Z is for "Zut alors!" or What Kate Has Learned From This Project

What I (tried) to read: The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

This book is an obvious attempt to build on the success of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

Okay, that might not be fair. Maybe, Zama came up with the idea before McCall Smith became popular, and McCall Smith's success simply enabled him to sell his idea. Or, maybe Zama was inspired by McCall Smith (and why not?!). Or, maybe Zama thought, "I could make a buck by doing the McCall Smith thing in India!"

Whatever the reasoning, I couldn't get into the book. McCall Smith rambles but does go somewhere. Although the first book focuses on Mma Ramotswe's biography, McCall Smith supplies little mystery arcs to keep the reader interested.

The Marriage Bureau provides lots of stuff-is-happening but no little stories. I kept thinking, "THIS chapter will give me a story about matchmaking," but no, just more information about the main character. So I gave up.

And now that I've ended, what did I learn?

1. There's a lot of books out there that I have no desire to read.

Many, many, many books have been published about characters' ANGST-RIDDEN/PROBLEM-RIDDEN LIVES, involving EMOTIONAL CHANGE and INSIGHTFUL, PROFOUND INSIGHTS AND PROFUNDITIES.

Oh, blech.

But people must read these kinds of books because other people keep publishing them. 

And in truth, I'm a big believer that there is a reader out there for just about anything. Some writers want to cater to the "masses"--but I think even that plan is kind of a crap-shoot. (Just because something fits a zeitgeist, doesn't mean it will take off.) I think most writers aim for writing to the best of their ability the books that they want to read. And the truth is, there is someone out there for all those books. People are as variable as what gets written. 

2. There're a lot of writers people have never heard of.

A lot of my students think that having a literary career means writing a novel that takes off and makes them famous. This is kind of understandable when you realize that most of my student's lives have been dominated by Harry Potter and Twilight.

Or it's just the age since I kind of thought the same thing at 20. AND I was trying to get published (unlike many of my students), so I should have known how hard it really was.

The truth is, publishing a novel is impressive but no guarantee of stardom. Unfortunately.

3. There are good writers you haven't heard of or read.

Out of the writers I read, the only one (at the time) I went on to read more of was Elkins. However, I enjoyed reading almost all of the writers and I discovered books I never had before that made a definite impression. 

4. You can learn from bad writing.

It's unfair to keep picking on Jeffers since I don't actually think she is a terrible writer; I just disagreed with her vision. But reading Jeffers is what led me to write A Man of Few Words.

Likewise, by trying Cussler again, I learned something about creating characterizations in a quick, non-obtrusive way. 

 5. There are a finite number of books.

Sure, there are many, many "S"s and billions of "C"s, but there are only so many "Z"s, no matter how many different libraries you go to.

The finite number of books is still an awful, awful lot. There's always more to read, which brings me to...

2023: I discovered a new mystery author when I picked up The Doctor of Thessaly. 

The writing is good. It is the kind of writing that depends almost entirely on show-no-tell, very little interior monologue. I generally prefer to hear a little more about what is going on in my main character's head. But I appreciate the type of writing Zouroudi employs here, especially when it is so crisp and easily evocative.

The detective, the "fat man," is a kind of Nero Wolfe, only more congenial with a slightly more impish sense of humor--though equally ruthless in some ways.  

I will likely read more of Zouroudi!