It’s the dawn of a new century, and the nation has gone through a tumultuous and self-affirming period of growth, with widespread new technologies spurring a hope that tomorrow will be better. But this misted veil of wonder and confidence masks a darker and more sinister reality. Wealth inequality has reset the social paradigm, resulting in hotbeds of political upheaval around the country. Meanwhile, the overwhelming influx of migrants seeking a better life has spurred racist and xenophobic tendencies, and the country always seems one […]
Adding Color To A Marble Saint
Kitman does an excellent and in-depth examination of Washington’s early life, military & election campaign, as well as the schemes and tricks apparently used to gain him the Prefidency, all without losing his respect for Washington or suggesting he was the wrong man for the biggest job in the world.
Ironic Title Alert!
This is the long way around of saying that I was fundamentally unprepared for what happens in The Innocent. The back of the novel makes vague mention of “a terrible evening,” and McEwan doesn’t skimp on the “terrible” part. So if you’re looking for a nice, star-crossed romance with some complications to love and a poignant end, look elsewhere. Find out why I was so surprised at Pop Culture Penalty Box. [no spoilers, I promise.]
Everything I know about Chilean history, I know from Isabel Allende
And what I’ve learned about Chilean history from Isabel Allende tends to be very sad indeed. Portrait in Sepia, like any of Allende’s books, is beautiful and sad and wonderful. I loved it and couldn’t put it down. “Each of us chooses the tone for telling his or her own story. I would like to choose the durable clarity of a platinum print, but nothing in my destiny possesses the luminosity. I live among diffuse shadings, veiled mysteries, uncertainties; the tone of telling my life is […]
Leopold’s Ghost Haunts Us All
This book will tear your heart out. It’s extremely well-written and extremely difficult to read. The bad guy basically gets away with it. The human rights activists/heroes are indeed noble, but most suffer greatly for their cause. It’s a terrible story, and it’s made more terrible by the fact that most people don’t know it even happened. In addition to, I think, the general lack of knowledge about Africa in the West, the efforts to forget Belgium’s atrocious history have been remarkable, effective, and ongoing. You can’t help but wonder how […]
An adventure spy novel more than a murder mystery – also Cannonball!
In this book, we meet the adventurous Victoria Jones, a young woman with a knack for lying frequently and convincingly, who shortly after being fired from her most recent position as a mediocre shorthand typist, meets a handsome and charming young man in the park. They strike up a conversation, he confides that he is about to go to Baghdad and asks to take a couple of photographs of her as a memento. Victoria is smitten, and as the young man she’s fallen head over […]
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