Doug Lewars's Blog, page 35

Deadly Triangle

Deadly Triangle: The Famous Architect, His Wife, Their Chauffeur, and Murder Most Foul by Susan Goldenberg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was classified under History but should be referred to as True Crime. It was moderately interesting and described nicely the strict morality and classism of the early 1900s but beyond that was nothing special. With really just a murder and a little adultery to work with the author needed to include a LOT of filler and did. If you like True Crime stories I think you'll like this one.



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The Years

Les Années by Annie Ernaux

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I quite liked this book although it wasn't what I expected. It was classified under History and, to some extent, it is, but it is a combination of history from 1940 through to the present and a memoir of Annie Ernaux during that time period. Originally in French, I listened to an audio version translated into English. Some phrases were left untranslated. As a result, I couldn't understand them all and missed a few things.

As a history it's okay but works better as a memoir. The author mentions various aspects of the past and then goes on to explain how they related to her and made her feel. In addition, she sometimes linked past with future events so at time the chronology was a little confusing. She might be discussing something from the early seventies and then make reference to an event in the eighties. She would get back to the seventies but it sometimes required a mental leap on the part of the reader to know where she was.

Because Ms. Ernaux lived - and possibly still lives - in France, the time period is presented from a French perspective. For North American readers this can be a little baffling. She names any number of politicians, some of whom were presidents, I'd never heard of. Likewise she skimmed quickly over things which were milestone events in North America. I don't think she devoted more that a paragraph, perhaps only a sentence to the assassination of J. F. Kennedy but goes on an on about a riot which occurred in 1968. I vaguely remember news reports of rioting in Paris but it never seemed more than a blip on the radar whereas for the author it was major and she returns to it time and time again. Still there are enough overlapping incidents to remind the North American reader of the period.

Much of the book deals with how the author felt about events, trends, and people - mostly politicians - which impinged on her life. Because her politics were on the left certain things outraged her which I didn't consider at all troubling, but, political views aside, she was never preachy.

Younger North American readers may find this book puzzling and perhaps too slow to bother with. Older readers, I think, will enjoy it. There are better resources for pure history but she captures both an essence of the time and a feeling for how the years have flown.





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The Body: A Guide For Occupants

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

The author made a fairly dry subject quite interesting - a little depressing maybe when one things of all the things which can go wrong - but interesting nonetheless. In addition to discussing the various structures, systems and processes occurring on a regular basis, he delved into the history of various medical practices, knowledge acquisition and cures. This is, however, a very long book and I recommend getting the audio version so the reader can rattle on while you do other things.



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The Uncommon Reader

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This is a nice little satire about how the queen is used purely as a symbol and no longer treated as human. The book is very short and I completed it in an afternoon. It's more novella than novel. Still, it was enjoyable and I recommend it.



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How Civil Wars Start

How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them by Barbara F. Walter

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


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Despite the low rating, I very much liked the first part of this book. The author did a fine job of identifying factors causing civil war. They were well researched and described. Next she attempted to link them to trends in the United States and here a certain amount of speculation entered the book. Civil wars, she believes can formulated by very small groups and such would be necessary for war to break out in the USA. Acts of terrorism are certainly possible as have been seen but they are a long way from leading to actual war. She points to January 6th as an example but it's not a very good one. The capital rioters were pretty incompetent. Despite breaching security and getting access to the White House, they had no real plan on how to take power. They made no attempt to control the media or the armed forces, two absolutely vital requirements for an armed insurrection. Ms. Walter's argument is there are so many small far right and far left organizations they are capable of causing sufficient chaos to drag in the rest of America. She may be correct but it seems a long shot.

Where she totally lost me was when she came to her solution which was, essentially, give the far left everything they want. Take Bernie Sanders' game plan and tick it off, item by item. She does not discuss who will pay but I think it's fairly safe it won't be the downtrodden poor she so favours.
For me the final straw, and the one which reduced her rating to a one, was when she suggested increasing funding to the humanities in universities while reducing the emphasis on STEM.

Despite the things I didn't like, I still recommend the book for the initial research and elucidating of factors precipitating civil war. They worth noting and watching.



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China Rich Girlfriend

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible spoilers ***

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first in the series but I wasn't expecting to. It was still enjoyable and entertaining. The book got off to a great start, sagged somewhat in the middle, and finished well. I found myself getting a little tired of descriptions of mansions and their interiors. Likewise I'm not much interested in shopping or fashion so that was a little boring but overall I thought the author did well, and his descriptions of food made me hungry, especially the sweet stuff. I think if you liked the first one you'll like this one, maybe not quite as much but you'll like it. I intend to read the third.



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The Hidden History of Neoliberalism

The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness by Thom Hartmann

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


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Left wing drivel.

If your politics are left of center you’ll enjoy this book. If you’re more to the right, you may as well pass it by.

If you do decide to read this thing, I recommend going to Wikipedia and reading the article on Neoliberalism there. You don’t have to read it first. Just read it sometime before you finish the book and it clears up a few things. As a word, it seems ‘Neoliberalism’ has a number of meanings. The one seemingly preferred by this author is Neoliberalism stands for anything he dislikes. For me the term seems to mean Corporate Capitalism but its definition may be broader.
The author’s particular gripe is with Martin Friedman’s economics and the Chicago Boys – students of Mr. Friedman’s. He’s convinced their beliefs are at the root of all problems in the United States and elsewhere today.

He distinguishes Neoliberalism from both Libertarianism and Ayn Rand’s Objectivism but as far as I can see, all three are pretty much synonymous with laisse-faire capitalism.

Surprisingly, there were a couple of points made by Mr. Hartmann I agreed with. He suggests free trade, specifically NAFTA, was a job killer and I think he was correct. Ironically, his objection was American jobs headed to low cost Mexico, whereas I objected to Canadian jobs headed to certain lower cost states in the US, but we lost jobs to Mexico as well. Overall, NAFTA was comparatively tame. Far more jobs and industries went to India and China I think than to Mexico. In any event, the industrial base of North America in its entirety was hit hard. The author goes on to make a very good point that it’s a really, really bad idea to have components needed by your military built by a foreign country, particularly one such as China which is less than enamored with western freedoms. He also points out that if China stopped exporting, American store shelves would be empty within two weeks.

Interestingly he believes Globalization is a right wing initiative, and it’s true, Nafta was started by President Regan; however, it seems the Democrats elbowed the Republicans out of the way. Forming a South-East Asia, Australia and American trading block was promoted hard by Hillary Clinton in the Obama administration. It was only scuttled at the last minute when Republicans backed by their supporters raised a hue and cry. Likewise it was You-Know-Who who forced renegotiation of Nafta and took steps to at least reduce the heavily skewed balance of trade with China. Frankly there are very few individuals who would regard the latter individual as being left of center.

If Mr. Hartmann believes neoliberalism (laisse fair capitalism) is bad – and the does – then he regards goodness as socialism and believes we should all follow the Scandinavian model. Being curious I took a look at the per-capita GDP between 1981 – when he argues Neoliberalism began in the US – and 2021. Did the Scandinavian countries outperform the USA? Norway certainly did and by a wide margin. Denmark was pretty much tied with the US and Sweden did quite a bit worse. This being the case it would seem there are a number of factors in play and socialism vs neoliberalism is likely just one.

One thing which seems pretty clear is any form of shock to an economy, whether It’s a 180 degree turn as in Russia after the fall of Communism or COVID-19, is a bad thing. In order to function well, it seems economies can tolerate change only gradually.

The author is a big fan of Bernie Sanders and anyone else who’s on the far left. Much of the remainder of the Democratic party he seems to see as conservative. It’s interesting to note he founded International Wholesale Travel and its retail subsidiary Sprayberry Travel in 1983 which went on to generate over a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue. Ah yes, another rich liberal bemoaning capitalism. Enjoy your lattes Mr. Hartmann.

I do not recommend this book; however, if you do want to read it I suggest you go with text as opposed to the audio version. The reader’s voice is quite unpleasant.





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The Story of Russia

The Story of Russia by Orlando Figes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This is one of the finest, most well thought-out histories I have come across. The author traces through history, the effect of economics, politics, myth and religion on Russia's development culminating in Vladimir Putin's regime. The points out there's some very good reasons why Russians might support this man - beyond the obvious steady stream of propaganda being spread by a highly censored media. I highly recommend it although the print version might be a little heavy treading. I listened to the audio version and it was very well read and held my interest throughout.



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The Echo Chamber

The Echo Chamber by John Boyne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I loved this book; however, if you're on the left of the political spectrum, I don't think you'll like it. it is a scathing attack on wokeness, cancel culture, grievance culture, outrage culture, social media and latte liberalism. It's well paced and I found myself laughing at any number of character foibles. Being as it is, a satire, you won't find any character development so if you read books in order to come to some sort of broader understanding of the human condition through the development of fictional characters you can take a pass on this one.



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Everyday Life in Medieval London

Everyday Life in Medieval London: From the Anglo-Saxons to the Tudors by Toni Mount

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was a pretty good history of the middle ages and how Londoners lived. I read it for tips on world-building and there were a few but I don't think much of London in the middle ages would translate well in fantasy novels. The reality is, hygiene wasn't great and London would have been putrid. On a positive note, I learned where the term 'upper crust' applied to people of means comes from. If you're into history then I think this is a good resource; otherwise, not.



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