Artistic Life

The Vivisector 

by Patrick White

“silence, simplicity and humility . . . the only proper state for the artist as for the human being,”

― Patrick White, The Vivisector

The Vivisector is Nobel laureate Patrick White’s powerful, uncompromising portrait of the artist as “sacred monster.” The novel charts the full life arc of Australian painter Hurtle Duffield from childhood to death, and asks a brutal question: can a person dedicate their life solely to art without sacrificing their humanity?

Hurtle is born into poverty and at the age of four is “sold” by his impoverished parents to the rich Courtney family to be a companion to their hunchbacked daughter, Rhoda. This first trade establishes the pattern for a life in terms of emotional withdrawals and esthetic intake. Hurtle becomes a famous avant-garde painter, using the world and its people as raw material on his canvas. He dissects his victims with the ruthless precision of the surgeon, seeing himself and God as "the Vivisector." His muses and lovers—a warmhearted prostitute, an heiress, a married Greek socialite, and a young musical prodigy—are all emotionally consumed and discarded in pursuit of his vision.

White's beautiful and gripping prose demands your attention while the narrative keeps you engaged with the life of the artist. While The Vivisector is not an easy read, it is a monumental masterpiece of Australian literature. It is essential reading for anyone interested in novels about the creative process, the morality of art, or complex character studies of flawed genius. This is one of White's best novels and one that I will read again.

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War in the Pacific

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 

by Ian W. Toll

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942, by Ian W. Toll, is the first entry in his acclaimed Pacific War Trilogy. Covering the initial six months of the conflict—from the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 through the Battle of Midway in June 1942—the book examines how a staggering American defeat transformed into a strategic turning point. 

Toll depicts the initial stage of the Pacific Campaign as more than a series of battles, but a total trial by fire for the two nations involved. The first part of the story is some background on US-Japanese diplomacy and naval doctrine, followed by the shock of Pearl Harbor, then the early battles (Doolittle Raid, Java Sea, and Coral Sea), and finally Midway.

The story is equally divided between the American and Japanese high command, doctrine and decision making, and not just the Allied high command. Toll describes the change in operational philosophy from the traditional battleship-based doctrine (based on the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan) to carrier aviation and submarine warfare.

This is history at its best. Compulsively readable. The author writes in a disarming style, and lays out the details. You find it hard to put the book down. Even with the detail of the story (this volume only brings you to the battle of Midway) the pages fly by as you get engrossed in the details of everything from the lead admirals to the minutia of all the significant battles.

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War in Albania

Chronicle in Stone 

by Ismail Kadare

“If an animal has to be sacrificed when a new bridge is built, what will it take to build a whole new world?” ― Ismail Kadare, Chronicle in Stone




Chronicle in Stone is a masterpiece of Balkan literature by Ismail Kadare. The novel is set in Kadare’s hometown of Gjirokastër, in southern Albania, during World War II, and through the eyes of a child we see the absurdities, terrors and enduring rhythms of a world in turmoil.

The story is told from the point of view of an unnamed young boy. Without full context of geopolitical conflict, he views foreign invasions, air raids, shifting factions with naive curiosity. A severed arm is a weird artifact and the arrival of occupying armies is processed with childhood games.
City is the real protagonist, Gjirokastër, with its steep stone streets, fortress walls, and ancient roofs, is depicted as a living, breathing entity with a ‘stone carapace.' Italian, Greek, and German forces rapidly occupy the city and take it from its people, but the stone architecture stands witness to centuries of history. Chapters' narrative sections are counterpointed with short fragments of official chronicles, city news, and local gossip. This structural technique is reminiscent of the way history is written in bits and pieces, not as a smooth continuum.

Kadare juxtaposes tragic events like summary executions and destruction in wartime with dark humor and Balkan folk superstition. Classical motifs, like references to Greek mythology, are superimposed on the day-to-day lives and eccentricities of the town’s inhabitants. The result of my reading was a powerful novel.



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Different Views

Shadow Country 

by Peter Matthiessen

“Course truth don’t count for much after all these years cause folks hangs on to what it suits ’em to believe and won’t let go of it.”

― Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country

This is a long novel but can be conquered with perseverance. The excellence of the narrative helped this reader to cover the ground. I liked the book, well written, but the three sections, telling the same or similar story, were different enough to make the reading more pleasant as the book progressed. There are three sections, each of which tells a similar story but from different perspectives. As I read on in the book, I found the change in the perspective of the narration easier to read.
It proved to be an enjoyable read.

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Family History

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty 

by Patrick Radden Keefe

Patrick Radden Keefe's 2021 book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty is a painstakingly detailed, compelling, and damning narrative nonfiction account of the Sackler family's ascent, Purdue Pharma, and their pivotal role in escalating the opioid crisis in the United States through the aggressive marketing of OxyContin.

The book is organized as a multigenerational family saga by Keefe. The story starts with the aspirational sons of Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, Arthur Sackler and his brothers Mortimer and Raymond, who amassed wealth through creative (and frequently unethical) pharmaceutical marketing, advertising, and medical publishing. Arthur was involved with medications like Valium and helped develop direct-to-doctor advertising. The development and successful launch of OxyContin in the mid-1990s under the next generation (most notably Richard Sackler) are covered in the middle section. This includes the company's claims about its lower risk of addiction, high-pressure sales tactics, targeting of high-prescribing doctors, and attempts to minimize or deny issues as addiction and overdoses increased. The growing crisis (hundreds of thousands of opioid-related deaths), lawsuits, bankruptcy tactics, the family's extraction of billions while hiding personal wealth, their philanthropy (which bought prestige and name recognition on museums and universities), and their persistent refusal to take meaningful responsibility are all examined in the later sections.

All things considered, I thought the book was an insightful and captivating narrative history. A fascinating look at the development of one facet of the drug industry and a family story.



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Poems

A Concise Treasury of Great Poems 

by Louis Untermeyer

For over forty years, this poetry collection has been one of my favorites. A book that I frequently consult to find new poems or to revisit old favorites. Louis Untermeyer's ability to choose the best poems and provide a brief introduction to each poet is something for which I cannot express my gratitude. This collection's scope matches its caliber and entices readers to return time and time again. For anyone who enjoys poetry or is unsure whether it is worthwhile to read, this book is a must-have. If you spend a little time with this volume, the answer to that question is definitely yes.

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