by Alexander McCall Smith
Fortunately, following bilateral knee joint replacement last summer,
I discovered Community Healthplex here in Indianapolis.
This facility has the only heated therapy pool in the city with group classes
and individual medically supervised exercise (MRE) programs.
Additionally, they have virtually any equipment you can imagine to exercise!
And now, thanks to one of the long-time members, there is a lending library.
And that is where I discovered this "new-to-me" stand-alone novel!
Thanks to that same member, there is also a brand new book club,
the first meeting of which was held on Friday, August 10th!
'Cause, you know, I need yet another book club in which to participate! :)
Becky Anderson's interview with Alexander McCall Smith
about My Italian Bulldozer.
Let me just begin by saying that Alexander McCall Smith is
one of my absolutely favorite authors!
I adore his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series,
his Isabel Dalhousie and the Sunday Philosophy Club series,
his Corduroy Mansion series, and the stand-alone novels I have read.
I really should get started purchasing, reading, and reviewing his children's books
so I can then gift them to my grandchildren.
I will admit that although I have read the first three installments in his Von Igelfeld series,
I found those to be a bit too dry for my taste.
I did rather recently read the first in the 44 Scotland Street series and felt
I didn't connect with it nearly as well as with the first three series listed above.
But I digress...
This book did involve romance to a great degree and yet not in the typical
"boy meets girl, boy gets girl" way!
I found this story to be much more realistic without bogging down.
In attempting to help Paul deal with the departure of his live-in girlfriend of four years,
his "editor," Gloria states:
...it's not your fault. Fault doesn't come into it. (5)
It is at this point that Paul realizes
[Gloria is] one of his closest friends, in a rather curious, slightly old-fashioned way.
Dependable Gloria...always there, always positive. (4)
Smith does an excellent job of depicting the great confusion and indecisiveness
that can result in the aftermath of such a relationship breakup.
Paul is definitely NOT an extremely self-assured person overall,
and dealing with your partner 'running off' with her personal trainer
destroys whatever equilibrium and self-confidence he may have had...
Paul considers all those same questions as most of us do in such situations:
What did I do wrong? What did I not do?
How did I succeed in allowing and/or motivating
my long-term partner to simply abscond with someone else?
And, finally...why?!? Why? Why? Why?
AmIright? ;)
It is her advice and suggestion he follows regarding the completion of his 10th book,
Paul Stuart's Tuscan Table.
Yes, his 10th book! Obviously, he has been quite successful!
To the point at which he now employs a part-time researcher
so he can spend more time actually writing and less reading/searching for information.
Gloria suggests that he actually travel to Italy to get him out of his usual routine
and so he can totally immerse himself in completing this manuscript
which is already somewhat overdue to the publisher.
Gloria makes all his travel arrangements and off he goes!
Though all does not go well upon his arrival...
I fully admit that I rarely laugh out loud while reading one of Smith's books,
though I spend much time amused, smiling and chuckling to myself...
And that was exactly my reaction as I read of Paul's arrival in Italy and the way
he was tricked by the clerk working at the rental car company into
being accused of and arrested for stealing a rental car that he was unable to locate!!
And so had never even seen! And here is a good lesson in being kind and congenial to strangers. If not for the man he had met on his way to Italy,
he might never have seen the light of day again! Or at least not for a long time!
Be that as it may, the Professor rescues him and
Paul is released from jail with no accusations to face.
Additionally, the Professor hooks him up with his friend Claudio who owns and runs a vehicle rental business himself. Though he currently has no more cars to rent,
he does have just one vehicle left...a...b-b-b-b-bulldozer!
And implausible as it may seem, Paul ends up driving a bulldozer through the Italian countryside! I personally found it a tiny bit unbelievable that someone totally
unfamiliar with such heavy equipment was able to operate this machine at all,
let alone maneuvering it without incident! Although I suppose it is possible...
And Paul was able to go where he pleased.
As with most Smith books, of course, the protagonist ends up meeting
thoughtful, kind, and generous folks!
Although Paul ends up breaking the law for the first time in his life just to
maneuver a parking space for his bulldozer once he arrives at his final destination.
He meets Anna and begins to realize that even if Becky
had not run off with her personal trainer,
...he thought it likely that they would have drifted apart; the magic, the chemistry, the spark--
those ingredients that had provided the seasoning for their relationship--had begun to fade...
Love was a souffle that could only too easily collapse and could rarely be revived. (168)
And, as so often happens, he discovers that a person with whom he would like to
spend time and perhaps initiate a relationship with
is not so far removed from his daily life after all!
Just another brilliantly and simply written feel-good novel by McCall Smith!
So glad I read it!
What have you read lately that left you feeling good? Or at least better?
Happy reading!
--Lynn
I discovered Community Healthplex here in Indianapolis.
This facility has the only heated therapy pool in the city with group classes
and individual medically supervised exercise (MRE) programs.
Additionally, they have virtually any equipment you can imagine to exercise!
And now, thanks to one of the long-time members, there is a lending library.
And that is where I discovered this "new-to-me" stand-alone novel!
Thanks to that same member, there is also a brand new book club,
the first meeting of which was held on Friday, August 10th!
'Cause, you know, I need yet another book club in which to participate! :)
Becky Anderson's interview with Alexander McCall Smith
about My Italian Bulldozer.
Let me just begin by saying that Alexander McCall Smith is
one of my absolutely favorite authors!
I adore his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series,
his Isabel Dalhousie and the Sunday Philosophy Club series,
his Corduroy Mansion series, and the stand-alone novels I have read.
I really should get started purchasing, reading, and reviewing his children's books
so I can then gift them to my grandchildren.
I will admit that although I have read the first three installments in his Von Igelfeld series,
I found those to be a bit too dry for my taste.
I did rather recently read the first in the 44 Scotland Street series and felt
I didn't connect with it nearly as well as with the first three series listed above.
But I digress...
This book did involve romance to a great degree and yet not in the typical
"boy meets girl, boy gets girl" way!
I found this story to be much more realistic without bogging down.
In attempting to help Paul deal with the departure of his live-in girlfriend of four years,
his "editor," Gloria states:
...it's not your fault. Fault doesn't come into it. (5)
It is at this point that Paul realizes
[Gloria is] one of his closest friends, in a rather curious, slightly old-fashioned way.
Dependable Gloria...always there, always positive. (4)
Smith does an excellent job of depicting the great confusion and indecisiveness
that can result in the aftermath of such a relationship breakup.
Paul is definitely NOT an extremely self-assured person overall,
and dealing with your partner 'running off' with her personal trainer
destroys whatever equilibrium and self-confidence he may have had...
Paul considers all those same questions as most of us do in such situations:
What did I do wrong? What did I not do?
How did I succeed in allowing and/or motivating
my long-term partner to simply abscond with someone else?
And, finally...why?!? Why? Why? Why?
AmIright? ;)
It is her advice and suggestion he follows regarding the completion of his 10th book,
Paul Stuart's Tuscan Table.
Yes, his 10th book! Obviously, he has been quite successful!
To the point at which he now employs a part-time researcher
so he can spend more time actually writing and less reading/searching for information.
Gloria suggests that he actually travel to Italy to get him out of his usual routine
and so he can totally immerse himself in completing this manuscript
which is already somewhat overdue to the publisher.
Gloria makes all his travel arrangements and off he goes!
Though all does not go well upon his arrival...
I fully admit that I rarely laugh out loud while reading one of Smith's books,
though I spend much time amused, smiling and chuckling to myself...
And that was exactly my reaction as I read of Paul's arrival in Italy and the way
he was tricked by the clerk working at the rental car company into
being accused of and arrested for stealing a rental car that he was unable to locate!!
And so had never even seen! And here is a good lesson in being kind and congenial to strangers. If not for the man he had met on his way to Italy,
he might never have seen the light of day again! Or at least not for a long time!
Be that as it may, the Professor rescues him and
Paul is released from jail with no accusations to face.
Additionally, the Professor hooks him up with his friend Claudio who owns and runs a vehicle rental business himself. Though he currently has no more cars to rent,
he does have just one vehicle left...a...b-b-b-b-bulldozer!
unfamiliar with such heavy equipment was able to operate this machine at all,
let alone maneuvering it without incident! Although I suppose it is possible...
And Paul was able to go where he pleased.
As with most Smith books, of course, the protagonist ends up meeting
thoughtful, kind, and generous folks!
Although Paul ends up breaking the law for the first time in his life just to
maneuver a parking space for his bulldozer once he arrives at his final destination.
He meets Anna and begins to realize that even if Becky
had not run off with her personal trainer,
...he thought it likely that they would have drifted apart; the magic, the chemistry, the spark--
those ingredients that had provided the seasoning for their relationship--had begun to fade...
Love was a souffle that could only too easily collapse and could rarely be revived. (168)
Ah, yes...so true! And now that he had met a person like Anna,
...tactful, intelligent...who could excite him intellectually... (168)
in a way Becky never did...
Well, he just didn't see himself ever being happy with someone like Becky ever again!
spend time and perhaps initiate a relationship with
is not so far removed from his daily life after all!
Just another brilliantly and simply written feel-good novel by McCall Smith!
So glad I read it!
What have you read lately that left you feeling good? Or at least better?
Happy reading!
--Lynn
