Tintin, the intrepid boy reporter, sets off for America with Snowy by his side. His mission? To bring down Al Capone, clean up Chicago, and see to it Tintin, the intrepid boy reporter, sets off for America with Snowy by his side. His mission? To bring down Al Capone, clean up Chicago, and see to it that all the big crime bosses are rounded up and sent to jail. And it doesn't matter if he has to travel to the wild west, be tied to railroad tracks, be thrown into Lake Michigan with dumbbells chained to him, be shot at and thrown off cliffs, be kidnapped or have Snowy kidnapped, be gassed and hit over the head and dropped through trap doors--Tintin will get his men.
Of course, the depiction of Native Americans in this story is stereotypical and typical of the portrayal of this people at the time period. Looking back 90 years, it's easy to see what's wrong with the portrayal and to hope that we've come a long way in our viewpoint--unfortunately we haven't come as far as we need to...but that's a social soapbox and this is a review.
But the adventure was still fun and I enjoyed watching Tintin and Snowy work together. In these early stories, Snowy talks to Tintin and has a lot of the commentary that will later fall to Captain Haddock. Much as I like the spluttering Captain, I do enjoy the running comments from Snowy. A nice trip down memory lane. ★★� and 1/2 (rounded up here)
Charles Lenox and his detective agency are just coming off a big case--a corruption case that has rocked Scotland Yard and put the aristocratic backerCharles Lenox and his detective agency are just coming off a big case--a corruption case that has rocked Scotland Yard and put the aristocratic backers of some of the Yard men involved. While Prime Minister Disraeli wants the corrupt men brought to justice, he wants to mitigate the damage to the government as much as possible. His solution, have Lenox's evidence given in a written affidavit rather than live and person (for a drier, less sensational effect). He plans to send Lenox to the United States with all the pomp and circumstance of the Queen's representative. The reason for the trip shall be that Britain is looking to set up reciprocal relationships with the police forces and detectives of other countries to share practices and to give assistance when possible.
Lenox has barely begun his tour in the States when a request comes from one of the wealthiest families in the wealthy enclave in Newport, Rhode Island. A beautiful young woman named Lily Allingham has been found dead on the beach below the "cottage" owned by William Stuyvesant Schermerhorn IV. It would be most convenient if the woman had committed suicide, but the wound in her head and the position of the body seem to rule out anything but murder. Lily was in her last season as a debutante with her choice of beaus and had been expected to announce her engagement very soon. The front-runners in the marriage race were Schermerhorn's son and a nephew of "the" Vanderbilt. Had she turned one of them down and received a killing blow in a moment of outrage? Or are there others with a reason to kill the almost too beautiful woman?
Lenox will need to find out who knew Lily best and examine the timeline for a society ball before he can find the answer. His task is made more difficult because he is out of his element and without his usual helpers. A young scion of another of the leading families fancies himself as an amateur detective and lends Lenox a hand. But it's just not the same as having Dallinger or Graham at his side. And how much real help can the young man give anyway?
It was interesting to see Lenox in a different setting and watching him adapt from Victoria's England to the Gilded Age in the States. But I have to admit I'm not overly fond of stories that take the detective out of his usual environs. Especially when they don't have any of their usual companions around--he didn't even get to take Lady Jane along. After having read one of the prequel novels, I was very excited to get back to the "current" Lenox. I like him better as a seasoned detective even though it was nice to see his beginnings in the trade--and, to be honest, I enjoyed the stories where Graham was more Lenox's right-hand man rather than following his career in Parliament and only appearing occasionally.
The plot is a good one. Mystery fans with a lot of reading under their belts may see the particular twist coming, but Finch handles it well and readers who haven't encountered that type of solution before will be surprised. I'm not sure that I like the overall ending, however. The culprit has escaped justice and though Lenox is assured that s/he will be no further threat, I do wonder if we'll see them crop up again at a later date.
I appreciate Finch's research and the way he uses it to bring the times and places alive. We definitely get a feel for the opulence that existed during America's Gilded Age. And he underlines the differences between the U.S. and Britain during the same time period without making too much of them and without making the reader feel like they are sitting through a history lesson. Highly enjoyable read.
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In 1985 Margaret Atwood published The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel depicting a future United States (and most particularly, the New England areaIn 1985 Margaret Atwood published The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel depicting a future United States (and most particularly, the New England area) where the government has been overthrown and replaced by a theonomy called the Republic of Gilead. It is implied that this has taken place in part as a response to the growing numbers of infertile people and those who have deliberately chosen not to have children. The new regime affects women to the greatest extent. It is now illegal for women to hold property, work at paid jobs, read and write, or have any autonomy at all really. They are divided into various classes--women of the ruling class who may or may not be capable of bearing children; Handmaids who essentially serve as broodmares for those in the ruling class who are infertile; Marthas who do all the household chores for the ruling class; Econowives, legitimate wives of the lower classes; Aunts who train and discipline the Handmaids in preparation for their lives as broodmares; and the illegitimate women (Unwomen and Jezebels), those who fall outside the boundaries of these highly regulated categories.
The story follows Offred, a woman in her thirties who remembers what it was like before the militaristic theonomy took over. She had a husband, who was not allowed to keep her because he had been divorced, and a daughter, who was taken from her parents and given to one of the new regime's Commanders. She had work and money of her own. A great deal of Offred's thoughts makes it appear that she is trying to accept the new order and just fit in and yet she also speaks of wanting shears or scissors (anything with a sharp blade). We're sometimes not sure if she wants them to do away with herself or if she wants to use them on the Commander or his wife though she often makes a point of how anything that might be useful to a suicide has been kept out of her reach.
I thought this was a shatteringly good novel when I first read it for a college English class in 1988. At that time it was an interesting look at a dystopian society that could happen, but to a child of the 70s and early 80s it seemed unlikely. Though positive change was slow, it was happening and seemed to be trending to keep happening. So, I read it as more of a cautionary tale. Reading it now with the background of the United States from 2016 on, it is even more shattering. It doesn't seem so far-fetched that so much could change so quickly--that a free woman could find herself stripped of her autonomy and enslaved in the ways that Offred and her fellow Handmaids are. Because so much has changed so quickly in the last three years. It is so easy to take a way of life for granted--but this book (and current events) show us has dangerous it is to take anything for granted...even the basic rights promised to us in the Constitution. Even battles already fought in the courts can be reversed and taken from the victors.
It also teaches us how easily humans adapt--how quickly we conform. How much the average person doesn't want to upset the apple cart...even when the cart becomes filled with rotten apples. There will always be those who will take advantage of opportunities to wield power over others (the Aunts and those who inform on anyone who steps out of line). There will always be those who assume it isn't really as bad as it seems and will buy the party line that things are "better now." But as the Commander says, “Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.�
This is an incredible story made even more incredible by how very relevant it is thirty-some years later.
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Jane and Dagobert Brown arrive in the United States with the aim of visiting his Aunt Clotilda in Detroit. Dagobert seems to think the best way to getJane and Dagobert Brown arrive in the United States with the aim of visiting his Aunt Clotilda in Detroit. Dagobert seems to think the best way to get there is to buy an old jalopy in New York and head for New Mexico. And, of course, that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Miranda Ross, a beautiful WAC Dagobert met in World War II, lives on a ranch in Alamogordo, NM. Certainly not. But the Browns don't exactly get a warm welcome when they first all up Miranda from Pa Fergusson's gas station. Miranda seems vague on her memories of Dagobert and just couldn't possibly put them up...but then, suddenly, she changes her mind and invites them to stay for the weekend. It's only Thursday.
I really enjoy the relationship between Jane and Dagobert. The witty back and forth and the way that Jane absolutely understands her husband. The character of Pa Fergusson was very well-drawn as well. The rest of the cast--especially the "sainted" Miranda? Not so much. And the plot just didn't seem to pick up as quickly as in the Ames books I've read previously (She Shall Have Murder and For Old Crime's Sake). It seemed to drag a bit in the first third of the book. But it did have a nicely done solution and I enjoyed watching Dagobert work everything out and explain it.
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