A few comments on my current book, and the beginnings of my exploration of Netflix mystery series.
I'm reading Wrestling With His Angel, the second volume of Sidney Blumenthal's five-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. The second volume covers the years 1849-1856. Blumenthal (or his publisher) has termed the five volume project a "political biography". Having read and enjoyed the first volume, A Self-Made Man, which spans the years 1809-1849, "biographical history" or "political history" might be a better term than "political biography". Blumenthal's strength and perhaps also his weakness as a biographer is that his grasp of the historical events and movements swirling around the figure of Lincoln is truly amazing, so his biography is as much (or more) about background events as the actual life of his subject. In the current volume, I'm well over 100 pages in, and so far there has been only a little of substance reported of Lincoln's life. However, there have been deep dives into the politics and events in Kentucky (Clay), New York (Seward and Fillmore), Massachusetts (Webster and Sumner) with some minor excursions into Georgia (Stephens and Toombs) and Mississippi (Davis and Foote). And of course, Washington DC. Having read the first volume and a quarter or so of the second volume, I can say that I know a good deal more about such previously-obscure-to-me figures as Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. It's fascinating stuff, if a bit complex at times, and Blumenthal's style makes for highly readable history - and, occasionally, biography.
I try to block off a little time every evening to watch television. Usually I can squeeze in an hour after dinner; if I watch two hours, I start to feel lethargic. We have a Netflix account and I've been dipping a very little bit into some of their original programming. Our previous discussions here have revealed that some of us have a fondness for the sort of detective and police procedural fare shown on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery. I've recently watched three short series on Netflix which any fan of Morse or, say, the old Prime Suspect series would probably enjoy - at least I did, to varying degrees.
All three are set in contemporary times. And all three have women protagonists. An interesting thing about Netflix is that it serves a global marketplace, so its original programming isn't restricted to English language productions. If one is willing to read subtitles, new possibilities open up.
"The Valhalla Murders" is an Icelandic police procedural - it is set in Iceland, and all the dialogue is in Icelandic, with English subtitles. Its protagonist, Kata, a female detective with Iceland's national police force, is divorced with a teenage son. A series of murders leads her superiors to import a detective from Norway, Arnar, to assist her. Arnar is brooding and rather handsome. If you are a long-time Masterpiece Mystery watcher like I am, you'll see that the plotting and characters in this series are by the numbers - but we fans of these shows like these particular numbers. We rooted for Kata all the way. The portraits of Icelandic culture and society are fascinating, as is the language itself; I hadn't previously appreciated the apparent kinship between English and Nordic languages. Recommended.
"The Trial" is Italian with English subtitles. Despite its title, I wasn't able to discern a connection to Kafka. Its protagonist, Elena, is a prosecutor in the city of Mantua. She is hard charging and highly respected, but her marriage is floundering. She is confronted with the case of a murdered teenage girl. I don't think this counts as a spoiler, as it's revealed very early in the series: the victim turns out to be her daughter, whom Elena bore when she was herself very young and gave up for adoption. The plot has numerous twists and turns; and the series is not only a mystery to be solved but also an engrossing courtroom drama. There is an element of the telenovela: virtually all of the characters are highly telegenic, and there are undercurrents of sexual tension running throughout. Many of the episodes had a sex scene, which didn't always feel strictly necessary (I must be getting old) but admittedly the sexual encounters advanced the plot, and perhaps that sort of thing is expected of Italian programming. Vittoria Puccini is very good as Elena, portraying her as by turns competent and vulnerable. Recommended.
"Unbelievable" is American. Its based-on-true-events plot tells the story of two female detectives (Merritt Wever, Toni Collette) in Colorado who pursue a serial sexual predator. The predator has a distressing familiarity with investigative procedure, so he is adept at thwarting police attempts to identify him. The subject matter, sexual assault, is one that would upset many viewers, but is handled with an appropriate balance of realism and sensitivity. Wever's and Collette's two female detective characters both are compelling. One of the riveting aspects of this series is that it also follows the story of one of the victims, a teen named Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever). Adler is, in some ways, a predator's perfect victim: she has had a difficult life, bouncing around the foster care system, and with very little by way of a support network. The series opens with her sexual assault. We then watch in dismay as bungling male detectives from the local police department bully her into recanting her report of the crime. Sometimes a film or a series stays with me after it ends; this is one of them. The storytelling is strong throughout the series. "Unbelievable" has been nominated for a pack of awards. Highly recommended.
What are you reading and watching these days?
I admire your fortitude in tackling a five-volume Lincoln series.
ReplyDelete"The Valhalla Murders" sounds like one we'd like to check out. We don't have Netflix though. Since it is a Masterpiece Mystery we might be able to get it on PBS.
We do have Britbox and Acorn, and have enjoyed several series on them. The Miss Fisher Mysteries is one we have been watching. It takes place in Australia in the 1920s. I don't think the main characte, Miss Phryne Fisher, is hurting for money. I enjoy it almost as much for her wardrobe as for the story lines.
We finished Shetland. I think they are planning another season, as is Endeavour, and The Inforgotten, which runs a little too dark for me.
For Father's Day shopping, I got my dad what I always get him, books. Amazon is convenient for that. He is very hard of hearing so doesn't watch much tv any more except for closed caption on the Weather Channel. Because farmers and ranchers never retire from keeping their eyes on the weather.
At this point in his life, Dad's favorite reading is mystery series. He liked Tony Hillerman's before he passed away. Now his daughter Ann has taken up his characters Joe Leaphorn and Jimmy Chee. Dad was an avid Brother Cadfael fan, but has long since finished all of those. I got him started on Mel Starr's Hugh Singleton series, and Candace Robb's Owen Archer books. They are medieval era mysteries. This Father's Day I gave him the latest of Candace Robb's. I was glad to see she had taken up Owen Archer again, after several years hiatus.
I'm not reading all five volumes consecutively - I don't have that kind of sticking power. I'm not a very systematic reader; when this book is done, I'll go read something else, then something else, then circle back to Volume 3.
DeleteAt least you know what you are getting into with Blumenthal's Lincoln. I started Dumas Malone's Jefferson after the first two volumes came out. The flyleaf of volume 1 said it was the first of two volumes. The flyleaf on volume 2 said it was the second of three volumes. The flyleaf of volume 3 confessed it was the third of a "multi-volume" Life, which eventually reached six volumes. Malone was definitive for its day, but even as the last book was coming out, Sally Hemmings -- whom Malone dismissed in volume 3 (or 4) on the word of John Adams -- forced her way back into American history and the life of Jefferson.
ReplyDeleteTom, that is pretty funny, about the incredibly expanding two-volume work.
DeleteWhat was it that brought Sally Hemmings back into the story? I remember the brouhaha (during the 19709s?) but don't remember the details.
Sally Hemmings was a sidebar to Jefferson's story all along. A slave, she accompanied Jefferson when he was ambassador to France. And she was mother of several children. When Jefferson ran for president, opponents suggested a relationship; James Callendar, the Steve Bannon of his day, referred to her as "Jefferson's Dusky Sally." Malone wrote several on-the-one-hand-this, on-the -other-hand-that pages, but concluded that John Adams -- who was ambassador to London and close to Jefferson when TJ was in Paris -- said there was nothing to the Dusky Sally stories when they came up, and by then Adams was a political enemy of Jefferson.
DeleteBut after Malone wrote that, Fawn Brodie, a legitimate historian, revived the possibility that Jefferson had fathered Hemmings' children. Her book was a Book of the Month Club pick, was widely read, including by me.I found it persuasive but not definitive. Then another legit historian Annette Gordon Reed, wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning study of the issue, and by then the possibility of DNA testing of survivors was alive. There have been a couple of DNA runs with various Jefferson and Hemmings descendants, and there is definitely Jefferson DNA. in the Hemmings line. Rear-guarders say it still might have been a relative of Thomas, but they are up against Occam's Razor. I suppose this means the end of statues of he author of the Declaration.
I remember reading something about Sally Hemmings being Jefferson's wife's half sister. Which adds another layer of complication, especially if the alleged relationship existed during the lifetime of Mrs. Jefferson.
DeleteAs far as I know, Jefferson's "legitimate" descendants have accepted Sally Hemming's descendants as officially Jefferson family members.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-a-brief-account/monticello-affirms-thomas-jefferson-fathered-children-with-sally-hemings/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thomas-jefferson-sally-hemings-descendants-unite-over-a-troubled-past/
Another prominent man, born into slavery to a white man's slave wife - in a "common law" marriage - is Patrick Healy, SJ. His father and mother could not marry legally.
ReplyDeleteThe main building at Georgetown University is Healy Hall. I did my Masters at Georgetown, working full-time during the day, going to classes at night. I didn't hang out on campus, except for the library. But a few years ago I went there to hear a speaker. With time to kill, I wandered around and read the information about Fr. Healy, written beside his portrait. I had not known this history while a grad student there. He did not play up his background, born a slave to a slave mother- he was a fair-complexioned bi-racial man. But he is credited with saving Georgetown and rebuilding it after the end of the Civil War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Francis_Healy
Georgetown's Jesuits owned slaves. They are now trying to develop a reparations scheme for scholarship of those slaves descendants.
During our extended time of shelter in place, I have discovered how truly BORING most network and cable TV can be.
ReplyDeleteSo I have taken to binge watching old series, most of which I have in DVD form.
Game of Thrones, all 8 seasons’ worth: a lot of the early shows I had forgotten about.
West Wing: I am currently only in season one. The writing was truly inspired, timely and focused for each separate program. The principal actors were well selected for their parts and I can think of any of them who weren’t well cast. I am enjoying revisiting what I think was one of the BEST tv series of my lifetime.
Jim McC, I do agree with you about the West Wing - although I will say that, like a lot of shows, the writing slipped in the last few seasons.
DeleteAnother notable thing about that show is that it introduced us to a number of actors who have gone on to have success after their work on that show. Probably Rob Lowe was the only one I had been familiar with prior to West Wing.
I was unable to watch it when first aired because of the disparity between the fantasy of a Martin Sheen presidency and the reality of the Bush presidency. I guess the disparity is even worse now.
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