During this mid-winter of our discontent, we can make things bright by the sun of books. Since starting this blog, for seven books I have essayed, ofttimes as a chance to comment on our world stage where methinks we play the part of witness.
Having little regard for SEO, Search Engine Optimization, I seldom link, not even to my own darling essays. But for today’s piece I won’t expect anyone to click through my pages searching for a calendar date. Better to link.
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While the US has clearly lost any claim to world leadership during the current Russia-Ukraine war, I believe the “smoking gun,” the “Suez moment,” for loss of leadership happened during Covid 19, when the US shocked the world with its terribly high casualty rate.
The Premonition: a pandemic story by Michael Lewis
A fascinating look at the gargantuan US government, and how the Trump administration bungled the transition to power after 2016 is revealed by Michael Lewis.
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
This piece combines a feminist memoir and feminist novel of time travel.
I might preface the former by noting that gay men are raised in a heterosexual world. Hence they won’t pick acquire a limp wrist or learn to embroider until after high school, and if the surrounding women in our society believe in, say, being submissive, gay kids won’t pick up that during high school either. Hence gay (-born-in-America) Chinese men are annoyed at the rumours that they are submissive like reputed Asian woman. I can only conclude that gay whites say such things to each other because they are desperate to believe “the sex is greener on the other side of the fence.” Like certain straight white males, not you or I, having an Asian fetish—according to the memoir.
Superfan how pop culture broke my heart by Jen Sookfong Lee
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
As noted in my Remembrance Day piece on the Trojan War, there is a trend for novels about heroines in Ancient Greece. I believe this trend was started by the novel Circe. Someone asked me how to pronounce it. We don’t say the name “Pen-e-lope” because in Greek every syllable is pronounced, so I think the name is “Sur-see.” (Accent on the first syllable, I looked it up)
Circe by Madeline Miller
By one scenario, the best novels of history and science fiction feel dated by their decade, even the very year they were written, because lands described are not mere blue sky fantasy, but speak to us as we are today. Like how old English literature reveals modern character. I liked a trilogy that showed not only “the greatest generation,” my father’s, but also extrapolated present social trends into the future, and then compared and contrasted the two space-times
The Axis of Time trilogy by John Birmingham
Ever since my diploma in Leisure Services included a course on how to run a meeting, I’ve been fascinated by how meetings are a chance to tap human potential, and fascinated as well by how, even in the business world, so many people chose to default to being incompetent in their meetings, their parties and their dinner gatherings.
The Art of Gathering how we meet and why it matters by Priya Parker
Someone told me that the Arabs buried the prophet Mohammed in a shallow grave. So the dogs dug him up. Hence in Arab culture, even today, they think of dogs as being dirty. But if you can get over the author having conversations with a blind crippled rescue dog, whom she pushes in a baby carriage, then you might like her book on how to bridge America’s polarization. We sure could have used her book on my campus during the Vietnam conflict.
Dog Says Don’t Label Me how to diversity without inflaming the culture wars by Irshad Manjeet
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Also, from May 25, 2022 is a review of a book about London so that I don’t have to describe the city: Three Rooms.
The critics say,
“Resigned to renting forever and feeling guilty every time you buy a cup of coffee? You’ll want to read Jo Hamya’s urgent and intelligent debut.”
Evening Standard
“Cool, sharp and perceptive”
Stylist
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Today, the 25th, I don’t have anything grand to say, so books is all I got.
For my fellow writers, here’s a quote from Stephen Vizinczey, the guy who wrote In Praise of Older Women:
You tell me your favourite novelists and I’ll tell you whom you vote for, or whether you vote at all.
And:
If you think you’re wise, rational, good, a boon to the opposite sex and a victim of circumstances, then you don’t know yourself well enough to write.
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Sean Crawford
Four days after the December 21 solstice
2023
Blog note: I hadn’t meant to have little boxes for each web address. Instead I wanted to simply write the bare line of URL for you to link, or at most cut-and-paste and link. But since this seems to be happening with various third party web sites, I can’t blame the third parties, I must wonder if Macintosh is somehow responsible. Before asking, I’ll wait for the Christmas rush to be over. For now, maybe it’s handy for readers to have all those starts to essays on one page.
