The Strange Case of R. L. Stevenson Book

My typical response to a Smiley novel: she cites ten or twelve other books that look even more interesting than whatever I'm reading of hers at the moment. This book (a modern-day Decamaron (sp)) has the reader eavesdropping on several Hollywood residents in a palatial house over the space of a week and a half, shortly after the outbreak of the Iraq war (in Boccachio's work, the characters are hiding out from the Black Plague). Smiley said in one interview or another that she was going for an eavesdropping effect: we watch the characters argue, think, feud, have sex and basically live lives like people do, and watch their private and public dramas unfold. To me, it was a harsh reminder of the perils of espionage: other people's lives are just as boring as mine, so why eavesdrop in the first place? The characters are rich and textured, and I couldn't help but get especially interested in the feud between Zoe, a hot-stuff Jamaican actress, and her daughter, and although the debates about the war's exegesis are perhaps dated, they should never be forgotten (hear me Tso? yeah, you better run). But it wasn't enough to add up to a satisfactory read on my part.

All the talk about Taras Bulba, however, has me pawing the ground to get to the library and get a copy. It sounds like a Ukranian Braveheart.