Books, good and bad

A couple months ago I dropped a heavy-handed hint about books I'd like to receive for Father's Day.  My wonderful family obliged.  Larkin's book of poetry is excellent; Will's book, unfortunately, is not.

Two novels I read at the beach:

• E.L. Doctorow, The Book of Daniel.  Amazon quotes Newsweek to the effect: "A ferocious feat of the imagination . . . Every scene is perfectly realized and feeds into the whole–the themes and symbols echoing and reverberating."  To which I can only say "Amen."
• Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon.  I'd tried to read it several times before but never got into it.  It's not in the same class as The Book of Daniel, but it's still very good.   Amazon again: "a powerful, sensual, and poetic exploration of four generations of a family mistakenly named Dead."

Solomon is, after the first ten or twenty pages, an easy read; Daniel is more challenging.  Much more challenging.  And much more rewarding.