The library notified me that the two books I had requested--Empire of Illusion: The End Of Literacy And The Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges and Howard Zinn's A People's History Of The United States; The --had come in. Am absorbed in the first, although it seems not as tight at Chris' other work, kind of ranging all over the map. Still, it brings out some good points. Am anticipating Zinn's book with pleasure.
Had rehearsal last night. Mary Ellen called to ask that I tell Tara her knees are bothering her and she couldn't be at rehearsal last night. I was pleased when our "Girls' Night Out" (actually, Girls' Day Out) was rescheduled to February 29--now I'll be able to go.
Mike comes tonight--happy day!--and tomorrow, he wants to go down to Ventnor, visit the museum, and get subs. Later, I'll have the east coast gang for dinner.
TUESDAY
I started off the morning with some annoying problems with Amazon Japan re Christmas gifts, but I don't want to go into detail. Left at...
2 comments:
I just read Empire -- like you, I put a hold on it with the library, and it took a while to get. I thought the first two chapters were very solid, but the rest, I thought, were weak in various ways ... sometimes he's picking fights with abstractions, and sometimes his proggy side comes out, and he begins to sound like the flip-side of most "conservatives:" they want plenty of warfare with no welfare, and he wants plenty of welfare with no warfare. It seems to me that neither one understands that the same state will always insist on delivering both, and you won't get one without the other. Still, I think he's genuine, and that makes up for a lot these days. And the first two chapters are well worth the whole book, although a lot of the second chapter is gut-wrenching and difficult to read.
Please let us know what you think about the Zinn, which I'll try to get hold of.
Jim, I think your critique of "Empire" is right on the money in a literary sense. Also, the chapter on sexual subjects was very off-putting--to me, just disgusting. For the rest--okay, I understand, but I'm not libertarian, as I think you are (or I'm not AS libertarian). I guess that means I'm not nearly as concerned about welfare (at least it's intended to help people) as I am about warfare (bottom line: to kill).
Anyway, I started "Peoples" and found it oh, so illuminating. It opened a whole new world to me and I'm completely under its sway--a classic for anyone who cares about his or her fellow man and woman, regardless of skin color or other unimportant human traits. I hope you'll read it soon--I think you'll get as much from it as I am doing.
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