December 2022 Reading List

As I write this post, it is Friday afternoon, December 30. I've just finished reading the 7th book for this month, and although there is still one more day left in the month, it is unlikely that I can finish an eighth book before the month comes to an end. Therefore, I'll write the post now and have it ready for tomorrow.

If it should happen that I'm able to finish another in the time remaining I will edit this post.

Unlike some other months, I haven't posted many reviews in December for the books I've read immediately following my having read them. I did, however manage to write something about A.J. Cronin as well as one book by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. 

I can't say enough about how much I admire the work of Dr.Cronin. His Hatter's Castle is one of the best books I've read this year. More of his novels will be going into the queue for 2023.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I enjoyed reading all three books in Kawaguchi's Café series, and I recommend the trilogy, although I'm looking forward to the day when Kawaguchi spreads out and writes a novel that is not part of the same series.

For the 4th book of December, I switched from fiction to non-fiction, reading Anna Reid's Leningrad : The Epic Siege of World War II.

I don't recall exactly how I discovered Seishi Yokomizo. Yokomizo was a popular Japanese mystery novelist during the immediate post WWII period. His mystery novels have only recently been translated into English. The first in 2019. So far, five of his mystery novels have been translated into English although #5 won't be available until sometime in 2023. I have read the first two - the third and fourth will be the first two I'll read in January.

The final book finished this month (and this year as well) is a mystery novel mentioned by Seishi Yokomizo in The Honjin Murders - The Red House Mystery by A.A.Milne.

Milne is best remembered as the creator of Winnie - the - Pooh. The Red House Mystery is his only mystery novel. He mentions in his dedication of the novel to his father that the elder Milne was a great fan of detective and mystery novels and the younger Milne wrote this novel especially for his father. I, for one, wish that Milne had written more in the genre. I enjoyed reading The Red House Mystery and would liked to have seen the amateur detective, Anthony Gillingham team up with his friend Bill Beverly in more novels.

So, now - here is the list of the books I read in December, 2022. I can recommend all seven.

The Stars Look Down                                         by A.J. Cronin 

Before Your Memory Fades                               by Toshikazu Kawaguchi  

Hatter's Castle                                                   by A.J. Cronin 

Leningrad The Epic Siege of World War II       by Anna Reid  

The Honjin Murders                                          by Seishi Yokomizo  

Death on Gokumon Island                                 by Seishi Yokomizo  

The Red House Mystery                                     by A. A. Milne

Before Your Memory Fades

 

In August of this year, I discovered the novels of Japanese writer, Toshikazu Kawaguchi . At that time, he had published two novels - Before the Coffee Gets Cold and a sequel, Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café. Both tell of a café in Tokyo that allows its customers to travel back in time.

As I mentioned in the blog post linked to above, a third book in the series, Before Your Memory Fades was scheduled for release in November. Naturally, I had to get my hands on a copy of the ebook.

The wikipedia summary of the first novel describes all three novels in the series rather well:

In a narrow back alley in Tokyo lies a café called Funiculi Funicula. In the café, customers have the opportunity to travel back to a time of their choosing, as long as they follow a long list of rules. There is only one seat in the café that allows time travel; the seat is only available when the ghost that usually occupies it goes for a toilet break; once back in time, customers can't leave the seat; the only people in the past who can be met are people who have visited the café; whatever happens in the past, the present won't change; and, most importantly, the customer has to return to the present before their cup of coffee goes cold.

The main difference in the third novel is that the stories take place in a different café (Donna Donna) in Hakodate rather than Tokyo. The same family is charge of pouring the coffee that permits the time travel.

I enjoyed reading all three books in the series, and recommend the trilogy - however, I'm looking forward to the day when Kawaguchi spreads out and writes a novel that is not part of the same series.

A.J. Cronin

I had not gotten very far along in reading A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel, The Stars Look Down when the thought came to me - why haven't I heard of this novel, or the writer, before now? I became enthralled with the work almost immediately. However, I would not have been aware of Cronin had I not been reading Dorothy L. Sayers' mystery novel, Busman's Honeymoon.

In Sayers' book, she writes that Lord Wimsey's mother wrote in her diary about her attempt to read a book entitled The Stars Look Down:
"21 May.--Was reading The Stars Look Down (Mem. very depressing, and not what I expected from the title--think I must have had a Christmas carol in mind, but remember now it has something to do with the Holy Sepulchre--must ask Peter and make sure)".

I did a web search and found this description of the novel at wikipedia:
"The novel is set in 'Sleescale,' a mining town on the coast of Northumberland, as well as in 'Tynecastle' (Newcastle upon Tyne). While 'Sleescale' is a fictional locale, it is based on an excellent knowledge of similar places and people. Cronin, a Scot, served as Medical Inspector of Mines in the South Wales Valleys during the 1920s.
Beginning before World War I and extending into the 1930s, the story shows the different careers of several persons: principally, a miner's son who aspires to defend his people politically, a miner who becomes a businessman, and the mine owner's son in conflict with his domineering father."

I suspect that Sayers' mentioning of the book was a dig at Lord Wimsey's mother, rather than any criticism of Cronin's novel.

I remained puzzled. Cronin was a very well known writer in his day - there have been at least 19 film adaptations of his work as well as quite a few television credits. And yet, Cronin is almost unknown today.

In his introduction to A. J. Cronin: The Man Who Created Dr Finlay, Alan Davies notes that he would "......rate Cronin as an author alongside most of the great names in English literature, even though he is largely ignored in Britain". Davies speculates that Cronin did not care to be remembered after his death. He points out that a number of writers who had no greater literary ability - D.H. Lawrence, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh - are remembered while Cronin is not.

I've downloaded almost 2 dozen books by Cronin which I plan to read during the next few months.It's my hope that this blog post (and any future posts I might write) will introduce more people to the work of A.J. Cronin.

The November, 2022 Reading List

Today is the final day of the month and time to post yet another monthly reading list. Like other recent book lists, the list for this month has fewer books than what had been a normal amount for me over the past few years.

At least, I was able to complete Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Wimsey series. Prior to book six in the series - The Five Red Herrings - it appeared that I would finish the 11 books in the series rather quickly. However, as I wrote previously, I didn't care for book six and had decided to take a break from Lord Wimsey for a spell. On November 1, I started back on the series with Have His Carcase.

I've been more or less neutral on the series with books seven, eight, nine, and ten. I found the final book, Busman's Honeymoon to be my favorite among the eleven, although it's not without flaws. The book seemed to flow faster than many of the others, although there were sections of the book which I thought were unnecessary. Of course, I understand the need to highlight Wimsey's new bride, Harriet Vane. It is titled Busman's Honeymoon after all. But I found Sayers' concentration on the marriage over the mystery story trying. I also didn't care for Sayers overloading the final chapters with correspondence written in French.

We learn the identity of the killer in Chapter XX so the continuation of the book for 3 more chapters seemed like a waste to me.

I mentioned in Monday's post that in Busman's Honeymoon , Lord Wimsey's mother writes in her diary about her attempt to read a book entitled The Stars Look Down . This book will be the first book read in December. I've learned that the third novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before Your Memory Fades , has been released. I'm hoping to obtain a copy for the December queue. Wish me luck.

Now, for the list - all written by Dorothy L.Sayers:

Have His Carcase
Murder Must Advertise
The Nine Tailors
Gaudy Night
Busman's Honeymoon

A Few Thoughts on the Writings of Dorothy L. Sayers

As I begin this post, I've almost finished reading the 11th and final novel in Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series of mystery novels, Busman's Honeymoon.

Although considerably fewer in number than the collection of Agatha Christie novels I read last year, it has taken me nearly the same amount of time to read these eleven.

As mystery novels, Sayers' work cannot compare with Christie's, - Sayers' books are simply not "page turners", although it seems to me that after the first few novels in the series, Sayers was attempting to write good novels - not good mystery novels, per se. I was particularly interested in the novels and writers mentioned in the Sayers' series. In several of the novels, Sayers mentions the name of Edgar Wallace. Wallace was unknown to me, but I've learned that he was a very popular writer of adventure novels and detective stories in his day. One of his best known works was his contribution to the creation of King Kong . Much of his work is in the public domain and I've downloaded quite a bit to be placed into the queue.

In Gaudy Night, the writer Sheridan Le Fanu is mentioned a few times. I've read two works by Le Fanu - Carmilla in 2015, and Uncle Silas in 2017. I've downloaded a few more of Le Fanu's work to be placed into the queue as well.

Also in Gaudy Night , Sayers mentions a book by C.P. Snow - The Search. I've managed to locate of number of Snow's work, although I couldn't locate a downloadable file for this particular novel.

In Busman's Honeymoon , Lord Wimsey's mother writes in her diary about her attempt to read a book entitled The Stars Look Down. :
"21 May.--Was reading The Stars Look Down (Mem. very depressing, and not what I expected from the title--think I must have had a Christmas carol in mind, but remember now it has something to do with the Holy Sepulchre--must ask Peter and make sure)".

According to wikipedia:
" The Stars Look Down is a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. "

Fortunately, I was able to download The Stars Look Down and I've scheduled it to be my first read of December.

VW Beetle # 74

With my now established habit of daily bicycle riding, I am getting out and about more often and the increase in my endurance over the past 20 or so months has allowed me to cover more territory each day. In spite of this enlarged area, I'm coming upon fewer random VW Beetles. As a matter of fact, the Beetle I came upon today is only the fourth one I've seen this entire year.

Looking to gain a few more miles on today's ride, I turned to the right on E.J. Blanco Drive where I would have normally turned left. This little detour brought me to an orange VW parked at a carwashing station.

This VW is #74 in my collection of VW photos (not including the photos of the VWs of Davao sent to me by my friend Dom.)

 

The October, 2022 Reading List

With only four titles, the monthly book list for Oct. 2022 is quite a bit shorter that most previous monthly lists. While this list has the same number as September, these two cannot compare with the majority of book lists for this year and last year.

Two of the four were written by Jonah Goldberg. The other two by Gabriel García Márquez. I suppose I can blame this on the Internet; I've discovered a website that has allowed me to catch up on previously unwatched (by me) episodes of Dr. Who.

Be that as it may, here is my rather short list of books read by me in Oct. 2022.

The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas  by Jonah Goldberg
Suicide of the West  by Jonah Goldberg
Love in the Time of Cholera  by Gabriel García Márquez
In Evil Hour  by Gabriel García Márquez

Tarzan and the Green Goddess

 

Upon finishing Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez, I immediately began reading one of his earlier novels, In Evil Hour. We're told very early in the book that the story begins on October 4th - the feast day of St. Frances of Assisi - although we're not told the year, or the location of the events, for that matter. However, it's apparent that the story takes place in a small town somewhere in Latin America.

It begins with a character called "The Pastor" being murdered by one César Montero. After the arrest of Montero and the funeral of "The Pastor", the local priest, Father Ángel informs the owner of the movie house that it would not be appropriate to show a movie on the night of a funeral taking place in the town. Márquez tells us that the movie was Tarzan and the Green Goddess.

Naturally, I had to look online to find a copy of the movie. According to imdb.com, the movie was initially released in 1935 as a serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan, later to be edited in 1938 into a feature film. Fortunately for me, the movie is only slightly longer than an hour. Although the plot is standard for a serial of that era, the film is a bit strange, even for 1935.

In the film, Tarzan spends part of the time in his Lord Greystoke persona. For reasons that are never quite clear, Tarzan is in Guatemala, rather than Africa. He is part of an expedition that has set out to retrieve a lost Mayan idol called the Green Goddess. Just as we aren’t told how Tarzan came to Guatemala, we’re also not told how there came to be lions, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and chimpanzees in the Central American country either.

The bizarre scenes continue to the end when Tarzan and his companions, George, Ula Vale, and Maj. Martling arrive at Greystoke Mansion. According to the Tarzan stories, Greystoke Mansion is located in Britain, but the costumes worn by Tarzan and his friends, as well as the locals living around Greystoke appear to be Germanic.......leading us to believe the mansion is in Germany, Austria or somewhere thereabouts.

I have to wonder why Márquez made the point of giving us the name of this film. It’s certainly not a classic movie.

The Tyranny of Cliches

I've been a fan of Jonah Goldberg for a long, long time. I read the first of his three books, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning not long after it was published in 2008. Due to circumstances which I won't go into now, I've only recently downloaded (and read) his book from 2012, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas .

The Tyranny of Cliches is ten years old, so naturally some of what's in the book is dated. In it's overall description of Liberals and Progressives, however, the book is still relevant today.

Of course, there is no mention of Donald Trump, but Goldberg was warning us of the dangers of populism in 2012. Anyone familiar with Jonah Goldberg knows he is no fan of Trump and he's resisted the call to jump on the populist bandwagon that far too many "Conservatives" have climbed aboard in this age of the Donald.

He's one chapter dealing with the question of science. Liberals like to claim that they're the ones who support science while the Conservatives fight against science, tooth and nail. I'll admit that there is a group of Conservatives who believe in a young Earth, with no evolution allowed; with Noah's ark and all the rest. I'm not one of those. As far as Democrats being the party of science, I've addressed that in a blog post - Isn't Biology "Science" Too?. As I wrote in that post:

Far too many folks, who believe themselves to be following the science, seem to ignore the science involving DNA. These people seem to forget "science" when science tells us that the human fetus is, well, a human. A human fetus can only grow to become a fully functioning human. A human fetus cannot magically transform into a dog, or cat, or dolphin or some alien life form. Killing a fetus in the womb is killing a human being. That is an undeniable scientific fact.
The DNA of the fetus also proves that the fetus is a separate and distinct individual and not a body part of the mother. Prematurely removing a fetus from a mother's body, by way of abortion, is not the same as removing an appendix.
While we're on the subject of DNA, examining the DNA shows that human beings come in only one of two genders. An individual's DNA and chromosomal makeup reveals whether the person in question is male or female. No matter how you may feel about whether or not you're in the "right body", your DNA reveals your gender.

Another chapter in Goldberg's book covers another subject which I've written about myself. Liberals and Progressives look down on traditional Christianity, but still looking to be "spiritual", they will claim to be Buddhists or adherents of other Eastern religions. However, in spite of the fact that traditional Buddhism doesn't permit abortion, when the Dalai Lama released his first book in Great Britain, his editors got him to water down his views on abortion so as not to alienate his potential buyers.

I could go on and on, but I'd rather leave the heavy lifting to Jonah Goldberg.It's well worth the read.

The Reading List for September, 2022

September is nearly at an end and the time has come for me to post yet another monthly book list. Frankly, my heart isn't in it.

There are only four books on this month's list - a very disappointing number, to say the least. Unfortunately, my choice of books for September weren't very interesting. Of the four books, I can only recommend one - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Even it has fallen in my ratings - from a five star to a four star. Still, it's a book worth reading, however.

So, for better or worse, here is the list of books read in September.

The Five Red Herrings  Dorothy L. Sayers
Good Karma : How to Create the Causes of Happiness  Thubten Chodron
The Deerslayer  James Fenimore Cooper
In This House of Brede  Rumer Godden

VW Beetle - number 73

Note:This will be simultaneously posted to all three of my blogs-
sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken
dumaguetewebsite
robertsimms

Anyone who has followed me for any length of time is aware of my occasional posting of photos of Volkswagen Beetles that I might happen upon while roaming about Dumaguete and Sibulan. This will be the 70th VW post published onto the first blog. Those 70 posts have featured 73 different Beetles - not including the VWs featured in a blog post on VWs in Davao.

As has been my routine for over a year, I went out early this morning on my bicycle. I don't always take the same route; I'm likely to go anywhere within a five or six mile radius of my home. Today, I took a slight detour toward the Negros Oriental Convention Center not far from the Main Campus of Negros Oriental State University.

As I passed an office of the Highway Patrol, I spotted the VW Beetle I'm featuring here.

The Five Red Herrings

The Five Red Herrings is the sixth in the Lord Peter Wimsey series of mystery novels by Dorothy L. Sayers. The eleven novels in the series, as well as a number of short stories, are available for download (as e-books) at a Canadian website, fadedpage.com. I had downloaded the 11 e-books last year when I was on an Agatha Christie binge, but had neglected to read any until after coming upon  a review of her first novel by a Facebook friend.

After reading Whose Body? and clearing up a few books I had already put into the queue, I began reading the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I've read the first six, and for the most part, I've enjoyed what I've read. However, I'm afraid that I didn't care for The Five Red Herrings . I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I found Sayers' usage of a heavy Scottish accent in this particular book distracting. The story was far too complicated and difficult to follow, and the accents made it much worse. From wikipedia:

"The first edition was reviewed in The Spectator of 1931 by MI Cole who found the impregnable alibis of the rather indistinguishable artist suspects, and the elaborate examination of timetables, ticket punches and so on, to be really taxing to the intelligence. He noted that Lord Peter Wimsey and the author's usual pleasant fantasies have retired into the background leaving a 'pure-puzzle' book which is disappointing, dry, and dull. He acknowledged, however, that it has been appreciated immensely by puzzle fanatics who possess 'the type of mind that goes on solving crossword puzzles for ever and ever' ".

After reading The Five Red Herrings, I decided to put the last five books in the series on a temporary hold. I've gone off in a totally new direction with the book I'm currently reading - Good Karma : How to Create the Causes of Happiness by Thubten Chodron.

Reading List for August, 2022

August being the anniversary month of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, it was originally my intention to read several books on the two bombings this month. However, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I miscalculated the amount of time it would take to read the last few books in July and actually finished reading John Hersey's Hiroshima ahead of schedule.

The first two books read in August were Susan Southard's Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War and The Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians edited by Cynthia C. Kelly.

I had read that Southard had been concerned that, although much had been written on the bombing of Hiroshima, relatively little had been written on Nagasaki. She certainly made up for that neglect. Her book was similar to Hersey's in that like Hershey, she concentrated on the experiences of a few individuals. The difference being Hershey's book (or rather magazine article) was 106 pages and Southard writing more than 400.

There has been much written since 1945 as to whether or not the dropping of the two atomic bombs was necessary in order to end the second World War. As far as Hiroshima is concerned, I'm not sure how to answer that question. The arguments both pro and con the bombing seem reasonable to me. But, I have to say that in my opinion, the bombing of Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima was unnecessary and could possibly approach the level of a war crime.

I found the book on the Manhattan Project to be a bit tedious. Most of the essays and stories in that book were more about the "wonderful" achievements of the project, and less about any moral objection to the use of atomic weapons during the war.

When I had had my fill of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I went on to lighter fare. I did not post a review of Tracy Chevalier's book - I did, however write something on my thoughts on the work of Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

In July, I read the first of Dorothy L. Sayer's mystery novels, Whose Body? . I enjoyed that book enough to read more of Sayer's novels in August. I've written posts on two of those books - Cloud of Witness and Unnatural Death. . I've enjoyed the four books by Sayer that I've read this month; I thought I would manage a fifth one - The Five Red Herrings but I was unable to finish that ebook before the end of the month.

I have excuses, of course, as to why I'm still reading The Five Red Herrings . I've recently discovered a podcast which has taken up a lot of my time - The History of English Podcast. The podcast started in June of 2012. I've got quite a bit of catching up to do. I highly recommend this podcast to anyone nerdy enough to have an interest in the history of the English language.

Another reason why I've not finished with The Five Red Herrings has to do with Sayer's writing style with this particular book. The story takes place in Scotland, and Sayer thought it necessary to have many of the characters speak with a heavy Scottish accent. This makes it difficult to read. Here's an example from Chapter VII:

"Ay," said Jeanie, philosophically, "I'm no surprised. She's troubled in her mind aboot Mr. Farren. And nae wonder, wi' him mekkin' a' that disturbance and gaein' aff that gate an' never comin' back for twa nichts."
"Two nights?" said Wimsey.
"Ay. Nicht before last it was he went aff on his bicycle, swearin' somethin' awfu' an' nae ward tae say whaur he was gaein' nor what he was gaein' to du."
"Then he wasn't at home last night for dinner?"
"Him? Hame for's denner? 'Deed no, nor ony time o' the day. Monday nicht it was he come back an' fund Campbell i' the hoose an' sent him packin', an' after that there was sic a collie-shangie it nigh frighted my brither's wife into a fit an' her verra near her time, tu. An' oot he gaes and away, wi' Mistress Farren runnin' oot o' the door after him wi' the tears fallin' doon her cheeks. I dinna ken for why she takes on so aboot the man. I'd let him gae an' be daumed tae him, wi' his jealousies an' his tempers."

At any rate, here's the list of books read in August, 2022.

Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War   Susan Southard
The Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians   edited by Cynthia C. Kelly
Girl With a Pearl Earring   Tracy Chevalier
Before the Coffee Gets Cold   Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Tales From The Cafe   Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Cloud of Witness   Dorothy L. Sayer
Unnatural Death   Dorothy L. Sayer
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club    Dorothy L. Sayer
Strong Poison   Dorothy L. Sayer

Unnatural Death - Dorothy L. Sayers

Unnatural Death is the third novel in Dorothy L.Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series. How do we judge a mystery novel written 95 years ago? Fans of the genre, like myself are willing to overlook some things that haven't held up in these "modern" times.

I found the book entertaining, although I had a pretty good idea how the killer dunit very early on. The method used may have been unusual to the readers of 1927, but to today's audience, it seems fairly obvious.

Something else equally obvious to today's reader, which may have gone over the heads of some back in the day is the sexuality of certain female characters. I'm pretty sure the more astute readers understood that Miss Mary Whittaker and Miss Vera Findlater were lesbians. Of course, that word couldn't appear in a popular crime novel of the early 20th century, but Sayers certainly left enough clues for the would-be detectives reading this book.

I'm sure that many modern readers will frown on Sayers use of the "N-word" in the book, but as it turns out, the "person of colour" (as another character referred to the person in question) is one of the few characters that comes out on top in the end.

Readers who are fans of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction should enjoy this book, although I'm not sure it works for the general reader of today.

Cloud of Witness - Dorothy L. Sayers

In May of 2021, I began reading all the mystery novels of Agatha Christie (as well as several short story collections). This project was to keep me busy until October. At some point along the way, I learned of the mystery writer, Dorothy L. Sayers. Sayers was a contemporary of Christie, both writing during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

I learned that her novels were in the public domain in Canada and available for download at a Canadian website, fadedpage.com.

I proceeded to download all of Sayers' novels, although I knew I wouldn't be reading the ebooks right away.

I had recently been concentrating on "heavy" literature and toward the middle of July, I was looking for something "light" (yet enjoyable). As I mentioned  in an earlier post, I found what I was looking for, when a Facebook friend posted a review of Sayers' first book, Whose Body? . After reading Whose Body? , I knew I'd be reading more of Sayers' work. Not right away - I had already planned to read books on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

When I finished reading Hiroshima by John Hersey, Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard and a book on the Manhattan Project, I still had three books (not on atomic bombs) in the queue.

After reading the two by Toshikazu Kawaguchi , I thought the time had come to get back to Dorothy Sayers.

I've just finished reading her second in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, Clouds of Witness . With this second ebook, I believe I might come to enjoy Sayers as much, if not more than I do Agatha Christie. There are enough twists and turns for any fan of the genre. I will most definitely go onto more in this series.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

A few months ago, when I was reading a wide selection of novels dealing with Time Travel, I was unaware of Toshikazu Kawaguchi and his two time travel books - Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales From The Cafe (Before The Coffee Gets Cold Book 2) . Had I been familiar with these two back then, the two would have certainly made my list......perhaps even my my top ten.

The summary from the wikipedia page for the first novel does a very good job describing that novel -

In a narrow back alley in Tokyo lies a café called Funiculi Funicula. In the café, customers have the opportunity to travel back to a time of their choosing, as long as they follow a long list of rules. There is only one seat in the café that allows time travel; the seat is only available when the ghost that usually occupies it goes for a toilet break; once back in time, customers can't leave the seat; the only people in the past who can be met are people who have visited the café; whatever happens in the past, the present won't change; and, most importantly, the customer has to return to the present before their cup of coffee goes cold.
The novel follows the stories of the café staff, notably barista Kazu, and four different customers. The first, a businesswoman named Fumiko, tries to repair her relationship with her boyfriend after he left the country for a job in the United States. The second, a nurse named Kohtake, tries to find a letter her Alzheimer-stricken husband wrote. The third, a bar owner named Hirai, tries to talk to her sister whom she's been avoiding. The fourth, one of the café co-owners named Kei, tries to go to the future to talk to her unborn daughter.

Upon reading the first in the series, I immediately began reading the second book. A third book in the series, Before Your Memory Fades , is due for release in November, 2022.

In 2018, the novel was adapted to film as Kōhī ga samenai uchi ni (title translated to Cafe Funiculi Funicula ). I found the film on a Russian website - ok.ru - fortunately, with English subtitles. Watching it is definitely on my to do list.

The July 2022 Book List

Is it that time already? Seems like only yesterday that I posted the Reading List For June, 2022 . This month's list has fewer books than the previous list, but with 9 ebooks, it's still on par.

The first book read in July was the third novel in Naguib Mahfouz' The Cairo Trilogy . As I've mentioned before, I was so impressed with the Egyptian writer (who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature) that after reading his trilogy, I went on to read what some consider 3 of his best novels. I was a bit disappointed with Children of the Alley , but otherwise Naguib Mahfouz remains a favorite.

From Mahfouz I went on to read the only finished novel by a writer who might have gone on to follow in the older writer's footsteps; Waguih Ghali. Sadly, the writer of Beer in the Snooker Club died on 5 January 1969, after a fatal overdose of sleeping pills taken 10 days before.

The next two books on my list were written by Thubten Chodron, an American Buddhist nun trained in the Tibetan tradition. I recommend her books to anyone interested in Buddhism.

I have blog posts on the final two books of the month of July - Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers and Hiroshima by John Hersey. I mentioned in the post on Hersey's book that I had planned to read a few books on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August (the anniversary month of both bombings). I was a little early with Hiroshima but I'm on track reading a book on Nagasaki, to be followed by a book on the Manhattan Project.

So, now the reading list for July. With the exception of one book already mentioned, I can recommend all the books on this list.

Sugar Street    by Naguib Mahfouz
Children of the Alley     by Naguib Mahfouz
Midaq Alley    by Naguib Mahfouz
Miramar    by Naguib Mahfouz
Beer in the Snooker Club    by Waguih Ghali
Don't Believe Everything You Think    by Thubten Chodron
Open Heart, Clear Mind    by Thubten Chodron
Whose Body?    by Dorothy L. Sayers
Hiroshima    by John Hersey

Hiroshima by John Hersey

Anyone familiar with my occasional blog posts on the books I'm reading know that I will, from time to time, read a particular genre (such as time travel or dystopia) or writer, such as Agatha Christie or Naguib Mahfouz for an extended period. August 06 is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima (the bombing of Nagasaki followed 3 days later) and it was my intention to read a number of ebooks dealing with the two bombings during the month of August. Due to a miscalculation on my part as to how long it would take for me to read a few ebooks, I began reading Hiroshima by John Hersey before the end of July.

In May, 1946, The New Yorker magazine sent journalist John Hersey to Japan to interview survivors of the bombing. The story revolves around six people who were in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped. The original plan of the editors was to publish the story as a serial, but after reading Hersey's work, the editors decided to devote one entire issue to the work.

The issue sold out almost immediately; Albert Einstein is said to have ordered one thousand copies. The story was eventually printed as a book by Alfred A. Knopf and has never been out of print.

This book is absolutely a "must read".

Whose Body?

Being retired, I have quite a good deal of free time on my hands. Fortunately for me, I have several hobbies to occupy my time, one hobby being reading ebooks on my Kindle. Some might even say I spend an inordinate amount of time reading. One need only look at my monthly book lists to see that I read about 10 or 12 ebooks a month.

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I found several websites which allow me to download, without cost, more than enough ebooks to keep me in reading material. Another of my hobbies, or habits if you like, is to download any book that takes my fancy and store the mobi on a flash drive. I hesitate to give a number for the ebooks I have stashed away.

Normally, I will pick out several ebooks I'd like to read for the month and place copies of the mobi into a file on my PC. I'll transfer a few at a time to my Kindle.

I mentioned in an earlier blogpost that my original intention for July was to read four books by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. I set the ebooks into my file, along with a few more ebooks by other writers that I planned to read in July. As I wrote before, I found Mahfouz' Children of Our Alley a very difficult book to get thru; I saw right away that I would not be able to finish all the ebooks I had set aside for July. I had wanted to read (or rather, re-read) The Magus by John Fowles, but I was sure it would not be a quick read.

As luck would have it, a Facebook friend came to the rescue. He mentioned that he had just finished reading Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers and by his description of the book, it seemed like the ideal read for me to finish out the month of July. I had managed to download and then upload to my flash drive several ebooks by Dorothy Sayer and it was just a matter of uploading Whose Body? to my Kindle.

In his post on the book, Larry D wrote,
First in the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series by Dorothy Sayers. Light hearted and well-paced, this clever whodunit is written in a style evocative of Wodehouse - not in a madcap humorous way, but with quick wit and memorable characters. Wooster and Jeeves wouldn't have been out of place. Looking forward to reading additional titles.

He was right. Lighthearted, well paced and clever is a perfect description. Like Larry, I have plans to read more of Sayers' work.......not in August, however. That month has already been set earmarked for reading books on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Additional Thoughts on the Work of Naguib Mahfouz

As I mentioned in an earlier post on the work of Naguib Mahfouz , the website thegreatestbooks.org lists what they believe to be the top six of his 34 novels:
Palace Walk - Palace of Desire - Sugar Street (from the Cairo Trilogy ) - Children of Gebelawi (aka Children of Our Alley ) Midaq Alley and Miramar .
At the time of that earlier post, I had finished reading the Cairo Trilogy and had begun reading Children of Our Alley . I had enjoyed the trilogy and I set out to read the other 3 books on the list.

Sadly, I found Children of Our Alley a drudge and a very difficult read. As I wrote in the earlier post,"Children of Our Alley has been described as an allegory of the interlinked history of the three monotheistic Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). The first four sections of the novel retell the stories of Adam (Adham), Moses (Gabal), Jesus (Rifa'a) and Muhammad (Qasim)".

Linking the four characters, Adham, Gabal, Rifa'a and Qasim to Adam, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad seems a bit of a stretch to me. The stories were set in 19th century Egypt and if I hadn't read elsewhere that the characters represented Adam, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed, I would never had picked up on that from the novel. Each story was pretty much a repeat of the previous story, with very little added. The novel isn't very long, but it took me 10 days to shovel my way to the end.

Even though I was disappointed with Children of Our Alley I went on to read Midaq Alley . I'm glad I did. It restored my faith in Mahfouz. I found the book to be better than any of the 3 books in the trilogy.

 There's an excellent review of the novel online - written in 2003 by Louis Proyect. It's a much better review than any I could write.

I'll be finishing up with Naguib Mahfouz with the sixth novel on the list - Miramar .

Bicycle Ride to Calabnugan

A friend of mine recently posted onto Facebook a few photos he had taken from the Calabnugan bridge. Seeing his photos, I was reminded of some photos I had taken from the same bridge and had uploaded to Google Maps. I've ridden my bicycle a few times to the bridge, but it occurred to me that I had never crossed over the river at that point. I decided to remedy that.

I looked on Google Maps and saw that there were a number of places that I could photograph for the website. These included the Calabnugan elementary school, the Calabnugan Barangay hall, the Tsuri Cafe and Pis-An Store.

My original plan was to go out on my bike early Friday morning and take the photos. Unfortunately, I discovered that the rear tire on the bike was flat. There's a vulcanizing shop within walking distance of my house, so I removed the rear wheel and headed that way. The inner tube was patched and I walked back home.

I've always had somewhat of a difficult time taking off and putting back on the rear wheel; dealing with the derailleur has always been a hassle for me. By the time I managed to get the rear wheel on, I was too hot and sweaty to do the 11 km (to and from) ride to Calabnugan. I'd put that off until Saturday morning.

Going out Saturday, I noticed that the derailleur and gear cables were in need of adjustment. I believed, however, that I'd still be able to make the planned ride. I was mistaken. I was able to ride, but I was not able to switch into a full selection of gears and getting to Calabnugan was harder than it should have been.

I turned around before getting to the elementary school; I'd have to postpone the full ride until after I had the cables and derailleur adjusted. After arriving home, I caught my breath and rode to a bicycle repair shop in Sibulan.

So, Sunday morning, with the bicycle back in 100% running order, I managed to complete my planned ride to the Calabnugan elementary school and take the photos I wanted for Google maps.The photos below are only a small sample of the photos taken.

 

A Few Thoughts on the Work of Naguib Mahfouz

It was while going over the Bokklubben World Library list of the hundred best books in order to find interesting books to read, that I discovered the Nobel Prize winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz.

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, the last two books I read in June were the first two books in Mahfouz' Cairo Trilogy (thulathia al-qahra) - Palace Walk (Bayn al-Qasrayn) and Palace of Desire (Qasr al-Shawq); the first book read in July would be the third book in the trilogy, Sugar Street (Al-Sukkariyya). The trilogy was written in the late 1950s - the events taking place between WWI and 1944.

The trilogy follows the life of the patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad 'Abd al-Jawad and his family across three generations. I was most interested in Mahfouz' description of family life during that period. Equally interesting was his writing on the practice (or lack of practice, in some cases) of Islam in Cairo, although I found myself at the computer quite often in order to understand many of the historical and political references.

The wikipedia article on Naguib Mahfouz lists his most well known work, aside from the trilogy, as Children of Gebelawi - other translations of the book give the title as Children of Our Alley. I had downloaded the ebook as Children of Gebelawi . Unfortunately, this ebook proved to be defective. I was able to learn quite a lot about the early publication of the book (and it's initial banning) from the preface of the ebook, although the text of the actual novel was simply unreadable. I removed the defective ebook from my Kindle and uploaded a copy of the Children of Our Alley ebook.

Children of Our Alley has been described as an allegory of the interlinked history of the three monotheistic Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). The first four sections of the novel retell the stories of Adam (Adham), Moses (Gabal), Jesus (Rifa'a) and Muhammad (Qasim). Some have claimed that the character Gabalawi represents God (Allah) - an interpretation which Mahfouz rejected. I'm only part way thru the book, and I can understand Mahfouz' rejection of that idea.

I have two additional books by Mahfouz to go into the queue following Children of Our Alley - Midaq Alley and Miramar. These six books make up his best works according to thegreatestbooks.org.

Reading List For June, 2022

A new month has arrived and so the time has come to post another monthly book list. This list contains twelve books - the most since the March Reading List.

I didn't post a review for every book on the list (there are links for those I did review), but I have to say that I found all 12 of the books read in June to be worthy of recommendation.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I enjoyed the 3 novels written by Japanese writers - Kenzaburō Ōe, Shusaku Endo, and Naoya Shiga. The genre is a favorite of mine.

 A pleasant surprise for me was my discovery of the Egyptian writer, Naguib Mahfouz. One of his novels was recommended to me by the website where I get most of the books I read - 1lib.ph. The wikipedia article linked to gives Mahfouz' most famous novels as The Cairo Trilogy and Children of Gebelawi (also known as Children of Our Alley). The last two books on this list are the first two books in The Cairo Trilogy . The third book in the trilogy will be the first book I'll read in July. (Children of Gebelawi will be the 2nd book I'll read in July.)

So now, the list -

The Silent Cry     by Kenzaburō Ōe
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn   by Mark Twain
Created Equal: The Painful Past, Confusing Present, and Hopeful Future of Race in America   by Dr Ben Carson
The Caged Virgin   by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Mortality   by Christopher Hitchens
Scandal   by Shusaku Endo
Einstein's Dreams   by Alan Lightman
The Founding Myth:Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American   by Andrew L Seidel
A Dark Night's Passing   by Naoya Shiga
Black Water   by Joyce Carol Oates
Palace Walk   by Naguib Mahfouz
Palace of Desire   by Naguib Mahfouz

Punk Rocker to Renounce U.S. Citizenship over Roe v Wade

I have to make a confession right off the bat. I'm 70 years old and I had never heard of Billie Joe Armstrong or his punk rock band Green Day until I came upon the story of his recent declaration that he's renouncing his U.S. citizenship during London concert in wake of SCOTUS overruling Roe. Ho Hum.

He's hardly the first Liberal or Progressive to declare that he's leaving the U.S. because of his political disagreement with something going on in the United States. For those who don't know me, I left the U.S. in 2014 to live in Philippines. I did not do this for any political reason, and although I don't have plans to visit the country of my birth any time soon, I have absolutely no intention of renouncing my U.S.citizenship.

I was curious about Armstrong's situation, so I decided to look into his band and his bio. Does he have any idea how to go about renouncing his citizenship? It isn't as easy as just moving to the U.K..

First, I went to Spotify and immediately discovered that I had heard a few of the band's songs. I just didn't know who the performers were at the time. I'm not a big fan of punk rock, but I don't absolutely hate it. As far as music goes, I like Armstrong's singing but I don't see any originality or creativity gushing forth from his music. It's OK, but nothing special in my view.

I wonder, however, how much thought Armstrong has put into his idea to renounce his U.S. citizenship? I have no idea of his financial worth, but I imagine he could move to England without much difficulty. He could probably record whatever albums he plans to record in a studio in the U.K.. I'm sure his record label could work out the details. Touring, on the other hand might become a problem. Could he survive touring exclusively within the U.K.? If he's living in the U.K. he couldn't travel to the U.S. or Europe without his U.S. passport. Is he really renouncing his citizenship if he travels on a U.S. passport? Using your U.S. passport when you fly from London to the U.S. is pretty much an admission that you're still an American.

Of course, the problem of traveling on a U.S. passport is moot if and when he obtains a British passport. Assuming he packs up and moves to the U.K. today, he'll need to reside in the U.K. for five years before he can apply for citizenship. I don't know about immigration laws in the U.K., but here in Philippines, I have to check in with the government every year....and I'm a legal resident. I have to present my valid U.S. passport when I do. If the situation in the U.K. is anywhere near being similar, Armstrong will have to provide his valid passport from time to time. Again, he's back to having to show he's a citizen of the U.S.. It sort of makes his renunciation of his U.S. citizenship a little more complicated.

Finally - Both Sides Find Agreement

 

Much has been written over the past few years on the ever increasing divide within the United States. Many believe this polarization will one day lead to another Civil War.

Red States - Blue States. Democrat - Republican. Right - Left. Conservative - Liberal. Great Taste - Less Filling.

Finally, in a rare case of bipartisan agreement, both sides have come to see that the best way to settle political disagreements is by invading government buildings and threatening elected government representatives with acts of violence.

I know that this is merely a first step; there is still a long way to go, but "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" and "Mighty Oaks from little Acorns Grow". 

Keep up the good work America!

Switching Back to the Old Saddle

 

Eight months ago I purchased a Vertu Spyder saddle for my bicycle. I wasn't happy with the saddle that came with the bicycle and I was looking to find some way to make my morning ride less uncomfortable. It's not always easy finding what I'm looking for here on Negros island and so I have to look online.

At the time of that purchase, I had been unable to find padded briefs or bicycle shorts so a change of saddle seemed my best option. Since that time, I've found both padded bicycle shorts and briefs online.

Still, after using the Spyder saddle since October, I can't say that I'm completely happy with it. I've decided to switch back to the original saddle. Tomorrow will be the first ride with the change. No one can accuse me of getting in a hurry. I'll still keep the Spyder - who knows? maybe switching out from time to time might be the answer.

The Founding Myth : Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American

The month of June is very nearly half over and so far I've managed to read eight ebooks; four of which were written by atheists :
The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman and
The Founding Myth : Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American by Andrew L Seidel

Ayaan Hirsi Ali's atheism is a reaction to Islam and the horrible treatment of women by her former co-religionists. Atheism isn't obvious in Lightman's novel - I learned of it by reading his wikipedia page. Obviously, Christopher Hitchens wasn't going to turn to religion on his death bed, but his dislike of religion seems slightly less militant in this, his final book. Seidel, on the other hand is the most militant atheist of the four.

In The Founding Myth, Andrew Seidel sets out to prove that, contrary to the beliefs of the Christian Nationalists in the U.S., the United States as brought about by the "founding fathers", is not a Christian nation. I think he's done a remarkably  good job proving that point. The U.S. allows for freedom of religion - you're free to practice, or not practice, any religion, not specifically Christianity. His chapters showing how nearly all the Ten Commandments would be deemed unconstitutional if laws were passed following the 10, is very enlightening. The first commandment requires one to worship a particular God - certainly unconstitutional. Americans cannot be required to "keep the Sabbath". Law makers could not pass laws requiring anyone to honor their parents, and lots of luck arresting folks for committing adultery, to say nothing of trying to outlaw coveting . Of course, the U.S. has laws against murder, theft and perjury, but these "commandments" are not strictly of Judeo-Christian origin. Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists also forbid these acts.

Unfortunately, being a militant atheist, Seidel feels the need to attack Judaism and Christianity far beyond what's necessary to show that the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence are not based on Judeo-Christian values. In his hatred of these two religions, he seems to overlook anything positive. His mocking of a Catholic wedding ceremony shows him to be petty and juvenile. Like most atheists, he does not have a deep understanding of religious thinking. The book would have been much better had Seidel kept to politics and stayed away from theology.