Category: Books

This week was a good one for reading, and I’ve now checked two more books off my summer list.  I also watched the first season of All Heart on the treadmill, while the Chief Penguin and I learned some significant medical history in the engrossing Charite’ series. 

WEALTH AND HORSE RACING

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Argentinian author Hernan Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for Trust, a financial family saga.  Set in New York, mostly in the 1920’s and 30’s, it’s primarily the tale of Andrew Bevel and his wife Mildred.  Their story is told by Andrew but also by a novelist, a stenographer, and through a long undiscovered diary.  The novel is in 4 parts, the first being “Bonds,” the 1937 novel within the novel which charts the lineage and rise of Benjamin Rask (the fictional Andrew Bevel) and his wife Helen.  

Andrew Bevel disagrees violently with the fictional depiction of his wife and arranges to write his autobiography.  How he perceives the events of his life, how others see them, and what his wife was really like unfold as the novel progresses.  There are financial details, repeated discussions of the 1929 and other stock market crashes, and descriptions of Andrew’s role in these events.  

The book has been highly and widely praised for being brilliant, charming, ingenious, and a host of other superlatives.  I have to say while I found it engaging and intriguing enough to read to the end, I was never completely captivated, nor did I find it exhilarating.  I did, however, appreciate the clever twist as the truth of events was unveiled.  Mildly recommended.  Perhaps of greater interest to readers interested in the financial world of an earlier time. (~JWFarrington)

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Born in Australia, but residing in Massachusetts, Geraldine Brooks is a favorite author of mine.  I loved this novel!  It’s rich in historical detail, has complex characters (some based on real people and the others contemporary and fictional), and a sweeping time frame moving back and forth between the 1850’s, 1956, and 2019.  Ms. Brooks obviously knows and cares for horses.  With delicacy and thoroughness, she depicts the close relationship between enslaved Jarret and Darley, aka Lexington, the horse he trains; that itself is a love story.  

In the 1850’s, horse racing in the South was dominated by rich white plantation owners.  With slavery in place, trainers were slaves who could be easily sold to another owner.  Jarrett, a boy then young man, goes from being Warfield’s Jarret to Ten Broeck’s Jarret to Alexander’s Jarret until after the Civil War he is finally himself, Jarret Lewis.  

In the present day, a tossed aside painting sets in motion the examination of a horse skeleton and research on 19^th century artist Thomas Scott.  Jess works in a conservation lab and Theo, a Black graduate student in art history, brings in the painting.  Thus begins their tentative, but warm relationship.  

Although one might posit that Brooks’ treatment of racism in 2019 is predictable, it is nonetheless believable.  Jess and Theo are fully realized characters, not cardboard cutouts.  Likewise, the portrayals of artist Scott and donor Martha Jackson add further depth to the story.  Highly recommended, whether you are familiar with or a lover of horses or not!  (~JWFarrington)

MEDICAL DRAMA ON SCREEN

All Heart (PBS Masterpiece)

This series, Cuori in Italian, from Walter Presents is set in Turin, Italy in the 1960’s.  Swedish doctor Alberto Ferraris is recruited to work with lead physician Cesare Corvara on quietly developing an artificial heart.  Tensions between the doctors on staff and qualms on the part of the Catholic Church about funding such an effort pose roadblocks.  Add in the arrival of an American cardiologist, a female no less, and work relations between colleagues suffer.  

Delia Brunello is not only highly accomplished, but she is also Cesare’s wife and knew Alberto in a past life.  Highly entertaining for both the medicine and the heart troubles.  Season 1 has eight episodes.  There is a second season, but I don’t think it is available here yet. (~JWFarrington)

Charite’ Seasons 1 & 2 (PBS Masterpiece; possibly also Netflix)

Charite‘ is a historical German drama series set in Berlin in the late 19^th century at the famous Charite’ Hospital.  Ida Lenze works as a nurse to pay off a debt, discovers she likes medicine and aspires to become a doctor.   She is curious and strong willed and interacts with several doctors who became famous and were later awarded for their efforts to develop vaccines.  Robert Koch is the only one I knew of beforehand.  His twin focus was on fighting tuberculosis and courting his actress girlfriend.  

Two other doctors research and experiment with injections to prevent diphtheria or at least curb its virulence.  Personal dramas and professional egos occasionally get in the way of reliable results.  It’s an engrossing first season. With its graphic depictions of primitive surgical techniques, one appreciates the many vaccines of today. There are three seasons, each consisting of 6 episodes.

We completed Season 1 and have now watched two episodes of the second one.  It’s set in 1943 and is both chilling and painful at points.  A young couple, both doctors, full subscribe to Hitler’s aims, and that impacts how they practice medicine.  Initially, the war seems faraway in Berlin until returning injured soldiers share what the front is really like.  Set against the Waldhausen couple are professor and doctor Ferdinand Sauerbruch and his wife Margot, also a doctor.  Compassionate and accomplished, they become aware of the insidious undercurrents in medical care at Charite’.  Highly recommended!  (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header image is Thomas Scott’s 1857 painting of Lexington, the very famous 19th century race horse, courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine.