Sweet Reason by Robert Littell

First published in 1974

Robert Littell has made a career of writing excellent espionage novels. Sweet Reason, his second novel (after The Defection of A.J. Lewinter), is a departure from that niche. This 1974 novel is a war story, or more accurately a war comedy: not as outrageously funny (and not nearly as profound) as Catch-22, but in the same satirical vein, and funny enough.

The U.S.S. Eugene F. Ebersole, a rusty, leaky, dilapidated destroyer commissioned during World War II, is dispatched to the Vietnam War by mistake. The novel takes place during the first three days after its arrival at Yankee Station. On Day One, the crew mistakenly sinks a junk (the captain proclaims a military victory and recommends himself for the silver star) and the destroyer plows into a downed jet during a rescue attempt (the pilot "was probably dead anyhow," the captain muses). Day Two begins with a Congressman boarding the destroyer for a photo op. To make sure the Congressman gets on the news, the destroyer finds a target to shoot at -- with unfortunate results. On Day Three, the sonar operator thinks he's spotted a submarine and the captain gives orders to sink it but ... well, you get the idea. Meanwhile, anonymous typewritten messages from "The Voice of Sweet Reason" appear, complaining of racial segregation aboard ship and urging the crew not to maintain the ship's engines or to fire its guns: a plea for mutiny that some crew members embrace.

The humor in Sweet Reason is amusing more than laugh-out-loud funny and the characters are a bit one dimensional despite the backgrounds Littell invents for them. As an indictment of war's folly or of career military officers, Sweet Reason succeeds, but only in a rather obvious way and not as well as other novels that have covered the same ground. The ending is a bit over-the-top. While Sweet Reason is an easy, sometimes entertaining read, Littell was wise to stick to espionage novels, where his authorial abilities are more triumphantly displayed. (If you want to read Littell at his best, you should try The Sisters, a novel that tells a grimly serious story with a wonderful comic touch.)

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

The Wonder by J.D. Beresford

First published in 1911 as The Hampdenshire Wonder

The story of Victor Stott is said to be one of the first novels about a superman. That is true only in a limited sense. Victor has no unusual physical gifts, no superhuman strength. He is, however, intellectually superior to other humans, a super-genius. And Victor apparently knows of his superiority from the moment of his birth: he views others with a sort of disapproval if he acknowledges them at all, and seems able to control them (or maybe just repel them) with his stare. Yet he isn't conceited; it isn't worth his time to compare himself to others. Beresford writes: "He was entirely alone among aliens who were unable to comprehend him, who could not flatter him, whose opinions were valueless to him." Young Victor rarely communicates with others; he acknowledges their presence only when he needs someone to open a door or prepare a meal. Conversations aren't worthwhile to Victor because nobody has the intellectual capacity to understand him.

The novel's narrator is a journalist covering cricket matches when he meets Ginger Stott, who has a brief but magnificent career as the best bowler in the sport. It is a tribute to Beresford's writing ability that I was engrossed by the chapter that describes Stott's development as a bowler and the games he bowled, despite my complete ignorance about cricket (most of the time, I had no idea what the narrator was talking about). When Ginger's career ends, he decides to father a son who will carry on where he left off, and is despaired when Victor is born with a grossly enlarged head. The novel carries us through Victor's aloof life from the moment of his birth through his early childhood.

To a large extent the novel is about prejudice or fear of those who are different. The novel juxtaposes Victor and a somewhat older, developmentally disabled child with a similarly enlarged head; both are objects of scorn and dread among the villagers. To some extent, the prejudice against Victor is greater because Victor has ideas that are out of the ordinary. When a rector spends an hour lecturing Victor about religion, Victor makes one of his rare pronouncements: he informs the rector that his Bible stories aren't true. The rector responds by insisting that Victor be committed to an asylum.

The Wonder is also about the limits of knowledge and the nature of discovery. The philosophical implications of Victor's life are briefly discussed in the last chapter. Anyone with an interest in those topics should enjoy The Wonder, as should readers who are interested in the history of science fiction. But The Wonder is so well written and so interesting that it should appeal to a broader audience, as well.

RECOMMENDED

Final Target by Steven Gore

Published by Harper on February 9, 2010

Graham Gage is a PI whose agency does high end work. When his best buddy, international transactions lawyer Jack Burch, is shot, Gage is drawn into a US Attorney's attempt to indict Burch for conspiring with SatTek Industries to launder money. The real conspiracy is something quite different.

Ample action and decent pace make up for a needlessly convoluted story that I won't even try to summarize -- Gore got a bit carried away with all the plot twists. The characters are cardboard although the portrayal of federal prosecutors and over-zealous law enforcement agents as willing to sacrifice the truth for the sake of a career boost rings true. Unfortunately, Gage is so full of himself I found it difficult to cheer for his success. It was easier to cheer for Burch since he's in a coma for much of the novel.

Novels of sophisticated financial crime and shady foreign markets are becoming more common. This is a decent entry in the field despite its flaws. I particularly liked the scenes that take place in Ukraine. With a tighter plot and stronger characters, however, this could have been a much better novel.  As it stands, I think readers would be better served by Gage's second effort, Absolute Risk, a novel that overcomes many of the faults that impaired my enjoyment of Final Target.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

The Tenancy by Eva Figes

 

First published in the UK in 1993; published by Minerva on April 25, 1994

Edith lives in a building that is getting old, hasn't been cared for, and is falling apart. The roof leaks, the plumbing doesn't work, repairs are never made. The building could be a metaphor for Edith's life: she hasn't taken care of herself, sacrificing her happiness to care for a mother who constantly criticized her, who complained that Edith didn't keep up her appearance and had lost her chance at finding a husband. Now that her mother is in a nursing home, Edith is alone and run down. Her wealthy brother, always favored by her mother, is indifferent to her; most of the other tenants in the building are a mystery to her. When the building's ownership changes hands, strange things begin to happen: a dangerous looking man with a vicious dog moves into an unoccupied apartment; workers come and take out rotting windows without replacing them. Bureaucratic building inspectors are usually impossible to reach; when they respond, they describe a remedial process that will drag on for years. The situation progresses from bad to worse.

The Tenancy, while unrelentingly depressing, is beautifully written. Figes perfectly captures the sense of malaise that infects people who are struggling against forces beyond their control. She portrays a small community of isolated people and their different approaches to adversity: some withdraw, some try to help each other, some abandon hope. Figes writes without bitterness but she offers no false hope in her story of people worn down by their environment, by their past, and by an uncaring society. With true economy of language, Figes sketches out the important moments in Edith's life, bringing her fully to life, albeit a dismal life. Fortunately, this is a short novel; it might be too depressing to handle if it went on for much longer. It isn't a novel for readers who want happy (or at least hopeful) endings. But it paints a striking picture of helplessness in gorgeous language, and it inspires thought about the fear society instills in those it neglects.

RECOMMENDED

Space Cadet by Robert Heinlein

First published in 1948

First published in 1948, Space Cadet is one of Heinlein's earliest sf juveniles. I remember loving it when I was a teenager. Those years are long past, but when I recently reread the novel, I recaptured at least some of the sense of wonder I felt when I read it as a kid. Science fiction has become more sophisticated in the intervening years (at least some of it has), but the art of storytelling never grows old, and Heinlein was a master storyteller.

Space Cadet has a tight, engaging plot that begins with Matt Dodson joining the Space Cadets and ends with an adventure on Venus. Dodson is a strong character who would be especially appealing to teens--he's able to overcome self-doubt, gains maturity, and learns (while making use of a leave to visit his parents) that "you can't go home again." The only other character in the novel with any personality is Matt's fellow cadet Tex, who likes to repeat his Uncle Bodie's tall tales, adding some humor to the story. The aliens Heinlein envisions living on Venus are credible (at least by 1948 standards, and in any event more credible than most of the lizard-like aliens that dominate sf movies), and the novel has something useful to say about prejudice against those who are outwardly different.

Space Cadet hasn't lost much of its charm in the six-plus decades since its first publication.

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