FFB: THE DRAMATIST, Ken Bruen

 

We lost Ken Bruen recently, which is sad. He brought me many great reading hours. I have read several of the wonderful Jack Taylor novels, They all are imbued with great dialogue, poetry, action, angst, Ireland, literary and musical references, quirky characters.

In a word, they are all special. But THE DRAMATIST is my favorite.

Jack Taylor is newly sober in this entry in the series and finding it a chore. Bruen turns the heat up by placing Jack in harm's way in a number of ways. Taylor finds it especially hard to keep things on an even keel when his ex-drug-dealer, now in jail, asks him to find the murderer of his daughter. He also becomes involved with an old lover and her scary husband, a vigilante group, and the usual assortment of Bruen characters and temptations.

Bruen's books are outstanding because of the fully-realized life he invests Taylor with. Oh, and the plots are great, too. But he generously allows you to enter into Jack Taylor's world in a way few authors pull off. You know him. You root for him.

The end of this book will send you over the edge. I guarantee it. I am not much for crying but this one made me bawl.

Short Story Wednesday "Something Has Come to Light" Mirian Toews

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/25/something-has-come-to-light-fiction-miriam-toews 

 

Perhaps you have read novels by Miriam Toews or saw the excellent movie based on one of them, WOMEN TALKING. A memoir by Toews comes out this month. Toews, who fled her Mennonite community at 18, has said she feels the need to write about who she might have been if she stayed. 

This story is set in the Mennonite community in Manitoba. A farm wife near death at an old age tells the story of a boy she met, and refused, as a girl. It is quite short but paints a good picture of a religious community and this particular woman.  

We get so few stories about Mennonites or the Amish. Their world is rarely talked about although there is quite a large community in Sarasota, FL and I see they do have their own publishers and books.  

 

George Kelley 

Tracy K 

Jerry House 

Monday, Monday

 

Enjoying THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES on BritBox. Not a lot else although watching some movies here and there (Rohmer's A TALE OF SUMMER) and a bio doc on David Hockney. 

This was the weekend of the WOODWARD DREAM CRUISE, which seems to get bigger each year. Thousands of classic cars to remember. 

Had a final dinner with Kevin and his folks. He leaves for Madison next Sunday.  

Reading THE ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell although it doesn't seem like my kind of book. 

I did enjoy ABSOLUTION for my other book group though. 

What are you doing? 

FFB: A GREAT DELIVERANCE, Elizabeth George

 

I read this in 1988, which was the year it was published. It was George's first Lynley novel and a real corker as the Brits might say. I recently watched it on the series and it was also well done there. I like when the lives of the detectives are part of the story and right from this first book we learn Lynley has been disappointed in love and Carol Havers, his assistant, has a parent with dementia she is responsible for. 

I understand a new series is coming but I am not sure if this will be the first book they refilm. It is quite a bloody and upsetting beginning because it appears a farmer's daughter has murdered him. I am anxious to see who replaces Lynley. 

Short Story Wednesday, THE AGE OF GRIEF, Jane Smiley

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres—a luminous novella and short stories that explore the vicissitudes of love, friendship, and marriage. • “A glorious achievement….. Infinitely satisfying….. A triumph.” —The New York Times Book Review

In “The Pleasure of Her Company,” a lonely, single woman befriends the married couple next door, hoping to learn the secret of their happiness. In “Long Distance,” a man finds himself relieved of the obligation to continue an affair that is no longer compelling to him, only to be waylaid by the guilt he feels at his easy escape. And in the incandescently wise and moving title novella, a dentist, aware that his wife has fallen in love with someone else, must comfort her when she is spurned, while maintaining the secret of his own complicated sorrow. Beautifully written, with a wry intelligence and a lively comic touch, The Age of Grief captures moments of great intimacy with grace, clarity, and indelible emotional power.

A Thousand Acres was Smiley's most successful book-it was a modern take on King Lear. But she was a fine short story writer too. I read this collection in 1988. 

 George Kelley

Jerry House 

TracyK 

Neeru

Monday, Monday

 

Have you read ON THE ROAD? I never made it through although both Phil and Megan were fans and I remember going to an exhibition of artifacts at the NYPL on 42nd Street a few years back. The movie was good enough but all of the info was widely known facts.

Also saw SKETCH, which turned out to be a kids' movie. 

Watching THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT on Britbox, PLATONIC (Apple) and THE GILDED AGE.  Still reading ABSOLUTION. So wickedly hot here. 

We had a water main break here and I have to boil water for another day. Wonder if that is heat-related.  

What about you?