Booknotes 4.12

A Long Day in Lychford, by Paul Cornell, published 2017, fantasy. Third in the series. Quite liked it.

Coriolanus, by William Shakespeare, published 1607, play. This felt politically relevant to now, even if the details differ. Enjoyed the poetry of it, too, which frequently reminded me of Euripides’ Medea.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, by Michael Finkel, published 2023, nonfiction. Wow, that was insane. A couple in France stole hundreds of works of art in broad daylight over several years, potentially worth up to $2 billion in total, and almost all of the thefts were improvised on the spot (as opposed to meticulously planned in advance). Compelling, readable, and mind-blowing, at least for people like me who can barely watch or read heist sequences without feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Julius Caesar, by Julius Caesar, published 1599, play. So good. The tension! The poetry! The plot felt even more relevant to our times than Coriolanus did. It was also fun to see so many famous quotes in their original habitat — “beware the Ides of March,” “it’s Greek to me,” “the fault is not in our stars,” etc. I haven’t yet read all of Shakespeare, but this is my favorite of the ones I’ve read so far.