Book Review: Dan Brown's 'Inferno'

I am brimming with literary excitement at the news that J.K. Rowling's post-The Cuckoo's Nest project is a screenplay based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It won't just be one film, but a new series. Never has there been a more appropriate time for a Potterhead "Squee!"

What I Thought of Dan Brown's Book

But more news on that as it develops. Right now, let's talk about Dan Brown's 2013 release, Inferno. I got this book at the library and was not compensated for this review in any way; it represents my own honest opinion.

When I read a Dan Brown novel, I have certain expectations:

*Robert Langdon will be man's fantasy hero, a frumpy middle-aged professor who attracts a hot, brilliant, much-younger love interest - check. (It's okay. Middle-aged men are allowed to have their fantasies, too.) In this volume, her name is Dr. Sienna Brown. The plot involves Langdon having amnesia, which is entirely appropriate, because at the beginning of each new book he has completely forgotten about the heroine of the previous novel. Vittoria who? Sophie what? Katherine hmm? In Dan Brown's imagination, female characters have very short shelf lives.

One billion bonus points to whoever writes a spin-off series in which Vittoria Vetra, Sophie Neveu, Katherine Solomon and Sienna Brown team up and solve a mystery on their own. Maybe with one brief consultation with Langdon.

Incidentally, I want to know Vayentha's whole back story, starting with what her name means.

*Historically- and culturally-rich locations? Check. In this volume, we spend most of our time in exotic Florence, the birthplace of Dante Alighieri, then travel to that hotbed of Italian intrigue, Venice, then to Istanbul. This is probably the most fun part of any Dan Brown novel - the vicarious travel.

*Horrifying vandalism of a priceless world heritage artifact? Check. This time, it would be Dante's death mask.

*Tantalizing hints of a conspiracy theory, without suggesting that any living person, government or corporation is guilty of anything we should concern ourselves with? Check.

Because I got exactly what I expected out of this book, I wasn't disappointed. My favorite will probably always be The Da Vinci Code, because as one inclined toward worship of a deity in feminine form, I never related to Robert Langdon quite so much as when he reverently knelt at the grave of Mary Magdalene. Goddess worship in mainstream fiction? More, please!

I quite enjoyed Angels and Demons as well, which I thought was pleasantly suspenseful, and that's probably still my second favorite, but I liked Inferno better than The Lost Symbol, if for no other reason than that Istanbul is more fun to explore than Washington, D.C.

The ending's a little weird. Without spoiling too much, I think I can say that the bad guy kinda wins, and there's really nothing anybody can do about it. The characters in the novel are kinda okay with it, too. What happens is an extreme solution to the world's supposed population crisis, and if this were to happen in real life, it would be absolutely heartbreaking. It's not really a happy ending at all. I wonder where Dan Brown will go next.

Issues Raised By This Book

Let it be said that in real life, while the population crisis that Brown addresses does involve some serious environmental concerns that I believe are fact-based, there's something that's never addressed: much of the human misery that's allegedly caused by "overpopulation" isn't really due to overpopulation, it's due to unequal distribution of resources. For example, we currently have enough food to feed everyone in the world - that's not why people go hungry. People go hungry because governments don't have the political will and/or the infrastructure to get food to the people who need it the most.

Also, we're not doing everything we could be doing to make our limited resources last longer. If more of us were vegetarians or semi-vegetarians (meat once a week, maybe), we could take the land we use for raising animals and the land that grows animal feed, eliminate the middleman (middle being, in this case) and feed that grain directly to ourselves instead of animals raised for slaughter. As the food-animal population gradually dwindled, we could turn grazing lands and feed lots into more land for growing grains and/or more housing for human beings. People in industrialized nations can live much-simplified lives to help people all around the world have access to more resources, if we had the collective will to do it.

It is pretty shameful that about half of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, though. I've read that statistic elsewhere besides in this novel. I'm childless by choice, but you know, it was never that hard for me and my husband to avoid parenthood. Is it lack of sexual education that prevents other couples from enjoying the same freedom? That's sad. Sexual education for everyone before they reach the age of 14, please. Parenthood only by free, conscious choice, and all babies wanted babies - let's make that happen! "Accidentally pregnant" should not be the default setting for a human woman in the 21st century.

So as you can see, this book raises interesting issues far beyond the needs of mere fictional storytelling.

Inferno

I read Inferno in novel class, which was a class I took the first semester of my senior year of high school - that would have been 1994. It's been quite a while. We had an Italian exchange student that year, Gabriel Violi. (My friend Sarah played viola, and every time I said "viola" he thought I was calling his name.) He read us some of the pages in Dante's original Italian, but he made sure we knew it was very strange, old-fashioned Italian. Also, he didn't speak Italian much in his day-to-day life, preferring to use his regional dialect (I forget which one) at home.

Speaking of the storytelling, though, there were a few moments that took me out of the story. One was the mention of the devil's three mouths in Dante's Inferno. Langdon was supposed to have not only read and studied The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso) but also lectured on its symbols at Harvard. He gives some explanation for why the devil, in the lowest circle of hell, has three mouths in Dante's depiction, and later there's a mention of Judas Iscariot, but the other two traitors depicted as being in the lowest circle of hell, Brutus and Cassius (the murderers of Julius Caesar) are never mentioned. Why didn't he just say that the devil has one mouth for each of the three traitors, to take bites out of them?

That was a very minor issue I had. I bristled a little more when Langdon said, "They're called chthonics because they reside in the underworld and are associated with hell." (That weird word "chthonics," with a silent "ch," just means "subterranean.") No, Robert Langdon, "the underworld" and "hell" are concepts from two different cultures that shouldn't be confused, and you would know that better than anyone. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed in an underworld in which exceptional individuals might be slightly rewarded (in Elysium), but in general, dead human beings were not punished. They simply existed as memoryless shades. "Hell" is an underworld specifically for punishment of evil human beings who have died, and it's a concept from Zoroastrianism first and, later, Christianity. There wasn't a culture that thought the Greco-Roman underworld was hell, or that hell was the Greco-Roman underworld.

And Robert Langdon would definitely know that. He's far too academic to let something like that slide. But again, that's a pretty minor point.

Chthonics

One more thing about chthonic beings: late in the novel, Sienna and Langdon are talking about them, and Sienna says, "Medusa and the entire class of chthonic deities live underground because they're associated directly with Mother Earth. In allegory, chthonics are always symbols of--" And Langdon finishes her thought with, "Fertility." Human fertility was what the antagonist of the novel feared the most; hence his extreme solution. But what Dan Brown isn't really an explanation of why underworld deities and beings are associated with fertility, and there's another thing he isn't quite saying about the red underworld cistern of Langdon's visions (which turns out to be a place in Istanbul).

So I'll tell you, with the help of my trusty The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker. Red, underground water? That's the womb of the goddess, filled with her wise blood. Mother Earth is our mother because we came out of her womb - a dark, hidden, earthy space that encloses us fully - her underground caves. Robert Langdon is looking for the Holy Grail yet again - the Goddess's vessel or cauldron, her womb. Life starts there, and when we die, we go back into the earth, buried yet again in the Goddess's womb - from whence we could be reborn. That's the Pagan circle of life: birth, death, burial, rebirth.

Under cauldron, Walker writes, "Among the Celts of Gaul and Britain, the Cauldron of Regeneration was the central religious mystery: reincarnation within the womb of the Goddess" and "Each Celtic temple had its sacred cauldron."

To put it plainly, underworld or subterranean mythological creatures, like Medusa and Hecate, are associated with fertility because they live directly in earthen caves and in the underworld - they live directly inside the Goddess's womb.

Stars

Finally, the last word of this book is "stars." If you know The Divine Comedy, then you'll know why the last word in the book had to be "stars."

Ms. Destiny, 9 and 14 - Happy 30th Birthday, Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse would have turned 30 years old today.



I wrote a beautiful Amy Winehouse tribute post that I published on Sept. 10, 2012. Unfortunately, it used the old Pinterest codes and the old YouTube embedding format, and when I tried to update it, I destroyed it. That may be the first time in five years that I deleted a blog post, but my html knowledge is more basic than that required to fix the boo-boos.

So I had to start anew.

The first time I ever heard an Amy Winehouse song, I was at my small town's lgbtqia bar (sadly, now but a memory - you can read its elegy in "Gold Lipstick at the End of the Rainbow"). Someone sang "Rehab" at the karaoke bar. I thought it was an interesting song, but it wasn't love at first listen.



The songs that made me fall in love with Amy Winehouse's voice were "Me and Mr. Jones" and "You Know I'm No Good." Then I started reading From Here to Eternity, fell ass-backwards in love with the words of James Jones (it was my major obsession last year), and in my mind I linked "Me and Mr. Jones" with Mr. James Jones.



This is how my mind works. (See also: "Whistle")

This happened. And I haven't stopped listening to Amy since.



Jewish chicks and black eyeliner - a match made in ancient Egypt.



I think this is one of the loveliest songs Amy ever recorded.

I still haven't read Mitch Winehouse's book Amy, My Daughter. I think it would make me sad to read about Amy through the eyes of the dad who loved her so much. I'm sure he shares lots of happy memories of her, though. Not just the tough stuff.

If you've ever loved an addict, then you know how you can regard them with a mixture of love, anger and loathing - but you still love them.

A Possibly True Hollywood Story: My Dad's Stories About His Grandfather

This is Buster Crabbe.

Public domain image within the United States

The Old Hollywood movie star isn't exactly a household name today, but he was an Olympic swimmer who won a gold medal in 1932, and he played Tarzan, Buck Rogers, and Flash Gordon in movie serials in the 1930s.

Public domain image

My dad claims that somewhere, he possesses a photo of Buster Crabbe posing with my great-grandfather Bill. Bill and Buster were supposedly drinking buddies. Although my great-grandfather was born and lived most of his life in Colorado (my grandfather, also named Bill, was born in Fort Collins), he did live for a time in Los Angeles. 

Family legend has long held that my grandfather ended up in the Navy and at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 - he was 17 years old - because, as a juvenile delinquent running around L.A., a judge sentenced him to either prison or military service.

A family photo of Grandpa Bill in his Navy uniform.
Circa 1941.

Now I know another little bit, at least according to my dad (also named Bill):

Great-grandpa Bill, possibly still married to Wife #2 (Grandpa Bill's mother, Anna Wien, was Wife #1), went to L.A. to pursue the future Wife #3 (at least common-law wife; the woman my dad called Grandma had the last name of Suttlemeyer. She may have been an immigrant from Germany), who worked as a seamstress on one of the movie studio lots. (At various times, Buster Crabbe worked for Universal, Paramount and smaller studios. The Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers series were from Universal.)  His relationship with Ms. Seamstress was how Great-Grandpa Bill came to be friends with Buster Crabbe.

Great-grandpa Bill, like Dad Bill, was a police officer. I think this was in L.A., but it may have been/also have been in Colorado. He went on a burglary call at a bar one day. He caught the thief in the act, and the thief swung an iron pipe at Great-Grandpa Bill. In self defense, Great-Grandpa Bill shot the burglar and killed him. Although the burglar was over six feet tall and looked like an adult, Great-Grandpa Bill found out the thief was only fourteen years old. Great-Grandpa Bill was very distraught over this and was never able to work as a police officer again. 

Great-Grandpa Bill later became a truck driver. He drove the tanker trucks that deliver gasoline to service stations. As a child, my dad was able to go with his grandpa on some of these deliveries. Dad and Great-Grandpa Bill got along much better than Dad and Great-Grandpa Wade. My grandma's dad was the archetypal crotchety old man, and he's the one who came to live with my grandparents when my dad, aunt and uncle were growing up. Great-Grandpa Bill bought a ranch in Colorado and lived there until he died. 

That's all I know about my family's possible connection to old Hollywood. If, some day, I come across that picture, I will make copies and share them everywhere. 

New Agatha Christie Novel to Be Published by Internationally Bestselling Author Sophie Hannah

SILVER SPRING, Md., Sept. 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announces plans to publish the first-ever new Agatha Christie novel, fully authorized by the Christie estate, to be penned by international bestseller Sophie Hannah. The novel will be published in September 2014 by HarperCollins worldwide.

The new novel will feature Hercule Poirot in a diabolically clever murder mystery sure to baffle and delight Christie's fans, and those who have never read her work. Agatha Christie introduced the Belgian detective to the world in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920. It has been 38 years since Agatha Christie's last novel, Sleeping Murder, was published in 1976, and 39 years since the final Poirot novel, Curtain.

"It was pure serendipity that led to Sophie Hannah being commissioned to write this book," notes Mathew Prichard, Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd and grandson of Agatha Christie. "Her agent happened to approach HarperCollins in exactly the same week that my colleagues and I started discussing a new Christie book. Her idea for a plot line was so compelling and her passion for my grandmother's work so strong, that we felt that the time was right for a new Christie to be written."

Hannah, a leading writer of psychological crime fiction who is published in 24 countries, says, "It is almost impossible to put into words how honored I am to have been entrusted with this amazing project--in fact, I still can't quite believe that this is really happening! I hope to create a puzzle that will confound and frustrate the incomparable Hercule Poirot for at least a good few chapters."

"In the years since William Morrow began publishing the world's bestselling novelist, we have seen astounding results across a range of formats and promotions," notes Mallory. "Sophie Hannah's spellbinding novel marks a new stage in our relationship with Agatha Christie, and along with our colleagues at Harper UK, Acorn, Agatha Christie Ltd, and of course Mathew Prichard and the family, we are looking forward eagerly to bringing whole new generations of readers to this legendary author."

Hilary Strong, Managing Director of Acorn Productions Limited, which manages the rights to the Agatha Christie estate, added: "This book is an important initiative for Acorn and RLJ Entertainment, and we are delighted to be working with a writer of Sophie's caliber and with HarperCollins. The new novel is the first of a number of exciting initiatives we have planned to bring Christie's work to new audiences worldwide."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sophie Hannah is the internationally bestselling author of eight psychological thrillers, which have been published in more than 20 countries and adapted for television. Last year, her novel Kind of Cruel was shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year. Sophie is also a poet, and has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Sophie lives in Cambridge, and is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College. Her website is www.sophiehannah.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @sophiehannahcb1.

ABOUT AGATHA CHRISTIE:

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays (including The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in history), and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott. Agatha Christie was made a dame in 1971, and died in 1976.

Note: this is a press release which I received as an e-mail from HarperCollins. I modified it slightly for brevity. ~Erin O'Riordan

'Finding Esta,' An Urban Fantasy Mystery by Shah Wharton @shahw1

Finding Esta by Shah Wharton



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Before I read Shah Wharton's debut novel, I'd read a few of her short stories, so I knew she was a talented storyteller. From the beginning of 'Finding Esta,' I sympathized with Luna, the heroine. Luna's a sickly early-20-something with numerous allergies, including allergies to the sun. She can't touch anything without gloves because it's so painful. Her mother and stepfather treat her awfully, not understanding her special gifts.

Luna hears the spirits of the dead in her head, sees ghosts and auras, and knows the history of every object she touches. Nicknamed "Rat," Luna has one bright spot in her life, her job as a journalist in the little village of Snape. Her job causes her to go off in search of a mystery: the disappearance of baby Esta from a burned-out house in Cornwall.

What Esta discovers in that house in Cornwall turns her world upside-down.

One of the possibly covers Shah considered before choosing the final one

Wharton weaves a compelling story that hovers between reality and unreality, repeatedly lulling the reader with a set of assumptions that turn out to be completely false. Parts of Luna's journey reminded me of Dark Lover, the first book in J.R. Ward's shockingly addictive Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Other parts are vaguely reminiscent of other urban fantasy narratives, yet the whole is refreshingly original. It reads like a really good mystery; we find out what becomes of Esta, but only after an extended and fascinating red herring. Luna Dukes isn't like any other paranormal heroine I've ever read, and there are some really fun tweaks to the usual paranormal mythology.

Although two candidates for Luna's love interest appear in this novel, they never compete against one another, and Luna keeps a level head when it comes to her budding passions, even when surrounded by chaos. She's so sensible when it comes to attraction to the opposite sex - it's a refreshing change. Paranormal romance is my favorite genre, but I'll have to wait till at least the second book to see if Luna finds a partner who accepts her on her own terms. If you're not into romances, don't worry - it isn't the main focus of the novel.

Read Shah Wharton's short story "The Journal of Rosa and Bella" here

View all my reviews on Goodreads



I "purchased" this book from Smashwords on a day when the book was offered at no cost. This review was not solicited by the author or her representatives in any way, and I received no compensation for it.

Venice and its Connection to 'Sometimes in Dreams' – Guest Post by G.L. Helm

Large parts of my novel Sometimes in Dreams is set in the beautiful old city of Venice. It became one of my favorite cities in the world during the time I lived in northern Italy. Old Venice is now more museum than city. The old powerhouse Venice is now on the other side of the lagoon.  The canal city is like an elderly, but still elegant, aunt who surprises you with gifts unlooked-for but still welcome.

            In the novel, a couple of Campos are mentioned.  Those are small squares where businesses of one sort and another are located. Campo San Vio is mentioned because St. George’s Anglican Church is located there. It is the only English speaking church in Venice, consequently tourists from all over the world who speak English come there if they happen to be in the city on a Sunday. The campo and the Church are real and can be visited if you are ever lucky enough to visit La Serranisima which is what most denizens of Venice call the city.  It means “the Serene One.”  I understand why it is called that now with its smooth flowing canals and slow moving gondolas, but I don’t understand how it came by the name from its past. Venice was a bustling trade center for centuries and I can imagine the canals being as jammed as a New York street when La Serranisima was queen of the Adriatic and points east.

            Another campo mentioned in Sometimes in Dreams is Campo Redemptor the place where Daniel and Kit have their star-crossed meeting. I am sorry to say it doesn’t really exist, though Bar Redemptor does actually exist. It is in a much more bustling part of the city than where I placed it and is much more of a ‘dive’ than the one I created.  I borrowed the look of Bar Redemptor from a couple of other places not actually in Venice . I used a place called Mario’s which is in Aviano, a little town  closer to the Dolomite Alps than Venice. My apartment was there and it is pretty accurately described in the book, though I stretched it into a house there. 

            It is pretty hard to get lost in Venice now-a-days because almost every corner of every narrow alley has a sign posted on it pointing toward St. Mark’s Cathedral, but it can still be done. The streets are very narrow in most places and the buildings multi-storied. They can be rather oppressive making one feel like a cow being driven down a loading chute, but after walking down one of these alleys you suddenly burst forth into a campo, just as I described in the book  and all feeling of oppression or claustrophobia evaporates. Every window of the campo is decorated with overflowing multi-colored geraniums giving the impression of finding one’s self in a multi-level garden. This is true during the summer when the geraniums are meant to keep the flies away since no one has window screens, and the flowers do an admirable job of insect control. In winter, most of the flower boxes are filled with another type of flower, the name of which I don’t recall. They equally beautiful but have no insect control purpose. They better tolerate the damp chilly weather of Venice in winter.

            Sometimes in Dreams is a picture of Venice accurate enough to help the reader understand why poets and writers like Thomas Mann, Lord Byron, Ernest Hemingway, and Ezra Pound fell in love with that fabled city, and why I love it so.

***

Synopsis:

Daniel Pentland is a broken man; torn between the two women in his life. He is tormented by guilt over his love affair with a beautiful English girl he met while living in Italy, and the loyal devotion of his wife, Amanda.

Two years after the tragic death of his lover Kit, he is continually haunted by her memory. Across the sands of the Mojave Desert, her voice calls out to him, pulling at his heart and his memories.

Each night as Daniel wakes screaming and fighting against the phantom of Kit’s killer, his wife does her best to soothe his pain and help him overcome his grief.

Sometimes in Dreams is a story of redemption through a love that simply refuses to die.

Purchase Links:

Amazon: US, UK, CANADA, GERMANY, FRANCE, SPAIN, ITALY, JAPAN, BRAZIL, INDIA

CreateSpace

Smashwords

Author Bio:

G. Lloyd Helm is a 'ne'er-do-well scribbler'—novelist, short story writer and poet—who has tramped around the world for the last forty years thanks to his long-suffering military wife. He has lived in Germany, Spain, and Italy. His epitaph will read, “He married well.”

May I Kiss You?: A Candid Look at Dating, Communication, Respect, and Sexual Assault Awareness - Review

May I Kiss You?: A Candid Look at Dating, Communication, Respect, & Sexual Assault Awareness by Michael Domitrz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone should read this book, but it's an especially good one for families whose children are soon to be of dating age, and for organizations that work with children and teens.

Sexual assault awareness may seem like a difficult topic to bring up, but Michael Domitrz goes over things in such a conversational way, starting with the topic of kissing, that it makes the topic non-intimidating. It's non-gender-specific, accepting the reality of the situation that both males and females can be victims and that everyone has the potential to sexually assault someone else.

There is zero victim-blaming in this book, accepting the reality that only the offender is to blame, never the victim, no matter who is victim is. The book also deals with ways that everyone - absolutely everyone - can help stop the occurrence of sexual assaults by examining our own assumptions and stereotypes, speaking out against sexism and harassment, not contributing to sexual double standards for boys and girls, and promoting a culture of open, honest communication around consent.

The book also includes positive, helpful ways you can be a supportive friend or family member to someone who's been assaulted. It contains plenty of interactive activities and resources to go to for further information and to help people take action toward a consent culture.

It's a wonderful resource, full of hope and positivity, and that's why I really can't recommend this highly enough.



View all my reviews on GoodReads

The author, Michael J. Domitrz, was inspired to write this book when his sister was assaulted. He's the founder of the Date Safe Project. You can find additional resources there, including educational posters, DVDs and audio downloads.

If you'd like to have Mike as a guest speaker, you can call the Date Safe Project at (800) 329-9390 or e-mail mike (at) datesafeproject.org (without the spaces, of course).

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for this review, which represents my own honest opinion.