Andrew's bookshelf: all

Andrew's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 06 Apr 2025 14:24:55 -0700 60 Andrew's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Let Me Speak!: Testimony of Domitila, A Woman of the Bolivian Mines]]> 200300094
Let Me Speak! is a moving testimony from inside the Bolivian tin mines of the 1970s, by a woman whose life was defined by her defiant struggle against those at the very top of the power structure, the Bolivian elite. Blending firsthand accounts with astute political analysis, Domitila Barrios de Chungara describes the hardships endured by Bolivia’s colossal working class, and her own efforts at organizing women in her mining community. The result is a gripping narrative of class struggle and repression, an important social document that illuminates the reality of capitalist exploitation in the dark mines of 1970s Bolivia and beyond.

Twenty-five years after it was first published in English in 1978, the new edition of this classic book includes never-before-translated testimonies gathered in the years just before the book’s translation. Let Me Speak picks up Domitila’s life story from the 1977 hunger strike she organized―a rebellion that was instrumental in bringing down the Banzer dictatorship. It then turns to her subsequent exile in Sweden and work as an internationalist seeking solidarity with the Bolivian people in the early 1980s, during the period of the García Meza dictatorship. It concludes with the formation of the Domitila Mobile School in Cochabamba, where her family had been relocated after the mine closures. As we read, we learn from Domitila’s insights into a range of topics, from U.S. imperialism to the environmental crisis, from the challenges of popular resistance in Latin America, to the kind of political organizing we need―all steeped in a conviction that we can, and must, unite social movements with working-class revolt.]]> 352 Domitila Barrios de Chungara 168590050X Andrew 0 4.00 1977 Let Me Speak!: Testimony of Domitila, A Woman of the Bolivian Mines

Let Me Speak!: Testimony of Domitila, A Woman of the Bolivian Mines

author: Domitila Barrios de Chungara
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: currently-reading, history, memoir, political-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America]]> 18640850 Illuminates how the preservation of slavery was a motivating factor for the Revolutionary War

The successful 1776 revolt against British rule in North America has been hailed almost universally as a great step forward for humanity. But the Africans then living in the colonies overwhelmingly sided with the British. In this trailblazing book, Gerald Horne shows that in the prelude to 1776, the abolition of slavery seemed all but inevitable in London, delighting Africans as much as it outraged slaveholders, and sparking the colonial revolt.

Prior to 1776, anti-slavery sentiments were deepening throughout Britain and in the Caribbean, rebellious Africans were in revolt. For European colonists in America, the major threat to their security was a foreign invasion combined with an insurrection of the enslaved. It was a real and threatening possibility that London would impose abolition throughout the colonies--a possibility the founding fathers feared would bring slave rebellions to their shores. To forestall it, they went to war.

The so-called Revolutionary War, Horne writes, was in part a counter-revolution, a conservative movement that the founding fathers fought in order to preserve their right to enslave others. The Counter-Revolution of 1776 brings us to a radical new understanding of the traditional heroic creation myth of the United States.

]]> 252 Gerald Horne 1479893404 Andrew 2
I don't understand why this book exists. The argument seems to be that we should consider 1776 a counter-revolution because it occurred mostly in response to London's "revolutionary" proposal to abolish slavery, but there are a few problems with this argument:

1) It's not convincing in that London's official position on abolition was obviously and purely cynical. Horne also ignores that English abolitionists were only a faction of public and official opinion on the matter... it was far from as settled and unified a front as Horne tries to portray.

2) Even if England was unanimous in wanting to abolish slavery, they never did, they just talked about it. Even if you think that would have constituted a "revolution" (still arguable from a Marxist perspective at least), it didn't happen. Therefore there was no revolution to counter, therefore calling 1776 a "counter-revolution" is just sensationalist and factually incorrect.

3) Granting the far-fetched premise that England's actions actually constitute a "revolution," Horne doesn't convince that this is the principal reason for the U.S. Revolution... he cherry-picks a lot of documents and quotes showing how upset people were by this London move, yet he artificially neglects a plethora of other well-documented reasons for the Declaration of Independence. Using the Horne methodology I could write a book saying "Actually the U.S. Revolution was all about tea taxes!" and then write 300 pages of firsthand sources complaining about the tea taxes and reacting to the Boston Tea Party, while only offhandedly mentioning any other issue. Case closed!

4) Even if we grant that the argument is correct, it's not clear what difference it makes today. We already know the Revolution was about wealthy, racist whites wanting to make more money. Nothing about this thesis alters that fact in the slightest. In the last chapter Horne quotes two other historians who called 1776 a "white settler revolt" and the "white American War of Independence." Both of those descriptions seem appropriate to me, but at no point does Horne explain why "counter-revolution" is a better way to describe it.

Basically, the whole book feels like a stretch. I'm not sure why it needs to exist in addition to American Slavery, American Freedom, or A People's History of the United States, or The Half Has Never Been Told, or probably several other books that I either can't remember or am not aware of. I'm not sure why he doesn't refer more to Britain's cynical role fomenting rebellion in Haiti as described in The Black Jacobins -- but I guess it's because it would undercut his incredible argument that England genuinely wanted to free slaves so much that it constituted a "revolution."

Honestly, this feels like a book-length version of a twitter thread dunking on America's founders for being hypocrites. "They said they wanted freedom, yet they were pro-slavery!" he nods as he strokes his beard. I mean, I know they're hypocrites, I think most intelligent people do, but we don't need another whole book about it unless you have something novel to add. There's nothing novel here... it just strikes me as a very facile argument. It also strikes me as pretentious to try to pass it off as something momentous.

Anyway I'll stop there except to corroborate what others said about the writing. It's really bad. These are the 5th and 6th sentences of the book (see if you can guess which word was the first red flag for me):

Unfortunately, this treasure trove is not organized adroitly, which may account for its relative absence in the footnotes of scholars -- and also sheds light on the nature of my references to it. Still, my research peregrination has convinced me that this collection should be better known to scholars seeking to unravel the complexities of the 1776 revolt against British rule.

The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America

author: Gerald Horne
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2022/09/09
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: history, political-science, dnf, coulda-been-an-article
review:
The intro was so underwhelming that it left me without much desire to read the book. I skipped ahead to the last chapter to see if a compelling argument would emerge, but it didn't. So please know that the following review is my impression based on a very cursory reading/skimming.

I don't understand why this book exists. The argument seems to be that we should consider 1776 a counter-revolution because it occurred mostly in response to London's "revolutionary" proposal to abolish slavery, but there are a few problems with this argument:

1) It's not convincing in that London's official position on abolition was obviously and purely cynical. Horne also ignores that English abolitionists were only a faction of public and official opinion on the matter... it was far from as settled and unified a front as Horne tries to portray.

2) Even if England was unanimous in wanting to abolish slavery, they never did, they just talked about it. Even if you think that would have constituted a "revolution" (still arguable from a Marxist perspective at least), it didn't happen. Therefore there was no revolution to counter, therefore calling 1776 a "counter-revolution" is just sensationalist and factually incorrect.

3) Granting the far-fetched premise that England's actions actually constitute a "revolution," Horne doesn't convince that this is the principal reason for the U.S. Revolution... he cherry-picks a lot of documents and quotes showing how upset people were by this London move, yet he artificially neglects a plethora of other well-documented reasons for the Declaration of Independence. Using the Horne methodology I could write a book saying "Actually the U.S. Revolution was all about tea taxes!" and then write 300 pages of firsthand sources complaining about the tea taxes and reacting to the Boston Tea Party, while only offhandedly mentioning any other issue. Case closed!

4) Even if we grant that the argument is correct, it's not clear what difference it makes today. We already know the Revolution was about wealthy, racist whites wanting to make more money. Nothing about this thesis alters that fact in the slightest. In the last chapter Horne quotes two other historians who called 1776 a "white settler revolt" and the "white American War of Independence." Both of those descriptions seem appropriate to me, but at no point does Horne explain why "counter-revolution" is a better way to describe it.

Basically, the whole book feels like a stretch. I'm not sure why it needs to exist in addition to American Slavery, American Freedom, or A People's History of the United States, or The Half Has Never Been Told, or probably several other books that I either can't remember or am not aware of. I'm not sure why he doesn't refer more to Britain's cynical role fomenting rebellion in Haiti as described in The Black Jacobins -- but I guess it's because it would undercut his incredible argument that England genuinely wanted to free slaves so much that it constituted a "revolution."

Honestly, this feels like a book-length version of a twitter thread dunking on America's founders for being hypocrites. "They said they wanted freedom, yet they were pro-slavery!" he nods as he strokes his beard. I mean, I know they're hypocrites, I think most intelligent people do, but we don't need another whole book about it unless you have something novel to add. There's nothing novel here... it just strikes me as a very facile argument. It also strikes me as pretentious to try to pass it off as something momentous.

Anyway I'll stop there except to corroborate what others said about the writing. It's really bad. These are the 5th and 6th sentences of the book (see if you can guess which word was the first red flag for me):

Unfortunately, this treasure trove is not organized adroitly, which may account for its relative absence in the footnotes of scholars -- and also sheds light on the nature of my references to it. Still, my research peregrination has convinced me that this collection should be better known to scholars seeking to unravel the complexities of the 1776 revolt against British rule.

Half a paragraph in and it already feels like he's trying too hard. The whole book feels like he's trying really hard to impress us. But the only thing I'm impressed with is his research (hence the 2nd star).

I wanted to like this a lot. And honestly I feel like a lot of these positive reviews are expressing similar feelings to mine, they're just kinda going easy on him, maybe cause they feel like they should like it anyway. I feel like I should like it too. But I don't, and I'm getting okay in my old age with being honest about those things. Very disappointing.
]]> Washington Bullets 54169138 Washington Bullets is written in the best traditions of Marxist journalism and history-writing. It is a book of fluent and readable stories, full of detail about US imperialism, but never letting the minutiae obscure the larger political point. It is a book that could easily have been a song of despair �� a lament of lost causes; it is, after all, a roll call of butchers and assassins; of plots against people’s movements and governments; of the assassinations of socialists, Marxists, communists all over the Third World by the country where liberty is a statue.

Despite all this, Washington Bullets is a book about possibilities, about hope, about genuine heroes. One such is Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso �� also assassinated �� who said: ‘You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.��

Washington Bullets is a book infused with this madness, the madness that dares to invent the future.]]> 162 Vijay Prashad Andrew 2
"Breezier Chomsky lecture" isn't a bad thing in and of itself, because Chomsky gives great lectures that are often overly-dense. The problem in this case is that I've read plenty of Chomsky lectures and I didn't need, expect or want this book to be another one of them. So again, it's a question of disappointed expectations. But also I chose the term "breezier Chomsky lecture" carefully, because that phrase encapsulates all of the problems I had with this book. It was (in descending order of problematic) unsourced, cursory, unoriginal and unstructured.

Unsourced
There are no footnotes, endnotes, or citations at all in this book. It was shocking to me when I realized. Prashad basically says at the end, in his "Sources" section, that he has read too much and spoken with too many people to be able to catalog them all for us. Which... that's not really okay with me. I don't doubt the veracity of what he's telling me, but this book is far less useful to me if I can't cite it or its sources in discussions and debates about its content. The subject matter already rings the conspiracy alarm bells to political ignorants.

My wife told me this is a problem of whiteness and white standards, and I can somewhat respect that. But that's not the stance Prashad takes, and the way he explains himself it kinda feels like he just didn't want to bother. I really wish he would have.

Cursory
The book is so short and covers so much ground that Prashad can't devote much space to anything. It feels almost stream-of-conscious. There are several passages that covered no more than a page but would have been fascinating books in themselves, or at least entire chapters. On p. 92, for example, he talks about the CIA's use of religion as a bulwark against communism. Fascinating point that I wanted to hear more about (and also see sources for...). But no. On p. 126 there's a tantalizing reference to how oil-seeking ventures in the Amazon seem to coincide with the prosecution of drug wars. Again he moves on before you can really stop and ponder.

Unoriginal
There's nothing of substance here that Chomsky (or Galeano, or many others I'm sure) hasn't already explained in more detail and with at least the same level of analysis.

Unstructured
Related to being cursory, Prashad flits from topic to topic so quickly and with apparently little rhyme or reason, so it's difficult to follow a through-line apart from the very vague "U.S. does some fucked up shit around the world." The stream-of-conscious style did not work for me at all. This was a more minor complaint than the others, but it still detracted from the reading experience.

Conclusion
I'm not sure how to say this nicely but I do not understand why this book exists. If Prashad was intending this as an update to Chomsky, then he failed by refusing to organize it better or source it at all. If he was intending this as a novel argument then he failed almost completely, because the couple of novel tangents he presented he spent very little time on. If Prashad had some other aim than these then he still failed, because I'm confused after the fact, meaning he did not communicate it effectively.

I'll stop there because the more I write the meaner I tend to get. I'll just say that I wish Prashad would have devoted more time and attention to this book. He might consider becoming less prolific. I think for someone who knows very little about the U.S.'s foreign interventions this book would be good. But then again I'd still recommend Chomsky over it (e.g. any of the essays in Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky).

]]> 4.38 2020 Washington Bullets

author: Vijay Prashad
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2022/09/13
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: history, political-science, coulda-been-an-article
review:
My frustration with this book is a function of how excited I was to read it. I really like and respect Vijay Prashad, and I'm always fascinated by the topic of coups and assassinations (especially those committed by the U.S.). So I was understandably looking forward to this book, but then it read like a breezier Chomsky lecture.

"Breezier Chomsky lecture" isn't a bad thing in and of itself, because Chomsky gives great lectures that are often overly-dense. The problem in this case is that I've read plenty of Chomsky lectures and I didn't need, expect or want this book to be another one of them. So again, it's a question of disappointed expectations. But also I chose the term "breezier Chomsky lecture" carefully, because that phrase encapsulates all of the problems I had with this book. It was (in descending order of problematic) unsourced, cursory, unoriginal and unstructured.

Unsourced
There are no footnotes, endnotes, or citations at all in this book. It was shocking to me when I realized. Prashad basically says at the end, in his "Sources" section, that he has read too much and spoken with too many people to be able to catalog them all for us. Which... that's not really okay with me. I don't doubt the veracity of what he's telling me, but this book is far less useful to me if I can't cite it or its sources in discussions and debates about its content. The subject matter already rings the conspiracy alarm bells to political ignorants.

My wife told me this is a problem of whiteness and white standards, and I can somewhat respect that. But that's not the stance Prashad takes, and the way he explains himself it kinda feels like he just didn't want to bother. I really wish he would have.

Cursory
The book is so short and covers so much ground that Prashad can't devote much space to anything. It feels almost stream-of-conscious. There are several passages that covered no more than a page but would have been fascinating books in themselves, or at least entire chapters. On p. 92, for example, he talks about the CIA's use of religion as a bulwark against communism. Fascinating point that I wanted to hear more about (and also see sources for...). But no. On p. 126 there's a tantalizing reference to how oil-seeking ventures in the Amazon seem to coincide with the prosecution of drug wars. Again he moves on before you can really stop and ponder.

Unoriginal
There's nothing of substance here that Chomsky (or Galeano, or many others I'm sure) hasn't already explained in more detail and with at least the same level of analysis.

Unstructured
Related to being cursory, Prashad flits from topic to topic so quickly and with apparently little rhyme or reason, so it's difficult to follow a through-line apart from the very vague "U.S. does some fucked up shit around the world." The stream-of-conscious style did not work for me at all. This was a more minor complaint than the others, but it still detracted from the reading experience.

Conclusion
I'm not sure how to say this nicely but I do not understand why this book exists. If Prashad was intending this as an update to Chomsky, then he failed by refusing to organize it better or source it at all. If he was intending this as a novel argument then he failed almost completely, because the couple of novel tangents he presented he spent very little time on. If Prashad had some other aim than these then he still failed, because I'm confused after the fact, meaning he did not communicate it effectively.

I'll stop there because the more I write the meaner I tend to get. I'll just say that I wish Prashad would have devoted more time and attention to this book. He might consider becoming less prolific. I think for someone who knows very little about the U.S.'s foreign interventions this book would be good. But then again I'd still recommend Chomsky over it (e.g. any of the essays in Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky).

]]> <![CDATA[The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together]]> 53231851
McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm--the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country--from parks and pools to functioning schools--have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world's advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.

But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: gains that come when people come together across race, to accomplish what we simply can't do on our own.

McGhee marshals economic and sociological research to paint a story of racism's costs, but at the heart of the book are the humble stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, including white supremacy's collateral victims: white people themselves. With startling empathy, this heartfelt message from a Black woman to a multiracial America leaves us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than a zero-sum game.]]> 415 Heather McGhee 0525509569 Andrew 2
Of course in 2025 we know how that all turned out.

Biden couldn't even get all the Democrats on board for any of his progressive policies, and passed a hollowed out shell of what he was originally proposing. He presided over the ending of the Child Tax Credit, sending millions of kids back into poverty. He attempted the weakest version of student loan cancellation possible, just the right amount to make sure literally everyone is pissed off about it. We are now in the very early stages of the most overtly reactionary, racist regime since probably the end of Reconstruction. Biden himself, whose pretty words on equity McGhee "nearly dropped (her) glass" at, has always been one of the most notorious racists in the Democratic party, and a barely reformed segregationist (something even his vice president famously called out on a debate stage). He presided over an extremely racist genocide halfway around the globe, one which probably led directly to Trump's reelection.

So what went wrong in McGhee's analysis, that she could be so wrong about our prospects for improving as a society? Well basically it's the lack of Marxism... i.e. her liberalism. It's the ideology that continues to mistake lofty words for action; that continues to blame predominantly conservatives/Republicans for these unpopular policies; that continues to believe that if we can just have enough difficult conversations with enough people, eventually they'll see the light. It's the ideology that ignores any issues of capitalism and imperialism, except for the occasional mention (I counted maybe 10-12) of "greed," as if it's only certain capitalists that are the problem... the racist ones. It's the ideology that can ask "What is racism without greed?" (p.86) in an effort to show how racism always has financial benefit... yet never stops to examine the reverse question, if greed exists without racism, and if it does what are the implications for addressing it?

I wouldn't say there's a lot McGhee says here that is wrong per se, it's just that it's extremely limited, and not too original. A fairly significant portion of the book is her simply describing the arguments of a half dozen books that are all pretty well known and have already said versions of what she's saying. And her main solution to what ails us, basically a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is... well to be nice I'll just call it "utopian." In fact, I'm not recalling a specific mention of "capitalism" in the entire book, and if it's there it's in the single digits.

The crux of my problem with McGhee's approach is in her completely ineffective proposed solution. It's literally more likely that we have a Russian-style revolution than that we institute a meaningful (i.e. not just lofty liberal words) Truth & Reconciliation Commission. You simply can't get there without first addressing end-stage neoliberal capitalism.

That's not to say we shouldn't be working toward racial equality, because we obviously should. But it's not the primary contradiction, as McGhee seems to be arguing. White supremacy is probably the most useful tool of capital, so useful that it's inextricable to the U.S. variety. But because it's such a vital tool of capital the ruling class will never allow it to be resolved -- they'll sooner die.

So yes I guess I've become a "class-first" communist in my older age. I strongly disagree at the efficacy of investing our time/effort/energy into convincing white people that racism hurts them too. Maybe try changing their material conditions first, so that they no longer feel like they live in an environment of scarcity.

]]> 4.62 2021 The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

author: Heather McGhee
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: political-science, history, coulda-been-an-article
review:
The closing afterword sums up the problem of this book pretty well. Written just after Biden won in 2020 but before we saw much of what his administration would look like, it is very hopeful about all of the progressive policies proposed in the original Build Back Better plan and Green New Deal. McGhee closes on what for her is the shocking progressiveness of Biden's first speech on race, and makes it clear that for her all of these happenings are an indication that we may just finally be turning the corner on race.

Of course in 2025 we know how that all turned out.

Biden couldn't even get all the Democrats on board for any of his progressive policies, and passed a hollowed out shell of what he was originally proposing. He presided over the ending of the Child Tax Credit, sending millions of kids back into poverty. He attempted the weakest version of student loan cancellation possible, just the right amount to make sure literally everyone is pissed off about it. We are now in the very early stages of the most overtly reactionary, racist regime since probably the end of Reconstruction. Biden himself, whose pretty words on equity McGhee "nearly dropped (her) glass" at, has always been one of the most notorious racists in the Democratic party, and a barely reformed segregationist (something even his vice president famously called out on a debate stage). He presided over an extremely racist genocide halfway around the globe, one which probably led directly to Trump's reelection.

So what went wrong in McGhee's analysis, that she could be so wrong about our prospects for improving as a society? Well basically it's the lack of Marxism... i.e. her liberalism. It's the ideology that continues to mistake lofty words for action; that continues to blame predominantly conservatives/Republicans for these unpopular policies; that continues to believe that if we can just have enough difficult conversations with enough people, eventually they'll see the light. It's the ideology that ignores any issues of capitalism and imperialism, except for the occasional mention (I counted maybe 10-12) of "greed," as if it's only certain capitalists that are the problem... the racist ones. It's the ideology that can ask "What is racism without greed?" (p.86) in an effort to show how racism always has financial benefit... yet never stops to examine the reverse question, if greed exists without racism, and if it does what are the implications for addressing it?

I wouldn't say there's a lot McGhee says here that is wrong per se, it's just that it's extremely limited, and not too original. A fairly significant portion of the book is her simply describing the arguments of a half dozen books that are all pretty well known and have already said versions of what she's saying. And her main solution to what ails us, basically a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is... well to be nice I'll just call it "utopian." In fact, I'm not recalling a specific mention of "capitalism" in the entire book, and if it's there it's in the single digits.

The crux of my problem with McGhee's approach is in her completely ineffective proposed solution. It's literally more likely that we have a Russian-style revolution than that we institute a meaningful (i.e. not just lofty liberal words) Truth & Reconciliation Commission. You simply can't get there without first addressing end-stage neoliberal capitalism.

That's not to say we shouldn't be working toward racial equality, because we obviously should. But it's not the primary contradiction, as McGhee seems to be arguing. White supremacy is probably the most useful tool of capital, so useful that it's inextricable to the U.S. variety. But because it's such a vital tool of capital the ruling class will never allow it to be resolved -- they'll sooner die.

So yes I guess I've become a "class-first" communist in my older age. I strongly disagree at the efficacy of investing our time/effort/energy into convincing white people that racism hurts them too. Maybe try changing their material conditions first, so that they no longer feel like they live in an environment of scarcity.

]]> <![CDATA[The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains]]> 9778945 Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways.

Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection.

Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, The Shallows sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds.]]> 280 Nicholas Carr 0393339750 Andrew 2
That's this book. Only about 1/3 of it is directly related to the title (and that third is valuable). I'm guessing that third started as an article in some magazine. The rest is basically a history of intellectual technology and the tech sector, which I neither wanted nor needed. It takes a full third of the book to even begin the titular discussion.

And ironically, this book is strangely shallow itself, spread out over a huge breadth of subject matter. It really reads like he didn't have enough material to flesh out a book on the topic at hand, so he had to pad it with extraneous background on well-trod ground like the invention of the printing press and other things.

It's a shame because it's an argument that has only become more important in the 15 years since this was published. I'd be interested to see a true 2nd edition that added more data from recent years, since we have been firmly in the Age of the Smartphone for a good decade at this point. And yes, the data here absolutely supports my feeling of shorter attention span and memory these days, as well as things like GPS eroding our innate capability of wayfinding. It's alarming that we as a society don't seem to care all that much, but I guess that's far from the most alarming thing about our society these days...

I can only really recommend this to people who have never spent any time thinking about this topic before. If you're already a choir member you will not need what preaching this book offers.

]]> 3.90 2010 The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

author: Nicholas Carr
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: anth-sosh, history, coulda-been-an-article
review:
I'm going to create a new category called "Could have been an article," sorta like the literary equivalent of "This meeting could have been an email."

That's this book. Only about 1/3 of it is directly related to the title (and that third is valuable). I'm guessing that third started as an article in some magazine. The rest is basically a history of intellectual technology and the tech sector, which I neither wanted nor needed. It takes a full third of the book to even begin the titular discussion.

And ironically, this book is strangely shallow itself, spread out over a huge breadth of subject matter. It really reads like he didn't have enough material to flesh out a book on the topic at hand, so he had to pad it with extraneous background on well-trod ground like the invention of the printing press and other things.

It's a shame because it's an argument that has only become more important in the 15 years since this was published. I'd be interested to see a true 2nd edition that added more data from recent years, since we have been firmly in the Age of the Smartphone for a good decade at this point. And yes, the data here absolutely supports my feeling of shorter attention span and memory these days, as well as things like GPS eroding our innate capability of wayfinding. It's alarming that we as a society don't seem to care all that much, but I guess that's far from the most alarming thing about our society these days...

I can only really recommend this to people who have never spent any time thinking about this topic before. If you're already a choir member you will not need what preaching this book offers.

]]> On Revolution 1665611 350 Hannah Arendt 0140216812 Andrew 1 political-science
I re-read this after reading Domenico Losurdo's scathing Western Marxism, and yeah I'm downgrading my rating significantly. Folks be warned, this is what anti-communism does to your analysis.

Because Arendt basically scoffs off Marx without any critical engagement whatsoever, she's left with a ridiculous comparison between the American and French Revolutions, where she somehow decides, contrary to virtually every other historian ever, that the American version was the far more important and true revolution to world history.

Much of her analysis hinges on a tedious and pedantic distinction between "liberation" and "freedom," which can as shorthand be read as negative/positive versions of freedom, or "freedom from" v. "freedom to"... she also distinguishes them by their motivations: necessity (bad!) and happiness (good!). Yep that's right folks, take it from her, revolutions aren't actually that good when they're liberating people from oppression, they're only true revolutions when the people who do them were already free of poverty.

Basically this is a distinction that she has had to invent in order to justify her loathing of the Russian, Chinese, Cuban and Korean communist revolutions. These weren't "true" revolutions for her because they had liberation (freedom from necessity) as their main motivation.

So you can probably see how weird of an argument this is, and pretty useless even. On p.155 she even says that the most obvious and decisive distinction between the American/French Revolutions was that the reigning regime at the time of revolution was a limited v. absolute monarchy. This is apparently the most important factor for her. Funny how that's not as obvious/decisive a distinction to me as the fact that one "revolution" was led by the ruling class and the other by the impoverished masses.

And then you have her continuous claims that America was "free of poverty" at the time of revolution, ignoring that a full 25% of the population of the colony was enslaved, and that as many before that had been literally exterminated.

Anyway, that's enough time on this very unserious analysis. What an overrated political thinker Arendt was.

***Original Review***
As difficult as The Human Condition (see my review), and it takes longer to pick up steam. Luckily though, Arendt keeps the momentum building until the end, starting around Chapter 3. Overall, Arendt spends too long discussing abstract philosophical ideas and linguistic origins and not enough time discussing the practical distinctions among revolutions, and what makes them work or fail. When she does this, the book becomes much more interesting, although any enjoyment is still hampered by the almost unbearably long sentences, each filled with as many as five different ideas punctuated by hyphens, colons, commas and parentheses.

Some sentences take several re-readings just to wrap your mind around everything she is trying to say. It is obvious the woman is brilliant (I've already used adjectives like "astounding" and "staggering" to describe her intellect in other reviews), but it's equally obvious that she either doesn't give a darn about bringing her ideas to a wider (read: "stupider") audience, or she's just not capable of adopting a more accessible writing style. I'm tempted to cite the former, just because Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil did not suffer from the same shortcoming.

As far as content, I can only give a partial rundown since the entire book is so dense. Her discussion of the differences between the American and French Revolutions was illuminating and persuasive. She posits that the success of a revolution depends on 1) it being free of the misery surrounding an impoverished populace and 2) its success in finding a sufficient authority to replace the deposed one. America got lucky, starting from scratch, and the success of their and any revolution was dependent upon a foundation -- in the American case, the foundation of a constitution and new form of government, which is something the French and most subsequent revolutions failed to do.

At the same time, The American revolution dwindled and the "revolutionary spirit" eventually died away because the founders did not do enough to protect it when enshrining the Constitution. She says they could have done this by protecting the political rights and freedom of the townships and town meetings. These small groups or "councils," she claims, are vital aspects that spring organically from any revolutionary movement and are the only outlet for true political expression by the common citizen. They therefore must be nurtured in a symbiotic relationship with the state if freedom is to be preserved.

The conclusion is particularly impressive, when she actually suggests a return to the ancient Greco-Roman political system in which not everyone votes, only those who are sufficiently interested in the political process. This government would inherently be both self-chosen and self-including. In this way, people not concerned with their public freedom are not forced to participate and can instead focus on their private lives, while people to whom politics does indeed matter will never be excluded from political decisions (as they inevitably are in our current representative system). I honestly don't know enough about political or revolutionary theory to agree or disagree with her authoritatively, and their are obvious obstacles to implementing this plan in our current climate (cough cough -- corporate money). But despite leaving herself open to charges of elitism I can say at least that her arguments are persuasive, even intuitive despite their complexity.

The ideas here are essential, but the packaging is unfortunately repellent. I would not recommend starting your exposure to Arendt with this book. Probably better to start with the far easier Eichmann, and then move onto the more important Human Condition. But this one is important nonetheless, especially for anyone interested in political theory or the concept of freedom.

]]> 4.17 1956 On Revolution

author: Hannah Arendt
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1956
rating: 1
read at: 2009/10/12
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: political-science
review:
***Update 4/2/25***

I re-read this after reading Domenico Losurdo's scathing Western Marxism, and yeah I'm downgrading my rating significantly. Folks be warned, this is what anti-communism does to your analysis.

Because Arendt basically scoffs off Marx without any critical engagement whatsoever, she's left with a ridiculous comparison between the American and French Revolutions, where she somehow decides, contrary to virtually every other historian ever, that the American version was the far more important and true revolution to world history.

Much of her analysis hinges on a tedious and pedantic distinction between "liberation" and "freedom," which can as shorthand be read as negative/positive versions of freedom, or "freedom from" v. "freedom to"... she also distinguishes them by their motivations: necessity (bad!) and happiness (good!). Yep that's right folks, take it from her, revolutions aren't actually that good when they're liberating people from oppression, they're only true revolutions when the people who do them were already free of poverty.

Basically this is a distinction that she has had to invent in order to justify her loathing of the Russian, Chinese, Cuban and Korean communist revolutions. These weren't "true" revolutions for her because they had liberation (freedom from necessity) as their main motivation.

So you can probably see how weird of an argument this is, and pretty useless even. On p.155 she even says that the most obvious and decisive distinction between the American/French Revolutions was that the reigning regime at the time of revolution was a limited v. absolute monarchy. This is apparently the most important factor for her. Funny how that's not as obvious/decisive a distinction to me as the fact that one "revolution" was led by the ruling class and the other by the impoverished masses.

And then you have her continuous claims that America was "free of poverty" at the time of revolution, ignoring that a full 25% of the population of the colony was enslaved, and that as many before that had been literally exterminated.

Anyway, that's enough time on this very unserious analysis. What an overrated political thinker Arendt was.

***Original Review***
As difficult as The Human Condition (see my review), and it takes longer to pick up steam. Luckily though, Arendt keeps the momentum building until the end, starting around Chapter 3. Overall, Arendt spends too long discussing abstract philosophical ideas and linguistic origins and not enough time discussing the practical distinctions among revolutions, and what makes them work or fail. When she does this, the book becomes much more interesting, although any enjoyment is still hampered by the almost unbearably long sentences, each filled with as many as five different ideas punctuated by hyphens, colons, commas and parentheses.

Some sentences take several re-readings just to wrap your mind around everything she is trying to say. It is obvious the woman is brilliant (I've already used adjectives like "astounding" and "staggering" to describe her intellect in other reviews), but it's equally obvious that she either doesn't give a darn about bringing her ideas to a wider (read: "stupider") audience, or she's just not capable of adopting a more accessible writing style. I'm tempted to cite the former, just because Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil did not suffer from the same shortcoming.

As far as content, I can only give a partial rundown since the entire book is so dense. Her discussion of the differences between the American and French Revolutions was illuminating and persuasive. She posits that the success of a revolution depends on 1) it being free of the misery surrounding an impoverished populace and 2) its success in finding a sufficient authority to replace the deposed one. America got lucky, starting from scratch, and the success of their and any revolution was dependent upon a foundation -- in the American case, the foundation of a constitution and new form of government, which is something the French and most subsequent revolutions failed to do.

At the same time, The American revolution dwindled and the "revolutionary spirit" eventually died away because the founders did not do enough to protect it when enshrining the Constitution. She says they could have done this by protecting the political rights and freedom of the townships and town meetings. These small groups or "councils," she claims, are vital aspects that spring organically from any revolutionary movement and are the only outlet for true political expression by the common citizen. They therefore must be nurtured in a symbiotic relationship with the state if freedom is to be preserved.

The conclusion is particularly impressive, when she actually suggests a return to the ancient Greco-Roman political system in which not everyone votes, only those who are sufficiently interested in the political process. This government would inherently be both self-chosen and self-including. In this way, people not concerned with their public freedom are not forced to participate and can instead focus on their private lives, while people to whom politics does indeed matter will never be excluded from political decisions (as they inevitably are in our current representative system). I honestly don't know enough about political or revolutionary theory to agree or disagree with her authoritatively, and their are obvious obstacles to implementing this plan in our current climate (cough cough -- corporate money). But despite leaving herself open to charges of elitism I can say at least that her arguments are persuasive, even intuitive despite their complexity.

The ideas here are essential, but the packaging is unfortunately repellent. I would not recommend starting your exposure to Arendt with this book. Probably better to start with the far easier Eichmann, and then move onto the more important Human Condition. But this one is important nonetheless, especially for anyone interested in political theory or the concept of freedom.

]]> <![CDATA[Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn]]> 200300090
Western How It Was Born, How It Died, How It Can Be Reborn is a paradigm-shifting book that provides a trenchant critique of the Western left intelligentsia. It reveals how its dominant ideological orientation―characterized by defeatism, utopianism, and anti-communism―is rooted in the political economy of imperialism. Internationally acclaimed theorist Domenico Losurdo thus provides a fresh and challenging perspective on purportedly radical thinkers who have been widely promoted in the imperial core, including those affiliated with the Frankfurt School, French Theory, and operaismo , as well as Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt, and Slavoj Žižek, among others. His critique also has wide-reaching implications for trend-setting discourses inspired by this coterie of intellectuals, from postcolonial and decolonial theory to subaltern studies and beyond. Far from being a negative undertaking, however, this book is grounded in the positive project of reigniting anti-imperialist Marxism.

As a complement to the Italian edition of Western Marxism , this first-ever English translation also features the unprecedented publication of a major lecture that demystifies “Western Marxism�� and its role in imperialists�� efforts to denigrate the achievements of actually existing socialism. Raising the stakes of what it means to produce critical theory, Western Marxism will surely provoke wide debate and a reevaluation of hallowed canons.]]> 352 Domenico Losurdo 1685900623 Andrew 4 history, political-science
It's a stinging rebuke that goes a long way toward explaining the frustration I've long experienced when trying to engage with so-called "radical" academics (and I've taken a class with one of Losurdo's principal villains here, Michael Hardt). They rarely feel like they're talking about anything materially relevant to present-day struggle, and Losurdo highlights why: they've essentially forsaken any current anti-imperialist struggles along with all actually existing socialist states. They always have reasonable sounding justifications for doing so, but they coincidentally never seem to deviate from the pattern of siding with imperialism against poor, non-white nations.

Probably the most memorable passage comes when discussing Hardt and Negri's Empire and their downright weird, anarchist claim that no state deserves any support from Marxists(p.202):

...'from India to Algeria, from Cuba to Vietnam, the state is the poisoned gift of national liberation.' Yes, the Palestinians can count on the sympathy and support of Western Marxism. But, from the moment in which 'the Palestinians are institutionalized,' one can 'no longer be at their side.' The fact is that 'as soon as the nation begins to form as a sovereign state, its progressive functions all but vanish.'

And so, we can be sympathetic to the Chinese, Vietnamese, Palestinians, or any other people only so long as they are oppressed, humiliated, and without any power -- that is, as long as they are in the hands of colonialism and imperialism. We can support their struggle for national liberation only as long as it continues to be defeated! The defeat or the inconclusiveness of a revolutionary movement is the precondition for certain exponents of Western Marxism to celebrate themselves and enjoy being rebels who, in any circumstance, refuse to contaminate themselves with constituted power!

Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn

author: Domenico Losurdo
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: history, political-science
review:
An extremely important contribution to 21st century Marxism and political theory. Losurdo essentially and effectively asserts that so-called "western Marxism," or in other words the academic Euro-American additions to Marxist theory since the mid-20th century, is nothing more than racist, imperialist, utopian anti-communism.

It's a stinging rebuke that goes a long way toward explaining the frustration I've long experienced when trying to engage with so-called "radical" academics (and I've taken a class with one of Losurdo's principal villains here, Michael Hardt). They rarely feel like they're talking about anything materially relevant to present-day struggle, and Losurdo highlights why: they've essentially forsaken any current anti-imperialist struggles along with all actually existing socialist states. They always have reasonable sounding justifications for doing so, but they coincidentally never seem to deviate from the pattern of siding with imperialism against poor, non-white nations.

Probably the most memorable passage comes when discussing Hardt and Negri's Empire and their downright weird, anarchist claim that no state deserves any support from Marxists(p.202):

...'from India to Algeria, from Cuba to Vietnam, the state is the poisoned gift of national liberation.' Yes, the Palestinians can count on the sympathy and support of Western Marxism. But, from the moment in which 'the Palestinians are institutionalized,' one can 'no longer be at their side.' The fact is that 'as soon as the nation begins to form as a sovereign state, its progressive functions all but vanish.'

And so, we can be sympathetic to the Chinese, Vietnamese, Palestinians, or any other people only so long as they are oppressed, humiliated, and without any power -- that is, as long as they are in the hands of colonialism and imperialism. We can support their struggle for national liberation only as long as it continues to be defeated! The defeat or the inconclusiveness of a revolutionary movement is the precondition for certain exponents of Western Marxism to celebrate themselves and enjoy being rebels who, in any circumstance, refuse to contaminate themselves with constituted power!

Of the four Losurdo books I've started, this is probably the 3rd most engaging/important (behind Liberalism and Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend). It suffers from being fairly repetitive, and I wish Losurdo had spent more time dissecting the failures of contemporary Marxists. E.g. Hardt, Negri and Zizek come off really poorly here, but they're not the only contemporary Western Marxists, and even in criticizing those three Losurdo stays pretty superficial. For me some of the most compelling arguments would be examining their positions on contemporary events - e.g. Hardt's support of the Yugoslavia bombing, and Zizek's repeated antipathy toward China. Those parts were great and I just wanted more.

In any case, this book is important to read for any Euro-American Marxists, especially white ones and especially university students. If you're studying Marxism at the undergrad or graduate level it is vital that you understand the history and failure of the ideology you're imbibing, and I doubt anyone can elucidate that for you more quickly than Losurdo in this book.

]]> <![CDATA[La sombra del viento (El cementerio de los libros olvidados, #1)]]> 184834 478 Carlos Ruiz Zafón 0974872407 Andrew 4 literature-modern, favorites
Encontré este libro en una lista de "los mejores" del siglo 21, o algo asi, y pues sí resulta que es bastante genial. Desde hace rato que no leo una novela que me cautiva como hizo esta, con personajes y narrativa que casi me obligan de continuar la lectura. No quería dejarlo, y leí más de 200 páginas en un día para terminarlo ayer.

Hay muchas personas que han ya descrito la trama de la novela, y lo impresionante de diseñar un cuento dentro de otro cuento, etc. Sin tener mucho tiempo para entrar en tales detalles, solo digo que los unicos otras novelas que me han envuelto asi en los ultimos 5 años son Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell y The Overstory.

Pero todavía muy largo jejeje... si se cortara como 100 páginas habría sido perfecto.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I came across this book on a list of "best" books of the 21st century or some such, and yeah turns out it's pretty great. It's been a while since I've read a book that captivated me like this one, with characters and story that almost force me to keep reading. I literally didn't want to put it down, and even read more than 200 dense pages (in my 2nd language) to finish it yesterday.

Plenty of folks have already described the plot and the impressive construction of a story within a story, etc. I don't have time to get into all those details, but I'll just say that that only other novels that have so engrossed me in the last 5 years were Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and The Overstory.

All that and it was still too long lol.... cut about 100 pages and it woulda been perfect.

]]> 4.50 2001 La sombra del viento (El cementerio de los libros olvidados, #1)

La sombra del viento (El cementerio de los libros olvidados, #1)

author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: literature-modern, favorites
review:
***Crítica en inglés viene más abajo /// English review below***

Encontré este libro en una lista de "los mejores" del siglo 21, o algo asi, y pues sí resulta que es bastante genial. Desde hace rato que no leo una novela que me cautiva como hizo esta, con personajes y narrativa que casi me obligan de continuar la lectura. No quería dejarlo, y leí más de 200 páginas en un día para terminarlo ayer.

Hay muchas personas que han ya descrito la trama de la novela, y lo impresionante de diseñar un cuento dentro de otro cuento, etc. Sin tener mucho tiempo para entrar en tales detalles, solo digo que los unicos otras novelas que me han envuelto asi en los ultimos 5 años son Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell y The Overstory.

Pero todavía muy largo jejeje... si se cortara como 100 páginas habría sido perfecto.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I came across this book on a list of "best" books of the 21st century or some such, and yeah turns out it's pretty great. It's been a while since I've read a book that captivated me like this one, with characters and story that almost force me to keep reading. I literally didn't want to put it down, and even read more than 200 dense pages (in my 2nd language) to finish it yesterday.

Plenty of folks have already described the plot and the impressive construction of a story within a story, etc. I don't have time to get into all those details, but I'll just say that that only other novels that have so engrossed me in the last 5 years were Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and The Overstory.

All that and it was still too long lol.... cut about 100 pages and it woulda been perfect.

]]> <![CDATA[The Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings 1916-1935]]> 43112
"Very usefully pulls the key passages from Gramsci's writings into one volume, which allows English-language readers an overall view of his work. Particularly valuable are the connections it draws across his work and the insights which the introduction and glossary provide into the origin and development of some key Gramscian concepts."
--Stuart Hall, Professor of Sociology, Open University

The most complete one-volume collection of writings by one of the most fascinating thinkers in the history of Marxism, The Antonio Gramsci Reader fills the need for a broad and general introduction to this major figure.

Antonio Gramsci was one of the most important theorists of class, culture, and the state since Karl Marx. In the U.S., where his writings were long unavailable, his stature has lately so increased that every serious student of Marxism, political theory, or modern Italian history must now read him.

Imprisoned by the Fascists for much of his adult life, Gramsci wrote brilliantly on a broad range of subjects: from folklore to philosophy, popular culture to political strategy. Still the most comprehensive collection of Gramsci's writings available in English, it now features a new introduction by leading Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, in addition to its biographical introduction, informative introductions to each section, and glossary of key terms.]]> 447 Antonio Gramsci 0814727018 Andrew 4
There's also quite a timely passage on political crisis (p.217-19):

At a certain point in their historical lives, social groups become detached from their traditional parties... the traditional parties... are no longer recognized by their class as its expression. When such crises occur, the immediate situation becomes delicate and dangerous, because the field is open for violent solutions, for the activities of unknown forces, represented by charismatic 'men of destiny'.

... In every country the process is different, although the content is the same. And the content is the crisis of the ruling class's hegemony, which occurs either because the ruling class has failed in some major political undertaking for which it has requested, or forcibly extracted, the consent of the broad masses (war, for example), or because huge masses... have passed suddenly from a state of political passivity to a certain activity, and put forward demands which... add up to a revolution. A 'crisis of authority' is spoken of: this is precisely the crisis of hegemony, or crisis of the state as a whole.

... the various strata of the population are not all capable of orienting themselves equally swiftly, or of reorganizing with the same rhythm. The traditional ruling class, which has numerous trained cadres, changes men and programs and, with greater speed than is achieved by the subordinate classes, reabsorbs the control that was slipping from its grasp. Perhaps it may make sacrifices, and expose itself to an uncertain future by demagogic promises; but it retains power, reinforces it for the time being, and uses it to crush its adversary and disperse his leading cadres, who cannot be very numerous or highly trained. The passage of the troops of many different parties under the banner of a single party, which better represents and resumes the needs of the entire class, is an organic and normal phenomenon, even if its rhythm is very swift... It represents the fusion of an entire social class under a single leadership, which alone is held to be capable of solving an overriding problem of its existence and of fending off a mortal danger. When the crisis does not find this organic solution, but that of the charismatic leader, it means that a static equilibrium exists... it means that no group, neither the conservatives nor the progressives, has the strength for victory, and that even the conservative group needs a master.

Yup, Gramsci clocked us.

]]> 4.25 1937 The Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings 1916-1935

author: Antonio Gramsci
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1937
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: history, political-science, philosophy-science
review:
This is about as difficult a book as I can read anymore with my alarmingly deteriorated attention span. It took me awhile but I got through the important bits, and I can see why he's considered foundational to modern Marxism. This is the single best compliation of Gramsci's writing, and a must-read for any Marxist. Certain concepts like "hegemony" and "war of position/maneuver" are vital for any serious political scientist.

There's also quite a timely passage on political crisis (p.217-19):

At a certain point in their historical lives, social groups become detached from their traditional parties... the traditional parties... are no longer recognized by their class as its expression. When such crises occur, the immediate situation becomes delicate and dangerous, because the field is open for violent solutions, for the activities of unknown forces, represented by charismatic 'men of destiny'.

... In every country the process is different, although the content is the same. And the content is the crisis of the ruling class's hegemony, which occurs either because the ruling class has failed in some major political undertaking for which it has requested, or forcibly extracted, the consent of the broad masses (war, for example), or because huge masses... have passed suddenly from a state of political passivity to a certain activity, and put forward demands which... add up to a revolution. A 'crisis of authority' is spoken of: this is precisely the crisis of hegemony, or crisis of the state as a whole.

... the various strata of the population are not all capable of orienting themselves equally swiftly, or of reorganizing with the same rhythm. The traditional ruling class, which has numerous trained cadres, changes men and programs and, with greater speed than is achieved by the subordinate classes, reabsorbs the control that was slipping from its grasp. Perhaps it may make sacrifices, and expose itself to an uncertain future by demagogic promises; but it retains power, reinforces it for the time being, and uses it to crush its adversary and disperse his leading cadres, who cannot be very numerous or highly trained. The passage of the troops of many different parties under the banner of a single party, which better represents and resumes the needs of the entire class, is an organic and normal phenomenon, even if its rhythm is very swift... It represents the fusion of an entire social class under a single leadership, which alone is held to be capable of solving an overriding problem of its existence and of fending off a mortal danger. When the crisis does not find this organic solution, but that of the charismatic leader, it means that a static equilibrium exists... it means that no group, neither the conservatives nor the progressives, has the strength for victory, and that even the conservative group needs a master.

Yup, Gramsci clocked us.

]]> <![CDATA[Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis]]> 205900042 Both a forceful polemic and a practical guide, Abolish Rent takes aim at one of the foremost engines of inequality and injustice.

Rent is a wealth transfer from the poorest to the richest, the most vulnerable to the least, a monthly tribute that drives millions to debt, despair, and into the streets. In the context of a permanent housing crisis and governments in the pocket of real estate interests, Abolish Rent reorients the politics of housing around tenants political actors who can, through organizing, direct action, and collective bargaining, bring about a housing system that meets their needs.��

Abolish Rent is the first book-length engagement with the resurgent tenant movement. Authors Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis—cofounders of Los Angles’s many thousand member tenant union—offer a deeply-reported account centering poor and working class tenants who are fighting back, staying put, and remaking the city in the process. They take us to trilingual strategy meetings, raucous marches against gentrification, and daring eviction defenses where immigrants put their lives on the line.��

If rent abolition is our aim, tenant power must be the means—built through everyday resistance in our buildings and on our blocks. This is the revolutionary project we need to make our housing, our cities, and the world our home.]]> 200 Tracy Rosenthal Andrew 5
I came mostly for the last of these and was not disappointed. The examples they gave, ranging from simple community property clean-ups and block parties all the way to prolonged rent strikes and eminent domain campaigns were not only educational but also inspiring. As a housing professional I've definitely left this book with ideas, and some energy to pursue them. If I have one criticism of the book it's that it's a little light on the concrete step-by-step/how-to instructions of building a tenant's association. But the examples the authors cite provide most of the outline, to which a reasonably intelligent person can fill in the color.

I highly recommend this to basically everyone, but it's especially important to anyone in the housing sector whether non-profit, government or volunteer. Leftists of all stripes will certainly get something out of it as well. I think we should all familiarize ourselves with this terrain, as it is arguably the most viable area for mass organization we have available to us in the 21st century.

]]> 4.55 Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis

author: Tracy Rosenthal
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: history, political-science, favorites
review:
An important and very welcome book written by two of the founders of L.A. Tenants Union (LATU). It's short yet covers a lot of ground, from theoretical underpinnings of abolishing rent, to the history of real estate and its institutionalized racism, to real-world examples of several successful tenant organizing campaigns.

I came mostly for the last of these and was not disappointed. The examples they gave, ranging from simple community property clean-ups and block parties all the way to prolonged rent strikes and eminent domain campaigns were not only educational but also inspiring. As a housing professional I've definitely left this book with ideas, and some energy to pursue them. If I have one criticism of the book it's that it's a little light on the concrete step-by-step/how-to instructions of building a tenant's association. But the examples the authors cite provide most of the outline, to which a reasonably intelligent person can fill in the color.

I highly recommend this to basically everyone, but it's especially important to anyone in the housing sector whether non-profit, government or volunteer. Leftists of all stripes will certainly get something out of it as well. I think we should all familiarize ourselves with this terrain, as it is arguably the most viable area for mass organization we have available to us in the 21st century.

]]> <![CDATA[Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy]]> 52879116 The travels of Ijon Tichy, a Gulliver of the space age, who encounters faulty time machines, intelligent washing machines, suicidal potatoes, and other puzzling phenomena.

Memoirs of a Space Traveler follows the adventures of Ijon Tichy, a Gulliver of the space age, who leads readers through strange experiments involving, among other puzzling phenomena, faulty time machines, intelligent washing machines, and suicidal potatoes. The scientists Tichy encounters make plans that are grandiose, and strike bargains that are Faustian. They pursue humanity's greatest and most ancient obsessions: immortality, artificial intelligence, and top-of-the-line consumer items.

By turns satirical, philosophical, and absurd, these stories express the most starkly original and prescient notions of a master of speculative fiction.
]]> 200 Stanisław Lem 0262538504 Andrew 3
I still don't like this endeavor of Lem's nearly as much as his more serious novels (Eden, Fiasco, or The Invincible), but I'm at least able to appreciate it more than his other Pirx or Tichy entries.

]]> 3.78 1971 Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy

Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy

author: Stanisław Lem
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1971
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/30
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror, short-stories-essays
review:
Significantly more agreeable to me than either Pirx or Star Diaries, mostly because instead of being purely silly and trivial, Lem here uses his Ijon Tichy "character" (in quotes because he has no discernible personality traits after two entire volumes) in service of more substance, exploring existential ideas of identity, ego and soul. As such, these stories are very much in the vein of Wells, Poe and Lovecraft, many of them being 2nd-party accounts of some demented scientific adventure that is as much existentially horrifying as it is fascinating.

I still don't like this endeavor of Lem's nearly as much as his more serious novels (Eden, Fiasco, or The Invincible), but I'm at least able to appreciate it more than his other Pirx or Tichy entries.

]]> Jane Eyre 10210 Alternate editions can be found here and here.

A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.

Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.]]> 532 Charlotte Brontë 0142437204 Andrew 4 favorites, literature-classic Pride and Prejudice, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this. I love the feminist aspect as well. Even the annoying coincidences so typical of romanticist literature weren't enough to ruin the experience. A truly excellent novel.

Also highly recommendable is Lucy Hughes-Hallett's introduction from the 1991 Everyman's Library edition. She includes an important and fascinating discussion on Bertha, the "first Mrs. Rochester," and her relation to Jane. Spoiler: she thinks they are two sides of the same coin that are eventually integrated once the purpose of maiming Mr. Rochester... ahem, "making him Jane's equal"... is achieved. Really love that reading of the themes.]]> 4.14 1847 Jane Eyre

author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1847
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: favorites, literature-classic
review:
Like with Pride and Prejudice, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this. I love the feminist aspect as well. Even the annoying coincidences so typical of romanticist literature weren't enough to ruin the experience. A truly excellent novel.

Also highly recommendable is Lucy Hughes-Hallett's introduction from the 1991 Everyman's Library edition. She includes an important and fascinating discussion on Bertha, the "first Mrs. Rochester," and her relation to Jane. Spoiler: she thinks they are two sides of the same coin that are eventually integrated once the purpose of maiming Mr. Rochester... ahem, "making him Jane's equal"... is achieved. Really love that reading of the themes.
]]> Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]> 279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Andrew 4 literature-classic
Overall glad to have read it, probably will not read more as I do not like romances. But maybe Jane Eyre just to try a different 19th century female author?]]> 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice

author: Jane Austen
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1813
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: literature-classic
review:
I'd never read Austen before so I decided to stop being sexist. It was surprisingly readable for something two centuries old, and downright affecting toward the end. I dislike Austen's choice to relate the climactic profession of love through a narrative paragraph rather than dialogue.

Overall glad to have read it, probably will not read more as I do not like romances. But maybe Jane Eyre just to try a different 19th century female author?
]]> <![CDATA[The Metamorphosis and Other Stories]]> 404309 ]]> 218 Franz Kafka 1566199697 Andrew 4 literature-classic
Living in such close, constant proximity to this nightmare world apparently made Kafka's life rather burdensome, but every one of his readers is better and more enlightened for his suffering. These are ideas and motifs that make his stories downright uncomfortable to read. It's difficult to love Kafka because the experience of reading him can be so purposely dreadful. But it's not difficult at all to stand in awe and gratitude of an intellect that produced works of such originality, illumination and alienation.

I enjoyed this collection for containing some of his lesser-known stories. I've read all of the major works but was interested in the more minute tickings of his brain. Sure it was interesting to re-read The Metamorphosis, although I enjoyed it probably least out of all the stories in the book due to its tedium. And despite its understandable literary significance, I suspect that the designers of high school curricula perpetrate a disservice upon both Kafka and teenager by submitting the youth to this work as an introduction. The Trial would be more accessible even if not as emblematic.

"The Judgment" was simply bizarre and baffling. Flew right over my head.

But I enjoyed "The Stoker" and "A Country Doctor," the most authentically dreamlike of the bunch. "The Stoker" has that quality that everyone has experienced in her or his dreams, where you have a goal, something you have to do, and you're on the way to do it but get sidetracked, then gradually forget what you had to do, yet still suffer that anxiety of knowing you had to do something. It's a perfect depiction. And I've rarely read or experienced a nightmare more disturbing and horrifying than "A Country Doctor," which shares the same relentless, formless compulsion of "Stoker," but in much more sinister tones.

"In the Penal Colony" is probably the most straightforward of the collection, up there with The Trial (which contains that haunting exemplar of existentialism from this collection, "Before the Law") and The Castle as my favorite of Kafka's.

I found the anecdote "A Message from the Emperor" to be the most powerful story of them all. I can't quite put my finger on what hit me so hard about this one, perhaps the religious overtones, with the Emperor being God, and us humans forever impeded from receiving God's message. It conveys this sense of unbearable tragedy in amazingly few words.

"Josephine the Singer" and "A Hunger Artist" are the two stories that seemed the most important somehow, although I did not quite enjoy either of them (though the latter more than the former, especially with the concluding image of the Panther). They will reward a revisiting.

Overall, this is a wonderful collection for Kafka-lovers and beginners alike. It contains his most important short works, a few of them ("The Stoker," "Before the Law," "A Message from the Emperor") helpfully presented apart from the longer works in which they were eventually included. As I said, it's not necessarily enjoyable, but these works are important as hell, and the experience of reading them uniquely disturbing.

]]> 3.80 1915 The Metamorphosis and Other Stories

author: Franz Kafka
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1915
rating: 4
read at: 2014/05/09
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: literature-classic
review:
Anxiety. Injustice. Terror. Muddle. Impotence. Kafka conveys the feelings better than any writer ever. He enjoys/suffers the simultaneous blessing/curse of unfettered access -- really a direct portal as if through a mirror - to that dreamscape world of slow-burning nightmares.

Living in such close, constant proximity to this nightmare world apparently made Kafka's life rather burdensome, but every one of his readers is better and more enlightened for his suffering. These are ideas and motifs that make his stories downright uncomfortable to read. It's difficult to love Kafka because the experience of reading him can be so purposely dreadful. But it's not difficult at all to stand in awe and gratitude of an intellect that produced works of such originality, illumination and alienation.

I enjoyed this collection for containing some of his lesser-known stories. I've read all of the major works but was interested in the more minute tickings of his brain. Sure it was interesting to re-read The Metamorphosis, although I enjoyed it probably least out of all the stories in the book due to its tedium. And despite its understandable literary significance, I suspect that the designers of high school curricula perpetrate a disservice upon both Kafka and teenager by submitting the youth to this work as an introduction. The Trial would be more accessible even if not as emblematic.

"The Judgment" was simply bizarre and baffling. Flew right over my head.

But I enjoyed "The Stoker" and "A Country Doctor," the most authentically dreamlike of the bunch. "The Stoker" has that quality that everyone has experienced in her or his dreams, where you have a goal, something you have to do, and you're on the way to do it but get sidetracked, then gradually forget what you had to do, yet still suffer that anxiety of knowing you had to do something. It's a perfect depiction. And I've rarely read or experienced a nightmare more disturbing and horrifying than "A Country Doctor," which shares the same relentless, formless compulsion of "Stoker," but in much more sinister tones.

"In the Penal Colony" is probably the most straightforward of the collection, up there with The Trial (which contains that haunting exemplar of existentialism from this collection, "Before the Law") and The Castle as my favorite of Kafka's.

I found the anecdote "A Message from the Emperor" to be the most powerful story of them all. I can't quite put my finger on what hit me so hard about this one, perhaps the religious overtones, with the Emperor being God, and us humans forever impeded from receiving God's message. It conveys this sense of unbearable tragedy in amazingly few words.

"Josephine the Singer" and "A Hunger Artist" are the two stories that seemed the most important somehow, although I did not quite enjoy either of them (though the latter more than the former, especially with the concluding image of the Panther). They will reward a revisiting.

Overall, this is a wonderful collection for Kafka-lovers and beginners alike. It contains his most important short works, a few of them ("The Stoker," "Before the Law," "A Message from the Emperor") helpfully presented apart from the longer works in which they were eventually included. As I said, it's not necessarily enjoyable, but these works are important as hell, and the experience of reading them uniquely disturbing.

]]> <![CDATA[Class Struggle: A Political and Philosophical History]]> 35559341 363 Domenico Losurdo 1349706604 Andrew 2 political-science, dnf 4.48 2013

Class Struggle: A Political and Philosophical History

author: Domenico Losurdo
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves: political-science, dnf
review:
I don't know what I thought this would be, but it definitely wasn't what it ended up being. I probably should have paid more attention to the subtitle before purchasing.
]]> Five Decembers 57522883
This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story—it’s a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war. Spanning the entirety of World War II, Five Decembers is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.]]> 429 James Kestrel 1789096111 Andrew 5 literature-modern, favorites 4.38 2021

author: James Kestrel
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/06
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves: literature-modern, favorites
review:
As perfect a novel as I've read in a LONG time... and I don't even particularly like the crime/detective/noir genre. Kestrel just did it superbly here, simultaneously paying supreme homage to the genre while masterfully updating it. And while making his protagonist a legitimate hero, not the typical anti-hero of the genre. I'll eagerly read his next work.
]]> <![CDATA[Racing to Extinction: Why Humanity Will Soon Vanish]]> 203511759 Homo sapiens, both anatomically and behaviorally, to vanishing.

A former endangered species biologist looks at the ongoing sixth extinction through the prism of human behavior, personal experience, ecology, evolutionary biology, and contemporary conservation efforts. He provides new insights into factors triggering the current mass extinction event and examines conventional wisdom regarding human intelligence. The author suggests-as humanity edges ever closer to disappearing forever-a clear-eyed, real-world rationale for resignation but also acceptance.

]]> 260 Lyle Lewis Andrew 2
Despite having a much less compelling scope than I wanted, and despite being haphazardly organized and/or argued (if you can even call it an argument), there were some interesting passages and takeaways. E.g. he puts an interesting spin on human intelligence, pointing out that our technology, contrary to being a sign of our superior intelligence, was virtually inevitable given the vast number of humans that have existed in history. He also points out that our brains have been diminishing in size and our intelligence likely compares unfavorably to our hunter/gatherer ancestors, who were both more ambulatory and more manipulative with respect to their immediate environment. The book also has interest as a memoir, with him relating his experience in various U.S. governmental departments relating to the environment, and how all of those offices end up complicit in the ongoing degradation of our planet. His experience with the Pando aspen grove in Idaho was especially memorable.

That about ends the positives. As the book goes on you realize he has a probably unhealthy level of romanticization of the hunter/gatherer lifestyle, e.g. on p. 153 by explicitly blaming our current state of affairs on the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago. What he never addresses at all is the resulting implication that we should therefore seek to return to hunter/gatherer behavior. He doesn't really seem to believe that, instead just ignoring it, so it becomes harder to take him seriously as the book goes on. His perspective is not wholly coherent. Another, admittedly more petty piece of incoherence is that after spending a lot of time preaching how animals are just as intelligent and soulful as humans, he admits that one of his favorite pastimes is the torture of animals (i.e. fly-fishing).

There are a couple more major problems that end up being the undoing of the book, even had I been interested in the less-interesting scope. One is his treatment of "overpopulation," which again he presents as a given without actually trying to justify his assertion or grapple with any of its implications. He has a 5-page section on it, but not to prove it's true (which I've read many different perspectives on and find to be a pretty controversial debate), but rather to cite it as just one more reason humanity has screwed up. Nowhere does he acknowledge that such an argument can often lead to eugenicist fascism. His treatment of this highly controversial topic in the most superficial manner is probably the strongest evidence that this book is not really a serious political treatise, it is more a manifesto. And he is not a serious political thinker (i.e. not in any way Marxist), he is a liberal activist. This was already evident, fwiw, by his earlier, ridiculous equation of Mao and Stalin with Attila the Hun and Hitler.

Most damning though is the very end when he presents his actual timeline for human extinction, which is embarrassingly soon. With no supporting evidence or data whatsoever, he literally sets the over/under at 2055, meaning he thinks there's a 50% chance we're all extinct by then. In 30 years.

In doing so, in another sign of incoherence, he seems to completely discard the things he himself has earlier told us about the incredibly long timeline of extinction events, pointing out that the dinosaurs went extinct over thousands of years, and that this current "6th Extinction" event has been going on for tens of thousands of years. But yep, it'll all apparently be wrapped up in the next generation. What timing for all of us!

But seriously, if he had made any effort to support this assertion with anything approaching scientific rigor I would not be mocking him. I don't even need graphs or too many numbers, just present even a short, reasoned argument. What he has given us instead (he even partially admits) is a personal screed against the profession and the bureaucracy that has scorned him. He might be right, but unfortunately he has not presented anything that should convince any rational person of it. In that sense this is a somewhat pathetic effort, and I do feel bad for him. I also appreciate his work as a contrarian in the U.S. government agencies that are ostensibly responsible for stewarding the environment.

FWIW, I agree that we are in biological and civilizational collapse. I do not think it's a given that humanity will go extinct, but I think a mass die-off is likely. Humanity didn't go extinct during the last ice age and it would take a lot for them to go extinct during this. Where I differ most drastically with Lewis is in this uncertainty of total v. partial extinction. I was hoping he would present some compelling evidence for his position on it, but he absolutely did not. Where I also differ with him is in my understanding on the timeline for collapse. The Roman Empire took hundreds of years to collapse. Our collapse started about 20 years ago (I have it pegged to 9/11/01). We are very much in the middle of collapse right now, but it is not a sudden thing, it takes decades or even centuries. Based on this understanding, I find it laughable when someone tells me, completely unsupported by any data, that we will be literally extinct in 30 years. It's preposterous, and I wish Lewis had workshopped this idea with a couple of more rigorous scientists before his final draft.

Overall I don't think I'd strongly recommend this to anyone. It's not boring, especially if you haven't done a lot of thinking/reading on the subject, but neither is there much novel here. Even the people who don't know a lot of the stuff he says should probably start elsewhere in their education, with someone who can provide a more coherent and well-reasoned argument. Here are some places I'd recommend starting before this:

Climate Leviathan
The Solutions Are Already Here
Green Illusions
Post-Scarcity Anarchism
Small Is Beautiful
The Dawn of Everything
Endgame, Vol. 1 (& Vol. 2)
A Sand County Almanac
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Overstory

]]> 4.29 Racing to Extinction: Why Humanity Will Soon Vanish

Racing to Extinction: Why Humanity Will Soon Vanish

author: Lyle Lewis
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: history, political-science, philosophy-science
review:
Disappointing, and a bit silly, but my displeasure is at least partially a fault of my own expectations. Based on the title I was expecting a reasoned argument to convince the reader that humanity's demise is imminent. But Lewis somehow fulfills the promise of the title in a totally different (and imo far less interesting) way. He's not here to convince us of his premise, he's here with his premise as a given, and to explain how we arrived at the premise through a review of millions of years of evolution. It's far more a work of history than of sociology or political science, and had I known it I probably would not have read it (i.e. I already know how we got here, and a lot of what Lewis relates strikes me as banal).

Despite having a much less compelling scope than I wanted, and despite being haphazardly organized and/or argued (if you can even call it an argument), there were some interesting passages and takeaways. E.g. he puts an interesting spin on human intelligence, pointing out that our technology, contrary to being a sign of our superior intelligence, was virtually inevitable given the vast number of humans that have existed in history. He also points out that our brains have been diminishing in size and our intelligence likely compares unfavorably to our hunter/gatherer ancestors, who were both more ambulatory and more manipulative with respect to their immediate environment. The book also has interest as a memoir, with him relating his experience in various U.S. governmental departments relating to the environment, and how all of those offices end up complicit in the ongoing degradation of our planet. His experience with the Pando aspen grove in Idaho was especially memorable.

That about ends the positives. As the book goes on you realize he has a probably unhealthy level of romanticization of the hunter/gatherer lifestyle, e.g. on p. 153 by explicitly blaming our current state of affairs on the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago. What he never addresses at all is the resulting implication that we should therefore seek to return to hunter/gatherer behavior. He doesn't really seem to believe that, instead just ignoring it, so it becomes harder to take him seriously as the book goes on. His perspective is not wholly coherent. Another, admittedly more petty piece of incoherence is that after spending a lot of time preaching how animals are just as intelligent and soulful as humans, he admits that one of his favorite pastimes is the torture of animals (i.e. fly-fishing).

There are a couple more major problems that end up being the undoing of the book, even had I been interested in the less-interesting scope. One is his treatment of "overpopulation," which again he presents as a given without actually trying to justify his assertion or grapple with any of its implications. He has a 5-page section on it, but not to prove it's true (which I've read many different perspectives on and find to be a pretty controversial debate), but rather to cite it as just one more reason humanity has screwed up. Nowhere does he acknowledge that such an argument can often lead to eugenicist fascism. His treatment of this highly controversial topic in the most superficial manner is probably the strongest evidence that this book is not really a serious political treatise, it is more a manifesto. And he is not a serious political thinker (i.e. not in any way Marxist), he is a liberal activist. This was already evident, fwiw, by his earlier, ridiculous equation of Mao and Stalin with Attila the Hun and Hitler.

Most damning though is the very end when he presents his actual timeline for human extinction, which is embarrassingly soon. With no supporting evidence or data whatsoever, he literally sets the over/under at 2055, meaning he thinks there's a 50% chance we're all extinct by then. In 30 years.

In doing so, in another sign of incoherence, he seems to completely discard the things he himself has earlier told us about the incredibly long timeline of extinction events, pointing out that the dinosaurs went extinct over thousands of years, and that this current "6th Extinction" event has been going on for tens of thousands of years. But yep, it'll all apparently be wrapped up in the next generation. What timing for all of us!

But seriously, if he had made any effort to support this assertion with anything approaching scientific rigor I would not be mocking him. I don't even need graphs or too many numbers, just present even a short, reasoned argument. What he has given us instead (he even partially admits) is a personal screed against the profession and the bureaucracy that has scorned him. He might be right, but unfortunately he has not presented anything that should convince any rational person of it. In that sense this is a somewhat pathetic effort, and I do feel bad for him. I also appreciate his work as a contrarian in the U.S. government agencies that are ostensibly responsible for stewarding the environment.

FWIW, I agree that we are in biological and civilizational collapse. I do not think it's a given that humanity will go extinct, but I think a mass die-off is likely. Humanity didn't go extinct during the last ice age and it would take a lot for them to go extinct during this. Where I differ most drastically with Lewis is in this uncertainty of total v. partial extinction. I was hoping he would present some compelling evidence for his position on it, but he absolutely did not. Where I also differ with him is in my understanding on the timeline for collapse. The Roman Empire took hundreds of years to collapse. Our collapse started about 20 years ago (I have it pegged to 9/11/01). We are very much in the middle of collapse right now, but it is not a sudden thing, it takes decades or even centuries. Based on this understanding, I find it laughable when someone tells me, completely unsupported by any data, that we will be literally extinct in 30 years. It's preposterous, and I wish Lewis had workshopped this idea with a couple of more rigorous scientists before his final draft.

Overall I don't think I'd strongly recommend this to anyone. It's not boring, especially if you haven't done a lot of thinking/reading on the subject, but neither is there much novel here. Even the people who don't know a lot of the stuff he says should probably start elsewhere in their education, with someone who can provide a more coherent and well-reasoned argument. Here are some places I'd recommend starting before this:

Climate Leviathan
The Solutions Are Already Here
Green Illusions
Post-Scarcity Anarchism
Small Is Beautiful
The Dawn of Everything
Endgame, Vol. 1 (& Vol. 2)
A Sand County Almanac
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Overstory

]]> Just Kids 206318521 Just Kids, Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has to the rest of her formidable body of work--from her influential 1975 album Horses to her visual art and poetry.]]> 262 Patti Smith 006621131X Andrew 3 memoir sure why not 4.27 2010

author: Patti Smith
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: memoir
review:
sure why not
]]> <![CDATA[Lonely Crusade (Himes, Chester) by Chester Himes (1997-07-03)]]> 134198652 0 Chester Himes Andrew 2 Invisible Man. Do better, ŷ��.

This reads as a much less artful, much more obnoxious impression of Richard Wright or Ralph Ellison. There are only a few sympathetic characters and the protagonist is definitely not one of them. Yet the ending suggests this odiousness is unintentional by Himes, because he really seems to want us to swallow that the three sympathetic characters see something worth loving in our main guy. Frankly it reads as unintentionally autobiographical, and some of the protagonist's inner musings throughout the book -- e.g. his violent misogyny, his anti-semitism, and his general entitlement -- make me feel very uncomfortable toward Himes himself.

The 3rd person omniscient perspective did not work for me at all. Spending 80% of the book in the mind of our protagonist only to occasionally flit into the heads of the side characters was clumsy and distracting. Also, the armchair psychologizing of each of these characters was both dubious and overexplanatory, never more so when he proceeded to explain to the reader how one of the Jewish characters was actually incredibly anti-semitic. Sorry Mr. Himes, I'm just not convinced you know the inner workings of the Jewish mind as well as you think you do, and definitely not well enough to explain it to me without yourself coming across as anti-semitic.

The plot and pacing is off too. You don't ever really understand where it's going, apart from knowing it can't really end well. But then something insane abruptly occurs with about 50 pages left, something that seems like it's from another genre of story, but the rest of the novel doesn't actually resolve it. It kind of goes back to being the same aimless story it was before the event. It's really weird.

Anyway, I've read three Himes novels at this point, the best being If He Hollers Let Him Go, and I don't feel a desire to read any more. I appreciate what he was going for, and I think there's a lot of value in his perspective, I just think he was a distinctly lower tier of writer than others who were going for the same thing. If you're considering reading this I would just recommend reading (or re-reading) Invisible Man instead.

]]> 2.00 1947 Lonely Crusade (Himes, Chester) by Chester Himes (1997-07-03)

Lonely Crusade (Himes, Chester) by Chester Himes (1997-07-03)

author: Chester Himes
name: Andrew
average rating: 2.00
book published: 1947
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/28
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: literature-classic, political-science
review:
It's preposterous that this is rated higher than Invisible Man. Do better, ŷ��.

This reads as a much less artful, much more obnoxious impression of Richard Wright or Ralph Ellison. There are only a few sympathetic characters and the protagonist is definitely not one of them. Yet the ending suggests this odiousness is unintentional by Himes, because he really seems to want us to swallow that the three sympathetic characters see something worth loving in our main guy. Frankly it reads as unintentionally autobiographical, and some of the protagonist's inner musings throughout the book -- e.g. his violent misogyny, his anti-semitism, and his general entitlement -- make me feel very uncomfortable toward Himes himself.

The 3rd person omniscient perspective did not work for me at all. Spending 80% of the book in the mind of our protagonist only to occasionally flit into the heads of the side characters was clumsy and distracting. Also, the armchair psychologizing of each of these characters was both dubious and overexplanatory, never more so when he proceeded to explain to the reader how one of the Jewish characters was actually incredibly anti-semitic. Sorry Mr. Himes, I'm just not convinced you know the inner workings of the Jewish mind as well as you think you do, and definitely not well enough to explain it to me without yourself coming across as anti-semitic.

The plot and pacing is off too. You don't ever really understand where it's going, apart from knowing it can't really end well. But then something insane abruptly occurs with about 50 pages left, something that seems like it's from another genre of story, but the rest of the novel doesn't actually resolve it. It kind of goes back to being the same aimless story it was before the event. It's really weird.

Anyway, I've read three Himes novels at this point, the best being If He Hollers Let Him Go, and I don't feel a desire to read any more. I appreciate what he was going for, and I think there's a lot of value in his perspective, I just think he was a distinctly lower tier of writer than others who were going for the same thing. If you're considering reading this I would just recommend reading (or re-reading) Invisible Man instead.

]]> Invisible Man 20323235
He describes growing up in a Black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," before retreating amid violence and confusion.

Originally published in 1952 as the first novel by a then unknown author, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century.��The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land , James Joyce, and Dostoevsky.]]> 581 Ralph Ellison Andrew 4 literature-classic If Beale Street Could Talk?

It's a magnificent book, and while I used to get it confused with Richard Wright's Black Boy/Native Son, reading it directly after those two really highlights the authorial differences in story, prose and overall execution. Ellison is able to seamlessly integrate his story with his political ideology in a way that Wright never seems to accomplish. Wright was evidently more passionate about the political manifesto aspect of his stories than his actual plot.

That's not a problem here, and even though the book drags on a little too much for me, the story is consistently compelling and the political/sociological ideas are organically shuffled in, in a wholly poetic manner that leaves little doubt you are in the hands of a master. Interestingly there's a motif introduced toward the end which actually recalls Wright's The Outsider, where Protagonist assumes the identity of this chameleonic Rineheart fellow and ponders how to "make yourself anew" in an anonymous city.

On the downside, there's an unfortunate omission of anything related to Native Americans, obviously a product of the book's time and scope. Still, it's quite ironic that the original oppressed population on this continent goes unmentioned in a book about metaphorical invisibility. There's a specific passage I'm thinking of on p. 577 where he speaks of America "being woven of many strands," which would have been a ripe moment to include Native Americans, however briefly. Oh well, can't expect too much from a 1950s novel.

Overall I think this is one that every North American should read, to understand Black American history and even to a certain extent Black American psychology. It's timeless stuff that Ellison captured here. It certainly meets the hype.

]]> 4.11 1952 Invisible Man

author: Ralph Ellison
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1952
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: literature-classic
review:
I read this first in high school, and reading it multiple decades later I have to say: wow is this wasted on high-schoolers. Maybe start them off with something more straightforward like Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk?

It's a magnificent book, and while I used to get it confused with Richard Wright's Black Boy/Native Son, reading it directly after those two really highlights the authorial differences in story, prose and overall execution. Ellison is able to seamlessly integrate his story with his political ideology in a way that Wright never seems to accomplish. Wright was evidently more passionate about the political manifesto aspect of his stories than his actual plot.

That's not a problem here, and even though the book drags on a little too much for me, the story is consistently compelling and the political/sociological ideas are organically shuffled in, in a wholly poetic manner that leaves little doubt you are in the hands of a master. Interestingly there's a motif introduced toward the end which actually recalls Wright's The Outsider, where Protagonist assumes the identity of this chameleonic Rineheart fellow and ponders how to "make yourself anew" in an anonymous city.

On the downside, there's an unfortunate omission of anything related to Native Americans, obviously a product of the book's time and scope. Still, it's quite ironic that the original oppressed population on this continent goes unmentioned in a book about metaphorical invisibility. There's a specific passage I'm thinking of on p. 577 where he speaks of America "being woven of many strands," which would have been a ripe moment to include Native Americans, however briefly. Oh well, can't expect too much from a 1950s novel.

Overall I think this is one that every North American should read, to understand Black American history and even to a certain extent Black American psychology. It's timeless stuff that Ellison captured here. It certainly meets the hype.

]]> The Outsider 4400169
As Maryemma Graham writes in her Introduction to this edition, with its restored text established by the Library of America, "The Outsider is Richard Wright's second installment in a story of epic proportions, a complex master narrative designed to show American racism in raw and ugly terms ... The stories of Bigger Thomas ... and Cross Damon bear an uncanny resemblance to many contemporary cases of street crime and violence. There is also a prophetic note in Wright's construction of the criminal mind as intelligent, introspective, and transformative."

In addition to the Introduction by Maryemma Graham, this edition includes a notes section by Arnold Rampersad."]]> 672 Richard Wright 0061450170 Andrew 2 literature-classic
The novel part works but only before taking into account its extremely dated sanctioning of domestic violence and statutory rape. But then even the intriguing plot gets drowned about halfway through in metaphysical and sociological musings. It's a shame because the premise is super compelling -- a systematically oppressed and downtrodden man gets almost literally a new lease on life -- it's just that Wright uses it toward a very tedious purpose (to explain... and explain... and explain... why a truly free intellectual must reject all systems of hierarchy and law).

And I guess we can circle back to the political argument. I understand the issues with mid-20th century Bolshevism/Stalinism, especially the international offshoots, and I don't begrudge Wright for having been mistreated by CPUSA and resenting them for it. But his portrayal of the movement in this book is hilariously uncharitable, and his equation of CPUSA with all of communism is so absurd as to be borderline offensive (no mention of socialism is made at any point either). Wright is more of a thinker/intellectual than I'll ever be, but in this case his outlook seems weirdly reductive.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this except to Wright completists, or maybe Cedric Robinson devotees (Black Marxism, which discusses Wright and this book). It's too long to be really worthwhile for any particular reason you might want to read it. If you do read this you should read either Native Son or Black Boy first. They're shorter and they'll make you feel less guilty about skimming portions of this one.

]]> 4.25 1953 The Outsider

author: Richard Wright
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1953
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: literature-classic
review:
This only really works as a psychological/political/philosophical manifesto, and at 600 pages of length it is far too long for that. And that's before taking into account that its political argument is personally abhorrent to me (and probably not for the reason most would guess).

The novel part works but only before taking into account its extremely dated sanctioning of domestic violence and statutory rape. But then even the intriguing plot gets drowned about halfway through in metaphysical and sociological musings. It's a shame because the premise is super compelling -- a systematically oppressed and downtrodden man gets almost literally a new lease on life -- it's just that Wright uses it toward a very tedious purpose (to explain... and explain... and explain... why a truly free intellectual must reject all systems of hierarchy and law).

And I guess we can circle back to the political argument. I understand the issues with mid-20th century Bolshevism/Stalinism, especially the international offshoots, and I don't begrudge Wright for having been mistreated by CPUSA and resenting them for it. But his portrayal of the movement in this book is hilariously uncharitable, and his equation of CPUSA with all of communism is so absurd as to be borderline offensive (no mention of socialism is made at any point either). Wright is more of a thinker/intellectual than I'll ever be, but in this case his outlook seems weirdly reductive.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this except to Wright completists, or maybe Cedric Robinson devotees (Black Marxism, which discusses Wright and this book). It's too long to be really worthwhile for any particular reason you might want to read it. If you do read this you should read either Native Son or Black Boy first. They're shorter and they'll make you feel less guilty about skimming portions of this one.

]]> Native Son (Abridged) 870813 398 Richard Wright 006053348X Andrew 3 literature-classic Black Boy.

It's a very uncomfortable book to read, mostly as a byproduct of Wright's larger goal for it, but also in part intentionally I suspect, given Wright's documented disappointment in how white readers responded to Uncle Tom's Children. Wright's larger goal is to portray an archetype of the Black lumpenproletariat while working through his ambivalent feelings toward the Communist Party of the USA. And his guiding light for the endeavor is truth/honesty -- he knew he would be alienating a lot of audiences, but knew equally well that he owed it both to himself and to the Black masses of his analysis to be as unflinching as possible.

Enough has already been written about the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, his motivation and what he represents. To me (admittedly someone who can have no full comprehension of the adversity this character/archetype has faced), it is a compelling and authentic portrayal. His motivations were logical to me, and I could read between the lines of his inarticulate stream-of-consciousness to understand where he was coming from. His inarticulateness was a key trait as well, and solidly executed. If anything Wright's authorial voice showed through too often and detracted from the authenticity of the portrayal, but overall it's a remarkable feat of characterization.

In any such book, with an intellectual author attempting to portray an ignorant character, there is a tension between the effort to capture an authentic portrayal and the need to keep the portrayal from becoming too polished by the author's own intellect and artfulness. Too much polish detracts from the authenticity, and imo it's important in this genre to err on the side of authenticity. Wright does not and I think the book could have benefited from less authorial insertion/explanation. There were passages where I had known pages before exactly what Wright was trying to say with Bigger's thoughts/actions, but then he took a few paragraphs to spell it out in Wright's voice. The book would have been much stronger to keep it less explained and more abstract.

This tendency became much more distracting toward the end of the novel, when Wright inserted a few long political theses through the voice of his Jewish communist lawyer avatar, Boris Max. It was interesting to see Wright try to work through these ideas in real time, ideas that would almost immediately alienate him from the party for which he had toiled selflessly for over a decade. However, this theoretical discussion was out of place in a novel. Had it been scaled back the novel would have worked a lot better, and overall that general bloat was one of the main problems of the book.

I came to this book after re-reading Black Marxism, and in addition to Wright's own introductory essay ("How Bigger Was Born") I recommend Robinson's discussion of Wright as a companion to this book. Robinson does a great job of giving ideological context to Wright's efforts with both this book and The Outsider, which I will be reading next.

Overall, this is a good and arguably vital book to read for anyone interested in African-American history, North American leftism, anti-racism, or Black Liberation/Nationalism/Power movements in North America. Especially for North Americans. As I said, it's not a pleasant read, and it can likely be skimmed in parts, but it's definitely helpful for those individuals to be familiar with it and its themes/arguments.

]]> 3.98 1940 Native Son (Abridged)

author: Richard Wright
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1940
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves: literature-classic
review:
I thought I had read this already, in either high school or college, but now I'm almost certain I didn't... I must have gotten it confused with Black Boy.

It's a very uncomfortable book to read, mostly as a byproduct of Wright's larger goal for it, but also in part intentionally I suspect, given Wright's documented disappointment in how white readers responded to Uncle Tom's Children. Wright's larger goal is to portray an archetype of the Black lumpenproletariat while working through his ambivalent feelings toward the Communist Party of the USA. And his guiding light for the endeavor is truth/honesty -- he knew he would be alienating a lot of audiences, but knew equally well that he owed it both to himself and to the Black masses of his analysis to be as unflinching as possible.

Enough has already been written about the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, his motivation and what he represents. To me (admittedly someone who can have no full comprehension of the adversity this character/archetype has faced), it is a compelling and authentic portrayal. His motivations were logical to me, and I could read between the lines of his inarticulate stream-of-consciousness to understand where he was coming from. His inarticulateness was a key trait as well, and solidly executed. If anything Wright's authorial voice showed through too often and detracted from the authenticity of the portrayal, but overall it's a remarkable feat of characterization.

In any such book, with an intellectual author attempting to portray an ignorant character, there is a tension between the effort to capture an authentic portrayal and the need to keep the portrayal from becoming too polished by the author's own intellect and artfulness. Too much polish detracts from the authenticity, and imo it's important in this genre to err on the side of authenticity. Wright does not and I think the book could have benefited from less authorial insertion/explanation. There were passages where I had known pages before exactly what Wright was trying to say with Bigger's thoughts/actions, but then he took a few paragraphs to spell it out in Wright's voice. The book would have been much stronger to keep it less explained and more abstract.

This tendency became much more distracting toward the end of the novel, when Wright inserted a few long political theses through the voice of his Jewish communist lawyer avatar, Boris Max. It was interesting to see Wright try to work through these ideas in real time, ideas that would almost immediately alienate him from the party for which he had toiled selflessly for over a decade. However, this theoretical discussion was out of place in a novel. Had it been scaled back the novel would have worked a lot better, and overall that general bloat was one of the main problems of the book.

I came to this book after re-reading Black Marxism, and in addition to Wright's own introductory essay ("How Bigger Was Born") I recommend Robinson's discussion of Wright as a companion to this book. Robinson does a great job of giving ideological context to Wright's efforts with both this book and The Outsider, which I will be reading next.

Overall, this is a good and arguably vital book to read for anyone interested in African-American history, North American leftism, anti-racism, or Black Liberation/Nationalism/Power movements in North America. Especially for North Americans. As I said, it's not a pleasant read, and it can likely be skimmed in parts, but it's definitely helpful for those individuals to be familiar with it and its themes/arguments.

]]> The New Huey P. Newton Reader 48672382
The Huey P. Newton Reader combines now-classic texts from Newton's books ( Revolutionary Suicide , To Die for the People , In Search of Common Ground , and War Against the Panthers ) ranging in topic from the formation of the Black Panthers, African Americans and armed self-defense, Eldridge Cleaver's controversial expulsion from the Party, FBI infiltration of civil rights groups, the Vietnam War, and the burgeoning feminist movement. Editors Hilliard and Weise also include never-before-published writings from the Black Panther Party archives and Newton's private collection, including articles on President Nixon, prison martyr George Jackson, Pan-Africanism, affirmative action, and the author's only written account of his political exile in Cuba in the mid-1970s. Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Geronimo Pratt all came to international prominence through Newton's groundbreaking political activism. Additionally, Newton served as the Party's chief intellectual engine, conversing with world leaders such as Yasser Arafat, Chinese premier Chou Enlai, and Mozambique president Samora Moises Machel among others.
�� Beginning with his founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966, HUEY P. NEWTON (1941-89) set the political stage for events that would quickly place him and the Panthers at the forefront of the African American liberation movement for the next twenty years.]]> 384 Huey P. Newton 1609809009 Andrew 4 Blood in My Eye). I can appreciate both of them although Jackson's raw passion is more relatable for me. Read Newton for the theoretical framework backing the U.S.'s most compelling socialist program ever... read Jackson for the raw analysis and uncompromising conviction of what must be done.

This is not 5 stars for me because Newton's more philosophical musings as he became more academic in his later years are simply not as interesting. Also, I feel like there's significant context missing by the editor David Hilliard in omitting Newton's more controversial biographical details, such as his drug addiction, mental health issues, and alleged abusive behavior toward female comrades. I understand that this book probably needed the blessing of Newton's surviving family, but any collection of his writings that doesn't take into account how he failed to live up to his ideals does not strike me as a totally honest volume.

]]> 4.71 The New Huey P. Newton Reader

author: Huey P. Newton
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/29
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves: history, political-science, memoir
review:
A very valuable tome for Newton's ideas, mostly his early ideas in the first 2/3 of the book. His clarity and theoretical development are remarkable for someone who could barely even read as a teenager. His writings are a great companion to someone like George Jackson (Blood in My Eye). I can appreciate both of them although Jackson's raw passion is more relatable for me. Read Newton for the theoretical framework backing the U.S.'s most compelling socialist program ever... read Jackson for the raw analysis and uncompromising conviction of what must be done.

This is not 5 stars for me because Newton's more philosophical musings as he became more academic in his later years are simply not as interesting. Also, I feel like there's significant context missing by the editor David Hilliard in omitting Newton's more controversial biographical details, such as his drug addiction, mental health issues, and alleged abusive behavior toward female comrades. I understand that this book probably needed the blessing of Newton's surviving family, but any collection of his writings that doesn't take into account how he failed to live up to his ideals does not strike me as a totally honest volume.

]]> The Expendable Man 939794
Dorothy B. Hughes ranks with Raymond Chandler and Patricia Highsmith as a master of mid-century noir. In books like In a Lonely Place and Ride the Pink Horse, she exposed a seething discontent underneath the veneer of twentieth-century prosperity. With The Expendable Man, first published in 1963, Hughes upends the conventions of the wrong-man narrative to deliver a story that engages readers even as it implicates them in the greatest of all American crimes.]]> 339 Dorothy B. Hughes 1903155584 Andrew 4 literature-classic Ride the Pink Horse and In a Lonely Place. This is the only of the three that has come across as super-dated, not because of the setting and goings-on, but just due to Hughes's retrograde views on abortion. It's the only cause I've ever had to think Hughes was anything other than super progressive for her era (esp. on race and feminism).]]> 4.05 1963 The Expendable Man

author: Dorothy B. Hughes
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves: literature-classic
review:
Really good though not as good as two of her other novels: Ride the Pink Horse and In a Lonely Place. This is the only of the three that has come across as super-dated, not because of the setting and goings-on, but just due to Hughes's retrograde views on abortion. It's the only cause I've ever had to think Hughes was anything other than super progressive for her era (esp. on race and feminism).
]]> Endgame, Vol. 2: Resistance 60975 496 Derrick Jensen 1583227245 Andrew 4 favorites, anth-sosh Volume 1 (because it deals more with action -- see my review here) Volume II is still far from perfect. But my overriding feeling about both is an excited gratitude that someone has actually written them. And regardless of the flaws, it is obvious that Jensen has put an incredible amount of thought and consideration into this work. It's not just a brainless rant against civilization, but composed rather of arguments that have been clearly analyzed and meditated upon, in order to break down each phenomena into its component parts.

A great example would be the discussion on symbolic and non-symbolic violence. Jensen defines his terms, describes what each one looks like, and even posits two requisites for symbolic action to be effective: 1) The message has to be able to reach its intended target and 2) That target has to have the agency and the will to change the situation. By making such a thorough analysis with clear definitions, Jensen develops his argument such that you cannot disagree on grounds that he is being obscure or illogical, even if you do disagree with his premises (then again, I would defy critics to disprove even one of those 20 premises).

The conversations with the hackers and with the ex-military personnel were actually exciting, and made me terribly hopeful for the possibilities (even remembering from Volume I that hope is a waste of time). And am I mistaken or did he pretty much destroy Gandhi right around the first 100 pages or so? Are you kidding? First Buddhism and then the Holy Cow. Whether or not I agree with Jensen on this point (and honestly I haven't studied Gandhi enough to fully accept or reject Jensen's argument), I love the guy's sheer audacity.

Like I said, though, it wasn't perfect (five stars are for the content). As are all of the 5 books of his I've read, the narrative is disfocused to say the least, and a little distracting because of it. It's hard to tell if he wrote it that way, stream-of-consciousness-esque, or just sort of mixed and matched after he had completed everything. I tend to think the former. But it results in him repeating many of the same phrases and passages, themes and ideas throughout the book, ad nauseum. I love Jensen for his lack of restraint, but here it would have made his book more readable, and wasted less paper.

Another complaint to go along with the disfocus/length is that the stylistic layout of the book is wasteful. For someone who is concerned with deforestation, it's surprising that in the last three books of his I've read (The Culture of Make Believe -- see my review -- and the Endgames), there are hundreds of blank pages, or pages used only for a big block quote. I understand his argument that cutting back on 50 pages or so is not going to save any particular forests, but couldn't it make a small difference at least? At least if he was publishing a more physically efficient/ecological/sustainable book, he would be sending an effective symbolic message, by his own definition.

One last thing, and minor, is that Jensen mentions vivisection over and over again, but doesn't ever really go into details. What is he referring to when he uses the word? How prevalent is it? Where is this going on? Where are all of these "vivisection labs"? My understanding is that most of the egregious stuff (actually dissecting live animals to see how they tick) has been phased out, am I mistaken on this? Development of this discussion would have been helpful.

A response to those who criticize Jensen for not providing enough concrete solutions or action plans to these problems: I personally found Jensen's treatment of this issue both satisfactory and understandable. While providing a loose framework of what he thinks the most effecitve resistance will look like (whether it is small guerrilla units taking out infrastructure, hackers messing with communications, or lone activists taking out a dam), he also develops what for me was some very helpful basic strategy: "Get there first with the most" (i.e. select your battlefield/terms of argument and make them fight on your terms, not vice versa), and "Hit 'em where they ain´t" (and where it causes the most harm).

Additionally there is his discussion of fulcra, leverage, and bottlenecks, all of which lay out some broad tactical patterns. He also states, which some may view as a cop-out but which I happen to agree with, that he cannot tell people specifically what to do, because part of the entire destruction of civilization has to come from people reclaiming their own agency. He implores people to use his basic suggestions and be creative with them.

My question to the critics of Jensen's treatment is: What more did you expect/want? What about this is lacking? Do you need him to tell you specifically which dams to take out? He says over and over that you have to pay attention to the land closest to where you live. Do you expect him to recommend you an ex-military guy to blow stuff up with? Do you want him to introduce you to your own personal guerrilla unit? To make a list of every single destructive activity you could perform?

I'm not sure what more Jensen could have done here than what he did. With all due respect, these criticisms strike me as an excuse to avoid using your own creativity and agency to do something yourself -- which is to say it reeks of physical and mental laziness. Jensen is fulfilling his chosen role by writing about this in the most public manner possibility. The readers, in order to hold up their end, will have to do something eventually as well -- not everything will be handed to us on a platter.

]]> 4.16 Endgame, Vol. 2: Resistance

author: Derrick Jensen
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2009/09/12
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: favorites, anth-sosh
review:
Finally someone has put these thoughts into coherent arguments. Better than Volume 1 (because it deals more with action -- see my review here) Volume II is still far from perfect. But my overriding feeling about both is an excited gratitude that someone has actually written them. And regardless of the flaws, it is obvious that Jensen has put an incredible amount of thought and consideration into this work. It's not just a brainless rant against civilization, but composed rather of arguments that have been clearly analyzed and meditated upon, in order to break down each phenomena into its component parts.

A great example would be the discussion on symbolic and non-symbolic violence. Jensen defines his terms, describes what each one looks like, and even posits two requisites for symbolic action to be effective: 1) The message has to be able to reach its intended target and 2) That target has to have the agency and the will to change the situation. By making such a thorough analysis with clear definitions, Jensen develops his argument such that you cannot disagree on grounds that he is being obscure or illogical, even if you do disagree with his premises (then again, I would defy critics to disprove even one of those 20 premises).

The conversations with the hackers and with the ex-military personnel were actually exciting, and made me terribly hopeful for the possibilities (even remembering from Volume I that hope is a waste of time). And am I mistaken or did he pretty much destroy Gandhi right around the first 100 pages or so? Are you kidding? First Buddhism and then the Holy Cow. Whether or not I agree with Jensen on this point (and honestly I haven't studied Gandhi enough to fully accept or reject Jensen's argument), I love the guy's sheer audacity.

Like I said, though, it wasn't perfect (five stars are for the content). As are all of the 5 books of his I've read, the narrative is disfocused to say the least, and a little distracting because of it. It's hard to tell if he wrote it that way, stream-of-consciousness-esque, or just sort of mixed and matched after he had completed everything. I tend to think the former. But it results in him repeating many of the same phrases and passages, themes and ideas throughout the book, ad nauseum. I love Jensen for his lack of restraint, but here it would have made his book more readable, and wasted less paper.

Another complaint to go along with the disfocus/length is that the stylistic layout of the book is wasteful. For someone who is concerned with deforestation, it's surprising that in the last three books of his I've read (The Culture of Make Believe -- see my review -- and the Endgames), there are hundreds of blank pages, or pages used only for a big block quote. I understand his argument that cutting back on 50 pages or so is not going to save any particular forests, but couldn't it make a small difference at least? At least if he was publishing a more physically efficient/ecological/sustainable book, he would be sending an effective symbolic message, by his own definition.

One last thing, and minor, is that Jensen mentions vivisection over and over again, but doesn't ever really go into details. What is he referring to when he uses the word? How prevalent is it? Where is this going on? Where are all of these "vivisection labs"? My understanding is that most of the egregious stuff (actually dissecting live animals to see how they tick) has been phased out, am I mistaken on this? Development of this discussion would have been helpful.

A response to those who criticize Jensen for not providing enough concrete solutions or action plans to these problems: I personally found Jensen's treatment of this issue both satisfactory and understandable. While providing a loose framework of what he thinks the most effecitve resistance will look like (whether it is small guerrilla units taking out infrastructure, hackers messing with communications, or lone activists taking out a dam), he also develops what for me was some very helpful basic strategy: "Get there first with the most" (i.e. select your battlefield/terms of argument and make them fight on your terms, not vice versa), and "Hit 'em where they ain´t" (and where it causes the most harm).

Additionally there is his discussion of fulcra, leverage, and bottlenecks, all of which lay out some broad tactical patterns. He also states, which some may view as a cop-out but which I happen to agree with, that he cannot tell people specifically what to do, because part of the entire destruction of civilization has to come from people reclaiming their own agency. He implores people to use his basic suggestions and be creative with them.

My question to the critics of Jensen's treatment is: What more did you expect/want? What about this is lacking? Do you need him to tell you specifically which dams to take out? He says over and over that you have to pay attention to the land closest to where you live. Do you expect him to recommend you an ex-military guy to blow stuff up with? Do you want him to introduce you to your own personal guerrilla unit? To make a list of every single destructive activity you could perform?

I'm not sure what more Jensen could have done here than what he did. With all due respect, these criticisms strike me as an excuse to avoid using your own creativity and agency to do something yourself -- which is to say it reeks of physical and mental laziness. Jensen is fulfilling his chosen role by writing about this in the most public manner possibility. The readers, in order to hold up their end, will have to do something eventually as well -- not everything will be handed to us on a platter.

]]> In a Lonely Place 591354 In a Lonely Place tightens the suspense with taut, hard-boiled prose and stunningly undoes the conventional noir plot.]]> 250 Dorothy B. Hughes 1558614559 Andrew 4 literature-classic Pop. 1280 in years but this strikes me as a much more substantial, intelligent version of that from-the-mind-of-the-psycho noir subgenre.

I don't think I liked this more than Hughes's Ride the Pink Horse, but they're so different that it's hard to compare both reading experiences. I don't give this full stars just because its premise inherently prevents a significant emotional impact. But in terms of executing what Hughes set out for it's flawless. I'm really excited for The Expendable Man next, and probably a bunch more of her stuff after that.]]> 4.08 1947 In a Lonely Place

author: Dorothy B. Hughes
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1947
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: literature-classic
review:
Damn this is good. Hughes deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Chandler, Hammett, Cain and Jim Thompson, and that she's not is probably base sexism. I haven't read Pop. 1280 in years but this strikes me as a much more substantial, intelligent version of that from-the-mind-of-the-psycho noir subgenre.

I don't think I liked this more than Hughes's Ride the Pink Horse, but they're so different that it's hard to compare both reading experiences. I don't give this full stars just because its premise inherently prevents a significant emotional impact. But in terms of executing what Hughes set out for it's flawless. I'm really excited for The Expendable Man next, and probably a bunch more of her stuff after that.
]]> The Wall of America 3276407
In "The Wall of America," the Department of Homeland Security has put up a border wall between the U.S. and Canada, but the NEA has plans to turn it into the world’s largest art gallery. After the Rapture, working-class life for "A Family of the Post-Apocalypse" is not as different as one might imagine, despite the occasional plague of biker-gang locusts. Between addiction and art is "Ringtime," where a criminal is trapped in a recursive compulsion to visit other people's memories while he is forced to record his own for an eager audience. A Somali schoolgirl living in post-WWIII Minneapolis goes on a bloody crusade to rid her town of a familiar predator, one who might just be a monster, in "White Man."

Vivid, starkly imagined, and strikingly articulate, this disquieting compilation is a journey that skillfully straddles the line between absurdity and irony.]]> 245 Thomas M. Disch 1892391821 Andrew 4 Camp Concentration, while not being able to get into his apparently very well-regarded 334. I appreciate Disch's sensibility, which I would characterize as melancholy, twisted and depressive/pessimistic, yet also contemplative and resilient. He definitely taps into some very effective psychological horror at times as well. The standout stories to me were:

"A Knight at the Opera" -- an older woman gets exactly what she needs (but not necessarily what she wants) after meeting a mysterious stranger at the opera.

"Nights in the Gardens" -- a sweet old man in a retirement home turns out, along with his caretaker, to be not what he seems.

"Painting Eggplants" -- a man gets inspired to paint one thing and one thing only.

"The Abduction of Bunny Steiner" -- a hard-luck novelist sells out and gets an unexpected reward (probably the most heartwarming of the stories)

"The First Annual Performance Art Festival at Slaughter Rock Battlefield" -- an admittedly on-the-nose but nevertheless fun swipe at professional critics

"The Owl and the Pussycat" -- a strange, then touching, then sinister portrayal of child abuse

"Voices of the Kill" -- a man quite completely communes with nature

"Wall of America" -- a tale of pursuing one's dreams and passions in the midst of dystopia

author: Thomas M. Disch
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: literature-modern, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
I've really enjoyed two of Disch's works, this and Camp Concentration, while not being able to get into his apparently very well-regarded 334. I appreciate Disch's sensibility, which I would characterize as melancholy, twisted and depressive/pessimistic, yet also contemplative and resilient. He definitely taps into some very effective psychological horror at times as well. The standout stories to me were:

"A Knight at the Opera" -- an older woman gets exactly what she needs (but not necessarily what she wants) after meeting a mysterious stranger at the opera.

"Nights in the Gardens" -- a sweet old man in a retirement home turns out, along with his caretaker, to be not what he seems.

"Painting Eggplants" -- a man gets inspired to paint one thing and one thing only.

"The Abduction of Bunny Steiner" -- a hard-luck novelist sells out and gets an unexpected reward (probably the most heartwarming of the stories)

"The First Annual Performance Art Festival at Slaughter Rock Battlefield" -- an admittedly on-the-nose but nevertheless fun swipe at professional critics

"The Owl and the Pussycat" -- a strange, then touching, then sinister portrayal of child abuse

"Voices of the Kill" -- a man quite completely communes with nature

"Wall of America" -- a tale of pursuing one's dreams and passions in the midst of dystopia

There's a somewhat persistent theme in these best stories of metamorphosis and leaving one's past self behind. They are therefore laced with both existential fright and an understated catharsis. My three favorites would probably be "Wall of America," "Voices of the Kill," and "Bunny Steiner."

If you like short stories or strange fiction you should definitely check this out. It reminds me somewhat of Adam Haslett's imo underrated You Are Not a Stranger Here, which is one of my all-time favorite short story collections. Disch is more contemplative and melancholy than Haslett, altogether heavier I'd say. But really good stuff all the same. In other words, I'll *not* be selling this one back to my local bookshop, which is about the highest praise I give these days.

]]> <![CDATA[City of Glass (The New York Trilogy, #1)]]> 432 City of Glass inaugurates an intriguing New York Trilogy of novels that The Washington Post Book World has classified as "post-existentialist private eye... It's as if Kafka has gotten hooked on the gumshoe game and penned his own ever-spiraling version." As a result of a strange phone call in the middle of the night, Quinn, a writer of detective stories, becomes enmeshed in a case more puzzling than any he might have written. Written with hallucinatory clarity, City of Glass combines dark humor with Hitchcock-like suspense.

Ghosts and The Locked Room are the next two brilliant installments in Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy.

]]> 203 Paul Auster 0140097317 Andrew 4 literature-modern
The Spanish author in particular, a relative unknown among English speakers afaict, almost had to have been a significant influence given the book's treatment of Don Quixote, which Unamuno himself deconstructed in a very strange (and for Quixote lovers, mandatory imo), Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho, plus Unamuno's penchant for inserting himself into his own fiction and his heavy bent toward metaphysical musings. Even the fact that not much actually happens in the novel is reminiscent of Unamuno, who famously said (in probably his best-known book, Niebla):

Do, do, do! Bah, you're acting like a character in a drama or novel! Let's content ourselves with being those of a. . . nivola! Do. . . do. . . do! Does it seem to you that we're not doing enough by talking like this? It's the mania of action, or in other words, of pantomime. They say that many things occur in a drama when the actors can make many gestures and take giant steps and fake duels and jump and. . . Pantomime! Pantomime! Other times it's said, 'They talk too much!' As if talking weren't doing. In the beginning was the Word and by the Word everything was made. . .

Unamuno coined this term "nivola" instead of "novela" (which I'd translate as saying "nivol" or "nuvel" instead of "novel") for his mostly-talk, minimal-action fiction. If Auster didn't deliberately allude to Unamuno with this work of talk-heavy, Don Quixote-referencing metaphysical fiction, it would be quite miraculous. This book was quite a bit more eventful than Unamuno, which is why I liked it so much as well.

But back to Unamuno, because I never like to mention him without relating the following anecdote of his personal heroism:

In 1936 Miguel de Unamuno, rector of the University of Salamanca, replied to a fascist speech by General Millán-Astray at the university:

You are waiting for my words. You know me well, and know I cannot remain silent for long. Sometimes, to remain silent is to lie, since silence can be interpreted as assent. . . But now I have heard this insensible and necrophilous oath, "¡Viva la Muerte!", and I, having spent my life writing paradoxes that have provoked the ire of those who do not understand what I have written, and being an expert in this matter, find this ridiculous paradox repellent. General Millán-Astray is a cripple. There is no need for us to say this with whispered tones. He is a war cripple. So was Cervantes. But unfortunately, Spain today has too many cripples. And, if God does not help us, soon it will have very many more. It torments me to think that General Millán-Astray could dictate the norms of the psychology of the masses. A cripple, who lacks the spiritual greatness of Cervantes, hopes to find relief by adding to the number of cripples around him.

[Millán-Astray responded, "¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la Muerte!" ("Death to intelligence! Long live death!"), provoking applause from the Falangists.]

[Unamuno continued] This is the temple of intelligence, and I am its high priest. You are profaning its sacred domain. You will win, because you have enough brute force. But you will not convince. In order to convince it is necessary to persuade, and to persuade you will need something that you lack: reason and right in the struggle. I see it is useless to ask you to think of Spain. I have spoken.

City of Glass (The New York Trilogy, #1)

author: Paul Auster
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: literature-modern
review:
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I read it only because of Auster's recent passing, after which someone with more normie taste than my own recommended it. Which is to say I wasn't expecting much. But what I got was a deconstructed detective novel with more than passing hints of Borges and Unamuno.

The Spanish author in particular, a relative unknown among English speakers afaict, almost had to have been a significant influence given the book's treatment of Don Quixote, which Unamuno himself deconstructed in a very strange (and for Quixote lovers, mandatory imo), Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho, plus Unamuno's penchant for inserting himself into his own fiction and his heavy bent toward metaphysical musings. Even the fact that not much actually happens in the novel is reminiscent of Unamuno, who famously said (in probably his best-known book, Niebla):

Do, do, do! Bah, you're acting like a character in a drama or novel! Let's content ourselves with being those of a. . . nivola! Do. . . do. . . do! Does it seem to you that we're not doing enough by talking like this? It's the mania of action, or in other words, of pantomime. They say that many things occur in a drama when the actors can make many gestures and take giant steps and fake duels and jump and. . . Pantomime! Pantomime! Other times it's said, 'They talk too much!' As if talking weren't doing. In the beginning was the Word and by the Word everything was made. . .

You are waiting for my words. You know me well, and know I cannot remain silent for long. Sometimes, to remain silent is to lie, since silence can be interpreted as assent. . . But now I have heard this insensible and necrophilous oath, "¡Viva la Muerte!", and I, having spent my life writing paradoxes that have provoked the ire of those who do not understand what I have written, and being an expert in this matter, find this ridiculous paradox repellent. General Millán-Astray is a cripple. There is no need for us to say this with whispered tones. He is a war cripple. So was Cervantes. But unfortunately, Spain today has too many cripples. And, if God does not help us, soon it will have very many more. It torments me to think that General Millán-Astray could dictate the norms of the psychology of the masses. A cripple, who lacks the spiritual greatness of Cervantes, hopes to find relief by adding to the number of cripples around him.

[Millán-Astray responded, "¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la Muerte!" ("Death to intelligence! Long live death!"), provoking applause from the Falangists.]

[Unamuno continued] This is the temple of intelligence, and I am its high priest. You are profaning its sacred domain. You will win, because you have enough brute force. But you will not convince. In order to convince it is necessary to persuade, and to persuade you will need something that you lack: reason and right in the struggle. I see it is useless to ask you to think of Spain. I have spoken.

He was escorted to safety by Franco's wife, and then removed from his post at the University of Salamanca. He died 10 weeks later. Thus anything I read by Unamuno will be colored by my knowledge that the man was a bonafide hero. And thus you should definitely learn more about him (If you want to read his fiction, start with Abel Sánchez and Other Stories)!

Oh and also you should check this book out too btw... probably won't read more of Auster but it's still pretty cool.

]]> 334 351985
Nimbly hopscotching backward and forward in time, Disch charts the shifting relationships between this world's inheritors: an aging matriarch who falls in love with her young social worker; a widow seeking comfort from the spirit of her dead husband; a privileged preteen choreographing the perfectly gratuitous murder. Poisonously funny, piercingly authentic, 334 is a masterpiece of social realism disguised as science fiction.]]> 258 Thomas M. Disch 0375705449 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror
If you're into aimless vignettes and mood, you'll really enjoy this (whether a scifi fan or not). If you're like me and want plot in your fiction, definitely skip this and instead read Camp Concentration.]]> 3.64 1972 334

author: Thomas M. Disch
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1972
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
I didn't realize how plotless this would be when I picked it up. That's my own fault, so take this review with a grain of salt.

If you're into aimless vignettes and mood, you'll really enjoy this (whether a scifi fan or not). If you're like me and want plot in your fiction, definitely skip this and instead read Camp Concentration.
]]> <![CDATA[Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe]]> 3343049 Prunier vividly describes the grisly aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, when some two million refugees--a third of Rwanda's population--fled to exile in Zaire in 1996. The new Rwandan regime then crossed into Zaire and attacked the refugees, slaughtering upwards of 400,000 people. The Rwandan forces then turned on Zaire's despotic President Mobutu and, with the help of a number of allied African countries, overthrew him. But as Prunier shows, the collapse of the Mobutu regime and the ascension of the corrupt and erratic Laurent-Désiré Kabila created a power vacuum that drew Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and other African nations into an extended and chaotic war. The heart of the book documents how the whole core of the African continent became engulfed in an intractible and bloody conflict after 1998, a devastating war that only wound down following the assassination of Kabila in 2001. Prunier not only captures all this in his riveting narrative, but he also indicts the
international community for its utter lack of interest in what was then the largest conflict in the world.

Praise for the

"The most ambitious of several remarkable new books that reexamine the extraordinary tragedy of Congo and Central Africa since the Rwandan genocide of 1994."
-- New York Review of Books

"One of the first books to lay bare the complex dynamic between Rwanda and Congo that has been driving this disaster."
--Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times Book Review

"Lucid, meticulously researched and incisive, Prunier's will likely become the standard account of this under-reported tragedy."
-- Publishers Weekly]]> 576 Gérard Prunier 0195374207 Andrew 3 history, political-science
I definitely know a lot more about it now, and Prunier's analysis seems level-headed to me (of course I have no contrasting view to compare it against). However, it had quite a homework-y feeling about it, with a litany of names and acronyms to keep track of. The writing style was accessible, but if you're not willing to flip back and forth between the glossary and map while you're reading, or refer back to sections you've already read when you forget what "Nokos" means (e.g.), then you're not going to be getting everything out of this book that it has to offer. So for where *I* was coming as a reader/learner, I would have enjoyed a more big picture overview rather than such a granular account of events.

And speaking of maps, my only objective complaint is that the maps provided here are wholly inadequate to the level of detail being discussed in the book. Probably a quarter of the book refers to either the "Ituri" fighting or North/South Kivu, complete with descriptions of specific battles and massacres, yet the maps do not even outline those regions, let alone list all the cities and towns he is referring to. This is the book's only significant failing imo; the rest of my complaints can be chalked up to user error.

In sum, if you want to know more about Rwanda/Congo this book will definitely solve that, but you might want to look around for a better starting point.

]]> 4.10 2006 Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe

Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe

author: Gérard Prunier
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/07/17
shelves: history, political-science
review:
Very informative on the 90s-00s conflict in Rwanda and Congo, however it's somewhat too detailed to be a great primer on the topic.

I definitely know a lot more about it now, and Prunier's analysis seems level-headed to me (of course I have no contrasting view to compare it against). However, it had quite a homework-y feeling about it, with a litany of names and acronyms to keep track of. The writing style was accessible, but if you're not willing to flip back and forth between the glossary and map while you're reading, or refer back to sections you've already read when you forget what "Nokos" means (e.g.), then you're not going to be getting everything out of this book that it has to offer. So for where *I* was coming as a reader/learner, I would have enjoyed a more big picture overview rather than such a granular account of events.

And speaking of maps, my only objective complaint is that the maps provided here are wholly inadequate to the level of detail being discussed in the book. Probably a quarter of the book refers to either the "Ituri" fighting or North/South Kivu, complete with descriptions of specific battles and massacres, yet the maps do not even outline those regions, let alone list all the cities and towns he is referring to. This is the book's only significant failing imo; the rest of my complaints can be chalked up to user error.

In sum, if you want to know more about Rwanda/Congo this book will definitely solve that, but you might want to look around for a better starting point.

]]> <![CDATA[The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000]]> 6297739 An ambitious and enlightening look at why the so-called Dark Ages were anything but that.

Prizewinning historian Chris Wickham defies the conventional view of the Dark Ages in European history with a work of remarkable scope and rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham argues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. Far from being a middle period between more significant epochs, this age has much to tell us in its own right about the progress of culture and the development of political thought.

Sweeping in its breadth, Wickham's incisive history focuses on a world still profoundly shaped by Rome, which encompassed the remarkable Byzantine, Carolingian, and Ottonian empires, and peoples ranging from Goths, Franks, and Vandals to Arabs, Anglo- Saxons, and Vikings. Digging deep into each culture, Wickham constructs a vivid portrait of a vast and varied world stretching from Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean. The Inheritance of Rome brilliantly presents a fresh understanding of the crucible in which Europe would ultimately be created.

]]> 651 Chris Wickham 0670020982 Andrew 0 3.94 2009 The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000

The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000

author: Chris Wickham
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves: history, political-science, dnf
review:
Thought-provoking and well-argued but not a topic I'm interested in right now.
]]> Prison Notebooks: Volume I 85942
Columbia University Press's multivolume Prison Notebooks is the only complete critical edition of Antonio Gramsci's seminal writings in English. The notebooks' integral text gives readers direct access not only to Gramsci's influential ideas but also to the intellectual workshop where those ideas were forged. Extensive notes guide readers through Gramsci's extraordinary series of reflections on an encyclopedic range of topics. Volume 1 opens with an introduction to Gramsci's project, describing the circumstances surrounding the composition of his notebooks and examining his method of inquiry and critical analysis. It is accompanied by a detailed chronology of the author's life. An unparalleled translation of notebooks 1 and 2 follows, which laid the foundations for Gramsci's later writings. Most intriguing are his earliest formulations of the concepts of hegemony, civil society, and passive revolution.]]> 608 Antonio Gramsci 0231060823 Andrew 2
This edition did have a nice 60-page intro by none other than noted Marxist scholar Mayor Pete's Dad.]]> 4.30 1948 Prison Notebooks: Volume I

author: Antonio Gramsci
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1948
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves: philosophy-science, political-science
review:
I should have read "Selections" instead...

This edition did have a nice 60-page intro by none other than noted Marxist scholar Mayor Pete's Dad.
]]> <![CDATA[Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus, 50th Anniversary Edition]]> 449170 A primeira publicação de Quarto de despejo: diário de uma favelada, de Carolina Maria de Jesus, data de 1960, por isso, em 2020, quando se comemoram os 60 anos de sua existência, a Somos Educação fará uma edição especial desta que é uma obra muito importante para a literatura brasileira. Com um projeto gráfico renovado e capa assinada pelo artista No Martins, além do texto original da autora, este livro conta com um prefácio assinado pela escritora Cidinha da Silva, fotografias dos manuscritos de Carolina Maria de Jesus e uma fortuna crítica com escritores como Alberto Moravia; críticos literários, como Marisa Lajolo, Carlos Vogt, Elzira Divina Perpétua, Fernanda Miranda; historiadores, como José Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy, e jornalistas, como Audálio Dantas, responsável pela publicação da primeira edição do livro, e Otto Lara Resende.]]> 224 Carolina Maria de Jesus 0451529103 Andrew 3 memoir who wrote it -- a black, slum-dwelling woman -- and not how she wrote it. In other words, what impresses is not the skill with which it was written, but that it was ever written at all.

Carolina Maria de Jesus was a singular woman; only such a woman could have possessed the determination and audacity (and yes, the arrogance) to continue her passion amidst such deprivation and squalor. We are fortunate that she did, so that we have a better idea of favela life, but reading it still feels somehow voyeuristic, especially given that nothing ever improved as a result of her efforts.

She's not exactly likable either, and it's a strange conundrum as a moral reader -- writing such a record in these conditions requires a person to truly believe themselves superior to their surroundings. At the same time, however, that sense of superiority is not only off-putting but at times unjustified, given her behavior with her children, lovers and neighbors. It does drive home the corrupting influence of the favela upon all its inhabitants, but it's also important to realize that our narrator is virtually as unreliable as all of her condemned neighbors.

It also raises an interesting moral question, because in these circumstances of slum-dwelling we say that we want more of the people to behave like Carolina, to raise themselves out of it through an inner drive and self-discipline. But there's also something contemptible about her attitude toward her fellow favelados. She lacks almost any compassion for them and is constantly judging and insulting them. There's a lack of any semblance of camaraderie.

There's also the issue of her relative luck in being able to rise out of it. Being "discovered" by a journalist was about as likely as winning the lottery, so it's hard to argue that her rigorous moral character was her salvation. What if it had never happened? She admits herself she probably would have died soon, would have maybe even turned to alcohol. Then she would have been no better than any of her neighbors, even while still looking down on them.

I guess the real point is the loathing that such squalor arouses, not just for those around you but also, eventually, for yourself. Such loathing precludes any solidarity with your neighbor and thus any way of raising each other out of misery. Of course that is a larger point of which Carolina was probably unaware, but that we can arrive at it through her writing is a further demonstration of this book's importance.

It's a quick read, if repetitive and eventually numbing, and I'm glad to have read it. I don't know that I would necessarily recommend it to others -- if you're interested in an introduction to Brazilian slums, I think the movie "City of God" (Cidade de Deus) is a more compelling (if sensationalized) portrayal. Ultimately they're probably good to experience in tandem, so that you can see where the favelas began, and what they have since become.

]]> 4.02 1960 Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus, 50th Anniversary Edition

Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus, 50th Anniversary Edition

author: Carolina Maria de Jesus
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1960
rating: 3
read at: 2015/05/01
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves: memoir
review:
Despite what Robert Levine tries to argue in the afterword, this book is primarily important as a historical document, not as a piece of literature. What's remarkable is who wrote it -- a black, slum-dwelling woman -- and not how she wrote it. In other words, what impresses is not the skill with which it was written, but that it was ever written at all.

Carolina Maria de Jesus was a singular woman; only such a woman could have possessed the determination and audacity (and yes, the arrogance) to continue her passion amidst such deprivation and squalor. We are fortunate that she did, so that we have a better idea of favela life, but reading it still feels somehow voyeuristic, especially given that nothing ever improved as a result of her efforts.

She's not exactly likable either, and it's a strange conundrum as a moral reader -- writing such a record in these conditions requires a person to truly believe themselves superior to their surroundings. At the same time, however, that sense of superiority is not only off-putting but at times unjustified, given her behavior with her children, lovers and neighbors. It does drive home the corrupting influence of the favela upon all its inhabitants, but it's also important to realize that our narrator is virtually as unreliable as all of her condemned neighbors.

It also raises an interesting moral question, because in these circumstances of slum-dwelling we say that we want more of the people to behave like Carolina, to raise themselves out of it through an inner drive and self-discipline. But there's also something contemptible about her attitude toward her fellow favelados. She lacks almost any compassion for them and is constantly judging and insulting them. There's a lack of any semblance of camaraderie.

There's also the issue of her relative luck in being able to rise out of it. Being "discovered" by a journalist was about as likely as winning the lottery, so it's hard to argue that her rigorous moral character was her salvation. What if it had never happened? She admits herself she probably would have died soon, would have maybe even turned to alcohol. Then she would have been no better than any of her neighbors, even while still looking down on them.

I guess the real point is the loathing that such squalor arouses, not just for those around you but also, eventually, for yourself. Such loathing precludes any solidarity with your neighbor and thus any way of raising each other out of misery. Of course that is a larger point of which Carolina was probably unaware, but that we can arrive at it through her writing is a further demonstration of this book's importance.

It's a quick read, if repetitive and eventually numbing, and I'm glad to have read it. I don't know that I would necessarily recommend it to others -- if you're interested in an introduction to Brazilian slums, I think the movie "City of God" (Cidade de Deus) is a more compelling (if sensationalized) portrayal. Ultimately they're probably good to experience in tandem, so that you can see where the favelas began, and what they have since become.

]]> <![CDATA[Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder]]> 919537 404 David McGowan 0595326404 Andrew 1 history, political-science
And then the book itself was just more of the same vague insinuations and winking allegations without ever explicitly or concretely stating what we're supposed to make of any of it. McGowan sprinkles the word "curiously" throughout, yet without ever bothering to explain what exactly is curious about it. We're just supposed to understand what he's getting at I guess. And while citing hundreds of news articles about his serial killers, he could not apparently be bothered to link the articles to specific claims he makes in the text, so we'll just either have to take his word on all of it, or read every one of the dozens of articles per chapter in order to figure out for ourselves which one contains the fact he listed in his chapter. It is one of the laziest, most cowardly and most tedious compilations of conspiracy theory I've ever come across, and as a result one of the most frustrating books I've ever read.

I really need to emphasize -- can't overstate enough -- how little McGowan actually bothers to construct an overarching explanation for all of the sinister innuendo he lays out. There's not even a conspiracy HYPOTHESIS here, let alone a conspiracy theory.

The basic claims McGowan makes that I was able to figure out -- again I cannot overstate how little he clearly comes out and says ANY of this -- is:

-Almost every serial killer ever did not work alone
-They all came from broken homes and were abused (many of their moms were prostitutes)
-They mostly spent time in the military, but also maybe just were near a base or in a mental hospital that was linked to the military at some point
-They were all from 1 to 6 degrees removed from very famous/influential people
-All of their trials were illegitimate and rammed through by the FBI
-Many witnesses who disputed their guilt ended up dead
-Many of them had links to Satanism
-Many of them had links to Nazis
-Drug-trafficking was almost always involved

There's more but that'll give you a taste. If you put all of these claims together, what you get (again not specifically laid out or hypothesized at any moment in this book) is:

The U.S. Military/CIA groomed/brainwashed abused children (who were often already predisposed to violence) in order to make them more violent and be able to serve as assassins for drug/child-trafficking rings that were also Satanic Nazi cults (the implication of the Satanic Nazis is never really addressed) and then were made patsies when the killings drew too much attention, even though they were violent and probably killing lots of other people anyway.

If that sounds incoherent and extremely convoluted to you, you're not alone. If it sounds pretty intuitive then you will love this book. Here are some of the questions that McGowan never answers:

-Why would authorities in charge of these brainwashed killers want to release some of them early, have others spend life in prison, and have others executed, without seeming rhyme or reason? If you were in charge of such a program wouldn't you want your patsies silenced as quickly as possible via assassination?
-What percentage of drug/child-trafficking rings are you actually alleging are Satanic Nazis, and what impact has this apparently huge plague of Satanic Nazis had on our society?
-Which murders specifically were government-ordered hits, and which ones were just unfortunate randos who fell prey to psychopathic Nazi Satanists? And if you're not sure, what makes you so certain that any were hits at all?

There are more questions raised but I'm getting a little tired of this review already, so let's keep it moving. There's one obvious question that McGowan does give a laughable answer to, and the question is "Why? Why any of this? Why go to these lengths?" His answer, given in a couple paragraphs toward the end, is so they could terrify the U.S. public and justify cultivation of a police state. That's literally it. At no point is there any acknowledgment of the many other, less Satan-y ways that the government was objectively and with heavy documentation cultivating a police state since the 1970s, y'know with little known phenomena such as the entire War on fucking Drugs.

What McGowan seems to actually think, although he is too cowardly to explicitly state it, is that our country is run by literal Nazi Satanists who have an entire stable of psychopaths they can sic on their political and economic enemies. It is unclear whether he believes that Satanism is real and actually confers powers on our rulers, or if it's just a weird hobby they have. I would not be surprised at the former.

I almost forgot one of the most ridiculous things about the book which is his continual insinuations that court dates and murder dates are somehow significant because they occur near Hitler's birthday or a few days around some other pagan/Satanist holiday. Like WTAF are you talking about dude, now all the judges and courthouse schedulers and juries are Nazi Satanists too?

The most irritating part of all this is that just the tiniest shred of Marxist education could dispel the vast majority of this bullshit. Is it Nazi Satanists with their psychopathic henchmen that we should be fearing, or is it actually the capitalist elite with their police/military (also mostly psychopathic henchmen fwiw!) that are effectively doing the same thing (i.e. ruling as all with impunity)? Seeing the level of brain activity that goes into concocting these elaborate fantasies of magical thinking, when there is a very simple, obvious explanation for every single bit of it, is as maddening as it is pitiful.

So yeah, I hated this book, and after finishing I did something with it that I've never done before in my entire life: I threw it away. I don't want to sell it and I don't want to donate it, because I literally don't want anyone else to read it. Not only is it trash and pretty depressing to read, but it feels like it could be actively dangerous in the wrong hands, for two separate reasons: 1) encouraging delusional, conspiratorial thinking that does not seem too far up the path from Illuminati and Lizard-men, and 2) all the descriptions of grisly murders and child abuse could very easily normalize that type of depravity or even titillate certain readers.

It's really bad all around folks, please stay away.

]]> 3.94 2004 Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder

Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder

author: David McGowan
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 1
read at: 2023/10/12
date added: 2024/05/19
shelves: history, political-science
review:
I think there is a sort of club of people who have incorporated this book into their worldview, and when I first heard/read several of them talk about it I was highly intrigued. They're all fairly intelligent and of a leftist/libertarian mold, and they all talk about this book mainly via insinuation and other winking phrases. The message is very clearly an if-you-know-you-know kind of sentiment, yet without ever explicitly or concretely stating what everyone allegedly knows. I was looking forward to reading it just to finally find out what everyone knows.

And then the book itself was just more of the same vague insinuations and winking allegations without ever explicitly or concretely stating what we're supposed to make of any of it. McGowan sprinkles the word "curiously" throughout, yet without ever bothering to explain what exactly is curious about it. We're just supposed to understand what he's getting at I guess. And while citing hundreds of news articles about his serial killers, he could not apparently be bothered to link the articles to specific claims he makes in the text, so we'll just either have to take his word on all of it, or read every one of the dozens of articles per chapter in order to figure out for ourselves which one contains the fact he listed in his chapter. It is one of the laziest, most cowardly and most tedious compilations of conspiracy theory I've ever come across, and as a result one of the most frustrating books I've ever read.

I really need to emphasize -- can't overstate enough -- how little McGowan actually bothers to construct an overarching explanation for all of the sinister innuendo he lays out. There's not even a conspiracy HYPOTHESIS here, let alone a conspiracy theory.

The basic claims McGowan makes that I was able to figure out -- again I cannot overstate how little he clearly comes out and says ANY of this -- is:

-Almost every serial killer ever did not work alone
-They all came from broken homes and were abused (many of their moms were prostitutes)
-They mostly spent time in the military, but also maybe just were near a base or in a mental hospital that was linked to the military at some point
-They were all from 1 to 6 degrees removed from very famous/influential people
-All of their trials were illegitimate and rammed through by the FBI
-Many witnesses who disputed their guilt ended up dead
-Many of them had links to Satanism
-Many of them had links to Nazis
-Drug-trafficking was almost always involved

There's more but that'll give you a taste. If you put all of these claims together, what you get (again not specifically laid out or hypothesized at any moment in this book) is:

The U.S. Military/CIA groomed/brainwashed abused children (who were often already predisposed to violence) in order to make them more violent and be able to serve as assassins for drug/child-trafficking rings that were also Satanic Nazi cults (the implication of the Satanic Nazis is never really addressed) and then were made patsies when the killings drew too much attention, even though they were violent and probably killing lots of other people anyway.

If that sounds incoherent and extremely convoluted to you, you're not alone. If it sounds pretty intuitive then you will love this book. Here are some of the questions that McGowan never answers:

-Why would authorities in charge of these brainwashed killers want to release some of them early, have others spend life in prison, and have others executed, without seeming rhyme or reason? If you were in charge of such a program wouldn't you want your patsies silenced as quickly as possible via assassination?
-What percentage of drug/child-trafficking rings are you actually alleging are Satanic Nazis, and what impact has this apparently huge plague of Satanic Nazis had on our society?
-Which murders specifically were government-ordered hits, and which ones were just unfortunate randos who fell prey to psychopathic Nazi Satanists? And if you're not sure, what makes you so certain that any were hits at all?

There are more questions raised but I'm getting a little tired of this review already, so let's keep it moving. There's one obvious question that McGowan does give a laughable answer to, and the question is "Why? Why any of this? Why go to these lengths?" His answer, given in a couple paragraphs toward the end, is so they could terrify the U.S. public and justify cultivation of a police state. That's literally it. At no point is there any acknowledgment of the many other, less Satan-y ways that the government was objectively and with heavy documentation cultivating a police state since the 1970s, y'know with little known phenomena such as the entire War on fucking Drugs.

What McGowan seems to actually think, although he is too cowardly to explicitly state it, is that our country is run by literal Nazi Satanists who have an entire stable of psychopaths they can sic on their political and economic enemies. It is unclear whether he believes that Satanism is real and actually confers powers on our rulers, or if it's just a weird hobby they have. I would not be surprised at the former.

I almost forgot one of the most ridiculous things about the book which is his continual insinuations that court dates and murder dates are somehow significant because they occur near Hitler's birthday or a few days around some other pagan/Satanist holiday. Like WTAF are you talking about dude, now all the judges and courthouse schedulers and juries are Nazi Satanists too?

The most irritating part of all this is that just the tiniest shred of Marxist education could dispel the vast majority of this bullshit. Is it Nazi Satanists with their psychopathic henchmen that we should be fearing, or is it actually the capitalist elite with their police/military (also mostly psychopathic henchmen fwiw!) that are effectively doing the same thing (i.e. ruling as all with impunity)? Seeing the level of brain activity that goes into concocting these elaborate fantasies of magical thinking, when there is a very simple, obvious explanation for every single bit of it, is as maddening as it is pitiful.

So yeah, I hated this book, and after finishing I did something with it that I've never done before in my entire life: I threw it away. I don't want to sell it and I don't want to donate it, because I literally don't want anyone else to read it. Not only is it trash and pretty depressing to read, but it feels like it could be actively dangerous in the wrong hands, for two separate reasons: 1) encouraging delusional, conspiratorial thinking that does not seem too far up the path from Illuminati and Lizard-men, and 2) all the descriptions of grisly murders and child abuse could very easily normalize that type of depravity or even titillate certain readers.

It's really bad all around folks, please stay away.

]]> <![CDATA[The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1)]]> 60211 262 Gene Wolfe 0671540661 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror
It's a truly bizarre way to plot a novel, even one that is clearly not meant to stand alone. And by doing it this way, Wolfe is depending on the readers being hooked enough by the world (and maybe characters?) to want to continue reading. But then he not only neglects his characters but also builds out his world in a really haphazard way, with no clear explanations or descriptions, mainly just by throwing a bunch of lingo and magical events at the reader and hoping we mostly get the meaning through context. The main context being that the characters barely even react to these magical occurrences, so I deduce that they're just normal in this world. But the only substantive conclusion I can make with this information is that this is a world where literally anything can happen, and therefore nothing has any stakes.

A large portion of the 2nd/3rd acts is taken up by what to me can best be described as a dream sequence, where our characters are propelled through different situations not by their own choices but by the inevitability of what is happening around them, often with little logic or thought. Stories with dream logic can work -- one of my favorite books of all-time A Voyage to Arcturus, uses this approach for literally the entire novel -- but it has to be intentional and serve a greater goal (e.g. in Arcturus it is to highlight the essential ephemerality of the entire perceived reality of the novel, itself a metaphysical proposition for our own, non-book world). Here it just feels half-baked, and very inconsistent with the relatively grounded 1st half of the book.

I could say more but I don't really feel like spending the time. I just don't understand what I'm meant to make of this. Severian is a somewhat interesting protagonist, but he only made one choice in this book and it was the inciting incident. Sure it is heavily hinted that there are more interesting events to come, but why would I sit down for 300 more pages after no payoff the first time around? And in a fictional world where I have no clue how magic (or science) works, and where everything extraordinary happens without either explanation by the author or further comment by the characters?

It's a reading experience almost devoid of any stakes whatsoever, and I'm tapping out here.

]]> 3.86 1980 The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1)

The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1)

author: Gene Wolfe
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1980
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
This was a very strange book, in that it's like 75% world-building (at the expense of plot and character), yet I come away from it knowing vanishingly little about the rules of the world. The inciting event of the novel occurs basically where it should in the course of the narrative, but nothing that comes after it feels like more than rising action. I kept waiting for the protagonist to even get started on what I understood to be the main portion of the story, but then just as he was about to the story suddenly ended (mid-action sequence even!).

It's a truly bizarre way to plot a novel, even one that is clearly not meant to stand alone. And by doing it this way, Wolfe is depending on the readers being hooked enough by the world (and maybe characters?) to want to continue reading. But then he not only neglects his characters but also builds out his world in a really haphazard way, with no clear explanations or descriptions, mainly just by throwing a bunch of lingo and magical events at the reader and hoping we mostly get the meaning through context. The main context being that the characters barely even react to these magical occurrences, so I deduce that they're just normal in this world. But the only substantive conclusion I can make with this information is that this is a world where literally anything can happen, and therefore nothing has any stakes.

A large portion of the 2nd/3rd acts is taken up by what to me can best be described as a dream sequence, where our characters are propelled through different situations not by their own choices but by the inevitability of what is happening around them, often with little logic or thought. Stories with dream logic can work -- one of my favorite books of all-time A Voyage to Arcturus, uses this approach for literally the entire novel -- but it has to be intentional and serve a greater goal (e.g. in Arcturus it is to highlight the essential ephemerality of the entire perceived reality of the novel, itself a metaphysical proposition for our own, non-book world). Here it just feels half-baked, and very inconsistent with the relatively grounded 1st half of the book.

I could say more but I don't really feel like spending the time. I just don't understand what I'm meant to make of this. Severian is a somewhat interesting protagonist, but he only made one choice in this book and it was the inciting incident. Sure it is heavily hinted that there are more interesting events to come, but why would I sit down for 300 more pages after no payoff the first time around? And in a fictional world where I have no clue how magic (or science) works, and where everything extraordinary happens without either explanation by the author or further comment by the characters?

It's a reading experience almost devoid of any stakes whatsoever, and I'm tapping out here.

]]> <![CDATA[A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)]]> 164154 334 Walter M. Miller Jr. 0060892994 Andrew 2
I need emotional impact in my stories, typically through characters I can care for. The anthology nature of these 3 novellas means that there are no characters to care for as a through line. And having to engage in 3 different sets of world-building is tedious as well. (It's the same post-apocalyptic world, but separated by centuries, essentially analogous to the Dark Ages, the Wild West, and a future Space Age.)

On top of that, by the end it becomes clear that the author is advocating for a questionable-at-best moral position. He sets it up as a question between Science and the State, but really what he's describing is a conflict between Religion and the State. The very fact that in his portrayal the side of Science is represented by a strict religious order is as telling as it is absurd. Miller appears to be proposing that we'd all be very well off if only science was fully controlled by a (faithful, non-hypocritical) Theocracy.

Which is, uh, an absolutely insane proposition.

This culminates in a truly disgusting episode in which our 3rd "hero" the abbot of the Liebowitz Order tries (and, thankfully, fails) to stop a terminally radiation-poisoned mother from committing euthanasia/suicide on her daughter and herself... because their suffering is part of god's plan and suicide is a sin. Yeah no. But at least he proves his righteousness at the end by trying to suffer as much as he commanded the child to, or something.

This may be where me never having even gotten close to being Christian may impact my enjoyment or even comprehension of this story. But if this is the best Christianity has to offer, it's a pretty shit argument. It just leaves me vaguely horrified at the book's resolution, that the only descendants of humanity will likely be from the same fanatical cult as this guy.

In conclusion, good world-building, solid premise, but poor narrative/characters and a truly disturbing level of Christian apologia. The only narrative part I liked was the hermit who I guess is a stand-in for Lazarus, but he was only on the periphery of the book and I kept waiting for something more to happen with him.

]]> 3.99 1959 A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)

A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)

author: Walter M. Miller Jr.
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1959
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves: literature-classic, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
This didn't work for me, although unlike many books I don't like that much, I can see why other people do.

I need emotional impact in my stories, typically through characters I can care for. The anthology nature of these 3 novellas means that there are no characters to care for as a through line. And having to engage in 3 different sets of world-building is tedious as well. (It's the same post-apocalyptic world, but separated by centuries, essentially analogous to the Dark Ages, the Wild West, and a future Space Age.)

On top of that, by the end it becomes clear that the author is advocating for a questionable-at-best moral position. He sets it up as a question between Science and the State, but really what he's describing is a conflict between Religion and the State. The very fact that in his portrayal the side of Science is represented by a strict religious order is as telling as it is absurd. Miller appears to be proposing that we'd all be very well off if only science was fully controlled by a (faithful, non-hypocritical) Theocracy.

Which is, uh, an absolutely insane proposition.

This culminates in a truly disgusting episode in which our 3rd "hero" the abbot of the Liebowitz Order tries (and, thankfully, fails) to stop a terminally radiation-poisoned mother from committing euthanasia/suicide on her daughter and herself... because their suffering is part of god's plan and suicide is a sin. Yeah no. But at least he proves his righteousness at the end by trying to suffer as much as he commanded the child to, or something.

This may be where me never having even gotten close to being Christian may impact my enjoyment or even comprehension of this story. But if this is the best Christianity has to offer, it's a pretty shit argument. It just leaves me vaguely horrified at the book's resolution, that the only descendants of humanity will likely be from the same fanatical cult as this guy.

In conclusion, good world-building, solid premise, but poor narrative/characters and a truly disturbing level of Christian apologia. The only narrative part I liked was the hermit who I guess is a stand-in for Lazarus, but he was only on the periphery of the book and I kept waiting for something more to happen with him.

]]> <![CDATA[Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend]]> 54637032 353 Domenico Losurdo Andrew 4 history, political-science
The overall effect is decisive, and I would defy anyone to come away from this book thinking just as badly of Stalin as they did coming in. It's extremely well-researched, and some of Losurdo's most compelling arguments are simply him reporting what Stalin's staunchest contemporary opponents had to say about him. Usually it's pretty flattering... the slander only entered into it posthumously.

It's also a matter of historical record that Stalin created a nation of many ethnicities where before there had been none, he greatly increased the health and education of the populace, and he oversaw an explosion of economic production which allowed him to keep pace with a superpower that had a couple-century head start on them.

Some of Losurdo's most effective arguments were his comparative analyses of the historical context around the purges and the Gulag. He makes it pretty clear why Stalin would have felt them necessary, given a pretty constant state of civil war + foreign intriguing for about 25 years that no other contemporary country had to navigate. Yet he also makes a damning point about what the critic countries did themselves during corresponding periods of war (WWI, WWII) enacting just as severe purges and crackdowns of their own. He also shows that Gulag conditions were at worst on par with (and oftentimes much better than) other concentration camp conditions throughout the "civilized" world, including British internment of Nazis, U.S. internment of Japenese, and U.S. imprisonment of African-Americans. For instance, the accepted mortality rate in the Gulag was about 5%, whereas (Black) mortality in U.S. southern prisons a couple decades prior was in the 30-40% range.

As far as the famines go, well first you should read Tottle's Fraud, Famine and Fascism. But even without reading it, next time someone brings up the Holodomor you should ask them first how many people died (even the wildest estimates suggest about 10 million, when in fact it was probably low single digits at most). Then ask them how many people Britain intentionally starved in India in the 30ish years before the Holodomor.

I'm removing a star for writing style and organization, as it was difficult to follow his argumentation at times. Peppering in more frequent summary sentences/paragraphs would have helped a lot. He also got pretty lost in the weeds imo when discussing Trotsky's thoughts on Stalin.

Ultimately the main gist of Losurdo's argument is that while you can certainly argue that Stalin committed bad deeds, you can't reasonably argue that his deeds were significantly worse than anybody else in his position would have done. Oftentimes the evidence actually suggests that his actions were significantly more enlightened, intelligent and even compassionate. Overall, I think most people would benefit from reading this. Only socialists and communists will probably really enjoy it though.

]]> 4.39 2008 Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend

Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend

author: Domenico Losurdo
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/09
date added: 2024/05/09
shelves: history, political-science
review:
An important and convincing corrective of decades of knee-jerk Stalin demonization by anglo media. Losurdo addresses the smear campaign by outright refutation (anti-semitism, military/political ineptitude), explaining important context (the purges, the Gulag) and illuminating the record of Stalin's liberal democratic counterparts (famines, prisons, racism).

The overall effect is decisive, and I would defy anyone to come away from this book thinking just as badly of Stalin as they did coming in. It's extremely well-researched, and some of Losurdo's most compelling arguments are simply him reporting what Stalin's staunchest contemporary opponents had to say about him. Usually it's pretty flattering... the slander only entered into it posthumously.

It's also a matter of historical record that Stalin created a nation of many ethnicities where before there had been none, he greatly increased the health and education of the populace, and he oversaw an explosion of economic production which allowed him to keep pace with a superpower that had a couple-century head start on them.

Some of Losurdo's most effective arguments were his comparative analyses of the historical context around the purges and the Gulag. He makes it pretty clear why Stalin would have felt them necessary, given a pretty constant state of civil war + foreign intriguing for about 25 years that no other contemporary country had to navigate. Yet he also makes a damning point about what the critic countries did themselves during corresponding periods of war (WWI, WWII) enacting just as severe purges and crackdowns of their own. He also shows that Gulag conditions were at worst on par with (and oftentimes much better than) other concentration camp conditions throughout the "civilized" world, including British internment of Nazis, U.S. internment of Japenese, and U.S. imprisonment of African-Americans. For instance, the accepted mortality rate in the Gulag was about 5%, whereas (Black) mortality in U.S. southern prisons a couple decades prior was in the 30-40% range.

As far as the famines go, well first you should read Tottle's Fraud, Famine and Fascism. But even without reading it, next time someone brings up the Holodomor you should ask them first how many people died (even the wildest estimates suggest about 10 million, when in fact it was probably low single digits at most). Then ask them how many people Britain intentionally starved in India in the 30ish years before the Holodomor.

I'm removing a star for writing style and organization, as it was difficult to follow his argumentation at times. Peppering in more frequent summary sentences/paragraphs would have helped a lot. He also got pretty lost in the weeds imo when discussing Trotsky's thoughts on Stalin.

Ultimately the main gist of Losurdo's argument is that while you can certainly argue that Stalin committed bad deeds, you can't reasonably argue that his deeds were significantly worse than anybody else in his position would have done. Oftentimes the evidence actually suggests that his actions were significantly more enlightened, intelligent and even compassionate. Overall, I think most people would benefit from reading this. Only socialists and communists will probably really enjoy it though.

]]> Exhalation 41160292
In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom," the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.

Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic—revelatory.]]> 368 Ted Chiang Andrew 5 The Invincible, or Solaris).

But moreso than Lem, Chiang is able to craft truly complex characters that affect you emotionally, and his stories stay with you for a long time. It has been ages since I found myself thinking so deeply of a story both during and after reading.

All the stories are good but the two standout tales are the first and the last: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" and "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom." Throughout the book Chiang is preoccupied with the free will/determinism dichotomy, and his thoughts on the topic are most piercing in these. "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" is also memorable, although it feels overlong to me, really a novella. But all three of those stories are more memorable than most short stories I've read over the last decade, which really speaks to Chiang's ability to write authentic characters. And the first two mentioned are truly affecting.

Overall I would highly recommend this to just about anyone. It may be a little too contemplative for some folks, which I wouldn't judge you for. But then again I think most of us could do with some more contemplation in our lives, so do yourself a favor and eat your spinach.

]]> 4.27 2019 Exhalation

author: Ted Chiang
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/15
date added: 2024/04/15
shelves: favorites, literature-modern, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
There may be other authors who are doing what Chiang does -- cerebral and metaphysical sci-fi -- but if so I don't know them. His ability to take a novel premise and then explore seemingly every angle of its repercussions on human psychology is quite stunning; it reminds me of the serious novels of Stanislaw Lem (e.g. The Invincible, or Solaris).

But moreso than Lem, Chiang is able to craft truly complex characters that affect you emotionally, and his stories stay with you for a long time. It has been ages since I found myself thinking so deeply of a story both during and after reading.

All the stories are good but the two standout tales are the first and the last: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" and "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom." Throughout the book Chiang is preoccupied with the free will/determinism dichotomy, and his thoughts on the topic are most piercing in these. "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" is also memorable, although it feels overlong to me, really a novella. But all three of those stories are more memorable than most short stories I've read over the last decade, which really speaks to Chiang's ability to write authentic characters. And the first two mentioned are truly affecting.

Overall I would highly recommend this to just about anyone. It may be a little too contemplative for some folks, which I wouldn't judge you for. But then again I think most of us could do with some more contemplation in our lives, so do yourself a favor and eat your spinach.

]]> <![CDATA[The Mind Parasites: The Supernatural Metaphysical Cult Thriller]]> 14495 240 Colin Wilson 0974935999 Andrew 3
This was my introduction to Colin Wilson and I still think he's an author well worth knowing. His The Outsider is one of my formative books, and his autobiographical The Books in My Life is consistently illuminating and engaging. He's a great essayist, perhaps not technically but practically. His conversational, humble style is eminently readable, and you tend to forgive his overstatements, his lapses in logic, or, in the 21st century, his virtually exclusive focus on men.

This book in particular holds up surprisingly well to my mature self as an original, well-written, thought-provoking sci-fi exercise. Yes it pretty much falls apart at the end, and yes his ingrained male chauvinism (and subtle racism) is off-putting now that I'm more aware of those phenomena. But it reads extremely quick for a cerebral piece of fiction, and I'm intrigued enough to check out the sequels. The pacing at the beginning is masterful, dropping hints of what's to come quite early so as to hook you in quickly.

I'd recommend it overall to people interested in unusual science fiction, or just as an introduction to Wilson himself. If you like Lovecraft you should like this.

]]> 3.78 1967 The Mind Parasites: The Supernatural Metaphysical Cult Thriller

The Mind Parasites: The Supernatural Metaphysical Cult Thriller

author: Colin Wilson
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1967
rating: 3
read at: 2019/01/24
date added: 2024/04/10
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror, favorites
review:
I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did when I first read it at age 22. In that sense it met my expectations.

This was my introduction to Colin Wilson and I still think he's an author well worth knowing. His The Outsider is one of my formative books, and his autobiographical The Books in My Life is consistently illuminating and engaging. He's a great essayist, perhaps not technically but practically. His conversational, humble style is eminently readable, and you tend to forgive his overstatements, his lapses in logic, or, in the 21st century, his virtually exclusive focus on men.

This book in particular holds up surprisingly well to my mature self as an original, well-written, thought-provoking sci-fi exercise. Yes it pretty much falls apart at the end, and yes his ingrained male chauvinism (and subtle racism) is off-putting now that I'm more aware of those phenomena. But it reads extremely quick for a cerebral piece of fiction, and I'm intrigued enough to check out the sequels. The pacing at the beginning is masterful, dropping hints of what's to come quite early so as to hook you in quickly.

I'd recommend it overall to people interested in unusual science fiction, or just as an introduction to Wilson himself. If you like Lovecraft you should like this.

]]> El Eternauta 191141 Ni de paz ni de amor. La noche que abre El Eternauta es de angustia y desolación. La nevada que cae sobre Buenos Aires es sólo el primer tramo de una invasión alienígena que desgranará sobre reconocibles escenarios urbanos su violenta espiral de poesía y aniquilamiento. ¿Cómo se combate esta estratégica avanzada militar que ahoga las esperanzas de supervivencia humana? ¿Dónde se esconde el verdadero enemigo? ¿Quién será capaz de enfrentar un destino peor que la muerte? ¿Qué hacer cuando es imposible avanzar e inviable retroceder? Resistir. Contra el invasor. O contra el ejercicio abusivo del poder, que viene a ser lo mismo.

La mayor aventura de ciencia-ficción escrita en el sur del mundo apareció serializada como un largo folletín en la revista Hora Cero Semanal entre 1957 y 1959. Obra de Héctor Germán Oesterheld y Francisco Solano López, la epopeya de El Eternauta es una minuciosa radiografía de la historia argentina de los últimos cincuenta años. Metáfora alucinante del país arrasado, entregado a los intereses externos y dominado por el invasor. Una historia actual que continúa gritando su mensaje a los cuatro vientos: Cuando ya no importa si se gana o se pierde, lo único que prevalece es la dignidad con la cual se presente batalla.]]> 368 Héctor Germán Oesterheld 9879085264 Andrew 5
Qué cuento genial, una mezcla perfecta entre ciencia-ficción y horror. Pensar que un libro escrito en 1957 me podría cautivar asi, ponerme angustiado por saber que iba a pasar, pues es algo completamente inesperado y extraordinario. . . simplemente no se encuentra regularmente ficción tan viva, y aún más impresionante después de tantos años. Talvez inapropriadamente, se lo mostré a mi hijo de 4 años porque sé que le gustan las novelas gráficas. También le encanta esto, aunque ahora el niño está preguntando mucho alrededor de la muerte. . . uf.

Ni me acuerdo como me enteré del libro. Puede haber sido en una lista de las mejores ficciones argentinas, o tal vez de las mejores novelas gráficas, no lo sé. Pero tampoco importa mucho, porque me parece que pertenezca en ambas listas, como obra emblemática del género y del pais.

La historia es bastante sencilla: hay una invasión extraterrestre. Pero los detalles de la invasión son hermosamente originales y espantosos, y proveen una plataforma para varias discusiones interesantes sobre la naturaleza humana, el libre albedrio, las políticas globales y la guerra nuclear. Esta perspectiva más amplia que lo normal añade una profundidad única a la obra, y encima de la ya-dicho originalidad tenemos una obra no sólo única pero también sumamente satisfactoria.

No es un libro perfecto -- no existen muchos de ellos pienso yo -- y aquí la fórmula se agota un poco hacía el final. También los protagonistas tienden a adivinar con una sorprendente rapidez y precisión los motivos ocultos de los invasores, y a veces se comportan de manera irreal, por ejemplo cuando están entrevistando a los "Manos" (en dos ocasiones distinas) y nunca les preguntan las cosas mas obvias, como por ejemplo: "Oye, cuál es el plan de sus amos?"

Pero aún me encanta todo: los dibujos, los personajes, la historia, la originalidad, y especialmente el hecho que un libro tan viejo puede sentir tan relevante todavía. Ya estoy en proceso de leer la continuación novelada El Eternauta y otros cuentos de ciencia ficción (no la novela gráfica publicada en 1978), y me está decepcionando bastante. Temo que ninguna continuanción pueda acercar a la calidad de la original, la cuál recomiendo fuertemente a tod@s fanátic@s de ciencia-ficcion, horror, novelas gráficas y ficción en español.

**

What an amazing story, the perfect blend of science-fiction and horror. To think that a book written in 1957 could captivate me like that, having me so anxious to know what was coming, was completely unexpected and extraordinary.. . . you simply don't regularly encounter fiction so alive, and especially after so many decades. Perhaps inappropriately I even shared it with my 4 year-old son because I know that he likes comics and graphic novels. Well he also loved this, even though he's now asking an astonishing number of questions about death. . . whoops.

I don't even remember how I got to this book. Maybe it was on a list of the best Argentinian fiction, or maybe among the best graphic novels. But it doesn't really matter in the end, and besides it surely belongs on both lists as one of the emblematic works of both genre and country.

The story itself is simple: an alien invasion. But the details of the invasion are beautifully and scarily original, and they provide a platform for various discussions about human nature, free will, global politics and nuclear war. This wider-than-normal perspective adds a unique depth to the work, and on top of the already-mentioned originality we have a work of fiction that's not only unique but also absolutely satisfying.

It's not a perfect book -- I'm not sure one exists -- and here the suspense formula gets old toward the end. The characters also tend to guess with amazing quickiness and precision the hidden motives of the invaders, and sometimes they behave totally falsely, such as when they're interrogating the "Hands" (on two separate occasions) and they never ask them the most obvious question: "So hey, what's, you know, the plan, and how are they going to do it?"

But I still loved everything: the drawings, the characters, the story, the originality, and especially the fact that such an old book can feel so fresh even today. I'm in the process of reading the novelized sequel El Eternauta y otros cuentos de ciencia ficción (not the 1978 graphic novel) and I'm already disappointed. I fear that no sequel can compare to the quality of the original, which I strongly recommend to all fans of sci-fi, horror, graphic novels and Spanish-language fiction.

]]> 4.35 1957 El Eternauta

author: Héctor Germán Oesterheld
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1957
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/28
date added: 2024/04/10
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror, favorites, alltime-favorites
review:
(Crítica en español primero. . . Review in English below)

Qué cuento genial, una mezcla perfecta entre ciencia-ficción y horror. Pensar que un libro escrito en 1957 me podría cautivar asi, ponerme angustiado por saber que iba a pasar, pues es algo completamente inesperado y extraordinario. . . simplemente no se encuentra regularmente ficción tan viva, y aún más impresionante después de tantos años. Talvez inapropriadamente, se lo mostré a mi hijo de 4 años porque sé que le gustan las novelas gráficas. También le encanta esto, aunque ahora el niño está preguntando mucho alrededor de la muerte. . . uf.

Ni me acuerdo como me enteré del libro. Puede haber sido en una lista de las mejores ficciones argentinas, o tal vez de las mejores novelas gráficas, no lo sé. Pero tampoco importa mucho, porque me parece que pertenezca en ambas listas, como obra emblemática del género y del pais.

La historia es bastante sencilla: hay una invasión extraterrestre. Pero los detalles de la invasión son hermosamente originales y espantosos, y proveen una plataforma para varias discusiones interesantes sobre la naturaleza humana, el libre albedrio, las políticas globales y la guerra nuclear. Esta perspectiva más amplia que lo normal añade una profundidad única a la obra, y encima de la ya-dicho originalidad tenemos una obra no sólo única pero también sumamente satisfactoria.

No es un libro perfecto -- no existen muchos de ellos pienso yo -- y aquí la fórmula se agota un poco hacía el final. También los protagonistas tienden a adivinar con una sorprendente rapidez y precisión los motivos ocultos de los invasores, y a veces se comportan de manera irreal, por ejemplo cuando están entrevistando a los "Manos" (en dos ocasiones distinas) y nunca les preguntan las cosas mas obvias, como por ejemplo: "Oye, cuál es el plan de sus amos?"

Pero aún me encanta todo: los dibujos, los personajes, la historia, la originalidad, y especialmente el hecho que un libro tan viejo puede sentir tan relevante todavía. Ya estoy en proceso de leer la continuación novelada El Eternauta y otros cuentos de ciencia ficción (no la novela gráfica publicada en 1978), y me está decepcionando bastante. Temo que ninguna continuanción pueda acercar a la calidad de la original, la cuál recomiendo fuertemente a tod@s fanátic@s de ciencia-ficcion, horror, novelas gráficas y ficción en español.

**

What an amazing story, the perfect blend of science-fiction and horror. To think that a book written in 1957 could captivate me like that, having me so anxious to know what was coming, was completely unexpected and extraordinary.. . . you simply don't regularly encounter fiction so alive, and especially after so many decades. Perhaps inappropriately I even shared it with my 4 year-old son because I know that he likes comics and graphic novels. Well he also loved this, even though he's now asking an astonishing number of questions about death. . . whoops.

I don't even remember how I got to this book. Maybe it was on a list of the best Argentinian fiction, or maybe among the best graphic novels. But it doesn't really matter in the end, and besides it surely belongs on both lists as one of the emblematic works of both genre and country.

The story itself is simple: an alien invasion. But the details of the invasion are beautifully and scarily original, and they provide a platform for various discussions about human nature, free will, global politics and nuclear war. This wider-than-normal perspective adds a unique depth to the work, and on top of the already-mentioned originality we have a work of fiction that's not only unique but also absolutely satisfying.

It's not a perfect book -- I'm not sure one exists -- and here the suspense formula gets old toward the end. The characters also tend to guess with amazing quickiness and precision the hidden motives of the invaders, and sometimes they behave totally falsely, such as when they're interrogating the "Hands" (on two separate occasions) and they never ask them the most obvious question: "So hey, what's, you know, the plan, and how are they going to do it?"

But I still loved everything: the drawings, the characters, the story, the originality, and especially the fact that such an old book can feel so fresh even today. I'm in the process of reading the novelized sequel El Eternauta y otros cuentos de ciencia ficción (not the 1978 graphic novel) and I'm already disappointed. I fear that no sequel can compare to the quality of the original, which I strongly recommend to all fans of sci-fi, horror, graphic novels and Spanish-language fiction.

]]> <![CDATA[Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition]]> 200142
To illustrate his argument, Robinson traces the emergence of Marxist ideology in Europe, the resistance by blacks in historically oppressive environments, and the influence of both of these traditions on such important twentieth-century black radical thinkers as W. E. B. Du Bois, C. L. R. James, and Richard Wright.]]> 480 Cedric J. Robinson 0807848298 Andrew 3 history, political-science
His main point is that Marxism/Communism/Socialism/what-have-you, while good entries for black intellectuals into the ideology of anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism, can never go far enough in serving this oppressed minority due to the race and class context in which the ideology itself was created. Robinson compellingly argues that while Marxism may be a good starting point, it is incumbent on modern intellectuals to move past it, to use what they can of Marx but adapt it to modern needs (while fixing the flaws of eurocentrism).

The most engrossing part of the book was when he chronicled three such intellectuals - W.E.B. Du Bois, C.L.R. James and Richard Wright -- on their journeys into and out of Marxism. While telling their stories, Robinson makes a compelling case of why we need to beware of all dogma, even that of the side with which we agree.

While I wouldn't recommend this book to the layperson, I definitely hope it is being closely studied by today's black intellectuals, leftists and organizers. I wouldn't say this necessarily provides a roadmap to Black Liberation, but it is an excellent point of consolidation that comrades can use as a common reference.

@pointblaek]]> 4.39 1983 Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition

Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition

author: Cedric J. Robinson
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/10
date added: 2024/04/10
shelves: history, political-science
review:
The book is more important than it is enjoyable. It took me a long time to read, but I'm happy that I did. I very much respect Robinson's attempt to consolidate the Black Radical tradition into one tome, and I think he largely succeeds. That the book is so densely written, however, will be quite an obstacle to this ever becoming a widely-read analysis (as I would argue it should be).

His main point is that Marxism/Communism/Socialism/what-have-you, while good entries for black intellectuals into the ideology of anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism, can never go far enough in serving this oppressed minority due to the race and class context in which the ideology itself was created. Robinson compellingly argues that while Marxism may be a good starting point, it is incumbent on modern intellectuals to move past it, to use what they can of Marx but adapt it to modern needs (while fixing the flaws of eurocentrism).

The most engrossing part of the book was when he chronicled three such intellectuals - W.E.B. Du Bois, C.L.R. James and Richard Wright -- on their journeys into and out of Marxism. While telling their stories, Robinson makes a compelling case of why we need to beware of all dogma, even that of the side with which we agree.

While I wouldn't recommend this book to the layperson, I definitely hope it is being closely studied by today's black intellectuals, leftists and organizers. I wouldn't say this necessarily provides a roadmap to Black Liberation, but it is an excellent point of consolidation that comrades can use as a common reference.

@pointblaek
]]> <![CDATA[A Rage in Harlem (Harlem Cycle, #1)]]> 565816 A Rage in��Harlem is a��ripping introduction to Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, patrolling New York City’s roughest streets in Chester Himes’s groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series.��
��
For love of fine, wily Imabelle, hapless Jackson surrenders his life savings to a con man who knows the secret of turning ten-dollar bills into hundreds—and then he steals from his boss, only to lose the stolen money at a craps table. Luckily for him, he can turn to his savvy twin brother, Goldy, who earns a living—disguised as a Sister of Mercy—by selling tickets to Heaven in Harlem.�� With Goldy on his side, Jackson is ready for payback.]]> 151 Chester Himes 0679720405 Andrew 2 literature-classic Ride the Pink Horse and this one suffers in comparison. Hughes's voice is so strong throughout, and there's some real authorial intent behind the story, even art to it, whereas this one feels pretty slapdash by comparison. It's still interesting to be sure, it just does not feel as serious overall and it doesn't leave me feeling compelled to read any more of Himes's works, as I will with Hughes.

Is it a fair comparison? Not sure, but it's the one in front of my eyes.]]> 3.90 1957 A Rage in Harlem (Harlem Cycle, #1)

author: Chester Himes
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1957
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves: literature-classic
review:
I read this right after Dorothy Hughes's Ride the Pink Horse and this one suffers in comparison. Hughes's voice is so strong throughout, and there's some real authorial intent behind the story, even art to it, whereas this one feels pretty slapdash by comparison. It's still interesting to be sure, it just does not feel as serious overall and it doesn't leave me feeling compelled to read any more of Himes's works, as I will with Hughes.

Is it a fair comparison? Not sure, but it's the one in front of my eyes.
]]> Ride the Pink Horse 579819 248 Dorothy B. Hughes 184195277X Andrew 4 literature-classic
Does Hughes err on the side of romanticizing the "noble savage"? Probably, but that's far better than the alternative imo. And the book itself is so compulsively readable (despite being fairly predictable) that I'll definitely be checking out more of her work.]]> 3.79 1946 Ride the Pink Horse

author: Dorothy B. Hughes
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves: literature-classic
review:
It's been awhile since I read any noir, so it's difficult to compare to some of the heavyweights I've read like Chandler and Hammett. But Hughes's voice on this one was immediately enchanting and the themes of racism and colonialism were fascinating and quite impressive for as far back as it was written.

Does Hughes err on the side of romanticizing the "noble savage"? Probably, but that's far better than the alternative imo. And the book itself is so compulsively readable (despite being fairly predictable) that I'll definitely be checking out more of her work.
]]> <![CDATA[2061: Odyssey Three (Space Odyssey, #3)]]> 35816 302 Arthur C. Clarke 0586203192 Andrew 4 3.61 1987 2061: Odyssey Three (Space Odyssey, #3)

author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves: literature-classic, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:

]]> 2010: Odyssey Two 70539 2001: A Space Odyssey first shocked, amazed, and delighted millions in the late 1960s, the novel was quickly recognized as a classic. Since then, its fame has grown steadily among the multitudes who have read the novel or seen the film based on it. Yet, along with almost universal acclaim, a host of questions has grown more insistent through the years:

Who or what transformed Dave Bowman into the Star-Child? What purpose lay behind the transformation? What would become of the Star-Child?

What alien purpose lay behind the monoliths on the Moon and out in space?

What could drive HAL, a stable, intelligent computer, to kill the crew? Was HAL really insane? What happened to HAL and the spaceship Discovery after Dave Bowman disappeared?

Would there be a sequel?

Now all those questions and many more have been answered. In this stunning sequel to his international bestseller, Clarke has written what will truly be one of the great books of the '80s. Cosmic in sweep, eloquent in its depiction of Man's place in the Universe, and filled with the romance of space, this novel is a monumental achievement.]]> 320 Arthur C. Clarke 0345413970 Andrew 4 3.94 1982 2010: Odyssey Two

author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves: literature-classic, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:

]]> <![CDATA[2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)]]> 70535
So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.

But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong...

One of the greatest-selling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end.]]> 297 Arthur C. Clarke Andrew 5 4.17 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)

2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)

author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1968
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves: literature-classic, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]> 17125 The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union and confirms Solzhenitsyn's stature as "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dosotevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy"--Harrison Salisbury

This unexpurgated 1991 translation by H. T. Willetts is the only authorized edition available, and fully captures the power and beauty of the original Russian.]]> 182 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Andrew 4 literature-classic Journey into the Whirlwind when talking about Russian prison memoirs. I rate it near the same level of another prison memoir, Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz, although the latter was obviously about the Holocaust-era concentration camps. Both have the same level of unrelenting realism as well as priceless descriptions of the daily politics and goings-on of prison life. This has the similar advantage of being as quick a read on a weighty subject matter as you're likely to find.

Update: I like to write my reviews before reading others' reviews and just leave them at that, but I saw so many misguided remarks that I felt compelled to add to my original comments.

Many people have responded that this book "isn't that depressing" or not as dark as they thought it would be, or is actually about a "good day" that Ivan Denisovich had so what's-the-big-deal?. It seems like they are missing the point entirely. The fact that these events are considered "good" is a devastating subversion of conventional expectations concerning dignified life. The fact that it's only one out of many thousands of days, most of which probably weren't that "good," is even more damning. But let's imagine that Shukhov experiences these "good" days most of the time; the very dimness of these bright spots only makes the whole of his existence that much more pitiful (both the title and structure of the novel, of course, brilliantly emphasize this).

Most subtly and perhaps most importantly, the remarkable nonchalance with which Shukhov narrates the day masterfully illustrates the insidious and enveloping nature of this miserable means of existence. Solzhenitsyn, through Shukhov, perfectly channelled the ground-down resignation of life in the Gulag. It's this craftsmanship that makes the book truly special; many people have experienced such horrors and written about them, but very few have so artfully designed their account in order to transmit the smoldering wretchedness with such utter precision.

I'm actually glad to have read comments with which I disagree so strongly, because in revisiting my thoughts on this book, I realize that I like it even more than I had realized!

]]> 3.98 1962 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2012/10/20
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: literature-classic
review:
The introduction to the edition I read pretty much describes this perfectly: a straightforward, simply-worded account of the persistent state of low-grade horror that made up daily life in the Gulag. It is somehow more memorable than Journey into the Whirlwind when talking about Russian prison memoirs. I rate it near the same level of another prison memoir, Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz, although the latter was obviously about the Holocaust-era concentration camps. Both have the same level of unrelenting realism as well as priceless descriptions of the daily politics and goings-on of prison life. This has the similar advantage of being as quick a read on a weighty subject matter as you're likely to find.

Update: I like to write my reviews before reading others' reviews and just leave them at that, but I saw so many misguided remarks that I felt compelled to add to my original comments.

Many people have responded that this book "isn't that depressing" or not as dark as they thought it would be, or is actually about a "good day" that Ivan Denisovich had so what's-the-big-deal?. It seems like they are missing the point entirely. The fact that these events are considered "good" is a devastating subversion of conventional expectations concerning dignified life. The fact that it's only one out of many thousands of days, most of which probably weren't that "good," is even more damning. But let's imagine that Shukhov experiences these "good" days most of the time; the very dimness of these bright spots only makes the whole of his existence that much more pitiful (both the title and structure of the novel, of course, brilliantly emphasize this).

Most subtly and perhaps most importantly, the remarkable nonchalance with which Shukhov narrates the day masterfully illustrates the insidious and enveloping nature of this miserable means of existence. Solzhenitsyn, through Shukhov, perfectly channelled the ground-down resignation of life in the Gulag. It's this craftsmanship that makes the book truly special; many people have experienced such horrors and written about them, but very few have so artfully designed their account in order to transmit the smoldering wretchedness with such utter precision.

I'm actually glad to have read comments with which I disagree so strongly, because in revisiting my thoughts on this book, I realize that I like it even more than I had realized!

]]> <![CDATA[Unity and Struggle: Speeches and Writings of Amilcar Cabral (Monthly Review Press Classic Titles, 3)]]> 3128810 336 Amílcar Cabral 0853456259 Andrew 4
This book is a very good supplement to the incisive Resistance and Decolonization. It is a mixture of writings and speeches, and it has Cabral's typically articulate communication which he tailors to each audience. I'm not sure if it's exhaustive in terms of all his revolutionary theory and praxis, but it feels like it.

My only complaint about it is the organization is not intuitive. Even within sections it jumps around chronologically, when I would have strongly preferred each entry remain in chronological order. I'd recommend that a reader pick their way through it chronologically, just because for me it's always preferable to trace the development of a person's thought over time.

But it's a small complaint in the grand scheme of things. Cabral is a man that everyone should read, no matter your political stripe. I would recommend starting with Resistance and Decolonization since it is shorter and more accessible, but if you liked that then it's a no-brainer to move onto this one.

]]> 4.28 1979 Unity and Struggle: Speeches and Writings of Amilcar Cabral (Monthly Review Press Classic Titles, 3)

Unity and Struggle: Speeches and Writings of Amilcar Cabral (Monthly Review Press Classic Titles, 3)

author: Amílcar Cabral
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/13
date added: 2024/03/13
shelves: history, memoir, political-science, favorites
review:
Of the African revolutionaries I've read and learned about (including Nkrumah, Sankara and Lumumba), Amilcar Cabral is closest to my heart. I don't know exactly how to explain it but it's some combination of his scientific background, his amazing success over a decade-plus after starting basically from scratch, the comprehensiveness of his strategic vision and the extreme clarity (and informality) of his written and verbal communication. After Lenin, Mao and Castro he is imo the all-around greatest revolutionary of the 20th century.

This book is a very good supplement to the incisive Resistance and Decolonization. It is a mixture of writings and speeches, and it has Cabral's typically articulate communication which he tailors to each audience. I'm not sure if it's exhaustive in terms of all his revolutionary theory and praxis, but it feels like it.

My only complaint about it is the organization is not intuitive. Even within sections it jumps around chronologically, when I would have strongly preferred each entry remain in chronological order. I'd recommend that a reader pick their way through it chronologically, just because for me it's always preferable to trace the development of a person's thought over time.

But it's a small complaint in the grand scheme of things. Cabral is a man that everyone should read, no matter your political stripe. I would recommend starting with Resistance and Decolonization since it is shorter and more accessible, but if you liked that then it's a no-brainer to move onto this one.

]]> <![CDATA[Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones]]> 1478481 Left of Karl Marx, Carole Boyce Davies assesses the activism, writing, and legacy of Claudia Jones (1915��1964), a pioneering Afro-Caribbean radical intellectual, dedicated communist, and feminist. Jones is buried in London’s Highgate Cemetery, to the left of Karl Marx—a location that Boyce Davies finds fitting given how Jones expanded Marxism-Leninism to incorporate gender and race in her political critique and activism.

Claudia Cumberbatch Jones was born in Trinidad. In 1924, she moved to New York, where she lived for the next thirty years. She was active in the Communist Party from her early twenties onward. A talented writer and speaker, she traveled throughout the United States lecturing and organizing. In the early 1950s, she wrote a well-known column, “Half the World,�� for the Daily Worker. As the U.S. government intensified its efforts to prosecute communists, Jones was arrested several times. She served nearly a year in a U.S. prison before being deported and given asylum by Great Britain in 1955. There she founded The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News and the Caribbean Carnival, an annual London festival that continues today as the Notting Hill Carnival. Boyce Davies examines Jones’s thought and journalism, her political and community organizing, and poetry that the activist wrote while she was imprisoned. Looking at the contents of the FBI file on Jones, Boyce Davies contrasts Jones’s own narration of her life with the federal government’s. Left of Karl Marx establishes Jones as a significant figure within Caribbean intellectual traditions, black U.S. feminism, and the history of communism.]]> 311 Carole Boyce Davies 0822341166 Andrew 2 history, political-science
This could be a case where I'm just unfairly holding my prior expectations against a book, because I expected a biography but instead got a tedious and baffling academic argument... Baffling because to my knowledge nobody has ever taken the opposite position, but then again I'm so ignorant on the topic that I wouldn't know if they had (then AGAIN that's probably another reason this should have just been a straight biography).

I won't speculate on why Davies decided to go that direction with the subject, but I will note that from the very preface it is conspicuous how she 1) centers herself and 2) criticizes other academics for insufficiently appreciating Claudia Jones. In doing this, Jones in her own story becomes almost secondary to academic point-scoring. We can't just learn about Jones being a journalist, or a feminist, or Caribbean, we have to understand (repetitively over far too many pages) how being each of those things represents the trailblazing epitome of black radicalness. And the implicit message is that Davies herself deserves our highest praise for being the first one to point all this out.

Davies makes basic arguments in very pretentious ways; my favorite was did you know that journalism was an important tool for black radicals? Instead of simply recounting for us Jones's journalistic pursuits, Davies milks those eight words for an entire chapter. Put another way, if Davies had seen Jones not as an admirable human being but purely as unclaimed academic territory, and had hastily rushed to plant her flag as first claimant, she hardly would have written a different book.

I've been running out of patience with academia for years now, and this book is one of the last nails in the coffin. Most bad things about academia are on display here: obfuscation, navel-gazing, arrogance, gate-keeping, self-importance. If you can find me a book that more unnecessarily complicates a more important subject, I'd love to hear about it.

I could only recommend this book if you REALLY like Claudia Jones and have already read a lot about her, or you are curious about her and REALLY like academic writing. For any other readers I think there are at least half a dozen better places to spend your time before trying this book out, depending on your main interest:

On Black radical communism... W.E.B. DuBois or Cedric Robinson
On Black radical feminist communism... Angela Davis
On Caribbean Black radical communism... Walter Rodney or CLR James
On Claudia Jones specifically: not sure but I'd be surprised if there's not an easier and roughly as useful biography as this one out there somewhere

]]> 4.19 2007 Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones

Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones

author: Carole Boyce Davies
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2024/01/16
date added: 2024/01/20
shelves: history, political-science
review:
Four stars for the content, one for the presentation. It's notable to me that even many of the 4-star reviews here talk about how unpleasant this was to read. IMO that means they have rated it too highly, maybe out of respect for the subject?

This could be a case where I'm just unfairly holding my prior expectations against a book, because I expected a biography but instead got a tedious and baffling academic argument... Baffling because to my knowledge nobody has ever taken the opposite position, but then again I'm so ignorant on the topic that I wouldn't know if they had (then AGAIN that's probably another reason this should have just been a straight biography).

I won't speculate on why Davies decided to go that direction with the subject, but I will note that from the very preface it is conspicuous how she 1) centers herself and 2) criticizes other academics for insufficiently appreciating Claudia Jones. In doing this, Jones in her own story becomes almost secondary to academic point-scoring. We can't just learn about Jones being a journalist, or a feminist, or Caribbean, we have to understand (repetitively over far too many pages) how being each of those things represents the trailblazing epitome of black radicalness. And the implicit message is that Davies herself deserves our highest praise for being the first one to point all this out.

Davies makes basic arguments in very pretentious ways; my favorite was did you know that journalism was an important tool for black radicals? Instead of simply recounting for us Jones's journalistic pursuits, Davies milks those eight words for an entire chapter. Put another way, if Davies had seen Jones not as an admirable human being but purely as unclaimed academic territory, and had hastily rushed to plant her flag as first claimant, she hardly would have written a different book.

I've been running out of patience with academia for years now, and this book is one of the last nails in the coffin. Most bad things about academia are on display here: obfuscation, navel-gazing, arrogance, gate-keeping, self-importance. If you can find me a book that more unnecessarily complicates a more important subject, I'd love to hear about it.

I could only recommend this book if you REALLY like Claudia Jones and have already read a lot about her, or you are curious about her and REALLY like academic writing. For any other readers I think there are at least half a dozen better places to spend your time before trying this book out, depending on your main interest:

On Black radical communism... W.E.B. DuBois or Cedric Robinson
On Black radical feminist communism... Angela Davis
On Caribbean Black radical communism... Walter Rodney or CLR James
On Claudia Jones specifically: not sure but I'd be surprised if there's not an easier and roughly as useful biography as this one out there somewhere

]]> Camp Concentration 553907 184 Thomas M. Disch 0375705457 Andrew 4 scifi-fantasy-horror 3.77 1967

author: Thomas M. Disch
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1967
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Highly compelling dystopian hard sci-fi. Good enough to remain in my selective collection, and to keep me seeking out his later work.
]]> Fun with Your New Head 939027 The Roaches (1965)
Come to Venus Melancholy (1965)
Linda and Daniel and Spike (1967)
Flight Useless, Inexorable the Pursuit (1968)
Descending (1964)
Nada (1964)
Now Is Forever (1964)
The Contest (1967)
The Empty Room (1967)
The Squirrel Cage (1966)
The Number You Have Reached (1967)
1-A (1968)
Fun with Your New Head (1966)
The City of Penetrating Light (1968)
Moondust, the Smell of Hay, and Dialectical Materialism (1967)
Thesis on Social Forms and Social Controls in the U.S.A. (1964)
Casablanca (1967)]]> 176 Thomas M. Disch Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror 3.94 1968 Fun with Your New Head

author: Thomas M. Disch
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87]]> 542255 338 Thomas Sankara 0873485262 Andrew 2 history, political-science
If you're just going by this book it would seem that Sankara did not have a very rigorous political theory at all, he was just reacting to circumstances around him every step of the way (fwiw I find that hard to believe). There's very little concrete analysis here, it's almost all vague and aspirational.

A lot of this is on me: I should have been more intentional about my selection of reading material on this topic. But regardless, it's remarkable that after reading 450 pages of Sankara's speeches I still feel this uninformed about the material history of his revolution. I don't know what he accomplished, or what specific challenges derailed his efforts. I don't know why he was overthrown, or by whom. I don't know what happened after nor the ultimate fate of his revolution. I didn't even learn anything about his legacy.

Like I really feel like I might as well have not read this book at all, because I will still need to find another book that actually educates me about this historical episode (any recommendations are welcome). That's disappointing. Extra star given for my political sympathies.

]]> 4.53 1988 Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87

Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87

author: Thomas Sankara
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.53
book published: 1988
rating: 2
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: history, political-science
review:
The content and format of this book was not my cup of tea. I was hoping to learn a lot more about historical facts of the Burkina Faso revolutionary period and Sankara's political philosophy, but these speeches fall well short. The vast majority of the speeches are just generic revolution-mongering, which hey I sympathize with; pumping up your people about your revolution certainly has its use. But a book of pep rallies feels much less politically useful to this reader halfway across the world and 40 years after the fact.

If you're just going by this book it would seem that Sankara did not have a very rigorous political theory at all, he was just reacting to circumstances around him every step of the way (fwiw I find that hard to believe). There's very little concrete analysis here, it's almost all vague and aspirational.

A lot of this is on me: I should have been more intentional about my selection of reading material on this topic. But regardless, it's remarkable that after reading 450 pages of Sankara's speeches I still feel this uninformed about the material history of his revolution. I don't know what he accomplished, or what specific challenges derailed his efforts. I don't know why he was overthrown, or by whom. I don't know what happened after nor the ultimate fate of his revolution. I didn't even learn anything about his legacy.

Like I really feel like I might as well have not read this book at all, because I will still need to find another book that actually educates me about this historical episode (any recommendations are welcome). That's disappointing. Extra star given for my political sympathies.

]]> Dune Messiah (Dune #2) 44492285
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known--and feared--as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne--and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.

And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 336 Frank Herbert 0593098234 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror 3.89 1969 Dune Messiah (Dune #2)

author: Frank Herbert
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/03
date added: 2024/01/03
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
For as thoughtful as complex as this was from a political standpoint, it was remarkably thin on explanation and character motivation. If Herbert had substituted like 75% of the fretting about visions for actual background and characterization, this would have been much better.
]]> <![CDATA[Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism]]> 70501 354 Peter Winn 0195045580 Andrew 3 history, political-science
It strikes me that Winn may have fallen too in love with his research, such that he left a lot of his interviews in even when they stopped adding much to the narrative. It's not a huge flaw, just notable.

A far bigger flaw for me is how severely Winn discounts the role of the U.S. in sabotaging Chile's economy and fomenting the coup. Whether because of his own ideological priors or because there simply wasn't as much evidence for it at the time of his writing, the result is a seriously compromised analysis of who was to blame for the failure of the democratic revolution.

You can tell Winn wants to blame Allende and the more cautious socialist\communist parties -- and the 1st person reports here are definitely not flattering towards Allende. But he doesn't give enough weight, or almost any at all, to the external pressures Allende was facing. He also has a clear but unacknowledged bias toward the more anarcho-syndicalist end of the communist spectrum, which isn't a problem by itself but becomes a problem when he tries to pass his biased analysis off as objective.

E.g. for all the blame he heaps on Allende, he spends almost no time wondering if there was any way the Yarur workers could have held off on their strike for a few months. I kind of doubt anything would have prevented a coup, but there's at least an argument to be made that Allende was right and the Yarur workers moving that fast got the revolution too far out over its skis.

Overall though this is an extremely valuable snapshot of the era, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Allende or socialism. It's not a quick read but I doubt you'll find a more granular narrative of these events, and it's always fascinating (and important) to learn more about the ideological rifts that can develop during a revolution.

]]> 4.05 1986 Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism

Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism

author: Peter Winn
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/27
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: history, political-science
review:
An extremely thorough recounting of the socialization of the Yarur textile factory in Allende-era Chile. Probably too thorough, as there was so much background and repetition that it took about half the book to get to the title event.

It strikes me that Winn may have fallen too in love with his research, such that he left a lot of his interviews in even when they stopped adding much to the narrative. It's not a huge flaw, just notable.

A far bigger flaw for me is how severely Winn discounts the role of the U.S. in sabotaging Chile's economy and fomenting the coup. Whether because of his own ideological priors or because there simply wasn't as much evidence for it at the time of his writing, the result is a seriously compromised analysis of who was to blame for the failure of the democratic revolution.

You can tell Winn wants to blame Allende and the more cautious socialist\communist parties -- and the 1st person reports here are definitely not flattering towards Allende. But he doesn't give enough weight, or almost any at all, to the external pressures Allende was facing. He also has a clear but unacknowledged bias toward the more anarcho-syndicalist end of the communist spectrum, which isn't a problem by itself but becomes a problem when he tries to pass his biased analysis off as objective.

E.g. for all the blame he heaps on Allende, he spends almost no time wondering if there was any way the Yarur workers could have held off on their strike for a few months. I kind of doubt anything would have prevented a coup, but there's at least an argument to be made that Allende was right and the Yarur workers moving that fast got the revolution too far out over its skis.

Overall though this is an extremely valuable snapshot of the era, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Allende or socialism. It's not a quick read but I doubt you'll find a more granular narrative of these events, and it's always fascinating (and important) to learn more about the ideological rifts that can develop during a revolution.

]]> <![CDATA[Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?]]> 6763725 81 Mark Fisher 1846943175 Andrew 4 political-science
Maybe the most useful aspect of the book is his discussion on how to go about contesting capitalism: by invoking "the Real(s) underlying the reality that capitalism presents to us" such as environmental catastrophe, the mental health crisis, and monstrous bureaucracy.

It is disheartening that we were not able to do much with the banking collapse window during which Fisher was writing this, but I still think this is a valuable (and easy) addition to contemporary Marxist literature that every leftist should probably read.

]]> 4.20 2009 Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

author: Mark Fisher
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/28
shelves: political-science
review:
This was much breezier than I expected, and I really appreciated the accessibility via the discussion of specific cultural artifacts like "Children of Men" and Kafka. It definitely feels more like a manifesto than it does a rigorous theoretical analysis, but I honestly don't have a problem with that because manifestos usually carry more urgency, and we are in urgent times.

Maybe the most useful aspect of the book is his discussion on how to go about contesting capitalism: by invoking "the Real(s) underlying the reality that capitalism presents to us" such as environmental catastrophe, the mental health crisis, and monstrous bureaucracy.

It is disheartening that we were not able to do much with the banking collapse window during which Fisher was writing this, but I still think this is a valuable (and easy) addition to contemporary Marxist literature that every leftist should probably read.

]]> Blood in My Eye 489637 195 George L. Jackson Andrew 4
I tend to agree with Jackson's position on the need for violent "counterterrorism" (his phrase for responding to state terrorism), but it seems to me that there is a fair amount of adventurism at play here, including the notion that they could have revolutionaries "infiltrate" law enforcement agencies including the CIA and military intelligence. The basic idea, however, as expressed in the following sentence, e.g., I concur with:

I'm convinced that any serious organizing of people must carry with it from the start a potential threat of revolutionary violence. 79

author: George L. Jackson
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.55
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/24
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves: history, memoir, political-science, favorites
review:
I'm a little ashamed it has taken me so long to read this, but maybe I wouldn't have been quite ready had I attempted it sooner. What's very impressive is not only the extremeness of Jackson's position, but also the fact that George and his brother Jonathan were essentially self-taught revolutionaries out of the worst conditions imaginable in the U.S. They deserve the utmost respect of every leftist for that alone.

I tend to agree with Jackson's position on the need for violent "counterterrorism" (his phrase for responding to state terrorism), but it seems to me that there is a fair amount of adventurism at play here, including the notion that they could have revolutionaries "infiltrate" law enforcement agencies including the CIA and military intelligence. The basic idea, however, as expressed in the following sentence, e.g., I concur with:

I'm convinced that any serious organizing of people must carry with it from the start a potential threat of revolutionary violence. 79

One of the more tragic aspects of Jackson's assassination (shortly after he finished writing this book) is that we did not get to watch his theory develop over the course of the rest of the 70s. Shortly after his death, of course, came the demise of the Black Panther Party which he was so certain would be the vanguard party of the revolution. How would Jackson have responded to this from both a theoretical and practical perspective?

While understandably so, Jackson's theory is afro-centric to a fault, e.g. it does not even occur to him to mention the native U.S. population among the colonized and oppressed, when one would think they would be very natural allies to African-Americans (the same goes for immigrants, especially Latines). And his definition of fascism is so broad that it strikes me as not very useful for the purposes of mass education. While he may technically have a point that everything about our country has been fascist since the New Deal, probably 99% of people would instinctively object, to the degree that the claim itself would immediately shut down any potentially productive discourse.

Overall this is a book that every U.S. leftist should read, alongside any other history of Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Black Panthers that you may select. Though flawed it is an important elucidation of revolutionary theory and practice, one with a distinctively U.S. lens, and one coming from as distilled a carceral perspective as conceivable. Both Jackson brothers are also surprisingly excellent writers.

]]> Five Essays on Philosophy 56415540 189 Mao Zedong 2491182254 Andrew 2
Due to the pudding-brain factor, I've begun to temper my criticisms of these works, but I will nonetheless note that I had high hopes from people I respect praising Mao's writing, and those hopes were not met. Apart from the esoteric philosophical word salad, I was particularly disappointed in Mao's argumentation: it struck me as extremely vague, unsupported and overly-general, rarely backing up any of his proclamations/truisms with logical explanation.

It's possible some of this inaccessibility is caused by the differences in thinking between Mandarin and English-language speakers. And so I want to make clear that this is only my personal response to it; I'm not trying to make proclamations about its objective value.

His writing got better for me as he got older, because it was grounded in concrete examples and praxis. "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" and "On Propaganda" were both far more readable, however they are also highly aspirational (especially given what we know about the excesses of the Cultural Revolution). Yes Mao cautions against punishing people too harshly, but it is hard to read his admission that they "will make mistakes" without feeling a little tingle down your spine. Nowhere in these works is a prescription for assuring just treatment of the people while safeguarding the revolution... it's basically "Well we should try our best to treat people fairly but we'll probably imprison or murder a few innocents along the way, whoopsie."

Anyway, while I wasn't too impressed with this overall there was one passage that stuck with me as useful, from "On Contradiction":

"... if in any process there are a number of contradictions, one of them must be the principle contradiction playing the leading and decisive role, while the rest occupy a secondary and subordinate position. Therefore, in studying any complex process in which there are two or more contradictions, we must devote every effort to finding its principle contradiction. Once this principle contradiction is grasped, all problems can be readily solved. 69"

author: Mao Zedong
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.52
book published: 1971
rating: 2
read at: 2023/11/20
date added: 2023/11/20
shelves: history, political-science, philosophy-science
review:
There's a certain element of pudding-brain-edness I'm encountering as I get older (whether from age, drugs, COVID or screen-related brain rot is for another discussion). And that element prevents me from fully engaging with philosophical/theoretical works like I used to, such as this one. So take this review with a grain of salt.

Due to the pudding-brain factor, I've begun to temper my criticisms of these works, but I will nonetheless note that I had high hopes from people I respect praising Mao's writing, and those hopes were not met. Apart from the esoteric philosophical word salad, I was particularly disappointed in Mao's argumentation: it struck me as extremely vague, unsupported and overly-general, rarely backing up any of his proclamations/truisms with logical explanation.

It's possible some of this inaccessibility is caused by the differences in thinking between Mandarin and English-language speakers. And so I want to make clear that this is only my personal response to it; I'm not trying to make proclamations about its objective value.

His writing got better for me as he got older, because it was grounded in concrete examples and praxis. "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" and "On Propaganda" were both far more readable, however they are also highly aspirational (especially given what we know about the excesses of the Cultural Revolution). Yes Mao cautions against punishing people too harshly, but it is hard to read his admission that they "will make mistakes" without feeling a little tingle down your spine. Nowhere in these works is a prescription for assuring just treatment of the people while safeguarding the revolution... it's basically "Well we should try our best to treat people fairly but we'll probably imprison or murder a few innocents along the way, whoopsie."

Anyway, while I wasn't too impressed with this overall there was one passage that stuck with me as useful, from "On Contradiction":

"... if in any process there are a number of contradictions, one of them must be the principle contradiction playing the leading and decisive role, while the rest occupy a secondary and subordinate position. Therefore, in studying any complex process in which there are two or more contradictions, we must devote every effort to finding its principle contradiction. Once this principle contradiction is grasped, all problems can be readily solved. 69"

Overall I would not recommend this to leftists except as a way to be basically informed on all the touchstone communist literature. I would be surprised if I try to read Mao again apart from short(er) essays.

]]> <![CDATA[Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder: A Popular Essay in Marxian Strategy and Tactics]]> 483137 108 Vladimir Lenin 0898754488 Andrew 3 history, political-science
The contempt is palpable, which is fine I guess, just surprising. Open contempt and mockery, however, is not a characteristic I typically associate with mature and/or wise thinking, so that approach gives me at least a small hurdle I have to clear in order to take the author seriously. I'm sure nobody now or then would care about the hurdles I have to face in accepting this legendary text, but it does seem like something worth thinking about in case there are other adherents or potential converts out there for whom such an attitude would cause a similar obstacle...

The content itself is solid, although both repetitive and vague. The main takeaway I have is that it is important as a revolutionary vanguard party to make temporary compromises when your position is significantly weaker than the opposition, even so far as participating in reactionary parliaments or trade unions. Remaining purist while holding insignificant power is a sure way to remain powerless forever.

I find this argument convincing, although for me Lenin didn't sufficiently flesh out how a party can reliably tell the difference between a temporary compromise with reactionary elements and longer-term opportunism. His position seems to rely a lot on smart people simply realizing the difference in the moment, which I suppose is understandable since you can't predict all future conditions, but it also makes his stance quite a bit less scientific than he attempts to portray.

The other big takeaway comes on p.70:

"The fundamental law of revolution...is as follows: it is not enough for revolution that the exploited and oppressed masses should understand the impossibility of living in the old way and demand changes; it is essential for revolution that the exploiters should not be able to live and rule in the old way."

I like that, and it makes sense.

But unfortunately all Lenin's talk about parliamentarianism seems to apply not at all to a non-parliamentary system such as the U.S. I have heard it said (but not read it directly) that Lenin argued that communists should participate in elections because it is an opportunity to 1) educate the masses and 2) measure your support. But in order to run in a national election in the U.S. there would need to be some even mildly cohesive national worker's party, which there is not. So absent the conditions that Lenin takes as his starting point, it is not very clear what U.S. communists are supposed to do with any of the recommendations here, besides attempt to start their own vanguard party.

And Lenin's most hilarious error in this book comes on p. 87 when he says we should thank the U.S. government for demolishing the communist movement in the U.S., and Britain, because it will "get the masses interested in the nature and significance of Bolshevism." Would be sort of embarrassing for Lenin if it turned out that this crackdown basically eliminated the communist movement in these countries for the entire following century... whoopsie!

Anyway, I'd still recommend this to leftists. It's a foundational text of Marxism-Leninism, and it's important to have that context no matter what your beliefs. I'd read The State and Revolution first because that is where Lenin describes in more detail his concept of the vanguard party, which for me is his main addition to Marxism and one that I still believe is correct. I have never seen and therefore cannot conceive of a revolution without a centralized political party leading the way. What happens after that is certainly up for debate, but I happen to believe Chavez was onto the right track when he began emphasizing communes around 2010 (for more on that I highly recommend the recent Commune or Nothing! or Venezuela, the Present as Struggle).

]]> 4.19 1920 Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder: A Popular Essay in Marxian Strategy and Tactics

Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder: A Popular Essay in Marxian Strategy and Tactics

author: Vladimir Lenin
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1920
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/14
date added: 2023/11/14
shelves: history, political-science
review:
I think the main thing I take from this is how ridiculously strident Lenin was. Perhaps that was the norm in political discussion back then, but it feels insane to me that instead of saying "I disagree" or "they are wrong," he basically calls his political opponents moronic children repeatedly throughout the book.

The contempt is palpable, which is fine I guess, just surprising. Open contempt and mockery, however, is not a characteristic I typically associate with mature and/or wise thinking, so that approach gives me at least a small hurdle I have to clear in order to take the author seriously. I'm sure nobody now or then would care about the hurdles I have to face in accepting this legendary text, but it does seem like something worth thinking about in case there are other adherents or potential converts out there for whom such an attitude would cause a similar obstacle...

The content itself is solid, although both repetitive and vague. The main takeaway I have is that it is important as a revolutionary vanguard party to make temporary compromises when your position is significantly weaker than the opposition, even so far as participating in reactionary parliaments or trade unions. Remaining purist while holding insignificant power is a sure way to remain powerless forever.

I find this argument convincing, although for me Lenin didn't sufficiently flesh out how a party can reliably tell the difference between a temporary compromise with reactionary elements and longer-term opportunism. His position seems to rely a lot on smart people simply realizing the difference in the moment, which I suppose is understandable since you can't predict all future conditions, but it also makes his stance quite a bit less scientific than he attempts to portray.

The other big takeaway comes on p.70:

"The fundamental law of revolution...is as follows: it is not enough for revolution that the exploited and oppressed masses should understand the impossibility of living in the old way and demand changes; it is essential for revolution that the exploiters should not be able to live and rule in the old way."

I like that, and it makes sense.

But unfortunately all Lenin's talk about parliamentarianism seems to apply not at all to a non-parliamentary system such as the U.S. I have heard it said (but not read it directly) that Lenin argued that communists should participate in elections because it is an opportunity to 1) educate the masses and 2) measure your support. But in order to run in a national election in the U.S. there would need to be some even mildly cohesive national worker's party, which there is not. So absent the conditions that Lenin takes as his starting point, it is not very clear what U.S. communists are supposed to do with any of the recommendations here, besides attempt to start their own vanguard party.

And Lenin's most hilarious error in this book comes on p. 87 when he says we should thank the U.S. government for demolishing the communist movement in the U.S., and Britain, because it will "get the masses interested in the nature and significance of Bolshevism." Would be sort of embarrassing for Lenin if it turned out that this crackdown basically eliminated the communist movement in these countries for the entire following century... whoopsie!

Anyway, I'd still recommend this to leftists. It's a foundational text of Marxism-Leninism, and it's important to have that context no matter what your beliefs. I'd read The State and Revolution first because that is where Lenin describes in more detail his concept of the vanguard party, which for me is his main addition to Marxism and one that I still believe is correct. I have never seen and therefore cannot conceive of a revolution without a centralized political party leading the way. What happens after that is certainly up for debate, but I happen to believe Chavez was onto the right track when he began emphasizing communes around 2010 (for more on that I highly recommend the recent Commune or Nothing! or Venezuela, the Present as Struggle).

]]> Commune or Nothing! 123986672
Commune or Nothing! Venezuela's Communal Movement and Its Socialist Project opens a window on one of the most ambitious revolutionary projects of our time, as it took shape in a country suffering the cruel consequences of US imperialism. In recent years, repeated coup attempts and U.S. sanctions, combined with falling oil prices, have plunged Venezuela into a series of severe shortages leading to malnutrition, sickness, death, and mass migration. Still, as author Chris Gilbert shows, the Venezuelan people have not been passive in the face of these attacks. Resisting the pressures of capitalism, a significant segment of the population persists in pursuing the strategy for socialist construction that Hugo Chávez developed in his final years in dialogue with the popular movement. That strategy consists in building socialism with the commune as “its basic cell.��

Gilbert’s account gives readers a front-row seat on the country’s communal movement as he chronicles the efforts of grassroots initiatives and gives voice to the communards living and working in communes such as El Panal, El Maizal, Che Guevara, and Luisa Cáceres. He blends these firsthand accounts of communal construction with theoretical reflections and historical insights. The central story of the book is how Venezuelan communes bring people together to democratically determine their ways of living and working, thus generating a new, non-alienated social metabolism that the communes also work to extend to the whole society. Along the way, readers learn how Venezuela’s communal project draws inspiration from advanced Marxist theory―including the innovative work of István Mészáros―and derives from Indigenous and Afro-Venezuelan traditions of communal self-governance.

Titled after the battle cry of this heroic movement, “¡Comuna o Nada!,�� Commune or Nothing! portrays an expanding network of communes pursuing the strategic goal of―not only overcoming the entire capitalist economy―but transcending the state formations upon which the capital system relies. The communal project in Venezuela has proven the viability of its model of all-round human emancipation as an alternative to the increasingly exploitative, destructive, and unsustainable capital system. For this reason, Commune or Nothing!, like the trailblazing movement it depicts, offers important lessons not only regarding the construction of socialism in Venezuela, but for socialist praxis worldwide.]]> 216 Chris Gilbert 1685900232 Andrew 4 history, political-science Venezuela, the Present as Struggle are indispensable to understanding what is really going on there. Upon finishing this I wish the two books had been combined into one volume, as the theoretical exploration of this one greatly complements the ethnographic interview approach of the former.

There are two main criticisms I have of this book but neither is a dealbreaker:

1) I would have appreciated a more detailed economic analysis of how the depicted communes function. How are inputs acquired and how are outputs distributed? What does the balance sheet look like and what is the rate of expansion for these communes to add capacity and function to the community's benefit? I understand Gilbert's focus is more on political analysis, but in the spirit of educating the rest of us I really would have liked to see the inner workings and a sustainability analysis.

2) Gilbert does a decent job of discussing the struggles and drawbacks of the communal approach as implemented in Venezuela, but for a truly well-rounded analysis I would have liked to hear what the movement's critics have to say. Certainly there are some intelligent people in Venezuela who do not believe the communal approach is correct, or are skeptical that they are accomplishing anything. I would like to hear those perspectives as well, not because I myself am skeptical but because I want to believe in the movement even more strongly than I currently do. I guess what I'm saying is this book falls a little short where self-criticism is concerned.

I personally am convinced that Venezuelans are on the right track, although I am very fearful that their less radical government will end up destroying the movement. I also see this as a fascinating combination of Leninism, Maoism and Guevarism, and quite possibly the logical evolution of all Marxism in the 21st century (Istvan Meszaros certainly thought so). Here you have a vanguard party (Lenin) with an appeal to the peasantry (Mao), but also with a growing emphasis on Che's communes, and the main obstacle seems to be that the vanguard party is not sufficiently delegating productive authority to the communes.

Overall these two books should be considered mandatory reading by all leftists (who are frequently criticized for not having a concrete vision of how society should work). Venezuelans are conducting the premiere real-time experiment in reshaping society, and any good leftist should be desperate for as many data points as possible to evaluate their progress.

]]> 4.16 Commune or Nothing!

author: Chris Gilbert
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/13
date added: 2023/11/13
shelves: history, political-science
review:
I have been fascinated by Venezuela's experiment in socialism and both this book and Gilbert/Pascual's recent Venezuela, the Present as Struggle are indispensable to understanding what is really going on there. Upon finishing this I wish the two books had been combined into one volume, as the theoretical exploration of this one greatly complements the ethnographic interview approach of the former.

There are two main criticisms I have of this book but neither is a dealbreaker:

1) I would have appreciated a more detailed economic analysis of how the depicted communes function. How are inputs acquired and how are outputs distributed? What does the balance sheet look like and what is the rate of expansion for these communes to add capacity and function to the community's benefit? I understand Gilbert's focus is more on political analysis, but in the spirit of educating the rest of us I really would have liked to see the inner workings and a sustainability analysis.

2) Gilbert does a decent job of discussing the struggles and drawbacks of the communal approach as implemented in Venezuela, but for a truly well-rounded analysis I would have liked to hear what the movement's critics have to say. Certainly there are some intelligent people in Venezuela who do not believe the communal approach is correct, or are skeptical that they are accomplishing anything. I would like to hear those perspectives as well, not because I myself am skeptical but because I want to believe in the movement even more strongly than I currently do. I guess what I'm saying is this book falls a little short where self-criticism is concerned.

I personally am convinced that Venezuelans are on the right track, although I am very fearful that their less radical government will end up destroying the movement. I also see this as a fascinating combination of Leninism, Maoism and Guevarism, and quite possibly the logical evolution of all Marxism in the 21st century (Istvan Meszaros certainly thought so). Here you have a vanguard party (Lenin) with an appeal to the peasantry (Mao), but also with a growing emphasis on Che's communes, and the main obstacle seems to be that the vanguard party is not sufficiently delegating productive authority to the communes.

Overall these two books should be considered mandatory reading by all leftists (who are frequently criticized for not having a concrete vision of how society should work). Venezuelans are conducting the premiere real-time experiment in reshaping society, and any good leftist should be desperate for as many data points as possible to evaluate their progress.

]]> VALIS 216377 VALIS is the first book in Philip K. Dick's incomparable final trio of novels (the others being The Divine Invasion and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer). This disorienting and bleakly funny work is about a schizophrenic hero named Horselover Fat; the hidden mysteries of Gnostic Christianity; and reality as revealed through a pink laser. VALIS is a theological detective story, in which God is both a missing person and the perpetrator of the ultimate crime.]]> 242 Philip K. Dick 0679734465 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror
My more mature (atheistic? depressed?) sensibility requires me to downgrade this from the previous 5-stars I gave it in my 20s. I called it "the most brilliant sci-fi novel I've ever read" yet upon re-read I don't think it's actually either sci-fi or a novel, so we're left with "brilliant," which... yes, sure.

When I read this I was much more spiritual than I am now, heavily into Alan Watts and Robert Pirsig and many other vaguely Eastern philosophies. So it makes sense that that guy was very impressed with VALIS. But now, despite not actually disagreeing with any of my positions/truths from that era, that sphere of reality is just much less important to me. I suppose I've been ground down by the mundanity of adult and family life. Or maybe chronic depression has a lot to do with it.

But either way, while I greatly admire Dick for the bravery and intellect he displayed in grappling with his own insanity, I didn't actually enjoy it at all, nor did I find it spiritually meaningful anymore. For scifi-as-theological-treatise I much prefer David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus (natch, it's where I got my GR avatar), which espouses a theology probably not all that fundamentally different from VALIS after all.

There's a PhD thesis somewhere in that Dick/Lindsay comparative analysis, for any English/Lit/Divinity student who needs one.

Original Review:

The most brilliant sci-fi novel I've ever read, and maybe the best.

]]> 3.94 1981 VALIS

author: Philip K. Dick
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/31
date added: 2023/10/31
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Updated Review (re-read 10/29/23):

My more mature (atheistic? depressed?) sensibility requires me to downgrade this from the previous 5-stars I gave it in my 20s. I called it "the most brilliant sci-fi novel I've ever read" yet upon re-read I don't think it's actually either sci-fi or a novel, so we're left with "brilliant," which... yes, sure.

When I read this I was much more spiritual than I am now, heavily into Alan Watts and Robert Pirsig and many other vaguely Eastern philosophies. So it makes sense that that guy was very impressed with VALIS. But now, despite not actually disagreeing with any of my positions/truths from that era, that sphere of reality is just much less important to me. I suppose I've been ground down by the mundanity of adult and family life. Or maybe chronic depression has a lot to do with it.

But either way, while I greatly admire Dick for the bravery and intellect he displayed in grappling with his own insanity, I didn't actually enjoy it at all, nor did I find it spiritually meaningful anymore. For scifi-as-theological-treatise I much prefer David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus (natch, it's where I got my GR avatar), which espouses a theology probably not all that fundamentally different from VALIS after all.

There's a PhD thesis somewhere in that Dick/Lindsay comparative analysis, for any English/Lit/Divinity student who needs one.

Original Review:

The most brilliant sci-fi novel I've ever read, and maybe the best.

]]> The Telling 59921
Intrigued by their beliefs, Sutty joins them on a sacred pilgrimage into the mountains...and into the dangerous terrain of her own heart, mind, and soul.]]> 231 Ursula K. Le Guin 0441011233 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror
I had hoped for this last Hain novel to be a little more different than previous entries but they're all just variations on a theme. I respect that making more conventional stories is not what she was really interested in as an author, I just would have loved to have seen her push out of her comfort zone once or twice.]]> 3.97 2000 The Telling

author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/21
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Probably 1.5 stars but I like Le Guin so I'll round up. Definitely low-grade Le Guin though, and it features all of her worst qualities as an author: weak plot, poor pacing and action, and no real climax.

I had hoped for this last Hain novel to be a little more different than previous entries but they're all just variations on a theme. I respect that making more conventional stories is not what she was really interested in as an author, I just would have loved to have seen her push out of her comfort zone once or twice.
]]> <![CDATA[Decolonial Marxism: Essays from the Pan-African Revolution]]> 57186849 A previously unpublished collection of Rodney's essays on Marxism, spanning his engagement with of Black Power, Ujamaa Villages, and the everyday people who put an end to a colonial era Early in life, Walter Rodney became a major revolutionary figure in a dizzying range of locales that traversed the breadth of the Black diaspora: in North America and Europe, in the Caribbean, and on the African continent. He was not only a witness of a Pan-African and socialist internationalism; in his efforts to build mass organizations, catalyze rebellious ferment, and theorize an anti-colonial path to self-emancipation, he can be counted among its prime authors. In drawing together pages where he elaborates on the nexus of race and class, offers his reflections on radical pedagogy, outlines programs for newly independent nation-states, considers the challenges of anti-colonial historiography, and produces balance sheets for a dozen wars for national liberation, this volume captures something of the range and power of Rodney's output. But it also demonstrates the unbending consistency that unites his life and work: the ongoing reinvention of living conception of Marxism, and a respect for the still untapped potential of mass self-rule.]]> 304 Walter Rodney Andrew 4 How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is really up to you.

The only criticism I have of this book is probably a quibble yet it seems like such a glaring omission that I'm subtracting a star: there is nowhere in the Verso edition any indication of when these speeches or writings were produced. Not on the copyright page, not in the TOC, not as a brief footnote at the beginning of each piece, not in the forward, nowhere. If you want to know when he said these things you'll have to either guess based on the dates discussed in the particular piece or do your own research outside of this book, which feels pretty ludicrous to me. How could nobody think to add a simple date?

Anyway, still great, still you should read it.

]]> 4.53 Decolonial Marxism: Essays from the Pan-African Revolution

Decolonial Marxism: Essays from the Pan-African Revolution

author: Walter Rodney
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/24
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves: history, political-science, favorites
review:
Rodney writes with such remarkable clarity and incision that this is really one of the most engaging volumes of political theory I've ever read. I don't have much to say about it that hasn't already been written by many smarter people, but every Marxist should read Rodney, as well as anyone interested in modern African history, especially African neocolonialism. Whether it be this book or his most famous How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is really up to you.

The only criticism I have of this book is probably a quibble yet it seems like such a glaring omission that I'm subtracting a star: there is nowhere in the Verso edition any indication of when these speeches or writings were produced. Not on the copyright page, not in the TOC, not as a brief footnote at the beginning of each piece, not in the forward, nowhere. If you want to know when he said these things you'll have to either guess based on the dates discussed in the particular piece or do your own research outside of this book, which feels pretty ludicrous to me. How could nobody think to add a simple date?

Anyway, still great, still you should read it.

]]> The Night of the Gun 2509481
That long-ago night he was so out of his mind that his best friend had to pull a gun on him to make him go away? A visit to the friend twenty years later reveals that Carr was pointing the gun.

His lucrative side business as a cocaine dealer? Not all that lucrative, as it turned out, and filled with peril.

His belief that after his twins were born, he quickly sobered up to become a parent? Nice story, if he could prove it.

The notion that he was an easy choice as a custodial parent once he finally was sober? His lawyer pulls out the old file and gently explains it was a little more complicated than that.

In one sense, the story of "The Night of the Gun" is a common one -- a white-boy misdemeanant lands in a ditch and is restored to sanity through the love of his family, a God of his understanding, and a support group that will go unnamed. But when the whole truth is told, it does not end there. After fourteen years -- or was it thirteen? -- Carr tried an experiment in social drinking. Double jeopardy turned out to be a game he did not play well. As a reporter and columnist at the nation's best newspaper, he prospered, but gained no more adeptness at mood-altering substances. He set out to become a nice suburban alcoholic and succeeded all too well, including two more arrests, one that included a night in jail wearing a tuxedo.

Ferocious and eloquent, courageous and bitingly funny, "The Night of the Gun" unravels the ways memory helps us not only create our lives, but survive them.]]> 385 David Carr 1416541527 Andrew 1 dnf, memoir
And let's be clear, this "luck" absolutely includes the underlying forces at play in our society, such as patriarchy and white supremacy. In a non-patriarchical society this guy woulda gone to prison for decades after beating women like he did. And in a non-racist society, i.e. one that punished black and white people on equal terms, he would have gone to prison long-term many times over. So yes it is luck but it's also extreme privilege that saved him, and he doesn't ever acknowledge that.

If there were something exceptional about Carr apart from journalistic ability and charisma, I might be more open to hearing his story. But he admits himself that he did basically nothing right and still ended up perfectly fine, against all odds. I'm happy for him I guess, and he does seem repentant, but I don't feel like engaging in even a minutely congratulatory activity over it. I guess I simply don't believe that somebody should be able to wrap their utter assholery in a pretty package and then receive praise and respect for it.

P.s. Now I'm even more frustrated because the only reason I even read this at all is because it appeared on a list of "Te-Nehisi Coates Recommendations" that included some landmark works, so you know. . . associated esteem. But I just watched the actual talk where Coates "recommended" it and he only even mentions the book because he's talking about how Carr was his editor and friend. Well shit.]]> 3.79 2008 The Night of the Gun

author: David Carr
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2008
rating: 1
read at: 2018/05/03
date added: 2023/10/23
shelves: dnf, memoir
review:
This was entertaining enough, but eventually I realized I was spending my time on the story of an exceptionally intelligent, privileged guy who did so many awful things that he should by all rights be either dead or imprisoned for life, and that he would be if not for sheer dumb luck. I can't explain exactly why this makes me not want to read any more of it, but it does. I guess it's because the only force that led him to the position of writing this memoir at all is undeserved luck, and I feel that by rewarding this luck with my attention, I'm not only perpetuating his luck cycle, but I'm indirectly condoning his actions.

And let's be clear, this "luck" absolutely includes the underlying forces at play in our society, such as patriarchy and white supremacy. In a non-patriarchical society this guy woulda gone to prison for decades after beating women like he did. And in a non-racist society, i.e. one that punished black and white people on equal terms, he would have gone to prison long-term many times over. So yes it is luck but it's also extreme privilege that saved him, and he doesn't ever acknowledge that.

If there were something exceptional about Carr apart from journalistic ability and charisma, I might be more open to hearing his story. But he admits himself that he did basically nothing right and still ended up perfectly fine, against all odds. I'm happy for him I guess, and he does seem repentant, but I don't feel like engaging in even a minutely congratulatory activity over it. I guess I simply don't believe that somebody should be able to wrap their utter assholery in a pretty package and then receive praise and respect for it.

P.s. Now I'm even more frustrated because the only reason I even read this at all is because it appeared on a list of "Te-Nehisi Coates Recommendations" that included some landmark works, so you know. . . associated esteem. But I just watched the actual talk where Coates "recommended" it and he only even mentions the book because he's talking about how Carr was his editor and friend. Well shit.
]]> Lady Chatterley's Lover 49583709
With her soft brown hair, lithe figure and big, wondering eyes, Constance Chatterley is possessed of a certain vitality. Yet she is deeply unhappy; married to an invalid, she is almost as inwardly paralyzed as her husband Clifford is paralyzed below the waist. It is not until she finds refuge in the arms of Mellors the game-keeper, a solitary man of a class apart, that she feels regenerated. Together they move from an outer world of chaos towards an inner world of fulfillment.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700��titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the��series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date��translations by award-winning translators.]]> 400 D.H. Lawrence 014303961X Andrew 3 literature-classic 3.48 1928 Lady Chatterley's Lover

author: D.H. Lawrence
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1928
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/16
date added: 2023/10/18
shelves: literature-classic
review:
I picked it up because I was curious to see what one of the so-called sexiest books ever could have going on with it. I was more impressed with the actual story than I was with the sex. It had an excellent running commentary about the destruction of tradition and humanity through industrialization.
]]> <![CDATA[In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West (The Wellek Library Lectures)]]> 43019677
In the Ruins of Neoliberalism casts the hard-right turn as animated by socioeconomically aggrieved white working- and middle-class populations but contoured by neoliberalism’s multipronged assault on democratic values. From its inception, neoliberalism flirted with authoritarian liberalism as it warred against robust democracy. It repelled social-justice claims through appeals to market freedom and morality. It sought to de-democratize the state, economy, and society and re-secure the patriarchal family. In key works of the founding neoliberal intellectuals, Wendy Brown traces the ambition to replace democratic orders with ones disciplined by markets and traditional morality and democratic states with technocratic ones.

Yet plutocracy, white supremacy, politicized mass affect, indifference to truth, and extreme social disinhibition were no part of the neoliberal vision. Brown theorizes their unintentional spurring by neoliberal reason, from its attack on the value of society and its fetish of individual freedom to its legitimation of inequality. Above all, she argues, neoliberalism’s intensification of nihilism coupled with its accidental wounding of white male supremacy generates an apocalyptic populism willing to destroy the world rather than endure a future in which this supremacy disappears.]]> 264 Wendy Brown 023119384X Andrew 2
I had to subtract a star though because when I got to the end I realized this book was purely DEscriptive, and not at all PREscriptive. And beyond personally hating when authors do not at all bother to offer solutions to the problems they're diagnosing, I also have come to believe it is objectively lazy and/or cowardly, especially over the last decade or so. We need more from political non-fiction this far into the 21st century... there's just no excuse for academics not to push themselves further while civilization is literally collapsing around them.

]]> 4.12 2019 In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West (The Wellek Library Lectures)

In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West (The Wellek Library Lectures)

author: Wendy Brown
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/16
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves: history, political-science, philosophy-science
review:
I was cruising along at 3-star status for awhile, which is purely because this book is not really for me although I recognize it's just my own current bias/capability. While there was a good stretch in my 20s and 30s where I would have happily digested such a theoretical/philosophical work, I have no patience for it anymore. I did appreciate and learn from the discussions on the two Supreme Court cases.

I had to subtract a star though because when I got to the end I realized this book was purely DEscriptive, and not at all PREscriptive. And beyond personally hating when authors do not at all bother to offer solutions to the problems they're diagnosing, I also have come to believe it is objectively lazy and/or cowardly, especially over the last decade or so. We need more from political non-fiction this far into the 21st century... there's just no excuse for academics not to push themselves further while civilization is literally collapsing around them.

]]> <![CDATA[Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream]]> 18617616
But there was a dark side to that scene as well.

Many didn't make it out alive, and many deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day. Far more integrated into the scene than most would like to admit was a guy by the name of Charles Manson, along with his murderous entourage. Also floating about the periphery were various political operatives, up-and-coming politicians and intelligence personnel—the same sort of people who gave birth to many of the rock stars populating the canyon. And all the canyon's colorful characters—rock stars, hippies, murderers and politicos—happily coexisted alongside a covert military installation.

Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon is the very strange, but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a hippie utopia.]]> 319 David McGowan 1909394122 Andrew 1 history, political-science Dubi's perfect review, which is much more informative, better written, and better researched than the actual book it is reviewing.

I just read McGowan's most famous work, Programmed to Kill and I wrote that it's "one of the laziest, most cowardly and most tedious compilations of conspiracy theory I've ever come across..." This one is not quite as bad but only because it's shorter. It has the same issue of vague insinuations and unstated hypotheses; McGowan just doesn't seem to want to be pegged down to any single claim, he prefers to throw a bunch of slop at the wall in hopes that something will stick, for which he can then claim credit.

His main claim here appears to be that most of the L.A. music scene of the 60s and 70s -- including such huge bands as The Doors, The Byrds, Frank Zappa and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and also the entire Hippie counterculture -- were created by military intelligence in order to water down the anti-war movement. His proof of this is that almost all of the main actors were children of military intelligence officers, they all spontaneously and abruptly coalesced around Laurel Canyon, where secret military labs might be, many of them had no real musical talent, and all of them were able to avoid the draft. Oh also Satanism, there always seems to be Satanism with McGowan.

Some of the basic questions raised by this hypothesis:
-So all of these young 20-something debaucherous libertines were just following daddy's orders?
-So the military anticipated at least 5-10 years before an unprecendented anti-war movement that they would need to invent something to defuse it?
-So the music scene and the hippies and drugs had a measurable effect on the anti-war movement?

It's just a very convoluted and very dumb theory. After two books I've also noticed that McGowan's theories tend to implicitly ascribe this almost superhuman intellect and planning and execution to the military and our government, when I'm pretty sure they're just made up of humans who are probably even dumber than average, just incredibly power-hungry. Like wouldn't the people capable of executing a plan like this also be capable of winning the Vietnam War? I'm pretty sure those two outcomes -- secret creation of an effectual counterculture + losing Vietnam -- can't logically exist side-by-side.

I'm not saying there was not weird stuff going on, but that a bunch of privileged baby boomers all happened to be born to decently high-up WWII officers is not the amazing coincidence McGowan seems to think it is. Does McGowan know that pretty much everyone's dad back then was in WWII? And that the higher your social class was, the higher the rank of your father? It seems like he doesn't!

Some of the weirdest stuff McGowan discusses is how little musical talent Jim Morrison or The Byrds had, and how Morrison especially seemed to just have several dozen songs ready for recording by the time he came to Laurel Canyon. So the (unstated) implication (because McGowan almost never explicitly states his implications, imo because he's a coward) is that there were some powerful people who wanted to make these two bands specifically happen, and that a lot of these guys were actual intelligence assets themselves. There's a few problems with this:

-No living non-musician can simply engineer a dozen or so timeless classics (in the case of The Doors), and if they could why would they waste this unprecedented power on a frankly stupid scheme to marginally influence youth away from being political.

-Even if David Crosby wasn't talented, the rest of The Byrds ultimately amounted to basically nothing and Crosby eventually latched onto actually talented musicians to create one of the most famous anti-fascist songs in U.S. history ("Ohio"). So again, whatever "the powers" wanted to accomplish with that one, they failed.

-He's basically claiming that all of these guys were secret fascists working deep undercover. Okay I guess, but...

-WHY??? Again McGowan never really gets into why he thinks these powers would want to do any of this. Did they really believe that a few bands can meaningfully impact anything? In that case they're morons.

-Let me put it another way: this plot was never uncovered and thus never stopped, therefore let's assume they succeeded at their nefarious intentions. What did they even accomplish? Did they keep the antiwar movement from pressuring the government to pull out for a couple extra years? Did they quell the Race Riots of the late 60s/early 70s and the Black Panther Party? Oh wait that was the FBI and Cointelpro. So WHAT DID THIS EVIL PLAN EVEN DO? I'm pretty sure McGowan doesn't know.

Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream

author: David McGowan
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2014
rating: 1
read at: 2023/10/13
date added: 2023/10/13
shelves: history, political-science
review:
Edit: My review is far inferior to Dubi's perfect review, which is much more informative, better written, and better researched than the actual book it is reviewing.

I just read McGowan's most famous work, Programmed to Kill and I wrote that it's "one of the laziest, most cowardly and most tedious compilations of conspiracy theory I've ever come across..." This one is not quite as bad but only because it's shorter. It has the same issue of vague insinuations and unstated hypotheses; McGowan just doesn't seem to want to be pegged down to any single claim, he prefers to throw a bunch of slop at the wall in hopes that something will stick, for which he can then claim credit.

His main claim here appears to be that most of the L.A. music scene of the 60s and 70s -- including such huge bands as The Doors, The Byrds, Frank Zappa and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and also the entire Hippie counterculture -- were created by military intelligence in order to water down the anti-war movement. His proof of this is that almost all of the main actors were children of military intelligence officers, they all spontaneously and abruptly coalesced around Laurel Canyon, where secret military labs might be, many of them had no real musical talent, and all of them were able to avoid the draft. Oh also Satanism, there always seems to be Satanism with McGowan.

Some of the basic questions raised by this hypothesis:
-So all of these young 20-something debaucherous libertines were just following daddy's orders?
-So the military anticipated at least 5-10 years before an unprecendented anti-war movement that they would need to invent something to defuse it?
-So the music scene and the hippies and drugs had a measurable effect on the anti-war movement?

It's just a very convoluted and very dumb theory. After two books I've also noticed that McGowan's theories tend to implicitly ascribe this almost superhuman intellect and planning and execution to the military and our government, when I'm pretty sure they're just made up of humans who are probably even dumber than average, just incredibly power-hungry. Like wouldn't the people capable of executing a plan like this also be capable of winning the Vietnam War? I'm pretty sure those two outcomes -- secret creation of an effectual counterculture + losing Vietnam -- can't logically exist side-by-side.

I'm not saying there was not weird stuff going on, but that a bunch of privileged baby boomers all happened to be born to decently high-up WWII officers is not the amazing coincidence McGowan seems to think it is. Does McGowan know that pretty much everyone's dad back then was in WWII? And that the higher your social class was, the higher the rank of your father? It seems like he doesn't!

Some of the weirdest stuff McGowan discusses is how little musical talent Jim Morrison or The Byrds had, and how Morrison especially seemed to just have several dozen songs ready for recording by the time he came to Laurel Canyon. So the (unstated) implication (because McGowan almost never explicitly states his implications, imo because he's a coward) is that there were some powerful people who wanted to make these two bands specifically happen, and that a lot of these guys were actual intelligence assets themselves. There's a few problems with this:

-No living non-musician can simply engineer a dozen or so timeless classics (in the case of The Doors), and if they could why would they waste this unprecedented power on a frankly stupid scheme to marginally influence youth away from being political.

-Even if David Crosby wasn't talented, the rest of The Byrds ultimately amounted to basically nothing and Crosby eventually latched onto actually talented musicians to create one of the most famous anti-fascist songs in U.S. history ("Ohio"). So again, whatever "the powers" wanted to accomplish with that one, they failed.

-He's basically claiming that all of these guys were secret fascists working deep undercover. Okay I guess, but...

-WHY??? Again McGowan never really gets into why he thinks these powers would want to do any of this. Did they really believe that a few bands can meaningfully impact anything? In that case they're morons.

-Let me put it another way: this plot was never uncovered and thus never stopped, therefore let's assume they succeeded at their nefarious intentions. What did they even accomplish? Did they keep the antiwar movement from pressuring the government to pull out for a couple extra years? Did they quell the Race Riots of the late 60s/early 70s and the Black Panther Party? Oh wait that was the FBI and Cointelpro. So WHAT DID THIS EVIL PLAN EVEN DO? I'm pretty sure McGowan doesn't know.

The most annoying part of this, apart from him still pointing out whenever Hitler's birthday occurs (and in one case, implying being born on Halloween is some sort of indication of something!) is how he just ends up listing basically every musician who ever passed through southern California as some sort of example of the sinister machinations at play. Even if they died like 20-30 years later, or even if they were several degrees removed from some of the main players. Guys like John Denver and Sonny Bono and Phil Hartmann are included on this "list," although McGowan of course will never state why we should consider their deaths suspicious or evidence of some larger plot. Even if he states, as in the case of Nick Adams, that "everyone believes he was knocked off," he doesn't explain why he would have been knocked off.

McGowan clearly believes the sheer quantity of bullshit he shovels will distract people from remembering it's actually just bullshit. At one point, after a ridiculous digression of a (let's see if I can get this right) park in NYC that originally had the same name of a house near Laurel Canyon where some murders happened, and was also where some Son of Sam murders may have happened, and there was another park where Son of Sam murders happened that was named after an ancestor of David Crosby, and he had another ancestor whose name is on a road near Laurel Canyon, McGowan wraps it up with, "I have no idea what, if anything, any of that means, but I thought it best that I toss it in the mix." p.127

I cannot imagine anything lazier than the previous sentence in a work of nonfiction. McGowan is what happens when you don't incorporate any Marxism into your anti-government paranoia. He even admits he was a fan of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Because liberals have no true understanding of how power works, they are totally unequipped to analyze the inconsistencies in official explanations of various phenomena.

Please don't be like McGowan. Please don't read any books by McGowan. He has very little to offer anyone who is actually interested in how power works through the world. I am now going to place this trash book where it belongs, in the garbage.

]]> <![CDATA[Venezuela, the Present as Struggle: Voices from the Bolivarian Revolution]]> 53237359
Venezuela has been the stuff of frontpage news extravaganzas, especially since the death of Hugo Chavez. With predictable bias, mainstream media focus on violent clashes between opposition and government, coup attempts, hyperinflation, U.S. sanctions, and massive immigration. What is less known, however, is the story of what the Venezuelan people �� especially the Chavista masses �� do and think in these times of social emergency. Denying us their stories comes at a high price to people everywhere, because the Chavista bases are the real motors of the Bolivarian revolution. This revolutionary grassroots movement still aspires to the communal path to socialism that Chavez refined in his last years. Venezuela, the Present as Struggle is an eloquent testament to their lives.
Comprised of a series of compelling interviews conducted by Cira Pascual Marquina, professor at the Bolivarian University, and contextualized by author Chris Gilbert, the book seeks to open a window on grassroots Chavismo itself in the wake of Chavez’s death. Feminist and housing activists, communards, organic intellectuals, and campesinos from around the country speak up in their own voices, defending the socialist project and pointing to what they see as revolutionary solutions to Venezuela’s current crisis. If the Venezuelan government has shown an impressive capacity to resist imperialism, it is the Chavista grassroots movement, as this book shows, that actually defends socialism as the only coherent project of national liberation.]]> 352 Cira Pascual Marquina 1583678646 Andrew 4 political-science, history
What's harder to dispute though is that dozens of actual Venezuelans from the middle and lower socio-economic strata might somehow be all individually compromised as sources. It's especially hard to dispute when they are almost unanimously critical of the Maduro regime, but from the left. That's why this book of interviews with those people is so valuable.

We get to hear from those on the frontline of the Bolivarian struggle to manifest Hugo Chavez's visions in 21st century Venezuela. It was incredibly illuminating to hear about Chavez's ideological evolution (unlike what we learn in the West, he was not always socialist and only embraced the dreaded S-word about halfway through his regime), and the internal struggles within the Chavez regime and later the Maduro regime that have left many of Chavez's most ardent supporters frustrated over the last decade.

Through her interviews, Pascual provides an impressive amount of detail about the workings and problems of the agricultural, industrial, petroleum and financial sectors in the country. And virtually all of her interviewees describe the perpetual tension between the centralizing tendencies of Chavez/Maduro, and the democratizing demands of the people that Chavez based his regime around. I feel much better informed about not only the history of the Chavez/Maduro regimes, but also where Maduro has diverged from Chavez's path, and the danger that Venezuela now faces as a result. There are also a couple of very enlightening interviews at the end about feminism in Venezuela and Latin America.

Is it possible Pascual is presenting a biased viewpoint of Venezuela as objective? Cherrypicking a couple dozen different people who agree with her just to tilt the scale of public perception and further her political agenda? I guess, but I doubt it based on A) the difficulty of finding that many people across that many sectors, all respected in their fields, who would agree with her and each other on the major issues facing them and the best way to solve them if that viewpoint were an extreme minority, and B) the fact that there is no apparent profit or power to be obtained in furthering her political aim.

My main problem with the book was that it gets repetitive, especially all of the praise heaped on Chavez and the idealistic, aspirational passages about his vision for the people and the need for solidarity and the importance of the pueblo leading the process and blah blah blah... Yeah I know all those things would be really great for the people of Venezuela and the world, but I get tired of reading about people hoping for them. Give me concrete praxis -- tell me your plan for forcing Maduro to stop compromising with the bourgeoisie -- or stop wasting my time.

It's of course a very delicate situation in terms of criticizing Maduro while he is externally besieged, but it's hard to escape the feeling, with so many chips stacked against them, that the Bolivarian revolution is essentially doomed. Indeed, there's little way to tell how much worse things may have gotten in the 4 years since this book's last interview was conducted (this book does stand to get dated relatively quickly). I guess I'll just try to keep updated with Venezuela Analysis... they did after all recently have a nice interview with Ms. Pascual Marquina.

Overall I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Venezuela, Latin America, U.S. imperialism, socialism, or Marxist economics. It's extremely rare to find such real-time, unfiltered insight into a contemporary socialist experiment. This book is invaluable for providing that.

]]> 4.55 Venezuela, the Present as Struggle: Voices from the Bolivarian Revolution

Venezuela, the Present as Struggle: Voices from the Bolivarian Revolution

author: Cira Pascual Marquina
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/09
date added: 2023/10/13
shelves: political-science, history
review:
A very important book for understanding Venezuela up through the initial 2019 Guiado coup attempts. In English-language countries 98% of news we read about Venezuela is from imperialist-leaning media sources, so it's very difficult to know what's actually going on. Is Venezuela Analysis a reasonable counterbalance to US/European mainstream media, or is it just state propaganda? Hard to tell for certain given the paucity of objective news about the country, although personally I lean toward the former.

What's harder to dispute though is that dozens of actual Venezuelans from the middle and lower socio-economic strata might somehow be all individually compromised as sources. It's especially hard to dispute when they are almost unanimously critical of the Maduro regime, but from the left. That's why this book of interviews with those people is so valuable.

We get to hear from those on the frontline of the Bolivarian struggle to manifest Hugo Chavez's visions in 21st century Venezuela. It was incredibly illuminating to hear about Chavez's ideological evolution (unlike what we learn in the West, he was not always socialist and only embraced the dreaded S-word about halfway through his regime), and the internal struggles within the Chavez regime and later the Maduro regime that have left many of Chavez's most ardent supporters frustrated over the last decade.

Through her interviews, Pascual provides an impressive amount of detail about the workings and problems of the agricultural, industrial, petroleum and financial sectors in the country. And virtually all of her interviewees describe the perpetual tension between the centralizing tendencies of Chavez/Maduro, and the democratizing demands of the people that Chavez based his regime around. I feel much better informed about not only the history of the Chavez/Maduro regimes, but also where Maduro has diverged from Chavez's path, and the danger that Venezuela now faces as a result. There are also a couple of very enlightening interviews at the end about feminism in Venezuela and Latin America.

Is it possible Pascual is presenting a biased viewpoint of Venezuela as objective? Cherrypicking a couple dozen different people who agree with her just to tilt the scale of public perception and further her political agenda? I guess, but I doubt it based on A) the difficulty of finding that many people across that many sectors, all respected in their fields, who would agree with her and each other on the major issues facing them and the best way to solve them if that viewpoint were an extreme minority, and B) the fact that there is no apparent profit or power to be obtained in furthering her political aim.

My main problem with the book was that it gets repetitive, especially all of the praise heaped on Chavez and the idealistic, aspirational passages about his vision for the people and the need for solidarity and the importance of the pueblo leading the process and blah blah blah... Yeah I know all those things would be really great for the people of Venezuela and the world, but I get tired of reading about people hoping for them. Give me concrete praxis -- tell me your plan for forcing Maduro to stop compromising with the bourgeoisie -- or stop wasting my time.

It's of course a very delicate situation in terms of criticizing Maduro while he is externally besieged, but it's hard to escape the feeling, with so many chips stacked against them, that the Bolivarian revolution is essentially doomed. Indeed, there's little way to tell how much worse things may have gotten in the 4 years since this book's last interview was conducted (this book does stand to get dated relatively quickly). I guess I'll just try to keep updated with Venezuela Analysis... they did after all recently have a nice interview with Ms. Pascual Marquina.

Overall I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Venezuela, Latin America, U.S. imperialism, socialism, or Marxist economics. It's extremely rare to find such real-time, unfiltered insight into a contemporary socialist experiment. This book is invaluable for providing that.

]]> <![CDATA[The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia]]> 13651 387 Ursula K. Le Guin Andrew 4
I like this more on the 2nd read, and after reading more of Le Guin's work. I would not necessarily recommend reading this 2nd.

The flaw I speak of below I minded a lot less this go-round, probably because I've been binging Le Guin and am used to her atypical pacing. All of the first 5 Hainish novels have extremely abrupt or nonexistent climaxes and are over so quickly your head is left spinning, so I wasn't expecting much different with this one. I still think it's a defect in her writing but it's no longer a terribly bothersome one.

What really stood out to me this go-round is the genius of her plot structure, with her interweaving the flashbacks and the current events. The book is really half bildungsroman and half geopolitical drama, with a setting that just happens to be thousands of years in the future. The scifi is very peripheral and I think that's what makes this book so remarkable. But it's the way she mixes those two halves and the way they both reinforce each other toward the resolution that is really breathtaking. Adding this to my favorites shelf!

Original Review (2013)

At nearly 400 pages it's still a quick read, with compelling characters and accessible writing. Le Guin does a good job of naturally weaving socio-political theory into the story. Though it's a little clunky in parts (especially at the beginning), once you get into the flow all of the commentary seems quite smooth and organic. In this genre, the success of a book or author is usually determined by how well they can integrate their ideas with the narrative. In that sense, Le Guin mostly succeeds with Dispossessed.

Some of the ideas are dated, especially with the feminist commentary, but a lot of the political and ethical dilemmas are still relevant. I was impressed with the nuance with which Le Guin described each government. There was no monolithic "good" government doing battle with a uniformly "bad" one, although we are probably meant to believe that the Anarresti anarcho-syndicalism is more or less "better" than the Urraisti oligarchy. Still, the effort that Le Guin utilized to parse the disadvantages as well as the benefits of the Anarresti way of life was commendable. Her cautionary point on the tyranny of even a non-governmental society was important and well-taken.

Though I respect the book and quite enjoyed it, it seems fundamentally flawed in that not much actually happened. In other words, Le Guin inappropriately subordinated the narrative to her ideas. Most events take place in flashbacks, and even the bulk of those are simple retellings. As far as what happens on Urras, besides a short, not-particularly-well-told battle, it's mostly just Shevek doing his own battle with inner demons. This is not the stuff of particularly compelling fiction. For instance, just when I thought the narrative was really taking off, with the protest and the crackdown and the war in Benbili, it was pretty much the end. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the planetary politics and the resolution to those conflicts, although I understand that these questions weren't really the point of the novel.

That said, I still cared for the characters and enjoyed reading about them. I also liked the alternating present-flashback structure, which made the end more powerful as Shevek's original motives finally come into focus.

I've only ever read The Lathe of Heaven by Le Guin, which I liked, so I'll have to check out more of her stuff. Out of the science fiction authors I've read (Dick, Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Card), Le Guin is probably the most complete writer.

]]> 4.24 1974 The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia

author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror, favorites
review:
Update (Re-Read 10/9/23)

I like this more on the 2nd read, and after reading more of Le Guin's work. I would not necessarily recommend reading this 2nd.

The flaw I speak of below I minded a lot less this go-round, probably because I've been binging Le Guin and am used to her atypical pacing. All of the first 5 Hainish novels have extremely abrupt or nonexistent climaxes and are over so quickly your head is left spinning, so I wasn't expecting much different with this one. I still think it's a defect in her writing but it's no longer a terribly bothersome one.

What really stood out to me this go-round is the genius of her plot structure, with her interweaving the flashbacks and the current events. The book is really half bildungsroman and half geopolitical drama, with a setting that just happens to be thousands of years in the future. The scifi is very peripheral and I think that's what makes this book so remarkable. But it's the way she mixes those two halves and the way they both reinforce each other toward the resolution that is really breathtaking. Adding this to my favorites shelf!

Original Review (2013)

At nearly 400 pages it's still a quick read, with compelling characters and accessible writing. Le Guin does a good job of naturally weaving socio-political theory into the story. Though it's a little clunky in parts (especially at the beginning), once you get into the flow all of the commentary seems quite smooth and organic. In this genre, the success of a book or author is usually determined by how well they can integrate their ideas with the narrative. In that sense, Le Guin mostly succeeds with Dispossessed.

Some of the ideas are dated, especially with the feminist commentary, but a lot of the political and ethical dilemmas are still relevant. I was impressed with the nuance with which Le Guin described each government. There was no monolithic "good" government doing battle with a uniformly "bad" one, although we are probably meant to believe that the Anarresti anarcho-syndicalism is more or less "better" than the Urraisti oligarchy. Still, the effort that Le Guin utilized to parse the disadvantages as well as the benefits of the Anarresti way of life was commendable. Her cautionary point on the tyranny of even a non-governmental society was important and well-taken.

Though I respect the book and quite enjoyed it, it seems fundamentally flawed in that not much actually happened. In other words, Le Guin inappropriately subordinated the narrative to her ideas. Most events take place in flashbacks, and even the bulk of those are simple retellings. As far as what happens on Urras, besides a short, not-particularly-well-told battle, it's mostly just Shevek doing his own battle with inner demons. This is not the stuff of particularly compelling fiction. For instance, just when I thought the narrative was really taking off, with the protest and the crackdown and the war in Benbili, it was pretty much the end. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the planetary politics and the resolution to those conflicts, although I understand that these questions weren't really the point of the novel.

That said, I still cared for the characters and enjoyed reading about them. I also liked the alternating present-flashback structure, which made the end more powerful as Shevek's original motives finally come into focus.

I've only ever read The Lathe of Heaven by Le Guin, which I liked, so I'll have to check out more of her stuff. Out of the science fiction authors I've read (Dick, Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Card), Le Guin is probably the most complete writer.

]]> The Left Hand of Darkness 18423 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.]]> 304 Ursula K. Le Guin Andrew 4 scifi-fantasy-horror
I re-read this and my original review mostly stands, although the scant climax didn't bother me as much. I've been reading a lot of Le Guin lately so I've gotten accustomed to her pacing problems and rushed climaxes. She actually improved from her first few novels to this one in that unlike those first ones this has a legitimate denouement.

I can't say the book was ultimately that memorable from reading it 8 years ago. Going on I didn't recall much except "androgynous" and "cold." I guess that about sums it up lol...

But now I do have more appreciation for how substantively she fleshed out this world. She's an extremely thoughtful speculator and a very talented writer, and I was able to enjoy those aspects of the work more this time around.

My only new complaint is how long and tedious the crossing-the-ice sequence is. It's 70 pages and very monotonous, and could have been easily half as long.

Original review December 2015:

The justifiable classic is a fascinating interplanetary political drama with flourishes of pure adventure -- all of that's enough to keep it compelling even before you factor in the astonishingly original premise of gender-nullification, fostering gratifying commentary on gender, patriotism and society.

As with Le Guin's other internationally acclaimed novel, The Dispossessed, this one focuses at least as much on "concept + ideas" as it does story, and with the same impressive-while-less-than-absolutely-satisfying results. Ai and Estraven are two memorable characters and you feel for them, but most of the book's value comes from their dialogues and inner monologues.

The world-building is top-notch and consistently captivating, especially with a planet peopled by biological androgynes. But to put it frankly: after three novels I have yet to see evidence that Le Guin is capable of strong action sequences. The climax here is woefully under-narrated and is over in less than a page. While the bones of the conclusion are fulfilling, its execution was lacking.

So ultimately I'm finding that I admire the hell out of Le Guin for her penetrating ideas and metaphors, but she still feels vaguely incomplete as a novelist despite the uniqueness of her vision. I look forward to reading more of her to either corroborate or refute this impression. Either way, her introduction to Left Hand is fantastic and worth reading by itself for any fans of sci-fi or aspiring writers.

]]> 4.11 1969 The Left Hand of Darkness

author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/06
date added: 2023/10/06
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Update 10/6/23:

I re-read this and my original review mostly stands, although the scant climax didn't bother me as much. I've been reading a lot of Le Guin lately so I've gotten accustomed to her pacing problems and rushed climaxes. She actually improved from her first few novels to this one in that unlike those first ones this has a legitimate denouement.

I can't say the book was ultimately that memorable from reading it 8 years ago. Going on I didn't recall much except "androgynous" and "cold." I guess that about sums it up lol...

But now I do have more appreciation for how substantively she fleshed out this world. She's an extremely thoughtful speculator and a very talented writer, and I was able to enjoy those aspects of the work more this time around.

My only new complaint is how long and tedious the crossing-the-ice sequence is. It's 70 pages and very monotonous, and could have been easily half as long.

Original review December 2015:

The justifiable classic is a fascinating interplanetary political drama with flourishes of pure adventure -- all of that's enough to keep it compelling even before you factor in the astonishingly original premise of gender-nullification, fostering gratifying commentary on gender, patriotism and society.

As with Le Guin's other internationally acclaimed novel, The Dispossessed, this one focuses at least as much on "concept + ideas" as it does story, and with the same impressive-while-less-than-absolutely-satisfying results. Ai and Estraven are two memorable characters and you feel for them, but most of the book's value comes from their dialogues and inner monologues.

The world-building is top-notch and consistently captivating, especially with a planet peopled by biological androgynes. But to put it frankly: after three novels I have yet to see evidence that Le Guin is capable of strong action sequences. The climax here is woefully under-narrated and is over in less than a page. While the bones of the conclusion are fulfilling, its execution was lacking.

So ultimately I'm finding that I admire the hell out of Le Guin for her penetrating ideas and metaphors, but she still feels vaguely incomplete as a novelist despite the uniqueness of her vision. I look forward to reading more of her to either corroborate or refute this impression. Either way, her introduction to Left Hand is fantastic and worth reading by itself for any fans of sci-fi or aspiring writers.

]]> <![CDATA[Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions (Hainish Cycle, #1-3)]]> 67999
Contents:
Rocannon's World [Hainish] (1966) / novel by Ursula K. Le Guin: A world shared by three native humanoid races, the cavern-dwelling Gdemiar, elvish Fiia, and warrior clan Liuar, is suddenly invaded and conquered by a fleet of ships from the stars. Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world -- and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights.
Planet of Exile [Hainish] (1966) / novel by Ursula K. Le Guin: The Earth colony of Landin has been stranded on Werel for ten years, and ten of Werel's years are over 600 terrestrial years. The lonely & dwindling human settlement is beginning to feel the strain. Every winter, a season that lasts for 15 years, the Earthmen have neighbors: the humanoid hilfs, a nomadic people who only settle down for the cruel cold spell. The hilfs fear the Earthmen, whom they think of as witches and call the farborns. But hilfs & farborns have common enemies: the hordes of ravaging barbarians called gaals and eerie preying snow ghouls. Will they join forces or be annihilated?
City of Illusions [Hainish] (1967) / novel by Ursula K. Le Guin: He was a fully grown man, alone in dense forest, with no trail to show where he had come from and no memory to tell who, or what, he was. His eyes were not the eyes of a human. The forest people took him in and raised him almost as a child, teaching him to speak, training him in forest lore, giving him all the knowledge they had. But they could not solve the riddle of his past, and at last he had to set out on a perilous quest to Es Toch, the City of the Shining, the Liars of Earth, the Enemy of Mankind. There he would find his true self...and a universe of danger.

Tor is pleased to return these previously unavailable works to print in this attractive new edition.]]> 370 Ursula K. Le Guin 0312862113 Andrew 4 scifi-fantasy-horror
The first, Rocannon's World, is the slowest, clumsiest, and least compelling, but at the same time it's far from bad for a 1st novel. I was then enchanted by both Planet of Exile and City of Illusions, hard to say which one I liked better but I would have been happy if each had been twice as long.

Le Guin more than most other scifi authors is primarily concerned with human emotion and psychology. She's not directly writing about the fate of galaxies; her scale is at most planetary and more often quite a bit smaller. She's concerned with the best, most sacred aspects of what makes us human. The question of what "home" means to explorers is also a constant. The emphasis is a little confounding in its uniqueness with respect to the larger genre, but once you understand it her stories feel incredibly satisfying and even wholesome. Here you can definitely see her getting her writing feet under her in her first three novels, yet this career-long focus of hers is still fully formed.

While great the novels aren't perfect. Le Guin has that unfortunate tendency of fantasy novelists to assign medieval cultures to alien worlds, and her alien species are all absurdly hominoid. You find yourself yearning for true creativity with the alien species, in the vein of what Octavia Butler was so great at... or even something along Star Wars/Trek lines really would be nice. But of course that's not where Le Guin ever intends to invest her genius, a choice I don't love but still respect.

From a writing standpoint there are a few issues I spotted: each novel has the same pacing issues, with the climax coming and going quite abruptly and no denouement. In 1/3 or 2/3 of the novels this would be a stylistic choice, but being present in all three makes it a defect. Second some of the action sequences are confusing, with the action passing so quickly that I had to re-read it just to understand what happened. Sometimes I never fully understood what happened.

And finally each novel is resolved by a deus ex machina. They are thoughtful deus ex machinas, but still deus ex machinas. [spoilers removed] Like the pacing stuff, this would be fine if it was just in one or two of the three novels, but it being in all three turns it into a crutch.

Anyway, this is a great compendium. If you like Le Guin you'll love it, and if you like more fantasy-veering scifi you'll like it too. If you don't know Le Guin yet I would recommend you start elsewhere, with either The Lathe of Heaven or The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed. If you don't like Le Guin then you probably shouldn't read it and also what is wrong with you.

]]> 4.21 1966 Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions (Hainish Cycle, #1-3)

Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions (Hainish Cycle, #1-3)

author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1966
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/10/03
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Le Guin is so good. It's a testament to her skill that I began reading this not really in the appropriate mood for it, kinda bored of books in general actually. And while each of the three books is somewhat slow to start they all had me completely captivated by the end.

The first, Rocannon's World, is the slowest, clumsiest, and least compelling, but at the same time it's far from bad for a 1st novel. I was then enchanted by both Planet of Exile and City of Illusions, hard to say which one I liked better but I would have been happy if each had been twice as long.

Le Guin more than most other scifi authors is primarily concerned with human emotion and psychology. She's not directly writing about the fate of galaxies; her scale is at most planetary and more often quite a bit smaller. She's concerned with the best, most sacred aspects of what makes us human. The question of what "home" means to explorers is also a constant. The emphasis is a little confounding in its uniqueness with respect to the larger genre, but once you understand it her stories feel incredibly satisfying and even wholesome. Here you can definitely see her getting her writing feet under her in her first three novels, yet this career-long focus of hers is still fully formed.

While great the novels aren't perfect. Le Guin has that unfortunate tendency of fantasy novelists to assign medieval cultures to alien worlds, and her alien species are all absurdly hominoid. You find yourself yearning for true creativity with the alien species, in the vein of what Octavia Butler was so great at... or even something along Star Wars/Trek lines really would be nice. But of course that's not where Le Guin ever intends to invest her genius, a choice I don't love but still respect.

From a writing standpoint there are a few issues I spotted: each novel has the same pacing issues, with the climax coming and going quite abruptly and no denouement. In 1/3 or 2/3 of the novels this would be a stylistic choice, but being present in all three makes it a defect. Second some of the action sequences are confusing, with the action passing so quickly that I had to re-read it just to understand what happened. Sometimes I never fully understood what happened.

And finally each novel is resolved by a deus ex machina. They are thoughtful deus ex machinas, but still deus ex machinas. [spoilers removed] Like the pacing stuff, this would be fine if it was just in one or two of the three novels, but it being in all three turns it into a crutch.

Anyway, this is a great compendium. If you like Le Guin you'll love it, and if you like more fantasy-veering scifi you'll like it too. If you don't know Le Guin yet I would recommend you start elsewhere, with either The Lathe of Heaven or The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed. If you don't like Le Guin then you probably shouldn't read it and also what is wrong with you.

]]> <![CDATA[Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future]]> 34146147
Despite the science and the summits, leading capitalist states have not achieved anything close to an adequate level of carbon mitigation. There is now simply no way to prevent the planet breaching the threshold of two degrees Celsius set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. What are the likely political and economic outcomes of this? Where is the overheating world heading?

To further the struggle for climate justice, we need to have some idea how the existing global order is likely to adjust to a rapidly changing environment. Climate Leviathan provides a radical way of thinking about the intensifying challenges to the global order. Drawing on a wide range of political thought, Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann argue that rapid climate change will transform the world’s political economy and the fundamental political arrangements most people take for granted. The result will be a capitalist planetary sovereignty, a terrifying eventuality that makes the construction of viable, radical alternatives truly imperative.]]> 224 Joel Wainwright 1786634295 Andrew 3 political-science
I think I would have really enjoyed this as a long-form article, because the argument is thought-provoking and I appreciate the relatively novel Punnett Square model with Leviathan/Behemoth/Mao/X. Ultimately though the authors did not explain clearly enough for me a) what Climate X would actually look like and b) why Climate Mao is unworkable. Coming at this as mostly a Marxist-Leninist I am very skeptical that anything as drastic as needs to happen can be done without a state.

This is a similar critique to the one I had about a very good recent book by Peter Gelderloos, The Solutions Are Already Here. I highly recommend it even though I'm also skeptical Gelderloos's ground-up approach is scalable and physically defensible when capital comes knocking (see my review). What I enjoyed much more about Solutions than this one is that it is heavily focused on praxis rather than theory. It is a good counterpart to this one, and in hindsight it feels unfortunate that Gelderloos appears to have written his book before he could read and include comment on Climate Leviathan.

If you like political theory I would highly recommend this book in addition to Solutions, but if you're like me and get impatient with theory then I'd suggest skipping it and just going with Gelderloos.

]]> 3.63 2018 Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future

Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future

author: Joel Wainwright
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/25
date added: 2023/09/25
shelves: political-science
review:
I may have to stop reading books with "theory" in the title, just don't have the attention span for it anymore. Or the political patience.

I think I would have really enjoyed this as a long-form article, because the argument is thought-provoking and I appreciate the relatively novel Punnett Square model with Leviathan/Behemoth/Mao/X. Ultimately though the authors did not explain clearly enough for me a) what Climate X would actually look like and b) why Climate Mao is unworkable. Coming at this as mostly a Marxist-Leninist I am very skeptical that anything as drastic as needs to happen can be done without a state.

This is a similar critique to the one I had about a very good recent book by Peter Gelderloos, The Solutions Are Already Here. I highly recommend it even though I'm also skeptical Gelderloos's ground-up approach is scalable and physically defensible when capital comes knocking (see my review). What I enjoyed much more about Solutions than this one is that it is heavily focused on praxis rather than theory. It is a good counterpart to this one, and in hindsight it feels unfortunate that Gelderloos appears to have written his book before he could read and include comment on Climate Leviathan.

If you like political theory I would highly recommend this book in addition to Solutions, but if you're like me and get impatient with theory then I'd suggest skipping it and just going with Gelderloos.

]]> <![CDATA[The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World]]> 53054943 The hidden story of the wanton slaughter -- in Indonesia, Latin America, and around the world -- backed by the United States.

In 1965, the U.S. government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians. This was one of the most important turning points of the twentieth century, eliminating the largest communist party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring copycat terror programs in faraway countries like Brazil and Chile. But these events remain widely overlooked, precisely because the CIA's secret interventions were so successful.

In this bold and comprehensive new history, Vincent Bevins builds on his incisive reporting for the Washington Post, using recently declassified documents, archival research and eye-witness testimony collected across twelve countries to reveal a shocking legacy that spans the globe. For decades, it's been believed that parts of the developing world passed peacefully into the U.S.-led capitalist system. The Jakarta Method demonstrates that the brutal extermination of unarmed leftists was a fundamental part of Washington's final triumph in the Cold War.]]> 320 Vincent Bevins 1541742400 Andrew 4 history, political-science
If you can read about the genocide, mass exterminations, misery and suffering that the U.S. post-WWII fostered globally for millions of people and still think we were justified, you may be a sociopath.]]> 4.62 2020 The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

author: Vincent Bevins
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/28
date added: 2023/08/28
shelves: history, political-science
review:
An important book, very well-researched and basically indisputable, if a little scattered in presentation for my taste.

If you can read about the genocide, mass exterminations, misery and suffering that the U.S. post-WWII fostered globally for millions of people and still think we were justified, you may be a sociopath.
]]> Walkaway 40604388
Hubert Vernon Rudolph Clayton Irving Wilson Alva Anton Jeff Harley Timothy Curtis Cleveland Cecil Ollie Edmund Eli Wiley Marvin Ellis Espinoza—known to his friends as Hubert, Etc—was too old to be at that Communist party.

But after watching the breakdown of modern society, he really has no where left to be—except amongst the dregs of disaffected youth who party all night and heap scorn on the sheep they see on the morning commute. After falling in with Natalie, an ultra-rich heiress trying to escape the clutches of her repressive father, the two decide to give up fully on formal society—and walk away.

After all, now that anyone can design and print the basic necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter—from a computer, there seems to be little reason to toil within the system.

It’s still a dangerous world out there, the empty lands wrecked by climate change, dead cities hollowed out by industrial flight, shadows hiding predators animal and human alike. Still, when the initial pioneer walkaways flourish, more people join them. Then the walkaways discover the one thing the ultra-rich have never been able to buy: how to beat death. Now it’s war �� a war that will turn the world upside down.

Fascinating, moving, and darkly humorous, Walkaway is a multi-generation science fiction thriller about the wrenching changes of the next hundred years…and the very human people who will live their consequences.]]> 384 Cory Doctorow Andrew 2
Recognizing it's not a novel makes the review easier, because now it feels silly to minutely detail all the novel-y problems it has (e.g. disjointed narrative, jarring time jumps, no main character, no real plot, etc.). So in that sense I'm grateful to be let off the hook.

I kinda hated it by the end for many of the above reasons, in addition to its apparently unironic embrace of immortality-through-singularity. I want to give it 1 star but I'm giving it a 2nd for the boldness of anti-capitalist vision. It's not a particularly well-fleshed out vision in terms of practical achievability, but it's bold and earnest. Judging by his acknowledgment Doctorow seems to fancy himself a Marxist, but his utopia is decidedly idealistic and not materialistic.

Back to that immortality angle, this book kinda made me feel crazy for my inherent aversion to wanting to live forever? To me the strive for immortality, and the dread of death, seems very firmly entrenched with capitalism and liberalism -- i.e. it's a compulsion to dominate nature which is rooted in settler-colonial extractivism. It's strange to see Doctorow sincerely advocate it.

But then again a lot of this book, despite his Marxist pretentions, reeks of liberalism... especially the whole Star Trek socialism/Fully Automated Luxury Communism tendency, which is pure idealistic fantasy. In fact there's little to no mention of climate change at all, this is just a magical world where we can use our own waste to produce everything we need at the drop of a hat. Convenient!

Anyway, I recommend reading nonfiction political books over this. Even though it's more entertaining than most political screeds, Margaret Atwood covered a lot of this ground way more entertainingly in Oryx and Crake.

]]> 3.76 2017 Walkaway

author: Cory Doctorow
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2023/07/31
date added: 2023/07/31
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror, political-science
review:
I was going to call this the preachiest novel I've ever read but by the end I figured out that it's not actually a novel, it's a political screed. An unusually entertaining political screed, but still. So when you call your book a novel but it's not actually a novel, you're setting yourself (and your readers) up for a lot of disappointment.

Recognizing it's not a novel makes the review easier, because now it feels silly to minutely detail all the novel-y problems it has (e.g. disjointed narrative, jarring time jumps, no main character, no real plot, etc.). So in that sense I'm grateful to be let off the hook.

I kinda hated it by the end for many of the above reasons, in addition to its apparently unironic embrace of immortality-through-singularity. I want to give it 1 star but I'm giving it a 2nd for the boldness of anti-capitalist vision. It's not a particularly well-fleshed out vision in terms of practical achievability, but it's bold and earnest. Judging by his acknowledgment Doctorow seems to fancy himself a Marxist, but his utopia is decidedly idealistic and not materialistic.

Back to that immortality angle, this book kinda made me feel crazy for my inherent aversion to wanting to live forever? To me the strive for immortality, and the dread of death, seems very firmly entrenched with capitalism and liberalism -- i.e. it's a compulsion to dominate nature which is rooted in settler-colonial extractivism. It's strange to see Doctorow sincerely advocate it.

But then again a lot of this book, despite his Marxist pretentions, reeks of liberalism... especially the whole Star Trek socialism/Fully Automated Luxury Communism tendency, which is pure idealistic fantasy. In fact there's little to no mention of climate change at all, this is just a magical world where we can use our own waste to produce everything we need at the drop of a hat. Convenient!

Anyway, I recommend reading nonfiction political books over this. Even though it's more entertaining than most political screeds, Margaret Atwood covered a lot of this ground way more entertainingly in Oryx and Crake.

]]> <![CDATA[The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)]]> 22733729
Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.]]> 518 Becky Chambers 1500453307 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror
(Update 7/25/23: Just started the 2nd installment and realized to my dismay that these characters are not in it, the purpose of this book was NOT to introduce the status quo, and indeed no other book in the series even focuses on the characters of the titular ship of the series. Subtracting a star and not reading any further, apparently the purpose of this book is to be a superficial space opera where not much happens... booooooo guess I'll just go re-read Dispossessed)

This is borderline YA stuff (which I do think my 13yo would probably like), but it's nice to see an optimistic, earnest sci-fi adventure for a change. What would be even nicer though is to see one without so much idealism. I mean "idealism" in the Marxist sense, because this book is very Liberal, and there's only so seriously I can take a capitalist world where the galactic governing body strongly prioritizes people over profit (it really puts the "fantasy" in scifi/fantasy).

Ultimately this feels like Chambers is trying to do something that Ursula Le Guin did with way more thought and skill in The Dispossessed.

]]> 4.15 2014 The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)

author: Becky Chambers
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2023/07/05
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
A fun and light read with strong, likable characters and low stakes. A lot of it reads like a series of side-quests, and while I like the characters enough to check out the next installment, I'm hoping the reason this one felt so casual is because its main purpose was to introduce the status quo.

(Update 7/25/23: Just started the 2nd installment and realized to my dismay that these characters are not in it, the purpose of this book was NOT to introduce the status quo, and indeed no other book in the series even focuses on the characters of the titular ship of the series. Subtracting a star and not reading any further, apparently the purpose of this book is to be a superficial space opera where not much happens... booooooo guess I'll just go re-read Dispossessed)

This is borderline YA stuff (which I do think my 13yo would probably like), but it's nice to see an optimistic, earnest sci-fi adventure for a change. What would be even nicer though is to see one without so much idealism. I mean "idealism" in the Marxist sense, because this book is very Liberal, and there's only so seriously I can take a capitalist world where the galactic governing body strongly prioritizes people over profit (it really puts the "fantasy" in scifi/fantasy).

Ultimately this feels like Chambers is trying to do something that Ursula Le Guin did with way more thought and skill in The Dispossessed.

]]> <![CDATA[Democracy in America: Specially Edited and Abridged for the Modern Reader]]> 1360523 Democracy in America has ever been written by a foreign observer; none perhaps as good." —New York Times

Richard D. Heffner, historian, radio and television commentator, and author of A Documentary History of the United States , has selected Tocqueville's most striking and pertinent passages to make this masterful political critique available in a compact, inexpensive edition for the modern reader.]]> 320 Alexis de Tocqueville 0451628012 Andrew 2 history Caveat: I read the 320 page abridged version, so some of my complaints may be simple misunderstandings.

I'll start by saying that I'm not sure what gives a 25 year-old rich French kid on a pleasure cruise through the New World the credibility to make completely unsupported assertions on the political and social climate of early America and have them accepted as gospel.

After slogging through 300 or so pages, I'm exceedingly grateful that this abridged version exists, because I can't imagine ever wasting the time on the complete edition. I was interested in reading a book that has been perpetually hailed for its timeliness, foresight, and penetrating insight into early American democracy, but I was sorely disappointed on every single front.

Tocqueville does occasionally make some interesting observations. In the beginning he spends a significant amount of time talking about the political power inherent in the townships (i.e. small, local groups), which is an incredibly important point, and one still relevant today. It was also particularly interesting to me after reading Hannah Arendt's On Revolution, where she heavily emphasizes the same. (Incidentally, I highly recommend Arendt's analysis of the beginning of our country and the formation of the Constitution -- it is much more penetrating than Tocqueville, mainly because she's insanely brilliant and had the benefit of hindsight.)

Later in the book, there is a 2-3 page section in chapter 34 ("How An Aristocracy May Be Created By Manufactures") that I found particularly prescient, essentially describing the division and alienation of labor about a half-century before Marx popularized the idea.

These two observations were about the extent of the positives. The rest is so mired in sweeping generalizations and arrogant condescension as to be virtually worthless. His analysis of the manners and temperament of the American people is completely irrelevant now, but couldn't have been much more relevant then since it was based on only one man's observation (and since he was clearly writing with an aristocratic chip on his shoulder).

His predictions, which are hailed as so sage, are wrong at least half the time, making him about as wise as me. My favorite was when he talked about how unlikely it would be for the U.S. to experience a civil war, and this a whopping 25 years before civil war broke out.

There are two huge oversights that led Tocqueville to severely miscalculate America's trajectory. One -- the rise of corporations and their near-invincible power -- was only hinted at in Ch. 34, but its omission is forgiveable since the phenomenon was not necessarily intuitive. In reality, Tocqueville's "tyranny of the majority" is a red herring, because an elite oligarchy ended up controlling everything more or less by the beginning of the 20th century.

His other oversight, however, was less pardonable. He spent shockingly little time talking about how easily manipulable by propaganda his tyrannical majority would be. This would essentially make them a tool of the wealthy elite. His only references to public opinion were oblique and clearly not indicating anything like the extent of the media manipulation that we started to see, again around the turn of the 20th century. His reference to a free press hints at it, but the omission of a deeper discussion is noticeable.

I could give more examples, through quotations, of some of the generalizations I'm talking about, but I honestly don't want to waste the time. Instead, I'll give my favorite quote, from Ch. 48 ("Why Great Revolutions Will Become More Rare"). I like it because it is actually timely, describing pretty deftly what is going on right now in the U.S.:

. . .When property becomes so fluctuating, and the love of property so restless and so ardent, I cannot but fear that men may arrive at such a state as to regard every new theory as a peril, every innovation as an irksome toil, every social improvement as a stepping-stone to revolution, and so refuse to move altogether for fear of being moved too far. I dread, and I confess it, lest they should at last so entirely give way to a cowardly love of present enjoyment, as to lose sight of the interests of their future selves and those of their descendants; and prefer to glide along the easy current of life, rather than to make, when it is necessary, a strong and sudden effort to a higher purpose.

Democracy in America: Specially Edited and Abridged for the Modern Reader

author: Alexis de Tocqueville
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2009/10/24
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves: history
review:
Caveat: I read the 320 page abridged version, so some of my complaints may be simple misunderstandings.

I'll start by saying that I'm not sure what gives a 25 year-old rich French kid on a pleasure cruise through the New World the credibility to make completely unsupported assertions on the political and social climate of early America and have them accepted as gospel.

After slogging through 300 or so pages, I'm exceedingly grateful that this abridged version exists, because I can't imagine ever wasting the time on the complete edition. I was interested in reading a book that has been perpetually hailed for its timeliness, foresight, and penetrating insight into early American democracy, but I was sorely disappointed on every single front.

Tocqueville does occasionally make some interesting observations. In the beginning he spends a significant amount of time talking about the political power inherent in the townships (i.e. small, local groups), which is an incredibly important point, and one still relevant today. It was also particularly interesting to me after reading Hannah Arendt's On Revolution, where she heavily emphasizes the same. (Incidentally, I highly recommend Arendt's analysis of the beginning of our country and the formation of the Constitution -- it is much more penetrating than Tocqueville, mainly because she's insanely brilliant and had the benefit of hindsight.)

Later in the book, there is a 2-3 page section in chapter 34 ("How An Aristocracy May Be Created By Manufactures") that I found particularly prescient, essentially describing the division and alienation of labor about a half-century before Marx popularized the idea.

These two observations were about the extent of the positives. The rest is so mired in sweeping generalizations and arrogant condescension as to be virtually worthless. His analysis of the manners and temperament of the American people is completely irrelevant now, but couldn't have been much more relevant then since it was based on only one man's observation (and since he was clearly writing with an aristocratic chip on his shoulder).

His predictions, which are hailed as so sage, are wrong at least half the time, making him about as wise as me. My favorite was when he talked about how unlikely it would be for the U.S. to experience a civil war, and this a whopping 25 years before civil war broke out.

There are two huge oversights that led Tocqueville to severely miscalculate America's trajectory. One -- the rise of corporations and their near-invincible power -- was only hinted at in Ch. 34, but its omission is forgiveable since the phenomenon was not necessarily intuitive. In reality, Tocqueville's "tyranny of the majority" is a red herring, because an elite oligarchy ended up controlling everything more or less by the beginning of the 20th century.

His other oversight, however, was less pardonable. He spent shockingly little time talking about how easily manipulable by propaganda his tyrannical majority would be. This would essentially make them a tool of the wealthy elite. His only references to public opinion were oblique and clearly not indicating anything like the extent of the media manipulation that we started to see, again around the turn of the 20th century. His reference to a free press hints at it, but the omission of a deeper discussion is noticeable.

I could give more examples, through quotations, of some of the generalizations I'm talking about, but I honestly don't want to waste the time. Instead, I'll give my favorite quote, from Ch. 48 ("Why Great Revolutions Will Become More Rare"). I like it because it is actually timely, describing pretty deftly what is going on right now in the U.S.:

. . .When property becomes so fluctuating, and the love of property so restless and so ardent, I cannot but fear that men may arrive at such a state as to regard every new theory as a peril, every innovation as an irksome toil, every social improvement as a stepping-stone to revolution, and so refuse to move altogether for fear of being moved too far. I dread, and I confess it, lest they should at last so entirely give way to a cowardly love of present enjoyment, as to lose sight of the interests of their future selves and those of their descendants; and prefer to glide along the easy current of life, rather than to make, when it is necessary, a strong and sudden effort to a higher purpose.

I must admit that overall I am glad to have gotten the general idea of what people are talking about when they refer to Tocqueville. It's darn impressive to pen a thousand page study of the political and social landscape of early America. Even if you're only right around half the time, it still takes some impressive nerve to give it a go.

]]> <![CDATA[Perhaps the Stars (Terra Ignota, #4)]]> 35424671 From the 2017 John W. Campbell Award Winner for Best Writer, Ada Palmer's Perhaps the Stars is the final book of the Hugo Award-shortlisted Terra Ignota series.

World Peace turns into global civil war.

In the future, the leaders of Hive nations—nations without fixed location—clandestinely committed nefarious deeds in order to maintain an outward semblance of utopian stability. But the facade could only last so long. The comforts of effortless global travel and worldwide abundance may have tempered humanity's darkest inclinations, but conflict remains deeply rooted in the human psyche. All it needed was a catalyst, in form of special little boy to ignite half a millennium of repressed chaos.

Now, war spreads throughout the globe, splintering old alliances and awakening sleeping enmities. All transportation systems are in ruins, causing the tyranny of distance to fracture a long-united Earth and threaten to obliterate everything the Hive system built.

With the arch-criminal Mycroft nowhere to be found, his successor, Ninth Anonymous, must not only chronicle the discord of war, but attempt to restore order in a world spiraling closer to irreparable ruin.

The fate of a broken society hangs in the balance. Is the key to salvation to remain Earth-bound or, perhaps, to start anew throughout the far reaches of the stars?]]> 586 Ada Palmer 1786699605 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror first three books in the series. They get progressively shorter by like 60-70% as I lose about that much enthusiasm after each entry. I started the series very excited by the world-building despite some serious narrative and thematic flaws, but as I progressed from book to book the problems kept mounting while leaving the fascinating, innovative world egregiously under-explored.

The same overall issue with the series continues here. On the one hand Palmer has built an extremely intelligent, novel and impressively-considered world, and I continuously marvel at it while reading. But on the other hand what she has decided to focus on in that world is deeply, deeply silly. There were so many directions she could have gone when laying out this fascinating geopolitical exploration of a far-future Earth utopia, and she decided to make it about: sex scandals and gender fixation; a preposterous obsession with Enlightenment thinkers from over half a millenium prior to the narrative chronology, and; literally recreating the Odyssey/Iliad but with flying cars and space elevators.

If it were possible to simply excise those three things and leave the rest -- all the political scheming, JEDD the Alien's First Contact, the Gordian/Utopian conflict -- this would have been one of the greatest scifi trilogies (emphasis on TRILOGY) of all time. Instead it's this: a bloated, profoundly frustrating exercise in what coulda been. If it weren't so utterly brilliant in many aspects it wouldn't be nearly as frustrating.

That takes care of most of the content issues but there are also serious problems with the form. I was really excited in this one that we had a new narrator who did not waste entire pages of overwrought passages conversing with the ghost of Thomas Hobbes and his "reader." Cause that was a big part of what made the first three books tedious. But then of course we switch back to Mycroft after several chapters and it basically stays with him for half the book, reviving those tedious asides. And even when not diverting in that exact way, Palmer frequently takes way too long to say things, hammering the point home over and over and over again. The series really needed a stronger editor to help Palmer kill more darlings.

There were some genuinely moving parts of this book, but they get lost in Palmer's compulsion to apply this poignance to dozens of different plot points. Most of the characters frequently break down sobbing at these points, just so you know they're meaningful I guess. I'm glad that Palmer is apparently addressing some issues of boys-don't-cry toxic masculinity, but she goes way overboard and it ends up watering (haha) everything down, in addition to making my eyes roll. They also make the interactions feel pretty stilted -- no real person has that quantity of emotional interactions with everyone around them, especially not world leaders, so it's tough to accept that 400 years in the future not just one person but EVERY person will.

The worst example is a 15-page conversation between 9A and Sniper, which is some of the most saccharine, cringiest dialogue I've ever seen in an adult novel, broken up by frequent meaning-laden soul-staring and eye-gazing. It builds up to an important plot point so I get it on some level, but there's at least 10 pages too much of it. One of the reasons I feel such a strong aversion to this scene and Palmer's general abuse of poignance is because it reminds me of my own (bad, unpublished) novel. Given the success of this series maybe I should start shopping it again (lol yeah no).

Last, so much of the events of this novel happen in extremely long speeches. This recalls a similar problem from previous entries in which the plot points occur through exposition. A lot of that is due to the narrative device that Palmer uses, a definite double-edged sword toward which I am correspondingly ambivalent. It works a lot of the time and is fairly inventive, and impressively consistent in application. But there are other times when the actual plot takes a distinct back seat to the device, and I'd rather get a more detailed synopsis of what's actually going on in the weeks/months between journal entries.

In conclusion, Terra Ignota is a land of contrasts. Despite it being one of the truly original and exciting scifi worlds I've ever encountered, I can't strongly recommend it to anyone. I wanted to give it 4 stars because in intelligence and audacity it is a distinct tier above most other scifi/fantasy I've ever read, but ultimately there were just too many flaws. Instead I'd suggest you just (re-)read The Dispossessed and see if that doesn't scratch your itch for bold, exciting scifi utopias.

]]> 4.31 2021 Perhaps the Stars (Terra Ignota, #4)

author: Ada Palmer
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/24
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
It's funny looking back at my reviews of the first three books in the series. They get progressively shorter by like 60-70% as I lose about that much enthusiasm after each entry. I started the series very excited by the world-building despite some serious narrative and thematic flaws, but as I progressed from book to book the problems kept mounting while leaving the fascinating, innovative world egregiously under-explored.

The same overall issue with the series continues here. On the one hand Palmer has built an extremely intelligent, novel and impressively-considered world, and I continuously marvel at it while reading. But on the other hand what she has decided to focus on in that world is deeply, deeply silly. There were so many directions she could have gone when laying out this fascinating geopolitical exploration of a far-future Earth utopia, and she decided to make it about: sex scandals and gender fixation; a preposterous obsession with Enlightenment thinkers from over half a millenium prior to the narrative chronology, and; literally recreating the Odyssey/Iliad but with flying cars and space elevators.

If it were possible to simply excise those three things and leave the rest -- all the political scheming, JEDD the Alien's First Contact, the Gordian/Utopian conflict -- this would have been one of the greatest scifi trilogies (emphasis on TRILOGY) of all time. Instead it's this: a bloated, profoundly frustrating exercise in what coulda been. If it weren't so utterly brilliant in many aspects it wouldn't be nearly as frustrating.

That takes care of most of the content issues but there are also serious problems with the form. I was really excited in this one that we had a new narrator who did not waste entire pages of overwrought passages conversing with the ghost of Thomas Hobbes and his "reader." Cause that was a big part of what made the first three books tedious. But then of course we switch back to Mycroft after several chapters and it basically stays with him for half the book, reviving those tedious asides. And even when not diverting in that exact way, Palmer frequently takes way too long to say things, hammering the point home over and over and over again. The series really needed a stronger editor to help Palmer kill more darlings.

There were some genuinely moving parts of this book, but they get lost in Palmer's compulsion to apply this poignance to dozens of different plot points. Most of the characters frequently break down sobbing at these points, just so you know they're meaningful I guess. I'm glad that Palmer is apparently addressing some issues of boys-don't-cry toxic masculinity, but she goes way overboard and it ends up watering (haha) everything down, in addition to making my eyes roll. They also make the interactions feel pretty stilted -- no real person has that quantity of emotional interactions with everyone around them, especially not world leaders, so it's tough to accept that 400 years in the future not just one person but EVERY person will.

The worst example is a 15-page conversation between 9A and Sniper, which is some of the most saccharine, cringiest dialogue I've ever seen in an adult novel, broken up by frequent meaning-laden soul-staring and eye-gazing. It builds up to an important plot point so I get it on some level, but there's at least 10 pages too much of it. One of the reasons I feel such a strong aversion to this scene and Palmer's general abuse of poignance is because it reminds me of my own (bad, unpublished) novel. Given the success of this series maybe I should start shopping it again (lol yeah no).

Last, so much of the events of this novel happen in extremely long speeches. This recalls a similar problem from previous entries in which the plot points occur through exposition. A lot of that is due to the narrative device that Palmer uses, a definite double-edged sword toward which I am correspondingly ambivalent. It works a lot of the time and is fairly inventive, and impressively consistent in application. But there are other times when the actual plot takes a distinct back seat to the device, and I'd rather get a more detailed synopsis of what's actually going on in the weeks/months between journal entries.

In conclusion, Terra Ignota is a land of contrasts. Despite it being one of the truly original and exciting scifi worlds I've ever encountered, I can't strongly recommend it to anyone. I wanted to give it 4 stars because in intelligence and audacity it is a distinct tier above most other scifi/fantasy I've ever read, but ultimately there were just too many flaws. Instead I'd suggest you just (re-)read The Dispossessed and see if that doesn't scratch your itch for bold, exciting scifi utopias.

]]> <![CDATA[Guerrilla USA: The George Jackson Brigade and the Anticapitalist Underground of the 1970s]]> 6954274 Guerrilla USA provides an inside-out perspective on the social movements of the 1970s, revealing the whole era in a new and more complex light. It is also a compelling exploration of the true nature of crime and a provocative meditation on the tension between self-restraint and anger in the process of social change.]]> 357 Daniel Burton-Rose 0520264290 Andrew 3 history, political-science
The first half of the book is basically the personal background of two of the principal Brigade members (Ed Mead and Rita Brown), and the second half is a chronology of the Brigade actions and its eventual demise. The first half could have been a quarter as long with the book still retaining its full impact. Burton-Rose presents an impressive amount of detail into the personal lives and relationships of Mead and Brown, but it's unclear that the majority of it has any bearing whatsoever on the purpose and fate of GJB. It's as if Burton-Rose got enamored with his (granted, impressive level of) research and couldn't bear to part with any of it.

The second half also has too much irrelevant minutiae, but it's far more proportional as the vast majority of content here is relevant and fascinating information about the proceedings of the Brigade itself. I consider the book worthwhile, and one that I'll keep on my shelf, mostly because of this second half. Even just having all the communiques compiled in one source makes this book valuable imo. But the second half also feels unfinished in that it is badly missing a concluding analysis, contextualization or discussion of the Brigade's legacy in the 70s and beyond. I was pretty shocked at how suddenly it ended -- the last chapter is called "Coda" but that's not really what a coda is afaik.

Anyway, I would still recommend this to anti-capitalists of all stripes, as well as anyone interested in the radical history of our country, or specifically in the northwest region. My suggestion would be to not worry about skimming the first half of the book, because it's very dense and the read will feel more rewarding if it goes a little quicker.

]]> 3.91 2010 Guerrilla USA: The George Jackson Brigade and the Anticapitalist Underground of the 1970s

Guerrilla USA: The George Jackson Brigade and the Anticapitalist Underground of the 1970s

author: Daniel Burton-Rose
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/03
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: history, political-science
review:
This book provides a useful and welcome history of the guerrilla movement of the 1960s-70s in the Pacific Northwest, specifically around the George Jackson Brigade. But it ultimately feels unfinished, as if Burton-Rose compiled his impressive quantity of in-depth research but then left it almost in list form, without sufficiently culling or parsing it.

The first half of the book is basically the personal background of two of the principal Brigade members (Ed Mead and Rita Brown), and the second half is a chronology of the Brigade actions and its eventual demise. The first half could have been a quarter as long with the book still retaining its full impact. Burton-Rose presents an impressive amount of detail into the personal lives and relationships of Mead and Brown, but it's unclear that the majority of it has any bearing whatsoever on the purpose and fate of GJB. It's as if Burton-Rose got enamored with his (granted, impressive level of) research and couldn't bear to part with any of it.

The second half also has too much irrelevant minutiae, but it's far more proportional as the vast majority of content here is relevant and fascinating information about the proceedings of the Brigade itself. I consider the book worthwhile, and one that I'll keep on my shelf, mostly because of this second half. Even just having all the communiques compiled in one source makes this book valuable imo. But the second half also feels unfinished in that it is badly missing a concluding analysis, contextualization or discussion of the Brigade's legacy in the 70s and beyond. I was pretty shocked at how suddenly it ended -- the last chapter is called "Coda" but that's not really what a coda is afaik.

Anyway, I would still recommend this to anti-capitalists of all stripes, as well as anyone interested in the radical history of our country, or specifically in the northwest region. My suggestion would be to not worry about skimming the first half of the book, because it's very dense and the read will feel more rewarding if it goes a little quicker.

]]> Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel 505645 242 Lee Maracle 0889611483 Andrew 2 Child of the Dark as a memoir that is quite valuable, but for different reasons than probably intended.

In this case, Maracle presents as such an unreliable narrator, and of such dubious character, that I can't really avoid looking at her as the very subject of what is essentially her own sociological study, in which she is emblematic of the human toll that North America's systematic misogyny, racism, and colonialism takes on its indigenous residents.

This is what makes it very similar in my mind to Maria de Jesus's memoir about living in a Brazilian favela. People talk about how valuable a journalistic report that one is, but for me its true value lies in being a case study for what chronic immiseration can do to the human spirit: de Jesus does not present as noble but rather as mean and arrogant, convinced she is better than her slum-dwelling neighbors yet unaware that all that truly separates her is the great fortune of getting noticed by an outside journalist.

But back to Maracle: the book is somewhat interesting in describing its various milieus, from Canadian bohemia to Californian farmwork to Pacific Northwest political organizing. But Maracle's focus is usually on her personal relationships, combined with very little introspection or organization, so it reads more like a bunch of vignettes with the reader having to piece together incidents into a coherent whole. It's not ultimately very useful as a political history, nor is it very insightful as an autobiography.

This is why I think its main value is in unwittingly showing readers just how messed up an indigenous woman can get merely by growing up in North America. In that sense it feels a little voyeuristic, because that doesn't seem to be what Maracle was intending in writing it. I get the sense that she's trying to portray herself as rebellious and resilient, but mostly what comes across is just the damage and trauma. By the end when she is reporting her chronic drinking while pregnant, plus abusing her children, I was really ready for it to be over.

I am glad to now have a better understanding of how modern, impoverished indigenous women experience the world, but I don't think I could strongly recommend this book to anyone else without first recommending many others on the indigenous experience.

]]> 4.03 1990 Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel

author: Lee Maracle
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1990
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/20
date added: 2023/06/20
shelves: history, memoir, political-science
review:
After reading this book I categorize it alongside Child of the Dark as a memoir that is quite valuable, but for different reasons than probably intended.

In this case, Maracle presents as such an unreliable narrator, and of such dubious character, that I can't really avoid looking at her as the very subject of what is essentially her own sociological study, in which she is emblematic of the human toll that North America's systematic misogyny, racism, and colonialism takes on its indigenous residents.

This is what makes it very similar in my mind to Maria de Jesus's memoir about living in a Brazilian favela. People talk about how valuable a journalistic report that one is, but for me its true value lies in being a case study for what chronic immiseration can do to the human spirit: de Jesus does not present as noble but rather as mean and arrogant, convinced she is better than her slum-dwelling neighbors yet unaware that all that truly separates her is the great fortune of getting noticed by an outside journalist.

But back to Maracle: the book is somewhat interesting in describing its various milieus, from Canadian bohemia to Californian farmwork to Pacific Northwest political organizing. But Maracle's focus is usually on her personal relationships, combined with very little introspection or organization, so it reads more like a bunch of vignettes with the reader having to piece together incidents into a coherent whole. It's not ultimately very useful as a political history, nor is it very insightful as an autobiography.

This is why I think its main value is in unwittingly showing readers just how messed up an indigenous woman can get merely by growing up in North America. In that sense it feels a little voyeuristic, because that doesn't seem to be what Maracle was intending in writing it. I get the sense that she's trying to portray herself as rebellious and resilient, but mostly what comes across is just the damage and trauma. By the end when she is reporting her chronic drinking while pregnant, plus abusing her children, I was really ready for it to be over.

I am glad to now have a better understanding of how modern, impoverished indigenous women experience the world, but I don't think I could strongly recommend this book to anyone else without first recommending many others on the indigenous experience.

]]> <![CDATA[Philosophy of Antifascism: Punching Nazis and Fighting White Supremacy (Living Existentialism)]]> 52603442 206 Devin Zane Shaw 1786615592 Andrew 4 philosophy-science
Subjectively for my own interest/enjoyment I give it two stars, because I have long since stopped caring much for philosophy, and this entry does not convince me to start caring again. In my older years I have so little patience for it, partly because my attention-span has distressingly deteriorated but also because it just feels so navel-gazy. It's virtually inconceivable to me that works like these -- disputing the subtle semantic mistakes of modern interpretations of famous French philosophers, all in order to explain why punching Nazis is okay -- have a significant impact on society. In order to meet the goal of convincing people that punching Nazis is okay, imo a social history meant for a broader audience would be much more useful (something like This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed or In Defense of Looting).

When I added this book to my list it was as a result of hearing a podcast interview with the author (on the vital ), and as a result I was expecting a more practically-minded book. This book is not that. I did appreciate learning a little more about Beauvoir's and Sartre's analysis of violence, but on a philosophical level I'm disappointed that Shaw so easily dismissed Camus (whose The Rebel would seem to be at least worth considering even if tangentially).

Overall I would recommend this book to antifascist theory-heads, philosophy lovers, and fans of Beauvoir and Sartre. For the laypeople like myself you can probably just try to be content with the above interview and a couple related articles on the Three-Way Fight.

]]> 4.00 Philosophy of Antifascism: Punching Nazis and Fighting White Supremacy (Living Existentialism)

Philosophy of Antifascism: Punching Nazis and Fighting White Supremacy (Living Existentialism)

author: Devin Zane Shaw
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/12
date added: 2023/06/12
shelves: philosophy-science
review:
I'm breaking this rating in two because I ended up definitely not being the target audience. Four stars is my objective rating for what the book is and set out to be: a rigorous philosophical inquiry into the ethics of antifascism. I think Shaw accomplishes his goal, although I'm subtracting a star because I remain unconvinced as to the absolute utility of this goal beyond the important elucidation of his "Three-Way Fight" paradigm. In this model Antifascism, Liberalism and Fascism exist not on a spectrum but on a triangle, with each pair linked by a common feature yet nonetheless diametrically opposed in a fundamental way. The book is useful for this model alone.

Subjectively for my own interest/enjoyment I give it two stars, because I have long since stopped caring much for philosophy, and this entry does not convince me to start caring again. In my older years I have so little patience for it, partly because my attention-span has distressingly deteriorated but also because it just feels so navel-gazy. It's virtually inconceivable to me that works like these -- disputing the subtle semantic mistakes of modern interpretations of famous French philosophers, all in order to explain why punching Nazis is okay -- have a significant impact on society. In order to meet the goal of convincing people that punching Nazis is okay, imo a social history meant for a broader audience would be much more useful (something like This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed or In Defense of Looting).

When I added this book to my list it was as a result of hearing a podcast interview with the author (on the vital ), and as a result I was expecting a more practically-minded book. This book is not that. I did appreciate learning a little more about Beauvoir's and Sartre's analysis of violence, but on a philosophical level I'm disappointed that Shaw so easily dismissed Camus (whose The Rebel would seem to be at least worth considering even if tangentially).

Overall I would recommend this book to antifascist theory-heads, philosophy lovers, and fans of Beauvoir and Sartre. For the laypeople like myself you can probably just try to be content with the above interview and a couple related articles on the Three-Way Fight.

]]> Homage to Catalonia 9646 232 George Orwell 0156421178 Andrew 5
My below review mostly stands (I now wonder about those allegations of suppression based upon its anti-Soviet stance). In the time since I last read this I have become much more critical of Orwell due to his anti-communism and his alleged snitching to the government on subversives (often predicated on his apparent antisemitism, racism and homophobia). He was also, y'know, a colonial cop in India for 5 years, but hey we all make mistakes I guess...

In any case, I stand by everything I said below about the content of this book. It's a testament to its quality that I came in expecting to like it a lot less based on the above, and looking for ways that he was spinning events to make the "Trotskyists" look better, but I came out of it even more convinced that he probably gave the most comprehensive and unbiased description of events possible. I even checked various other sources, including modern Marxist-Leninists who would have every reason to denigrate this account yet nonetheless admitted its essential truth. Impressive stuff.

On a sidenote, I think there is a fascinating debate to be had on what USSR their proxies the Spanish Communists "should have" done in these circumstances. I.e. were they right to force unification through purging anarchists and leftcoms? Or should they have allowed them their more revolutionary stance even if it risked alienating middle-class Spaniards? Ultimately there's no counterfactual and we'll never know, but if nothing else it is clear that the inhuman persecution, torture and executions were inexcusable, so that needs to remain a lesson to all leftists in the future. Losing quicker to fascism would be better than that.

Original Review:

Orwell's account of his experience fighting for the Anarchist group POUM during the Spanish Civil War is surprisingly compelling. This is mostly due to the understated way in which he narrates the book. To be sure, he is recounting extraordinary events, but in a voice so modest and casual that you can't help but be seduced. His political analysis and truth-seeking are refreshing, and in the midst of several acrimonious factions he appears uniquely able to maintain objectivity.

Overall, he writes with such sincerity and earnestness -- freely admitting when he can't hope to adequately express the emotional impact of a certain situation, or warning you of his potential bias -- that I would bet against being able to find another work of literature that more realistically conveys the insanity of war. The fact that Orwell is an Everyman -- idealistic, afraid, and by no means a born soldier -- only heightens the impact. His modesty is inspiring in that you can easily imagine yourself in his shoes.

When it was written, this book formed part of a growing contingent of anti-Stalinist literature. For that reason and the political circumstance of WWII (in which Russia was badly needed as an ally), the book was suppressed and/or ignored by most of the Western world. Decades later, after it has gained in popularity, we can see that Orwell's was one of the few voices of reason during that era. As a book, Homage is a greatly entertaining read. As an artifact of pre-WWII Europe, it is priceless.

]]> 4.09 1938 Homage to Catalonia

author: George Orwell
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1938
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/07
date added: 2023/06/07
shelves: memoir, favorites, alltime-favorites
review:
Update upon 2nd reading 6/5/23:

My below review mostly stands (I now wonder about those allegations of suppression based upon its anti-Soviet stance). In the time since I last read this I have become much more critical of Orwell due to his anti-communism and his alleged snitching to the government on subversives (often predicated on his apparent antisemitism, racism and homophobia). He was also, y'know, a colonial cop in India for 5 years, but hey we all make mistakes I guess...

In any case, I stand by everything I said below about the content of this book. It's a testament to its quality that I came in expecting to like it a lot less based on the above, and looking for ways that he was spinning events to make the "Trotskyists" look better, but I came out of it even more convinced that he probably gave the most comprehensive and unbiased description of events possible. I even checked various other sources, including modern Marxist-Leninists who would have every reason to denigrate this account yet nonetheless admitted its essential truth. Impressive stuff.

On a sidenote, I think there is a fascinating debate to be had on what USSR their proxies the Spanish Communists "should have" done in these circumstances. I.e. were they right to force unification through purging anarchists and leftcoms? Or should they have allowed them their more revolutionary stance even if it risked alienating middle-class Spaniards? Ultimately there's no counterfactual and we'll never know, but if nothing else it is clear that the inhuman persecution, torture and executions were inexcusable, so that needs to remain a lesson to all leftists in the future. Losing quicker to fascism would be better than that.

Original Review:

Orwell's account of his experience fighting for the Anarchist group POUM during the Spanish Civil War is surprisingly compelling. This is mostly due to the understated way in which he narrates the book. To be sure, he is recounting extraordinary events, but in a voice so modest and casual that you can't help but be seduced. His political analysis and truth-seeking are refreshing, and in the midst of several acrimonious factions he appears uniquely able to maintain objectivity.

Overall, he writes with such sincerity and earnestness -- freely admitting when he can't hope to adequately express the emotional impact of a certain situation, or warning you of his potential bias -- that I would bet against being able to find another work of literature that more realistically conveys the insanity of war. The fact that Orwell is an Everyman -- idealistic, afraid, and by no means a born soldier -- only heightens the impact. His modesty is inspiring in that you can easily imagine yourself in his shoes.

When it was written, this book formed part of a growing contingent of anti-Stalinist literature. For that reason and the political circumstance of WWII (in which Russia was badly needed as an ally), the book was suppressed and/or ignored by most of the Western world. Decades later, after it has gained in popularity, we can see that Orwell's was one of the few voices of reason during that era. As a book, Homage is a greatly entertaining read. As an artifact of pre-WWII Europe, it is priceless.

]]> <![CDATA[Black Bolshevik: Autobiography of an Afro-American Communist]]> 704092 Black Bolshevik is the autobiography of Harry Haywood, the son of former slaves who became a leading member of the Communist Part USA and a pioneering theoretician on the Afro-American struggle.

The author’s first-hand accounts of the Chicago race riot of 1919, the Scottsboro Boys�� defense, communist work in the South, the Spanish Civil War, the battle against the revisionist betrayal of the Party, and other history-shaping events are must reading for all who are interested in Black history and the working class struggle.]]> 776 Harry Haywood 0930720539 Andrew 2
My issue with the book overall is that this chronicle just became really repetitive and tedious. Even the interesting parts such as studying in Moscow, fighting in the Spanish Civil War or joining the Merchant Marines became mere backdrops for the infighting. And Haywood offers very little by way of introspection or explanation. He's often just describing events like a court stenographer, with some occasional analysis interpolated.

And there were plenty of clues to suggest Haywood is not the most reliable narrator either: why does intrigue seem to follow him wherever he goes? How is a claim of misogyny just invented whole cloth on one of his soviet vacations? What happens to his second wife? Why does his analysis of the Spanish Civil War differ so drastically from George Orwell's remarkably level-headed account?

In my experience, constantly falling prey to rumor-mongering and political triangulation does not simply happen to people out of the blue. Usually the "victim" is participating in the dance on some level. And the fact that Haywood presents himself as almost completely blameless in all of these affairs, plus glossing over several clearly negative events, is highly suspicious to me.

I appreciate this for what it is: a historical perspective on mid-20th century leftist organizing in the U.S. But I'm filing it away with many grains of salt for future contemplation. For some further context I recommend listening to with Haywood's briefly mentioned daughter by the excellent podcast Rev Left Radio:

]]> 4.58 1978 Black Bolshevik: Autobiography of an Afro-American Communist

Black Bolshevik: Autobiography of an Afro-American Communist

author: Harry Haywood
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.58
book published: 1978
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/30
date added: 2023/06/05
shelves: history, memoir, political-science
review:
This was a LOT, and most of it the stuff I least wanted to hear about in an autobiography. In fact a more appropriate subtitle would be: a chronicle of factionalism in the Communist Party USA, cause that's what about 2/3 of the book was about. And if you're considering joining a leftist political party I would definitely recommend you NOT read this book lest you be incredibly discouraged. It's really demoralizing to witness the decades of nonstop infighting through Haywood's eyes.

My issue with the book overall is that this chronicle just became really repetitive and tedious. Even the interesting parts such as studying in Moscow, fighting in the Spanish Civil War or joining the Merchant Marines became mere backdrops for the infighting. And Haywood offers very little by way of introspection or explanation. He's often just describing events like a court stenographer, with some occasional analysis interpolated.

And there were plenty of clues to suggest Haywood is not the most reliable narrator either: why does intrigue seem to follow him wherever he goes? How is a claim of misogyny just invented whole cloth on one of his soviet vacations? What happens to his second wife? Why does his analysis of the Spanish Civil War differ so drastically from George Orwell's remarkably level-headed account?

In my experience, constantly falling prey to rumor-mongering and political triangulation does not simply happen to people out of the blue. Usually the "victim" is participating in the dance on some level. And the fact that Haywood presents himself as almost completely blameless in all of these affairs, plus glossing over several clearly negative events, is highly suspicious to me.

I appreciate this for what it is: a historical perspective on mid-20th century leftist organizing in the U.S. But I'm filing it away with many grains of salt for future contemplation. For some further context I recommend listening to with Haywood's briefly mentioned daughter by the excellent podcast Rev Left Radio:

]]> Sea of Tranquility 58446227 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, GoodReads

"One of [Mandel's] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet." --The New York Times

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal--an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.]]> 259 Emily St. John Mandel 0593321448 Andrew 4 4.04 2022

author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/05/30
shelves: literature-modern, scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
I thought this was quite nice, and very satisfying, although the earnestness and meta-commentary that stems from writing it during the first couple years of the COVID pandemic is very conspicuous and may not age well. I'll keep Mandel on my follow list though.
]]> <![CDATA[How the Water Feels to the Fishes]]> 6834520 63 Dave Eggers Andrew 4 literature-modern Sparrow, the "Sunbeams" section from magazine, and "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy." His prose is captivating: strong, direct, a little staccato. "Electric" would probably be a good adjective for it. The stories themselves aren't substantive enough to be true short stories, but not short enough to be aphorisms. I'll call them "vignettes" since I don't know what else to call them. Who knows, maybe that's what they technically are.

The second story, "The Accident," gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes, while the following story, "Old Enough," had me laughing out loud. It's a uniquely talented author that can provoke such disparate feelings within just a couple of pages.

I don't know if it was a case of the novelty wearing off, but the middle section didn't do much for me. It picked up again toward the end with mostly comical sketches. Eggers definitely has a misanthropic streak and also seems to have a compelling fascination with transformation. I'm definitely curious to check out more of his stuff. My favorite vignettes were the following:

The Accident
Old Enough
The Commercials in Norway
Go-Getters
No Safe Harbor
On Making a Good Man by Calling Him a Good Man
Thoughtful That Way
We Can Work It Out
The Anger of Horses
How the Air Feels to Birds
The Man Who

]]> 3.94 2004 How the Water Feels to the Fishes

author: Dave Eggers
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2013/04/04
date added: 2023/05/26
shelves: literature-modern
review:
This is my introduction to Dave Eggers, and it feels like a cross between Sparrow, the "Sunbeams" section from magazine, and "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy." His prose is captivating: strong, direct, a little staccato. "Electric" would probably be a good adjective for it. The stories themselves aren't substantive enough to be true short stories, but not short enough to be aphorisms. I'll call them "vignettes" since I don't know what else to call them. Who knows, maybe that's what they technically are.

The second story, "The Accident," gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes, while the following story, "Old Enough," had me laughing out loud. It's a uniquely talented author that can provoke such disparate feelings within just a couple of pages.

I don't know if it was a case of the novelty wearing off, but the middle section didn't do much for me. It picked up again toward the end with mostly comical sketches. Eggers definitely has a misanthropic streak and also seems to have a compelling fascination with transformation. I'm definitely curious to check out more of his stuff. My favorite vignettes were the following:

The Accident
Old Enough
The Commercials in Norway
Go-Getters
No Safe Harbor
On Making a Good Man by Calling Him a Good Man
Thoughtful That Way
We Can Work It Out
The Anger of Horses
How the Air Feels to Birds
The Man Who

]]> <![CDATA[The Will to Battle (Terra Ignota, #3)]]> 33517544
The long years of near-utopia have come to an abrupt end.

Peace and order are now figments of the past. Corruption, deception, and insurgency hum within the once steadfast leadership of the Hives, nations without fixed location.

The heartbreaking truth is that for decades, even centuries, the leaders of the great Hives bought the world’s stability with a trickle of secret murders, mathematically planned. So that no faction could ever dominate. So that the balance held.

The Hives�� façade of solidity is the only hope they have for maintaining a semblance of order, for preventing the public from succumbing to the savagery and bloodlust of wars past. But as the great secret becomes more and more widely known, that façade is slipping away.

Just days earlier, the world was a pinnacle of human civilization. Now everyone—Hives and hiveless, Utopians and sensayers, emperors and the downtrodden, warriors and saints—scrambles to prepare for the seemingly inevitable war.]]> 352 Ada Palmer 0765378043 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror 4.19 2017 The Will to Battle (Terra Ignota, #3)

author: Ada Palmer
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/02
date added: 2023/05/02
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Reading more for completion at this point. It has devolved into straight fantasy melodrama pretty much, and almost all the "action" occurs through exposition/dialogue, with too much emphasis on theology and philosophy and a still-obnoxious narrative voice.
]]> <![CDATA[Seven Surrenders (Terra Ignota, #2)]]> 28220647
In which automation now provides for everybody’s basic needs.
In which nobody living can remember an actual war.
In which it is illegal for three or more people to gather for the practice of religion—but ecumenical “sensayers�� minister in private, one-on-one.
In which gendered language is archaic, and to dress as strongly male or female is, if not exactly illegal, deeply taboo.
In which nationality is a fading memory, and most people identify instead with their choice of the seven global Hives, distinguished from one another by their different approaches to the big questions of life.

And it is a world in which, unknown to most, the entire social order is teetering on the edge of collapse.

Because even in utopia, humans will conspire. And also because something new has arisen: Bridger, the child who can bring inanimate objects to conscious life.]]> 365 Ada Palmer 0765378027 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror
-Truly excellent, innovative world-building
-Terrific, memorable characters
-Irritating narrative voice
-Bizarre fixation on gender and sex
-Ludicrous juxtaposition of simultaneously god-like and sex-crazed world leaders
-Most action occurs through dialogue

Overall, I think this and the 3-star first one could have been condensed into a 5-star single volume.

I'll probably finish the series, but I'm less excited about it now than I was after finishing the first one.

]]> 4.20 2017 Seven Surrenders (Terra Ignota, #2)

author: Ada Palmer
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/04/27
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Continued the pluses and minuses of the first book, in no particular order:

-Truly excellent, innovative world-building
-Terrific, memorable characters
-Irritating narrative voice
-Bizarre fixation on gender and sex
-Ludicrous juxtaposition of simultaneously god-like and sex-crazed world leaders
-Most action occurs through dialogue

Overall, I think this and the 3-star first one could have been condensed into a 5-star single volume.

I'll probably finish the series, but I'm less excited about it now than I was after finishing the first one.

]]> Cloudsplitter 26931 Cloudsplitter is narrated by the enigmatic Owen Brown, last surviving son of America's most famous and still controversial political terrorist and martyr, John Brown. Deeply researched, brilliantly plotted, and peopled with a cast of unforgettable characters both historical and wholly invented, Cloudsplitter is dazzling in its re-creation of the political and social landscape of our history during the years before the Civil War, when slavery was tearing the country apart. But within this broader scope, Russell Banks has given us a riveting, suspenseful, heartbreaking narrative filled with intimate scenes of domestic life, of violence and action in battle, of romance and familial life and death that make the reader feel in astonishing ways what it is like to be alive in that time.]]> 758 Russell Banks 0060930861 Andrew 2 literature-modern, history
The one thing I really liked from the book is how it shows the general cowardice of the majority of abolitionists of the era, and strongly suggests that someone as fanatical as John Brown was needed in order to truly threaten the institution of slavery. Even something as morally abhorrent as the Pottawatomie Massacre received both contemporary and historical appraisals as being a necessary show of strength for abolitionist forces, one that quite possibly prevented Kansas from going full slave state.

The unreliable narrator format was IMO questionable at best. We're already in a genre in which we're not sure about the ratio of truth to fiction. To add the unreliable narrator on top seems either vacillating or disrespectful of the historical figure, or both. If you're going to take famous, revered figures and fictionalize them, have conviction about it. It almost seems like he impugned Owen's character in order to save John's.

I do think this could make a solid framework for an excellent film, but only if it picks up at around the halfway point of this novel, when John and Owen head to England.

]]> 3.94 1998 Cloudsplitter

author: Russell Banks
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at: 2023/03/27
date added: 2023/03/27
shelves: literature-modern, history
review:
The subject matter has me wanting to give it a 3, but it was twice as long as I wanted it to be. I grant that my attention span is getting progressively (and alarmingly) shorter, but I just did not care at all about the fictional moral and metaphysical self-examinations of John Brown's son, nor his tedious preambles to his authorial correspondent. I ended up skimming a huge part of it, and my hypothesis that no writer outside Tolstoy deserves more than 600 pages for a novel remains undefeated.

The one thing I really liked from the book is how it shows the general cowardice of the majority of abolitionists of the era, and strongly suggests that someone as fanatical as John Brown was needed in order to truly threaten the institution of slavery. Even something as morally abhorrent as the Pottawatomie Massacre received both contemporary and historical appraisals as being a necessary show of strength for abolitionist forces, one that quite possibly prevented Kansas from going full slave state.

The unreliable narrator format was IMO questionable at best. We're already in a genre in which we're not sure about the ratio of truth to fiction. To add the unreliable narrator on top seems either vacillating or disrespectful of the historical figure, or both. If you're going to take famous, revered figures and fictionalize them, have conviction about it. It almost seems like he impugned Owen's character in order to save John's.

I do think this could make a solid framework for an excellent film, but only if it picks up at around the halfway point of this novel, when John and Owen head to England.

]]> <![CDATA[Borders of Infinity (Vorkosigan Saga [Publication] #5.1-5.3)]]> 76811
In Labyrinth, Miles adopts his alternate persona as Dendarii Mercenary Admiral Naismith for an undercover mission to rescue an important research geneticist from Jackson’s Whole. And in the title story, Miles infiltrates an escape-proof Cetagandan POW camp and plays hero to the most deeply distressed damsel of his colorful career.

Contents:
Frame story that follows Miles' time on Earth in Brothers in Arms
The Mountains of Mourning (1989)
Labyrinth (1989)
The Borders of Infinity (1987)]]> 352 Lois McMaster Bujold 0671578294 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror Too Like the Lightning, which has such a thoroughly developed, grounded and captivating world that it makes the Vorkosigan galaxy look silly and frivolous in comparison.

I quite liked The Warrior's Apprentice and was looking forward to this one. But after reading a total of 4 different Miles adventures now (this book contains 3), it's feeling repetitive to have him faced with an impossible situation that he inevitably solves with a combination of wit and deus ex machina. Knowing he will come out of it more advanced and prestigious than ever essentially eliminates any feeling of stakes. Also, realizing that any secondary characters I came to appreciate in Apprentice seem to be basically interchangeable sidekicks is deflating.

The contrast between these two series has helped me understand that space opera isn't really my jam (no disrespect to Bujold -- this is one of the best ones I've read). If the best space opera feels this insubstantial and unsatisfying to me next to some good, "harder" earthbound sci-fi (still not sure how to accurately categorize Terra Ignota in the various subgenres), then well I guess I should probably stop reading as much space opera.

]]> 4.24 1987 Borders of Infinity (Vorkosigan Saga [Publication] #5.1-5.3)

Borders of Infinity (Vorkosigan Saga [Publication] #5.1-5.3)

author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/17
date added: 2023/03/17
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
This book (and author Bujold) had the misfortune of me reading it directly after Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning, which has such a thoroughly developed, grounded and captivating world that it makes the Vorkosigan galaxy look silly and frivolous in comparison.

I quite liked The Warrior's Apprentice and was looking forward to this one. But after reading a total of 4 different Miles adventures now (this book contains 3), it's feeling repetitive to have him faced with an impossible situation that he inevitably solves with a combination of wit and deus ex machina. Knowing he will come out of it more advanced and prestigious than ever essentially eliminates any feeling of stakes. Also, realizing that any secondary characters I came to appreciate in Apprentice seem to be basically interchangeable sidekicks is deflating.

The contrast between these two series has helped me understand that space opera isn't really my jam (no disrespect to Bujold -- this is one of the best ones I've read). If the best space opera feels this insubstantial and unsatisfying to me next to some good, "harder" earthbound sci-fi (still not sure how to accurately categorize Terra Ignota in the various subgenres), then well I guess I should probably stop reading as much space opera.

]]> <![CDATA[Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)]]> 26114545
The world into which Mycroft and Carlyle have been born is as strange to our 21st-century eyes as ours would be to a native of the 1500s. It is a hard-won utopia built on technologically-generated abundance, and also on complex and mandatory systems of labeling all public writing and speech. What seem to us normal gender distinctions are now distinctly taboo in most social situations. And most of the world's population is affiliated with globe-girdling clans of the like-minded, whose endless economic and cultural competition is carefully managed by central planners of inestimable subtlety. To us it seems like a mad combination of heaven and hell. To them, it seems like normal life.

And in this world, Mycroft and Carlyle have stumbled on the wild card that may destablize the system: the boy Bridger, who can effortlessly make his wishes come true. Who can, it would seem, bring inanimate objects to life...]]> 432 Ada Palmer 0765378000 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror City of Stairs (and that became one of my all-time favorite series). The world she builds is so dense, realistic and well thought-out -- it's in the S-Tier of sci-fi worlds. But still, way too much world-building to make it a great novel on its own. I didn't even really feel in the groove of it until about halfway through (and then I didn't want to put it down).

While I understand what Palmer's going for with the elaborate narrative voice, I found it pretty tedious. Likewise with her emphasis on Enlightenment philosophers -- it's basically the only time her world feels unnatural and overwrought. I think the novel would have been stronger with that style choice toned/edited way down. The only other part that stood out to me in a bad way was the climactic summit which takes place in a brothel and during which the leaders of the planet are all simultaneously engaging in various stages of coitus. As much as I would like to grant Palmer the benefit of the doubt that her world is just as libertine as all that, it was impossible to suspend disbelief for something so ludicrous to my apparently more puritanical sensibilities.

Palmer's basically asking me to believe that virtually everything about our civilization 300 years from now will be more enlightened and rational, except for we will all be exponentially more sex-crazed, such that middle-aged global leaders will be literally incapable of restraining themselves during the most urgent political crisis in decades. And I simply can't... it's just a big ol' "WTAF" in my mind. It seems far more likely to me that as our civilization evolves and "progresses" we will grow to understand that our society's current relationship with sex is obsessive and unhealthy, and we will be less preoccupied with it in the future (which is not to say more puritanical).

Last complaint was about the cliffhanger ending. If I had known this was only Part I of an 800 page book I may not have even read it. Buuuuuttttt... as frustrated as I am that this leaves very little resolved, I'm also really excited to continue the series. That's a feat in itself, because I usually don't take kindly to an author jerking me around like this. But yeah, judging by ratings it just gets better from here, and I'm hopeful that laying all this groundwork in the 1st installment means we can hit the ground running in the next one.

]]> 3.81 2016 Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)

author: Ada Palmer
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/15
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Waaaaayyyy too heavy on the world-building, but also, whaaaaaat an incredible world she builds! I haven't been this taken with the first installment of a series since Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs (and that became one of my all-time favorite series). The world she builds is so dense, realistic and well thought-out -- it's in the S-Tier of sci-fi worlds. But still, way too much world-building to make it a great novel on its own. I didn't even really feel in the groove of it until about halfway through (and then I didn't want to put it down).

While I understand what Palmer's going for with the elaborate narrative voice, I found it pretty tedious. Likewise with her emphasis on Enlightenment philosophers -- it's basically the only time her world feels unnatural and overwrought. I think the novel would have been stronger with that style choice toned/edited way down. The only other part that stood out to me in a bad way was the climactic summit which takes place in a brothel and during which the leaders of the planet are all simultaneously engaging in various stages of coitus. As much as I would like to grant Palmer the benefit of the doubt that her world is just as libertine as all that, it was impossible to suspend disbelief for something so ludicrous to my apparently more puritanical sensibilities.

Palmer's basically asking me to believe that virtually everything about our civilization 300 years from now will be more enlightened and rational, except for we will all be exponentially more sex-crazed, such that middle-aged global leaders will be literally incapable of restraining themselves during the most urgent political crisis in decades. And I simply can't... it's just a big ol' "WTAF" in my mind. It seems far more likely to me that as our civilization evolves and "progresses" we will grow to understand that our society's current relationship with sex is obsessive and unhealthy, and we will be less preoccupied with it in the future (which is not to say more puritanical).

Last complaint was about the cliffhanger ending. If I had known this was only Part I of an 800 page book I may not have even read it. Buuuuuttttt... as frustrated as I am that this leaves very little resolved, I'm also really excited to continue the series. That's a feat in itself, because I usually don't take kindly to an author jerking me around like this. But yeah, judging by ratings it just gets better from here, and I'm hopeful that laying all this groundwork in the 1st installment means we can hit the ground running in the next one.

]]> <![CDATA[City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles]]> 484028 462 Mike Davis 0679738061 Andrew 2 history, political-science 4.22 1990

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles

author: Mike Davis
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1990
rating: 2
read at: 2023/03/13
date added: 2023/03/13
shelves: history, political-science
review:
Would not have continued reading if not part of a book club. Probably great for any Californian to read, and very impressively researched/analyzed, but its granularity was very difficult for this east coaster to connect to.
]]> Shutter (Rita Todacheene #1) 59419625
Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook.

As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.

And now it might be what gets her killed.

When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction's most powerful new voices.]]> 296 Ramona Emerson 1641293330 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror
There are two problems with the book, the major one being its pacing. 3/4 of the book feels like setup, and then a massive plot contrivance (the other problem of the book) sets off an extremely cursory climax, where everything you were waiting for happens at rapid-fire speed in the course of 50ish pages. This is actually one of the few books I've read that I thought could have been longer -- padding out the climax some would have helped a lot. Alternatively, Emerson could have cut some of the setup in order to add it on to the back end.

The plot contrivance is that... [spoilers removed] If any of those seven "happens to" occurrences had not happened, the plot could not have been resolved.

The pacing problem occurred on the front end as well, and was even confusing. As Rita hopped from one grisly crime scene to another to open the book, I just assumed this was what her job was like. Emerson did nothing to clarify that actually it was an unusual amount of carnage, and indeed [spoilers removed]. Spreading these events over several days, with some narrative calms between the storms [spoilers removed] would have gone a long way toward building out the world/story.

Overall this was a solid first effort, and I suspect some of the issue with this one was an editing problem. As I understand it a good editor would probably identify these narrative problems and push the author to fix them before publication. In any case, while I wouldn't strongly recommend this, you could certainly do worse for a light read, and I'd be open to reading Emerson's second novel.

]]> 3.70 2022 Shutter (Rita Todacheene #1)

author: Ramona Emerson
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/03/06
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
I loved the seamless integration of indigenous (Navajo) culture/perspective into the narrative. The narrative itself is otherwise compelling if not altogether original, and the writing is solid. Those qualities plus its brevity combine for 3-star status.

There are two problems with the book, the major one being its pacing. 3/4 of the book feels like setup, and then a massive plot contrivance (the other problem of the book) sets off an extremely cursory climax, where everything you were waiting for happens at rapid-fire speed in the course of 50ish pages. This is actually one of the few books I've read that I thought could have been longer -- padding out the climax some would have helped a lot. Alternatively, Emerson could have cut some of the setup in order to add it on to the back end.

The plot contrivance is that... [spoilers removed] If any of those seven "happens to" occurrences had not happened, the plot could not have been resolved.

The pacing problem occurred on the front end as well, and was even confusing. As Rita hopped from one grisly crime scene to another to open the book, I just assumed this was what her job was like. Emerson did nothing to clarify that actually it was an unusual amount of carnage, and indeed [spoilers removed]. Spreading these events over several days, with some narrative calms between the storms [spoilers removed] would have gone a long way toward building out the world/story.

Overall this was a solid first effort, and I suspect some of the issue with this one was an editing problem. As I understand it a good editor would probably identify these narrative problems and push the author to fix them before publication. In any case, while I wouldn't strongly recommend this, you could certainly do worse for a light read, and I'd be open to reading Emerson's second novel.

]]> <![CDATA[With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa]]> 771332

Now including a new introduction by Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the vitality and bravery of the Marines in the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa. Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1923 and raised on riding, hunting, fishing, and a respect for history and legendary heroes such as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene Bondurant Sledge (later called "Sledgehammer" by his Marine Corps buddies) joined the Marines the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and from 1943 to 1946 endured the events recorded in this book. In those years, he passed, often painfully, from innocence to experience.

Sledge enlisted out of patriotism, idealism, and youthful courage, but once he landed on the beach at Peleliu, it was purely a struggle for survival. Based on the notes he kept on slips of paper tucked secretly away in his New Testament, he simply and directly recalls those long months, mincing no words and sparing no pain. The reality of battle meant unbearable heat, deafening gunfire, unimaginable brutality and cruelty, the stench of death, and, above all, constant fear. Sledge still has nightmares about "the bloody, muddy month of May on Okinawa." But, as he also tellingly reveals, the bonds of friendship formed then will never be severed.

Sledge's honesty and compassion for the other marines, even complete strangers, sets him apart as a memoirist of war. Read as sobering history or as high adventure, With the Old Breed is a moving chronicle of action and courage.

]]> 326 Eugene B. Sledge 0195067142 Andrew 3 memoir, history
Overall though Sledge's matter-of-fact reporting seems perhaps most remarkable for its lack of introspection, especially when it comes to the inhumanity that war fosters among all participants, and by which he was certainly impacted himself. He doesn't stop to examine the casual racism/xenophobia that, judging from his own reporting, virtually all soldiers engaged in. He talks about occasionally verging on completely monstrous acts himself, but strangely does not express many feelings about it (such as guilt or shame).

It's a weirdly superficial re-telling from someone who was probably the best positioned in the world to do an extremely deep dive on all of these topics. And his casual jingoism doesn't help either: he never once stops to question the morality of the war, or the use of poor infantrymen as cannon fodder. He repeatedly and unquestioningly speaks of citizens' duty to fight for their country, without ever specifying that things such as the relative justness of a war might be a factor to consider.

Anyway, as a history it's noteworthy, but as an analysis it's quite inadequate. For an examination of the morality and existential dread of war, you'd be much better off with Michael Herr's Dispatches.

]]> 4.45 1981 With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

author: Eugene B. Sledge
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/13
date added: 2023/02/13
shelves: memoir, history
review:
Pretty straightforward memoir/history of two battles in the Pacific theater of WWII. There are harrowing descriptions of the horrors of war, and Sledge is very informative on the day-to-day challenges of being a grunt.

Overall though Sledge's matter-of-fact reporting seems perhaps most remarkable for its lack of introspection, especially when it comes to the inhumanity that war fosters among all participants, and by which he was certainly impacted himself. He doesn't stop to examine the casual racism/xenophobia that, judging from his own reporting, virtually all soldiers engaged in. He talks about occasionally verging on completely monstrous acts himself, but strangely does not express many feelings about it (such as guilt or shame).

It's a weirdly superficial re-telling from someone who was probably the best positioned in the world to do an extremely deep dive on all of these topics. And his casual jingoism doesn't help either: he never once stops to question the morality of the war, or the use of poor infantrymen as cannon fodder. He repeatedly and unquestioningly speaks of citizens' duty to fight for their country, without ever specifying that things such as the relative justness of a war might be a factor to consider.

Anyway, as a history it's noteworthy, but as an analysis it's quite inadequate. For an examination of the morality and existential dread of war, you'd be much better off with Michael Herr's Dispatches.

]]> <![CDATA[The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga, #2)]]> 61906
Shortly after his arrival on Beta Colony, Miles unexpectedly finds himself the owner of an obsolete freighter and in more debt than he ever thought possible. Propelled by his manic "forward momentum," the ever-inventive Miles creates a new identity for himself as the commander of his own mercenary fleet to obtain a lucrative cargo; a shipment of weapons destined for a dangerous warzone.]]> 372 Lois McMaster Bujold 0743468406 Andrew 4 scifi-fantasy-horror
After reading a few other reviews I should also add that Sgt. Bothari is a great character, and Bujold had me actually feeling for him... it really bothered me that Miles and the two Elenas never learned the truth about him. Not from a writing perspective, I totally get why Bujold did that. Just from a story/character perspective. I wanted him to get some semblance of public redemption. I think the mere fact that Bujold made me, a quite jaded reader, feel that for a secondary character in a relatively trashy space opera is worth another star, so I'll upgrade from 3 to 4.]]> 4.27 1986 The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga, #2)

The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga, #2)

author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/02/06
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
It's silly and far too contrived, and projecting feudal politics onto space opera will always be cringe-y (yes that includes you too, Mr. Herbert), but it was fast-paced enough to finish in a day, and the protagonist Miles Vorkosigan is compelling enough for me to try out one more in the series.

After reading a few other reviews I should also add that Sgt. Bothari is a great character, and Bujold had me actually feeling for him... it really bothered me that Miles and the two Elenas never learned the truth about him. Not from a writing perspective, I totally get why Bujold did that. Just from a story/character perspective. I wanted him to get some semblance of public redemption. I think the mere fact that Bujold made me, a quite jaded reader, feel that for a secondary character in a relatively trashy space opera is worth another star, so I'll upgrade from 3 to 4.
]]> <![CDATA[Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)]]> 61903 253 Lois McMaster Bujold 0743468422 Andrew 3 scifi-fantasy-horror 4.14 1986 Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)

author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/03
date added: 2023/02/03
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
The writing's not great, and I wouldn't have read it if I knew it was a "sci-fi romance," but the story was compelling and it was fast-paced. Decent way to pass the time, probably won't seek out the rest of the series.
]]> Embassytown 9265453
Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist, has returned to Embassytown after years of deep-space adventure. She cannot speak the Ariekei tongue, but she is an indelible part of it, having long ago been made a figure of speech, a living simile in their language.

When distant political machinations deliver a new ambassador to Arieka, the fragile equilibrium between humans and aliens is violently upset. Catastrophe looms, and Avice is torn between competing loyalties—to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her place in a language she cannot speak yet speaks through her.]]> 345 China Miéville 0345524497 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror
A good read for people who really love imaginative new worlds and premises and/or linguistics, but for the rest of us pretty meh. Disappointing because I know Mieville is a socialist so I was excited for how he might incorporate his political ideology into science fiction, but it's not very detectable in this one. And out of all his book synopses this was the only one that sounded intriguing to me, so I guess I'm sorta done with him for now.

]]> 3.89 2011 Embassytown

author: China Miéville
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2023/01/30
date added: 2023/01/30
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
Took a very long time for this one to get going (the inciting incident occurs at almost the 1/3 mark), and then the climax is basically a metaphysics/linguistics argument. So, uh, not the most exciting book, poorly paced (so much happens in the last 100 pages after almost nothing happening in the first 200), and with the unfamiliar lingo/aliens/technology/concepts that are packed in pretty densely, it's fairly incomprehensible throughout. The biggest example is with the whole "immersing" process in the book, which is set up as something very important to the story but then never has anything at all to do with the core conflict.

A good read for people who really love imaginative new worlds and premises and/or linguistics, but for the rest of us pretty meh. Disappointing because I know Mieville is a socialist so I was excited for how he might incorporate his political ideology into science fiction, but it's not very detectable in this one. And out of all his book synopses this was the only one that sounded intriguing to me, so I guess I'm sorta done with him for now.

]]> If He Hollers Let Him Go 52472 203 Chester Himes 1560254459 Andrew 3 literature-classic City of Quartz, Mike Davis calls this essentially the first black noir. Unfortunately it's not really that -- there's definitely no detective, mostly no crime, and not much else seems to happen -- but it is something valuable nonetheless, a kind of simpler version of Richard Wright's Native Son, pulling back the curtain on racism not in the deep south but rather in sunny, paradisiacal L.A.

The protagonist is Bob and the antagonist is racism, and because the novel is pretty authentic overall it will spoil nothing to report that Bob loses. Himes does an excellent job portraying the impossible situation in which Bob exists: needing to submit to routine humiliation just in order to obtain a modicum of personal happiness (with his beautiful, successful, assimilationist girlfriend), but unwilling to extinguish what little remains of his dignity in order to do so.

There's a particularly incisive passage from about p. 150-155, Ch. 18 I believe, which neatly summarizes the central conflict of the story, and is actually one of the more impressive (and early) analyses of internalized racism I've ever seen. It's James Baldwin before James Baldwin, with Bob recognizing that the only reason he struggles so much against racism is that he has been so thoroughly indoctrinated by white propaganda about freedom and equality. A cruel Catch-22: life would be so much easier for him, it would be so much easier to accept his 2nd-class status, if the powers had not been so effective at indoctrination.

Another point I also found both penetrating and heartbreaking is Bob's understanding that no matter what he does, how good he behaves, or how successful he becomes, he will always be controlled by the caprices of smallest, pettiest white person he encounters in any given situation. That potential humiliation, in virtually every environment he enters, will always be hanging over his head -- there will never be an escape.

In a way this feels like a companion piece to another L.A. autobiographical novel which is one of my all-time favorites: Ask the Dust. Dust was written several years earlier, and is far smaller of a story with a much more personal focus. But still, there's an alternate world in which Himes's book is almost indistinguishable, in which he had as much skin privilege as Fante and therefore did not have to foreground systemic racism.

Anyway, though it wasn't what I expected and it gets a little repetitive/tedious, I'm still glad I read this. And I'll be seeking out Himes's actual detective books starting with A Rage in Harlem.

]]> 3.97 1945 If He Hollers Let Him Go

author: Chester Himes
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1945
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/23
date added: 2023/01/23
shelves: literature-classic
review:
I read this because in City of Quartz, Mike Davis calls this essentially the first black noir. Unfortunately it's not really that -- there's definitely no detective, mostly no crime, and not much else seems to happen -- but it is something valuable nonetheless, a kind of simpler version of Richard Wright's Native Son, pulling back the curtain on racism not in the deep south but rather in sunny, paradisiacal L.A.

The protagonist is Bob and the antagonist is racism, and because the novel is pretty authentic overall it will spoil nothing to report that Bob loses. Himes does an excellent job portraying the impossible situation in which Bob exists: needing to submit to routine humiliation just in order to obtain a modicum of personal happiness (with his beautiful, successful, assimilationist girlfriend), but unwilling to extinguish what little remains of his dignity in order to do so.

There's a particularly incisive passage from about p. 150-155, Ch. 18 I believe, which neatly summarizes the central conflict of the story, and is actually one of the more impressive (and early) analyses of internalized racism I've ever seen. It's James Baldwin before James Baldwin, with Bob recognizing that the only reason he struggles so much against racism is that he has been so thoroughly indoctrinated by white propaganda about freedom and equality. A cruel Catch-22: life would be so much easier for him, it would be so much easier to accept his 2nd-class status, if the powers had not been so effective at indoctrination.

Another point I also found both penetrating and heartbreaking is Bob's understanding that no matter what he does, how good he behaves, or how successful he becomes, he will always be controlled by the caprices of smallest, pettiest white person he encounters in any given situation. That potential humiliation, in virtually every environment he enters, will always be hanging over his head -- there will never be an escape.

In a way this feels like a companion piece to another L.A. autobiographical novel which is one of my all-time favorites: Ask the Dust. Dust was written several years earlier, and is far smaller of a story with a much more personal focus. But still, there's an alternate world in which Himes's book is almost indistinguishable, in which he had as much skin privilege as Fante and therefore did not have to foreground systemic racism.

Anyway, though it wasn't what I expected and it gets a little repetitive/tedious, I'm still glad I read this. And I'll be seeking out Himes's actual detective books starting with A Rage in Harlem.

]]> The Peripheral (Jackpot #1) 24611819
Wilf Netherton lives in London, seventy-some years later, on the far side of decades of slow-motion apocalypse. Things are pretty good now, for the haves, and there aren’t many have-nots left. Wilf, a high-powered publicist and celebrity-minder, fancies himself a romantic misfit, in a society where reaching into the past is just another hobby.��

Burton’s been moonlighting online, secretly working security in some game prototype, a virtual world that looks vaguely like London, but a lot weirder. He’s got Flynne taking over shifts, promised her the game’s not a shooter. Still, the crime she witnesses there is plenty bad.

Flynne and Wilf are about to meet one another. Her world will be altered utterly, irrevocably, and Wilf’s, for all its decadence and power, will learn that some of these third-world types from the past can be badass.]]> 485 William Gibson 0425276236 Andrew 2 scifi-fantasy-horror
When I say not much happens, I mean it. There are about a half-dozen action sequences, each of them occupying less than two pages. The underwhelming climax takes about 5 pages. Do the math, that's less than 20 pages out of almost 500 where anything exciting happens. That means 4% of the book is action and 96% is foreplay: set-up, exposition, and characters preparing for the climax.

The above math equation comes out even worse when you account for the fact that about half of those action scenes occur in the first 100 pages of the book, when I still had no idea what was going on. They were incomprehensible even after multiple readings. Gibson's world-building is impressive -- I definitely believe he has thought all of this through to an admirable extent -- but the way he explains it to the reader is severely lacking.

There's so much jargon and weird technology and he doesn't explain any of it for hundreds of pages, so you're just flailing as a reader for the first fifth of the book. Then you finally get the hang of it about halfway through, but at that point you have 200 pages to wait through before anything else happens. Gibson's choice to limit the narrative to the perspectives of two characters also cuts out a significant portion of the action (which is perpetrated by two other, frankly more interesting characters).

It's also baffling to me how mundane the climax is, and Gibson's neglect at explaining his time-travel mechanism, which he mysteriously hints has to do with China. Sure seems like 500 pages would have been enough space to explore that larger and much more compelling issue, rather than honing in on a quotidian assassination.

Anyway, I'll stop. I went back and read my Neuromancer review and it turns out I felt very similarly about that book. At the time I gave Gibson the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was just too smart for me, but after this one I kinda doubt it.

]]> 3.77 2014 The Peripheral (Jackpot #1)

author: William Gibson
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2023/01/17
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror
review:
This is basically a murder mystery where not much happens and you get a really weak payoff. Sure it's dressed up in a fairly interesting scifi/cyberpunk skin, but as far as narrative goes that's what we're working with.

When I say not much happens, I mean it. There are about a half-dozen action sequences, each of them occupying less than two pages. The underwhelming climax takes about 5 pages. Do the math, that's less than 20 pages out of almost 500 where anything exciting happens. That means 4% of the book is action and 96% is foreplay: set-up, exposition, and characters preparing for the climax.

The above math equation comes out even worse when you account for the fact that about half of those action scenes occur in the first 100 pages of the book, when I still had no idea what was going on. They were incomprehensible even after multiple readings. Gibson's world-building is impressive -- I definitely believe he has thought all of this through to an admirable extent -- but the way he explains it to the reader is severely lacking.

There's so much jargon and weird technology and he doesn't explain any of it for hundreds of pages, so you're just flailing as a reader for the first fifth of the book. Then you finally get the hang of it about halfway through, but at that point you have 200 pages to wait through before anything else happens. Gibson's choice to limit the narrative to the perspectives of two characters also cuts out a significant portion of the action (which is perpetrated by two other, frankly more interesting characters).

It's also baffling to me how mundane the climax is, and Gibson's neglect at explaining his time-travel mechanism, which he mysteriously hints has to do with China. Sure seems like 500 pages would have been enough space to explore that larger and much more compelling issue, rather than honing in on a quotidian assassination.

Anyway, I'll stop. I went back and read my Neuromancer review and it turns out I felt very similarly about that book. At the time I gave Gibson the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was just too smart for me, but after this one I kinda doubt it.

]]> <![CDATA[Prisoners of the American Dream: Politics and Economy in the History of the US Working Class (Essential Mike Davis)]]> 40727257 Prisoners of the American Dream is Mike Davis’s brilliant exegesis of a persistent and major analytical problem for Marxist historians and political economists: Why has the world’s most industrially advanced nation never spawned a mass party of the working class? This series of essays surveys the history of the American bourgeois democratic revolution from its Jacksonian beginnings to the rise of the New Right and the re-election of Ronal Reagan, concluding with some bracing thoughts on the prospects for progressive politics in the United States.]]> 381 Mike Davis 1786635909 Andrew 4 history, political-science
This was a very dense, difficult book to get through but the history and analysis are really impressive: comprehensive, prescient and nearly flawless. Especially noteworthy is Davis's analysis of and prediction for neoliberalism, afaik a pretty new term for the time he was writing in the mid-80s. He totally nails its trajectory both into the 90s and beyond, and his analysis of the 80s Democrats could be applied virtually unchanged to 21st century politics. It's amazing and depressing how applicable most of his analysis still is: 30 years later, Democrats are still treating leftists as they did Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition -- trying to appeal to the mythical "alienated conservative" voter while both neglecting and browbeating what should be their Black and Brown base.

Also of great value is his summary of the entire U.S. labor history through the 80s. His realist corrective is sorely needed in an area that routinely suffers from unduly romanticizing past labor struggles. In reality, Big Labor was coopted by corporations as long as a century ago, and they've suffered almost continuous erosion of labor rights since, with the lone victories coming at the hands at more decentralized and radical efforts. The entire history can easily be read as a stinging critique of democratic centralism, which is quite remarkable coming from an avowed Marxist. Indeed, he strongly criticizes the Communist Party USA for capitulating to liberal electoralism in the 30s and 40s.

Ultimately, while I think this book is extremely valuable, its dense academic style will make it difficult for most normies to get through. I wish it were more accessible so that I could more widely recommend it, but as it is I can only highly recommend it to academics, or those sufficiently passionate about labor history to be able to slog through the jargon-filled analysis.

Not Bad Reviews

]]> 4.40 1986 Prisoners of the American Dream: Politics and Economy in the History of the US Working Class (Essential Mike Davis)

Prisoners of the American Dream: Politics and Economy in the History of the US Working Class (Essential Mike Davis)

author: Mike Davis
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/09
date added: 2023/01/09
shelves: history, political-science
review:
I'm embarrassed to never have heard of Mike Davis until he passed a few months ago. I'm glad though that I'm now getting to know his work.

This was a very dense, difficult book to get through but the history and analysis are really impressive: comprehensive, prescient and nearly flawless. Especially noteworthy is Davis's analysis of and prediction for neoliberalism, afaik a pretty new term for the time he was writing in the mid-80s. He totally nails its trajectory both into the 90s and beyond, and his analysis of the 80s Democrats could be applied virtually unchanged to 21st century politics. It's amazing and depressing how applicable most of his analysis still is: 30 years later, Democrats are still treating leftists as they did Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition -- trying to appeal to the mythical "alienated conservative" voter while both neglecting and browbeating what should be their Black and Brown base.

Also of great value is his summary of the entire U.S. labor history through the 80s. His realist corrective is sorely needed in an area that routinely suffers from unduly romanticizing past labor struggles. In reality, Big Labor was coopted by corporations as long as a century ago, and they've suffered almost continuous erosion of labor rights since, with the lone victories coming at the hands at more decentralized and radical efforts. The entire history can easily be read as a stinging critique of democratic centralism, which is quite remarkable coming from an avowed Marxist. Indeed, he strongly criticizes the Communist Party USA for capitulating to liberal electoralism in the 30s and 40s.

Ultimately, while I think this book is extremely valuable, its dense academic style will make it difficult for most normies to get through. I wish it were more accessible so that I could more widely recommend it, but as it is I can only highly recommend it to academics, or those sufficiently passionate about labor history to be able to slog through the jargon-filled analysis.

Not Bad Reviews

]]> Operación Masacre 3013931 236 Rodolfo Walsh 9507425640 Andrew 4
**Crítica en ingles más abajo/English and original reviews below**

Este libro debe ser mencionado en la compania de Capote's In Cold Blood como un ejemplar del género "ficción verdadera." Es asi de revolucionario y cautivante, y mucho más indignante. Era un poco menos cautivante que durante mi primera leída, pero solo hacia el final, después de la descripcion horrenda del crimen. El resto siguio precisamente como me acuerdo.

Lo único que me decepciona en retrospectiva es notar el liberalismo obvio del Sr. Walsh. Hasta el final él criticaba las acciones más extremas de los revolucionarios, y mantenía su fé liberal que simplemente revelar los crímenes del gobierno liderara a la justicia. Los comunistas y anarquistas saben que eso nunca funciona, y en este caso la fé de Walsh en esta orden liberal resultó directamente en su asesinato. Es verdaderamente angustioso leer sus últimas palabras, a "carta abierta" al gobierno fascista que se escribió un día antes de su desaparición y que nunca se publicó. Hasta el final, quedaba convencido que lo más fuerte y eficaz que podía hacer fue meramente escribir en contra del gobierno. Estaba bien equivocado y sacrificó su vida por muy poca recompensa. Ojalá que hubiera logrado más...

**English Review**

This book should be mentioned in the same breath as Capote's In Cold Blood; it's that revolutionary and captivating, and even more outrageous given the scope of the crime. It was a little less captivating for me the second time around, but only toward the very end, after the horrific description of the crime. The rest was just as compelling as I remembered.

The only thing that disappoints me upon this more mature reading is noticing Mr. Walsh's obvious liberalism. Up to the very end he criticized the more extreme actions of the revolutionaries in his country, while maintaining his liberal faith that simply revealing the government's crimes would lead to justice. Communists and anarchists know that this never works, and in this case Walsh's misplaced faith in a liberal order led directly to his own death.

It's truly heartbreaking to read his last words, an open letter to the fascist government that he wrote one day before his disappearance and which was never published. Up to the very end he remained convinced that the strongest and most effective action he could take was to merely write against the government. He couldn't have been more wrong, and he ended up sacrificing his life for very little. If he had moved beyond liberalism and still wanted to sacrifice his life, he could have most likely achieved at least a little bit more.

**Original 2008 Review**

I compare it to "In Cold Blood" in that it's a brilliant telling of a true life crime. It's better than Capote's in the magnitude of the crime (government-sponsored silencing of the opposition), and the fact that it was one of the first cases of high-profile investigative reporting in Latin America. Walsh was later "disappeared" by the Argentinian government he was here investigating.

]]> 4.13 1957 Operación Masacre

author: Rodolfo Walsh
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1957
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/01/09
shelves: favorites, history, alltime-favorites, political-science, memoir
review:
**Originally read 2007, re-read Dec. 2022**

**Crítica en ingles más abajo/English and original reviews below**

Este libro debe ser mencionado en la compania de Capote's In Cold Blood como un ejemplar del género "ficción verdadera." Es asi de revolucionario y cautivante, y mucho más indignante. Era un poco menos cautivante que durante mi primera leída, pero solo hacia el final, después de la descripcion horrenda del crimen. El resto siguio precisamente como me acuerdo.

Lo único que me decepciona en retrospectiva es notar el liberalismo obvio del Sr. Walsh. Hasta el final él criticaba las acciones más extremas de los revolucionarios, y mantenía su fé liberal que simplemente revelar los crímenes del gobierno liderara a la justicia. Los comunistas y anarquistas saben que eso nunca funciona, y en este caso la fé de Walsh en esta orden liberal resultó directamente en su asesinato. Es verdaderamente angustioso leer sus últimas palabras, a "carta abierta" al gobierno fascista que se escribió un día antes de su desaparición y que nunca se publicó. Hasta el final, quedaba convencido que lo más fuerte y eficaz que podía hacer fue meramente escribir en contra del gobierno. Estaba bien equivocado y sacrificó su vida por muy poca recompensa. Ojalá que hubiera logrado más...

**English Review**

This book should be mentioned in the same breath as Capote's In Cold Blood; it's that revolutionary and captivating, and even more outrageous given the scope of the crime. It was a little less captivating for me the second time around, but only toward the very end, after the horrific description of the crime. The rest was just as compelling as I remembered.

The only thing that disappoints me upon this more mature reading is noticing Mr. Walsh's obvious liberalism. Up to the very end he criticized the more extreme actions of the revolutionaries in his country, while maintaining his liberal faith that simply revealing the government's crimes would lead to justice. Communists and anarchists know that this never works, and in this case Walsh's misplaced faith in a liberal order led directly to his own death.

It's truly heartbreaking to read his last words, an open letter to the fascist government that he wrote one day before his disappearance and which was never published. Up to the very end he remained convinced that the strongest and most effective action he could take was to merely write against the government. He couldn't have been more wrong, and he ended up sacrificing his life for very little. If he had moved beyond liberalism and still wanted to sacrifice his life, he could have most likely achieved at least a little bit more.

**Original 2008 Review**

I compare it to "In Cold Blood" in that it's a brilliant telling of a true life crime. It's better than Capote's in the magnitude of the crime (government-sponsored silencing of the opposition), and the fact that it was one of the first cases of high-profile investigative reporting in Latin America. Walsh was later "disappeared" by the Argentinian government he was here investigating.

]]> <![CDATA[Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat, and the CIA]]> 491293 347 Jim Hougan 0394514289 Andrew 3
From the ineptitude of the burglars to the deep CIA connections running throughout the planning team's personnel, it's not a stretch to say that the break-in was perpetrated not by the Nixon White House but by the CIA. The immediately ensuing question, of course, is "Why?"

Personally I was hoping for a more sinister explanation than the lurid, rather banal cause that Hougan eventually reveals: the CIA was using the DNC break-in as a cover for their alternative, secret domestic spying/blackmail/prostitution operation against prominent politicians and judges. I'm still not sure I totally understand what Hougan was getting at -- he tends to focus more on the trees than the forest -- but the big takeaway is that the CIA's gonna do what it wants where it wants, and it's not gonna let no stinkin' constitution get in its way.

There are lots of names and dates which can be complicated to keep straight, and connoisseurs of the JFK assassination will recognize guys like Howard Hunt, James McCord, Gordon Liddy and Frank Sturgis from conspiracies around JFK. That they show up again with Watergate and the CIA makes them more suspicious regarding the affair a decade before, but then again I also don't believe a single bullet can change direction seven times in mid-flight -- what do I know?

To sum up, there was a footnote that gave me a chuckle because it basically epitomizes the book in a nutshell:

Fensterwald was one of two attorneys who represented McCord during the Watergate inquiry. . . Regarded by some as a bit of a mystery figure in hus own right, Fensterwald is an independently wealthy graduate of Harvard Law School and Cambridge University. He worked for the State Department in the early 1950s, and in the 1960s was chief counsel and staff director of subcommittees of the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Edward V. Long. The founder of the Committee to Investigate Assassinations (CtIA), he has a consuming interest in uncovering the truth behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Well-connected in intelligence circles, Fensterwald was a friend of the Plumbers' CIA liaison, the (probably) late John Paisley. His clients have included Marianne Paisley, bug-designer Martin Kaiser, James Earl Ray (Dr. Martin Luther King's assassin), the arms-dealer Mitch WerBell and a contingent of Task Force 157 agents (who successfully sued the government for retirement benefits). 205

Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat, and the CIA

author: Jim Hougan
name: Andrew
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1984
rating: 3
read at: 2016/08/15
date added: 2023/01/03
shelves:
review:
With excellent citations, an impressively thorough investigation and logical analysis, Hougan paints a convincing portrait of the "secret agenda" behind the Watergate break-ins, a political scandal the accepted narrative of which makes less and less sense the more one looks into it.

From the ineptitude of the burglars to the deep CIA connections running throughout the planning team's personnel, it's not a stretch to say that the break-in was perpetrated not by the Nixon White House but by the CIA. The immediately ensuing question, of course, is "Why?"

Personally I was hoping for a more sinister explanation than the lurid, rather banal cause that Hougan eventually reveals: the CIA was using the DNC break-in as a cover for their alternative, secret domestic spying/blackmail/prostitution operation against prominent politicians and judges. I'm still not sure I totally understand what Hougan was getting at -- he tends to focus more on the trees than the forest -- but the big takeaway is that the CIA's gonna do what it wants where it wants, and it's not gonna let no stinkin' constitution get in its way.

There are lots of names and dates which can be complicated to keep straight, and connoisseurs of the JFK assassination will recognize guys like Howard Hunt, James McCord, Gordon Liddy and Frank Sturgis from conspiracies around JFK. That they show up again with Watergate and the CIA makes them more suspicious regarding the affair a decade before, but then again I also don't believe a single bullet can change direction seven times in mid-flight -- what do I know?

To sum up, there was a footnote that gave me a chuckle because it basically epitomizes the book in a nutshell:

Fensterwald was one of two attorneys who represented McCord during the Watergate inquiry. . . Regarded by some as a bit of a mystery figure in hus own right, Fensterwald is an independently wealthy graduate of Harvard Law School and Cambridge University. He worked for the State Department in the early 1950s, and in the 1960s was chief counsel and staff director of subcommittees of the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Edward V. Long. The founder of the Committee to Investigate Assassinations (CtIA), he has a consuming interest in uncovering the truth behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Well-connected in intelligence circles, Fensterwald was a friend of the Plumbers' CIA liaison, the (probably) late John Paisley. His clients have included Marianne Paisley, bug-designer Martin Kaiser, James Earl Ray (Dr. Martin Luther King's assassin), the arms-dealer Mitch WerBell and a contingent of Task Force 157 agents (who successfully sued the government for retirement benefits). 205

That "(probably)" is by far my favorite phrase in the book. If you read the above and it sounds compelling, highly suspicious and even frightening, then you'll like this book. If it just sounds ridiculous and nutwing-y, with all the bizarre connections and tangents (not to mention its parenthetically fake death), you should give the book a hard pass. I happen to believe most of this stuff, but the presentation here is not the most accessible so I can't blame those who don't really dig it.

]]> The Antelope Wife 1148355 ��New York Times

“[A] beguiling family saga��.A captivating jigsaw puzzle of longing and loss whose pieces form an unforgettable image of contemporary Native American life.��
��People

A New York Times bestselling author, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, Louise Erdrich is an acclaimed chronicler of life and love, mystery and magic within the Native American community. A hauntingly beautiful story of a mysterious woman who enters the lives of two families and changes them forever, Erdrich’s classic novel, The Antelope Wife, has enthralled readers for more than a decade with its powerful themes of fate and ancestry, tragedy and salvation. Now the acclaimed author of Shadow Tag and The Plague of Doves has radically revised this already masterful work, adding a new richness to the characters and story while bringing its major themes into sharper focus, as it ingeniously illuminates the effect of history on families and cultures, Ojibwe and white.
]]> 256 Louise Erdrich 0060187263 Andrew 2 literature-modern 3.62 1998 The Antelope Wife

author: Louise Erdrich
name: Andrew
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at: 2022/12/18
date added: 2022/12/21
shelves: literature-modern
review:
I wanted to like this, and I did for the first half or so. The writing is very good, and it's incredibly imaginative while also a fascinating portrayal of modern indigenous culture. But it felt like it never really went anywhere/pulled together, and much of the time in the second half I didn't even really understand what was going on. I'll just chalk it up to being above my head, the problem is me not you, etc.
]]>