King – Euphoria

You don’t expect much drama from anthropologists in the jungle, but the members of this trio divide their angst between their simmering and barely acknowledged love triangle and their understanding of pre-industrial river people of New Guinea in the 1930’s. The … Continue reading

Kertesz – Fatelessness

This is the autobiographical story of a holocaust survivor, Hungarian writer and Nobel Prize-winner, Imre Kertesz.  To me, it is reminiscent of Primo Levi and even Victor Frankl. A boy of fourteen is snatched from Budapest by the Nazis and … Continue reading

Middle Passage – Johnson

The title suggests a historical novel, for the Middle Passage was the sea route used by slavers going from West Africa to the Caribbean. The book does invoke important aspects of the slave trade, life at sea in the 1830’s, … Continue reading