When I decided I needed a blog again, rather than start fresh, I decided to convert old book review blog to something more general purpose. I deleted all the posts that didn’t age well and in the interest of OCD, I decided to consolidate the old book reviews into batches. This is the eight batch, they were posted in November 2008 reviewing/commenting on books I read the previously.
Title: Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Author: Thomas L. Friedman
Read: November 2008
Edition: Audible Audio Book
It’s rare I can’t finish a book. But this is one. Friedman has a lot of interesting things to say and some fascinating stories and statistics the back up his story and I really enjoyed the first couple of hours of this 14 or so hour audio book.
This basic premise is that the planet is getting hot via global warming. I get that. I am not one of the deniers who say that man’s efforts have had no effect on the planet and that the observed changes are just natural changes. But, neither am I an alarmist. Change is how it is; anyone that this the weather we had yesterday will be the same as tomorrow is a fool. That’s not to say that I don’t think we should take immediate action to reduce our impact on the environment, I do. But, don’t tell me the world will end. It won’t. The planet has been hit by another planet and many other greater catastrophes, it will survive. We may not like it as much, but it will survive.
His next point is that it’s become flat in that communication technologies and transportation has created a connected, global economy with lots of interdependence. I concede this point without argument.
And his final point is that it’s becoming crowded. This is an oldie, but goodie. Advances in medicine and education are allowing longer lives and showing people a way to the middle class and it’s consumerist ways both of which exacerbates the Hot thesis. No question there are finite resources and that the whole of the world’s population as middle class citizens with the American middle class’ appetite would be impossible as it exists now. That’s not to say there isn’t a path to a sustainable middle class lifestyle that everyone could enjoy, I believe that there is.
But then it just wore me down with the demagoguery. I appreciate his commitment to the cause and there can be none worthier, but jebus, too much. One thing I didn’t like was all the criticism and no solutions. Maybe that’s in the second half of the book that I didn’t get to.
I give it 3 stars on the strength of the research.
Title: Beyond Band of Brothers
Author: Dick Winters
Read: October/November 2008
Edition: Audible Audio Book
If you enjoyed Stephan Ambrose’s Band of Brothers or it’s HBO adaptation, you might like this. As Dick Winters explains in the introduction, this a collection of stories that didn’t make it into the Ambrose work.
This follows the career of Dick Winters from his joining the US Army in the summer of 1941 to his discharge in the Fall of 1945 and adds considerably to the context of the history of the 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR and, of course, E Company in particular. Lots of the anecdotes and stories are interesting and some of that is in contrast to the attitudes and approaches we see around us today to combat and military service in general. Maybe this is found memories or maybe they really were the greatest generation, I don’t know.
It’s a bit repetitive in places and, well you would have to read or listen to get his style, but it can wear after a while. Still, it was a great listen, especially on the long drive back from Kentucky when I listened to it. I give it 3.5 stars.
Title: Little Brother
Author: Cory Doctorow
Read: 18 November 2008
Edition: eBook
This is a great story. So great I read it cover to cover in one day. That’s really freaking rare. Generally speaking, I don’t have the kind of free time to read a book that much at a stretch and even if I did, I read kind of slow (ask my wife). Any book finished in less than a week is rare. However, a long day in airports and planes gives one plenty of free time. Nothing like spending 13 hours getting from Baltimore to Las Vegas. All I can say is that United sucks ass.
Technically, this is a young adult novel (I would call it 13+). But the story is good, the pace high. It centers around a 17 year old high school student and his treatment after and reaction to a 911 style attack on San Fransisco. If you know Cory, you know there is a huge message here and it’s bold.
Normally I don’t like people plying me with political messages but I don’t mind this one. Maybe it just resonates with me. It certainly speaks to the 17 year old I used to be, though technology has made quite a bit of progress in the last 25 years. During this ride, you will learn about computer networking, cryptography and a number of hacking techniques. It’s fun, it’s a warning, but one with an optimistic outlook. I am not sure the last part if fully justified, time will tell if the new administration will pull back on some of the ridiculous tenets of the previous one.
If you are not sure about this (or any of Cory’s stories), you can download it in many formats from his website for free. He gives away the electronic copy of all his works via the Creative Commons license, an interesting and apparently successful approach. You can, of course, actually buy it too.
I give it 5 stars.
Title: The War for America, 1775-1783
Author: Piers Mackesy
Read: July – November 2008
Edition: Trade Paperback (ISBN: 0803281927)
Ever wonder how a non-industrialized set of colonies on the edge of the world could defeat the world spanning British empire? I mean really? Not the stuff you were taught in grade school. This book tells the American Revolution from the British perspective. And it really opened my eyes to the difficulties faced by the British with their strategic situation, domestic political situation and the limits of communication in the Age of Sail.
Of particular interest to me was the role of the peripheral theaters to the action on the American mainland and the role of France. There is a lot here and it’s pretty fascinating.
A word of warning though, if you are not familiar with contemporary (to this period) British political history, it would behoove you to do a little background reading first. The author assumes you are familiar with the current and recent Prime Ministers and other notables of the period. This was a bit of a struggle for me, but not an insurmountable one.
A further warning, the book is long as the scope is immense. It took me a long time to read it. Some of that was time and other was the density of the material. I continued to plow through it because it was interesting, but I rarely had the energy for more than 10 pages at a go owing to the fact that most of my reading is done late at night.
Overall, I give it 4 stars, it was highly interesting though dense.