"Moon Tiger" Penelope Lively

A beautiful creation.  I will hang on to this book and pick it up to re-read beautiful sections that unfold like poetry.  I love Lively's writing and have read "How it All Began" and "Oleander, Jacaranda" (autobiography of her childhood in Egypt).  I have a few of my favorite books in a cubby-hole in our bed's headboard and this book will go there along with Nabokov's "Speak, Memory", the William Trevor short stories, Lampedusa's "The Leopard."
      "Moon Tiger" roams through the life and mind of a woman who has been intelligent and beautiful.  Has she been kind?  Has she been as wise as she imagines?  It is not all simply a life of the mind.  Lively weaves into the narrative an eroticism that illuminates everything.

"Running Blind" Lee Child

Another satisfying read with Jack Reacher.  The joy of his books is in his interior dialog.  It is fun to just follow him around and get his analysis of what to do in any situation, listen to his descriptions of people he meets and places he travels by car or plane.  It's like spending time with a very interesting person.
     This book was written in 2000.  I check the dates because I never know if it is a book I've already read.  The plot line is a little hard to believe in the last analysis.  I think maybe his storylines have become more realistic over time, but no matter -- he is never boring and carries you along for the ride.

A Book from Childhood

I have had this book since before I learned to read. It has the loveliest illustrations and plates. It opened up worlds to me. Over the years it has fallen to pieces and a couple of years ago I was able to special order a new (used) copy from England. It is in good condition and it sits on a special shelf behind my bed. It was surprising to read it recently and find out what it was actually saying rather than all the mysteries and stories I had built up around it. The beautiful green binding looks just as in this photograph.

Balzac's "Cousin Bette"

Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read this book about fifty years ago and loved it. On the rich plot of the story rests a network of beautiful writing and many clever and surprisingly modern observations of life. Recently I suggested it to our book group and I think it was probably too time consuming as only four people came to the discussion.
From Balzac and Jane Austen I believe I came to think great literature must take into consideration the importance money plays in our lives. In this book, Balzac says the greatest luxury for a person is books and flowers, and when you are too poor for beauty, you are indeed poor. I loved his discussion, for an example of modern correlations from Paris of the 1800's to now, about a Ministry in the government. He said the ministry was like a small village without any women, but as rife with gossip, rumor and conniving behavior. Sadly, I didn't mark the page.
From reading reviews after finishing the book, I learn that Balzac was mourning the decline of the Napoleonic Empire and the decline of religion. His saintly picture of Madame Hulot, however, made me think she was simply a doormat.
He wrote fast and he wrote what, on the surface, seems to be a delicious soap opera. Even so, movies made from "Cousin Bette" all fall short of the delight you get reading this book. (My edition was translated by Marion Ayton Crawford.)

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