Nevermore: Vonnegut, Victoria, Pioneers, Principles,Post-American, and Physics

Reported by Jeanne

 

Although Player Piano came out in 1952, our reader found this Kurt Vonnegut debut novel to be quite timely. The setting is sometime in the future, following a third world war, in which engineers have created a world so mechanized that there is little employment for the lower classes.  The result is a population without any purpose.  They spy on each other and are generally miserable.  The former working class people are seen as less than human.  The novel is a bit slow, but quite relevant with its message that people need meaningful work to do.

The next up was Queen Victoria, inspired by the PBS series.  One member brought in a copy of Victoria:  The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen by Helen Rappaport.  The book is billed as a companion to the TV series, including a look at Victoria’s letters and diaries to portray her personal life.  The book was deemed quite enjoyable and our reader is looking forward to the novel Victoria by Daisy Goodwin, who wrote the screenplay for the series.

Trials of the Earth by Mary Hamilton is the memoir of a female pioneer in the Mississippi Delta.  It was originally written in the 1930s but was only published in 2016.  Hamilton writes vividly of the hardships she endured: floods, tornados, bears, panthers, and fire.  Married to an Englishman who refused to talk about his past, Hamilton moved with her family from place to place as they tried to eke out a living.  There were boarding houses and lumber camps, births and deaths, all recorded in her diary.  Our reviewer found it both moving and “terribly true.”

Some books really make the rounds in Nevermore, inspiring much discussion.  The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom is one such book.  According to this week’s reader, the most important principle is power. Life is determined by a “pecking order,” be it chickens or humans, meaning that individuals strive for status inside the order.  Violence is part of the natural order in both humans and animals.  Our readers have been divided about the book, but all agree it is thought-provoking.

Another book several readers have recommended is The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria.  This isn’t a doom and gloom book about the demise of the United States, but an acknowledgement that other countries are gaining influence and power in the world.  Overall, it’s an optimistic view; Zakaria believes the U.S. can survive and even thrive, but only if the country can recognize that change is coming and respond accordingly. 

Finally, The Pope of Physics by Gino Segre is a biography of Enrico Fermi, one of the creators of the nuclear age. Fermi won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1938 at the age of 37 but instead of returning home to Italy after the ceremony in Stockholm, he and his family went to New York instead, thus escaping Mussolini’s regime.  Fermi’s wife was Jewish and he had already seen Jewish colleagues and students suffer under the new laws. Even so, the Italian scientist was regarded with a great deal of skepticism by the FBI who suspected him of fascist leanings.  Our reader said the book was very good, but it wasn’t a favorite.

Nevermore: Dracula, Romanov Sisters, Camelot's Court, Book Thief, and Purity of Vengeance

Our Nevermore readers choose books of all sorts: fiction and nonfiction, the newest books to the classics. It makes for an interesting mix. This time the first book up was Dracula by Bram Stoker, arguably the most influential vampire book of all time. While Stoker had his own literary influences (Camilla by Sheridan Le Fanu and Varney the Vampire by James Malcolm Rymer spring to mind), it was Dracula which stoked the public’s imagination.  Our reviewer had just started the book, but said that at 25 pages in, it was “very readable.”

A new non-fiction book about the ill-fated Russian grand duchesses was up next.  The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport uses diaries and letters to tell the stories of the four daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra who were executed along with the rest of their family in 1917.  Rappaport specializes in Victorian history and Russian history of the era, and has written several other books on the subject.  While for the most part the sisters have been treated as a group (except for books on Anastasia, due to rumors that she survived), this book seeks to present them as individuals.  Our reader found the book “really interesting” and recommended it.

Another new non-fiction history book discussed was Camelot’s Court by Robert Dallek.  This is a detailed account of the Kennedy White House with an emphasis on policy and advisors.  Dallek has written a number of books about modern presidents, including  titles on Roosevelt, Nixon, Reagan, and Johnson.  Our reviewer said it was well written and filled with quotations, and he thought the epilogue was especially interesting.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is narrated by Death himself. The title refers to Liesl,  a young girl in Nazi Germany who is sent to live with a foster family.  At her younger brother’s funeral she steals a book even though she cannot read.  After her foster father teaches her to read, she steals more books and finds that stories can be transformative, no matter the circumstances.  This is a compelling book, and our reviewer highly recommends it.

Jussi Adler Olsen is one of the “Nordic Noir” writers whose work has been translated into English following the popularity of Stieg Larsson’s books.  Set in Copenhagen, the books feature Detective Carl Morck of Department Q who specializes in solving cold cases.  Our reviewer had just read The Purity of Vengeance, the fourth book in the series, which finds Morck investigating the 1980s disappearance of  a brothel owner.  Our reviewer said this was another good entry in the series.