I've been thinking a lot about World War I during this centennial year, and I am fascinated by anything to do with the Long 19th Century, so when I waI've been thinking a lot about World War I during this centennial year, and I am fascinated by anything to do with the Long 19th Century, so when I was browsing for commute audiobooks on Overdrive and saw this, I knew I had to read it. It's an engagingly written history of the Western world before WWI that tries to paint that world as it was and seemed at the time to those who lived in it, and not as it looked (or looks) through the rosy glasses of war-wearied remembrance.
The book consists of several loosely interconnected essays on different themes, and with shifting geographical foci. I had no idea, for example, how widespread and organized (after its fashion) the international movement toward anarchism was. I can't decide whether I liked the chapter on British politics or the chapter on German culture more. They were both good, although the German chapter might win just for the brilliantly descriptive and insightful observation that "Strauss was a string plucked by the Zeitgeist." And yes, I spent time listening to Strauss and other music of the time in between chapters.
The chapter on American imperialism as defined by the Spanish-American war and the conquest of the Philippines was also illuminating for me. Tony and I spent a summer in the Philippines and used to often wonder why after 300 years of Spanish rule and only a few decades of American rule the Filipinos still looked on America with suspicion while seeming to have much softer feelings toward their erstwhile Spanish rulers. I no longer wonder. There's also a good chapter on the Dreyfuss affair and its long-reaching effects on French politics and culture.
I think the thing that surprised me the most was how familiar so many of the issues and controversies sounded. Although there was a certain optimism that might be difficult to find again any time soon. I was almost amused to find that Alfred Nobel had originally only intended for the prize bearing his name to be given out for the next thirty years, since he expected that world peace would have been worked out by then.
Also, if the Doctor turned up in the Tardis and offered to take me anywhere in time and space, I might just choose pre-WWI Europe....more
Astonishingly wonderful book. I listened to the audiobook, and I think my enjoyment of it was augmented by the reader, who interpreted the accents andAstonishingly wonderful book. I listened to the audiobook, and I think my enjoyment of it was augmented by the reader, who interpreted the accents and personalities of the characters so beautifully. I have read dozens and dozens of books about WWII, so I'm always vaguely surprised when I read one that gives me a new angle on that oft-reproduced era in history. This one is about two young women who served the British military during the War, and there were lots of interesting details I didn't know, among which the fact that women were so involved, and that the British used double daylight savings time during the War.
I'm rather partial to epistolary novels in the first place, and thought that Wein utilized the medium brilliantly. I loved the way she wove the different threads in the story together, and how well I felt I got to know the characters through their writings. There were some coincidences that stretched credibility a bit, but they came across as powerful literary device, and felt perfectly right, not forced.
I was initially considering the book as a supplement to a unit on WWII history I'm doing with my 9-year-old, but I'd recommend it for teens and up, since there's some torture, and it's disturbing. ...more
This is one of those books that everyone recommends to me, but I never get around to reading. Except I finally did get around to reading it. It was a This is one of those books that everyone recommends to me, but I never get around to reading. Except I finally did get around to reading it. It was a pretty fun read. I enjoyed the epistolary style, and I'm always a fan of books set on islands, because they tend to have such a delightful mix of the otherworldly and the quaint. I enjoyed all the little bits of daily life during World War II. Yes, I even cried, although the other half of me was simultaneously aware that the story was too sappily sentimental to be seriously cried over. If you enjoy books like Anne of Green Gables, you will likely love this book....more
I don't think Guy Gavriel Kay is capable of writing a novel I don't like. Still, I admit that this one was not my favorite, which is perplexing, sinceI don't think Guy Gavriel Kay is capable of writing a novel I don't like. Still, I admit that this one was not my favorite, which is perplexing, since I am predisposed to like anything to do with medieval Spain, a time and place I find enchanting. His invented religions, which I usually find inventive and thought-provoking, fell flat for me a bit. Maybe it's just because I already know too much about this historical time period, and just slapping different names on Islam, Christianity and Judaism didn't really do much for me. Still, there was plenty to love in this book, and I enjoyed just about every page....more
Another gorgeous and moving offering by Guy Gavriel Kay. I told my librarian friend that he was my new favorite author (while requesting that the librAnother gorgeous and moving offering by Guy Gavriel Kay. I told my librarian friend that he was my new favorite author (while requesting that the library acquire his very first novel), and she responded, "it's like having a new best friend, isn't it?" It is.
Tigana is set in Renaissance Italy, or at least Kay's version of Renaissance Italy. Like his other novels, this one straddles the genres of historical and fantasy fiction. The fantasy is mostly in the details, like blue wine, two moons, and dreamlike scenes in otherworldly places. Kay's books have complex, tightly crafted plots, but they are really character-driven. And once again in Tigana he has assembled a collection of interesting, deeply explored characters with complicated loves and hates and motivations.
For readers looking for clear heroes and villains or nonstop action, this novel will likely disappoint. But if you are interested in difficult questions, subtle scenes, and beautifully crafted prose, Tigana is a wonderful read.
As with Kay's other books, this is an adult novel. Expect some sex and violence, neither gratuitous....more
This is one of my favorites of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, which is saying a lot, since he's one of my favorite fantasy authors. Arbonne is similar to hiThis is one of my favorites of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, which is saying a lot, since he's one of my favorite fantasy authors. Arbonne is similar to his other works in its intricate plotting and character development, vivid scenery, and masterful re-imagining of a historical time-period (in this case, Provence in the time of the troubadours).
Religion is always an interesting theme in Kay's novels, and this was no exception. One of the major themes of the book was the stark difference between a society that worshiped both a female and male divinity, and one that completely rejects the female divine.
This book is a perfect mix of the personal and the historical. Albright's father was a key figure in the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile during WoThis book is a perfect mix of the personal and the historical. Albright's father was a key figure in the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile during World War II. She revisits the period through a combination of his personal papers, auxiliary historical research, and her own childhood memories. The Czechoslovakian experience of WWII is an aspect of which I knew relatively little before reading the book, and it was interesting but heartbreaking to read the story of a small, proud country that played a pivotal but relatively helpless role in the continent-wide, and then worldwide conflict.
Albright is a perfect narrator of these events, not only because as a little girl she was surrounded by them, but also because like her father she grew up to be a keen analyst of international relations and events and an important actor in those events. When she writes about difficult decisions undertaken by world leaders in the midst of harrowing circumstances, she is speaking from a position of experience and understanding, and it shows.
This is a thoroughly worthwhile and pleasurable read, well-written, passionate, and insightful....more
I am always thrilled to find a new fantasy author whom I actually like and respect, because they sometimes seem to be so rare. This is my first book bI am always thrilled to find a new fantasy author whom I actually like and respect, because they sometimes seem to be so rare. This is my first book by Guy Gavriel Kay, and I found myself not only impressed, but entranced and ravished. And then I looked him up on Wikipedia and found that he had become interested in fantasy while helping Christopher Tolkien edit the Silmarillion (be still my heart!). Imitators of Tolkien are a dime a dozen, but future fantasy writers chosen while still philosophy/pre-law students to help edit Tolkien's works are few indeed.
Under Heaven is more historical fiction than fantasy, although it includes some decidedly supernatural elements. The novel is set in an alternative eighth century China, under a version of the celebrated Tang Dynasty. Lyrical and introspective, it tells the story of Shen Tai and how an extraordinary gift changed his life and thrust him into an unexpected role in the unfolding destiny of the empire.
I could not get enough of Kay's flawless, elegant prose, but the haunting, beautiful poetry included at intervals in the text elevated his writing into the realm of the sublime. The sweeping and intricately plotted narrative, at times achingly elegaic, evoked a richly atmospheric world and time. I am by no means an expert in Tang Dynasty China, but even I noticed how replete the book is with cultural details and elements (although none of them seem forced or flashy). Judging by that and the informal biography Kay included in his Acknowledgements, this is an extraordinarily well-researched historical fantasy.
Kay's characterizations are superbly complex and nuanced. I was especially intrigued by his female characters. Two of the most powerful women in the book are literally owned by men, and yet they masterfully wield their considerable personal power within a severely constrained situation.
I loved this book, and hope that all the rest of Guy Gavriel Kay's corpus is equally superlative.
One note: this is a book intended for adult audiences. There is a scene of very disturbing violence, and a fair amount of sex. Consider yourself warned....more
I've been going through the Development Economics course at Marginal Revolution University, and the professors recommend Diamond's book. I really enjoI've been going through the Development Economics course at Marginal Revolution University, and the professors recommend Diamond's book. I really enjoyed reading it, not least because Jared Diamond is the sort of Renaissance man it is difficult to find in Academia nowadays. His book takes a broad-brush approach to history and attempts to answer some very fundamental questions about the development of civilizations and their interaction with one another.
I think anyone who has spent time in a developing country has asked themselves the question of why some peoples are on top and others are on the bottom. Diamond is passionate most of all about disproving the idea that any ethnic group of humans is genetically inferior to another. Instead, he postulates that the inequities between human societies arose largely as a result of geographical factors, among which were the availability of plants and animals for domestication and the axes of the various continents.
His arguments were fascinating and compelling, and although I'm sure they're not the whole story, I'm equally convinced that they form a pretty significant part of it. However, my favorite parts of the book were the later chapters, where Diamond applies his theories over and over to different civilizations. I felt like I came away with a better picture of pre-history and early history, especially in places like Southeast Asia and Australia, of which I'd been previously completely ignorant. The only part I found a little bizarre was the end of the book, where Diamond (a specialist in physiology) draws a sort of road-map for how to make the disciplines of history and anthropology more scientific. Weird, but I guess you have to take eccentric geniuses as they come.
As a bonus, National Geographic did a great mini-series on Diamond's ideas, which I am watching with my kids as we prepare to start a homeschooling unit on ancient world history....more
Sarah Bringhurst
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