Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

 Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021--San Antonio

Aurthur and George by Julian Barnes was my first book to read during the GREAT TEXAS WINTER STORMS (two bouts of freezing rain followed by 4" of snow within a 5-day period and the longest period of below-freezing temperatures in the history of records here in San Antonio) of 2021.  I had waited a week since finishing my previous book to start another because I needed to spend time on other things.  But then the storm hit and I had no electricity, no Internet, no heat except from a gas fireplace, etc.  I couldn't download another book due to the Internet being out, so I started searching my bookshelf for a book I hadn't yet read that sounded interesting.  Arthur and George is a combination of the stories of the lives of Arthur Conan Doyle (who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories) and George Edalji, the quiet son of an Indian Church of England priest and his Scottish wife, who grows up being teased and discriminated against.  The first part of the book covers their lives separately by going back and forth to tell their stories of growing up.  Then the story turns only to George to tell of a crime he is accused of committing, his trial, and his time in prison.  From there, the story turns back to Arthur to tell about his marriage, his interest in spiritism, and his life with a second woman.  He becomes aware of the miscarriage of justice against George, born and raised in England but never accepted as British because of his heritage.  The book continues with Arthur working to get George a pardon and compensation for his miscarriage of justice.  It continues with Arthur's eventual marriage to the second woman after his first wife's death, his continued investigation of spiritism, and his eventual death.  It is not a biography, but it is built around true facts and told as historical fiction; it even has an afterward which tells what eventually happened to all the major characters following the point in time when the novel ends.  I found sections of the book to be extended too long and of little interest to me.  And it was too many stories within one book--the story of Arthur's life, the story of George's life, the story of discrimination in England, the story of a true crime series that occurred, and the story of spiritism and those who believe in it.  It was a finalist for the Booker Prize and I enjoyed it most of the time; as a compromise due to the multiple stories being jumbled together and my lost interest at times, I rate it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.

 Feb. 5, 2021--San Antonio

The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr., is his first novel.  It was one of the most anticipated books of January, 2021 with more than 20 major recommendations including TIME, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, etc.  It is the story of the people on a plantation in Mississippi, but it is mainly the story of the slaves there including the lingering memories that have been carried forward by word-of-mouth of where their people came from, how they traveled to America, and what happened to them over time in America and specifically on this plantation.  It is unflinchingly specific about the treatment they have received as captives and slaves.  The reader learned that they have retained certain knowledge of their own culture and understandings even after generations in America even when separated from others of their families and tribes.  There are many major characters in the book--the owner of the plantation who is harsh but maybe not as much as some other slave owners, his cousin who is the overseer of the slaves and thinks that the owner should be more harsh, the house slaves who have suffered greatly over time even though their living conditions are a bit better than those of the field slaves, the slave who maneuvers to have a higher position by adopting the religion of his owners and seeks permission to preach to the other slaves and who eventually positions himself as the arbiter of what is right and wrong within the slave colony, the son of the plantation owner who has been North for college and has no interest in taking his father's role when the time comes, the wife of the plantation owner who had many miscarriages before the son was born and has developed mental instability due to it, etc.  But the two central characters the story revolves around at least half the time are two young men barely past puberty who are in charge of the barn and its animals, have been friends since childhood, who are quite different in each of their outlooks toward life, but whose friendship has turned into a loving sexual relationship over time.  I found it difficult at times to comprehend what the author was trying to communicate with his rather "lofty" language, but the stories of all the characters were fascinating to read.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.