Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene, 242 pages

The protagonist of The Heart of the Matter, Major Henry Scobie, is an Assistant Commissioner of Police in an unnamed British African colony during the Second World War.  Scobie is an honest, though not necessarily virtuous, man in a sink of corruption, but his apparent honesty only results in rumors of some secret, deeper, and more shameful corruption.  Meanwhile, Scobie is able to please neither his superiors, who pass him over for promotion, nor his wife Louise, who has been desperately unhappy since the death of their daughter, nor the clandestine agent sent to investigate possible espionage, whose personal dislike of Scobie leads him to target the major, nor the young widow with whom he begins an affair, but for whom he cannot leave his wife, nor his God, to whom he is above all else responsible.

In a novel as bleak and gloomy as the seemingly neverending rains, Greene painstakingly maps "the wide region of repentance and longing" as Scobie works out his damnation with fear and trembling.  If such a thing is really possible.

Road to Wellville

The Road to Wellville by T Coraghessan Boyle, 476 pages

In the first decade of the twentieth century , the capital of healthy living was Battle Creek, Michigan, and the center of Battle Creek was the Sanitarium made famous by Dr Harvey Kellogg.  Dr Kellogg, in turn, is one of the main characters of T Coraghessan Boyle's tragicomic novel of those seeking health and those seeking wealth in Battle Creek.  He is joined by the Lightbodies, Will and Eleanor, she devoted mind and body to the Doctor's gospel of healthy living, he somewhat more reluctant and skeptical; Charlie Ossining, a would-be cereal entrepeneur who increasingly comes to suspect that his partner, Bender, is conning him as well as their investors; and Dr Kellogg's Luciferian adopted son, George.  Individually and collectively, they must struggle to stay fit in a treacherous world of obsession, greed, lust, and daily enemas.

Boyle is undoubtedly a skilled writer, and there are definite moments where The Road to Wellville shines.  More frequently, however, there is a certain atmosphere of artificiality - the characters are not quite realistic enough to be entirely believable, not quite caricatured enough to be absurd.  The novel seems to promise a colorful cast of characters, from the quacks at the Sanitarium to the hustlers in the town, but remains stubbornly focused on the main characters, of whom only Kellogg is particularly interesting.  Combine this with the indulgent length of the novel, and many readers are likely to find reading about Dr Kellogg's Sanitarium as interminable as Will Lightbody found his stay.

The Country of Marriage

The Country of Marriage by Wendell Berry, 53 pages

 

This short collection of poems has the usual Wendell Berry hallmarks - sense of place, reverence for man and nature, concern for the connections between people and places and sadness at their disappearance.  The quality of the poems is uneven, but there are a few genuine gems, especially "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" and "The Gathering".  None of the poems seem labored or overstay their welcome.

 

At turns wise, moving, and occasionally even beautiful, Berry's poetry is definitely worth reading.

Circle of Wives

Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante
311 Pages


When Dr John Taylor turns up dead in a hotel room at first it seems as if he just had a heart attack.  However, investigators notice a small puncture wound on his back making his death suspicious.  As Detective Sam Adams investigates this pillar of the community she uncovers a startling secret.  He has three wives.

This would be best categorized as a literary mystery.  As the book progresses we learn how each wife interacted with the doctor and their motives, desires and histories.  Written with deft style,  you don't find out until the end what happened.