Review of "Eye of the Moon (Eye of the Moon Trilogy, #1)" by Ivan Obolensky

 

 Rhinebeck, in upstate New York, is the opulent country estate of the Dodge family.



The manor once belonged to Lady Alice - an Egyptologist with occult beliefs and practices.



Lady Alice died in mysterious circumstances two decades ago, and Rhinebeck is rumored to harbor ghosts and spirits. After Lady Alice departed, her half-brother John Dodge Sr. became Rhinebeck's trustee, and he's responsible for overseeing the estate's finances and maintenance.

 


Rhinebeck has always been an exciting place for John Dodge Jr. (Johnny) and his best friend Percy. Johnny and Percy were raised together in a ritzy Manhattan apartment, and spent their boyhood summers at Rhinebeck, where they perpetrated lots of mischief.



It's now 1977, and Johnny and Percy - now 30 years old - are back at Rhinebeck for a weekend gathering.





Johnny and Percy were once in business together, but their investment firm went belly up, and the men went their separate ways.



Johnny and Percy recently got re-acquainted, and they're happy to return to Rhinebeck because they have an ulterior motive; they plan to explore the mansion and unearth Lady Alice's mystic secrets.



The Rhinebeck weekend is being hosted by John Dodge Sr. and his wife Anne.



Other guests include John's mother Mary Leland (Maw), an unpleasant woman who's IMMENSELY wealthy;



Maw's daughter Bonnie Leland (John's half-sister), who's very ambitious;



Baron and Baroness von Hofmanstal and their beautiful daughter Brunhilde;





and Malcolm Ault, who lives in England and has something to do with films.



Also present at Rhinebeck are long-time butler Stanley - who knows all the mansion's secrets;



Stanley's wife Dagmar - a wonderful chef whose cooking is to die for;



and Robert the Bruce - a white bull terrier who follows Johnny everywhere.



Rhinebeck is a very formal setting, where the household dresses for dinner, and seating is assigned for both lunch and dinner. After dining, there's coffee in the drawing room; and cognac and cigars in the library. (There's far too much cigar smoking in the mansion, but this was 1977, before smokers were relegated to the outdoors.)



The main reasons for the Rhinebeck gathering are an anniversary party for John Sr. and Anne; and a fund-raiser for the manor, whose finances have waned. Thus there's to be an auction for Lady Alice's occult collection, which is of interest to Baron von Hofmanstal and Malcolm Ault.





Aside from this, there's a tense atmosphere at Rhinebeck, because John Sr. and his half-sister Bonnie dislike each other, and are fierce rivals to be Maw's heir. To add to the drama, Percy immediately falls for the gorgeous Brunhilde.



The book's main plotline, however, revolves around two themes:

First, there's Johnny and Percy's investigation into the occult. The men find Lady Alice's secret library and some of her mystic artifacts. They also get Stanley to tell them Lady Alice's life story, and to give them Lady Alice's diary. Afterwards, Johnny and Percy summon a demon, unleash spirits, and so on.



Second, Johnny and Percy learn that the failure of their investment firm was purposely engineered by devious parties. The men are infuriated, and delve into the matter to find out how, who, and why.





Many secrets are revealed amid these developments, and there are some shocking revelations.

The story is engaging, but a bit long and slow-moving. Also, some plot points aren't credible. For instance, I don't believe people get engaged two days after they meet.

The book comes to a satisfactory conclusion (no cliff-hanger) but this is the first volume of a trilogy. I have the rest of the series, so stay-tuned.

As a bonus, Dagmar's scrumptious meals are described in detail. Here's an example of a lunch menu.

Hors d'oeuvres: Caviar on points of white toast
First Course: Smoked salmon from Scotland with small points of white toast paired with cold Sancerre.
Second Course: Scotch Broth
Third Course: Series of pâtés with different sauces
Dessert: Sorbet


Caviar on points of white toast


First Course: Smoked salmon from Scotland with small points of white toast


Cold Sancerre


Scotch Broth


Series of pâtés with different sauces


Sorbet

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Carter Roy and Vanessa Richardson, who do a fine job. I also had the novel on Kindle.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ivan Obolensky, and Smith-Obolensky Media for a copy of the audiobook.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Mind's Eye" by Oliver Sacks

 

Dr. Oliver Sacks was a practicing neurologist and professor who wrote a number of popular books about people afflicted with neurological disorders and/or brain damage.


Dr. Oliver Sacks

In this book Sacks relates stories about patients who developed problems with their eyes or the 'vision' areas of the brain, including loss of the ability to read, inability to recognize everday objects, and impairment of stereoscopic and/or peripheral vision. Sacks also tells a very personal story about his own eye tumor.

Sacks starts with the story of Lillian Kallir, a gifted concert pianist who slowly lost her ability to read music, then words (writing), and finally the ability to identify mundane objects like a fruit or a violin. Through it all, Lillian retained her writing skills and maintained a lively correspondence - though she couldn't read what she wrote. (I'll admit, this seems REALLY strange to me.)


Lillian Kallir

In normal life Lillian functioned, in part, by memorizing the location of objects around her. Sacks tells a story of having tea at Lillian's house and inadvertently moving a plate of biscuits, after which Lillian could no longer 'see' the biscuits - though they were still on the table. Lillian never recovered her lost abilities but was able to live a (more or less) normal life because of her musical gifts, excellent memory, and the help of her husband, friends, and doctors.



Sacks also relates stories about other individuals who lost their ability to read and/or recognize objects - usually due to a stroke or brain injury - and how they coped (or didn't) with the problem. Some patients eventually recovered their capabilities, some didn't.

Another interesting topic Sacks address is the inability of some people (including himself) to recognize faces, a condition called prosopagnosia. This problem apparently plagued Sacks for all his life. He tells one story about leaving the office of his long-time psychiatrist, then meeting a gentleman in the lobby who addressed him in a friendly manner. Sacks had no idea who this was....until his psychiatrist identified himself. This problem can be so significant that some patients can't even identify their spouse or children in an 'out of context' situation. Prosopagnosia apparently affects a significant proportion of the population, and sufferers must develop coping mechanisms as best they can. (The actor, Brad Pitt, said he suffers from this condition.)



In the most personal part of the book Sacks relates his own experience with an eye tumor, his radiation and laser treatments, and the eventual loss of almost all vision in his right eye. This resulted in a diminution of both stereoscopic and peripheral vision.



Again, in his humorous self-deprecating style, Sacks relates incidents of missing stairs, bumping into and tripping over furniture and dogs, and not seeing things around him. He relates the discomfiture of having people or objects 'disappear' from his right side, then suddenly appear again.



Sacks goes on to relate the stories of several people who either gained or lost stereoscopic vision. One woman who obtained stereoscopic vision after seeing everything in only two dimensions was mesmerized by seeing, for the first time, her steering wheel projecting from the dashboard and her rear-view mirror sticking out from the windshield. Overall, (for me) these sections are the weakest part of the book, being too long and repetitive.



Along with the various stories in the book Sacks discusses parts of the brain that are specialized for specific 'visual' functions, how these brain areas interact, and how malfunction or damage in these areas affects people's vision, reading, object recognition, and so on.



All in all, an interesting and informative book.

Rating: 3 stars