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August 16
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Dan
is currently reading:
Salambo (Penguin Classics)
by Gustave Flaubert
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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August 14
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Dan
marked as to-read:
Great Stories by Chekhov (Mass Market Paperback)
by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
bookshelves:
left-unfinished,
to-read
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my rating:
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Dan said:
"i read the first four of these and they weren't doing much for me? i felt like they all ended in predictable tragedy, usually with a corny moral... am i being premature? probably. short stories are hard for me to concentrate on, to tell the truth...
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August 12
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Dan
gave
to:
Triton (Paperback)
by Samuel R. Delany
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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read in August, 2008
Dan said:
"i had an awful time concentrating on this for the first half of the novel. it's a shame, because there are some brilliant ideas in it, and it *really* comes alive closer to its conclusion. this was my third delany novel, and i'm discovering that his ...more
i had an awful time concentrating on this for the first half of the novel. it's a shame, because there are some brilliant ideas in it, and it *really* comes alive closer to its conclusion. this was my third delany novel, and i'm discovering that his prose doesn't often-- i don't know-- "flow" in a way i respond to. in a book like dhalgren (which i'd consider one of the best novels i've ever read), this works to his advantage, since it's structurally so unconventional. in triton, it often falls flat. i had trouble envisioning the "ambiguous heterotopia" he establishes. as a speculative, political universe, it could probably use a bit of the clarity of le guin's the dispossessed (a great novel which apparently served as the catalyst for this one).
still, the details are often amazing, and it eventually becomes an effective portrait of conflicted male sexuality. i love that, in spite of his utopian impulses, delany's future-worlds never quite do away with prejudice. he can envision pluralistic landscapes of sexual liberation, but they always contain their own versions of psycho-sexual baggage. this book is no exception, and it's surprising twists-and-amount to a lively, randy little conversation....less
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August 09
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Dan
is currently reading:
Capital: The Process of Capitalist Production (New World Paperbacks)
by Karl Marx
bookshelves:
big-intimidating-project-2008,
currently-reading
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my rating:
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Dan
gave
to:
The Communist Manifesto (Paperback)
by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Gareth Stedman Jones, ed.
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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Dan said:
"re-visited this as prep work for my attempt at capital... it's surprising how revolutionary it still seems in a lot of ways (e.g. thinking seriously about an end to private property), and it's remarkably prophetic at times about the ways capit...more
re-visited this as prep work for my attempt at capital... it's surprising how revolutionary it still seems in a lot of ways (e.g. thinking seriously about an end to private property), and it's remarkably prophetic at times about the ways capitalism would subsequently develop. there's also plenty of universalizing 19th century rhetoric that should be taken with a grain of salt... and perhaps history hasn't been terribly kind to marx in a lot of ways, but whatever. revisting this at 31 was probably a lot more stimulating than it was at 20-- less obligation, more context, etc. we'll see if i can stay fired up for all 750 pages of capital......less
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August 05
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Dan
gave
to:
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
by Naomi Klein
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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read in August, 2008
Dan said:
"there's a lot to say about this book... a great deal of it is pretty convincing, and as an assessment of our current political sphere, it makes some alarming connections. on the other hand, its central metaphor (that catastrophe is utilized by free m...more
there's a lot to say about this book... a great deal of it is pretty convincing, and as an assessment of our current political sphere, it makes some alarming connections. on the other hand, its central metaphor (that catastrophe is utilized by free market idealogues to usher in unpopular and undemocratic deregulation efforts) works better in certain places than others.
i wish there were a clearer assessment of different conservative movements in the book. klein spends too much time on miltion friedmann, who's libertarianism is somehow aligned with neo-conservatism (friedmann was opposed to the current iraq war), which is in turn aligned with corporate crony-ism, and eventually a pro-free-market liberal like jeffrey sachs doesn't sound much different than donald rumsfeld?
which is a shame because the heart and soul of the book is an urgent one. if you look past the occasional hyperbole (i could have done without the long bit concerning *actual shock therapy*), klein makes a strong argument for the peculiar alignment between distasters, de-regulation and rampant inequality. the long portion concerning the regime of augusto pinochet in chile is probably the portion that most impressed me. i think the book tries a bit too hard to be really global; considerations of china and south africa don't seem to have the same sense of inquiry.
when she finally arrives at iraq and katrina, the arguments fit remarkably well, and it's rather depressing to recognize how much bullshit my country has learned to gradually assimilate. a powerful book, but not without the occasional cheapshot....less
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July 03
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Dan
gave
to:
Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics (Hardcover)
by Rebecca Solnit
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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read in July, 2008
Dan said:
"solnit is officially my favorite writer of the moment. this is a collection of essays, ranging from 2006 back to the mid-nineties. as such, there not as uniformly great as a field guide to getting lost, which i also read recently. but when she...more
solnit is officially my favorite writer of the moment. this is a collection of essays, ranging from 2006 back to the mid-nineties. as such, there not as uniformly great as a field guide to getting lost, which i also read recently. but when she's got a good idea, she follows through with it in surprising and illuminating ways. the quality of the work often follows the theme of its content. for my money, any time solnit discusses american history, art or gender, her writing is rich, informative and poetic.
when she delves more specifically into activism she's still convincing, but her focus often broadens. when she describes, say, a local protest, her tone becomes more didactic. i typically agree with her politics, but i find that her writing is more informative to me personally when it remains open-ended.
but that's small potatoes. when she's discussing ruins, or the history of landscape photography (especially as it relates to pubic hair!!!), or the ecological ramifications of an influx of crows, solnit is about as good as it gets....less
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June 28
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Dan
gave
to:
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (Paperback)
by Jeffrey Sachs
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
Dan said:
"(i'm really not devoting enough time to books lately)
this is a tough one to assess... i'm not entirely sold on sachs' worldview, but i agree with some of his ideas in the short-term. i debated a three-star rating here, but decided that the book i...more
(i'm really not devoting enough time to books lately)
this is a tough one to assess... i'm not entirely sold on sachs' worldview, but i agree with some of his ideas in the short-term. i debated a three-star rating here, but decided that the book is so useful as a counter-point to some of my uncertainties that it deserved considerable merit.
my basic problem is that sachs is alternately too utopian (wealthy nations will rise to the challenge of extreme poverty out of goodwill or "enlightened self-interest"), and not utopian enough (free-market capitalism is the best solution to the planet, sweatshops eventually lead to economic prosperity, etc.)...
sachs provides a needed dose of pragmatism to the often hyperbolic, fatalistic stuff i often read from the further-left. and he's fairly level-headed when it comes to reckoning with his own contradictions. it's important to note that he differs considerably from free-market zealots, in that he calls for a strong central government. sachs is no fan of the extreme libertarianism often championed by the bush administration-- he believes public education is a universal right, and so forth. the "capitalism" he champions perhaps follows a european model, not an american one.
the basic idea of the book-- that if wealthy nations increased foreign aid to .7% of GDP per year (hopefully i'm getting that right... the book isn't in front of me) "extreme poverty" could be ended-- seems reasonable enough. and even if it's merely "throwing money at the problem," i'd rather waste money there than on iraq, the defense budget, etc. the most useful part of the book, for me (an EXTREME novice when it comes to development/economics/political science), was probably the statistics. he plainly lays out the world scene in terms of GDP, disease, inflation, etc. just thumbing through the various charts gave me a clearer view of the way the world appears to be working.
on the other hand, the rhetoric often gives me pause. the book desperately needs a recognition of the cultures it chooses to aid, and sachs' tone is occasionally patronizing. case in point: his coinage of "clinical economics," which essentially sets up a doctor/patient relationship between him and "the developing world." bad metaphor, jeffrey...
i feel weird about this one. it's totally worthwhile regardless of your politics, and sachs is such a huge figure that he's worth getting an impression of in general. i'd totally stand behind much of the work he's doing, even as i tend to disagree with some of the philosophy. and at the end of the day, i just don't quite buy it? i fail to see any indication of the widespread goodwill he's after, and with the rapid industrialization of india and china, i must say i'm pretty pessimistic about what will ultimately happen to the world's resources, at least as they relate to inequality. still, taken with a grain of salt, this is pretty essential....less
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June 03
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Dan
gave
to:
Half of a Yellow Sun (Hardcover)
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
Dan said:
"(i haven't had much time to read lately)
this epic novel concerns the brief history of the biafra republic, which seceded from nigeria in the late 60's, resulting (eventually) in mass starvation and eventual re-unification. adichie chronicles this...more
(i haven't had much time to read lately)
this epic novel concerns the brief history of the biafra republic, which seceded from nigeria in the late 60's, resulting (eventually) in mass starvation and eventual re-unification. adichie chronicles this through three separate first-person narratives: an adolescent servant, a beautiful political activist, and a british man sympathetic to the biafran cause. adichie is a great storyteller, and the narrative unfolds so effortlessly that it's easy to forget that she makes some striking shifts in tone and form. it's a remarkably approachable novel, and becomes more and more intimate as it moves forward. the atrocious nature of national history is mostly reserved for its third act. at this point, the story seems to pressurize considerably, and the intimacy that has developed between the characters (as well as within myself) adds remarkable weight to its sense of tragedy....less
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May 01
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Dan
gave
to:
A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Paperback)
by David Harvey
bookshelves:
2008
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my rating:
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read in May, 2008
Dan said:
"... and thus begins my awkward attempt to formulate some understanding of global economics, political science, etc!
(i probably should have began with smith or marx, but i figured i'd dive into something i'd been eyeing for a while anyway.)
i f...more
... and thus begins my awkward attempt to formulate some understanding of global economics, political science, etc!
(i probably should have began with smith or marx, but i figured i'd dive into something i'd been eyeing for a while anyway.)
i found harvey's arguments convincing and refreshing. he spends a good bit of time lamenting the european welfare state in a pragmatic manner, and the philosophical lineage he follows points towards keynes, polanyi and FDR more than marx or trotsky (harvey is a marxist). keep in mind here that i'm new to this stuff-- but he makes a convincing case against many of the purported "acheivements" of neoliberal polices ("neoliberal" is taken to be the philosophy that deregulated free markets can function as the foundation of a society), and he's particularly good at unearthing the contradictions such planning encounters in practice. an especially nuanced section deals with the idiosyncratic case of china following the death of mao-- how it avoided the economic "shock therapy" of the former soviet union, and how neoliberalism and communism formed a peculiar alliance, accordingly.
this is a pretty dry read from time to time, but that's somewhat inevitable i guess? it also ends on a surprisingly inclusive and hopeful note, briefly accounting for the various movements that have arisen recently to combat inequalities... with an admirable lack of woeful nostalgia for the generation of '68....less
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