Isabel

I am a hard reader-of-fiction to please. I insist that the writers be expert in the use of words (if they don't know, really know, what a word means, why don't they go look it up?!?!), and I want sympathetic characters, and I don't want horrid things to happen to those sympathetic characters, and I want a happy ending.

Not too much to ask, I don't think.....

I read for escape. There is a gracious plenty of reality in reality, thankyouverymuch, so why would I want extra doses in my spare time? If a book's language falters, if an author is fond of big words but is shaky on what they mean, every stumble over the meaning of a word knocks me out of her world back into mine. The more instances of this in a book, the more likely I am to send it, unread, back to the library.

You will find it consistent that I only want to read about sympathetic characters. The most recent time I tried to read War and Peace, I gave it 300 pages. At the end of 300 pages I didn't give a rip about any of the characters. Every one was mean, or stupid, or stupid and mean..... I won't bother to try to read it again.

Then there are authors who write decently, and invent interesting characters, and do nasty things to them (or worse yet, nasty things to animals). Well, I really truly do NOT want to read about that............

Until the last few weeks, it had been quite a while since I found a new protagonist to enjoy. I offer you Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie.

Isabel is interesting, literate, and, best of all, THINKS about what she does and the potential impact on others of what she does.

In real life, one encounters so many people who don't seem to care AT ALL what impact they have on the planet or their fellow inhabitants thereof. They litter. They vandalize. They steal. They make noise Noise NOISE *NOISE*. They are mean. They are especially mean to those with less power than they (including animals and children). Etc, etc, too depressing to mention any more details.

Isabel's examination of the ethical consequences of behavior is refreshing in contrast to the nearly total lack of same one experiences in day-to-day life. Long may McCall Smith continue to write about her.