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"This is a feet on the floor, pen in hand, computer fired up book. Take notes."
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Well, this is exactly how I learned it in school. Oh,well,uh, maybe not exactly. In fact, not at all. Actually, it's alarming to realize how this version of reality is so totally inconsistent with public school education. OK, enough rant.
This fascinating story constructed from a personal viewpoint made it that much more compelling. I'll take on faith the quoted letters but suspect that some dots were connected by leap of faith and not historical documentation. But that's good enough for me to paint a picture of yet another dirty little era in the rich history of European domination of the western world in the land of the free and the former home of the braves. The native americans blew it but then they weren't dealt a particularly strong hand and then played it poorly but not to be faulted. I was embarrassed at my ignorance of the degree to which the Cherokee people took steps to adapt in the new world circumstances as well as the amount of inter-marriage and assimilation.
I am working my way through the book and don't find the writing particularly good. It seems like a pastiche of well-researched facts, historical novel and personal opinions with blurred lines among them. But it sure is interesting.
Finally finished this book. Not a particularly fun read. But the subject matter is so compelling and the presentation of facts so incredibly inconsistent with my naive appreciation of New World occupation that the content of this book just pulled me along.
Reading this book - or something pretty close to it - should be required to maintain citizenship. ]]>
bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: to-read
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This book was filmed in black and white like a low budget 50's movie. A good yarn. Enough stories and humanity to find a connection somewhere with almost everyone's soul. A tale of redemption, suffering and guilt. Not surprised this little tome has endured. ]]>
Asne Seierstad's offers a rare insider's view into a culture that may have made sense at one time but is entirely out of step with today. This is a hard book to read from a position of cultural objectivity. When does tradition and culture inhibit human achievement? When is tradition merely a convenient cover for age old human foibles like greed and power? Does it make sense for culture and tradition to foster deviant behavior? And is that resulting behavior really acceptable in any culture and in any context?
In the end, the unnecessary limitations on opportunity insure the Afghan culture of remaining a backwater, that human suffering will continue and the potential for human achievement in this culture will be sorely constrained.
This is a claustrophobic book as one seen through the veil of a burka. Painful. Sad. Distressing. ]]>
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