by Richard Subber | Feb 19, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Human Nature, Joys of reading, Language
Faulks has so many words that mean “ache”…
Book review:
The Girl at the Lion d’Or
by Sebastian Faulks (b1953)
New York: Vintage International/Vintage Books/A Division of Random House, Inc., 1989.
246 pages
Sebastian Faulks writes about the vagaries of life, the daily choices in our lives, the uncountable futures, and the singularity of the past. We think we remember various pasts, and we may struggle to reconcile them.
In The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Faulks invites us to live in the minds of Hartmann and Anne. Sometimes the reader realizes that confusion is in their minds, usually their failures are clear enough, and their successes of the moments must be cherished for their bounty.
Richly Gallic, redolent of the interwar period in Europe, The Girl at the Lion d’Or is a cumulative revelation of Anne (the girl) and a steadily burdensome understanding of the sad hindrances in her life. She comes to love Hartmann, who is ultimately contemptibly weak and viciously temporizing.
I wanted to read faster near the end so I could learn the outcome, but I resisted the impulse.
Faulks makes it worthwhile to read every word. His prose is tenaciously literate and evocative; he has no mere words—he writes passages that invite the reader to understand deeply and to feel deeply.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Proud Tower
…a lot more than a history book…
by Barbara Tuchman
–
many waters: more poems with 53 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Feb 17, 2026 | My poetry, Poetry, Tidbits
a single tone
Singalong
Bright-eyed, he listens,
he smiles,
he hunches in his seat,
he claps after every song,
he knows them all,
he whistles the words
in pretty good rhythm,
the same flat pitch,
a single tone
that matches meter not melody,
he repeats his note,
embraces the song,
his joy,
his music.
October 21, 2025
…someone was playing clunky piano and a half dozen folks
thronged around the piano singing. The whistler sat off to the side.
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: “The Gentle Boy”
The Puritans had a dark side…
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
–
As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Feb 15, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Theater and play reviews
a paucity of drama
Book review:
The Birthday Party and The Room:
Two Plays by Harold Pinter
by Harold Pinter (1930-2008)
New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1959, 1960
118 pages
It is possible that a talented cast could breathe some life into Pinter’s words on stage.
It is possible that stage design could invest some reality into Pinter’s words.
Maybe you have to be in a narrow frame of mind to experience some drama and some human wisdom when you read a Pinter play.
If you can ignore the tiresome repetition, and the not-so-pregnant pauses, and the paucity of drama in the dialogues, then maybe you can enjoy reading a Pinter play.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Bartender’s Tale
Ivan Doig’s story, I mostly loved it…
–
many waters: more poems with 53 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Feb 12, 2026 | Human Nature, Reflections, Tidbits
does grief ever end?…
“If only the consequences of a deed ended
with the grief it caused, she thought,
then one could bear up until it passed.”
from The Girl at the Lion d’Or by Sebastian Faulks
New York: Vintage International/Vintage Books/A Division of Random House, Inc., 1989.
246 pages
p. 139
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Myths of Tet
How people get killed by lies…
by Edwin E. Moïse
–
My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 52 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Feb 7, 2026 | Human Nature, Theater and play reviews
not so very far…
Movie review:
Mr. Holmes
It’s hard to get past the sterling ability of Ian McKellen to create spectacular life in any character, and the Sherlock Holmes character is fertile ground for McKellen’s superlative histrionics.
Mr. Holmes (2015, rated PG, 104 minutes) is worth your time on several levels, starting with the talented Mr. McKellen and Laura Linney (playing his housekeeper, Mrs. Munro).
There’s a mystery (of course!) and Holmes’ almost pathetic attempts to solve the cold case that ended his career are good drama.
The dramatic crux of the movie is a brief scene with his client of yore, Ann Kelmot, (played by Hattie Morahan), who made him an offer he shouldn’t have refused. Holmes comes to understand the full measure of his regret as he remembers more details of their final interview.
The pathos is overwhelming:
(Ann Kelmot) “The dead are not so very far away. They’re just on the other side of the wall.
It’s us on this side who are all of us so…”
(Sherlock Holmes) “…alone.”
You have time to watch this one.
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Movie review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Poets talk about poetry
…a red hot bucket of love…
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Above all: Poems of dawn and more with 74 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Jan 24, 2026 | Human Nature, Politics, Tidbits
it’s underprotection…
“…these two trends—
overprotection in the real world
and underprotection in the virtual world—
are the major reasons why children born after 1995
became the anxious generation.”
from The Anxious Generation
by Jonathan Haidt (b1963)
New York: Penguin Press, 2024
385 pages
p. 9
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: Sketches by Boz
…the Miss Willises are a scream…
by Charles Dickens
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Above all: Poems of dawn and more with 74 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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