September 2008 Reading: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder’s Bridge of San Luis Rey sat on the TBR pile for several years.  I decided just before this spring’s trip to Peru that it would be perfect to read on the plane to Lima.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of shelf space, it was buried in a box somewhere in the secret book vault.  Some months after returning, I moved cycled several dozen books to new locations and moved Bridge to a more accessible location.

It’s such a brief book, a novella really, that I completed it in only a couple of hours.  I’m sure it marks me as uninformed when I report that I was not swept away by Wilder’s work here.  The book is divided into vignettes of the key figures killed in a bridge collapse.  These profiles purport to be the work of a Franciscan who investigates the lives of the deceased to determine the reason for the deaths.  Each of these vignettes is compellingly written and adds ambiguity to the Franciscan’s assumptions about mortality and fate. 

Despite the book’s generally high quality, it seems clear to me that Wilder is writing at a remove of time and distance from his subject.  Although I learned in the forward that he did not visit Peru until decades after publishing the novel, I suspect that without assistance I’d have concluded he wrote without firsthand knowledge.  Of course, the disjunction may result from my own projecting contemporary Lima onto his more colonial setting.

In sum, I do recommend The Bridge of San Luis Rey, though I respectfully dissent from its inclusion by some in the very highest ranks of literature.

September 2008 Reading: Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley

In fairness to Christopher Buckley, I should explain that I read much of his Supreme Courtshipwhile bouncing through the Olympic Peninsula in the back seat of a friend’s car. So, I assume, motion sickness is responsible for the nausea I felt while reading the novel and the nausea that overcomes me when I think back on the novel.

Supreme Courtship is a satirical take on our celebrity culture and judicial and political machinery. After a wildly unpopular sitting president (sound familiar?) is unsuccessful in attempts to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, he nominates a feisty and popular TV judge.

Along the way we meet pompous presidential advisers, pompous Senators cum actors, and pompous television producers. On second thought, maybe it was the parade of pomposity that made me nauseous.

The book is not devoid of humor; I even genuinely laughed out loud. Twice. But, looking back, I don’t recollect it fondly and can’t strongly recommend it. For satire, it seems somehow empty. And empty shouldn’t be sold in hardback.

September 2008 Reading: Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

Necrotizing fasciitis. Perhaps the scariest thing in Atul Gawande’s Complications  – and the scariest thing I’ve ever read of. But don’t let that throw you off this book; it is fantastic.

I was skeptical when I read a blurb on the back cover that declared Gawande the best non-fiction medical author (or something to that effect) today. My skepticism was misplaced. Gawande’s writing is brilliant. He paces admirably, weaves narratives well, and has a wonderful eye for detail.

The book focuses on dreadful medical errors committed or narrowly avoided. Many of these events are drawn from the author’s own experience during residency. Gawande examines medical decisions, by both doctors and patients, so thoughtfully and compassionately, that it is almost difficult to believe he is surgeon educated at prestigious and competitive institutions.

Some of his best work here focuses on the dilemma of teaching medicine. He doesn’t shy away from the fact that inexperienced doctors commit more mistakes. Of course, that experience can only be developed so much on cadavers and animals. Eventually, they work on living human beings. So, who gets these inexperienced doctors? Do we make experience (and higher likelihoods of success) avaialble only to those who can afford it? Gawande thinks through these issues carefully and lays bare his own decisison making process when his child’s well-being was at stake.

This book came highly recommended from a doctor friend and, unless you lack any interest in or any stomach for medical non-fiction, I pass that high recommendation for Complications on to you.

September 2008 Reading: Peru: Society and Nationhood in the Andes by Peter Flindell Flaren

Klaren’s book is 400 pages of Peruvian history.  Interesting, but dense.  The text skips quickly through pre-conquest times.  Although more information on this period would be welcome, the lack of accurate records of this period gives the historian little to work with.

Klaren focuses on economic and social change from the Spanish conquest through the administration of Alberto Fujimori.  Great care is taken to describe the political twists and turns of the twentieth century, with detailed attention given to the ideological development of the political party APRA.  Klaren is surefooted in distinguishing the different Marxist traditions that birthed different parties and movements in Peru.

Perhaps shortchanged is the human drama of the Sendero years.  Klaren, in places, relates movingly the Spanish perversion of the Incan mita system in the silver mines of Potosiand the rubber plantations.  But, the terror of Sendero is related in a much more abstract manner.  We get plenty of background on Guzman’s education, philosophical development, academic career, recruitment of students, and eventual capture.  But, we learn only in broad outline the effect on the populace.

These minor criticisms aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am much more confident of my understanding of Peru.  Klaren corrected my misperception that oriental migration to Peru took place after the second world war (it took place after the first) and helped me to understand the reasons for decades of financial turmoil in country that once boasted a wealth of natural resources.

I recommend this book to those with more than a passing interest in Peru.

What Should Sarah Palin Read?

The latest fire Sarah Palin is taking centers on what she reads . . . or doesn’t.  I’ve gather from written accounts of this latest Katie Couric interview that Palin declined to name her specific sources for news.  Of course, I scorn newspapers, news magazines, and television news programs (take that Katie!), so I won’t be throwing any rocks about that.

When I heard her favorite authors though (C.S. Lewis and a deceased former columnist at Runner’s World magazine), I began to wonder: what sort of reading should we desire in our politicians?  Here’s my list in descending order of importance.

• Sound understading of basic concepts in and differences between major lines of economic, political, and religious thought.
• Thorough grasp of modern American and world history – military, economic, political, and religious.
• Detailed understanding of American law, particularly constitutional law, and major international treaties.
• Conversant in a couple of areas of intellectual history.
• Familiarity with the classics – no need to know Greek and Latin, but the underlying works are still among the common knowledge of western civilization.
• Smattering of modern and contemporary literary fiction – from various cultures.

Of course, some of this can be obtained from magazines, etc.  But most of this is book knowledge.  And it’s important knowledge for those with responsibilities toward this country.