An oldie, but goodie

I've been slowly rereading The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch the last week or two and have finally concluded it is one of my favorite books.

It took me forever to come to that decision, though, because this nutty family saga is not an easy book to love at first. The first time I read it, I set it down not knowing what to think of it.

My fascination with all-things John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford first directed me to The Wheel of Fortune a couple of years ago because, while ostensibly it's a family saga about this zany clan of aristocrats called the Godwins living on the Welsh/English border in the early part of the 20th Century, in reality, it's about the 14th Century royal Plantagenets. Every character in the book has some counterpoint in the courts of King Edward III and Richard II:

"Robert Godwin" = Edward, the Black Prince
His wife "Ginerva" = Edward's wife, Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent
His brother "Johnny" = John of Gaunt, while Johnny's beautiful mistress Bronwen = Katherine in disguise
"Kester" is Richard II
"Harry" is Henry IV
And "Hal" is Henry V.

I still marvel when I think about how how well Howatch translated events from one century to another. A concept this crazy should not work this well.

Another thing is, the book doesn't just have one narrator - or even two or three. No fewer than six members of the Godwin clan get a chance to tell a part of the story. And each section builds on the points of view that came before it. You only get to hear the deepest thoughts and motivations of one character at a time, but then you move on to another narrator and get a completely different perspective on the character and events you just followed. It can be a frustrating way of telling a story (how I wanted to know what Bronwen was thinking sometimes! You get to hear from nearly everyone else.) - but it's also fascinating to get a new perspective every few hundred pages or so. You're guaranteed to change your opinion of each Godwin about half a dozen times - sometimes even more than once in a chapter.

As I said before, this book isn't an easy one to love. It especially gets bogged down in "Hal's" section as he tries to play amateur detective and solve a murder mystery from a previous generation. But the more times I read it, the more I get hooked on the characters and their obsessions. It's easy to believe that if we could jump into a time machine to the 14th Century, we'd find Howatch got her psychological "facts" just about right.

Literary speed dating

Now here's an idea.

It does bring up the interesting point of what kind of book I think the man of my dreams would be a fan of... or what kind of tome I'd take to an speed dating event like this, myself. Somehow Katherine seems like a little too heavy-handed for a 15-minute first date. ("In my favorite book a handsome knight falls in love with a beautiful commoner and they wind up more-or-less happily-ever-after. Yes, my life is grounded in reality.")

I think maybe I'd hide behind the literary safety Gilead or The Good Earth: two books I do happen to love, but don't involve princes or fairy tale endings.

My Top Three

The results of this little survey are supposed to say something really important about my personality. What, I can't say - other than these are my favorite books, movies, songs etc.

1. Three songs you can — and do — listen to again and again:
1. "Beautiful Day" by U2
2. "Clocks" by Coldplay
3. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel

2. Three movies you can — and do — watch over and over:
1. Beauty and the Beast - The best Disney film and one of the best musicals ever
2. The Phantom of the Opera - Ditto (except for the Disney part, of course)
3. The Hunt for Red October - It's just a really good movie... and it has Sean Connery. What more do you need?

3. Three dishes you would choose for your last meal:
1. Grilled salmon
2. Wild rice
3. A frozen mocha latte

4. Three most relaxing vacation spots you've ever visited.
1., 2. & 3. "Up North" (It's a Michigan thing)

5. Three books that you consider great reads:
(Like I haven't mentioned this here before)
1. Katherine by Anya Seton
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
3. Persuasion by Jane Austen

6. Three shows that you consider the best on television, past and present:
1. All time favorite? I know it makes me a nerd, but I've got to say Star Trek: The Next Generation (and not any of its much-lamer sequels, mind you.)
2. Friends
3. I made the mistake of renting Disc 1, Season 1 of Alias a little over a year ago. I have not been able to pass up a good Rambaldi story since.

What a great idea

I just found out about this new blog today. Inspired by Evil Editor's "New Beginnings" feature, this blogger has decided to post the first 150 words of contributor's favorite novels.

That falls under fair use, right?

In any case, I'm dashing off an e-mail about Katherine right now.

Let's start things off with a review of one of my favorite books of all time

Katherine by Anya Seton



This book haunts you. I don't think I've been able to get it totally out of my head since I first read it. It makes you want to go out and research the true story behind it... which is a pretty fascinating one.

In 14th Century England, there weren't any men more handsome or powerful than John of Gaunt, the great Duke of Lancaster. Katherine de Roet was a naive teenage girl when she first came into his life. Despite the gap in their positions, they found love together. "Katherine" beautifully tells the story of their thirty-year affair and the way their illicit love changed history.

Anya Seton wrote some other good books (Devil Water & Avalon especially), but make no mistake - this is her masterpiece. If you come away from this book without falling in love with John, you're a stronger woman than I. It just makes my toes curl to hear him call his "Katrine," lovedy.