War and Peace...sort of...

I am a bit behind…what else is new? I finished ‘The Rule of Four’ by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason and ‘Saturday’ by Ian McEwan.

Saturday is a novel set within a single day in the early 2000’s. Henry Perowne, the main character, is successful neurosurgeon who enjoys a trouble free marriage and general home life. What he struggles with is the general state of the world—where we have ended up post-9-11. By ‘we’, I suppose for him it is London but he pessimistically ruminates on the state of the world beyond his singular metropolitan. I am not surprised as I have historically been a fan of Mr. McEwan’s writing, but this particular tale took my breath away. This novel is a singular day described in nearly 300 pages, but it doesn’t feel too long. It feels spirited and achingly beautiful in its depth and detail. The book opens with Henry journeying to a squash game with a colleague, fighting his way through war protests, only to have a rather serious run in with a thug boasting an unusual but identifiable medical condition. While Henry’s verbal pronouncement of his observations (of the young man’s condition) is an attempt to save his life; it only serves to enrage Baxter to the point of provocation. To assert his revenge, Baxter pays a menacing visit to the company filled Perowne home that evening. The events that unfold in those few terrifying hours will give Henry a new lease on life, a new perspective. It will quite literally lift the weight of the world off his shoulders and bring him to a place of peace and acceptance. The writing is in one word, beautiful. Although I could have done without some of the more technical medical terms, it breaks up the sheer emotionality of the story. While Henry tests his psyche, finding new ways to view the world that surrounds him, the reader has a chance to do the same. I seriously contemplated where I was in September of that year and where my path has taken me since. I, like Henry, often take myself and my universe too seriously. I used to think this was to the detriment of some of my relationships and now I realize that those connections just were not meant to be, and I wasn’t my most authentic self. Henry’s thoughts, while profoundly fictional, echoed my own feelings of insecurity. I cannot often say that a book changed my life, but this one came rather close. It sounds dramatic, but it is true. Henry comes to see his family and close relations as his treasures, and I feel exactly the same.

‘The Rule of Four’ by Caldwell and Thomason just helped me get through a long journey to and from Washington D.C. It had everything that I was craving to pass the time…intrigue, mystery, heart and history! It was a delight from start to finish. The main characters, Gil, Paul, Charlie and Tom, are students at Princeton, each coming from a dramatically different upbringing and background. The book really gets going when a murder occurs Easter weekend at the beautiful Ivy League campus and then swirls around the tale of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (yes I had to look up the spelling!), a famous text published in Italy in the 1400’s. The most profound impact, at least initially, is on Tom. His father dedicated his life (before perishing in a tragic car crash) to the studying of this baffling manuscript. Tom struggles with his sense of curiosity and obligation and then his desire to have a normal life [with his girlfriend and fellow students]. In the end the mystery wins out and Tom finds himself fully enraptured in the task of code cracking and riddle solving; despite his keen awareness that his document has ruined and destroyed careers, friendships and families. It is difficult to say what I found more absorbing, the ‘coming-of-age’ tale that the authors profoundly weave throughout these pages, or the story that unfolds as these young men travel to the center of the controversy surrounding the Hypnerotomachia. There is a certain sense of the dramatic that permeates this tale, so patience and an imagination are an absolute requirement, but luckily, I have both. The end had me cheering!

Summary: Both books were absolutely delightful…I recommend each wholeheartedly!