Corduroy Mansions (Alexander McCall Smith) Chapters 51-75

McCall Smith has an attitude toward politicians that resonates with many of us, which reveals itself in this book in, among other ways, the character of Oedipus Snark, MP (Member of Parliament).  Other authors I like seem to have a similar problem with government officials, particularly Dean Koontz.  I have encountered on Facebook those who dislike Koontz’s political leanings as expressed in his writings.  “I don’t like his politics.  He should just avoid mentioning politics in his novels,” they say.  McCall Smith is less grating; yet I will not be surprised to find similar comments made of him.  The so-called polarization of politics seems to be more and more a division between two personality types; there are those of us who are “So Paranoid That They Don’t Trust the Government” and those who are “So Naïve That They Do Trust The Government.”  (At least this is the way they appear to think of one another.)  I happen to be one of the former, as McCall Smith and Koontz both seem to be.

Snark represents everything that is wrong with politicians.  ‘If Snark were to be found covered in love bites they would surely be self-inflicted.’  Not really typical of this author’s more understated humor, this reminds one more of Mark Twain or Will Rogers.  Either way, making fun of them is arguably better than lynching them.  ‘Oedipus was greedy: in spite of all his political rhetoric about sharing, he meant sharing only after he had helped himself to his own, somewhat larger share.’  And on the heels of this, we are offered a hint regarding a solution to the problem: ‘I am finally free of him, she thought; I am free.  And freedom had been so easy – as it often is.  The step is taken, the resolution made, and the shackles fall away.’

The author apparently has a good sense of just how much dreaded politics he can get away with and dwells on it sparingly enough.  Other timely topics, as we’ve seen, are touched on with equal deftness.  Teenagers, for example:  ‘Eddie had been an affectionate boy, enthusiastic, friendly in a puppyish way; William had been so proud of him, had loved him, and then something had gone wrong.  Eddie had changed, had grown surly and distant.  At first William had thought it was the normal teenage change – that mutation which transforms likeable children into odious beings.  But the teenage years had passed and the old (young) Eddie had not returned…’  Of course, this says as much about fathers’ unrealistic expectations as it does about their sons.

And then, there’s Arrested Development in all its ugly manifestations, especially the plague of being stuck in your college days.  [Nowhere is this more appalling than here in the heart of Longhorn Country.] ‘”Listen Rupert,” said Gloria, “you really have to do something about this.  You need to sort yourself out.  No, don’t make that face.  You’re going to have to listen to me.  And what I want to say to you is this: you live far too much in the past.  No, listen to me – don’t look like that.  Listen.  You need to get your past sorted out.  You need to tackle all the baggage you carry with you … you have to sort out … Uppingham – you really do.  Uppingham is in the past, Rupert.  You’re thirty-six.  You left Uppingham eighteen years ago.  I know that it’s a wonderful school.  I know that you were very happy there.  But it’s past business, Rupert.  You haven’t got a housemaster any more.  We have a bedroom, Rupert, not a dorm.”’  Gawd, I know so many people who need to hear this every day until it sinks in!

And, lest we forget that our author is a wordsmith: ‘”I know a place where one can get the most wonderful seafood,” Hugh said.  “Absolutely fresh.  Clams.  Lobsters.  Octopi.”  “Octopodes,” muttered Barbara.  She regretted it the moment she said it.  “Octopodes?”  She had to explain.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be pedantic.  Octopi as a plural form suggests a Latin origin.  But the word ‘octopus’ is Greek and the plural should not be the Latin –i form but octopodes…”’  Amaze your friends!  Or irritate them, whichever.

 

 

Next Week: Chapters 76-100, final chapters




 

September’s book of the month; “Killing the Shadows,” by Val McDermid!

“McDermid is our leading pathologist of everyday evil … the subtle orchestration of terror is masterful.”  Guardian

“Killing the Shadows exerts the dangerous pull of a rip tide, drawing us towards its unsettling resolution.”  Independent

“A multi-layered novel, as hauntingly strung together as a hangman’s noose.”  Sunday Express

Week 1:  Chapters 1-14
Week 2:  Chapters 15-29
Week 3:  Chapters 30-43
Week 4:  Chapters 44-Epilogue