December 30 2019

Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics (2013)
By Charles Krauthammer

Krauthammer is a brilliant writer!  While I don't agree with all of his conclusions, as he is a more conservative thinker than me, his approach to contemporary issues is so measured and his wording so erudite - and often humorous - that this book examining our politics, military, foreign relations, and even the family pet - should be must-reading for anyone in government, law or the military - or anyone (like me) who takes an interest in current events, and needs to hear from different ends of the spectrum.  He's at his most satirical in columns (and this book is composed of previously published news columns and essays) like "Don't touch my junk" about pat-downs and screeners in airports and his most tender in remembering a beloved dog.

Krauthammer's essay on "Zionism and the Fate of the Jews" was very concerning.  Could Jews - as a religion and perhaps as a state - be headed for extinction?  According to the author, their numbers, and their percentage of the total population, and the areas in which they are represented (including the US) are all decreasing.  Krauthammer (a Jew himself) died last year, which is a great loss for our world and for sensible, civil discourse.  God protect the Jews, who have given the world some of our finest literature, art, and justice!

December 24 2019: Selections from the Book of Luke

Luke 1:1-45 - The angel brings new of the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus the Savior

The angel Gabriel told Mary that:

"...you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

and that

"your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.  For nothing will be impossible with God."

and so Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  Elizabeth's response to Mary (Luke 39-45 below) was considered by Martin Luther to be the first sermon in the New Testament.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry,

"Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

* * * * *

Luke 1:46-55 - The Magnificat: Mary responds to the news that she will bear a son, a Savior.

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.

* * * * *

Mary's son became the Savior of the world.  "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10b)  May we all find life, in all its abundance.  Merry Christmas!

December 18

The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets (2019)
By Sarah Miller

As a little girl I recall being enchanted with pictures of the darling Dionne quintuplets.  Although they were already 15 years old when I was born, they were still very much a novelty and, as the title suggests, it was a miracle they survived.  Weighing a combined 13.5 lbs, they were born in the bedroom of a remote French Canadian farmhouse.  Their 24-year-old mother, who was giving birth for the 7th time, was feeling unwell but expecting a single baby.  A local doctor was called in to assist with the birth, and when he saw the size and number of the infants, he asked Mr Dionne to bring in the priest, assuming they would not survive.  Meanwhile he kept them warm by placing them near an open oven door, and later by an old-fashioned incubator heated by hot water, as the farmhouse had no electricity.

The doctor who was present at the birth quickly spread the news, and a photojournalist arrived and arranged the babies for photos within 6 hours of their birth.  A bilingual nurse was engaged to assume the babies' care and they miraculously survived.  As they grew, so did public interest.  The Red Cross, and soon the Canadian government (through an official act), stepped in to take control of the girls, who were set up in a small hospital built across from the farmhouse.  The girls would be put on display twice daily so visitors could observe them at play during prescribed hours in the morning and afternoon.  The girls' father and aunt built souvenir shops near the quints' hospital. The girls had their own life, isolated from their parents and siblings.  Aside from publicity appearances, they knew little of the world outside the hospital.  At age nine, they were returned to their parents' custody, an arrangement that both the quints and their parents/siblings found uncomfortable.  Eventually, they left home for college or convent, but it took years for these women, raised as curiosities, to find comfort outside the rigid strictures of their upbringing.  As adults, they learned that millions of dollars had accrued to an account in their names, the result of many products (e.g. Madame Alexander Dionne quint dolls) for which they received royalties, but that their father had spent down the account.

I could hardly put this book down.  These beautiful little girls were such innocent victims of society, of selfish parents who profited from their children's celebrity, and even of the well-meaning doctor and nurses who regulated their every move.  Two of the quints, now in their 80s, are still living; they are survivors in more ways than one.

December 16

The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy (2017)

By Anne de Courcy

During American's Gilded Age, a large number of American heiresses traded their family's wealth for the title afforded by marriage to a British aristocrat.  Many of the brides' families were nouveau-riche and sought a title as a door into American society, while most (but not all) of the lords, baronets and dukes who married them were penniless and seeking the funds to live in comfort.  The first of these "dollar princesses" was Jennie Jerome, who married Lord Randolph Churchill in 1874, and most notably age birth to Winston Churchill, arguably the 20th century's most crucial player.  Consuelo Vanderbilt brought her father's considerable wealth to restore Blenheim Palce, where she lived with her husband the Duke of Marlborough, a cousin of Churchill.  Many of these unions were loveless, based as they were on personal gain, but some marriages were happy and successful.  By WWW1, most of the fortunes were starting to wane, as was the frivolous style of the American Gilded Age.

This book was loaded with information, much of it centered around Newport.  While I found a few errors (e.g., Gertrude Vanderbilt married Harry Payne Whitney, not Jay Burden), I also found new, helpful information about Gilded Age Newport.

December 6 2019

A Bell for Adano (1943)

By John Hersey

This story, published during the second world war, made me feel good about my country - especially at a time when our current president lacks ethics and honesty.

In 1943, American Major Victor Joppolo has been tasked with bringing democracy to Adano, a small Italian town where the residents have been intimidated into submission by a corrupt mayor and Fascist government.   Joppolo sets up shop in the old city hall and earns the people's trust; he hires an office assistant and a translator, even though Joppolo (whose parents were born in Florence) speaks fluent Italian.  He enlists the US Navy to remove land mines, so fishermen can get back to work and the people of Adano can eat.  But Victor does manage to make an important enemy in Gen Marvin, the American leader of Italian ops, when he countermands an order restricting donkey carts from Adano.  Marvin, in a fit of pique over a stalled cart, has them banned altogether, but Joppolo, knowing carts are crucial to supplying water and other necessities, changes the order so the townspeople can eat.  This fateful decision plays in the background through the story, even as Joppolo works to replace the town's beloved old bell that had marked the hour for centuries until being melted down to make bullets.  Maj Joppolo represents the best of the American military - not perfect - but working to restore faith and humanity to a town devastated by war.

December 2 2019

The Viceroy's House (2017)

There is a huge and ever growing number of books (novels and non-fiction) on the second world (and I am a big fan) - but much less known is the conflict that arose when just after the war, when Great Britain freed India, its long held colony and the jewel in its empire.  The bloodshed that resulted, as Hindus and Muslims fought one another, exceeded the total number of deaths in WW2.

This fascinating film chronicles the events leading up to freedom.  Lord Louis Mountbatten has been appointed the last viceroy, who will oversee the freeing of India.  He is courted by the urbane Muhammed Ali Jinnah, who has a vision for a divided India, with his part being an Islamic state.  The pacifist and much admired Mahatma Gandhi, on the other hand, insists for the good of the Indian people that the nation must remain united.  Yet, partition seems the only road forward, if the large minority of Muslims are to go along with the plan, so the date is set for freedom from Great Britain, and the formation of two new nations, on August 14, 1947.   Meanwhile, Louis's wife Edwina expresses concern over the Indians' lack of education and good health care and worries, along with her husband, that they will need better training to rule their vast country without the resources of the UK. Of course she is right, and the two new nations are destined for strife, but the magnitude of the slaughter (egg, whole train cars arriving full of dead passengers) is horrific, and a bad omen for the birth of the new countries, now over 70 years ago.