Envy by Yuri Olesha

Envy is a satirical look at Soviet society in 1927, and it was published almost at the same time that Stalin crushed his opposition and expelled Trotsky from the Party, and then Stalin fired the editor of the Soviet literary magazine Red Virgin Soil in which Envy first appeared. This book was weird, and fortunately, quite short. It opens with one of the two main characters, the obese and ridiculous Andrei Babichev in the bathroom. A fool himself, the narrator Nikolai Kavalerov declared that he was Babichev’s jester. One would have to have a much greater interest in Soviet life of that particular era and the literature which it spawned to be thrilled with this book. While it does portray a slice of life in Moscow at the time, for a casual reader, it does not get my recommendation.

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

If you’re not a Russian scholar or at least have not pursued Russian literature, then you’ve probably not run across this magnificent classic, Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman. Grossman was born in the Ukraine in 1905, so he was just 12 years old at the time of the revolution that deposed the Romanovs and brought Lenin, then Stalin, then Khrushchev to power. He finished the book in 1959, but because the novel is the work of a dissident, it was seized by Khrushchev’s KGB officers in 1960. Rather than arrest the author, it was his book that was taken prisoner. Even his typewriter ribbons were taken. Fortunately, he had given copies to two others, but Grossman died in 1964, long before his book was ever published. It was smuggled out of Russia and finally printed in the West for the first time in 1980. And, what an incredible masterpiece it is.

The content of Life and Fate focuses on the critical World War II event of the German siege of Stalingrad. Hitler and Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact, so the Russians were caught by surprised when Hitler suddenly invaded their country. Including the German assault on Moscow was the year-long unsuccessful siege of Stalingrad, which was an important turning point in the war. It was the first time the German was machine was proven not to be invincible.

There are a number of very scholarly reviews of Grossman’s book which are easily available. In the book's introduction, Robert Chandler wrote, “It is important not only as literature but also as history; we have no more complete picture of Stalinist Russia.” For the most part, this book is historically accurate. Chandler reviewed that Grossman evoked the life of Russia through multiple subplots involving the members of a single family. Aleksandra Vladimirovna Shaposhnikova is an old woman whose spiritual roots were in the Populist traditions of the pre-revolutionary intelligentsia. Her children and their families were the novel’s central figures. Subplots are set in a Russian labor camp, a physics institute, the military careers of the husbands of one of Aleksandra’s daughters, the events at the Stalingrad power station, the German front, an uprising in a German concentration camp, and many others. As Grossman switches from a focus of one character to the next, his language shifts from being base and crude to refined and profound. An example of his profound writing (of which there are many) include a comment about “senseless kindness” from the character Ikonnikov who had just witnessed the massacre of 20,000 Jews. Ikonnikov: “Whenever we see the dawn of an eternal good… whenever we see this dawn, the blood of children and old people is always shed… Human history is not the battle of good struggling to overcome evil. It is a battle fought by a great evil struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness. Only individuals, it seems, can keep this kernel alive, and it can be spoken of only in a language that has not been appropriated by state ideologies.”

Grossman wrote, “Everyone feels guilty before a mother who has lost her son in a war; throughout human history men have tried in vain to justify themselves.”

His writing about the German death camps literally took my breath:

One of the most astonishing human traits that came to light at this time was obedience. There were causes of huge queues being formed by people awaiting execution – and it was victims themselves who regulated the movement of these queues. There were hot summer days when people had to wait from early morning until late at night; some mothers prudently provided themselves with bread and bottles of water for their children. Millions of innocent people knowing that they would soon be arrested, said goodbye tot heir nearest and dearest in advance and prepared little bundles containing spare underwear and a towel. Millions of people lived in vast camps that had not only been built by prisoners but were even guarded by them.

            And it wasn’t merely tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, but hundreds of millions of people who were the obedient witnesses of this slaughter of the innocent. Nor were they merely obedient witnesses; when ordered to, they gave their support to this slaughter, voting in favor of it amid a hubbub of voices. There was something unexpected in the degree of their obedience…. The extreme violence of totalitarian social systems proved able to paralyze the human spirit throughout whole continents.

Grossman asked, “Have people advanced over the millennia in their concept of good?” And then he spent a chapter addressing the question.

He also gave the clearest discussion of anti-Semitism that I’ve ever seen:

Anti-Semitism can take many forms – from a mocking, contemptuous ill-will to murderous pogroms.

Anti-Semitism can be met with in the market and in the President of the Academy of Sciences, in the soul of an old man and in the games children play in the yard. Anti-Semitism has been as strong in the age of atomic reactors and computers as in the age of oil lamps, sailing boats, and spinning wheels.

Anti-Semitism is always a means rather than an end; it is a measure of the contradictions yet to be resolved. It is a mirror for the failings of individuals, social structures and State systems. Tell me what you accuse the Jews of – I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.

One of Grossman’s main characters was Victor Shtrum, a physicist and Jew who is married to one of Shaposhnikova’s daughters. Victor is a good man who has struggled with prejudice at every turn, especially as Stalin’s anti-Semitic policies advanced. After having fought for his principles at the risk of his own life, he finally took the easy way out with one dilemma, and having done so haunted him. Grossman wrote, “Good men and bad men alike are capable of weakness. The difference is simply that a bad man will be proud all his life of one good deed – while an honest man is hardly aware of his good acts, but remembers a single sin for years on end.”

I had trouble with Russian names which are so much longer than the names of those of us in the West, and then there are also the diminutive names of the characters, so sometimes it took a little while to figure out who the author was referring to. The book is long, more than 900 pages. So, there were lots of characters, lots of long names, and lots of details. There were a few tedious passages. But, of course that is the richness of a novel of this scope. I saved this book for a vacation week, reading a few hours each day. What a pleasure.

I think I’ve run out of superlatives. This book gets my highest recommendation.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

After being so thoroughly intrigued and impressed with Goldacre’s Bad Pharma, I went back to the library to get his first book, Bad Science. But alas, the library did not have it requiring an interlibrary loan.

While Goldacre’s barbs are directed solely at the pharma industry in Bad Pharma, his targets in Bad Science include the media (a most noble andn worthy target for most any expose) and statisticians (those hit a little too close to home), his sharpest arrows are lasered on homeopathic claims and nutritionists whom he considers to border of quackery. Notice he discusses ‘nutritionists’ and not ‘registered dieticians.’ He really blasts some fad nutritionists (not in general, he really has a bone to pick with one UK woman in particular) whose many false claims (about their training, research history, science knowledge, interpretation of the literature) are almost laughable if there weren't so many of the public who buy into their nonsense.

His most enlightening, and longest, section is about the MMR and autism scare of the last 10-ish years that just won’t seem to go away. In some detail, Goldacre discusses how the scare started (using now-dismissed data), was perpetuated by an agenda-driven media (hmmm, can you spell “global warming”?), the seeming inability of the media to admit after the fact that they were fooled and mislead and finally the mishandling of retorts by a medical establishment was most adept at tripping over its own tongue.

Despite being a legendary cheapskate and getting my books almost exclusively from the library, my highest recommendation for a book is if I then go out and buy it.  I just did get Naked Statistics and will now order both Goldacre books. If you want to test drive Goldacre, see his Ted Talks online. I'm wondering if my primary society, the American College of Sports Medicine, would consider him for a keynote? Maybe I'll drop the hint to a guy I know on the program committee.

East Coast Don

Damascus Count Down by Joel Rosenberg

The 12th Imam has consolidated his power, convincing most all the Islamic countries to not only pledge their support to the Iman, but also to put their military under his command and control in preparation for war against the Zionists. 

But Israel has taken the proverbial bull by the horns. They have initiated a first strike against Iran and have wiped out Iran's nuclear capabilities and their nuclear arsenal . . . all but two that are missing. From earlier books, a CIA operative (of Iranian descent) has worked his way into the inner circle, sort of. His cover is with a German telecom company that provides encrypted sat phones to the governing council. Of course, now the CIA can listen in on the most secret of phone calls. It's this operative that has been tasked by his bosses to find the two nukes and destroy them (I half expected 'if any of your IMF team are caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.'). 

I've read most of Rosenberg's products and his early work is entirely engaging and believable. He managed to be 6mo to a year or two ahead of events that actually occurred. But in his last 3ish books, he has been incorporating Christian beliefs and practices in ever increasing frequency. For many, this could be both inspiring and joyful while for others it can be tedious. For me, I get my inspiration from my church, not from my political thrillers. The plot was entirely plausible and should have been a winner. Early on, Rosenberg was in my power rotation because of plots like this. Sadly, the amount of religiosity has resulted in my first author to drop from that lofty presence. I didn't even get 100 pages read before I closed the book, removed my bookmark, and returned it to the library.

East Coast Don

The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart

In The Ophelia Cut, John Lescroart returns to his successful formula featuring San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy, Hardy's brother-in-law Moses McGuire, and his best friend homicide lieutenant Abe Glisky.  These three and Hardy's law partner, Gino Rourke participated in a murder (in a previous book) they rationalize as justified.  Now six years later they have kept this agonizing secret that if revealed could destroy their lives.  McGuire is particularly haunted by their crime.  As a recovering alcoholic, he has sworn off drinking in fear that when drunk he may divulge too much.

McGuire has a beautiful 23-year-old daughter who has poor taste in men. Brittany prefers the mysterious stranger to the stable long lasting relationship.  Consequently she dates and rejects many potential partners. Her most recent conquest, Rick Jessup proves to be a misogynist and has a history of violence toward women.  He is chief of staff to an ambitious yet devious city supervisor, Liam Goodman.  Goodman's leading campaign contributor is an organized crime boss who has a growing distaste for the egotistical Jessup.  So Jessup has enemies in both his personal and professional lives.  When Brittany dumps him, Jessup takes offense an sets her up for date rape.  One day later Jessup is found dead in his apartment.

Moses McGuire, Brittany's father becomes the prime suspect and is quickly arrested. Quickly because the chief of police learns person of interest Moses McGuire is a personal acquaintance of her homicide chief, Abe Glisky and of the district attorney, Wes Farrell.  The police chief circumvents normal procedure and manipulates the system for an expedited arrest.

Dismas Hardy of course becomes McGuire's defense attorney and the trial begins. Brittany is called as a prosecution witness to demonstrate her rape as motive for her father's alleged crime.  She cuts her hair extremely short for the court appearance down playing her image as the beautiful bombshell heart-breaker (thus the book's title.)  As the overwhelming evidence against McGuire is introduced, Hardy focuses on planting reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.  His investigator Wyatt Hunt finds Jessup has made several enemies capable of murder but introducing such evidence into the courtroom gets complicated by legal procedure and disappearing witnesses.  Hardy, who has a reputation of pulling a rabbit out of the hat at the last minute to win acquittal for his clients, becomes stymied with his friend's life at stake.

Lescroart does a brilliant job in keeping it fresh and intriguing in his 14th novel with this same cast of characters. Flawed and human as they are, they face morally complex situations that continually intertwine and circle back to one another. Meanwhile whether you agree with each character's action or not, you somehow empathize and find yourself their advocate...quite an accomplishment for the author I'd say.

The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen

My reading about Russia continues, from ancient history to current day stuff, so that’s what led me to this book about Putin. This is one eye-opening nonfiction book. I read two newspapers almost every day, and I’ve done that for many years. However, I was only vaguely aware that Putin was a despot, a tsar-like figure, and a man who fraudulently held onto power in Russia. But I really had no idea of the extent of his being a Stalin-like figure. As the title of the book suggests, his rise to power came from nowhere. When he took Boris Yeltsin’s place at the head of government, Russians had as little knowledge about Putin as we Americans had of Sarah Palin. His vicious disregard for the rights of others and his willingness to steal whatever he wanted became apparent within days of his ascent, and it has only gotten worse. The western press was distracted by 9/11 while Putin solidified his power based and completely destroyed the budding democracy movement in the country. Gessen skillfully writes about the details of how Putin did it and the people that he damaged, drove into exile, and killed along the way. Gessen estimates that in his power and money grab, Putin has amassed a person fortune of more than $40 billion. If you have an interest in current day Russia, then this book is a must read for you.

The Intercept by Dick Wolf

If anyone can tell a tale, it should be the creative force behind the Law & Order franchise. Especially with NYC as the backdrop.

Jeremy Fisk works the Joint Terrorism Task Force in NY – intel. He’s part of a team sent to Ramstein AFB in Germany to be the first to pick through the souvenirs of the Bin Laden take down. Nothing of note until one of the NSA geeks finds a coded message hidden in a touristy image of sunflowers.  OBL has grown weary of blowing up planes, buildings, and killing people. His caliphate is best served by destroying symbols.

Back in NYC, Fisk is trying to reason out what symbols would be targets for al Qaeda. He and his detective girlfriend are trying to assemble a puzzle for which they have no picture, getting nowhere fast.

An SAS flight from Stockholm is on descent into Kennedy airport. A Muslim man rises and rushes the cockpit door, screaming Islamic chants and holding a bomb detonator. When he can’t get through the door, he grabs a flight attendant and holds a knife to her throat. Suddenly, 5 passengers pounce of the would-be bomber and subdue him.

The plane lands safely and the 5 passengers and the flight attendant are instant heroes. For the next few days leading up to the July 4^th celebration and the opening of the new World Trade Center, ‘The Six” are headline news making all the right stops on TV and live events, all courtesy of the Mayor’s PR machine.

The captured Muslim sings like The Four Tenors, but he really doesn’t know much. And his detonator went to nothing - not even a dud. Fisk is sure this idiot was a throw down – a plant to distract authorities from the real villains and convinces his bosses at the JTTF to start perhaps the most comprehensive, yet quiet, manhunt in NYC’s history.  There is too much going on that weekend, too many high profile events and targets (including Obama and Bush) to not use every resource at hand.

Like I said, Wolf should be able to bring it when it comes to a police procedural/political thriller and he does. Some reviewers I read said it reads like a novelization of a script, including Wolf’s own son. Wolf sends the reader down multiple blind alleys, each with their own sleeper cell, none of whom have clue what awaits other than paradise. But I have to agree with some reviewers who say that the Fisk character needs to be developed more. Great plot, highly plausible and believable.

This book was way too easy to get caught up in and kept me awake far later than I should’ve been on multiple nights. OK, the ending was a bit less than triumphant, given the massive, breakneck buildup, but I’m not going to complain. Wolf’s TV producing career may have begun with Miami Vice, but this is his first novel making him a rookie, so I’ll cut him a break and wait to see how Fisk fares in the next installment.

East Coast Don