Booknotes 3.21

Nonfiction

• The Facemaker, by Lindsey Fitzharris, published 2022. Book group read. A harrowing but fascinating history of plastic surgery during World War I. Not for the weak of stomach. (Might not want to read it while eating anything squishy.) Back in 2020 I read Fitzharris’s The Butchering Art, which I think I liked a little more, but both are good and worth reading. I particularly enjoyed reading about innovations like the tubed pedicle and the discovery of blood types. Also crazy to learn about Violet Jessop, who was on the Olympic when it hit a ship, then the next year was on its sister ship Titanic when it sank (she survived), and then four years later was on the third sister ship Britannic when it too sank (she survived). Whew.
• The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, by Benvenuto Cellini (huge surprise there), translated by John Addington Symonds, originally published 1563ish, translation published 1887. Far more entertaining and readable than I expected it to be. There’s lots about Cellini being a goldsmith and a sculptor, brown-nosing popes and kings and dukes, getting into fights and, uh, murdering people, and getting into, um, short-term age-gap relationships, let’s call them. Leonardo and Michelangelo are mentioned. There’s plague. Jail time makes a cameo. There’s probably a significant amount of exaggeration throughout, and there’s definitely an inflated ego. Not to mention Italy in the 1500s is a crazy time, at least for Cellini. Glad I read this. (Not least because I have Italian ancestors and it felt kind of like reading about a batty old uncle.)

Fiction

• Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson, published 2013, historical fiction / alternate history. I heard about the book (and Atkinson, for that matter) in Lev Grossman’s newsletter. (Looking forward to reading The Bright Sword, by the way.) Loved the writing, concrete and vivid. And whew, this story was kind of brutal (and a bit earthy), which is understandable given its core time loop conceit but still a punch in the gut at the end of each loop. Reminded me a bit of The Edge of Tomorrow in some ways, though this takes place during World War I and II and there are no aliens. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was good, too. Ah, I love time loops.
• Firewalkers, by Adrian Tchaikovsky, published 2020, science fiction. Post-apocalypses don’t appeal to me all that much (as I’ve mentioned before ad nauseam), but this one had interesting ideas and was compelling enough that I’d be down to read more stories set in this world.