Books - Written and Read

Angela Thirkell - Contented With The Time

2010-04-25T21:30:00.000-04:00

In my most recent post I wrote about my reaction to Angela Thirkell's 29th and final Barsetshire novel - Three Score and Ten. The goal of this post is to reflect on the full series which I have read roughly over the past 15 months or so - some for the second time. The first thing to be acknowledged is the achievement of writing so much about one place and one (albeit large) group of characters over roughly a 30 year period. I know that other writers have been as prolific, Trollope comes to mind, but I can't think of any novelist who wrote so much in such a focused way. Through her creation and alter ego Laura Morland, Ms Thirkell joked that she wrote the same book over and over again, that really wasn't true, time moved on, people changed and in just the right way she added to characters along the way - Wickham the Merton's agent is a case in point. Amazingly there were few inconsistencies in the books almost up to the very end when she did seem to lose her focus in the next to last book Love at All Ages. But in her 28th book probably in declining health, I think we can give her a break.

More importantly, however, what was it that made these books so special? So special that there are active Angela Thirkell societies both in England and the United States some 50 years after the last book was written. Thinking about this, at least two things come to mind. On Christmas Day back in 2006, I had a lot of anxiety about a trip that was coming up a few days later. For some reason I decided to start reading High Rising the first of the Barsetshire novels, I had already read two of the later ones Pomfret Towers and Before Lunch. High Rising begins at Christmas time with Laura Morland bringing her obnoxious son Tony home from school for the Christmas holidays. Perhaps it was the quiet Christmas in the English countryside that appealed to my jangled nerves, but all of the sudden I started to relax and calm down.

Almost all of Ms. Thirkell's seem to have that effect on me, something else that she apparently inherited from Anthony Trollope, his novels were once described a valium in book form. I have been thinking about why Thirkell's books have that effect, part of it is probably an idealistic American view of what life is like in small English villages. Ten years ago I spent about a week in one such village and there is something about the smallness, the quiet and people living everyday lives that is appealing. One has to be careful about such a few, living in such a setting doesn't eliminate all of lives problems and stresses and the relatively comfortable lives of the main characters is to some extent due to others working hard for low wages. On the latter point it should be notice in fairness to Thirkell that the laboring class is not swept under the rug, but has a real presence and identity in the novels.

I think the best way to describe this aspect of the novels can be found in the words of Charles Dickens, in his classic story - A Christmas Carol. Writing about Scrooge's long suffering clerk Bob Cratchit and his family's Christmas celebration, Dickens notes the following:

"They were happy, grateful, pleased with one another and contented with the time."

The final sentence could be said of almost everyone of Ms. Thirkell's characters and therein I think lies the soothing effect of the novels.

This last statement would seem to support the view that the Barsetshire novels are only light social satire with little real content. Sometimes on the surface that may seem to be true, but at a deeper level the novels explore issues of human life that are universal. Towards the end there is understandably an ongoing discussion of end of life issues, but earlier other themes are present, often in understated, non-verbal communication. I first noticed this in August Folly when Mr. Tebbins without directly saying so tells his son not to worry about his poor academic record at Oxford. Richard, the son, seldom appears after that and becomes something of an unattractive character, but he does make one major contribution, saving Jessica Dean from injury so she can go on to captivate England, and all of us, on the stage.

Other examples come to mind as well, Lady Glencora Palliser in The Duke's Daughter singing "Keep the Home Fires Burning" to a large audience during World War II bringing almost everyone to tears as they remember the sacrifices of both wars. Of course, the novels only cover World War II and the physical sacrifices are limted (although real enough) to a few characters who leave arms and feet behind them on different battlefields. While the novels do not cover the World War I years, the deaths of heirs to the Leslie and Pomfret families and the suffering in silence of their parents goes on throughout the cycle. The dignity and grace that the Earl of Pomfret and his sister, Lady Emily Leslie display in dealing with their loss is something that I will always remember.

In Pomfret Towers when someone refers to the deceased heir to the Pomfret earldom as "poor Mellings," his father, who has no other children says, "Why poor, at least he served his country, more than we have ever done."

At one point during John Mortimer's "Paradise Postponed," a city-woman recently moved to the country complains to her doctor, "It's all so quiet, so green and so wet." To which her doctor replies, "It's called England. There's no known cure."

To which I say, THANK GOD!

And thanks to Angela Thirkell for creating this little world with so much in it both of enjoyment and of value.

Three Score and Ten - Making a Good Ending

2010-04-17T11:34:00.000-04:00

Reportedly when the late Edward Kennedy learned that he had an inoperable brain tumor, he said something to the effect of seeing if he could make a good ending. By all accounts he did just that and on reading and reflection the same can be said of Three Score and Ten, the 29th and final Barsetshire novel of Angela Thirkell. Ms. Thirkell did not live to finish this book, supposedly she wrote the first five chapters or 137 pages in the Moyer Bell edition. If that's so, it means that C. A. Lejune wrote the last six chapters or 171 pages, a little more than half of the book, but, of course, the last half.

Like every Thirkell novel, this book includes some romances, in this case one young and one of a certain age. The young romance concerns Ludo Foster, the young Lord Melling who will ultimately become Earl of Pomfret. Like his father, Ludo is a shy young man, who starts to come out of his shell in What Did it Mean? courtesy of Jessica Dean and Aubrey Clover. I mentioned earlier about Edith Graham having the longest running courtship in these novels, but Ludo is also a contender as multiple candidates have been out there through the novels. It all ends satsifactorily in this novel linking together even more closely two of the favorite families of the series - in fact the last words of the book and the 29 novels belong to the young lovers. The other romance deals with Sylvia Gould who appeared very early in the series and not again until the end. There is some speculation that Thirkell intended a different ending than what Ms. Lejeune provides, but I think her's make more sense and happily ties up a loose end from two of the earliest books.

When I first realized that Ms. Thirkell hadn't lived to finish this book, I was disappointed because I wanted to know how she would ended something that had gone on so long. While we don't know what her plans were, I do think that Ms. Lejeune did the right thing and definitely made a good ending. The 70 years in the title refers to Laura Morland who is observing/celebrating her 70th birthday. Supposedly modeled on Ms. Thirkell herself, Laura has been there since the very first novel and if she isn't in every book she appears with great regularity.

The second half of the book is devoted to discussing, planning and carrying out a birthday party for Laura which she accepts, but not without some reservations. There is a nice effect to this which I will call a form of "doubling" - Angela Thirkell died one day short of her 71st birthday putting her roughly as the same age as her alter ego within the novels. By making the birthday party the point of emphasis in the second half of the novel, Ms. Lejeune is able to bring back in one way or another almost all of the characters who appeared in one or another in the novels. This allows us the reader to enjoy one more contact with some of our favorite characters, but perhaps more importantly, it brings the characters back to praise and honor, not only Laura, but also their creator Angela Thirkell. I can't think of a better way to have ended such a long literary journey.

I was originally going to use this post to comment on both this novel and the series in general, but decided to limit this post to Three Score and Ten and then devote a second post to the whole series. That will take a little reflection so it may have to wait until after a post on the new Joseph Pulitzer biography which I finished last night, but we will see. In any events hats off to Ms. Lejeune to making a good ending for Bartsetshire, if it is the end.

Love At All Ages - Angela Thirkell

2010-03-28T17:18:00.000-04:00

This is a record for me in terms of the gap between finishing a book and writing about it - I finished the next to last of Angela Thirkell's novels about 15 minutes ago. Love At All Ages is the last of the books that Ms. Thirkell finished - the final work Three Score and Ten was finished by C.A. Lejeune after the author's death. Like most of these latter Barsetshire novels, there is a sense of last things in the air. Witness the following passage:

"Time may gallop with a thief en route to the gallows, but as we get older, he gallops faster and faster with ourselves as we watch friend after friend, enemy after enemy and even bore after bore, being borne along on what is less an ever-rolling stream than an endless, passionless convectorbelt (if that is the word we mean) -- and we also are on it."

I think the word she meant was conveyor belt, but we get the meaning all the same.

I noted in my last Thirkell related post that I had previously thought I found signs that Thikell's was losing track of her story and her characters, but was proven wrong at the beginning of this book. Alas this is the book where she does start to lose it in some fairly obvious ways. The most obvious is when Lady Agnes Graham describes her nephew Martin Leslie as having lost a foot in Italy during World War II. Any Thirkelite worth his or her salt knows that it was Robin Dale who lost a foot, Martin received a leg wound that caused him to limp, but not have to go suffer with all the access issues that are described in this book.

But in spite of obvious mistakes like this, Ms. Thirkell still retains enough of her faculties to provide some memorable lines. The best example is when the aged (and ageless) Lord Stoke is talking with Lavinia Merton and says, "Read all you can while you are young. Doesn't matter if you understand it or not. You'll have made friends that you can always come back to, and every time you meet them you'll like them better."
That's a good line at any time, but especially in this book which seems to be even more full of allusions to Dickens, Scott and, of course, Shakesepeare.

My comments about last things shouldn't be taken to mean this is a book about death and dying because the real focus (as in most Thirkell books) is romance, in this case, two romances, one of two people who might be considered too old and the other of a couple who are clearly too young. The first has to do with Rev. Caleb Oriel who has appeared in these stories many times and Lady Gwendolyn Harcourt - sister of the Duke of Towers. The Towers family only appears in these last stories, among other things to provide a husband for Edith Graham and a wife for Rev. Oriel.

The romance of those who are clearly too young concerns Lavinia Merton who is only 16 and Ludovic Foster (known as Mellings) future heir of Pomfret. When he first appeared in these novels, Ludo appeared to lack the strength and the personality for the responsibilities that await him at some future date. Gradually he has grown up both physically and emotionally, but life will still clearly be a struggle for him, much like it has been for his father. Towards the end of this book, he and Lavinia clearly care for each other, but, if nothing else, Lavinia's youth prevents any real conclusion. Interestingly part of Ludo's side of the story is told through an encounter with his Aunt, Alice Wicklow, who was so painfully shy in Pomfret Towers as Alice Barton. This is one of the few times we have encountered her since and she gives valuable support to her nephew.

The book ends with the Pomfrets and the Mertons wondering about where all of this will lead and which, in turn, leads to them looking back on their own lives and love for one another. It is nice as we move towards the end of these books to be connected with some of the more sympathetic characters. I look forward to Three Score and Ten to see what kind of closure there is on this and other parts of this long literary journey.

Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman

2010-03-26T16:07:00.000-04:00

Unlike most of my previous posts, this book is one that came out relatively recently, not even a month ago in this country. I think two things led me to it - seeing television adapations of Emma and Persuasion plus a trip to the Jane Austen exhibition "A Woman's Wit" at the Morgan Library. I enjoyed all of these experiences and, as is frequently the case, it motivated me to learn more, leading to the purchase and reading of this book which describes how Jane Austen moved from being an obscure writer with a limited audience to being one of the most well know authors in the world. I remember reading a similar kind of book about the Bronte sisters a number of years ago - a combination of brief biography with then a history of the author's work after his or her lifetime.

Books like this are almost always of interest because they satisfy our need for more information about authors we enjoy in one way or another. One thing I hadn't realized about Jane Austen is something I learned both from the book and the Morgan exhibit - how little of Jane Austen's correspondance has actually survived. Supposedly she wrote literally hundreds of letters to her family (especially her sister Casandra) and friends, but only a small fraction survive. The largest number in one place are those held by the Morgan, a tribute to both the wealth and collector's instinct of Mr. Morgan. As noted by Ms. Harman this puts Austen in a class with Shakespeare as the two biographical subjects for whom there is very high interest and minimal biographical materials.

After summarizing Jane Austen's life especially with regard to her writing, the book goes on to explain her rise from obscurity to world reknown. I found this to be the only weak chapter of the book, as I understand it the argument is that it was the first biography of the author, written by her nephew that was the beginning of the vast public hunger for more information about Austen. I say weak because this point is made very briefly with little fanfare so that I actually missed it on a first read. It was only when I found the next chapter began with Jane's fame an accomplished fact that I realized I must have missed something and went back and read the chapter a second time.

This concern is not that significant and certainly not sufficient to recommend against reading the book. Once Jane's status is affirmed, the book moves on with some interesting commentary about both her work and the work's popularity. In explaining the popularity of the novels, Harman mentions a number of things including the fact that there are very few references to contemporary events in the books. This, according to Harman, partially accounts for their long term popularity, it gives them a sort of timelissness. Another factor is Austen's almost perfect timing in writing about romantic situations, she has a great sense of just how to build up the drama and exactly when to bring the situation to a conclusion - always a happy conclusion.

Also of interest was the popularity of Austen's work during World War I as British soldiers tried desperately to hold on to any stability in a world of lethal chaos. I had read about the importance of books to soldiers before, but didn't realize that Austen was an important source of comfort for men, most of whom had little or any connection with the world described in her novels. Attention is also paid to the many television and movie adaptations of Austen's work. It may have been my reading more than a direct statement by Harman, but I saw here a real warning about being mindful of things that are added or changed in the adaptations that are not in the original work. This can happen very easily and can lead to losing the author's original intent.

I am very glad that I both bought and read this book, all within the same month! In addition to getting a better understanding of Austen's life and work as well as its aftermath, I found some interesting possibilities for further reading. Enough to make me look forward to my next visit to the Rutgers library.

The Demon in the House by Angela Thirkell

2010-03-21T17:51:00.000-04:00

A funny thing happened to me on the way to finishing Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels - I realized that there was an early work that I had missed - The Demon in the House. This book was actually the third to be published following High Rising and Wild Strawberries. In some ways it is a continuation on the first book, focused on the mystery writer novelist Laura Morland and her 12 year old son, Tony - actually more on the latter. In fact, the book is really not so much a novel as a series of short stories or episodes of Tony's misadventures during his vacations from Southbridge School. I say misadventures because Tony is a particularly difficult child (a kind way of putting it), he never stops talking, knows everything and is always doing exactly what he has been told not to do.

Other than Tony's escapades there is not a lot of additional content to this book other than something of interest regarding Dr. Ford, the long time country doctor. In the last part of the book, he falls in love and The Demon in the House actually ends with an announcement of his engagement. This is of special interest because of something I had just read in Close Quarters. In talking with Margot MacFayden, Ford mentions that he had only been in love once in his life - with Ann Todd, Laura Morland's assistant, who marries George Knox at the end of High Rising. Here I thought that Angela Thirkell had been caught leaving a loose end - an inconsistency with the future novels. That feeling of smug satisfaction lasted only until I began reading Love at All Ages which follows Close Quarters and wherein Ms. Thirkell mentions that engagement and its ending by mutual agreement. So if there was a loose end, our author found it and corrected it herself very quickly.

While I didn't think there was a lot to this book, it once again reminded me of why I read these novels. All of the sudden at one point of following Laura Morland's trying to parent a 12 year old boy, I was reminded of another 12 year old boy and a similar experience almost 20 years ago. There is little or nothing that is similar about the two situations - a fictional widow in the 1930's in rural England and a happily married father in suburban New Jersey in the last decade of the 20th century, but some how, in someway, Laura's experience reminded me of my own. Perhaps that is a big part of Ms. Thirkell's gifts - we are reminded of ourselves in her stories in many different and important ways.

The Strange Death of Liberal England by George Dangerfield

2010-03-19T21:55:00.000-04:00

Reading this book was another part of working my way through all the books that have accumulated over the decades. I don't remember how long I have had it, but it is a paperback version of a book published in 1935 with a cover price of all of $3.45. I think that I got it in the 1970's when I was introduced to another of Dangerfield's books - "The Damnable Question" which is about Ireland during WW I and thereafter. Of course, I have that book too and it is also in the unread category.

I think what attracted me to this book was something about its title. In this case "liberal" does not mean a political philosophy, but refers to one of the major British political parties of the 19th century. The Liberal party basically died between WWI and the 1920's and exists today only as a small minority long after today's major parties, the Conservative and Labour parties. A little research indicates that at its peak, the Liberal party favored a minimal role for government, extending the vote and, most importantly, reform.

I say most importantly because according to Dangerield, the Liberal Party died during the 1910-14 period because of its inability to handle three major issues: Ireland, the women's suffrage movement and labor unrest. In each case the Liberal Party's efforts for reform were too little to late for movements that were no longer satisfied to be patient, were demanding action and, even more seriously, pursuing the goals too some degree with violence. In each case the Liberal Party under its leader, Herbert Asquith (pictured above) was unable to resolve the issues to any degree that mattered.

What might have happened had not World War I and the demands of national unity intervened is almost too scary to contemplate. Not because of any desire to see any of the groups in question fail in achieving their rights, but because of the civil violence to where the country seemed to be heading. This is particularly true in the case of Ireland where Dangerfield makes it clear that the opposition Conservatives actually encouraged treasonous behavior especially in the Army where many officers were unwilling to command their troops against Irish rebels.

At some level all of this seems like, and effectively is, ancient history. But the cautionary note that comes out of it is that there are times when reform is not sufficient - radical change is the only solution. Those who believe in reform, especially those in power, have to recognize the times when what we reformers might regard as gradual progress is no longer suffient. Being wrong about this especially in multiple cases like what faced the Liberal Part from 1910 to 1914 could have devastating results, not just 100 years ago, but any time.

"Close Quarters" by Angela Thikell

2010-03-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

It is probably never a good idea to allow too much time to pass between finishing reading a book and then writing about it - especially as you get older! That's, no doubt, even more true when the book is part of a long series like Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels because in addition to the danger of forgetting, there is the danger of getting the books mixed up. The novel in question this time is Close Quarters which is the third from the end - only Never Too Late and Three Score Ten remain.

The focus of this novel is Margot MacFayden or as we first met her Margot Phelps the adult daughter of retired Admiral Phelps and his wife, all three of them lived in Jutland Cottage in Southbridge, the town where Southbridge school is located. An early novel called appropriately enough, Jutland Cottage is the story of how friends of the family rescue Margot who is slowly (less slowly everyday) killing herself taking care of her aging and ailing parents. The rescue takes the form of helping Margot to care more about her appearance and to get out more which results in her marriage to Donald MacFayden a vegetable magnate who not only loves Margot, but can provide for her financially.

At the beginning of this novel, Mr. MacFayden has died leaving Margot a relatively young widow with plenty of money, but also with two even more aged and more ailing parents. A great deal of the book is taken up with Margot's trying to figure out how to care for her parents both emotionally and physically without moving back in with them and starting to kill herself all over. Obviously for anyone who read the earlier book, Mr. MacFayden's death opens up the possibility of second chances for Margot's other suitors who, of course, are known to the reader, but not to her. One of the advantages of such a long series of books is that it allows for second chances, and the result of that part of the story should be of no surprise to anyone. Another interesting romantic angle of this story is that the longest running courtship in the series, that of Edith Graham has ended before the book even begins ending therefore off stage with her being engaged to a character who appeared only briefly at the end of the previous book.

However, much of Close Quarters like many of these later novels is in many ways a meditation about old age and death. In this case there is the added element of the responsibilities of the next generation to those who have little left to do but their dying. I don't mean to suggest that this is morbid, if anything Ms. Thirkell seems to stress how much it is a natural part of life. In an earlier book, she misquotes (intentionally I am sure) Shakespeare by changing Hamlet's "the readiness is all" to "the willingness is all" with regard to death. Almost all of the characters who die in these books (all of whom go of natural causes at advanced age) have this willingness. At first I didn't see the significance because willing or not it will happen to all of us. But it made me think of a remark by Senator Edward Kennedy at the time of his diagnosis with brain cancer, something to the effect of "Let's see if I can make a good ending." Perhaps that's what Thirkell is referring to with the stress on willingness - a commitment to making a good end which can in turn help both the dying and those who care for them do so with as much grace as possible. If so it is an important lesson for all - another such lesson from an author who, in my opinion, is a lot more than a writer of light social satire.

Andrew Carnegie - by David Nasaw

2010-03-08T17:39:00.000-05:00

It has taken me even longer than expected to find the time to write about this 800 page award winning biography about one of the famous "robber barons" of the late 19th and early 20th century. I read this book as part of my ongoing effort to read through the books that I already own recognizing that I am still going to buy new books and/or borrow from libraries. I bought the book for two reasons - my interest in this group of business pioneers/philanthropists and my interest in biography as a literary form. While writing plans are always subject to change (and frequently) I am very much leaning towards writing a biography after Paul and I finish our book about Ebbets Field. Part of my interest in that project was to explore the possibility of a biography of Charles Ebbets and everything I have found suggests that he is a worthy topic.

Ebbets, of course, is no where near in the same league (baseball or otherwise) with someone like Andrew Carnegie. Reportedly at one time the wealthiest man in the world, this Scottish immigrant made his money in the steel industry and then set about giving it away. His philosophy was to make as much money as possible, but then to give it all away before death so the next generation would not be "burdened" by great wealth. From a business standpoint Carnegie is interesting because unlike may of his peers (if there was such a thing), he did no work long hours at his business. Almost as soon as he had enough money Carnegie became detached from the every day aspects of business, preferring to work through subordinates who included people like Henry Clay Frick and Charles Schwab.

While his work habits may not have matched those of John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan, he had a similar attitude towards the working man - trying to minimize labor costs and to oppose any efforts at collective bargaining. In Carnegie's case this took its extreme form in the Homestead Steel strike where violence resulted in government intervention. Tragic and most likely unnecessary in its own right, Nasaw's description of these events suggested that what was even more tragic was how the people of Homestead (effectively a company town) actually felt an identification with the business which was all the more reason they resisted management's efforts that would have driven many of them not only out of their jobs, but also their homes. Carnegie's life long effort to portray himself as a someone who closely identified with th working man because he was one of them was more than a little self deceptive.

Ultimately Carnegie and his partners sold out their ownership interest into a new entity called U.S.Steel. Carnegie took his huge share in corporate bonds backed by gold which was probably as good a quality investment as you could get in those days. He then set about giving those bonds away to a number of worthy causes that were of interest to him. Libraries were always a priority for him and many towns throughout the U.S. got their first library through one of these grants - I know that the library in the next town over, Caldwell, NJ, is a Carnegie library and I believe the Verona library is as well. Reading about these gifts in the book, it appears that Carnegie through a trusted subordinate relied on a formula type approach where communities that met the criteria pretty much got their library automatically.

During his lengthy retirement, Carnegie's primary interest, perhaps almost an obsession was world peace. He advocated constantly for arbitration for international disputes and for other measures to promote peace in an increasing belligerent world. Because of his great wealth and connections, he had access to every U. S. President as well as other world leaders. He used this access constantly, but in what frequently seemed to be an incredibly naive way, always thinking he was making more progress than he was. His fears about what the next major war proved to be all to accurate beginning in 1914. In some ways Carnegie was an almost Cassandra like prophet - correctly forseeing what would happen, but unable to get enough people or the right people to believe him.

The book is clearly exhaustively researched and very well written, one that was a relative quick read given its length. My one negative reaction has to do with with something that I heard Robert Caro say in an intereview on CSPN about how he writes his biographies. When he is ready to start writing, Mr. Caro sits down and spends a great deal of time writing one or at the most two paragraphs that say what the book is about. Among other things this facilitates coming back to those main themes no matter what the diversion and no matter how necessary it was. At some times I though this book could have benefited from something like that - in some ways it told the story of the life, but it could have been more focused about the conclusions it was drawing from that life. None of this is to regret not just reading the book, but buying it as well. And as hoped all of this gave me more to think about as I consider a possible biography of Charles Ebbets.

A Double Affair by Angela Thirkell

2010-02-25T13:14:00.000-05:00

When I resumed blogging in January the plan was that I would limit my posts to writing about books I had read and books I had written or am writing. My thought was that this would be a more mangeable use of time and not be overly demanding. As a result longer gaps between posts would be the norm, but the delay between the two most recent posts is not due to not having finished any books. In fact, I have finished two, A Double Affair, the subject of this post and an 800 page biography of Andrew Carnegie.

The major reason for this delay has been extensive and intensive preparations for two talks - one today at the Brooklyn Historical Society and another tomorrow at the Montclair Women's Club. But for the second time this winter, the weather has played havoc with my plans. The major snow storm that is going on around me is preventing me from going to Brooklyn today and tomorrow's program has already been cancelled. I guess the lesson is to be flexible, but it is definitely weird to plan everything around these two talks and then have neither of them take place.

In writing about A Double Affair, I first want to say something that I have been meaning to say about a number of prior posts on Angela Thirkell's books or more specifically the pictures that I have been including. The pictures come off the Internet and I have no idea as to how they are supposed to relate to the book. Most of the books I have been reading come from the original American editions (courtesy of the Rutgers library) and have no pictures either inside or on the cover.

It may be that the picture used for this book is supposed to be a portrait of Edith Graham. Edith is the last of the six Graham children, as noted in my last post, the three Graham daughters have played major parts in the novels while the three sons appear seldom and are treated almost as a group, not as individuals. Edith not only plays a major part in the later novels, but also seems to have the longest running courtship in all of Thirkeldom and it doesn't end in this book.

Like many novelists that I have read Thirkell sometimes uses the dynamic of one man or one woman with multiple possible candidates as their future spouse. Typically it is a 2-1 dynamic, but in A Double Affair, Thirkell outdoes herself and actually sets up three possible suitors for Edith. At the end of the prior book, Never to Late I was starting to wonder exactly how that would work out. One of the differences between Thirkell and her literary ancestor Anthony Trollope is that Thirkell always seems to work out some kind of satisfactory resolution for the loser while Trollope doesn't. No one likes to see the more painful results that Trollope sometimes writes, but it also seems more real - not every story has a story book ending.

So given in this case there seemed to be at least two possible losers, I wasn't sure how Thirkell would work it all out. Unfortunately I must say that I was somewhat disappointed with her solution as in this book Thirkell does something that I don't ever remember her doing before or at least not to this degree. It is not unlike a criticism of some mystery novels that with solutions that seem to pulled out of a hat - what used to be called deux ex machina - God in a machine - resolution by divine intervention. In this case the divine intervention takes the form of two new characters, sisters who appear for the first time and are almost instantly wooed and won by two of Edith's potential husbands. There is some reference to one of the couples having met before, but it feels almost like marathon like courtship of Edith Graham has been offset by two of the shortest courtships on record.

Although I was disappointed in this and would have to say that A Double Affair isn't one of my favorites, I still enjoyed it and am glad to have read it. To paraphrase something that somebody said after a 21-1 defeat in vintage baseball - a bad day of Thirkell is better than a good day of yard work. Or in today's context, better than a good day of snow shoveling.

Marathoning - It's Not Just About Running

2010-02-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

Back in 1983 I ran the New York City Marathon, it was my third and final marathon. Running a marathon (26.2 miles) is the ultimate challenge for any runner, I was (and am) proud to have done so, but never really seriously considered doing another. Over the years, however, I have come to realize that there is more than one kind of marathon - since then I have experienced at least two other types - the baseball marathon and the Shakespeare marathon.

Two of my cousins, who are effectively "professional" baseball fans, introduced our family to the baseball marathon which has taken different forms. In 2001 after Paul graduated from college, he and I went to California where we say seven games in seven days in five different cities. The next year we expanded the participants as Carol and Sarah joined us for a five games in five days in four different cities - Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Detroit. Next was the Shakesepare marathon, shortly after my retirement, Carol and I went off to Stratford-upon-Avon to see eight playes in five days including three plays in one day - 9 plus hours of Shakesepare in one day!

Whatever the form, these marathons make demands that are both physical and mental. I have been thinking about this as I finished my latest venture in Angela Thirkell's imaginary English county of Barsetshire - the story entitled Never to Late. I am now close to the end of what can only be described as a marathon of reading, I forget the exact number, but there are close to 30 of these novels describing English country life before, during and after World War II. In the next book (which I have also finished and will post about soon) some characters look back at their first meeting which tookplace early in the series and is described as 20 years ago.

That didn't seem right, it feels like the period covered has to be much longer than that, after all, I can't think of any author who wrote close to 30 books about one set of characters, albeit a large number of characters. And there is nothing unusual about a book that covers 20-30 years of people's lives. But then I realized what is unique about Thirkell's writing is that it isn't one or two books covering 20 years, it's about 30 books covering that same period allowing for much more in depth story telling. So in this case the marathon is not as much about length as it is about depth.

Approaching the end has also made me wonder about what was on Thirkell's mind as she wrote these last four to five books (she basically produced about a book a year). At the time of this book, she had to be in her mid 60's and must have known she couldn't have had that many more books in her. That may account for what seems to be an emphasis in these novels on growing old and death itself. In the next book she refers to "the prison of old age" and on characters beginning that journey "from which no traveler returns" - one of her many references to Shakespeare. At the same time there is also some recognition not only that life goes on, but that this little imaginary world goes on with each generation taking its place and carrying out its responsibilities to the best of its ability. The one aged character who dies in the book is memoralized with a tablet that says "He lived among his people" - high praise indeed.

Of course no Thirkell book would be complete about romance and this book is no exception on two different levels. There is the youngest Graham daugher, Edith who has no less than three possible suitors in what appears to be the longest courtship in all of the novels. The other level, however, is represented in title of the book concering the possibilities of late blooming romances for Laura Morland and Miss Merriman (Merry for short). All of this is either resolved or not resolved, but always in a way that keeps the story going forward into the next book which is where I must go as well. So like the last few miles, the last game or the last play, whatever the challenges, the endurance is all - with apologies to Shakespeare and Thirkell as well.

Praying For Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers

2010-02-13T14:04:00.001-05:00

In my last post I mentioned that I had another Ebbets Field telephone interview scheduled for this past Monday. The interview was with John Sexton who is the President of NYU, it was a good interview and I got some more interesting analysis of why Ebbets Field and the Dodgers were so special. I had learned of Mr. Sexton's connection to the Dodgers through an HBO special that was shown in the past few years. During the program Mr. Sexton tells the story of how he and a classmate (good Catholic boys) were watching the seventh game of the 1955 on World Series while holding on to a crucifix and praying for a Dodger victory. When the Dodgers finally won, the friend let go of the crucifix thereby chipping Mr. Sexton's tooth.

It's a good story and I learned a further detail just last night - Mr. Sexton apparently refused to have the tooth fixed for almost 40 years, thinking of it as a badge of honor. I gleaned this detail from Tom Oliphant's book - Praying for Gil Hodges which is a memoir of how he and his father watched the entire seventh game on television in their small New York apartment. I had heard Mr. Oliphant speak about his book back in 2005 (50th anniversary of 1955) and am now scheduled to speak to the former award winning Boston Globe columnist and editor on Monday. In anticipation I have been reading the book which basically weaves together three stories.

As mentioned the first story is that of Mr. Oliphant and his father watching the game of their black and white television. Interwoven with this is the story of the Oliphant family and that of the Dodgers both of which are important to the first part. I enjoyed these letter stories, but what was especially gripping is the story of the two Dodger fans watching their beloved team trying to wipe out all the ghosts and horrors of the past. Any close, low-scoring seventh game of the World Series has plenty of drama and tension, Mr. Oliphant does an exceptional job of keeping the reader on the edge of the metaphorical seat even though the ending is well known. However for me, what the author does which is much more exceptional is to capture of the mindset of the fan whose team always comes close, but never quite gets there.

I guess at some level it is like Greek tragedy where we watch the hero struggle against his fate, knowing full well he will fail. As I read how Mr. Oliphant as a nine year old watched and waited for the inevitable disaster, it brough back a lot of similar feelings, not so much about the Dodgers, but other sports experiences, Rutgers against Princeton for example. I think it is a combination of things including wanting something so badly and being disappointed so many times before, getting one's hopes only to see them shattered. Of course, in this case there is a happy ending which ultimately makes it even more meaningful and rewarding. That alone made the book well worth reading and I am really looking forward to Monday's interview.

Writing, Like Reading Can Lead to Some Interesting Things

2010-02-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

I have always known that reading can open doors to all kinds of interesting possibilities even if only within the mind itself. Now working on our new book has taught me that the same thing is true of writing. The book is about Ebbets Field, the second volume in McFarland and Co's historic ballpark series. It will consist of a series of articles followed by a section of interviews with players, fans, sportswriters and others. I have to admit that I find the whole process of interviewing somewhat intimidating, if nothing else I am not particularly good at drawing people out, especially people who claim they don't remember anything about the subject at hand.

While Paul is doing most of the interviews, I am doing some and even though I find getting starting somewhat nerve wracking, once it gets going I really enjoy it. Last fall I had the privilege of interviewing Carl Erskine, former star pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers - at one point in the interview, he actually wondered if he was taking too much of my time! I didn't think much could match that, but I was wrong, on Wednesday morning, I spent about a 1/2 hour on the phone with Robert Caro - two time winner of the Putlitzer Prize. I hadn't thought about it ahead of time, which is probably a good thing, but he is one of my author heroes - I have read all four of his books, the one about Robert Moses and the first three volumes of his biography of Lyndon Johnson. Four may not sound like much, but at least two of the books come in at over 1000 pages - a 1000 pages of very enjoyable reading I might add.

Mr. Caro very generously spoke with me about his memories of attending games at Ebbets Field when he was a student at the Horace Mann School (also the alma mater of one Sarah Kaufman). Because he is such a gifted writer, he was able to give me some metaphors and images of the Ebbets Field experience that helped me to better understand how much it meant to so many people. What was so fascinating was listening to someone who has spent most of his life writing about politics and political power get so excited about his memories of baseball and his youth. I have another phone interview scheduled for Monday with another prominent person who first just wanted to take questions by e-mail. But last week his secretary wrote to ask if I could call instead, I don't know if it will come out why he changed his mind, but my guess is that the memories mean so much to him that he can't resist talking about them. I know I will be nervous about it, but I am looking forward to it.

The interviews aren't the only interesting development, I had visited the Brooklyn Historical Society in November to ask their help in collecting memories from Brooklyn residents. It turns out they have a program called Exhibition Laboratory (Ex-Lab for short) where local high school students work on an exhibit. By coincidence or grace (I prefer the latter explanation) this year's exhibit is on - you guessed it - the Dodgers and Ebbets Field. After some e-mail exchanges in January, I was asked to serve as the lead historian on the project - didn't take me long to accept that offer. So on February 25th I will be giving the students a talk about baseball, the Dodgers and Ebbets Field. I am really looking forward to it and it is helping me to think more about the content of our book - for example, it now occurs to me that Charles Ebbets in 1912 and Walter O'Malley in the 1950's faced a similar problem - how to replace a too small, deteriorating ballpark. From the Brooklyn perspective, Ebbets was successfull while O'Malley wasn't - some food for thought for a future book about Charles Ebbets. Anyway I have to believe that this role is going to help make this a better book and I am confident that there are more interesting steps along the way.

Opening Salvo of the Civil War Sesquicentennial

2010-01-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

The New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee, which I am honored to chair, is in the final stages of finishing its first project - the publication of New Jersey Goes to War. The book is a collection of brief biographies of 150 notable New Jerseyans from the Civil War era or to be more correct 149 people and a heroic horse - which is not to say that some of the people are not heroic as well. Notable is also a key word as the book consciously includes scoundrels as well as those who did New Jersey proud during this watershed time in American history.

When the 150th committee got started about 18 months ago, one of our first ideas was to have a website and post the biographies there. About six or so months later, we were discussing this at a committee meeting when all of the sudden the idea emerged why not pubish them as a book and use the proceeds towards our other projects and activities. So it is has taken about 10 months to get this book ready for the printer - a very short time in publishing circles. In fact, it could have been done much faster, but we waited about three months to hear whether the project had been approved for state funding. Unfortunately (or so I thought) the grant was not approved, but in a matter of weeks we were able to raise more than enough money to print the first edition. In fact, everything that went into the book, the writing, the editing, the layout - everything, but the printing has been done by volunteers - no one is making a dime on this book!

One of the things that we had sought grant money to do was complete the index for the book. Having, perhaps foolishly, volunteered to do that if the grant didn't come through, I spent a few weeks on that mind-numbing process. It is the third time I have done an index and I have come to two conclusions - it is one of the worst jobs of all time and it is absolutely essential. Doing it for New Jersey Goes to War meant effectively re-reading each biography twice which reaffirmed my belief that this is an excellent piece of work. The subjects reflect the diversity of New Jersey covering men, women, minorities, soldiers, civilians and men who served on both sides. The book is full of good stories and in sum give the reader a good sense of the New Jersey's extensive and intensive involvement in the Civil War.

As soon as we set a publication date, I will post information on ordering both here and on http://www.zinnbooks.com/ - all proceeds will go to the work of the New Jersey Civil War 150th Annivesary Committee - work that is indeed off to a good start.

Enter Sir Robert by Angela Thirkell

2010-01-23T19:02:00.000-05:00

I read some place that in any trilogy the middle book or work is always the weakest because its only role is to act as a place holder in between what was introduced in the first work and culminates in the third and final. I can think of a number of cases where this is true, for example in Arnold Bennett's Clayhanger trilogy, the middle work Hilda Lessways is by far the weakest - in fact one could skip it without missing much. The first (Clayhanger) and third (These Twain) are in my opinion great books. Other examples come to mind as well - the middle work of the original Star Wars triliogy and even to some degree, The Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. One case where this is not true (or at least in my view) is in the three parts of Henry VI by Shakespeare - Part II is much more than a place holder containing some of the key parts of the three plays. That might be evidence for theory that originally there were only two parts (Parts II and III) and that part I is a later addition.

I was thinking about this while finishing latest venture in to Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels - Enter Sir Robert. Anyone who writes a series of almost 30 books can be excused for doing some place holding and there seems to be more of that in this book. The novel focuses on the Graham and Halliday families, the latter have played only a minor part in the series primarily around Sylvia Halliday's marriage into the Leslie family. The Grahams, however, are a major part of the series, Agnes Graham was Agnes Leslie and the Leslie family plays a prominent role throughout. The Sir Robert in the title is Agnes' husband who is a career army officer, always away from home except for weekends that are never described in any of the novels. I think I am correct in saying that up to this work, he is included only once in a report of a brief conversation between he and Agnes. Sir Robert does enter this book, but as usual it is done with a Thirkellesque touch and I will say no more than that. Another major character in the book is their youngest child Edith, the Grahams have six children, three of each, yet interestingly the boys are hardly mentioned while all three daughters play significant roles.

While Edith's age is not mentioned, she is clearly now a young woman and not surprisingly her future especially related to marriage seems like it will be the usual romantic element in the novel. However Thirkell departs from her standard formula which is a major reason why the book seems more designed as a place holder for what will follow in the last five (I think) books. I am not going to say anything more than that so as not to spoil the ending for anyone - I accidentally learned the ending shortly before finishing the book and that is never enjoyable.

None of this is to suggest that I didn't enjoy Sir Robert. More than some of her other works it seemed like every page was full of the beauty and charm of the English countryside. Part of what I think Thirkell's novel accomplish is to give a fuller picture of the landed gentry - a group that is sometimes portrayed elsewhere as simply living in unearned luxury on the backs of the poor lower class. These novels give a more complete picture - a sense of landowners as people with a business to run with responsibilities to those who are tenants and live on their land. A lot of this way of life comes to an end during the period covered by the novels, I don't completely know the history, but I think it has to do with high inheritance taxes on people who are land rich, but cash poor, making it hard to pass on a way of life to the next generation.

Inheritance taxes are not the only death related issues in Thirkell's novels, any series that covers 30 or so years is going to include some deaths in additions to births and growing up. All of the deaths seem to come of old age and most of them take place off stage as it were. At the same time there is some reflection on the what it means to approach the end of one's life. Take, for example, the following passage that appears fairly early in Enter Sir Robert about the aging squire Leonard Halliday:

"For when the appointed hour has come, we have to go and the willingness is all. Leonard Halliday had done his duty as well as most or us do, indeed better, and now he must go through the door."

Mr. Halliday is still alive at the end of the book, but much is written about how difficult it is for him to be unable to be out running the farm. What struck me from this passage was the line "the willingness is all," which is, of course, a corruption of the famous line from Hamlet, "the readiniess is all." Thirkell uses this corruption frequently in the later Barsetshire novels and since she clearly knew she was changing the Shakespeare original it makes me wonder what she was up to. While both readiness and willingness can mean the same thing, to me "readiness" in Hamlet seems to suggest taking some action so that "willingness" at least in this case seems to mean something more like acceptance. Perhaps there is a connection to a country way of life where the changes of the season and the cycles of life are more evident. Possibly "willingness" has to do with accepting what is the natural course of life allowing each of us to make a good ending. Regardless of whether there is anything to my speculations this to me is another example of how much deeper Thirkell's work is than it might at first appear.

"If You Live Long Enough You Will Find That Dickens Is Aways Right"

2010-01-17T21:43:00.000-05:00

My current Angela Thirkell novel is Enter Sir Robert which features the family of Lady Agnes Graham and her always absent husband (the Sir Robert of the title) and the neighboring Halliday family. Much of the first half of the book is taken up with the visit of the youngest Graham child, Edith, to the Hallidays where she spends a great deal of time with the aging and declining Mr. Halliday. At one point Edith is reading to Mr. Halliday from Dickens (most likely Bleak House) and expresses dislike for Edith Summerskill, the heroine of the story. Mr. Halliday responds with the above quote to the effect that in the end Dickens is always right.

References to Dickens seem to be more common in the later Barsetshire novels, I have commented before about the frequent references to Shakespeare especially to the history plays - "Henry IV, Part I" in particular. There are also some novels with frequent positive references to the work of Sir Walter Scott and also the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Since I had only read one Scott novel - Woodstock, Thirkell's comments led me to try another, Waverly which I believe is Sir Walter's first work. I read about 100 pages without enjoyment, finding it to some degree almost silly so I gave up, but will at least give Ivanhoe a chance.
Charles Dickens, however, is an author I am very familiar with, having read all of his full length novels (excluding The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which after all isn't full length) and enjoyed them almost without exception. For whatever reason the comment that "Dickens is always right," made me think about reading books multiple times. I think for all of us there are writers and books that we read over and over again simply for pure enjoyment - Sherlock Holmes and Lord Peter Wimsey come to mind. In this case, however, I was thinking about the idea of multiple reads of other books for other reasons, perhaps to get a better understanding or appreciation and/or to see if we view the work the same way if we "live long enough."

This idea also came partially from Elaine Simpson Long over at Random Jottings who has the advantage of speed reading so that she sometimes rereads the entire works of one author in one year (Elaine read almost 300 books in 2009 - color me jealous). It is a more difficult task for someone like myself who managed just under 60 books last year. The idea still appealed to me, but in each case I want to have the benefit of some kind of commentary or explantory notes. My set of Dickens' novels is wonderful, but other than a brief introduction and a listing of the cast of characters there is not much in the way of explanation.

It seemed to me that Penguin paperback editions might be the best option so I looked at one that I had - a copy of George Eliot's classic Middlemarch considered by some to be the greatest novel in the English language. As expected there are footnotes, but I was surprised when I randomly opened the book to find that I had underlined certain passages - something that I certainly don't remember doing. Even more significantly as I quickly skimmed the passages it wasn't clear to me why they were so important to me.

This seemed to be pretty clear evidence that there can be some benefit to such multiple reads so I am going to give it a try. Not sure exactly when, could be my morning reading, but one thing I am clear about is that I am not going to read every Dickens or Eliot novel again - just the ones that I found especially meaningful. From Eliot that means both Middlemarch and Adam Bede, there are more from Dickens certainly Bleak House, Dombey and Sons and Little Dorrit, but there are others as well. Also this time I think I will read them in whatever order appeals to me, not the order they are written in and we will see whether at 63 I also conclude that "Dickens is always right."

What Did it Mean?

2010-01-12T08:21:00.076-05:00

As one nears the end of a series of almost 30 novels, it seems only reasonable to expect that the books would become predictable, repetitive or both. Happily that is not the case with Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels - a series based upon an imaginary English county first invented by Anthony Trollope. Part of this success is no doubt due to the very large cast of characters covering multiple generations that appear throughout the series. Among other things this allows the author to bring characters, if not entire families, in and out of the series.

One example of this occurs in the book that I just finished - What Did it Mean? which takes place between the death of King George VI and the coronation of Elizabeth II. Major parts in the novel are played by Lord and Lady Pomfret who we first met in Pomfret Towers when they were only Sally Wicklow and Gillie Foster - the heir apparent to the Pomfret Estate. One of the climaxes of that book was their engagement just when Gillie learns that his own father has died and that his time to take over the vast responsibilities of the earldom cannot be far off. Other prominent characters in that novel are Roddy Wicklow (Sally's brother) who becomes the Pomfret Estate agent and Alice Barton who eventually marries Roddy.

Pomfret Towers is fairly early in the series and surprisingly (at least to me) none of these characters play much of a role in subsequent novels. There are references to the Pomfrets and sometimes to Roddy, but they have only cameo roles if at all. Alice (who along with Rose Birket, I find to be most exasperating characters in Thirkell), I believe has acutally appeared only once thereafter. All of this starts to change in the latter novels and the Pomfrets play a prominent role in What Did it Mean? although Alice is still no where to be seen.

Much of probably the first 250 pages of this book consist of the typical scenes that make up Thirkell's novels to the point that I thought that she was at least becoming predictable. The one thing that seemed to be missing was any kind of romantic relationships which is usually at the heart (literally and figuratively) of Thirkell's work. However the last 100 pages demonstrated that at the end of her career Thirkell hadn't lost her ability to surprise or at least not as far as I am concerned.

I was more than a little surprised that the romantic relationship, which doesn't develop until late in the book, centered on Mr. Downing the bumbling scholar who was introduced early in the series in Northbridge Rectory. In that book Downing was one point of a romantic triangle between Mrs. Turnder and Miss Pemberton - the latter woman being Downing's landlady and collaborator. When I wrote about that book, I said that the key issue for Downing was deciding on what he really wanted - which seemed to be resolved at the end of the story. Yet in this book Thirkell reopens the issue with this time the question seeming to be what does Mr. Downing need as opposed to what he may want or thinks he wants. It was fascinating to see how the author reopens this male-female dynamic in a way that is very real and believable.

As noted earlier a focal point of the book is the events leading up to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. While mention is made of the coronation itself and the roles played by the Pomfrets and others, the real center is how the event will be observed in Northbridge. While Thirkell adds a touch of class and elegance with the participation of Jessica Dean and her husband collaborator, Aubrey Clover (which is no end of help to the Pomfret's shy son) the primary emphasis is on a pageant presented by the residents of the village which at one level seems to be incredibly amateurish and hokey. At one level this seems to be a satire of the people in the village and their feeble attempts to mark this great event. Yet as the description of the pageant takes place, it seemed, at least to me, that this could be read at a much deeper level.

Thirkell's description of the events themselves reminded me of a section Jonathan Bate's book - The Genius of Shakespeare. In writing about the history plays, Bate takes the concept of "This England" far beyond the idea of "This royal throne of kings" to what was common and ordinary in English life - especially through the writings of Edward Thomas. Thirkell, who has an encylopedic knowledge of some of the history plays, seems to me to be sending the same message with this section of her book. In other words while the coronation of England is what England is about so also is the far simpler and more basic lives of its people no matter where and how they might live.

I have already moved on to the next novel - Enter Sir Robert and have only about five to six books to go. Earlier in my reading life I would probably have tried to spread these books out, but I don't want to do that now. Rather I want to finish them so that I can go back both to them and Trollope's original works to better understand the connections and themes than run throughout these fascinating books.

Rule Britannia

2010-01-09T11:59:00.000-05:00

One of my many goals for retirement reading is to work my way through the many books that I have accumulated over the years, but never read. The first book finished in 2010 (although begun in 2009) is in this category - Robert Massie's Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. Massie is perhaps best known for Nicholas and Alexandra which was the basis of a movie by that same name. Castles of Steel is the sequel to an earlier book - Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War.

Massie worked some 22 years on these two books - they have clearly been exhaustively researched and they are also brilliantly written. Massie has a gift for writing history - something I was going to elaborate on this post, but think now it is the subject of a future post on some issues with my own writing. Suffice it to say that while his books are very long (almost 800 pages in this case) they are so well written they don't feel anywhere near that long.

At the same time I need to say that I don't believe Castles of Steel as good as Dreadnought. Part of this is not Massie's fault or responsibility - the focus of both books is the huge battleships which were the major weapons in both German and British navies. Since, however, Kaiser Wilhem II did not want to risk his large ships in a head-to-head confrontation with the Royal Navy, the German fleet spent most of the war in port - the major exception being the Battle of Jutland in May of 1916. As a result, in my view, there is not enough material to justify a book of this length. Massie has written that he originally intended to cover WWI in Dreadnought, but since that book topped 900 pages, that was clearly not practical. A book of about two-thirds of the length of Castles of Steel would probably have been more than adequate for the subject matter.

Part of the result is that some, but certainly not all, of the first part of the book seem to drag a little bit. Another problem is the difficulty of understanding written descriptions of battles at sea - this is probably due to the difficulty of writing about the same - I have some sense of this from my own more much limited experience in writing about Civil War land battles. Once, however, Massie gets to Jutland the pace picks up dramatically and continues through the German's unleasing of unlimited subermarine warfare which brings the United States into the war and causes the ultimate defeat and destruction of the German empire.

One of the interesting questions about naval warfare in World War I is what part it played in determining the ultimate outcome. Part of this debate centers on Jutland which was a British victory because it ended with Britain still in control of the North Sea, but was limited by the fact that the German fleet survived to possibly fight another day. Massie answers those who think a larger victory might have ended or shortened the war by pointing to the fact that after a more conclusive British victory at Trafalgar in 1805 it took Britain and its allies another ten years to finally defeat Napolean. On the other hand had the British and American fleets not defeated the German U-boat offensive it is not impossible that at the very least Britain could have been driven to the negotiating table under unfavorable circumstances.

Perhaps what this really means is that in both the 20th and 19th centuries, the Royal Navy's key role was to defend the island from invasion or starvation thereby keeping British armies in the field fighting for ultimate victory. Interestingly in reading the later Angela Thirkell novels, the navy seems to be held in much higher regard than the army - regarded almost with a religious like faith. At any rate even though Castles of Steel is not Dreadnought (perhaps an impossible standard) it is a very enjoyable book - full not only of the story of ships at sea, but also the stories of the prominent figures both military and civilian.

Hamlet and Henry V - "The readiness is all"

2010-01-06T18:27:00.001-05:00

While there is a lot of uncertainty about the dates of a number of Shakespeare's plays, there are no such issues with regard to Henry V and Hamlet. There is a fairly clear consensus that they were both written

in 1599 with Henry V coming first. Some critics believe that the title characters are very different - Peter Saccio, for example, says that Henry V is the ulitmate man of action while Hamlet is the ultimate man of reflection (my words not his). That distinction may or may not be helpful, but I have recently been wondering about some similarities in the two works that might suggest some common themes or one play impacting another.

Take for example 5.2 in Hamlet when Horatio offers to try to postpone the impending duel with Laertes, Hamlet responds:

"If it be, 'tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all."

All of this suggests the uncertainties of life and the importance of preparation which reminds me of two parts of Henry V. The first is the famous scene in the night time in 4.1 when the disguised Henry encounters the three soldiers, Bates, Williams and Court. The last two productions I have seen of this play, one in New Jersey and the other in Stratford-upon-Avon cut much of the part of this scene where the three men try to make the king responsible for the ultimate fate of soldiers like themselves. The disguised Henry gives a long speech some of which seems like rationalization, but at the very end he says:

"Therefore should every solider in the wars do as every sick man in his bed, wash every mote out of his conscience; and dying so, death is to him advantage; or not dying, the time was blessedly lost wherein such prearation was gained; and in him that escapes, it were not sin to think that, making God so free an offer, he let him outlive that day to see his greatness and to teach others how they should prepare."

To me this sounds very much like the same idea expressed by Hamlet - the importance of being "ready," being prepared. That this is not mere rhetoric on Henry's part is seen that once he is alone, he proceeds to "wash every mote" from his own conscience when he prays about "my father's fault encompassing the crown."

In thinking further with regard to Henry and Hamlet it is interesting to note that while Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest part (Richard III is second - which may sound contradictory, but we know what we mean), Shakespeare wrote more lines for Henry (as prince and as king) than for any other character. All this makes me wonder if Shakespeare saw similarities between the two figures especially their dying at an early age. He made a conscious decision not to include Henry's death either at the end of Henry V or at the beginning of Henry VI, Part I although the terrible impact of that death is clearly portrayed in the plays that followed. In Hamlet, of course, Shakespeare had no choice - Hamlet's death is a central part of the story, but it is interesting that just before carrying out his charge from his father and dying in the process, he talks in much the same way that Henry V urged on his soldiers and himself.

A New Blog for a New Year

2010-01-05T17:34:00.001-05:00

After a six month hiatius from blogging, I decided to resume in a more modest way in 2010. The primary reason that I stopped was the difficulty in finding the time to write on a regular basis. In considering this, I realize that I benefit from blogging about what I read, what I write and certain other topics that I think about on a regular basis. The reason that I benefit is because writing about these things helps me to think about them. So this blog is going to be limited to writing about the books I read, the books I am writing and for the moment Shakespeare's history plays - something else I think about on a regular basis.

The net result is that I won't post on any kind of a regular basis, but rather once I have finished reading a book or as the spirit moves me about my writing and the history plays. I read 57 books in 2009 which is on average just over one a week, but I certainly didn't read one every week so reading posts will probably come no more than once a week. My son, Paul, and I are currently researching a book on Ebbets Field in Brooklyn and I will write about that periodically as well. I am also in what I hope are the last stages of preparing a book about the Civil War letters of William Lloyd of the 33rd New Jersey for publication so that is another possible topic. Finally the history plays will also be the subject of period posts as I continue to reflect on something that has been important to me for almost 50 years. I am doing this primarily for my own benefit in the sense that I think I will benefit from these written reflections, but I also hope that the posts are interesting to those who might read them and I would certainly like to hear from anyone who is so inclined.