International – Page 2 – Finding My Wings

Erik Larson brings history to life

Dead Wake by Erik Larson (Crown Publishing Group, 2015)
In 40 words or less: Larson paints a bold picture of the events that led up to the sinking of the Lusitania, a catalyzing event to the US eventually entering WWI. Politics, culture, seamanship and warfare all have their place in this compelling narrative.
Genre: Narrative nonfiction
Locale: US, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Atlantic Ocean
Time: 1915
Read this for an understanding of the US and its place in the world in 1915 told in a captivating way.

Erik Larson occupies a rare place among those writing histories. His books bring the era, events and people to life with a 360-degree view. Like a classically structured Shakespearian play, there is a progression in five acts. In the first, Larson introduces the players in this drama. They include a bereaved President Wilson, the young Winston Churchill, world-class shipbuilders and seamen, newlyweds, seasoned travellers, a woman architect, bankers, booksellers and more. Through his research, Larson has brought together rich gleanings from journals, letters and other archival material as well as the scholarship of others.

By Part II, the story shifts between the Lusitania, the U-boat seeking to destroy it, and the British intelligence office tracking the movements of this dance. As the Lusitania moves towards England the passengers are certain that the British Navy will ensure their safety, unaware that there are political forces interested in using the Lusitania as a pawn to draw the US into the war. At home, President Wilson is coming out of a deep Depression, largely due to Edith Galt entering his life. Much of America wants nothing to do with the war in Europe and sees no role for the US in the conflict.

As in Shakespeare, Part III is the heat of the action and Larson takes the reader inside the U-boat, on the ship and in the war rooms on the day the Lusitania is torpedoed. As he has earlier, Larson includes text of telegrams and logs chronicling the action.

Part IV details the actual impact and the resulting effects. Human stories of those on the Lusitania and those on land who strove to save them. Well-acquainted with many of the passengers and crew, the descriptions of chaos and heroism are compelling.

Part V and the Epilogue deal with the aftermath – those who are blamed and those who actually are responsible.

It is a measure of his talent that many dedicated readers of fiction find Larson’s storytelling more vivid than many favorite novels. Ideal for book discussions, the richness of the cultural landscape he describes is as worthy of conversation as the political and nautical events that are the centerpiece of the book. If you choose this as your first Larson title, I predict it won’t be your last.

Coming to a small screen near you – Part 3 ‘The Boys in the Boat’

Earlier today I saw a news article announcing that PBS’s American Experience will premiere a one-hour documentary, The Boys of ’36, inspired by Daniel James Brown’s history The Boys in the Boat on August 2 at 9 ET. Before the Olympics were professional games, before performance enhancing drugs and huge endorsement deals, the Olympics often involved both politics and pride. This show should be “must see TV” so mark it on your calendar and set the DVR. For more information click here.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, (Viking, 2013)
In 40 words or less: Traces the University of Washington rowers who captured 1936 Olympic gold despite personal and financial hardships, and East Coast bias. Plan to be schooled in team-building, boat-building, the history of the Depression and the rise of Nazi Germany.
Genre: History
Locale: US (primarily Washington) and Germany
Time: 1930s
Read this! The narrative is gripping, the language is lyrical and the individual stories grab you. You will be sorry if you don’t.

The glory of the Olympics has been tarnished in recent years, but the stories of individual and team athletic achievements remain compelling. The U.S. hero of the 1936 Olympics was Jesse Owens. The target of prejudice and singled out beforehand as a target, he beat the best track stars the Third Reich had to offer.

Virtually lost in history (except in Washington), was the extraordinary saga of the University of Washington’s 8 man rowing team. In the middle of the Depression, these sons of loggers and farmers, many of whom had never rowed before, joined the team as a means of pursuing their education.

Since the publication of Daniel James Brown’s book three years ago, the attention on the story of these rowers and the difficulty of their achievement at that time in American history has come to widespread public attention. Until that time, rowing was dominated by the East Coast Ivy League teams, generally made up of the well-to-do. The West Coast, and more particularly, Washington, was deemed a backwater, of little concern to the Eastern Establishment in more than just sports. Brown lays out the extreme difficulty of life during the Depression in the Pacific Northwest.

In following their path to Berlin, which included a train ride through the Dust Bowl, the reader is caught up in multiple elements of U.S. history of that period. As vital to the story is Germany’s plan to use the Olympics to further its political ends. The extensive motion picture propaganda campaign developed for the Olympics was the first of its kind. It is all laid out in the book.

Brown’s presentation will capture even the most reluctant reader of nonfiction. I can’t imagine what it is, but some of the very best narrative nonfiction writing of the last decade has come from the Seattle area, courtesy of Daniel James Brown and Erik Larson (In the Garden of Beasts and Dead Wake). And for those who’d like to share this incredible story with a younger or reluctant reader, this is an adapted version with abridged language and more manageable length (250 pages versus 400).

Many of you have likely read The Boys in the Boat and shared it with friends, family, and other readers. With the Olympics beginning in a just a few weeks, this is the perfect time to bring this great story to those who may have missed it.

Irène Némirovsky’s Look at Life Between the Wars

IN A NUTSHELL

The Fires of Autumn by Irène Némirovsky, translated by Sandra Smith (Vintage International, 2015)
In 40 words or less: Through the lives of three interconnected families, the many changes to France’s working- and middle-class from WWI to the early days of WWII are shown. Némirovsky’s keen eye for the import of social status carries the story.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Locale: Primarily Paris
Time: 1912-1941
Read this for a character-driven tour of the vast changes in daily life over the quarter-century between WWI and WWII.

Irène Némirovsky came to fame in the US more than 60 years after her death in Auschwitz in 1942. Russian and Jewish by birth in 1903, she fled to France after the Revolution and saw herself as French, though never accorded citizenship. Némirovsky converted to Catholicism in 1939. She received acclaim for her novels during her life though some were criticized as anti-Semitic. While three novels were published posthumously in France after the war, the discovery of the manuscript of Suite Française by her daughter in the late 1990’s led to the publication of it, and many of her other works, both in French and in translation.

The Fires of Autumn, written as World War II loomed, is reflective of the many changes in the early decades of the 20th century. Three families, the Jacquelains, the Bruns, and the Humberts, all have children whose choices are altered by the advent of WWI. Rather than opening his medical office, Martial enlists as a military doctor on the front. This “heroic” choice leads to an unexpected engagement with Thérèse. And Bernard, the scion of the Jacquelain family, destined for the university, enlists as soon as he is of age, shortly after Martial’s death.

Bernard returns jaded from the war, disinterested in his family’s aspirations or concerns for him. Quickly caught up in the hedonism emblematic of the 1920s, he connects with wheeler-dealer new style businessman changing the course of his life. He marries Thérèse and through their relationship and the interaction with their families and childhood friends, the fracturing of many societal norms are seen.

Having found Suite Française overwhelming, I was hesitant about reading The Fires of Autumn. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Némirovsky tells a good story and her characters are well-formed. The strength of The Fires of Autumn is the timing of the telling of the story. As seen in her life choices, Némirovsky knows all too well that politics can alter fortunes in mere moments and that choosing sides can exact a heavy price. While at times the dramatics of Némirovsky’s life receive more attention than her writings, The Fires of Autumn is a good reason for her inclusion among noteworthy writers of pre-WWII France.

Award-winning books you’ll never hear of

When I’m wearing my book group facilitator hat, I often seek out reviews of books written in the country in which the story is set. As an American, it’s difficult to tell how true the cultural tone rings and the reviewer’s perspective is invariably different. Since I’ve found these foreign newspapers’ book sections I’ve noticed something. There are many, many excellent titles that never make it to US shores. And the same holds true in reverse. (Interested? Here’s the web version of the Guardian‘s Bookmarks weekly email)

International publication rights are closely monitored and may be very restrictive. This week the message came through to me loud and clear. First, there was a contest for a pile of summer titles, only open to US residents. All the titles were US editions and could not be mailed across borders where the rights may be held by other publishers. For example, a novel may be published here by Penguin US, and not published in Canada for another 6 months.

The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced this evening in London. Created in 1996 in response to the dearth of women on the shortlists for the major British literary prizes, it was originally called the Orange Prize. To be eligible, a book must have been published in English in the UK by a UK publisher within the previous year. Titles could have been published in another country previously if this was its first publication in Great Britain. This year’s winner is The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney, published April 9, 2015, in the UK by John Murray Publishers. Tim Duggan Books, a Penguin Random House imprint, will release it in August in the US.

2016 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist — 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist

What does it really matter if a book has a delayed release in another country? Often it doesn’t matter at all. But many books, including winners of major national literary prizes, never receive foreign publication. A few years ago I was fortunate to hear Ishmael Beah speak about his novel, Radiance of Tomorrow, at the Library of Congress National Book Festival. He mentioned how hungry the people of Sierra Leone are for books. The rights for publication in many African nations are bundled with European rights. The combination of smaller, poorer markets and high transportation costs result in few top name books making it into their shops. According to Beah, entrepreneurs make semi-annual trips to the US to buy up by the pound container-sized loads of “remainders” that stock the shops and book stalls throughout much of Africa.

Those of us with ready access to a neighborhood bookstore are so fortunate. Professional booksellers are always on the look out for upcoming titles to tempt the patrons. Many are affiliated with IndieBound which provides curated book lists and marketing materials to member stores. They also maintain an online locator and archives of booklists by month and interest. Some even have relationships with foreign publishing houses to make very special orders possible.

Whether you are traveling to the beach or a distant continent, take the time to seek out local bookstores. Ask about titles that have won literary awards or are of particular local interest. It may be the unknown gem you can share with your friends. And don’t be surprised if the American bestseller you brought with you looks completely different in its foreign version. To many of us, a book is a book is a book. But on the printed page, it is big business.

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