Amor Towles - Table for Two - Comment.

 

Amor Towles is a unique and remarkable writer. 

Towles previous works: Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, and The Lincoln Highway are all different, (perhaps penned by a different author) and all possible masterpieces, all examples of fine modern prose. 

Remembering as a young student of reading: no matter the structure of the prose, the story is the thing.

Towles has combined both; elegant prose and stories that bring the reader to characters never met and their circumstances we can relate to because we are human experiencing the same condition: life. 

Table for Two is a collection of six stories under the title, New York. Under the title of Los Angeles is a novella, centering on Evelyn Ross, a character from Towles first published novel, The Rules of Civility.

To rank the short stories and the novella in a type of NYT's best to worse top ten pop song chart, would be a disservice to the work. All stand alone, all are on an island unto themselves, all written in a different voice. 

As readers we have our biases. 

That said, Evelyne Ross in LA is special. Ross is a woman I would love to meet. 

Travelling on a train from New York to the mid-west, to then on a whim, Ross decides to continue to LA, and meets a cool, retired cop. Set in the 1930's, a mysterious, attractive woman would set off alarm bells as to the woman's intent and character. Only after a few exchanges, Charlie is interested, and instinctively understands he has met a soul of distinction.

LA is told from the perspective of several characters who by choice or otherwise, become a part of Evelyn Ross' world.

Reading Ross' (Towles) LA in the 1930's, living in the Beverly Hills hotel, meeting old film stars, gives the reader a glimpse into old Hollywood, old LA, and that mythical magic, that has now disappeared. 

As a student of reading, Towles' A Table for Two gave me hope that great writing, soulful storytelling, is alive and well.  

Fascist Censorship in Western Democracies. Opinion.

 

The Democratic- Western World is going full Fascist. 

Censorship is a central tool of authoritarian regimes. 

Recent world events prove this point. 

The earliest example crossed the planets media headlines: X Blocked in Brazil. Only a few days prior, the CEO and founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France on charges that on the face it makes no sense. The fact that the man is Russian born might be one of the reasons he sits currently in jail by the pleasure of the French republic.  

A more flagrant example is in the United States, where any negative word about the democratic party's 'anointed' presidential nominee (Kamala Harris) is attacked or shadow banned on the internet. This kind of censorship is anti-democratic, particularly in the political sphere, because to silence one's opposition, is to silence a portion of the people.  

Especially fascist is the Brazilian Supreme Court judge (not elected by the people) who has banned X from the people in his country, Alexandre de Moraes. Why does this unelected judge have so much power? Well democracy be damned. 

As an aside, fascism arrived at the 20th century after WWI claiming to free the people from their economic hardships. Though presenting themselves on populist agendas, their intentions eventually became quite clear. All opposing their rule must be eradicated. The difference today is this fascism does not come with shiny black boots and well-tailored uniforms. It has come in the disguise as "democracy" and 'woke' issues; slick Armani suits and $400 silk ties; leaders preaching diversity and inclusion; 'national security' and faux- threats from imaginary enemies.  

In any informed fascist regime, controlling the narrative is paramount.  

During the 2020 US presidential election, a story about a discovered laptop owned by Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, had surfaced. The laptop contained dubious financial behavior in foreign countries such as Ukraine. The story was immediately suppressed and labeled ‘Russian disinformation.’ The permanent state, that is the CIA, FBI, etc., ran to their lapdog media groups, including social media platforms such as Facebook to censor the story and label it as Russian influence on the election. These media puppets complied, and the US voting population was left in the dark. Thus, by controlling the narrative, Biden won the election. This begs the question: without deep state interference and censorship about the laptop, would the election have gone the other way?  

For authoritarianism to work effectively, control of information, pushing only their narrative, labeling all dissenting views as disinformation, misinformation, or the newly created Mal- information, is central to ensure certain outcomes in elections, regime change projects, and “democratic” elections.  

The great and sad irony of these representatives of ‘democracy,’ is that they are using censorship to ensure a free democracy when their actions are the exact opposite.  

The latest news of Brazil banning X is a perfect example of this double speak. The Superior Court Judge, Alexandre de Moraes, could be seen on Brazilian television speaking to a section of parliament, spouting the well-used cliches of protecting democracy and freedom in his country by banning X. The real story is X refused to close the accounts of several elected officials in Brazil at Moraes’ request. Moraes is an unelected dictator using his unexplainable power to censor and silence those who oppose his political ideology. X is a threat to his power.  Democracy be damned.  

It is imperative that the general population recognize this blatant shift towards fascism in our western democracies.  

By controlling the information about our political leaders, pushing lies about other countries to start new wars, misleading the public on a variety of key issues, as a society, we cannot make informed decisions at the voting booths.  

This out-in-the-open-shift towards fascism in our western democracy is beyond disturbing. Anyone who believes in the core tenets of the US Constitution, should be protesting this censorship from the rooftops.  

Though seems to me, it is eerily quiet.  

 

 

Jeffery Deaver – The Final Twist – Comment.

 

Came across this little gem while travelling across town on a suburban bus, situated on an obscure table at the back of an old post office. The price was in my budget, ($5.00) so purchased the novel and put it down only once in a 24-hour period. Reading this Deaver thriller was certainly worth the time and certainly underpriced for the experience.  

Probably known to most who read this genre, Deaver is better known for his detective Lincoln Rhyme thrillers, which include the well-known The Bone Collector, later made into a feature film starring the charismatic Densel Washington. Personally, I found the novel better than the film but of course there is no accountability for taste.  

There was no doubt that I would like this novel when opening it up for the first time and reading the epigraph: 

For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit. 

        - Noam Chomsky 

The Final Twist is about one man’s battle against the powerful American Corporation: revealing their underhanded dealings at the possible expense of one’s own life.  

As a died in the wool anti-authoritarian individual, one could say this novel was written entirely for me. The David and Goliath theme in literature and film is used a lot, however, a billion-dollar company finding a loophole in the United States Constitution to run the country and fighting to prevent such a thing makes for some exciting reading.  

Our protagonist is Colter Shaw. He is a survivalist/private detective/solider/seeker of rewards. Shaw’s clients can be the wealthy seeking for lost chattels to the underprivileged looking for a missing spouse or family member. His reward can be huge or meagre depending on the job. In The Final Twist, Shaw is taking up the mission that his dead father began, and that is finding a thing, document or recording that will take this evil corporation down. As readers, we do not find out what this is until much later in the tale.  

Deaver is in the top five crime/thriller writers in the US. These include Lee Child, James Patterson, Stephen King, and Harlon Coben. All these writers are masters of the ‘twist’ including Jeffery Deaver. In The Final Twist, in every short chapter, the reader believes the action is going one way, when it goes in an unexpected direction at the end.  

This is clever and very entertaining. 

The Final Twist is a near perfect novel to read on a long flight across land and sea. Before you know it, looking up, you will have arrived at your destination.