It's not always British TV. There can be American shows that send me to the dictionary. 'Louce' on a recent episode of 'True Detective' sent me to the pad and the dictionary.
I thought the use of such a word by the gangster Frank Semyon, played by Vince Vaughn, was a great piece of near-comic irony. In the movie 'Analyze This,' the mafia boss Primo Sidone, played by Chazz Palmiteri, nearly goes into a purple rage over hearing and not knowing what the word 'closure' means. His cuff links nearly fly off, and his collar button nearly stabs his neck.
Primo is not entirely stupid. Just like myself, he vows to go to a dictionary and look up this word "closure." The grammar school nuns in Brooklyn got through to him just a bit. Frank, in 'True Detective' already knows what 'louche' means. He's using it in a sentence. West Coast/East Coast educations.
But it doesn't have to be a TV episode that creates the weekly vocabulary list. I can get it from reading. Maureen Dowd, as once mentioned, can send me to the big OED book. But it's seldom a novel, or other type of book I might be reading that presents me with a 'Stump the Band' word. At least not until Jason Matthews's book 'Palace of Treason' came along.
Mr. Matthew's book is a post-Cold War spy thriller that is a sequel to his first novel, 'Red Sparrow'. I heard of 'Palace' first, so I dove in. And I'm glad I did. Before even finishing the book I reached back and got his 'Red Sparrow' lined up for my next read. They don't necessarily have to be read in sequence. Each stands on its own.
Quick summary? Very quick. The CIA's Nate Nash, a heroic Dudley Do-Right case officer works with the code-named Russian double agent DIVA, who is Dominika Egorova, a lethal piece of female anatomy who, trust me, you want on your side. Together, they give the Russians and Iranians fits, particularly the successor to Frank Sinatra's nickname, Ol' Blue Eyes, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yes, that Vlad, a major character.
Picking up on 'YouTube' some book promotional book appearance by Mr. Matthews, a retired veteran of CIA service after 33 years, and even his wife, a similarly a retired CIA employee, you wonder if it's safe for Mr. Matthew's to be roaming about the country promoting his books. An appearance on a CBS morning show informs us that the first book, 'Red Sparrow' has been optioned for a movie, and might even now be in production.
Reading what is a suspenseful spy thriller, a primer on avoiding surveillance, as well as what is portrayed as a very creative way to disrupt the Iranian nuclear enrichment programs, you really do feel for Mr. Matthew's safety.
Perhaps not to worry, he assures us in a Strand Book store interview, everything he writes is cleared by the CIA, and after 33 years in service, he knows the difference between classified and non-classified material. And really, a spy thriller with recipes? Can you take this guy seriously? You better.
In an NPR interview Mr. Matthews explains that he has always loved reading descriptions of food, of which there are many as the characters go through their daily routines of eating and drinking. It's the locales they're in that make the food they eat, and the descriptions by Mr. Matthews interesting. Characters who ate off the Dollar Menu at McDonald's would be blah.
So, at the end of each chapter, in both books, there is a recipe for a food that has been consumed in the chapter. Mr. Matthews explains there are no measurements, or cooking times, or methods of preparations given. Only ingredients. So, if you're inclined, you can go further with this information that is described by Mr. Matthews, as "how your grandmother cooked." On the fly. I'm not the cook in the family, but anything named Olivier salad, Shashlik-kebabs, Babka Rumowa, or Shirini Keshmeshi raisin cakes, for example, would need to be better translated for me into English before I'd order one. It's a spy book and a cook book. For one price.
The words and acronyms in 'Palace' are enough to give you the impression Mr. Matthew's is extremely well-read. (He does tell an interviewer he does read "assiduously.") He must be fluent in several languages, because there are many words in italics, that are thankfully defined for us mortals.
I particularly loved the Russian words that are supplied for some of the acronyms. Some of these acronyms are well known to anyone who has read any book in the spy genre, and some are not. I'm reminded of the 1972 Team Canada hockey series that gave us a terrific set of eight games as well as a basket full of Russian names we struggled to pronounce: Lutchenko, Tsygankov, Maltsev, Tretiak, Kharlamov, and more.
If at the end of 'Palace of Treason' you're not just a little bit more proficient in foreign languages, you didn't read the book. Take these on for size.
Russian
NKVD Narodny Komissariat Vrntennih Del
KGB Komitet Gosudarstevenny Bezopasnosti
SVR Slozhba Vnesheny Razvedki
GRU Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye
German
SBE Spezialle Bundestatigkeiten-Einheit
And then there's us.
American
FEEB Member of the FBI
SDR Surveillance Detection Route
SRAC Short Range Agent Communication
There are other words that just send me to the dictionary. These are not italicized, or explained.
Six (Not the number)
Becket (Not a typo; found in a SWCS)
Virago
Termagant
Gorgon (These three words are used to describe one person, in one chapter. She's an animal.)
Haruspex
Ribollita (At the end of this chapter, the recipe for ribollita is given. )
Mr. Matthews is asked if the Cold War is over, why then this book? Mr. Matthews replies, "It's humming along nicely." He reminds us of the 11 Russian illegals who were bounced from the US in 2010. These were Russians in deep cover acting as suburban American citizens who were trying to turn people to steal secrets. The FX show 'The Americans' portrays this type of activity.
And something as current as the Iranian nuclear program? It's here. And if after the latest agreement is approved or not, if there's a seismic rumble in Iran and phosphorous rods in the floor of a centrifuge explode and burn the place down, then I really think Mr. Matthews and his whole family might have to disappear for the own safety.
The third book may not have his name attached to it.
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