1929: The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
Pages read: 208
Current page total: 2106
Oh, I liked this book, too. It had a young hero I could follow, the plot was just complicated enough, good guys, bad guys, a beautiful girl (who was just a wee bit of a feminist) and a satisfactory ending. Something to get lost in.
It’s a work of fiction leading up to an actual fire that destroyed much of Krakow in 1462. The trumpeters of Krakow, from the title, trumpet the hour with a traditional piece of music, from the spire of a church every hour, on the hour. The melody is unfinished at the end, as a reference to a brave trumpeter who — years before — trumpeted a warning for the city until his dying breath, as the city was attacked by Cossacks. Rotten Cossacks.
So here is a video of the actual trumpet hymn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdG2jcwgu_g&feature=related
Turns out that our Hero’s family (His name is Joseph) has been hiding and guarding a treasure for several generations — the great Tarnov Crystal. It has some mystical qualities and a lot of alchemists want to get their hands on it. The bad guys are pretty crafty, and one adventure follows another, but eventually the crystal is given to the king. This is where, I am led to believe, it should have been all along anyway, which of course made me wonder why the crystal hadn’t just been delivered by the family generations ago but I can’t ask the author. And besides, it makes for a good story so I just suspended disbelief and carried about my business of reading.
So, yeah. Joseph’s family has been chased from their home and driven to Krakow by a fellow who wants to steal the crystal. His father gets the job as night trumpeter in the church — this helps keep him home during the day so he can’t be seen and recognized. Joseph, however, starts attending University, and he IS out and about and recognized, and as a result, he has a series of wild adventures evading these nasty scoundrels. I could say more, but let’s just say that all’s well in the end, and the story was wroth a read.
I was troubled by a few things, and I suppose this is part of the time capsule effect of an older book. Jews are mentioned a few times, but only as a reference to the city where they live across the river. The mention is somewhat benign although I thought I could hear a little derision in what I read. Maybe I’m just sensitive. And another thing: the bad guys were always obvious because they were either ugly or deformed. Sometimes both. Now, anyone who watches politics or reads People magazine knows that liars and knaves are also quite beautiful and appealing, and that physically unattractive people are just as nice as anyone else.
Finally, I want to mention Elzbietka, Joseph’s neighbor and later sweetheart. She’s a bright and wise girl who is quite likable. Like I would expect of women of that era, she is very dependent on adults (mostly men) and – in her instance -her grandfather, and one expects she always will be. I know, I’m writing in 2012, but it bugs me and I’m going to say it. However, there is a conversation she has with Joseph where she maintains that women could be taught to read and be educated like men, why not? Joseph at first starts to argue with her, but it seems he discovers no just argument and finally agrees with her. She also makes a (great) point that poetry is much better in the common language where everyone can understand it, rather than Latin which is understandable only by a few. She never goes to university, but her point is made. I hope she at least learned to read. One believes that Martin Luther would have liked her.