It has been a long time since I have read a novel with the emotional punch of War and Peace. Natasha Rostova is about to make the mistake of her young life by throwing herself away on the worthless (and married) Anatole Kuragin, and it is heartrending.
Russian Lit
As I work my way through War and Peace, I am struck by the degree to which Russian novels were ignored during my formal education. I think I read one Russian Novel -- Turgenev's Father and Sons -- for a class during my entire time in high school, college, and graduate school. That novel I read for a history class, not a literature class. The omission of Russian literature from the curriculum seems even more surprising considering that at the time, the Soviet Union still posed the greatest single international political and military challenge to the United States.
Forgotten But Not Gone
A Samuel Johnson Trove Goes to Harvard's Library
"The collection holds the only known copy with untrimmed pages of the first edition of Dr. Johnson's 1755 dictionary, the first in the English language. It also contains corrected proofs of James Boswell's biography of Johnson as well as a number of letters exchanged between the two men. And it opens a window into Johnson's exclusive literary club of authors and scholars that included Boswell, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, and his friend the actor and producer David Garrick."
Although largely vanished from popular consciousness, the brilliant career of Samuel Johnson continues to fascination scholars of the eighteenth century -- a fascination reflected in Harvard's exultation over the acquisition of this collection. One thing the article does not explain, however, is why Lady Eccles chose Harvard. One would have thought, for instance, that an English university might have been more appropriate. Perhaps she wanted to help Harvard compensate for the fact that Yale has most of Boswell's papers.
Sea Stories
My favorites!
The Prize
It has taken me ten years to get around to reading Daniel Yergin's The Prize. I am sorry now that it took me so long, since it is easily one of the best histories of the twentieth century I have read. Among other gems, it offers:
- The story of how Standard Oil's kerosene empire was almost destroyed by Thomas Edison but saved by Henry Ford;
- How the son of a Jewish shell merchant in England became the head of one of the world's greatest business empires;
- How Winston Churchill defeated the German fleet in WW I by converting the British fleet from coal to oil;
- The decisive role of oil in WW II - from Rommel's tanks to Hitler's air force to the suicide voyage of the Japanese battleship Yamato;
- How the decline in American excess capacity led to a fundamental shift in the relations between the consuming and the producing countries; and much more.
Wilfred Thesiger Dies
Sir Wilfred Thesiger, Renowned Explorer and Writer, Dies at 93
"The heir to great 19th-century venturers like Livingstone, Stanley, Speke and Burton, Sir Wilfred was a restless, insatiable traveler throughout his life; he eventually won medals named for Livingstone, Burton and Lawrence of Arabia. He was also a man of private wealth, a misogynist and a romantic who hated the modern world and found nobility in the primitive life."
Ever since I read Arabian Sands, Thesiger has been an author I would have loved to meet. His influence continues to reverberate among travel writers. His writings form a backdrop to the journey of Jeffrey Tayler recounted in Glory in a Camel's Eye. Although Tayler seems more resigned to the encroachments of the modern age on nomadic life, he experiences nostalgia for the simplicity of Thesiger's life with his Bedouin companions.
Tribes with Flags
Tribes with Flags is one the the most compelling and detailed books I have read about the modern Middle East. In classic travel book fashion, author Charles Glass knows everyone and goes everywhere -- or at least seems to. Along the way, he imparts snippets of history and untangles the complex web of family and religious allliances -- and betrayals -- that have turned modern Lebanon into a battleground. Glass's kidnapping by Hizbullah punctuates this memoir with an exciting conclusion, but the real reason to read the book is the journey beforehand.
Don't speak the language
Penny for your thoughts
"My father used to tell me that I could trust someone who claimed they were not an expert but offered what knowledge they had, much more than I could trust someone that claimed to be an expert but never shared how they achieved their success."
Crusades
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes is a riveting short history of the invasion of the Arab states by the crusaders from 1096 to 1291. The author's polished narrative is supplemented by liberal quotations from primary sources, and combines an eye for telling detail with a broad understanding of the conflicts among the Arabs, the Turks, the Byzantine Greeks, the Mongols, and the European invaders, for "Franj," who come across as crude barbarians notable only for their military prowess. The one clear hero of the book is Salah al-Din, or Saladin, who combines military genius with with unusual compassion toward the people and cities he conquers, in contrast to the usual pillaging. In addition, however, the book is a rich source of information about other historical themes as the rise and fall of the cult of the Assassins and the rise of the Mamluk rulers of Egypt.
Naked Orwell
A Seer's Blind Spots (washingtonpost.com)
"Somewhere along the way, however, amid all of the hero worship, the real man -- the idiosyncratic, squeaky-voiced, tubercular Englishman who dressed like a pauper, rolled his own cigarettes, chased after women and practiced a wobbly but sincere brand of socialism -- seems to have gotten lost, and perhaps the real writer has as well."
It is always disappointing to read that one's idol has feet of clay, and it is dismaying to read that George Orwell was unfaithful to his wife and had an anti-Semitic streak. (The article does not offer much detail in support of either charge, however.)
If Auden is right, Orwell is pardoned for writing well. Moreover, history has shown that the fundamental common sense and decency that radiate from his essays and books will continue to resonate long after his personal sins are forgot.
Neverthless, Glenn Frankel has done us -- and history -- a real service by reminding us that Orwell was, after all, a man, not a plaster saint.
History of the Arab Peoples
"One of the reasons for the flowering of Andalus may have been the mixture of peoples, languages and cultures. At least five languages were used there. Two were colloquial, the distinctive Andalusian Arabic and the Romance dialect which was later to develop into Spanish; both of these were used in varying degrees by Muslims, Christians and Jews. There were also three written languages: classical Arabic, Latin, and Hebrew; Muslims used Arabic, Christians Latin, Jews both Arabic and Hebrew. Jews who wrote on philosophy or science used mainly Arabic, but poets used Hebrew in a new way. For almost the first time, poetry in Hebrew was used for other than liturgical purposes; under the patronage of wealthy and powerful Jews who played an important part in the life of courts and cities, poets adopted forms of Arabic poetry such as the qasida and muwashshah, and used them for secular as well as liturgical purposes." History of the Arab Peoples at 194.
The above excerpt illustrates the power of Albert Hourani's History of the Arab Peoples. Hourani captures the magical qualities of the lost realm of Al Andalus, which vanished in 1492 when the Spanish conqured the last remaining Arab kingdom on the Iberian peninsula. Rich in detail, the book also conveys the sweep of Arab history, illustrates its key role in mediating between the West and the Far East, and explains more recent history that has shaped the Arab nations role in the world today. It is particularly valuable as an overview of Arab (and Muslim) intellectual history, as it outlines in broad strokes the development of Sunni, Shia, and Sufi thought and their institutional and social roles in Arab history.