Tinkers

Paul Harding

If you only have time to read one of these books, maybe this is the one.   An absolutely amazing first novel, that deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize. It is set at the deathbed of a New England clockmaker, and it is a series of flashbacks stretching back two previous generations. It is funny, warm, sad, informative, and altogether engaging—a work of  splendid literary craftsmanship that the author, who teaches writing, can certainly use in his classroom. The lucky students will realize they are in the hands of a master.

Passing On

Penelope Lively

Some reviewers have  compared her writing style to Jane Austen and Barbara Pym—two of my favorites. Certainly, this novel is well-wrought, with humor and pathos  and a keen eye for characters and behavior in an English village. Like the great Jane, she is a deft miniaturist.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

David Mitchell

David Mitchell is Ireland’s latest contribution to modern literature. His Cloud Atlas evoked reactions of awe among such renowned writers as Dave Eggers. He disappointed some of his fans with this book, because it is a historical novel, set in Japan at the end of the 18th Century. I love great historical novels, and this one deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Dorothy Dunnett, whom I consider the greatest of the past century. It is brilliantly researched and, as expected, superbly written. Because it deals with the trading relationships between Holland, Japan, and, later, Britain, it should interest anyone who wants to understand the initial opening of Japanese markets a half-century before the US forced full widening of access—thereby ending the shogunate. And, by the way, it’s a crackling good tale.

Mr. Sammler’s Planet

Saul Bellow

I read two fine Jewish novels on this vacation—to see how times have changed as depicted in topnotch Jewish writers. This gem was written in 1969, and the contrasts with the themes and writing style of the other are dramatic. I’m not sure whether this is the best of Bellow—because he was so consistently excellent. But it’s a tour de force, and its portrayal  of the excesses of the Sixties that spawned neo-conservatism remain spot-on.

The Finkler Question

Howard Jacobson

This book won the Booker Prize last year. That the selection evoked more than the usual criticism may have been that it was succeeding Wolf Hall—one of the best historical novels ever written.---or it may be that its theme rubs many reviewers raw. Jacobson can make you laugh out loud or feel enraged, but he’s never boring.  Unlike Sammler, this isn’t just an engrossing piece of  well-written fiction. He has a big theme---the situation for British Jews at a time when anti-Semitism has been returning in the guise of criticism of Israel—including academic boycotts  and bitter public demonstrations. He carefully balances the opposing arguments, using anti-Zionist Jews as central figures. But he also draws on the entire history of anti-Semitism to show that whenever it reappears, it is drawing on long-established prejudices.  I strongly recommend the book, and learned a great deal from it, but I warn potential readers that—unlike all  the others—it has a painful message. Read the others for the  joy splendid novels bring. Read this one as a fascinating novel that forces you to think about something deeply worrisome.

This time, it was modern novels, mostly because of suggestions from my wife, who is co-Chair of a Literary Group of the International Women Associates. She was on a roll this year.