Book Reviews Published in Silver City Sun-News

by Cathy Goodwin
Email or phone 505-534-4294

Death of a Village
The Interpreter
The Van Gogh Blues
Breaking the Rules of Aging

Death of a Village: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery by M.C.Beaton, Mysterious Press 2003. 245 pages. $23.95

Fans of Hamish Macbeth will rejoice! Hamish is back, slightly wounded by stories that his adored Priscilla will be marrying someone else. He knows they're unsuitable -- but he misses her.

Tall, red-headed Hamish continues to attract women, however, and the local reporter Elspeth has been showing some interest. With her help, he digs into a series of cases that only loosely relate to one another.

A nearby village seems caught up in a sinister spell. A lovely young wife seems to be abused. Residents check into a local nursing home and some seem to check out awfully fast. And villagers report some mysterious action along the jagged coastline.

Hamish loves a mystery but this time his skill may get him the reward he doesn't want: a promotion to a big-city police force, where he'll be lost in the crowd.

Nearly every character in the series -- as well as the reviewers -- call Hamish unambitious, but I think he's a man who's got everything he wants, and he knows it. And on some level, he seems to know he's not destined for marriage (thankfully -- the series would never be the same) and takes comfort in his beloved dog, Lugs.

It's easy to dismiss M.C. Beaton's books as light -- and they are -- but she's a solid writer. She creates characters in a sentence or two and even gives them some depth. Her characters have self-defeating flaws as well as heroic virtues. Her books are small but you get a real sense of people and place -- the result of tight, careful writing. On page 233, we learn how Hamish acquired Lugs -- in 3 sentences. Some writers would need 3 pages.

Let's hope we see a few dozen more volumes from this prolific and gifted author.

The Interpreter by Suki Kim. Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2003. 294 pages. $24.00.

The Interpreter is one of the best first mysteries I've read in a long time. Author Suki Kim crafts a third-person, present-tense story of one Suzy Park, whose life up to now can best be described as dysfunctional. She's survived two affairs with married men (although she's remarkably comfortable in her current "mistress" role), dropped out of a first-rate university, drifted from job to job, and kept only two good friends.

Her present job, as a contract interpreter working for an agency, has lasted longer than any others -- eight months. On one assignment, she translates for a witness who happens to know something about her parents, who died of gunshot wounds in 1995. She decides to investigate their death, her own past and the mysterious disappearance of her estranged sister Grace.

Although Suzy Park does not make an appealing heroine (you want to shake her and send her to a therapist, pronto), her life makes sense in terms of her background. A dysfunctional life comes from a supremely dysfunctional family -- with layers of mystery.

The Interpreter crosses genres of literary fiction, "girl book" and fast-paced murder mystery. New York has been the scene of thousands of novels, but the author manages to create a new perspective of the most familiar scenes. New York transplants will recall the Number 7 Queens line and the Long Island RR to Montauk ("Change at Jamaica!") as well as Upper West Side restaurants and East Village apartments. Kim also delivers a gritty but entertaining view of the Korean immigrant lifestyle as well as the realities of mundane legal proceedings: bored, boorish lawyers; confused, frightened defendants; and questions that have no meaning in the immigrant subculture.

The vivid setting and fast pace make The Interpreter succeed, despite the unsympathetic main character and her even less sympathetic romantic alliances. Along with Suzy, we are exposed to one mystery after another. Why did the family move so often? Where did they get money to buy a store? Where are the family's citizenship papers? Why is the sister so aloof? Who murdered the parents, gangland style, and why?

Amazingly, new author Suki Kim brings all the loose threads together. However, don't look for a warm glow of happiness as you finish the last chapter. I am reminded of the oft-quoted psychological truth: People need meaning to be happy, but meaning doesn't necessarily bring happiness. The heroine can now make a patterned quilt out of the scraps of her life.

We're satisfied. She may never be.

The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel. The Rodale Press 2002. 272 pages. $23.05

Creative people, says Eric Maisel, are prone to depression because they're "caught up in a struggle to make life seem more meaningful." To overcome depression, they need to find ways to bring meaning into their life and work.

While Van Gogh Blues has been positioned as self-help for depression, it's really about finding meaning in life and work. And while it's targeted to "creatives," anyone who has created anything -- including a business -- will relate to Maisel's latest book.

Some readers find this book too abstract and scholarly, and it is true that Van Gogh Blues is more about experience than healing. I found some suggestions hard to follow.

For instance, Maisel suggests that creatives must find a way to feel rewarded just for doing the work -- even if nobody wants to buy what they produce. A noble idea, but difficult to accomplish. Creatives who want to sell their work differ significantly from those who create for self-expression.

To find meaning, Maisel encourages us to write our own life plan and identify our "core operating principles." If people could do this, I found myself wondering, would they be reading this book?

Much of the book consists of autobiographical anecdotes reported "creativity coaches" trained by Maisel. I found them distracting but other readers may feel inspired.

Despite these concerns, I would recommend Van Gogh Blues to people who describe themselves as "creative" and who are struggling to find meaning in their lives. The basic premise of the book will resonate among creatives and self-help seekers. Maisel's suggestions will be welcomed by those seeking a happier way to view their creative lives.

Breaking the Rules of Aging by David A. Lipschitz, MD, PhD. Lifeline Press 2002. 250 pages $24.95

It's nice to hear from a doctor who doesn't chant the party line. Lipschitz is not afraid to criticize common medical mistreatments: unncessary heart surgery, overmedication, and overemphasis on weight.

I especially appreciated the discussion of weight and weight gain. So...being "a little bit chubby" can actually be healthy? About time we heard this view! And Lipschitz questions the prevailing wisdom of light exercise. Work out and work hard, he says, and weight-lifting is the preferred exercise for the midlife-to-elderly set.

The most valuable part of the book is Lipschitz's portrayal of his elderly active patients who defy the stereotype. Yes, people over seventy can be active, healthy and sexual. They can even go back to school at age seventy-five.

And Lipschitz offers well-informed guidance about excessive or overzealous medicine -- topics doctors usually avoid. Under certain circumstances, he says, chemotherapy and other strong measures can make sense. But sometimes doctors are guilty of jumping in with painful measures to save a life that's already doomed.

On the downside, Lipschitz devotes considerable space to discussing heart attack prevention, yet ignores other life-changing conditions, such as diabetes, sight impairment, arthritis and dementia. A few more chapters would have made this relatively small book even more helpful.

Additionally, the book ignores the elderly who lack money and support systems. Medical care can be cold and uncomfortable under the best of conditions. Try seeking medical services when you're not accompanied by a six-foot, able-bodied son or a daughter who just happens to be an attorney.

Lipschitz's sample patients seem to live in a well-cushioned vacuum, and that perhaps is what's missing in an otherwise strong contribution.

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