An American Type, by Henry Roth

I’m familiar with the story of Henry Roth but this is the first book of his I have attempted – his last, heavily edited (it started with 1900 pages and  it wound up 300) and published just recently, well after his death in 1995. Maybe he is the literary Charles Ives, a recluse who had writer’s block for 60 years after his first novel in the 1930s. Anyway, he is the real thing, a great narrative style depicting immigrants, hobos, communists, and the well to do in the great depression. And clearly autobiographical – the protagonist has severe writer’s block and lack of self confidence. But a great lyric style to the writing – a pleasure to read. Maybe I will tackle one of the big ones. Give it an A.

A Whisper to the Living, by Stuart M Kaminsky

Confusing novel about homicides in Moscow – several at once and the quirks of the police who are assigned to solve the crimes. D.

The Financial Lives of the Poets, by Jess Walter

An immensely funny and sad book with lots of commentary on life, death, sex, crime, politics, and what have you. About a loser who gives up his job to create a web-site that combines financial news/advise with poetry. It doesn’t fly and he loses his house and possibly his wife.  The turns of phrase are great. Instead of his financial advisor, he calls him his ‘financial coroner’.  Enjoyable reading, with lots of laughs. Give it a B.

Stettin Station, by David Downing

In the style of the 1930s-1940 noir novels of Alan Furst, Joseph Kanon, Philip Kerr, and Robert Wilson. As is frequent in these novels, a foreigner, typically someone with one American or British parent and the other German, gets tangled with the Nazis. In this case he’s a former Red, working for both the Nazis and the Americans. But he gets caught in the internal Nazi politics and has to flee. Well written and historical. It’s a B.

Solar, by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan is just about my favorite author (and Atonement is his best), although I didn’t love On Chesil Beach, a recent novel. His latest one, Solar, doesn’t disappoint.  The protagonist is a Nobel winning physicist and McEwan seems to have mastered much of the lingo if not the actual science. With his personal life a mess (5 divorces), and his professional life going nowhere, the physicist stumbles onto the global warming scene. And just as his personal life is fret with conflicting forces, desires he cannot control, and approaching calamities of various sorts, the Earth’s inhabitants don’t seem to be able to come to grips with the consequences of a diet of fossil fuels.  Many of the descriptions of his weaknesses and rationalizations are hilarious. But as ever, the greatest enjoyment of McEwan is his language – he must be the most masterful user of the English language among today’s authors. What a joy to read. A+.

Innocent, by Scott Turow

I’ve read everything by Scott Turow since his groundbreaking Presumed Innocent, which I think started the legal mystery craze back when. His writing and twists and turns are so enjoyable; he surely leaves the formulaic Grisham et al in the dust. This sequel to Presumed Innocent is a richly woven story with wonderful character development for both the defendant and prosecution. I thoroughly loved it. I give it an A.

In the First Circle, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Originally written in 1958, Solzhenitsyn had to whittle the book down and expunge some of the more inflammatory sections before the regime would let it be published in 1968.  Recently the full original version has been published in English. Long (740 pages), rambling, and densely written, it is a masterful evocation of the senseless, frustrating, vindictive, paranoid, and brutal Soviet system under Stalin. There is not a great deal of plot; instead the story is told through the individual stories of the prisoners, workers, and government officials involved in a “technology research” prison. The portrait of Stalin is wonderfully written.  One wonders how much of this is the talent of the translator and how much of the language is the author’s.  Not for the casual reader.

The Runner by Peter May

Basically a Chinese detective novel, but one that touches upon American attitudes towards Chinese and vice versa, and the rise of modern China, even in the eyes of a fairly young person from the countryside who marvels at the changes in the central cities. I give it a C+.

Broken Jewel, by David L. Robbins

After MacArthur left the Philippines, the Japanese put all the foreigners in interneecamps. This well researched novel is based on conditions and events in one such camp holding over 2000 people, on Luzon. It also describes the forced recruitment and activities of so called ”comfort women” who were forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers.  Eventually the internees are freed before the Japanese could massacre them by a combination of advancing US forces and local Philippine guerillas. Rate it a B.

If the Dead Rise Not, by Philip Kerr

Another noir novel in the Bernie Gunther series (reminds me a bit of Len Deighton). Set in the mid 1930s as the Nazi’s begin to take control with preparations for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin as a backdrop. Gunther is a detective who has had to quit the police because he won’t join the party, and winds up as a hotel security man. Nicely written with plenty of tension and a satisfying ending. B plus.