A Month's Worth of Books, pt. 2

Okay, so, my thoughts on some of the books I read over the last month - we'll call this the "Foreign Mystery" edition:

S.J. Parris, Heresy - I read this one a while ago, but I got the sequel from the library, so i figured I'd re-read the first one so that I'd remember who/what was going on. I guess that was a good idea? In any case, the book was also fine, I guess? I read it either right around the time of the wedding (my best friend's wedding, yay!) or right after, so I was really just looking to relax with something mindless. And mindless it was, despite being a period mystery starring Giordano Bruno. What does it say about me that I find it more interesting to ponder if it should be "S.J." or "S. J." than the book itself?

S.J. Parris, Prophecy - I suppose this one deserves a review of it's own, since it's not a re-read, but I don't really remember it all that well at this point. More Giordano Bruno in England, working as an information-gatherer. I think it was...fine? Not so bad I stopped reading, or that I remember having a strong negative reaction, but certainly not good. I do vaguely remember thinking that I'm done with the series; even if there's another one written, I don't have any desire to read it (or them). I've stuck with plenty of other series before, even when they weren't all that well-written, but I'm not invested in the character, either, so it's just not worth the time.

Teresa Solana, A Not So Perfect Crime - I'm not sure if "Murder and Mayhem in Barcelona" is part of the title or just a snazzy teaser line they put on the cover. In any case, apparently the book won a prize for being the best crime novel written in Catalan in 2007. I'm thinking maybe there weren't a lot of competitors? I feel bad being snarky, but it really wasn't all that impressive. Not sure if maybe it was a translation issue, but I just didn't feel like the story was that good. It wasn't gripping, or compelling, or even, really, interesting, and in the case of a mystery, that's a pretty bad thing. The basic premise was interesting: a man and his brother work as fixers, more or less, but nobody knows that they're brothers, and their company is more or less literally a shell. They have an office, and there are fake doors in the wall that lead to the "offices" and when clients come they greet them in the main area, saying the other offices are being painted, and the receptionist is out - and even leave a bottle of nail polish on "her" desk to help sell the illusion. In that sense I felt like the author put a lot of thought into the book - her main characters and their setting, the world they live in and move through, is creatively and vividly imagined and fleshed out. The plot was boring though - no suspense, no surprises. Some humor, but nothing that stood out.

Fun with History!

This is from my other blog, Better Living Through History, but I was limited what I could label, so there I focused on the non-fiction, here I will focus on the fiction...
So, I have long wanted to construct some sort of course using novels, poetry, films, etc. to "teach" history - or, that is, to introduce a subject in a fun way, and then make scholarly works available to provide context. Here's a first attempt, which is clearly just for my own amusement, and not actually meant for learning. As for "Wicked old-timey Jews" - here I am referring to Jewish diaspora populations (including crypto-Jews) in the Medieval and Early Modern periods, particularly so-called Port Jews and those in the Mediterranean world(because I could be totally wrong, but the Sephardic population during this time seems to be more fun).


For starters, a friend from college, N., gave me The Ghost of Hannah Mendes one year for Christmas (yes, my Jewish friend gave me a Jewish book for Christmas. Yay, melting pot!). I really, really enjoyed it, and have read it more than once. The characters were a little flat, but I loved the way the story goes back and forth between a Renaissance Jewish woman and her modern-day descendants who are trying to trace her story, told in some lost documents, and the parallels drawn between their search for love and goals in life, and the same searches their ancestress and grandmother carried out. The story can be a bit heavy-handed at times, really hitting you over the head with some stuff, but it's fun and romantic, and the author, Naomi Ragen, does a nice job setting up some of the exotic scenes, in modern and Renaissance Spain and Venice, particularly.

Geraldine Brooks also traces the history of a document in People of the Book, which was not as much fun to read (although it was fun!), but is much better written as far as straight skill. I think they're a nice complement. It's kinda a stretch, but the Phillipa Gregory book The Queen's Fool stars a young converso girl (conversa?) in London, who is tied up with Mary and Elizabeth. And there's always the first book in the "Mistress of the Art of Death" series, which is sorta on the subject of Jews in England but I love the book/series/characters, so I'm pluggin' em!





After these, for the real historical context, readers could turn to Jonathan I. Israel's Diasporas Within A Diaspora: Jews, Crypto-Jews, and the World Maritime Empires (1540-1740), Paolo Bernardini and Norman Fiering, eds., The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West 1450-1800, David Cesarani, ed., Port Jews: Jewish Communities in Cosmopolitan Trading Centres, 1550-1950, and Cesarani and Gemma Romain, eds., Jews and Port Cities, 1590-1990: Commerce, Community, and Cosmopolitanism. There is also an article by David Sorkin, "The port Jew: Notes toward a social type," in the Journal of Jewish Studies (51:1, 1999).

For more "readable" non-fiction, perhaps Ornament of the World (which, I must be honest, I haven't opened yet, but it sounds great!) by Maria Rosa Menocal, about "how Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created A Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain" or the GORGEOUS (lots and lots of pictures) The Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims and the Making of Castilian Culture. There are also some books on the similar cultural interactions in Sicily, and I am looking into more on Jewish communities in New World port cities.