ESPECIALLY FOR READERS # 2

CONTENTS

Foreword

Author Title

William Humphrey HOME FROM THE HILL

James MacManus MIDNIGHT IN BERLIN

Mikhail Sholokhov AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON

Foreword

As indicated, I will put selected reviews on the VOCAL site, this being the second set of three. Once again I hope these will open doors for readers to books they have not read, or authors with whom they are not familiar. Any widely read reader, or writer, has an ever-increasing bank of literary treasures (and pleasures) that accumulates year by year. I hope, in my selections here, when you open the door to discovery, you find the fog lifted on characters, places and times of which you were maybe only vaguely aware.

Any comments will be most welcome, including your own favourite novels.

E: [email protected]

Happy reading.

Eric J Drysdale

Sydney, Australia

March 2022

And one last quote

“Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."

Cosmos, Part 11: The Persistence of Memory

Carl Sagan

To quote the ever-reliable Wikipedia: “Carl Edward Sagan (/ˈseɪɡən/; SAY-gən; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator.”

He died far too young at 62. After suffering from myelodysplasia, a form of bone marrow cancer, he died of pneumonia, in Seattle, Washington, USA.

For those of us old enough to have seen the original series of Cosmos on TV, we could not help but be caught up in the enthusiasm of a veritable genius who had a rare ability to communicate complex scientific ideas to the public at large in a way they could digest - without getting indigestion.

Reviewed: 7 August 2019

HOME FROM THE HILL

First published: 1958

William Humphrey

Born: 1924

In: Clarksville, Texas, USA

Died: 1997 Hudson, New York, USA

He taught at Bard College, New York during the 1950s, until, in 1958, with the publication of HOME FROM THE HILL, and the sale of the movie rights he was able to devote himself to writing full time.

ONE OF THE GREAT ONES

Thank you Audible. After 14 years of checking at least every quarter, I have finally been rewarded and I have been able to buy HOME FROME THE HILL on audio. I first read this wonderful novel in 1968, at which time it established itself in my top 10 favourites, where it has remained ever since, from thousands read. Ten years later I read it again and decided to write to William Humphrey. In those days, long before emails, it was an air mail letter from the antipodes to America. In that first letter I made the observation that I could not help but draw comparisons between he and James Agee: both grew up in small rural American communities, he in Clarksville, East Texas, Agee in Knoxsville, Tennessee, both lost their father in car accidents when they were boys, both wrote highly successful novels drawing on the impact the death of their father had on their young lives. Both went on to luminous literary careers, Agee posthumously winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1958 for A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. I felt that he, too, should have won the Pulitzer for HOME FROM THE HILL. We subsequently exchanged a number of letters, I sent him a copy of an early published short story of mine, THE DRY LAND, set in outback Australia, which I felt he would find interesting, and he very kindly sent me a copy of his recently published book, FARTHER OFF FROM HEAVEN, which dealt with his young life and coping with the death of his father. Forty years later this is still on my book shelf, along with all of Bill’s novels and short stories.

In one of his letters Bill indicated he had not seen the movie, however, I feel he would not have been unhappy with Vincente Minnelli’s treatment of his novel and Robert Mitchum made a fine Wade Hunnicutt.

I believe William Humphrey is one of the finest writers of the 20th century and his skills have never been better displayed than in this, his first novel. If you enjoy family sagas set against a vivid background which is richly evocative of both time and place, you will be drawn into the drama of the Hunnicutts and the repercussions of their actions. In a sense it is a coming of age story with the sensitive young Theron caught in the conflict between his parents, striving to fit in with the wishes of his mother, Hannah, and win the approval of his powerful, demanding father. However, it is more than that, exploring the choices the characters make and depicting where those decisions will lead them, and there are few examples in literature that better show how the sins of the father may be visited upon the first born.

This is among a small number of books that I periodically read again to savour the pleasure of the prose, the interactions of the characters and the unfolding of the plot. THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE EGYPTIAN. PLOUGH THE SEA, ALL THE KING’S MEN, LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL and THE PRINCE OF TIDES being some of the others.

From early times I have been inclined towards books with symbolic titles, often quotes from Shakespeare or the Old Testament. This was no exception, the title being drawn from Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous poem, Requiem, which was inscribed at his instructions as his epitaph on the sarcophagus that marks his grave on the summit of Vaca Mountain in Samoa.

“Home is the sailor, home from sea,

And the hunter home from the hill.”

I hope that some of my comments will influence you to check out this novel and feel sure you will not be disappointed. Happy reading, Eric.

*****************

Reviewed: 8 October 2018

MIDNIGHT IN BERLIN

First published: 2016

James MacManus

Born: 1943

In London, UK.

James has been a career journalist, having served as Foreign Correspondent in Africa and the Middle East. He is the Managing Director of The Times Literary Supplement and has obviously put his journalistic and research skills to excellent advantage in writing his historical novels set in World War 2.

MY BOOK AND AUTHOR OF THE YEAR

This is my “book of the year” and James is my “author find of the year”, which I will note in my Christmas card to some 500 clients. In addition, from the thousands of books that I have read it is only the fourth time I have immediately read the book a second time to savour the reading pleasure.

Anyone who is reasonably well read on Twentieth Century and WW2 history will appreciate the seamless integration of the real and fictional characters who people this wonderful novel.

As a writer you automatically assess the books you read in terms of plot, characterization, dialogue, craft and style, and, whilst you then know why you appreciate a particular novel, you also evaluate it with a more critical eye. Let us consider each of these:

PLOT: The novel is set in Berlin during 1938-1939 and centres on the conflict between Colonel Noel Macrae, the recently appointed Military Attache’ and Sir Neville Henderson, the actual British Ambassador to Berlin. This is set against the escalating crisis in Europe as Hitler flexes his muscles to take over Czechoslovakia, Poland and then Russia, while England, lead blindly by Neville Chamberlain, is determined to ignore every warning.

CHARACTERIZATION: The characters are skilfully drawn and I would defy anyone, who did not know from previous reading, to identify the real and fictional people in the drama.

DIALOGUE: The plot is driven forward by the exchanges between the many characters, friends and foes. These burgeoning or deteriorating relationships are subtly delineated with great economy and voices that ring true.

CRAFT AND STYLE: This is a finely crafted novel with the dramatic events unfolded against a carefully honed evocation of time and place. I applaud James for his depiction of Berlin in the various seasons in the last two years before the War. From the snow covered streets to the British Embassy and the German controlled bordello where the basest of human failings are exploited. The prose is evocative and economical and we are there with Noel Macrae as he strives to obtain confirmation of Hitler’s evil intent and find someone in power in London who will listen to his plaintive cries.

The audio edition is narrated perfectly by Peter Noble who captures the accents and nuances of the many characters. I felt the lovely Scot’s brogue of Noel Macrae rounded out a most admirably drawn character.

I could not imagine any discerning reader who was not impressed, touched and moved by this fine novel, which to me rates 100% in all departments. I would like to thank James for the care and attention to detail he has clearly taken in producing what to me is a text book example of quality writing at its best, and I wish him great success. Happy reading. Thank you, Eric.

********************

Reviewed: 14 March 2020

AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON

First published: The first three volumes were written from 1925 to 1932 and published in the Soviet magazine Oktyabr in 1928–1932, and the fourth volume was finished in 1940.

Mikhail Sholokhov

Born: 1905

In Russian Empire

Died: 1984 Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

Background:

`Sholohov's first book Tales from the Don, a volume of stories largely based on his personal experiences in his native region during World War I and the Russian Civil War, was published in 1926. The story "Nakhalyonok", partly based on his own childhood, was later made into a popular film.

In the same year, Sholokhov began writing And Quiet Flows the Don, which took him fourteen years to complete (1926–1940). It became the most-read work of Soviet fiction and was heralded as a powerful example of socialist realism, and it earned him both a Stalin Prize and the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. It deals with the experiences of the Cossacks before and during World War I and the Russian Civil War.

Another novel, Virgin Soil Upturned, which earned a Lenin Prize, took 28 years to complete. It is composed of two parts, Seeds of Tomorrow (1932) and Harvest on the Don (1960), and reflects life during collectivization in the Don area.

HISTORICAL FICTION AT ITS BEST

It is difficult to extol the virtues of this fine novel, and equally fine narrator too highly.

Sholokhov was born in 1905 and grew up in the Don area of Russia, which he depicted in remarkable detail in his most famous novel, AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON, and various other novels about the Don Cossacks. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1965.

The Novel: Sholokhov worked on the novel for 14 years from 1926 to 1940. Set during the First World War and the Russian Revolution, it became the most widely read work of fiction in the new Communist State and presented the Don Cossacks to Russia and the world as never before. I was most impressed with the evocation of time, place and people, and the economy with which he achieved this. We get to know the various characters, the land in which they live during summer and winter and the challenges they face in peacetime and in war. Readers who enjoy historical novels that transport them to places and people long buried under the sod turned by the plough of time will be most satisfied taking this journey.

The narrator: Stefan Rudnicki is rare even among professionals. Many fine male readers do an excellent job with the prose and the male characters, but not as good with the female characters. Stefan is outstanding across the spectrum: male, female, young, old. The prose is presented in his mellifluous voice and the characters individualised by nuance and expression. A case of the writer’s intention and the narrator’s ability in perfect harmony.

Having read over 2300 books in the past 20 years, the majority on audio and from Audible, I average over 100 books a year and believe, even at this early stage, that this will be my book of the year. Highly recommended.

Happy reading. Eric.

Footnote: This was indeed my “Book of The Year”, and I was surprised the morning after I posted the review to receive a Facebook Friend Request from Stefan Rudnicki. It is gratifying that we have maintained contact and if you listen to audio books, or circumstances dictate you should consider this, you could not do better than to select from the great number of books Stefan has narrated over the years.