It seems there is a large body of contemporary literature, some good , some not, which is set in a background of the literary arts: a missing Melville manuscript–The Secret of Lost Things,–letters from T.S. Eliot–The Archivist–a play on The Three Musketeers and ancient satanic manuscripts–The Club Dumas–old books, libraries and vampires–The Historian(throw in vampires and it seems you have an instant bestseller)–a novelized life of Henry James–The Master.
Of those listed above Colm Toibin’s The Master is by far the best. Tobin’s novel is written in an almost restrained style, which is very appropriate when writing about James; but I want to save him for a longer blog dedicated to more of his work. This is an appealing work even if you are not much of a fan of James. If you have tried James and not liked him, and, after reading this book, find he might be worth a second look, start with his earlier work as his later novels get more and more grammatically difficult to read, and require a great deal of concentration.
The Archivist is also a book I can recommend . By Martha Cooley it is the story of a library archivist who has the responsibility of looking after a series of letters written by T.S. Eliot, which are not to be opened and read for years they lay in storage. A college graduate student decides she needs to see what the letters contain. An enjoyable battle of wits takes place between Matthias, the archivist, and Roberta, the grad student. As the give and take between the two gathers strength Matthias is confronted with the problems of his marriage and now deceased wife, the similarities between his life and that of Eliot’s, and tries to find the wisdom to guide a young student through the maze of Eliot’s wishes for the letters and that of the bequest, the responsibility of the University to follow the bequest, thus preventing Roberta from completing her research. As Matthias comes to a fuller understanding of what happened to his wife, and himself, he comes to a better understanding of Eliot. Mathias must decide which of the conflicting interests he will follow regarding the enigmatic letters.
The strength of this novel is that it goes way beyond the simple description, to a true emotional depth, an understanding of love in a relationship where mental illness is a component, and one can never find a “right” answer for dealing with issues where agreement and common ground could not be found, in a time when our understanding of such problems was immature at best. Cooley deals beautifully with a very complex issue as she juxtaposes Eliot’s history with Matthias’s. Through Matthias’s emotional turmoil we understand that the issues are not as clear as they seem, and that reading about mental illness is not the same as living through it and not being able to understand it.
The Secret of Lost Things is a coming of age novel, set in a bookstore that is essentially The Strand, in NY. A young woman from Australia moves to NY and gets caught up in intrigue surrounding a lost Melville manuscript. I thought this was a pretty good book, not great. But as it is a coming of age story about a young woman, and I am a late-middle-aged man I am probably not the best judge of the merits of the book, so anyone who has read it please use the comments to pass on your thoughts.
The Dumas Club was a disappointment. Arturo Perez-Reverte had com highly recommended, so I was anticipating an excellent read, what I found was a poorly plotted thriller. Don’t bother.
The Historian was a fun read. I usually don’t go in for vampire novels, but the book intrigued me because of the setting and premise. This is a good light read. The story flows rapidly, so if you like books and old libraries and things of that sort and don’t mind a vampire in the midst you will have a bit of fun. Do not expect any kind of a serious read here.
I just finished “The Secret of Lost Things” and was disappointed in it. My first reaction is that it doesn’t approach in dramatic interest any of the works quoted within. In fact, it rather reminds me of how I used to write term papers – substaintiating my hypotheses with quotes from my subject(s). It is also poorly edited – in the first description of Pike, he is taking books from a pile on the left and placing them on the right when he is done. Two pages later, he is taking books from the right. . . I also thought that the author was heavy handed. She summarizes every thought that Rosemary has, rather than leaving the reader to come to one’s own decision based on the actions or internal dialogue. I got tired of Rosemary’s fixation on Oscar, which, based on how he treated her and deserted her, she should have at least recovered from by the end. Her failure to resolve this issue, I thought, detracted from the claim that the book was a coming of age story. There was also a timeless quality for me – based on the language, (and the very poor salary) I at first felt that the novel was taking place in the mid 20th century. However, the details about Pearl’s sex change, the fact that Rosemary wears trousers, changed my mind. The late 20th Century details and the lack of real time placing information was jarring for me. Finally,I love the Strand so making that connection, which I did with the first description, was a treat.
Louise,
Thanks for your input on this book. I have to agree, the book disappointed, but I thought it might appeal more to a female audience. I am actually glad that is not the case, because good literature should have a broader appeal. I also felt that, stylistically, it was trying to recall a past while in a present setting. I also had a problem with the setting of the Strand yet with only a handful of employees. Any bookstore described with multiple floors and departments requires a large staff to run it.