Book 73 - Ira Levin "The Stepford Wives"

Ira Levin "The Stepford Wives" (Corsair)








This novel has entered pop culture so seamlessly that it was strange to read the source material. I'd seen the film, of course, and scant books often make good films. I picked up a copy in a remaindered bookshop for 50 pence and now I'm glad that I did.

As some reviewers have acknowledged, there isn't a whole lot to the book, Levin didn't feel the need to elaborate on the hows and whys of Stepford's transformation. That is probably one of the chillier aspects for me. Joanna has nothing more than a vague suspicion that something is wrong until near the end. It is laughable until it's too late for her to escape.

Levin's work succeeds on the tiny premise, the doubt in all of us, that there must be something inhuman behind perfect facades. The book could have been longer than it is and it could have improved with more of Joanna's thoughts and the big picture of her months in Stepford. Levin was capable of at least one character study in creeping horror ('Rosemary's Baby'), but I'll admit this book is just fine without it. It's quick, it was scary, and knowing the end didn't change the dread I felt at the end of the penultimate chapter.

Once you read the book I urge you to watch the film version of it.

It's an artifact, enjoy.

Book 74 - Tim Blanning "The Triumph Of Music"

Tim Blanning "The Triumph Of Music" (Penguin)





Though I did enjoy reading this survey of Western music, "triumph" by historian and scholar Tim Blanning, I do want to say first that Blanning's perspective is entirely eurocentric and therefore cannot qualify to speak for the "triumph of music" globally.

Having said that, I felt the book did a good job overall blending both cultural and political events together to show how music and its influence shaped the course of European history. Wagner and his nationalist-inspired compositions are probably the most strident example.

Overall, I think the book is a good survey text but lacks some depth that cultural historians will be looking for. Many intellectual theories of culture are only superficially covered leaving much to be desired. Still, I'm recommending it for the casual reader who wants to learn more about the rise of music in the European context.

Book 75 - Nancy Goldstone "Daughters of the Winter Queen"

Nancy Goldstone "Daughters of the Winter Queen"





Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I (and therefore granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots) was married to a lesser noble, Frederick, Elector of Palatine, with the promise that her father would support his efforts to win the crown of Bohemia. James--not exactly know for being fair and honest when it wasn't expedient--backed out of the promise, an act that sent Elizabeth and her family into exile and ultimately led to the devastating Thirty Years War. Despite the loss of his crown and the years of political turmoil, Elizabeth and Frederick got along well; in fact, they produced 13 children, eight sons (two died young) and five daughters (one died at age three). Goldstone's book focuses on the couple's three surviving daughters, the youngest of which, Sophia, ended up named heiress presumptive to the British throne and launches the Hanoverian dynasty, thus fulfilling her grandmother's legacy. The eldest, Elizabeth, was known for her scholarship in languages, mathematics, history, geography, and the arts. She corresponded with and even challenged Rene Descartes, and later, as a Protestant Abbess, befriended William Penn. Both men dedicated books to her. Her sister Louise Hollandine was a talented portrait painter. She shocked her staunchly Calvinist family by fleeing to France and converting to Catholicism at the age of 39; she later took holy orders and also became an abbess. Henriette Marie married a brother of the Prince of Transylvania; sadly, she died of unknown causes at the age of 25, and her husband died only a few months later. Sophia wed the Elector or Hanover. When it appeared that neither William III, now widowed nor the future queen Anne would produce heirs, Parliament enacted the Settlement of 1701, which required any ruler to be Protestant, making Sophia the heiress presumptive. It was her son Charles Louis who later took the throne of Great Britain as George I.

Goldstone provides many details of life at court and in exile, of the daughters' education and quests for suitable spouses, and of the upheaval caused by the religious wars. Her research is meticulous and exhaustive. Overall, an intriguing look into the lives of four 17th-century royal women who struggles to survive and find themselves.