What I read in April
LOTS about the 20th Century from WWII to Vietnam
The rest of April flew by in a flash! (I spent the first week at the beach and you can see what I read here.) I felt like I didn’t have a ton of time to read but I supposed that was more perception than reality because I finished four books. Of course, this first one I read in 24 hours so…I found the time when the plot required it!
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The world changes for men, Frances. For women, it stays pretty much the same.
Earlier this month, I read The Sympathizer, a novel about a Viet Cong spy. I mentioned here that The Women, the blockbuster novel about women nurses during the Vietnam War, would be a good complimentary read but that I was on an eleventy-month hold list at the library. Well, my friend Kristin generously dropped off her copy on my front porch so I didn’t have to wait! I picked up the novel casually on Thursday evening, stayed up until midnight weeping and reading (reeping? weading?), then spent the entirety of Friday finishing the novel.
I’d read Hannah’s The Great Alone and remember loving it but I was unprepared for how quickly this book sucked me in and wouldn’t let me out. I wouldn’t say it is a literary masterpiece but it is one hell of a novel. Hannah has her hands firmly on the reins and she knows exactly what she’s doing. Even as I recognized some of the plot was a smidge dramatic, I’m telling you I could not stop crying. Plus, at this point, I’m deep in my Vietnam reading flight and this was such a great addition. It is so easy for Vietnam to become an era, a political albatross, a characterization. The way Hannah let you feel the blood-and-guts reality of the war itself was impactful and the reason everyone can’t stop talking about this book. It also made it the perfect compliment to my other read…
True Believer: Hubert Humphrey's Quest for a More Just America by James Traub
You can get more done—that was what mattered, not how Humphrey had been treated.
I knew very little about Hubert Humphrey, except he was the nominee during the violent 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. However, letting this man, whose life and service stretched from FDR to Carter, be reduced to a historical footnote is a mistake. From the Civil Rights Act to Watergate, he was at the center of many of the biggest political fights of the 20th Century and there is as much to learn from his victories as from his failures. Much of his legacy is tainted by his calamitous support of the Vietnam War and it was so interesting to read about how the men in power (of which Hubert wasn’t really one because Lyndon Johnson was a HUGE asshole to him) thought about the conflict and continued to double down in the face of death and destruction. There are so many corollaries to our current time - especially with the student protests - that I found myself both comforted by the fact that we have faced these types of challenges before and discomforted by the reality we seem to be making the same mistakes again.
The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page
Television is a tough game and you don't win by always being Ms. Nice Guy.
I am a complete and total devotee of Susan Page’s biographies. If you have not read her biographies of Barbara Bush and Nancy Pelosi, do it now. Susan is such a brilliant writer and her own long and storied career in Washington allows her to bring both depth and lightness to her subjects. This biography of Barbara Walters is no different. Despite Barbara Walters being such a constant presence for most of my life, I knew very little about her and I think that’s the just what she intended. Thank goodness for Susan because there is so much to learn from the woman behind the legend - both good and bad.
We interview Susan about the book on Pantsuit Politics and I highly recommend it!
The Ghost Keeper by Natalie Morrill
There are none so powerless as the dead, and I believe one must in some way show mercy to memories as much as to bones.
This World War II novel was the April selection for Well-Read Mom and I had a little trouble in the beginning. Playing on the way memory isn’t linear the novel takes off in fits and starts as the main character Josef looks back on his life. Ultimately, the novel found its footing and is a unique telling of a period in history that has been well-mined. It’s not my favorite of the Well-Read Mom selections but, if you like World War II fiction, then it’s well worth your time.
What did you read in April?
My wife's grandfather's life was changed by a Hubert Humphrey speech. Quite literally. He was a schoolteacher in a white, well-to-do part of Michigan. Humphrey gave a speech which inspired him to pick up and move to Saginaw, and he spent 40+ years teaching in poor, majority black schools. He was quite a guy.
I just finished The Women about an hour ago. It was unputdownable!