La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of book: Audiobook my wife found at a library sale

My kids have been a fan of Alexander McCall Smith for quite a few years now, after my wife introduced them to the Mma. Ramotswe series. McCall Smith (that’s his full surname) is a prolific writer, but seems to hit a note of thoughtfulness and nuance with most of his books, despite writing several each year. He has at least three series going right now, in addition to the stand-alone novels. 

 

 

This book is one of the later, a novel unrelated to anything else he wrote. It is set mostly in the years of World War Two, in rural England.

The title character, La (short for Lavender), is a young British woman who ends up playing a rather unremarkable role in the war effort. We meet her first in a retrospective by her stepsons, who visit her cottage in Suffolk, where most of the events take place. She is still known, years after her death, for her orchestra.

The book then shifts to La’s earlier years. She went to Cambridge (attending an all-girls college), made a disastrous marriage which ends when his mistress in France comes to light, and is gifted the cottage and an income by her former in-laws (who are embarrassed by their son.) He dies soon after, leaving her with a significant fortune. When the war starts, she searches for some volunteer work. However, as she is older and widowed, intellectually stimulating jobs are unavailable, and she ends up tending chickens in the neighborhood near her cottage. After meeting the commander at the local air base, he and she decided to found a village orchestra - to include service members looking for a diversion. Her orchestra plays through the end of the war, disbanding afterward. They briefly re-form during the Cuban Missile Crisis, causing someone to quip that they have saved the world twice.

The other main character is Felix, an ostensibly Polish airman, who joins the RAF after the fall of Poland. In reality, he has a more complex history, being the child of German parents, although he was raised in Poland from age eight onward. La and Felix have serious chemistry, but his reserve and her loyalty to country prevent them from sharing their feelings. It is hinted in the prologue that they connect years after the war, after he has had children and a failed marriage of his own.

McCall Smith has a long history with music. He founded the “Really Terrible Orchestra,” a group of enthusiastic amateurs who make music for the joy of it (and the entertainment of the audience, I am given to understand.) He plays contrabassoon, which may well say something about his personality. He also established an opera house and training center in Botswana, a country that he spent a number of years in, teaching law.

This book is all about McCall Smith’s belief in the healing power of music. I must agree. One of the things about making classical music professionally is that you connect with people from around the world. Even our little hometown orchestra has had players from around the world join us - and that is even before you get to the soloists. I have shared stands with violinists from Russia, the Ukraine, Iran, Romania, Japan, Cypress, and Spain over the years (if memory serves), and that’s just the ones I have had the chance to sit with. Music is a universal language, and it is difficult to see someone as “the enemy” after you have bonded over a Mozart opera, or a Beethoven symphony.

McCall Smith is also correct that what we fight to preserve (in a just war) isn’t merely our home or our tribe. We fight to preserve all that is transcendent and good in the world. To reduce ourselves to the idea of “kill the other people” is to lose the war, to become as vicious and animalistic as the Nazis, or any other genocidal nationalist movement. One of my Symphony colleagues had a bumper sticker: “Less Violence, More Violins.” I couldn’t agree more. (Although even as a violinist, I’d be happy with a few winds, brass, and percussion too.) Music - and the arts generally - represent our aspiration to transcend, to find common ground and meaning with the rest of humanity, and to put our energy and creativity toward beauty, rather than hate.

In general, I thought that La’s Orchestra Saves the World lacked the depth of character that you find in some of his other books - but that might be in part because it is a single book, and you don’t get to see characters unfold across a range of plots and circumstances. The book does showcase McCall Smith’s usual ethical nuances and dilemmas. Is it right to marry someone who you don’t exactly love? How should one respond to betrayal? Should you turn someone in, even if you love them, if you think they might be a spy? What if they turn out to be innocent, but suffer anyway? How do you deal with bigoted neighbors? This is McCall Smith’s best trait, is in his acknowledgement of nuance, and his gentle and non-judgmental probing of the shades of grey.

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Previous posts about Alexander McCall Smith books:

#1 Ladies Detective Agency series

The Tears of the Giraffe (#2 in the series)

Morality for Beautiful Girls (#3 in the series)

The Kalahari Typing School For Men (#4 in the series)

The Full Cupboard of Life (#5 in the series)

Blue Shoes And Happiness (#7 in the series)

Sunday Philosophy Club series

The Sunday Philosophy Club

Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of book: Audiobook from the library

Time somehow got away from us, and it has been nearly two years since we listened to an Alexander McCall Smith book. How did that even happen? Anyway, it’s nice to be back.

As I noted before, we have listened to these all out of order, due to what was in stock at our library. However, having time to plan ahead, the last couple have been chosen to fill in the gaps. I still haven’t read or listened to the first one, but my kids have, so we haven’t gone back to do that one. 

Morality For Beautiful Girls is the third book, and comes directly after The Tears of the Giraffe, which we listened to most recently. Mma. Ramotswe and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni are engaged, and they have essentially adopted a couple of orphans. However, not all is well.

First, the detective agency is having difficulty making a profit. This leads Mma. Ramotswe to consider laying off her assistant, Mma. Makutsi. This is problematic in part because Mma. Makutsi not only relies on her income for her own support: she is supporting a dying brother as well as her family back in the village.

Second, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni has lapsed into clinical depression, and isn’t bothering to eat or come into work, leaving the repair shop in the hands of the lazy and incompetent apprentices. What is to be done?

And then there are the two cases. A wealthy and powerful government official seeks the aid of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency to gather evidence that his brother’s wife is trying to poison her husband. This plot takes Mma. Ramotswe to a distant cattle ranch - and into a hive of unhealthy family dynamics. Meanwhile, Mma. Makutsi is left to mind the agency (and manage the repair shop until Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni recovers.) She is handed a large retainer, and an intriguing task: can she determine which of the finalists for a beauty contest is likely to bring honor, and not disgrace, to the contest?

As usual, McCall Smith handles the complex moral issues at stake with humor and subtlety. I particularly appreciated in this case the focus on Mma. Makutsi, who is more perceptive than she appears at first glance. She fully understands the patriarchal dynamics at play in the contest, and the way that women are punished for sexual behavior that men get away with every day - particularly in a “traditional” culture.

Also interesting in this book is the dynamic between the wealthy and their hired help. I don’t want to spoil the way one case ends, but I will note that there is often a tendency for the wealthy to take advantage of their economic power and treat their underlings as subhuman - and indeed to try to control their lives.

McCall Smith also shows, once again, a keen understanding of family grievances. Having spent the last 18 years assisting families in settling their ancestors’ estates, I certainly have seen many of these in play. Some days, one feels less like a lawyer and more like a therapist.

I also appreciated that McCall Smith addressed mental illness. I was raised in a belief tradition that had (and still has) a tendency to make all psychological issues into “moral” or “spiritual” issues. Thus, many I know have been shamed and condemned, rather than treated with compassion - and modern medical understanding. I think this is improving in our culture as a whole, but for my religious tradition, it has rather gone backwards in the last few decades, which is sad. I hope for better things with the next generation.

This is my 5th (and the kids’ 6th) of the Mma. Ramotswe series. There are quite a few, and I hope to keep them in our regular rotation.

***

Here are the other Alexander McCall Smith books we have listened to previously (in the order we experienced them):

The Kalahari Typing School For Men (#4 in the series)

Blue Shoes And Happiness (#7 in the series)

The Full Cupboard of Life (#5 in the series)

The Tears of the Giraffe (#2 in the series)

The Sunday Philosophy Club (from another series - read without the kids)

The Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of book: Audiobook from the library

Readers may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for the past three or so weeks. This is because of a couple of back to back vacations. The first was a trip with my lovely wife for our 15th anniversary. The second was a camping trip with the kids - I’ll be posting a bit about that one in my National Parks series eventually. I have several book reviews to catch up on now, so those will come first.

***

I have mentioned before that my kids adore Alexander McCall Smith’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. And I mean adore. I also have mentioned that I am not entirely sure why. They are good, definitely, but also slow paced, full of formal dialogue, and rife with ethical situations which are hardly things one expects kids to think about. But there you have it. They are the ones who introduced me to this series after my wife let them listen to a bit of one.

I have been experiencing them out of order, because of what we have in our local library. This one was ordered from elsewhere in the system, now that we have run out (mostly) of ones locally. This book is number two in the series.

Here are the ones we have listened to previously (in the order we experienced them):

The Kalahari Typing School For Men (#4 in the series)

Blue Shoes And Happiness (#7 in the series)

The Full Cupboard of Life (#5 in the series)

The Sunday Philosophy Club (from another series - read without the kids)

In the first book (which I haven’t read yet), we are introduced to the characters. By the end, Mma. Ramotswe has agreed to marry Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. In this book, another significant development occurs. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni (he is never referred to by any other name) has paid a visit to the local orphanage. He is a total sucker for the proprietress Mma. Potokwane and her delicious cakes. He also has a soft heart, so he donates his time to repairing what he can of the machinery and motors at the orphanage. This time, however, he find himself in yet another pickle. Mma. Potokwane railroads him into taking the care of two orphan children, Motholeli and Puso, who are from an ethnic minority and thus harder to place. The problem is that Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni finds himself with the children and a commitment to care for them before he has a chance to ask his fiancee whether she agrees. Fortunately, Mma. Ramotswe finds Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni’s soft heart to be a desirable feature, and she swallows her irritation at his secret and embraces the children.

But what of the mysteries? Ah, there are essentially three parallel plots in this book. First, a white woman asks Mma. Ramotswe to find out what happened to her ex-pat son, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances ten years ago from a utopian farm. She feels he is dead, but never received an answer, despite the services of the police and a game tracker. The trail leads Mma. Ramotswe to do what she never thought she would do: engage in blackmail. The ethical questions around this one are fascinating.

The second plot takes the newly promoted Assistant Detective Mma. Makutsi on the trail of an unfaithful wife. The detective work is easy, but the ethical issues not so much. How much should she tell her client of the truth? Is it worth risking the education of a promising boy? Which is better anyway, truth, or happiness?

The third plot introduces one of the few true villains in the series, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni’s maid. She is not at all happy that he is planning to marry Mma. Ramotswe. In fact, she realizes that it will cost her her job. And not just the job, but the privileges she has come to expect. After all, she really doesn’t prefer to work hard - she is horribly neglectful of her duties - and she prefers to pilfer the food and utilize Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni’s house - and his bed - for trysts with her wealthy lovers. Not content to accept her fate, she hatches an elaborate plot to get Mma. Ramotswe sent to prison on firearm possession charges. Will she succeed?

One reason that I think these books are good for my kids is that they engage in real moral and ethical questions. Life in these books is rarely black and white, but in shades of grey. The people are very rarely completely bad, and none are without flaws. Justice and mercy must always go together, and how the truth is handled is often more important than the details of truth itself. McCall Smith also explores themes of tradition versus modern values, feminism and its interaction with a chauvinist culture, colonialism and race, and gender roles and expectations. I love that Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is allowed to be both a bit timid and “harmless,” yet also one of the most moral characters, driven always by compassion and never selfishness. He is a contrast to many of the “manly” characters in the series, always concerned with their image, always seeking dominance, and never failing to let women know where they stand. And yet, these men tend to fall hard when the facade of machismo is stripped off, while despite everything, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni remains himself, willing to help, scrupulously honest, and a true man in the most real sense.

Because this book is about Mma. Ramotswe, it has copious quantities of bush tea (which my kids love) and gentle wisdom and a sense of the commonalities of human experience.

The Full Cupboard Of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of book: Audiobook from the library

I’ve blogged about Alexander McCall Smith before, so I won’t rehash all his biography or his delightful involvement in the Really Terrible Orchestra. Rather, I suggest reading my previous posts, which will give the background on this series of novels.

The Sunday Philosophy Club (the first one I read, so the best place to start)

The Kalahari Typing School For Men (#4 in the series)

Blue Shoes And Happiness (#7 in the series)

I’ve mentioned before that my kids, for some reason, love the #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series of books. Despite the slow pace and philosophical musings, they find them quite entertaining. Perhaps this is because of Mma. Ramotswe’s endless capacity for bush tea, or the raisin-laden cakes used by Mma. Potokwane, the director of the orphanage, to convince the timid and kind-hearted Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni to donate his time to her cause. These, of course, are in abundance in this particular book, as is another recurring element: the obsession that the apprentice Charlie has with girls.

This book is #5 in the series. I have ended up listening to them out of order because our library doesn’t have all of them, and many are checked out by others at any given time. Fortunately, it is possible to jump in anywhere and enjoy them, as McCall Smith introduces the key characters and settings in each book.

I’m not sure how McCall Smith came up with the title for this particular book, as it doesn’t seem as topical as the other two I have listened to in this series. One might, however, have gone with “Taking The Plunge.”

Poor Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni finds himself in a series of pickles which threaten to overwhelm his already delicate nerves and force him to heights of bravery he fears he cannot attain. First, Mma. Ramotswe wishes for him to set a date for their wedding. While he clearly wishes to marry her, the expectations are just too much. There are relatives, and food to plan, and...well, too much for an introvert like him to face. Then, Mma. Potokwane railroads him into doing a sponsored parachute jump to raise money for the orphanage, when he has never even ridden in an airplane. Finally, when he takes pity on a rare old car which has been abused by an unscrupulous mechanic, he runs afoul of the perpetrator, who tries to intimidate him.

While this is going on, Mma. Ramotswe is hired to investigate four potential beaus of a rich businesswoman, to see if they are in love with her, or just her money.

It will take all of Mma. Ramotswe’s ingenuity - and some help from Mma. Potokwane - to ease Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni’s burdens, all while allowing him to retain his dignity.

Like all of the books of this series, this one addresses weighty issues. Is it easier or harder for a wealthy person to find love and a spouse? What is the nature of courage? How does a feminist navigate a culture in which the superiority of men is assumed? Is it ethical to manipulate someone into doing something you believe they want to do, but don’t? Can the world’s problems be solved by common sense, emotional intelligence, and enough bush tea? (Well, the answer to that may very well be “yes.”)

As always, McCall Smith writes with a gentle touch. There are few true villains in his books, and no perfect heroes and heroines either. The characters are all realistic amalgams of goodness and flaws, and, like Mma. Ramotswe, we get further when we understand others’ struggles and weaknesses, and encourage the better parts of themselves.

Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of book: Audiobook from the library

My kids, for some reason, love Alexander McCall Smith. Never mind the slow pace and character driven plots. Never mind the exotic yet mundane setting. Never mind the serious and philosophical topics. They want to bring one of his books - particularly the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series - on every long driving vacation we go on.

Last summer, we listened to The Kalahari Typing School for Men, which is number four in the series. Blue Shoes and Happiness is number seven. Fortunately, it is possible to figure out the characters in the middle of the series, because, unlike my wife and kids, I haven’t read the earlier ones. 

I won’t rehash the details of my previous review, which discusses the series and the characters. Rather, I will just mention a few things that stood out in this book.

First, the plots in this book turn on superstition, greed, the quest for happiness, and the meaning of “feminism.” The fear of a curse leads to a near panic at a wildlife refuge. A government employee steals food to keep her philandering husband from leaving her. A doctor sells generics at the full price to line his pockets. A bitter advice columnist blackmails for profit. And, unforgettably, Mma. Makutsi nearly loses her fiance over what it means to be a “feminist.”

As with the other books, McCall Smith and his protagonist, Mma. Ramotswe, are gentle with human foibles. As Mma. Ramotswe puts it, each of us have our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. When faced with them, we often cannot rise above our defects. For Mma. Ramotswe, this would be her love for sweet things, which lead to her “traditional build” and high blood pressure. For Mma. Makutsi, a beautiful but impractical pair of shoes would prove irresistible.

Mma. Ramotswe therefore attempts to fix serious issues with a minimum of damage to those involved. This may be frustrating to those wishing to see virtue rewarded and vice punished to the hilt, but it fits with a worldview of showing grace and mercy to others - including those who don’t deserve it. In some ways, this is an interesting contrast to the G. K. Chesterton book I read recently, The Man Who Knew Too Much. In that one, the greatest crimes are so great that they cannot be punished at all, which is a frustrating outcome, but one that is perhaps all too true in real life. For Mma. Ramotswe, justice is tempered, rather than escaped. Often, she is able to stop an evil before it causes great damage. The perpetrators may not experience “justice” in the sense of punishment, but they must abandon their schemes. In other cases, the law must be involved, and a more traditional form of “justice” is necessary, but even then, Mma. Ramotswe is never out to destroy, but to stop evil. I find this emphasis on restoration rather than vengeance to be fascinating, and morally compelling to one who aspires to follow Christ. There is a bit of an echo of “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more” in these books.

Perhaps the most fascinating bit in this book, however, was the question of “feminism.” Mma. Makutsi’s fiance, Phuti Radiphuti, is somewhat timid man, with a stutter, who has found himself at ease - and less stuttery - around Mma. Makutsi. In turn, Mma. Makutsi is a strong, opinionated woman, alternately intimidating and naive, but with a good heart. Phuti asks her one day if she is a feminist, and she say that of course she is, and so are nearly all women these days. Poor Phuti is terrified, because of the differing perceptions of what “feminism” means.

Phuti is fully in favor of equality for women, but he is haunted by a radio broadcast he heard from a “feminist” who claimed that “men were finished, and would soon be swept away.” This conjured in his mind a giant woman with a huge broom, sweeping him out with the dirt. This is, naturally, the furthest thing from Mma. Makutsi’s mind, as she gets great enjoyment from cooking for Phuti, and would hardly be one to disregard him. She may be outspoken and expect to be able to make her own decisions, but she would never want to hurt Phuti.

McCall Smith does a brilliant job in this book of bringing the debate into focus using humor and believable human interaction. The two lovers were in fact admirably close in their actual beliefs and actions, but the words meant different things to them.

This is a current problem, in my experience, within conservative and religious circles. While there are some that genuinely wish to return to a patriarchal society, I believe most people I know actually agree with most of what feminism stands for. The problem is that “feminism” to them means a strawman version. A man-hating version, standing by with a giant broom to sweep men aside.

This version is not only out of touch with the real meaning of feminism, a belief in the social, political, and economic equality of men and women, but is also out of touch with what all except for a small, if vocal, minority of feminists advocate. In my experience, the stereotype of “feminism” is a mashup of Helen Gurley Brown (known both for Sex and the Single Girl and “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”) and Andrea Dworkin (whose past experience of abuse led her to believe that heterosexual sex could not be separated from dominance and control).

Unfortunately, this has lead to so many within the Evangelical camp to view “feminism” as the flip side of misogyny. On the one hand, this is merely sad, because “social, political, and economic equality” isn’t at all the same thing as misandry. On the other, there is a certain influential movement within Evangelicalism to whom “social, political, and economic equality” is considered to be a true evil. I have written a good bit about this in the past, so I won’t rehash it, but I do want to note that the conflation of “feminism” with misandry is not an accident. It was and is promoted intentionally by those that do in fact oppose the true meaning of feminism because that false equivalence allows them to claim that allowing equal social, political, and economic power to men is the first step toward inevitable misandry, and thus incite many within Evangelicalism to oppose all things “feminist” without actually learning about them or engaging with their ideas.

I am one who proudly wears the label of “feminist.” I didn’t always do so, until I married a “feminist” wife, and met many other “feminists” within my profession and social life, and realized that, to paraphrase the philosopher Inigo Montoya, that word didn’t mean what I thought it meant. Perhaps, then, Mma. Ramotswe is right in her approach to the situation. Rather than try to browbeat either party into changing their views, she gently suggests that Mma. Makutsi assuage Phuti’s fears. Likewise, Phuti is then able to clarify that he has no wish to control her or take her for granted - things far too common among men in the culture of Botswana (and, let’s be honest, in most cultures to some degree or another).

For Mma. Ramotswe, who is, if anything, even more feminist than Mma. Makutsi, the solution isn’t about an argument over labels, but in seeing the common ground. And this is really her approach to all of her cases. Encourage and build up. Right wrongs when possible, but never seek vengeance. Account for human weakness and help all tap their better selves. And, of course, brew another pot of bush tea.

Reading With My Kids: The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of Book: Audiobook borrowed from the library

I have written about Alexander McCall Smith previously in regard to his other major series, The Sunday Philosophy Club. This book is number four in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

My wife is a big fan of both series, and encouraged me to read the first one. We listened to this book, however, because my kids - simply put - adore Alexander McCall Smith.

I have no idea exactly why. I believe they heard an excerpt when my wife was finishing up an audiobook she had started on a trip on her own. The books are hardly typical kids’ fare. They are slow and introspective, with characterization taking precedence over plot. I find them delightful, but I probably would not have prior to at least junior high. Yet my six and eight year old boys rather like them. Go figure.

So anyway, as on all our camping trips, the kids get to pick the audiobooks. I like them because they make it easier for me to stay awake and focused during the longer drives. (My wife doesn’t camp, so I drive solo for the entire trip.) I also find them a good alternative to movies. Although I have a DVD player in my truck, I can’t (legally or safely) watch while driving, so all I get is the audio. For something like a Pink Panther cartoon collection, this is the way the madness lies…

About this particular book, I took just a bit of time to figure out who everyone was. It is peculiar to jump in right in the middle of a long series - something I try not to do if I can avoid it. Once I got my bearings, things started to make sense. Fortunately, McCall Smith (that’s his complete last name) gives a bit of a refresher at the beginning.

The books are set in Botswana (McCall Smith grew up in Rhodesia and later helped found the University of Botswana), and revolve around Mma. “Precious” Ramotswe, the proprietor of the “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,” not only the first, but the only private detective agency in the country. Also recurring characters are her fiance, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, a local garage; and Grace Makutsi, Mma. Ramotswe’s assistant.

The plot doesn’t revolve so much around the little mysteries that the ladies solve - by intuition and careful consideration of human character as much as by investigation and deduction - but around the lives of the main characters. Mma. Makutsi has two things she lacks and desires: first, for a little money of her own beyond the small amount Matekoni and Ramotswe can pay her, and for a love life. Her attempts at solving the first problem are amusing, but she eventually hits on a winning plan, which gives the book its title. Her romantic prospects? Not so rosy, despite her best attempts. (Although I am informed by my sources that she eventually finds a man. Spoilers!)

McCall Smith, as I explained in more detail in my first review, is concerned with ethics and philosophy. This book was full of both, although the philosophy was more of the folk and intuitive sort than in the other series, where the protagonist is prone to quote Kant and Schopenhauer. In particular, this book centered around the nature of redemption and restitution. When one has harmed others in the past, how does one make amends? What if things cannot really be fixed?

If this wasn’t heavy enough, an abortion drives one mystery, and an attempted affair during an unhappy marriage the other. Again, not exactly typical kids fare, by any means. It was definitely food for thought and discussion.

(I intend to write about my philosophy of sex education for children some time. And express my gratefulness to my parents, who did a great job of it.)

Another theme, which I understand is a recurring one in this series, is the clash of traditional views and roles of women with the modern understanding. Mma. Ramotswe is an affront to tradition, and a counterexample to sexism. By opening a business in a field traditionally dominated by men, she is already challenging the status quo in Botswana - and if we are honest, plenty of Western countries as well. In this book, she gains a clear antagonist in the form of a competing detective, Mr. Buthelezi. He is unbearably condescending to women in general, and to Mma. Ramotswe and Mma. Makutsi in particular. His ads even say, “Trust your enquiry to a MAN!”

Also on that theme is the business endeavor of Mma. Makutsi. She astutely realizes that women are called “secretaries,” but men do much of the same work while called by a different name: “clerk.” As typing becomes more important to these jobs, it will become necessary that men learn to type as well. But they would never enroll in the Botswana Secretarial College (Mma. Makutsi’s alma mater) because it is for women. Never would they be caught doing “women’s work.” So, Mma. Makutsi sees a market. Men need the skills, but need a way to learn them without being emasculated. And thus she is able to find her niche.

McCall Smith handles all of this with good humor. The characters are all - even Mr. Buthelezi - sympathetic and human. Comeuppances are gentle, and Mma. Ramotswe strives to resolve conflicts by appealing to each character’s good side and best intentions, letting them make amends for their foibles, rather than humiliating them.

A few things also stuck in my mind. First of all, McCall Smith insists on using extremely formal titles throughout. (I assume that this is Botswanan protocol?) It is possible that Mr. Matekoni has a first name somewhere, but I have no idea what it is. He is “Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni” to everyone - even his fiancee. Likewise, it is always “Mma. Makutsi,” rather than “Grace.” (I looked it up: “Mma.” is short for “Madam,” and is - at least by the reader of this audiobook, who is from Southern Africa, pronounced “Ma.”)

The other incident in the book that I loved was the description of a religious meeting. The younger of the two apprentices at the garage finds religion, and invites the rest of the staff in a way that cannot be refuse without dishonor. This “religion” is fanatical, and cultlike. At the meeting, strangers, rather than being greeted, are expected to confess - in excruciating detail - all their sins, past and present. Mma. Ramotswe manages to escape using a brilliant tactic, which I won’t spoil by describing here. Quite brilliant - and true to form.

Having heard this book, I fully intend to read the rest of the series. Good characters, nuanced situations, and plenty of good humor and bush tea.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

Source of book: My wife owns this and introduced me to the author

In general, I am not a big fan of genre fiction. However, I do have a weakness for mysteries - particularly those in the British tradition. (I devoured Agatha Christie as a child - following in my mother’s footsteps.) Just this year, I read and reviewed the fourth installment in Alan Bradley’s Flavia series, and A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd. McCall Smith (that is his actual surname - the McCall is not a middle name) is one of those truly eccentric characters that seem to be too odd even for fiction.

He was born in Rhodesia (in an area that is now Zimbabwe), came to Scotland to study law, taught law for a few years while writing short stories and children’s books, returned to Africa to co-found the University of Botswana, returned to Scotland to teach - and become a recognized expert in - medical law, and finally found his present career as a novelist at nearly age 60.

He served for a time on the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee and the Human Genetics Commission for the United Kingdom. During the 1980s and 1990s, he wrote or co-wrote a whole bunch of scholarly books on bioethics and related issues.

Oh, and he plays bassoon and contrabassoo in The Really Terrible Orchestra, a group he helped found. For some reason, his photograph on the book shows him with a tuba. I suspect he may fill in on that if necessary…

Alexander McCall Smith with his more proper instrument, the contrabassoon

The Sunday Philosophy Club is the first in the series of the same name, featuring the middle aged Isabel Dalhousie, independently wealthy editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, which is pretty much what it sounds like. From what my wife has told me, Isabel’s maid, Grace; her niece, Cat; and Cat’s ex-boyfriend Jamie are all recurring characters in the series. Cat has terrible taste in men (having rejected Jamie, of course). Jamie is still in love with Cat, while Isabel is in love with Jamie, but doesn’t realize it.

The book is filled with references to art - particularly Scottish art, music, and philosophy. The good news is the McCall Smith has enough background in these areas to get the details right. (It’s best that those who never listen to classical music refrain from saying anything about Stockhausen, for example.) The author also gets bonus points for introducing me to a (relatively) obscure Scottish composer, Hamish MacCunn. (Mostly unknown in the United States, as far as I can tell.) However, thanks to the magic of the internet, I was able to find clips and information.

I’m not enough of an art expert to be quite as picky as I am about music, but those details I did know, he got right. Philosophy is the big theme in this series, for obvious reasons. I enjoyed Isabel’s mental games as she analysed her options through the lens of philosophy. (And totally sympathized when all her careful ethical plans went out the window in the heat of the moment. Never done that before…)

The plot itself isn’t anything particularly striking, but it works. The characters are the interesting part, and their personalities drive the plot.

The best lines are the little observations in the mind of Isabel, as the story is told from her point of view (third person subjective, for those who care). Here is a good one regarding a particular article submitted to the journal:

It appeared to be written in English, but it was a variety of English which Isabel felt occurred only in certain corners of academia, where faux-weightiness was a virtue.

I also found her musing on the connection between manners - those deeper than the surface - and virtue to be interesting, although not universally true.

Good manners depended on paying moral attention to others; it required one to treat them with complete moral seriousness, to understand their feelings and their needs. Some people, the selfish, showed no inclination to do this, and it always showed. They were impatient with those whom they thought did not count: the old, the inarticulate, the disadvantaged. The person with good manners, however, would always listen to such people and treat them with respect.

Definitely food for thought. When compassion becomes condescending, it is usually because of this failing.

On a related note, this line:

The world, it seemed, was based on lies and half-truths of one sort or another, and one of the tasks of morality was to help us negotiate our way round these.

I’ve mentioned in the past that we tend to want to impose narratives on history to give us a sense that everything makes sense, and can be fully explained and understood. Often these narratives contain a good deal of falsehood - and all contain incomplete truth. When we let those falsehoods and half truths become more important than our basic morality, when we let our necessarily imperfect understanding of the world lead us to cause harm to others, we have done wrong, even when we have a political or religious philosophy to back us up. (The theological justification for the institution of slavery comes to mind, but there are plenty of modern examples too. One could turn on C-SPAN and listen to either party and come up with a hundred examples.)

I wasn’t really expecting to get off into that in a review of a relatively light book, but I did find myself thinking in that direction. Isabel has to negotiate some tricky dilemmas - such as how much she should involve herself in what may have been a murder - and the author intentionally avoids the easy cases. In that respect, I see some commonalities with G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown stories. (I don’t think anyone has bested Chesterton, though. His are still the best for their psychological penetration, in my opinion.)

Note on The Really Terrible Orchestra:

The Orchestra makes an appearance in this book, and it was a pleasant surprise to find that it actually had that name in real life too.

McCall Smith wanted to play in a group that was like a school orchestra, where everyone played for fun, not as a career, and marginal musicians were welcome. Since such an orchestra did not exist in Scotland, he founded one. The orchestra has a website, which is worth a visit.  There are some fun clips and interviews and such. McCall Smith is featured prominently, of course. Always leverage celebrity power. The orchestra is truly terrible, and fulfills its goal marvelously.

One thing that was pretty clear to me after reading McCall Smith’s account of its founding was that Scotland is vastly different from the United States. We have a longstanding community orchestra tradition, and such groups exist in most reasonably large communities throughout the country. Some of these are in the spirit of the Really Terrible Orchestra, while others are of higher musical quality, but all have the goal of allowing those who do not wish to pursue music as a profession to make music anyway. In addition, our junior college system encourages older and “enrichment” students to participate in their music programs. I know a number of players who lack the chops to go the professional route who nonetheless have great enthusiasm who have found places to play.

Even the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, while it is a professional organization, employs primarily those who have other “day jobs,” as it is a very part-time gig.

So, I certainly appreciate the thought behind the Really Terrible Orchestra, and am thankful that the tradition of community music remains in my own country.

Note on Hamish MacCunn:

Here is his best known work. Pleasant enough, but not in the class of the very best, which is probably why it is primarily played in the United Kingdom.