German Judicial Functions

It all began with a text message.

My friend Sarah sent me a less than flattering review of A Hangman’s Diary which is the actual diary of an executioner in Nuremberg from the late 16th century to the early 17th century. The reviewer stated that if you were into German judicial functions this book might be for you. Sarah believed that I might, in fact, be this person. I replied that, yeah I could probably get into this read. To which she simply replied: “German judicial functions.”

I laughed. It is true that I have a proclivity to geek out about weird legal nuances. So for funsies, I added A Hangman’s Diary to my Christmas list, and lo and behold when Christmas came round, and I opened my yearly box of books, there it was. In all its judicial glory.

When I began reading it, I took a picture and sent it to my reading group which includes Sarah exclaiming, “Let the German judicial functions begin!”

Sarah: “I can’t believe you are reading that.”

Me: “Yes, you can.”

Sarah: “You’re right. I can.”

The book does not hesitate, it begins with an overview of medieval judicial codes, and honestly, it’s the most interesting part of the book. The diary portion written by the hangman is just a laundry list of crimes and executions. By itself, it is boring, repetitive, and bloody, but if you pay attention, and apply some of the basics of those judicial codes. You can see great discrepancies in punishment. Favors are clearly noted in the diary. For instance, thieves were to be hanged which could be a long and painful death so numerous times the hangman would note: “Beheaded as a favor.” I’m sure this favor included some extra moolah for the big guy with the ax, and it was probably a mercy that could be bestowed without flouting the law. However, due to judicial code one can be sure that the hangman slew numerous innocents, but them’s the breaks.

Generally, the diary left me feeling two things. One I wanted more. I was informed of the crime and punishment, but I wanted the circumstances. I wanted the background, the intent. And two, it made me realize that as much as we wish to believe we have moved far beyond the barbaric ways of the middle ages we haven’t. Our barbarism just has a shiner veneer which in a way makes it worse. It displays our delusions and spinelessness- no I don’t want to go back to beheading as a favor, but it has an honestly to it that I can respect.

Nevertheless, I will agree with the reviewer who began this all, this isn’t the most riveting read out there, but if you are odd, like me, and into legalize or simply wish to do a bit of humane torture to your reading group. A Hangman’s Diary might be for you.

Monthly Misfits

Welcome back to Monthly Misfits! It’s been awhile since I attempted to compare two diametrically opposed books. But at my virtual book chat last Friday as we were discussing Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders, I realized that I needed to compare it to Remembrance by Jude Deveraux.  What can a metafiction whodunnit have in common with a romance novel of the 1990s?

Chiefly, both contain stories within stories. Remembrance has an outer shell story of a romance writer who falls in love with one of her own characters and can’t find love in the real world because of a curse. The inner story is the story of how that curse came to be.

Magpie Murders has an outer story of an editor of whonnuits having to solve the murder of her most successful author. The inner story is a tale written by the murdered author.

Both of these tales possess, authors who have strong feels for the characters that they have created. In Remembrance, the author is in love with her hero. In Magpie, the author utterly despises his cleaver detective.

Strangely, in both of these books the inner story is better than the outer one, and I would have been just as satisfied, if not more satisfied, if that had been the only story I had read.

Magpie was more well-balanced with its two stories. They were intertwined and cohesive. Remembrance’s outer story was so thin and takes up so few pages, it’s surprising the entire thing wasn’t scraped. But then a story ending with the two dead lovers is no fun. Only Shakespeare can pull that nonsense off.

Both stories have fictional authors and/or editors talking about the genre of fiction the whole book itself is in. Giving the impression that they are either poking fun at themselves or outrageously self-indulgent. Remembrance strikes more of the former while Magpie slaps of the latter. Horowitz mentions his own whodunnit BBC T.V. series Midsomer Murders several times. Yes, it was based on a series of book he adapted, but the book series had a completely different name. So, you can’t expect me to believe Horowitz is paying homage to its original creator.

Remembrance seems as if Jude really did want to pull a Shakespeare but knew it wouldn’t fly so wrapped it up in a silly romance author curse. This could also be considered just as self-indulgent, but somehow seems to have the charming egotism to that of Sherlock Holmes. Yes, he is a pompous ass, but God do we love him.

Nevertheless, Magpie Murders is the far superior book. Yet if this is a nod to Horowitz’s whodunnit idols such as Agatha Christie it wasn’t apparent. And honestly begs the question: Isn’t that what an acknowledgements page is for?

If anything, both books show I prefer a story to tell the tale the author wants to tell and thank people in the end. Don’t try to tell the story in a wrapper of a story that will demean the whole tale. And obviously, Horowitz and Deveraux are great writers since they’ve made a living doing so, so why they have the need to possibly fictionalize an account of their greatness is a mystery to me.

Until next time, happy reading!

 

A Monumentally Good Day

At this very moment, I am somewhere on a trail in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago huffing and puffing 20 to 30 feet behind my best friend as we run our own personal, yet socially distance, marathon. The marathon we had signed up for was scheduled for tomorrow, but due to weather and people’s habits. We thought running on a weekday morning would be better for all involved.

Obviously, when I run, limp, or possibly crawl across my “finish line,” I have a whole myriad of post-race things I need to attend to. I will need to drink my protein shake, walk around, take a shower, put on dry clothes, try to keep moving, and eat. But at some point, about two hours after this is all said and finished, I will most likely be sprawled on the couch with my book.

I will read and nap the afternoon away until finally evening approaches where I will hobble into my home office and celebrate my marathon accomplishment the only way a book nerd in a pandemic can: with virtual book club. It will be a shining event. Where I drink my one well-deserved beer and chat with peeps I love about beloved books. It will be a monumental finish to a monumental day.

If you read this before noon central time in the US, and want to give us some encouragement shout out your nearest window to Kelsey and Jill. We’ll feel your good vibes.

Until next time, happy reading!