saareman's reviews
2952 reviews

Keller on the Run
A review of the HarperCollins eBook (June 24, 2008) released simultaneously with the original William Morrow & Co. hardcover.
<blockquote><i>He couldn’t be Keller anymore. Keller was over and done with—and, when he thought about it, he realized that everything in Keller’s life was already gone, so what difference could it make if the name vanished along with it?</i></blockquote>
Breaking the pattern from the short stories as a novel format of the first 3 Keller books, this 4th entry in the series is an actual one story novel. The neurotic hitman is sent out on a decoy job which places him in Des Moines at the same time as the real target, a high-profile State Governor is assassinated. Keller has been setup as the fall-guy and is forced to go on the run.

With his photo released to the media and no way home except for a cross country trip via stolen vehicles, Keller heads back to New York City. But it soon transpires that even his NYC identity has been revealed to the public and there is no returning to his past life. And it appears that even his handler Dot has been eliminated by the conspiracists with the house in White Plains burnt down with a body inside it.

A chance encounter gives Keller a path to a new life. But then a chance glance at an ad in a stamp catalogue suddenly awakens yet another possibility.

This was the best of the Kellers and, although it was followed by one further book in 2012, it was a good finale to go out on.

Trivia and Links
I read a considerable number of Lawrence Block books in my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. Probably 40 or so out of the 100+ that are available. That included all of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/53461-matthew-scudder">Matt Scudder</a> books, several of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/40960-bernie-rhodenbarr">Bernie Rhodenbarrs</a>, several of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/53464-evan-tanner">Evan Tanners</a>, several of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/49488-john-keller">Kellers</a>, a dozen or so standalones and some of the memoirs. There were even a few of the earlier pulp novels which were originally published under pseudonyms. This re-read is part of an ongoing look back at some of those.

Lawrence Block (June 24, 1938 - ) considers himself retired these days, but still maintains an occasional newsletter with the latest issued in <a href="https://lawrenceblock.com/at-long-last-lbs-august-newsletter/">August 2024</a>. He self-publishes some of his earlier works that have otherwise gone out of print, using his own LB Productions imprint.

<b>Bonus Track</b> I couldn't resist doing up a quick JLB bingo card, based on a prompt from the GR is dying? discussion group 😊.
<img src="https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/468932453_28755794420685970_8501271238377355473_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=h90v0dxK__0Q7kNvgGJxE__&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.xx&_nc_gid=AopgLeI-V63YQ4xJzsNyqiH&oh=00_AYBkjlDqVRlUZaQ1K3w9x_lVfBPrSa-m9mzUphLk4r5ncQ&oe=6754411E">

<b>The Book of Sand and Shakespeare’s Memory in Estonian</b>
<i>A review of the Loomingu Raamatukogu Kuldsari paperback (2023) reissued from (2017) as originally translated by [author:Kai Aareleid|6539448] from the Spanish language originals [book:el libro de la arena|28447874] (1975) and [book:La memoria de Shakespeare|929588] (1983).</i>

[3.9 Average rounded up to a 4 star for GR]
Considering that I use a quote from Borges as my motto*, I haven't actually read that many of his works. This recent reissue of the Estonian translation of his last two collections gave me a chance to amend that, as well as read in my heritage language which can always use some practice.

Argentinean writer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges">Jorge Luis Borges</a> (1899-1986) was blind after the age of 55, so these late stories were all dictated. Of the 4 contained in the final collection <i>Shakespeare's Memory</i> (1983), 3 were actually published in journals in 1977.

<img src="https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/468431898_28687251734206906_4791079046952013875_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s720x720&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=KYbzT0dChYwQ7kNvgHrwZSh&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.xx&_nc_gid=AfVuQJ_t9Qhui-iNxqzna0v&oh=00_AYAJLH3ipXxfsD2KH6GtRegg814kl3TlXullaO6sqBfTBA&oe=67526772">
<i>An AI generated image drawn from the prompt: Draw an old man reading a book of sand.</i>

I quite enjoyed getting reacquainted with Borges and his mix of fantasy, mythology and philosophy. I hope to read further soon. While reading, I did individual story ratings and setups as <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user_status/show/953655349">status updates</a> in Estonian. The following are my English language summaries.

1. <b>Other</b> **** Borges as himself starts off by saying that he avoiding telling this story previously as it would have driven him insane. This supposedly happened to him in Boston in 1969. The 70 year old Borges sits down on a park bench and his 20 year old self sits down beside him. The elder tells the younger about what future awaits him.

2. <b>Ulrika</b> *** Javier from Colombia meets Ulrika, a Norwegian, at a conference. Ulrika says that she prefers to walk alone. Javier says that is also his preference and that they could do that together. When they walk they talk of the Nibelung Sagas and how Sigurd and Brunhild slept with a sword between them. When they return to the hotel they go too bed, but there is no sword between them. [This is the only time that Borges wrote a romance story.]

3. <b>The Congress</b> *****  The narrator, Alejandro Ferri, arrives in Buenos Aires in 1899. He is asked to join a sort of secret society called The Congress of the World, an effort to represent all of humanity. Various steps are taken such as collecting a library, building a headquarters, and deciding on the common language. Eventually the Congress is dissolved but regardless of that, it still carries on in all of us. [Borges himself considered this his best story ever.]

4. <b>There Are More Things: In memory of H.P. Lovecraft</b> **** A nephew inherits a supposed cursed house, the Red House but explores it one night nevertheless. He discovers items which indicate that a large creature, possibly of extraterrestrial origin is living there. In typical Lovecraft fashion, the final sentence leaves us anticipating the horror to come.

5. <b>The Sect of 30</b> *** A work that purports to be a translation of an ancient 4th century manuscript of a sect that worships both Jesus and Judas while otherwise giving up all their possessions and refusing to be converted to regular Christianity. The very short 3-page story simply stops mid-sentence and then states that the rest of the manuscript is lost.

6. <b>The Night of Gifts</b> **** A man tells a story of when he was younger and visited a store with a friend. In that store a young woman talks about bandit raids, when they are attacked by the Argentinean bandit Juan Moreira. The boy hides with the girl. When they reappear, a sergeant has killed Moreira. The man says his younger self had the gift of seeing love and death that night.

7. <b>The Mirror and the Mask</b> *** In an alternate universe, after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Clontarf">Battle of Clontarf</a>, the High King asks his bard to write a poem in commemoration, for which a silver mirror is given as a reward. After another year and poem, a golden mask is the reward. But then after the third year, the poem is only a single line, with fateful consequences.

8. <b>Undr</b> *** Purports to be a translation of a lost manuscript written by the 11th century chronicler <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_of_Bremen">Adam of Bremen</a> who listens to the story of an Icelandic poet Ulf Sigurdarson who lived with a tribe called the Urns whose poems were single words.

9. <b>A Weary Man’s Utopia</b> **** A 70 year old language teacher and writer of fantasy (like Borges) named Eudoro Acevedo arrives at a house which is apparently Utopia in the future. He meets a man in the house who tells him that trivial things no longer exist, nor do governments. He gifts Acevedo a painting which travels back with him to the past.

10. <b>The Bribe</b> *** A professor of Old English has to decide between two candidates as to who to recommend for a future position. One of the candidates is rather bland and the other is youthful and ambitious. The second one has insulted the professor in one of his published papers. 

11. <b>Avelino  Arredondo</b> *** An imagined life of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avelino_Arredondo">the title character</a> in the two months leading up to the fateful day of August 25, 1897 when he assassinated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Idiarte_Borda">the President of Uruguay</a>.

12. <b>The Disk</b> **** A man seeks shelter in the hut of a woodcutter. He reveals that he is a king and descended from Odin and is the keeper of the disk of Odin, which is one sided. He reveals the disk, which is invisible, but when it is touched a chill is felt and a flash is seen. The woodcutter covets the disk.

13. <b>The Book of Sand</b> ***** A man buys a book from a Bible seller which is written in an unknown language with occasional illustrations. The cover says that it is holy writ, but it is otherwise known as the book of sand. He discovers that the book is of infinite length. As you turn pages, more pages start to grow in the front and the back.

14. <b>Afterword</b> **** Borges writes: "Writing a foreword to stories that the reader hasn't read yet is an almost impossible task, because it requires talking about plots that shouldn't really be told in advance. That's why I decided to write an epilogue instead."

15. <b>25. August 1983</b> ***** Borges was born August 24, 1899. This is yet another version of the doppelgänger first story of <i>The Book of Sand</i> called <i>Other</i>. A 61-year-old Borges checks into a hotel where he sees that his even older self has already registered. The younger rushes up to the room to confront the older 84 year old who tells him about the events which are yet to happen to him.

16. <b>Blue Tigers</b> **** A tiger-obsessed Scottish professor travels to India because he has heard that blue tigers have been seen. When he goes to live in a village of Hindus, various magical events occur there such as finding blue stones which multiply themselves.

17. <b>The Rose of Paraclesus</b> **** A potential acolyte approaches the alchemist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus">Paracelsus</a> and says that he will devote his life to following him if only Paracelsus will resurrect a rose blossom after it has been burnt to ashes.

18. <b>Shakespeare’s Memory</b> **** A Shakespeare obsessed German receives Shakespeare’s memory from another man who wanted to get rid of it. He finds that gradually his own language and memories are disappearing and his memory is being taken over by those of Shakespeare.

19. <b>Borges Looks Back</b> ***** This is the Afterword by Klaarika Kaldjärv. As always with the Estonian Loomingu Raamatukogu this provides an excellent overview of the career and writings of the original writer.

<b>* Footnote</b>
<blockquote><i>yo, que me figuraba el Paraiso
bajo la especie de una biblioteca.</i>
- Jorge Luis Borges (Poema de los Dones)</blockquote>
[When I imagine Heaven, I always picture it as a kind of library.]

<b>Trivia and Links</b>
The <i>LR Kuldsari</i> (Estonian: Golden Series) presents readers with a selection of works published in the Loomingu Raamatukogu (Estonian: The Creative's Library) throughout the ages. These are favorites from over the past six decades which confirm that the classics never get old! Six books will be published annually, one every two months. - translated from the publisher's website.

The <a href="http://www.loominguraamatukogu.ee/">Loomingu Raamatukogu</a> is a modestly priced Estonian literary journal which initially published weekly (from 1957 to 1994) and which now publishes 40 issues in about 20 volumes a year as of 1995. It is a great source for discovery as its relatively cheap prices (currently 8 to 9€ per issue) allow for access to a multitude of international writers in Estonian translation and of shorter works by Estonian authors themselves. These include poetry, theatre, essays, short stories, novellas and novels. The lengthier works are usually counted as several issues but printed in a single volume.

For a complete listing of all works issued to date by Loomingu Raamatukogu including those in the Golden Series (at the bottom) see Estonian Wikipedia at: https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loomingu_Raamatukogus_ilmunud_teoste_loend_aastak%C3%A4iguti

At 4 books a year, John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) was so prolific that his publishers insisted that he start using pseudonyms in order to not overwhelm the reading public. So the not-so-well disguised pennames of Carr Dickson and Carter Dickson were born.

<i>The White Priory Murders</i> is the 2nd of the Sir Henry Merrivale mysteries, where the retired Chief of Intelligence is called out from his Whitehall haunts in order to solve a so-called locked-room or impossible crime. In this case it is the murder of actress Marcia Tate on an island pavilion set on the White Priory estate. The pavilion sits on an island surrounded by ice and snow and there are no tracks in the snow until the morning when the body is discovered.

Although there were a considerable number of diversions and red herrings throughout, the final solution to this one was actually much more straightforward than is the case with many of Dickson's locked room mysteries. It certainly didn't require the acrobatics used in the first Merrivale case [book:The Plague Court Murders|1050701] (also 1934).

Although the case takes place in the winter with unbroken snow being a featured clue, there was otherwise nothing very Christmasy about this story. The subtitle <i>A Mystery for Christmas</i> seems to have been added by British Library Crime Classics for seasonal marketing purposes. This continues my annual tradition of reading a seasonally themed British Library Crime Classic at this time of the year.

<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1260924066i/7332059.jpg">
<i>The original cover on the 1934 William Morrow hardcover edition. Image sourced from the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7332059-the-white-priory-murders">Goodreads</a>.</i>

<b>Trivia and Links</b>
John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) is one of the 99 authors listed in [book:The Book of Forgotten Authors|34100964] (2017) by Christopher Fowler. He is No. 20 in the alphabetical listing which you can see towards the bottom of my review <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5759786113">here</a>.

The British Library Crime Classic series are reprints of forgotten titles from the 1860's through to the 1950's. You can see a list at the <a href="https://shop.bl.uk/collections/crime-classics">British Library Crime Classics Shop</a> (for North America they are reprinted by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press). There is also a Goodreads Listopia for the series which you can see <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/90356">here</a>.

<b>This is What They Do</b>
<i>A review of the Skyhorse Publishing / War Room Books kindle ebook (July 9, 2024) released simultaneously with the hardcover and following the earlier (June 26, 2024) release of the audiobook.</i>

I am as anti-communist as the next Estonian or other person of Eastern European origin whose family escaped the post World War II totalitarian terror of Soviet Russia and who had family as far back as 1917 murdered by the Bolsheviks. But Posobiec and his ghostwriter Lisec are doing the cause no favours with the nose-stretchers and the twisted views of the historical record in this propaganda tract.

I was curious about this as it was issued under the name of the right-wing agitator Posobiec and by the Steve Bannon inspired imprint The War Room in the lead up to the November 2024 American election. Although the MAGA chants and the various Commie-la aspersions are not used in the book, the unspoken bias and condemnation can be read between the lines. I wasn't prepared to pay the shockingly high list price for the book, but a Kindle Deal of the Day price of $3.99 on August 30, 2024 was just the ticket.

The rather bold use of the title <b>Unhumans</b>, which echoes Nazi Germany's use of the term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch">Untermenschen</a> (<i>German</i>: Under humans / Sub humans) for their non-Aryan subjects or foes, sets the stage. But there are various eye-opening allusions to come before we even get to the 20th century Communist terrors.

Without being very specific, even Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon is held up as an early example of a statesman putting down a proto-communist uprising. The French Revolution and the subsequent years of The Terror is used as another example of early communism. But probably the biggest shock is the portrayal of the Spanish dictatorship of Franco as a saviour of democracy.

Not all of it is untrue of course. There is no doubting the Red Terror of Lenin and Stalin, the decimation of the Chinese population by Mao Zedong, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, etc. But exaggerating the case and stretching it into making anti-Communist heroes out of Caesar, Napoleon, Franco, etc. is just way over the top.

So this should be read with a ton of salt and a look at some legitimate history books before making any conclusions. 

<b>Footnote</b> I took my lede from the refrain "This is what they do," which is repeated no less than 69 times (according to my kindle count) after each stated example in this book of how communists act or react.

<b>Other Reviews</b>
I noticed that the review by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6760273627">Arthur Rodriguez</a> gives a lengthy rebuttal to the story of portraying Franco's totalitarian regime as democratic liberators and freedom fighters.