Moving Towards Zion: A Review of The Story of the Jews, Vol. 2: Belonging, 1492-1900 by Simon Schama

The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging: 1492-1900 by Simon Schama

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The recent surge of anti-semitism in Europe and America has been heart breaking, especially when that anti-semitism led to violence at a Pittsburgh synagogue by a white supremacist terrorist in 2018. Sadly, Jewish history is fraught with such tragedies, even before you get to the Holocaust under the Nazis. But Jewish history is far more than these senseless tragedies. In this second volume to his planned trilogy, historian Simon Schama traces the history of the Jewish people from the Renaissance to the dawn of the 20th century, laying out in dense detail their many triumphs and tragedies and their persistence in the face of unbelievable hardships.

Starting right where he left off in volume one, Mr. Schama details how the constant attacks on the Jewish people forced them to adapt and migrate multiple times.  What is interesting is that the beginning and end of this narrative are bookended by messianic movements that led Jews to try to migrate out of Europe and into Palestine.  The earliest attempts were not always successful, but the last one detailed by Mr. Schama leads readers into the beginning of the Zionist movement, which will lead to the creation of the modern state of Israel in the 20th century.  It was fascinating to see how Jewish people could be just as susceptible to messianic movements and false messiahs in the same way that Christians of this period could.  It seems looking forward to a better world and trying to proactively bring it about is not exclusive to any single religious group.

Though the descriptions of anti-semitic assaults are difficult to read, Mr. Schama does a great job of walking his readers through it and drawing a subtle line from the attempts at forced conversions and the creation of the ghettos in the 16th century, and the nationalistic anti-semitism of 19th century Germany, which would be supercharged by the Nazis later.  Yet, in the midst of these terrible trials, Mr. Schama also paints several portraits of fascinating characters in Jewish history.  People like Shabbetai Zevi, Moses Mendelssohn, Uriah Levy, and so many others are absolutely fascinating in this book.  Also, Mr. Schama’s details about the rise of Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and Kabbalah Judaism are interesting too.

Another great aspect of this book is how Mr. Schama describes how the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution promised to amicably assimilate Jews into the wider European culture, but it was a promise that was never fully realized.  As soon as France and other nations offered a hand, once Jewish groups tried to take it, they would find that it was almost always filled with empty promises.  The failure of the Enlightenment’s assimilation promises, combined with a new and virulent form of anti-semitism by the late 19th century, creates the historical backdrop for the forming of the Zionist movement.

However, this is not an easy book to get through.  This book is stuffed to the brim with details and stories that it implores you to read it slowly.  Skipping or speed-reading a single paragraph means that you will inevitably miss important details and get lost pretty quickly.  This is, without question, one of the densest history books I have ever read. In fact it is denser than his previous volume.  Do not start this book expecting to get through it quickly.  I did, and I ended up having to pause my reading or slow it down considerably just to get through it all.

Overall, this is a fascinating book, but one that is incredibly dense and begs its readers to chew on it slowly, rather than to rush through.  I look forward to reading Mr. Schama’s third volume and hope that it will be released sooner rather than later.

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An Empress to be Remembered: A Review of Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The economic and political rise of China since the late 1970s has been one of the key historic trends of the last several decades. What is interesting though about China’s rise is that this is not the first time China has recovered from disastrous economic and political management to become a powerhouse in international affairs. In the middle of the 19th century, China had been humiliated in a war with foreign powers, but new leadership arose to lead China out of the middle ages and into the modern era. This wonderful biography is about the most important figure responsible for China’s first move towards modernity, the Empress Dowager Cixi, and why she should be considered in the same league as other great women world leaders like Elizabeth I of England or Catherine the Great of Russia.

Cixi was one of Emperor Xianfeng’s numerous concubines, but she possessed a keen intellect and an open-mindedness that far outpaced anyone leading China at the time.  When she gives birth to the Emperor’s only legitimate male heirs, she is thrust from back of the Emperor’s harem into the forefront of the court’s favored women.  When the First Opium War and the subsequent death of the Emperor soon afterwards leads to her young child becoming the next emperor, Cixi seizes her chance to launch a palace coup, removing from power the arch conservatives who had so disastrously run the empire, and begins a near five decade rule over China that sees the modernization of the country’s economy, military, and politics.  Though there were stumbles along the way, by the time of Cixi’s untimely death in 1908, China is on the verge of becoming a constitutional monarchy with limited civil liberties and voting rights for the average Chinese citizen.  Sadly, she did not live long enough to fully implement these political reforms and that failure would lead to the political turmoil that would engulf China for the next several decades.

The Empress Dowager could not have found a better modern biographer to tell her story.  Ms. Chang has used scores of archives from China, Japan, and elsewhere to not only tell Cixi’s story, but to also dispel some of the myths that have developed since her death that has portrayed her as an arch conservative who stood in the way of China’s progress.  Ms. Chang argues that not only is this narrative false, but that Cixi was the main reason why China advanced into modernity during her rule.  Ms. Chang also offers a very sympathetic picture of the Empress Dowager.  Cixi is portrayed as being open-minded and eager for discussion and consensus amongst her advisors (up to a point) and, though she could be opposed to adopting some reforms, she could be persuaded to change her mind.  At the time of Cixi’s death, some western admirers were comparing her to other great female leaders, and Ms. Chang does not seem to dispute that.  

Ms. Chang does not airbrush Cixi’s faults though.  She does give an extensive account of Cixi’s role in the Boxer Rebellion, which led to a catastrophic war with foreign powers.  There, Ms. Chang notes how stubborn Cixi could be and how disastrous her decisions ended up being, though it did help to bolster her image amongst the people and paved the way for even greater reforms in the last years of her life.

It is a shame that more people, particularly in the West, do not know about the Empress Dowager Cixi, but this book does is a perfect biography to help raise her historical profile and introduce her to a Western audience.  It is detailed, well-researched, and does a lot to dispel certain myths about her rule.  If you are looking for a great biography about great female world leaders, I highly recommend this one to you.

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Trumpism Around the World: A Review of Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum

Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since former Pres. Trump’s election to the presidency in 2016, there have been a ton of books written regarding our current political moment. While many have of these books have been directed straight at former Pres. Trump, many others address Trumpism more tangentially, trying to explain the political and cultural forces that have made his rise possible. While these are valuable books about American politics, they fail to take into account that the rise of the extreme right is a global issue. In this book, not only does Mr. Applebaum provide an invaluable look at this global phenomenon, she also offers a different way to look at how these political forces are aided and abetted, and she offers a personal story of loss friendships that sound very familiar to many readers today.

As a historian of the Soviet era who is married to a Polish politician, Ms. Applebaum is well placed to comment on the rise of the extreme right in Europe and America.  She specifically devotes time to the nations of the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Poland, and Hungary in her analysis and even American readers who are only familiar with the rise of Trumpism will get chills at how familiar much of the rhetoric is in these countries.  Indeed, you could take the essence of former Pres. Trump’s “America First” message and adapt it to any one of these countries and the politicians trying to lead these extreme political movements.  Thus, Ms. Applebaum makes a very strong case that the rise of extreme right political movements is cause for global concern.

One of the more valuable aspects of this book is that she doesn’t focus all of her energy on the leaders of these movements, like Donald Trump of Victor Orban.  Instead, much of her attention is focused on middling politicians and intellectuals who aid and abet their rise whom she calls clercs.  She sets up this argument in an explicit contrast to Hannah Arendt’s own analysis on totalitarianism in such classic works as The Banality of Evil.  In this book, Ms. Applebaum argues that these clercs are not just “following orders” like German citizens were under Nazism.  Instead, whether out of jealousy, thwarted ambition, sheer opportunism, or all of these things, these clercs provide the intellectual and political framework for the rise of extreme right politicians.  It’s an intriguing look at our current political moment as well as a great critique of a famous political theory.

What makes Ms. Applebaum’s analysis of present day clercs intriguing though is that she is not examining them not just as an academic from afar.  As a self-proclaimed center-right Reaganite, Ms. Applebaum has known and met many of these clercs.  Some of them were her very good friends.  Thus, she is not just speaking as an academic, she is speaking from personal experience seeing many of her friends succumb to the allure of extreme right politics.  Her shock at seeing so many of her friends, who were staunch anti-communists and prominent politicians who took part in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, fall for propaganda, misinformation, and lies, or even propagate them, is evident.  So too is her personal pain at losing these friends.  This is both the book’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness.  While her personal experience with many of these clercs aids this book, her pain is also palpable and at times she can’t stop herself from criticizing her former friends and the people they surround themselves with rather harshly.  Granted, much of that criticism may be warranted, but this book does lurch from time to time into a screed of personal betrayal. 

In conclusion, while there are plenty of Trump books or Trump-adjacent books out there, this is one of the few of those books that offers a truly global perspective.  She may indulge in some rather harsh criticism, but Ms. Applebaum speaks as both an academic with unimpeachable credentials as well as from personal experience.  If you’re still interested in reading Trump or Trump-adjacent books, I would highly recommend this book to you.

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It's A Start: A Review of the Library of America's first Ernest Hemingway Collection

Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises & Other Writings 1918-1926 by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Library of America is the premier non-profit organization dedicated to preserving America’s literary heritage for all time. Classic American authors from Mark Twain and John Steinbeck to James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston will have their works printed in perpetuity in fine cloth-bound hardcover editions. Having been in business since the 1980s, Library of America has an impressive collection of authors and works, some of which have been out of print for a long time. However, one landmark of the American literary landscape has been conspicuously missing: Ernest Hemingway. This is due to copyright laws that have been guarded zealously by Hemingway’s publisher, but with the recent lapsing of those copyright protections, Library of America has published its first volume of Hemingway’s collected works in this volume. Was it worth the wait?

Hemingway was a powerful writer, but he didn’t become one overnight.  Like many writers, Hemingway had to work to perfect that writing.  This volume collects 8 years of his earliest works including a collection of his newspaper articles for the Toronto Star Weekly and other newspapers.  It also includes the original and an early version of his first short story collection, In Our Time, his “satire” The Torrents of Spring, his first novel The Sun Also Rises, and a selection of his personal letters from this period.  It gives an incredible picture of Hemingway’s raw talent and his progress into the great American author he would become.

Both the journalism and In Our Time short stories are a bit up and down, like any selection of short stories.  A few news articles really stick out such as Hemingway visiting a barbers’ school to get a free shave and a haircut from the students and his first reports on bullfighting in Spain, foreshadowing his lifelong love of the sport.  For his short stories, “Up in Michigan” and “Indian Camp” stand out as well.  But, like any other short story or essay collection I have read, there are just as many misses as there are hits.  Overall, though, they were fascinating.

As for The Torrents of Spring, this is one of the funniest parts of this edition because of its fascinating backstory.  After publishing In Our Time, Hemingway wanted to get out of the contract with his first publisher and switch to a new one, but they needed to reject a novel of his before they could do that.  So, he wrote this “satire” in the hopes that his publisher would do that just that.  And boy is this a doozy of a bad novel as it is incredibly circular with no real narrative and some very odd fourth-wall breaks.  Knowing this background, The Torrents of Spring is good because of just how bad it is.

Then there is The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway’s first success as a novelist.  What more can be said about this book that has not already been said.  Just like its contemporary The Great Gatsby by Hemingway’s friend, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Sun Also Rises is very much a Lost Generation novel with its tale of the idle rich, conspicuous consumption, a self-absorbed heroine desired by the main character, and its questioning of masculinity in a post-World War I modern age.  This is one novel that I feel will have greater resonance with me after one or two rereadings, but my reading of this novel is someone slanted due to my slow slog through this book.  So, I shall reserve my judgement of this novel until I have had another chance to read it.

That leaves the final section of this edition, which is a collection of Heminway’s personal letters from this period.  This is perhaps the weakest part of this edition.  While The Torrents of Spring is bad in a good way, Hemingway’s letters are just bad.  Hemingway’s style of writing letters, particularly his earliest letters, is practically incoherent.  Misspellings and grammatical errors abound making these letters almost impossible to understand.  Even when the misspellings become fewer and further between, very few of them ever raise an eyebrow of interest.  Those surrounding the publication of In Our Time, The Torrents of Spring, and The Sun Also Rises are interesting, but the rest are boring or unintelligible.  Library of America typically includes these letters to give a fuller picture of what is going on in the life of the author at that time, but these letters were so uninteresting and with few tidbits about Hemingway’s life that it becomes more a chore than a pleasure to read.  Perhaps hardcore Hemingway fans who know more of about his life will get a kick out of these letters, but I couldn’t do much more than skim them.

Overall, Library of America has started its Hemingway collection very well.  Not everything is a hit here, but then again, few authors ever start their career having perfected their craft.  While the letters section should be skipped by the layman, hardcore Hemingway fans may find them insightful.  I would recommend this book to those hardcore Hemingway fans as well as those who are just looking to take a deeper dive into Hemingway’s early life and works.

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Choosing the Paths of War: A Review of The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell

 

The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the Goodreads Giveaway program. The views expressed are mine and not that of the author, publisher, or Goodreads.)

Though I have heard him on radio shows like The TED Radio Hour and have thoroughly enjoyed his insights, I have never actually read a Malcom Gladwell book. But when I read the description for this book, I knew that this would be right up my alley. Having recently finished this book, I can understand why people love his works so much. Combining history, technology, and a propulsive narrative, Mr. Gladwell explores the development of bomber technology leading up to and during World War II and meditates on the ethics and tactics at the very heart of modern war.

Starting in the period between World War I and World War II, Mr. Gladwell follows the rise and fall of “the bomber mafia”, a group of U.S. Army Air Force boosters who believed that advances in bomber tech made it possible to end wars quickly by targeting key infrastructure, or chokepoints, such as factories, bridges, etc., that would make it impossible for the enemy to effectively conduct war.  With the creation of bombers such as the B-29 Superfortress and the Norden bombsight, they believed they had a chance to prove their theories.  But when those theories turned out to be just out of their reach, less scrupulous generals such as Curtis LeMay and the invention of napalm would lead to such horrendous bombings as the fire bombing of Japan.

For World War II buffs, the general outline of the U.S. bombing campaign is already well known.  But what Mr. Gladwell does is that he also charts the intellectual progression of the Air Force’s biggest boosters as well as the technologies they relied on.  He also gives sympathetic portraits of all the key figures.  Even Gen. Curtis LeMay, who is so often portrayed as a warmonger in American history, is treated with sympathy.

Throughout it all, Mr. Gladwell also meditates on the ethics and tactics behind war.  Specifically, the ethics behind precision bombing favored by the bomber mafia and the carpet bombing favored by Gen. Curtis LeMay.  At the heart of it is this question: what is the most ethical (moral) way to wage war?  Should attempts be made to reduce casualties to an absolute minimum?  Or should you ratchet up the death and destruction in an attempt to shorten the war?  Mr. Gladwell seems to have a particular point of view on this question and he does stretch his point at times, but he doesn’t shortchange the other side’s arguments either.  So, not only is this a great short history of the advancements in bomber tech during World War II, it is also a meditation and case study on the ethics of war itself.

Overall, this was a great little history book.  It is short enough and written in such a way that a layman can enjoy, but with enough details to enlighten both laymen and history buffs.  While this won’t replace any of your histories on World War II, it is a great thought-provoking supplement that should not be missed.

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Where Do We Go Now?: A Review of Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

No event in recent history has been as disruptive to the world as the COVID-19 pandemic that, as of this writing, is still ongoing. Millions have died and millions more have been infected by this disease. In the United States, the number of deaths from COVID are comparable to the number of combat deaths during the Civil War. And the recession caused by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns is on a par with the 2008 financial crises that we had only just recovered from. Much has been laid bare by this once in a century catastrophe, but fortunately Mr. Zakaria has written a fabulously book to guide us through this pandemic and look forward beyond our current crisis to see what the world may look like afterwards.

Best known for his book The Post-American World and his Sunday international news show on CNN, Mr. Zakaria is the right man to take a global perspective on this pandemic.  But, rather than disprove the central theses of globalization and relative American decline, Mr. Zakaria argues in this book that the pandemic proves both the necessity of globalization and America’s continued to decline.  He even goes beyond that to reveal how important quality government is to daily living, the need for two-way dialogue between experts and average citizens, and the overwhelming necessity for global cooperation.  All of these “lessons” are very well backed up by statistics and figures from an incredibly wide variety of authoritative sources.  And yet, despite all the overwhelming citations, Mr. Zakaria’s writing style is both engaging and easy-to-follow.  Both experts and laymen should be able to pick up this book and learn something.

The only drawback of this book is how outdated some of the information is.  Published in October 2020, some events have accelerated since then.  The COVID vaccine was still in development, though close to completion, when this book went to press and, of course, the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol had not  happened yet either.  Though this book in hindsight is quite prescient, I do hope Mr. Zakaria does update this book when it comes out in paperback.

Overall, though only slightly out of date, this is one of the best books to examine these current times and try to project into the future.  Though the pandemic has scarred nearly all of us, this book can help us make sense of this current crisis and what is necessary to build back better in the future.  I highly recommend this book to both policy wonks and laymen alike.

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Peace in a Troubled Land?: A Review of Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sectarian wars are notoriously violent and notoriously difficult to narrate due to the climate of fear that can pervade a society long after the conflict has officially ended. The Troubles, the period of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland from the lates 1960s to the late 1990s, is no exception, especially since the conflict has never been fully resolved and many of its participants are still alive. Thus, any history of this conflict is bound to be difficult to document in its entirety. This book, however, relying on interviews with both participants and victims alike, gives readers a pretty darn comprehensive history that also acts as a meditation on how fragile post-conflict societies can be without an accompanying truth and reconciliation process.

Starting in the late 1960s with civil rights protests by Northern Irish Catholics, Mr. Keefe shows how peaceful demonstrators were violently opposed by Northern Irish Protestants, which led to radicalization and sectarian violence for decades.  At the very heart of this history though is a mystery: the disappearance of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10, who was abducted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in December 1972.  Jean McConville’s disappearance was just one of many such incidents in this conflict that left over three thousand people dead.  It is also the story of key figures in the IRA: Gerry Adams, the IRA brigade commander turned politician; Dolours Price, one of the famous Price sisters who took part in the peaceful protests, but soon became radicalized and violent; and Brendan Hughes, one of the best known IRA street fighters of this period. Each one of these characters gets an incredible amount of attention and are presented as very nuanced characters in their own right.  

This book is divided into three parts and while Jean McConville’s disappearance takes center stage in the first and third parts, it almost completely disappears from the second part.  This is not actually a bad thing as to understand her disappearance you have to understand the history of the Troubles as well.  The mystery also serves an important function in part three as it allows the author and the reader to meditate upon the long-term consequences of a conflict that has never been fully resolved, nor has there ever been a true reconciliation process as has been seen in such societies such as post-Apartheid South Africa.  The past very much lives on in the present, so much so that former participants are still being charged and people who talk even today are at risk of being murdered.  Thus, justice has never been fully delivered in an even-handed manner.  This offers lessons for societies in the future coming out of periods of intensely violent sectarian conflict.

This was an incredible read.  The characters, history, and mystery are all written about with a level of nuance and empathy that is often lacking in many nonfiction books.  Mr. Keefe does not shy from narrating the complexities of the Troubles and is miraculously able to wrestle a comprehensive narrative into this book that is both coherent and detailed.  There are even moments of pulse-pounding action and suspense, particularly in part two.  This is not a dry history book, but one that puts you into the heart of the Troubles.  It is also not afraid to ask a fundamental question any post-conflict society must answer: what hope is there for long-lasting peace if there is little or no accompanying justice?  Both the history and this question will stick with me for a long time.

Overall, this is an outstanding book and may be one of the best nonfiction books published in awhile.  Whether you are interested in post-conflict societies in general or in the Troubles in particular, this is one book you should not fail to pick up.

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Love and War From a Different Point of View: A Review of Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back in 2019, I read Madeline Miller’s amazing book Circe, a retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey, but from the point of view of the witch Circe, who famously had turned Odysseus’s men into pigs before becoming his lover for a time. It was one of my most memorable reads in recent years as it breathed new life into that classic tale. But this was not Ms. Miller’s first time retelling a classic Greek myth from an interesting point of view. Back in 2012, she debuted with this book, which is a retelling of Homer’s The Iliad, from the perspective of Patroclus, Achilles’s lover. Now that I have finally read this book, I am pleased to say that if you loved Circe, then you are also going to love The Song of Achilles too.

As said above, this book revolves around Patroclus, the companion and lover to the greatest of the Greek warriors during the Trojan War, Achilles, whose tragic death in battle at the hands of the great Trojan warrior Hector spurs Achilles into a vengeful rage on the battlefield until he has killed Hector himself.  Patroclus is not at all like Achilles, who was descended from the king of Phithia and a sea-nymph.  Instead, Patroclus has no godly blood and, though he descends from royalty, he finds himself exiled at a young age to Phithia.  He has no special talents, except perhaps at healing, and he is certainly not a great warrior like Achilles.  Yet Achilles takes a shine to Patroclus soon after his arrival and the two become unlikely friends and then lovers.  But when the Trojan War calls Achilles to the battlefield and his destiny, Patroclus follows him and seals his own tragic fate.

Just like Circe, telling this story from the point of view of a minor character such as Patroclus, Ms. Miller gives a fresh perspective on a familiar story that is thousands of years old.  Though Patroclus is no demigod nor a great warrior like Achilles, it is absolutely surprising how many great figures he stumbles across in his travels.  Odysseus, Agammemnon, and Helen are just some of the famous characters Patroclus interacts with.  Ms. Miller is even able to connect other minor characters in The Iliad to other famous Greek myths.  For example, Ms. Miller points out that Nestor, who is just an old man and an advisor to Agammemnon in The Iliad, was actually one of the Argonauts who travelled alongside such mythological figures as Jason and Herakles (i.e. Hercules).  This not only fleshes out a minor character in The Iliad, but shows just how interconnected Greek mythology was, sort of like how all of the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are connected to each other today.

Another wonderful part about this book is how it relates stories that were not even in The Iliad.  After all, the Trojan War lasted ten years, but The Iliad happens years after the start of the war.  So events such as Helen’s choosing of Menelaus for her husband, the blood oath Helen’s suitors swore to protect her, and Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia, which were not included in The Iliad, are all related in this book.  Ms. Miller has synthesized most of these stories into one book, which gives readers a fuller picture of the Trojan War than The Iliad or any of the classical Greek plays do.

The only issue I had with this book was with the ending.  As mentioned above, Patroclus tragically dies in The Iliad at the hands of Hector and that’s what happens here too.  But while that would seem to be a natural ending point for this book, Ms. Miller finds a way extend the tale to keep Patroclus as the main POV character, but relate events that happened well after his death.  I won’t spoil how she does that and it’s not an entirely unwelcome plot device, nor is this book concluded in an unsatisfactory manner because of it.  But by using this plot device, I felt as though Ms. Miller extended the story just a bit too far beyond its natural end point.  That said, this is a very minor gripe that I have with the book that does not diminish my overall enjoyment of it.

In short, The Song of Achilles is a fabulous book that, like Circe after it, retells a familiar Greek myth in a way that breaths new life into it.  If you liked Circe or if you are just a fan of ancient mythologies and retellings, you should pick up and read this book right away.

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Plodding through Communism's Fall: A Review of Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The fall of the Soviet Union is a watershed moment in the history of the 20th century and is often viewed by the West as a triumphant moment. But what about the people of the Soviet Union who lived through it? Svetlana Alexievich attempts to gives voice to the ordinary Russians and people living under the Soviets in this book and, many times, offers compelling oral testimony about what the end of communism looked like on the inside, but too often is unbearably slow and lacking in any meaningful context to help a Western reader orient themselves.

If you are living in the West, especially in the United States, before you pick up this book you should keep in mind that you are definitely not the intended audience.  This was written in Russian for Russian-speaking people.  Throughout the book there are references to Soviet political and cultural icons many of whom are incredibly obscure to a Western audience.  They are so obscure in fact that this book is littered with footnotes from the editor explaining who this person was.  Normally, footnotes are not a problem, but there are so many here that it may make it difficult for a Western reader to fully immerse themselves in this world.

Another thing to keep in mind about this book is that it is an oral history and one that is quite unlike any other oral history you may have read before.  In most oral histories, the author will interject some narrative and context behind the person who is speaking, maybe even a little biography of the person and their background.  Ms. Alexievich forgoes all of that in favor of letting the speaker completely speak for themselves.  She never mentions what questions she asked to get such responses from her subjects and only rarely jumps in with with some italicized narrative throughout the book.  Reading this book is the equivalent of reading a series of longwinded interviews with the interviewer almost entirely scrubbed out of the story.  

This refusal to inject herself into the book’s narrative can be both a blessing and a curse.  With some of her most interesting subjects, such as those who were either in the Kremlin or were apart of some of the critical moments, such as the August 1991 putsch in Moscow or the demonstrations against President Lukashenko in Belarus.  These were some of the best and most dramatic parts of this book.  However, a lot of this book does not center around these key historical events.  Thus, many of the interviews have this searching quality to it with people asking what did it all mean?  What did Soviets fight for in the Second World War if communism would just end?  Is the capitalist system that replaced it any better?  For a Russian-speaking reader, there may be some identification with these pondering, but for a Western reader with little love for the Soviet Union, not so much.  Thus again, Western readers may have trouble sympathizing with some of the subjects in this book.  

Then there are the purely ordinary Soviets just trying to live their lives in a new world.  Again some of these stories are interesting, but others are so melodramatic as to be almost a parody of life in Russia.  There are copious stories about alcohol abuse and domestic violence throughout this book and particularly in the second half.  Indeed, almost no marriage in this book doesn’t include alcoholism or domestic abuse or both.  The first few tales are interesting, but the ninth or tenth time it is told become repetitive and maudlin.  None of this is helped by the glacial space of this book.  Many of the chapters are unbearably slow, tedious reading.  This is not a book you should pick up for a quick breezy read as you should expect to sink a lot of time into reading it.

Ultimately, this book is a very mixed bag.  Some stories are incredibly fascinating and dramatic, especially the ones that link up with key historical moments.  But many other are incredibly slow, plodding stories with very little narrative meat for people to orient or attach themselves to.  If you are someone who is already familiar with this period in Russian history or already have your head soaked in the tales of ordinary modern life in Russia and the former Soviet states, you might find this book rather interesting.  However, if you’ve never learned about the fall of the Soviet Union and want to do so, read something else like The Future is History by Masha Gessen first before picking this book up.  

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The American Sphinx Speaks: A Review of Thomas Jefferson's Writings from the Library of America

Writings: Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters by Thomas Jefferson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia, is one of the more elusive Founding Father’s to pin down. Like Benjamin Franklin, he was a polymath with a deep interest in the many scientific undertakings of his age and was a consummate, though reluctant (at least according to himself), politician. At times he could be seemingly all over the place. What this book of Jefferson’s public papers and letters does is let readers peer more deeply into his mind and soul than the many biographies written of him since his death, but at the cost of creating one extremely long volume.

This book is divided into several parts including: an autobiography he wrote for his children and grandchildren; his “Summary View of the Rights of British America”, which was a prototype of the Declaration of Independence; his famous “Notes on the State of Virginia”; his public papers, letters, addresses and replies; and finally the private letters he wrote throughout his life.  By examining all of these together, one can really get the sense of Jefferson was as a person and where he stood on the key issues of the day.  Though some historians have painted Jefferson as a bit of a political opportunist and an enigma, by allowing Jefferson’s writings to speak for themselves one can see that he was a man of principle and resolve with a keen interest in advancing the sciences.  Not everything Jefferson wrote down or said will jive well with a modern audience, particularly his views on African-Americans and African colonization.  Still, for better or worse, much of America’s identity as a democratic nation comes from Jefferson’s writings and politics.

Though this volume does a great job of letting Jefferson speak for himself, it is WAY too long.  At 1600 pages, this is one of the longest books in the Library of America’s collection and is equal in size to a standard copy of the Bible.  Though I had planned on finishing this in a month, it took me over six weeks to read this book from cover to cover.  There is an opportunity though for Library of America to rectify this by splitting Jefferson’s writings into two volumes, as they have done with other presidents such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt.  About half of the book is made up of Jefferson’s autobiography and public addresses and papers.  The other half are Jefferson’s private letters.  Library of America could split this into two volumes between his public and private papers and may even make more room for more of Jefferson’s private letters, which were some of the most interesting and accessible reads.  As it stands right now though, this volume is better used as a reference for lay readers rather than something to be read from cover to cover.

Like other Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson left behind a legacy of liberty, but also of contradictions.  As America continues to strive to live up to its founding ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, looking back on how the founding generation both succeeded and failed at the same endeavor will be immensely educational and hopeful.  Though some may struggle to make it through this volume, there is real value in reading and understanding the thoughts and actions of Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers.  I recommend this book to people interested in learning about Jefferson first hand and are willing to devote time and effort to do so.

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Grimy London: A Review of The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like other serial killers, Jack the Ripper has gone down in infamy for the crimes he committed rather than for who his victims were. Indeed, the five women killed by him have unjustly been labeled as “prostitutes” and their lives mostly forgotten. In this wonderful history, Ms. Rubenhold brings the lives of these women into the light, dispels the “prostitute” reputation they have gained, explores the social history of the poor and working class in Victorian England, and questions our contemporary society’s fascination with their common demise and killer rather than their uncommon lives.

To start things off, if you are reading this book for new details about the murder and the murderer, you are reading the wrong book. Ms. Rubenhold doesn’t waste any ink on nearly any detail of these women’s murders or the hunt for their killer. Plenty of books have gone over that territory and their deaths is not at all the focus of this one. Instead, Ms. Rubenhold writes five mini-biographies of their birth and life prior to their murders. In essence, by telling their story apart from their murder, Ms. Rubenhold gives them back the lives they had before Jack the Ripper ended them. At the same time, she goes into detail about the general lives of the poor in the working class in Victorian England. Things like work houses and the lives of soldiers and chapbook sellers are all detailed exquisitely here.

Honestly, I have no real criticisms of this book. My reading rate did slow a little towards the end, but that was due more to my own interests being distracted at the end rather than to any fault of the writer. Ms. Rubenhold has written an excellent counterweight to the Jack the Ripper mythology that succeeds on many levels. Whether you are an aficionado of Jack the Ripper books, interested in late Victorian English history, or none of these things, I would highly recommend this book to you.

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Tragedy Upon Tragedy: A Review of Assad or We Burn the Country

Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria by Sam Dagher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Of all the tragic events that became known collectively as the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War is perhaps the most tragic, the most well known, and the least understood. For one brief, shining moment, it appeared that a new Middle East was possible free of dictatorships and terror. Syria seemed on the brink of change only for its ruthless dictator, Bashar al-Assad, to deem survival worth any cost, event the lives of thousands of his own people, millions of refugees, and a resurgence of Islamic extremist terror groups across the region and the world. In this detailed account, Mr. Dagher takes his reader into the inner sanctum of the Assad regime, the protest movement, the international community, and the rebellion to give one of the most complete accounts of the Syrian regime, its origins, and the series of events that led to such a brutal civil war.

To fully understand the conflict, Mr. Dagher takes the reader all the way back to the origins of the modern Syrian state and the rise of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father and the dictator of Syrian from the 1970s until his death in 2000. Sadly, the roots of Syria's trouble lie in the lies and fears that make up the Assad regime from the very beginning, with a foundation soaked in blood as Haze also ruthlessly put down challenges to his rule too. All throughout, Mr. Dagher follows the Tlass clan starting with Mustafa Tlass and then his son Manaf as they assist the Assads' rise to power. Through the Tlass', and Manaf especially, we get a clearer picture of the inner workings of the regime and how duplicitous and ruthless Bashar and others were in deciding to violently suppress peaceful protestors as the Arab Spring reaches Syria. Because of Bashar's choice to stay in power at all costs, Syria soon devolves into a morass of blood and death with international powers either looking on rousing the Syrian people to further their own agendas. It's a tragedy that only gets more tragic as it goes along.

This book really helped clarify what was always a complicated topic for me. Mr. Dagher never wavers from pointing nearly all of the blame at Bashar al-Assad, but he also makes sure to point figures at all the international figures who looked on or actively assisted the Assad regime slaughter its own people. The only thing I have against this book is that the narrative begins to lose steam once (view spoiler)[Manaf defects to the West and it becomes clear that the West is not interested in using him to replace Bashar, as was his hope (hide spoiler)]. From that point on, the end seems inevitable, but the tragedies continue to pile on top of each other.

The Syrian Civil War is one of the greatest tragedies of the Arab Spring and the 21st century so far. With moral clarity and inside information, Mr. Dagher has written an account that should not be missed.

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Everything is Better: A Review of Factfulness

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The news seems to always be filled with bad news. Even without the threat of COVID-19, the news is littered with stories of violence, illness, and death. While this may be a more dramatic story, it unfortunately hides the major story of the last 50+ years: that on nearly every indicator (health, education, the economy, etc.) the world has made an extraordinary amount of progress. Enter Hans Rosling and this wonderful book to correct the misperceptions of the affluent "West".

This book could've easily fallen into a trap of pure humanistic triumphalism, but Mr. Rosling has done more than just list a series of good news items that are routinely missed. He also challenges our preconceived notions about why things are terrible in the world and addresses why we think that way too. At the same time, each chapter is filled with strategies about how one can reorient their mind and try to think of the world both positively and rightly.

This is a wonderful book filled with great charts and figures. A few of them have to be walked through by the author, but once you see where the data is pointing after the first few chapters, it is easier to predict where the other sets of data are pointing. What is most invaluable is how Mr. Rosling tries to make his reader drop the typical "West vs. the Rest" or "Us vs. Them" mentality and instead think of the world as on four different economic levels. This allows one to see the incredible progress the world has made in closing so many gaps on so many levels. Today, most people in the world do not live in extreme poverty, though it still exists. And that brings up another great point about this book, which is Mr. Rosling's use of maxims to illustrate his points. One of his most memorable is to think of the state of the world as "bad, but getting better." It's a little more complicated than that though, but I do not want to spoil anything for you.

One thing I will say about this book is that at times he seems to bash on the media a bit too much. Granted, Mr. Rosling does humbly admit that he is probably too harsh on the media, but it still stands out. Also, this is not a book that I would read alone. This is a book that demands to be read and discussed with other people so that you don't just tuck all these facts away into your brain and carry on. The good news about that though is that this is a very accessible book. Both experts and lay readers should have no problem sifting through the data presented in this book.

Whether you are looking for a respite from all of the doom-and-gloom news about COVID-19 or not, this is a book that you should read to better understand just how much better things are in the world today. I highly recommend this book to all readers, not just those interested in current affairs.

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Disaster!: A Review of Midnight at Chernobyl

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the history of man-made disasters, none stick out so much in the popular imagination as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, especially after the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries. This book, critically acclaimed in its own right, may be the definitive account one can read about the disaster today.

After more than a decade of research and interviews, Mr. Higginbotham expands the story beyond just the disaster itself. Instead, he starts with the building of Chernobyl back in the 1970s. Starting from this point, one sees the shoddy construction and corruption that went into the building of the reactor that made it the ticking time bomb that it was. He also presents a much more sympathetic picture of those at the heart of the disaster, particularly Dyatlov, Fomin, and Brukhanov. And he even includes as much of the Soviet scientific community as possible that worked tirelessly to contain the disaster. For fans of the HBO miniseries, some of the most memorable events are in this book, though some parts are not given as much attention. What was truly shocking to read though was just how many actions may have done absolutely nothing to contain the disaster.

What is a through line throughout this book as well as other major natural disaster books I have read is just how hard it can be for human beings to fully grasp what is going on when disaster strikes. Whether you're talking about The Johnstown Flood or The Great Mortality (i.e. the Black Death), it seems as though humans were not always built to fully understand the natural forces that can be unleashed abasing them. It took a while for many leaders in the Soviet Union to fully accept just how big of a disaster Chernobyl was, and Mr. Higginbotham does a good job of capturing that. While I would say that some parts can get technical and overwhelming, this is a shocking and enjoyable account of this pivotal moment in world history. As world leaders once again begin to ponder nuclear power's place in the world's energy market, books like this will be key to understanding just what the stakes are.

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"King Vampire": A Review of Dracula

Dracula by Bram Stoker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Though vampires, the legendary blood-sucking monsters, have been around in our stories and mythology for a long time. However, Dracula by Bram Stoker is where vampires truly entered the human imagination and have never really left, though zombie stories have recently been gaining greater popularity. Though I read and adored The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, which is heavily influenced by Dracula, I had never gotten around to reading it until now and I was not disappointed at all.

Dracula is still a great novel to read. The pace, the tension, the mystery, and the eye brow-raising sexual undertones are worthy of any current thriller or horror novel. I was also surprised at how violent this book was. I guess I should not have been surprised considering the main villain is a monster that sucks the blood of its victims, but given the time it was published, I guess I was expecting something a bit more clean in its presentations of violence. Instead, this book features a good amount of flowing blood that would seem pretty standard in an Anne Rice novel. And I was hooked by the mystery and the chase this book devolves into as the main characters race to bring an end to Count Dracula's evil reign before it is too late.

This is not a perfect book though. Some of the conventions of a typical Victorian novel are still here and have still not aged very well. In particular, Mr. Stoker's implementation of lengthy, flowery dialogue and the excessive emotionalism began to grate on me after a while. So many of the male characters would cry at any one point that it started to become a little maudlin. Mr. Stoker also has a tendency to use dialogue rather than action to move the story along. When they are chasing Dracula in the third act, the dialogue read more like a committee than anything real. But, while all of this was annoying, it did not fully detract from my enjoyment of the novel.

Whether you are interested in vampires or not, this is a thrilling novel that still holds up over a 120+ years later. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in thrillers and/or horror novels.

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Plague!: A Review of The Great Mortality

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John     Kelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Compelling Melding of Science & History, with Lessons for Today

As I sit writing this review, the world is once again ravaged by disease (COVID-19) that is killing thousands around the globe and forcing millions of others to shelter in their homes and pray that this illness would pass over them. So, to say that reading this book about the Black Death, the plague that ravaged Europe
in the middle of the fourteenth century, is timely would be an understatement. The past can be both teacher and guide in times like these.

One of the great things about this book is how it is not just a recounting of death, though there is plenty of that to be had in these pages. The first few chapters and the afterword are devoted to understanding just what kind of a disease the Plague was. So, on top of reading a thorough history about how the Plague decimated the Eurasian continent, you will have better scientific understanding of the disease itself, where it originated from, and how it spread and killed.

Of course, Mr. Kelly uses the majority of his narrative to describe the when and where the Plague struck Europe and how it left a wake of human destruction in its path. Through the use of the best statistical information available as well as the numerous contemporary accounts that were written at the time, Mr. Kelly’s history is both incredibly thorough and accessible. There is something for both the hardcore historian and the layman to like in this book. At times, it even seems a little excessive. Mr. Kelly devotes two chapters to the Plague’s rampage through England when probably one chapter would have done.

Mr. Kelly does not restrict his history to the disease’s destruction. Mr. Kelly also points out how the Black Death affected society in several negative ways. One of the most horrendous and heartbreaking portions of this book is about the number of pogroms committed against Europe’s Jewish populations that would presage the Holocaust in a number of horrifying ways. Just as COVID-19 is unleashing a wave of anti-Asian American bigotry right now, so too did the Plague unleash a wave of virulent and violent anti-semitism, though the currently bigotry against Asian-Americans is nowhere near as violent as the Plague pogroms were.

By the time the Plague dissipated, the tinder of overpopulation, resource strain, climate change and religious & intellectual stagnation that defined Europe in the years prior to its arrival would all be burned away, paving the way for the Renaissance, the Reformation, and modern Europe. By chronicling this critical period in world history, Mr. Kelly has given us a wonder picture of both the medieval era and the calamitous disease that signaled the beginning of its end. It also holds up a mirror to our own time and warns us that virulent disease, if left unchecked, can easily devastate human civilization. Whether you are living in a time of disease yourself or not, you owe it to yourself to read this book about one of the greatest natural disasters to befall humanity.

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Safe Passage: A Review of A Long Petal of the Sea

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In recent years, the plight of refugees has been a routine part of the news thanks to the Syrian Civil War and the unrest in Central America that has been forcing people to seek asylum in the U.S. Unfortunately, too often the refugees’ stories have been drowned out by negative characterizations by the media and the current U.S. administration. In this novel, Ms. Allende does a good job of relating the tale of a couple of refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s and, by doing so, humanize the stories of all refugees.

Similar to other historical epics, this book covers almost sixty years in the life of Victor and Roser Dalmau as they flee Spain and start life over again in Chile. Though married, Victor and Roser do not start off in love with each other. It is a marriage of convenience in order to secure passage on an exile ship for Roser and her newborn son, who is the son of Victor’s deceased brother. Their tale goes on from there through much drama, both personal and historical, that ends in the early 1990s.

The story is very good and I could imagine this being an excellent mini-series. However, unlike other historical fiction epics, Ms. Allende chose to whip through the decades very quickly. And that is why this book is a little bit of a letdown. I could easily see this book being expanded to twice or even three times its current size and winding us through so much with great detail, but it doesn’t. On top of that, two major storylines, Victor and Roser’s relationship and an event that occurs between Victor and young Chilean girl, were a little bit predictable. Had there been more meat on the bones of this story, that predictability could’ve been easily avoided. That said, the last two chapters, where Ms. Allende completes her main characters’ arcs, was very good.

For those of you who have wanted to read a expansive historical fiction novel, but have been intimidated by their size and complexity, this book would be a good introduction to the genre.

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#StayHome24in48 Readathon Live Blog

Sunday, March 22, 9:42 p.m.:

Well, it's the end of another readathon.  I finished reading four books and started two others over the course of this readathon.  I must have finished somewhere between 300 and 500 pages in total, though I did not keep a specific count.  Not all of the books were that great (I'm looking at you Ulysses), but it is always a pleasure to get something finished.  I hope to do another readathon in the near future, but we will see how things turn out.  Thanks to everyone who has read this live blog and a special thanks to the bloggers at 24in48.com for putting this on.  See you all next time!

Sunday, March 22, 8:45 p.m.:

Well, I finished A Long Walk to Water and I thought it was a very good middle grade read about the Sudanese Civil War, the plight of refugees, and the good things that they can do if given a chance to immigrate and prosper in America.  I gave it 5 out of 5 and I would recommend it, but just use some parental caution if giving it to younger readers.  Some people die in pretty awful ways in the book.  While I am going to start The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, unfortunately I won't be able to finish it during this readathon seeing as it is technically suppose to end at 9 p.m. PST (12 a.m. EST).  But, I am looking forward to ending this thing with Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Sunday, March 22, 4:57 p.m.:

And another book is finished!  I just read the last page of All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries #1 by Martha Wells.  This was a pretty good book, but, like a lot of novellas, things moved very quickly, particularly at the end, and I would've liked a lot more details.  So, 3.5 stars for this one.  An enjoyable, lite read and I might want to read more of the series in the future.  Now, on to A Long Walk to Water...

Sunday, March 22, 3:22 p.m.:

It appears the big brunch I had is affecting me a little more than I expected it to.  I started dozing off a little in the middle of my chapter.  But, I got the first chapter of Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood finished.  On now to All Systems Red...

Sunday, March 22, 2:00 p.m.:

So, this second day of the readathon did not start off as planned as I completely missed my alarm and slept in much longer than I meant to.  But, I am back up and reading.  The goal for today is to read another chapter of Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood by Matthew W. King, then completely finish reading All Systems Red by Martha Wells, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Let's do this thing!

Saturday, March 21, 10:19 p.m.:

I was able to get a little more of All Systems Red completed and I am now halfway done with it.  But with dinner and Skyping with my Bible study friends, the time went by more quickly than I had anticipated.  One thing I promised myself during this readathon is that I would get a good night's sleep and that is exactly what I am going to do right now.  So, good night everyone.  I will see you sometime tomorrow for day 2.

Saturday, March 21, 5:57 p.m.:

Even though I am also taking care of laundry right now, I am still checking off the boxes of books I wanted to finish reading this weekend.  I just finished reading A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, a good historical fiction novel about a pair of refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War and putting down roots in Chile.  It's good, but rather short in comparison to other historical fiction novels in the same genre.  Still, it might be a good one to start with for those who have wanted to jump into the genre but have been intimidated by the size of some of the best known ones.

I also discovered that All Systems Red by Martha Wells is actually a novella, not a novel like I first thought.  Though I wasn't planning on it, I think I am going to try to finish it this weekend as well.  In fact, that is what I will be picking up right now...

Saturday, March 21, 3:39 p.m.:

It's over!  I've finally finished reading this long nightmare of a book Ulysses by James Joyce.  I've been working on this book for over a month now and every page was a confusing bore.  No plot, ever changing style, etc.  This may be an interesting book for English Lit. majors, but it's a completely confusing mess to me. I give it only 1 star.  Now, on to finishing A Long Petal of the Sea...

Saturday, March 21, 2:10 p.m.:

I just finished the first chapter of All Systems Red.  Wow!  This book is going to be a much quicker read than I thought.  Still, I'm going to circle back to Ulysses and A Long Petal of the Sea and finish those books today.

Saturday, March 21, 1:45 p.m.:

It turns out that my online meeting was much shorter than I thought it was going to be.  So, I ate a nutritious lunch and I am now back on the reading clock.  Going to read my first chapter of All Systems Red by Martha Wells.  Oh, and I have to do laundry at the same time.

Saturday, March 21, 12:28 p.m.:

I just finished reading the introduction to Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood by Matthew King.  It's about the life and legacy of an influential Mongolian Buddhist monk at the beginning of the 20th century.  Phew!  It looks like this is going to be another tough read.  But now I need to eat some lunch and go to a virtual meeting.  I should be back to reading around 3 p.m., if not sooner. 

Saturday, March 21, 11:12 a.m.:

Just finished a little bit of my A Long Petal of the Sea reading.  I'm now just two chapters away from finishing this one.  But, I need to get started on two other books, Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood by Matthew W. King (for my History Book Club at Cellar Door April Read) and All Systems Red by Martha Wells (for the Life's Library Book Club).  Better get to it!

Saturday, March 21, 9:50 a.m.:

Just finished a little bit of my Ulysses reading and I am now just 34 pages away from finishing it.  I've been working on this god-awful "classic" for over a month now and I will be glad to be done with it once and for all and move on to something better.

Hour Zero:

It has been several months since I last did a readathon and live blogged it and with all the craziness going on in the world right now, I think it is time to knock another one of these out of the park.  Fortunately, the bloggers over at 24in48.com created a Social Distancing Readathon for this weekend.  And, unlike a traditional readathon, this one takes place over the course of two days.  So, instead of exhausting myself trying to get 24 straight hours of reading done, I am going to try to space it out over the next two days.  In fact, I plan on taking this one a little easier than the last one, so this will be the main place people can come to for my live blogging.  I am going to get things started with a little Ulysses by James Joyce and A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende and go from there.  Wish me luck!

Review: Joan of Arc: A History

Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Throughout history there have been figures that have risen meteorically only to come crashing to earth very quickly. In all of medieval European history, no figure rose so dramatically or fell so quickly as Joan of Arc, the teenage peasant girl who claimed to hear voices from angels and saints and rallied the battered French forces against the invading English. And despite her precipitous fall, few other figures from this time have endured in popular imagination. So, who was she, what exactly did she do, and was she the real deal or a delusional peasant? In this book, Helen Castor seeks to inject some flesh and blood into this enduring myth.

If this is your first time reading about Joan of Arc, it is important to note that this book is not a straight, cradle-to-grave biography. This book rather puts Joan in her historical context by going all the way back to the invasion of France by that equally famous figure from this period, King Henry V of England, and proceeding from there. In the first act, Ms. Castor shows how, through the English invasion and internal divisions of the French court, much of northern France fell into English hands. This is incredibly valuable context, but it can be rather complicated too. There is a great deal of medieval politics and backstabbing going on that Ms. Castor does not always do a great job of explaining. The point Ms. Castor makes by the end though is that things look incredibly bleak for the French by the time Joan arrives at court.

When Joan does arrive and the French decide to give her an army, things dramatically change. Joan lifts the siege of the critical city of Orleans and begins to push the English back with a handful of victories that look something akin to miracles. Ms. Castor does a great job of explaining how Joan, a teenage peasant girl with no military experience claiming to hear messages from God, got an audience with the Dauphin and began to push the English back, but she doesn't do a great job of explaining why the French would entrust her with an army in the first place. At the same time, to preserve the linear story she is telling about this period in history, Ms. Castor doesn't tell us anything about Joan's background until her capture and trial at the hands of the English. On top of that, one of the more frustrating parts about his book is the fact that there are no campaign or battle maps included. There is only one map that shows the status quo in France just prior to Joan's arrival at court. While it is a detailed map, I found myself having to refer to that one map over and over again and not always finding where everyone was. Even some simple black and white maps inserted into the text would've helped a great deal.

The last major aspect of Joan's story Ms. Castor deals with is her trial, execution, and then retrial decades later. The popular myth of Joan's trial is that it was a hit job designed to pass a guilty verdict upon a girl who had become such a nuisance to the English so quickly. The story Ms. Castor relates though is one where the jurists were deadly serious about Joan's potential heresy and genuinely were trying to correct her error and save her soul and her life. Though things do not end well for Joan, her retrial decades later casts aspersions on that first trial. Thus, by the end of the book, I was left with two contradictory thoughts about Joan's trial, that it was both a preordained hit job and a sincere search for the truth of her claims. Ms. Castor does not really giver her own analysis and opinions about the whole matter, leaving it up to the reader to decide for themselves.

Ultimately, this book is a great introduction to the period. By the end of it, I had a better understanding of the times Joan lived in and just how vital a role she played in turning back the English invasion, even though she only campaigned for a little over a year and would not live to see France recovered by the French. And yet, I still feel as though there were big gaps left unexplained. Ms. Castor doesn't do enough to dispel the confusion that reigned prior to Joan's arrival. And while a great deal of Joan's history is answered in this book, I am still left with a great number of questions, the biggest one being whether or not Joan was the real deal, a person who was chosen by God to deliver France from the English, or just a delusional peasant girl. Ms. Castor never even attempts to answer that question and, perhaps, there is no definitive answer to that question. Still, an attempt at answering that question would've been nice. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading an introduction to Joan of Arc and her times. Just don't expect all of your questions to be answered by the end of it.

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