Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991 TAG: 9104110024
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In "True Grit," Charles Portis used the character of Maddy Ross as an innocent spectator of the slow civilizing of the American West. Her views of the action gave the reader great counterpoint to the views of Old Marshal Cogburn and Young Texas Ranger LeBoeuf. In "Gringos," Portis uses the more jaded view of truck driver and bounty hunter Jimmy Burns as counterpoint to the Mulligan Stew of expatriates living in Mexico.
Burns is catapulted among drugged hippies seeking a Second Coming, Mayan tomb robbers, Mennonite farmers and just plain retired folks reflecting a twisting view of life south of the border. Strange deeds and stranger characters collide with his desire to float through life with minimal involvement. His detachment makes the book drag a bit, but the quirky plot and characters - characteristics of earlier Portis novels - are most engaging. - LARRY SHIELD
/ Harvest. By Belva Plain. Delacorte. $21.95.
"Harvest" completes the story of Paul and Anna which began in "Evergreen." Here, set in the often turbulent 1960s, the plot centers on Iris, Anna's daughter, who is unaware of her relationship with Paul Werner. Unhappy and frustrated by her increasingly troubled marriage, Iris becomes further disturbed by the involvement of one of her sons in anti-war activities.
Plain's characters are believable and she exhibits a sure sense of both people and places. In describing the journey from San Francisco to Sonoma County, she writes of the Muir Woods "where the great trees are older than the United States, were already old when William the Conqueror crossed the Channel, and already old when the Saracens fought the Crusaders. In Marin County smart new houses arranged themselves on the cliff like glass boxes on shelves." The novel moves from Westchester County, N.Y., to Italy and Israel, and will captivate Plain's many fans. - HARRIET LITTLE
/ Symposium. By Muriel Spark. Houghton Mifflin. $18.95.
You are cordially invited to a dinner party at the London home of American artist Hurley Reed and his companion, the rich Australian widow, Chris Donovan. Using flashbacks, Muriel Spark introduces the hosts and their eight guests as well as the butler and the waiter who profit from robberies staged when wealthy homeowners are away at parties. What evolves is a symposium of dining, indulgence and conversation such as the ancient Greeks enjoyed.
The menu is choice, the company intriguing, the discussion amusing and all is served in good style and with much aplomb. Accept with pleasure. - MARY ANN JOHNSON
/ Angel, Archangel. By Nick Cook. St. Martin's. $18.95.
In the writing classes I teach, I tell my students to read, to read anything they can get their hands on - it doesn't matter what it is. Read the material and see how the author handles it. Filter what you read into your way of doing things.
You might think this advice has been taken by people like Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts, authors who have written best-selling techno-thrillers. Each time I read and review a new book in the genre, I find one or the other author commenting on the back cover. I don't think these guys have read a book they didn't like. In the case of "Angel, Archangel," it's Coonts.
"Angel, Archangel" is typical of the genre. Britain's top intelligence agents are called upon, in the waning days of World War II, to capture and test the Messerschmitt 163C, the Germans' first experimental jet fighter. The book is filled with the usual vivid descriptions of hardware, and the twists and turns of a traditional spy novel. For fans, it will be exciting fare. Cook, by the way, is aviation editor of Jane's Defense Weekly. - ROBERT I. ALOTTA
Larry Shield writes software./ Harriet Little teaches at James River High School./ Mary Ann Johnson is an alumna of Hollins College./ Robert I. Alotta teaches at James Madison University.
by CNB