The Man with the Silver Saab

 By Alexander McCall Smith

Pantheon     2021

256 pages           Mystery (?)

I am not at all sure in which genre to place The Man with the Silver Saab, and indeed, any of the writings of Alexander McCall Smith. In seeking out the answer to that question, I noticed that few of the reviewers had the same classification. Some placed it in mystery, some in humor, and some in satire. I might place it in philosophy because McCall Smith infuses his philosophy of life into every aspect of the narration.

This particular series, the Detective Varg series, takes place in the Swedish city of Malmo, where Ulf Varg is the head of the Department of Sensitive Crimes. The Man with the Silver Saab is the third book in the series, but the reader can drop in anywhere. (That’s part of the genius of McCall Smith.) Although we never truly understand what constitutes a “sensitive crime,” we end up loving Ulf Varg, especially as he deals with a very boring colleague, as well as with the colleague for whom he has romantic feelings.

The reader quickly finds that the plot is secondary to the musings of the characters and the laugh-out-loud humor that infuses every moment of the plot. I genuinely laughed out loud several times and was emotionally touched at other times. An example of this occurred when Varg was looking out the window. He noticed a man and woman walking down the street. Their pace changed when the man took the woman’s arm. It appeared to Varg that they belonged together. “That was security; that was completeness. And then two young men came along, walking behind them, and one of the young men suddenly put an arm around the other, and Ulf thought: that is exactly the same thing.” It is this type of narration that warms the heart of the reader and expresses the soul of the author. There is a sensitive crime, to be sure, a strange situation with a painting and the art expert who believes his life is being damaged because of bad publicity. And here is a picture of a silver Saab, similar to the one Varg drives, in case you, like me, had no idea what a Saab looks like.

The Man with the Silver Saab is a perfect read for warm summer days and a foil against disturbing daily media. McCall Smith says in an interview with the Scottish newspaper, The Herald: “I, like most people, want to be uplifted and presented with a vision of the world that has some hope in it. I believe in being positive – what’s the point of being negative? It doesn’t improve life. I don’t want to be a Pollyanna claiming everything is wonderful, but we should leave room in life for the positive and uplifting.”

Not much more needs to be said about The Man with the Silver Saab except to escape into its pages. Publisher’s Weekly suggests that the plot is “gossamer thin” and “almost irrelevant. The novel’s pleasures lie in Ulf’s philosophical asides and comments on how to live a good, just life.” You will be uplifted and will contemplate how Ulf lives a life that is filled with kindness and civility while solving sensitive crimes. Oh, and you will discover how a veterinarian could possible sew the nose of a dog upside down after the dog has been attacked by a squirrel.

I have read—and I am sure you have as well—several books in the many series of Alexander McCall Smith. He wrote and published 7 books during the pandemic, including a new entry in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, my personal favorite.

Great American Road Trips Scenic Drives

 Readers Digest  2020

191 pages     Travel

I returned recently from a trip to my hometown of Duluth, Minnesota, where my grandchildren and I had ventured up the North Shore Scenic Drive, one of the scenic drives featured in Reader’s Digest’s lovely Great American Road Trips Scenic Drives. Imagine my pleasure when I returned home to find a copy of the book waiting for me, sent by the publicist. 

Beautiful photographs lure the reader into marvelous vistas and not-to-be-missed sites. I immediately searched out the section on the North Shore Scenic Drive that we had just visited. We had been on Highway 61 on a dramatically beautiful day, eaten at Betty’s Pies in Two Harbors, jetted down the alpine slide in Lutsen, saw the Split Rock Lighthouse on the horizon, and let Gooseberry Falls wash over us. It had been a glorious day, so it was fun to read the narrator’s take on the drive that I knew so well. What is not told is the magnificence of the city of Duluth, which on the three nice days of the year is the most beautiful city in America.  

I then went to the Table of Contents and checked off all of the scenic roads I had traveled, and it was a nostalgic pleasure to read about all the wonderful places I had been—17 I think. I especially enjoyed remembering the Heart of the Palouse outside of Spokane, which a friend drove us on. (We had not known a thing about the Palouse before our ride.) I also loved our visit to Door County, Wisconsin, and Monument Valley in Arizona and Utah.

Several years ago, my sister gave us the book, The Most Scenic Drives in America, a detailed look at 120 drives all over the United States. It was published in 1997 by Reader’s Digest. The current book, Great American Road Trips Scenic Drives, is more compact and easier to handle than the older version. The book gave me renewed interest in taking a scenic autumn trip to the Central Adirondack Trail in New York this year.

Read this book and get inspired! Happy trails to you!

Truth is in The House

 By Michael J. Coffino

Koehlerbooks     2021

355 pages     Literary

We seldom, if ever, notice how one life can parallel another. In his first novel, Michael Coffino, a California attorney and high school basketball coach, narrates the story of two men who keep “running into each other,” first as boys, then young soldiers, as adults, and finally as retirees. Here is a summary of the plot. The subtitle indicates that the novel was inspired by true events.

As a young boy in the late 1950s, Jimmy O'Farrell emigrates with his family from Ireland to Manhattan to bask in the dawn of a new life. Thousands of miles away, the family of Jaylen Jackson seeks to build a life amid Jim Crow culture in Mississippi. As teenagers, both boys struggle to come of age in a racially divisive world, suffering horrific tragedies that shape their characters and life missions. Jimmy seeks to define what it means to stand for someone when the chips are down, while Jaylen embarks on a journey to gain respect beyond the color of his skin. 

Fleeing the past, both families land in neighboring Bronx communities in the 1960s, where Jimmy and Jaylen's lives first intersect, on the basketball courts and then in the Vietnam jungle. Repeatedly tested as men of different races, their friendship faces its toughest challenge outside a Bronx bar-with fatal consequences. Truth Is in the House is an epic and provocative tale that plumbs historical and modern racial themes and explores redemption, forgiveness, and the power of connecting through the human spirit.

 

Here are several things that I appreciated about the book. I especially liked the love and care expressed by the parents of Jimmy and Jaylen. They were clear in the ways in which they wanted their children to succeed in life and tried very hard to shield their children from hardships and tragedy, even though both young men were exposed to and lived through both hardship and tragedy. Both boys were taught a work ethic by their parents. And finally, both men were loving and caring grandparents in their older years—something I could very well relate to.

 

And I loved reading about the sports. I was especially taken by the chapter about the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and the Pirates. Jimmy and his father bonded by listening to the final game on the radio. (I suppose I got a kick out of this particular story because I remember listening to that game during my civics class at my high school in Minnesota. What a great teacher to let us listen!) Sports continues to play a large role in the lives of the characters throughout the novel.

 

The language Coffino chooses to use in the novel is quite erudite, with some of the dialogue a bit stilted and uncomfortable. He gets his message across sometimes by hitting us over the head with the point he is trying to make. Coffino is better at narrating the settings and the plot, and I really appreciated the arrangement of the chapters. I always knew who and what the upcoming chapter was going to be about. I also appreciated the striking cover.

 

Through the plot and the narration, the author’s views on the racial divide come shining through, and were very much appreciated. I kept thinking of Caste by Isabel Wilkerson that I am currently reading and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates that I read several years ago. These books plus Truth is in The House have given me a new perspective on the world of racial differences in which we live. What really shines in Truth is in The House is the humanity we share, no matter our origins or our life circumstances.

 

The author’s website. I thank the publicist for offering me a copy of the book. It is published this month.