“… I confess, I have been a rake at reading. I have read those things which I ought not to have read, and I have not read those things which I ought to have read, and there is no health in me - if by health you mean an inclusive and coherent knowledge of any body of great literature. I can only protest, like all rakes in their shameful senescence, that I have had a good time.” Robertson Davies, The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing and the World of Books
Much like Robertson Davies, I’m a huge fan of reading to have a good time; reading whatever strikes my fancy, whatever speaks to me in the moment.
And whatever takes my fancy can be pretty broad – it can be tragic or comedic, political, historical or contemporary. I don’t mind being challenged, amazed or disturbed and shocked; I don’t mind having a good cry and I definitely don’t mind being entertained.
The only things I don’t like are writers addicted to similes, or worse, authors who indulge in the kind of literary pyrotechnics that call attention to their cleverness, rather than the story.
So in that vein, here’s what I’ve been reading this summer.
First off is the book I just finished reading – Sigrid Nunez’s The Friend. Filled with cutting observations about the writing world – as well as the sexual proclivities and colossal egos of certain white male writers - this is really a book about grief, love and the ways that an animal companion can transform your life.
After the suicide of a beloved friend, the central character becomes saddled with his dog – not a cute little terrier called Mitzi, but a massive Great Dane named Apollo. The dog’s name is no accident as in addition to being the God of archery, Apollo was also god of the arts and healing. And the dog of the same name, not only enjoys listening to a good book being read to him, but also becomes the friend that helps Nunez’s witty, wickedly funny and intensely grieving narrator to heal.
It’s a philosophical romp of a book, suffused with compassion and a deep sense of humanity. It’s also a book with an ending so lovely, so beautiful you’ll want to read it again and again.
My next book – heavy sigh and sadness here – is the final volume of Jacqueline Winspear’s wonderful Maisie Dobbs mystery series. Although I wasn’t as enthusiastic about a few of the later of books, I loved the earlier novels in the series and became a devoted fan.
Set in the years immediately after the First World War and continuing on to the closure of World War 2, the central character is everything you could hope for – smart, insightful and mentored by Maurice Blanche, one of the more interesting mystery novel characters I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Although Winspear is cautious to observe “never say never” when it comes to another Maisie book, I suspect that The Comfort of Ghosts will likely be the last in the series.
If you want to read the series, I’d start at the very beginning with the debut book entitled, simply, “Masie Dobbs.’
Once I come to love a writer I tend to buy all of their books, so when Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait was released I immediately bought it. O’Farrell’s previous novel, Hamnet, was one of my favorites of the past few years so my expectations were high, perhaps too high, because unlike Hamnet this book has a very slow and measured pace, at times so slow that I found my attention wandering.
That said, O’Farrell’s portrait of Renaissance Italy and the lives of its aristocratic women – lives circumscribed by duty, and more essentially, the production of an heir - is as devastatingly bleak as it is beautiful.
I’d love to know what you’ve read this summer, so please, drop me a line. And when you get a chance, take a look at a couple of my book lists on Shepard.com: “Three Best Historical Fiction novels for 2023” and “Best Books for Grown Up Time Travellers.” You might find something you haven’t read that strikes your fancy!
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