By the cover, I expected more history than politics in Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan. I figBy the cover, I expected more history than politics in Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan. I figured the reader would have to slog through all the backstory reasons for why the Southeast Asian world has arrived at where it has. Nope, this is more about modern politics with a dash of history thrown in merely for reference. And most of the "history" is stuff that happened in the past few decades.
Just as well! I needed to read something more modern and comprehensive about the shit going down over there. Glad I did. I have a much stronger understanding of the situation, the US's role in it, the motivations for the various players, and the future projections for power shifts. ...more
I received an audiobook version of this in exchange for an honest review.
If you ever wanted to learn who Woody Guthrie is, this book is a good place I received an audiobook version of this in exchange for an honest review.
If you ever wanted to learn who Woody Guthrie is, this book is a good place to start. I've been a fan of the man's music since singing some of his songs in school, so I was excited to dive in. I'm glad I did!
Who he was, who he wanted to be, and who he wanted to be viewed as, all of these W's are touched upon with intriguing insights. I appreciated that author Will Kaufman did not pull punches. Yes, he's clearly a fan of the man, but he can also step back and deliver criticism where it's due.
Mapping Woody Guthrie is short, because it's very specific. Kaufman's written other books about Guthrie. With this one he's narrowed down the topic to Guthrie's travelin'. It highlights the major locations across the country that influenced his writing, music and politics. Mostly chronological, the book takes us on a jog through his life, moving from place to place, and showing the evolution that took place. In a way this works well as a brief biography. But I'd only suggest it as a primer in that respect. As a thesis specific to the topics mentioned, it succeeds quite well.
Peter Lerman, whose solid narration of this audiobook suited the subject matter in tone and style. I don't know if it was a problem with my digital copy or the device I listened to it on, but there was some slight sibilance, a buzz in the ears if you will, when the volume was turned up to half or higher. Luckily, I was able to listen mostly on low.
To sum up, I'd highly recommend this for anyone interested enough to read this review all the way to the end! ...more
Holy shnikeys, did I ever underestimate Jack London! Growing up, I only knew him from his Alaskan adventure stories. Later on I discovered his semi-auHoly shnikeys, did I ever underestimate Jack London! Growing up, I only knew him from his Alaskan adventure stories. Later on I discovered his semi-autobiographical stories of working both sides of the law in the San Francisco bay waters. However, only now did I learn of his strident socialism.
There's a reason for that. It's been downplayed. Even after his death he was investigated by the FBI and McCarthy for his socialist leanings. Since the public loved him so dang much for Call of the Wild and White Fang, the best the government could do was suppress his leftist history. So, schools cut that part of his life out of his history. It's a shame, because as it turns out, he wasn't a raving anarchist, but a moderate socialist who believed in a restrained capitalism. He felt an unleashed capitalism allowed for the excesses that created robber barons and labor abuses. He was absolutely right. Look at Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Hell, look at America at just about any dang time!
Politics weigh upon James L. Haley's marvelous biography of the writer, but it's done with balance. Politics were as much a part of London's life as was his writing and love life. These aspects of London intermingle and entwine perfectly throughout Wolf, while capturing the essence of a man and mind ever changing.
London's life was one of striving, of defeats and of victories. His life is a prime example of the American rags-to-riches dream. He is the ideal of the modern reader's fascination with the "troubled protagonist" in fiction. London was a highly nuanced man and this book paints all of that complexity perfectly....more
"Fucking flat-earthers...Oh wait, that's not what he means? All right, maybe I'll read it."
That was me about five or so years ago when friends kept in"Fucking flat-earthers...Oh wait, that's not what he means? All right, maybe I'll read it."
That was me about five or so years ago when friends kept insisting I read The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Finally, when my wife recently bought tickets to a local Friedman talk, I resolved to read the damn thing.
I'm glad I did. It's really good. I'm not saying it's prefect (I'll get to that in a minute), but this is a must read at least for a certain few people with their heads in the clouds. For one, it's a great book for folks who don't understand what has happened since the advent of the internet. Give this as a gift to your dad or gramps. If they don't use it as a doorstop, they'll get a hell of an education on the modern ways of business and sociability.
The other group of people that need to read this, or really any book like this, are those cretins who troll, lurk and spew upon the comment section of "news" articles online. Everybody seems to have an indisputable, unshakable opinion that they take for fact and which they feel the need to spray all over the internet. They are the modern version of every family's uncle from the good ol' days who would show up at family events and holidays seemingly for the sole purpose of annoying everyone else while starting an argument with another alpha male about politics, religion, economics and any other myriad of topics that most sane people know is off-limits around family and friends you wish to retain as such. The real crime in all this is that they don't usually know what the fuck they're talking about. They have one biased, uninformed talking point on whatever the subject is they'll let you hear it.
So yes, I do feel like a book like this is helpful for a segment of the population, especially in these particularly stupid days in the American dark ages. The problem is, at 600+ pages, this book is 300 pages longer than it needs to be.
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The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century is not brief. That's because it's written as a journalist would write a book. This is a book-length feature article. Friedman makes a statement, maybe backs it up with data, and then gives an example via a full-blown biography on a business or entrepreneur. It's all good stuff. Some of it's even enjoyable. But it's more than necessary for what's actually being said. He could've done more with less. I honestly doubt I would've gotten through this if I hadn't gone with the audiobook version and had a cubic buttload of yard work to do.
Now, that's not to say didn't enjoy this or that I didn't get something out of it. I did. I am getting old and so some of these whippersnappers with their new fangled gadgets befuddle me. However, I did grow up in the age when personal computers were first coming into the home. I even had a Commodore 64, baby! So I'm not at a total loss in the computer age. On the other hand, I am a bit of a recluse and I'm not big into global politics and the economy, so sadly I am having to catch up on that and a book like this taught me a thing or two. So, let's call it a good stepping stone for the uninitiated.
My knowledge of the Bill of Rights and our civil liberties is rusty as all get-out. I'm talking vague high school recollections here and those hazy daMy knowledge of the Bill of Rights and our civil liberties is rusty as all get-out. I'm talking vague high school recollections here and those hazy days are retreating fast in the rearview mirror. I felt like it was time to bone up!
What better way to do it than to go back to school? Well okay, there's a cheaper and more practical way. Luckily, for a time-strapped, cheap bastard like me there's The Great Courses presented by the Teaching Company, which you can often find at public libraries.
This particular 36-hour lecture is by John E. Finn, a professor with 20+ years in the Department of Government at Wesleyan University. Finn is a great lecturer in that he's engaging, sticks to the topic, but is just off-the-cuff enough to keep you on your toes. Plus, he doesn't drone. That's important. Some classes I took in college, which I really looked forward to, were destroyed by monotoned droners.
This review of Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights is for the first third of the lecture, which touches mostly upon the founding, as well as property and privacy. I enjoyed it so much, much more than I expected I would, that I've already put in a library request for the second and third parts.
If you're viewing those stats in the future, when the graph no longer covers as far back as 11/8/2016, you will have missed the HUGE spike in activity on this site for this book. Prior to the momentousastounding absolutely fucking unbelievable election of 11/9/2016, interest in this book was hauling in pedestrian numbers, being shelved as to-be-read around 8 to 12 times a day on average. The day Trump was elected it shot up to 174 and has remained in the dozens, if not hundreds, ever since.
Why? Because It Can't Happen Here, a book written in 1935, parallels almost precisely what is happening right now. At times it's eerily similar. Political tactics, attitudes, slogans, etc etc, so much of it mirrors what is being said and done here and now, on both sides of the left/right coin.
You know all about it already, so why read the book, right? I mean, after all you're living it. Well, perhaps your eyes aren't as open as you think they are. In fact, that's a big part of the problem. So, open them up and read this book...before it gets burned.
At a time when the divide in this country between rich and poor is as great as it's ever been, a book like In Dubious Battle becomes quite pertinent oAt a time when the divide in this country between rich and poor is as great as it's ever been, a book like In Dubious Battle becomes quite pertinent once more.
It's the Great Depression and the Red Scare has the nation suspicious of anyone who might organize a strike for better wages, for something higher than the starvation-level pay the bosses are handing out to hard-up fieldworkers.
Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle follows Jim, a newcomer to the Communist Party. Mac, a strike agitator takes him under his wing and off they go to a California apple valley, where the bosses have cut wages. Here they meet a number of different individuals who represent the various sides of the conflict.
Steinbeck's character development is quite impressive here, considering he constructed an ensemble cast and breathed life into each of them, so that they all appear almost real and not just two dimensional caricatures. And while the author originally set out to write a non-fiction account of a workers' strike, he has succeeded in portraying this as an utterly believable fiction that does not drag due to political agenda proselytizing.
While Steinbeck is for the working man, his sympathies do not make him entirely blind to the failings of the "radical left". He questions, when man rules the Earth, why would he subject his fellow man to a sub-subsistence existence? Why not share the wealth? Well, Steinbeck points to the lazy and shiftless who prefer to shirk duty and steal to get by rather than do their fair share of the heavy lifting. And then there's the greedy need in some men to rule others. They gather up all the wealth and power they can for their own selfish desire. So, there it is again, extremists screwing things up for the rest of us who are stuck in the middle of an inane tug-of-war.
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