Hyrum's updates

Hyrum's updates http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/563045 en-US Wed, 07 May 2008 18:32:33 -0700 60 Hyrum's updates http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 24373492 Wed, 07 May 2008 18:32:33 -0700 Rating370673 <![CDATA[Hyrum voted on a review]]> http://www.goodreads.com/

Hyrum read and liked J Dean's review of Empire:

"I would have given this one five stars were it not for the dialogue and some of the plot aspects. The plot stuff, after reading the Afterword, was probably due to the fact that Card was writing this novel around a video game he was helping a company...more I would have given this one five stars were it not for the dialogue and some of the plot aspects. The plot stuff, after reading the Afterword, was probably due to the fact that Card was writing this novel around a video game he was helping a company develop. Which is unfortunate, because it brought too much of a sci-fi twist into what would have been a very scarily plausible story. As to the dialogue, it was a little amateurish in many places. The different characters pontificated on freedom and democracy in a way no real person would. That, and the banter between the characters was also straight out of a college freshman writing class (I would know, I wrote some pretty craptacular dialogue in my freshman writing classes). The other issue was the Special Ops team. We're never introduced to any of them, just a bunch of names are thrown out, and eventually you kind of have an idea who each person is, but no real idea what they look like (except I eventually figured out Cat was a big black guy).

Anyway. . .this is still a good book. Card is a smart guy and very well-read, and this is a great story about a potential future where "red state/blue state" animosity boils over into a civil war replete with the assassination of the president and an attempted coup. He grounds it in enough reality (one of the characters goes on "The O'Reilly Factor", another talks to a reporter at the Washington Post), that there is some semblance of reality here. And it is a chilling potential future. Card posits in the book that the accusations about America being the next Roman empire are off-base, that America in the end is not out to control the world; but he also gives us a chilling warning that we're on the verge of becoming such an empire as we're nearing the end of our "republic phase" and if we're not mindful, we're entering the "dictator phase" a la Augustus Caesar, with a potential dictator waiting in the wings, just waiting for a civil war to break out so that he (or she) can bring the country back together and then cleverly rule it with an iron fist.

As a former far lefty, some of the discussion in the book was uncomfortable for me, a lot of snide comments about liberals and progressives. But Card is actually pretty even-handed. Because what he's warning about is political extremism from either side of the aisle, and as he says in his afterword, the right vs left vitriol that we see today is the worst it's been since the eruption of the Civil War. Card's afterword is pretty right on the money, discussing the fact that in today's political climate, moderates (of which I'm trying to become) are seen as traitors to either side because they're trying to find a middle ground. I don't necessarily agree with all of Card's views (I think he skews a little too conservative and has too much respect for the current Pres for my taste), I'm willing to listen to his viewpoints. And his point is that there's probably a lot of us moderates out there, the "screamers" on both sides are drowning them out, to the detriment of us all.

All in all, a really thought-provoking book. While it's definitely not the best Card book I've read, and is in fact the weakest, it's still highly imaginative, with enough "reality" to make you ponder its wider meaning....less "

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]]> 24372246 Wed, 07 May 2008 18:19:20 -0700 Review21819867 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting for']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21819867 On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting for (Hardcover) by Rick Perry
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 22764831 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:46:31 -0700 Review20612168 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'Causal Models: How People Think about the World and Its Alternatives']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20612168 Causal Models: How People Think about the World and Its Alternatives (Hardcover) by Steven Sloman
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 15871383 Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:49:05 -0800 Review15106877 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'He Did Deliver Me From Bondage: Using the Book of Mormon and the Principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as they Correlate with the Twelve-Step Program to Overcome Compulsive/Addictive Behavior ...']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15106877 He Did Deliver Me From Bondage: Using the Book of Mormon and the Principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as they Correlate with the Twelve-Step Program to Overcome Compulsive/Addictive Behavior ... (Paperback) by Colleen C. Harrison
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 13976918 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:22:33 -0800 Review13580209 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13580209 The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths (Paperback) by Padraic Colum
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 13976489 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:17:51 -0800 Review13579844 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'Fablehaven']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13579844 Fablehaven (Book 1) by Brandon Mull
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 13976280 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:14:53 -0800 Review13579681 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'Past Imperative: Round One of the Great Game']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13579681 Past Imperative: Round One of the Great Game (Duncan, Dave, Great Game, Round 1.) by Dave Duncan
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 9190326 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:16:16 -0800 Review9691429 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'Eragon - Eragon Book 1']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9691429

to: Eragon (Inheritance) - Eragon Book 1 by Christopher Paolini
]]> 8582718 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:47:26 -0800 Review9199198 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'Smart Couples Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9199198 Smart Couples Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner (Paperback) by David Bach
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 7730338 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:27:23 -0700 Review8005130 <![CDATA[Hyrum added 'My Side Of The Mountain']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8005130

to: My Side Of The Mountain (Paperback) by Jean Craighead George
I read this at a time in my life when I thought about running away. It simultaneously cured me of the desire to run away, and fascinating me to see what could be done. It's a great book, and captures the imagination well. It also shows some of the difficulties related to living in the woods. ]]>