Two books
I have the intense pleasure of being deeply engrossed in two exceptional books: Ian Frazier’s Travels In Alaska is my current bedtime reading, keeping me up much later than I intend with his keen observations of Russia’s far north, enriched with history, geography, politics (then and now), and spiced with engaging, humorous anecdotes. My favorite so far - having their camp trashed by a herd of rampaging cows.
In the car, I’m listening to Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone, set in Hitler’s Germany, and focusing on the lives of the occupants of a modest apartment building. It is an illuminating glimpse at the way monumental events affect daily lives, and a sobering assessment of the vagaries of human nature.
