Literary Biography & Memoir Vote • September 2014

[sun surfer]

Help choose the September 2014 selection to read for the MR Literary Club! The poll will be open for three days and a discussion thread will begin shortly after a winner is chosen.

The vote is multiple choice. You may vote for as many or as few as you like. If you vote for the winner it is hoped that you will read the selection with the club and/or join in the discussion.

In the event of a tie, there will be a one-day non-multiple-choice run-off poll. If the run-off also ends in a tie, then the tie will be resolved in favour of the selection that received all of its initial nominations first.


Select from the following works:


Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang

Spoiler:

A New York Times Notable book. Available at Amazon and Kobo in multiple countries as well as Overdrive libraries in the US.


Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled China for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor’s numerous concubines. When he died in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China—behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.

In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, the telegraph and an army and navy with up-to-date weaponry. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like “death by a thousand cuts” and put an end to foot-binding. She inaugurated women’s liberation and embarked on the path to introduce parliamentary elections to China. Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot.

Cixi reigned during extraordinary times and had to deal with a host of major national crises: the Taiping and Boxer rebellions, wars with France and Japan—and an invasion by eight allied powers including Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States. Jung Chang not only records the Empress Dowager’s conduct of domestic and foreign affairs, but also takes the reader into the depths of her splendid Summer Palace and the harem of Beijing’s Forbidden City, where she lived surrounded by eunuchs—one of whom she fell in love, with tragic consequences. The world Chang describes here, in fascinating detail, seems almost unbelievable in its extraordinary mixture of the very old and the very new.

Based on newly available, mostly Chinese, historical documents such as court records, official and private correspondence, diaries and eyewitness accounts, this biography will revolutionize historical thinking about a crucial period in China’s—and the world’s—history. Packed with drama, fast paced and gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world’s population, and as a unique stateswoman.

Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin

Spoiler:

From The Guardian:

Sex, drink, plague, fire, music, marital conflict, the fall of kings, corruption and courage in public life, wars, navies, public executions, incarceration in the Tower: Samuel Pepys's life is full of irresistible material, and Claire Tomalin seizes it with both hands. She shapes it with a professional dexterity that would be the envy of Pepys the great administrator himself, into a fast, vivid, accessible story.


Squibs cited at Amazon:

"A magnificent triumph. . . . Absolutely stunning." --"The Atlantic Monthly "Invaluable. . . . [Tomalin] not only brings [Pepys] back to vibrant life, but makes a powerful case that he's more central, more 'relevant, ' than we ever imagined." --"The New York Times Book Review ""A magisterial book [written] with an elegance and concision that few historians could match. . . . You have to love Samuel Pepys. He is us." --"San Francisco Chronicle ""Exceptional. . . . Nuanced, moving. . . . A book teeming, like the diary, with clarity, momentum and great pleasure." --"Chicago Tribune ""Exemplary. . . . The perfect bookend to [Pepys's] own rollicking self-portrait." --"The New York Times ""Fine and engrossing. . . . Tomalin possesses a particularly graceful and pleasing diction, a proper sense of measure, and a piquant willingness to express her own views." --"The Washington Post Book World ""Excellent. . . . Remarkable and sympathetic. . . . One is not likely to think of Pepys in the same way again." --"St. Louis Post-Dispatch ""A superb biography by a writer at the height of her powers." --Whitbread Award Judges' Citation

The Story of San Michele by Alex Munthe

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

The Story of San Michele (a villa built on the ruins of a Roman Emperor's villa in Capri) is a series of overlapping vignettes, roughly but not entirely in chronological order. It contains reminiscences of many periods of the author's life. He associated with a number of celebrities of his times, including Jean-Martin Charcot, Louis Pasteur, Henry James, and Guy de Maupassant, all of whom figure in the book. He also associated with the very poorest of people, including Italian immigrants in Paris and plague victims in Naples, as well as rural people such as the residents of Capri, and the Nordic Lapplanders. He was an unabashed animal lover, and animals figure prominently in several stories, perhaps most notably his alcoholic pet baboon, Billy.

The stories cover a wide range in terms of both how serious they are and how literal. Several discussions with animals and various supernatural beings take place, and the final chapter actually takes place after Munthe has died and includes his discussions with Saint Peter at the gates of Heaven. At no point does Munthe seem to take himself particularly seriously, but some of the things he discusses are very serious, such as his descriptions of rabies research in Paris, including euthanasia of human patients, and a suicide attempt by a man convinced he had been exposed to the disease.

Several of the most prominent figures in Munthe's life are not mentioned in Story of San Michele. His wife and children do not figure in the narrative; very little of his time in England is mentioned, even though he married a British woman, his children were largely raised in England, and he himself became a British citizen during the First World War. His decades-long service as personal physician and confidante to the Queen of Sweden is mentioned only in the most oblique terms; at one point, while naming her only as "she who must be mother to a whole nation", he mentions that she regularly brings flowers for the grave of one of her dogs buried at Villa San Michele, at another point, one of his servants is out walking his dogs, and encounters the Queen, who mentions having given the dog to Munthe.

Munthe published a few other reminiscences and essays during the course of his life, and some of them were incorporated into The Story of San Michele, which vastly overshadows all his other writing both in length and popularity. Notably, his accounts of working with a French ambulance corps during the First World War are not included.

World wide, the book was immensely successful; by 1930, there had been twelve editions of the English version alone, and Munthe added a second preface. A third preface was written in 1936 for an illustrated edition.

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings

Spoiler:

.

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire

Spoiler:

US National Book Award Winner for Nonfiction (2003). Available at Amazon and Kobo in multiple countries. Also at Overdrive in limited locations and Oyster & Scribd subscription services.


"Have mercy on me, Lord, I am Cuban." In 1962, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Havana--exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by Fidel Castro's revolution. This stunning memoir is a vibrant and evocative look at Latin America from a child's unforgettable experience.

Waiting for Snow in Havana is both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. For the Cuba of Carlos's youth--with its lizards and turquoise seas and sun-drenched siesta--becomes an island of condemnation once a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Fidel Castro ousts President Batista on January 1, 1959. Suddenly the music in the streets sounds like gunfire. Christmas is made illegal, political dissent leads to imprisonment, and too many of Carlos's friends are leaving Cuba for a place as far away and unthinkable as the United States. Carlos will end up there, too, and fulfill his mother's dreams by becoming a modern American man--even if his soul remains in the country he left behind.

Narrated with the urgency of a confession, Waiting for Snow in Havana is a eulogy for a native land and a loving testament to the collective spirit of Cubans everywhere.

Los Angeles Times: "The most accomplished literary expression of exile sensibility to have appeared to date. What is powerful and lasting about the book is Eire's evocation of childhood and his extraordinary literary ability."

The Boston Globe: "Eire is gifted with what might be called lyric precision"
-- a knack for grasping the life of a moment through its sensuous particulars....Vigorously written and alive.

The Washington Post: "Bursting with wonderful details and images and populated by characters so well described that they seem to be sitting next to you on the couch."


Waiting for Snow in Havana is in ePub format at Angus & Robertson and in paperback at Booktopia. Here's a link.
http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/ebo.../9781471108358

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

In 1941, a brilliant, good-looking young man decided to give up a promising literary career in New York to enter a monastery in Kentucky, from where he proceeded to become one of the most influential writers of this century. Talk about losing your life in order to find it. Thomas Merton's 1st book, The Seven Storey Mountain, describes his early doubts, his conversion to a Catholic faith of extreme certainty, & his decision to take life vows as a Trappist. Altho his conversionary piety sometimes falls into sticky-sweet abstractions, Merton's autobiographical reflections are mostly wise, humble & concrete. The best reason to read The Seven Storey Mountain, however, may be the one Merton provided in his introduction to its Japanese translation: "I seek to speak to you, in some way, as your own self. Who can tell what this may mean? I myself do not know, but if you listen, things will be said that are perhaps not written in this book. And this will be due not to me but to the One who lives & speaks in both."--Michael Joseph Gross

Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin

Spoiler:

Here is a review from Amazon by Elaine Simpson-Long:

"I sat down and read this book over a weekend, totally and utterly engrossed in the life of a flawed genius. His treatment of his wife is, for me, a real stain on his character and yet despite this awful behaviour, I forgive Dickens and I am trying to work out why when I have been less generous with other writers and their peccadilloes. I think it is because deep down I feel he was never happy. He always seems to be running and running, desperately hoping that true happiness would be just around the next corner but then when he turned it, nothing was there. His genius drove him to the heights of joy and the depths of despair (a friend of mine has said that she has always thought he was bi-polar which is certainly food for thought), but there seemed to be very little calm or tranquility in his life. He drove himself relentlessly until he wore himself out.

"This biography by Claire Tomalin is my personal Book of the Year. I cannot think that I will read another between now and 31 December that will make me change my mind. I was totally engrossed in it, was unable to put it down, found myself living and breathing with Dickens and his family and friends, overtaken with excitement at the reports of his readings and the audience reaction, angry with him because of his selfish behaviour, and also filled with sadness at his constant striving for the happiness that eluded him.

"If you read no other biography this year, next year or the year after, please make it this one. Quite, quite wonderful."


It is reasonably inexpensive in the Kindle edition:

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charles-Dick...ickens++A+Life

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Dicken...dickens+A+Life

It is also available in the Kobo bookstore

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebo...dickens-a-life

and on Feedbooks:

http://www.feedbooks.com/item/453487/charles-dickens

[BelleZora]

Somehow I missed the whole nomination thread. Life has provided many distractions this year, but I intend to buckle down and change soon. Total knee replacement surgery is coming up on the 17th, and I have arranged life so as to have nothing to do but read and do physical therapy for the next 3-4 months.

Having once read everything I could find written by Thomas Merton, I think I will resist going down that road again. Unless it wins, of course.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Somehow I missed the whole nomination thread. Life has provided many distractions this year, but I intend to buckle down and change soon. Total knee replacement surgery is coming up on the 17th, and I have arranged life so as to have nothing to do but read and do physical therapy for the next 3-4 months.

Having once read everything I could find written by Thomas Merton, I think I will resist going down that road again. Unless it wins, of course.

He's my potential reread from this list, too, but it's been decades and I thought I wouldn't mind revisiting. It's a perennial conundrum for me; I can get so much more from a reread and discussion than I did the first time around, but how can I justify it when there are so many yet-to-be-read books?

I am sorry about your knee in the immediate future but glad to think how pain-free those walks will be in the future once you get past it.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by issybird

He's my potential reread from this list, too, but it's been decades and I thought I wouldn't mind revisiting. It's a perennial conundrum for me; I can get so much more from a reread and discussion than I did the first time around, but how can I justify it when there are so many yet-to-be-read books?.

Yes, that's the conundrum. I was sorry I didn't also vote for Merton because he was such an influence on my younger self that it would be interesting for me to see how my old jaded self responds to him now. Any book with a spiritual or religious focus should provide an interesting discussion.

[Bookpossum]

Such an interesting list it was hard to choose!

[Bookworm_Girl]

I love this category. I could have voted for them all!

[paola]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Somehow I missed the whole nomination thread. Life has provided many distractions this year, but I intend to buckle down and change soon. Total knee replacement surgery is coming up on the 17th, and I have arranged life so as to have nothing to do but read and do physical therapy for the next 3-4 months.

gosh, best of luck with that!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I love this category. I could have voted for them all!

I had to parse my preferences very narrowly to eliminate a couple.

[bfisher]

I could have voted for all of them . Since that would have been meaningless , I limited myself to the 5 most immediately available to me. Regardless of the final selection, they're all going on my TBR. Kudos to the proposers for a stellar slate of nominees.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I could have voted for all of them . Since that would have been meaningless , I limited myself to the 5 most immediately available to me. Regardless of the final selection, they're all going on my TBR. Kudos to the proposers for a stellar slate of nominees.

Hello and welcome to the Club! Hope you can join in the discussion on whichever one wins.

[ccowie]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Yes, that's the conundrum. I was sorry I didn't also vote for Merton because he was such an influence on my younger self that it would be interesting for me to see how my old jaded self responds to him now. Any book with a spiritual or religious focus should provide an interesting discussion.

Exactly my interest in nominating the book. I was obsessed with reading all of Merton's journals after reading the Seven Storey Mountain years ago and I'd love to experience how it lands on me now.

But, wow, what a great list!

[desertblues]

Belle Zora, my best wishes for your knee replacement

I voted for the Chinese empress though I have read it, but it was an interesting read. And for Dickens, as I admire him as a writer. Also for Somerset Maughan about whom I don't know much but am planning to read some of his works.

[Bookpossum]

Somerset Maugham is a wonderful writer. His short stories are not to be missed!

[issybird]

Lovely to see Hamlet53 among the voters!

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by issybird

Lovely to see Hamlet53 among the voters!

Yes, great to see you back, Hamlet53!

Thanks for the good wishes for surgery. We readers are certainly lucky people when our first thought about recovery is how much time we will finally have to read.