Thriller: The Last Cato, by Matilde Asensi

Precious relics, fragments of the True Cross, are being stolen from churches across Europe and Asia. The  body of one of the suspects, covered in cryptic tattoos, is found. The Vatican assembles a team, to track down the thieves and recover that relics.  Ottavia is a Catholic nun who is a renowned paleographer; Farag is a Coptic Egyptian archaeologist;  Kaspar is an officer of the famed Swiss Guard. Painstakingly deciphering The the meaning of the tattoos, the team is astonished to learn that the key to the mystery is embedded in Dante’s Inferno, specifically, Purgatorio.  And they must endure and master the seven grueling challenges faced by Dante himself.

Sounds promising. But this is a novel well conceived but poorly executed. Part of the problem lies in its translation into English from the original Spanish. The translation is awkward and often jarring in its misapplication of words. The levels of Purgatory, for example, are referred to as “cornices”, where “terrace” would have been more appropriate. A large crucifix is described as “grandiose”, instead of “imposing” or “awe-inspiring”.

Another difficulty lies within the seven challenges. They are certainly grueling, so much so that these poor people, facing each within a day or two of the previous, simply could not have withstood more than the initial few. In addition, seven ordeals described in detail, along with their respective Inferno verses, makes for lengthy passages that tend to grow tedious. If this book were a movie, it would have to be produced in sequels.

On the positive side is the character of Ottavia, who is the real protagonist of the story, the seeker who must confront the central truth of her life and the choices she’s made. By comparison, Kaspar and Farag are undeveloped except as types. Also, there are some delightful discoveries embedded in the plot, surprises that heighten interest and imagination.

The Last Cato is not a bad book, just an overlong one. I suspect that it reads much better in Spanish. Author Asensi seems a competent writer who perhaps needs better editing.

Modern Lit: Capote in Kansas, by Kim Powers

Metaphor

Capote in Kansas is a ghostly story, in which a pair of childhood friends attain tremendous literary fame, only to have their relationship destroyed by their success. The novel opens as both Truman Capote and Harper Lee are nearing the ends of their respective lives. Each has been a “one book wonder” of a sort, each now long paralyzed by a form of writer’s block. Both authors, who were simply human, after all, obsess over the choices they’ve made, struggling with enormous guilt and anxiety, somewhat existential in nature. Kim Powers takes the reader on an imaginary sojourn into their minds and hearts. Both are visited by ghosts and memories, unfulfilled wishes and waking dreams. How much of this plot is sheer, metaphorical fancy? Probably most of it. But it is based upon facts, and it might be interesting to revisit Capote in Kansas after reading some legitimate biography, to come to one’s own educated conclusion.

Classic Lit: Puck of Pook’s Hill, by Rudyard Kipling

Factual and fanciful

With all the renewed interest in fantasy over the past decade, the 102 year old historical fantasy, Puck of Pook’s Hill, deserves consideration. Two early 20th century children, living in Pevensey, England, have a chance encounter with the legendary Puck, who undertakes to bring them a series of first hand accounts of the history of their region. Puck introduces them to eye witnesses to such events as the Norman Conquest, the waning of the Roman occupation, and the dissolution of the monasteries. As the historic individuals relate their tales, they are suitable impressed with the children’s abilities to resolve some of the mysteries that were not understood in their times. The selections of Kipling’s poetry that accompany each chapter are related thematically, and pleasingly rhythmic. Recommended for grade level 4 and up through adults.

( I’m happy to be able to say that a few years back I acquired the first edition shown in the photo. )

Paranormal Fiction: Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke

Lose yourself in a good book

Ignoring her own better judgment, Meggie does the impossible, reading herself into Inkworld. She’s planning a sort of sightseeing vacation, a brief tour to see the fairies, talking trees, and other amazing elements described to her so vividly by her mom. Just like Gilligan’s, Meggie’s own little tour turns into something quite different. Once again, author Funke creates a place out of time, populated with many of the characters from Inkheart (Basta, Dustfinger, Farid, Mo), and adding many more, eg, a good prince and an evil one, strolling players, Dustfinger’s wife and daughter). Once again, bonds of loyalty, love, selflessness drive and shape the energetic plot. Inkspell is a nonstop adventure set in a cruel, feudalistic society, where the written word, properly wielded, can be the most powerful force of all. Recommended for all who enjoy effective, credible fantasy fiction.

Watch This: Fairy Tale – A True Story, with Peter O’Toole

Important and Delightful

A charming  tale of magic and mystery, “FairyTale – A True Story” is based on the remarkable reaction that swept WWI  England, after   two young girls took photos of the fairies living at the bottom of their garden. Their family, like so many in wartime, is mourning the loss of their son, and they are far from alone in wishing for proof that death is not the end.  Electricity and photography are new sciences, and “Spiritualistic” fraud abounds. When Arthur Conan Doyle investigates and sanctions the authenticity of the story, the country accepts it as genuine. Like all good fairy tales, the movie has a message that underlies the fantasy elements; the human race  frequently finds itself in need of reasons to believe in the ability to transcend pain and death.  As Polly Wright, the mother and aunt of the girls, confides in her husband, she is afraid to believe that the pictures are real, and afraid not to.

The cast of Fairy Tale was well chosen, from luminaries such as Peter O’Toole as Doyle, to newcomers  Florence Hoath and Elizabeth Earl as the young photographers.  Not a single performance is poor or overdone. Beautifully filmed in soft colors, with appealing special effects, it evokes life in rural England nearly  century ago. The original music adds to the ambience, and the blending of  reality and illusion is seamless.  Recommended for all but the most jaded of viewers. Relax and enjoy.

Modern Lit: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling

Into the annals

With this final episode of the Harry Potter saga, the series has cemented its place in the annals of classic children’s literature. Deathly Hallows is Rowling’s masterpiece, probably her best writing to date. While following Harry on his quest to meet at last, face to face, his destiny, readers are treated to not only a fearsome new adventure, but to a fuller understanding of the meanings that underlie all previous enigmas and challenges. Rowling has created characters that run the gamut of human strengths and weaknesses, each one credibly alive and memorable. While her plots could be tighter in places, she has “quilled” a new version of the ageless myths for our own age. And she’s nailed the speech patterns and vocabulary of everyone from school kids to venerable sages.
Even if you’ve read Hallows before, if you’re in the mood for a real literary treat, listen to the unabridged audio edition narrated by the incomparable Jim Dale. But be sure to set aside several quiet hours to listen to the last quarter of the book in one sitting. Priceless.

Folklore and Fantasy: Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

The other side of the door

Old English houses must be the most interesting in the world, full of nooks, mirrors, wardrobes, and mysterious doors. While exploring her new home, young Coraline discovers a door that goes nowhere, bricked up when the house was subdivided into flats. A bit bored this summer, one day out of curiosity she unlocks it, only to find that the bricks are gone and a dark passageway beckons. Naturally, she follows it to the other world, which resembles the one she just left. In this house are Coraline’s other mother and other father, and for while, she is delighted. A sense of menace looms and grows, however, and soon Coraline realizes that she has walked into a deadly trap. Her own fate, as well as the fates of her real parents and some people she hasn’t ever met, have become the objects of nefarious game that Coraline must win at all costs.

Neil Gaiman is a gifted author following the traditions of the great English fantasy writers, adding his own creative genius to the genre. He is the only author I have encountered who can read his own work with the verve of a professional narrator. From the very first page, the reader is drawn into Coraline’s world, and willingly follows her from the real to the imaginary. Gaiman is one of the few contemporary writers who does not have to resort to outlandish settings or contrived plot devices; the transition from one world to the next is seamless and credible. And nary a vampire to be seen.

Modern Lit: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

There and back again

All London office worker Richard Mayhew tried to do that evening was help a damsel in distress, but he got more – way more – than he bargained for. Neil Gaiman has spun another magical mystery tour from the elements of the mythological quest paradigm.

Link to full review:

full review

Watch This: Stardust

among the stars

Let me start by stating that if you watch Stardust the movie hoping that it achieves the aura of Stardust the book, you will be disappointed. That, however, is the fate of most book into movie productions. That said, Stardust the movie has its moments.

review:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2XUYHQ4XQ39I5/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Fiber Folklore – Mother Holle

From the Brothers Grimm Household Tales

A widow has two daughters, one, a beautiful stepdaughter, and the other, her natural daughter who is lazy and ugly. They make the stepchild work like Cinderella, carrying out the ashes and doing all the spinning, until her fingers bleed. One day as she is spinning by the well the spindle becomes bloody. As she leans over the well to rinse it, she drops it into the water. When she tells her step-mother of the accident she is sent back to retrieve the spindle. She returns but is so distraught that she jumps into the water, only to awaken into a lovely meadow. There she comes upon an oven full of bread which calls out, “Take me out, or else I’ll burn.” So the girl takes out all the loaves. Then she comes upon an apple tree which calls out, “Shake me, my apples are ripe.” So she shakes the tree and gathers the apples into a pile. Then she meets an old woman with sharp teeth who speaks kindly and offers her lodging and food if she will clean the house and shake the feather bed until feathers fly thick as snow. This the girl does and is well rewarded with good food. But after a time the girl becomes homesick. The old woman, who is called Mother Holle, gladly releases her and shows her the way home. As she passes back into her old world, a shower of gold falls upon her and sticks to her clothing, and a cock crows: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! My golden maiden, what’s new with you?” When the stepmother sees all the wealth the girl has brought with her, she sends her lazy daughter to obtain the same. But the lazy daughter will not take the bread out, nor shake the apple tree, and is lazy in the house of Mother Holle as well. When she returns she is covered with pitch rather than gold. The cock crows: “Cock-a-doodle-doo, My dirty maiden, what’s new with you?” The pitch never washes off as long as she lives.