A beautiful tribute, sung by Susan Wehle

Book Review: The Blood of Caesar ****

The Blood of Caesar: A Second Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger by Albert A. Bell, Jr. ****

An invitation to dine alone with the princeps (the historically accurate title used by emperors at this period) Domitian is not necessarily a good thing, and Pliny the Younger's friend Tacitus tells him that an astrologer has predicted that it will change their lives forever. As it turns out, Domitian has heard about Pliny's powers of observation and talent for detection, honed at the feet of his uncle, the naturalist and polymath Pliny the Elder, and has a job for him.

Pliny is shown an old letter from Nero's mother to her son taunting him with the fact that other descendants of Augustus, who could be his rivals for power, still live. Domitian, as a representative of a family with no relationship to the Julian-Claudian line whatsoever, is even more concerned, and asks Pliny to ferret out the truth of the matter.

This is the second book in what promises to be an enjoyable, well-written series featuring the historical figures of Pliny the Younger and the historian Tacitus. Pliny soon finds out that the dead man he was shown by Domitian as a test of his deductive abilities not only did not die by accident as he was told, but has a connection to the mystery, as well as to his own family. He also must deal with the domestic issues that come with being the relatively new master of a large household, as well as his mother's increasingly close relationship to two of their Jewish slaves and her apparent interest in their religion.

The central mystery in The Blood of Caesar is not a complicated one to unravel; rather, the enjoyment comes from the author's detailed picture of Roman life in the late first century and anticipation of how what seems like an impossible situation will be resolved. Since I've read about that time period, I'm somewhat familiar with the tortuous complexity of the Julian-Claudian family tree, so I'm not sure how clear it will be to those without such familiarity. There is a helpful glossary and timeline at the back, as well as numerous illustrations scattered throughout the book, but maybe a simplified family tree would also have come in handy.

Book Review: Bone by Bone *****

Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell *****

Twenty years ago, at the age of 17, Oren Hobbs left his small California town after the disappearance of his younger brother Josh. Now he has been called home to find that his brother is also returning, one bone at a time being left on the porch of his family home. This is the situation at the beginning of Bone by Bone, Carol O'Connell's first novel after the (presumed) culmination of her incredible Kathy Mallory series, and the absence of Mallory has not hurt her writing one bit.

As in the Mallory series, the solution of the mystery is secondary to O'Connell's brilliant characterizations and her portrayal of the interlocking relationships and tensions that have turned this claustrophobic community into a pressure cooker ready to explode. Even the stock characters in this type of story, such as the family housekeeper, a tiny woman who can quell a grown man with a glance, and Oren's childhood crush, with whom he has never exchanged a word and who appears to harbor homicidal passions toward him rather than the usual kind, are unique and individual human beings.

As Josh's burial place is found and the investigation into his murder proceeds, Oren is drawn more and more deeply back into the secrets and haunted lives of the people in the town - the alcoholic socialite and birdwatcher who has chronicled the life of the town in her journal by portraying them as various types of birds, her controlling attorney husband, the crippled and scarred ex-policeman, and others. Josh was an inveterate shutterbug with a talent for capturing people's secrets with his camera. Could he have exposed one too many? Bone by Bone will keep you reading as it races towards the final confrontations and revelation of the various secrets that have poisoned the town for decades.

Book Review: Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride ***1/2

Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride by Helen Halstead ***1/2

To me, one of the true tests of a great novel is the involvement of the reader in the lives of the characters, to the extent of not wanting to give them up. How many of us have wondered what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Darcy and their friends and family after the end of Pride & Prejudice! Helen Halstead attempts to provide an answer, and in large part she succeeds.

The Darcys set off to London for the new bride's formal introduction to society, and she captivates many, although Lady Catherine de Bourgh's disapproval still holds sway in some quarters. There is triumph and tragedy, misunderstanding and reconciliation, and of course several characters, including Darcy's sister Georgiana, his cousins Anne de Bourgh and Colonel Fitzwilliam, Kitty Bennet, and even the odious Miss Bingley, find true love.

The main weakness in this book, I feel, is in the editing, or, I suspect, the lack thereof. I suspect that this is a self-published book, which is too bad, since effective editing would have stengthened it enormously. In places it is unfocused, situations such as Miss Bingley's engagement are not handled as well as they could be, and the overall plot could be tightened.

However, while not as polished as many of the P&P tie-ins and sequels, Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride is a worthy entry which manages on the whole to stay true to the characters of most of the people we grew to know and love in the original novel. I give it an A for effort and a B- for execution.

Leahy Lays Out Case For Truth Commission In Time

Sen. Leahy, I'm sure you think you have a fine idea and your motives are the best, but one of Keith Olbermann's legal experts (Jonathan Turley, I think), pointed out that truth commissions and the like are used in EMERGING democracies - you know, places that don't have properly functioning judicial systems. There is no reason on God's green earth why this country can't investigate and prosecute these crimes as it would any others, and as we would expect any of our allies to do.

At least let's wait a little and find out how many whistleblowers come forth of their own voliition and what Mr. Holder finds in the pit of corruption and iniquity formerly known as the "Justice" Dept., where there are a lot of good people who have been hunkered down and biding their time until the nightmare was over.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Cantor Susan Wehle

Cantor Susan was one of those lost in the tragic plane crash outside of Buffalo on Thursday night. Of course, each life lost was precious and my heart goes out to all of their loved ones, but Susan was the one whose life touched my own, as well as those of many others. Here are two news stories that examine the wonderful variety of those 50 souls, among them college students with their whole lives ahead of them, an expert on genocide, and, with the most tragic irony, a 9/11 widow.

Fifty Varied Lives, Ended on a Cold, Foggy Night
Passengers and Crew Aboard Flight 3407: Their Stories

My deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Susan. She had a beautiful voice, a joyous heart and a generous soul. She was one of the many who welcomed me when I joined Temple Sinai back in the 90s, and while I was sorry when she left us for Beth Am, I was also happy to see her continuing in her spiritual and professional journey. She taught me haftarah chanting and prayers for my adult bat mitzvah, but watching her on the bimah, giving her heart and soul to the prayers, was an education in itself, as well as a joy and a pleasure. Her life was a celebration of the Divine and of the possibilities inherent in all of us, and the entirety of her life is what should be remembered, more than the tragic manner of its ending.

No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.

— John Donne

More books

Since I haven't really felt like doing any full-fledged reviews lately (lazy, lazy, I know), here are a few books that I'm reading or have just finished and some thoughts about them.

The Bone Garden and A Cursed Inheritance by Kate Ellis - intelligent, interesting mysteries with a historical twist, featuring a young black police inspector in Devon (England) named Wesley Peterson. Peterson studied archaeology in college, and in both of these books a murder that he is investigating intersects with an archaeological dig on which his friend Neil Watson is working, and the present day solution, at least in the first book, echoes the past events.

Below the Root by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (I've always loved that name) - in a "perfect" society, ominous rumblings of things gone awry and corruption at the top. I read this when I was a kid and along with some others that I liked, managed to get another copy through paperbackswap.com (a great site, if a little top heavy with romances). Although the setting is pastoral rather than underground, this reminds me a lot (or really, the other way around since this was published first) of The City of Ember. I'd never realized that it was the first of a trilogy, so if I like it as well as I remember I'll have to try and get hold of the other two. I loved her books as a kid, especially The Egypt Game, The Changeling and The Headless Cupid.

Elleander Morning by Jerry Yulsman - a fascinating thought experiment. A copy of the Time-Life History of the Second World War makes it into a parallel universe in which there never was a Second World War, and a nuclear-armed Germany decides to use it as a playbook. This is another one that I read when it first came out in the 80s and picked up again through paperbackswap.com. The personal story of the woman who finds herself hurtled backward in time and uses the opportunity to kill a young Viennese artist named Adolf Hitler, and her granddaughter in the new world she's created, attempting to find out what happened, are in the foreground, but the premise is fascinating. I haven't finished it yet, so don't know if he manages to live up to the expectations he creates.

Autism's False Prophets by Paul A. Offit - I can't recommend this book highly enough - I may even get off my duff and actually review it. An excellent review of the hold vaccines-cause-autism "school of thought" including an examination of the social and cultural forces that allow this kind of bad science, as he terms it, to go mainstream and actually be accepted by large numbers of people. For now, I can't do better than to link to an excellent review over at the ScienceBlogs Book Club.

President Barack Hussein Obama

Now, get over it, racists and unredeemed right-wingers. Everyone else, break out the champagne before we roll up our sleeves and get to work fixing this mess.

I couldn't help but think, when last week's amazing plane landing on the Hudson River took place, that it was the perfect symbol of our transition to a new era of competence and calm, cool and collected leadership. As I said to a couple of people, imagine if Chesley Sullenberger and crew had had the skills, training and qualifications of John McCain's "quintessential American," Joe the Unlicensed Plumber.

Let's also not forget, as many people have done in the rush to (deservedly) praise Mr. Sullenberger, the co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, and the flight attendants, Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh, and Donna Dent, who were the ones who actually got the passengers out once the plane had landed.

The dreaded "headless bodice"

Looking at the list of my "book" pet peeves I see that I've left off the biggest one of all, the one that I really hate with all the heat of a thousand white hot suns but which seems to be ubiquitous. It's what I am told is called the "headless bodice," where a picture (photo, illustration, whatever) of (virtually always) a woman is put on the cover of a book but she is only shown up to the chin or maybe just under the nose. It's as if only the outfit matters, not the person, and, while I suspect that there are quite a few different reasons (easier for the artist if it's an illustration, focus on the historical period if the book is set in the past), it just seems to me like a complete objectification, and I don't even consider myself a raging feminist. Not only do I find them offensive, but, while they may once have been different and eye-catching, by now they've been done to death. Not that the publishers probably care, but while I may get them from the library, I refuse to buy them.

Note: Interestingly enough, the portrait on the cover of Jane Boleyn is actually of Jane Seymour, the woman who replaced Jane B.'s sister-in-law Anne Boleyn on the throne. I guess they just wanted a portrait of a woman from the right period and I think they credit it correctly, but that's just weird.

Book Review: Destined to Choose ****

Destined to Choose by Sheyna Galyan ****

Rabbi David Cohen is struggling to write a sermon for Tisha b'Av, a fast day commemorating the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the observance of which the leaders of his congregation feel is a waste of time. His obligations to his family and his job are in conflict, to the detriment of both. Finally, an elderly Holocaust survivor has turned to him for help in finding the man's eighteen-year-old granddaughter, who has left their home after a furious argument over a philosophy paper she wrote for college. This is the situation at the opening of Sheyna Galyan's Destined to Choose.

Rabbi Cohen's intensive counseling sessions with Avram and his granddaughter Anna, once she is located, are at the center of this promising first novel, and their discussions, as well as his interactions with other characters, range widely over several aspects of Jewish thought, practice and theology, while still remaining relatively accessible to the average reader. A helpful glossary of Jewish terms is also provided at the end of the book.

Are people basically good, or tainted from the start? If they are basically good, how do we explain Hitler and his followers? What are the reasons for the rabbi's refusal to perform a marriage between a Jew and a non-Jew, and how far should he go in attempting to portray Judaism as an attractive option to the non-Jewish partner? How does he reconcile the conflict between the needs of his family and the requirements of his job, and should he stand on principle when it puts his livelihood in jeopardy?

Not all of these questions are answered, but Ms. Galyan, who, according to her website, "identifies herself as Traditional Conservative, with occasional leanings toward both Reform and Feminist Orthodoxy - sometimes simultaneously," gives her readers plenty of food for thought in the course of the book.

Avram and Anna are rounded, sympathetic characters whose positions are occasionally diametrically opposed to what a more stereotyped viewpoint might suggest. The rabbi's loving relationship with his family, as well as his supportive friendship with his colleagues and the secretary at the temple are also well portrayed.

Since this is a first novel, it has some weaknesses. The president of the temple comes off as more of a caricature than a real person, and some might feel that the rabbi's many problems resolve themselves just a little too neatly at the end. However, the story and and the thoughtful way in which the author and her characters wrestle with some serious issues more than compensate for these minor flaws and make Destined to Choose a worthwhile and enjoyable read.

On a lighter note....

I've been thinking of compiling a list of my pet peeves, but one of them is that I've been trying to do it in my head and so the list never gets very long because I keep forgetting them. Anyway, here are some of my least favorite things in books, things on which, while I may have liked or enjoyed or not been bothered by them at one time, I now feel it is time to put a moratorium.

1) Vampires, at least until someone can do something original with them. The whole S&M-tinged, "vampire as great lover" thing has been done to death. BO-ring.

2) Dragons, except as bit players as in Harry Potter.

3) Women with charming but selfish, usually alcoholic fathers whom they adore no matter how badly the fathers treat them, their siblings and their mothers.

4) Women with irresponsible hippie-type (if not actual hippie) mothers whom they must parent, and for whom they feel a mixture of love and exasperation.

(Note: Neither of these types of parents ever appear to have sons, or at least sons who appear as main characters in novels or memoirs.)

5) Bad puns in the titles of mysteries.

6) Whole mystery series built around crosswords, scrapbooking, gardening, etc., etc.

7) Books written in the present tense - something I have hated since the first one I read.

Well, that's all for now - I'm sure I'll think of more

We have made history

... and now we move forward. I do not envy President-Elect Obama the task that lies before him, but for now hope has won out over fear and unity over division. And John McCain, in an evident return to sanity, has urged Americans to unite behind the man whom he has called every name in the book except the Antichrist - and some of his supporters have done that (called Obama the Antichrist, that is).

I am proud of us, America. God bless us all, v'al kol yoshvey tevel (and all the rest of the world).

VOTE!

As if your life and the future of your country depended on it.

A couple more reasons not to vote for McCain

Just in case you needed any more.

1) The alleged "Joe" the "Plumber" - I never want to hear another word about him (or from him) for the rest of my life, and McCain is threatening to take him to Washington. (Incidentally, I'm a regular working person, and I can't afford to take the time off to travel around with a political campaign.) If Obama wins, "Joe" will, please God, sink back into the well-deserved obscurity from which he came.

2) If McCain wins, it will mean that slander and smears work, and elections for the foreseeable future will turn into ever more vicious mudslinging contests.

Maybe someone can tell me....

I'm going to try again (yes, again) to do some real postings rather than just my "brilliant" comments on the Huffington Post, although at least that's been something. I haven't really written much about the election lately, but there's something I have been wondering over these past couple of weeks especially. Namely, what is John McCain thinking?

Let's assume that he manages to stir up enough hatred and fear to win, tearing the country apart in the process. How on earth does he imagine that he's going to govern? Is he really delusional enough to imagine that all will be forgiven and forgotten with an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, after he's used every smear imaginable against both them and their candidate? Of course, I do believe (and the thought isn't original with me) that he still sees himself as an honorable man; ergo, anything he does is justified, however despicable it may be in the eyes of others. A lot of people have the same blind spot regarding the US - since we are "good," nothing that we do, including torture and invading sovereign nations without justification, can be wrong. However, the fact remains that he has thrown every last shred of honor and dignity he ever had to the winds. A similar madness seemed to possess Bob Dole in 1996 - is it something to do with obviously losing and knowing that it's your last chance?

Of course, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Whatever Sen. McCain's flaws, he did serve his country and, I believe, had some admirable traits. That's why it's a tragedy to see his disintegration into just another do-and-say-anything-to-win politician, in the way that it isn't with a George W. Bush, for example.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

If Jesus endorsed Obama, the right wing would probably say that it's because Jesus and Obama are both scary Middle Easterners. Incidentally, if it's true that the Iscariot in Judas' name is related to "sicarii," nationalist assassins who stabbed people they saw as collaborators with the occupying Romans in crowds, then guess what! Jesus "palled around with" terrorists. Oh, no!!!!!
About Colin Powell
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

A Yom Kippur Letter to Joe Lieberman's Rabbis: Joe Is McCain's Best Jewish Friend. Please Ask Him To Beg McCain to Stop Encouraging Hate

A commentary from the Reconstructionist prayerbook Kol Haneshemah (unfortunately, the farthest left branch so something that Lieberman wouldn't be caught dead reading), on the Al Het (public confessional) for Yom Kippur:



"Consider how many of the sins we confess on Yom Kippur are sins of speech. 'Al het shehatanu lefaneha (for the wrong we have done before you':



'by the utterance of our lips'

'by speech'

'by false protests'

'by impure lips'

'by foolish speech'

'BY SLANDER AND INNUENDO'

'by gossip'

'by idle chatter'

'by false promises.'



"When Esau approaches his aged and blind father Isaac in order to receive the birthright blessing, he finds that he has been supplanted by his brother Jacob. isaac can only reply that 'I blessed him; now he must remain blessed' Words cannot be revoked, because words count. As the midrash (rabbinic commentary) teaches: once the arrow has been shot from the bow, it cannot be brought back."
About Joe Lieberman
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Despicable.

This person should not be allowed anywhere near the corridors of power.

Sarah Palin: Perfect Choice For Hillary Supporters....NOT!

Speaking of Rove, the Democrats need to make this into a commercial:



http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/29/vp-picks-karl-rove-swings-and-misses-big-time/



On August 10, Karl Rove went on "Face The Nation" to argue that Senator Obama would make an "intensely political choice" for Vice President without regard for the "responsibilities of president." At the time, Rove believed Obama would choose Tim Kaine, and argued against him by saying this:



"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he"s been a governor for three years, he"s been able but undistinguished. I don"t think people could really name a big, important thing that he"s done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America. And again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it"s smaller than Chula Vista, California; Aurora, Colorado; Mesa or Gilbert, Arizona; north Las Vegas or Henderson, Nevada. It"s not a big town. So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I"m really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States?"
About Sarah Palin
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Scott McClellan To Obama: Don't Investigate Us

And that's what will happen. It'll all be, oh, we've got to move forward, this will cause bad feelings, and the criminals will get away with their crimes. It's a kind of "gentlemen's agreement" - Bill Clinton did it too, and Lord knows he had a lot less to investigate. As someone said, THAT'S why Congress should have done it. And what they SHOULD do next year is take it out of the President's hands and appoint a commission, complete with broad subpoena powers, and please don't put someone like Condi's buddy Zelikow in charge of the information flow like w/ the 9/11 commission.
About Scott McClellan
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost