No Ordinary Time

No Ordinary Time - by Doris Kearns Goodwin

When Franklin Roosevelt was the President of the United States, he would sometimes deliver speeches to the American people via radio that he dubbed “Fireside Chats”.  His idea was to give a talk to the American people, from time to time, about relevant current events in a language that the people could truly understand.  He didn’t want to overwhelm them with government jargon, nor get technical with the comings and goings of the country.  He wished to simply talk to the people so that they would have a full, rich understanding of whatever was his topic of the chat.  I mention this as I begin my review of this book because this seems the overall goal of author Doris Kearns Goodwin as well.  She doesn’t set out to overburden the reader with masses of detail, she simply sets out to tell a wonderful, absorbing story.  

This book is not an exhaustive biography of Franklin and/or Eleanor Roosevelt.  Nor is it a sequential, detailed account of the accomplishments of the 32nd President’s administration.  No, there are plenty of books out there for you if that is what you are wanting.  This book, instead, tells a magnificent story of the President and the First Lady as they guided the United States of America through its most tumultuous time of the 20th century.

This book really does have a little bit of “everything”, though.  We start the narrative on May 9th, 1940.  This was eight months after World War II began, but I believe the author starts the story here - as Hitler is simultaneously invading Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and France, because this is the time when most in the USA realized that, sooner or later, this would be America’s war as well.  So we do hear about events of the conflict in Europe and in Asia, but we’re also exposed to other troubles on the home front - some related to the war, others not so much.  We’re also allowed to peer into the private lives of Franklin and Eleanor, and we learn much about these two great individuals, and how they were able to lift the U.S.A out of the Great Depression into arguably the greatest time the country has ever had  when forced to rise to such an enormous occasion.  

We do get thrown bits of information of their lives before 1940, but not much.  Readers wanting, for example, a comprehensive understanding of Roosevelt’s “New Deal” should probably look elsewhere.  When Goodwin takes us back in time, she does this so the reader can better understand the present.  We see, for example, that these fifth cousins were actually born into a life of privilege, yet were attracted to each other because the other one had characteristics that they each sorely lacked.  We also see Franklin’s over protective mother who smothered him with far too much attention.  She never could really “let him go”, which actually damaged Franklin and Eleanor’s marriage to a degree.

This story is just as much about Eleanor as it is about Franklin.  As First Lady of the United States, she’s not at all content to simply being a hostess of the White House and giving cocktail parties.  No, the woman had an incredible progressive spirit, and she uses her title to travel the country pointing out all of the injustices and doing everything in her power to bring the issues to the front of everyone’s mind, including her husband’s.  Her pet cause is Civil Rights for the African-American community, a cause that greatly needed more support.  It really is amazingly heart breaking to read about the injustices that still existed in the 1940s around race relations.

Eleanor travels abroad as well, visiting soldiers close to the battle lines and in the hospitals, bringing comfort wherever she can.  The woman has such a tireless disposition, that she manages to wear out and exhaust the military brass as they escort her around their destinations.  Even they can’t keep up with the First Lady.  At one point, the author mentions that the President and the First Lady were a great team because Franklin was good at accomplishing what could be done, whereas Eleanor devoted her attention to what should be done.  The two, oddly, don’t always go hand in hand.

Sadly, it’s the actual relationship between husband and wife that makes this tale a bit sad.  We’re left with the impression that these two really did need one another, but they didn’t necessarily want one another.  They had one of those marriages that probably would have failed if these two people would have lived sixty years in the future.  It seems as though, early on in their marriage, their romantic devotion dies.  At one point, around 1918, Eleanor discovers her husband had been having an affair with Lucy Mercer.  This news devastated her, as it should.  What Eleanor did not know is that Franklin continued to have clandestine meetings with Ms. Mercer while President, even up until his death in 1945 (although many doubt that the relationships was anything more than a deep friendship).  Such a relationship was possible because, well, Eleanor was never home.  She was always out, on the road doing whatever she could for the cause.  Truth be told, there seemed to be a lot of deep emotional attachments that both of them shared with other people.  There’s even a hint that Eleanor was involved in a lesbian relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok.  Although this was always speculative, most would agree that Hickok definitely did have romantic feelings for Eleanor, we just will never know whether or not such feelings were ever reciprocated.

So great leaders of a great country, they definitely were.  As a leader of a normal household as husband and wife, not as much.  We read a bit about the five Roosevelt children, and we’re left with the impression that growing up was a bit hard from an emotional perspective.  None of the kids would live up to their parent’s legend, and between the five of them, they ended up with 19 marriages amongst them.  Even when Eleanor is home in the White House, she and Franklin have separate bedrooms, and Franklin seems more chummy with selected members of his female staff (many reside in the White House as well), than the First Lady.

But these two soldiers lumber on, working tirelessly to the point of exhaustion.  Oddly, FDR is nearly at death’s door as early as 1944, yet he still manages to win a fourth term as President.  Not sure if that could happen in the 21st century with the internet and cable news.  Sadly, Roosevelt finally does succumb to death a mere month from the allies victory in Europe, and it’s truly sad that he doesn’t live long enough to see one of his greatest triumphs of rallying a nation to defeat an evil deranged dictator.

I simply loved this book.  Not once did I feel overwhelmed with detail about politics, policies, elections, or war time strategy.  Doris Kearns Goodwin keeps things very simple, very concise, yet manages to be very thorough as well.  I can’t seemed to ever recall when 600+ pages went by so quickly.  A truly remarkable book about two of our greatest leaders that led the country during the most unordinary times of our nation’s history.  Thank God.  

Literally, Thank God.

Garden of Beasts

Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver

This book was unlike any other Jeffery Deaver book that I have read.  One of my favorite authors, Deaver always seems to incorporate the “creepy” factor in his books.  Whether the story is a Lincoln Rhyme detective tale, or one of his more generic offerings, Deaver always seems to include some very shady characters doing very unsavory things that….well….tend to creep you out.  I should point out that this is not the reason I enjoy his books necessarily. I tend to shy away from elements representing the sewer of life, yet Jeffery Deaver remains, for me anyway, a brilliant storyteller.  You could argue that this book was one of his least “creepiest”.

This story takes place in Berlin, during the Summer Olympics of 1936.  An American Mob “Button Man” (the ones on the lower end of the mafia pyramid who specialize in killing), Paul Schumann, is recruited to go to Germany to kill a high ranking goon in Hitler’s upper echelon.  If the hit is successful, the powers that be in the U.S. will wipe away Paul’s criminal record, and he can begin his life anew - something he is wanting.

So Schumann arrives in Berlin, and the meticulous plans begin for the assassination.  If anything, this is essentially a “Hitler Nazi” book.  We’re smack dab in the middle of Hitler’s Germany, and our main character is witnessing many unbelievable atrocities first hand.  Of course, we must remember that in 1936, Hitler hadn’t quite reached his peak, nor had he started bullying and conquering nations left and right.  Only the politically astute understood what a madman he was, so for Schumann (along with all of the American Olympic Athletes) arrive with a sense of naiveté amongst their surroundings.  

Without going into too much detail, early on during this escapade, there is a murder that is committed that is related to Paul Schumann’s forthcoming assassination.  The author brings in another character, a German detective named Willie Kohl, to lead the investigation.  Kohl is very good at what he does.  He and Lincoln Rhyme would be good buddies.  Like many Germans, Kohl realizes that Hitler and his ilk are nothing more than a pack of rabid bullies, but he must never let anyone know his feelings – not even his family.  Yes, friends, Berlin was a very scary place once upon a time.

Deaver also takes us, at times, into Hitler’s inner sanctum.  We get to eavesdrop on many fabled conversations between Germany’s top brass, and this simply adds to the overall enjoyment of the book.  Deaver actually takes on several different paths that didn’t seem to be intertwined, but everything is nicely summed up at the end.  As usual, there are some “twists” that are Deaver’s trademark, but much less so than normal.  I still thought this book was great, and wouldn’t mind more “historic” novels such as this from Deaver.  A good one for a “non Deaver” fan to try.

Gray Mountain

Gray Mountain – by John Grisham

If you’ve already read several of John Grisham’s previous books, you’ve essentially already this one as well – before you even pick it up.  Grisham’s books seem to have very common themes that run through most of them, in addition to always focusing around the law and lawyers.  Let’s see what this book includes:

1. The “Professional Lawyers are Always Miserable” story.  People who want to make it big in the legal profession find themselves, upon graduating from law school, working in faceless, lifeless firms that only care about how many hours that the young peons can bill.  Our young up and comers are forced to work 100+ hour weeks, sleep in their office, have no time for a social life, and seem to rely on Pepto-Bismol as a main dietary supplement.  I guess there are still people in the world that would rather make boatloads of money, even if means sacrificing everything – including happiness and selling their soul.
2. The “Small Town” story.  Usually we find ourselves in some small, remote, rural area of a town that has definitely seen better days and appears to be a couple of months from extinction.  Everyone knows who the barber is, the waitress (at the only restaurant) is, and the name of the funeral director, but there’s no McDonalds nor shopping mall in sight.  People, sadly, are born and raised in this town and seem to know of no other life outside the town boundaries.  Life is a far cry from anything that Norman Rockwell ever painted.
3. The “Big Corporations are Always Evil” story.  There is some pour soul, or souls, who are victims of the high and mighty greedy companies that are much more interested in making a profit that they are the wellbeing of people or the planet.  Usually, this evil entity is represented by something like a billion dollar heartless insurance firm, or a company producing mass quantities of cancer causing chemicals that seep into the environment causing the slow death of the surrounding communities.  Usually, we’re then introduced to a young eager lawyer who goes against all odds to bring justice for the under privileged victims.

So in this book, Samantha Kofer is a young attorney working in midtown Manhattan enjoying the “perks” of working for a high profile firm.  She makes gobs of money, yet doesn’t have any life whatsoever that involves anything remotely tied to enjoyment.  Well, the story takes place in 2008, and the financial meltdown is slowly starting to take effect.  Every lawyer she knows, not just at her firm, is being laid off left and right.  There seems to be absolutely no hope for these young urban professionals – they go from riches to rags overnight.  Eventually, Samantha gets a pink slip as well.

Well, fortunately (kind of) at her firm, she is offered a furlough opportunity of working in a charitable organization for one year without pay.  If things get better at her firm, she may get to come back to her job.  Will she do it?  She better hurry up and decide, as these opportunities are rare, and she’s actually one of the lucky ones to get such an offer.

So Samantha heads to a small town in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia to work giving free legal assistance at a legal clinic.  She now, essentially, sees how the other half lives.  There’s all sorts of small town problems, and Samantha is quickly thrown into the thick of things.  Fortunately, she has a good team, so she’s never completely overwhelmed.

The biggest monster she faces is the coal industry.  The big bad coal company is doing something called “strip mining”, and Samantha (as well as the reader) learns all about the process.  Essentially, the West Virginia mountains are being raped, and people are literally dying after prolonged exposure from working in these mines their whole lives.  Sadly, it doesn’t seem there’s anything that can be done.  The coal company isn’t doing anything illegal, and after all, people need coal for electricity.  Plus, when you live in a small town in West Virginia, there really aren’t many other opportunities as far as employment goes.

The problem that many have with this novel, is this really isn’t a linear story.  Although sometimes we’re given small hints, there’s never a big “showdown” between the good guys and the bad guys.  There’s no major trial, no biased judge, no tilted jury selection, no major headlines, nothing that we get used to from reading John Grisham.  This book, rather, is simply about Samantha, not about a particular lawsuit.  This didn’t bother me at all because a) as I mentioned, I’ve already seen this story before with Grisham – and- b) Grisham is a great story teller.  So even though you could argue that nothing concrete happens in terms of a plot, I still enjoyed reading about Samantha, and her struggles with her new existence.

Because of this, I’m not sure they could ever make a movie about this book, but it would make an excellent pilot for a television series.  This book didn’t blow me away by Grisham standards, but most everything by Grisham is better than most anything else by anyone else, so I still enjoyed it.  Even if I felt like I had read all of this before.

Hell's Corner

Hell’s Corner – by David Baldacci

Lately, whenever I pick up a book by David Baldacci, there’s a bit of fear and trepidation within me.  It seems, in my judgment, that this author clearly qualifies as a “hit or miss” author.  Some of his books are very enjoyable, yet some, quite frankly, stink.  Sadly, this book tends to lean towards the latter.  It’s not as bad as “True Blue” and nowhere NEAR as awful as “The Christmas Train” (fortunately, not much is), yet I’m sad to report that this book does get a solid “thumbs down” from me.

I was actually quite pleased when I first picked this book up and discovered it was part of “The Camel Club” series.  Before I read this book, I really enjoyed every one of the books in that series, so expectations were quite high.  Sadly, it didn’t take long before I realized that this book was probably going to be a clunker, and by the end, my sentiments didn’t change at all.

Camel Club “leader” Oliver Stone is summoned by none other than (gasp!) the President of the United States!  Why?  It seems as though there is some sort of Russian drug operation that is trying to filter its way into the U.S. via Mexico, and Oliver Stone is asked to go over and spy on the Russians.  Let’s dismiss the fact that, in real life, vagrant Stone who works as a caretaker for a cemetery, probably should not be The Commander in Chief’s first choice.  But never mind.  If you know The Camel Club and you know Oliver Stone, you know that this has the potential to be a great story.

Except it never happens.  Never.  Baldacci has been guilty of this in the past.  It’s almost as if he changes his mind about the plot after the first few chapters and decides to write an entirely different book, yet leaves the first few chapters intact.  Not good.

So then we come to our second (and much inferior) plot.  Oliver Stone is walking through Lafayette Park late at night.  This place is directly across the street from the White House (and is a real place).  You would think a place so close to the President’s residence would have air tight security, but I guess not.  While at the park, Stone observes four different people, each in a different corner of the park, doing strange things.  Why are these people so noticeable?  Why are there only four people in the entire park?  Don’t they see this guy observing them?  Again, I guess not.  Well, the next thing we know, shots are being fired, a bomb goes off in the park (apparently destroying the centerpiece statue of Andrew Jackson), and one of the four persons is killed.

So Oliver Stone springs into action.  They only clue we have is that the British Prime Minister was “supposed to” walk through the park later that night, so maybe the mayhem was supposed to be directed at him?  So we get a female MI6 agent to accompany Stone throughout his investigation.  Since she’s British, Baldacci fills her dialog with numerous instances of words such as “blimey”, “bloke”, and “bloody hell” with annoying frequency.  As Stone and his companion (I forget her name) pursue this investigation, we discover all sorts of road blocks.  Apparently, NOTHING is as it seems and there are so many clandestine operatives within this mess, it makes your head spin.  Every good guy, it seems, turns out to be a bad guy, every trustworthy agency that’s supposed to protect and defend seems to have different motives altogether, and nobody, it seems, can be trusted.  To Oliver Stone, this really isn’t anything new.  To the reader, it just comes across as pointless and mundane.  Baldacci has done better.

While I’m complaining, I’ll also vent that this really is NOT a “Camel Club” book, but an “Oliver Stone” book.  The other members of the Camel Club (and the cast changes a bit from book to book) don’t really serve much purpose here, and they’re pushed way in the back as minor players.  They also seem as bumbling members of the Keystone Kops as opposed to being helpful in any significant way.

I simply didn’t care how this book ended.  I was more anxious to finish it for the sake of finishing it as opposed to wanting to know who was really doing what, and what the whole point of the story really was.  If you happened to have read this book and are reading this review, you might be thinking that I’ve gotten a few points of the story wrong, and you would be right.  Again, I simply didn’t care.  I also think that the plot may have had something to do with “nanobots”.  Whatever.