"Between My Father and the King" -A Short Stories by Janet Frame- from Between My Father and the King and Other Stories - 2012

 Janet Frame

A Post in Memorium of Her Passing Eight Years Ago

Born - August 28, 1924- Dunedin, New Zealand 

Died - January 29, 2004- Dunedin, New Zealand 

Janet Frame Literary Trust- janetframe.or.nz 

This is my first venture into the work of Janet Frame, I hope it will not be my last. After Katherine Mansfield, she is the third  New Zealand born writer to be featured on The Reading Life.

Today's story was originally published, as far as I can ascertain, in her postummous collection in 2012 and shortly after that in the Manchester Review. (The story can be read in the sample of the Kindle Edition of Between My Father and the King and other Stories.)

"Between My Father and the King" in just a few marvelous pages evokes a very moving account of a soldier from New Zealand, a veteran of what was once called The Great War, feelings toward a debt HD owes the British government, personified in the person of the King of England. The story is narrated by his daughter.

 

" My father fought in the First World War that used to be called ‘Great’ until the truth of its greatness was questioned and the denial of its greatness accepted. My father came home from the war with a piece of shrapnel in his back, remnants of gas in his lungs, a soldier’s pay book, an identity disc, a gas mask, and a very important document which gave details of my father’s debt to the King and his promise before witnesses to repay the King the fifty pounds borrowed to buy furniture: a bed to sleep in with his new wife, a dining table to dine at, linoleum and a hearthrug to lay on the floor, two fireside chairs for man and wife to sit in when he wasn’t working and she wasn’t polishing the King’s linoleum and shaking the King’s hearthrug free of dust; and a wooden fireside kerbto protect the hearthrug, the linoleum and my father and his wife from sparks when they sat by the fire. All this furniture, the document said, cost fifty pounds, which had to be paid to the King in agreed instalments. I found this document the other day, and the accompanying note of discharge from debt; and it was the first time I had known of my father’s dreadful responsibility. For besides promising to repay the loan he had sworn to keep the bed and mattress and fireside kerb and hearthrug and linoleum and dining table and chairs and fireside chairs in good order and on no account sell or exchange them"

The daughter ( I am assuming it is his daughter rather than a son based on the introduction to the collection) has just found the document in which her father  agrees to let a representative of the King inspect his furniture at any time. The man and his wife get nervous everytime someone knocks on the door, fearing it might be the King’s inspector. This is a profoundly anti-war and colonial story, reflecting how ordinary people are sacrificed in wars for the glory of Kings.  The ending is darkly hilarious and terribly sad.

Mel Ulm 

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston -2017- 362 pages- Non-Fiction

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston is one of the very best works of narrative non-fiction I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. It is a brilliant combination of adventure travel, Meso-American history, contemporary Honduran politics, jungle archaeology, a precis upon tropical diseases, as well as a look about the work and politics of modern archaeology.

"The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery."

"Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. 

Best selling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization.

Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease." From the publisher 

I agree completely with the publisher's description. Here are just a few additional observations I wish to make on this book.

 Preston helped me understand how climate change intensifies the spread of tropical diseases to more temperate climates. He also made me see why giant pharmaceutical companies focus less upon diseases indigenous to the tropics than those found world wide. Millions of people in tropical regions may be infected by diseases spread by sand flies but the people and governments in these areas cannot afford vaccines and expensive drugs so pharmaceutical companies are not interested. I never thought of this before but it makes perfect sense.

Here is the author's account of one such disease:

"Leishmaniasis, a disease caused by protozoan parasites.

Mucosal leishmaniasis struck down two-thirds of the expedition — Hondurans, Americans and Brits alike. It is a very persistent disease, a flesh-eating parasite that attacks the face and eventually causes your lips and nose to slough off, leaving a weeping sore where your face used to be. (I would not recommend Googling pictures of the disease!) It has returned in a number of people. But we are getting the best medical care in the world from doctors at the National Institutes of Health, who are studying us and our disease, which appears to be a unique form. It makes for a fascinating medical mystery"

Preston goes into a good bit of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America. He helped me understand one of the reasons why the Spanish conquest of the Philippines was much more difficult. People living in the 16th century in the Philippines archipelago had hundreds of years of exposure through contacts with China, Malaysia and the Indian Subcontinent to the diseases that brought Apocaliptic devastation to all the Americans so they were able to resist these plagues. 

Preston introduced me to the use of new technologies of ariel photography that are revolutionising archeology. The expeditions were very expensive, just the cost of helicopters was huge. The Honduran Special Forces provided security from looters and narcotics traffickers, a very powerful part of Honduran society. Snakes were an ever present danger.

I am very glad I found this book.  

Mel Ulm
 

Caeser:Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy- 2006 - 583 Pages

 Caeser:Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy- 2006 - 583 Pages

A captivating biography” of the great Roman general “puts Caesar’s war exploits on full display, along with his literary genius” and more (The New York Times)

 

"Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of the Julius Caesar’s life, Adrian Goldsworthy not only chronicles his accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters during which he was high priest of an exotic cult and captive of pirates, and rebel condemned by his own country. Goldsworthy also reveals much about Caesar’s intimate life, as husband and father, and as seducer not only of Cleopatra but also of the wives of his two main political rivals.

 

This landmark biography examines Caesar in all of these roles and places its subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C. Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar’s character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate thousands of years later." From the publisher 

Having no expertise in Ancient Roman history, I am seeking books to increase my ability to place works of Roman Literature in a cultural and historical context that might deepen my understanding of these works. 

 Caeser is indeed one of the colossal figures not just of Roman history but of that of the World. Goldsworthy reminded me that his revamping of the Roman calender is still used today, with some minor modifications. Goldsworthy portrays Caeser as not cruel just for pleasure but ruthless when it suited his ambitions. His wars killed and enslaved vast numbers of people. Selling captured persons was a huge source of wealth.His conquests greatly enriched the Empire. He sponsored gladiatorial games and gave grain subsidies to ordinary Romans. He gave and took bribes as was normal.

Goldsworthy goes into copious detail concerning the tumultuous and dangerous political intriguing that was how Rome was run. Caeser had many affairs, had sex with slaves. Goldsworthy tells us what can be known about the relationship of Caeser and Cleopatra. Caeser could be merciful with opposition leaders if they agreed to be loyal. He could also let his soldiers sack a town, killing even children if a town resisted him too long. There is a lot about how the army worked. His soldiers were well rewarded and most were loyal to Caeser. He fought amongst along with them on occasion.

Of course the work goes into the conspiracy to kill Caeser.

"Adrian Goldsworthy was born in 1969. He was educated up to the age of sixteen at Westbourne House Preparatory School and Westbourne Boys College in Penarth, South Wales. He attended the Sixth Form at Stanwell Comprehensive School for his A-Levels. From there he went to St John's College, Oxford University and took a First in Ancient and Modern History. Remaining at St John's, he was awarded a D.Phil. in Literae Humaniores (Ancient History) in 1994. The topic of his thesis was 'The Roman Army as a fighting force, 100 BC-AD 200'. A modified version of this was subsequently published in the Oxford Monographs series under the title of The Roman Army at War, 100 BC - AD 200 (1996). This remains in print and is one of the best selling works in the series.

He was a Junior Research Fellow at Cardiff University for two years and subsequently taught part-time at King's College London and was an assistant professor on the University of Notre Dame's London programme for six years. He also did bits and pieces of teaching at other universities. He has lectured on a range of topics, including both Greek and (particularly) Roman History, but also taught a course on the military history of the Second World War at Notre Dame.

Teaching is tremendous fun, but writing is even more enjoyable and in the last few years he has given up teaching to write full time. Best of all this avoids the vast weight of administrative work now inevitable in any university post. It is still nice to give lectures and attend conferences, but only when time permits.

Just in case anybody is interested, he enjoys watching cricket (supporting Glamorgan in the first class game and England internationally), walking, and playing tennis - not terribly well, but with plenty of enthusiasm. He has recently started learning to ride and now wishes he had taken it up long ago.

Adrian Goldsworthy lives in South Wales." From adriangoldworthy.com

I have two more of his books on Roman history on my Kindle application, Augustus:First Emperor and Pax Romano: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World.

Mel Ulm

Thyestes by Seneca - c. B. C. E. 62- included in the Collection Seneca: Six Tradgedies- translated with an Introduction by Emily Wilson- 2010

 Thyestes by Seneca - c. B. C. E. 62- included in the Collection Seneca: Six Tradgedies- translated with an Introduction by Emily Wilson- 2010

Ancient Reads Post

This is the third drama by Seneca I have so far read. Previously I have posted upon his Phaedra as well as Trojan Women.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Born- 4 B. C. E. - Cordoba,Spain 

49 A. D. Appointed Advisor to Nero

Died 65 A. D - Rome. - ordered to commit suicide for his possible role in a conspiracy to murder Emperor Nero 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE-

Thyestes, Brother of Atreus, in exile

Atreus, King of Argos

Tantalus, father of Thyestes

Plisthenes (silent role), son of Thyestes

Tantali umbra (ghost of Tantalus), grandfather of Atreus & Thyestes

Furia (Rage, Fury), often interpreted as Megaera

satelles, attendant or guard of Atreus

nuntius, messenger

Chorus

"Tantalus killed his son, Pelops, and gave him as a feast to the gods. As punishment in the underworld he suffered eternal hunger and eternal thirst, with water and food forever just out of his grasp. The two sons of Pelops struggled for power over the throne of Mycenae. They agreed that whichever of them possessed the golden sheep from Atreus’ herd should be king. Thyestes produced the sheep, and seized power, ousting Atreus. But Atreus accused his brother of plotting with his own wife, Aerope, to steal the fleece and the throne; he seized power in turn, and exiled his brother. Seneca’s play shows what happened when Thyestes returned from exile." From the introduction 

The plays of Seneca I have read present a very dark vision. People are motivated by Greed, jealousy, envy and lust. No one can be truly trusted. Love turns to hate to violent revenge. The old Gods are depicted sometimes as cruel, capricious sporting with people just for their own amusement. Sometimes their existence is said to exist only in fairy tales, delusions people cling to for comfort. Roman society was built on a foundation of cruelty and oppression through slavery and warfare. With a turn of fortune today’s aristocrats can become Tommorow's slaves.

Thyestes takes place partially in the Underworld. The summary from Edith Wilson depicts the horrors of the plot.

The sacrificing of children was common in numerous Ancient cultures, including Celtic, old testament Judea, India and Meso-America as well as Grecian. Killing a rival's children was a prime means of revenge.

The next play by Seneca I read will be his Medea but first I will read Medea by Euripides.

"ABOUT EMILY WILSON

Emily Wilson is the College for Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, professor of Classical Studies, and graduate chair of the Program in Comparative Literature & Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson attended Oxford University (Balliol College B.A. and Corpus Christi College M.Phil.) and Yale University (Ph.D.). In 2006, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance & Early Modern scholarship. In 2019 she was named a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2020 she was named a Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Philadelphia with her three daughters, three cats, two rats, and one dog.

Follow Professor Wilson on Twitter @EmilyRCWilson. Professor Wilson frequently tweets about the Odyssey, translation, and her pets." From Emilywilson.com

Reading her bio, I thought I live with my three daughters, five cats and one dog but no rats 

Mel u

The Libraian Spy by Madeline Martin - 2022- 401 pages

 The Libraian Spy by Madeline Martin - 2022- 401 pages

In December of 2021 I read The Last Bookstore in London by Madeline Martin, set in London during the Blitz years of World War Two. I loved this deeply moving vivid account of the impact of Germany's bombing of London on a small Bookstore.

I was delighted when her just recently published novel, The Libraian Spy, was offered in a flash sale of the Kindle Edition for $1.95.

The Libraian Spy is set during World War Two in Paris as well as Lyon and Lisbon. Paris is occupied by the Germans. Portugal is neutral but in danger of being invaded. People come from all over Europe to Lisbon hoping to get a visa to go to America. 

Ava loved working as a librarian at The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C, she loved her job:

"There was nothing Ava Harper loved more than the smell of old books. The musty scent of aging paper and stale ink took one on a journey through candlelit rooms of manors set amid verdant hills or ancient castles with turrets that stretched up to the vast, unknown heavens. These were tomes once cradled in the spread palms of forefathers, pored over by scholars, devoured by students with a rapacious appetite for learning. In those fragrant, yellowed pages were stories of the past and eternal knowledge. It was a fortunate thing indeed she was offered a job in the Rare Book Room at the Library of Congress where the archaic aroma of history was forever present."

 Then one day Ava is asked to go to Lisbon to work attached to the American Embassy gathering information from publications that might help the Allied War effort. America had not yet entered the war but was helping. Ava was recruited for her expertise microfilming documents.

Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printer in order to silence them.

As the battle in Europe rages, Ava and Elaine find themselves connecting through coded messages and discovering hope in the process.

There are lots of exciting developments, I became very involved with Ava and Elaine. Elaine's husband was very against her getting involved with the resistance. Ava's brother is fighting in the American Army. Lisbon is full of desperate refugees from all over Europe. In Lyon Elaine gives her ID card to a Jewish woman to save her from the camps. The Gestapo takes Elaine into custody in a very frightening segment.

Food is very much a central issue. Foodies will be ready for a trip to Lisbon. Rationing is very strict in Lyon. If one German is killed by the resistance, they kill 100 French persons in retaliation.  

Both cities are very brilliantly depicted.  

The Libraian Spy is obviously very well researched. It kept me enthralled from the start.

"Madeline Martin is a New York Times and International Bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance.

"She lives in sunny Florida with her two daughters (known collectively as the minions), one incredibly spoiled cat and a man so wonderful he’s been dubbed Mr. Awesome. She is a die-hard history lover who will happily lose herself in research any day. When she’s not writing, researching or ‘moming’, you can find her spending time with her family at Disney or sneaking a couple spoonfuls of Nutella while laughing over cat videos. She also loves to travel, attributing her fascination with history to having spent most of her childhood as an Army brat in Germany." From Madelinemartin.com

Mel Ulm

 

Trojan Women by Seneca - composed c. 54 A. D. - included in the Collection Seneca: Six Tradgedies- translated with an Introduction by Emily Wilson- 2010

 Born - 4 B. C. E. - Cordoba,Spain 

49 A. D. Appointed Advisor to Nero

Died 65 A. D. - ordered to commit suicide for his possible role in a conspiracy to murder Emperor Nero 

An Article from the Enclopedia Britanica has a detailed account of Seneca's involvement in Roman imperial politics 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE- in order of appearance 

 HECUBA, Queen of Troy TALTHYBIUS, Greek herald PYRRHUS, son of Achilles AGAMEMNON, Greek leader CALCHAS, Greek prophet ANDROMACHE, wife of Hector OLD MAN ASTYANAX, Andromache’s son ULYSSES, HELEN MESSENGER CHORUS [POLYXENA: silent part

 The action is set in the city of Troy, in the aftermath of the ten-year war. The Greeks—led by Ulysses and Agamemnon—have used the trick of the wooden horse to break the siege, invade the city, and defeat the inhabitants. The wealth of Troy is looted; the Trojan men are dead, including the great hero Hector, killed by Achilles; the Trojan Women enslaved, and will be taken home as servants and concubines by the various Greek soldiers. But before the Greek fleet can set sail, fate has decreed that two Trojan children must be killed: Astyanax, son of Hector and Andromache, must be thrown from the city walls; and Polyxena, daughter of Hecuba and Priam, the king and queen of Troy, must be given in ‘marriage’ to the dead Achilles, and then slaughtered. Seneca’s play plots the fulfilment of these terrible predictions.

In my post on his Pheadra I observed that contemporaries of Seneca were coming to see Rome as entering a period of decadence and decline.  Educated Romans were beginning to doubt the  Gods, even seeing them as fairy tales.

"CHORUS Is it true, or a myth to deceive the fearful, that spirits live on after bodies are buried, when the wife has laid her hand on the dead man’s eyes, and his last day has blocked out the sun and the mournful urn contains his ashes? Is it pointless to give our souls to death, since we, poor things, still have to keep on living? Or do we totally die, and does no part of us remain, when with a fleeting gasp...

. Hungry time and emptiness devour us.  Death is a single whole: it kills our body and does not spare the soul. The realm of Taenarus,* kingdom of cruel Hades, and the guard-dog Cerberus, fierce defender of the gate, are fictions, tall tales, empty fairy stories, myths, as close to truth as a bad dream. Do you want to know where you will be after death? Where the unborn are."

In Trojan Women the Greek Leaders are very much vilified, no Homeric Hero emerges unblemished

The women of Troy themselves do not know what the future holds for Ulysses and other Greek Leaders but the Chorus makes sure it is paramount in the mind of the audience.

There is no glory in war. Other women expressed extreme contempt for Helen.

I would suggest that those interested first read Euripides’s version of Trojan women.Emily Wilson is the College for Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, professor of Classical Studies, and graduate chair of the Program in Comparative Literature & Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson attended Oxford University (Balliol College B.A. and Corpus Christi College M.Phil.) and Yale University (Ph.D.). In 2006, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance & Early Modern scholarship. In 2019 she was named a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2020 she was named a Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Philadelphia with her three daughters, three cats, two rats, and one dog.

Follow Professor Wilson on Twitter @EmilyRCWilson. Professor Wilson frequently tweets about the Odyssey, translation, and her pets. From https://www.emilyrcwilson.com/

There are links to links to several articles by Wilson as well as several interviews on her website.

The next play by Seneca I will read is Thyestes.

Mel Ulm

Phaedra by Seneca - 54 A. D. --from Seneca- :Six Tradgedies: Translated by Emily Wilson - 2010

Phaedra by Seneca - 54 A. D. --from Seneca:Six Tradgedies: Translated by Emily Wilson - 2010

An Ancient Reads Post

An Autodatic Corner Work

"‘Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light’" - Hamlet, II,ii,395

Seneca 

Born - 4 B. C. E. - Cordoba, Spain

49 A.D. -appointed Advisor to Nero

Died- 65 A. D. - Rome, Italy - ordered to commit suicide for his alleged role in a conspiracy to murder Emperor Nero 

In this article from the Enclopedia Britanica there is an account of his importance in Roman politics and his work as a Stoic Philosopher 

This is my first venture into Roman drama. I grateful to Emily Wilson for her highly informative introduction to this collection. She provides an illuminating account of the influence of the tribulation in Roman imperial politics had on Seneca's life and his involvement with Nero.

Several of Seneca's plays have counterpart in Greek Tradgedies. For Phaedra this is Hippolytus by Euripides. Wilson helped me to understand the differences between Seneca's work and Greek Tradgedies. 

"Readers who come to Seneca fresh from Athenian tragedy may miss the lightness, the irony, the possibility of open-ended dialogues between one character and another, or between human beings and the gods. Above all, we miss the sense of community. . Seneca’s tragedies focus less on the relationships of people to one another, and more on the relationship of individuals to their own passions. These plays are far darker, but also often much funnier, than their Athenian equivalents." From the Introduction 

The plays of Seneca influenced Shakespeare, Racine, Ben Johson and other dramatists. If Time is permitted to me by the capricious Gods, I hope to reread the plays Wilson mentions.

Wilson elegantly lays out the contrasts of Seneca's treatment of the myth of Phaedra with that of Euripides:

"In comparison with Athenian tragedy, Seneca’s plays focus less on the workings of the divine in human life and more on the conflicts within human nature itself. For example, Seneca’s Phaedra is based on the same story as Euripides’ Hippolytus. Euripides’ play is framed by two goddesses: Aphrodite, goddess of love and sex, who speaks the prologue; and Artemis, goddess of the hunt and of chastity, who appears to the dying Hippolytus in the penultimate moments of the play. It that Phaedra’s incestuous passion and Hippolytus’ excessive chastity are two extreme sides of the same spectrum. Seneca removes the divine machinery, to create a drama about the conflict between passion and self-control within the human psyche."

Educated Roman's, as reflected in the writing of period historians had come by 50 A.D. to view Roman society as entering a period of decadence and depravity, far from the glory days of Rome.

In Reading Phaedra I see the darkness, the lack of community but I admit I found nothing funny in this play. I do find more hatred, little regard for the morality of the often cruel and capricious Gods.

Stoicism is based on the idea that a failure to control human passions, Greed, lust and desire for material wealth are the sources of human misery. (I will obseve when long ago I read the stoical Meditations of Marcus Aurelius i thought, "Easy for an Emperor to say this) The picture of the sexual obsessions of Phaedra paint a troubling view of the impact of sexual passion on women. 

There is less use of the Chorus in Seneca's dramas.  

Here are the closing lines of the play as Theseus laments his role in the murder of his son and curses Phaedra:

"What can this be, so ugly, disgusting, pierced all over with multiple wound.

 I do not know what part it is, but I know it belongs to you; Put it here: not where it belongs, but where a space is empty.

 Is this your face, which used to shine with starry fire, your spirited, piercing gaze? Has your beauty come to this?  

 O terrible fate, O cruelly-helpful gods! Is this the answer to a father’s prayer, a son’s return? Here are the final gifts your father gives you.

You will need multiple burials... Meanwhile, burn these parts. Open the house: it stinks of death

. Let all the land of Attica ring loud with piercing funeral cried

. You, make ready the flame for the royal pyre, and you, go out and seek the missing parts of the body scattered in the country.

 And as for that woman—bury her, and may the heavy earth crush down on her"

Emily Wilson is the College for Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, professor of Classical Studies, and graduate chair of the Program in Comparative Literature & Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson attended Oxford University (Balliol College B.A. and Corpus Christi College M.Phil.) and Yale University (Ph.D.). In 2006, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance & Early Modern scholarship. In 2019 she was named a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2020 she was named a Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Philadelphia with her three daughters, three cats, two rats, and one dog.

Follow Professor Wilson on Twitter @EmilyRCWilson. Professor Wilson frequently tweets about the Odyssey, translation, and her pets. From https://www.emilyrcwilson.com/

There are links to links to several articles by Wilson as well as several interviews on her website.

The next play by Seneca I will read is his Trojan Women.

Mel Ulm