Another Baldacci Favorite

Best selling author, David Baldacci, has penned an impressive list of novels (17, to date) mostly suspense driven thrillers.

At the moment, Wish You Well (see April 15 post) stands out as one of two exceptions to the norm.  The Christmas Train (2002) is the other.

In answer to his father’s dying request, Pulitzer prize winning journalist, Tom Langdon, agrees to a leisurely 3,000 mile train ride across the U. S. during the Christmas season.

Preposterous, you might say!!  Not so when the reader discovers that a branch of the Langdon family tree supports the illustrious Olivia, wife of Samuel Clemens.

Clemens, the prolific scribe better known as Mark Twain, completed the same journey researching all the way, but failed in his attempt to produce a printable account.

To complicate matters, an unfortunate security-screening incident at LaGuardia has grounded the globe-trotting Langdon, for the next two years

Finishing the transcontinental journey and subsequent article will not only fulfill his father’s wish but also enable Tom to meet up with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Leila, for a Christmas ski trip.

On the two-leg trip – Washington D.C. to Chicago and then on to Los Angeles- Langdon runs into a trainload of wacky passengers, energetic railroad employees and surprise, surprise, a former lover.

Coincidentally, screen writer Ellie Carter is also compiling background information for a possible film dealing with trains.

But the sudden appearance of girlfriend, Lelia Gibson, thwarts Tom’s plan to reignite his dormant love affair and pop the question.

But thrill writer, Baldacci, can’t resist spicing up a so-so plot with a little adventure.  And that shot of adrenalin comes in the form of a catastrophic weather pattern producing a twin avalanche trapping both the train and its passengers in the Colorado mountains.

The experienced reader can easily predict the happy ending without too much difficulty, but who really cares.  What’s wrong with a Christmas miracle anyway?

Reviewers preferred The Christmas Train for a December read over John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas.  This blogger tends to agree.

A complete listing of Baldacci’s novels can be found at: www.davidbaldacci.com.

Book club discussion questions for The Christmas Train follow below:

1. The tease line at the end of chapters 2, 17, 22, 26, 27 28:  Influenced me to turn the page?  Annoyed me?  Was an unnecessary gimmick for a talented writer?

2. For years, Tom blamed Eleanor for walking out on him; while she, in turn, cast doubt on his ability to grow up.  Is Tom at fault for the breakup?  Eleanor?  Both?

3. Does the novel’s surprise ending cheapen the reconciliation of Tom and Ellie?  Why or why not?

4. Max Powers boasted of his reputation as a great director.  Which of the novel’s events were coincidental and which were orchestrated by Max and/or his assistant, Kristobal?

5. Discuss the techniques used by the author to foreshadow the catastrophic avalanche.

6. While boarding the train, Tom visualized the movie classic North by Northwest with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.  How did Langdon’s rail experience differ from the one portrayed by famed director Alfred  Hitchcock?

7. With which of  Baldacci’s memorable characters would you like to spend more time?  Which would you like to avoid entirely?  Why?

8.  Discuss the role played by Paul Kelly, the make-believe priest and accomplished thief.

9. Point out the  similarities and differences between main character, Tom Langdon, and the celebrated Mark Twain.

10. After reading The Christmas Train, would you opt for the rails instead of the sky for your next vacation transportation?  Why or Why not?

11. Baldacci levels some strong criticism at the federal government and the future of  railroad travel.  Agree?  Disagree?

Both the church and subdivision book clubs have chosen The Christmas Train for holiday reading.

Choosing the Right Book

“Too long!”

“Not a fun read!”

“The characters were stereotypes!”

“The plot was nonexistent!”

Not every book club selection is a page turner.  You can’t please everybody so let the criticism bounce off and encourage members to vent their complaints during the discussion segment of the meeting.

Here’s a few guidelines to keep in mind as the moderator/leader gently steers the book club members toward their next selection.

• Don’t choose a book based on a movie expecting that what you’ll see and read will be the same.

Under the Tuscan Sun is a perfect example.  When the reader cracks open the novel expecting to find a beautiful divorcee finding romance while renovating a Tuscan villa, she’s in for a big surprise.  This would-be novel, could better be classified as a memoir or journal, which Frances Mayes used to record the process of reinventing a falling down house. In between projects, Mayes and her boyfriend explore the land and food of the region.

Evidently Mayes’ descriptions of  Italy are sadly lacking.  According to one reviewer, a real Italiano, about “half the quotations she made are simply ridiculous-out of context and full of spelling and grammatical errors”.  The book is also criticized  by the same reviewer for its non-existent plot and Disney-like characters.  If you’re looking for an accurate picture of  the country and its people, he recommends Italian Neighbors and An Italian Education by resident, Tim Parks.

But if your  group leans toward a low-key read that allows them to, “smell the food and hear the quiet of the countryside,” then Under the Tuscan Sun is just right.  Recipes are also included!

• Don’t veto a book based solely on length.

An excellent read, Outlander, book one in a series of seven, weighs in at 850 pages.  The reader who jumps in will find plenty of action episodes, spiced with fulfilling sex, coupled with vibrant scenes from life and disturbing pictures of death.  With WWII ended, a combat nurse and her husband travel to Britain to get reacquainted.  There she steps through an ancient stone circle, Craig na Dun and Claire Beauchamp Randall is sucked back into Scotland in the war-torn year of 1743.

Circumstances force  Claire to marry James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, a Scotsman five years her junior, and the story explodes off the page from that point onward.  While Outlander is not a light-hearted read, the “epic-style adventure with a truly satisfying romance” more than makes up for the Braveheart-style violence.  Other books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon include:  Dragonfly in Amber (1992), Voyager (1994), Drums in Autumn (1997), The Fiery Cross (2001), A Breathe of Snow and Ashes (2005), an Echo in the Bone (9/2009).  Take care to read them in order for the continuing saga of Claire, Frank and Jamie throughout  Scotland, France, the West Indies and America.

• Don’t judge a book by the title.

One Thousand White Women is a prime example.  This historical novel masquerades as the nonfiction diary of Mary Dodd, one of the women who volunteered to marry into the Cheyenne nation in 1854.  Having been shut away in an insane asylum  for bearing her lover’s child out of wedlock, Dodd leaps at the chance to gain her freedom.

Author, Jim Fergus, uses this great social experiment in integration to depict the life in the so-called civilized cities, as well as frontier towns, forts and Indian camps.  Along with the other women who had fled prisons, poorhouses and mental institutions, the reader feels the bitterly cold winters, smells the wood smoke of an open fire as well as the sharp scent of gunpowder as the native Americans struggle for their existence in the western territories.  A must read!

• Don’t choose a book based on the author’s name alone.

Maeve Binchy’s writing career spans 25 years or more and has produced 15 novels, 5 books of short stories, one play, one novella plus two nonfiction works.  At 656 pages, Tara Road (1998) drew major criticism, from the church book club, for the weak female characters portrayed as heroines.

The novel’s story revolves around two women:  Ria Lynch and her American counterpart.  Shattered by the break up of her marriage to real estate developer, Danny, the Irish woman agrees to a two-month house trade.  Also coping with a shaky marriage, torn apart by the loss of her son, Marilyn Vine, consents to leave her suburban Connecticut home for Tara Road.

Most bookclubbers found fault with Ria’s  desperate struggle to save her fractured relationship with  her philandering husband.  After discarding the possibility of having another baby to recement the marriage, Ria clings to Danny, begging him to come back.

While not a bad read, bookclubbers expressed their disgust with Binchy’s female cliches:  the interfering mother, obnoxious teenager, domestic victim, man-stealing witch and penny-pinching shrew.  Binchy’s theme, common to some of her other works – men are liars and cheats who will break your heart – can also be found in Tara Road.

• Don’t pick a novel based on the author’s successful songwriting career.

In A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffet, the reader meets cowboy Tully Mars and his horse, Mr. Twain, who flee bounty hunters only to end up on a boat enroute to the Caribbean.  There, a nearly 102-year-old lady, Cleopatra Highbourne, enlists Tully’s help in restoring a 150-year-old lighthouse to its former glory.

At that point, the search begins for a rare bulls-eye lens and the book meanders this way and that for 462 pages.  If a plot line exists, it’s buried amongst the boats, island scenery and crazy characters.  At one point someone writes a 50-page letter which finds its way into the book’s narrative, too.

While some of the individual episodes can be slightly humorous, the reader has to hack away at the novel’s underbrush to find them. If your group appreciates a tightly crafted story,  then hoist anchor and sail away from A Salty Piece of Land.

What are some of your dont’s?

Another Miss Marple ???

Born in 1928 at the age of 70, Jane Marple is a softly-spoken spinster who resides in the tiny village of St. Mary Mead somewhere in the U. K.  Neatly dressed in tweed with her ever present hat, Agatha Christie’s leading lady gets more likable as she grows older.

Touted as “The Miss Marple of Botswana” by the New York Times Book Review, Mma Precious Ramotswe came to life in Gaborone just recently, 1999 to be exact.  For her workday attire, the 35-year-old lady detective chooses  from a vast wardrobe of elaborately patterned A-line dresses in the rich African hues of orange, yellow and green.  Rarely is she seen in the HBO series without a bright headband, or intricately knotted scarf covering her dark hair.

Wherein lies the link between these two very different fictional characters?

While Miss Maple might be a tall, thin English lady with white curls arranged around her crinkled pink face,  Mma Ramotswe is described as a traditionally built African woman, size 22.   Pushing these obviously diverse physical characteristics aside, the reader soon discovers that both  ladies rely strongly on their powers of observation.

“My hobby is studying people, ” claimed Miss Marple, “human nature if you will.” As one of the guests At Bertram’s Hotel (1965) observed, “She sees everything”.

At the age of four, Precious “watched everybody and everything with her wide solemn eyes”. With the cousin’s help, “the qualities of curiosity and awareness were nurtured in the child’s mind”.

While visiting the ruins of a long defunct agricultural experiment (Tears of the Giraffe, 2000), the perceptive lady detective feels that she’s very close to understanding what had happened there to the missing Michael Curtin.  Unable to voice her feelings, Mma Ramotswe  knew that his spirit lingered there in that place.

As if respectful of her character’s advanced age,  Dame Agatha Christie seldom pushes her elderly sleuth physically into an investigation.  Miss Marple rarely steps center stage.  Instead she prefers to quietly observe, ask polite questions and drop a few selected stitches from her knitting needles.

In The Mirror Crack’d (1962) Miss Marple leaves her home no more than three times throughout the entire novel.  Recovering from a bout of bronchitis,  the English spinster could not attend the fete at Gossington Hall.  Kept abreast of local gossip by Mrs. Bantry, former owner of the hall; Ms. Knight, the overbearing nurse/companion and Chief Inspector Dermot Craddock, Miss Marple solves the triple murder and sends Gladys, the dressmaking canteen worker, to Bournemouth, to prevent her from being killed, too.

Describing herself as a strong woman,  Mma Ramotswe advances far beyond the information gathering process making momentous decisions about the case under investigation.

For example, in the case of the woman whose husband had acquired a stolen Mercedes Benz, she calls her policeman friend, Billy Pilani, and arranges for the return of the car to its owner. (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 1999, & Tears of the Giraffe, 2000)

Additionally, she decided  not to report the fraudulent insurance claims of the man with thirteen fingers to the police.  (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 1999, & Tears of the Giraffe, 2000)

Critics have often criticized Christie’s disregard of the lush tropical settings found in such books as A Caribbean Mystery (1964) in order to direct the reader’s focus firmly on the characters.  Even  though Miss Marple had been sent to  the luxurious Golden Palm Hotel on the Caribbean island of St. Honere by her doting nephew Raymond West, she expressed discontent.   “So many palm trees.  Everything the same every day–never anything happening.”

Not true of author, Alexander McCall Smith, who exalts in the scenery and people of Botswana.   He places the unoccupied Mma Ramotswe under her acacia tree in the dust with the chickens.  On another occasion, a snake crawls into the motor of her tiny white van.  Dust covers everything, even car parts, except in the rainy season when everything turns green once more.  Setting The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series  anywhere else would rip the  heart from the  delightful stories.

( A favorite shot, repeated frequently in the HBO series, pictures  the small white van (truck) flying down a long, deserted highway kicking up a rich red plume of dust as it quickly moves off into the distance.)

Both lady detectives live reluctantly in the modern world but revere the manners, politeness and morality of the past.  The soon-to-be wife of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and mother of two orphaned children, Precious yearns for her father who “would have shown them the old Botswana morality and brought them to an understanding of what it is to live an honourable life”.

Wealthy novelist nephew Raymond often accuses  his dear Aunt Jane of burying her “head in the sand like a very delightful ostrich”.  Sending modern novels only exasperated the maiden lady even more.  ” So difficult–all about unpleasant people, doing such very odd things and not, apparently, even enjoying them.”

Whether it be woman’s intuition, gossip, or just plain observation, both female sleuths display an amazing ability to solve the problems created by their respective authors.  Which is your favorite?

**A complete listing of Agatha Christie’s mysteries featuring Miss Marple can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Marple.

A Real Page Turner!

Novels by David Baldacci are not the usual fare discussed at a ladies’ book club meeting.

Most of his best sellers fall into the thriller category with Arab terrorists, nuclear threats and Washington D. C. misfits. (The Camel Club, 2006)

Early in his writing career, this attorney turned author gave readers an inside look at the appeal process of the Supreme Court through the eyes of convicted murderer Rufus Harms. (The Simple Truth, 1998)

A 2001 release, Last Man Standing follows an FBI point man’s desperate search for answers after his entire Hostage Rescue Team was gunned down around him in a blind alley.  Not exactly a book club choice either!

But sandwiched between the CIA villains, Secret Service agents and serial killers is Wish You Well, a homespun tale of love across four generations  and, in particular, 1940’s life in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia.

In the opening chapter, a fatal automobile accident forces the family of  a critically acclaimed novelist to leave their New York home  and retreat to the Cardinal family cabin back in the hills.

Awakened at 5 a.m. by their great grandmother also named Louisa Mae Cardinal, Lou, aged 12 and Oz, 7,  soon learn to milk the cows, slop the hogs, feed chickens, drop hay and gather eggs before walking two miles to school every day.

A Virginia resident himself, Baldacci created adventures and hardships familiar to his maternal grandmother, Cora Rose, who spent 60 years in the higher elevations. Even the author’s mother, the youngest of ten children, spent the first 17 years of her life in the same rocky peaks.

Faulting herself for her father’s  death and  mother’s catatonic state, the blond, blue-eyed Lou can not subscribe to her grandmother’s notion that, “Some say believing a person gets better is half the battle”. But younger brother, Oz, never loses faith: talking to Amanda several times each day, brushing her hair and even sleeping in her bedroom on more than one occasion.

Every Baldacci novel must have a villain and moonshiner George Davis is one of the best. An awful man, Davis, “works his children like mules and treats his mules better’n his children,” according to long-time neighbor and adversary, Louisa Mae Cardinal.

Running a close second in evil practices are the executives of The Southern Valley Coal and Gas Company who keep mum about the discovery of natural gas in the Cardinal’s coal mine.  This secret, which pits neighbor against neighbor for a sizable check, will also result in the death of red-haired Jimmy Skinner a.k.a. Diamond – another blow to Lou’s already fragile psyche.

The setting mixes in the glowing beauty of a 100-foot waterfall with the opportune scream of a sleek black panther and a moss encrusted, haunted well to push the reader to the edge of his/her seat in  anticipation of what will happen next .

Add in a four-chapter long Southern trial reminiscent of  the one described in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and you’ve got a real page turner.  As in both cases, “The legal system had had its day the only thing absent was justice”.

(Sadly to say, Cotton Longfellow did not possess the expertise of Atticus Finch by his own admission, “I’m not a particularly good lawyer, but I get by”.

Critics found Baldacci’s earlier works written strictly for action, with little character development or setting.  That is not the case with Wish You Well, 2000, number six in his list of 19 books produced in 13 years.  Maybe it’s the author’s  strong family connection to the high Virginia hills or possibly his skill at creating suspense that draws the reader on page after page.

Whatever the reason:  Wish You Well is a well plotted, compelling, action-packed novel – a great choice for any book club discussion.  Questions can be found at www.readinggroupguides.com.

Last Word on Letters

Over the years, the letter has served mankind well as a means of communication.

In The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, journalist Juliet Ashton employed the letter to gather research for her latest writing project. Through this cross channel exchange, Juliet learned about the island, the  society’s taste in books and the impact of  German occupation on their tiny homeland.

In 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff originally used the letter as a purchase order for out-of-print, hard-to-find books.  Later the transatlantic correspondence fostered a deep friendship between Hanff and bookseller, Frank Doel.

In Founding Mothers, letters crisscrossed the original 13 colonies with private news, political opinions, pleas for money and accounts of war and an emerging nation.

Has the letter become obsolete in our society of cell phones, laptops and text messaging?
In ancient times, the written message was scratched onto leather or papyrus with a goose quill or split reed dipped in sticky ink.  The average piece of papyrus held roughly 140 words. Penning three syllables required one minute and an hour’s work resulted in about 72 words.

When completed, the short letter was folded before being sealed with pitch or wax.  A long letter would be wrapped in another sheet of papyrus before being tied with a small cord and then sealed.

In contrast, today’s technology has made written communication almost effortless.
Major corporations especially those with a global presence are switching to Instant Messaging (IM) instead of telephone and voice mail communication.   Corresponding via IM is less intrusive, more concise and can  sometimes prevent misunderstandings.

The adage, ‘open mouth – insert foot’, would no longer apply since few of us can write without some forethought. Other attributes include: communication with more than one person at a time and recordability.

Granted, an IM print out does not resemble the letter of days gone by, but it’s written communication, isn’t it.

It’s Unanimous!!

All six members of the subdivision book club, in attendance last week, loved the main character of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Created by African-born, Alexander McCall Smith, Mma Precious Ramotswe first appeared in print in 1999 and lately, in a 2007 film. Presently, McCall Smith’s series of eleven books, to date, have become the subject of a Sunday evening series on HBO.     (See post #5)

But what makes the protagonist such an admired and admirable individual?

Firstly, the detective is comfortable with who she is, a traditionally built African lady, size 22.  Fond of reading interior design magazines in bed, Mma Ramotswe scorns those “terrible, stick-like figures” featured in their advertisements.

Exuding confidence in her detective  abilities, Precious ignores the disparaging remark uttered by one of three ultra-thin passersby, “How can an elephant go under cover?” and crosses the street with a purposeful step.   (This quote is taken from the movie.)

Secondly, the lady detective is appreciated because of her innate intelligence. “Qualities of curiosity and awareness were nurtured in her mind at an early age.”  Divorced and childless, her cousin taught Precious to count at the age of four.  Reciting car registration numbers and playing Kim’s game honed the child’s memory and observation skills to a sharp edge.

Answering her lawyer’s question: “Can women be detectives?” the female sleuth promptly replied, “Women are the ones who know what’s going on.   Women notice things that men do not”.

Readers also find Mma Ramotswe praiseworthy for her finely determined sense of right and wrong learned in five years of Sunday School.  Disliking Mr. Paliwalar Patel’s archaically rigid method of child rearing, the lady detective commented, “There comes a time when they must have their own lives.  We have to let go”.

Grudgingly, Mr.  Patel agrees to her modern ideas after Precious proved that 16-year-old Nandira  invented her boyfriend Jack, “just to bring a bit of freedom into her life”.

As Promised – more on Founding Mothers

The textbook account of early American history could not have been written without the names of George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams and many others.

But after reading Founding Mothers, you’ll have to agree that room should be cleared in those same books for the deeds and accomplishments of their wives: Martha, Deborah and Abigail. For without their support, encouragement and resourcefulness, these great men would certainly have floundered.

As Washington wrote, “Not would I rob the fairer sex of their share in the glory of a revolution so honorable to human nature, for indeed, I think you ladies are in the number of the best patriots America can boast.”

Don’t think of Founding Mothers as a boring book of history. Instead, consider it an intimate peek into the lives of some of our greatest Americans.

Discussion questions for Founding Mothers can be found at: www.readinggroupguides.com.

The subdivision book club used the following questions for its discussion last month.

• Discuss the role of women in colonial America. Did you discover anything surprising? Unjust? Ridiculous?
• History regards Benjamin Franklin as a great inventor and statesman. Taking that into consideration, how would you rate him as a husband and father?
• Explain how the Revolutionary War made is possible for the female sex to move beyond the traditional ‘woman’s place’.
• Discuss how the pamphleteer, Mercy Otis Warren, and other female political writers of the day were able to ‘have it all’.
• What do the following statements tell us about the personal life of John and Abigail Adams?

‘You women don’t need power, you already have all the real power.’
‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman.’

• What events prompted General Cornwallis to say that if he destroyed all of the men in America, he’d still have the women with which to contend?
• Contrast the prim and proper Martha Washington we see in portraits to the real woman as described by Cokie Roberts in Founding Mothers.
• How did the British occupation of the southern colonies alter the lives of women living there?
• How did Peggy Shippen help her husband, Benedict Arnold, advance the British cause in the colonies? After he was arrested, how did she escape detention?
• Who suffered the most during the peace process–the statesmen: Adams, Jefferson, Franklin or their wives?
• In 1809, Chief Justice John Marshall replied to Gouverneur Morris’ inquiry by saying that Virginia opinion was divided on Nancy’s (Randolph) guilt or innocence. Where do you stand on the greatest scandal in 18th century America?

Did Nancy bear an illegitimate child?
Did she murder her brother-in-law, Richard?
Was she the mistress of slave, Billy Ellis?
Was she a prostitute? A vampire?

• Martha Washington changed her title of First Lady to Chief State Prisoner. Would modern day First Ladies agree? Explain.