Playlist

 Since he began several weeks ago, I've been a regular listener to the podcast of actor Bill Nighy, Ill-advised.  In each weekly episode (which usually drop on Thursdays) Bill dispenses answers to listener-submitted questions on a wide variety of topics.  Everything from personal relationships to sartorial tips receive Bill's ostensibly well considered opinions.  Bill himself cuts off any excessive expectations, however, by prefacing each show with the boast that it is at best an opportunity to squander time.  And it's certainly helped me to do that; my job requires the squandering of large amounts of time, which I do via podcasts and audiobooks while I labor away at the lab bench in the furtherance of science.  Anyway, the show concludes each week with a musical playlist, a compendium of music that Bill recommends.  He is, we are to understand, a devotee of diverse musical genres.  Since I am not, I usually gloss over this segment of the show.  But then is the book segment, for Bill is an avid reader.  And he's mentioned a couple of titles recently that I have greatly enjoyed.  The first is The Bookshop, by Penelope Fitzgerald, which I just finished.  The short novel is the story of a brave young woman, Florence Green, who overextends herself and her capital resources to open a bookshop in a small, dreary coastal town in 1960s England.  In doing so, she upsets the rigid social order of the dull, drab village, and plunges headlong into the morass of bureaucratic red tape and hidebound local inhabitants.  Fitzgerald's delightful novel is a fascinating study of human nature and the incongruous hurdles that are thrown up by prejudice and ignorance.  Apparently, the novel was also made into a feature film of the same name, which Mr. Nighy appeared in.  From this, I immediately moved on to Nighy's next book recommendation, Berlin Game by Len Deighton.  I'm only a few chapters into this first book of a nine book series, but am already enthralled.  It is a cold war spy thriller set in divided Germany shortly after WWII, and it reads very much like a novel of John Le Carre or Graham Greene.  This was once my favorite type of fiction, and it's a pleasure to be reunited with the style by such a well written book.  I expect I'll enjoy this and all the ones to follow.  Bill Nighy's book tip batting average is running high- I hope I can keep up.

An appeal for help

 This morning I learned the name of one of the many victims of the Los Angeles wildfires: Simon Vance.  The name resonated with me because he is my favorite audiobook narrator.  It is to Vance that I owe my longstanding deep love of the works of Charles Dickens; he was the narrator of Bleak House that I first listened to decades ago.  Since then, Simon Vance has been for me the voice of Dickens, Trollope, Hardy, Eliot, and Patrick O'Brian along with dozens of other authors.  You see, in my always solitary and often repetitive work, I resort to audiobooks to occupy the time.  Among book narrators, Simon Vance is simply the best.  He has an uncanny ability to create character voices - both male and female - that give life to every passage of dialog.  He has a true actor's capacity to express the emotion and feeling of every scene that I can't help thinking any author, even those long dead, would applaud.  It would be difficult to understate the impact Vance's exemplary work has had on my life for many years.

So I was particularly moved when I learned this morning that Vance was among the many who have lost their home to the southern California fires.  Not surprisingly, a friend of Vance and his wife has set up a GoFundMe page on their behalf to assist in their time of need.  In situations such as this, there are familiar excuses to not help out:  Celebrities are not deserving of help.  Living in that region of California, he is certainly rich.  He should have insurance that will fully and immediately make him whole.  But so strong is my respect and admiration for his work, I overcame these excuses and made a small contribution to the fund.  I mean, Vance is a prominent voice performer, but hardly a household name.  I have no idea what his personal financial or insurance situation is, but I won't begrudge him on that account.  No, he is simply an individual whose work I admire, and I felt called to demonstrate my appreciation by lending symbolic assistance in his time of need.

The fires in southern California are a tremendous tragedy.  For those who wish to help, there are many worthy and deserving aid organizations to which one can donate:  The American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, and Los Angeles Animal Services are just a few examples.  But if you, like me, want to give direct help to an individual in need, please consider the Simon Vance GoFundMe page.

Doctor Thorne

 Next up on my audio book list is a repeat.  Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope is one of my favorite Victorian novels, and I've read/listened to it several times before.  But I return again to hear the cautionary tale of excessive alcohol use.  And of course, the common Victorian themes of class struggle, wealth vs. poverty, and mis-matched marriages.  Of the six Trollope novels that comprise the Chronicles of Barsetshire, this is probably the best.  Revelation of unexpected identities always spice up a plotline.  And then there's the brother's beatdown of a dude who stands up his sister.  Family above everything; same as it ever was.  I don't know what it is that makes me read or listen to some books over and over, compared those that are one-and-done, versus those I never finish.  But this one has now become like a comfortable sweater that I break out occasionally when only familiarity will do.

All hands on deck

 Next up in the audio book queue:  All Hands on Deck, by Will Sofrin.  Fans of sailing and history, like myself, enjoyed the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. The 2003 movie was based on the Napoleonic War era novel series by author Patrick O'Brian (and not the famed marine artist Patrick O'BriEn).  The movie is renowned for its historical authenticity and was filmed on a faithful replica of an 18th century wooden frigate.  But before the movie could be shot, director Peter Weir arranged for the square-rigged wooden vessel, then known as the Rose, to be sailed from Newport, Rhode Island to the west coast of the US.  The voyage through two oceans and the Panama Canal is the topic of this book.  It is a real-life adventure, with the improvised crew battling adversity the whole way.  It won't be too much of a spoiler to say they finally arrived at their destination, the ship was renamed HMS Surprise, the film was made, and it was an enormous success.  What happened along the way is what I will learn as I progress though the book.

Last of Barset

 Next up on my audio book listening list is The Last Chronicle of Barset, by Anthony Trollope.  This is the last of the six-book series referred to as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, a loosely connected collection of novels dealing with the fictional cathedral town of Barchester.

This final book of the series deals primarily with the crime story mystery of a clergyman who is accused of stealing a check and pocketing the money.  But as with nearly all Trollope novels, there is also a love story of two star-crossed, mis-matched lovers.  Such seems to always be the case in Victorian love stories- a couple separated by social rank, or wealth, or education; something that makes the union an improbable one which they ultimately overcome.  This is not my first time through this novel, or indeed the entire Barsetshire series.  But it's one I enjoy even though I know how the crime mystery ends up.  A few years ago, I was able to visit the grave of the author, Anthony Trollope, in the gigantic Kensal Green Cemetery in London where he rests.  And I feel a special connection to his prolific body of works.

Oh, Miriam!

 Next up in my reading list (or to be more correct, listening list) is the newest memoir of British actress Miriam Margolyes, Oh, Miriam!  This volume comes in quick succession after her autobiography This Much Is True which came out in September 2021.  Many will know Margolyes as Professor Sprout from multiple Harry Potter movies, but I first knew her as Lady Whiteadder in the Blackadder television sitcom.  More recently, she played housekeeper Mrs. Fisk in the feature film The Man Who Invented Christmas, which tells the tale of Charles Dickens as he wrote A Christmas Carol.  An appropriate casting, as Margolyes is an enthusiastic patron of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.  I'm looking forward to this book, which promises to relate many of Miriam's most amusing anecdotes, for which she is justly famous as an entertaining talk show guest.

Miriam Margolyes

Time Machine

 My day job as a research scientist, while very fulfilling, can often be repetitive, quiet, and solitary.  This lends itself to my heavy reliance on audio books to occupy my mind during the day's tasks.  Currently I am listening to The Duke's Children, by Anthony Trollope.  I am very partial to the English Victorian novelists, including Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, Trollope. Trollope was unique among them as he continued his day job while also being a prolific novelist: he was a senior official in the Royal Mail postal system.  In fact, he is responsible for the design of the characteristic English pillarbox mail collection box.  Therefore, many of his novels have characters writing letters which he describes in much more detail than any other author might.  As a postal enthusiast, I find this especially interesting.

The Duke's Children, by Anthony Trollope.  Folio Society edition.

My first venture into the tale of the Duke of Omnium was, however, not an audio book but a conventional paper one.  While I read the story, it struck me that though this was a common book, it was in a sense a time machine.  Somewhere in London two hundred years ago, a man sat at a table with a simple fountain pen, ink, and some paper.  With that and nothing more than his own creativity and imagination, he created the complex and elaborate world of the former Prime Minister of England and his family's dramas.  Copies of his writings were made by a then-painstaking printing process, and today are made by a more high-tech one.  As I read my book, I experienced in vivid detail the lifestyle of those who lived centuries ago.  Their speech, values, and daily activities were all brought forth to myself, living in the digital world of the 21st century.  Through a humble and simple book, a man's artistic skill and his contemporary lifestyle could be experienced by a modern reader.  Almost directly from his pen into my mind, 200 years later.  An astonishing achievement.

And if one is to read, why not do it with a little style?  The volume of this novel I read a few years ago was published by The Folio Society, a publisher who specializes in classics, printed and bound with extraordinary quality.  No cheap paperback, this.  My numbered, limited edition copy of Trollope's work was leatherbound, with handmade marbled endpapers and a high quality sewn binding.  It also was a complete version, restoring all the extensive text that Trollope grudgingly cut from his original manuscript in order to fit size requirements of his publishers at the time.  A companion text by a literary scholar is included, all contained in a hard slipcover.  As I say, if one reads, an elegant edition makes it all the more enjoyable.

While I enjoyed this novel the first time in its intended form, I now am re-reading (listening) to it via audio book.  This adds an additional layer of interpretation to the process, removing oneself slightly from direct commune with the author.  An audio book narrator can make or break the whole experience, but I have found one of the best.  When I obtain my audio books, my preference is for those read by Simon Vance.  He is simply the best.  A pleasant speaking voice, remarkable ability to give different voices to different characters' dialog, and an astonishing acting ability make him a leader in the field of audio book narration.