Books I Read September 13th, 2026

At least football is back.

By the Lake by John McGahern – A year in the life of a middle-aged couple in rural Ireland, following the changing seasons and small agricultural tasks and minor life events of a ensemble cast of ideosyncratic Gaelics (Gaels?). It occurred to me on reading this that this might have been the only happy Irish novel I've ever read, but then I remembered that, of course, Ulysses is basically upbeat. Anyway, it's much more difficult to write a happy novel than a sad one, and more difficult still to write a quiet novel, observing and celebrating the quotidian details and silent struggles which define human existence when it is not upended by catastrophe. Sweet and spare and sympathetic, this was a pleasure to work through on a savagely hot September weekend, when I struggled to see much good in the world.

Sakina's Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag – A venal businessman considers his past crimes and current hypocrisies when his daughter goes briefly missing. Another of Shanbhag's introspective near noirs, incisively contemplating the yawning spiritual void at the heart of India's rising middle class. Tautly written and ambiguous, Shanbhag is an excellent writer and I wish more of his works were translated into English.

Jews and Crime in Medievil Europe by Ephraim Shoham-Steiner – I confess I kind of picked this up hoping it would be a Gangs of New York style overview of early Yiddish mafiosos, only to discover a dense text drawing loose conclusions from a handful of extant halakha. Still, I pretty much always find something interesting in very specific discussions of past cultures, even if this didn't satisfy my desire for a sword-wielding Monk Eastman.

Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Childhood by Nega Mezlekia – An autobiography of the author's youth in a culturally fascinating, politically horrifying 1970's Ethiopia. Vivid and tragic.

War and Society in Early Modern Europe, 1495-1715 by Frank Tallett – A concise new military history of the early wars of religion up to the Sun King's doomed attempt to conquer the continent. I'm a sucker for anything having to do with pike and shot.

Past Master by R.A. Lafferty – Thomas Moore time travels to a far future vision of his Utopia, fights robots, has an endless seeming series of banal, pretentious dialogues, meets a predictable end.

Small Lives by Pierre Michon – A history of the author's life, journey to becoming a writer, as told through a handful of brief vignettes depicting his ancestors and minor characters in his life. I found it over flowery.