Curtis Urness's Blog
October 21, 2020
Review of Fortune's Child; A Novel of Empress Theodora
Fortune's Child: A Novel of Empress TheodoraFortune's Child: A Novel of Empress TheodoraFortune's Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora is the latest work by James Conroyd Martin, noted for his excellent historical novels The Poland Trilogy and The Boy Who Wanted Wings. He takes us back further into time, to sixth century Byzantium, with this tale of love, betrayal and intrigue.
We are all, of course, Fortune's children. We know that she can be an abusive, fickle mother, as well a generous, caring one. This story follows the paths of two of Fortune's children, Theodora, the protagonist, and Stephen, a eunuch scribe residing in the royal palace in Constantinople.
Theodora is not born into royalty. While believing she is destined for greatness, the reality is that her life is engulfed in a nimbus of poverty, treachery, and oppression. The daughter of a Greek bear trainer and a Syrian beauty, she experiences her first tragedy at a young age with the death of her father. Her mother has to make her living on her looks through liaisons with various men. Theodora and her older sister Comito are sent out to work in the theater to supplement the household income. The theater business has a seamy side with the actresses portraying goddesses onstage and playing the role of courtesan offstage. In the sordid underground that thrives in the shadow of Hippodrome, the great chariot race arena of Constantinople, Theodora struggles to survive and care for her family. In this milieu, she finds herself subservient to men who abuse and betray her. Yet, her resourcefulness and wit enable her to prove herself a match for any man. Although the world described could have been portrayed basely by a lesser author, Martin depicts it tastefully and with discernment into the human spirit.
Stephen also faces tragedy in his childhood. Wrenched from his family in the hills of Syria, he becomes a slave to a traveling charlatan. When he tries to buy his freedom, he instead endures castration and more ignominious servitude. While he burns with passion of Theodora, his wounds have made him unable to fully love a woman.
In this well-researched novel, Martin evokes the exoticism and cosmopolitanism of ancient Byzantium. The reader is swept to this world from Pentapolis, a remote outpost in Libya through Egypt and the Levant back to Constantinople. Martin even gets Fortune to smile on her two striving waifs, lifting them to royal heights. It is well worth the while of any reader to immerse his- or herself into this beautiful tapestry and find out how.
Fortune's Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora
We are all, of course, Fortune's children. We know that she can be an abusive, fickle mother, as well a generous, caring one. This story follows the paths of two of Fortune's children, Theodora, the protagonist, and Stephen, a eunuch scribe residing in the royal palace in Constantinople.
Theodora is not born into royalty. While believing she is destined for greatness, the reality is that her life is engulfed in a nimbus of poverty, treachery, and oppression. The daughter of a Greek bear trainer and a Syrian beauty, she experiences her first tragedy at a young age with the death of her father. Her mother has to make her living on her looks through liaisons with various men. Theodora and her older sister Comito are sent out to work in the theater to supplement the household income. The theater business has a seamy side with the actresses portraying goddesses onstage and playing the role of courtesan offstage. In the sordid underground that thrives in the shadow of Hippodrome, the great chariot race arena of Constantinople, Theodora struggles to survive and care for her family. In this milieu, she finds herself subservient to men who abuse and betray her. Yet, her resourcefulness and wit enable her to prove herself a match for any man. Although the world described could have been portrayed basely by a lesser author, Martin depicts it tastefully and with discernment into the human spirit.
Stephen also faces tragedy in his childhood. Wrenched from his family in the hills of Syria, he becomes a slave to a traveling charlatan. When he tries to buy his freedom, he instead endures castration and more ignominious servitude. While he burns with passion of Theodora, his wounds have made him unable to fully love a woman.
In this well-researched novel, Martin evokes the exoticism and cosmopolitanism of ancient Byzantium. The reader is swept to this world from Pentapolis, a remote outpost in Libya through Egypt and the Levant back to Constantinople. Martin even gets Fortune to smile on her two striving waifs, lifting them to royal heights. It is well worth the while of any reader to immerse his- or herself into this beautiful tapestry and find out how.
Fortune's Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora
September 23, 2020
Review of Little Altar Boy
Little Altar Boy, by John Guzlowski, is a gritty police thriller and then so much more. The year is 1967, but this wintry Chicago narrative is a chilling predecessor to the Summer of Love. Snow falls heavily as a nun braves her way from the Humbolt Park Murdertown area to Police Detective Hank Purcell’s door. The news she brings is just as chilling as the weather. Sister Mary Philomena has observed the new priest at her church behaving suspiciously with an altar boy. She asks Hank to give the priest a “warning” not to do it again.
After Hank and his partner Marvin Bondarowicz make a not-so-pleasant visit to the accused priest, horrible events happen: a grisly murder, an incomprehensible suicide, the heinous, brutal slaying of an animal. To complicate things even more, Hank’s college-aged daughter disappears into the hippy drug scene. Hank and Marvin are no strangers to the depravity and inhumanity of the criminals they pursue, but this sequence of evil tests their mettle. They both have seen the horrors of World War II, Hank in Europe, and Marvin in the South Pacific. Those horrors seem to Hank to be the catalyst to what is happening now.
“Maybe it was the war. All those people killed in the concentration camps, for the craziest of reasons or no reason at all. Six million Jews dead, and so many others dead, too. 50 million? 60 million? All kinds of people, mostly not soldiers, just people, moms and dads and children. Maybe the war opened a door to some kind of evil, and we haven’t figured out a way to close that door again, and if we can’t close the door these crazy murders will keep happening, keep reminding us that the evil is here.”
Hank and Marvin are hardly choirboys themselves. They are tough, vicious cops, willing to mete out brutality to anyone standing to the way of what they perceive to be justice. They cope with the crimes they confront through hard-drinking and violence. Anything goes: beatings, break-ins, even judgment and execution. Yet, their viciousness is in response to the evils they face. An unorthodox center of decency grounds both men.
Chicago in 1967 is not a politically correct city. Little Altar Boy is not a politically correct book. The characters and scenes of this multi-ethnic metropolis are described in the slang of the times. Yet, even through the prejudices and the stereotypes, there is something deeper happening, intimated by Guzlowski’s poetic conceits that describe the scene when Hank and Marvin visit a juke-joint on the Southside:
The guy with the harmonica put down his harp just then, held it tight to his chest, and shouted out a lick from some blues song, some old holler, that went all the way down to Dixie and even further than that, down to the Delta, down to Parchman Farm, down to the wet, dark mud of the black Mississippi.
The snow that billows and piles up through most of the novel develops a persona of its own. Infrequently, it descends as something magical and shiny, innocence itself; more often it is city snow, grimy, covered with soot and dog crap, slick, nasty, covering a slippery surface of ice. Even when there is the short reprieve of a thaw, it melts into a murky atmospheric muddle. The snow and freezing temperatures enhance the theme of innocence corrupted by evil that flows through the storyline. This detective tale, like revenge, is best served cold.
After Hank and his partner Marvin Bondarowicz make a not-so-pleasant visit to the accused priest, horrible events happen: a grisly murder, an incomprehensible suicide, the heinous, brutal slaying of an animal. To complicate things even more, Hank’s college-aged daughter disappears into the hippy drug scene. Hank and Marvin are no strangers to the depravity and inhumanity of the criminals they pursue, but this sequence of evil tests their mettle. They both have seen the horrors of World War II, Hank in Europe, and Marvin in the South Pacific. Those horrors seem to Hank to be the catalyst to what is happening now.
“Maybe it was the war. All those people killed in the concentration camps, for the craziest of reasons or no reason at all. Six million Jews dead, and so many others dead, too. 50 million? 60 million? All kinds of people, mostly not soldiers, just people, moms and dads and children. Maybe the war opened a door to some kind of evil, and we haven’t figured out a way to close that door again, and if we can’t close the door these crazy murders will keep happening, keep reminding us that the evil is here.”
Hank and Marvin are hardly choirboys themselves. They are tough, vicious cops, willing to mete out brutality to anyone standing to the way of what they perceive to be justice. They cope with the crimes they confront through hard-drinking and violence. Anything goes: beatings, break-ins, even judgment and execution. Yet, their viciousness is in response to the evils they face. An unorthodox center of decency grounds both men.
Chicago in 1967 is not a politically correct city. Little Altar Boy is not a politically correct book. The characters and scenes of this multi-ethnic metropolis are described in the slang of the times. Yet, even through the prejudices and the stereotypes, there is something deeper happening, intimated by Guzlowski’s poetic conceits that describe the scene when Hank and Marvin visit a juke-joint on the Southside:
The guy with the harmonica put down his harp just then, held it tight to his chest, and shouted out a lick from some blues song, some old holler, that went all the way down to Dixie and even further than that, down to the Delta, down to Parchman Farm, down to the wet, dark mud of the black Mississippi.
The snow that billows and piles up through most of the novel develops a persona of its own. Infrequently, it descends as something magical and shiny, innocence itself; more often it is city snow, grimy, covered with soot and dog crap, slick, nasty, covering a slippery surface of ice. Even when there is the short reprieve of a thaw, it melts into a murky atmospheric muddle. The snow and freezing temperatures enhance the theme of innocence corrupted by evil that flows through the storyline. This detective tale, like revenge, is best served cold.
July 27, 2020
Review of The Life of Marek Zaczek; Part I, by David Trawinski
A son is born to a peasant woman, a victim of rape, in 1772 during the time of the first Partition of Poland by neighboring powers Russia, Prussia, and Austria. His lot is to live in Galicia, ceded to the Austrian Empire. While the Austrian rule is for the most part lenient, Marek's situation is bleak. His family lives on the manor of a tyrannical nobleman who oversees the region's vast salt mines. Marek's father must labor underground for days at a time, while his mother avoid the wiles of her attacker as she still works under his supervision. The novel follows young Marek from his childhood through early adulthood, during an era when historical changes are altering the composition of Europe.
The Life of Marek Zaczek; Part I, by David Trawinski, evokes that time vividly. Part romance, part Greek drama, and part epic adventure, the author skillfully leads his hero through family misfortune, a budding but doomed romance, power plays by the Austrian and Polish nobility, and the politics leading to the final dissolution of Poland as a sovereign state in the Third Partition. Trawinski's knowledge of European history is vast and presented in an interesting way.
Yet, it is the memorable characters that make this book such a pleasure to read. Marek is buffeted about by circumstances he of which he isn't even cognizant, but shines forth with integrity, faith, and a commitment to honor. Magda, his mother, is central to the story; in many ways the novel is as much about her as it is about Marek. She harbors many deep secrets and unrealistic guilt that hinder her from achieving happiness. Yet, she is charitable to those who misuse her, while being clever enough to turn their traps back on themselves. Marek's father, Bronisław is a simple and loving man, a true salt of the earth. The aristocratic, young Maya is deeply in love with Marek, but the class distinction between them, as well as factors hidden from both, make their romance impossible. The two nobleman who figure prominently in the story, Polish Duke Sdanowicz and Austrian Count Von Arndt come across as complex but crafty villains.
If I can find fault with anything in this book, it is that the first chapter has some stylistic problems with tense and point-of-view. That does not detract from the verve and detail of the chapter in any significant way. The patient reader who find his way past this is rewarded by masterful writing and plot twists that draw him deep into a world both exciting and emotionally satisfying.
Having finished Part I, I can barely wait for Part II of The Life of Marek Zaczek to make its appearance.
The Life of Marek Zaczek; Part I, by David Trawinski, evokes that time vividly. Part romance, part Greek drama, and part epic adventure, the author skillfully leads his hero through family misfortune, a budding but doomed romance, power plays by the Austrian and Polish nobility, and the politics leading to the final dissolution of Poland as a sovereign state in the Third Partition. Trawinski's knowledge of European history is vast and presented in an interesting way.
Yet, it is the memorable characters that make this book such a pleasure to read. Marek is buffeted about by circumstances he of which he isn't even cognizant, but shines forth with integrity, faith, and a commitment to honor. Magda, his mother, is central to the story; in many ways the novel is as much about her as it is about Marek. She harbors many deep secrets and unrealistic guilt that hinder her from achieving happiness. Yet, she is charitable to those who misuse her, while being clever enough to turn their traps back on themselves. Marek's father, Bronisław is a simple and loving man, a true salt of the earth. The aristocratic, young Maya is deeply in love with Marek, but the class distinction between them, as well as factors hidden from both, make their romance impossible. The two nobleman who figure prominently in the story, Polish Duke Sdanowicz and Austrian Count Von Arndt come across as complex but crafty villains.
If I can find fault with anything in this book, it is that the first chapter has some stylistic problems with tense and point-of-view. That does not detract from the verve and detail of the chapter in any significant way. The patient reader who find his way past this is rewarded by masterful writing and plot twists that draw him deep into a world both exciting and emotionally satisfying.
Having finished Part I, I can barely wait for Part II of The Life of Marek Zaczek to make its appearance.
September 28, 2019
The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo Review
The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo
by William Kowalski (Goodreads Author)
21735077
Curtis Urness's review
Sep 28, 2019 ·
The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo by William Kowalski is a real treat. It follows the lives of two people from the same family: Aniela, the matriarch who immigrated to the United States in 1908, to Iggy, her great-grandson, who is running the floundering family business in 2015.
The story begins with Aniela preparing to leave the part of the Poland that was controlled by the oppressive Prussian Empire. Her future there would have been one of poverty, abuse, drudgery, and possible annihilation during the two World Wars. She is an early feminist, although she probably wouldn't think of herself as such. She, along with her mother and two sisters, journeyed to America by themselves, something that only men usually did. She began her own business with her sisters without a husband as the principal partner. Her struggles are common struggles of newly-arrived immigrants: culture shock, learning the challenging English language, working long hours for wealthy people for little pay.
Iggy, by contrast, is not from the same oppressive, labor-intensive background. He is the recipient of the the benefits of having been born into a middle-class American family. Yet, he has a strong work ethic and sense of duty. He is the last man standing, the torch bearer who is trying to save the family restaurant while his relatives view it as a lost cause.
I am partial to stories like this because I was blessed to know my own Polish great-grandmother. Yet, this is more than a charming immigrant story; it is an America story. It is the story of having the grit to keep fighting when outside forces want to take everything away from you. Of course, part of this grit is the determination of immigrants to make something of themselves. This determination bubbles through the novel like the frothy sourdough starter Aneila's mother had carried along on thetrip in steerage to the New World.
by William Kowalski (Goodreads Author)
21735077
Curtis Urness's review
Sep 28, 2019 ·
The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo by William Kowalski is a real treat. It follows the lives of two people from the same family: Aniela, the matriarch who immigrated to the United States in 1908, to Iggy, her great-grandson, who is running the floundering family business in 2015.
The story begins with Aniela preparing to leave the part of the Poland that was controlled by the oppressive Prussian Empire. Her future there would have been one of poverty, abuse, drudgery, and possible annihilation during the two World Wars. She is an early feminist, although she probably wouldn't think of herself as such. She, along with her mother and two sisters, journeyed to America by themselves, something that only men usually did. She began her own business with her sisters without a husband as the principal partner. Her struggles are common struggles of newly-arrived immigrants: culture shock, learning the challenging English language, working long hours for wealthy people for little pay.
Iggy, by contrast, is not from the same oppressive, labor-intensive background. He is the recipient of the the benefits of having been born into a middle-class American family. Yet, he has a strong work ethic and sense of duty. He is the last man standing, the torch bearer who is trying to save the family restaurant while his relatives view it as a lost cause.
I am partial to stories like this because I was blessed to know my own Polish great-grandmother. Yet, this is more than a charming immigrant story; it is an America story. It is the story of having the grit to keep fighting when outside forces want to take everything away from you. Of course, part of this grit is the determination of immigrants to make something of themselves. This determination bubbles through the novel like the frothy sourdough starter Aneila's mother had carried along on thetrip in steerage to the New World.
September 18, 2019
Busia; Seasons on the Farm with my Polish Grandmother Review
Busia; Seasons on the Farm with my Polish Grandmother by Leonard Kniffel is a short but poignant memoir. It charmingly juxtaposes the innocence and adventurousness of youth against the wisdom and stoicism of old age. An undercurrent of familial love ties the whole story together. The memoir follows a young boy and his grandmother through one year in the 1950s.
Six-year-old Leonard comes to live with his grandmother, whom he calls "Busia" in Polish, on her small, rented farm outside of Detroit. Even though it is 1953, the farmhouse lacks the modern "luxuries", such as indoor plumbing and heating, that the neighbors have. Rather than creating hardship, these inconveniences create learning opportunities for the boy and a continuation of the lifestyle that his immigrant grandmother knew in the Old World. Leonard must fill keep the coal pail and wood box full, work in the garden, help with cooking and similar chores. It is not drudgery to him. He also gets to enjoy some of the fun pursuits of country life, like exploring the fields and forests and playing in the barn with his visiting cousins. This life is not without mishaps, which only add to the richness of the story.
Busia herself is the epitome of kindness. She includes the boy in every aspect of daily life. When she has to reprimand him, she does so in only the kindest of ways. As the matriarch of a large family, she often hosts her grown children and their families for holidays and other visits.
As the story progresses, changes threaten their happy existence. The landlord visits often, making improvements to the property and showing the land and house to potential buyers. While this worries and bewilders Leonard, Busia downplays the threat with distracting phrases and dismissals.
Busia; Season on the Farm with my Polish Grandmother is an endearing read, evoking a simpler, happy time in the author's life. Busia: Seasons on the Farm with My Polish Grandmother
Six-year-old Leonard comes to live with his grandmother, whom he calls "Busia" in Polish, on her small, rented farm outside of Detroit. Even though it is 1953, the farmhouse lacks the modern "luxuries", such as indoor plumbing and heating, that the neighbors have. Rather than creating hardship, these inconveniences create learning opportunities for the boy and a continuation of the lifestyle that his immigrant grandmother knew in the Old World. Leonard must fill keep the coal pail and wood box full, work in the garden, help with cooking and similar chores. It is not drudgery to him. He also gets to enjoy some of the fun pursuits of country life, like exploring the fields and forests and playing in the barn with his visiting cousins. This life is not without mishaps, which only add to the richness of the story.
Busia herself is the epitome of kindness. She includes the boy in every aspect of daily life. When she has to reprimand him, she does so in only the kindest of ways. As the matriarch of a large family, she often hosts her grown children and their families for holidays and other visits.
As the story progresses, changes threaten their happy existence. The landlord visits often, making improvements to the property and showing the land and house to potential buyers. While this worries and bewilders Leonard, Busia downplays the threat with distracting phrases and dismissals.
Busia; Season on the Farm with my Polish Grandmother is an endearing read, evoking a simpler, happy time in the author's life. Busia: Seasons on the Farm with My Polish Grandmother
September 11, 2019
Stars and Crosses has a New Review!
A great review of Stars and Crosses from award-winning poet and novelist John Guzlowski.
John Guzlowski to Polish/American
September 8 at 8:24 AM
What’s it like to go to Poland and try to find the places your family called home?
If you’ve ever wondered, consider getting this terrific novel about a Polish-American guy who decides to visit Poland for the first time after his father’s death.
It’s written with humor and wisdom, and truly gives a sense of what Poland is like today.
I’ve read a lot of novels and memoirs about 2nd and 3rd generation Polish Americans trying to retrace their roots, and this is among the best.
https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Crosses-...
AMAZON.COM
Stars and Crosses: A Novel
It is March 1998 and Chic Lucas is down on his luck. He has endured three major losses within a short period of time: the death of his father, a divorce, and the loss of his long-time job. Heartsick at his recent defeats, Chic is embarking on a quest to replenish his soul by returning to Poland, ...
John Guzlowski to Polish/American
September 8 at 8:24 AM
What’s it like to go to Poland and try to find the places your family called home?
If you’ve ever wondered, consider getting this terrific novel about a Polish-American guy who decides to visit Poland for the first time after his father’s death.
It’s written with humor and wisdom, and truly gives a sense of what Poland is like today.
I’ve read a lot of novels and memoirs about 2nd and 3rd generation Polish Americans trying to retrace their roots, and this is among the best.
https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Crosses-...
AMAZON.COM
Stars and Crosses: A Novel
It is March 1998 and Chic Lucas is down on his luck. He has endured three major losses within a short period of time: the death of his father, a divorce, and the loss of his long-time job. Heartsick at his recent defeats, Chic is embarking on a quest to replenish his soul by returning to Poland, ...
June 13, 2019
Stars and Crosses has a New Review!
The Polish American Journal has published a review by Mary Lanham of my novel Stars and Crosses. Here is an excerpt:
"The author has a distinct descriptive writing style which can best be seen when Chic visits the Russian Market in Warsaw:
'Chic, Ruth, and David made their way through the crowded passageways—the primary one, lined with Persian rugs hanging from racks, reminded Chic of an avenue of sails—to the main market…Hawkers negotiated their prices in a Babel of languages—Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, German, English, Vietnamese, and several African languages. Spread out across the concrete rows were imitation designer watches; intricate, multicolored jewelry boxes; bottles of vodka and liqueurs; cheap tools; wooden pisanki Easter eggs; religious triptychs; and other icons. Smoke rose from small grills and booths that sold cabbage rolls, bagels, and Vietnamese fried rice.'"
You can read the whole review at http://polamjournal.com/books-in-brie....
Thank you, Mary Lanham!
"The author has a distinct descriptive writing style which can best be seen when Chic visits the Russian Market in Warsaw:
'Chic, Ruth, and David made their way through the crowded passageways—the primary one, lined with Persian rugs hanging from racks, reminded Chic of an avenue of sails—to the main market…Hawkers negotiated their prices in a Babel of languages—Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, German, English, Vietnamese, and several African languages. Spread out across the concrete rows were imitation designer watches; intricate, multicolored jewelry boxes; bottles of vodka and liqueurs; cheap tools; wooden pisanki Easter eggs; religious triptychs; and other icons. Smoke rose from small grills and booths that sold cabbage rolls, bagels, and Vietnamese fried rice.'"
You can read the whole review at http://polamjournal.com/books-in-brie....
Thank you, Mary Lanham!
