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300th out of 348 books
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3,013 voters
Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in the Age of Terrorism
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist and bestselling author of From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree comes this smart, penetrating, brilliantly informed book that is indispensable for understanding today’s radically new world and America’s complex place in it.
Thomas L. Freidman received his third Pulitzer Prize in 2002 “for his clari...more
Thomas L. Freidman received his third Pulitzer Prize in 2002 “for his clari...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
August 12th 2003
by Anchor
(first published 2002)
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This book won Thomas L. Friedman (born 1953) his third Pulitzer Award for Commentary in 2002 “for his clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.” That was his 3rd Pulitzer. Three years later he was elected to be a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
This is the third book (first was The Lexus and the Olive Tree in 1991 and The World is Flat in 2005) by Friedman that I bought. But this is the first time that I finished reading hi...more
This is the third book (first was The Lexus and the Olive Tree in 1991 and The World is Flat in 2005) by Friedman that I bought. But this is the first time that I finished reading hi...more
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I tried really hard to finish this and just couldn't. Friedman's world "philosophy" is restricting and reductionist. He's a convincing writer, but doesn't make the effort to address fault-lines in his perfectly square little analogies and anecdotes. Like this gem that goes something along the lines of "India is a democratic country despite a large Muslim population, therefore traditional Middle Eastern countries must adapt NOW." He's also really adroit at setting up a pretty clear West vs the Re...more
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This is a collection of the Pulitzer Prize winning columns that Friedman wrote for the New York Times reflecting both on the factors that went into the events of September 11 and the world that it created. Like all of his work, these essays are marked by phenomenal insight and enormous intelligence. Most of these are available on Friedman's own website, but they are definitely worth owning in a bound volume. Over the years, I have found myself going back to his FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM over and...more
One only has to look at the current crop of thugs occupying the White House to know that being the brightest and the best is not a criteria for holding office in the Bush administration. Nor, in this election year, does it appear to be a criteria for running for the highest office in the United States. I am old enough, however, to remember when administrations sought out those who were experts in their field and brought them into positions to formulate public policy or, at the least, sought thei...more
i come from the school of thought where saying something concisely and succinctly with no more repetition than absolutely necessary for proper emphasis makes for the best speeches, essays, and discussions. clearly, mr. friedman comes from a different school of thought.
which is a pity, as he had some very interesting observations about foreign relations and the economy (which you can see in my status updates, if you care to). he also had a lot of not-so-interesting observations about everything e...more
which is a pity, as he had some very interesting observations about foreign relations and the economy (which you can see in my status updates, if you care to). he also had a lot of not-so-interesting observations about everything e...more
I read this book shortly after it was published, with a preconception of what the author's politics might be, and thus an expectation that I would be repelled. However, he muted that part and my recollection is that he maintained a bland, rational tone. As I think Time and Newsweek do in covering American politics, he made his subject sound like something that yields up its essence to a measured, textbook-style treatment, and made disturbing content seem perhaps not so outrageous after all. I ca...more
First off I think that Friedman's earlier book From Beirut to Jerusalem is brilliant and one of the best books on modern Middle East events. That being said, this is not that book.
Friedman has some interesting ideas about examining the causes of 9/11. He especially has some insightful points about the cycle of undemocratic authoritarian regimes which often attempt to coopt religion and use it to control the population can help create the anger and frustration fuel support for Al Qaeda.
The prob...more
Friedman has some interesting ideas about examining the causes of 9/11. He especially has some insightful points about the cycle of undemocratic authoritarian regimes which often attempt to coopt religion and use it to control the population can help create the anger and frustration fuel support for Al Qaeda.
The prob...more
So far - loved the format of this book, a collection of articles that all link together - now I want to read From Beirut to Jerusalem...and his newest book. Friedman, I'm coming for you!
Most memorable part of the book - just imagining how Muslims treat women. One view would be "omg, how horrible, how could you do that, I am going to come change your culture"
But on the other hand, isn't that kind of ridiculous? A culture may seem nonsensical to some, but sometimes people love their culture. "Dads...more
Most memorable part of the book - just imagining how Muslims treat women. One view would be "omg, how horrible, how could you do that, I am going to come change your culture"
But on the other hand, isn't that kind of ridiculous? A culture may seem nonsensical to some, but sometimes people love their culture. "Dads...more
Basically, this is a look back at Sept 11th and its aftermath through the columns of New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman. His insights into (and experience with) the Arabic world are significant and in hindsight very accurate. Only when he lapses into occassional speeches on global warming& the Kyoto treaty, & our need to immediately abandon fossil fuels does he begin to sound like an idiot (Whining about how Americans use up "more than our fair share of energy resou...more
Subtitled "The World in the Age of Terrorism." Thomas Friedman is a respected newspaper editorialist and author. This book compiles his New York Times columns written in the two years following the 9/11/01 attacks. It's interesting to read and remember the emotional reactions we all felt, and to see Friedman's broad-based international perspective and insightful analysis. It's also fascinating to see how perceptions and analysis changed as the weeks and months passed.
A second segment is Friedman...more
A second segment is Friedman...more
It's interesting to read this book now, because so much has changed from when he wrote it that a lot of it just makes you shake your head. He does have a great grasp of the world in 2001, and he wrote some really compelling columns around that time, and it's kinda amazing that he would travel around Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and even Afghanistan right when all this 9/11 stuff was happening and Daniel Pearl was getting killed and we were starting this war on terror. But there are also lots of mom...more
What a great book! This book was written in 2002 and is a compilation of the authors editorials for the NY times as well as some other notes. Friedman gives a thorough explanation of the Muslim-Arab world around the time of 9/11 avoiding uninformed cliches and warning about many of the things that the next 8 years proved to be true. The value of hearing his opinions is supported by the eerie prescience of his predictions. Friedman had access to people, poor to powerful through out the Mideast an...more
This book is a collection of Friedman's columns from the NY Times that were published several months before and after 11 Sept 2001 as well as a collection of diary and essays written around the same time. Mr. Friedman's long history of covering the Middle East, his remarkable access to leaders and commoners throughout the region as well as his interest in what they all have to say makes this a remarkable book. As I was listening to the book, I was reminded again of a book by Sandra Day O'Connor...more
Reading this book in 2012, more than ten years after the events that constitute the bulk of its subject matter, I was aware that for myself the intensity of the anger and frustration sparked by 9/11 had dulled somewhat, the sharp glint of necessity to stamp out the perpetrators and confront the religious zealousness that had motivated them had been reshuffled backwards in our list of priorities as a nation and culture. However, it was not hard to recall how powerful those emotions were, and how...more
I had the distinct pleasure of being able to hear Friedman, the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times, speak at the World Affairs Council in Dallas last Fall. An intelligent and eloquent speaker, Friedman was there to promote his new(est) book, Hot, Flat & Crowded, and discuss how America needs to undergo a green revolution. My mom had read The World is Flat when it first came out, but Longitudes & Attitudes was the only book available on PaperBackSwap and I figured I should r...more
I agree with 95% of what is written here. In fact a lot of what he has written, I intuitively thought about when I was daydreaming during medical school about the same time he wrote it.
This is a collection of Friedman's articles from September 11 era. What strikes about the articles is Friedman places September 11 in context with supports and strengthen terrorism, namely the effects of globalization instead of the tunnel vision us vs. them mentality. I agree with his assessment that in order to...more
This is a collection of Friedman's articles from September 11 era. What strikes about the articles is Friedman places September 11 in context with supports and strengthen terrorism, namely the effects of globalization instead of the tunnel vision us vs. them mentality. I agree with his assessment that in order to...more
I actually never read this book, but its essentially a compression of all of Friedman's post September 11th columns which I did read religiously.
Friedman's status as a NYT editorialist and a popular "expert" on globalization and middle eastern culture and conflict has made him a bit of a divisive figure. Policy wonks and partisans hate him because they feel he oversimplifies the subjects he writes about, and his opinions are always tamped by his need to restate both sides of the story. A common...more
Friedman's status as a NYT editorialist and a popular "expert" on globalization and middle eastern culture and conflict has made him a bit of a divisive figure. Policy wonks and partisans hate him because they feel he oversimplifies the subjects he writes about, and his opinions are always tamped by his need to restate both sides of the story. A common...more
It was interesting to read the columns Friedman wrote in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 right after Osama bin Laden was finally killed. Revisiting the confusion, patriotism, anger, and sadness of that time after nearly 10 years was reminder of both how much, and how little, has changed. I always enjoy Friedman's books and articles - even when he starts to become preachy about energy usage, the Kyoto treaty, etc. You can't help but learn something from everything he writes and this book is no ex...more
Friedman is a talented writer, but extremely one sided. He does a good job trying to convince us that we, as readers, can fully understand difficult issues such as the causes of terrorism, the roles of madrassahs in the Afghan region, and the over-blown burqa... while ignoring the fact that all these issues cannot possibly be understood without considering the many different cultural and religious contexts surrounding them! There were some good articles, but literally SOME. As in maybe one or tw...more
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Aug 10, 2011
Tim
added it
I think this book would have been more valuable to read in 2002, and more valuable yet to read the articles that compromise the majority of the text when they were first published in the New York Times. I enjoyed many of his insights, and certainly gave another perspective on the thoughts, views and reactions toward the attacks of September 11th from Arab and Jewish perspectives. To be honest most of the book deals though with attitudes toward Israel/Palestine, and offered solutions toward that...more
A lovely journey through different events that have shaped our history in very many ways, you are shocked sometimes, in others, you are just relieved of not being a part of those same events. This is what a journalist should be doing if they want to provide an interest account of our societies; highly interesting and I must say that it opened my eyes in very many ways. I might read it again later.
This is a collection of Friedman's articles focused on the middle east and 911. I found it compelling for awhile, sometimes too repetitive when taken as a whole, and then got a little bored with it to be honest, before the final section that is his personal journal and reflections that coincide with the articles. That part was fascinating and brought me right back in so by the end of the book I really enjoyed it and found the repetition actually helpful. Like taking a class. This was an easy way...more
Aug 18, 2007
Jet
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Republicans
Shelves:
internationalpolitics
As much as I did enjoy this book, I hold my reservations as to whether I would recommend it to anyone. Friedman is a fantastic column writer, with a nose for short pithy sentences that are at once no-nonsense and emotive. This book is an easy read and is captivating enough for me to read the book while jostling in the midst of morning rush-hour traffic. However, although I have enjoyed both the contents and the style in this particular book, I am uncomfortable with the message - especially in th...more
How self-obsessed is Tom Friedman? It seems like he takes every chance he can get to make some subtle praise about his greatness. This was only slightly true in the other two books of his that I read, The World is Flat and From Beirut to Jerusalem. Friedman makes a number of good arguments and this book is certainly very educational. But the narcissism was way too over the top.
As one of the world's most renown foreign affairs journalists, Friedman enjoys a keen, insightful perspective of the disorderly, chaotic and dangerous world we live in, a messy world that became so abruptly apparent after the events of 9/11. An invaluable and expository compilation of articles - experiences, travels, and conversations composed in a reasonable, lucid text and providing the reader one of the most thought provoking and perceptive analysis of our world today in the age of terrorism,...more
How did we get to 9/11 ? What have we learned from it - and what has the world learned from it ? In his usual common-sense and easy-to-read prose, Tom Friedman takes us into the world bazaar through is post-9/11 articles. Well worth reading, and especially so for anyone with a son or daughter fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan
I thought this book had some good points, and some terrible ones as well. Overall, the writing was intriguing, and to watch the perspective shift over time was priceless. At times I enjoyed what Friedman had to say, and at other times was bothered at what seemed to be oversimplification of some very deep-seeded issues.
Mmm, good reading. This book of Tom Friedman's NYT columns really gets at the issues that Muslims are having in the Middle East both with their internal struggles, and external struggles (namely the US, and Israel). I wish it would have focused a bit more on the US issues but instead Friedman glossed over them with a "... and the US has issues itself" line.
Another thing that I found very interesting with this book is that after 9/11 and before we went into Iraq Friedman's columns were all about...more
Another thing that I found very interesting with this book is that after 9/11 and before we went into Iraq Friedman's columns were all about...more
I was extremely surprised that I did not care for the book. Being an avid reader of "The Times" an familiar with Friedman's work, it shocked me that this was the type of book he chose. It is a collection of his columns with a second part, his diary. This diary was full of very lengthy quotations and just a recap of the previous articles that he wrote. Hoping to pick up one of his other books and give it chance!!
An excellent collection of columns from just before September 11, covering a few years' highlights. It consolidates this extremely influential columnist's take on recent history, making it essential reading for anyone who gives a damn about international politics.
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Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist. He is an op-ed contributor to The New York Times, whose column appears twice weekly and mainly addresses topics on foreign affairs. Friedman is known for supporting a compromise resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, modernization of the Arab world, environmentalism and globalization. He is considered to be a pluralist and most of his comm...more
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