onegoodmove

I finally finished Emile Zola's Germinal. My thanks to , Doubting Thomas, The LeftBanker, and Jak King for the recommendation, and let me add my voice to their chorus of praise. This is a must read, and since I recently finished John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle another must read, I realize that in some ways little has changed in capitalisms unbridled greed and in its cruelty to the working man. Many are still getting Nickled and Dimed. But more on that later. I find I need a break from that sort of reading and believe that mystery's and spy thrillers the perfect ticket. Jonathan Delacour who recently commented on my reading list and acknowledged that he like I find the lighter fare a great stress reliever as well as great fun recommended Alan Furst's fiction. Furst's fiction is best characterized as historical espionage, in this case near history 1933-1945. The first in the series is "Night Soldiers" which I have just begun.

The story begins:

In Bulgaria in 1934, on a muddy street in the river town of Vidin, Khristo Stoianev saw his brother kicked to death by facist militia.

His brother was fifteen, no more than a blameless fool with a big mouth, and in calmer days his foolishness would have been accommodated in the usual ways--a slap in the face for humiliation, a few cold words to chill the blood, and a kick in the backside to send him on his way. That much was tradition. But these were political times, and it was very important to think before you spoke. Nikko Stoianev spoke without thinking, and so he died.
As I read those words my thoughts went to our own country in the present:

In American in 2002, in the city of Alexandria Virginia, the nation saw a young man imprisoned for twenty years.

The so called American Taliban was twenty-one, no more than a blameless fool with a big mouth, and in calmer days his foolishness would have been accommodated in the usual ways--a slap in the face for humiliation, a few cold words to chill the blood, and a kick in the backside to send him on his way. That much was tradition. But these were political times, and it was very important to think before you spoke. Jon Walker Lindh spoke without thinking, and so he was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

The parallels are striking, but since I'm reading to relieve stress I'll also save that discussion for a later time.