific books (by Batya Gur, Walter Mosley, Pat Barker, and John Le Carre&#39;) that I read recently.  However, today I&#39;m just going to suggest you take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/the-hour-is-near-earth-hour-2008-march-29-8-9-pm-local-time/&quot;&gt;information about the environmental event, Earth Hour 2008, which takes place in your home or office, March 29 from 8-9 pm&lt;/a&gt;, your local time.  Thanks!  I&#39;ll be back with more as soon as I can.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/earth%20hour&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;earth hour&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/earthhourus.org&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;earthhourus.org&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/march%2029%202008&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;march 29 2008&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/conservation&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;conservation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/recycling&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;recycling&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/activism&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;activism&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/news&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;news&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/energy%20use&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;energy use&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/alternative%20energy&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;alternative energy&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/energy%20conservation&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;energy conservation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/lighting&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;lighting&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/turn%20off%20the%20lights&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;turn off the lights&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/worldwide&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;worldwide&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/world%20activism&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;world activism&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/australia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;australia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/atlanta&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;atlanta&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/green&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;green&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/green%20homes&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;green homes&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/green%20lifestyles&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;green lifestyles&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/sustainability&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;sustainability&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/energy%20use&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;energy use&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/environment&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;environment&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/environmental&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;environmental&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/practical%20green&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;practical green&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/5902354279437904628/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/03/earth-hour-march-29-8-9-pm-local-time.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5902354279437904628'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5902354279437904628'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/03/earth-hour-march-29-8-9-pm-local-time.html' title='Earth Hour, March 29, 8-9 pm local time'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-2990813030088247069</id><published>2008-03-21T21:41:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-03-21T21:42:11.221-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="A Case of Two Cities"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="China"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Chinese poetry"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="corruption"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Inspector Chen"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Qiu Xiaolong"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="T. S. Eliot"/><title type='text'>Book Review: A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong</title><content type='html'>A slightly different version of this review was published first at Blogcritics magazine, &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/03/20/204727.php&quot;&gt;Book Review: &lt;em&gt;A Case of Two Cities&lt;/em&gt; by Qiu Xiaolong:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Inspector Chen investigates from Shanghai to Los Angeles to St. Louis to bring murderous businessmen to justice.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While writing up my notes from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-author-qiu-xiaolong.html&quot;&gt;discussion and interview with Qiu Xiaolong&lt;/a&gt;, I had the pleasure of reading both the fourth Inspector Chen novel, &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dmozilla-20%26index%3Dblended%26link%255Fcode%3Dqs%26field-keywords%3DQiu%2520Xiaolong%26sourceid%3DMozilla-search&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;A Case of Two Cities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; font-style: italic;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; and the fifth novel, &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRed-Mandarin-Dress-Inspector-Novel%2Fdp%2F0312371071%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1206150720%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;A Case of Two Cities&lt;/span&gt; is a politically-and socially-relevant mystery that pits Inspector Chen against corrupt, high-ranking Communist Party members who are increasingly involved in shady business deals associated with the increasing economic development in China.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&#39;ve written elsewhere (at &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/03/11/024110.php&quot;&gt;Blogcritics Magazine&lt;/a&gt; and on my &lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/?s=China&quot;&gt;environmental blog&lt;/a&gt;) about the environmental problems (&lt;a href=&quot;http://greenchemistry.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/the-eco-effective-future-w-mcdonough-and-alwayson-magazine/&quot;&gt;and some good news&lt;/a&gt;) associated with China&#39;s rapid industrial expansion.  The realities of China&#39;s New Economics are brought to life by author Qiu in many ways.  For example, we meet loyal state workers who live on a fixed pension and can barely survive in the face of inflation, and we learn of people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes in preparation for new skyscrapers and country clubs. However, there are far more nefarious deeds for Inspector Chen to contend with: the Inspector must handle the murder of an old friend, threats against his elderly mother and attempts on his own life, all while dealing with intense political danger, in the course of trying to bring rogue officials and businessmen to justice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The language in &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dmozilla-20%26index%3Dblended%26link%255Fcode%3Dqs%26field-keywords%3DQiu%2520Xiaolong%26sourceid%3DMozilla-search&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;A Case of Two Cities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; font-style: italic;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; is a pleasure, with occasional quotes from classical Chinese poetry and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DT.%2BS.%2BEliot%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;T. S. Eliot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, and phrases that echo Eliot&#39;s lines sprinkled throughout to capture the mood.  Poetry is part of Chen&#39;s personal language in the same manner that a soundtrack or inner dialog for contemporary U.S. detectives might be based on music, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHarry-Bosch-Novels-Concrete-Blonde%2Fdp%2F0316154970%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1206151636%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Jazz&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/search?q=music&quot;&gt;Rock &amp;amp; Roll&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/01/murder-copyright-law-washington-d-c-and.html&quot;&gt;Soul or Hip-Hop&lt;/a&gt;.  Qiu&#39;s language works so well because he is a poet and a translator of poetry, so he can call upon classical Chinese or post-modern poetic imagery to fit a mood as easily as I might conjure up a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLyrics-1962-2001-Bob-Dylan%2Fdp%2F074323944X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1206151234%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Bob Dylan lyric&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The heart of the case is a series of lucrative land deals that could only have been made with insider knowledge of city planning, such as where new subway lines will be constructed and where land will become valuable overnight.  The ringleader in the case, Xing, has already fled to the U.S., probably tipped off by colluding officials before an arrest could be made.  Xing is now living in Los Angeles, in mansion next door to the son of a Chinese Politburo member.  Xing has also applied for political asylum, claiming to be persecuted for political reasons. Outwardly, the Chinese authorities are angry about this request for asylum, but many of these same authorities the partners who became rich alongside Xing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It turns out that much of the empire Xing built was helped along by new luxury clubs that cater to the baser desires of Shanghai businessmen, and, of course, their new interest in golf.  Many deals are made because of favors provided in private rooms, along with hard cash in a red envelope, the traditional bribe for Communist Party officials.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chen tries to reject cynicism, but this is a battle he loses a little more with each book in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/search?q=Chen&quot;&gt;series&lt;/a&gt; of novels.  He works hard to follow orders, even though they may intend for him to create more of a spectacle than a real investigation.  Can Chen achieve more than a hollow victory?  Will he be able to keep his promises to himself and his dead Chinese friend while pursuing the big fish?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the middle of a tense Shanghai investigation, Police Inspector Chen is suddenly sent out of the country to lead a literary delegation to the U.S.   This role is not completely incongruous because Chen is a published poet, noted translator of T. S. Eliot and member of the Chinese Writers&#39; Association as well as a police inspector; he had hoped to pursue an academic career before the government diverted his career to the police force.  However, the timing is highly suspicious and the reason why he received this assignment is not clear: is it to remove him from the scene in Shanghai or to bring him close to the fugitive Xing? For that matter, what exactly is the purpose of the literary delegation?  It starts out innocently enough, but after a week, nearly everyone involved seems to have a hidden agenda and several are keeping an eye on Chen.  As leader of the group, Chen is in the uncomfortable position of having to lead daily political study sessions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With Chen in America, his associate Detective Yu must carry on the investigation in Shanghai.  Yu is essentially alone except for his wife and father, a retired policeman known as Old Hunter. These three try to keep Chen&#39;s elderly mother safe while tracking down Xing&#39;s hidden half-brother, Ming, who may still be in China and, because of the power of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FFilial-Piety-Chinese-Thought-History%2Fdp%2F0415333652%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1205704341%26sr%3D8-3&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Chinese filial piety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, could help unravel the case.  Ming was the intermediary who obtained insider information from corrupt Director Jiang of the Shanghai City Land Development Office.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His part of the investigation shifted to the U.S., Inspector Chen wonders if he&#39;ll have a chance to rekindle his relationship with his American friend Catherine Rohn, the U.S. Marshal he met in &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLoyal-Character-Dancer-Qiu-Xiaolong%2Fdp%2F1569473412%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1205544419%26sr%3D8-5&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;A Loyal Character Dancer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.   Chen wonders about other questions, also: how will his estranged High-Society girlfriend, ensconced in the politics of Beijing, help or hurt his chances for survival?   Are Politburo members trying to derail Chen&#39;s work when he discovers too much, are they trying to put him in harm&#39;s way, or are there even more layers of intrigue to sift through? With the battle raging on so many fronts, Chen must plan his attack like a master of the Chinese chess game, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGame-Wei-Chi-Daniele-Pecorini%2Fdp%2F089346922X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1205697127%26sr%3D1-13&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Wei Qi&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (better known in the U.S. by its Japanese name, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FJohn-N-Hansen-101043-Complete%2Fdp%2FB000AMATMW%2F&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;go&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The interaction of the Chinese literary delegation with American writers and academics reveals misunderstandings of cuisine and culture, bitter and amusing ironies, and ignorance of history: expatriate Chinese are producing “deep sea fish oil” coveted in China for its &quot;Made in the U.S.A.&quot; label; proud Chinese delegates can find no copies of their books in the university library, let alone the bookstore.  Key quotes include:&lt;ul type=&quot;disc&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nonsmoking      area… Is this a free country?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I talked to an American student today...They believe that Hong Kong belongs to Britain (and) know nothing of the Opium War.  There is nothing in their textbooks.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pearl told me that      Pizza Hut is a cheap fast-food restaurant here.  In Beijing,      it is a high-end place.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What      an irony.  We never had fortune      cookies in China.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Given the unintended affronts, a relatively successful academic conference takes place in Los Angeles, along with a secret investigation by Chen, and the literary delegation then moves on to St. Louis in search of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DMArk%2BTwain%26x%3D18%26y%3D17&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Mark Twain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, known as Master Ma.  Twain is a particular favorite among some Chinese writers because his satire, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Running for Governor, &lt;/span&gt;is &quot;a lampoon against hypocritical American Democracy.&quot; For his own part, Chen is happy to visit St. Louis to hunt for artifacts of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DT.%2BS.%2BEliot%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;T. S. Eliot&lt;/a&gt;&#39; s life and reunite with Catherine Rohn, who lives in the St. Louis suburb, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;ct=res&amp;amp;cd=2&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucitymo.org%2Findex.asp%3FNID%3D366&amp;amp;ei=MXDkR52HCYauiAHX55G-BQ&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNEcK0N6x4rWSFgN2bA3dHooRfRELw&amp;amp;sig2=f_HOve32U44j7Ell2Q-4UA&quot;&gt;University City&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even though Chen is able to work with Catherine, who is able to masquerade as a translator in St. Louis because of her knowledge of Chinese, their relationship has been strained by time and distance; can it be salvaged?  Eventually, Chen finds a quiet moment to sort through many of his feelings in a restaurant bar located close to Catherine&#39;s house (and close my own).   Chen struggles to shrug off the hesitancy that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DT.%2BS.%2BEliot%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;T. S. Eliot&lt;/a&gt; described so well,* to be decisive with Catherine, and to move forward in his investigation.  To survive, he must navigate the immense and contradictory forces that shape life and death in contemporary Shanghai. If you enjoy great fiction or compelling and complex mysteries, you&#39;ll want to join him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*From &lt;i style=&quot;&quot;&gt;The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock&lt;/i&gt; by T.&lt;span style=&quot;&quot;&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;S. Eliot:        &lt;blockquote&gt;And indeed there will be time&lt;a name=&quot;37&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”&lt;a name=&quot;38&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Time to turn back and descend the stair,&lt;br /&gt;...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/crime%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;crime fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/book%20review&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;book review&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/qiu%20xiaolong&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;qiu xiaolong&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/a%20case%20of%20two%20cities&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;a case of two cities&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/poetry&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;poetry&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/t.%20s.%20eliot&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;t. s. eliot&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/chinese%20poetry&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;chinese poetry&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/u.%20s.%20marshal&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;u. s. marshal&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/chinese%20new%20economy&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;chinese new economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/2990813030088247069/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/03/book-review-case-of-two-cities-by-qiu.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/2990813030088247069'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/2990813030088247069'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/03/book-review-case-of-two-cities-by-qiu.html' title='Book Review: A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-6603806366995769961</id><published>2008-02-28T20:17:00.011-06:00</published><updated>2008-04-28T06:43:42.495-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="author interview"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Books"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="China"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Cultural Revolution"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Ezra Pound"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Mao"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="poetry"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Qiu Xiaolong"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="T. S. Eliot"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Wasteland"/><title type='text'>A Conversation with Author Qiu Xiaolong, Part 2</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkbashkin/2295802386/&quot; title=&quot;IMGP0768 bb Qiu Xiaolong by bashkin001, on Flickr&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2295802386_668e67e685.jpg&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;466&quot; alt=&quot;IMGP0768 bb Qiu Xiaolong&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;Above, in this photograph I was able to take (creative commons license 3.0, James K. Bashkin), we see copies of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2Fsearch-handle-url%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8%26search-type%3Dss%26index%3Dbooks%26field-author%3DXiaolong%2520Qiu&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Qiu Xiaolong&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&#39;s latest book, the fifth Inspector Chen novel, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DQiu%2BXiaolong%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.  &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress&lt;/span&gt; was published by St. Martin&#39;s, to which  Qiu moved from Soho Press prior to publication of the fourth Inspector Chen novel, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCase-Two-Cities-Inspector-Novel%2Fdp%2F0312374666%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1204251793%26sr%3D1-3&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;A Case of Two Cities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.   The final Inspector Chen offering by Soho is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWhen-Red-Black-Xiaolong-Qiu%2Fdp%2F1569473692%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1204251793%26sr%3D1-4&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;When Red is Black&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, a particularly personal story, Qiu explained, because China now embraces capitalism though, before, The Party persecuted all businessmen, even small business owners like his father.  Throughout the discussion and question session that Barnes &amp;amp; Noble hosted, Qiu was exceedingly patient, very kind, and quite thorough in his comments.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I arrived for &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-qiu-xiaolong-part-1.html&quot;&gt;Qiu&#39;s commentary and Q&amp;amp;A session&lt;/a&gt;, he was discussing Western literature and the Cultural Revolution.  Qiu said, &quot;From 1966 to 1976, there was no translation of Western books and all existing books were destroyed.   During that time, the only book we were allowed to have was Mao&#39;s &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Little Red Book&lt;/span&gt;.  People would hide other books inside the cover of Mao&#39;s book, even though it was dangerous.  I did this, and I was even caught by one of my teachers, but he said nothing.  I think he actually approved...  Even after 1976, very few Western books were translated...  Modernism was taboo.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Qiu went on to discuss modernism and how the idea of &quot;impersonal art (about) personal feelings&quot; conflicted with Mao&#39;s beliefs.    He also mentioned the complications of mixing art and politics for modernists even in the West, bringing up the treatment of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DEzra%2BPound%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Ezra Pound&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, who would have been considered counter-revolutionary in China and was also persecuted in the West.  Qiu noted that &quot;Though many of the early revolutionaries in China were (intellectuals, and some studied abroad), Mao was not a college student, though he worked in a college library in Beijing.&quot;  (Mao had succeeded as) &quot;an autodidact, and he must have felt that, since he rose so high&quot; (in Chinese government, formal education was unnecessary and wasteful.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since Qiu first came to prominence in the literary world through his translation of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3DT.%2BS.%2BEliot%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;T. S. Eliot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; into Chinese, I mentioned that Eliot&#39;s poem &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWaste-Land-Norton-Critical-Editions%2Fdp%2F0393974995%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1204255367%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Wasteland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; was  very controversial and anti-establishment in its day, and I asked why a poem so unpalatable to Western Establishment Conservatives should be unpopular with Chinese authorities.  Qiu responded very kindly to this question, and spoke at length; some of his remarks are paraphrased (noted by parentheses, as above).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Qiu said, &quot;In the 1940&#39;s, Mao said that literature should exist to serve politics.... (part of what) he meant was that literature should be (easy for) farmers (to understand)... Even Dickens was banned during the Cultural Revolution (though he had been a popular author beforehand because he showed the corruption of the West.)&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Qiu explained further, &quot;During the Cultural Revolution, Eight movies and model operas were performed.  Only eight (over and over again).  (These eight stories had) perfect characters, so devoted to The Party and the Government that they had no time for their families, or for love, or even to make love. The characters were one-dimensional.   Dickens&#39; complexity opposed these ideas.&quot;  Clearly, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Wasteland&lt;/span&gt; didn&#39;t stand a chance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/qiu%20xiaolong&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;qiu xiaolong&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/china&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;china&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/crime%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;crime fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/author%20interview&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;author interview&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/books&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;books&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/inspector%20chen&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;inspector chen&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/shanghai&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;shanghai&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cultural%20revolution&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cultural revolution&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/poetry&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;poetry&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/ezra%20pound&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;ezra pound&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/t.%20s.%20eliot&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;t. s. eliot&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20wasteland&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the wasteland&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/translation&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;translation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/chairman%20mao&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;chairman mao&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/modernism&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;modernism&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/a%20case%20of%20two%20cities&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;a case of two cities&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/red%20mandarin%20dress&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;red mandarin dress&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/when%20red%20is%20black&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;when red is black&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/soho%20press&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;soho press&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/st.%20martin%27s&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;st. martin&#39;s&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/persecution&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;persecution&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/communist%20party&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;communist party&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/counter-revolutionary&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;counter-revolutionary&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/beijing&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;beijing&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/charles%20dickens&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;charles dickens&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/model%20operas&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;model operas&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/6603806366995769961/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-author-qiu-xiaolong.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/6603806366995769961'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/6603806366995769961'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-author-qiu-xiaolong.html' title='A Conversation with Author Qiu Xiaolong, Part 2'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2295802386_668e67e685_t.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-250305717798653134</id><published>2008-02-27T01:16:00.012-06:00</published><updated>2008-02-27T10:56:37.965-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="author interview"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="China"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Chinese poetry"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="international crime fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Qiu Xiaolong"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Shanghai"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="St. Louis"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="T. S. Eliot"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="translation"/><title type='text'>A Conversation With Qiu Xiaolong, Part  1</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Ii-gfvH_lvDX6b6Viks-m7SESwqSbBG7js1Lv4aVmI_vCaJ3nQRdB0_aM1zQhUnK6nMWkS37Rgb1mNQstD0ybM1yRilqMWTc7sCudSCg13IATwwDQ5GqyCE2Fwz7ybctzDfugyHN1BI/s1600-h/IMGP0766+bb.JPG&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Ii-gfvH_lvDX6b6Viks-m7SESwqSbBG7js1Lv4aVmI_vCaJ3nQRdB0_aM1zQhUnK6nMWkS37Rgb1mNQstD0ybM1yRilqMWTc7sCudSCg13IATwwDQ5GqyCE2Fwz7ybctzDfugyHN1BI/s200/IMGP0766+bb.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171556299859373586&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Qiu Xialong&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Qiu Xiaolong &lt;/a&gt;wrote one of the great novels of the past several years, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/mystery-novels-2.html&quot;&gt;Death &lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/mystery-novels-2.html&quot;&gt;of Red Heroine&lt;/a&gt;, which is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/mystery-novels-2.html&quot;&gt;absolute masterpiece&lt;/a&gt;. This was the first Inspector Chen novel, and it introduced us to the Chinese police inspector with a penchant for poetry and Western fiction, including detective fiction, as well considerable skill at solving complex crimes. In fact, the author himself is an accomplished &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dmozilla-20%26index%3Dblended%26link%255Fcode%3Dqs%26field-keywords%3DQiu%2520Xiaolong%26sourceid%3DMozilla-search&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;poet and translator of poetry&lt;/a&gt;, and his complete grasp of the most complex English, whether from T. S. Eliot or any other source, gives him a much heralded skill as a translator. Do not, however, worry that Qiu Xiaolong&#39;s novels are pedantic- their language is superlative without in any way being self-conscious, and they are filled with suspense, intrigue, puzzling clues and great mysteries.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Qiu used to teach Chinese literature at Washington University in St. Louis, but, at least for the moment, teaching has yielded to the busy travel schedule of a successful author. Sandwiched between Chinese New Year in London and a working visit to Hong Kong as a writer in residence, the author stopped by my local Barnes &amp;amp; Noble in St. Louis County, Missouri (at Ladue Crossing) for a book signing and discussion. There, I had a chance to catch up with him and listen to his presentation.  I took the opportunity to pick up signed copies of his latest books, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRed-Mandarin-Dress-Inspector-Novel%2Fdp%2F0312371071%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1204131063%26sr%3D8-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress: An Inspector Chen Novel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, and have a number of questions answered.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/Red%20Mandarin%20Dress&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;Red Mandarin Dress&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/qiu%20xiaolong&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;qiu xiaolong&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/china&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;china&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/shanghai&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;shanghai&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/crime%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;crime fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/novel&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;novel&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cultural%20revolution&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cultural revolution&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/interview&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;interview&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/author%20interview&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;author interview&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/new%20book&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;new book&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/250305717798653134/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-qiu-xiaolong-part-1.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/250305717798653134'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/250305717798653134'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/conversation-with-qiu-xiaolong-part-1.html' title='A Conversation With Qiu Xiaolong, Part  1'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Ii-gfvH_lvDX6b6Viks-m7SESwqSbBG7js1Lv4aVmI_vCaJ3nQRdB0_aM1zQhUnK6nMWkS37Rgb1mNQstD0ybM1yRilqMWTc7sCudSCg13IATwwDQ5GqyCE2Fwz7ybctzDfugyHN1BI/s72-c/IMGP0766+bb.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-6172718863382268192</id><published>2008-02-12T01:03:00.018-06:00</published><updated>2008-02-17T17:11:55.570-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="combat"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fiction"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="illegal drugs"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Mexico"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="novel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Oaxaca"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Richard Ford"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Ultimate Good Luck"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Veteran"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Vietnam"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Zapotec"/><title type='text'>The Ultimate Good Luck by Richard Ford- A review</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUltimate-Good-Luck-Richard-Ford%2Fdp%2F0394750896%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1203234397%26sr%3D8-3&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Ultimate Good Luck&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; (TUGL) was not an easy book for me to read, but that isn&#39;t due to any flaw in the story, it is a testament to how accurately the entire novel captures the moods and viewpoint of its antihero, Harry Quinn.  Quinn is &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewall-usa.com/&quot;&gt;veteran&lt;/a&gt; of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vietnampix.com/&quot;&gt;Vietnam War&lt;/a&gt;, a drifter, a laborer, a drinker and a bit of a druggie, the kind of person who used to be somebody&#39;s son, who went to school down the street, and who went to fight for his country only to find himself fighting ghosts and children in the jungle and the darkness.  He wasn&#39;t &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26rs%3D%26keywords%3Dpost-traumatic%2520stress%2520syndrome%26rh%3Di%253Aaps%252Ck%253Apost-traumatic%2520stress%2520syndrome%252Ci%253Astripbooks&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;destroyed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; by the war, completely, but he is no longer whole.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Quinn has answered a cry for help from Rae, his estranged companion, because  Rae&#39;s brother, Sonny, is trapped in a Mexican jail on drug charges. Making matters worse, the drug charges are completely  legitimate: Sonny was caught trafficking in cocaine, bringing it north from Columbia to the US &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;via&lt;/span&gt; Mexico, a practice known as &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/779728.stm&quot;&gt;muling&lt;/a&gt;.  The problem now is to get Sonny out of jail, and Quinn has set the wheels in motion to solve everything, as long as the good luck holds.  Quinn has hired a well-connected lawyer, Bernhardt, and it seems that both the plan and the luck are on track.  However, this is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mexico.html&quot;&gt;Mexico&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tomzap.com/coaxaca.html&quot;&gt;Oaxaca&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.maps-of-mexico.com/oaxaca-state-mexico/oaxaca-state-mexico-map-main.shtml&quot;&gt;to be precise&lt;/a&gt;, where the zócalo, or town square,  is full of impoverished &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.accd.edu/pac/lrc/oaxaca.htm&quot;&gt;Zapotec&lt;/a&gt; Indians and bewildered tourists, and a constant stream of Indians circulates in a netherworld between the mountains and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/coffee.html&quot;&gt;the valley below&lt;/a&gt;, where the capitol city lies.  This is Mexico, and Mexico has bigger problems to worry herself over than a few US citizens, especially a small-time crook...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSlaughterhouse-Five-Kurt-Vonnegut%2Fdp%2F0385333846%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1203288585%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;so it goes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; that the plans of all visitors, whether wide-eyed tourists from the Midwest or dopers from nowhere in particular, must bow to greater forces as the army, police, guerrillas, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nativeamericans.com/Zapotec.htm&quot;&gt;Zapotec&lt;/a&gt; and other groups feint, withdraw, and attack in a constant &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tomzap.com/OAXgo.html&quot;&gt;struggle&lt;/a&gt; for survival, civil rights, and any rights at all.  Just because the struggle seems below the surface much of the time, one can&#39;t assume it has ceased- relax your guard, or just walk out of your hotel for lunch, and you may end up blown across a street by a bomb or taken away forever by soldiers, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yendor.com/vanished/&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;desaparecido&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is a guerrilla? After a fatal gunfight and major cocaine bust at the airport, the lawyer Bernhardt offers an operational definition, &lt;blockquote&gt;In Mexico, to obey the law is always to avoid it.  If the police are shot, then guerrillas are accused... Many people don&#39;t know they&#39;re guerrillas before the police say so.  But they begin to act that way as soon as they find out.&lt;/blockquote&gt;Through Quinn&#39;s peculiar vision, we glimpse wartime &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vietnamwar.com/&quot;&gt;Vietnam&lt;/a&gt;, the confused childhood days that preceded it, and the aimless, rootless wandering that followed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps%26field-keywords%3Dvietnam%2Bwar%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;the  war&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.  We hear of Sonny&#39;s descent from State basketball champion to point-shaving pro in Norway, to drug mule, to prisoner.  We learn of Rae&#39;s own restless drifting, no purpose to her life, no aims or goals, just a sequence of days to get through and occasional times to get high.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Bernhardt tells Quinn, &quot;Sometimes it is necessary to kill a man,&quot; Harry wants no part of it.  Harry Quinn is a combat veteran and a survivor, and he can navigate through a violent landscape if things fall apart, but he isn&#39;t looking for trouble, he&#39;s just trying to get out of town with his good luck intact.  Maybe that means getting back together with Rae, and maybe they&#39;ll have Sonny in tow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Luck, however, starts to drain away like grains of sand, and intuition tells Quinn that his window of opportunity is closing.  It is hard to depend on a plan when graft plays a central role, even in a place where graft seems to be a way of life.  Sonny is still in prison when the avenues that could lead him back home start to close down, some closing with military barricades and some when lines of communication are cut.  Guerrilla and army action disrupt life for all of Oaxaca and they disrupt the patterns  and relationships that Quinn depended upon.  As for Sonny, he has created more than enough bad luck for all of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;TUGL is no summer potboiler of a novel, even though it offers plenty of &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/search?q=suspense&quot;&gt;suspense&lt;/a&gt; and danger. The story is hard and harsh, showing no sympathy and leaving many in its wake, like life itself. There are many villains and there are many victims. There are those who should survive and those who can&#39;t survive, and when they are one and the same, life and luck give Quinn and Rae pause.  If they pause too long, however, they&#39;ll be dead.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/richard%20ford&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;richard ford&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20ultimate%20good%20luck&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the ultimate good luck&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/novel&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;novel&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/vietnam%20veteran&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;vietnam veteran&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/mexico&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;mexico&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/illegal%20drugs&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;illegal drugs&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/blackmail&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;blackmail&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/murder&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;murder&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/mexican%20prison&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;mexican prison&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/mexican%20justice&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;mexican justice&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/oaxaca&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;oaxaca&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/zapotec&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;zapotec&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/columbia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;columbia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cocaine&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cocaine&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/muling&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;muling&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/graft&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;graft&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/guerrillas&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;guerrillas&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/basketball&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;basketball&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/victims%20of%20terrorism&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;victims of terrorism&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/campesino&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;campesino&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/desaparecido&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;desaparecido&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/6172718863382268192/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/ultimate-good-luck-by-richard-ford.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/6172718863382268192'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/6172718863382268192'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/ultimate-good-luck-by-richard-ford.html' title='The Ultimate Good Luck by Richard Ford- A review'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-5398378741375077226</id><published>2008-02-09T15:12:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2008-02-10T03:08:37.676-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="CIA"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ciphers"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cryptography"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Czechoslovakia"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Espionage"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Prague"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Robert Littell"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="spy story"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Amateur"/><title type='text'>The Amateur by Robert Littell: Thriller about the CIA being blackmailed by one of its own!</title><content type='html'>I must say that I have a great fondness for Robert Littell&#39;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/robert-littell-and-cia.html&quot;&gt;books&lt;/a&gt;.  This doesn&#39;t mean that these books are warm and fuzzy, far from it: they demand attention like the great and often complex thrillers that they are, while maintaining exceptional originality and the ability to surprise the reader, even this reader who has devoured seemingly the entire world of spy thrillers.   Littell&#39;s outstanding writing, wry humor and unvarnished cynicism add a lot to the appeal.  There is even more, however.   &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-that-must-be-read-ali.html&quot;&gt;Littell&lt;/a&gt; creates characters that are unique, but in wholly organic ways, with nothing forced or added just for show.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some of the appealing subjects that recur in Littell&#39;s novels may be linked to &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-that-must-be-read-ali.html&quot;&gt;his love of chess&lt;/a&gt;.  In any event, they include cryptography and chaos theory, both of which appear as central parts of some novels.  The books are never pedantic, however, and Littell shows us a lot about human nature and the way that the underworld of espionage often uses human nature as its currency.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I first heard the phrase, &quot;Any thing worth doing is worth doing badly&quot; rather incongruously in a research lab at England&#39;s Oxford University, in the late 1970s.  At the very start of &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Amateur&lt;/span&gt;, Littell uses this statement as an epigram that defines the amateur &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;vs&lt;/span&gt;. the professional (the latter being one who is compelled to do everything well, at least everything that is worthwhile).  &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Amateur&lt;/span&gt; definitely delivers what it promises, a spy thriller from the amateur perspective, and woe betide any professionals who make the mistake of getting in this particular amateur&#39;s way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The story begins with a terrorist invasion of a US embassy in Germany and the tragic shooting of one of the hostages.  The young hostage was Sarah Diamond, the fiancee&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:130%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; of one Charlie Heller, whose day job is devising unique codes and decoding messages for the CIA.  Heller&#39;s night passion, other than Sarah, is searching for ciphers in Shakespeare&#39;s writing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Heller is understandably crushed, and wants to know when the CIA is going after the terrorists to exact revenge.  The answer is less than satisfactory: the CIA isn&#39;t going to take any action.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After trying normal channels, Heller reaches the limit of his patience, and literally takes matters into his own hands, which requires the dangerous scheme of blackmailing the CIA to turn him into a field agent.  All of those secret messages he decoded turn out to be great blackmail material, compromising the highest CIA officials.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, the race is on.  While Heller is being trained and then sent behind the Iron Curtain to find the terrorists, the CIA rips apart his apartment, car and everything else they can find, looking for the stolen messages.  Heller&#39;s mission is revenge.  The CIA&#39;s mission is self-preservation: they want to destroy the incriminating information and then kill Heller on foreign soil, or, better yet, have a foreign intelligence agency do the job for them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All along, Littell employs his trademark mix of humor, wit, action, word play and cynicism to great effect.  Near the start, Heller is occupied with decoding messages from a dyslexic spy in Prague who can&#39;t use the codes properly.  There is a stunning scene where Sarah&#39;s elderly father, a concentration camp survivor, watches CIA agents storm into his house, tear it apart and interrogate him: Mr. Diamond remarks that he isn&#39;t afraid because he has been through this kind of treatment before, when the Nazi&#39;s took his family to the camps.  The American agents go blithely about their business, asserting that &quot;this is different because it is a case of National Security,&quot; precisely echoing the very rationale used by the Nazi thugs 50 years earlier.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Littell really pumps up the volume once Heller crosses into Czechoslovakia.  Multiple story lines emerge, they begin to intersect with violent results, and finally the stories converge in a  stunningly deceitful and deadly manner.  The collisions involve Heller, a Czech spymaster-Shakespearean scholar, the dyslexic Czech spy, the CIA and its agents, and, of course, the targeted terrorists.  Revenge is a theme that unites several of the characters, from old Mr. Diamond to young Mr. Heller, and even the Eastern Block spymaster.  Will their revenge be served hot, served cold, or not served at all?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/czechoslovakia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;czechoslovakia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/robert%20littell&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;robert littell&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20amateur&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the amateur&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/espionage&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;espionage&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/prague&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;prague&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/revenge&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;revenge&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/blackmail&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;blackmail&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cold%20war%20fiction&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cold war fiction&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/terrorists&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;terrorists&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/5398378741375077226/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/amateur-by-robert-littell-thriller.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5398378741375077226'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/5398378741375077226'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/amateur-by-robert-littell-thriller.html' title='The Amateur by Robert Littell: Thriller about the CIA being blackmailed by one of its own!'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-2643254720830573291</id><published>2008-02-09T09:22:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2008-02-09T13:48:52.229-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Blonde Faith"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="CIA"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Easy Rawlins"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Richard Ford"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Robert Littell"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Amateur"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Ultimate Good Luck"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Walter Mosley"/><title type='text'>Reading list- upcoming reviews</title><content type='html'>Here are a few excellent books I&#39;ve read recently that are in the process of being reviewed:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBlonde-Faith-Walter-Mosley%2Fdp%2F0316734594%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1202571807%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Blonde Faith&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Walter Mosley&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Walter Mosley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUltimate-Good-Luck-Richard-Ford%2Fdp%2F0394750896%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1202571702%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Ultimate Good Luck&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; by &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Richard Ford&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Richard Ford&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FAmateur-Robert-Littell%2Fdp%2F0143038141%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1202571746%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;The Amateur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; by Robert Littell&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;Robert Littell&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;Robert Littell&lt;/a&gt; has been reviewed previously on this site (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/robert-littell-and-cia.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for three book reviews and also see a great &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-that-must-be-read-ali.html&quot;&gt;interview&lt;/a&gt; by Karim Ali).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you have any questions or recommendations, please leave a comment.  Thanks!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/walter%20mosely&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;walter mosely&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/richard%20ford&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;richard ford&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/robert%20littell&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;robert littell&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20amateur&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the amateur&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/blonde%20faith&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;blonde faith&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20ultimate%20good%20luck&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the ultimate good luck&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/easy%20rawlins&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;easy rawlins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/2643254720830573291/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/reading-list-upcoming-reviews.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/2643254720830573291'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/2643254720830573291'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/reading-list-upcoming-reviews.html' title='Reading list- upcoming reviews'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-449765032407347390</id><published>2008-02-03T22:46:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2008-02-09T01:00:03.136-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="CIA"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Islamic terrorists"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Morocco"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Robert Wilson"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Roman Catholic terrorists"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Seville"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Spain"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Terrorism"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Hidden Assassins"/><title type='text'>The Hidden Assassins by Robert Wilson: terrorism and crime in Spain</title><content type='html'>A thriller and police procedural with international intrigue and espionage all included just as part of the story, &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Hidden Assassins&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Hidden Assassins&lt;/a&gt; (THA) is Robert Wilson&#39;s third novel about Chief Inspector Javier Falcon, lead murder investigator for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cyberspain.com/color/sevilla.htm&quot;&gt;historic city&lt;/a&gt; of &lt;a href=&quot;http://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-130789-seville_history-i&quot;&gt;Seville&lt;/a&gt;, which is located in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andalucia.com/&quot;&gt;Andalucia&lt;/a&gt;, southern Spain. The novels are intertwined, sharing many characters in addition to the Inspector himself. To understand the relationships that Falcon is embroiled in (and you will want to), the stories should be read in order of publication, starting with &lt;a type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Blind Man of Seville&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Blind Man of Seville&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/a&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.powells.com/partner/32348/biblio/9780156028806&quot;&gt;TBMOS&lt;/a&gt;), followed by &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Vanished Hands&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Vanished Hands&lt;/a&gt; (TVH).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The beginning to this series, &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Blind Man of Seville&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Blind Man of Seville&lt;/a&gt;, is a tour de force, an &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/murder-in-scotland-spain-portugal-west.html&quot;&gt;astonishing novel&lt;/a&gt; of byzantine family history, pride, violence, jealousy, love, betrayal and &quot;all the other departments.&quot; As I have &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2007/09/murder-in-scotland-spain-portugal-west.html&quot;&gt;previously mentioned&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Vanished Hands&lt;/span&gt; is very good, but pales somewhat in comparison to its predecessor.   With &lt;a style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot; type=&quot;amzn&quot; search=&quot;The Hidden Assassins&quot; category=&quot;books&quot;&gt;The Hidden Assassins&lt;/a&gt;, however, Wilson has given us another masterpiece.  This time, the story is both personal and global in scale, and it is very much a novel that reflects today&#39;s post 9/11 world.  THA manages to reflect so many different aspects of the world that the story is a true gem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;After a brief interlude in London, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Hidden Assassins&lt;/span&gt; starts with the discovery of a body, but this is no ordinary discovery, even for a murder squad, because &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;all &lt;/span&gt;distinguishing marks have been removed from the dead man by a variety of techniques that I&#39;ll leave to the imagination.  The novel is propelled in a multitude of directions by this discovery, like the Universe after the Big Bang.  Occasionally, we follow Falcon&#39;s thoughts backwards in time, to events familiar from the previous novels, which are revealed even more clearly now, before we can move forwards and try to catch up with the flood of investigative information needed to solve the present-day mystery.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before long, the trajectories of the novel&#39;s various plots are deflected by another significant explosion, this time not metaphorical at all: a huge detonation completely destroys an apartment tower in a poor section of town, devastating families and putting the entire city on edge.   A mosque in the basement of the tower block is the epicenter of the explosion, and this fuels public suspicion of the Islamic community.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-130789-seville_history-i&quot;&gt;The Islamic population originally arrived in Seville in 711 AD, and flourished until King Ferdinand III expelled them in 1248&lt;/a&gt;.   Even today, those years can be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alicante-spain.com/costa-del-sol/seville.html&quot;&gt;referred to&lt;/a&gt; as the Arab Occupation.  The Jews were later &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sephardicstudies.org/decree.html&quot;&gt;expelled&lt;/a&gt; by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492.  During &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Hidden Assassins&lt;/span&gt;, talk of once again expelling the Islamic population begins to gain steam, especially with the poor, who are courted by xenophobic, nationalistic, right-wing political forces.   This time around, it appears that the Jews are safe in Seville, at least for the moment, but Fascism is being embraced by some prominent Roman Catholic citizens, and, in addition to stirring up the crowds with tabloid propaganda, these minority extremists may have infiltrated as far as the National Intelligence Agencies themselves.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Falcon&#39;s investigators, who include a former nun, react with varying but significant degrees of distaste to the &quot;need&quot; for a simple story and an identifiable, preferably Islamic scapegoat.  However, we can be sure of one thing: the police investigators want to identify all of the criminals and all of the victims with great specificity and detail, and then treat them accordingly. There will be no rush to judgment by these investigators, but will they move fast enough to satisfy a growing civil unrest?  Will powerful forces in politics, the intelligence services and business gain the upper hand and control the outcome of the investigation?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To complicate things, the massive scale and terrorist nature of the bombing means that the police now have to contend with the appearance of two feuding Spanish National Security agencies who, at times, do as much to hinder as to help.  Simultaneously, the city grows more restless and angry, with most of the anger reserved for the Islamic minority (and some for the police and government).  Has the explosion possibly revealed an Islamist plot to &quot;liberate&quot; Andalucia and return the region to Islamic rule?  This theory is popular in the tabloids, but it doesn&#39;t seem credible to the investigators.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Trying hard to keep an open mind, Falcon directs his team and the forensic investigators through the painstaking work of sorting through the rubble for clues, identities of the victims, and a time-line of events. Relentless in the face of a chaotic assemblage of information, Falcon manages to keep his focus on the facts in spite of political pressures and the stone walls that are constantly being erected by the security agencies.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Breakthroughs in the case can only occur in fits and starts, especially because, though Falcon&#39;s intuition tells him that the parallel murder and bombing investigations are linked,  evidence of the links is sorely lacking.  Unfortunately, this evidence is needed to create a path forward.   However, things do begin to take shape around certain key events, like the suicide of a counter-terrorism agent and the discovery of a mysterious group that had the basement mosque under surveillance for some time.  This group has intimate ties to pockets of the Roman Catholic community and to some major corporations.  Oddly, these corporations don&#39;t hire women and seem to do all of their recruiting after prayers at church.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition to a grueling work schedule with grim deadlines, Javier Falcon has family problems to deal with and personal demons to struggle with: Falcon&#39;s ex-wife is now (unhappily) remarried to a prominent Judge; the woman Falcon loves refuses to see him; relationships become increasingly complex with Falcon&#39;s recently-discovered Islamic family in Morocco.  All of these matters conspire against a decent night&#39;s sleep.  However, the story&#39;s exceptional balance mirrors Falcon himself.  In many ways, Falcon&#39;s respect and understanding of Islamic culture allow him to see through smoke screens and around corners, bending light through a multicultural prism to find the truth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a familiar role, the CIA makes brief appearances and doles out information according to its own interests and perceived needs, and this is a case where the American agency can and does help with vital intelligence. However, nothing comes for free, and Falcon&#39;s Moroccan family connections attract all of the spy agencies, who try to elicit Javier&#39;s help with under-cover work.   In some cases, these agencies are spying on each other as much as on the nominal enemy, but such paranoia may turn out to be justified, especially if the actions of the right-wing Nationalist groups have become indistinguishable from the deeds of Islamist killers... indistinguishable without great forensic and investigative teams, anyway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With all of these plot elements, a lesser writer would eventually have succumbed to stereotypes and stock solutions.  However, the author Wilson and his man Falcon keep all of the balls in the air like master jugglers and refuse to settle for the cheap and easy solutions that the tabloids and growing rabble crave.   Along the way, we meet vicious opportunists, cold-blooded killers, grief-stricken parents, genuine (if naive) politicians, corrupt would-be king makers, and men and women of great strength and outstanding character, more often in the poor Muslim and Catholic communities than in the upper echelons of society.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As the mysteries unravel under Falcon&#39;s guidance, new problems are revealed, and the suspense mounts: can the investigators identify, locate and thwart the next terrorist plot?  Can any of the high-society Christian fascists be brought to justice?  Can Javier Falcon survive his battle with the twin monsters of Christian and Islamic terrorism and find his way back to normalcy through the labyrinth of his frayed emotions?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;The Hidden Assassins&lt;/span&gt; reward us with rich detail, panoramic vision, plenty of suspense, terrific pacing, a compelling, thrilling and horrifying set of story lines, and a view of the world that is, to my eyes, balanced from very many perspectives.  In the end, the reader sees violent religious and political fanatics for what they are, regardless of their ethnic origins: common criminals who leave  innocent victims dead and broken in terrorism&#39;s wake.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Technorati Tags:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/cia&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/terrorists&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;terrorists&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/spain&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;spain&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/morocco&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;morocco&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/robert%20wilson&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;robert wilson&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/roman%20catholic%20terroists&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;roman catholic terroists&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/islamic%20terrorists&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;islamic terrorists&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/seville&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;seville&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technorati.com/tag/the%20hidden%20assassins&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;the hidden assassins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;Generated By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Technorati Tag Generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/449765032407347390/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/hidden-assassins-by-robert-wilson.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/449765032407347390'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/449765032407347390'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/02/hidden-assassins-by-robert-wilson.html' title='The Hidden Assassins by Robert Wilson: terrorism and crime in Spain'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-3327079967715141360</id><published>2008-01-30T00:46:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2008-01-30T17:21:09.027-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="A Corpse in the Koryo"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="comments"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="North Korea"/><title type='text'>A Corpse in the Koyro: Additional comments</title><content type='html'>Here are a few additional comments about &lt;a set=&quot;yes&quot; linkindex=&quot;11&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCorpse-Koryo-Inspector-O-Novels%2Fdp%2F0312374313%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1201319893%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;A Corpse in the &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_4&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_0&quot;&gt;Koryo&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important; display: none;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, which I reviewed in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/01/murder-copyright-law-washington-d-c-and.html&quot;&gt;last post&lt;/a&gt;.  One of the extra pleasures of reading this book is based on wood:  Inspector O has a deep appreciation and understanding of wood from years of working with his grandfather, who was a master craftsman and artisan.  This may seem like an odd subject to interject into a murder mystery, but it provides much authenticity to the setting and helps build a historical context that link accumulated childhood memories and present habits of the inspector.  The author is extremely effective in managing providing glimpses of the past without ever seeming to be teaching a history lesson.  The fact that trees end up playing a significant role in solving the murder might have seemed contrived in less capable hands.  However, the inspector has to consult an outside expert on trees in this instance, so his innate grasp of the various qualities of wood from different sources did not provide him with a ready or simple solution to the important mystery.  The remarkable story of Inspector &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_1&quot;&gt;O&#39;s&lt;/span&gt; sandpaper is particularly effective- at times amusing, and at other times sobering, because of what the sandpaper helps us learn about North Korean life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Comments:&lt;/span&gt;  Comments are enabled on all new posts and most old posts (except for maybe two).  Some old comments now appear as text at the end of the page.  If you want to leave a comment, just click on the word &quot;comments&quot; at the end of each post (the very last thing that appears at the end of the list of labels below each new section I publish: it might say &quot;0 comments&quot; or &quot;5 comments,&quot; for example).  Please let me know if you have trouble.  Thanks.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/3327079967715141360/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/01/corpse-in-koyro-additional-comments.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/3327079967715141360'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/3327079967715141360'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/01/corpse-in-koyro-additional-comments.html' title='A Corpse in the Koyro: Additional comments'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-4278244450245646843</id><published>2008-01-25T17:56:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2008-01-25T23:28:15.444-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="A Corpse in the Koryo"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Errors and Omissions"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="George Pelacanos"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="James Church"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="North Korea"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Paul Goldstein"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Soul Circus"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Washington D.C."/><title type='text'>Murder, copyright law, Washington, D. C. and Pyongyang: books and reviews</title><content type='html'>Here is a set of mini-reviews of books I&#39;ve recently read.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just read my first ever &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2Fsearch-handle-url%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8%26search-type%3Dss%26index%3Dbooks%26field-author%3DGeorge%2520P.%2520Pelecanos&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;George &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_0&quot;&gt;Pelecanos&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; book, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSoul-Circus-George-P-Pelecanos%2Fdp%2FB0009YARJG%2F&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Soul Circus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, which is one of the series of Derek Strange, P. I. novels.  I found &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Soul&lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_1&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Circus&lt;/span&gt; to be very good.  The story starts out with everything going well for Strange and his partner Terry Quinn, who have an urban detective agency in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thingstodo.com/states/DC/history.htm&quot;&gt;Washington, D. C&lt;/a&gt;.  However, Quinn is uncomfortable with the job that opens the story, and sounds of the upcoming train wreck start to echo long before the collision happens; a literary &lt;a href=&quot;http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/dopp.html&quot;&gt;Doppler effect&lt;/a&gt;, perhaps.  This is one book where I accidentally saw comments by others at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/b?%5Fencoding=UTF8&amp;amp;node=17&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.  &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_2&quot;&gt;Hmmm..&lt;/span&gt;.  Well, the book deals with the reality of how gun laws in Virginia and nearby States affect life and death in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/US/DC/CapitolBuilding.html&quot;&gt;the Capitol&lt;/a&gt;.  It&#39;s curious how people often want to kill the messenger rather than face the message (referring to some of the comments by other readers).  Anyway, this is not a perfect novel, but the flaws are relatively minor: in particular, the character and motivation of Quinn are hard to understand (though reading the earlier books would undoubtedly help, given the hints that we do find about his recent past).  Nevertheless, there is a highly-authentic feel to the writing, a great use of music to add to the atmosphere, and a tough set of moral ambiguities, and no-so-ambiguous issues, to deal with.  If you like crime fiction to move fast, hit hard, and illuminate rather than sugar-coat life, this is well-worth reading.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FErrors-Omissions-Paul-Goldstein%2Fdp%2F0307274896%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1201318693%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Errors and Omissions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;, by Paul &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_3&quot;&gt;Goldstein&lt;/span&gt;, is a novel that fell short of my hopes, but that still maintained a good flow and storyline almost all the way through.  It deals with legal rights of ownership by artists and writers, ethics in Hollywood (or the lack thereof), the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/e-gov/e-politicalarchive-McCarthy.htm&quot;&gt;McCarthy era&lt;/a&gt; blacklists, and murder. The book also deals with the effects of the past on people, even many decades later, and gives an unromantic picture of alcoholism.  &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Errors and Omissions&lt;/span&gt; is a legal thriller with a fresh perspective, though the plot needed more planning- every now and then the story seems to tread water.    I can still say I&#39;m glad that I read the book, which managed to mix a lot of fascinating and tragic history into the contemporary tale, and I hope to see more from the author.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCorpse-Koryo-Inspector-O-Novels%2Fdp%2F0312374313%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1201319893%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;A Corpse in the &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_4&quot;&gt;Koryo&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; was published under the pseudonym &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHidden-Moon-Inspector-Novel-Novels%2Fdp%2F0312352093%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1201320185%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;James Church&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;.  The author is a former intelligence officer who was stationed for many years in Asia, and he gives us a very unusual story because of the setting: &lt;a href=&quot;http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.typarker.net/DPRK/images/north_korea_map.gif&amp;amp;imgrefurl=http://www.typarker.net/DPRK/DPRKMain.html&amp;amp;h=316&amp;amp;w=293&amp;amp;sz=17&amp;amp;tbnid=VktbqkywJGlkOM:&amp;amp;tbnh=117&amp;amp;tbnw=108&amp;amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnorth%2Bkorea%2Bmaps%26um%3D1&amp;amp;start=2&amp;amp;ei=XrGaR5W3J6SeiAG0z4n_Bg&amp;amp;sig2=CMSHcwsZ14tGVv3h5lYMIw&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;oi=images&amp;amp;ct=image&amp;amp;cd=2&quot;&gt;North Korea&lt;/a&gt;.  In fact, &quot;The &lt;span class=&quot;blsp-spelling-error&quot; id=&quot;SPELLING_ERROR_5&quot;&gt;Koryo&lt;/span&gt;&quot; is a major hotel in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.travel-earth.com/dprk/pyongyang/&quot;&gt;Pyongyang&lt;/a&gt;, the capitol of North Korea.  In part a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=203076&quot;&gt;Pyongyang&lt;/a&gt; police procedural, the novel presents a complex and compelling story told by the protagonist, Inspector O,  in a series of reminiscences that are inter-cut with a current interrogation.  The glimpse of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/North-Korea.html&quot;&gt;North Korean culture&lt;/a&gt; is fascinating, and there is plenty of action to keep the story going at fast pace, though things never accelerate beyond the author&#39;s ability to control the trajectory of the plot.  An occasional war-time or childhood memory from Inspector O helps moderates the pace, but these are always a pleasure to read rather than merely a literary device.  I did detect a bit of a shift in the Inspector&#39;s personality in the last third of the book, but that may have been an illusion because I read much of that out loud, clearly a different experience from solitary reading in the middle of the night.  I also need to mention that, somewhat to my surprise, I don&#39;t think I understood everything that took place in the story, but this confusion and the many levels of alliances and treachery probably added realism to the story.  I doubt that many events in North Korea are ever fully understood by its people, given all of the forces at play and the way that information is controlled; for example, military security is at odds with both state security and local police, and all vie for control of corrupt operations.  This is the best book of the three mentioned here, and I&#39;m happy to see that there is another &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHidden-Moon-Inspector-Novel-Novels%2Fdp%2F0312352093%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1201320185%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amp;tag=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&quot;&gt;Inspector O mystery&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nearlynothinb-20&amp;amp;l=ur2&amp;amp;o=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; /&gt; to read.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/feeds/4278244450245646843/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/01/murder-copyright-law-washington-d-c-and.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/4278244450245646843'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2286486548997104497/posts/default/4278244450245646843'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/2008/01/murder-copyright-law-washington-d-c-and.html' title='Murder, copyright law, Washington, D. C. and Pyongyang: books and reviews'/><author><name>Jim&#39;s Words Music and Science</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mU1gBZj-oow/THdGDzI3wbI/AAAAAAAAAQM/L7lL9qlBRRA/S220/07+13+09_1232+edit+copy+low+res+small+avatar.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>

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