Switzy by Emma Cline

Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026--San Antonio

Switzy by Emma Cline is longlisted for the Booker Prize.  I have now read 60% of the books on that list, and it is likely that this will also continue onto the shortlist for the prize and will likely be among the top shortlist contenders for winning the prize.  Even if you start the novel without knowing what it is about, you will realize it quickly.  A man and his young assistant are on a plane from the US to Europe.  The hints begin immediately.  A stop to see his daughter in London--a daughter/father relationship that has been distant since he divorced his wife when she was a young girl.  A final stop in Switzerland with a side trip to see his estranged boarding school friend.  The private plane for the trip has been loaned to him by his former boss and close friend.  He was previously demoted from his position as CFO at work in spite of this friendship because he had lost his formerly exceptional ability to maintain the financial records properly.  He has a leather notebook where he writes things to help him remember them.  So what reason does he have to go to Switzerland while seeing those particular two people?  It is a book that is beautifully written and an extraordinary achievement in providing a picture of the workings of the mind of a man who can't remember the specific word but realizes he has a physical problem related to "Amy Lloyd."  The first half of the book slowly (it sometimes feels a bit too slow) builds the background history for the trip.  The last half, when everyone reading will knows for sure the answer to the question about why the trip is being made, carries the reader through the visits with the daughter and the estranged friend before finally taking us on the ride to the industrial park for the end of the novel.  I gave the book 4 1/2 stars out of 5 and found myself crying at the end.

The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley

Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026--San Antonio

The Palm House by Gwendoline is a short novel that is constructed much like the old Seinfeld TV Show.  There's not a lot of story here.  It concentrates on two long-time friends, the people they know in common, and the conversations among them.  It has been longlisted for the Booker Prize.  The people are interesting, and at times I found myself laughing.  Set in London, Edmund is a single man who has worked for 25 years for a prestigious magazine.  There are hints that he may be gay, but he never seems to date anyone.  When a new publisher is named who wants to change the magazine in ways he feels will lower its quality, he becomes depressed and, thanks to a recent inheritance, resigns.  But he doesn't know what to do with himself.  Laura is struggling with life herself.  She has a difficult mother, and is tired of the lack of success in her life.  She has never had her own place; instead she has lived in shared, rather dilapidated apartments with roommates.  She can't quit work, but toward the end of the story she is able to buy a studio apartment which will be all her own after a small inheritance after her father's death.  The book consists of interactions between Edmund and Laura when they are together, and interactions of them with larger groups--the former co-employees of Edmund's at the magazine or parties or casual gatherings with friends they have in common.  I liked the fact that the author trusted me as a reader to make connections at times to information I already had on previous pages rather than dwelling on repeating information.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.

Transcription by Ben Lerner

Friday, Sept. 11, 2026--San Antonio

Transcription by Ben Lerner is a short novel built around 3 main characters--Thomas, a sophisticated artist (writer, filmmaker, professor), his son Max, and Max's best friend (unnamed) who was Thomas's student was mentored by Thomas.  There have been difficulties throughout their lives.  Part of it is due to no matter what the conversation, Thomas tends to take it in different directions with his knowledge of philosphy, history, etc., which endears him to students and acquaintances but frustrates Max and his friend.  But he is also rather crotchety.  He wants Max to follow in his footsteps, but Max has never felt close to his father.  His mother died early, and Max has been put in boarding schools all his life because it was convenient for his father.  He rebels against his father's desires, becmes a lawyer, and lives across the continent from Thomas.  The protege is fascinated by Thomas and seems more like a son to him.  The book takes place in the mostly in the present when the protege goes to Thomas's home to get a final interview since Thomas is aging and has barely survived COVID when he was 90; he will publish the interview and will attend a conference in Europe of researchers of the works of Thomas where he will report on it.  Another big part of the novel is a conversation (communication?) between the Max and the protege after Thomas's death.  But the real gist of the nvel seems to be how Thomas confuses in his mind his memories of the two 45-year-old friends.  He seems to have a closer relationship today with the protege and to think that memories he has of him and Max are actually memories of him and the protege.  So the novel ends up questioning with how real memories are and how realistic a transscription can be of an interview in relation to what was true in real life.  There's much more in this little novel, but that is what I got from it.  I gave the book 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026--San Antonio

I really don't quite know how to describe The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams, a novel that has been longlisted for this year's Booker Prize.  It seems to be filled with metaphors and is set in a declining university city located in a lush climate with buildings decaying and the plants rapidly taking over the city and suffering from population loss.  It is contrasted with a modern dynamic city built in a dessert and filled with shiny skyscrapers where some of the characters are from and where many locals would rather live.  Agathe, the main character is a university drop-out who was likely the most intelligent student at the university.  Her family has been decaying much as the city where she lives.  Her mother attempted suicide when she was a child; her father, a former member of the faculty, is disgusted with her and has built his academic success on writing lots of novels in which he, she, and her mother are the central characters; and she has lived most of her life with her uncle remaining estranged from her father and her mother.  She works for a professor in which she has secretly taken over most of the professor's university duties--planning the syllabi and the lessons, marking and grading the papers the students submit, etc., and is happy living a quiet, isolated life where she is paid well for her work without needing any recognition for it.  An event has taken place at the university where a graduate student named Adam has come in conflict during a lecture period with a professor from a minority background named Jacob--each having offended the other with name-calling at the end of the conflict, so the university community is in an uproar regarding who was in the wrong and what to do about it.  The professor who employs Agathe is on the side of Adam since they both are outsiders from the modern city in the desert (and also because she seems to have a crush on him).  Most of the university administration seem to be on the side of Jacob.  The professor asks Agathe to establish a relationship with Adam to try to learn more about the event, how he feels about the situation, and what is currently happening.  In the meantime, the decaying of the city is increasing rapidly, especially since the gardeners have gone on strike for not being appreciated or paid enough.  They march in protest in rows and columns much like a military brigade.  So what is the book really about since almost everything seems to be a metaphor for something else?  I can't tell you for sure.  What I can say, is that it is set in modern times (maybe even slightly in the future).  There has always been a power conflict between the city and the university.  Climate change is definitely happending.  The university seems to have adopted a progressive posture--admitting more minorities and international students and trying to uphold standards designed to protect feelings--but it has also failed to maintain the qualities that have made it one of the top universities in the world, since there seems to be grade inflation, faculty being lax in maintaining teaching standards, students hiring others to do their required assignments for themselves, etc.  So the city is falling apart, the university is falling apart, and society is falling apart.  Is it a prediction for the near future?  I gave the book 3 stars out of 5.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026--San Antonio

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout is a great novel which is longlisted for the Booker Prize.  (It's the fifth book I have read by her and all of them have been well worth reading.)  It's my opinion that in a way, the book is about changes occurring that seem to represent the beginning of the end of civilization as we have known it.  But it is told by showcasing a central character, who is a simple but great man--a man who is respected and liked, who is a kind and good person, and who is a high school history teacher--Mr. Dam (called affectionately Damn-Dam by his students).  Events taking place mostly in the fall of 2024 (in his personal life, in his classroom, within his family, and within the country) illustrate the changes taking place. Open confrontation, cursing, and name-calling are replacing civil discourse and niceties within society.  Dam recognizes this and is puzzled by it.  He keeps questioning:  Do we really have free will?  It's a question that goes two directions:  If we do, why do we choose to make negative changes in life?  If we don't, could that be why things are changing?  But he is also learning that life is hard, that people have secrets, that having certain knowledges can be depressing.  And he is learning that everyone he knows is different in ways from what he thinks they are like because of their secrets in their lives.  Even Damn-Dam has a few critical secrets in himself.  It's a short book that can be read quickly, but one worth reading.  I gave the book 5 stars out of 5.