Two of the four books I read this month are often quoted, even in modern times. From William Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde, their centuries-old writings are still read and quoted frequently.

Week 1: The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene

This is the third in my Folio Society set of Graham Greene books, and it’s my favorite so far.

Our hero is … well, a nerd. He’s not in this thriller situation for anything other than good.

Identified only as “D,” our protagonist is a former professor from “the continent” whose happy life was upended by civil war. D’s government dispatches him to England to purchase badly needed coal. This kind, bright man – the Confidential Agent – isn’t quite sure which way to step. The enemy is one step behind him – or is it one step ahead?

Week 2: Bless Me, Father by Neil Boyd

Thanks to Amazon Prime, I came across this delightful series and downloaded a digital loaner.

A Father Before Christmas is the fourth in the series of six autobiographical volumes about newly ordained priest Father Neil and his mentor, Father Duddleswell. The setting is a small town in the outskirts of London during the 1950s.

The older priest is full of Irish bluster and Biblical advice. He somehow always finds a way to apply the church’s teachings in a modern and humane way. There are laugh-out-loud moments as the new priest meanders his way through his first baptism, confession, and more.

Week 3: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

There are thousands of quotable quotes from Oscar Wilde’s beautifully written horror tale about youth and beauty. My favorite is toward the end, when Lord Henry admits, “To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.”

Dorian Gray is a beautiful young man (I pictured Ronan Farrow throughout). After Basil, a successful artist, paints Dorian’s portrait, a mutual friend, the aforementioned Lord Henry, points out that while the face in the painting will never age, Dorian’s will.

The vain young man sells his soul so that the portrait will bear the burden of aging. The gruesome process, though, advances not by months and years, but each time Dorian behaves badly. Given the wealthy young man’s hedonism, that is fairly often.

This is son James’s favorite book – I’m so glad he recommended it. The prose is exquisite. Although Lord Henry is a blowhard, he is very witty and entertaining.

If you’re not already planning to read The Picture of Dorian Gray, would it help to tell you the book was censored and even banned for many years? Wilde, only too aware of Victorian sensibilities regarding Dorian’s hedonistic lifestyle, steered the ageless lad’s homoerotic experiences into dark shadows.

Week 4: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

One word says it all about Macbeth: Treachery.

This is a re-read for me. It’s been decades since I last visited the “Double double toil and trouble / Fire burn and cauldron bubble” witches who proclaim:

Something wicked this way comes!

Macbeth is a play, so reading the book is actually paging through Shakespeare‘s script. It takes some getting used to. When alone, I find it helps to read aloud (with an English – or Scottish – accent).

In brief, the witches foretell utter chaos and madness. This prompts Macbeth to murder Scotland’s king (and a whole bunch of others as collateral damage) in order to ascend the throne. Lady Macbeth, sensing he’s about to back off from committing the deed, ruthlessly tells him to “man up.” Thanks, Shakespeare; make the women characters the truly evil ones.

Back in 1973, Mom and I went to see Fritz Weaver in Macbeth at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. (Sadly, that theatre no longer exists.)

I’ll never forget the simple yet ingenious costume and set designs. In the play’s beginning, all is grey, black, white, and shades in between. This was done so well, though, I didn’t take notice. Not until the king’s murder – when the sight of bright red blood caused my head to snap back in shock. That same shade of red carried on into the next scene, when Macbeth and his pushy wife enter.

The new king and queen are adorned in regal robes carrying that same shade of bright red. Blood red.

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Looking back at three of the four books this month, there’s a common theme of wealth, scheming, treachery, and murder. And to think I’m trying to ease off my consumption of news, which overflows daily with that exact theme. There’s no hiding from it in 2020!

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