Reviews

Magnificent. I realize this book is not for everyone; it is 900 pages with lots of reflection on the meaning of life and the reasons people wisely and stupidly make the choices they do. Every page had something profoundly true, a comment from the narrator that made me pause and think: Yes, that's exactly right. I never understood these kinds of choices people make, but now I think I do. I also love the plot which, while languid, also was meaningful as we watch the people of Middlemarch influence and be influenced by one another. This is a novel about community, the good and the ugly, and its influence on us, plus a story of two people's attempts to make the world a better place. The main characters of Dorothea and Tertius Lydgate (great name) are among the best-drawn in literature. While this book is long, it never felt tedious to me, but a reader has to go into it knowing it is not a fast pace; I had read it in college and I really enjoyed comparing my experience of the story then and 30 years later. I stopped at major breaks twice to read fun, light books that popped up on Libby, and it was not hard to re-enter the world of Middlemarch. I am a big believer in finding the right book for the right season of life: I think this book would be great in a season where you have a little more time to think about the meaning of life.

I'm two books away from having read every book Patchett has written, and while Bel Canto remains my favorite, her later work, especially The Dutch House, Tom Lake, and her newest book, Whistler, reveal an author who manages to write an interesting story with complicated characters whose humanity is celebrate both in spite and because of their failings. For me, Patchett's sympathy for characters in Tom Lake is more subtle than in Whistler; in Whistler, the character's flaws are sweeter and less overtly negative, while in Tom Lake, Patchett's mastery in humanizing awful behavior is more nuanced. Like all great books, the title is a symbol, so don't be fooled that Whistler is about a horse; it is about a stepfather and daughter who have found one another after decades apart, and a reflection on the power of love. Tom Lake uses long flashback chapters to tell the story of a woman who is now a mother of three adult daughters but was once, briefly, an actress, and it is about finding the love of your life. I recommend all of Patchett's work, and if you are new to her writing, I would say Bel Canto is most masterfully written and also the most literary (so the pace is a bit slower). The Dutch House is beautifully-written story about the ties between siblings. If you prefer a plot-driven story, go with Whistler. If you are in your 20's or 30's and want to consider how your choices today will influence your life later, read Middlemarch by George Eliot, but if 800 pages of Victorian literature seems daunting, read Tom Lake.

There are really two history books here, one much better than the other. In the first book, the peoples in lands of the Silk Roads are drivers of their own destiny, and they propel much of world history along in the process. These chapters are told with verve and clarity. I learned a ton. In the second book, these same states are subject to the whims of the British and American empires and somehow lose all autonomy in their own destinies, in Frankopan's telling. Suddenly their cultures and intellectual institutions are helpless to foreign powers for reasons that go unexplored. Every negative outcome is atttibuted to the British or the Americans, either directly or obliquely, and the peoples of the Middle East and Central Asia appear to play only a minimal role in the negative trajectories they experienced in the 19th and 20th centuries. The historical details are all there, but the analysis is frustratingly uncomplicated. I would have given this book 5 stars halfway through, but by the end I could only give 3.