What I read this month
- Every Good Boy Does Fine by Jeremy Denk
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Reread for Reading Austen 2025
- The Showings by Julian of Norwich, translated by Mirabai Starr
- Any Human Heart by William Boyd
- Show Boat by Edna Ferber
- Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
- “But He Doesn’t Know the Territory” and And There I Stood with my Piccolo by Meredith Willson
Reading the Theatre continues
After getting started with Judi Dench last month, I could not seem to stop reading books set in or about stage productions, and came across a couple of good ones.
Show Boat by Edna Ferber, basis for the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, offered a colorful look at the vanished world of floating entertainment on the Mississippi shortly after the Civil War. A dated novel in many ways, but still effective storytelling, I found.
I also enjoyed Karen Joy Fowler’s Booth, about a strange and haunted group of siblings, one of whom was a great actor while another shot Abraham Lincoln. Fowler’s contemporary fantasia on historical themes goes more deeply than Ferber’s novel into the racial injustice woven into American culture, considering the differing attitudes that split the family.
In a moment of Book Serendipity, I next read two books by Meredith Willson, in one of which he mentions that he briefly worked on a radio show called “Hollywood Show Boat”; he also mentions the Booth Theater in New York. In case you don’t know, Willson also wrote the book, lyrics, and music for The Music Man, an iconic American musical, and if you have not seen it, you should.
Reading about its origins in But He Doesn’t Know the Territory fascinated me—the persistence of Willson and everyone involved was astonishing, and it was interesting to learn how his use of speech-rhythm-as-music developed. I also enjoyed Willson’s reminiscences about his Iowa upbringing and early career in And There I Stood with my Piccolo. I’m surprised I’d never heard of these delightful books, so thanks to the University of Minnesota press for reprinting them.
A disappointment
Any Human Heart by William Boyd sounded terrific — a “whole-life” novel of a man who spent stints as a spy and an art dealer, in the form of his intimate diary. I expected something Robertson Davies-esque, but instead it was like an Adrian Mole diary that went on for far too long and included too many disgusting sex scenes and absurd meetings with real-life famous people (Picasso, Hemingway, etc.).
The latter were mixed in with made-up famous people, including one artist, Nat Tate, around which Boyd had formerly created an elaborate hoax. All, real and fake, were allotted pretentious footnotes. For me, this had the curious effect of draining life from the real people, rather than giving verisimilitude to the invented characters. The exception was a vicious but effective characterization of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who featured in one of the longer episodes and made a return appearance later. I think the book would have been stronger if it had focused on that, but instead it flitted off into more unlikely episodes and then petered out with the main character never having really grown up, as far as I could tell.
Anybody read this or anything else by William Boyd? Is there something better I should try?
Currently reading
I’m on my third read of the Austen 2025 readalong, Mansfield Park — I got confused about the order and thought Emma was up next, but she’s fourth, of course.
This is another one suitable for Reading the Theatre, with its home production of the drama “Lover’s Vows” coming up. But already, just a few chapters in, I notice that the theme of playing a part in life, putting on a show that will deceive and mislead others, has been introduced by a world-weary Mary Crawford:
“With all due respect to such of the present company as chance to be married, my dear Mrs. Grant, there is not one in a hundred of either sex who is not taken in when they marry. Look where I will, I see that it is so; and I feel that it must be so, when I consider that it is, of all transactions, the one in which people expect most from others, and are least honest themselves.”
It’s a much more ambitious and complex novel than the previous two, and though I already know what happens, I’m interested to see how Austen unfolds this drama.
On the blog
What’s on your shelf this month?
Linked at The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I bought an inexpensive copy of Any Human Heart a while back. I am sorry that it was such a big disappointment. I will probably put it in my LFL instead of giving it a read!
This is the perfect year to read all the Austen novels, but I read them all a few years back (except that little sliver of a novel, Sanditon, which I just finished last week).
Could be my personal taste – a lot of people loved Any Human Heart, and it did have its moments. It just didn’t add up for me.
I loved The Romantic, William Boyd’s most recent “whole-life” book, but I haven’t read any of his earlier ones. I don’t remember there being too much sex in that book, but there were still lots of meetings with famous people, so maybe you wouldn’t like that one either. I’m glad you enjoyed Booth, though – I read it a few years ago and thought it was fascinating!
I don’t so much mind the meetings with the famous people, but mixing them with the made-up famous people somehow ruined it for me. I think I may try The Romantic.
Booth was indeed fascinating, a real tour de force. It’s been on the TBR for a while so I’m glad I finally got to it.
I read Pride and Prejudice earlier this year but didn’t think to read any more. Maybe soon!
Have a great week
There’s a blog event supporting readers through all six this year, which inspired me to do it.
Mansfield Park is often regarded as a ‘problem’ novel after the relative brilliance of S&S and P&P but I’m rather anticipating my second read of it, as much indeed as I’m dreading the ups and downs of Emma, currently my least favourite of Austen’s works.
I haven’t (yet) experienced The Music Man: at that period my mother was keen on all the Rogers & Hammerstein musicals and somehow this Meredith Willson work will have got sidelined, shunted into some forgotten goods yard . . .
The movie version with original star Robert Preston is good, if you’re ever looking for a fun way to while away a few hours. It really is about the power of music, so you might appreciate it.