A Better Man, by Louise Penny

2019  Minotaur Books

I'm going to try writing this blog as I read.  I'll give page numbers so that you can avoid "spoilers."  (We'll see how well this works.  As always, feedback is appreciated.)

A note about the blog.  I began this for my pre-service and in-service teachers as I professed various literacy methods courses.  The focus was originally on young adult and children's literature.  I am now retired (emeritus)  and have decided to change the focus of the blog to "literary travels."  My first retirement trip was to Quebec to explore the settings of Louise Penny's oeuvre. As I add entries to this blog I will also post travel notes and photos.

The beginning...twitter posts about both Gamache and Clara Morrow.  Penny is always in tune with important trends in our lives.  Twitter and the trolls that misuse this type of social media are a plague upon the land.  Our local university football coach, Brian Harsin, made some wonderful comments recently about negative twitter feeds about specific players and the performance of the team in general.  His analysis of "twitiots" is brilliant.  (You can listen to him here.)  Yes, I have a twitter account.  Haven't read it for months!  I'm beginning to see my ending target and am increasingly aware of how I spend my time.  I don't want to waste my time reading nonsense.  I'll spend it reading carefully crafted work by thoughtful, informed people rather than twitiots.

Motto of Sûreté du Québec

Gamache returns to the Sûreté du Québec. While in Montreal I visited what I think is its headquarters.  I didn't think to try and enter.  Probably my mid-western politeness is what holds me back from being so brazen as to try and open a door.  Still, it didn't look like an American official building, no long staircase leading to pillars surrounding double doors.  Maybe Québécois are more frugal and have better priorities about where public funds should be spent. Maybe I was at a branch office.






Chapter 4

Crossing the St.Lawrence river on the Champlain Bridge Gamache is again challenged by his fear of heights.  This bridge and the river are important motifs in the Inspector Gamache books.  It's small wonder.  I visited Montreal in the fall.  Thank goodness no ice!  But the river and bridge are most impressive.  Now that I live in the Western United States, where almost all of our rivers are dammed, It's easy to forget how powerful untamed rivers are.  For a part of my life, I lived almost on the banks of the Mississippi River.  Flooding happened.  Until you stand near the rushing waters of a large river it is difficult to understand the power of these types of waters.  The Champlain Bridge was also featured in Penny's first book Still Life.

Closing Thoughts
At the end of Chapter 11 Penny closes with "...Sometimes we have to do something stupid (Gamache).  
     It did not seem to Isabelle Lacoste a great addition to the Sûreté motto.
         "Sevice, integrity, justice, and, occasionally, stupidity."
I think it is an important clue to Gamache's approach to policing and life.  I think we need sometimes to be willing to throw caution to the wind and commit to an action that appears stupid but indeed may lead to the first part of the motto, particularly integrity.

The Traveling Reader--Carry a Book

December 2019--Taos, New Mexico

I travel alone frequently when my journey's goals would bore traveling companions.  I'm traveling to see two of my brothers and use up my timeshare points for the year.  Taos in mid-December seems to be pretty tourist-free.  I'm doing some shopping and headed for the ski area this afternoon.  But, this morning as I was searching for a breakfast spot I've made a discovery.  When you're traveling alone a great way to begin conversations is to carry and actual book.  Holding Holmes on the Range,  by Steve Hockensmith gave me opportunity to make two new connections during my wanderings.  Bob Kustra recently had an article in The Idaho Statesman that touched on the value of holding paper books (although the article was really about cybersecurity).  This posting isn't really about cybersecurity or the realities of digital publishing's effects on authors and booksellers, rather it adds to Kustra's musings about the value of paper books.

For several years now I've been reading from my smartphone while waiting for meals in restaurants, drinking coffee in various shops, and hanging out in public spaces.  Other times I am "plugged in" with ear-buds listening to an audiobook.  This time I was forced to carry an actual book because it was only available to me in print and I have the CDs to listen to the second book in the series in the car as I drive on to Albuquerque and Tucson.  All of a sudden I'm meeting new people, having fascinating conversations and getting ideas for new titles to read.

I had to explore to find my breakfast.  In off-season, the spot my sister-in-law had recommended was closed until Friday.  After lengthy poking around to find something interesting I settled down and had a very nice tamale and eggs.  As I got ready to leave a couple stopped me and asked what I was reading.  We talked for a while, he gave me his business card, and I picked up a couple of reading ideas.  Venturing on a window display of a cast-iron cornbread pan caught my eye.  The shop was one of the few open so I dropped in to buy one for a house gift and one for myself.  Over the transaction, the woman at the register asked about the book.  We had at least a half-hour conversation about a wide range of topics including our millennial children, the state of the arts in modern society, and rural living.  It also turns out that she is an aspiring author.  We have exchanged "calling" cards (if you're retired can you have a business card?), emails, and a couple reading ideas.

Many years ago while soaking at Pagosa Springs, CO I was reading from a World of Warcraft book.  Through the three pools of decreasing heat I soaked in I had three conversations about gaming, World of Warcraft literature, and YA books in general.

These conversations have not occurred when I travel with my smartphone.  People don't see the title or even know that you're reading instead of engaging with social media.  What a wonderful lesson to learn.  I didn't have my book in a satchel, briefcase, or backpack.  I carried it in my hand because I was "going light."  Lesson learned.  I'll travel with this in mind and paper copy of a book from now on.