Book Mutterings

My first two books of the year—and it's almost March! I have not been able to concentrate—have been Philip Roth's The Plot against America and, for something a little lighter, Martin Walker's "Bruno: Chief of Police" mystery The Patriarch. I found the latter in a local Little Library, and jettisoned my usual rule of reading mystery series in order. (I'd already read the first and second Bruno books; this one was number 8.)

I think I'm just not a big fan of Martin Walker. Bruno, sure: I like Bruno, and I like wandering the Périgord, France, countryside with this pragmatic policeman, and I certainly like eating with him—yowza: truffles and pâté and cheesy potatoes and so much wine! But Walker insists on overcomplicating his stories. This one included French aviators with ties to Russian politics, an animal rights activist squared off against hunters, vintners, and a robotic auroch (which ends up playing a role in the final scene). As I neared the end and things just really weren't getting tied up, I feared the worst—and sure enough (this is something I remember from one of the first volumes), Walker cops out at the end, offering a Gallic shrug at all that's gone down. Oh well! C'est la vie!

The Plot against America, on the other hand, is a masterpiece. Published in 2004, the basic story is a rewrite of history, with Charles Lindbergh being elected president over FDR in 1940. Antisemitic, isolationist, authoritarian Lindbergh. Pearl Harbor doesn't happen. Instead the US curls into itself, seeking some sort of "purity" while, essentially, collaborating with the Nazis. Sound familiar? It was eerie—creepy eerie—to read it in the days after Trump was inaugurated president. How quickly we can shift from normalcy to insanity. 

I'm still grappling with what to say here. As I say, I've been having a hard time concentrating. Thank goodness for a couple of writing groups I'm participating in. Right now, I'm obsessively editing a poem I wrote last year at this time, which has to do with "legacy." And I'm scraping together three essays for another workshop. Continuing to think about the Japanese internment—which has taken on a new significance now that the "left" half of the country has been relegated to oblivion. 

And now, I need to find another book to read. Something that captivates me. I need to be swept away into a story very different from the current reality.