Monsieur Monde Vanishes by Georges Simenon

Monsieur Monde Vanishes (1945) is a novel by the prolific Belgian writer Georges Simenon. It begins on the morning of Norbert Monde’s 48th birthday. No one in his family remembers his birthday or wishes him. Likewise, his longtime employees forget it’s his birthday and treat the day as any other.

Monsieur Monde suddenly realizes he must escape his life in Paris. He leaves his second wife, two adult children, and successful career as an importer/exporter behind him, and he simply vanishes without a word of explanation. He withdraws a sum of money, has his mustache shaved off, and exchanges his perfectly tailored suit for a cheaper, ill-fitting suit in a second-hand store. He throws off his old clothes for a new identity and new life. Then he heads away on a crowded train to Marseilles with a sense that this rebellion has always been his fate.

In Marseilles, he overhears a fight in the hotel room next door, and saves a young woman named Julie from committing suicide. Julie and Monde understand one another to some extent, and Julie has no expectations of Monde, who has renamed himself Monsieur Désiré. Julie is a pragmatic, survivor. The pair travels to Nice together where no-nonsense Julie gets a job as a nightclub dancer at a gambling club. Julie manages to get Monde a job there too as a bookkeeper. Monde is also tasked with spying at a peephole, watching the staff and club members go about their nightly activities.

Monde is used to his routine in Nice when his first wife suddenly appears on the scene. Years ago, she left Monde and his children, and now she is a desperate drug addict. Monde helps her, but she doesn’t understand him. At the novel’s conclusion, Monde returns to his former life, but he’s a different man with a new outlook on life.

Monsieur Monde Vanishes is a novel about being taken for granted and about change, growth, and throwing off old habits.

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The October Country by Ray Bradbury

The October Country is a collection of dark and scary short stories by Ray Bradbury that was first published in 1955. The selection has an autumnal feel with a mix of psychological, spooky, supernatural, and horror elements.

The October Country includes the following 19 stories:

"The Dwarf"
"The Next in Line"
"The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse"
"Skeleton"
"The Jar"
"The Lake"
"The Emissary"
"Touched With Fire"
"The Small Assassin"
"The Crowd"
"Jack-in-the-Box"
"The Scythe"
"Uncle Einar"
"The Wind"
"The Man Upstairs"
"There Was an Old Woman"
"The Cistern"
"Homecoming"
"The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone"

I’ve been meaning to read the book in the fall for the past several years. This year, I carried out my plan and I started reading the book in October and continued reading it through the fall. My favorite story in the collection was “The Lake,” a poignant story about a man who returns to his hometown where he remembers an old friend named Tally who drowned as a child. I also found “Skeleton” and “The Scythe” to be particularly creepy.

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So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men (2023) is a short volume of three short stories by Irish writer Claire Keegan.

The first story, "So Late in the Day," is the story of a man named Cathal who is reflecting on his failed relationship on what would have been his wedding day.

The second story, "The Long and Painful Death," is about a woman writer who is driving to Heinrich Böll’s house on Achill Island where she will begin a prestigious writing residency. The following day is the woman’s 39th birthday. Before starting work that morning, a German man, who is a stranger to her, visits wanting to tour the home. She agrees to meet him in the evening, but resents his intrusion to her day. She spends part of the day swimming, gathering berries, and baking herself a birthday cake. The man arrives, resentful and angry that she has spent the day swimming and baking instead of writing. He doesn’t think she deserves to be there. His misogyny is clear as he devours her birthday cake. The woman is inspired by the visit to write a story.

The third and final story, titled "Antarctica," is about a married woman who decides to have an affair out of boredom. While the woman intends to find freedom and fun, she instead finds something much darker.

Each of the stories explores misogyny, how women react to awful male behaviors, and the relationships between men and women. It’s an interesting trio of tales.

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The Door by Magda Szabó

The Door by Magda Szabó is a haunting and unusual novel about the connection between two women. I read the translation from Hungarian by Len Rix. The story is narrated by a writer named Magda and describes her relationship with her servant Emerence. Magda begins the story by recounting a recurring nightmare and makes a dark confession.

Set in Budapest, Hungary, Magda’s story then winds back in time to recount how she and her husband decide to hire Emerence as their servant. Magda’s writing career is finally thriving again after it was restrained by the Hungarian government and various forces for years. To have enough time for her work, she tries to hire Emerence do the housework. Emerence is unusual and strong-willed. She tells Magda that she needs time to decide whether to take the job as she doesn’t work for just anyone.

In her own time, Emerence chooses to work for Magda and her husband. Emerence gets all the housework done, but keeps her own odd schedule. She has many other obligations in their neighborhood. Magda and Emerence have a love-hate relationship characterized by misunderstanding, cruelty, duty, and affection. It is a troubling portrayal of two unlikable and complex women over the course of 20 years.

Emerence doesn’t show Magda a whit of respect for her writing; instead, she values working with her hands. Magda resents Emerence at times, but is fascinated by her. She slowly pieces together Emerence’s life story, but she is never able to obtain a full picture of her. Magda sometimes longs for Emerence to be a mother figure to her, but she fails to be a dutiful daughter when called to do so.

The story ends in tragedy, and the ending is ambiguous and haunting. The writer is unnamed until late in the novel when she is referred to as Magdushka a single time. I was left wondering if the novel was autobiographical or not.

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Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Cat’s Cradle is a novel by Kurt Vonnegut that was published in 1963. The story is a wild, satirical tale told by a narrator named John, who wants the reader to call him Jonah. Told in flashback, John is working on a book, called The Day the World Ended, about what people were doing on the day the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

John is particularly interested in the late Felix Hoenikker, a creator of the atomic bomb, and he plans to interview Hoenikker’s children and coworkers. Along the way, he learns that Felix Hoenikker invented a substance called ice-nine, which acts as a seed crystal to make water freeze at room temperature.

Later on, another writing assignment brings John to San Lorenzo, a fictional island in the Caribbean. Hoenikker’s three children, Frank, Angela, and Newt, are all there too. During his journey to San Lorenzo, John learns about Bokononism, a humorous religion based on lies. When he reaches the island, he meets the beautiful Mona and the island's dying dictator. So much happens that it's hard to even summarize.

One of my favorite parts was the vocabulary from the The Books of Bokonon. The term karnass refers to a team of seemingly random people that carries out God's will. They're the people that each life is tangled together with for no logical reason. In contrast, a granfalloon is a false karnass, or a meaningless grouping of people, for instance, "any nation, anytime, anywhere."

Cat’s Cradle has short chapters, each serving a purpose of making a commentary. The book is dark, cynical, and absurd, with commentary on science, religion, government, business, and the (lack of) meaning of life.

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Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda

Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda is a collection of intertwined short stories featuring living humans interacting with ghosts and spirits. Matsuda’s inspiration for each story came from Japanese folktales, legends, kabuki, rakugo, and plays. She provides synopses for the original tales at the end of the book. I read the English translation from the Japanese by Polly Barton.

The stories are unique in that the ghosts and spirits are growing, learning, and changing. The spirits are not scary, horrifying, or frightening; instead, they exist side by side with the living. The collection begins with the story of a young woman who is blaming herself after her boyfriend breaks up with her. The ghost of her aunt who died by suicide appears to the woman, reminding her not to destroy her strength. Later, the young woman’s cousin (her aunt’s grieving son) appears in other stories. Many of the stories are interconnected. Some stories are connected by the characters, others by their themes, and still others by their location.

I enjoyed the stories and wish I was familiar with the originals. In this season of ghosts, reading this volume was a good reminder that there are spirits all around us, if we just open our eyes to them.

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The Dinner by Herman Koch

The Dinner by Herman Koch is a dark, corrosive tale about bad people doing bad things. I read the English translation of the novel from the Dutch by Sam Garrett. Set in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the book tells the story of two brothers and their wives who meet for dinner at a fancy restaurant to discuss a family matter involving their sons.

The book’s sections are named for the dinner’s five courses: aperitif, appetizer, main course, dessert, and digestif. Paul Lohman and his wife Claire arrive at the restaurant first. They await the arrival of Paul’s brother Serge and Serge's wife Babette. Serge is a famous politician who is planning to run for Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Paul is the narrator, and he’s an unreliable one. Beyond that, he’s a sociopath. Paul is aware that his son Michel and Serge’s son Rick have committed a heinous crime. Their violent act was recorded on video, but the boys have not yet been identified. Over the course of the dinner, their parents must decide—should they turn their sons in, or should they cover up and ignore their crime?

To any reader with a moral compass, the decision is obvious, but these characters lack morals.


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The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

The Blue Castle (1926) is one of my favorite stories by L.M. Montgomery. It’s about a woman’s rebellion and rebirth as she gains the courage to be herself. I re-read the novel this year after many years while sitting near a castle. It was time for a re-read, and I had just the right spot.

Valancy Stirling starts out as a meek, overlooked woman. She’s restricted by her overbearing, judgmental family and keeps her thoughts to herself. It’s only when she learns that she is dying that she truly begins to live.

The Blue Castle is a great novel to read when you need a little courage to change and grow or if you need a simple reminder to be yourself. It’s also perfect if you want to read a book with a romantic and happy ending.

If you know me, you know I love the author, and I’ve had a website about L.M. Montgomery and her writings for years.

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) is a novel by Ottessa Moshfegh about a depressed, unnamed 26-year-old woman who decides to hibernate for a year and emerge as a new person. The narrator seems to have it all—she’s young, she’s blond, thin, and beautiful, she’s wealthy and lives off an inheritance in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and she has a job at an art gallery in Chelsea.

Despite these privileges, she’s dissatisfied, dark, and miserable. We learn that her emotionally unavailable father died of cancer during her junior year at Columbia, and her unfeeling, alcoholic mother committed suicide weeks later. The narrator has little self esteem and has an on-again off-again relationship with Trevor, a cruel older man who works on Wall Street and uses her for sex. She has a complex, resentful relationship with her best friend Reva, whom she seems to judge, dislike, and tolerate. Reva’s mother is dying of cancer, but the narrator is so detached that she has no sympathy for her friend.

She says, "I was both relieved and irritated when Reva showed up, the way you'd feel if someone interrupted you in the middle of suicide. Not that what I was doing was suicide. In fact, it was the opposite of suicide. My hibernation was self-preservational. I thought that it was going to save my life."

As the narrator begins to sleep more and more, she finds relief in the emptiness. She contacts an unethical psychiatrist named Dr. Tuttle, and lies about her symptoms, claiming to be an insomniac. Dr. Tuttle barely listens to the narrator, but prescribes her a wide array of pharmaceuticals to help her sleep.

She contemplates her library of psychopharmaceuticals thinking, "Life was fragile and fleeting and one had to be cautious, sure, but I would risk death if it meant I could sleep all day and become a whole new person."

Will the narrator’s plan work? Is sleep and escape from reality really the answer?

I bought this book sight unseen from Barnes and Noble. It was a surprise book, wrapped up and labeled with the above synopsis as part of a “Blind Date with a Book” display. I don’t think I would have picked the book up on my own, and selecting it helped expand my reading.

Although the narrator craved sleep throughout this book, the story kept me awake, reading until the very end.

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Late Fame by Arthur Schnitzler

Late Fame is a novella by the Austrian novelist and playwright Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931). In 1938, Schnitzler’s writings were saved from the Nazis and moved to the Cambridge University Library. In 2014, Late Fame was re-discovered in Schnitzler's archives and published posthumously.

Schnitzler is known writing with candor about pleasure-seeking and sex in fin-de-siècle Vienna. Sigmund Freud called Schnitzler his "doppelgänger." Many of Schnitzler’s works were censored and banned because of their subject matter. In recent years, Schnitzler’s story Traumnovelle (Rhapsody or Dream Story) was adapted by Stanley Kubrick as the film Eyes Wide Shut starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

In Late Fame, we meet Eduard Saxberger, an older man who lives quietly in Vienna and works as a civil servant. One evening, a young man named Wolfgang Meier arrives at his door asking if he is the poet of the Wanderings. Saxberger is astonished. In his youth, he published a volume of poetry, but his writing was never recognized. Like many people, Saxberger went on with life and stopped writing. But now, this young man and his circle of aspiring literary friends have rediscovered Saxberger’s writings and wish to celebrate him.

Meier invites Saxberger to join his literary society called "Enthusiasm." The group meets at a local coffee shop. Saxberger begins to attend and enjoys the admiration of the group. He explores his dusty documents, reads his old writings, and wonders if he is a poet after all. The literary society decides to put on a recital to get recognition for their works, and they ask Saxberger to contribute a new piece.

Saxberger agrees, but can he can he write a new work? Can he recapture his youthful dream? And does he fit in with this group of young writers, or is he past his prime?

Late Fame explores themes of aspiration, aging, artistic temperament, and vanity and is both tragic and comedic.

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You Will Find Your People by Lane Moore

You Will Find Your People: How to Make Meaningful Friendships as an Adult by Lane Moore is a memoir and self-help book published in 2023. It's a hopeful, heartbreaking, encouraging, and funny read.

When I started reading it, I was not quite sure what to expect, but when Lane Moore started talking about Anne of Green Gables in the second chapter, I was compelled to read more. As someone who's always looking for kindred spirits like Anne Shirley, I knew I shared that with the author.

I found the book compelling because it covers so many aspects of friendship that no one talks openly about like the grief and pain of losing friendships. Moore also talks about the influence of pop culture on our friendship ideals.

After finishing the book, I read a beautiful essay where Lane Moore talks about friendship and Anne of Green Gables called, "I Want a Bosom Friendship Like Anne Shirley and Diana Barry." She wrote the essay for Powell’s Books Blog on April 25, 2023. Until just a couple months ago, I used to live a few blocks from Powell’s. Moore's essay is really lovely, and I think any fan of Anne of Green Gables should read it.

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My Favorite Tori Amos Songs

Tori Amos celebrated her 60th birthday yesterday. She's a talented singer-songwriter and pianist and one of my favorite musicians. Recently, I made a list of 20 of my favorite songs by her (and in one case a cover by her).

1. Here. In My Head
2. Silent All These Years
3. Concertina
4. Cornflake Girl
5. Crucify
6. A Sorta Fairytale
7. Take to the Sky
8. Sugar
9. Little Earthquakes
10. Black Dove
11. Siren
12. God
13. Baker Baker
14. Caught a Lite Sneeze
15. Rattlesnakes
16. 1000 Oceans
17. Datura
18. Raspberry Swirl
19. Honey
20. Sweet Dreams


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Later by Stephen King

Later is a novel by Stephen King that was published by Hard Case Crime in 2021. It’s a suspense, crime, and horror story with paranormal elements.

The story is narrated by Jamie Conklin, a young man who recounts strange and horrific events from his childhood in New York City. Jamie is being raised alone by his mother Tia, and the mother-son pair have a close relationship built upon trust.

Tia runs a literary agency. She took over the agency after her brother Harry was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease. Tia struggles to keep the agency afloat because she and her brother made poor financial investments, and their business suffered losses. Now, due to her brother’s illness, Tia must also provide support to maintain her brother’s care.

Since his childhood, Jamie has had the unusual ability to see and communicate with dead people. In his youth, Jamie was frightened after he saw a dead man wave at him after being killed in a car accident in Central Park. Later, he communicated with the dead wife of his neighbor Professor Martin Burkett. Jamie can only see the dead for a short period after they die, and they appear in the same state as when they died (sometimes pretty gruesome). The dead eventually fade out and disappear from Jamie’s view. When he asks dead people questions, they answer him honestly. Jamie’s ability worries his mother, so the pair keep it a secret, and Jamie keeps his sightings to himself.

Later on, we learn that Tia has shared Jamie’s secret with her girlfriend Liz Dutton, a cop who works for the NYPD. Jamie is hurt by his mother’s betrayal. It turns out that Liz is a dirty cop, and Tia eventually breaks up with her. Both Tia and Liz use Jamie’s ability to save their careers. Tia uses her son to learn the plot of a novelist who dies before completing his final novel in a long, popular series.

Afterwards, Liz puts Jamie in substantial danger when she forces him to communicate with an evil serial bomber Kenneth Therriault to figure out where Therriault planted his final bomb. Unlike the other dead people Jamie sees, Therriault doesn’t disappear after a few days, but continues to contact and threaten Jamie. Jamie seeks help from Professor Burkett to rid himself of Therriault’s spirit. Then, just when you think Jamie’s got through the worst, Liz returns to kidnap Jamie and force him to participate in her latest corrupt scheme.

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Sun-Scorched Dreams

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95 Poems by E.E. Cummings

Published in 1958, 95 Poems was the final book of poetry published by E.E. Cummings during his life. It’s a joyous and beautiful work that left me with a sense of joie de vivre.

The poems are about nature, the seasons, love, aging, as well as observations of people, animals, and the universe. Cummings breaks the rules of punctuation, word order, capitalization, and spacing as an artistic statement. In each poem, his word placement serves a purpose. Cummings’s way of writing is spirited, and his exuberant, unique technique of playing with words is both inspiring and entertaining.

A few of my favorite lines include:

because you aren't afraid to kiss the dirt
(and consequently dare to climb the sky)
-poem 7

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
-poem 10

but more than all(as all your more than eyes
tell me)there is a time for timelessness
-poem 11

(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me
-poem 16

honour the past
but welcome the future
-poem 60

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)
-poem 92


Years ago, my husband and I lived down the street from his birthplace and childhood home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I wish I’d read this lovely volume back then.

External Link:
Cummings Archive - an archival collection of E.E. Cummings's drafts and notes curated by Aaron M. Moe, Ph.D.

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I Know a Girl

I know a girl
Who’s fair and pretty
She sprinkles hashtags
Like confetti—
Blessed and grateful
Live laugh love
Her heart’s pure gold.
She’s a shimmering dove.

And I look in the mirror
At my dark hair
And at the shadows
Everywhere.
Blessed or unblessed?
Give try share
Heart on my sleeve,
Crafting castles in the air.


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Magnetic

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Tori Amos: Piece by Piece by Tori Amos and Ann Powers

Tori Amos: Piece by Piece is an autobiography of the musician Tori Amos that was cowritten by Amos and Ann Powers. Published on February 8, 2005, the memoir describes Tori Amos’s childhood and musical training, her creative process, and her career and musical circle. The book also provides an enlightening look at Tori’s relationship with her fans and her family life.

As a longtime fan, I enjoyed the parts of the book that described Tori Amos’s songwriting process and creative inspirations. I also liked the chapter on her image in terms of fashion and photography. I gained a sense of what touring is like for her and her crew. It was fun to learn how she creates her unique setlists with consideration for the city she’s playing in and current events. The chapter on her split from Atlantic Records was informative. I knew it was acrimonious, but I had no idea how awful it was. She provides some great advice for aspiring musicians about the music industry.

I wish the book had sharper editing overall. Though I’m a big fan, I found it hard to read the memoir at times. The chapter titles and effort to relate Tori to archetypes and mythological characters seemed forced to me.

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Rose

I haven't been drawing for a while, but last night I set aside some time to sketch this delicate rose.



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Spring Buttercup

Here's a little spring buttercup I drew this morning.



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Cherry Blossoms

I drew some cherry blossoms on an early morning airplane flight.



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Where Hope Comes From by Nikita Gill

Where Hope Comes From is a book of poetry by Nikita Gill. Published in 2021, Gill’s poems reflect on the coronavirus pandemic and how to find strength and hope in a time of loneliness and isolation. Her poems are divided into five sections thematically using the life cycle of a star. The book is illustrated with her watercolors and drawings.

I especially loved the poems “Letter to My Younger Self in Times of Turbulence,” “Notes on Survival,” “The Present,” “In Contemplation,” and “Spring Cleaning.” I was struck by the lines in “The Confrontation” saying, “This is what loneliness does. It acts as a mirror for who you are.” I also loved the opening lines of “Daily Mantra 2” reading, “There is still room for love. Even after being uprooted…” A few more of my favorites were “The Forest,” “Love in the Time of Coronavirus,” and “93 Percent Stardust.”

I found Nikita Gill’s poems to be thoughtful, understanding, and encouraging. Her sweet message on the book's back cover reminds her readers that they are not alone. Her poems have a universal quality, but they are also grounded in the everyday. I look forward to reading more of her writing.

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