Bill Hart's Reading List

Bill Hart

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
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I am an avid reader. In the process, there are few books that really deserve recommendation. I'll keep a running list here. Not all of these are new.

Stone's Fall- Iain Pears: an absolutely captivating mystery set in periods immediately after and before world war II, about the death of an industry titan (did he suicide? was he murdered?) and the characters in his life. Well written and filled with historical detail.

Istanbul Passage-Joseph Kanon- a spy thriller set in Istanbul right after world war II. The color and detail of the city is marvelous, the protagonist is not a professional spy, more of an amateur, American ex-pat who 'helped' the Allies during the war and gets caught up in some bizarre machinations between the russians, the romanians, the turks and assorted other characters. Not formulaic. Well plotted. In some ways, a little like Casablanca, set in Istanbul, with some twists.

The Emperor of All Maladies-Siddhartha Mukherjee: you would think that a book about the history of cancer treatment would be depressing and boring. To the contrary, the book is compelling ~ taking the reader back to 1600 BC and following the history of the research and clinical work done by a relatively small handful of doctors. Brilliantly told and actually uplifting.

History, A Novel- Elsa Morente: the story of WWII told through the eyes and experiences of a peasant woman who is raped by a Nazi, and is then part of the vast throng of common people trying to stay out of harm's way while the armies have their due. I read the book in English- and even in translation from the original italian, the writing is lyrical. If you can read Italian well, it would be a worthwhile experience.
 
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The Emperor of All Maladies is a terrific book.
 
I will also add one of the most disturbing books I have ever read: Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy. It is set in the old West, and involves a character known as 'the Kid' who hooks up with the Glanton gang, who are basically a bunch of murderous marauders. The true evil character is 'The Judge" a giant, fat, hairless white guy who is apparently quite literate and well spoken and sort of appears and disappears throughout the travails of the gang. It is a ruthlessly violent book, and I'm not sure why it is important, but maybe, like the movie, "Irreverisible," it is because I still think of it. It touches that part of you that tries to deny real evil but knows, on some level, it really exists.
I used to watch all sorts of 'trash and slash' movies and I can't tolerate those anymore, but having heard about the book- it is allegedly the equivalent of Moby Dick in some literary circles, I bought it and read it. And will never forget it. Not really a recommendation, per se, but just a recognition of the power of this disturbing book.
 
So, I've become fascinated with Roman and now Greek history. Not that I want to take time to read english translations of any of the real stuff, I am willing to take my history novelized, with a story, and sans footnotes. So, among others, I read Graves first: I,Claudius- wonderful, although not written in anything approaching a modern style (i don't think this is an artifact of trying to emulate the historical writing of Claudius himself, although the book purports to be autobiographical- instead, I think it's a function of a novel written in the late 1930's; I've also begun the sequel, Claudius the God).
In addition, I read both of Steven Saylor's novels about Rome, Roma and Empire. They are actually a better and broader introduction, starting with the salt traders before the founding of Rome, and carrying through the early republic and the 'big' emperors- Ceasar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caliguila, Claudius, Nero. Well written and based on pretty solid research. I then took a detour, and one that is fascinating. I was poking around for other books about the same general subject matter, and discovered The Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, an epic retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. It is extremely well written, told from the perspective of a surviving 'helot' (someone who was not exactly a slave, but served as one to the Spartans). In this role, the narrator is a captive of the Persians, who at the direction of their King (who is eager to learn how 300 men could fend off his army of 2 million), unfolds the history of Sparta and its preparations for the confrontation with the Persians that leads to the famous battle at Thermopylae; in course of the story, how the narrator came to be part of the Spartan world and its people and their rigorous ethic. It is fascinating both as military history and as a tragic, moving story. The book is taught at West Point, and a number of other leading U.S. military academies, including Quantico. All recommended, particularly if you didn't major in this stuff in reform school.
 
I, Claudius is wonderful! Thanks for the other recommendations.

There have been a lot of great recent biographies of the Roman world. I can personally recommend:
"Caesar" by Adrian Goldsworthy
"Cicero" and "Augustus" by Anthony Everitt. I was B&N today and saw that he has a new book "The Rise of Rome" which looks intriguing.
 
Live by Night- Dennis Lehane. I posted a review to Amazon a few minutes ago. I will cut and paste it here once it is posted.
Highly recommended. Unless you are bored by gangsters, Prohibition, love, betrayal and historical color.
Here's my Amazon review: The "Good Gangster"
Who claims he is really an 'outlaw,' not a 'gangster.' The difference? Joe doesn't want to live by the rules, but he's moral. Lehane just nails this one. The story starts as our protagonist contemplates his fate with his feet stuck firmly in a bucket of cement, waiting to get dumped into the bay by others who will later be identified as life-long enemies in a war to control bootlegging during Prohibition. Big difference between this book and the usual retro-noir fare- Lehane writes better and doesn't rely on canned tough guy dialog, although there is plenty of action and no shortage of tough guys. Tugging at your shoulder the whole time is fear- everybody is afraid, the toughest ones even more so. Their toughness is a reaction to the fear. The book is compelling on many levels: a great story, fast narrative (you don't have to wait, with artificial delays in the narrative, to see what happens next in a story line); good, well-developed characters who seem real because their motivation (even if unknown to them) is revealed as the story unfolds; the atmosphere of the era, and 'old' Florida, focusing largely on Ybor City. I've read a lot of books in the genre. This is one of the best. And though it's been a long time since I read the Godfather, Lehane's writing is, as always, easy to take in, and flows off the page. Hard to imagine any negatives- it is a 'small' story in the sense that it focuses on a handful of characters, fighting over specific turf, but claims a broader view of the era, and the people who shaped it.
 

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