May Meeting Notes

I just arrived home from Friday's meeting. We discussed (at great length and with considerable vigor) "In the Garden of Beasts", by Erik Larson. If you haven't read it yet...get cracking.

I promised that I would provide information and links for some supplemental reading. I knew that if I didn't come straight home and get it done, it would quite possibly fall off my radar. My radar is rather
capricious in all long-term matters.

For those who would like to read the entire Erik Larson interview, here is the link:
http://blogs.britannica.com/2011/09/garden-beasts-5-questions-erik-larson/

For those who are interested in the book about the "Pretty Good Club": "A Pretty Good Club: The Founding Fathers of the U. S. Foreign Service" by Martin Weil.
http://www.amazon.com/pretty-good-club-founding-fathers/dp/0393056589

The book for next time is "Crossing to Safety" by Wallace Stegner.

Since I'm here...I'd also like to offer a quick review.

The Last Goodnight

by Howard Blum

 

 

I've always been a sucker for a good spy novel. But this one is non-fiction. It's the story of Betty Pack (code named Cynthia), WWII spy and seductress. Don't be fooled by her plain-Jane name (Betty conjures up Betty Rubble...or the virginal Betty from the Archie comics. Or Betty Crocker.). Much like I'm drawn to spy novels, Betty couldn't resist danger. Or men. And for her, danger and promiscuity were usually a twofer.

 

One of the things I liked about this tale is that I couldn't altogether like her, but I likewise couldn't hate her. Her morality is more than questionable. Her motives are not altogether clear (at least not to me). But her actions led to victory in WWII. But she abandon two children. But she was brave. And so on...

 

Ellen Key gave me this book to read, and will recommend it for next year's reading list. The great thing about this book is that it opens up complex feelings. How does morality fit into the scheme of wars? We don't condone killing normally. But in a war?...we do. Does a person we would normally judge to be a...well, slut...become a hero if she uses her lack of moral scruples for the right cause? Seems to me that almost anything one could do to end the reign of Hitler is justifiable.

 

If this intrigues you...contact Ellen. She will gladly loan you her hard copy.