The Case of the Sulky Girl, by Erle Stanley Gardner

Growing up, I was a fan of the Perry Mason television series starring Raymond Burr. As much as I enjoyed the series, it never occurred to me to read any of the Perry Mason books written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Having recently watched some of the films from the 1930s starring Warren William, I decided to give the books a try.

I read the first book in the Perry Mason series, The Case of the Velvet Claws the last week of March and upon finishing it, I immediately began reading the second book,The Case of The Sulky Girl. Unlike in the first book, we actually see Mason doing his thing in the courtroom in this one.

Being a fan of the genre, it wasn't difficult for me to spot the killer. Of course, I'll provide no spoilers.

These books are not great works of literature. Erle Stanley Gardner was no Fyodor Dostoevsky;The Case of The Sulky Girl isn't Crime and Punishment, but it is entertaining, never the less. I'll be reading more in the series as time goes by.

Reading list for December, 2024

 

Today is the final day of December and the time has come for the list of books I've read this month. Unlike in most months, I was able to post onto the blog a little bit about each book read. Clicking on the titles listed will, of course take you to the individual blog post.

There are only six books listed; I was certain that I'd have more, but that was not to be. A few days ago, I had created different images with the book covers - one image showing eight books, another showing seven just in case. Sadly, I was unable to finish End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland in time to make this month's list.That book will be the first in 2025. That's just as well. I'll be doing an additional blog post on the book.

Here is the list of books I read in December, 2024.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls  by Haruki Murakami
Crime and Punishment   by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Kafka on the Shore   by Haruki Murakami
Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End   by Bart Ehrman
The Stranger   by Albert Camus
The Plague   by Albert Camus

Rereading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

I first read Fyodor Dostoevsky's highly acclaimed novel, Crime and Punishment in 1979. I found the story of the protagonist Rodion Raskolnikov's murder of an elderly pawnbroker and her handicapped sister, Lizaveta Ivanovna, absolutely shocking. Over the years, I've reread the novel several times - first, in the middle 1980s, and again in 2012 and then in 2021. All of these readings and re readings were of the Constance Garnett 1914 translation.

I recently wanted read it once again - this time, a translation by Michael R. Katz.

I mentioned in my blog post after the 2021 rereading that I had forgotten a number of sections which seemed almost new to me. This time, I would not be surprised, although sections were not exactly fresh in my mind.

The novel was originally published in installments in 1866 and first translated into English by Frederick Whishaw in 1885. From a review of the 1885 translation:

"Dostoieffsky [sic] is one of the most remarkable of modern writers, and his book, ‘Crime and Punishment’ is one of the most moving of modern novels. It is the story of a murder and of the punishment which dogs the murderer; and its effect is unique in fiction. It is realism, but such realism as M. Zola and his followers do not dream of. The reader knows the personages—strange grotesque, terrible personages they are—more intimately than if he had been years with them in the flesh. He is constrained to live their lives, to suffer their tortures, to scheme and resist with them, exult with them, weep and laugh and despair with them; he breathes the very breath of their nostrils, and with the madness that comes upon them he is afflicted even as they. This sounds extravagant praise, no doubt; but only to those who have not read the volume. To those who have, we are sure that it will appear rather under the mark than otherwise."

The April 2024 Reading List

 The latest list:

Spiral (Ring 2)  by Koji Suzuki
Replay  by Ken Grimwood
Loop (Ring 3)  by Koji Suzuki
Past Master  by R. A. Lafferty
Utopia  by Thomas More
The Double  by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Small House at Allington  by Anthony Trollope

A Few Thoughts on "12 Rules For Life".

I can't recall exactly when I became aware of Dr. Jordan Peterson, though I'm reasonably sure it was via one of his Youtube videos. I was immediately impressed with his anti-Leftist views and his stance against the "politically correct" culture and identity politics that is taking over Western society.

I would later come to appreciate his Biblical lectures and his talks on ethics, psychology and personal responsibility. His thoughts on Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism and evolution were a big draw as well. From his Youtube lectures, I went on to listen to his podcasts, available on his website and on Spotify.

I had been wanting to read his book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos for a long time, but due to problems with my Amazon account, I was only recently able to download a copy.

I'm fast approaching 70, but I'm still a work in progress. I've learned quite a bit from his "12 rules" and if I had a time machine, I would take a copy of this remarkable book back to an earlier me. I'd be much better off today (provided, of course that I could convince the earlier me to read it).

Like myself, Dr. Peterson has a love for the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky and he references three of Dostoevsky's novels in this book - Crime and Punishment ,The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from Underground . In addition to Dostoevsky, Dr. Peterson mentions a number of novels to help explain his ideas - Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago . I've read the above mentioned novels by Dostoevsky, although the three could do for a re-read in 2022. I read Lord of the Flies as a teenager and it's due for a re-read as well. It's going into the queue, as are the books by Chang, Hurwitz and Solzhenitsyn.

A Farewell to Arms

Having finished reading a 4th novel by Grazia Deledda , I decided to choose a novel from Dr. Jordan Peterson's list of the Great Novels. On the list are three works by Ernest Hemingway - A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. I have a memory of reading the first two - along with The Sun Also Rises - in the late 1970's. Although I can't recall much of those three novels - it has been more than forty years ago, after all - I didn't feel, at first, that those novels should be included in a "Greatest Novels of all times" list.

Still, Hemingway is on Dr. Peterson's list, so I'd pick up there. Just having finished four wonderful novels from an Italian/Sardinian writer, it seemed appropriate to reread Hemingway's World War I novel (which takes place in Italy) A Farewell to Arms.

I immediately concluded that my memory of having read this novel is, perhaps, a false memory. There is absolutely nothing in the novel that I remember. True, it has been more than 40 years ago, but I first read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment during the same time period, and most of that novel is recognizable when I reread it.

As for A Farewell to Arms, I can understand now why it is on Dr. Peterson's list. I did not, however, find anything about the relationship between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley worthy of the rest of the novel. I especially did not care for the ending. According to the wikipedia article on the novel,"Hemingway struggled with the ending. By his count, he wrote 39 of them 'before I was satisfied.' However, a 2012 edition of the book included no less than 47 alternate endings".

Unfortunately, I do not have access to that 2012 edition, so I will remain ignorant of those alternate endings.

I've gone on now to read For Whom the Bell Tolls. It is slightly more memorable to me. From there, I will go on to the third Hemingway work on the list, and finally round it out with one that didn't make the cut - The Sun Also Rises - this will be a continuation of my new habit of reading writers in clusters of "fours" - as I have this year with Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Edith Wharton, and Grazia Deledda.

This could very well lead to my rereading Yukio Mishima's tetralogy of novels, The Sea of Fertility later this year.

Crime and Punishment

Over the past few days, I've been watching, on Youtube, lectures given by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. Not a few are from his series on the Bible.

Anyone familiar with Dr. Peterson's lectures knows of  his admiration for Dostoevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment. In his view - and mine - Crime and Punishment is one of the greatest novels ever written.

When Dr. Peterson mentioned the novel in this series, I decided to reread the novel. I've read the novel quite a few times - the last time being in 2012. It was high time to jump into it again.

Naturally, I expected that there would be portions of the novel that I had forgotten over the years. After all, nine years is quite a long time. I was shocked, however to come upon sections which seemed absolutely new to me.

Coming upon the character Svidrigaïlov in parts five and six, it was as if his part in the story had magically appeared in the novel since I last read it. Svidrigaïlov plays an extremely important role in the last chapters, and I cannot understand how I could have forgotten his role entirely.

On his web page, Dr. Peterson gives an extensive list of books that he believes are the truly "Great" books. Over the years, I've read about 16 books that have made their way on to his list, but like Crime and Punishment, it's been several year since I've read many of them. One that I have not read is The Red and the Black by Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), which has also been described as a " psychological novel ". I suspect that The Red and the Black will be next on my list.

The Valley of Decision

I told myself that, this year, I'd finish reading every book I start regardless of how I may feel about the book after encountering a stumbling block . Now, 20% into Edith Wharton's first novel, The Valley of Decision, I'm afraid I'm going to go back on my promise (to myself).

An historical novel, it is about the life and times of Odo Valsecca during the later part of 18th century Italy. Unfortunately, I'm finding the novel a bit of a grind.

Before completely giving up on the novel, I went to goodreads.com to read other reviews of the novel, in hopes that those reviews might change my mind. They didn't.

Most of the people giving reviews appear to be as disappointed in this novel as I am. Quite a few people gave the book three stars (or less) out of a possible five stars.

One of the reviewers - a rare person who gives the book four stars - wrote:
"I almost abandoned this book twice. Her writing is gorgeous but nothing of much consequence happens until well into the book. Then I finally fell into the story."

Sorry, but I can't wait that long. Maybe I'm impatient, but there are far too many books available to trudge through this one.

When I started reading The Valley of Decision, my plan was to move on and reread Wharton's second novel The House of Mirth, which I originally read in December, 2017. I'm not sure I'll do that now.

I was watching a video of Jordan Peterson yesterday, and following his suggestion, I may reread Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I first read that novel in 1977, and have read it several times over the years. Reading it again now might be a better decision than reading anything by Wharton.