Reported by Jeanne
Nevermore opened with a re-reading of a John Le
Carre book, The Russia House. Published in 1989, the plot has a Russian
physicist smuggling out his manuscript proving that the Russian missile system
is unworkable. He wants it to go to a
minor British publisher, but it ends up in the hands of MI5 and the CIA, who
then recruit the publisher to go to Russia in order to get more
information. Our reader said she
remembered liking it very much, but this time—not so much.
However, she was thoroughly enjoying the next book, Remnants
of America’s Southeast Aboriginals:
Paleo to Mississippian by Maury E. Miller. The book is archaeological finds in the
Southeast United States, including a number of sites in Middle Tennessee. There are some excellent photos of implements
such as axes, scrapers, spear points, etc.
The reader’s grandfather was from the same area as some of the
excavations, and she had photos of some of his discoveries that were quite
similar to those in the book. It’s an
excellent book for anyone interested in the earliest inhabitants of the region.
Harvest of Empire
by Juan Gonzalez begins with the European exploration of the continent. The
Spanish traveled vast distances through South, Central, and North America,
encountering numerous indigenous tribes.
Gonzalez examines how the Europeans influenced the regions socially,
politically, and economically from first contact, and how that influence has
created problems today. Our reader
praised the book highly for looking at each country and culture individually,
instead of lumping all together as is often done, and it includes Cuba and
Puerto Rico along with the South and Central American countries. She says that
the author points out the different waves of immigrants were determined by the
circumstances in the individual countries, and that most such were those who
were industrious and hardworking, willing to brave hardships to find freedom
and a better life. She hadn’t yet
finished the book, but recommended it highly for anyone who wants a better
understanding of situation.
Amor Towles’ novel, A Gentleman in Moscow,
drew rave reviews from our next member. The story begins in 1922 when Count
Alexander Rostov is put under house arrest in a hotel across from the Kremlin. He
spends the next 30 years there, watching as history unfolds, meeting a diverse
group of people who come to the hotel. The Count is a cultured man, forced to
live in an attic room, but he finds life in the marvelously depicted
characters. Our reader said the book
was “very clever, very interesting, very wonderful” and that it is seriously
recommended.
Spy fiction returned with Shibumi by
Trevanian, a pen name for Rodney William Whitaker, an American author who wrote
in a number of genres. The plot revolves
around Nicolai Hel, the son of a Russian aristocrat who grew up in Japan and
who learned not only numerous languages but martial arts techniques. Hel had
hoped to live the rest of his life in peace, having achieved “shibumi”—the art
of effortless perfection-- but is drawn into a conflict when an international
conglomerate known as the Mother Company.
Our reader said it that while it was written in 1979, it almost felt
contemporary, with the way that giant corporations influence the world
politically, socially, culturally, and economically.
Finally, No Tomorrow by Luke Jennings is the
second in the Killing Eve
series. British agent Eve is hot on the
trail of her arch-rival Villanelle, the assassin whose existence she discerned
in the first novel. There is a lot of
action, international travel and intrigue, and –as our reviewer put it—“less
sex, which is a plus.”
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