The Personal Library - Part 2

                                                 

                                                        Mikhail Bulgakov 1937
                                                        Wikipedia Photo                                                                              


  "Is Donald Trump a fascist?" The conservative analyst Ross Douthat asks this in a New York Times column*. His answer "Yes."* Would the American people ever elect a fascist President? We may soon have a definitive answer. In the meantime one can read Philip Roth's The Plot Against America (2004). Roth explores the "what if" American aviation icon Charles Lindbergh, who also happened to be proto-fascist and anti-Semitic, was elected President of the United States in 1940. How would the nation have been governed? Roth has authored 27 books and numerous short stories and essays. My collection contains but two - the other is American Pastoral (1997) - a father, daughter and the collapsing American dream.
     I feel the need to reiterate - a former colleague Dr. Nathan Cervo, once suggested that for a satisfying and complete life, a personal library of no more than 50 books/authors is required. This post continues to identify the works in my "50" collection. Books I consider "personal friends" - volumes so important their presence is constantly required for re-reading, skimming or reference. My count is now at 48 books by 11 authors.
     I read Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita late in life - twice so far.  I am so attached to this book that it must be in my office, within reach at all times. Written during the late 1920s, Bulgakov burned the manuscript in a rush of fear. Then he decided to rewrite it during Stalin's Great Terror of the 1930s. Set in Moscow this tale is absolutely timeless and is the definitive example of what we now refer to as "magical realism".**
     My Russian collection includes Tolstoy's War and Peace; Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov; Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago; Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don; and Henri Troyat's Chekhov. As a reference source I have Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin's The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. Upon returning from a showing of the movie "Trumbo" I immediately consulted the Mitrokhin index. Dalton Trumbo is not listed - the KGB cared not.
     The "westerns" section of my collection contains just two titles and they are bookends for the entire genre: Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove (1985, Pulitzer Prize) and Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (1985). McMurtry's storied cattle drive by Captains Call and McCrae from Texas to Montana is populated with flawed heroes, brutal villains, the unscrupulous, the weak and stupid. It is a hopeful parade of humanity with some to cheer and others to curse. The hit miniseries ran repeatedly on every other TV channel for years. In contrast Cormac McCarthy's novel is one of abject despair - the "kid" and the "judge"and violence that attains pornographic levels in America's Southwest of the 1850s. One reads looking unsuccessfully for a flash of hope. It is a wretched display of humanity. But Blood Meridian does emit the rank odor of obnoxious truth - it is on my book shelf. But may it never become a movie.
     For a post-apocalyptic vision I turn not to McCarthy (e.g. The Road) but to Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker (1980). Riddley is a 12 year old writing a narrative about his smashed and nuclear razed world in a phonetic vernacular. ". . . they got boats in the air and picters on the wind. Counting cleverness is what it were." Riddley's hand-to-mouth society is also on the verge of reinventing gunpowder and religion.
     Working for my biologist daughter Catherine as a field assistant in Costa Rica has dramatically shaped my values - in addition to placing my name in a couple of crucial footnotes. My most cherished book is E.O. Wilson's Naturalist (1994). The tile page has an inscription: "For Catherine Lindell, Fellow teacher and naturalist, Edward O. Wilson" and accompanied by a small, hand drawn ant. OK - this is not my book - it is Catherine's and I am just holding it for her until I die. My naturalist section also includes books by Stephen J. Gould Wonderful Life; Richard Dawkins River Out of Eden;; and previously mentioned Elizabeth Kolbert and Dave Beetle. For reference there are two thick guides to Costa Rica and Carl Zimmer's Evolution. On the reading table is Carl Safina's Beyond Words.
     When in a mood to seek religious succor, I do not consult the Bible or the Quran, though I have owned both in the past. They strike me as confusing. If I desire theological thought I turn to John Milton's Paradise Lost. If my mood is vengeful Dante's Inferno is my volume of choice. For clarity in theoretical matters I usually begin with George Sabine's A History of Political Theory - always within reach.
     The copy of Six by Seuss I am now holding is held together by wrapping tape - still pages struggle to fall away. I have repeatedly read from it: The Lorax; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; And to Think I Saw it in Mulberry Street; to seven grandchildren, their friends and classmates. Next to it on the bookshelf is A.A. Milne's The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh. Not as badly beaten up as Seuss, Pooh's book has also been repeatedly read. It contains clippings inserted from other sources. When Christopher Robin died at age 75, Czeslaw Milosz wrote Themes, that ends with:
    ". . . I had a grey beard, then I grew old, hunched, and I walked with a cane, and then I died. It was probably just a dream, it seemed quite unreal. The only real thing was you, old bear, and our shared fun. Now I won't go anywhere, even if I am called for an afternoon snack."***
     Sara Mileski at age 11 an aspiring poet, added a drawing of Pooh and a poem The Bear that concludes:
    "So bears are impossible to beat. Listen to this folks that bears are not too scary and hairy but also very kind and sweet."
     These are certainly not the only books I own. But if suddenly whisked off to a prolonged, wintry exile these 70 volumes by 31 authors would hopefully be my companions - plus one copy of Shakespeare's plays.
     What is in your library?

*NYT December 3, 2015 **Translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky 1997.
***NYRB February 6, 1997

The Personal Library - Part 1

                                                                           

                                                  The Rice Portrait claimed to be Jane Austen
                                                                       Wikipedia
                                                     

                                                    National Israel Museum

 Dr. Nathan Cervo, Assistant Professor of English at Hartwick College many years ago and between peaceful challenges to local police authority, emphasized that in life one needed to own a personal library of about 50 books. His reasoning is lost from memory but the number "50" stuck. Further, I am not sure Dr. Cervo who said "books" might also have meant "authors". But the books one keeps do much to define us. The fewer "books" (or is it "authors") the sharper the personal definition - maybe. So curious reader I am about to expose elements of my inner "person" - indications of how my mind works - what authors are ingested, valued and recommended. Be prepared to be shocked.
     Between office and home I once owned possibly three hundred volumes. In academic circles this is a modest amount. One colleague with over a thousand volumes was forced to store boxes of books in my attic. (The record should belong to the great Argentine writer and philosopher Alberto Manguel. He had a personal library of 30,000 volumes.*) In 2000, I began to ruthlessly cull my collection down towards 50 volumes. Selection criteria were simple but stringent. Is the book so critical that I cannot tolerate the thought of not being able to access it immediately? In future years will I re-read or at least consult the book occasionally?
     Multiple books by a single author create an immediate problem. But I have sensibly resolved it by counting books and authors separately. Patrick O'Brian's magnificent Aubrey and Maturin novels of the British Navy fighting the Napoleonic Wars - I own the 20 volumes. Also possessed are Allan Furst's 12 espionage novels centered in the politically claustrophobic Europe of the 1930s - Dark Star is my favorite. I became emotionally over attached to Vilhelm Moberg's The Emigrants. The four novels recount the migration in the 1850s of the family Nilsson from Ljuder Parish in Smaland, Sweden to Chisago Lake Settlement, Center City, Minnesota. I am the son of a Swedish immigrant. So each volume is especially important. Thus revealed - 36 books by 3 authors.
     I own a "Nook" purchased three years ago that now carries a digital collection of 24 volumes. But of these there are only six that I consider part of "my library" and regret not having purchased in paper editions. I have trouble accessing material in digital books even utilizing the "e-bookmarks". Adding and accessing marginal notes is much more complicated than working with a paper volume. Then again the Nook seems to require nearly constant recharging. Finally, I like the feel of a paper book in my hands. The Nook did arrive with a free copy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice first
published in 1813. My initial reaction was condescension. A man who inhales Patrick O'Brian and the Napoleonic War at sea could not possibly enjoy Jane Austin. Still, one afternoon with my arrogance and chauvinism locked in I began;
     "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife".
     Great Britain had recently defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. The United States had brazenly declared war and troops of Great Britain would soon be invading the US and burning Washington. But in Jane Austen's England life was focused on a proper courtship resulting in nuptials and an appropriate spouse. I freakin loved the book - cannot be more than two rooms away from it.
     There are five additional books on the Nook that I must now purchase in paper editions:
     Kai Bird American Prometheus 2005 - J. Robert Oppenheimer and the beginning of the atomic age; Stephen Greenblatt The Swerve 2011 - Lucretius, the atom, the "swerve" and the real beginning of the atomic age; Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 1968 - Artificial intelligence and the human species - known by the movie title The Bladerunner. Elizabeth Kolbert The Sixth Extinction 2014 - Anticipating the end of much of earth's biodiversity (and perhaps the beginning of the end of humans and the atomic age); Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall 2009. After reading this account of Thomas Cromwell's life and times I realized that it and successor works would be in my library. In 2012, I purchased a paper edition of Bring Up The Bodies and await the final volume. (See "Character Adjustments; Finch, More, Cromwell and Satan" Musingsfor7.blogspot.com - July 2015).
     My library count is now 43 books by 9 authors - my shadowy, inner character continues to emerge.
     During the mid - 1990s, I experienced an emotional incident - a personal meltdown in the Oneonta office of the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles. What transpired could have been a scene from Franz Kafka's The Castle, The Trial or Amerika, all volumes in my possession. Since that incident my automobile license has read "KAFKA1". It celebrates a magnificent, world class writer while issuing a stinging rebuke to the NYS DMV. It is also hoped that this gesture would cause Kafka
(now certainly stressed by the beatific bureaucracy) to perhaps applaud.
     With 46 books by 10 authors identified this post must close. But critical questions remain to be answered in the next post - Part 2: What about Russian writers? Is there any pornography? Did the bible make the cut?

*Robert Poque Harrison "The Ultimate Reader" New York Review of Books October 22, 2015.
   

Our Bats

                             

                                                   
                                            Little Brown Bat infected with WNS
                                                       Wikimedia photo
      It is the worst of times for Myotis lucifugus, better known as "little brown bats". A few years back on two summer nights I had the good fortune to capture three that intruded into bedrooms of two houses in Fly Creek, New York. Method of capture was simple - one flew directly into my hand-held
pillow case. The other two were encouraged to fly in a lighted, closed off room. Once exhausted they landed and I picked them up with a pillow case. As I gently felt for one bat under fabric and touched a lump - it cried. Carefully I took each outside and with a soft swoosh they were gone into darkness. These were my three rescues - I remember their fear and fragile beauty.
     Since then and hopefully learning - bats are enormously valuable, rendering great service; ". . . one little brown bat can ingest from 600 to 1000 mosquito size insects every hour." Overall the suppression of insects by bats provides a service to American agriculture valued at between 4 and 50 billion dollars. *
     At about the same time as my rescues, White Nose Syndrome (the fungus Pseudogymnoaseus destructians) was discovered in caves in central New York State (2006-2008). These caves used by bats for winter hibernation are known as hibernacula. WNS infects a hibernating bat's muzzle, ears and wings. They awaken, burn energy, become dehydrated, emaciated and dead. Species affected besides the "little browns" are small footed bats (Myotis leibii), Indiana bats (Myotis sodalist) and others. The impact upon bats has been devastating. Since WNS emerged the bat population in the Northeastern United States has declined by 80% - with more than 6,000,000 killed. The little brown bat may now be en route to extinction. **
     The Nature Conservancy owns the Aleolus Cave near Dorset, Vermont. Elizabeth Kolbert suggests that it may be the largest hibernaculum in New England and used by bats for winter hibernation since the end of the last ice age. Kolbert describes the scene inside the Aleolus Cave in 2009 as "horrific". She writes, "The ground was covered with dead bats; some of the ice knobs had bats frozen into them. There were torpid bats roosting on the ceiling, and also wide awake ones, which would take off and fly by or sometimes right into us." Bats are very social - one scientist watched a live bat trying to nuzzle into a group of dead ones. In 2013 the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department posted signs at Aleolus, "This Cave is Closed Until Further Notice". Spreading from bat to bat and cave to cave WNS by September 2014 had reached 25 states and 5 Canadian provinces.***
     The most recent issue of the Nature Conservancy Magazine (Oct/Nov 2015) contains an article "The Battle for Bracken Cave". It describes how conservationists and community members have united and successfully protected Bracken Cave, located near San Antonio from a plan to build 3500 homes nearby. Bracken Cave for eight months each year is home to ". . . the densest concentration of mammals on the planet." During this period between 15 and 20 million Mexican free tail bats fly out of the Cave each night in pursuit of 140 tons of agricultural insect pests. The exodus requires three hours and is a tourist attraction. Bracken Cave is also owned by the Nature Conservancy.****
     I appreciate the efforts of the San Antonio conservationists, community leaders and support the Nature Conservancy, but was staggered by the absence of any mention of the WNS. Is the Mexican free tail bat immune to the fungus? Is Bracken Cave too warm to support WNS fungus? What is the prognosis for Bracken Cave and its millions of bats? So I clicked off the following email to the NC magazine. "Question: How can you publish an article about bats e.g. 'Bracken Cave'  in 2015 and not mention the catastrophe of white nose syndrome?"
     Eric Seeger, a Senior Editor promptly replied. ". . . While doing research for this article I asked many experts familiar with Bracken Cave whether white nose syndrome was a subject we should address in the article. They unanimously said no, and here is the general reason they gave: hibernation vs migration. White nose syndrome is a fungus that leads to the death of hibernating bats . . .  the bat population at Bracken Cave consists mostly of  Brazilian/Mexican Free Tail Bats. This is a migratory species that does not hibernate, so its populations have not been affected by white nose syndrome. And the experts I spoke to felt it will not become a threat to this species." Mr. Seeger also attached a link to a research report that claims some success in treating WNS.
     http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/tennessee/success-in-treating-white-nose-syndrome.xm
     My reply in part: ". . . As for the general reason . . . many experts gave . . . I hope to hell they are right."

     Note; Bats and Rabies. The US Center for Disease Control reports that there are 1 or 2 rabies cases in the US each year. Of the 19 cases between 1997 and 2006, 17 were associated with bats. Among an unspecified number of bats captured by humans or cats and submitted for evaluation only 6 per cent tested positive for rabies.

*USGS/WildlifeHealth/WNS. Also FloridaEverglades.com
**Elizabeth Kolbert The Sixth Extinction:An Unnatural History Holt: NY; 2014 pp 180-186. Also USGS/WLH/WNS
***Elizabeth Kolbert. Also Wikipedia/WNS
****Nature Conservancy Magazine Oct/Nov 2015 pp 50-59.

Dave Beetle's Adirondacks

                                               

                                 

                                                Fifth & Sixth Lakes
                                                AndyArthur.org photo

     Sixty-seven years after initial publication I finally read Dave Beetle's Up Old Forge Way and West Canada Creek *. In 1946 and 1948 each was chronicled by Dave in a series of columns published by the Utica Observer Dispatch. In 1971, around the time of his death they were combined into a single volume  and republished. The book is a natural and social history leavened with considerable gossip - a snap shot of people who settled in New York State's Adirondack region, specifically the Moose River system - North, Middle and South branches.. Reading it today is time travel - straight back - the people of whom he writes are "frozen in time" and their communities today dramatically altered.
     I first met Dave when I was age 8 or so. He and his wife were friends of my parents via the Utica Tramp and Trail Club - a vigorous hiking, canoeing, kayaking and skiing club with a solid social component. My mother and father were introduced at a T&T event. Organized in the late 1920s it flourishes still - I think.
     David H. Beetle was an educated man - Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College. He had a slender frame topped with black hair parted in the middle, combed straight back and a thick mustache. Dave was exceptionally fit - able to hike or kayak miles in Adirondack wilderness to visit an isolated lake or a rarely climbed peak. Before commencing a 16 mile trek Dave writes of a warning from the NY State District Ranger.
     " ' It's going to be cold, cloudy and wet for the next three days' he told us on the May morning we were slated to go to the place where the West Canada begins. 'The trail is a mess. It will be a dismal trip. Do you still want to go? ' Well we didn't come from a long line of Martha's Vineyard whalers to be bothered by a little thing like the weather. ' Sure we'll go' we said cheerfully. So we went and the weather was everything the Ranger promised - and maybe a few gallons more." (WCC p. 15)
     The Fulton Chain of Lakes - my mother and father tried each year to spend his one week vacation camping (i.e. tenting) somewhere in the Adirondacks. Through the years my brothers, sister and I helped our father pitch a heavy canvas wall tent (no floor - had to be Army surplus) in many sites including but not limited to Hinckley, Piseco and Eaton lakes, Eagle Bay, 3rd, 7th, and 8th lakes. Dave writes of the life and times of permanent and seasonal residents in these and other Big Moose locations up to the end of the Second World War, As for natural beauty he identifies places not to be missed, e.g. the peak that offers one of the finest views available in the Adirondack Park. Dave calls it the Fulton Chain's No. 1 landmark; Bald Mountain.
     "You can puff up the mountain in from 15 minutes to an hour depending upon how energetic you are or how deep the snow is. The summer route is a well-defined path with planks, ladders, cables and convenient tree roots. It starts from the Old Forge - Eagle Bay Road about opposite the Bald Mountain House Drive. . . . The winter route starts 100 yards or so up the Rondaxe Lake Road and bears to the left. We tackled that on skis; got a gorgeous, wintry view from the top; saw a deer floundering in the snow; made the descent without a single spill - something we thought was pretty good until we found an Old Forge ski folder grading it as a 'novice trail' ". (UOFW p. 95)
     On my finest day it never occurred to me to go up and down the Bald Mt./Rondaxe trail in winter on cross country skis.
     During the 1966 New York State Assembly session I saw Dave a few times in the Capital Building. He was now an editor for the Albany Knickerbocker News. I was a staffer for a one term Assembly man and future Utica mayor, Eddie Hanna. Aware that Dave was around I would try and unearth a tidbit of information that might interest him and also help our District. (e.g. At the time creation of a Hinckley Lake State Park was under consideration by the Department of Environmental Conservation.) But my boss was a "maverick" and in the kingdom of Assembly Speaker Anthony Travia and Democratic Majority leader Stanley Steingut we were privy to almost nothing.
     Summer in the late 1960s - my wife Annette and I with two young daughters  were camping (i.e. tenting) in Maine's magnificent Arcadia National Park. Shopping one afternoon in Bar Harbor we met the Beetles coming out of a tourist shoppe. Dave had remarried and was with his wife and four (?) year old daughter. They were staying in a motel and we invited them over to our tent site to share a campfire. To my immense pleasure they came that evening. For a couple of hours we sat in darkness before a perfect log fire. The little girls roasted marsh mellows and then poked hot spots with long sticks. We talked, watching sparks streak up and vanish. Dave with his slow melodic delivery mused of state politics, the Tramp and Trail Club and of course the Adirondacks; the mountains, the lakes when frozen for skiing or liquid for canoeing, the rivers, bogs, the bears, storms . . . .
     Closing Dave's book I sort of returned - the world of 2015 seemed a slightly darker, emptier place.

* David H. Beetle Up Old Forge Way/West Canada Creek North Country Books: Lakemont and Old Forge, NY; 1972.
See also; AndyArthur.org  for excellent photos of the region.

A Hate Crime in Cooperstown, N.Y.

                                         

Excerpts from the Statement by Judge Brian Burns.
The complete Statement appears in the Daily Star - Oneonta, N.Y. July 23, 2011.

Note: This decision by Judge Burns was sustained in 2015, on an appeal by Pacherille to the New York State Court of Appeals by a vote of 6-4.

     ". . . On April 2, 2010 Anthony Pacherille attempted to murder Wesley Lippitt by shooting at him not once, but twice and then he turned his weapon on himself. In Anthony's own words he chose to attempt to murder Wesley Lippitt because Wesley Lippitt is an African-American. Racism is an ugly and hateful belief and most decent well-meaning people find it hard to believe that a neighbor or friend such as Anthony Pacherille could harbor such beliefs. . . . It would be easier to believe Anthony Pacherille's actions were caused by mental illness, or any other reason except for racism. But to blame Anthony Pacherille's actions on anything but racism is to ignore his own statements and the reality of Anthony Pacherille's experience. . . . He wrote a letter explaining his beliefs and the reasons for his actions on April 2, 2010. The following are Anthony's words from a letter which was produced and entered into evidence before the Grand Jury. . . . 'I don't even want to live in this world. Niggers and Jews will bring this country down but no one seems to see it coming. All of these social parasites - Niggers, Jews, Mexicans, South Americans. The Nazis were the last chance to secure the power of Europe and the white race. I don't want to live in a world where there is no white majority. The meaning of life died when Europe's power declined and fascism failed. There is no point in living. I can no longer sit here and watch the blacks and Jews taking over everything that white people created. The damn Jews and Niggers have won. My last words will be Hitler lives.'
     . . . It has been argued that his attempted murder of Wesley Lippitt was a onetime aberration caused by his mental illness and that Anthony presents no danger to the community. These arguments ignore the facts and are not valid.
     At his request I've thoroughly reviewed the psychiatric reports submitted by Anthony in preparation for today's sentencing. . . . Anthony related to this doctor that he felt that he was better than his classmates and that he was more intelligent than most people. He told this doctor that on the day in question he knew exactly what he was doing. . . . This doctor also specifically asked Anthony questions about his potential future conduct. He absolutely denied having thoughts of trying to kill someone else in the future - except when he is irritated. When asked what he would be doing if not in jail he told the doctor he was afraid that 'something would happen again, something bad.'
     . . . That's not to say however,that Anthony does not suffer from mental illness. It is clear that he does. The scope and severity of Anthony's mental illness has been an issue throughout these proceedings. . . . The Court repeatedly scheduled hearings to give Mr. Pacherille the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of his psychiatric needs. Defense counsel repeatedly asked for these hearings to be adjourned and ultimately withdrew them altogether.
     . . . The Court wanted to be assured that Anthony was competent to make decisions in this case. Accordingly, the Court on its own, ordered a competency evaluation under Article 730 of the Criminal Procedure Law. This is an independent evaluation submitted directly to the Court. . . . in short, after considering these independent evaluations, as well as other evidence in the record at the time the defendant entered his plea, the Court found that the defendant was unquestionably competent to stand trial in this case and equally competent to enter a plea bargain. Significantly, he was competent to evaluate and withdraw his claim that he was not guilty of the crime due to a mental disease or defect.
     There can be no question but that our nation has a troubled history of racism. Nor can there be any question that our nation is devoted to the ideal and philosophy that all people are created equal and that their worth is not determined by the color of their skin. This ideal of equality and opportunity is the beacon that draws people from all over the world to America.
When Anthony Pacherille chose to kill Wesley Lippitt because of Wesley's racial heritage, his conduct reverberated far beyond Wesley and his family and has impacted the entire community. So the response from the community to this crime must be as serious as the crime itself. It must include a lengthy period of incarceration so that it is clear racist and bigoted views are rejected in their entirety. (It) is also necessary so that Wesley Lippitt knows that he is a valued member of our community and that his scars, both internal and external, are not and will not be forgotten. . . .
     But it is also true that our system of justice requires a consideration of the defendant's individual circumstances. Anthony Pacherille is a teenager and perhaps lacks maturity and experience to appreciate how destructive his views and actions are. In addition, Anthony Pacherille undoubtedly suffers from one or more mental illnesses. His psychological needs, coupled with his age and the possibility of rehabilitation are mitigating factors that justify a deviation from the maximum. I approve a reduction from the 25 years he could have received had he gone to trial and been convicted, to less than half - 11 years - with credit for the year he has already served. . . . It must be noted that his mental illness does not justify his conduct or excuse  his actions . . . To suggest otherwise does a grave disservice to the approximately 40 million Americans who suffer from some sort of mental illness at any given time and do not commit acts of extreme violence and hatred. Let me be clear - depression does not cause racism. Anxiety does not cause anti Semitism. A bi-polar disorder does not cause pro-fascism. And none of them cause a person to attempt murder.
     Even though Anthony Pacherille agreed to plead guilty, as an adult and serve an 11 year sentence in return for the District Attorney reducing or dismissing every charge against him, he now asks the court to vacate (that is essentially erase) his conviction and sentence him to little or no additional jail time as a youthful offender. The court has considered this request and denies it. . . .
     Based on the foregoing, it is the ORDER of the COURT that Anthony Pacherille serve a determinate period of incarceration in the New York State Department of Corrections System of 11 years; it is further ORDERED that he provide a sample of his DNA for inclusion in the State Registry, pay a $50 collection fee. He is further required to pay a total of $320 Crime Victim Assistance Fees and Surcharges. The Court is further entering an Order of Protection which prohibits Anthony Pacherille from having any contact either in person or by mail or any other means with Wesley Lippitt. The defendant is to receive appropriate psychiatric and mental health treatment during the course of his incarceration. He is to receive credit for the time he has already served in jail against his prison sentence. . . . "

Character Adjustments; Finch, Cromwell, More, Satan.

                                 
                                           Thomas More                  Thomas Cromwell

                                   

                                   
                                                         Satan's cat - Behemoth

 Atticus Finch was always to good to be true. But is was soothing to think that in the 1930's South or anywhere for that matter, amid racism, lynchings and the corrupt human condition there might be a brave, essentially defenseless individual devoted to law and due process. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird created such a character and Gregory Peck brought him to life in the subsequent movie. It was impossible not to develop an emotional attachment to this good man's struggle for justice in an ugly social environment. Now Lee's second book Go Set the Watchman is reportedly the "first" and provides us with a debased but more believable protagonist - it is a character adjusted. Atticus Finch belongs to Harper Lee - so we have lost a great fictional hero. But I shall not read the new "first" second book.
     Character adjustments are of course as common as writers. Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall burnishes the character of Thomas Cromwell and blisters that of Thomas More, both personas real. If the Roman Church had anything to do with your education (it provided my early education) then Cromwell was taught as a "doctrinaire hack" to Henry VIII. Cromwell supported the Reformation, the annulment of Henry's marriage to Katherine of Aragon, the split with the Papacy, beheading Thomas More, all paving the way for a besotted Henry's marriage to Ann Boleyn. Later Cromwell at Henry's behest creates the charges leading to Ann's execution. So it was but Mantel also displays Cromwell as an abused youngster who flees to Europe, becomes a soldier, merchant, practices law, speaks French, Italian and passable Latin and returns to England. Cromwell rises to become the fiercely loyal adviser to Cardinal Wolsey and later Henry VIII. In service to Henry's Royal Treasury and the Reformation, Cromwell will close down approximately 800 religious houses/abbeys in just four years. Yes, he was ambitious struggling up through a nearly impenetrable class system. Cromwell was a problem fixer - using intimidation, extortion and torture in pursuit of objectives and in pay back for past wrongs. But Cromwell in Mantel's hands is also restrained and in context even humane. He was an excellent family man. After falling out of favor with Henry over the choice of his fourth wife Ann of Cleves, Cromwell was beheaded in 1540.
     The other character adjusted by Mantel is Thomas More, lawyer, scholar, statesman, social philosopher, Lord Chancellor of England and awarded sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church. As with Atticus Finch a movie created a mesmerizing image of Thomas More. Paul Schofield in A Man for All Seasons (1966)  portrays an elegant Thomas More - a leader of the Roman Church, who understands God's law and that obedience to it is required for salvation. But he is not into heroics. "I am not the stuff of martyrs" he suggests and offers Henry his "silence" on the proposed annulment of the marriage to Katherine. Henry requires  his affirmation. More, underestimating his penchant for martyrdom will not affirm and is beheaded in 1535.
     Hilary Mantel displays Thomas More as a religious zealot. More enjoyed torturing a tad too much. Prison rooms and instruments of torture were kept at his home Chelsea for use in interrogating and saving sinners and heretics. If they could not be saved then he was willing to burn them - including one London seller of banned books. More also had a taste for masochism - his penance might include a "hair shirt" or self flagellation. Allowing for context More's character still seems considerably removed from the gentle Jesus. If  ever moved to do some praying St. Thomas More will not be my first choice as an intermediary with God.  
     Satan, aka Lucifer, Beelzebub, Devil and the "serpent" is fictional to many but as real as darkness to others. He is an arrogant, charismatic angel who organized and led legions of angels in a massive coup attempt against God Almighty. Driven out of heaven Satan and his forces were consigned by God to Hell - from which Satan later escaped. With cunning and deception he then engineers the Fall of Man, expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the introduction of death to the human species. But of course I oversimplify - please see John Milton's Paradise Lost for the complete tale with all the intricate details. But here is a question - is it possible to burnish the character of such a universally acknowledged villain?
     In Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita the "serpent" is named Woland. His left eye is green, insane and on occasion blazes brightly. The right eye is empty, black and dead.  Woland's wardrobe ranges from impeccably tailored black tailcoats, a black half mask and a magnificent black cloak - but he often lounges around at home in a greasy, dirty nightshirt. His visit to Moscow exposes and humiliates fools, incompetents, hypocrites and apparatchiks. Woland's retinue includes Koroviev, a smooth talking advance man - a tall, skinny presence in a checkered suit and perpetually cracked eye wear. The devil's cat - Behemoth, is a large, black tom with the surprising ability to walk on its hind legs. The cat enjoys vodka, cognac and frankfurter snacks. His feline independence exasperates even the Devil. But when asked to tear a head off Behemoth will comply in a most business like fashion. He has also been known to pack - it is unclear where - a Browning semi-automatic pistol. The last member is Azazello,  a short, stocky individual wearing a bowler hat. At Woland's request he will perform the occasional intimidation, abduction or wet job. Azazello is immediately recognizable by the fang protruding from his jaw. Woland and crew dispense a rough justice on the stupid and corrupt yet liberate others from persecution and punishment. Bulgakov does not refurbish Satan's character but he does hold up a mirror to humanity and then renders the devil some due.

Mikhail Bulgakov The Master and Margarita (Pevear and Volokhonsky trans.) 1997.
Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird 1960.
Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall 2009.
                           Bring Up the Bodies 2012.
John Milton  Paradise Lost 1667.

Distant Places, Students and Fragments.

                                                                               

                                                                                                                                             

                                                     


     Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 1980s. Near the intersection of the streets Registon ko'chasi and Toshkentskaya is an expansive public square - The Registran. It has been a focal point of the city for 500 years. The square is flanked by the Ensemble, three magnificent Madrasahs. The oldest school Ulugh Beg dates from 1417 CE, the other two, Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori from 1619 and 1646 CE.*
     An Intourist bus disgorged 25 Hartwick College students many displaying the lethargy of those engaged in sightseeing. Slowly they spread out among other pedestrians over a wide expanse but moving toward the Tilya-Kori Madrasah. Also prowling the sunlit square were members of the Soviet Army, dark paladins in shining boots, brown greatcoats and fur hats. Eventually one soldier cautiously approached a Hartwick student and struggling, indicated he would like to take her picture. Kim, a bright faced young lady and not particularly shy, grabbed his arm and led him to a low concrete structure where they both sat down. Kim then took away his fur hat, put it on and proceeded to muss up his hair. Another soldier rushed over and started snapping their picture. Janet, also determined to improve Soviet American relations, seized another soldier by the arm and marched him to the site - he lost his hat while being vamped. I was now taking pictures - everyone was - except the soldier clicking a camera. He stopped, rushed over grabbing a comrade by the sleeve yanking him upright and then sitting down between Kim and Janet. It was his turn! Lots of laughter - young people meeting - an instant Cold War thaw. I turned slowly and drifted off to examine the beauty of Islamic architecture.
     Kyoto, Japan, 1980s. I was determined to get the entire group into a public bath and massaged at least once. How could anyone visit Japan and not get a massage and haircut? (During this month long trip I would visit three barbershops.) The group consisted of 13 men and 12 women - the latter included the College President's wife Barbara, two professors and one administrator. Unless we were in an upscale hotel finding an acceptable masseuse service for the women would be I thought problematic. Barbara told me not to worry about it. One professor, Jean said she would help and look for such a service.
     My first afternoon in the streets of Kyoto resulted in the identification of an attractive public bath three blocks from our residence, a youth hostel. The following day after selecting four muscular men to accompany me - I am a cautious fellow - we proceeded with a trial run of this establishment. It was an outstanding choice -  reasonably priced and clean enough to host surgery. The shower heads were plentiful, each with a bucket, brush and stool while the soaking pool was hot enough to make lobster blush. In a pre-bath meeting with the group I warned that when Americans emerge from a shower convinced they are "clean" Japanese are preparing to repeatedly scrub and douse themselves with buckets of steaming water. THEN they soak in a pool! I implored them, "When you see skin peeling off your body scrub just once more! Don't embarrass America! And for God's sake don't create ripples in the pool!" The baths went well.
     It is probably impossible for a person waiting for a massage not to engage in some erotic reverie. There are massages with different national identities; Japanese, Swedish, Turkish and generally many different kinds of massage. The three Japanese women that went to work pounding on hundreds of pounds of towel clad American males were happy,skilled and chattered like parakeets. Almost immediately the groans began as the masseuses pushed, pulled, pounded, elbowed, kneed and walked on their clients. The women responded with laughter and then pushed, pulled and twisted harder. At the end of fifty minutes you may feel like a rag doll or a puddle, but you are totally relaxed.
     The following day I led a large group of the men to their bath and massage or as one described it "their mugging". This group included my one black student. I entered the establishment  in front of him and en garde. But the proprietress welcomed me with multiple bows, smiles and warmth. After the formalities my charges were deposited with her and a most capable staff.  Exiting the Bath I was partially satisfied with myself - I turned left and walked a narrow, crowded street. We were unable to find a similar opportunity for the women - a regret.
     Moscow, Russia, 1980s.  A bright wintry day - we walked the snow packed paths winding through Gorky Park.
John a pre-law student, was reading aloud from Martin Cruz-Smith's novel. In the USSR Gorky Park was an illegal book - "forbidden literature". Three other students and I absorbed every spoken word and searched - we passed the Ferris Wheel gently rotating on our right almost in time with scratchy music from the PA system. We sought the exact location where Inspector Akrady Renko first examined three murder victims exhumed from the snow - the face of each obliterated by a single gun shot. Ultimately is was impossible to be sure of the precise spot - but we thought that just maybe . . . !  Two hours later our Intourist guide asked me where I had been.
     "We went to examine the scene of the murders in Gorky Park."
     She seemed to get upset. "WHAT? There was no murder! How can you say that?"
     "They occur in the novel Gorky Park."
     "I know" she replied "but that is a slanderous story - how can you take students on such an outing?"
     "I didn't -  they took me."
     Seemingly exasperated she dramatically whirled around and marched away.

* See Wikipedia; photos Wikimedia