Letters from My Windmill by Alphonse Daudet

Alphonse Daudet?  I've never heard of him, either.  His Wikipedia article describes him as "one of a generation of French literary syphilitics".  Now there's a genre you don't hear much about these days.  Still, it was a real treat to come across such an evocatively titled book, and so intriguing that I decided to read it.

Letters from My Windmill is a collection of short stories written in the mid-nineteenth century.  Daudet, a long-time resident of Paris, bought a dilapidated windmill in Provence, decided to live in it and he wrote home to Paris with tales of what he found there. While most of the stories are about Provence and its people, Daudet does take us on excursions to Corsica and North Africa.

The tales vary greatly in tone, from the serious, psychologically orientated opening story, to an account of the aftermath of a shipwreck, to an endearing tale of how a good-natured donkey get sweet revenge on her promotion-seeking tormentor.

I liked this book.  It was very pleasant to read a story a day over the course of three weeks. It helps that I like tales of yesteryear, when there was no electricity, phones or mass-media, and when news was largely delivered by word-of-mouth.  It makes for a different kind of story-telling.

Stories from Letters from My Windmill were first published in 1866.  It was published as a collection of short stories in 1869.  I read an e-book version.  So much for no electricity, etc.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I wish I had read this book a lot earlier in my life.  Benjamin Franklin is a wonderful role model for anyone who has the ears to hear.  In fact, Franklin wrote this book for the benefit of his son William.

Franklin began writing the book when he was in his sixties and continued writing it over the course of the next 18 years until his death.  He starts his narrative with some family history of his ancestors before he begins relating details of his childhood.  After this, we get information about his life from his first apprenticeship, through his various travels and business ventures up to his service in public office.

Throughout the autobiography we see a man who was a shrewd judge of character, an industrious worker and a deep thinker.  Apart from describing incidents in his life, Franklin also shares his own philosophy of life with the reader, and it is wise, practical and earthy.

Benjamin Franklin was an business man, a politician, a practical scientist and an inventor.  He is credited with inventing the lightning rod and bi-focal lens glasses.  He also introduced the public lending library (which was a Scottish innovation) to America.  In addition to this, Franklin was President of Pennsylvania and an ambassador for the fledgling United States of America, serving in France and Sweden.

There is more to this man than he tells of himself in his autobiography, and I look forward to reading more about him in the future.  I highly recommend this book, especially to young people who are trying to become the person they will be.  Benjamin Franklin can help you on your journey.

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut

There are certain books I don't mind re-reading.  There are some books I read over and over again.  This is second time I have read God Bless You, Mr Rosewater.  I enjoyed it so much that I intend to read it again someday, if I live long enough, oxalá.

It is 1965, and Eliot Rosewater, the heir to the Rosewater family fortune, suddenly finds himself with an income of $10,000 per day, including Sundays. That's about $250,000 per day in today's money.  It's a lot of money.  

Faced with this enviable problem, Eliot hits the booze, abandons his childless marriage and goes on a road trip across America before winding up in the unremarkable mid-west town of Rosewater.  Here Eliot rents a moldy office-come-bed-sit with a telephone, and here he can sip booze all day while he answers the phone.  And who would want to phone Eliot Rosewater?  The poor of Rosewater, of course, because word has got out that Eliot is giving his money away to the least in the community.

And there has to be consequences to this kind of behaviour, but you will have to read the book to find our what they are. 

I really like this book.  I think it is my favourite Vonnegut novel (but I haven't read them all yet).  There is the trademark Vonnegut style of plain language telling rather than showing the story.  There is the irony, the grim humour and the deep insights into human nature, a nature that Vonnegut reveals as oh-so-flawed and yet deserving of dignity and respect.

And, of course, God Bless You Mr Rosewater marks the debut of Kilgore Trout, the down-at-heel sci-fi writer (who is possibly Vonnegut's alter ego.)  I like Kilgore Trout. A lot. As did Eliot Rosewater.

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater was first published in 1965.  I read the Rosetta Books e-book edition, which I thoroughly recommend. Review.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

I abandoned this book about 25 years ago.  I just couldn't take Sir Walter Scott's prolix writing style, not the way I was then - too much time, not enough patience.  Nowadays, I find I have plenty of patience but not enough time.

Recently, a wise voice from my past reminded me that there was more to Scott than wordiness.  His novel were popular in the past, my friend said, because they contained entertaining and thrilling stories, and if you take the time, they will work their magic.

So I tried Ivanhoe again.  It's a long book, but this time I was ready.  I had to get some way into it, get accustomed to the author's style and pace, get immersed in the action before I found I was hooked.  I actually began to look forward to my daily fix of Ivanhoe.  I'm so glad that my friend encouraged me to practice patience and persistence.

Ivanhoe is set in England during the reign of Richard the Lionheart.  Five generations after the Norman invasion of Saxon England, Scott asks us to believe that there is still a fierce resentment on the part of the Saxon nobility towards the Norman conquerors (who are now technically Plantagenets). Wilfred of Ivanhoe loves the beautiful Rowena, the daughter of the best-placed Saxon claimant to the throne.  On returning from crusading in the Holy Land, Ivanhoe is seriously injured and is placed in the care of the beautiful Rebecca, a healer.  Lots of stuff happens involving Richard, Robin Hood, and a bunch of bigoted Knights.  There's peril galore!

A good deal of the story revolves around Rebecca, the daughter of Isaac of York.  Both Rebecca and her father are of the Jewish faith, and they are threatened by an almost ubiquitous anti-semitism.  It is odd that a book named after a Christian knight should be so centred around two Jewish people.  It may have something to do with the burgeoning movements to grant full civil rights to Jews and Catholics in Britain at the time Scott was writing it.

Actually, there are quite a few odd things about Ivanhoe, but I won't spoil the fun for anyone who wants to read it.  I enjoyed it very much.  I am glad my old friend encouraged me to persevere.  I encourage you to persevere too.  Yes, you!

Ivanhoe was first published in 1820.  I read an ebook version of it. Review.