Even if it is now mid-November, I have not forgotten about my three monthly books, and I am actually almost done with them: I have only neglected to write out them here. I’ll do it now.
- God’s Wolf: The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders, Reynald de Chatillon by Jeffrey Lee. This is really a good book, one I can advise to anyone interested in the Crusades’ amazing adventure. It is difficult to portray in an objective way something so far away in time and so charged, politically and culturally. Popular culture didn’t help, and neither movies. Reynald was a smart and cunning knight, and a staunch supporter of the leper-king, a far cry from the foolish warmonger Ridley Scott portrayed in “Kingdom of Heaven”. Here you’ll read a different story.
2. Allegiant (Divergent, Book 3) by Veronica Roth. I am making progress with this trilogy. I must say I am not completely sold on the worldbuilding, which shows its limits in book 2 and 3. The characters, however, have gained depth and keep readers glued to the story even when the background fades at times. I’ll probably go on reading even further in the saga.
3. The Ugly Renaissance by Alexander Lee. Another non-fiction book, this one on Modern History, exploring a side of the Renaissance not everybody knows about.
“Renowned as an age of artistic rebirth, the Renaissance is cloaked with an aura of beauty and brilliance. But behind the Mona Lisa’s smile lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit. Enter a world of corrupt bankers, greedy politicians, sex-crazed priests, rampant disease, and lives of extravagance and excess. Enter the world of the ugly Renaissance. Uncovering the hidden realities beneath the surface of the period’s best-known artworks, historian Alexander Lee takes the reader on a breathtaking and unexpected journey through the Italian past and shows that, far from being the product of high-minded ideals, the sublime monuments of the Renaissance were created by flawed and tormented artists who lived in an ever-expanding world of bigotry and hatred.“
What’s about your books for the month? Let me know!
I am reading Thayer’s “Life of Beethoven” in celebration of Ludwig’s 250th birthday. There are 2 volumes. I’m about 2/3 of the way through Volume 1 which goes up to 1814. Since I have lived in Vienna, I am especially enjoying his life there which began in 1792. I had visited some of the places where he lived as well as walked where he walked, especially in the northwest suburbs (suburbs now, back then they were country villages). And the music, of course. I’ve played some of the piano sonatas, and am very familiar with the symphonies, piano concertos, violin concerto, etc. It’s interesting that he rails against the business side as much as I do the business side of writing. Some surprises — the van Beethoven family was originally from Belgium and moved to Bonn for work opportunities. Beethoven’s grandfather was an accomplished musician and quite famous during his day; his father not so much. And Beethoven complains of a “belly” ailment from his teens on, at times this ailment interferes with his life and composing. His autopsy has been published. Besides his auditory nerves being dead, his abdominal/GI organs were in terrible shape and I’d guess were the cause of his death — a severely damaged liver, enlarged spleen, enlarged pancreas, and distended stomach and intestines. Poor guy. He had some sort of GI disease most of his life. It still amazes me how much he accomplished in spite of his health issues and his deafness. Puts me to shame over and over…. 🙂
Beethoven is such a fascinating character! I watched the movie and I meant to read more about him for years. Thanks for this suggestion 🙂
The Reynald study sounds fascinating, particularly as the best thing about the Ridley Scott film was that it encouraged me, at the time, to read up a bit of the historical background. Ditto the Alexander Lee book.
As for me, my best reads so far this month have been John Christopher’s The Death of Grass, Bruce Chatwin’s Utz and Christopher Priest’s The Gradual. Along with V for Vendetta (which I’ve just finished) I’ve just realised they all share a common theme: life under a fascist or totalitarian regime which results in war in its people, subtle acts of disobedience, flight and exile, or violent vengeance. There must be something in the air that encouraged me to gravitate towards these particular titles,can’t think what…
I read Chatwin’s book ( I also recommend the Songlines if you like his style) but not the others. Thanks for the suggestions! And yes, me too I find right now a strange attraction (if this is the right word) toward this particular type of unsettling subjects. Weird, right?!