Curtis > Recent Status Updates

Covers neocolonialism & US interference over other nations' self determination as systemic. Brief, but appreciated! Also got backstory on US/French interest in Nam before-after WW2, Philippines, a bit on Ho Chi Minh, suggesting the book's gonna 'flashback' to provide context as it chugs along instead of spending early chapters setting things up. So far this is done effectively, helps Vietnam seem alien upon arrival.

Really took off pg. 60-ish. Great portraits of figures that gets into personalities, motivations. Expose on why US lost war rather than critique of being in Nam at all, so far. Culture of bureaucracy/saving face/quota reports leading to war incompetence & atrocities on locals. Vann by the books US idealist confronted with admin that won't budge & callous disregard of life--makes good central figure for this. Excited!

Plenty of colourful anecdotes about Vann--his death drive initiations were funny, attitudes of people, locals, etc. Sheehan bounces from subject to subject to immerse you in life in Nam before war got hot, highlighting low casualties due to VC not wanting to turn attitudes against their liberation struggle. Chapters are really long. Not much sense of momentum yet; feels scattershot. Hoping it picks up!

Vann's funeral introduces him & those around him--a bunch of rapid bios & tip about who to keep in mind in the book, easy to revisit if needed. Brief history of 'Nam & conflict too, the factions, divisions, etc. Sheehan also introduces himself as Pentagon leaker, reminding you proximity of this history. Sets the scene like a novel, but dense complexity is forefront. Intimidated going into it but hoping I love it!

Not good. Badly paced, cringe-inducing dialogue/prose, wooden, one dimensional characters, the obsession with huge stretches of time kills most momentum (their race nearly genocided w/ culprits still out there, but they sit around for 80+ years doing nothing, not looking into it, until main characters show up). Cool concepts at times but most scenes are repetitive debates that made me think my audiobook was looping.

5th of way through & still no incidting incident or central conflict. A mystery about a void where galaxy used to be, guessing related to the boy in interlude chapters. Gradual reveal plots are fine but this lacks the pacing/tension to be effective. Still, better than before, at least there are some cool concepts like the curators being introduced; it just lacks flow so far. Characters similar. Feeling lukewarm on it

Had to adjust expectations: hokey, rompy, pop sci-fi rather than brooding/thoughtful, at least at start (wasn't expecting a C-3PO-like character). Everything counted in massive units, whether time, distance, size of ships, etc. Feels retro, though not charming yet. Dialogue kinda juvenile, characters not smart considering they're supposed to be a bajillion years old. Wish the shatterlings aged/died normally haha.

Weak back half; way too many perspectives that add nothing to story & never come back, meaning time wasted that should be spent making ending more natural. Cathartic uplifting finish feels totally unearned; tragedy feels rapidly put aside & mostly happens off page. Characters that seemed like they'd develop more don't. Interesting motif about transience in life, perseverance, some solid characters, but bit shallow.

Transience, instability: multiple kids fleeing at start. Frustration of porous safety nets. Really brings poverty to life. Prejudiced characters--racist dad bit cartoonish. Prose highly poetic but laconic; some clunky lines but many evocative ones. Not big fan of 1st person from small kid's perspectives, but not too bad here. Hina's school program an oasis to help kids. Lots of heart-string pulling in this, I'm sure!

Somewhat ambiguous ending parallels uncertainty of post-colonial KEnya: the hopes & doubts, whether to forgive or pursue justice, who justice benefits, etc. Mumbi being name of Kenyan creator God has interesting implications on story since many threads come from her in book, including her relationships with oppressor and oppressed throughout. Structure bit off but solidifies as book goes. Learned a lot.

Starts rough. By second half pretty good. Idealism of revolution gradually exposed by people who did what they could to survive, including work with colonizers at times. Not indictment of Uhuru; nuance to ideas of honour & sign that work still to be done--revolution a means to an end, not end itself. Examines things like vengeance, characters interesting. Mumbi, Gikonyo & Mugo well realized, though bit patriarchal.

Ch 6 was huge; big backstory that made book much more focused & driven. I notice the actual Mau Mau revolution offscreen--events occur either after, before, or focusing on the jailing of forest fighters. Little detail on what the actual fight looked like. Gikonyo story like Steinbeckian tragedy. Women here much more domestic/simple than in DotC. Guilt of past, secret betrayals, compromising who you are, redemption.

Like Devil o/t Cross, simplistic style, as if for young readers. But better prose, more realistic tone instead of being like fable. Uhuru has already happened & many characters ponder their role/memories of it as they go about life in newly independent Kenya. Basic foreknowledge needed; def aimed at Kenyan audience, incl. Kikuyu words. Tons of characters, lots of jumping around; want more precision. Still enjoying!

Disappointing last chapter,. It goes from history to political commentary explaining Trump, & very old lady false equivalence takes comparing rise of fascism w/ angsty Tumblr woke-scolds on the "alt left." Oh yeah, teens making lists of 200 genders is definitely the same as neo-Nazis plowing cars into protestors /s. Lack of focus; should spend 9/11 more on about PatriotAct & xenophobia. Overall still good, weak end.

Mass splintering after Civil Rights section; every political issue discussed as New Right movement detailed, flood of info; less focused. Still insightful if depressing set-up for rise of fascism. Yet Lepore pulling some both sides BS a bit, especially w/ universities trying to address broad systemic injustice. Other blind spot: no section on US Imperialism, installing dictators loyal to trade. Mostly domestic.

Civ. Rights a litmus test; its US history I'm most familiar with. Lepore did great! Despite brevity, full of nuance, important points about 'spectrum' of activists from NAACP, SCLC, SNCC & Panthers. Sets up modern movements like BLM, including strategies. Overlong section on stats/polls but shows how polling black people led to Dems outflanking Republicans on Civil Rights. Contextualized against cold war/space race.

Some great anecdotes to illustrate history/trends: Welles' War o/t Worlds broadcast to illustrate susceptibility to new media/propaganda potential; '39 World Fair USA pavilions being closed/draped in black because Nazis had taken over. WW2 chapter great, focusing very broadly but still putting time into homefront activism like budding civil rights movement, UN concept, etc. Would have liked a bit more on nukes.

Loving detail on social movements: DuBois' social survey leading to evidence-based social justice laws like Brown v Board. But movements still tinged by bigotry: white feminism, fundie Christians. Lends nuance to subjects given brief coverage, though sometimes must leave out details. Juggles a lot from tech advancements to wars to philosophies. Attempts at thematic chapters to unify; uneven results. Still compelling!

Civil War: learned that even white men had far fewer rights in Confed: leaders avoided any case where they could vote on secession or slavery issue since vast majority owned no slaves. Speech, assoc, limited. 'Reconstruction' era made me furious; left unfinished, Pres. Johnson evil; can see why considered one of the worst. Made much of civil war in vain. Ch. 9 deals with equality failure, denying citizenship.

Massive tapestry of all cultures, conflicts, organizations, setting stage for Lincoln & Republican party to unite these groups into an anti-slavery front. Often daunting due to speed/brevity of info coming at you, but coming together as the free/slave state balance heats up. Stoked to read about civil war & finally see slave states kicked in teeth. Native & Black people adopt rhetoric of colonialism to gain standing.

Ch. 5 focused on elections; slavery much more center stage--electoral college apparently came about to bolster slave states' representation, giving them far more power than 'free states.' Direction of country & how power will be transferred solidified as slavery becomes more dominant in south. Industrial revolution hits USA; censuses taken as frontiers expanded. Felt mostly like stage-setting for what's to come.

Americans have complex about taxes--third time their nation almost torn apart because they can't work out why taxation is needed lol. 3/5ths slave thing worse than I thought--used only as way to inflate representation of slave-holding states via population. Also slavery: US puts down major revolution in Haiti even though slaves were taking American rhetoric to justify their rebellion. Bleak, frustrating, ugly.

A bus passing 'stations' of US history; you see where you might wanna 'get off' and explore later. Wanna read more on civil war. Turns out American's pathological hate of taxes was there from birth. Founders' hypocrisy regarding slavery abhorrent; refuse to undercut Brit strategy of promising to free slaves that fight for them by simply abolishing slavery. Pop-history prose, accessible but some may find patronizing.

Heavy novel-style prose, sometimes distracting, but I'm learning enough that it only bothers me a bit. True story of John Smith pretty funny compared to Disney movie (them all failing to provide for themselves, starving as result when they could've just befriended Indigenous peoples). Rapid progress in time but still feels narrative & accessible. Reminds me of start of Alaska; treatment of First Nations very bleak.

Intro starts w/ writing constitution, bickering over phrasing/whether to include bill of rights. Description of the cities of the time including contradictions with 'self evident truths' (proclaiming liberty while trading slaves & conquering native land). Lepore explains her intent of the book & the nature of history, which changed along with the enlightenment to get away from myths and faith in favour of reason.

Intro starts w/ writing constitution, bickering over phrasing/whether to include bill of rights. Description of the cities of the time including contradictions with 'self evident truths' (proclaiming liberty while trading slaves & conquering native land). Lepore explains her intent of the book & the nature of history, which changed along with the enlightenment to get away from myths and faith in favour of reason.

Opens door to reading about the Imperial period, even though the back half is weak. At least it's compact relative to the first half which covers only a few years per chapter. Most interested in ways that people still felt they lived in a representative republic well into Augustus' reign despite diminished senate/voting him more & more power. Maneuvers to maintain hereditary rule after Augustus interesting! Good book

Big shift after Augustus takes power; feels like the opening chapters of a book. Life settles, Rome expands gradually, no major internal events except jockeying for successor. Lush, long descriptions of Emperor's daily life, responsibilities, understanding how Rome still saw itself as Republic. Though I see why most histories on this period stop at Augustus now, this is much needed info to understand the transition!

Enjoyable Sextus war section; much more detail than other books on subject. Less likely to speculate dramatics like Cleo; mentions Plutarch's interpretation but hedges, esp. concerning Cleo/Marc/Octavia love triangle. Surprised it'll be over halfway into book before Octavian becomes Augustus--time in power must not have been eventful! Great drama, contextualizing, pacing, etc. Eager to learn about his reign!