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This novel will be the first I read by Fredrick Backman. Line 'em up. I'm gonna knock 'em down. I love listening to this. This book is funny yet super-poignant. I can't help but think of my late grandpa. I swear I almost ugly-sobbed. Ove wants life to be the bedrock of support he seeks after his wife's passing, but he learns the only certainty in life is its uncertainty.

The Syntopicon is the great concordance of ideas in the Great Books. In the middle of this treatise, Adler is defining his actions. In addition to this book, essays preceed each of the 102 terms that organize the topics of the Syntopicon, which are further divided into subtopics.

At the present moment, Adler breaks down the different modes of knowing. Knowing how to integrate knowledge sits at the pinnacle.

Adler continues, as stated, to show the results of the attempts through the ages to organize knowledge. For the layman, it is quite tedious. He does show, however, the movement toward the acknowledgement of the secular rather than the divine in knowledge.

I stopped with the Propaedia and its "outline of knowledge" because what follows is the definition of the Syntopicon.

Things are progressing as fast as enlightenment is touching everyone. At first, the gods and the 'mysterious' ruled, allowing the science that did not threaten them.

In the Middle Ages, science gained its own foothold, as long as it did not conflict with the prevailing theological flavor.

In the seventeenth century, science had enough autonomy to categorize the world. Neither was it heretical for doing so.

Adler, in this chapter, describes the notions of education in antiquity through Plato, Aristotle, and St. Augustine. Briefly, he shows how each builds on their predecessors and differs from them, in particular St. Augustine. Antiquity is dealt with here, next are the Middle Ages, and so on.

It took awhile, but we got straight into the plot. Two things are hopefully improved in her future novels: one, the pacing; and two, the diction. With the exception of a couple of plot contrivances, things have really motored along toward the end. Maggie's sleuthing is intriguing. Brits talking out of character, tho', and without their distinctiveness has gotten old for me.

What Mortimer Adler sees as the current organization of knowledge is described. He is rather clear, and rather correct, to my way of thinking. Knowing the culmination of Adler's work in the Great Books of the Western World and its Syntopicon, I can not help but see this work as an apology for it. He will go further and show the basis of his logic through the ages. This book should be seen as a preface instead.

The novel is starting to pick up steam now. The backstory and situation are being prepared, creating a lull in the action. The narrator has put down the manner in which Maggie will help the war effort. It now has to come to fruition. The moles in MI-5 have been revealed, and they have hinted at the problem that Maggie will have to overcome while maintaining her innocence.

Hopefully New Year's resolutions will do something for my activity here. Here's hopin' . . .

Lucian flying ol' Steamboat makes me think of John Belushi. Maybe they flew together once or twice. (Think the Battle of Los Angeles--1941.) This is the second Longmire book I've read. I like 'em. I hope Netflix keeps the series going on TV. I love the crotchety characterization of Lucian. He reminds me of my Grandpa, who built bombers for WWII.

Cressida is heading north to deal with her perceived demons. I gotta say, her reason for abruptly leaving home sounds lame and self-centered. Oates, on the other hand, does manage to elicit some pity for Cressida and her 'situation'. At least I felt for her. It took a long time to get into what now feels as the main crux of the novel. Only a skilled writer could try to hold your attention with so little action.

Backstory time but not so much as to be boring or give away the surprise. The intern's journey of being the investigator's assistant is told through her memory in the middle of the opening scene, a scene that is still going on after three hours. Similarities and parallels to the past we know are seen as well as what could be some minor connections between the investigator and Cressida's past.

Now starts the second part of the novel. As what happened with the beginning of the novel, Oates takes her time establishing the scene. At about 7:37:00 into the novel, just after the opening of the second part, there is a story-altering revelation. A character applies for a job and has a hard time constructing a past where they don't what any past known. This area, while important, is a bit awkward to read.

All Brett can do is mumble about Cressida's death is that he did it. The last chapter focuses on him and his problems. And, oh boy, does he have problems. He has what I guess is PTSD, survivor's guilt, and a desire to run away from everyone like John Rambo. Brett penned a letter to Juliet to be opened on his death in Iraq. It is quite heartfelt and further muddies the waters as to who is right and wrong.

This new entry to Hard Case Crime by Lawrence Block moves quickly. There's already been a bit of sex, two hits called out, and a crooked ex-cop. The writing is fairly graphic. It's more so than the other Block novels I've read. Tho' he did cut his chops writing for skin mags in the '50s and '60s. Stephen King was doing the same when he sold Carrie. The dialogue is terse, cut, and right to the point.

Oates has elaborated on the lives and souls of the supporting actors. Now we see Brett Kincaid and his war trauma. In this chapter, you find out Cressida's killer. Hope turns to fatal certainty. The war hero everyone pities shows his true side. War makes a person do unspeakable things, but war is blamed. As the different sides become clear, everyone's motivation becomes suspect and self-serving.

Near the end of disc two, the storm clouds are forming. Quinn is talking with an old friend, giving Quinn the 411. The young pregnant girl Quinn picked up in the start now gets looped back into his life as she is meeting the baby's father in a work camp. He's using an alias while guys stalking him and her get thumped on by Quinn. Takes a bit to get into (all of the first two discs) but now the plot is moving.

At least three months have passes since Cressida has been gone. Zeno, the father, is angry at what he perceives as slow justice. Mother and daughter are adrift emotionally. Lines are starting to be drawn by the father. He claims the boyfriend is guilty without a shred of evidence. People are now becoming representative of types: father, the practical; Juliet, the beautiful; and Cressida, the intelligent.

Now that my doctor visits are done for the quarter and my therapy classes have all run their course, I can start reading again on my own schedule. Here's to making it all work!

Carthage is starting off slowly, one would say. Oates, on the other hand, is meticulously creating the background in which the hunt for Cressida's killer will play out. It's a normal obstacle-filled live told in flashbacks. The use of various narrators lends verisimilitude to the story. So far I like the manner in which the veteran's recovery is related though a one-sided dialogue with the saccharin bride-to-be.

It is so cool! I finally have broadband at home again. I have been going to the library and using their slow 1.5 Mbps. Now I have 30+ Mbps at home. I am going to be able to type much more now. Sweet!

On page 91 of 224

Starting Chapter 13.