Literary leftovers
Leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving Dinner, right? Hope yours was grand!
Book 1: The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
This book is downright nutty. Apparently the British author was not impressed with America as a whole and Hollywood in particular. It seems his novel Brideshead Revisited was to be made into a film and his presense was requested for negotiations.
The best part of the trip, though, was Waugh’s visit to Forest Lawn cemetery. That passive-aggressive (and dare-I-say snobby?) author got his revenge with this delightfully satirical novel.
Book 2: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Here’s another semi-autobiographical novel by Hemingway. Our protagonist is an ambulance driver during World War I. It’s a war story and a love story.
As is customary around this house at the end of each month, I checked to see if the book had ever been banned. It makes sense that the Italian fascist state wasn’t crazy about it. But parts of the U.S. and Ireland have banned it as well.
My favorite tidbit about censorship and this book: Hemingway’s editor dashed out what the publisher deemed to be inappropriate language (for example: s – – -), most often used by the soldiers. So the author, no doubt cursing all the while, grabbed a stack of First Editions and hand-wrote the missing letters to restore the original text. He sent one of those editions to Irish writer James Joyce.
Book 3: Sole Survivor by Holly K. Dunn
The author – and sole survivor of the Railroad Killer – lives in nearby Evansville, Indiana.
The poor kid was just a college student. The serial killer tried to kill Holly and her boyfriend. Somehow, Holly survived. This is a tough one to read, but gratifying that after losing so much, she wanted to give back.
Book 4: On Call by Anthony Fauci, M.D.
We all got to know Dr. Fauci during the pandemic – and most of us trusted and liked him.
His memoir, which stretches back to his childhood, is fascinating.
In the HIV/AIDS chapters, we hear about activist Larry Kramer (we talk about Larry here, as my younger brother was his personal trainer for several years) and the long, hard battle that ended in a treatment and a friendship. The part about the COVID years would have been unbelievable had I not lived through them.
Book 5: An Elderly Woman Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
At last! My training manual has arrived!
This fun, fast read is the whipped cream on your leftover pumpkin pie – for breakfast!
Book 6: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Back to the Chronicles of Narnia this month, with the third book in the series.
This is a re-read from long ago, sixth grade I think. Glad it was among the collection of Folio Society editions Mom and Dad passed along to us.
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